So just finished building my WD to run the bats build yesterday. I can farm mp9 easily but when i get to mp10 I am running low on mana on elite packs and it's way worse when it comes to ubers.

Looking for critique, what is my biggest slot in need of and upgrade as of now?

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Dunno-1774/hero/4658435

get slower weapon like spear
1 piece of pickup is enough
get better mojo (serpent/zuni)

I feel like my WD can be some much more effective...

I'm coming back from a long break and I've never been serious into this game, but getting into it now. currently I'm running mp4 (running key runs to try and get a hellfire ring) using acid cloud/zombie bear build and I'm running out of mana too fast.

basically I need someone to look at my build and address these concerns:

how can I retain more mana?
what is the best current build using my gear?
is anything in dire need of upgrade?
which merc? currently using scoundrel and it dies too fast and doesn't seem like it's doing much
also I feel too "slow", is it worth investing into movement speed gear?

FG may be donated to good helpful response

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/tylenol-1258/hero/5067245

Hi there,


first off, let me inform you that there is nothing wrong with your choice of gear. I assume you didn't spend a gazillion gold on it, but I like it a lot. Your bracers, with the bonus to health globes, is my mvp atm :-).
You write that you came back from a break, probably that explains why you play acid cloud/zombie bears, which I used to play also pre-1.08. While there is definitely nothing wrong with this build, as you suggested I believe with this gear it is perfectly possible to enter mp10-world switching to another build. The problem with this build is indeed mana issues, which will prevent you going into higher mps.

Have you considered the Firebats/Cloud of Bats build yet? Do me a favor and look for anthony Evans' videos on youtube. He gives some great advice on how to play this build. You should be able to do mp8 with this build without too much effort. Maybe switch to a Skorn but that is just personal taste. The blackthornes pants seem to be the weak factor in your gear, try going for Inna's Pants.

Should this build disappoint (which i doubt), you could solve most of your mana issues by switch the rune in Spirit walk to Honoured Guest. The mana gain is huge, especially with the Grave Injustice cooldown. It is my believe that then you could even switch the Soul Harvest rune to Vengeful Spirit, but you should test this out.

Gargantuan - Restless Giant?? Do fill me in about this... I don't see the point. For tanking you should consider using Summon Zombie Dogs with Life Link. At this moment, I don't see a use for the Gargantuan other than stun Ubers when you do Uber-runs...

Scoundrel is great! It gives your 3% crit chance even when he dies! So I wouldn't switch. Use a buriza-do kyanon and ias amu+rings to freeze/stun/immobilize your enemies like hell. A good buriza can be expensive though, choose wisely!

I am probably a little too drunk to fill you in on the rest, pm me if you need further details :-). Scampi off...

for a bears/acid cloud build, i would recommmend a 2hander. so probably a skorn.
the logic behind it is the following: each single cast with a 2hander will do more damage because of the higher damage values on the weapon. additionally, the cast speed is slower, so that you deplete your mana less quickly. in total, the dps will be about the same, but with much less mana issues.
imho, 2handers are vastly superior to 1h/mojo for exactly this reason - the only exception being firebats builds since these have a long-term casting cost that can be sustained for long enough with 4piece zuni. but for your build, 2handers reign supreme.

the main issue will be the lack of pickup radius once you switch out your totd....
so to make it work, a lot of rebuilding will be necessary. luckily enough, you havent invested a lot into your gear yet. in loose order:

- get a skorn with int, lifesteal and as much dps and cd as possible. maybe log out with your wd and then compare the +- dps values shown in the ah when you hover your mouse over the skorns to find out which ones are better for you.
- get at least two pieces with pickup radius. good slots are the witching hour (yours is bad anyway), bracers and shoulders. the reason you should get pickup radius is that gruesome feast then boosts your dps by up to 50% (in overall terms! for example from 200k to 300k) and that grave injustice with pickup radius allows you to regain mana and cooldown for every kill. which means more spirit walk which means more mana and more speed.
- i just now realized that you are using jaunt on spirit walk. as long as you keep having mana issues, i would absolutely recommend honored guest instead.
- in general, you could replace spirit vessel with blood ritual if you still have mana issues - on lower mps, you should have no trouble whatsoever with dying.
- note that firebats builds kill the mobs at close distance, so that they can do fine with just one pickup item. your acid cloud build kills at a greater distance, so that you need more pickup radius to make GI and GF work.
- your pants are bad. the hp boost looks flashy, but is worthless if you dont complement it with high mitigation values. the lower the mitigation, the harder it is to outheal taken damage by lifesteal and the worse reflect will rape you on higher mps... rare ones with allres, high vit, good int, 2 sockets and armor will be better.
- boots and rare ring are nice. the pox could get some cc.
- your wh is really low end....
- bracers are ok for the moment, but it would most likely not cost more than 1-3 milliion to craft an upgrade.
- shoulders are ok, but you would once again require less than maybe 5 mil to craft an upgrade.
- chest helm and amu are ok, but can ofc be improved once you get more funds.

i hope that helped

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Sep 1 2013 03:23pm

Hi guys,

I just started a wd (brought accross all of my wiz gear over). so i have a lot of IAS (i know this is bad for wd).

Just wondering if there are any builds viable for this. I'm currently running haunt/zombie bear which seems to work on mp 4 or so. but would like to go higher.

Any other build recommendations without having to change too much of my gear?

Profile here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Sifu-1370/hero/35985873

willing to donate fg for good advice.

Cheers.

you could go for a zero dog build. that would work quite well with your ias and not cause massive mana issues. it would, however, require the usage of a visage, a homunculus and a skull grasp. in general, good zero dog gear is very expensive.
another advantage of zero dogs is that you get healed qutie a lot by the health globes, so the lack of lifesteal on your current gear wouldnt weigh too heavily.

damn this helped me ALOT, ty



some of this was helpful (ie: craft shoulder upgrade, upgrade wh, innas pants) but overall I was not looking to completely overhaul my build

What to do?
Ring and amulet are on the upgrade list, probably tal's amulet and a nice rare ring
Are the skills okay for my gear set?

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/JonP-1912/hero/11765423

Just by looking at your build it seems you have an awful lot of attackspeed for a Bats build.

Try switching you gear a little, get rid of the attackspeed gear.

Will give some pointers beneath.

Your tal amu is fine, change gem in your helm (life is worth more than +25% xp), you can change gloves for some cc/cd/High int/maybe some vita(don't need attackspeed for bats).
This is a taste thing but you could get some pickup radius on you gloves and bracers and go with a high damage, high crit damage, lifesteal skorn.

Don't know your budget.

But with your current set you will probably have mana issues.