Curse

Mickey · Mar 18, 2008, 04:04 AM // 04:04

So, I came up with an interesting build to use in Destroyer Dungeons, and Fire-Elemental heavy dungeons, as well as regular PvE.

[skill]shock arrow[/skill][skill]enervating charge[/skill][skill]lightning orb[/skill][skill]blinding surge[/skill][skill]auspicious incantation[/skill][skill]lightning hammer[/skill][skill]Air Attunement[/skill][skill]resurrection signet[/skill]

Any comments? Anything I should change? I have been trying to fit Ebon Vanguard Assassin in there, but I don't know what I should take out.

Div · Mar 18, 2008, 04:41 AM // 04:41

Pretty nice build. Alternatively, you can take out auspicious for gole and be able to take deathpact. It'll net you slightly less energy than auspicious in the long run (if fights happen to take a few minutes...) but you get more in energy storage (for more total energy) and get a better rez in return. That way you can drop lightning hammer altogether for a better PvE skill.

Shock arrow is another one you can drop since you should have enough energy for the most part between glyph and attunement. If you feel the need for another slot for another PvE skill, this would be a good one to drop.

cellardweller · Mar 18, 2008, 05:04 AM // 05:04

With the prevelence of enfeebling blood and the comparitive rarity of weaken armour, I'd consider shellshock a better option than enervating.

The other energy management option you might want to consider instead of Auspicious/Hammer/Shockarrow is signet of corruption - this baby will give you elite level energy returns in addition to middling damage and will free up 2 slots for pve skills (I'd recommend powering out ebon standards - they're severely underrrated)

Shyft the Pyro · Mar 18, 2008, 05:13 AM // 05:13

I've been thinking along the same lines ever since the buffs/changes to Necro skills made condition use more attractive. Since I already pack a BHA ranger hero with Epidemic most of the time, it occurred to me that condition-inflicting Elementalist skills could synergize better than pure damage, especially when pure damage just didn't cut it in terms of preventing enemy damage.

To this end, I tried the following:

[skill]Shock Arrow[/skill][skill]Enervating Charge[/skill][skill]Lightning Orb[/skill][skill]Shell Shock[/skill][skill]Blinding Surge[/skill][skill]Aura of Restoration[/skill][skill]Air Attunement[/skill][skill]Rebirth[/skill]

Though Shock Arrow may seem like sufficient energy management, I often found myself wishing I had packed Glyph of Lesser Energy. The damage output also seemed inconsistent, both because I kept using Shell Shock instead of Lightning Orb when I needed to apply Cracked Armor quick and because Lightning Orb's projectile attack wasn't always accurate. Also, I found myself trying to do too many things at once with Blinding Surge, and never managing to balance when I needed to use it for Blindness with when I needed to use it for damage - not to mention that I wasn't impressed with its damage to begin with.

I made some adjustments and ended up with this:

[skill]Shell Shock[/skill][skill]Enervating Charge[/skill][skill]Blinding Flash[/skill][skill]Lightning Hammer[/skill][skill]Aura of Restoration[/skill][skill]Air Attunement[/skill][skill]Elemental Attunement[/skill][skill]Rebirth[/skill]

My results have been a lot better with this. All condition-applying skills have a relatively quick activation time, so I can manage to drop the right condition on the right target with little delay. Lightning Hammer's high cost hurts only when the target dies during casting, but with dual attunements and a high energy pool, that is not something you can't recover from. Getting your enchantments stripped is less of a problem too with Aura of Restoration as a cover.

RhanoctJocosa · Mar 18, 2008, 05:17 AM // 05:17

What's with the ebon assassin dudes? They seem like a waste of a skill yet everyone seems to bring them.

xDusT II · Mar 18, 2008, 05:21 AM // 05:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by RhanoctJocosa

What's with the ebon assassin dudes? They seem like a waste of a skill yet everyone seems to bring them.

BHA + Ebon Vanguard Assassin = Solo Flowstone Elementals go go

On a serious note, for a PvE skill it's pretty bad and doesn't really do anything that a normal skill couldn't do. Obviously people are going to want to use a skill that has anything to do with "assassins" even if the one you summon looks a bit like Oscar the Grouch..

Songbringer · Mar 18, 2008, 05:37 AM // 05:37

Rebirth on an ele is terrible. TERRIBLE! who wants to wait for 90+energy to come back.

Edit: Slippery Ground with bsurge makes you viable as caster hate to along with the anti melee.

MasterSasori · Mar 18, 2008, 05:50 AM // 05:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Songbringer

Rebirth on an ele is terrible. TERRIBLE! who wants to wait for 90+energy to come back.

Sunspear rebirth signet.

RhanoctJocosa · Mar 18, 2008, 06:50 AM // 06:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Songbringer

Rebirth on an ele is terrible. TERRIBLE! who wants to wait for 90+energy to come back.

