Seismic Charger

EDIT: After the August 11th 2020 Patch, every build made before the relic sub-class changes will be outdated. This one 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 lvl 60 complete build + theorycraft and I’ve included a skills version for when you’re not using the +2 Conductor & Slammer Skill levels bonuses from the Cosmic Set Helm and Chest. 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 Tier 2 passive of Lantern Flash allows us to do +65% dmg vs Stunned, Slowed or Blinded enemies with any type of dmg (basic attacks, all skills, procs, etc.). The train cars to use you can pick your self 2 from the following ones: Shield Car, Flamethrower Car, Shocking Rounds. For max uptime of the 90% dmg reduction cap you can get Shield Car. If you want maxed out dmg & procs then Flamethrower Car + Shocking Rounds is a good combo. The Electrode relic is what i recommend mostly for the Lightning Strike procs. On top of that we use Blasting Charge to make the enemies take more damage.

Build Video footage:

The skills I use:

• Basic Attacks
• Build Train –  a decent source of damage + it has good attack speed to proc Thunder Strike often
  
• Hammer Spin – our escape mechanic and a movement skill. We also get 50% movement speed on Tier 1 for 6 sec. & on Tier 3 we get 50% dmg reduction buff for 6 sec after using it.
• two of the following Train Cars:
  • Shield Car – Passive: 10% dmg reduction when near your train. Active: 8 second duration dome shield around the car that gives 50% dmg reduction to anyone inside. The tier 3 bonus lets you get the 50% dmg reduction as a bubble around you for it’s current active duration.
  • Flamethrower Car – Passive: A flamethrower car that constantly attacks and burns nearby enemies. Active: Lets out a cone-shaped flame burst that deals good dmg and burns for a nice amount as well.
  • Shocking Rounds – Passive: your lead car now fires electrified rounds/bullets that can arc to 1 nearby enemy for some extra dmg. Active: activating this skill makes the basic train car turret send lightning strikes from above.
    
• Blasting Charge – applies vulnerability to the enemies to make them take more damage. Also does decent damage, especially when you have a Blast Breaker in the Legendarium so it won’t use up your endurance. The Tier 2 gives us 20% dmg reduction in melee (which makes it a total of 70% with the 50% base).

The gear I recommend using is:

• Ideally,  wear either a good 1-handed + 2handed or a nice staff or wear a good rolled version of a Centrifugal Demolisher – Hammer Spin deals 25% more dmg, gains 1 more charge, and has a 25% lower cooldown.
• If not wearing the Centrifugal Demolisher then a  good 1 handed sword/mace + an offhand or good 2 handed staff:
  • Blue Sword/Mace with good rolls
  • Blue Staff with good rolls
  • Doompipe – Flamethrower Car & Mortar Car always gain its Endurance Bonus and does not spend Endurance
  • Blast Breaker – Blasting Charge always gain its Endurance Bonus and does not spend Endurance – this one is okay to use temporarily till a better weapon drops
• Cosmic set: The Cosmic set has nice bonuses but only 3 or 4 items of it are worth it for this build based build. Pick 3 or 4 from the ones below (i suggest Boots + Gloves + Helm ):
  • Cosmic Boots – Hit with Basic Attack: gain a Seismic Charge. If already at 10 charges, consume them to send a shockwave, dealing 400% Weapon Damage (gains two charges pet hit with the 3 piece set bonus)
  • Cosmic Gloves – Use any Train Car active skill: next melee attack within 5 sec. causes a Flame Burst, dealing 80% Weapon Damage (Flame Burst is caused on an additional attack)
  • Cosmic Chest – gives +1 Slammer 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]
  • Cosmic Helm – gives +1 Conductor  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]
• Skittering set:  Skittering Shoulders (spawns a +50% dmg reduction zone). This is a good item on many build but maybe overkill for this one. I only use it without a bonus but you can combine this with 2 more Skittering pieces if you want.
• Arc-Powered set: Arc-Powered Shoulders (Activate your Relic: become Charged Up for 15 sec., gaining 30% Movement Speed and dealing 100% Weapon Damage to nearby enemies on hit). This is an amazing item and i suggest wearing it. I only use it without a bonus but you can combine this with 2 more Arc-Powered pieces if you want.
• 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):

• Frenzi’s Blade – Increases your basic attack speed the more you attack, letting you shred through enemies with your equipped weapon.
• Stormblade – Hit with Basic Attack: Call down a Lightning Strike dealing an additional 200% weapon damage (max once per sec.)
• Centrifugal Demolisher – Hammer Spin deals 25% more dmg, gains 1 more charge, and has a 25% lower cooldown
• Blast Breaker – Blasting Charge always gain its Endurance Bonus and does not spend Endurance
• Arc-Powered Shoulders (Activate your Relic: become Charged Up for 15 sec., gaining 30% Movement Speed and dealing 100% Weapon Damage to nearby enemies on hit).

Of course only use either of those if it is not already equipped, ideally, you’ll go for wearing a one-handed bluie sword + a Doompipe OR a 2 handed staff OR the Centrifugal Demolisher. Then you MUST have Stormblade + Frenzi’s Blade in the Legendarium + 1 more of the items above. 

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 Conductor/Slammer skills (it’s a good boost for Slammer based builds)
• + 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
• +% Endurance Regeneration
• +% Chance to Poison to help with some DoT stacking
• +% Chance to Shock to help proc Electrode’s lightning & bolts more often
• +% Chance to Bleed and/or Burn to stack some DoTs
• + % Chance to Stun/Slow/Blind – an AMAZING roll as you do +65% damage vs slowed. Try to get Slow instead of Stun or Blind if possible.

The Skills and Passives I recommend are:

• lvl 60 Setup without +2 skill levels: https://tinyurl.com/SeismicCharger1
• lvl 60 Setup with +2 skill levels: https://tinyurl.com/SeismicCharger2

If you are using the Cosmic set or +1 or +2 to Slammer and/or Conductor 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

Electrode skills level up order (I don’t recommend using other relics so I won’t include other relics’ lvl up order):

• first, 10 points into Increasing Charge
• second, at least 1 point into Fried
  
• third, 5 points into Brutal Intent (optional and can be done later)
• then, 10 points into Deadlier Bolts
• next, 10 points into Unleashed Energy
• then max out Fried (9 more points)
• spend the last 5 point as you see fit