[Guide] Zodiac Rend (Season 20)

Perhaps this is too much of a general question, but - how good does a Flavor of Time have to be for it to be worth equipping over a better rolled amulet? My best one, after like 80 reforges, is still -10% damage. It still feels worth it, but I’m not sure.

I have a nice Crimsons set to wear, but I can’t use it because RNG hates me this season and I still can’t get a RoRG :man_facepalming::rofl:

Are you implying Ambo’s rend does not get extra damage from COE thus the need to hard cast it?

UPDATE!

Added Rend mechanics to Part 3 with links to SVR’s and Rage’s tests.

Muchos gracias, amigo/as. Happy Thanksgiving!

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U/A on top of the leaderboard with a 142 in 12’ 21".

Yup. We’ve been talking about it the last few days, hehe.

Rage has mentioned to me and to others that HC Rend/AD is bested served if you can spam it. So I thought to myself, “How can you spam Rend?”. Well, I think I figured it out how and it incorporates Broken Promises w/ the use of a S&B.

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/d3/t/rend-s-b-broken-promises-concept/6541

Has anyone else had the experience that this build just runs out of ability to live far before it runs out of damage?

I had this problem when I did a tiny push in non-season before the re-buff of lamentation. I farmed 70 keys or so and 60 of them I failed due to hitting 30 second respawn timers, and only 10 because I couldn’t kill fast enough. Now, with the buff, it’s even more pronounced.

I’ve done a 120 with 10K mainstat, however, I can still fail 116s because some packs can just 1-shot me. I have more paragon in Vit than in Str, 850k+ health, an 80% BoM, and I just can’t stay alive against some things.

So, has anyone else felt this way, or do I just need to get (much, much) better at dodging affixes and guardian moves?

Use Band of Might + Stomp.

Many players, myself included, prefer it. I’m planning to use it until 3k Paragon.

For a quick pill,
Try using Istvan’s blades. And Impunity instead of Rage Flip. That’s toughness for 5 GR’s right there.

My advice is war cry/ veteran warning. 30% dodge is huge and makes a clearly noticeable difference. Another option is crimson variant with mortick, ip, bom and ground stomp (so no spear). Highest toughness of any variant I can think of.

142 / 143 felt like a real push, 141 and below are pretty easy with para 6000+ Augs because Rend has the damage to make a lot of trash progress without external help such as Pylons near the 140 mark. 144 feels impossible / not worth the time so I think I’ll stop there.

Here’s estimated values for Paragon 5000 - 10000 based on what I’ve seen with mob HP:

  • Live with 0% Nerfed Belt = 128-133
  • Live with 100% Nerfed Belt = 134-139 (this is the number some people suggested)
  • Live with 150% Nerfed Belt = 136-143, maybe 144 with the best map in history?
  • PTR with 200% Belt = 138-146 (RG HP scales pretty hard past 145)

They shouldn’t have nerfed it I think, 200% would be completely fine for 99% of players but it looks like they want all solo builds near the 140 range at very high paragon, which means right now, with 150%, WW would be on the upper 130’s for most people, which is why you will start to see a lot of clears in the 130 - 135 range that require little to no fishing regardless of Paragon.

Everyone suggesting 100% for Lamentation would have undershot it, and with 200% Lamentation the build would have been closer to the 140 mark for 99% of players. With a 100% belt, 140 without ridiculous paragon would have not been feasible.

This is why you can’t really balance around P10,000+, paragon matters a ton for solo no matter what anyone tells you. If you balance around this outlier, you’ll nerf the median of a build for anyone below that mark.

On a side note, they are most likely going to wreck Crusader next patch since it’s at GR 148, and the boss HP at 148 is pretty insane. It also has many, many, many 145+ clears from all sorts of Paragon ranges. Barb doesn’t come anywhere close to Crusader damage and Crusader has lower map requirements than Barb so it’s easier to clear with.

