15 replies to this topic

[ProzaicMuze]

(NEXT GUIDE: Sleet Storm Wizard)

I'm back with another guide! If you missed my last guide for a Hand of Ytar Monk, you can find it here:

Thread | Preview | Build Guide

This build pairs Spirit Barrage with the spirit theme of Rush of Essence to allow for spamming your abilities. Horrify with Frightening Aspect, Soul Harvest and Gruesome Feast provide significant boosts do your damage and defensive stats allowing you to get by with mediocre gear. You can use the version shown here for fast AoE clearing of the lower MP levels through Grave Injustice or swap in more traditional abilities like Zombie Bears and Acid Cloud for the higher MP levels.

Feedback and/or criticism is welcomed and appreciated as always

GAMEPLAY PREVIEW

SPIRIT BARRAGE BUILD GUIDE

Build Calculator - http://us.battle.net...XUdQ!fYT!ZbYYcb

Gear Set - http://d3up.com/b/12377

You can find my channel at www.youtube.com/ProzaicMuze

[Nausicaa]

Just pointing out that you said that Well of Souls will be the highest single target hitter. It's still Zombie Bears hitting 3 times, which is possible to do on a regular basis with some practice.

Zombie Bears triple hit = 708% / cast
Well of Souls = 425% / cast

Zombie Bears is currently the highest hitting skill in the game... which probably why it can be a bitch to use sometimes ^^

P.S. Have you tried running this build with Haunt as your secondary attack... feels like it should work well, might have to kite a bit more... but not much with Fear + Grave Injustice.

[ProzaicMuze]

I caught this in the YouTube comments, but I'll post again here just to avoid confusion:

It's my fault for not being specific enough, but I'm talking about it being the best "rune" for single target damage in relation to the other "runes" for Spirit Barrage. You are entirely correct that Zombie Bear can still do more damage to a single target when you're right on top of it.

That aside, I actually have tried Haunt with a number of runes:

Consuming Spirit (Used as a crutch until I had a LS weapon)
Draining Spirit (Experimented with as an option for mana when I didn't have full Zuni's)
Lingering Spirit (Tried using it as a passive damage boost, didn't work very well)
Resentful Spirit (Tried once, but the shorter duration makes it impossible to maintain it AND Spirit Barrage)

Ultimately I wasn't satisfied with Haunt as once sufficiently geared, it only gets in the way of the build. It DOES work well in conjunction with Spirit Barrage in PvP though. Easiest damage you'll ever do.

[Deathyz]

Nice to see another guide from you in ironically about a build that I am sort of usin in mp6 atm. What I do wonder is that with those extra spirits would SB be close to as useful of doin a whole run of grind when you switch bears to BBW? And if GF is to be used on a mp like 6 and beyond with around 80k DPS, as on trash one could get a few of them but on bosses they are more on rare end of the line. Its really hard right now decide because of the possible options as bears use quite a bit of mana but when you get rid of them the GF doesnt live up to its full potential.

[luizdeh]

At first I thougt 'been there, done that'. I've tried a ton of different builds, But you get used to playing a certain way and don't realize the potential of certain skills. Like Severance. SW to me is all about movement (Jaunt), healing (Healing Journey) or mana regen (Honored Spirit). I've never even thought about staying on top of a mob to get full damage from Severance. Umbral Shock I've tried and tested many times over.

Keep up the good work dude. Love trying out weird builds.

[Emberos]

It's an interesting variation but for low MPs, it doesn't stack up very well against Acid Cloud build variations (fast mob death and correct passives give you all the mana return you need), and for high MPs it doesn't stack up well to Bears build variations (using VQ plus Spiders would let you spam a higher damage spell like Bears as infinitely as you are spamming Spirit Barrage).  A single-target spell for your main damage output is severely limiting.  Granted you runed it for the extra hits but those are at very low weapon damage.   That said, if you enjoy this type of play style more, that's important so keep on keeping on.

Edited by Emberos, 25 January 2013 - 03:38 PM.

[ProzaicMuze]

Deathyz, on 25 January 2013 - 11:45 AM, said:

Nice to see another guide from you in ironically about a build that I am sort of usin in mp6 atm. What I do wonder is that with those extra spirits would SB be close to as useful of doin a whole run of grind when you switch bears to BBW? And if GF is to be used on a mp like 6 and beyond with around 80k DPS, as on trash one could get a few of them but on bosses they are more on rare end of the line. Its really hard right now decide because of the possible options as bears use quite a bit of mana but when you get rid of them the GF doesnt live up to its full potential.

