[2.0] [Tempest] Elemental Ranged Attack Totems – Machine Gun Turrets Build





video guide (warning: silly humor)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZHsPDWJdaY







Concept and making of the build.



I never played an actual elemental scaling build before and wanted to try it. This is very different from making a physical scaling build and coverting physical damage to elemental damage like most people do these days. Instead an elemental scaling build uses Adds x-y Fire/Lightning/Cold Damage modifiers on gear and from auras and scales them using weapon elemental damage, a lot of attack speed and other scalings from gear, gems and the tree. The result is a build that does not use any type of physical damage scaling which makes gearing very interesting and different from other attack builds. Also I wanted to be a unique snowflake.

To achieve this I made different passive trees and usually ended up with something similar as the one you see below. I tried different bow skills like Rain of Arrows (RoA), Split Arrow (SA), Tornado Shot (TS) and Lightning Arrow (LA). All these have their pros and cons but with some minor adjustments can be worked into this build, maybe with the exception of TS as totems are too stupid to use it properly. When doing research and testing for this build I stumbled upon the Ranged Attack Totem (RAT) support gem which recently got buffed. As my tree was stretched out to the Templar area anyways I picked up dual totems and some totem nodes. I found it incredibly fun to use these totems. There was something very satisfying in placing these machine gun turrets and watch them shred through hordes of enemies so I stuck with it. Also the totems solved a problem I had with the defenses of this character. A totem build brings a lot of inherent safety in the form of an indirect playstyle. I rarely have to put my character in harms way. I just place a totem and move on. It also allows me to run a curse on hit setup without losing out on DPS while at the same time keeping up some frenzy charges for extra damage. The clearspeed gets can be very fast as the long range and great AoE allows you to just run through a map, placing totems and cursing, while everything dies offscreen and lootfilter sounds alert you of valuable drops. I used this for lower level maps before where I do only pick up certain rares anyways. That said, this is not an optimized endgame elite high end mapping build. But it is a ton of fun and still really good in my opinion.





Comparison of Attack Skills for Ranged Attack Totem



Tornado Shot - TS requires some good aiming to maximize shotgun damage. Sadly the totems suck at aiming those shots well with GMP and also LMP so TS is probably the worst choice for a totem build from my experience.

Gem Links (in order): TS – GMP - Weapon Elemental Damage (WED) – RAT – Faster Attacks – Slower Projectiles



Rain of Arrows - The biggest upside of RoA is the fact that it does not need any support gems that lower damage which leads to it having really high DPS. The aiming problem exists for RoA but only for faster monsters as the totems will aim directly at it which causes it to miss faster enemies. Getting an Increased AoE support and the Templar AoE nodes on tree counteracts this quite well. Definitely a really solid option. A 4L RoA totem outdamages the other skills on a 6L so it can be a great single target option if you use another skill for AoE clear.

For single target as in boss fights you can swap out Inc AoE for Conc Effect. Definitely the best single target damage you can get out of bow skills with RAT at the moment unless the monster is very fast moving.

Gem Links: RoA – WED – Faster Attacks – RAT – Ince AoE/Conc Eff – Slower Proj



Lightning Arrow – Works really well with GMP as aiming seems to be no problem at all. Running both GMP and Chain reduces the damage way too much in my opinion. You can run LMP and it kind of works out okay DPS wise but I prefer just GMP, no chain. The AoE clear of this is great and looks flashy with high attack speed and two totems firing away. Single target is a bit lackluster which means you should probably should run a RoA totem for single target.

Gem Links: LA – WED – Faster Attacks – GMP – RAT – Slower Proj

You can use the Rain of Splinters jewel to get LMP and replace GMP with Chain or Pierce to increase AoE clear speed. Using Chain and RoS is a lot of damage reduction which is why I prefer Pierce over Chain here.





Split Arrow – Split Arrow + Chain is my attack of choice at the moment. It has so many arrows, it needs no good aiming from the totems. Single target it is lackluster, running a RoA totem for single target is pretty much required. The AoE clear of this is insane and it is very fun to use.

Gem Links: SA – WED – Faster Attacks – Chain – RAT – Slower Proj





Passive Tree and Explanation



Passive Skill Tree for Ele SA Totems at lvl 89 (can be used for LA )



Explanation



This tree gets 171% max life and five jewel sockets jewel sockets of which ideally 3 have 5-7% life each. That results in an average of 18% increased life on top of that. At level 84 I have around 5.4k life at the moment and I am still missing Heart of Oak.



The other two jewel sockets and some of the weird pathing around the ranger starting nodes are due the me using two Static Electricity unique jewels. One goes into the socket to the top right of the Duelist start. The other one goes left of Vaal Pact.



It adds 1 - 2 Lightning damage plus 1 for each 1 Dex in a large radius. Those two sockets have 80 allocated dex in the area which is two times 1 - 82 added lightning damage. A level 20 Wrath gives you 16 - 248 added damage. This is a huge damage increase. I would recommend to path through the projectile nodes normally for leveling and respec later.



