DiabloFans

Quote from Bagstone»

Has anyone ever though about making an entry in this this thread? The only high-ranked wizard there is using a WoW, which is being mocked as laughably slow in the thread over at Battle.Net. However, there's not a single entry using this spec there with a respectable time...

I cleared 10 Rifts in about 33 minutes. I do not want to record and upload it to my YouTube channel just for the sake of such a competition. Personally, i would have preferred the rules to be zero Shrines, zero Pylons. I believe I was able to get that time solely because 3/10 RGs had Conduits active. A few Empowered and Powers littered throughout the runs obviously helped. Then again, the only way a Woh build can be competitive with a standard Firebird build is by utilizing Gloves of Worship and multiple Empowered Shrines.

Using no Shrines and no Pylons, one of my sessions (10 runs) was around 37 minutes.

I already have a speed run video here, even though it is just one run.

As for swapping bracers, I tend to open up my inventory to swap as soon as I see a shrine. So by the time I get to it, I already have Nemesis equipped. And considering there's no need to swap mid-fight against a T6 elite if you're not running Strongarm, I swap back to Warzechian after I dump my spells and I'm moving away.

It's usually pretty smooth and you don't miss a beat at all.

First of all, that quote was from the official forum and it wasn't calculated by Boozor. If you have an issue with it, go to the official forum and talk to the guy who used those numbers in the first place. It's more or less napkin math.

Second of all, this is a conversation regarding how effective PE is in a T6 setting where you more often than not one-shot elite packs with a single spell. Perma-DoT from the 6-piece bonus is rarely a factor other than against the RG. It's meant to compare other oft-used gems, especially in high level GRs, and discuss whether or not such oft-used gems can really shine at all in a speed run. Gems like Bane of the Trapped have virtually no chance to really shine because CC is an afterthought in speed runs.

Short story is, PE is worth using. It's nice that you can run through enemies with Frozen Storm and they drop dead just from the PE DoT.

Quote from gowtah»

I have a question though, are you sure the elemental damage on a weapon triggers elemental exposure? When I tested the tal rasha set as I was trying to find a good fb/tr mix, I seem to recall that the lightning damage on my serpent's sparker only triggered the lightning meteor when I would cast a "white attack" (basic attack cast when out of arcane power).

Read the text on Elemental Exposure.

^Yeah, that's what I meant. I wouldn't drop other DPS stats for skill bonuses unless there was room.



But things don't last for more than five seconds, usually.

Quote from Boozor»

Quote from Blayreau»

Great guide!

I have one question :

I'm planning on using PE and Toxin, instead of PE + BOTP, and I recently found a very good amulet with 20% fire/chd/chc/socket. But I was wondering, if my DPS or burst DPS is reliant on the %wpn legendary gems, isn't it better to have a standard intel/chc/chd/socket instead of a fire/chc/chd/socket? What do you think guys? I'm talking about a pure dps throughput point of view, toughness isn't a problem obviously.

OP's profile is using a fire/chc/chd/socket combo but I'm still wondering about it.

This is a good question and something I was thinking about yesterday. Is the damage more from PE and TOX then it is from the Firebird DOT and fire spells ? Well I am not sure.
It will depend on time spent, instant casts of blizzard will mean instant activation of PE and TOX so their damage is immediate. But as fights get long, the fire spells and DOT get more and more time to deal their damage. I need to plug some of these numbers into a spead sheet to see whether fire% is more worthwhile then stacking addition stats to boost your gem DOT damage. If the DOT gems is the main source of damage then Stat items (no fire%) might be the most optimal set up so Endless walk set will become more powerful.

As it stands if we assume DOT gems are not the primay source of damage, then Fire%/CHC/CHD/socket is our best bet, i'll report back I I have new findings.

Remember the DoTs are all aggregated into one number. It's easy to compare if you cast Blizzard with PE, then Blizzard with Toxin, then Blizzard alone.

I would go in favor of fire because your PE/Toxin are not going to strike a target for 300M damage (i.e. with Molten Impact/Blazar). Apocalypse already ticks for 30M+ with Toxin (that's the usual number I see) before PE and that's overkill for trash.

I'm tempted to put on my Meteor boots. I already use a Blizzard chest and I also have Firebird shoulders with Blizzard damage.

