[3.10 HC] Apep's Darkpact Totems are BACK (original build 3.1-3.3)

Re CWC skeletons:

Can do this, though skellies will come out a bit slower. Maybe worth experimenting.

Shaper down, image link: https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/854976708544908746/9E3C38A1FF0FE812C0099EFA8E7170A5887F3DC0/



So, the bad news is that I died again in hc, because I was careless. Ordinary T12 with extra damage, got in a bad situation surrounded, didn't log, rip one more char.

But the good news is that when I tried Shaper in SC using the new variation, it worked like I had hoped. Devotos and dream fragments did their job in keeping me mobile and allowing me to get good vortex placements, the extra dps made keeping Zana alive easy, the self cast wither was phenomenal in bringing Shaper down in a reasonable amount of time, and 10.5k EHP was plenty to tank one shot of anything but the slam, which is all one should reasonably need anyway. I was not perfect-- 2 deaths in the third phase due to pilot error (first two phases were perfectly clean and not particularly difficult). But the new variant could -farm- Shaper in SC and the new variant can definitely do Shaper in hc with more practice.

My conclusion after the fight is that the skellies are not really necessary--fun, but an extra complication I would rather replace with a good CWDT setup. I would scrap these and bring immortal call back into the build. They might work with wither>CWC>summon skellies>inc dur, though it's not clear whether this would be better than wither>faster casting>inc dur--a topic left for testing.

(edit--further testing suggests that optimal set up may actually be wither>CWC>temp chains>inc dur skipping skellies entirely. Additional note--I may reroll to test ideas one more time. Having played with it some in SC now, my impression is that the impact of the self cast wither is so strong that I may be able to revert to a tankier version of the build while still burning down the top level content with significant speed. This would be ideal if it works and is what I plan to attempt next.)

(edit post 3.1--MUCH more testing reveals that the skellies are actually super important. See FAQ 21 in original post and edit of recommended gem links in original post)

Anyway, Shaper down--ambition fulfilled!

-O

I'm having a blast with this build in the HC league. Currently level 83 - been using Tabula the whole time.

Just managed to 6L this in less than 50 fus. Guess I've been due a bit of luck, it's my first time 6L something myself and I've been playing since open beta!



Current gear is

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Orion72 wrote:

Re CWC skeletons:

Can do this, though skellies will come out a bit slower. Maybe worth experimenting.

I've been messing around with this. For bosses at least it really helps hold aggro coupled with decoy totem. I like it so far.

close to the end of act 7 i think. did my second ascendancy right when i finished the trial in the chamber of sin. been going pretty well. While in the lab before doing a trial i went back to grab a silver chest, dropped a ton of 13% quality skill gems including a dark pact. I've got it sitting in another random socket leveling it. Eventually i'll replace the dark pact i'm using with this higher quality one.

I have enough chaos now so i should maybe consider buying tabula but I think i'll not worry about it and sit on the 5 link/link an item that drop with the 6 sockets i need and focus on saving for apeps.

The more i play the faster and easier the clearing and the build becomes. The 4 totems are wonderful so far.

In which order to distribute the Ascendancy points?

gone to 15 lvl maps. good and simple, but not fast.

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Kojipen wrote:

In which order to distribute the Ascendancy points?

4 totems - first.

I am running this build in Hardcore harbringer right now. I started with like 20c budget (half of it went immediately into tabula rasa) and now i have insane gear. Its a really strong uber lab farmer, i curently have 5,6k life 1,5k es 2,6k mana. So arround 8k EHP. Argus is just free loot, 1 decoy totem 3 dark pact totems. Izaro is also super simple with decoy totem, and even if he crits you he cant oneshot you because of that immense effective lifepool. I also use the unique flask that gives you instant all life back, for the cost of a chaos damage degen. I recommend you TO NOT !!! QUALITY the flask because it makes the downside even larger.

To compensate the downside in first place i got 46% chaos resistance by the apeps wands, gear, and 1 jewell.

My other flasks are a mana flask with anti bleeding, a quicksilver flask with anti freez, and the last flask i am not decided on yet, but probably another quicksilver flask because this build just has to run all the time. Flame dash is just not a good mobility skill.

And for everyone who is scared with tabula rasa: i used it till i had arround 20 uber runs and it did its job. You have so much effective healthpool, it doesnt matter if you use tabula.

I was also lucky with my helmet enchant. I got dark pact damage after my fourth uber run already which is ofc great :)

Thanks for the build, and if you have questions to me, feel free to ask. My ingame ID is HIEROPHANTDWEFW as its written in my profile here.

What about the idea of dual curse? Is it still participated? :D

Might switch back from my cyclone build to this here, because.. I kinda loved it (I just got slapped by argus a while back and tried another build - Now with currency in my stash I could go back and be even better than before - Still unsure about the dual-curse setup, if its worth the skillpoints)