Fracking Shotgonne

EDIT: After the August 11th 2020 Patch, every build made before the relic sub-class changes will be outdated. This is one such and eventually will be re-worked trying to keep its core/play-style as close as possible to the original. Will post a redirect to the rework when it’s ready.

This build is a level 35 base that can be evolved into the suggested below lvl 60 complete build theorycraft. The current state of Torchlight 3 Early Access would take  several hours to get to lvl 60 (maybe 10 to 15 hours based on how much you rush). The build is NOT META but maybe with the Mega Blaster Cannon and other suggested item synergies it would end up being pretty decent at lvl 60. The Tier 2 passives of Furnace Blast & Coal Launch allow us to do +50% dmg vs Burning enemies. Shotgonne Blast is the main dps source with Fracking Strike being the vent and a good extra dps source. The Relic Active Skill also adds some nice dps to the mix. Ramming Robot is our escape and mobility skill. Sonic Pulse makes the enemies take more damage and it can also be auto-cast with 50% (or 100% with the set bonus) chance when wearing the Mountain King’s Hatch.

Build Video footage:

The skills I use:

• Relic Active Skill (Spinning Blade, Frost Blast, Sword Smash) – good source of dps. The forged gets 20% more dmg with relic active skill from passives compared to other classes so he can make those a bit stronger then the other 3 heroes. (For example, Spinning Blade is a total of 540% dmg (+110% bleed for 6s.) when you have a 20% relic damage passive and the 50% from the relic skills. With the 20% from Forged this goes up to 630% direct dmg + 110% bleed for 6s.)
• Shotgonne Blast –  a good source of AoE damage + 40% chance to knockback from the Tier 1 bonus.The Tier 2 gives us some heat dissipation as well.
• 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. Tier 3 we get  burning hot spots at the start and end of the skill.
• Fracking Strike – vents 50 heat and also does decent dmg.
• Sonic Pulse – makes our enemies take 40% more dmg for 6 sec. I also can stun for 1 sec with the Tier 1 Bonus. It can also be auto-cast with 50% (or 100% with the set bonus) chance when wearing the Mountain King’s Hatch. Replace with Rapid Fire when using Mountain King’s Hatch + Mega Blaster Cannon.
• Power Projection – gives us and nearby allies 50% increased defenses + the tier 1 bonus heals for 15% max hp per use.

The gear I recommend using is:

• ideally, wear a good rolled version of either of the following cannons:
  • Mega Blaster Cannon – Hit with Rapid Fire: gain a Shock Charge, once per 3 sec. (stacks up to 3 times) Cast Shotgonne Blast: spend all Shock Charges to fire an energy blast dealing 300% Weapon Damage per Charge. For up to 900% extra dmg every 9 sec. (or 6-7 sec. for the first build)
    
  • 3C#7R4 Repeater – Rapid Fire now can get up to 20 stacks of damage bonus instead of 10(13 with the tier 1 bonus) It’s kind of underwhelming but it’s still a lil’ bit of extra dps.
• I’d suggest a good rolled 2 hander if you have 40% block chance from armors a good base is:
  • Raging Beater – Cast Ramming Robot: if above 75 Heat, vent all heat to deal 200% Weapon Damage when you start and stop moving.
•  Alternatively, get a good rolled 1 handed weapon and use the following focus item:
  • Egg of Wonder – boost our Relic Active Skill to cast another second random Relic Active Skill along with ours that is not ours i.e. if using the Electrode, anything that is not Localized Storm can proc.
•  Mountain King’s set: The Mountain King’s set has nice bonuses but only 3 or 4 items of it are worth it for a Fracking strike + Barrage based build. Pick 3 from the ones below (i suggest Chest + Legs + Hatch if you have the Mega Blaster and need to use Rapid Fire else consider replacing Hatch with Tentacle):
  • Mountain King’s Hatch – when you use your Relic Active Skill: 50% chance to also cast Sonic Pulse (100% chance when using 3 set pieces)
  • Mountain King’s Chest – gives +1 Barrage Skills (+2 with the 3 piece set bonus) [I’ve tested it and it won’t give you extra levels if the skill is already lvl 10 so go for lvl 9 if you have +1 or 8 if you have +2 to those skills]
  • Mountain King’s Helm – gives +1 Brawl  Skills (+2 with the 3 piece set bonus) [I’ve tested it and it won’t give you extra levels if the skill is already lvl 10 so go for lvl 9 if you have +1 or 8 if you have +2 to those skills]
  • Mountain King’s Tentacle – Cast any Vent Skill: gain 25 Heat (25 more Heat when using 3 set pieces) – this means when using Fracking Strike we get 50 heat back. This may end up making it hard to use Shotgonne Blast tho so be cautious.
• Skittering set: Skittering Shoulders (spawns a +50% dmg reduction zone). I only use it without a bonus but you can combine this with 2 more Skittering pieces.
• other legendary items that boost your skills or allow you to proc good stuff

