Build Guide
What is "Cursed Bones"?
This build was stemmed from testing some cookie cutter builds for Grace of Inarius set. After acquiring every single item that could possibly affect the Inarius set, I began testing many variations. I tested the FOTM Inarius build first which performed more than well, but I felt like the build was missing something or could be improved in some ways.
The FOTM build uses Corpse Lance + Land of the Dead (Lance/LotD). I cleared GR70 using that build without any issues - 5 min clear with 1.3 million dmg. However, I felt it lacking synergy in some areas. There were too many dps gaps because the build highly relies on CDR and LotD. And, if there's no corpses around, you hit like a wet noodle until LotD is back up.
I decided to create a build that wasn't CDR dependent or corpse dependent. I wanted a build that could do consistent damage at will. And, soon after some testing, "Cursed Bones" was born.
"Cursed Bones" does not use Corpse Lance + Land of the Dead. It is purely a Curses build by using all 3 Curses as skills.
I can't say this build is better than a Corpse Lance build, but it's just as competitive and offers a different play style. The potential of this build is GR90+. I'm barely starting to push 80's but my base dmg is only 1.3 million. I will progress much further once I can do more damage.
Curses Synergy:
- All 3 curses are always being applied instantly.
- Decrepify - Dizzying Curse must be used in every fight for a number of reasons.
- You want to keep your damage reduction active procced by your belt.
- You want to proc Krysbin's Sentence.
- You want to proc Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang which increases your damage by 200% on cursed enemies.
- Leech - Cursed Ground provides constant heals for survivability.
- Frailty - Aura of Frailty is a constant aura that procs Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang on all enemies within the area. It also decimates them when they're less than 15% health. This includes Elites and Rift Guardians.
Notes:
Trag'Oul's Corroded Fang is cubed for the 200% increased damage and not for Grim Scythe - Cursed Scythe rune. This build is using all of the curses constantly making Cursed Scythe rune unnecessary.
Physical Synergy:
- All skills are Physical except Bone Armor so there's a synergistic element.
- Your main attack is Grim Scythe. You can use Execution, Dual Scythes, or Blood Scythe for the rune. All 3 runes are physical.
- +20% Physical Damage on Bracers and +20% Physical Damage on Amulet would be ideal.
Control Impairing Effects Synergy:
- Krysbin's Sentence provide synergy with each other by proccing 2 damage buffs based on control impairing effects.
- Bone Armor - Dislocation + Decrepify - Dizzying Curse procs provides even more synergy with the above.
Armor Synergy:
- Armor is a huge plus for this build because of the Stand Alone passive which increases your armor by 100%.
- Blood Rush - Potency is used to provide synergy with this passive by adding another 100% armor increased when used.
- Blood Rush should be used every few seconds to proc the extra armor.
Healing Synergy:
- Grim Scythe - Blood Scythe (optional rune) heals for 1% per enemy hit.
- Leeching - Cursed Ground heals for 1% per enemy inside the cursed area.
Other Considerations:
If you have perfect rolls on your gear then try to roll your secondary stats to Maximum Essence wherever possible. This provides synergy with Reilena's Shadowhook which increases your damage based on max essence.
How to Play:
The following steps are just to have a basic understanding of how to use this build. This is far from how you would play an LotD build. You don't just skip everything and blow cooldowns on Elites. You don't have any cd's to use in this build besides Bone Armor. Other factors can change the way you play throughout the rift depending on density and placement of elites/pylons.
Step 1. Proc Bone Armor - The first thing you want to do upon entering a rift is proc your Bone Armor. Just try to gather as many trash mobs as possible (15 if it's safe) and proc Bone Armor. Even just 5 stacks is better than 0. The CD is short so you can add stacks fast. You want to keep 15 stacks of Bone Armor up at all times (10 stacks if you're not using Wisdom of Kalan). I don't recommend fighting Elites until your Bone Armor is at max stacks.
Now. you're ready for deeps (dps).
