looks like I derped the numbers on previous comparison. Also I compared them at level 97 instead of level 99, and I'll include those +2 skill points to the respective skills
again breaking down some math for "Variant A" vs "Variant B", I think I used wrong setup last time in comparison because I was in a rush, noticed I had mang songs & +15 sunder equipped so need to run it again
Both builds would be obsession in +3 staff, enigma, shako, baalos, +2/20 crafted ammy, magefist, 2x soj, arach, crafted or rare boots, torch, anni, cta swap, infinity merc, with just 4x skillers, assuming a 2x4 inventory open, 2x tomes, cube all in inventory (so -4 skills)
Both builds prebuff the same +skills for summon tainted / bind demon, assuming mang songs, enigma, +3 ammy, +3 circlet, +2/3 both book, magefist, 2x soj, arach, wraithstep, 8x skiller, bone break / flame rift.
Both have the same tainted damage
Build A uses a defenders fire, fire facet, fire sunder, 20 blood oath, remaining points bind demon (3 at level 99)
Build B uses a protector's stone, ist or ber, phys sunder, 20 bind demon, remaining points blood oath (3 at level 99)
Build A has 3670-5400 (4535) phys + 4420-6210 (5315) fire blood boil, with -25% fire pierce, fire sunder, amp+conv. Bound demon has +2316 / +765% (~155 base, +357% ed other) for 31.7k jab
Blood oath gives 29% redirected, 77% resist, 11% dr, +1800% life
Build B has 3670-5400 (4535) phys + 1174-1728 (1451) fire blood boil, with -20% phys pierce, phys sunder, amp+conv. Bound demon has +3404 / +850% (ditto) for 48.8k jab
Blood oath gives 27% redirected, 73% resist, 11% dr, +1205% life, but also the build has -10% relative DR (maybe -2% if using a ber)
The difference in displayed tainted life is only 10991 vs 9265 without bc active, but this is because tainted is also getting +% life per skill point like other minions
If the % is accurate, build A has 45.6% higher HP for the bound demon overall and that bit of extra EHP for himself
Now consider 5 enemy classes for blood boil damage per cast after -resists, assuming conviction+amp both active.
0% fr / 0% dr (crow nest) -> A = 19.7k, B = 11.8k -> +67% boil
25% fr / 25% dr (claw viper) -> A = 17.8k, B = 11.2k -> +59% boil
50% fr / 33% dr (unraveler) -> A = 16.1k, B = 10.4k -> +55% boil
100+ fr / 33% dr (doom knight) -> A = 10.1k, B = 8.5k -> +19% boil
100+ fr / 50% dr (venom lord) -> A = 9.3k, B = 7.7k -> +21% boil
100+ fr / 100% dr (+stone skin) -> A = 3.4k, B = 5.7k -> -40% boil (this assuming amp is -100 with bone break, which prior testing doubts and might instead be -40)
Now in general, you simply don't need to use blood boil against non-immune mobs. Its a huge difference in damage when the fire portion is hitting like a truck, that's about +60% overall against those non-immunes for build A
But look at how much closer it is for immunes- only +20% damage for build A. That's the opportunity cost for increasing your bind demon jab from 31.7->48.8, which is +54% overall against all targets. BUT supposedly also losing 45.6% life
So in wrap up, that puts the most relevant numbers at:
Build A: +20% boil vs immunes, +46% demon life
Build B: +54% demon damage
There is one obvious issue that could really decide that difference: Whether a bound unique lancer actually has 2x the hp of a trash mob lancer or not. It really depends how the supposed max HP cap from 3.2 works, and I don't know the mechanics. If a unique lancer is actually double the HP, then build B could have a demon with 37% higher life than build A, so its 54% demon damage / 46% demon life vs 20% boil damage vs immunes, which should be a no-brainer. But frankly, I have no frigging idea whether the HP is capped or not. It needs more datamining research or a utility that can display actual demon HP, or test in some kind of high DPS controlled environment. Right now, all I have to guess is some dataminers on reddit claiming its somewhere around 20k base life, 'before P8 scaling'. Which would potentially mean a lancer could still get double the HP on a unique, because they have less than half that.
of course, even if the only affix you care about on a unique lancer is 'cursed' and you roll for aura, its still a much longer time to find it. You can at least hunt lancers in any TZ sharded game, but actually finding a unique lancer with cursed is already tough and then only 1 opportunity to roll holy frost per unique and often that's 1 chance per game, 1/7 roll to get it. So its a hell of a grind
This post was edited by Goomshill on Jun 3 2026 09:17pm