There is a similar build in youtube (Void Caster VK 0.8.3 (AFK Lv100 Shade) - YouTube ). Which version do you think is better? (I’m not experienced enough to detect differences)
I’ve previously played a void crit version and I think they each have pros and cons. They will certainly play very similar to one another.
Where I think the DOT build is better:
- Easier to gear (Excluding staff, it will be far easier to gear as you get so much more basic resists, crit avoidance, and endurance - a lot of which comes from Holy Aura)
- Much tankier (You’ll be rocking more endurance, more life, and because of the easier gearing, you can stick more life rolls on your suffixes)
- Higher damage at higher gear levels
- Slightly more movement speed/faster clear (but they’ll both be zoom zoom)
Where I think Void Crit is better:
- Higher damage at lower gear levels
- Don’t have to worry about sigils (they are more important in a DOT version)
- Better life recovery through more leech
- I think the graphics/animations are a little cooler, but maybe thats a personal preference
No difference:
- Damage at medium gear levels. They’re probably on par with each other.
- Gameplay style is very very similar.
- Similar stuttersteps. You’ll get more cast speed in void crit, but you’ll also be casting it more with Swiftrest.
My rough suggestion would be that if you expect to run a build to level 100 or farm extensively, i’d say run paladin DOT. If you expect to play and stop around the time you get to empowered monoliths, I’d say run void crit as it drops off in power at higher levels due to being squishier.
One note is if you do run void crit, I think its better to run 3/3 swiftrest for 30% CDR. It’s one of the most important nodes in Anomaly since it improves how often you cast Devouring and Time bubble. I was surprised to see he didn’t spec into it. Without it, I think you lose a ton of DPS (i’d drop some leech or crit nodes).
I think sigils get a bad rap - taking the quality of life nodes means you really don’t have to do a lot to maintain them. That said, I am personally annoyed by the stutterstepping, even with cast speed affixes, and would be curious to see if there is a way to remove that. I know it’s fundamental to the build, but imagining you had to remove it, is there anything you would suggest?
Getting 5/5 on Sightless Star (Devouring Orb cast speed) is ABSOLUTELY crucial - both for cast speed than for mana efficiency. It’s why I rush it first thing even though the Abyssal nodes is where you get most of your damage. The reduction in stuttersteps from that first 35% cast speed is enormous.
After that, I’d recommend aiming for at least ~14% cast speed (one T5 roll. Can get up to 30% with two T5 on gloves/relic) - there is almost no good prefixes for gloves anyways. It makes the stuttersteps a lot less noticeable. If getting something like 25% off of those two items and it still bothers you, then I’d suggest a slightly modified Smite tree to get Righteous Flurry which will get an extra +20% cast speed putting you at net 80% cast speed (25% gear + 20% Righteous + 35% Sightless). At 60%+ cast speed, it personally becomes unnoticeable to me. I settled for 50% and I got used to the very slight stutterstep.
Here is recommended Smite tree modification to reduce stutterstep (slight reduction in damage, elimination of most of smite’s healing): https://i.imgur.com/MZXLRcb.jpg
Hope that helps!
As far as sigils, I don’t notice much especially if i’m speed clearing the map. I usually just cast at start of map (quickly cast three of four) and then forget about it. The auto-cast node maintains me at four stacks most of the time. This build is so fast that its kind of less of a deal compared to all the other sentinel builds that run it (and as was commented earlier in the thread almost every build does due to its sheer power - which is my bigger problem with having a near-mandatory skill).
Btw great build. I just forgot about bear earthquake nerf for this one. TY
Still big deal