Diablo III:3 Kanai Fix It?

[Psyren]

If you're going to Empower every GR, do the minimum possible to still have 100% chance of upping that gem whenever you hit the button. This would be GR {gem level + 13} = 100% chance on all 4 level-ups at minimum cost. If you do the highest GR you can every time, you will burn through that gold quickly.

Of course, once your gems get high enough, you'll have to make do with a less than 100% chance as you'll start hitting the progression ceiling.

[Icewraith]

If you're going to Empower every GR, do the minimum possible to still have 100% chance of upping that gem whenever you hit the button. This would be GR {gem level + 13} = 100% chance on all 4 level-ups at minimum cost. If you do the highest GR you can every time, you will burn through that gold quickly.

Of course, once your gems get high enough, you'll have to make do with a less than 100% chance as you'll start hitting the progression ceiling.

Psssh, I'm at like half a billion gold between Puzzle Ring drops and Boon of the Hoarder. Granted, Boon to 25 is IIRC the first gem I level every season, then I farm out more GR tokens wearing it. It's also handy for doing the Boss Mode Conquest.

A true permachannel build could drop Punish for something else. Probably the biggest argument against that is the build should still have SOME way to get Hatred in case of the unexpected. Also I don't know what I'd put in the slot, since compared to the Natalya strafe build it already gains an active skill slot by dropping RoV.

The spreading Marked for Death seems like it would be a good choice. It won't pop up on everything like Calamity, but it'll spread and (probably) only needs to be applied once at the start of any particular fight.
If only we got a second weapon slot for the cube...

[Psyren]

Psssh, I'm at like half a billion gold between Puzzle Ring drops and Boon of the Hoarder. Granted, Boon to 25 is IIRC the first gem I level every season, then I farm out more GR tokens wearing it. It's also handy for doing the Boss Mode Conquest.

I was talking to Krazz there, not you. If you're farming 75 you hardly need my GR/gem advice

A true permachannel build could drop Punish for something else. Probably the biggest argument against that is the build should still have SOME way to get Hatred in case of the unexpected. Also I don't know what I'd put in the slot, since compared to the Natalya strafe build it already gains an active skill slot by dropping RoV.

The spreading Marked for Death seems like it would be a good choice. It won't pop up on everything like Calamity, but it'll spread and (probably) only needs to be applied once at the start of any particular fight.
If only we got a second weapon slot for the cube...

I don't see a good reason to drop RoV though, and nothing that really leaps out at me as a Calamity replacement either. Balefire is comparable damage if you're alone (assuming all fire skills of course), but in a group situation Calamity beats it easily.

RoV continues ticking on foes while you strafe, which is the kind of ability you want. Most of the other stuff that does that, like Sentry and Spike Trap, require other things like quivers to be any good that a LoN strafer would have no room for. Maybe FoK with a Greenstone in the cube?

[Icewraith]

I was talking to Krazz there, not you. If you're farming 75 you hardly need my GR/gem advice



I don't see a good reason to drop RoV though, and nothing that really leaps out at me as a Calamity replacement either. Balefire is comparable damage if you're alone (assuming all fire skills of course), but in a group situation Calamity beats it easily.

RoV continues ticking on foes while you strafe, which is the kind of ability you want. Most of the other stuff that does that, like Sentry and Spike Trap, require other things like quivers to be any good that a LoN strafer would have no room for. Maybe FoK with a Greenstone in the cube?

I'm saying boon of the hoarder early is how I built up to my current gold reserve. And empowered 95% of my GRs.

FoK with Greenstone in the cube is the current LoN meta build. You have to drop one of the crossbows for Dawn, which then lends itself to the Fortress Ballista + Shu Mizu combo that focuses on FoK + CoE to do all the heavy listing.

Edit: I'm not "farming" gr 75. I beat it once, found a boss mode group, and went to bed.

[Lord Torath]

Well, I've got my HC wizard back up to level 70, with 105 paragon levels (only 6 paragons earned with this character), but I'm still struggling on Torment 1. I'm wearing the level 70 Demon Skin set and the level 70 Cain set (+50% to magic find) to hopefully get some "real" sets.

