Vial of Volatile Ice Explosive Trap Falconer Build Guide

Very mobile with high movement speed

Reliable damage with clear paths for scaling DPS

100% Glancing Blow chance, dodge cap, 40%+ armor

Aesthetically pleasing build, 3 button mindless playstyle

Can grind endlessly to improve gear to maximize potential

Mana hungry build before T7 ring affixes

Farming high LP for Uniques is RNG based

Vulnerable to Damage over time spells & effects at high corruption (see FAQ)

The gameplay and mechanics for this build is a stutter step playstyle where you will be throwing Acid Flask to level up to 30-35. You can start using Explosive Trap to start throwing your Acid Flask for you, via Trap Sprinkler, Automated Bombardment, Trapuchet, and Instrument of the Alchemist. Be aware that this will increase the mana usage of the build because Acid Flask will still use its mana cost when triggered from Instrument of the Alchemist. It is extremely important to equip at least T1 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost as early in the campaign as possible to combat the mana cost of this build. Getting Stamina of the Rover 4/6 as quickly as possible is also a big help, as well as having 40 stat points overall to fulfill Hunter's Spoils 1/1 in the Falconry tree.

Stutter step playstyle means you will Throw Traps > Move > Throw Traps > Move > Throw Traps > Move. To maximize dps you will need to be stationary to throw your Acid Flask or Explosive Trap, however it is extremely important to move often in between and to especially avoid all telegraphs when possible. The DPS comes from Frostbite via Vial of Volatile Ice, so when using Explosive Trap this will greatly increase the number of Acid Flask hits we are doing per second. Eventually you will path to Trapas 1/1, Static Mines 1/1, and Coldsnap Mines 1/1, which will give you more traps thrown per cast at no mana increase. Because we eventually need to path to Clustered Explosives 2/2, it is extremely important to equip T6 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost in both ring slots when progressing into Normal Monoliths. With the eventual priority goal of aquiring two rings with T7 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost. T7 of this affix on both rings will reduce Acid Flask to ZERO mana cost, which will really increase DPS uptime and make the build feel so much better.

In the mean time, we use Shurikens when we are close to enemies and out of mana. Sapping Strikes 4/4 is what gives us mana for using Shurikens. This is especially important for bossing because we want to be close to the boss (when possible) to be able to stand in Poison Pools. Standing in Poison Pools every 5 seconds is important to maintain the 100% Global Poison chance it gives to the build. During mapping this isnt a concern, but boss fights its important to maintain that buff. Even just running through the Poison Pools will work too. Shurikens also gives a huge amount of Armor, which is extremely important and good for the build. Shift will proc Shurikens so you will want to Shift when it is off cooldown.

Falcon Strikes is used to Cull bosses at 16%HP.

TLDR

• Stutter Step gameplay with frequent Shift use.
• T7 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost is extremely important to aquire on both ring slots asap.
• For highest DPS uptime on bosses, you need to stand in or run in and out of Poison Pools every 5 seconds.
• Falcon Strikes is used to Cull Bosses at 16% HP.

This build can be leveled using Acid Flask and Vial of Volatile Ice all the way through the campaign. During leveling, since we are directly throwing Acid Flask, you should put all your points in Falconry to get to Toxic Airdrop > Flask Satchel > Parrotkin. This will help your dps in early leveling. You will want to spec out of Parrotkin once you start using Explosive Trap to throw your Acid Flask for you (around lvl 30-35). At level 30-35 you can start using Explosive Trap to throw your Acid Flask for you via the Instrument of the Alchemist node.

Be aware that this will still use whatever mana cost your Acid Flask is, so by using Explosive Trap to throw your Acid Flask, you need more mana regeneration because you will be depleting mana faster than before. You need to acquire PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost on both ring slots as soon as possible! At T5, this affix gives you only -3 to throwing attack mana cost. So T1 and T5 are the same for this purpose.

While leveling, you might get lucky and drop Snowdrift (like I did!), and equip them right away. It is important for DPS scaling to aquire these by the time you arrive at Normal Monoliths. Heading into Normal Empowered Monoliths, you will want to aquire T6 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost. The priority gear upgrade from that point on is finding T7 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost asap. This will reduce Acid Flask to zero mana. Then, farming a pair of Frostbite Shackles is important to scaling your dps heading into Empowered Monoliths.

In the endgame, Empowered Monoliths and beyond, you need to aquire two rings with T7 PrefixThrowing Damage and Reduced Mana Cost. I found mine using COF and doing exalted ring prophecies in T4 Temporal Sanctum. You could couple this on days where a dungeon is dropping Exalted Rings more often (check front page of LE Tools daily!). At this point in your build, you should have at least a belt, chest, or helmet slot with SuffixHealth. Ideally you have at least 1.5K HP, 100% SuffixArmor and Reduced Bonus Damage from Crits, and your passive armor (without Shurikens) is at least 900-1000 points (20%-24% dmg reduction), capped resistances, and 600+ SuffixFreeze Rate Multiplier.

Acquiring and equipping the BIS weapon for this build, Frozen Ire, will help increase your DPS for Empowered Monoliths. Farming out exalted amulet, relic, and belt with a combination or single stat of PrefixElemental Damage Over Time, PrefixFreeze Rate Multiplier and Cold Resistance, will substantially increased your damage. Stacking SuffixFreeze Rate Multiplier where you can fit it in (like 2-4 LP on Vial of Volatile Ice, Snowblind, and or Frostbite Shackles). You want to see your Frostbite tick damage be upwards of 1000+ damage per tick at this point. 1500 damage per tick is very good damage for 200C Empowered Monoliths, for example. Perfecting the Grand Blessings will be the final step to maximizing this build.

Endgame Loot Filter

Early Game Leveling

Ideally you eventually farm out a 3LP or 4LP Snowblind helmet with 150%+ Freeze Rate Multi, and combine with the exalted helm with T6 SuffixArmor and Reduced Bonus Damage from Crits.

Another Unique, Ucenui's Sphere, could be a relic you could look into trying and using very late in your gear progression. It could help scale the end game damage if you get a perfect legendary here.

You can use Umbral Saboteur 1/1 instead of 3 points in Jelkhor's Blueprint 2/4 in order to get a little more hit damage out of Explosive Trap, but its not necessary. The 3rd point in Jelkhor's Blueprint does not reduce mana cost below 13 for Explosive Trap.

Mitigating Damage over time spells & effects is essential for survival in HC when doing Corruption pushing in Empower Mono's, particularly boss fights. Oracle Amulet is extremely important, and if you are lucky enough to get PrefixExperimental Armor applies to Damage over Time on Frostbite Shackles, that will go a long way to mitigating that type of damage.