Step 2. Spread Curses - Keep your Curses active at all times. While you're running through the rift constantly use Decrepify on trash mobs even if it's just one to insure that your belt is procced. Use Leech when you stop or when you're passing through very dense areas. This will reduce the spike damage from trash since you will be getting periodic heals from them. Always keep Leech active when you stop to fight.
Step 3. Fill Progression Bar - Aggro as many trash mobs as you can while hunting for Elite packs. Do not skip dense trash mobs if possible or you're missing out on extra progression. If there is enough density with melee trash mobs then go ahead and stop and kill them to stay ahead of progression. Avoid high density of range trash mobs. In some situations, you can snipe the range trash mobs and return to the main group of trash. That will be very situational and up to you to decide whether to stop and kill trash or keep hunting for Elite packs. I generally stop if there are around 10-20 trash mobs I can cluster together. Wipe 'em out and move on.
Step 4. Gather Trash Mobs & Hunt for Elites - When you find an Elite pack, Blood Rush into the fight and apply curses. Try to aggro any trash mobs surrounding the Elite pack and bring them towards the Elite pack - meaning you run around the Elite pack for a few seconds to scout for more trash mobs to aggro and pull them towards the main fight. Keep using Blood Rush every time it's up. Once you've gathered enough trash mobs (if the situation allows it), then it's ground n pound time. Focus on the Elite pack and the trash mobs will eventually wither away by the time you're done killing the Elite boss. In some situations, you can try to pull the Elite pack towards more trash mobs. Some Elites won't budge so it's situational.
Step 5. Make Efficient use of Pylons - Understanding when to use pylons is very important. I don't recommend running Nemesis Bracers because Ancient Parthan Defenders is a crucial piece of gear for survivability. I don't think the trade off is worth it because it takes a ton of time to kill them at high GR and they tend to always spawn annoying jailers - at least for me. Jailers usually = death in high GR. Placement of Pylons is a matter of RNG. When you an Elite pack, scout the area (not too far) to see if there's a Pylon around. There's always that moment when you're fighting 1-2 elite packs and after you kill them you move forward and there's a pylon sitting like 10 yards from you! /facepalm. If there's a Pylon quickly pick up the buff and return to Step 4. In any case, sometimes you get crappy floors with no Pylons. Fishing for a good rift is always an option.
Step 6. Kill the Rift Guardian - Finally, you're at the Rift Guardian. Luckily, this build is tanky and you can go toe to toe with the Rift Guardian for themost part until it dies. Keep Blood Rush procced and Leech dropped and the RG will surely die.
Excellent sustain!
Love the build, have been using it all day, very happy!!
Only thing I'd recommend for more toughness if you find yourself squishy, is a Wisdom of Kalan
I currently dont have a good Endless Walk set, so the Wisdom of Kalan's extra 5 stacks of bone armor has been huge, pushing toughness up to 250k + toughness levels when active.
I was also using Mirinae, but Gogok feels much better for keeping that scythe swingin!
Otherwise very awesome build, def easy to push with! TY!
Wisdom of Kalan is a great alternative to Lornelle's Sunstone. I will add that to the guide and TY!
I'm not sure which performs better for sustaining high spike damage.
Wisdom of Kalan is more static survivability while Lornelle's Sunstone can save you from from fatal blows because the damage reduction is added to Bone Armor.
I will run more tests on them both.
Gogok feels like it offers more synergy and the build basically enhances Grim Scythe in every way possible. Keep it swingin'!
Thanks! I just cleared GR80 right now with only 1.3 mil base damage! I was having trouble with the rift guardian so I swapped out my Convention of Elements with Stone of Jordan and it worked like a charm. My AoE from legendary gems takes care of the trash mobs for the most part and I just finish them off.
Im successfully running 85's with this build curently. Has very high sustain. Health will drop and kinda makes you panick a bit but the sunstone kicks in and you regen your life in no time. Really the only way ive died has been from big spikes of damge from like the big charge attacks when i havent been watching. Blood rush is pretty essential to use every time it is off cooldown on the higher GR's.
My current gems are Mirinae, gogok, and pain enhancer. Im trying to get as much attack speed as possible.