The mana reservation nodes are enough to allow for running Wrath and Anger (plus a low lvl Clarity for better mana sustain) which does more for the build than Wrath and Herald of Thunder + Herald of Ice as it gives more DPS we are non-crit so we cannot proc the heralds reliably.



Point Blank is a viable option for RoA I feel but the chaining arrows of SA can fly pretty far even with the totems shooting only at closer range so I have currently specced out of it. Point Blank does multiply your single target damage by 1.5 though which is huge.



The mana nodes and cost reduction are enough to sustain from mana alone with a low level clarity. I did not pick up any additional Frenzy charges although I can keep up 3 without a problem. Not sure if this is suboptimal but I did not want to go out of my way to get them. Maybe I will change my bandid rewards at some point to go for 4 charges.



Current bandids are Oak, Kill all, Kill all. Oak, Kill all, Krait might be a viable option too.



If you want to play with RoA totems as main skill you should probably get Amplify and save 3 points elsewhere and maybe pick up Point Blank.



I got RT pretty late but as I did not want to invest a lot more into accuracy over level 80 now I decided to finally get it for a sizable damage increase as my accuracy started to suffer a bit. It also makes running Enfeeble maps a lot smoother.



You can do this build as Scion too and spend 1 more skill point. I just wanted to play as Ranger and replanned the build a lot and tested as I went on. This also works resonably well as Shadow and can probably be pulled off as Duelist with slightly worse starting nodes. I do not recommend Templar as the starting nodes are a lot worse, or any other class for that matter.



You can also get rid of the totems, pick up some more damage nodes and other goodies like 2 extra frenzy charges and just play an RT ele bow build with it. Probably works as well. This tree gets 171% max life and five jewel sockets jewel sockets of which ideally 3 have 5-7% life each. That results in an average of 18% increased life on top of that. At level 84 I have aroundat the moment and I am still missing Heart of Oak.The other two jewel sockets and some of the weird pathing around the ranger starting nodes are due the me using two Static Electricity unique jewels. One goes into the socket to the top right of the Duelist start. The other one goes left of Vaal Pact.It adds 1 - 2 Lightning damage plus 1 for each 1 Dex in a large radius. Those two sockets have 80 allocated dex in the area which is two times 1 - 82 added lightning damage. A level 20 Wrath gives you 16 - 248 added damage. This is a huge damage increase. I would recommend to path through the projectile nodes normally for leveling and respec later.The mana reservation nodes are enough to allow for running Wrath and Anger (plus a low lvl Clarity for better mana sustain) which does more for the build than Wrath and Herald of Thunder + Herald of Ice as it gives more DPS we are non-crit so we cannot proc the heralds reliably.is a viable option for RoA I feel but the chaining arrows of SA can fly pretty far even with the totems shooting only at closer range so I have currently specced out of it. Point Blank does multiply your single target damage by 1.5 though which is huge.The mana nodes and cost reduction are enough to sustain from mana alone with a low level clarity. I did not pick up any additional Frenzy charges although I can keep up 3 without a problem. Not sure if this is suboptimal but I did not want to go out of my way to get them. Maybe I will change my bandid rewards at some point to go for 4 charges.Currentare Oak, Kill all, Kill all. Oak, Kill all, Krait might be a viable option too.If you want to play with RoA totems as main skill you should probably get Amplify and save 3 points elsewhere and maybe pick up Point Blank.I got RT pretty late but as I did not want to invest a lot more into accuracy over level 80 now I decided to finally get it for a sizable damage increase as my accuracy started to suffer a bit. It also makes running Enfeeble maps a lot smoother.You can do this build as Scion too and spend 1 more skill point. I just wanted to play as Ranger and replanned the build a lot and tested as I went on. This also works resonably well as Shadow and can probably be pulled off as Duelist with slightly worse starting nodes. I do not recommend Templar as the starting nodes are a lot worse, or any other class for that matter.You can also get rid of the totems, pick up some more damage nodes and other goodies like 2 extra frenzy charges and just play an RT ele bow build with it. Probably works as well.





Gems



For main attack gems see above. RAT does not work too well in anything less than a 5L as it further reduces the damage. In tempest corrupted 6 Links are cheap so if there ever was a time for this build, it is now. Without a 5L or higher the damage will be subpar because you will have to use RAT and Chain or GMP or miss the Inc AoE for RoA which slows down clear quite a bit because of aiming mechanics. Also during the early levels RAT sucks. It needs some levels to get rid of some of the damage reduction. Just level as LA or SA or RoA build, maybe have a totem as secondary attack to get a feel for which skill you want to use later. I might add a more detailed leveling guide in the future.



