Final Sorcerer Fire Strike....any improvements?

[peetski]

I finally beat regular content (not dungeons) to FG and also managed to beat nasty Cthonian Nemesis guy even though it took several minutes but Korvaak in the cauldron got me twice. Cannot tank him and I'm quite sure he is resisting fire big time.

I was not even able to find the build I was following as it is so old now. On the builds list I don't see Flamekeeper repeater being used by anyone.

I changed from Pyroclasm relic to Annihilation, changed amulet (for resist) and medal, capped and now slighly overcap attack speed and stuck at 143k dps even with over 2500% fire damage when toggle skills are on. DA and OA are bad I know. Physical resist is also bad but I imrproved it to 12% with the gloves. Have way overcapped elemental but struggle on the others so all the augs are basically for vitality and bleed. Ring (pierce res) and boots are completely needed right now even though not ideal. I got rid of Hawk that was free standing to pick up more leech on Hydra which gives me 9% much better.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/nZoELXE2

I think it is just a slower style than is needed at end game. Throw the bombs for debuff, put down thermites and then start shooting. I skip thermites on lower mobs ofc.
Anyway, just wondered if anyone had any late game suggestions. thanks

[madrigal]

Exchange Mutated Scales on your gloves for Restless Remains. Restless Remains are much better general purpose imo.

Swap one of the Silk Swatch for a Scaled Hide or something else with armor absorption. 84% armor absorption is just asking to be one shot. It has sufficient pierce and bleed resist for most of the game content and for finishing up Korvaak.

I've never used the Flamekeeper Set. It looks ok for campaign content, maybe not so great for endgame. I would probably push this character as far as he can go, do some general gear farming, then build something else.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

i like that you say OA is bad, then skipped finishing hydra which gives you 2 OA nodes, and didn't pump Overload or Inner Focus up either
Aether resist overcap is low, so that'd be another reason to pump Overload

if you're firestrike build, you want WPS, otherwise you're basically just doing slightly increased auto attack dmg
seal of the void, Plunder relic, Pyroclasm medal, alternatively Korvaak Brand medal for just increased dmg and heal

Olexra's Flash Freeze doesn't work on bosses or hard targets, remember that, so the fire RR doesn't apply to enemies that need it to apply

*you need High potency transmuter for Blackwater cocktail, otherwise it's a bad proccer/you need to cast it too many times
^repeat cast of stuff you don't really need is dmg loss when you're an AA build
likewise Agonizing flame node is meaningless when you have Rhowan's Crown

you have 66 pierce overcap, yet keep stacking pierce resist components and augments,
slow res being low would be another reason to finish Hydra
swap Owl to Empty Throne, owl is greedy, you don't need ele res, and you need CC res and aether res etc
phys res is low, because, well, fire build :sweat_smile:

[peetski]

Ok I probably misunderstood but swapping owl to throne just gives me same amount of pts so I can't complete hydra. Right now I have Hydra completed with Rhowan's with 3 pts but need a purple from cross roads just to to hold that. I had 10 pts free with no Hydra, Owl, Rhowan's or Throne. Anyway, I appreciate your feedback, I will go through the augs and make sure pierce is needed but I think I needed the bleed too. I only have 1 Pyroclasm being used by my purifier and no blueprint for it but will try Korvaaks Brand if I can find it. I just like the one I found because of the huge fire damage. I will look up the void seal and use High Potency and put OFF back to 1 pt. I notice though it can be good on those high fire res ascended types who do freeze and take a lot otherwise. Now this character isn't awful but a lot of work sometimes. I did beat final Korvaak with enough kiting. High fire res I'm sure and he won't stand on the mines. But my character didn't die. I did find an old purifier build using Flamekeeper set that somehow managed 3k OA and 2800 DA. Had some fancy MI pants though.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by peetski:

Ok I probably misunderstood but swapping owl to throne just gives me same amount of pts so I can't complete hydra.

