DISCLAIMER: - Not the fastest build for T6. Effective and viable, but not efficient. Fire and arcane builds still win out in terms of sheer power.
- Work in progress. There are still combinations of skills and items being discovered each day, so the discussion is ongoing.
Based on Malakai's lightning wizard build: (http://youtu.be/tnDrCZoUT0g)
View the original thread in the official forum here.
Pros: - Melts groups of trash
- High crowd control potential
- No need for resource/cooldown management
- Visually stunning (... )
Cons: - Lower damage output against single targets (unless gear swapping is involved)
- Requires top-notch awareness and game sense to play effectively
- Can be fragile depending on situations
Wyrdward is not included because it scales with proc coefficients on skills, which makes the percentage stated on the item tooltip to be far lower than it actually is. It's useable, but there are better choices out there.
Build: Depending on the difficulty settings, the only skills one would change are the Magic Weapon rune and the Armor spell. Familiar itself can be subbed with Black Hole or any other defensive or utility skill (e.g. Lightning Hydra). The two core skills are Electrocute and Shock Pulse. Electrocute for 2+ targets, Shock Pulse for single targets.
Reasoning behind Shock Pulse: Electrocute + Myken's + Velvet Camaral loses its effectiveness against single targets because Electrocute ceases to chain. Against single targets (especially larger sized ones like Golgors and bosses), the three bolts from Shock Pulse combine for 194% weapon damage. It has a 0.93 proc coefficient so it more or less guarantees procs from Shard of Hate (releases 3x Charged Bolts for up to 250% damage each (sic)). This puts the build in melee mode... extreme melee mode, meaning you almost have to be literally standing on the target. When all three Charged Bolts and all three bolts from Shock Pulse land on a target, it combines for up to (250 * 3) + 194 = 944% weapon damage per cast. It's tough to get everything to hit simultaneously, but if you can do it (and if you have tons of lightning bonuses on gear), it can make for some good damage.
The build is very specialized and requires some very specific gear. If you have the gear, try it out for yourself and see it works for you.
Nice write-up and interesting build. I'd like to try lightning some day, but my main concern is single-target damage - MM/Conflag with Mirrorball is too damn strong, it's really hard to replace.
I have all the gear for it, I used basically the same spec before the shard of hate nerf but was so underwhlemed after the nerf. I'll give it another shot.
Requires 2 very low rate drops and still does so little damage. I think that is a problem with the current end-game
I don't see a problem with the build per-se by it requiring low-rate drops. It's just another build centered around that items, and since RNG is personal if someone happens do have those drops, it's a nice build to have.
Regarding the damage: There's a lot of hidden damage from the procs of SoH on this build. It shines against multiple enemies, but against single targets you can get more than 900% weapon damage with crowd control from Paralysis and still be effective.
Yes, there are more damage-dealing builds out there, but the requirements are also different.
I'm not going to enter in a discussion about end-game, because end-game for me is a philosophical discussion, directly connected with each single player. What is end-game for you is not necessarily end-game for me, and vice-versa.
If you do have the items, give it a try. Specially on higher torments, within a group, it's a very nice build.
So I found a Lidless Wall that has +19% lightning dmg, +9% crit damage 5% attack speed with 740 int. Was wondering if there was a way to sub it into this build? Or is Mykens Ball necessary?
Does Thunderfury work as a substitute for Shard of Hate in this build? I had a Shard of Hate drop but for whatever reason it has dexterity because Diablo 3 does not want me to play my Wizard.
I use a lightning build that is similar but I use archon and a TF (don't have a top end SoH) and it performs decent on T5/6.
I think arcane and fire are better/more efficient but I have more fun with lightning. I pretty much have the gear for any spec and by far I have the most fun electrocuting the entire screen Can't wait for the 2.1 changes
- Work in progress. There are still combinations of skills and items being discovered each day, so the discussion is ongoing.
Based on Malakai's lightning wizard build: (http://youtu.be/tnDrCZoUT0g)
View the original thread in the official forum here.
