Hey that sounds cool! Keep in mind that Wizardspike scales with Arcane Orb damage so if you can pick any up it'll be a nice boost in dps. The problem as I see it with Wizardspike is that it has to roll All Resist so unless you get perfect rolls everywhere else you can't get int/socket/%damage and roll up the elemental damage. Let me know how it goes
Yeah I'll add gear-swapping to the original post. Aughilds is a very strong set bonus and if you have better rolls it could be better than Strongarm. The reason Strongarm is better is that it's better to shore up weaknesses than drive home strengths while running this build. The build is insane against elites because most of the time you activate Archon and kill them almost instantly, therefore even though elite damage is good (particularly for rift guardians), gaining damage against whites is more important. The build's weakness is AoE so it's important to take steps to mitigate that, and Strongarms do a good job of making that improvement.
@Valzard87 I know it's really hard to wear jewelry but when you finally do get +Cold skills on your amulet it will be a huge boost. I noticed you're using MM-Conflag, I assume that's a logout mistake but make sure you're on Glacial Spike. You have really good gear so there's no easy fix. I would suggest trying Familiar-Sparkflint instead of comet. It reduces your AoE but it'll give you an extra Elemental Exposure and a lot of single target clearspeed for elites. Between Blackhole and Thunderfury you should be instagibbing whites for the most part anyways. It's worth it to sacrifice Aughild's for Strongarm Bracers. Consider gear-swapping to a different belt in zones without a lot of activations for your Harrington. You're missing crit on helm, it's better than CDR, especially if you have access to Trang'Oul
@Limdul Hey great question! There are absolutely times when you encounter 2 elite packs without Archon up and things get a little saucy, especially if they're waller or you can't find a Harrington activation. As it happens, the CC provided by Glacial Spike makes it very easy to kite until Black Hole is back up. Most elite packs go down to one Black Hole+Glacial spam, barring extra health or reflects which take a few extra shots. Strongarm Bracers are really that good, you just really have to make sure you're getting all of your damage in at all times.
@havoklimit I use my Thunderfury because it has a good proc roll and the AoE really makes up for Glacial Spike's lack of AoE on larger packs. The build definitely thrives when in Archon so I'd never fault anyone for valuing cooldown reduction but I've found when pushing high torment it's hard to find room for CDR and still survive/kill outside of Archon. I also gear-swap to Trang'Oulat health pools to drop the cooldown. I forgot to include gear swaps in this guide but that one is definitely valuable.
@hellfury My Thunderfury is 400dps and 50int better than any of my Shard of Hates so I haven't been able to make a good comparison. Because of this I've only run with Shard a couple of times but I'll do some more and get back to you after I compare times a little bit more.
@Kurta9100 I haven't given mirror image a shot over familiar but I'll try it out. Seems reasonably cool to me.
Hey Diablofans! I've been having a lot of fun crushing T5 (averaging <10 minute rifts) with this T6 viable (averaging 15-20 minute rifts) build. You can see my profile here and I'll explain the build piece by piece in this thread.
Introduction
If we're being honest with ourselves, fire is probably just the best element for most wizards. Getting access Magefist or Cindercoat with 3-piece Vyr+Ring of Royal Grandeur is extremely strong. In terms of raw damage, fire is going to yield the best result. That being said some of us have clocked 300+ hours in Reaper of Souls and haven't found a fire amulet (AHEM me), or really just want to try a different build. For a long time I ran arcane because of a decent Gesture of Orpheus and even though I was happy with it, eventually I was being outpaced by the group I run with. I limped into a fire build but after some experimenting it just didn't seem possible without a good Stone of Jordan or +Fire damage amulet. In my desperation I looked through my stash and discovered some good +cold damage and decided to give it a whirl. Two weeks and many rifts later, I love this build and want to get it out into the world.
This is a mandatory +2 Mirrorball build. If you don't have a good Mirrorball it's very difficult to be effective outside of archon. One of the problems with cold builds is that there is no good spender. I understand that frozen orb does reasonable damage, but after personal testing I think the AP cost is too high. Running Magic Missile with Mirrorball removes the problem of managing AP and creates space to use Black Hole.