unrelated, you complete hydra by swapping it for Scholar's Light, which is basically useless anyway/giving you affinity surplus you don't need
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/r2BQx0zN

as for general stat optimization, it's hard not knowing exactly what you have access to, but using endgame compoenents and assuming all factions are revered for Augment access should fix a lot, then skill point redistribution should fix the rest and item swaps here and there
can't emphasise enough how badly you need wps tho, the medal you have is, to put it gently, bad, for a firestrike build, all it offers you is a bunch of %fire dmg, the mines mod is meaningless, and your dmg would be better increased with a wps medal or korvaak brand medal to boost firestrike dmg directly

this is just a real quick swap stuff example not super minmaxed https://www.grimtools.com/calc/r2BQx0rN, and obviously assumes access to endgame comps/augs etc
boots you can craft, the current boots you have is "pointless" since you can craft boots with the exact same stats but with bonus base stats on top,
tho your current resist spread also relies on those affixes, namely poison and cold res/ele res, but stone plates come with base 4phys res etc so there is no reason to not use them over default generic common drops, or intrepid warboots too, doesnt' have phys res but has cc res and poison/vit res as base
i would probably also consider upgrading that cronley ring, it doesn't really give you anything special aside from base attack speed, which you're already decently overcapped on
ideally you'd get legs with phys res too, should be some fire dmg or elemental dmg pants with phys res iirc

[Demian]

Originally posted by peetski:

I finally beat regular content (not dungeons) to FG and also managed to beat nasty Cthonian Nemesis guy even though it took several minutes but Korvaak in the cauldron got me twice. Cannot tank him and I'm quite sure he is resisting fire big time.

I was not even able to find the build I was following as it is so old now. On the builds list I don't see Flamekeeper repeater being used by anyone.

I changed from Pyroclasm relic to Annihilation, changed amulet (for resist) and medal, capped and now slighly overcap attack speed and stuck at 143k dps even with over 2500% fire damage when toggle skills are on. DA and OA are bad I know. Physical resist is also bad but I imrproved it to 12% with the gloves. Have way overcapped elemental but struggle on the others so all the augs are basically for vitality and bleed. Ring (pierce res) and boots are completely needed right now even though not ideal. I got rid of Hawk that was free standing to pick up more leech on Hydra which gives me 9% much better.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/nZoELXE2

I think it is just a slower style than is needed at end game. Throw the bombs for debuff, put down thermites and then start shooting. I skip thermites on lower mobs ofc.
Anyway, just wondered if anyone had any late game suggestions. thanks

i would try something like this if i would have the same gear. Less damage, but more tanky:

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4ZDKx0wV

[peetski]

Originally posted by gNuff!~©~gNom3™:

Originally posted by peetski:

Ok I probably misunderstood but swapping owl to throne just gives me same amount of pts so I can't complete hydra.

unrelated, you complete hydra by swapping it for Scholar's Light, which is basically useless anyway/giving you affinity surplus you don't need
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/r2BQx0zN

as for general stat optimization, it's hard not knowing exactly what you have access to, but using endgame compoenents and assuming all factions are revered for Augment access should fix a lot, then skill point redistribution should fix the rest and item swaps here and there
can't emphasise enough how badly you need wps tho, the medal you have is, to put it gently, bad, for a firestrike build, all it offers you is a bunch of %fire dmg, the mines mod is meaningless, and your dmg would be better increased with a wps medal or korvaak brand medal to boost firestrike dmg directly

this is just a real quick swap stuff example not super minmaxed https://www.grimtools.com/calc/r2BQx0rN, and obviously assumes access to endgame comps/augs etc
boots you can craft, the current boots you have is "pointless" since you can craft boots with the exact same stats but with bonus base stats on top,
tho your current resist spread also relies on those affixes, namely poison and cold res/ele res, but stone plates come with base 4phys res etc so there is no reason to not use them over default generic common drops, or intrepid warboots too, doesnt' have phys res but has cc res and poison/vit res as base
i would probably also consider upgrading that cronley ring, it doesn't really give you anything special aside from base attack speed, which you're already decently overcapped on
ideally you'd get legs with phys res too, should be some fire dmg or elemental dmg pants with phys res iirc

