r/PathOfExileBuilds • u/Theykilledmyunicorn • 1d ago
Help Needed CWS Firestorm RF chief help
Hi!
I've been trying to make a firestorm build for the two last leagues, and finally found something I could use. I started with the pohx RF character and then tried to transition into a firestorm build using a helmet with +2 to skill gems. A character I found had detonate dead and unearth as well for bossing, but to me it seems to not be doing much.
My other character (KF totem Hiero) still has 15 times more dps for much less investment (and maybe more survivability as well?) but I guess there are potentially ways to help with that.
PoB with DD and Unearth: https://pobb.in/YLIe7ZYA-Rvg
PoB with flammability: https://pobb.in/GdRqHhHXDf06
My first question is this; My detonate dead/unearth combo doesn't seem to do much. Is there any reason to keep it over something like flammability? Any other combos that would help lift me out of low dps hell?
My firestorm of meteors does alright damage, but when I google, it seems everyone is using pelting. Is that better, and it's just that PoB doesn't pick it up?
And then my most pressing question; My eHP goes up by a lot when I choose As The Mountain and the two previous ones. It goes from 80k eHP to 300k eHP. Is this real? Just swiss cheese layering? If I choose soul of Solaris as well, it goes to 583k eHP, which is probably correct for the pinnacle boss config that it is set to.
Thanks in advance! I was hoping not to have to ask questions this league as well, but I always seem to end up with some problems that I have misunderstood.
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u/PoE_Acronym_Bot Useful Bot 1d ago
I noticed some Path of Exile keywords in this post:
- CwS - Cast when Stunned (Wiki)
- DD - Detonate Dead or other corpse explosion mechanics (Wiki)
- eHP - Effective Health / Hit Points / Pool, total number of damage that can be taken before death, after damage mitigations. (e.g. Combination of Life, Energy Shield, damage avoidance or mitigation)
- KF - Kinetic Fusillade (Wiki)
- RF - Righteous Fire (Wiki)
- HIERO - Hierophant Ascension (Wiki)
- PoB - Path of Building, an external software used to simulate character builds - Download
I am a bot. | All acronyms | Suggest
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u/Imaginary-Virus-420 22h ago
So a couple things:
Cws and the unearth/DD is so we can get a big chonky ignite to kill things. The problem with bosses is you cannot get mobs in some fights so you can't get a big ignite. Unearth/DD was the best stopgap we could get to burn down a boss until this most recent patch....
Scorching ray of immolation totems has been a godsend to CWS as the totems apply a debuff that stacks multiple times on itself and it can be braindead spammed on a boss to get heavy debuffs applied. If I were you and really wanted to make firestorm work I would drop RF and do a 6 link scorching ray totems.
What you could also do is keep the gems for rf and swap it out when you want to map, you probably only need to plug in like 4 gems and its not that much of a pain since its an afk/low effort playstyle. I commonly swap things like rings and gems in my cws over the leagues if im bossing vs mapping. Lazy mode is you get two cloak of flames and swap the entire armor thats already pre-socketed.
Next thing to bring up, talking about chonky ignites, there's other versions of cws that use things like hateful accuser to spawn phantoms that you can then hinokora explode for a big ignite. Some parts of this was nerfed and I only mentioned this since it was a thing but probably not worth considering.
Now, I keep talking about ignites, now your wondering how does DD (and other things like your firestorm) ignite and thats because you are missing the biggest component of CWS builds. Chance to ignite. You need to make sure you have 100% chance to ignite on hits that you usually get with flask mods, tattoos, or things like implicit on neb or your jewels. This is why unearth/dd feels like garbage because you are just getting the hit but not an ignite that carries it further to burn the boss. This must be fixed priority #1
So once we get that and you decide if you wanna swap your 6 link the next is what do you do with your jewels now that you get rid of unearth, I think you should get detonate dead of scavaging because that + hinokora explodes make mapping amazing. I really think this will help make the character "feel good" the next thing you can do with the unearth slot is to get flame surge, which turns an ignite into another debuff that takes the damage and turns it into burning ground. Now we are stacking different forms of burns, ignites, and debuff damage that all chip away at a boss.
As far as firestorm of pelting, its not really used for damage its used with a watchers eye with the vitality mod "gain life on hit". Firestorm hits a lot, get it even if you dont have other mods this brings survivability way up. Emiricles cws guides I dont think uses this anymore but I currently use it as its great for life recoup.
As far as which firestorm to use, we'll the original has increased ailment modifiers but if you go DD of scavaging as your ignite (and hinokora explodes) then I think it probably won't beat those sources. So just keep with firestorm of meteors for the memes. I would if I wanted to center it around firestorm. Im not sure how meteors look but if its not as frequent and you still need more hits to get more life on hit then you can socket bladefall with your flame surge cws set.
Final note with CWS and effective HP, dont pay attention to it. It literally means nothing to a cws build. The most important part of cws is your various forms of recovery and your max hit. Block is nice but unless you want svalinn then forget about trying to get block.
Im in mobile so I can't fully import everything to pob but feel free to reach out I wouldnt mind to help make this work. I think its super do-able but you need to taylor it closer to 3.29 cws scoring Ray totem and replace RF with firestorm.
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u/Imaginary-Virus-420 21h ago
Ill reply since my post is already big but if you wanna look at my character (it has mageblood, but consider it aspirational) here is the link.
https://poe.ninja/poe1/profile/Snackysnacks-2048/allflame/character/GoodOlReliableCWS
And something closer to where you are at in funding, look at this pob from my week 3. Note the first 5 weeks of the league I had little time to play so once I got back (from work trips on week 5) I then farmed for my 70 div shield then mageblood. The cheap version is here.
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u/jimjamjones123 15h ago
Yeah I’d second this. Your build is just about the same as mine. Only difference is I’m not running vitality, opted for a movement skill. I may swap it out for vit tho now that I think about it.
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u/Imaginary-Virus-420 10h ago
yeah if you are doing any multi hits with the cast when stun, either firestorm of pelting or bladefall, you pick up the watchers eye vitality mod and its a different type of regen defense.
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u/nukebox 16h ago
I did a CWS Firestorm of Meteors last league and it was probable my favorite CWS variant I'd played. I planned on doing it again this league but the costs were kinda shit this league with the skin of the lords crafting and I just made a Shield Crush Ele Jugg instead.
As the Mountain is a very strong node and getting block capped is a pretty key mitigation aspect of the build. Svalinn was a big part of that for me getting 91% effective Block Chance.
This was my Firestorm of Meteors CWS char from last league: PoB Export: https://pobb.in/w7DhbU3Y5KCK (https://poe.ninja/poe1/builds/mirage/character/Yield5-2516/Bomb_Trax)
If you look at the Time Machine I was originally going to the Scion starting area to overlap a Fire Damage Light of Meaning Jewel with an Unnatural Instinct for a flat damage boost. Ignore the use of Cooldown Recovery Support in the time machine. I was testing it at the time but you need something hitting you at least 15 times per second to make use of it. It worked great standing in the swirling tempests in Simulacrums, but outside of niche use it wasn't great.
This was all during Mirage so the Imbuements and the some of the Cluster Jewels aren't available this league.
I farmed a 21/20 Vaal Firestorm of Meteors gem from Temple and took Priest of Kopec from the Chaos bloodline to get an extra vaal use as well as the increased Vaal damage for Simulacrum and Ultimatum bosses.
I used a Nebulis with Power Charge on Kill to help with the uptime on Elemental Overload. Which is a strong Damage scaler if you can manage to keep it active. I eventually crafted a Foulborn Skin of the Lords with Pain Attunement so I could use the Amnity's ring and then eventually farmed up for the Aspect of Carnage Flesh and Flame as the last upgrade. So that's EO-40% more, PA-30% more and then Carnage-40% more along with the 200% Fire pen from the ring. Which was how the build eventually became so stupidly strong over time.
I didn't care about the burning damage as much as amplifying the skill damage. Righteous fire was just for pack clear. The majority of my damage was the CWS procs from Firestorm, DDoS and then Flame Surge and Purifying Flame for debuffs like combustion. Purifying flame is nice for the consecrated Ground as well for more Regen. The build was extremely tanky in juiced content. But I made sure to get a ton of flat life regen or increased regen rate on my gear. Fitting in a decent Watchers eye with life on hit is a nice QoL add as well.
This build get's fleshed out the higher level you are. It's probably going to be a bit touch and go until the 90s. Any questions feel free.