Spec used in the video: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/wizard#UbQjSO!ZdVS!Z.aacc Lightning wizard profile (5/25/14): http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Jaetch-1861/hero/33419127
The lightning build centered around Myken's Ball of Hate and Velvet Camaral is incredibly fun to play. With perfect gear, clear times for solo T6 could be around 10-15 minutes, but it's common to see average lightning builds on T6 clear north of 15 minutes (possibly around 20 minutes for low density Rifts).
Pros: - Melts groups of trash
- High crowd control potential
- No need for resource/cooldown management
- Visually stunning (... )
Cons: - Lower damage output against single targets (unless gear swapping is involved)
- Requires top-notch awareness and game sense to play effectively
- Can be fragile depending on situations
Core Gear: Myken's Ball of Hate Velvet Camaral Shard of Hate Thundergod's Vigor Stone of Jordan
Alternate/useful pieces: The Witching Hour Hellcat Waistguard Fleeting Strap String of Ears Ring of Royal Grandeur Dovu Energy Trap Haunt of Vaxo Eye of Etlich Any immunity amulets
Cain's Destiny set (e.g. Cain's Habit and Cain's Travelers)
Ancient Parthan Defenders Strongarm Bracers (for Black Hole variant)
Tasker and Theo (for Lightning Hydra variant)
Andariel's Visage (for gear swapping)
Storm Crow (for gear swapping)
Wyrdward is not included because it scales with proc coefficients on skills, which makes the percentage stated on the item tooltip to be far lower than it actually is. It's useable, but there are better choices out there.
Build: Depending on the difficulty settings, the only skills one would change are the Magic Weapon rune and the Armor spell. Familiar itself can be subbed with Black Hole or any other defensive or utility skill (e.g. Lightning Hydra). The two core skills are Electrocute and Shock Pulse. Electrocute for 2+ targets, Shock Pulse for single targets.
Reasoning behind Shock Pulse: Electrocute + Myken's + Velvet Camaral loses its effectiveness against single targets because Electrocute ceases to chain. Against single targets (especially larger sized ones like Golgors and bosses), the three bolts from Shock Pulse combine for 194% weapon damage. It has a 0.93 proc coefficient so it more or less guarantees procs from Shard of Hate (releases 3x Charged Bolts for up to 250% damage each (sic)). This puts the build in melee mode... extreme melee mode, meaning you almost have to be literally standing on the target. When all three Charged Bolts and all three bolts from Shock Pulse land on a target, it combines for up to (250 * 3) + 194 = 944% weapon damage per cast. It's tough to get everything to hit simultaneously, but if you can do it (and if you have tons of lightning bonuses on gear), it can make for some good damage.
The build is very specialized and requires some very specific gear. If you have the gear, try it out for yourself and see it works for you.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
I have been trying it + archon (for single targeting)
Blackhole + electrocute wins !! MM spec just damn boring
My wiz profile xD
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/FCWGAMING-1360/hero/9378691
I don't see a problem with the build per-se by it requiring low-rate drops. It's just another build centered around that items, and since RNG is personal if someone happens do have those drops, it's a nice build to have.
Regarding the damage: There's a lot of hidden damage from the procs of SoH on this build. It shines against multiple enemies, but against single targets you can get more than 900% weapon damage with crowd control from Paralysis and still be effective.
Yes, there are more damage-dealing builds out there, but the requirements are also different.
I'm not going to enter in a discussion about end-game, because end-game for me is a philosophical discussion, directly connected with each single player. What is end-game for you is not necessarily end-game for me, and vice-versa.
If you do have the items, give it a try. Specially on higher torments, within a group, it's a very nice build.
Wizard | Demon Hunter
I think arcane and fire are better/more efficient but I have more fun with lightning. I pretty much have the gear for any spec and by far I have the most fun electrocuting the entire screen Can't wait for the 2.1 changes
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/dragin-1337/hero/1513934
My Wizard (Season)