Been picking back up some SSF lately. Don’t have an abundance of resources but have 2-3 of pretty much all high runes and a zod. I was figuring since the nerf is coming on ES, efort doesnt make much sense. Assuming BOTD is the best runeword ES build now? Dont have an eth tomb reaver or ariocs.

I have a really solid sup GPA and a non sup eth GT. Assuming the sup GPA is the way to go here?

Can someone send some botd ES planners? Also if I’m wrong on botd lmk, I can pivot.

Death Decap if you are fine with 75fcr.

Void with magic instead of physical.

Isn’t void only 1H?

I've settled on the opinion that at 75 fcr choice is death. At 125 fcr botd tm. If anyone has anything to add about what's better at 125 fcr, let me know too

presume they dont change anything on ptr, currently the best weapon on ptr for a es is eth archon obsession. you gonna max hex purge, so its actually a magic focus build. it does way more damage then any physical one

In that situation, why not just do mirrored blades with a bow? Saves you having to put any points into ES, and allows you to just pump the bane synergies which you'd need, right?

you not gonna put any point into es, here the build I used on ptr. consume a defiler and rocking huge damage, remember magic explosion damage dont need ar to hit target its guarantee hit

https://maxroll.gg/d2/d2planner/h33uld03

But wouldn't you not be able to run a defiler with your consumed one because of the changes to needing hard points in demonic mastery, leaving you without that massive damage boost?

Why not just run a edeath decapitator, max mirrored followed by bane/consume/demonic mastery and then dump whatever else into purge, so you can use hex bane to add a ton of magic damage on top of a ton of physical damage, while still being able to have a demon apply amp, a consumed defiler, and a regular defiler?

This post was edited by jimmycongo on May 4 2026 11:28am

because hex purge has mass aoe build into it hint magic explosion damage, with 90% trigger rate and combine that with 3x defiler (2 after you consume one) you cleared screen lol. bane has its benefit but since physical are nerf to the ground so its not as useful compare to live. compared to purge its not a good after some testing on ptr. again here you can use what you like, but demon on ptr is a waste of skill point. none of the aura / curse worth dumping 15 to 20 points into it, the odds you trigger curse just way too low. its a waste compare to getting 3 demons and 51% dr(blood oath). its no brainer here, its the reason why I dont pick physical any more unless they change it in next ptr. if not, with the current ptr patch magic es is the way to go. rather its bane or purge

This post was edited by IMCL85 on May 4 2026 11:45am