If you only kill elites, that's not optimal. And even in this setup, if you're geared properly, you can carry three other people on your own.

It's easily doable to complete a T6 Rift in less than five minutes on your own with three other players sitting behind you doing nothing. And this involves killing clusters of trash and elites, not only elites. In a group involving two or more properly geared Apocalypse wizards can clear a T6 Rift in less than two minutes fairly often.

I'd advise you check out Boozor's sample T6 run video above. The first Rift took about 3.5 minutes to clear and that also involved backtracking and picking up some items. That's more or less average speed potential there. I'm not sure what Boozor's fire DPS is, but I'm running around 1.8 million sheet DPS self-buffed and closing in on 4 million fire damage on sheet.

Many people in a group try to keep up, but they forgo actually killing anything. The Apocalypse spec, when optimized, has speed, mobility, and damage. The only other spec right now (at least in 2.1.1) that can keep up with speed and killing power is the Raekor barb when Empowered Shrine is active.

Quote from Arkhchance»

I Kinda disagree as well, firebird + WoW + goldwrap + hoarder and there you're immortal, can go for full dps and pretty much zerg everything in T6. But one WoW is needed.

I will guarantee you that this spec will leave any (100%) WoW user in the dust. Far, far in the dust. If you're a WoW user running with another Firebird wizard with this spec, the only enemies you'd be able to kill are a couple of lone stragglers barely hanging on with 10% of their life just because they luckily wandered outside the AOE of Apocalypse. Any enemy touched by Blazar and/or Molten Impact are guaranteed dead.

Dominance already keeps you immortal. Goldwrap means no Harrington or Witching Hour, which means a colossal DPS loss. Good luck being able to one-shot an elite pack in a four player game with a Goldwrap. Using Boon of the Hoarder also means dropping a offensive legendary gem for another huge DPS hit.

One common situation I see WoW users in is that they speed ahead before things die behind them, considering the extra EB procs from WoW do not contribute to Firebird at all, unless the initial EBs have made contact. As a result, as you're passing through mobs, unless you have the initial cycle timed perfectly every single time you engage, you will not be able to get the most damage out. In order to maximize kills, you have to cast Apocalypse in one area, EB in another, whereas in a Apocalypse oriented build with pure speed, all you do is maximize the damage output per cast, which is all you need.

The damage range for a weapon is what you place emphasis on, as APS means absolutely nothing for Firebird other than animation.

Quote from Blayreau»

I'm planning on using PE and Toxin, instead of PE + BOTP, and I recently found a very good amulet with 20% fire/chd/chc/socket. But I was wondering, if my DPS or burst DPS is reliant on the %wpn legendary gems, isn't it better to have a standard intel/chc/chd/socket instead of a fire/chc/chd/socket? What do you think guys? I'm talking about a pure dps throughput point of view, toughness isn't a problem obviously.

OP's profile is using a fire/chc/chd/socket combo but I'm still wondering about it.

The legendary gems are not your primary damage dealers. Your fire spells (Apocalypse, Molten Impact, Blazar, secondary DoT from Firebird + infinite DoT if you even need it) are still your main offense. Same reason why you wouldn't be stacking physical damage bonuses just to milk the bleed damage from Pain Enhancer or poison for Toxin.

Quote from Boozor»

Thank you for your suggestion, it was late and i didn't want to disturb my women.

Plural. Women.

Nice, Booz.

Quote from Abyssia»

I don't agree with the guide's choice of legendary gems, it is quite obvious that poision gem increases fire birds DOT and all spells also. The bane of trapped with blackholes and plenty CDR and templar with TF also is legit.

Pain enhancer is not what poster makes it out to be IMO, Bane of the powerfull, zei stone and (bane of the trapped or poison) would be my choices. Also the post doesnt mention 2.12 in which hydra, especially mammoth hydra will rule, so kinda lousy advice when people have to reroll gear in a week or whenever it comes.

Pain Enhancer offers burst damage in T6, which is all that matters. It doesn't really matter how much your infinite DoT goes for or whether something is CCing a target when a single Molten Impact can wipe an entire elite pack even in a full party game. A single cast of Apocalypse is enough to wipe out any cluster of trash mobs. It's the complete opposite for high level Greater Rifts when sustained damage is the game.

The sharkbus!
Thanks for sharing, Booz.