Deadset 108 Report post Posted January 5, 2021 On 1/3/2021 at 7:28 PM, Guest Albatross215 said: Is there something I'm not doing right with this build, or is this a weakpoint? Hey there! Reliance on Halo of Karini for defense can indeed be iffy at times, since you depend on that Storm Armor proc to trigger the damage reduction bonuses - and at a range requirement, too. You have some options: 1. Stick with the current combo and when it comes to burst damage enemies, try to reposition with TeleportSafe Passage in anticipation to their damage. Quick as they are, some of those instakill moves are telegraphed well enough to allow moving out of their way and buying time for that life-saving proc. 2. Swapping to Unity , plus one Unity on the follower with an immortality item for him (i.e. Enchanting Favor ). This will grant you unconditional 50% damage reduction. Note that this is quite a bit less than Karini's potential 80%, and will not work in multiplayer since you can't have a follower there. But, you will not be relying on procs and chance at all! 3. If you fancy using Hydra as more of a melee range build, you can try swapping Storm Armor for Ice ArmorCrystallize , Karini for Halo of Arlyse , and Ashnagarr's Blood Bracer for Ancient Parthan Defenders . This is another potent defensive combo that has merit, but leads to an alternate playstyle (you rely on sticking to enemies for damage reduction). Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Farmbuyer 1 Report post Posted April 4, 2021 (edited) The passives listed (on page 2 Skills and Runes) seem to be remnants of a previous edition: "Added with similar reasoning to Magic Weapon Deflection" -- except Magic Weapon wasn't listed; we're using Storm Armor. "[...] naturally through the playstyle of the build, as enemies close in on you while you channel." -- except none of these abilities are channeled. The Season 22 build used Arcane Torrent instead of Black Hole, with the 4th cube slot holding a "boost all your stuff when channeling" but now we're back to three cube slots. (Does the Audacity passive make sense given the playstyle requirements of Halo of Karini, especially with Squirt's? I might try swapping Audacity for Power Hungry or Dominance.) edit: nvm, we still need Spectral Blade, d'oh. "you fulfill the fire with Mammoth Hydra," -- except the build recommends Frost Hydra for synergy with Absolute Zero, and the set bonus for double head count is wasted for Mammoths. Actually, I'm not entirely convinced Elemental Exposure is the best passive for the build as described, but I don't have any thoughts on what to replace it with (other than generic utility passives). edit: having said all that, the Apocalypse rune on Blizzard would do for the fire portion of Elemental Exposure Edited April 4, 2021 by Farmbuyer Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sableflame 5 Report post Posted May 27, 2021 So, I went and tried a Thor Hydra build (see site message board) and it... did well, until it didn't. There's simply not enough Ltng multiplicative bonuses in the game to make it viable (it topped out at 93, probably would have made ~100 with a little better gear/player). Once that went Tango Uniform, I've been using a variant of this build, with the following changes: -Elemental Exposure, +Unstable Anomaly - since they made the choice on the Scoundrel either his cheat death or his massive DPS cloud... you don't otherwise have an "oops" card to play. Granted, I've thus far (up to GR111) only had to have UA pop once... but I imagine it will become more prevalent as pushing becomes tougher. My other option/suggestion would be Blur - pure DR is always a good thing to have, especially when one of your biggest damage bonuses depends on you not taking damage. -Black Hole, +Magic Weapon/Deflection; -Spectral Blades, +Electrocute/Surge of Power - This is a double switch that fits together (and with the passive switch) - Magic Weapon pulls double duty as both offensive boost (10% flat rather than potentially 15% with some button mashing) and defensive boost (Deflection provides the same defense as SB/BB, but procs on any attack, not just the Signature). Electrocute lets me build Fragment and Dynamo stacks quicker because I can do it anywhere on the screen, not just on something within 15 yards (and, as Blizzard/Hydra can get a little thirsty when chaos reigns, that 1 extra point of AP can come in handy). Potential change for higher rifts: -Apocalypse rune on Blizzard, +Frozen Solid rune - The hilarious range/AOE of Apocalypse that lets your Hydras benefit from Winter Flurry all over the screen is very nice... however, especially if you're not running Elemental Exposure and don't need the fire tick, a guaranteed freeze/stun for 2.5 seconds on anything that gets Blizzarded is hard to turn down when stuff gets ugly. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest GeorgeMichael Report post Posted January 14, 2022 How do you equip both Hydras and Blizzard when they are both in the same skill slot? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Quick clarification Report post Posted May 26, 2022 Use elective mode (see settings) to select any skill in any slot! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Fatphotog Report post Posted June 30, 2022 On 3/22/2020 at 7:13 AM, Silvathe1 said: why witching hour if it has no passive? It has +50% critical hit damage…. It’s highly sought after and used in many builds Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Sonne Report post Posted January 16, 2023 Thank`s a lot for sharing your build and knowledge. With all the bis item s and their stats. great. I take your build as base to have frozen fun with the hydra. Dont want to push with this. Chears out to alll the people working on this website! Very god stuf and easy to handle! Hope you doing well and have a good year. Looking forward on D4! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
solitha 84 Report post Posted March 10, 2023 Is Deadset still around? Wondering if the Galvanizing Ward passive is still recommended with the new Guardian's Jeopardy equipped. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites