[3.3] Sub 1 exa Lightning Spire Budget Build for endgame [2M shaper dps]

So we make LST great with Cast Speed.
Why Cast Speed? Cast Speed increases the DPS of your LST. I’ve made some research with random increased cast speed on gear and counted in timelapse the explosions to come up with the following formula (y = hits / second; x = increased cast speed):


y = 2 * x + 3,2

Or

x = [y – 3,2] / 2


Also, this plot shows how much Increased Cast Speed is worthy to invest in:



The Y-axis displays the damage gain for each 10%-tick of Cast Speed increasement. We see an expected loss of damage gain with ongoing increasements. My character has 125% increased Cast Speed and every 10% increased Cast Speed gives from there on roughly 3,6% more damage. So we’re at diminishing returns here.
Right now I'm at 63k shaper-damage / hit. Hit Rate is 5,7/s. Assuming 2 overlaps per cast it is 710k DPS per trap so over 2M shaper damage!!

For clearing any content I’ve ran 4L-Arc so far. Its overpower is similar to KB, which also doesn’t need more than a 4L (ofc more is always better, but we’re playing on a budget here :P).

Defences are very good: 1. Blind Aura 2. ~50/40 Dodge 3. 6,1k eHP (MoM)… I spam red maps and never die – I’m an experienced trapper player, tho. It’s not ultra faceroll tanky.

No special routes here. You can look at any other trap guide. Worth to mention is that Acrobatics helps with survivability while leveling a lot. But since I'm a guy who plays 1-2 builds a league I wouldn't say you have to follow my advice.

Any rare helmet with LST enchantment is the way to go. The additional area enchantment is the one we want.

Belly. Res, Life – more eHP than cloak of defiance. 4L is enough for Arc :)

2x Void Battery gives a huge damage boost via crit, spell damage and cast speed! With Orb of Storms (which hits very fast in our build) + PCoC we have instant 7-Power Charges up.

Our bread and butter for LST. Since Trap+Mine / Faster Casting Combination is extremely pointless for any other builds this cost nothing and is on the other hand our best option.

If you want to try hard you can craft yourself these gloves additionally with Essence of Hysteria for a damage gain of around 20%. This will be an expensive project, tho.

Ideally you want at least 20% Movement speed and a bunch of Life+Resists on them. You can pay a lot of money for good boots if you want. Luxury would be the Uber Lab Enchantment, which gives you flat elemental damage if you haven't killed recently (which you never do, because you are a trapper).

Essence Worm for Wrath.

You need the rare ring to cap your resistances. You can pay a lot of money here to acquire a decent Life value. I'd say 30-50 to maximum life is OK.

This is a cheap rare amulet which will carry you through endgame. There is a lot of room to improve. If you are not able to spend some chaos orbs on a rare amulet just buy an Atziri's Foible; this is a cool option for MoM characters.

Stygian Vise is great but not necessary. If you have some currency to spare go grab one.

Vessel of Vinktar with penetration costs nothing. Added Lightning Dmg is better ofc. Rest is very cheap.