[3.11] Kitava's Thirst Builds - Flame Surge/Blade Vortex - Sirus /T16 Farm

Hey there! First of all, thanks for the build, it looks pretty fun to play and unusual. Kitava's Thirst got my attention last league, but I already had a character (and I rarely play more than a character per league).

Got just a few general questions.
Is there anything else than the Trickster ascendencies and Clarity to sustain mana? I didn't notice anything in your build that provided leech. Tried to equip Fevered Mind, I couldn't handle it yet (level 60 only).

Does the current build with ES use the self-ignite mechanic, or do you skip the amulet for the one that prevents stun? We have immunity to stun if our ES started recharging if I recall well.

When would you advise to switch to CI? Currently having only 1k shield despite having taken most of the ES nodes (but crappy stuff overall as I'm still leveling).

I don't have access to PoB at the moment (hence sorry if my questions were answered by your recent update). Hoping to get some luck with my links to finally get a 5L Martyr of Innocence, so far I'm running a 4L Magma Orb with all 140% multiplier supports, not the best DPS but I reach the 50 mana for the skill without Fevered Mind.

Hello !

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Is there anything else than the Trickster ascendencies and Clarity to sustain mana? I didn't notice anything in your build that provided leech. Tried to equip Fevered Mind, I couldn't handle it yet (level 60 only).

For now I use WM to leech ES, mana leech is kind of a bonus because I also use this to improve Weave the Arcane :



I dropped Fevered Mind to take these gloves instead :


These allow me to optimize the mana cost to 101 (down from 142 with Fevered Mind), so basically I restore on average 10% mana (around 300 with my stats) every 3 casts, so it keeps up with the mana consumption even without Warlord's Mark.

Another interesting pair of gloves is Doedre's Malevolence, it's a flat +50 mana cost, with added chaos, but lowered cast speed.

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Does the current build with ES use the self-ignite mechanic, or do you skip the amulet for the one that prevents stun? We have immunity to stun if our ES started recharging if I recall well.

Unfortunately self ignite is off the table with ES builds so I can recharge. I could use Eye of Chayula but I'd rather have a better amulet. Stun immunity is a mix of Escape Artist and those boots' enchant :



I got a lot of evasion, so it works fine.

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When would you advise to switch to CI? Currently having only 1k shield despite having taken most of the ES nodes (but crappy stuff overall as I'm still leveling).

When you feel you cannot sustain chaos damage on your life pool. You should invest in 1 chaos items to get your shields to 2-3k.

"

I don't have access to PoB at the moment (hence sorry if my questions were answered by your recent update). Hoping to get some luck with my links to finally get a 5L Martyr of Innocence, so far I'm running a 4L Magma Orb with all 140% multiplier supports, not the best DPS but I reach the 50 mana for the skill without Fevered Mind.

That's fine, no need to rush the build in it's entirety, as it's kind of demanding. I encourage you try out the mechanics, or the different items if you can afford it, see what works best at your level.

Good luck ! :)

Hey!

I get it. It's a shame, the self ignite part sounded fun and I always wanted to make a build based on that...

Anyway, the thing with Voidbringer is that it only works on a 6L Pledge of Hands right? I feel it's a bit awkward to up the number of sockets with this build... So far I'm planning to go 4L Martyr of Innocence -> 4L Pledge of Hands + Fevered Mind -> 5L Martyr + Fevered mind -> 6L Pledge + Voidbringer. Am I right to assume 5L Martyr of Innocence will perform better than 5L Pledge of Hands? I didn't find another solution for 5L that wouldn't skyrocket my mana costs. Truth to be said I rarely motivate myself to play enough to reach the six links...

Another alternative would indeed be to swap Fevered Mind with the Doedre's Malevolence, since in our case they're more or less the same thing. Will maybe try that once I'll get the money for a decent Watcher Eye to free the gem slot (I didn't know that jewel, it's pretty awesome!)

I got a hard time wrapping my head around the numbers given for the procs of Kitava' s Thirst. Is it be or is the damage actually abysmally low? I get we mostly use it for burn and EE, but still... Must have missed something in PoB

Hi !

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Anyway, the thing with Voidbringer is that it only works on a 6L Pledge of Hands right?

It all depends on your mana cost before increase.
If you have 50-55, Doedre's or Fevered Mind will be roughly equivalent to reach 100 mana.
As you upgrade your gear and add links, you'll progressively need less and less increased mana cost. Voidbringer is a good solution because you can easily scale from +80% to +40%, following your gear.
If you don't want to upgrade to 6L that's fine, you just have to adapt depending on the number of supports you have on your Flame Surge.

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Am I right to assume 5L Martyr of Innocence will perform better than 5L Pledge of Hands?

Those staves are equivalent in terms of bonuses (one gives added fire, the other spell echo), but the main drawback of MoI is that you can't use EE with it, and that's a 70-80% more damage you're missing out.

