I thought I’d make an entire thread to the new meta opening up with the 4th cube slot for season 22. To summarize, season 22 will have two season buffs, a shadow clone thing that spawns from shrine/pylons (whose projectiles can be reflected) and the godsend 4th Kanai cube slot which is an omni-slot (weapon, armor, or jewelry slot).
So in the context of DH who are getting nothing next patch (no buffs or nerfs), the best thing to discuss are the new options with a 4th cube slot!
So without further ado, here is my list of items that have the potential of occupying that coveted omni-slot (in alphabetical order):
Buriza-Do Kyanon – This option is mentioned for use with a Bolas build. Since Bolas require the Leonine Bow of Hashir, Emimei’s Duffel, and Dawn, there was no room before to fit in the Buriza which could triple the potency of Bolas if there are 3 targets in a line! It should be noted that its pierce effect has a 0.5 second internal cooldown so it won’t be very strong with GoD6 Bolas.
Convention of Elements – This ring can be safely added to any existing build that does not already use it. For example, any Focus/Restraint builds requiring the Ring of Royal Grandeur such as the GoD variant with Aughild’s. Some non-GoD builds can benefit as well such as N6/M4 Cluster Arrow or Shadow Impale (either standard or Aughild’s variants).
Dawn – This option is primarily for builds that could use Vengeance but are so weapon-locked they cannot fit it in normally. One such example is the N6/M4 build in that it requires Natalya’s Slayer and Bombardier’s Rucksack equipped with the Manticore cubed.
Depth Diggers – This option is available for builds that want to use a different pair of pants equipped for other reasons such as set pants for the GoD set. While this isn’t surprising, by cubing Depth Diggers, you can also cube the Hunter’s Wrath so that the belt slot is available for the Captain Crimson’s set. I made a post in another thread theory-crafting the power of that build. Yet another option is for Marauder’s set builds that want to use Zoey’s Secret, Hunter’s Wrath, and Depth Diggers without losing the ring slot to Ring of Royal Grandeur.
Echoing Fury – This option could be interesting for speed builds that want to use Dawn and another hand crossbow as well as the Ninth Cirri Satchel. To offset the increased hatred cost associated with higher attack speeds, one could use a GoD setup with Yang’s + Ninth Cirri Satchel while cubing the Dawn and Echoing Fury.
Elusive Ring – As with in the case of the CoE ring, the Elusive Ring can neatly fit into any builds that need extra toughness by providing a massive 2.5x boost! The drawback is that Smokescreen, Shadow Power, or Vault must be used at least once every 8 seconds but that shouldn’t be a major hinderance in most builds.
Fortress Ballista – This option is available for builds using Squirt’s Necklace but are unable to use the weapon due to other restrictions or preferences (e.g. Valla’s Bequest).
Frostburn – This option is useful for any cold-based build such as GoD6 with Devouring Arrow or Shadow Impale with Overpenetration. The extra 20% cold damage suffers from diminishing returns since it adds to the elemental damage provided by bracers, amulet, and/or Holy Point Shot, but the freeze effect could be useful.
Hellcat Waistguard – This option is obviously for grenade-oriented builds, but with the extra cube slot, Hunter’s Wrath and Depth Diggers can both be used without sacrificing the ring slot for the Ring of Royal Grandeur.
Mantle of Channeling – Since there was a change to the item (it no longer has the 1 second start-up time), it can be used to augment any GoD build by providing a solid 1.25x damage and 1.33x toughness. Rapid Fire builds based around LoD/LoN or N6 already use this equipped so it wouldn’t work in the cube for those builds.
Nemesis Bracers – This option is perhaps best suited for solo speed builds that require the use of Wraps of Clarity or already use the Warzechian Armguards.
Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac – While DH seldom have cooldown issues with Dawn, this option is available for certain builds that need extra cooldown for other reasons such as for support builds.
Odyssey’s End – This option is specifically viable for support DH builds who already cube the Leonine Bow of Hashir. By also cubing the Odyssey’s End, it is now possible to use Yang’s Recurve again for the massive 50% resource cost reduction.
Squirt’s Necklace – This option will enable those using other amulets (e.g. Flavor of Time) to also benefit from the massive 100% damage bonus from Squirt’s (which can be very strong for boss killing). While Squirt’s does buff damage by more than other options, remember it isn’t suited for builds that take frequent damage without shields (e.g. Shadow Impale)!
The Ess of Johan – This rarely-cubed amulet is invaluable for stacked area damage builds and can outperform Squirt’s Necklace in dense rifts. While this doesn’t provide a direct buff to damage, tightly stacked groups of things are great for GR progression!
The Flavor of Time – This option complements Squirt’s Necklace users with the option to have double pylon duration (which is very useful in fishing-based GR progression). This could also be useful for some support DH builds that want to use something else like an Ess of Johan.
So there is my list of interesting uses for the extra cube slots and what builds can take advantage of them. If a particular item isn’t listed, e.g. Hunter’s Wrath, then that means I already considered it so important it was glued to the armor cube slot and wouldn’t add anything to builds since it already is the better item when competing against the Depth Diggers.
What are your thoughts on which DH builds you want to try next season?
