2.4 theorycrafting

Ok so maybe I'll try this :

3x DPS Wizards with Arcane Torrent for no Arcane Power cost, 2x Arcane Hydra, and Meteor / Star Pact once per second (massive aoe damage)
http://ptr.d3planner.com/336018866

1x WD for 50%+ buff and some dps

The main advantage is that I already have most of the valuable parts (ancient Serpent Sparkers, ancient Nilfur's Boots), I don't need a lot of 2.4 items, and there are some armor slots (gloves, legs, head, shoulders) where I can just wear random ancient items with good stats.

I have seen this template on Twitch (just with Disintegrate instead of Arcane Torrent), and Meteor / Star Pact really hits like a truck for no power cost. I just have to increase arcane power as much as possible...

- From off-hand,
- From Astral Presence passive,
- From Energy Armor / Energy Tap,
- and... what else ?

Let's hope that the auto-casted Arcane spell will be Meteor, and not Hydra. Ah well if so, I'll just use Frost Hydras or something.

I'm sorry, I think I will ruin your day again:

Quote:

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From the patch notes:
"Fixed an issue that caused Meteor - Star Pact to gain the damage bonus for spending Arcane Power when automatically cast by Tal Rasha's (2) Set Bonus, or Etched Sigil"

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It was a huge wizard nerf a couple PTR iterations ago. Don't really think Star Pact will be a good choice, but test it and see if it's good or not. Last I checked, nobody is using it anymore.

U may do more damage with Energy Twister + The Twisted Sword instead of Hydra + Serpent Sparker with DMO. At least on the current PTR iteration, wizard meta is not using LoN at all. DMO is what the top50 leaderboards are using so far (just a couple Vyr's) after the last reset. It's Disintegrate + Energy Twister or Arcane Orb + Explosive Blast. LoN doesn't come close to DMO right now. Well, Firebird's 6 piece was disabled cause of the bug/exploit, so we don't know who well it will do against the latest DMO changes.

I like LoN concept, but I don't think it will be competitive. They will eventually nerf it so it the best for T10 speed runs (let ppl play weird builds and have fun) and prolly low 70s, but not for pushing high GRs. Its was outperforming 6 piece sets for Crusader and WD. WDs LoN is not working for pets right now, but Blizzard already confirmed its a bug, so we may see Carnevil back on top with LoN, but I wouldn't bet my money on that being the case for 2.4 live.

They clearly want us to play 6 piece sets. What I would like to know is if the 4p DMO bonus stacks with multiple wizards:

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DMO 4p: After casting Slow Time, applying, or refreshing Debilitate, you take 50% reduced damage for [10-15] seconds. Debilitated enemies take [1500-3000]% weapon damage per second. Allies become fortified while standing in a Slow Time field and gain 25% damage reduction.

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If 4x Wizards cast Slow Time, will they get 50% DR + 3x 25% DR??? If that's the case, I think I've found my high GR party :D

Well, sadly I have to agree... from the last PTR videos, damage from Wizards looks like what I'm doing now (I can see that from the time needed to kill an elite pack in Torment X), the noticeable difference is that the Wizards barely get hit because of the Aquila Cuirass bonus.

I'll re-think this when we'll have a more "definitive" version of the patch.

There's that "Drahque" guy who's going to multibox S5, and probably stream it. That will be intersting :)

http://www.twitch.tv/drahque/profile

Take a look at his spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...ring&sle=true#

There are very interesting simulations for d3planner. DMO wizard can do INSANE dps. Sure most simulations are done with Paragon 2000, 90 gems and all ancient gear with 450+ stats, but that can be easily changed. I never used that feature from d3planner but seems very useful. Makes it a lot easier to decide what's best for the party.

I'm leaning towards Crusaders this season. Haven't really given them a shot before but I think I'll get them to GR80 first then dabble with some DMO/Arcane Orb/Area Damage Wizards. With Crusaders on the PTR I was able to finish a 78 with an average of 870 Para, 70-71 gems, zero +Strength from the new Cube recipe and about 900k to 1.2m sheet damage....far from optimal gear.

The only thing really stopping the build is the LAG. The LoN based Heaven's Fury build I was running is super-duper laggy. At GR 73+ any group of mobs would bring the action to a halt. After getting stuck at GR74 trying to kill everything, I decided I would run run from elite pack to elite pack for all of my progression which worked all the way up to 78 last night. I'll also give the bombardment build a run after looking at that spreadsheet!

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Originally Posted by Devile

Take a look at his spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...ring&sle=true#

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Yes I studied this already, and while some of the templates are a very good pointer, others are simply impossible to achieve... like the LoN/poney/thorns setup, which will require all ancient stuff with natural perfect stats AND THEN you have to reforge for thorns. Since I'd need 3 ou 4 sets of those, I'm not doing this.

So at the moment I'll stick to a team with 3xDH (Marauder set) and 1xWD (support), farm with it for new items because it will be very easy, then 3 days after season 5 starts, some dude will already be Paragon 1000+ and I'll see what works and what doesn't.

