MongoJerry Wrote:Are you still using this build (with Critical Mass instead of Evocation, of course)? If I were to replace Hydra with Mirror Images/Duplicates, would I be at a terrible disadvantage in some situations?I'm using Magic Weapon over Hydra now. I feel comfortable with the playstyle to hit moving things accurately enough. I'd still recommend Hydra until your crit gear is sufficient to trigger enough critical mass ticks. It's also invaluable for Act 3 lunatics, but I also now feel comfortable killing them without hydra (Inferno might be a different story).
Also, why choose Deep Cuts versus Healing Blades or Thrown Blades? Do the bleed effects trigger crits as well?
It seems like Deep Cut bleeds trigger critical mass crits, but I'm not positive. There's times when my diamond skin instantly is available again after only using one or two spectral blade hits. Also, I can't imagine using anything other than spectral blade. The number of times it hits enemies really plays well with this build. Especially once you get life on hit (which is something I have to find, currently have zero).
On a side note, I wanted to throw a basic tip out there. Be mindful of how many meteors you can cast. You lose a lot of DPS if you go to cast Meteor but fail at doing so because lack of Arcane Power and your character shoots out with his basic attack. You could have used this time to move up and spectral blade them- in tough fights this will mean everything as it's easy to get caught up in trying to spam meteor.
Concillian Wrote:jailor / arcane is not as bad as vortex / arcane.Vortex/Arcane is certainly deadly, especially combined with extra health on tough base monster types as arcane gives them additional resists to meteor (thanks to star runestone). Try your best to drag them away from arcane beams and you'll have to keep diamond skin ready for when you feel vulnerable.
Concillian Wrote:I'm not playing with hardcore mentality either.Yea I'm being really cautious with my character. I'm trying to hit 12k DPS, 600 Resists, ~70% DR, 55+k HP, some life on hit, and at least 25% crit before I attempt Inferno. Every day I'm getting significant upgrades from hell act 3 runs, so I think reaching the above stats will be possible in the near future.