I've been farming 75-76 rifts in group and 72 solo with a Seismic Slam Earth build, but I've stopped playing for quite a while now so not really had the chance to push with it. In a group the best you can do is debuff mobs/buff the group while being a medium source of both AOE/single target damage and very very high toughness.
It's not very high on damage though so you're never going to be pushing strong damage with it compared to other specs, Raekors while it can make the most of Vile Ward shoulders during AOE does way more damage. On Rift bosses I personally have seen over 150billion crits regularly with each Seismic Slam (and way over 200bil maximum), but that's during Convention of Elements, take into account that some other classes are doing multiple times more than that.
Seismic Slam is really similar to playing Blade of the Tribes and running Boulder Toss, I think SS is way more fun to play but it suffers the same lack of damage as you push into the high 70 or approaching 80 rifts.
This is the build, I'd guess with ancient gear, extra stats added (consuming legendary gems) and a decent Paragon you could push past GR80 solo, but with the same effort you could push a lot higher with Raekor.
I really dislike Raekor + IK charge, but for sure it has very impressive damage in large AOE packs and Earth (Boulder Toss or Seismic) cannot compete with that, on boss damage though Raekor isn't that impressive since Vile Ward is no longer in effect, nor do the Ancient Parthan Defenders have the same effect.
I'm doing a lot of rifts at the moment in a 3man group with an Impale Demon Hunter and Raekors Barb (I'm playing SS) and we're farming 75s pretty quickly, I'm at a situation where I can just stand on the spot and heal through almost everything, with only physical damage being scary (since esoteric does nothing), where as the Raekor Barb during the whole rift will only fight mobs until they are stun immune and then he will leave and find new stuff and leave me + DH to deal with it.
In solo the Raekors is still clearly the best spec because the damage on large packs is so much stronger than other builds, but the spec is still quite prone to death and it's such a clunky and situational spec to play, I just can't stand it. My Seismic Slam build will take me far enough, it will run out of steam in the early 80s though from lack of damage scaling, where Raekor will keep pushing on.
I've not played Boulder Toss (with Tribes Blade) enough to really compare, but SS seems in a similar place but while being far more about the spender than the generator, with SS the Earthquake/Avalance is more like a filler damage to activate Earthen Might so that you're at high Fury and full toughness (from Iron Impact + Band of Might) just before the fire element on COE comes up. My latest crit records are over 200bil on RG.
But I've been comfortable above 70 playing a Seismic Slam build with Earth set (focussing primarily on the damage of Seismic Slam).. My biggest crits vs rift guardians are over 160bil, and I'm slightly more towards area damage and survival (640mil toughness before Travellers Pledge) than full out damage (missing SS damage on helm). There are probably lots of unknown and unplayed builds out there that are comfortable above GR70.
It's above 80 where it will get tough, where only endless paragon levels will push you forward.
I tried this only I went with Magefist gloves, I went with dual wield Oathkeeper + Burning Axe (extra 100% bonus) and used Bastions in the cube, I used Cindercoat and Aquila in the cube, Leorics could be the best helm but for damage output Andariels is by far the best. Gems I wasn't sure, but the Simplicity gem works pretty nice too.
Also not convinced Undisputed Champion is the best belt, since you can use the belt that throws daggers at the target on every attack, with how fast you're attacking and how much of a damage multiplyer you have it would be considerable damage.
I find it hilarious how people compare using a Hud to using a hack that increases your paragon level by 1800 in 10 minutes. Hud is an overlay that shows basic information provided by the game and nothing more, the other is a genuine hack manipulating the game.
I was like 680 Paragon playing Seismic Slam build with Earth set, did my 70 rift solo for the conquest and doing 74 comfortably in a 3man group with a charge barb + demon hunter (which is not a very optimal group setup at all). My gems are 75 now but were 70 when I did my 70 solo rift. FWIW my spec is not a popular or played spec, my gear is not optimised and I don't have the bonus stats you can get from consuming legendary gems..
So It's safe to say you can go pretty far with a lot of builds, without needing excessive paragons, high level gems or cookie cutter leaderboard builds. I can go above 80 solo with my build eventually if I'm fortunate to get ancient pieces and continue to level paragon.
If you play charge barb then you can go much further, no idea bout boulder toss + earth, tried it and didn't like it.. It's more popular than Seismic Slam, perhaps better.
Not seen anyone else doing it but I'm playing Earth with Seismic Slam (Fire), just hit Para 600 and have already been doing 70 Rifts with a lot of lacking gear, no bonus str added via cube to any gear. I've not done my research and not even looked at any sites or played D3 at all since early S4 but I'm guessing the popularity of Raekor or Earth with Boulder toss shows it should be better, but this Seismic Slam build will go a long way above 70 for sure.
Most people do play season, personally within my clan, on my friends list or in the wider group of friends and friends of friends who play Diablo I don't know any of them who actively play non season, every single person that I have seen who played Diablo before seasons came out is now playing Diablo in seasons only.
