[Nemesis] HP EK Scion - Arctic Armor + EB + MoM - 5+ Auras

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hokieneer wrote:

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Halatza wrote:

Have you thought about moving 3 points around so that you can snag Inner Force ? Have you done the math on said increases ? With Alpha I would imagine that the 21% wouldn't be insignificant, especially coupled with your other aura buffs. Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm wrong. Get back to me.

IF also "buffs" (increases) the mana drain rate of Arctic Armour. So it really depends on if you get enough mana and mana regen on gear and what combinations of auras you want to run.

As a personal anecdote, I haven't found the increased mana degen from Inner Force to be an issue at all. Yes, it's a bad tradeoff when it comes to the maths. You pay nearly +2 gem levels more in mana degen for only about +1 level in increased damage reduction. But, mana regen is such a crazy abundant cheap stat that I've never come close to not being able to afford a buffed AA. And this is all with crappy self-found or 1-2 chaos per ring/amulet purchases.

For me, the benefits of Inner Force far outweigh the mediocre impact on mana regen. +21% (24% with Holy Strength) to all of your auras + AAs damage reduction at the cost of maintaining some additional mana regen from gear? Sold.

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skrillexmaus wrote:

Hmm im still really having a lot of trouble with mana management and the only skill i ever use is MS/PW/EK. Is there any single target skills that I can incorporate into this build? I also can only run 1 aura idk why. I have ML going to my hatred both are high levels of course. Is it because I am not using an ES chest?

At 59 I can now run Grace + Purity + Clarity(9) + a low level AA (7 or so) + 3-link EK + some curses + bear trap. I don't any ML either. Around ~1100 mana with EB. I am getting an estimated 170 base ES from gear

Also I think I partied with you some this weekend, either in Catacombs or Ledge.

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xythian wrote:

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hokieneer wrote:

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Halatza wrote:

Have you thought about moving 3 points around so that you can snag Inner Force ? Have you done the math on said increases ? With Alpha I would imagine that the 21% wouldn't be insignificant, especially coupled with your other aura buffs. Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm wrong. Get back to me.

IF also "buffs" (increases) the mana drain rate of Arctic Armour. So it really depends on if you get enough mana and mana regen on gear and what combinations of auras you want to run.

As a personal anecdote, I haven't found the increased mana degen from Inner Force to be an issue at all. Yes, it's a bad tradeoff when it comes to the maths. You pay nearly +2 gem levels more in mana degen for only about +1 level in increased damage reduction. But, mana regen is such a crazy abundant cheap stat that I've never come close to not being able to afford a buffed AA. And this is all with crappy self-found or 1-2 chaos per ring/amulet purchases.

For me, the benefits of Inner Force far outweigh the mediocre impact on mana regen. +21% (24% with Holy Strength) to all of your auras + AAs damage reduction at the cost of maintaining some additional mana regen from gear? Sold.

Sounds awesome. Will keep that in mind as I level up. I have no issues with taking Inner Force if it helps that much.

Sorry for lack of updates lately guys. I mostly play this character with my buddies from work and one of them has been crazy busy lately. Hoping to get on with them and crush through Merciless soon here.

So I've been running this build, not exactly verbatim from the guide, but pretty close in terms of skills / abilities. I keep running into gear based issues of mana reliance. EK with a 5l setup as you described isn't really cheap.

I'm somewhere at around 5k DPS with EK, it's using 86 mana / toss, using roughly 2.1 tosses / sec. That works out to 180.6 mana /sec + AA at level 16 = 29.5 mana / sec = 210.1 mana / second. Right now I'm running with a HUGE amount of mana regen (I'm only missing it on my spirit shield) and I'm only at about 192 mana / sec of regen. I can easily offset the mana loss by casting slightly slower, but I am running at a minor deficit. Perhaps more importantly, my available mana pool is at about ~250 due to all the mana reservation from auras. I'm running with Clarity / Haste / Hatred at the moment. I am missing quite a few reduction nodes that I hope to get in the next 15-20 levels.

That said my life / mana totals are a little bit low for the moment. For level 67 I'm at 2725 life, 1100 mana. But with AA + Lightning Coil I take almost no damage from normal sources. On average in lower level maps I don't ever drop below 2000 except MAYBE on bosses.

Great build so far, with about ~20 more skill points I think it will really come into it's own.

My skill gems are a bit different than yours, I focused a bit more on survivability, using a decoy totem over rejuv (since it dies so fast) Cast On Damage Taken has been set aside, since it's been nerfed so hard. Other than that, EK is set up similar to your guidelines.

Update OP with level 62 information. Things are progressing pretty easily. Nothing really threatens me very much at this point and I clear pretty quick solo. I will be taking the last of the mana reservation nodes next (1 point) then going for EB and hopefully picking up a 5L sometime soon here as well. I am able to run a level 8 AA, I would recommend running it at one level below what you can actually sustain though so you can still regen at a decent speed when kiting.

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Dmillz wrote:

Update OP with level 62 information. Things are progressing pretty easily. Nothing really threatens me very much at this point and I clear pretty quick solo. I will be taking the last of the mana reservation nodes next (1 point) then going for EB and hopefully picking up a 5L sometime soon here as well. I am able to run a level 8 AA, I would recommend running it at one level below what you can actually sustain though so you can still regen at a decent speed when kiting.

If you haven't used AA before, you're in for a real treat when you can finally sustain 10+ and then 15+. It feels like such huge upgrades to survivability at those levels.

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demonskye wrote:

Right now I'm running with a HUGE amount of mana regen (I'm only missing it on my spirit shield) and I'm only at about 192 mana / sec of regen.

I'm curious as to your definition of a "HUGE" amount of regen. I feel like I'm running a moderate amount of regen and have not had any problems maintaining EK or lvl 15 AA.

At level 71 with:

* 80% regen from passives.
* 179% regen from gear.
* Clarity 15 + Inner Force + Holy Strength.
* 1576 max mana (EB, but no MoM).

I'm at 261 mana/sec and my gear is pretty terrible. Almost entirely self-found with 1-2 chaos per jewelry to get more mana regen. My mana regen would be ~231 without Inner Force and Holy Strength.

To be fair, my EK is only 4L so it's super cheap. But, my AA is quite expensive (~220 mana/sec while moving) with the buffed degen from IF and HS.

Does this build work OK for a first/second character nemesis player?

I've always wanted to use EK as a main source of damage, just not sure if the defenses of this build(mid to end game) are too complicated for a new player? I'm sure I'll quickly get the hang of it if I just try out anyways and stick to the guide :)

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Immortxlz wrote:

Does this build work OK for a first/second character nemesis player?

I've always wanted to use EK as a main source of damage, just not sure if the defenses of this build(mid to end game) are too complicated for a new player? I'm sure I'll quickly get the hang of it if I just try out anyways and stick to the guide :)

Absolutely. This was created to be used as a first character on Nemesis league. It is extremely cheap to be effective with and very easy to play. The defensive sound complex, but really you just turn on your auras and go. The only things you really need to keep track of is making sure you use your curses on enemies, and keeping your enduring cry up.