I sure would like to see a viable Electrocute Build

General Discussion
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Because it is really fun to zap around with it…

Such a build could actually be useful if the Electrocute-related items Velvet Camaral (a Wizard Hat) and Myken’s Ball of Hate (Off-Hand Source) also have a Damage Multiplier to Electrocute in addition to their current bonuses.

An Electrocute LoD based build could then use these items:

  • the newly updated Fragment of Destiny (triple Signature Skill Damage + 50% increased Signature Skill Attack Speed)
  • The Shame of Delsere (another 50% increased Attack Speed for Signature Skills, and it could also get a damage multiplier for Signature Skills, which it is currently missing)
  • Velvet Camaral (with an additional damage multiplier for Electrocute)
  • Myken’s Ball of Hate (with an additional damage multiplier for Electrocute)
  • eventually Manald Heal (if used in combination with Paralysis, if the additional damage is strong enough)
  • Aquila Cuirass (for the damage reduction when at full resource).
  • Simplicity’s Strength (Legendary Gem) for increased Primary Skill Damage

Then maybe Starfire in the cube for additional Lightning Damage or a Serpent Sparker if the build is used together with Lightning Hydra (since it would synergize with the newly updated Fragment of Destiny).

You would obviously use the Chain Lightning rune for Electrocute, that is unless you are getting that rune for free on an item (maybe also add the rune as a bonus to Myken’s Ball of Hate or Velvet Camaral in addition to the damage multiplier).

The only thing that this build would really struggle with are single enemies, since the Electrocute can not jump back and forth between two or more enemies anymore, so it could use an item (either Velvet Camaral or Myken’s Ball of Hate) that has the effect that it causes Electrocute to deal increased damage if it only hits a single enemy.

Myken’s Ball of Hate
Electrocute gains the Chain Lightning rune, deals xxx% increased damage and can chain to enemies that have already been hit.

Velvet Camaral
Doubles the number of enemies your Electrocute jumps to and increases the damage of Electrocute by xxx%. In addition to that, failing to chain to a new target releases the outstanding damage of all remaining jumps on the last target you hit.

^^inspired by a comment from Lexa.

Eventually the DMO set could also buff Electrocute, so that there both is a DMO and a LoD version of the build. But even if there is just a LoD version it should be fine.

Is there anyone with me who also would be into such a build? I have played it and although it is not really competitive at the moment, it sure is a lot of fun.

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Wizards should have viable builds for every elemental damage type. I’d love to see a viable electro-paralysis build with Manald Heal. Unfortunately the proc rate for paralysis is fairly low so that amazing damage multiplier from Manald might not happen enough to be a reliable damage boost. Effectively the 14000% is reduced to about 2100%.

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That WAS a viable build with hydras several Seasons back - and then that combination was nerfed to heck.

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Slaydra on YouTube has a good Electrocute build. And I use this build every season.
Its not a strong build, but a fun one.

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Yes, here are people with you! :upside_down_face:

I’ve been dreaming of electocute build for years but almost lost my hope.
But I’m grateful at least for Fragment of Destiny changes that would be soon. It’ll enhance the build.

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Chain lightning (In any game) has always been very visually satisfying for me, I think lightning in general is really cool and flashy. In my opinion, I think it is a shame that there isn’t a viable Chain Lightning build in D3, when so many other ARPGs have it.

Also, I’m really curious on how you use the keybind “L”. Do you have a special peripheral you use?

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While it may look dope, any build that forces you to stand stationary (be it channeling or using electrocute) is a big no for me, had enough of LoD meteor, LoD hydra, Typhoon Hydra (and all underperforming compared to other classes on top of that).

I’d rather have Electrocute cast once and chain from mob to mob increasing in dmg with each jump, and let’s say you could stack it 5 times or 10 times? To create sort of a conduit that amplifies it’s own dmg or smth, but you still can move around freely.

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You can boost the single target damage decently if you swap CC rolls for IAS rolls and get passed the 5th break point in attack speed then use the Broken Promise ring. If Blizzard would just reduce the hidden internal cool down of broken promises from 3second down to like 1.5 seconds it would probably fix it completely.