I've run out of steam for season 4 now so I'm winding down my playing a lot, but it's the fresh start combined with new items and a big community push that gets me to come back all the time, and it's the same for the majority of players who come back in droves to play the new season.. By all accounts it has been a massive success for Blizzard in Diablo.
I'm not saying that people don't play non-seasonal anymore, but it's silly to think that non-seasonal is anywhere near as popular as Seasons.
I do it because when I used it on right click and had War Cry/Threatening Shout on left click it was causing issues where the character could sometimes not use entrances, like for example to go down to the next level inside a greater rift. It's a strange bug too since it's not something that happens at all entrances, it's just like it chooses a specific one that won't work and that will never work, while every other will work fine.
Sometimes bugs out with the stash too, other times not. Only time I need to do that though is with Bul Kathos + Wastes build, other builds I have WW on right click, since you dont need to shift or force move for it to work.
Perma ban seems extreme, but also you should have had a temp ban (perhaps until next season?) + season leaderboard records wiped. In any case I'm not sure what you expected, you made use of an exploit that unfairly gave you a considerable competitive advantage against others..
When some of these people banned are the kind who invest massive time into Diablo 3 (to find and be willing to exploit a bug for competitive gain, sure seems like you're pretty invested), Blizzard are likely to believe you will buy another copy. It's win win for Blizz, they make an example of cheaters to show they mean business, whilst also making money from all the banned players who will simply buy the game again.
How long to get you back to the same place gear wise? A week, probably.
The butcher is a great boss because you can stand in the pool of fire he puts down and it will feed you Fury. It's a problem for everyone, it's just one you have to manage. Don't forget that most of your damage is done by rend, your whirlwind is comparitively low damage filler.
Why not go 6IK + 2 Wastes, run Furnace/Lamentation (2 rend stacks)/Convention of Elements in the cube and then play Rend + Charge/Whirlwind. It's a much stronger build than Hota for soloing anyway due to superior AOE damage and better survival.
HOTA is only really best in groups due to group synergy, the big crits are used to set off exploding palm (thus taking care of the AOE damage requirements) while the single target takes care of the rift guardian.. Survival not being an issue because you would run with a healing monk.
HOTA is just the ultimate group spec, both Rend (6 IK/2 Wastes) and WW (6 Waste + 2 BK) are stronger solo.
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I've been farming 75-76 rifts in group and 72 solo with a Seismic Slam Earth build, but I've stopped playing for quite a while now so not really had the chance to push with it. In a group the best you can do is debuff mobs/buff the group while being a medium source of both AOE/single target damage and very very high toughness.
It's not very high on damage though so you're never going to be pushing strong damage with it compared to other specs, Raekors while it can make the most of Vile Ward shoulders during AOE does way more damage. On Rift bosses I personally have seen over 150billion crits regularly with each Seismic Slam (and way over 200bil maximum), but that's during Convention of Elements, take into account that some other classes are doing multiple times more than that.
Seismic Slam is really similar to playing Blade of the Tribes and running Boulder Toss, I think SS is way more fun to play but it suffers the same lack of damage as you push into the high 70 or approaching 80 rifts.
http://www.diablofans.com/builds/72733-leapquake-slam-earth-seismic-slam
This is the build, I'd guess with ancient gear, extra stats added (consuming legendary gems) and a decent Paragon you could push past GR80 solo, but with the same effort you could push a lot higher with Raekor.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Bigbazz-2623/hero/71470023 - Thats my char, but I'm not really playing at the moment.
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I really dislike Raekor + IK charge, but for sure it has very impressive damage in large AOE packs and Earth (Boulder Toss or Seismic) cannot compete with that, on boss damage though Raekor isn't that impressive since Vile Ward is no longer in effect, nor do the Ancient Parthan Defenders have the same effect.
I'm doing a lot of rifts at the moment in a 3man group with an Impale Demon Hunter and Raekors Barb (I'm playing SS) and we're farming 75s pretty quickly, I'm at a situation where I can just stand on the spot and heal through almost everything, with only physical damage being scary (since esoteric does nothing), where as the Raekor Barb during the whole rift will only fight mobs until they are stun immune and then he will leave and find new stuff and leave me + DH to deal with it.
In solo the Raekors is still clearly the best spec because the damage on large packs is so much stronger than other builds, but the spec is still quite prone to death and it's such a clunky and situational spec to play, I just can't stand it. My Seismic Slam build will take me far enough, it will run out of steam in the early 80s though from lack of damage scaling, where Raekor will keep pushing on.
I've not played Boulder Toss (with Tribes Blade) enough to really compare, but SS seems in a similar place but while being far more about the spender than the generator, with SS the Earthquake/Avalance is more like a filler damage to activate Earthen Might so that you're at high Fury and full toughness (from Iron Impact + Band of Might) just before the fire element on COE comes up. My latest crit records are over 200bil on RG.
