Wave 30 Simulacrum Complete - Feedback and tips

Done without mageblood, headhunter, or any of the "chase items", though my gear on this particular build is excessive. All in all, this "aspirational content" is mostly more of the same, except there is a lot more pigeonholing of your build in the later stages. I'll explain.

1)Not quite different at all from other content.
Spoiler
Simulacrum, like the rest of the game, still rewards extreme damage over all else. In waves, after 23 or so, it will try to throw things in the way like randomly boosting the resist or physical damage reduction by 55%+ on the mobs, while simultaneously throwing in several layers of extra damage as X element along with resistance penetration and physical damage overwhelm. This means if your damage source (in my case damage over time) is unable to rock penetration, it's going to make for a bad time when it rolls your damage type unless you're extremely tanky.

There still exists the problems of large packs with aura stacking on enemies capable of chunking you extremely fast.

2)Ramp-up damage builds are at a severe disadvantage if not extremely tanky.
Spoiler
This means things like Dominating Blow, certain poison builds, possibly indigon builds will struggle heavily due to the aura stacking nature of mobs and the affixes. Any mob explosion component (Herald of Ash, Herald of Ice, Asenath's Gentle Touch, Infernal Cry) will definitely become a necessary component of your build for the content.

3)Depending on your build, success for wave 30 is heavily RNG dependent on the map you get.
Spoiler
If you get the Act 7 Bridge Encampment, and you're not one of those uber upfront damage builds, you will likely fail as there's no place to adequately kite. Although this map only has 1 boss in waves, you still have to bear nearly the full brunt of spawning waves with no room to maneuver. Any of the big town maps are the best as they allow room for dodging, kiting, and separation and isolation of Kosis and Omniphobia on the last waves. I completed mine on Highgate.

4)Chaos Resist cap is 100% necessary, Immortal Call is worthless as a guard skill here.
Spoiler
Enemies will routinely have % of phys gained as extra chaos damage in tandem with chaos penetration. This renders a CWDT+Immortal call defense setup absolutely dead as that guard will do nothing. I personally had to make the swap to Molten Shell myself after I failed my first attempt at wave 28 from only having 6% chaos resist.

5)The new elemental ailments (Sap, Brittle, Scorch) are devastating for people taking the tank approach.
Spoiler
You'll need one of these (or stack em if your build can fit it).
1) Elemental damage taken conversion from Tempered by War or Divine Flesh to mitigate the end-effect of ailments. This isn't exactly as effective in the later waves as all damage will contribute to the ailment as it's listed as "monsters inflict sap/brittle/scorch" on hit. The defensive option itself is still good.
2) Purity of Elements or 100% elemental ailment avoidance (the general kind, not specific ailments) to not be affected. This may involve rolling with a rank 4 enlighten and more mana reservation to fit it in, or dropping a damage aura.
3)Otherwise, you'll need overcapped elemental resists by 30-40% to mitigate scorch, 100% reduction of crit damage to mitigate brittle, and have to just suffer through sap reducing your damage.


And, while it's mostly been the same, there was something of a semblance of combat in the last waves, but that was mostly due to the tanky nature of my build. Indeed, as this isn't a huge damage build, the last waves involved clearing a corner of the arena, then slowly kiting mobs bit by bit to that area, then doing the same to kosis/omniphobia. I will admit that this actual technical approach to successful combat was a nice change of pace.

And, on a final note, Divergent Frost Shield and Inquisitor is a huge defensive combo that's likely underappreciated by many. Though it locks you in a specific location, and prone to getting bursted if you mistime its application before big damage comes out, these opportunity costs are offset by what is almost a 100% uptime Vaal Molten Shell without the damage. The only downside is such tankiness can lead to overconfidence which can end up getting you killed by damage that not only shatters it, but also your defensives (molten shell) and ends your life.
Last edited by Tsokushin#2435 on Nov 15, 2021, 6:23:34 AM
Last bumped on Aug 5, 2024, 6:52:53 AM
Thanks for the tips, even if I likely won’t aim for this content, myself.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfSWYPXd9prVxf5v_DoqtIQ
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Good read, thanks for the tips.
https://pobb.in/Ii9UqlwAl2aK

Any tips for me to gain dps, I want to save up for a 3 abyss socket Shroud but they are expensive, they go up in price several divines per day, now 17 div for one.

I want to get a better weapon, something with more ele dmg and penetration. And if I manage to get more levels I want to get a prismatic jewel for zealotry, ele pen.

But I am only sitting at 4 million dps, feels pretty low and tier 16 delirium maps take quite a while for me to clear, and the beyond bosses takes several minutes each.
Lol. I can't even.

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