[3.1] The Blinding Blizzard - Whispering Ice Berserker - Viable for Most Everything

I will try now myself a CI Marauder with this build:

Average: https://pastebin.com/9kDTjhYn
~6k ES

Highend: https://pastebin.com/dU5iXuTM
10-11k ES

What do you thing about these trees?
Dunno which aura i should add? Maybe curses again or some purity since im res starved?

The new Abyss Jewels are great with Flat Es and Int for offense and defense.

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ichbinwerichbi wrote:

Hi Kel

I saw you try the es version again. How does it works ?

Ever since hearing that VP works with ES leech again, I wanted to try CI again. So I tried it this weekend, and I'M LOVING IT! :)))

First, I tried it in Standard where I have some of the best Int+ES items in the game from the pre-nerf CI glory days. Everything was super easy with those items. Of course I can't have that in the new league. But PoB showed that even with cheap ES gear I would have more ES than I had life with Kaom's. And the damage would be higher because I could invest more points in Int.

So then I finally decided to try it in the Abyss league. The tree isn't very different, it took me about 30 regrets to change to the CI version (and 10 of those were to switch the Ascendancy from Cloaked in Savagery that doesn't work with CI to Rite of Ruin). Then I bought ES chest, gloves and boots and new rings - everything for 10-35c, so it all together cost less than 1/3 of the price of Kaom's.

Finally, after checking in PoB, I replaced Black Sun Crest with a ES helmet too. It's a straight trade of 1k tooltip damage for 1k ES. But I already have 12k tooltip! Survivability looks more important.

Now I'm having much more fun than with the Life version. Damn, I missed CI so much! Never having to worry about chaos damage, recharging ES, using all-utility flasks that don't stop working early, and enough sockets for all the links I wanted to use - it's just awesome.

I'll add the CI version to the guide. For now here's the PoB snapshot of my character that can also be seen in my profile.

Damn, that sounds so good, and if we would throw Discipline Watcher's Eye es onhit (which ignores leech/per sec cap) onto this... Holy, this should be broken AF.

"

Palmoleum wrote:

Should I have talented Vaal Pact if I'm doing Endgame Lab? How do I deal with traps?

See the Boss Guide.

Life version: run fast with Quicksilver and pop life flasks when you take any damage.

CI version: run fast with Quicksilver and stop to recharge ES when needed.

"

ViralTrip wrote:

having trouble with survival when opening abysses. occasionally just get popped immediately. running at around 3.9k hp with 1.8k es. I suspect it's due to not having enough int (1.3k) but I'm not sure. Any tips? probably around t7-9 maps

4k Life should be Ok for T7-9 maps. With the CI version you can get significantly more ES, that helps too.

Fortify via Vigilant Strike, use Basalt flask, use Spell Cascade to hit more spawns easier. Dodge the exploding green stuff that the Abyss mobs sometimes pop on you.

"

Just tried t12 with no leech life/mana mod/vulnerability curse (though I do use anticurse flask) and it's not even very noticeble with new jewel. Still pretty much instant full hp leech. :D

Which new jewel? I assume you are talking about Watcher's Eye, then what mods do you have on it?

"

Kelvynn wrote:

"

Just tried t12 with no leech life/mana mod/vulnerability curse (though I do use anticurse flask) and it's not even very noticeble with new jewel. Still pretty much instant full hp leech. :D

Which new jewel? I assume you are talking about Watcher's Eye, then what mods do you have on it?

This one, there's identical for Discipline, which gives ES, though it's much more expensive. Yes, it works with icestorm, notice it's not specified as with attacks like in other instances of on-hit gains.

New video: CI version gameplay

CI is back! Tons more fun than Life, and all that for a fraction of Kaom's price. I haven't even looked for decent ES gear that costs 1 ex or more yet. If I don't find any drawbacks in the next couple of days, I'll sell my Kaom's and buy some nice stuff for CI.

And thank you whoever mentioned that VP works with ES leech again! I missed the first month of the league and didn't know that they un-nerfed it.

"

"

Kelvynn wrote:

"

Just tried t12 with no leech life/mana mod/vulnerability curse (though I do use anticurse flask) and it's not even very noticeble with new jewel. Still pretty much instant full hp leech. :D

Which new jewel? I assume you are talking about Watcher's Eye, then what mods do you have on it?

This one, there's identical for Discipline, which gives ES, though it's much more expensive. Yes, it works with icestorm, notice it's not specified as with attacks like in other instances of on-hit gains.

Are you sure this works for each of YOUR hits on the enemy, as opposed to for each time the ENEMY hits YOU?

"

Yuzlol wrote:

I will try now myself a CI Marauder with this build:

Average: https://pastebin.com/9kDTjhYn
~6k ES

Highend: https://pastebin.com/dU5iXuTM
10-11k ES

What do you thing about these trees?
Dunno which aura i should add? Maybe curses again or some purity since im res starved?

The new Abyss Jewels are great with Flat Es and Int for offense and defense.

The Highend link is not working. The tree for the Average link would make it almost impossible to max resists.

Abyss jewels are decent for adding flat ES, but if you don't want to lose too much damage you need 4-mod ones. For example, this one gave me about 200 ES and lose about 200 tooltip damage:

and there were only 3 similar ones for sale. It's not a huge bonus and will be hard to find.

Don't forget that watcher eye have really expensive mod that give you ES up to 20% of your mana.

It's one of the most broken item for the ES builds.