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Hi, so, I’m working on a melee lightning spellblade build (lvl 79 so far). I’d love to go staff at some point. It’ll just look cool (sort of reminiscent of that lightning dude boss in Big Trouble In Little China) 
I enjoy theorycrafting and have chosen these constraints
Against large groups of mobs it feels good so far, but actually really slow against rares and bosses. Obviously the build leans into chaining of spark charges etc. between mobs.
Is there anything specific in the passives and skill trees that I’m getting really wrong at this point in the character’s development?
I know the gear is completely ordinary, this build isn’t yet at empowered monoliths but I’m not sure gear is the main problem.
Thanks.
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Hey.
You should know that on-hit Mana Striker will always feel weak. You’re stacking melee bonuses, but then you’re dealing damage with ailment that doesn’t benefit from the bonuses you’re stacking …
- Since you’re using Spark Charges, your Nova should probably have 100% to apply spark charge, not just 60%.
- Your offhand needs INT to boost your damage, so you should stack INT everywhere you can. You’re missing INT on both rings, gloves, boots, helmet and relic.
Now, your plan is to use a Staff, however Staves are two-handed weapons. You won’t be able to use that Enigma offhand, so your DPS would go down drastically, amplifying the feeling of slowness you’re already experiencing on bosses.
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Hi, thank you for the reply and guidance, much appreciated.
Yes, my aesthetic desire for staff will just lead to a painfully slow gameplay experience in all likelihood. Ah well.
Staff cannot roll an Attack Speed affix, so it’ll be slower, but it doesn’t have to be painful. Respeccing is rather cheap, so you can experiment and make your own build.
If your theme is Lightning, Spark Charge isn’t the only choice. There’s Surge and Firebrand from Spellblade’s melee skills, there’s Lightning Blast or Static Orb from spells, you can even go stacking Lightning Fire Aura
I did make some adjustments and went back to Lightning Blast. I felt the procs for Elemental Nova weren’t as impactful as I’d hoped so just moved out of it entirely and went back into surge to proc lightning blast for a better map clear. I stacked Mana too, for Celestial Precision with a little more Int as advised. Looking for better gear that has both.
While staff might be slower, I feel that the current weapons suit the damage choices so perhaps pushing into another Lightning avenue will work better with staff.
Regarding Firebrand, it offers some nice crit but I can’t see a way to gain stacks without using it directly and it feels clumsy to have to hit mobs directly with it when I feel it’s more effective to spam Mana Strike to proc frost claw. Unless I’m missing something.
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