[Psyren]

I'm now on the Destroyer chapter! As far as my first conquest, I have no idea what to go with though. Probably Years of War, since accumulating the sets I need for that will also set me up for Masters of the Universe. And then I'll do Curses! with my boyfriend once he's back from thanksgiving.

FoK with Greenstone in the cube is the current LoN meta build.

Ha! That was a total shot in the dark on my part, didn't even look it up. Makes sense though.

[Istarial]

I'm now on the Destroyer chapter! As far as my first conquest, I have no idea what to go with though. Probably Years of War, since accumulating the sets I need for that will also set me up for Masters of the Universe. And then I'll do Curses! with my boyfriend once he's back from thanksgiving.



Ha! That was a total shot in the dark on my part, didn't even look it up. Makes sense though.

Boss mode can actually be easier than you might think, depending on your build. I tried it solo to see how much time i'd need to take off it by being in a group... and succeeded at it first time. (Manjuma's is SO fast.) Doing it with no group is obviously not going to be easy for most builds, but with a group...

[Lord Torath]

I got Tal Rasha's Amulet, but I need a socket. What should I replace?
+67-137 Damage
+724 Intelligence
+681 Vitality
Critical Hit Damage increased by 68%
(also has +150 Cold Resistance, and +74% extra gold from monsters, but I can't get a socket in those slots)

Each of the four options has 15 possibilities, so presumably they are all equally likely to get me a socket.

Edit: Also, does frozen count as "stunned" for the purposes of Ancient Parthan Defenders?

[Derjuin]

I got Tal Rasha's Amulet, but I need a socket. What should I replace?
+67-137 Damage
+724 Intelligence
+681 Vitality
Critical Hit Damage increased by 68%
(also has +150 Cold Resistance, and +74% extra gold from monsters, but I can't get a socket in those slots)

Each of the four options has 15 possibilities, so presumably they are all equally likely to get me a socket.

Edit: Also, does frozen count as "stunned" for the purposes of Ancient Parthan Defenders?

I would recommend rerolling the Vit into a socket - and for APD, Frozen does indeed count. It (was, might still be) the BIS bracers for the FC Barbarian, who spams freeze moves to get the DR% off it.

[Psyren]

Ditto, reroll the vitality. You have other slots that likely won't have offensive stats (belt and pants, possibly boots) so those can carry you defense-wise, letting you go all offense on the slots like amulet, rings, weapon, and bracer.

It (was, might still be) the BIS bracers for the FC Barbarian, who spams freeze moves to get the DR% off it.

It is, though Skular's Salvation is a good alternative for Raekor builds.

[Icewraith]

I've spent I don't know how many shards and at least five reforges and still no Ancient UE shoulders.

I also don't have Ancient pants, but my non-season has Ancient pants, so I've been giving shoulders priority. I've got a bunch of Mantle of Channeling and Marauder shoulders, but no UE (and also no Shadow) Ancient shoulders.

[Lord Torath]

I just completed a lvl 23 GR (with 3 pieces of Tal Rasha, two of lvl 70 Cain, two of lvl 70 Archild(spelling), and the Ring of Royal Grandeur), the level that killed my last character. My Ease of Use gem is now rank 24 (and a 2nd one at rank 4). Soooo close. I've burned about 15 Forgotten Soul and Imperial Rubies, but still no socket in my amulet. I'm currently using rank 10 Bane of the Trapped and Wildebeast's Gizzard.

So are there any wizard builds that don't use Archon Form? It's not that it's not powerful, but I just don't like it. My favorite is the Etched Sigil, Lightning(Chain or Forked), Disintegrate(Convergence), Blizzard(Frozen Solid), Hydra(Arcane), Storm Armor(Power of the Storm), and Meteor(Swarm).

[Psyren]

So are there any wizard builds that don't use Archon Form? It's not that it's not powerful, but I just don't like it. My favorite is the Etched Sigil, Lightning(Chain or Forked), Disintegrate(Convergence), Blizzard(Frozen Solid), Hydra(Arcane), Storm Armor(Power of the Storm), and Meteor(Swarm).