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That is so true, I wish more people with Nurfing on their minds could see it that way.

Yes I agree, in the PTR the 200% on Lamentation felt just right for my skill level and Paragon (about 2300) at the time, if they would of left it at 200% I could of seen around a GR 130, with the 150% maybe with a whole lot of luck I will see a GR 125 give or take, that’s without the Crimson’s setup by the way.
Congratulations on that 143!

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I am already.

Blades would be perhaps the way to eak out some additional toughness. I don’t know if playing without Rage Flip is really an option unless I want to really fish… I will try some out though.

At your Paragon, I would recommend the Core Zodiac build, no Crimson’s, with Band + Stomp. I would also use the BK swords a while longer; Bloodfunnel can’t be beat. Try to hit 900k-1 million Life.

Folks, remember, 30% damage is worth roughly 1.5 GR levels, but to get that, you’re giving up Into the Fray and Bloodfunnel. At low Paragaon–say, anything under 2.5-3K, I just don’t think it’s worth it. That’s my own conservative opinion, of course.

Brood, I don’t recommend War Cry in the build. Rage Flip is so important, and you’ll need it as you push higher.

Great points, Ulma. I still see folk on the forum saying, “I wanted 100% if you recall…” and I want to tell them, Well, then you don’t understand what we were trying to tell you.

Absolutely! Cenderquist said as much in a GD thread when he confirmed that Barbs are fine.

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That’s the build I’m using - hadn’t planned to try crimsons until/if I get a lot more paragon and can try without BoM. I am actually using Ambo+Doombringer w/Weapons Master, so I do have Blood Funnel. Healing is rarely if ever an issue thanks to this, it’s pure toughness I’m missing (I feel). Again, this might be an experience/playskill problem - I’m wondering if other folks feel as squishy or if I need to get good.

That’s a higher life total that I’ve heard recommended in the past - maybe that’s because I’m thinking of back when GR 110 was pushing - is ~950K health needed for 120+?

Awesome! That combo might be the best for end-game pushes, and I’m trying to get decent weapons to give it a try. As for your problems with mitigation, I think you might be trying to push too high given your Paragon. If Wrath or Stomp go down, even for a second, you’re dead. They have to be up 100% of the time, always, in every situation. Otherwise, yeah, it’s just a matter of practice. If you continue to feel ultra squishy, you can put Parthans in the Cube and proc them with Stomp.

Back in the day, most folk couldn’t push 115, much less 120-130 with the build. You’ll want as much Life as possible because you’re able to push higher than ever.

Managed a 125 (no fishing) in season, p1200. A very nice guide. It was my personal best, and a joy to play. Also the first time I felt like I completed a seasonal character, ever.

For S19, I feel like mastering the seasonal mechanic is almost more important than mastering your build… I feel like if you learn to Ancient Spear 2-3 elite groups together for every tornado, geyser, rain of light killstreak, you’ll clear so so so much higher than usual.

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You are not wrong at all. The seasonal bonus makes a gargantuan difference, and learning to utilize it is going to be part of any actual push.

I would actually love to know how folks are attempting to use it. I think trying to maintain stacks, while hitting thresholds when you have elites gathered, is a great strategy. However, I think it might to let stacks fall off after 100 (tornadoes) in order to get the corpses and tornadoes again, rather than going through treasure chests, geysers, and ring of fire which happen less frequently and don’t seem as effective (edit: actually geysers do seem great - I have often not timed them well I think)

There are 2 downsides to letting stacks fall off. Of course, you lose the damage buff. Also, the frost nova that happens at 30 kills is a huge downside, stopping you from pulling and grouping mobs.

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Im having a bad time at getting good GRs lol. Was able to get a 120 done before only just though. Really enjoying the build a lot of fun. Think i just need to augment more of my gear to get a bit more damage out to kill elites a bit quicker along with the trash.

All in all though really fun. And its so good to see a group or 2 of elites die to the 150 kill geysers