Broken promises gives you 100% CC after not criting for 5 consecutive attacks and since you are staking attack speed and getting up to 5 attacks per second you basically have 100% CC 55-65% of the time but during that 3 seconds of 100% CC you can dish out trillions in damage.

Another totally random idea they could do to help multiple builds actually would be to make a legendary that boosts primary attack damage and also spawns killable critters every few seconds that follow you. That way you can still chain it during boss fights by killing the critters.

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You mean the build that was revolving around Manald Heal Procs, right?
I would like to see a Wizard Lightning build that either does not require Manald Heal or only uses it as a support damage source, but not as the main damage source.

I will take a look at that. Thanks for mentioning.

Yeah, I use Electrocute with Chain Lightning in almost all my Wizard builds. It is as you say very satisfying to use.

I use a programable Keypad / Gaming Pad, and instead of W, A, S, D, I used L (for left), R (for right), W (for forWard) and V (for backwards since the V points backwards), and this are the keys that I also use for Diablo, …

…since I haven’t found a way to make the various saved profiles on the pad to automatically adjust to the games I play.

I can understand that. DMO Frozen Orb might be something for you.
Or maybe Arcane Orb Spark, if you are into that, although I would say that Spark is very unsatisfying to use, since it does not look and work pleasing.

I personally would prefer if Spark would be something like Ball Lightning, that uses another visual like the Ball Lightning Charge that gets released from the Storm Chaser rune of Energy Twister and works like the BFG 9000 from DOOM 2016, but it shoots several Chain Lightnings per seconds while it travels that jump up to 3 enemies.

That would be really satisfying to use and you also could move around while using it.

And if Deathwish would no longer buff non-channelling skills anymore, there already would be a lot more viable non-channelling builds (since not every build would use Deathwish) and the current change to Etched Sigil on the PTR could be reverted.

CC Rolls?

But that would still not be as high of a damage if you would fight against at elast two enemies, because the buffed Chain Lightning is jumping 20 times, which means that with two enemies, it hits one target 10 times, as compared to only once when you are fighting a single target.

Finally a use for Broken Promise. I have to include that in my build, so thanks for mentioning it! I appreciate that!

That sounds interesting.
We already have Depth Diggers and Simplicities Strength, which buff Primary Skill Damage, but the Critters a new…

Though, it would take away damage from situations where you don’t fight a boss.

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I think there’s plenty people out there. Not only Electrocute, though. I would love seeing viable builds for all signature skills. I posted some ideas on Electrocute related items earlier this ptr. Let’s see:

Myken’s Ball of Hate :
Electrocute gains the Chain Lightning rune, deals 250-300% more damage and can chain to enemies that have already been hit. Failing to chain to a new target releases the outstanding damage of all remaining jumps on the last target you hit.

Velvet Camaral :
Doubles the number of enemies your Electrocute jumps to and triples the damage dealt by the arc. You may channel Electrocute while moving.

If both Electrocute items would be updated like this, then we would see a huge improvement, both in terms of mobility and single target dps.

Along those two, I would also add a damage buff to Shame of Delsere in the process, as that would be beneficial for all signature skills.

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Yeah, it was kinda a rhetorical question :slight_smile:

Yeah, this is great!
If you don’t mind I copy it into my original post with a mention to you.

Maybe the numbers you suggested for both Myken’s Ball of Hate and Velvet Camaral can go a bit higher, since it are Signature Skills. Something like Hammer of the Ancients has an 800% multiplier on The Gavel of Judgement and another one of the Bracers, which also gives an attack speed bonus.

Maybe they could go 400-600%.

:astonished: How shall this work?

Yes, that could work as well.

Thanks for your input.

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add electrocute in DMO ?

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I’ll add that as well.

Although, it might lead to balance issues between the DMO and the LoD version, but I still will add it.

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I have a LoD MH build that can clear around GR100 with great effort. Sometimes I play a 85-90 or some T16 with it because it’s so much fun.

What I’d like to see happen is to buff both MH and also add multipliers on the supporting items you mentioned, that way we have a choice what kind of playstyle we’re going for.

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sure thing, go ahead.

