Fracking Shocknado

(like the Shocknado Vortex but now with Fracking Strike too!)

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This build is a complete lvl 60 setup and is UP-TO-DATE with the game post-launch & the Forged Rework. The subclass used is Electrode. I believe the build can be pretty good when geared and and may be even close to the meta builds. Just like any build, in the right hands, this setup should be able to finish all Fazeer stages. It can dish out nice damage when we are playing it well & our energy is full. A good source of damage of this build is the combination of spamming Cyclone Mode to build Heat also for base DPS alongside Vortex Bomb to Vent Heat & Generate Steam + Fracking Strike to spend our Steam. Sonic Pulse is even better now – it still makes affected enemies take +40% more dmg but on top of that the Tier 3 Bonus of Sonic Pulse also buffs us to do +40% more dmg with our Steam spending skills (such as Fracking Strike). Thousand-Volt Burst can be used as an additional “nuke-on-demand” skill but it can also be replaced with the new Echoes of Life Item‘s skill. Add to this Ramming Robot for mobility and an escape mechanic and it’s a well rounded build. Skittering Shoulders (even without a set bonus) is a great source of survivability so it could be equipped or slotted in the legendarium but it now requires a Skill Bar slot.

Build Video footage:

The skills I use:

• Basic Attack or another skill – I don’t use the basic attack & use Charged Up (from the Arc-Powered Shoulders) – you can remove the basic attack and just place something that you like. Ideally I’ll use this slot for the Ancient Ember Hatch’s skill or the Arc-Powered Shoulders’ one
  
• Cyclone Mode – spin2win + a nice source of damage. It also is good at building heat
  
• Ramming Robot – our escape mechanic and a movement skill. It also knocks back enemies we make contact with while using it. We also get 1 more charge on Tier 1.
• Sonic Pulse – makes our enemies take 40% more dmg for 6 sec. I also can stun for 1 sec with the Tier 1 Bonus. The Tier 3 bonus makes Steam Spenders do 40% more dmg for 6 seconds
  
• Power Projection – gives us and nearby allies 50% increased defenses + the tier 1 bonus heals for 15% max hp when used.
• Vent: Vortex Bomb – our vent skill + a good source of AoE damage + pulls/vacuums the enemies close to us + 20% melee combat dmg reduction for the Tier 2 bonus + the Tier 3 makes it spawn bombs for more AoE dmg.
• Fracking Strike – I’ve decided to make this the build’s centerpiece and build around it. It shoots out multiple shockwaves in different directions around us. It can dish out serious dmg when we stack 3 different +%dmg to Fracking Strike affixes
• Localized Storm – It’s a good source of DPS buff (+25% dmg while it lasts) that also buffs nearby allies for the same amount. It also buff us and nearby allies with extra +10% movement speed too and does a very good periodic dmg to random nearby enemies.
• Thousand-Volt Burst – Our BIG relic skill that we can active after spending a total of 200 energy with other skills like Localized Storm. It’s good to save and use this on champions & bosses.

The gear I recommend using is:

MY IDEAL EQUIPPED GEAR:

• ideally, wear a good rolled version of the following cannon:
  • Unstable War Arm – Cast Vortex Bomb: if above 75 Heat, trigger a secondary heat wave, dealing 400% Weapon Dmg. You don’t care about its level and about dmg, crit chance, crit dmg & other offensive stats. Just need utility from it such as: -% relic energy cost or +%relic energy charge rate
• A good rolled + socketed 1 handed Legendary weapon from the Arctic Armaments set (the Glacier’s Edge sword or the North Mace) + a good rolled & socketed Frostwall Shield
• Must wear at least 3 Mountain King pieces! I suggest wearing: Mountain King’s Helmet + Gauntlets + Pauldrons:
  • Mountain King’s Gauntlets – Vent 75 or more Heat: gain Overheated, increasing Critical Chance by 10% for 10 seconds (becomes a +20% crit chance buff with the 3 set pieces bonus)
  • Mountain King’s Helm – gives +1 Brawl Skills (+2 with the 3 piece set bonus) [I’ve tested it now gives you extra levels and DMG if the skill is already lvl 10 and you can use this to overcap skills]
  • Mountain King’s Pauldrons– when you cast Thousand-Volt Burst: summons 3 Explodobots (summons 3 more when using 3 set pieces)
  • If not slotting it: Mountain King’s Cuirass (Chest) – gives +1 Barrage Skills (+2 with the 3 piece set bonus) [I’ve tested it now gives you extra levels and DMG if the skill is already lvl 10 and you can use this to overcap skills]
• Must wear at least 3 Winterweave pieces! I suggest wearing: Winterweave Cuirass + Hatch + Wheel:

You’ll be looking for flat dmg, optionally % elemental dmg and/or Crit dmg/chance, +%Evasion +%Block Chance, +% Fracking Strike DMG, AND/OR +% Vortex Bomb DMG, AND/OR +% Cyclone Mode DMG, + X lvl to any skill you use as active and have more than 1 point into, + others.

