Build Guide
This build utilizes two bugs with the firebirds set that blizzard has decided to leave in the game for Season 6 and have said they will NOT be taking action against accounts that purposefully abuse these bugs. Source: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/20744924301
Firebirds 4 piece Bonus bug: The set reads "Dealing fire damage to the enemies causes them to burn for the same amount of damage over 3 seconds..." but this is not how the set is currently working the bug takes the damage you deal with fire damage and then re-applies your damage bonuses that were already applied to that number. Say you hit 5 Billion with a fire attack the enemy should burn for 5 Billion damage over 3 seconds instead it takes 5 Billion * Damage modifiers over 3 seconds. So hitting 5 Billion results in damage tics in the Trillions. However the trick is with the second part of this bonus that reads "stacking up to 3000% Weapon Damage ... After reaching 3000% damage per second the enemy will ignite burning until they die." Once the enemy is ignited the damage is no longer applied twice. So to make it work you have to do controlled damage to not go over "3000%" (the actual number you must hit under is around 6.3 Billion) damage in one hit. If you hit under "3000%"(6.3B Dmg) in the first hit then the enemy will burn with the damage modifiers applied twice. Then you must wait 3 seconds until the burning stops before hitting them again or the enemy will be ignited. So we use Archon form's fireblast to apply this DoT every 3 seconds.
Firebirds 6 piece Bonus bug: The set reads "... Elites that are ignited increase your damage by 2000%" This buff is shown on your bar by 50 firebird stacks. The bug with this bonus is that while fighitng a blue pack you can ignite some of the pack to get these 50 firebird stacks to last forever (unless you die, leave the game or ignite a new blue/yellow pack or Rift Guardian). To do this simply find a blue pack ignite at least one of them but make sure atleast one of them also remains not ignited. You can easily ignite one of them using disintegration wave in archon form. Stick around for about 3 seconds after igniting some of the pack then leave and the buff will stay with you until you die, leave the game or ignite another blue/yellow pack or Rift Guardian. This persists through entering new zones including greater rifts. So you can find a blue pack before entering a grift to start with 50 firebird stacks.
Gear Stat Priority notes: You do not want any extra crit hit damage, crit hit chance, or area damage on gear or paragon points. This is to control how much damage we deal with fire blast making sure we do not go over "3000%" (6.3 Billion Damage) dmg in one hit. Instead we prioritize CDR and consistent damage amplifiers such as % fire dmg, and elite dmg. Since we do not need crit or area damage we can get a lot of extra toughness on all our gear where we would normally want crit.
Now you know what the bugs are and how they work here is how all the peices of the build come together. Before entering or upon entering a grift find a blue pack to get the perma firebird stacks. Then go around in Archon which is our main ability and you will only be dealing damage while in archon form. While in archon form use ability bound to the number 1 key "fire blast" to apply the 3 second DoT. Be sure to only fire blast enemies once every 3 seconds or you will ignite them rendering them unkillable. We use the Swami and Fazulas to help increase our archon stacks which greatly increase our DoT damage so you want to stay in Archon as much as possible to overlap the archon stacks. Outside of archon we have Aether walker to spam teleport for mobility we also take calamity rune on our teleport allowing us to stun enemies by landing teleport on them. Taking calamity run on teleport also deals damage which works with obsidian ring of the zodiac to reduce the cool down on archon. We also use Arcane torrent while in a safe position to reduce Archons cool down. We also have APDs to get more damage reduction which pairs with teleport calamity rune which stuns, halo which will freeze enemies, and zeis which also has a chance to stun.
Group Gameplay
This build does work in groups with both zdps or other Wizards. If you are running with supports be sure they are not giving you chc or chd. Also be sure they don't give you too much dmg buffs putting you over the threshhold. So they should mostly be focused on increasing group survivability. You can also run multiple DPS wizards including other firebird wizards running either normal or bugged setup. Firebird wizards will not interfere with eachother. You can both deal fire dmg at the same time to mobs, your stacks do not effect each other and you can still kill mobs that have been ignited by other wizards with your 3 second dot. The only thing to be careful about running with other wizards is there is no way to tell the burning and ignited visuals apart from those of other wizards in your group, so you need to be extra careful keeping track of which monsters you have hit in the last 3 seconds.
Things to keep in mind:
1. Ignited enemies (enemies with the perma 3000% burn) do not benefit from the 4 piece bug that applies your damage amplifiers twice.