"

I got a hard time wrapping my head around the numbers given for the procs of Kitava' s Thirst. Is it be or is the damage actually abysmally low? I get we mostly use it for burn and EE, but still... Must have missed something in PoB

Magma Orb's damage is more than enough to clear (either with EE, or with good support gems), however if you use EE and Martyr of Innocence your DPS will drop as your lightning spells will also deal fire damage.

Can you link your PoB ?

Edit : I just checked your profile, and I see the problem.
You're using Magma Orb as a main skill, which triggers Flame Surge, when it's supposed to do the opposite.
Your 4/5/6L is supposed to be your strong single target spell, and in the helmet you put spells to clear monsters/ignite/trigger EE.

Hey!

My setup isn't activated at the moment. The issue is that with only four links on MoI the mana cost of Flamesurge is way below 50. I even had trouble reaching this cost with Magma Orb (which costs noticeably more) using three 140% increased mana cost supports. Kitava's Thirst currently isn't triggered on my end, I'm just leveling with a classic Magma Orb setup until I'll reach lvl68, where I'll be able to equip my 4L Pledge of Hands which should push Flamesurge's cost above 50.

About PoB the reason I think I messed something is that I was looking at your PoB link. For some reason the DPS shown for the gems in Kitava's Thirst was barely 1/10 of the Flamesurge's DPS, hence my surprise.

And I missed the range of Voidbringer's augmentation scaled up to 80% increased mana cost. That definitely covers my worries about the mana cost on a 5L Pledge of Hands. I'm also not used to EE and tend to underestimate it. By the way, is there a particular reason you run both Arc and Ball Lightning instead of putting a support to boost all three skills? Especially considering we have Orb of Storms which already triggers some electric damage for EE.

Thanks again for your answers! What I love with that game is that it's almost as fun planning builds than playing them!

Ok, good decision not to activate the build for the moment, to be honest I never tried to run it on a 4L. You should indeed wait for 4L Pledge (try to get a good %dmg roll) or 5L MoI.

The gap in DPS is by design : you have on one hand a 4L, and the other a 7L that's supported by the previous 4L. The purpose is to maximise Boss DPS while sacrificing just enough clear speed to keep killing monsters decently.

The reason as to why I don't use support gems in the helmet setup, is simply to further support FS.
The point of EE is to have at least as much non-fire hits as fire hits per second. I updated my guide in the EE section with some estimates.

To make it simple :
If I socket a support gem in my helmet, I only increase MO's damage.
If I socket a lot of non-fire, fast-hitting spells, I support both FS and MO.

Hi Sarodh1
I'm now lvl84, around T6 maps, with some weaknesses :
- I have to complete my last ascendancy
- I have a 5L Pledge of Hand with fire penetration instead of CD or Immolate (I don't know if its better)
- My armour is a carnal armour with a good amount of EV/ES (& finally 5100 ES) but I haven't a good pool of EV

You can see my profile.

Did you think your watcher eye make the différence, it's a very expensive item & i can't farm enough currency to buy it (around 7 exa).

The build work fine, and it's a pleasure to play with it, but for the moment i can't go to the end game's challenges.

Hello !

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- I have a 5L Pledge of Hand with fire penetration instead of CD or Immolate (I don't know if its better)

Fire Penetration is almost always inferior if you have EE, it begins to be relevant if the target has at least 65-70% fire res. I'd replace it with Immolate, then CD on 6th link.

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- My armour is a carnal armour with a good amount of EV/ES (& finally 5100 ES) but I haven't a good pool of EV

Your EV seems decent, I have a higher one only because of Hyrri's Ire, but at a cost : high dex requirement, and getting more than 3 blue sockets is really painful.

EV/ES gear is a good compromise with your gem setup, and with a good upgrade it's maybe even better than Hyrri's, and you can easily use a 5L Orb of Storms with Curse on hit if self-casting curse bothers you.

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Did you think your watcher eye make the différence, it's a very expensive item & i can't farm enough currency to buy it (around 7 exa).

I bought it cheap (1ex) so if you're patient you might see one at that price. I wouldn't pay 7ex for it, you can almost get a 6L at that price.
Before that, ES on hit is nice, but not really a must have, however the Clarity one is really good, and it might be cheaper just to look for one mod.
Also, keep an eye out for other mods, like extra mana as shield, this one is worth more than 7ex.

I took Patient Reaper for easier leveling, and then I switched to Harness the Void when I felt confident enough. You don't need the extra DPS until T13/14 maps.

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The build work fine, and it's a pleasure to play with it, but for the moment i can't go to the end game's challenges.

I'm glad you like it, and from what I see, as a league starter you're doing more than fine. :)

you are NB

I'm more of a Bismtuh kind of guy, but Niobium is fine too.