Ok so I will review your last post later but I did get OA up to 2800, got the devotions fixed and found Korvaak's brand but haven't tried it yet. The 25% trigger skill on Flamekeeper set is also there and seems quite good and triggers a lot too. I tried to craft some boots but can't use any right now due to what you pointed out on resistances. I have to farm up Soleil's to get weapon augment with vitality res which I think will help. Also, changed the Seal to the Soul one and it seems good. I dropped OFF to 1 pt and put points in those others for Arcanist that boost OA. Only downside there is the area is really small now. Dropped Hellfire Mine too. thanks

Much more damage on my char ofc.
Granted Skills
Fire Spread (Granted by Item)
Fires an exploding round that shatters on impact in a large burst of flame. Activates off of default weapon attacks.
25% Chance to be Used
4 Meter Radius
150% Weapon Damage
180 Physical Damage
220 Fire Damage
600 Burn Damage over 2 Seconds

[valium]

The points in static strike can be better invested in inner focus or overload. The points wasted in agonizing flames and flash freeze were already mentioned, but I am seconding that notion.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by peetski:

I dropped OFF to 1 pt

i would suggest dropping it entirely, it's useless, specially at 1pt

Originally posted by peetski:

25% Chance to be Used

that's fine, but 1 wps is not "enough", which is why i said you want more, seal of the void, plunder relic, it gives you more AA dmg, aoe etc, - while you probably wont reach 100% wps on Flamekeeper sorc, you still wanna try get the combined wps %pool up there

[peetski]

So I noticed Korvaak's Brand skill only works on dual melee or dual ranged so can't use that proc. I tried crafting some boots, a lot of boots, and then switched helmets for more health and created a mess because I needed the cunning on the helm which I now I have on boots partly that have no health so net gain not that great.

But won't trouble you guys with inventory puzzle but wanted to ask about Agonizing Flames: I thought that would be good as instant RR debuff in case ES doesn't trigger right away from Cocktail? I did take out static strike and completed the Arcanist stuff to max level and gained OA but lost a bit of dps. I do feel it is improved now so thanks for all the suggestions. I even like the defense option but right now I'll stick with this for devotions.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

the proc is not what matters on *Mythical* Korvaak's Brand, it's the Firestrike mods, so it's still good and is your sole best choice outside potentially pyroclasm, you do not really want to consider anything but these 2 medals, and possibly Brand wins out in the end regardless despite only having like 66%? wps i think

Agonizing doesn't really matter, also not really if it's "instant" (wont be instant since molotov needs to fly and all that), more so the benefit is just not that good that it's even worth a single point; otherwise you should pump it and skip crown all together, but ideally you're not using BWC except for when you need to, and have full control over ES/proccing that constantly
if it were me, i'd ignore Agonizing totally, get used to proccing and relying on elemental storm, if you wanna use BWC, then use it for Demon Fire dmg reduct, get that sucker to 14pts/17%dr breakpoint, otherwise maybe consider not using BWC at all/unless you're desperate for OA shred

[peetski]

Well, this was funny. I realized I had the level 58 Korvaak's so searched online where to farm (knowing it is random ofc) and one post said try the celestial vendor in Nephos. So I did and hit Mythical Korvaak on first try lol...then I wasted two more tries to get Pyro...nope. Now Korvaak's did boost up dps a bit over the one I had but I really want to use a skill so I just took Pyro from my Purifier and gave him Korvaak's. Now the Pyro proc seems to do a little animation where you slightly kneel and do an extra shot in between regular shots which I assume is good but it is hard to notice and I lose 8k dps using that vs either the medal I had or Korvaak's and the vindictive flame changes not sure on that either. So I guess my question is, why is Pyroclasm mark better? Is it just the extra free attack with 18% chance? thanks Yes it does also have some max res boost and some resist which is good I'm sure.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

korvaak brand is good because it boosts your firestrike+wps dmg directly and increases your healing
pyroclasm is good because it gives you a wps the bolsters your wps pool, (wps is good for AA when you dont' ahve 100%), and the specific wps on pyroclasm is good because it's high dmg, aoe, and has passthrough
don't look at sheet, myth korvaak brand or myth pyroclasm is a net/effective dmg gain over your green, no doubt about it