Literally all of them except Vyr's set Without having all the Archon runes and the hidden extra set pieces like Swami/Fazula/Chantodo, Archon just lacks the offense, defense and escape tools needed to be viable even on middling Torment levels. So if you're not using Vyr's set, the general rule of thumb is not to bother with Archon at all.

For your own preferred build loadout, Firebirds would fit well - Etched Sigil + Disintegrate will easily get you the "three-skills-ignite" buff. You should also aim to get your hands on [url=http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/hergbrashs-binding]this belt[/quote], which will make your Disintegrate so cheap that you can actually drop that primary skill. It'll also mean that you can get rid of Power of the Storm (you won't have AP troubles anymore) letting you bolster your defenses with Energy Armor or Ice Armor instead. Being on Hardcore, you can't afford to go without a defensive armor skill, not if you want to make progress at a decent rate. (Trying to level legendary gems to 25 in GR 23 is a pretty slow process as you're no doubt discovering.)

[Lord Torath]

Most of the Icy-Veins (www.icy-veins.com) wizard builds still have Archon Form as one of the skills. Okay, that might not be strictly true, but it felt that way when I was checking them out.

Power of the Storm triggers Lightning Meteors for me, every 8 seconds, and the Ancient Wand I'm currently using increases lighting damage for every 10 yards between me and the target, so I'd like to keep it (I'm currently doing +56% extra fire damage, so my Electrocute gets the fire [Forked Lightning] rune). Stopping enemies cold with my Blizzard (and also calling down Ice Meteors) is REALLY useful, otherwise I'd love to have the apocalypse rune. My Arcane Hydra is also for calling down Tal Rasha meteors. I currently have an Ancient and regular Firebird Orb, but no other pieces of that set, otherwise BELIEVE that I would be wearing it (although it didn't save my last character). Still looking for a better weapon. Any suggestions on what I should keep an eye out for?

I should probably look into the Conflagration passive. I currently have Audacity, Elemental Exposure, Unstable Anomaly, and the one that's +20 Arcane Power and +2.5 per second (Astral Presence, I think?). If I find the right belt (and can move my Tal Rasha belt to a different location), I can probably change that last one.

In Kanai's Cube, I've got The Furnace, Cindercoat (makes disintegrate 30% cheaper, and currently my only other option is Leoric's Crown), and The Ring of Royal Grandeur. One of my actual rings is Rogar's Huge Stone, and the other is either Focus or Restraint, I don't remember which. They're my only legendary rings with sockets.

My wife's Demon Hunter just died at level 65, half a level from getting her "Escape Death" passive (Urzael jumped on her, and my warning to move was a second too late). Her previous Demon Hunter died at level 64 , and the one before that at level 62.

[Psyren]

Most of the Icy-Veins (www.icy-veins.com) wizard builds still have Archon Form as one of the skills. Okay, that might not be strictly true, but it felt that way when I was checking them out.

The only other one I see there is a Fire Archon Firebirds variant that uses Chantodos and Fazula. It's effective, but won't work with your preferred playstyle of Etched Sigil + Disintegrate. Delsere and Tal Rasha meanwhile don't use Archon at all.

Power of the Storm triggers Lightning Meteors for me, every 8 seconds, and the Ancient Wand I'm currently using increases lighting damage for every 10 yards between me and the target, so I'd like to keep it (I'm currently doing +56% extra fire damage, so my Electrocute gets the fire [Forked Lightning] rune).

But isn't your Disintegrate (Convergence) already fire? So if you put Electrocute back to being lightning, you won't need Storm Armor anymore.

I'm guessing you're using Tals due to the meteor references; instead of Arcane Hydra, most Tal builds use Teleport (Calamity) to call down the arcane meteor, giving them both an attack and escape in one skill.

Still looking for a better weapon. Any suggestions on what I should keep an eye out for?