If you're doing higher MP levels, try combining Barrage and Bears. Drop Grasp of the Dead for Bears and Gruesome Feast or Grave Injustice for Spirit Vessel, whichever you prefer. You open on elites with Barrage and switch to Bears when they're on top of you. The temporary mana boost from Rush of Essence allowing you a few extra seconds of Bears before you have to switch back. You can also pick up one of the mana crutches to further spam Zombie Bears. Big Bad Voodoo with Rain Dance or Spirit Walk with Honored Guest are strong candidates.

Emberos, on 25 January 2013 - 03:38 PM, said:

It's an interesting variation but for low MPs, it doesn't stack up very well against Acid Cloud build variations (fast mob death and correct passives give you all the mana return you need), and for high MPs it doesn't stack up well to Bears build variations (using VQ plus Spiders would let you spam a higher damage spell like Bears as infinitely as you are spamming Spirit Barrage).  A single-target spell for your main damage output is severely limiting.  Granted you runed it for the extra hits but those are at very low weapon damage.   That said, if you enjoy this type of play style more, that's important so keep on keeping on.

Yeah, the point of these guides, at least for me, is to find aberrant ways of playing the game. The most likely method of doing so being these theme builds. Your points are entirely accurate, but since I never go above MP3 unless I'm making these guides, it's not something I worry about.

You should try the Barrage Bear variation from above and let me know if that feels more on par with the Acid Cloud and Spider Bear builds.

[debo]

At the weekend I changed my build from Ghost Bomb / Bears to this build. Great! Strong enough to farm MP2. Spaming Bears was boring after a certain time. Now it is sometimes more confusing but I like it
I thought about changing Grasp of the Dead with Acid Cloud or Bears but farming on MP2 does not require an adaption.

Current Gear and Skill Points: http://eu.battle.net...file/debo-2111/

Edited by debo, 28 January 2013 - 11:54 AM.

[ProzaicMuze]

Glad you enjoyed it!

Also, just posted the next guide for a Sleet Storm Wizard

[Whysperr]

I'm currently using a Barrage + Bears variation and loving it. MP6 is doable solo although it's obviously not as efficient as on lower MPs.

I've tried a pure Bears build and a Bears + Spiders + VQ build, and while both are fun to play I'm really fawned on the variation I'm playing now. Bears are very powerful but can be tricky to use against Wallers or enemies that you need to kite a lot. With Bears + RoE + Barrage you have strong burst against groups or single target with your back to a wall, and a strong sustained attack that can be used at long range and ignores most walls.

The other change I made was substituting Horrify for Zombie Dogs w/ Life Link for a constant 10% DR rather than 800 armor. Truthfully I'm not sure off the top of my head which would be better in terms of sheer damage reduction but I've used that on other builds with good results.

http://us.battle.net...8/hero/13404654

Edited by Whysperr, 29 January 2013 - 10:01 PM.

[ProzaicMuze]

Whysperr, on 29 January 2013 - 10:01 PM, said:

I'm currently using a Barrage + Bears variation and loving it. MP6 is doable solo although it's obviously not as efficient as on lower MPs.

I've tried a pure Bears build and a Bears + Spiders + VQ build, and while both are fun to play I'm really fawned on the variation I'm playing now. Bears are very powerful but can be tricky to use against Wallers or enemies that you need to kite a lot. With Bears + RoE + Barrage you have strong burst against groups or single target with your back to a wall, and a strong sustained attack that can be used at long range and ignores most walls.

The other change I made was substituting Horrify for Zombie Dogs w/ Life Link for a constant 10% DR rather than 800 armor. Truthfully I'm not sure off the top of my head which would be better in terms of sheer damage reduction but I've used that on other builds with good results.

http://us.battle.net...8/hero/13404654

Zombie Dogs are actually a solid choice given that you've dropped Grasp of the Dead. Now you have guaranteed dogs and DR. The only thing Horrify can offer you is the long fear so that is what you should base your decision on. If you have problems with elites getting too close, then Horrify is a good option. Given that you have Zombie Bears, I don't expect that to be the case, so Dogs will likely serve you best

[Zero(pS)]

No one (but me) has up-voted this thread/guide? Impossibru!

Awesome guide. I'm currently using this weird Pet build (link) as they make me feel like I'm playing in a group; but I'll give your build a try later this week.

[Nausicaa]

Zero(pS), on 30 January 2013 - 02:57 AM, said:

No one (but me) has up-voted this thread/guide? Impossibru!

Awesome guide. I'm currently using this weird Pet build (link) as they make me feel like I'm playing in a group; but I'll give your build a try later this week.

I did the thumbs up on Youtube forgot to do it here as well >.<

Thx for the reminder ^^

[mattyswain]

have used this build and its awesome

[ProzaicMuze]

Did you use my exact build or one of the variants from the thread?

[mattyswain]

Exact build