I slow down at the rift gaurdians so i may try swapping my gogok for a bane of the stricken.
Thanks for the update! Grats on 85's!
Attack speed is great for this build but don't sacrifice too much CHC or CHD. I suffered greatly when I stacked too much Attack Speed. Your Pain Enhancer and Gogok of Swiftness should provide enough Attack Speed buffs therefore you can roll more CHC and CHD. 40% CHC seems sufficient enough for this build. Once you hit that cap, I'd roll for CHD.
I agree with you on Bane of the Stricken as an option. Instead of doing this I equipped a Stone of Jordan and the difference was like night and day.
I updated the guide with a "How to Play" section. I'm sure you don't need any help in that area but there might be a few interesting tips that you could possibly benefit from.
I recommend Wreath of LIghtning because it takes advantage of the 6 set bonus, but it is very optional. Use Bane of the Trapped if you prefer it or even Gogok of Swiftness.
Descrepify - Dizzying Curse provides your slow. Bone Armor - Dislocation provides stun.
I believe you're reading the ring wrong. Descrepify cripples your enemies (slow) giving you 100%+ damage. "OTHER" effects will give you triple damage with Bone Armor.
So, to my understanding if you're applying Descrepify, then your Bone Armor should apply the bonus.
Decrepify also stuns enemies. I believe Bane of the Trapped is redundant as far as the slow effect which is explained in my guide. Redundant is the key word here meaning that applying 2 slows is literal. Apply 1 slow and OTHER effects such as a stun or blind which gives you the damage bonus. People use the gem for the multiplicative damage which is great. In terms of damage, Wreath of Lightning seems to be stronger as far as killing a lot of trash mobs since this build shines when more trash are killed. Bane of the Trapped is always an option if you prefer it. I'm still testing as I go.
So, if you're asking if Bane of the Trapped procs the triple damage bonus with Descrepify, no it does not. That would be super op.
This is my understanding of it unless I'm wrong. I'm always open for debate.
Great question btw!
Nice build and I am playing with it using WoL, PE, and Gogok ATM. Staying away from Mirinae's as I am expecting it to be nerfed into oblivion.
Question in the write up, you state the following:
- All 3 curses are always being applied instantly.
What is applying them instantly? I may be misunderstanding this. I think I still have to apply them as we are not using Cursed Scythe Rune.
In addition, I see my essence dropping a bit and easier levels as I am applying my curses but my bone armor is basically killing all the trash mobs. What alternative would you recommend for the Armor cube spot? Alternatively I am trying Bones Spikes and keeping AC cubbed...Bone spikes get my essence maxed out faster.
Edit: Just applying curse less now...let the bone armor do what it does. Only use Leech curse when I need the health.
Sorry, I should reword it. To clarify you are applying curses instantly.
There aren't that many great options for the armor cube power:
These are some possibilities that you can try out:
- Depth Diggers (only works if your primary attack is actually "generating" essence. If it's at max you will not get the damage buff.)
- Leoric's Crown
- Pox Faulds (this would be just for fun. It's like adding a poison armor on top of your bone armor.
I don't recommend any of these options because you will surely need the damage reduction at high GR.
You could always just switch out your helm gem to orange if you're have issues with maintaining max essence.
Are you still tinkering with this build? I've been playing around with it, just wanted to see what you've been doing with it. thanks!
Thanks for your build, finally got me through GR70 with my inarius set necro (my rathma's necro has been stuck at 55). I had all but one piece ancient and seemingly every other build I was so squishy but your "Cursed Bones" build and the healing attributes made it so I could slowly but safely complete the rift in time without dying or without running out of essence at the rift guardian. I could usually get to the end with about 45s to spare with my other builds but would burn all my essence trying to take down the rift gaurdian and have nothing left to throw at him and my bone armor would wear off and I'd be finished without actually finishing This build had the perfect balance of speed and survivability hopefully other people find it useful like I did to make that jump out of GR65
Super helpful build and guide!!! Thanks again
What gems do you need to slot this bad boy?