Warlock - alternatives for the future nerfed Cursed Bind Demon and Sigil Lethargy

Hi

Currently i'm playing a pure Summoner Warlock and using
Cursed Bind Demon with Fanaticism
Act 2 Merc with Might and Pride/ Concentration

With the Cursed and Sigil Lethargy nerfs in the next patch
https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/article ... oming-soon

- Bind Demon
Reduced the Cursed modifier’s chance to cast Amplify Damage from 75% to 5%.

- Sigil: Lethargy
Removed the Damage Taken stat.

I would probably need another source of curse....

Some options I think of

O1 - Cursed Bind Demon with Holy Freeze (a little more triggers, but not much more, as the aura pulse has only 1 chance to trigger independently of how much monster are affected...) | I lose Fanaticism

O2 - Act 2 Merc with Might and The Reaper's Toll | 33% Chance To Cast Level 1 Decrepify On Striking | I lose Concentration

O3 - Act 5 Merc Stun with Dreadfang | 33% Chance to cast level 3 Amplify Damage on striking | I lose Might and Concentration

O4 - Act 5 Merc Frenzy with double Lawbringer | 20% Chance To Cast Level 15 Decrepify On Striking I lose Might and Concentration

I'm think in trying O2 or O1 + O2

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

O1 - Cursed Bind Demon with Holy Freeze (a little more triggers, but not much more, as the aura pulse has only 1 chance to trigger independently of how much monster are affected...) | I lose Fanaticism

Cursed Multiple Shots Fanaticism Megademon with Inferno striking 8 times per second (24 with multiple shots). No damage dealing, all Amplify Damage application. You're welcome.

For Eldritch builds seems like a good option
But, in my case my Bind Demon is my main source of damage...., so I need a melee focused one...
Maybe change my Vile Mother for a Corrupt Rogue Spearwoman with Jab for the extra hits

Queegon wrote: 3 months ago

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

O1 - Cursed Bind Demon with Holy Freeze (a little more triggers, but not much more, as the aura pulse has only 1 chance to trigger independently of how much monster are affected...) | I lose Fanaticism

Cursed Multiple Shots Fanaticism Megademon with Inferno striking 8 times per second (24 with multiple shots). No damage dealing, all Amplify Damage application. You're welcome.

You are not pure summoner. You are 1/3 binder now.

Pure summoner spends 60 points ( Goatman, mastery, Blood Oath )
You have enough points to put in Hex:Bane and Mirror Blades to kill immune Mobs.
Or add points into boil + Engorge and blow up your Goatmans when they are in close combat.
Access to lvl 30 Enchant (40+ with other gear) make a your goats killing machines .
Take that Dreadfang in your own hands (+ Horazon set) and curse Mobs around you with Cleave or Mirrored Blades .
Very viable build. Use Sigil Death instead of Lethargy.

But boiling I like most.

My Pure Summoner point distribution is

Bind Demon 20
Demonic Mastery 20
Death Mark 20
Sigil Lethargy 20
Blood Oath with the rest (L89 now)

With the nerfs, I'm thinking in respec to Blood Boil build, if my Bind Demon is not able to do his job anymore...

dionisy_cn wrote: 3 months ago

You are not pure summoner. You are 1/3 binder now.

Pure summoner spends 60 points ( Goatman, mastery, Blood Oath )
You have enough points to put in Hex:Bane and Mirror Blades to kill immune Mobs.
Or add points into boil + Engorge and blow up your Goatmans when they are in close combat.
Access to lvl 30 Enchant (40+ with other gear) make a your goats killing machines .
Take that Dreadfang in your own hands (+ Horazon set) and curse Mobs around you with Cleave or Mirrored Blades .
Very viable build. Use Sigil Death instead of Lethargy.

But boiling I like most.

Do Enchant from Horazon's Splendor makes a huge difference for Summon Goatman?
(i'm not even using them right now... I started with 1 Summon Goatman and 1 Summon Defiler, but its being faster to farm with 2 Summon Defiler and I change to 2 Summon Goatman only vs bosses)

dionisy_cn wrote: 3 months ago

Access to lvl 30 Enchant (40+ with other gear) make a your goats killing machines .