And I'm still afraid that LoN will be nerfed at the last minute, like +50% damage per ancient piece instead of +100%...

Right now the 2 templates (from that spreadsheet) that have my attention are :

http://ptr.d3planner.com/222556809
http://ptr.d3planner.com/882367074

Of course it needs to be re-worked with "human" stats, i.e. not 2k Paragon, not +450 stat on each piece, not perfect rolls, etc. But still the farming time to gather the pieces seems reasonable.

And for us multiboxers, Krem's bracers are mandatory for any melee setup, either on equip or on cube.

Also it seems that nobody thought of cubing "The Cloak of the Garwulf" in the cube for DH/Marauder templates. It really fits well with "Zoey's secret" belt, plus simulation shows that it adds non-negligeable dps.

Hey guys,

I will only play S5 to get the stash space, and I am struggling to decide between:
Option 1: 1x barb and 3x sader
and
Option 2: 1x barb and 3x dh

I really like having the movement speed boost from a barb

Option 1 is good because you get the invoker set which is useful for multiboxing + the wings of angels law is nice to have, but the AOE of the crusaders is not so big.

Option 2 is good because of the dmg spread of the demon hunters, but I think that the shadow set is not so great for multiboxing (lacking toughness vs the marauder set)

I am not sure if wizards will work well for the quick run in S5 for the stash space because I dont think that the firebird set is going to be a nice starting set for multiboxing. (but the DMO wizards will be nice once they are well geared)



For non season greater rifting I will probably run:
1x support speed barb
1x support wd
1x support sader
1x chakram marauder dh

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Originally Posted by Zwizm

I'm leaning towards Crusaders this season. Haven't really given them a shot before but I think I'll get them to GR80 first then dabble with some DMO/Arcane Orb/Area Damage Wizards. With Crusaders on the PTR I was able to finish a 78 with an average of 870 Para, 70-71 gems, zero +Strength from the new Cube recipe and about 900k to 1.2m sheet damage....far from optimal gear.

The only thing really stopping the build is the LAG. The LoN based Heaven's Fury build I was running is super-duper laggy. At GR 73+ any group of mobs would bring the action to a halt. After getting stuck at GR74 trying to kill everything, I decided I would run run from elite pack to elite pack for all of my progression which worked all the way up to 78 last night. I'll also give the bombardment build a run after looking at that spreadsheet!

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Not trying ANYTHING that causes lag. Been there, done that. Had more than enough with HT WDs on last season and not trying that shit ever again. Crusaders look good, but won't try them for seasons. Honestly, I just wanna get my stash space. Once I get Conqueror, I'm back to non season. There isn't really other incentive to play seasons. I'll give Crusaders a try then. For S5, DHs will get to Conqueror the fastest IMO. Ranged classes are amazingly easy to multibox compared to melee.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cmoidudu

Yes I studied this already, and while some of the templates are a very good pointer, others are simply impossible to achieve... like the LoN/poney/thorns setup, which will require all ancient stuff with natural perfect stats AND THEN you have to reforge for thorns. Since I'd need 3 ou 4 sets of those, I'm not doing this.

So at the moment I'll stick to a team with 3xDH (Marauder set) and 1xWD (support), farm with it for new items because it will be very easy, then 3 days after season 5 starts, some dude will already be Paragon 1000+ and I'll see what works and what doesn't.

And I'm still afraid that LoN will be nerfed at the last minute, like +50% damage per ancient piece instead of +100%...

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Yeah, the LoN stuff is unreal. Maybe something to look up for nonseason and eventually get it. I'm planning on maybe going 4x M6 or 3x M6 + 1 UE. Since I'll only go for the stash space, I see no point on trying a mixed party for S5.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Cmoidudu

Right now the 2 templates (from that spreadsheet) that have my attention are :

http://ptr.d3planner.com/222556809
http://ptr.d3planner.com/882367074

Of course it needs to be re-worked with "human" stats, i.e. not 2k Paragon, not +450 stat on each piece, not perfect rolls, etc. But still the farming time to gather the pieces seems reasonable.

And for us multiboxers, Krem's bracers are mandatory for any melee setup, either on equip or on cube.

Also it seems that nobody thought of cubing "The Cloak of the Garwulf" in the cube for DH/Marauder templates. It really fits well with "Zoey's secret" belt, plus simulation shows that it adds non-negligeable dps.

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I changed the DMO template for something more realistic with Paragon 800, rank 60 gems and just weapon/source Ancient. 3x DMO wizards + support Barb. Unless something is broken on d3planner, this is prolly THE best option in terms of pure DPS:

http://ptr.d3planner.com/453951862

If the numbers are correct, they will nerf the shit out of that sword very soon. No other class comes remotely close to Wizards in pure DPS. U can prolly throw a Crusader or a WD for more support and still do great. Did the same exercise with other classes and the numbers are WAY WAY below DMO ET wizard. And the items are not that hard to get. So far this is my best option for pushing non season GR.