The DPS Tank Fireball / Blazing Salvo Spellslinger Elementalist Ascendancy, Bandits & Pantheons

Ascendancy (Witch – Elementalist)

Shaper of Storms

As explained in the main page of the guide, I think the Ascendancy picks in this case are very very close and are moreso preference than optimal picks. However, if you end up picking Shaper of Storm plus either Shaper of Winter or Bastion of Elements as your two non-Golem Ascendancies. I think you should pick Shaper of Storms first. Should you opt for the Golem Ascendancies & Heart of Destruction / Mastermind of Discord, you should pick up Mastermind of Discord first and make sure to have a reliable way of inflicting Exposure on Enemies while leveling.

If you end up following the route I think I would, picking up Shaper of Storms first is just a reliable way of grabbing some extra damage while leveling. Where the Golem nodes are insane when you have both of them, getting some low-level Golem-action going is far from impressive so I think picking those up in Cruel & Merciless Lab is more optimal!

Liege of the Primordial

This is the first part of your insanely useful Ascendancy nodes! Liege of the Primordial grants you 100% increased generic damage (as you will be running 4 Golems), a source of an additional Golem, and 100% Increased Effect of the Buffs that Golems grant to us (again, you’ll be running 4 Golems). Since 3.13 it also provides you with a fairly solid way of keeping your friends alive through automatically summoning fallen Golems 4 seconds after they’ve died.

Elemancer

The more Elementalist builds I made, the more I got convinced about it being a sleeper class before its inevitable 3.13 buff. Its Ascendancy points are so incredibly strong across the board, and Elemancer is no exception to that. This node by itself gives you Ailment Immunity, something certain builds spend three suffixes and a Cluster Jewel to get. Additionally, this offers another 100% Increased Buff Effect of your Golems. Next up, it’s one of the other sources of an additional maximum Golem we pick up to reach 4 maximum Golems. Lastly, this notable also makes your buddies immune to Elemental Damage, which makes it so they will be more than reliable enough to keep them all summoned all the time!

Bastion of Elements

Sometimes great, sometimes better. That sounds like a perfect summary of this Ascendancy node. This node triggers a level 20 Primal Aegis which does as much as give you an extra Shield that acts as if it was maximum HP based on the amount of Notables you have allocated in the build. Effectively, at around level 90, this would give you around 3000 extra effective HP which would be an absolute must pick if it weren’t for a little catch! This Shield only works versus Elemental Damage. Now, where I would argue that generally you’re taking more Elemental Damage than you are Physical anyway, I think in this case an Elementalist would beg to differ. Since the build relies on a couple of Unique Flasks & a Diamond Flask there’s no Physical Mitigation source there & it has almost no Evasion whatsoever either to deal with attacks. Hence, Bastion of Elements is sometimes great, sometimes better, better being in maps that deal a huge portion of Elemental Damage.

Mastermind of Discord & Heart of Destruction (Optional)

I think Heart of Destruction is pretty good for this build, as it’s effectively a 15% More Damage Multiplier which has a little bit of QoL when it needs to. Sadly, that notable is gated behind Mastermind of Discord, which honestly isn’t bad, but it makes us feel a little more Glass Cannon than we should be. The build already packs more punch than it did before 3.13’s Elementalist Changes and I personally don’t think you should add more of it. If you end up picking this route and therefore end up ignoring Shaper of Storms & Bastion of Elements, you’re going to do approximately 21% more Damage! Effectively, Mastermind of Discord also is straight up better than Shaper of Storms if you have a wand with Trigger a Socketed Spell on it since that gives you more up time on exposure! I would definitely recommend swapping to it after you’ve acquired that for optimal damage.

Bandits

There really only is one option here. You want to help Alira for the Critical Strike Multiplier and the Resistances. Capping Resistances without her is too hard and we’re pretty happily accepting some Crit Multiplier too!

Pantheons

Major Gods

Soul of Lunaris is probably your best pick. No one has ever said no to some extra Physical Damage Reduction! Additionally, in this build I recommend upgrading Soul of Lunaris. Kill the Hallowed Husk in a Palace Map to upgrade a part of this Pantheon in order to become immune to Chain. As you are running 4 Golems permanently, chaining projectiles can be very dangerous.

Minor Gods

I would recommend Soul of Shakari here, as Chaos damage over time can be fairly lethal. The other options don’t really offer us much.

Upgrading your Pantheons

Whilst upgrading your Pantheons never hurts you, it’s not that important for this character. If you have nothing else to do at some point, sure, why not, but it shouldn’t be something you focus on or spend a lot of time on.

Pantheon powers can be upgraded by using Divine Vessel in the Map Device while you are activating the particular Map that contains the boss you need. Once you’ve killed the boss and captured his soul, you need to deliver the Divine Vessel, which’ll be filled up in the map device, to Sin in Oriath.

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