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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.

1. You want to keep your damage reduction active procced by your belt.
2. You want to proc Krysbin's Sentence.
3. 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.