Edit Guide

Fire Ball, Volcanic Rush Sorcerer Build Guide

Posted By EMP1241 on October 31, 2023
Last updated on October 31, 2023

Overview

?

Ash was a man of few words, he let his balls of fire speak for him instead.

This build guide is to help people understand the build and its functionality. There's a good chance you could make your own variation using a similar setup.

Gameplay Style

Ash is a SMG type Fireball character. He excels single target damage however he does have some decent AOE clear with Gas Powered and Blazeborn. He has significant direct damage, we also supplement this damage with significant scaling of Ignite, which is amplified by our Fiery Dragon Shoes. We are taking advantage of Frost Wall's Prepared Wards node using it to boost our DPS, Mana Regen, and defenses. We also gain significant ward with Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros and heal from our blessing Grand Hunger of the Void with our Crusader Gauntlets with SuffixIncreased Leech Rate. This is imperative, and the Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros, Grand Hunger of the Void, and SuffixIncreased Leech Rate CANNOT be skipped. Between our 100% or very close to 100% PrefixCritical Strike Chance and upwards of 400% + PrefixCritical Strike Multiplier we tear down most of anything in front of us quickly.

Defensively, we rely on our ward as well as our Fiery Dragon Shoes and SuffixArmour and Reduced Bonus Damage from Crits to deal with excessive damage from critical strikes. With our ability to produce ward in the 1000's quickly and avoiding obvious damage mechanics, we are able to comfortably traverse echos and deal with boss fights.

Since we scale so high into PrefixFire Damage, the Ignite does about a 3rd of our damage for us. Most enemies will burn before the ignite has finished its course. However, you can also casually ignore most enemies once you have blasted them with Fireball, as they will likely burn to "Ash" once you clear passed them. Interestingly enough, our Frost Wall will cause us cast Fireball at any enemies walking through the wall 45% of the time thanks to Flames Unchained, this is just passively adds damage, as there are no other "better" nodes for us to functionally take with Frost Wall.

Flame Rush should be reserved for movement into AOE pack clears not just for generic movement, as this may actually slow you down in the long run when needing to clear random trash. However we do have 150% + of SuffixFire Resistance which kill our CD for Flame Rush by18% thanks to Blazing Flux.

As always, my builds never require LP to function, but the build can be improved if found.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Well Scaled Defenses

Active Playstyle

Strong Crit with DOT supplemental Damage

Cons

Requires Unique Items to Play

Grand Hunger of the Void and SuffixIncreased Leech Rate in gloves required to play

Idol Hunting

Gameplay / Mechanics

Mechanical Function

Required - Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros with SuffixIncreased Leech Rate in Gloves and Grand Hunger of the Void.

It is not recommended to play this build without theses. Burning Avarice can be uses in place of Grand Hunger of the Void and SuffixIncreased Leech Rate, but it is not the ideal setup. (unless you have PrefixCast Speed and PrefixMana LP'd into the Burning Avarice.

Fireball is our primary damage spam mechanic, and it will likely do just fine without anything else. You will learn an appropriate rotation between Flame Rush and it's built in Volcanic Orb which can easily reach 400-500k on the tool-tip damage *don't always rely on this however*. We will put on significant Ignite with our rapidly fire Fireball, and we will burn most of everything to the ground. Remember that Ignite is supplemental do not brick your gear attempting to hunt down gear to buff JUST ignite, our big damage numbers come from the direct damage from Fireball. Flame Rush with its Volcanic Orb counter part should be reserved for either pack clear or rare enemies for a massive pop of damage. Remember to put Frost Wall between you and the enemy in order to take advantage of Gas Powered. Quintessence of Triumph and Runeword: Cataclysm help us tear down enemies. Crackling Precision, Arcane Obliteration, Calculated Destruction and Inscribed Instruments help cap and max our critical strike hits.

You should be using your Frost Wall in most engagements, by putting it between you and the enemy you can automatically cast Fireball if they cross the wall, and if you get in trouble you can always Flame Rush or walk through it for a burst of defense from Flame Ward. Flame Ward is also used to make sure we pump mana into our pool thanks to Warmth as well as boosting some base fire damage with Through Flames as well as some easily obtainable move speed with Flame Runner.

Defensive Mechanics

We are pushing significant amounts of ward into our pool with Twisted Heart of Uhkeiros and putting that life taken by the heart back into our pool with Grand Hunger of the Void. We need this done quickly, thus we take the suffix in our gloves for SuffixIncreased Leech Rate. This, along with our belt with SuffixArmour and Reduced Bonus Damage from Crits and our Fiery Dragon Shoes prevent us from taking excessive critical strike damage. Flame ward can be used to boost some ward and some mitigation as well. Our 2000+ health pool is our final mitigation tool. Word to the wise, if you're not attacking, you're not gaining ward. We also do rely on some passives to boost our defenses as well. Passives like Mental Catalysis, Transcendence, and Arcane Focus welp with strait damage reduction and ward building.

Basic Engagement

We will almost always start every encounter the same way. Run through a Frost Wall to push the ward battery. Your Fireball's do have homing, however, they are sometimes a little wonky. It does do the job however. Since we have maximized the range with Winged Fire, you can easily off screen targets. If you see a large pack grouped, drop a Frost Wall between you and them and Flame Rush into and through the wall for a sizeable detonation. This will likely wipe the pack, and you can continue on. If trash remains, throw a few Fireball's and be on your way. Repeat as necessary.

Difficult Engagement / Bossing

If you are lacking direct damage, you can elect to put on a Throne of Ambition for the boss fight. However, I did not find it necessary. Open up by walking through a Frost Wall or 2, and open up with a first hit of Flame Rush. Don't be afraid to manually cast Volcanic Orb while you're there, but do not destroy your mana pool with this. Back up and engage with Fireball. Repeat the cycle with Frost Wall and Flame Rush being sure to avoid the obvious damage mechanics from the boss.

Skills

Passives

Stat Priorities

Blessings

Timeline
Blessings
Reign of Dragons
The Age of Winter
Fall of the Outcasts

Any

The Stolen Lance

Any

Blood, Frost, and Death

Any

Fall of the Empire

Any

The Last Ruin

Any

Build Variants

Leveling

Without having the correct affixes, leveling with Ash is not recommended.

Endgame

Farming double exalts would be the goal here. Don't forget to check the dungeon daily rewards to hunt down top tier gear found here.

Loot Filter

A good generic late game loot filter for double exalts and T7's can be found here. ONLY use this to filter out 99% of gear. Not recommended until you are mostly geared to the teeth.

FAQ

I am live on twitch Tue-Sat 10PM-6AM central. If you have extensive questions, come in and ask. I will do my best to respond when I can here.

Video

Changelog

  • Build guide was published

Discussion

Continue on Forum