I have what I think is an interesting build here, but I don’t think I’ll ever get round to “finishing” it. I can’t drum up the enthusiasm for the grind. I was hoping someone else would be interested in running with it and seeing how far it can go.
The build is currently functional and running 150 corruption, although it can probably do higher comfortably (I just play conservatively, as if I’m in hardcore)[Edit: after a bit more play, “comfortably” is probably wrong]. The basic idea is to stack intelligence and cast lightning Smite manually, using that to proc both lightning Meteors (via Harbinger of Stars) and Avalanche boulders (via Halvar’s Set bonus). Extra survivability comes from ward generated from Healing Hands, which is cast every time you cast Smite.
The linchpin of the whole thing is Legends Entwined, which allows Paladin to use Vilatria’s set. It also makes use of Halvar’s and Ferebor’s sets.
Further improvements I was planning include:
- Using Titanheart chest
- Putting Intelligence on helmet, body armor and relic via the woven echo that does stat swapping (I haven’t dropped a single one yet)
- Getting the Mana Gained when you directly Cast Smite affix on the helmet
- Getting a high Ferebor’s perseverance roll on the ring
- Getting a T6/7 increased area affix on the amulet
- Adding Cast Speed to Grasp of the Bloodmage gloves
- Getting a +5 to All Attributes Legends Entwined with at least 1 LP
Note that a key part of tuning this build is making sure that you can trigger Meteors often enough to keep mana low. Adding the Mana Gained when you directly Cast Smite affix would likely upset the current balance and require more Meteor procs. Increasing cast speed would help a little, but probably not enough. I was experimenting with Divine Bolts as another way to proc Meteors. Perhaps there are other options.
One last thing: beware the crit avoidance echo modifier. It makes the build feel quite a bit worse.
If someone does push this build, please let me know how it goes.
It’s absolutely crazy idea i would never make myself, so Thank You for showing me that! I would not go for int build on attunement class, because it splits your focus, options and attribute scaling.
I like LE for making such craziness actually possible though.
I would suggest trying to slam ‘ward per missing health’ on gloves for more ward from healing hands and if doing that, go for urgent healing in HH for way more ward this way.
Also body armour, champion’s regalia with good affixes could be useful. I don’t know what flesh woven is supposed to do for your build. You get crit reduced by boots already. One more affix and you’re better than avoidance.
Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, it’s not ideal, but the main point of the build is to scale Intelligence for the flat lightning damage to spells and the ward retention. You could focus on Attunement instead for better single-target damage, but then I think you might as well drop Vilatria’s. And I’m not sure the Meteors would do enough damage to be worth it.
From my reading of the Divine Barrier node, this would basically make the build a low-life build since Healing Hands would no longer heal, right? I don’t know if a single ‘ward per missing health’ affix would be sufficient to sustain enough ward to compensate for the lost health pool. Perhaps someone will experiment with it to find out. I definitely wouldn’t rule out low life as a good or even better option.
Another potential affix to consider is Experimental Ward Gained on Traversal on boots, if one is willing to sacrifice an attribute affix for it. Unfortunately it’s based on flat mana missing rather than a percentage, so it would be better with a big mana pool. That in turn favours Attunement rather than Intelligence stacking.
The crit-reduction boots are a recent addition. The build is waiting on that extra affix before replacing Woven Flesh with Titanheart.
You don’t need to become low-life build. You can use t1 affix just for HH and outregen the drain from affix to keep high health bonuses, like paladin’s 15% more damage and keep divine essence working. That’s how i use HH and ward per missing health. Lagon’s blessing offers a lot of health regen. Symbols can also offer a lot of health regen.
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Good to know, thanks. This build is highly dependent on the heals from Healing Hands because of Smite’s health cost, which makes me reluctant to disable the healing. On top of that, Titanheart disables health regeneration.
I can envisage using such an approach with a different chest and more health leech.