Those figures are more or less placeholders to be discussed - I didn’t do actual math on them. They are also chosen under the assumption that we will see another damage multiplier on Shame of Delsere. The question is, how big of a total buff should we assume being necessary?
Also, let’s not forget, raw damage isn’t everything. Granting the Chain Lightning rune is a factor in this picture. Camaral on the other hand… well, yes, but if you double the number of jumps and triple the base damage, you’ll end up with six times the damage dealt by the arc as a whole. But yes, those figures could go a bit higher.

Simple… the S21 seasonal theme shows us how a beam-style like channel skill would act while moving - the intial beam is fired where you are heading to. That would be one way… the other way would be a “seeker” like feature. You move to your target while channeling and Electrocute is on semi-auto mode similar to the arcs fired by Conduit Pylons. There are ways to do it. I’m sure there are even better ideas around.

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I made a thread that gives a list of many simple changes that could be made to make wizards better while leaving ES intact.
The items changes would allow the following skills to be used effectively:

  • Disintegrate
  • Arcane Torrent
  • Ray of Frost
  • Blizzard
  • Black hole
  • Wave of Force
  • Electrocute
  • Magic Missile
  • Signature Spells

Electrocute change would be great here are the modified item changes that could help:

Myken’s Ball of Hate
Electrocute damage is increased by [400 - 500]% and can chain to enemies that have already been hit.

Starfire
Lightning damage is increased by [75 - 125]% and a [10 - 15]% chance of paralysis for every 10 yards you are from the target up to a maximum of 40 yards.

Fragment of Destiny
Your Signature Spells attack 50% faster and deal [400 - 500]% more damage. You gain a Spectral buff whenever you land an attack with a Signature Spell. At 10 stacks your Signature Spells are casted twice for 2 seconds then your stack is reset.

Fulminator
Lightning damage is increased by [300 - 400]% and has a chance to turn enemies into lightning rods, causing them to cast your last lightning spell every second to nearby enemies for 6 seconds.

Archmage’s Vicalyke
Your Signature Spell’s damage is increased by [200 - 300]% and you automatically casts Mirror Images every 20 seconds. Mirror Images now mimic your signature spells and deal 50% of your damage.

Velvet Camaral
Double the number of enemies your Electrocute jumps to and increases Electrocute damage by [300 - 400]%.

Manald Heal
Enemies stunned with Paralysis and for 1 second after also take [300 - 400]% increased lightning damage from you.

Here is that thread:

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Yes, I understand.

I also always have people replying to me that the numbers are off when I make a post/comment about trying to illustrate a concept. That is why I trained myself to either write xxx% instead of numbers, or say that the numbers are just for the purpose of illustration.

The issue I had with that is that it would make that shooting-while-moving playstyle mandatory, which is one of the reason for why I also don’t like that one Monk Spirit Stone that gives Wave of Light a damage multipliers and also causes it to be casted at the targeted location (and I prefer it as a melee attack, however, the damage multiplier kinda makes is mandatory).

That would make Starfire a lot more useful.

I personally would prefer if Fragment of Destiny would increase the damage of all skills with every stack that is gained from casting a Signature Skill… but maybe that would just lead to balance issues, dunno.

That is an interesting way of changing the item. I didn’t thought about turning it into a Signature Skill related item…

What about:
Increase the damage of your Signature Skills and Mirror Image by xxx% and you cast a Mirror Image all x seconds.
???

Something like that definitely would make the item easier to balance.

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Sure that sounds good too.
It would be a good thing to have Signature spell builds.
I think they could change The Shame of Delsere also to include a damage buff.

The Shame of Delsere
Your Signature Spells attack 50% faster, their damage is increased by [100 - 150]% and restore [9 - 12] Arcane Power.

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So far I have never seen a legendary with two values that are on a scale, so maybe it should look like this:

“Your Signature Spells attack 50% faster, their damage is increased by [100 - 150]% and restore 12 Arcane Power.”

That item is basically made to work like this.

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I think build needs a high burst damage spell to be included and a proc. Also think about taking Electrocute-Surge for including Depth Diggers, that supposed to work.

For high burst damage it can abuse Arcane Dynamo passive for a spender then a pick between either; Arcane Orb-Spark (Ess of Johann with Black Hole) and Energy Twister-Storm Chaser (Etched Sigil with Arcane Torrent). For a proc I think Manald would be the best bet. I wouldn’t try to squeeze hydra with low weapon damage per hit in a LoD/LoN build.