2. Igniting a new elite drops perma 50 firebird stacks and you will have to redo the trick to get them back.
3. Dying drops firebird stacks
4. Firebirds 2 peice bonus drops a meteor when taking fatal damage can ignite enemies, avoid dying on elite packs.
5. Dying on or igniting the Rift Guardian will almost always lose you the grift. If you die you can try to tp out and find a blue pack to ignite. If you ignite the Rift Guardian the ignite cannot be removed and you will not be able to kill the rift guardian and to my knowledge the ignite cannot be removed.
6. Be patient and look for high density and elites. You have to restrain yourself from spamming while in Archon. It takes a while to get used to this kind of playstyle where your main priority is positioning to stay alive and not accidentally losing firebird stacks.
EDITS:
1. Clarified that "3000%" dmg in one hit is inaccurate actual number hit should be something below ~6.3 Billion.
2. Changed Bane of the Trapped to Esoteric Alteration.
3. Group Game play notes.
4. Swapped Audacity to Galvanizing Ward
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OK it has something to do with Galvanizing Ward. When I close the rift with Orek the stacks drop off and there is a GWard buff icon in their place that fades out. LOL! Seems I've found another bug in the bug build
EDIT: So swapped out GW before talking to Orek - made no difference. The moment I click on him the Grift closes and the stacks drop.
Going to try one more thing....
EDIT: OK I've figured this out. If you get the Firebird Stacks before entering the rift and then don't drop them for the entire time, then you will keep them after closing it. If you get your FB Stacks inside the Grift itself, they will drop when you talk to Orek to close it.
I've noticed some players running vita gems, not having ancient weapon etc... Is this to avoid hitting the damage cap? What's the best way to calculate it so that you can be as close to the damage cap in that one hit without actually being on it?
If you are not doing any damage you probably need to look back through the guide again.
you should be able to one shot any elite or rift guardian up to GR75.
Are you getting the 50 stacks of firebirds by igniting one of three in a blue pack before staring the GR? Use the archon beam(whatever its called)
Once in the rift only use fire blast once every three seconds(they will get fire at feet) and constantly move with tele.
If they are getting the fire above their heads you are igniting them and wont be able to kill them, and will have to get fB50 stack back from a blue pack
as the guide states you should not have any crit or crit damage anywhere and cool down everywhere you can get it
You don't want to be close to the damage cap. There is no need. All the damage you do is from the Firebird/Archon Stacks and the bug that makes this build work.
Really useful information and I love playing this build so huge thanks for posting. A few quick questions;
1) I assume getting a Power Shrine is a big no-no or is there any way to utilise it? Are all the other Shrines Ok to get or can Conduit be problematic too?
2) Recently the top Wizards seem to be using a combination of Bane of the Trapped/Stricken/Powerful as well as the Gogok. Any thoughts on which combo is best?
3) Again several of the top ones seem to have dropped Familiar for Frost Nova Bone Chill and Archon Combustion for Archon Pure Power. Are these changed to proc Elemental Exposure?
4) If using Elemental Exposure is there any Elemental damage type that's preferable on the Weapon.
Sorry if these are stupid questions I don't play enough to fully understand all the combos.
Thank you for the very detailed option.
I've mostly gotten the hang of this build, but there are some problems I'm facing.
When I already have 50 FB stacks - sometimes I hit elite pack with fire blast and nothing happens to them, they aren't ignited, and they aren't ignited with the permanent dot as well (looks like they aren't burning and they aren't receiving any damage as well), however, if I hit them second time (even after more than 3 seconds), they automatically get permanent dot, which messes up my FB stacks.
I'm using Audacity instead of Galvanizing ward and bane of the trapped instead of gogok, could this be at fault?
killing guardians is a prob for me other then that its an amazing build
I was under the impression that if I go over the damage treshold mob will get the permanent dot, not that nothing happens. I already have removed audacity, and it seems that it's a little bit better but still, sometimes this occurs. I have fire damage% on amulet, bracers and off-hand, maybe this is the problem?
I've notice the buff will reset after you close a Nephelem rift or a greater rift if you have a pet equipped.
This was with the "Bumble" and on the console. So it's possible it's specific to the console.
A few questions:
1. What is the BEST augment for this build? STR? VIT? DEX? INT?
2. What is the recommended sheet damage?
3. How much HP should I aim for at GRift 95-100?
I distributed paragon points into vit and int, so that I have around 340k sheet dps with magic weapon on (that's the sweet spot for my char with trapped). I do have some augments (with vit, 5 pieces I think)