I have several suggestions but I'm still a bit unclear on what your build is trying to do. If you want to use Archon, you'll want to aim for Chantodos as your weapon and orb, no exceptions (at least, if you plan to play above T7 or so.) If you don't want Archon, your options open up considerably, with Deathwish as the ideal but with a host of alternates ranging from Twisted Sword to Sunkeeper to Slorak's to Aether Walker etc. And if you want to drop Disintegrate as your primary attack method, they open up even further to include Wand of Woh, Starfire, Unstable Scepter etc.

I should probably look into the Conflagration passive. I currently have Audacity, Elemental Exposure, Unstable Anomaly, and the one that's +20 Arcane Power and +2.5 per second (Astral Presence, I think?). If I find the right belt (and can move my Tal Rasha belt to a different location), I can probably change that last one.

In Kanai's Cube, I've got The Furnace, Cindercoat (makes disintegrate 30% cheaper, and currently my only other option is Leoric's Crown), and The Ring of Royal Grandeur. One of my actual rings is Rogar's Huge Stone, and the other is either Focus or Restraint, I don't remember which. They're my only legendary rings with sockets.

Yes, if you get your hands on either Hergbrash or Shame of Delsere, you can drop the Astral Presence passive. Gambling belts should therefore be your biggest priority.

Concerning the cube, I had a question - do the contents of that stay intact when your hardcore character dies?

[Icewraith]

I just completed a lvl 23 GR (with 3 pieces of Tal Rasha, two of lvl 70 Cain, two of lvl 70 Archild(spelling), and the Ring of Royal Grandeur), the level that killed my last character. My Ease of Use gem is now rank 24 (and a 2nd one at rank 4). Soooo close. I've burned about 15 Forgotten Soul and Imperial Rubies, but still no socket in my amulet. I'm currently using rank 10 Bane of the Trapped and Wildebeast's Gizzard.

So are there any wizard builds that don't use Archon Form? It's not that it's not powerful, but I just don't like it. My favorite is the Etched Sigil, Lightning(Chain or Forked), Disintegrate(Convergence), Blizzard(Frozen Solid), Hydra(Arcane), Storm Armor(Power of the Storm), and Meteor(Swarm).

Why Cain instead of Sage's? 50% magic find isn't going to make that big a relative increase in drops unless you're running sub-Torment difficulties, whereas Sage's gives you breaths in T1 like you're in ~T9 and in T9 like you're in T13. Every 25 breaths is a guaranteed Legendary/Set drop of the equipment type of your choosing, including weapons and amulets.

[Lord Torath]

The only other one I see there is a Fire Archon Firebirds variant that uses Chantodos and Fazula. It's effective, but won't work with your preferred playstyle of Etched Sigil + Disintegrate. Delsere and Tal Rasha meanwhile don't use Archon at all.

But isn't your Disintegrate (Convergence) already fire? So if you put Electrocute back to being lightning, you won't need Storm Armor anymore.

I'm guessing you're using Tals due to the meteor references; instead of Arcane Hydra, most Tal builds use Teleport (Calamity) to call down the arcane meteor, giving them both an attack and escape in one skill.

I have several suggestions but I'm still a bit unclear on what your build is trying to do. If you want to use Archon, you'll want to aim for Chantodos as your weapon and orb, no exceptions (at least, if you plan to play above T7 or so.) If you don't want Archon, your options open up considerably, with Deathwish as the ideal but with a host of alternates ranging from Twisted Sword to Sunkeeper to Slorak's to Aether Walker etc. And if you want to drop Disintegrate as your primary attack method, they open up even further to include Wand of Woh, Starfire, Unstable Scepter etc.

Yes, if you get your hands on either Hergbrash or Shame of Delsere, you can drop the Astral Presence passive. Gambling belts should therefore be your biggest priority.

Concerning the cube, I had a question - do the contents of that stay intact when your hardcore character dies?

I'd like to avoid Archon form, at least for this character. I'm still collecting the parts for Vyr's set(currently have Boots, Gloves, and Ancient Gloves) in case I decide to run that way later, but for now I'll avoid it.

