Shocknado Vortex

EDIT: After the August 11th 2020 Patch, every build made before the relic sub-class changes will be outdated. This is one such and already has been re-worked trying to keep its core/play-style as close as possible to the original. Link to the new version: Shocknado Vortex 2.0

This build includes two setups – one with +2 to all skill levels and one without the bonus skill levels. Without the bonus skill levels we can get all necessary skills (the ‘skeleton’ of the build’) at lvl 53 as 53 is the total of skill points needed. Even at lvl 50 the build is kind of ready but I’ve made the no bonus points setup use 53 skill points and the other one to use 60. The relic of choice is an Electrode and after the relics get reworked I’ll make 3 branches of this for: Electrode, Coldheart, and Blood Drinker. For the way I play this we need the Lightning Strike proc from the electrode + chance to shock items + chance to burn items. The Tier 2 passives of Furnace Blast & Coal Launch allow us to do +50% dmg vs Burning enemies so it’s a fine balance between chance to shock and chance to burn + bolts fired on shock for more hits to get even more procs. 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). Electrode is the main dps source with Vortex Bomb being the vent skill + a good extra dps source & Cyclone Mode also being a stable source of DPS especially considering the high number of hits per second = high number of procs per second. The Relic Active Skill also adds some nice dps via procs 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 (Localized Storm) – an okay source of dps + can proc Sonic Pulse with the Mountain King’s Hatch.
• 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.
• Cyclone Mode -build up heat quickly and also does decent dmg + is a great source of procs
  
• 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. At Tier 3 we get  burning hot spots at the start and end of the skill.
• 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. You could optionally replace it with another skill on the skill bar when using Mountain King’s Hatch.
• Power Projection – gives us and nearby allies 50% increased defenses + the tier 1 bonus heals for 15% max hp when used.

The gear I recommend using is:

• 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
• I’d suggest a good rolled 1 hand + off-hand/shield but alternatively a decent 2 hander is not bad especially if you have 40% block chance + 40% evasion from armors. You might consider the following legendaries or a good rare item:
  • Raging Beater (greatblade) – Cast Ramming Robot: if above 75 Heat, vent all heat to deal 200% Weapon Damage when you start and stop moving. This may result in less vortex bombing for you so be careful when using this.
  • The Bird’s Eye (focus) – Power Projection causes electric arcs to strike nearby enemies, dealing 40% Weapon Dmg
  • Egg of Wonder (focus) – boost our Relic Active Skill to cast another second random Relic Active Skill along with ours that is not ours i.e. when 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 that spin2win Cyclone based build. Pick 3 from the ones below (I suggest  Helm + Hatch + Gauntlets & reworking the skills a little). If you get op Vortex Bomb cooldown (under 2 secs) consider adding the Tentacle:
  • Mountain King’s Gloves – 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 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 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 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 Tentacle – Cast any Vent Skill: gain 25 Heat (25 more Heat when using 3 set pieces) – this means when using Vortex Bomb we get 50 heat back. This may end up making it hard to use Cyclone Mode to build Heat 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.
• Arc-Powered Set: I love wearing the Shoulders but the Hatch and Locomotion are also very good:
  • Arc-Powered Shoulders – Activate your Relic: become Charged Up for 15 seconds, gaining 30% Movement Speed and dealing 100% Weapon Dmg to nearby enemies on hit (doubles the duration with the 3 set pieces bonus)
  • Arc-Powered Hatch – On Block: 10% chance to Zap nearby enemies, dealing 250% Weapon Dmg (becomes a 20% chance with the 3 set pieces bonus)
  • Arc-Powered Locomotion – Cast your Relic Skill: 10% chance to instantly refresh it (becomes a 20% chance with the 3 set pieces bonus)
• 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):

• Unstable War Arm – Cast Vortex Bomb: if above 75 Heat, trigger a secondary heat wave, dealing 400% Weapon Dmg
• The Bird’s Eye (focus) – Power Projection causes electric arcs to strike nearby enemies, dealing 40% Weapon Dmg
• Egg of Wonder (focus) – 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 (greatblade) – Cast Ramming Robot: if above 75 Heat, vent all heat to deal 200% Weapon Damage when you start and stop moving. This may result in less vortex bombing for you so be careful when using this.
  
• Skittering Shoulders (spawns a +50% dmg reduction zone for 15 seconds)
• Arc-Powered Shoulders – Activate your Relic: become Charged Up for 15 seconds, gaining 30% Movement Speed and dealing 100% Weapon Dmg to nearby enemies on hit (doubles the duration with the 3 set pieces bonus)
• Mountain King’s Gloves – 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 Hatch – when you use your Relic Active Skill: 50% chance to also cast Sonic Pulse (100% chance when using 3 set pieces)
• Arc-Powered Hatch – On Block: 10% chance to Zap nearby enemies, dealing 250% Weapon Dmg (becomes a 20% chance with the 3 set pieces bonus)

Of course only use either of those if it is not already equipped, ideally, you’ll go for putting Skittering Shoulders + Egg of Wonder or The Bird’s Eye + Arc-Powered Hatch in the Legendarium. The go for wearing wearing Unstable War Arm + Egg of Wonder or The Bird’s Eye + the Mountain King’s Helm, Gloves, Hatch + Arc-Powered Shoulder.

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)
• -% coolodwn to Vortex Bomb (it will allow spamming the skill more often)
• +% Damage to Vortex Bomb or Cyclone Mode skills (it’s a good dps boost)
• +% Damage to Brawl skills (it’s a good boost for Brawl based builds like this one)
• + 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 – not good if you wanna spam Vortex Bombs, but pretty good if you wanna spin2win more with Cyclone Mode
• +% Chance to Burn – an AMAZING roll for when using the 2x+25% dmg vs burning enemies – it’s a must have stat!!!
• +% Chance to Poison can help add more DoT stacks
• +% Chance to Shock to help proc Electrode’s lightning & bolts more often (a must have stat!!!)
• +% Chance to Bleed can help add more DoT stacks
• + % Chance to Stun/Slow/Blind – an okay roll but not that important for this build.

The Skills and Passives I recommend are:

• lvl 60 Setup without +2 Barrage & +2 Brawl Skills: https://tinyurl.com/ShocknadoVortex1
• lvl 60 Setup with +2 Barrage & +2 Brawl skills: https://tinyurl.com/ShocknadoVortex2

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 level up order (I do NOT suggest using this exact build with other relics but you can rework it a little and use other relics too):

• Setup 1: When not boosting the Relic Active Skill:
  • 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)
  • third, 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
• Setup 2: When also boosting the Relic Active Skill:
  • 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)
  • next, 10 points into Quicker Storm
  • then, 10 points into Stronger Storm
  • next, 10 points into Deadlier Bolts
  • then max out Fried (4 more points)

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.