[3.18] Wallach's Siege Ballista Hierophant (Enjoy Consistent Character Balance)

Having some massive trouble with the switch since I had no space to level up the huge amount of gems needed, and now I cant kill anything (literally not even a white mob unless I go back to like act 2 which I cba) with siege ballista or go back to holyflame

funny way to end a league. Mostly my bad, but I dont see how you're supposed to level like 10 extra gems while running campaign. Or deal with extreme weakness of holyflame totem in maps

anyone wants an astramentis in delirium void league? Maybe you will have more luck than I had
Last edited by onceonce on Jan 1, 2022, 1:49:21 AM
Last Update on my optimized "only three rares" Version of this Build for dummys.

https://pastebin.com/TXjUEn1Z

This is honestly amazing damage, the best build I've ever played atleast, and easily doable with little investment
Last edited by Locomrpopo on Jan 1, 2022, 10:32:47 AM
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onceonce wrote:
Having some massive trouble with the switch since I had no space to level up the huge amount of gems needed, and now I cant kill anything (literally not even a white mob unless I go back to like act 2 which I cba) with siege ballista or go back to holyflame

funny way to end a league. Mostly my bad, but I dont see how you're supposed to level like 10 extra gems while running campaign. Or deal with extreme weakness of holyflame totem in maps

anyone wants an astramentis in delirium void league? Maybe you will have more luck than I had


I've tested this build in the atlas invasion league in anticipation of 3.17 where I plan to play it further. A tabula is all you need to get rolling I guess. Since tabulas are dropping like candy in the atlas invasion league it's easy to come by. Not sure how it is in the delirium league of course.

At first the DPS was quite low with the holy flame totems and so manual cast wave of conviction and purifying flame. It was a bit of a drag but pulled through until about level 40 when I did the first lab. I actually had all gems for the 3 skills in the tabula 6L as they mostly benefitted each other (like controlled destruction works for holy flame totem as well as wave of conviction.

Once I did the first lab and getting +1 totems the DPS increased a lot. Still not super but it was ok to go through the acts. When I was able to use the 4 required items I switched over and from there on out it was smooth levelling up to lvl80. Still rolling with the tabula and not even using Hyrri's Ire which would obviously be a huge boost in DPS. The rest of my gear is very basic and only spent a few chaos on it. White and early Yellow maps are easy when alch-and-Go-ing. I'll probably stop now at level 80 for the prize pool draw but in a new league I'd like to push the build further and see how far I can get.

I feared a bit for the totem play style though. In the distant past I tried incinerate totems and flame totems (before they were called holy flame) and remembered that after a while, the totem play style becomes a bit annoying. However, so far I kind of like the style. DPS looks good altough encountering the shaper e.g. in a T8 map is hard and DPS is very low on him. Not surprised though with my crappy gear so I am confident that in a new league it will do well. Just hoping the build will not be nerfed into the ground but don't think it's too crazy strong to risk that.
You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.
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JohnnyV76 wrote:
However, so far I kind of like the style. DPS looks good altough encountering the shaper e.g. in a T8 map is hard and DPS is very low on him. Not surprised though with my crappy gear so I am confident that in a new league it will do well. Just hoping the build will not be nerfed into the ground but don't think it's too crazy strong to risk that.


Are you swapping Hypothermia->Barrage for bosses? It makes a significant difference if you're not already blowing them up. The DPS gets nuttier the more you scale Dex -- I just did Maven/Uber Elder with somewhat jank rare rings/gloves in the Atlas Invasion event, so I'm confident in a proper league there will be much, *much* better support for DPS/dex scaling.
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Corzanth wrote:
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JohnnyV76 wrote:
However, so far I kind of like the style. DPS looks good altough encountering the shaper e.g. in a T8 map is hard and DPS is very low on him. Not surprised though with my crappy gear so I am confident that in a new league it will do well. Just hoping the build will not be nerfed into the ground but don't think it's too crazy strong to risk that.


Are you swapping Hypothermia->Barrage for bosses? It makes a significant difference if you're not already blowing them up. The DPS gets nuttier the more you scale Dex -- I just did Maven/Uber Elder with somewhat jank rare rings/gloves in the Atlas Invasion event, so I'm confident in a proper league there will be much, *much* better support for DPS/dex scaling.


Read it in the notes but didn't bother in the atlas invasion event. Like I said, my gear is dirt cheap and I didn't even try to stack dex etc. Really looking forward to playing this in the next league. The only real downside of the build is the limited range of placing the ballistas. Sometimes, in tricky situations you want to place the totems around a corner or a doorway and then you need to go close to place them. Other than that, this looks like fun. Also hope I can endure the totem playing style for a long time in a league :)
You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.
I just played a blighted map, putting down "turrets" and building defensive towers and suddenly I thought: "wait, what game am I playing" :-)

Btw, there is a very close knockback on crit notable "Adjacent Anomisity" which is just too much fun to be without even if it is a slight DPS decrease (note that the 40% increase damage is not shown in PoB). Nailing bosses to the wall ftw!

Knockbacks also increase survivability a little.
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onceonce wrote:


funny way to end a league. Mostly my bad, but I dont see how you're supposed to level like 10 extra gems while running campaign. Or deal with extreme weakness of holyflame totem in maps


Wait .. you have a several 90+ chars and don't know that you can level gems in your 2nd weapon set?
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daflipp wrote:
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onceonce wrote:


funny way to end a league. Mostly my bad, but I dont see how you're supposed to level like 10 extra gems while running campaign. Or deal with extreme weakness of holyflame totem in maps


Wait .. you have a several 90+ chars and don't know that you can level gems in your 2nd weapon set?


I think he means while levelling, when you don't have items with many sockets yet. Still, this build is pretty comfy with required sockets so it's still advised to socket the gems for the eventual ballista totems.
You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.
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JohnnyV76 wrote:
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daflipp wrote:
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onceonce wrote:


funny way to end a league. Mostly my bad, but I dont see how you're supposed to level like 10 extra gems while running campaign. Or deal with extreme weakness of holyflame totem in maps


Wait .. you have a several 90+ chars and don't know that you can level gems in your 2nd weapon set?


I think he means while levelling, when you don't have items with many sockets yet. Still, this build is pretty comfy with required sockets so it's still advised to socket the gems for the eventual ballista totems.


Look at his chars. Not one has extra weapons equipped.
E: I don't mean to make him look bad, it just suprises me :)
Last edited by daflipp on Jan 4, 2022, 1:14:17 PM
I don't know why, but I keep getting one-shotted despite 5.5k health, 80+ physical damage reduction, and 100% spell suppression. Time and again, I run around placing my totems and killing everything, without taking any damage, and then suddenly RIP without even knowing what killed me.

I am only level 93 but the way it goes now I won't get to 94 unless I go back to easier maps and content.

POB if anyone is interested: https://pastebin.com/rVK6N2fb

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