As a side-note, the proc-coefficient of Glacial Spike is very high (.9*3) so it's well-suited for using a proc weapon (i.e. Thunderfury).
Black Hole brings a huge increase in damage and utility. Since the build uses only cold skills, Absolute Zero is the best rune choice because it also benefits from +Cold Damage and applies Cold Blooded. Black Hole also enables the build to use Strongarm Bracers very effectively because the displacement effect counts as a knockback.
This build is first and foremost a Vyr's Amazing Arcana 4-piece build. If you don't have the 4-piece set bonus, this build will not work. The rune doesn't actually matter since Vyr's Archon chooses which element to use based on your highest +Elemental damage stat; in this case, cold.
Sparkflint is a necessary buff to keep up with the massively increased enemy HP on high torment. The familiar attack also applies fire damage to your primary target for Elemental Exposure which is a reasonable damage increase against elites and rift guardians.
Similar to Sparkflint, Magic Weapon is just too strong of a buff to pass up. As a point of interest, Ignite and Electrify are both reasonable options for applying Elemental Exposure. I prefer to use my Thunderfury Proc for lightning and Sparkflint for fire, but I wouldn't fault anyone for using those runes when running in a group.
Energy armor is a necessary survivability increase for surviving high torment. Depending on gear variances it's user discretion for selecting Pinpoint Barrier or Prismatic Armor for the rune.
Provides a huge damage increase at all times. Experiment with spacing so you can always stay within 15 yards whether you're in Archon or not by watching how much damage you do. The freezing ability on Glacial Spike and the displacement on Black Hole can keep you safe while standing close to enemies.
Since Glacial Spike doesn't seem to apply this passive I use a weapon with cold damage to apply Cold Blooded. Even without the cold damage on weapon 10% damage seems too good to pass up since Black Hole and Archon both apply it.
Elemental Exposure is just fantastic for improving damage. There are a lot of creative ways to apply as many elements as possible but as long as you can get 2 or more it's probably good enough to use, especially in a group. Suggestions for applying as many exposures as possible:
Core element of the build. Without a good Mirrorball your damage outside of archon is too low for the build to be viable. If you don't have a mirrorball it's better to use Electrocute - Surge of Power + Arcane Orb - Frozen Orb for a cold build.
Archon is insanely strong but without the Vyr's set bonus it doesn't have enough utility to increase run speed in an impactful way. Some elites are too hard without Archon so it really is a necessary part of this cold build.
Having enough +Cold skills damage is the backbone of any build. If you can't break +50% skills damage in a given element it's usually better to switch elements until you can.
These items are absurdly powerful. Running 2 Unity with an invulnerable follower is actually just 50% reduced damage which makes surviving T6 much easier. Harrington's unique secondary triggers from any piece of the environment that opens like a chest, not just chests. This includes things like corpses, loose stones, and weapon racks. In areas like the Battlefields of Eternity this provides actual double damage for the entire rift.
Recommended Items by Slot
If you can't reproduce the gear exactly, no problem! You'll most likely have to reduce the torment level and see where you fit in, but any slot can be replaced if you have a reasonable alternative. Except Vyr. You have to have the full set of Vyr. Be aware that it's possible to work in a full Tal Rasha's Elements set if you have good enough rolls. I'd also like to mention that there are optimal stat rolls for each item but those rolls need to be high in order to run high torment. Additionally, if you use a Ring of Royal Grandeur it's very possible to get 2-piece Firebirds, which is fine but not ideal.
Neck: There are a lot of amulets with unique secondaries that are nice. If you find a good amulet with a nice secondary I recommend you use it. The main necklace stats you want are +Cold Skills Damage, Intelligence, Critical Hit Chance, and Critical Hit Damage. If you can't get an amulet with all of these, attack speed and average damage are okay.