Teleport(Calamity), huh? I'll have to give that a look. Hydra has long been one of my favorites (her name is Luci), but Teleport can help me escape Otherwise Certain Death, which is somewhat important for Hardcore Characters. And Storm Armor was my guardian angel, striking down foes before they could approach. Excellent on Normal, less effective as you move up through the Torments.

My wand is an Ancient Starfire (pretty certain that's the name) with poor-to-middling stats (but still better than anything else I've got so far), and I just recently used my sole Ramaladni's Gift to give it a socket (and a Flawless Royal Emerald). Hopefully I'll get another Ramaladni for when I get a truly great weapon.

Regarding the Cube, yes, anything you've burned in survives your death. Your cache also survives, along with crafting upgrades, recipes, and transmorgs, but nothing your follower is equipped with comes back.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

My wizard build is a very nice Firebirds build.

Basically, my 'primary' is Disintegrate with the fire rune. I've got the bracers that lets it drop spenders on people while I channel it, and for that, I use Blizzard/Armageddon. Then I just stack a hell of a lot of fire damage.

I'd tried to do the Burst build, with the trio of bursts legendary item and the other one that does the bonus damage per creature hit with your burst, since it also does fire damage and is freakishly mobile (almost as mobile as the Chicken God), but I could never really quite get it together.

With my build, you aren't the most mobile wizard because you're channeling all over the place. However, it will sweep a room in very short order, has high damage against elite and bosses, and between Firebird's two-piece ability and the passive that gives you another 'get out of death' card, you have a very defensive build which has a lot of resistance against cheezy lag-death.

[Psyren]

Teleport(Calamity), huh? I'll have to give that a look. Hydra has long been one of my favorites (her name is Luci), but Teleport can help me escape Otherwise Certain Death, which is somewhat important for Hardcore Characters. And Storm Armor was my guardian angel, striking down foes before they could approach. Excellent on Normal, less effective as you move up through the Torments.

Indeed, and this is why I was asking what your planned endgame is. If you're just playing for fun, you can stick to T1-T6 and pretty much do any build you want. Your gems will take much longer to get to 25 but your risk of death and losing your progress will be low.

If however you're trying to get through the Hardcore Season Journey - even just to the stash space rather than the whole thing - you will be expected to have a kit capable of handling TXIII difficulty. Not only will this limit your choices in terms of gear, it will mandate certain skills like an escape and a Cheat Death passive to be in your build. Moreover, the season ends in January, so you don't have a lot of time - which means you'll need a build that doesn't play it too safe either.

My wand is an Ancient Starfire (pretty certain that's the name) with poor-to-middling stats (but still better than anything else I've got so far), and I just recently used my sole Ramaladni's Gift to give it a socket (and a Flawless Royal Emerald). Hopefully I'll get another Ramaladni for when I get a truly great weapon.

This wand is good for a mono-element lightning build that can keep it's distance from foes. Tals obviously... doesn't lend itself to either of those, making that wand suboptimal, but if you have nothing better yet and no other sets then it's a moot point.

Where that wand might be more useful is in a Delsere build with Unstable Scepter in the cube as the omni-runed Slow Time bubbles guarantee you'll be able to keep your distance. Personally though I would go with Gesture of Orpheus as the second wand instead.

I could see that Wand being handy in a LoN build with Mykken's Ball of Hate too. Hmmm...


EDIT for LoN Lightning Build: http://www.d3planner.com/402100570

[Lord Torath]

I would like to get the extra stash tab, but I figured I do that with my non-hardcore wizard - currently completed Chapters 1-4, and one after that. How far do I need to go for the extra tab?

[Istarial]

I would like to get the extra stash tab, but I figured I do that with my non-hardcore wizard - currently completed Chapters 1-4, and one after that. How far do I need to go for the extra tab?

https://d3resource.com/journey/

That far. As you can see, non-trivial.

[Lord Torath]

https://d3resource.com/journey/

That far. As you can see, non-trivial.

Huh. It was a lot easier in Season 4, when I got my last extra tab...

My non-hardcore seasonal wizard (sporting the Vyr's set) is currently on Torment 8.