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

• Mega Blaster Cannon – Hit with Rapid Fire: gain a Shock Charge, once per 3 sec. (stacks up to 3 times) Cast Shotgonne Blast: spend all Shock Charges to fire an energy blast dealing 300% Weapon Damage per Charge. For up to 900% extra dmg every 9 sec. (or 6-7 sec. for the first build)
  
• 3C#7R4 Repeater – Rapid Fire now can get up to 20 stacks of damage bonus instead of 10(13 with the tier 1 bonus) It’s kind of underwhelming but it’s still a lil’ bit of extra dps.
• Egg of Wonder – boost our Relic Active Skill to cast another second random Relic Active Skill along with ours that is not ours i.e. if using the Electrode, anything that is not Quicker Storm can proc.
• Raging Beater – Cast Ramming Robot: if above 75 Heat, vent all heat to deal 200% Weapon Damage when you start and stop moving.
  

Of course only use either of those if it is not already equipped, ideally, you’ll go for one of the Cannons + Egg of Wonder + Another Item of Choice in the Legendarium and wear the other Cannon. 

The recommended stats to look for in your items are (the list is not in order of priority and is just listing good bonuses):

• Flat Damage
• +% Poison/Fire/Ice/Electric Damage (starts getting very good later on when you have a nice flat to boost with this)
• +% Damage to Barrage skills (it’s a good boost for Barrage based builds)
• +% Damage to Brawl skills (it’s a good boost for Brawl based builds but we also use two brawl skills in our setup – Ramming Robot and Fracking Strike)
• + Health
• + Defense (the non elemental is good for any act but lesser numbers than elemental)
• -% Relic Active Skill cooldown
• +% Critical Hit Chance
• +% Critical Damage (the cap is 300%)
• +% Gear Luck (eventually try to get like 60-80% total for good drop rates – the cap is 100%) This is Item find NOT magic find. So it’s drop quantity not quality.
• -% Relic Skill Cooldown
• +% Heat Dissipation
  
• +% Chance to Burn – an AMAZING roll for when using the 2x+25% dmg vs burning enemies! It can also help proc Flaming Destroyer’s procs more often (if using it)
• +% Chance to Poison to help proc Bane’s missiles & spiders more often (if using it)
• +% Chance to Shock to help proc Electrode’s lightning & bolts more often (if using it)
• +% Chance to Bleed to stack the with other dots DoTs
• + % Chance to Stun/Slow/Blind – an okay roll but not that important for this build.

The Skills and Passives I recommend are:

• lvl 35 Setup: https://tinyurl.com/FrackingShotgonne35
• lvl 60 Setup: https://tinyurl.com/FrackingShotgonne60
• lvl 60 Setup with +2 Barrage & +2 Brawl skills: https://tinyurl.com/FrackingShotgonne60Synergy

If you are using the Mountain King set for +1 or +2 to Barrage and/or Brawl skills make sure to remove points from a certain skill (i.e. for tier 3 instead of 10 to spend 9 or 8 when having +1 or +2 or instead of 6 for tier 2 to have 5 or 4 points invested in the skill if you have +1 or +2) Also consider wearing other(blue) items that may give +1 to a specific skill as well. When we have spare points at lvl 60 I’d suggest spending them in power projection.

Electrode skills levelup order:

• first, 10 points into Quicker Storm (or only 5 & the other 5 later after step 2). After the Echonok patch you may not want to use this as much.
  
• second, 10 points into Increasing Charge
  
• third, 10 point into Stronger Storm
• the last 20 points into Deadlier Bolts or Unleashed Energy. But if you are going for a relic cooldown setup to spam it more, then consider spending them on the first tier skills (Shocking Strikes & Brutal Intent)

Flaming Destroyer skills levelup order:

• first, 10 points into Destroy Faster
  
• second, 10 points into Lingering Blaze or Destroy More
  
• third, 10 point into Lingering Blaze or Destroy More
• next, 10 points into Firestarter
  
• the last 10 points into Smolder

If you are going for a relic cooldown setup (to spam it more), then consider spending points on the first tier skills (Sharper Blade & Ignition Source)

After the recent Echonok Update the Coldheart is pretty nice too. This is how i spend my points:

• first, 10 points into Quicker Frost (or only 5 & the other 5 later after step 2)
• second, 10 points into Sharp Points
  
• third, 10 point into Frailty (you could do 5 points before step 2 then the rest after it)
  
• next, 10 point into Cold Snap
  
• the last 10 points into Thicker Ice.

But if you are going for a relic cooldown setup to spam it more, then consider spending some points on Chill Out (I think when we activate the freezes are enough so I don’t do this).

The Blood Drinker also got buffed with the Echonok Update:

• first, 10 points into Faster Blade
  
• second, 10 points into Weighted Blade
  
• third, 5 points into Bloodletter (or do this at a later stage)
• next, 10 points into Open Wound
  
• next, 10 points into Volatile Blood
  
• the last 5 points into anything you want. I like having between 1 and 5 points in Blood Spill.