• the Shoulders and Chest rolled for +% Crit Dmg
• the Chest, Shoulders and Locomotion rolled for +%dmg to the skills mentioned above
• the Locomotion + Chest will ideally also roll with + flat dmg
• the Hatch can ideally be rolled for % Crit dmg and maybe elemental dmg
• Crit Chance rolls on the Helmet and Locomotion is amazing too

Suggested Legendarium Powers (to fill in the gaps from items you’re wearing):

MY IDEAL LEGENDARIUM COMBO:

• Mountain King’s Cuirass (chest)
  
• Arc-Powered Shoulders (now gives an active skills and requires to slotit on teh skill bar)
• Winterweave Gauntlets OR Ancient Ember Hatch

This would mean you wear Winterweave Cuirass, Wheel + Hatch alongside Mountain King’s Helmet, Pauldrons + Gauntlets.

Based on availability & your preference there are alternatives:

• Option 1: other Mountain King, Winterweave or Ancient Ember set pieces
• Option 2: Raging Beater or Echoes of Life
• Option 3: Or anything else you like (i.e. Skittering Shoulders if you need survivability)

The Arc-Powered, Woodsbeast, and Skittering shoulders now give us an active skill to slot in the skillbar which not everyone may like.

The recommended stats to look for in your items are (the list is not in order of priority and is just listing good bonuses + there’s new stats and I might have missed some which will get added later):

• + Flat Damage (any)
  
• +% elemental dmg (any) – starts getting very good later on when you have a nice flat to boost with this if you match the flat with the %
• +% Damage to Barrage/Brawl skills (this seems to no longer exist)
  
• +% Damage with Fracking Strike and/or Cyclone Mode and/or Vortex Bomb
  
• +% Damage to Thousand-Volt Burst (I’d rather not focus on this and get my forged skills’ dmg boosted)
  
• +% Duration to Localized Storm (this is a pretty amazing bonus)
• + Health
• + Defense (the non elemental is good for any act but lesser numbers than elemental)
• +% Critical Hit Chance (the cap is 40% but some skills will be able to get it past the cap)
  
• +% Critical Damage (the cap is 300%)
• +% Gear Luck (eventually try to get like 50-75% total for good drop quantity – the cap is 100%)
• +% Energy Recharge Rate is pretty good for this build
  
• -% Relic Energy cost is pretty good for this build
  
• +% Block Chance (capped at 40%)
  
• +% Chance to Evade damage (capped at 40%)
  
• +% Heat Generation
  
• +% Chance to Chill – a decent CC proc
• +% Chance to Poison is a decent DoT and stacks with other DoTs
• +% Chance to Bleed and/or Burn to stack the poison with the other DoTs.
• +% Chance to Shock – a decent proc and it’s amazing for this build
• +% Additional Bolts Fired on Shock – a decent proc and it’s amazing  for this build
• +% Chance to Stun/Slow/Blind – good but not a very important choice tho as we can slow Fracking Strike.
  

The Skills and Passives I recommend are:

IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that my setup is WITH the +2 Barrage & +2 Brawl skill levels from the Mountain King’s Set Helmet + Cuirass! On top of that I did NOT have extra +1, 2 ,3 Skill Point(s) from my Helmet.

MY IDEAL/RECOMMENDED SETUP:

ONLY T1 THOUSAND-VOLT BURST BUT MORE RELIC SKILLS DMG:

ONLY T1 THOUSAND-VOLT BURST ONLY LVL 1 TINGLING SENSATION BUT MORE DMG VS CCed:

How to LVLUP the Build:

lvl 2 – get Vortex Bomb lvl 1
lvl 3 – get Localized Storm lvl 1
lvl 4 – Save a point then @ lvl 5 – get Tier 1 (lvl 3) Ramming Robot
lvls 6, 7, 8 – get Localized Storm lvls 2, 3, 4
lvls 8, 9 – get Vortex Bomb lvls 2, 3
lvl 10 – get Power Projection lvl 1 + Vortex Bomb lvl 4
lvls 11 to 14 – get Vortex Bomb lvls 5 to 8
lvl 15 – get Sonic Pulse lvl 1 & Cyclone Mode lvl 1
lvls 16, 17 – get Vortex Bomb lvls 9, 10
lvls 18, 19 – get Cyclone Mode lvls 2, 3
lvl 20 – get Thousand-Volt Burst lvl 1 & Fracking Strike lvl 1
lvls 21 to 24 – get Fracking Strike to lvl 6
lvls 25 to 29 – get Localized Storm to lvl 10
lvls 30 to 35 – get Cyclone Mode to lvl 10
lvls 36 to 40 – get Rapid Strike to lvl 6
lvls 40 to 47 – get Sonic Pulse to lvl 10
lvls 48 to 50 – get Fracking Strike to lvl 10
next get Tingling Sensation lvl 5 then Lightning Strike lvl 5 (you might want to get those two MUCH sooner or at least lvl 1 Tingling Sensation) & Thousand- Volt Burst lvl 6. Lightning Strike is not useful without Chance to Shock in items or from Tingling Sensation. Hopefully, at this point you have +2 skill point bonuses from the Mountain King’s Set so that you can get start removing the extra points from your skills and putting those where needed.