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No idea what you mean by "MOTE" and "LoN"
But I've been comfortable above 70 playing a Seismic Slam build with Earth set (focussing primarily on the damage of Seismic Slam).. My biggest crits vs rift guardians are over 160bil, and I'm slightly more towards area damage and survival (640mil toughness before Travellers Pledge) than full out damage (missing SS damage on helm). There are probably lots of unknown and unplayed builds out there that are comfortable above GR70.
It's above 80 where it will get tough, where only endless paragon levels will push you forward.
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I tried this only I went with Magefist gloves, I went with dual wield Oathkeeper + Burning Axe (extra 100% bonus) and used Bastions in the cube, I used Cindercoat and Aquila in the cube, Leorics could be the best helm but for damage output Andariels is by far the best. Gems I wasn't sure, but the Simplicity gem works pretty nice too.
Also not convinced Undisputed Champion is the best belt, since you can use the belt that throws daggers at the target on every attack, with how fast you're attacking and how much of a damage multiplyer you have it would be considerable damage.
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I find it hilarious how people compare using a Hud to using a hack that increases your paragon level by 1800 in 10 minutes. Hud is an overlay that shows basic information provided by the game and nothing more, the other is a genuine hack manipulating the game.
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I was like 680 Paragon playing Seismic Slam build with Earth set, did my 70 rift solo for the conquest and doing 74 comfortably in a 3man group with a charge barb + demon hunter (which is not a very optimal group setup at all). My gems are 75 now but were 70 when I did my 70 solo rift. FWIW my spec is not a popular or played spec, my gear is not optimised and I don't have the bonus stats you can get from consuming legendary gems..
So It's safe to say you can go pretty far with a lot of builds, without needing excessive paragons, high level gems or cookie cutter leaderboard builds. I can go above 80 solo with my build eventually if I'm fortunate to get ancient pieces and continue to level paragon.
If you play charge barb then you can go much further, no idea bout boulder toss + earth, tried it and didn't like it.. It's more popular than Seismic Slam, perhaps better.
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Not seen anyone else doing it but I'm playing Earth with Seismic Slam (Fire), just hit Para 600 and have already been doing 70 Rifts with a lot of lacking gear, no bonus str added via cube to any gear. I've not done my research and not even looked at any sites or played D3 at all since early S4 but I'm guessing the popularity of Raekor or Earth with Boulder toss shows it should be better, but this Seismic Slam build will go a long way above 70 for sure.
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Most people do play season, personally within my clan, on my friends list or in the wider group of friends and friends of friends who play Diablo I don't know any of them who actively play non season, every single person that I have seen who played Diablo before seasons came out is now playing Diablo in seasons only.
I've run out of steam for season 4 now so I'm winding down my playing a lot, but it's the fresh start combined with new items and a big community push that gets me to come back all the time, and it's the same for the majority of players who come back in droves to play the new season.. By all accounts it has been a massive success for Blizzard in Diablo.
I'm not saying that people don't play non-seasonal anymore, but it's silly to think that non-seasonal is anywhere near as popular as Seasons.
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I do it because when I used it on right click and had War Cry/Threatening Shout on left click it was causing issues where the character could sometimes not use entrances, like for example to go down to the next level inside a greater rift. It's a strange bug too since it's not something that happens at all entrances, it's just like it chooses a specific one that won't work and that will never work, while every other will work fine.
Sometimes bugs out with the stash too, other times not. Only time I need to do that though is with Bul Kathos + Wastes build, other builds I have WW on right click, since you dont need to shift or force move for it to work.
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Seasons are the only reason I still come to play, they are refreshing.
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Perma ban seems extreme, but also you should have had a temp ban (perhaps until next season?) + season leaderboard records wiped. In any case I'm not sure what you expected, you made use of an exploit that unfairly gave you a considerable competitive advantage against others..
When some of these people banned are the kind who invest massive time into Diablo 3 (to find and be willing to exploit a bug for competitive gain, sure seems like you're pretty invested), Blizzard are likely to believe you will buy another copy. It's win win for Blizz, they make an example of cheaters to show they mean business, whilst also making money from all the banned players who will simply buy the game again.
How long to get you back to the same place gear wise? A week, probably.
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The butcher is a great boss because you can stand in the pool of fire he puts down and it will feed you Fury. It's a problem for everyone, it's just one you have to manage. Don't forget that most of your damage is done by rend, your whirlwind is comparitively low damage filler.
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Why not go 6IK + 2 Wastes, run Furnace/Lamentation (2 rend stacks)/Convention of Elements in the cube and then play Rend + Charge/Whirlwind. It's a much stronger build than Hota for soloing anyway due to superior AOE damage and better survival.
HOTA is only really best in groups due to group synergy, the big crits are used to set off exploding palm (thus taking care of the AOE damage requirements) while the single target takes care of the rift guardian.. Survival not being an issue because you would run with a healing monk.
HOTA is just the ultimate group spec, both Rend (6 IK/2 Wastes) and WW (6 Waste + 2 BK) are stronger solo.