AoE 6L –SA/LA



RoA for single target as 4-6L



Frenzy – GMP – Curse on Hit – Temp Chains/Enfeeble/Ele Weak



I prefer Temp Chains as it helps me to not get hit and kite around. It also helps your RoA totems to hit monsters as it slows them. If you use RoA as main skill or are fine with your single target 4L you could get a corruption for an additional curse somewhere and get a second curse in your 5L and a even a third for the 6L. Another 6L option would be to add chain to curse more enemies in an efficient way. Oh, this also gives Frenzy charges.





CWDT – Flame Golem/Chaos Golem – Enfeeble – Arctic Breath



I use enfeeble here as I obviously got hit and need any further hits to be mitigated. Flame golem dies a lot so he gets recast like this as I tend to forget that. Arctic Breath for the chilled ground if you have the slot. Chaos Golem is nice too as it gives more survivability. I prefer the damage from flame golem at the moment.



Wrath – Anger - Clarity - Blink Arrow



Auras and mobility skill, yaay. Anger gives more DPS than HoI plus HoT and as non-crit build we do not proc the Heralds reliably anyways.







My current Gear

















If it is possible to link jewels from the skill tree, I have not found out how to do that.

All three jewels I currently use have Totem Damage - Attack Speed - Increased Maximum Life





With this gear, which is far from optimal and pretty budget, I reach around 10k DPS with Split Arrow per totem and a bit more on my 4L RoA setup. This does not factor in the Point Blank Keystone. When gearing this character I found it to me more of a problem to find good gear than to afford it. Some pieces were very cheap for what they do for this build. The quiver was 2 chaos which seems crazy to me. Yes, it does not have much added elemental damage but most people do not even sell their high added ele damage quivers to players it seems as this was one of the highest I could find. I tried to get a solid WED roll and life wherever I could. The 6L is very budget but servicable for now. For bow yous want one with high eDPS, or a high WED roll and decent eDPS and high attack speed (1.7 APS or higher if possible). If you find one that has good attack speed and two added ele mods, craft WED on it as the craftable added ele mods are very low. Try to get at least 20% WED on the craft as the range is pretty high. For gloves and rings, life, WED,added ele and attack speed are king. Don't forget to cap your resists.

If it is possible to link jewels from the skill tree, I have not found out how to do that.All three jewels I currently use have Totem Damage - Attack Speed - Increased Maximum LifeWith this gear, which is far from optimal and pretty budget, I reach around 10k DPS with Split Arrow per totem and a bit more on my 4L RoA setup. This does not factor in the Point Blank Keystone. When gearing this character I found it to me more of a problem to find good gear than to afford it. Some pieces were very cheap for what they do for this build. The quiver was 2 chaos which seems crazy to me. Yes, it does not have much added elemental damage but most people do not even sell their high added ele damage quivers to players it seems as this was one of the highest I could find. I tried to get a solid WED roll and life wherever I could. The 6L is very budget but servicable for now. For bow yous want one with high eDPS, or a high WED roll and decent eDPS and high attack speed (1.7 APS or higher if possible). If you find one that has good attack speed and two added ele mods, craft WED on it as the craftable added ele mods are very low. Try to get at least 20% WED on the craft as the range is pretty high. For gloves and rings, life, WED,added ele and attack speed are king. Don't forget to cap your resists.





Short Leveling Guide (might be expanded in the future)



You can level as flame totem as you take up some ele damage and proj damage nodes. If you are bored because you leveled all your other characters with flame totem so far you can also level as Ele Bow build. You can use Storm Cloud until end of cruel easily but don't tell anyone that this is a sleeper OP leveling unique. You can get a bad roll for half a Chaos and a well rolled one for around 1-3 Chaos in Tempest. Combine with a Prism Weave belt (1 Chaos max) and a Black Gleam Quiver (can probably get one for free if you vendored the ones you dropped) and you should be flying through content. Try to get some added ele damage on rings where possible. I did fine by using whatever dropped. Make use of the WED during flask effect of your belt as it does make a big difference. Get two mana on hit jewels for leveling for around 1-2C each. You can sell them later and get new jewels. I switched to dual totems right before or right after doing cruel Malachai (current character is a reroll, last one died at 78).

For Auraus use HoI and HoT when you get them, then switch to HoI plus Wrath if you have the intelligence for it or HoI plus Anger if you don't have enough int yet.

For passive tree, go straight for the dual totems, take up life and damage as you need it, as well as dex or int. Respec whatever you do not need anymore. If leveling as RoA you can get Point Blank Early. Otherwise get it right after dual totems.



I am not very experienced in writing build guides so feel free to ask questions and leave feedback. All the feedback I have gotten so far helped me to make a lot of improvements already. Thank you guys! I hope my writing style is bearable.

I personally love this build so much it is the first time I rerolled a character right after it died with the same build as I just wanted to play it more! I am not very experienced in writing build guides so feel free to ask questions and leave feedback. All the feedback I have gotten so far helped me to make a lot of improvements already. Thank you guys! I hope my writing style is bearable.I personally love this build so much it is the first time I rerolled a character right after it died with the same build as I just wanted to play it more! Last edited by yojimoji on Sep 24, 2015, 1:36:42 AM