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

Do Enchant from Horazon's Splendor makes a huge difference for Summon Goatman?
(i'm not even using them right now... I started with 1 Summon Goatman and 1 Summon Defiler, but its being faster to farm with 2 Summon Defiler and I change to 2 Summon Goatman only vs bosses)

dionisy_cn wrote: 3 months ago

Access to lvl 30 Enchant (40+ with other gear) make a your goats killing machines .

It gives them second type of damage + huge bonus to attack rating.

On the endgame build you can have Infinity that will decrease enemy defense. Personally I like Tainted more.
Let's see how all this changes are in real game.
If you want Amplify earlier then try Hell Temptess . Their damage is no good but they curse a lot .
Since Blizz told health pool will be not needed too much, there is a chance those Temptess ES will be good with mastery + bold Oath. If no -it will be 3* Tainted for me. with easy achievable -30-70 to fire resist ( set 3 pc, Obedience, Consume) they sure will deliver good damage. at least till late Nightmare on new ladder. Engorge + boil + Lawbringer on your merc and you can do Hell .

If it is off ladder you are talking about, then all depends on the gear you have. I prefer more active playstyle then just sit and wait for Summons to kill everything.

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

Do Enchant from Horazon's Splendor makes a huge difference for Summon Goatman?
(i'm not even using them right now... I started with 1 Summon Goatman and 1 Summon Defiler, but its being faster to farm with 2 Summon Defiler and I change to 2 Summon Goatman only vs bosses)

dionisy_cn wrote: 3 months ago

Access to lvl 30 Enchant (40+ with other gear) make a your goats killing machines .

Would be an interesting experimental build, enchanting goats with a high level Enchant. Starting at 30, you could easily get to Lvl 43 Enchant with plus skills.

Edit: looks like Lvl 20 unsynergized Enchant adds a piddly ~100 fire damage, so wouldn't expect much from Lvl 43--you'd gain more from swapping out Horazon set for plus skills equip for higher Bind Demon.

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

My Pure Summoner point distribution is

Bind Demon 20
Demonic Mastery 20
Death Mark 20
Sigil Lethargy 20
Blood Oath with the rest (L89 now)

With the nerfs, I'm thinking in respec to Blood Boil build, if my Bind Demon is not able to do his job anymore...

dionisy_cn wrote: 3 months ago

You are not pure summoner. You are 1/3 binder now.

Pure summoner spends 60 points ( Goatman, mastery, Blood Oath )
You have enough points to put in Hex:Bane and Mirror Blades to kill immune Mobs.
Or add points into boil + Engorge and blow up your Goatmans when they are in close combat.
Access to lvl 30 Enchant (40+ with other gear) make a your goats killing machines .
Take that Dreadfang in your own hands (+ Horazon set) and curse Mobs around you with Cleave or Mirrored Blades .
Very viable build. Use Sigil Death instead of Lethargy.

But boiling I like most.

I switched to boiling with max Bind Demon, max Demonic Mastery, and max Blood Oath, dropping points from Summon Goatman and Death Mark (not really that much damage gain from mark on bound demon) for max Blood Boil and Engorge.

Idea was to just give the demons a bit of a boost (run mostly Lister + 2 defilers, but switch to goats for bosses), but boil just clears so much faster I end up just marking and boiling or just teleporting right into packs and boiling. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So I guess I'm more of a boiler now, although my Bind Demon is level 42.

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

Bind Demon 20
Demonic Mastery 20
Death Mark 20
Sigil Lethargy 20
Blood Oath with the rest (L89 now)

Having two Defilers makes a difference.

Why do you have more than one point in Lethargy? I have one point in all Sigils. They are all useful. Death is great for cows and Rancor is great for shooters.

The "Damage taken +x%" from Sigil Lethargy is if fact "-x% Physical Resist"
And each level is more 1% (no diminishing returns )

ceving wrote: 3 months ago

Why do you have more than one point in Lethargy?

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

The "Damage taken +x%" from Sigil Lethargy is if fact "-x% Physical Resist"
And each level is more 1% (no diminishing returns )

Is it enough to break anything?

It is addictive with Amplify Damage -100% Physical Resist
Mine Sigil Lethargy is L39 (-58% Physical Resist)

so, without Bone Break, I can break up to 130 Physical Resist, without Sigil I could break just up to 119... (both 1/5 effective for breaking)

With Bone Break, Immunes have -5% resist with just Amplify Damage and -63% with both (both 100% effective with sunder charm)

With non immunes, with 0% physical resist, Amplify Damage alone put the monster at -100% (the minimum possible), but many monster have some physical resist and a considerable amount of monster have 50+% resist in Hell so more than -100% resist is still useful

ceving wrote: 3 months ago

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

The "Damage taken +x%" from Sigil Lethargy is if fact "-x% Physical Resist"
And each level is more 1% (no diminishing returns )

Is it enough to break anything?

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

Mine Sigil Lethargy is L39 (-58% Physical Resist)

But having two Defilers multiplies by 10 which is 1000% more damage.

O6 : A5 Frenzy barb with Last Wish + Mania or Dreadfang gives you might aura + Fanaticism (only lvl1 so he needs to be close to your summons) or Amplify Damage.

You lost only lose Concentration.

I just consumed my Conviction Hep and decided to go after TZ (shard) Bremm Sparkfist. This particular TZ spawn is physically immune, has Fanaticism, and casts Hydra, but if you prefer he can also spawn with Conviction. Here's a quick family photo.

Last Wish's Life Tap override other curses... (I thought about Lawbringer + Last Wish before remember that)
Dreadfang is two hand, Frenzy Merc cannot use

As only a Aura carrier Might 17 x 19+ is not a big loss, but Fanaticism 1 x Concentration 16+ is a huge loss (the short range is a problem, specially because Death Mark does not teleport Merc...)

Tornado_OLO wrote: 3 months ago

O6 : A5 Frenzy barb with Last Wish + Mania or Dreadfang gives you might aura + Fanaticism (only lvl1 so he needs to be close to your summons) or Amplify Damage.

You lost only lose Concentration.

Bremm Sparkfist (and other monster with spell or range attack) generally have a bad AI for builds that want the Demon punching all the time

As a quick replacement for a lost Demon, as i have Bind Demon 20+, I prefer to bind a regular monster in a TZ as I can guarantee an non- Bind Demon affix of choice (generally cursed), and can keep binding until get the desired aura (sometime you have to wait the TZ rotation for an area with good targets... but is generally way faster than try to bind a cursed unique with the right aura...)

mhlg wrote: 3 months ago

I just consumed my Conviction Hep and decided to go after TZ (shard) Bremm Sparkfist. This particular TZ spawn is physically immune, has Fanaticism, and casts Hydra, but if you prefer he can also spawn with Conviction. Here's a quick family photo.

bremm 2.jpg

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

Bremm Sparkfist (and other monster with spell or range attack) generally have a bad AI for builds that want the Demon punching all the time

As a quick replacement for a lost Demon, as i have Bind Demon 20+, I prefer to bind a regular monster in a TZ as I can guarantee an non- Bind Demon affix of choice (generally cursed), and can keep binding until get the desired aura (sometime you have to wait the TZ rotation for an area with good targets... but is generally way faster than try to bind a cursed unique with the right aura...)

mhlg wrote: 3 months ago

I just consumed my Conviction Hep and decided to go after TZ (shard) Bremm Sparkfist. This particular TZ spawn is physically immune, has Fanaticism, and casts Hydra, but if you prefer he can also spawn with Conviction. Here's a quick family photo.

bremm 2.jpg

The way I generally do it is open a game, go after the demon of consideration, and if he has the aura I want, I waypoint back to town, pop a Shard, and then return and bind him with little or no opposition. If he doesn't have the aura I want, then I exit and start a new game, and repeat until I get the one I want, before using a shard. This way I always get the desired aura and make good use of my shards. I've bound every version of Hephastop, and with Conviction twice (my Bind Demon is level 24). By the way, a firelock is largely a ranged attacker.

fredkid wrote: 3 months ago

As only a Aura carrier Might 17 x 19+ is not a big loss, but
Fanaticism 1 x
Concentration 16+ is a huge loss (the short range is a problem, specially because
Death Mark does not Teleport Merc...)

You can not have Fanaticism + Concentration but you can have Concentration + might aura or might aura + Fanaticism or double might aura.