The Elementalist - bring the wrath of the world

Thought I would post this build while everyone is respecting through the weekend. I call it The Elementalist because it uses fire, wind, ice and lightning to obliterate enemies. It is a high damage build that is versatile and very mobile, but with some risk as well.

Here is the build:

 

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Fireball 4/5 (all but Scorch)
Lightning Strike 3/5 (Empowered, Surge)
Gale 4/5 (all but Speed of Wind)
Frost Bolt 4/5 (all but Shatter)

Critical Shot 5/5
Damage 5/5
Agility 5/5
Knowledge 5/5

"How do I use it," you say? This build is entirely attack oriented. If you are not attacking, you are not using this build effectively. That said, you do not simply "button mash" all the time. If you do that, the others in your group will yell, "OMG! noob sorc stop GALE......!!!!!!!! sdfasdfcd!!!" Otherwise, they "should" love you.

For groups of enemies: Cast charged Fireball to knock them down. Cast charged Gale to keep them down (which also buffs your armor and does not scatter enemies if they are stunned). Then cast charged Frost Bolt for high damage and freeze (with DOT). Finish with regular Lightning Strike to clean up survivors. Rinse. Repeat.

You can also use Frost after Firebolt, then Gale, but you want to try and use Gale mainly for stunned enemies so they don't scatter. Most of the skills also work defensively with stuns and pushback in case you need to get away.

For single mobs, regular Frost Bolt followed by Lightning Strike takes them down very quickly.

For bosses, simply tap all 4 skills as they are available (usually without charging). You damage and DPS will be through the roof.

Here are some screenshots of the build in action:

 

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The beauty of this build is that it is very versatile. The Elementalist does not require an enemy "roundup", nor does he worry about whether his Time Clock drops in just the right spot. His spells can be cast from anywhere, at any angle and almost any time. None of his spells have more than a 5.5 second cooldown, so he can make mistakes. He is also an extremely strong boss killer.

What is the downside? No defensive skills means more pots, for both health and mana. If you forget to pot, you can die. No heal means your team won't say, "Thx for mana." Also, no Speed of Wind means no zipping around the screen, although I found that more of a hinderance, actually.

Finally, keep in mind that all 4 attack skills of this build do "increased damage on a critical." You can focus on crit gear ("of Force" or "of Fatality") to push your damage through the roof. Alternatively, you can drop the 5 points in Critical or Agility and go with Might if you feel you are too squishy.

Let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading!

I love it! For someone that doesn't heal with spells as it is, this really makes sense. Though I can see bosses being especially tricky and your screen will probably be red quite frequently. Investing some points in Str or armor wouldn't be a bad idea. It may then be worth it even add some DEX attributes to your build to increase your crit and dodge to make you slightly less squishy and even more powerful when a CRIT lands.

This is as high stakes as it gets.

Just add a pet that gives more crit and damage (or int or dex), and you will be infamous among the mobs!

This build is way too risky for elites, you won't last more than 2-3 skills before angry mobs come after you with a vengeance.

Sorc's pull tons of aggro as it is when their damage is high, this is a suicide build. I could never run with this set, normal maps maybe. just maybe, lol.

Swap gale for time and you stand a better chance, but it's not much better, tbh. I tried. xP

This build is definitely not suited for an Elite Map. You will get your *** handed to you in Shuyal. Timeshift aka Clock, one of the MOST important crowd control skills isn't even on that list.

Yeah, this looks really fun and probably gets player in a trance blowing all those elements around, but effective for end game play? The game shifts from dmg and dps to hp and armor, or your going to be doing alot of running back to the action. That's where the survivors are still fighting and looting.

Thanks for trying this build! It is definitely not for the faint of heart or for leisure play. It does pull a lot of aggro because it is very high damage. I ran with it through the weekend. I had no real trouble in regular maps, but started having difficulties in elite Nordr and elite Shuyal. I was actually able to kill Overgrowth and Ferrix (elites) faster. I did not try Undiem Fields or Tower (could not get a willing death group hah).

Frankly, elite Nordr and elite Shuyal practically require a sorceror to go Shield, Time, Fire, Heal. This build is a good alternative when you want to break from the cookie cutter stuff.

Heal has lost its luster for me, been using heal my whole time in game up til now. Its just not an effective or efficient skill in elites imo. Sometimes its straight up dangerous. Lose heal and watch the deaths of you and your enitre party diminish. Traded for shield and not going back unless the skill is buffed up.

I have just now spec'd out of heal as well, but there are three reasons to run it in elites: one, having heal helps you draw less aggro (than say, Frost Bolt); two, everyone loves empowered heal; and three, it can be useful as a panic button.

This could be a nice build for Brakenridge farming. Other than that, I think it's a big no-no.