Edit: Slippery Ground with bsurge makes you viable as caster hate to along with the anti melee.

weapon swapping? rebirth is pro

Antithesis · Mar 18, 2008, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Been using this for awhile on a Hero in HM - they run it better than Blinding Surge.

Elemental Attunement [e]
Air Attunement
Blinding Flash
Enervating Charge
Glyph of Lesser Energy / Shock Arrow
Lightning Orb
Lightning Hammer
Death Pact Signet / Other Rez

When combined with a BHA Volleyer with Epidemic, you've got the four most useful conditions being tossed around - Dazed, Blind, Weakness and Cracked Armour.

Taking both Shell Shock and Lightning Orb is obsolete. You can drop LO for SS and drop LH and DPS for Splinter Weapon and Ancestor's Rage.

Mickey · Mar 18, 2008, 02:12 PM // 14:12

Yeah, I was thinking about running Dual Attunements, but with Auspicious and Hammer, it frees up my elite for anything I want to take. As soon as I cap Invoke Lightning, I could even switch that in.

Afternote: I've always just found Ebon Vanguard Assassins useful for the KD or the AL ignoring damage, especially running a curses build with barbs on my necro. I've really found that, actually, Glyph of Immolation is useful for the KD, and if I follow that up with Shell Shock, his last skill (Nine Tail Strike is it?) usually hits in the 60s, so 120 overall. And yes, the Ebon Vanguard Wards are SO underrated, it makes me sad, they are great skills.

Amadei · Mar 18, 2008, 05:24 PM // 17:24

Finish Him! is a nice PvE-only skill for those optional slots, fwiw. My eles in PvE also tend to run wards.

Tyla · Mar 18, 2008, 05:27 PM // 17:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Songbringer

Rebirth on an ele is terrible. TERRIBLE! who wants to wait for 90+energy to come back.

You run +90 energy on an ele in normal set...?

Shyft the Pyro · Mar 20, 2008, 01:50 AM // 01:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Songbringer

Rebirth on an ele is terrible. TERRIBLE! who wants to wait for 90+energy to come back.

If you are in the situation where your Rebirth is the only res skill available, your options are usually A) run into the mob that wiped your party and res at the shrine, or B) take your time and plan out the next skirmish, to avoid another Leeroy wipe.

Besides, there is this thing called a negative energy set, I hear...

Boogz · Mar 20, 2008, 02:02 AM // 02:02

I'd put Shell Shock instead of Enervating Charge, take out res sig for the sunspear one, and your build is finished

arsie · Mar 20, 2008, 02:06 AM // 02:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shyft the Pyro

Though Shock Arrow may seem like sufficient energy management, I often found myself wishing I had packed Glyph of Lesser Energy.

Yeah, you gotta watch the energy. I ran a similar build on Vekk, and he was out of energy after the first couple of monsters. Had to swap to Dual Attunement + Epidemic to sustain his energy. I guess a human player can manage better, but still, its tempting to keep launching out these 5e spells on recharge.

I quite like these Air-conditioning builds, but they aren't very efficient in PvE.

Mickey · Mar 20, 2008, 02:22 PM // 14:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by arsie

Yeah, you gotta watch the energy. I ran a similar build on Vekk, and he was out of energy after the first couple of monsters. Had to swap to Dual Attunement + Epidemic to sustain his energy. I guess a human player can manage better, but still, its tempting to keep launching out these 5e spells on recharge.

I quite like these Air-conditioning builds, but they aren't very efficient in PvE.

You really really REALLY should not be having e-management problems with Auspicious + Lightning Hammer. It Gives you 48 energy back. I changed the build a little. I took out Enervating Charge, put in [skill]Invoke Lightning[/skill] and put in Glyph of Elemental Power. It worked really well in Catacombs and the Ooze Pit. I did the Ooze Pit in like, 20 minutes, it was just rolling mobs.

DRGN · Mar 20, 2008, 04:05 PM // 16:05

Arsie, I'd assume the reason Vekk ran out of energy is because heroes fail at management to start with, and he probably used Auspicious on Shock Arrow or something. >_>'

Wouldn't GoLE actually beat AI + Hammer on an Ele primary? Even if you did 12 Inspiration that's 45 energy - the 25 from hammer and the 5 from AI + 8 from Air Attunement = 23 net energy. GoLE is 5-16 twice + whatever you get from Air Attunement. If I messed up on my math somewhere please let me know. It's spring break, I'm not thinking too well. :P

Otherwise, it looks like a nice build where you need something other than fire. As someone else said, Enfeebling Blood wins PvE right now so getting that from a Curses nec might be an alternative to Enervating, but it's still a decent filler skill.

Kale Ironfist · Mar 20, 2008, 11:49 PM // 23:49

If all you're doing is casting Lightning Hammers, it probably is better to use Glyph of Lesser Energy, but you're not, so you're not getting the full potential of the glyph.

Omega Precept · Mar 21, 2008, 08:52 PM // 20:52

Shyft thank you for always offering wonderful advice in a well laid out thought process, I very much enjoy your responses! You have helped me become a better ele thanks!!