I’m trying to make a build around the 2h unique Volcanus that does a hybrid of spell and melee fire damage. My initial plan looks something like this: https://www.lastepochtools.com/planner/oRbDrKxo
Using Flame Reave + Auto Cast Fireball + Auto Cast Fire Frost Claw. I’ve been leveling as this along with that ring and it’s felt reasonable so far, although obviously hard to tell until I get to the weapon.
But at some point when I unlocked it I took a look at Firebrand and it seems like it could also be an option for this. Fire melee skill that also comes with a procced spell in the form of Flame Wave from Pyre.
The 2 main reasons I’m considering switching the build are:
I get to drop fireball since it’s probably bad not being specced into Flame Ward.
Flame Reave already has a 2h unique weapon, Japsper’s Searing Pride, that more specifically buffs it, so it strikes me that that might be the better way to make flame reave do well anyway. Although it is a lot less focused on the spell hybrid stuff.
I haven’t seen any decent new builds since rm prelaunch, seems most builds are just situating whatever balance changes have been made. If you figure out something magical however, let us know
My update: I briefly tried out Fire Brand for a little while early in monoliths. It was ok, but didn’t seem like it was going to match up to the big screen clearly AoE of Flame Reave. So I swapped back. I played through to empowered monoliths and it felt pretty smooth. I’m not sure if I’m gonna go that much further though since no matter the build once I get to empowered monos I have to start figuring out how to not just die which is always kind of a pain. But here’s where I ended up for anyone curious:
I wouldn’t read too much into all the gear choices since it’s kind of just what I had on hand. You probably don’t run Soulfire or Font of the Erased. At some point I’d like to LP the + levels to Flame Reave onto a Titan Heart but can’t bring myself to do that without a backup. I think Swaddling of the Erased could make sense since we do both spell damage and melee damage, but would need one with reasonable rolls on it. Fiery Dragon Shoes could probably just be a decent pair of Citadel Boots once I can wear those. Honestly in general not super sure how I want to do the defenses. Lots of ward in the tree, but the weapon has leech, which makes me want to lean more life based. So idk.
But just from seeing how all the AoE looks, I think I’d be happy to take this pretty far if I was less burnt out.
Keep Flame Reave and replace Mana Strike with Fire Brand. You can consume Firebrand stacks buff Flame Reave even further. +36% damage at 3 stacks (all you need for Rhythm of Fire) and +18% Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier on your next flame Reave. The +300% ignite chance is just a nice bonus.
Oh I ended up not going with the surge spec in favor of just having Flame Ward. Seemed too good to pass up for defenses.
I guess with this you’re not casting the Flame Reave that often so Mana Reaver becomes enough to sustain? Because Flame Reave, especially with the ring, is really mana hungry, but mana strike makes it so you basically have no downtime. It sort of looks like you’d come up short if you were spamming this but I could see a bit of mana regen making up for that.
In my experience trying it out, I didn’t have the procs for Frost Claw or Fireball and it was fine with some mana regen. I also didn’t reduce the stacks required for Rhythm of Fire and was focused more on max stacks (without mana cost) on Fire Brand paired with the Blade Weaver Passive to maximize the damage from Flame Reave. I think I capped at 9 stacks of Fire Brand, so I’d gain 27 mana from Mana Reaver + mana regen.
Then I’d Flame Reave consuming the 9 stacks of each buff for: +135% from Blade Weaver, +108% from Firebrand, and +54% Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier from Firebrand.
I also tried just the 4 Brand + Reave playstyle for the minimum to meet the Rhythm of Fire buff. Which I only put 4 points into Blade Weaver for a +60% buff. And it worked well even with keeping Flame Ward on CD.