[Psyren]

I just mastered all the Crusader Set Dungeons!!! Halfway to achieving that Conquest.

My bf had to help me with Rolands' - getting the objectives alone was easy, but I kept running out of time trying to find all the damn imps. Eventually I said screw it and had him strap on his newly-acquired Tal's set and just nuke his way through half of the dungeon while I methodically cleared the other half.

I might go back and solo it but damn, that was annoying.

[Lord Torath]

I just missed mastering Vyr's set dungeon last night. Three times in a row I killed the last monster about 8 seconds after time ran out. Having someone else help sounds like a great idea!

[Psyren]

I just missed mastering Vyr's set dungeon last night. Three times in a row I killed the last monster about 8 seconds after time ran out. Having someone else help sounds like a great idea!

It is! I helped him with Vyrs and he helped me with Rolands. We finished both with roughly a minute to spare. I've already proven I can complete all the objectives, I don't want to be at the whim of RNG to hopefully spawn monsters close by and where I can see them.

When you get an assist, the set dungeon gives you a little note in blue on the clear screen (saying "XYZ helped you" or something like that), but you still get all the same achievements, season progress and rewards (including the Mastery Pennant) so I couldn't care less if I get an asterisk in the Hall of Fame



I'm now 8/9 Destroyer and just need a Conquest to finally reach Conqueror, aka the Stash Tab tier. In addition to being halfway to Masters of the Universe, I'm also 2/3 of the way to Years of War (GR55 with Hammer and Thorns); as that one only needs 6 sets rather than 8, I'll probably end up defeating it first. We also check for Cursed Peat in every game for the "Curses!" conquest, but no luck yet

[Lord Torath]

My hardcore character now has 5 pieces of Tal Rasha's set, which, combined with the RoRG gives me the full set bonus. I'm now adventuring on Torment 6, and have completed a level 35 Greater Rift. And my Gem of Ease is now level 25 (I have a second at level 5), along with Bane of the Trapped, Stricken, and Boon of the Hoarder. And 200 levels of Paragon points. I've "fake died" a couple of times now, really making me appreciate Unstable Anomaly. Now I just need to get some Firebird Boots, and I'll have a second "cheat death" available.

Still using the Ancient Starfire, along with an Ancient Etched Sigil, so I'm still looking for a better weapon. A pair of Unity rings would be nice as well.

Cursed Peat? Is that like a cursed chest/shrine on Stormhollow Island?

[Psyren]

Congrats on set completion!

I would consider - at least, once you find a BIS wand for your planned build - using that Gem of Ease to strip the level requirement from your Ancient Starfire, stashing it, and then leveling a few more gems to replace the one you used. That wand would be fantastic for leveling.

Cursed Peat? Is that like a cursed chest/shrine on Stormhollow Island?

It's in Paths of the Drowned (i.e. that swamp outside of Adria's boss area.) It's highly irritating because of all the blood pools, hidden traps, and Boggans/Boggits swarming around.

[Lord Torath]

Yeah, still looking for a Best In Slot.

My wife has her Demon Hunter up to level 69 1/2, and finally has her Escape Death passive (gained at 66). Soooo close!

[Psyren]

After nights of struggle and build tweaking, I successfully completed GR55 with my 3rd Crusader set (Akkhan's), putting me halfway to Years Of War. I even used a build of my own creation to do it - a throwback to my past, the Fohadin! (Or "Fohsader" in this case, I guess.)

http://www.diablofans.com/builds/85108-fohsader-s8

Now I can shelve Akkhans for good (the set still needs work imo, even with the buffs it recently got it just feels weak) and refocus on my Monk to finish the other half of both Conquests.

[Lord Torath]

Congrats!

I'm currently running my hardcore wizard on Torment 7, and I've completed a level 35 Greater Rift. I now have two Ease of Use gems at level 25, and I'm out of Greater Rift stones. Unfortunately, my regeneration is pretty darn low, so I'm packing the Wildebeast's Gizzard in addition to Bane of the Trapped and Bane of the Stricken. And I just found my second The Furnace. First one is already in Kanai's cube.