I haven't tested every item on this list but I have a pretty good idea of how they would run. I have a feeling that combining Rimeheart, Winter Flurry, and Frostburn could have an explosive effect on clear speed but I don't have all of them so I can't test personally. It's also worth noting that even though I have all the correct pieces they aren't all enchanted perfectly, which means this build has a VERY high clear-speed cap. Please let me know what you think or if I left anything out, and good rifting!
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@havoklimit I use my Thunderfury because it has a good proc roll and the AoE really makes up for Glacial Spike's lack of AoE on larger packs. The build definitely thrives when in Archon so I'd never fault anyone for valuing cooldown reduction but I've found when pushing high torment it's hard to find room for CDR and still survive/kill outside of Archon. I also gear-swap to Trang'Oulat health pools to drop the cooldown. I forgot to include gear swaps in this guide but that one is definitely valuable.
@hellfury My Thunderfury is 400dps and 50int better than any of my Shard of Hates so I haven't been able to make a good comparison. Because of this I've only run with Shard a couple of times but I'll do some more and get back to you after I compare times a little bit more.
@Kurta9100 I haven't given mirror image a shot over familiar but I'll try it out. Seems reasonably cool to me.
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Hey Diablofans! I've been having a lot of fun crushing T5 (averaging <10 minute rifts) with this T6 viable (averaging 15-20 minute rifts) build. You can see my profile here and I'll explain the build piece by piece in this thread.
- Magic Missile - Glacial Spike
This is a mandatory +2 Mirrorball build. If you don't have a good Mirrorball it's very difficult to be effective outside of archon. One of the problems with cold builds is that there is no good spender. I understand that frozen orb does reasonable damage, but after personal testing I think the AP cost is too high. Running Magic Missile with Mirrorball removes the problem of managing AP and creates space to use Black Hole.As a side-note, the proc-coefficient of Glacial Spike is very high (.9*3) so it's well-suited for using a proc weapon (i.e. Thunderfury).
- Black Hole - Absolute Zero
Black Hole brings a huge increase in damage and utility. Since the build uses only cold skills, Absolute Zero is the best rune choice because it also benefits from +Cold Damage and applies Cold Blooded. Black Hole also enables the build to use Strongarm Bracers very effectively because the displacement effect counts as a knockback.- Archon - Slow Time
This build is first and foremost a Vyr's Amazing Arcana 4-piece build. If you don't have the 4-piece set bonus, this build will not work. The rune doesn't actually matter since Vyr's Archon chooses which element to use based on your highest +Elemental damage stat; in this case, cold.- Familiar - Sparkflint
Sparkflint is a necessary buff to keep up with the massively increased enemy HP on high torment. The familiar attack also applies fire damage to your primary target for Elemental Exposure which is a reasonable damage increase against elites and rift guardians.- Magic Weapon - Force Weapon
Similar to Sparkflint, Magic Weapon is just too strong of a buff to pass up. As a point of interest, Ignite and Electrify are both reasonable options for applying Elemental Exposure. I prefer to use my Thunderfury Proc for lightning and Sparkflint for fire, but I wouldn't fault anyone for using those runes when running in a group.- Energy Armor - Pinpoint Barrier
Energy armor is a necessary survivability increase for surviving high torment. Depending on gear variances it's user discretion for selecting Pinpoint Barrier or Prismatic Armor for the rune.Passives:
- Audacity
Provides a huge damage increase at all times. Experiment with spacing so you can always stay within 15 yards whether you're in Archon or not by watching how much damage you do. The freezing ability on Glacial Spike and the displacement on Black Hole can keep you safe while standing close to enemies.- Blur
Necessary survivability increase for high torment.- Cold Blooded
Since Glacial Spike doesn't seem to apply this passive I use a weapon with cold damage to apply Cold Blooded. Even without the cold damage on weapon 10% damage seems too good to pass up since Black Hole and Archon both apply it.- Elemental Exposure
Elemental Exposure is just fantastic for improving damage. There are a lot of creative ways to apply as many elements as possible but as long as you can get 2 or more it's probably good enough to use, especially in a group. Suggestions for applying as many exposures as possible:0
Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker
Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker