Binding champions

Hi all,

Is it worth the extra 9 points to bind a champion? Currently leveling an Abyss lock, but will probably respec to fire for end game.

eventually, 15 base points + 5 soft to get a unique w. 2 immunities and an aura.

till then, if u can reach 10 with soft points your demon will gain extra fast extra strong. my Goatman is fire immune and very tanky.

Atomicharmony24 wrote: 1 hour ago

Hi all,

Is it worth the extra 9 points to bind a champion? Currently leveling an Abyss lock, but will probably respec to fire for end game.

IMO, no, especially if you stick to building out miasma. Miasma ( Abyss + chains + bolt for 100% synergy) is so strong that all you need is 1 hard point in bind and 20 soft points to get you one of these guys with aura once you have access to the Furnace of Pain or Uber Tristram.

I have had zero issues clapping Ubers, Ancients and T5 Heralds solo with one of these guys running interference. I just sit back and throw the Smoke.

I love this set up so much more compared to chasing super-uniques like Heph, List and the lancer chics like I used to since I no longer have to rely on my demon to inflict massive amounts of damage. If you always keep a spare set of keys in stock, you always have access to go get another one in case he gets clapped by something stupid like one of those devil dolls from hell in Durance

Anyway, that's my $0.02

No. But also yes.

Generally speaking, binding a champion is often worse than binding a normal mob. Yes, a champion comes with a bit of an improvement in base stats but unlike the normal version, a champion does not inherit the TZ affix. So if you bind a champion, you're stuck with some random ol' mob with nothing special about him. If you instead bind a normal mob, you can still get an added immunity, cursed or whatever else you please from the pool of TZ affixes which tends to very much outperform the slightly improved base stats on the champion.

That said, higher bind still does offer improved stats (dmg) for your bound demon so I'd argue that's always worth it, even if you still just bind a normal mob to snag the affix bonus.

Ultimately though, why limit yourself to the champion consideration? Chaos locks (both, fire and magic) have plenty of skill points to not only fully flesh out the Chaos side of it along with the obligatory Consume but to also get a base lvl 20 bind on top of that (and then still have points to spare). So just go with unique/super unique and enjoy the full set of affix options and top-end bind performance.
(Though I wouldn't bother with bind while still lvling as Chaos, get the Chaos part done first, that is where the real performance lies after all)

Is everyone only putting one point into Consume? If so, I guess that changes thing.. I do have extra points, but was unsure what to max out once I max out the Chaos tree.

Atomicharmony24 wrote: 47 minutes ago

Is everyone only putting one point into Consume? If so, I guess that changes thing.. I do have extra points, but was unsure what to max out once I max out the Chaos tree.

Given a bit of gear for the build, you should have enough +skill from it to max out the primary Consume bonus with just 1 hard point. So yeah, that's all you need. Beyond that, all more points gets you is a very minor further boost to life and run speed along with an increase to the duration, none of which makes a real difference (come proper gear) since (a) locks have tons of life anyways (b) you don't run when you can Teleport and (c) even with 1 pt, the duration tends to beat your CtA duration by a clear mile so you're stuck re-buffing well before Consume runs out either way.

Though come higher levels, you'll have some spare points even with a lvl 20 bind. So you can still drop a few more into Consume or whatever else you please. Certainly don't need it, but ya could.

Atomicharmony24 wrote: 47 minutes ago

Is everyone only putting one point into Consume? If so, I guess that changes thing.. I do have extra points, but was unsure what to max out once I max out the Chaos tree.

It depends on personal preference really. I chose to max out Consume after Chaos just for the duration aspect and I only use CtA for Ubers and Ancients and maybe an occasional T5 Herald depending on what's dropped on my head so the duration differential between those 2 isn't really an issue for me to @Schnorki 's point, although a good one especially during leveling.

IMO, having to Consume more often also increases your chances of accidentally consuming your bound demon and that's a really really bad feeling especially if you've hunted if for a significant amount of time lol

I also have 1 point in Lethargy, which is extremely useful in slowing packs down

Thank you all for the Insight. Much appreciation. Essentially, whatever flavor I want.

I currently have a bunch of unspent skill points with my fire lock, haven’t decided whether to increase my Hex Siphon (I’m very mana hungry on p8), my Consume for more life and frw and duration, Blood Oath for more damage xfer, or to do more than a 1 point bound demon.

All of these skills, including Bind Demon have rapidly diminishing returns.

My current p8 1 point wonder Stone skin lancer gives me Vigor aura and I’ve yet to see her health bar go down even a pixel even when amp damaged. Haven’t tried Ubers with her though.

More Bind Demon points does give more damage, and the extra damage is hugely more than any monster or bosses base damage (making the base damage nearly irrelevant). So unless you need a special combination of modifiers, like cursed multishot lightning enchanted Stone skin for a physical damage WL, I dont see a huge benefit of binding uniques