Counterswarm Spiritborn

Overview

Counterattack of the Swarm turns Counterattack into a Centipede skill that sends out Pestilent Swarms. Ring of Writhing Moon then spawns even more of them around you. You spend most of your time dashing through packs with Rushing Claw while the swarms poison everything you leave behind. Ravager, Toxic Skin and Scourge keep the damage and healing going.

We think it's one of the fastest builds in the game right now. With good gear it can clear Pit 100 in under a minute. The downside is that it leans on a few specific items, and Ring of Writhing Moon only drops from Lord Zir, so expect to farm him a lot.

Strengths

• Extremely fast clears
• Always on the move
• The swarms clean up packs on their own
• Gets stronger steadily as your gear improves

Weaknesses

• You need Ring of Writhing Moon, and it only drops from Lord Zir
• Feels clunky without enough Cooldown Reduction
• Damage starts to run out around Pit 125

Gear for Endgame

• Helm: Harmony of Ebewaka. Affixes: Cooldown Reduction (greater affix), Maximum Life, Dexterity, Armor. Sockets: Cem, Tal.
• Chest: Enigma. Affixes: Dexterity, Maximum Life (greater affix), Armor, Resistance to All Elements. Sockets: Emerald.
• Gloves: Aspect of Pestilence. Affixes: Critical Strike Damage Multiplier (greater affix), Damage Over Time Multiplier, Ranks to Counterattack, Dexterity.
• Pants: Aspect of Debilitating Toxins. Affixes: Dexterity, Maximum Life (greater affix), Poison Resistance, Armor. Sockets: Poc, Gar.
• Boots: Exploiter's Aspect. Affixes: Movement Speed (greater affix), Dexterity, Maximum Life, Poison Resistance.
• Amulet: Aspect of Supremacy. Affixes: Cooldown Reduction (greater affix), Damage Over Time Multiplier, Ranks to Centipede Skills, Dexterity. Sockets: Abyssal Splinter of Anguish.
• Ring 1: Ring of Writhing Moon. Affixes: Damage Over Time Multiplier (greater affix), Cooldown Reduction, Critical Strike Damage Multiplier, Maximum Life. Sockets: Abyssal Splinter of Pain.
• Ring 2: Stone of Jordan. Affixes: Ranks to All Skills (greater affix), Cooldown Reduction, Damage Over Time Multiplier, Maximum Life. Sockets: Abyssal Splinter of Sin.
• Main hand: Aspect of Infestation. Affixes: Dexterity (greater affix), Damage Over Time Multiplier, Critical Strike Damage Multiplier, Maximum Life. Sockets: Skull.

Paragon boards

1. Start - Consumption
2. Swarm of Storms - Fester
3. Prodigy's Tempo - Canny
4. Bitter Medicine - Menagerist
5. Drive - Colossal

How to play

Rotation

• Use your cooldowns first, which are Ravager, Toxic Skin, Scourge and The Devourer.
• Cast Counterattack to use both charges.
• Then spam Rushing Claw to dash through packs. Three casts in a row trigger Prodigy's Tempo, which cuts all your cooldowns.
• Recast every cooldown as soon as it's ready.
• Before a boss, dash around a few times first. Resolve resets at the start of each fight, and getting on your horse loses your stacks too.

Getting started

• Farm Lord Zir for Ring of Writhing Moon. Honestly, the build doesn't work properly without it.
• Harmony of Ebewaka is the helm to aim for. Set your secondary Spirit Hall to Eagle so it counts your skills as Eagle skills too.
• Stone of Jordan sets all your resistances to your highest one, so raise Poison Resistance on your pants and boots.

Stats to look for

• The most important stats are Damage Over Time, Cooldown Reduction for mobility skills and Maximum Resolve. Greater affixes on these make a big difference.
• After that, look for Critical Strike Damage and Maximum Life.

Paragon

• Start with Consumption for Pestilent Swarm damage, then go to Swarm of Storms, which adds a lot of swarm damage.
• Prodigy's Tempo is a must, because it's where the cooldown cut comes from.
• Bitter Medicine adds poison damage. Finish on Drive.
• Take the Legendary nodes before you socket glyphs. Around 230 Paragon points, swap Fester for Colossal.

Talisman

• Use the Seal of the Diamond Mind so you can wear two sets. That means four pieces of Balazan's Bite and two of Kwatli's Grace.
• Balazan's Bite kills a poisoned enemy every six seconds and triggers Scourge. Kwatli's Grace makes your poisons last longer and Weakens enemies.

Season 15

• We bind the Splinter of Terror for its extra Primary Resource.
• Socket Anguish in the amulet for speed and critical chance, with Pain and Sin in the rings for toughness.
• Enigma is already a runeword item, so the runes go elsewhere. Cem with Tal in the helm turns every evade into a Plagued Swarm, which fits a build that evades all the time. Poc with Gar in the pants adds Critical Strike Chance.
• Hire Subo for extra damage over time, and bring Raheir to cast Bastion whenever you get crowd controlled.

War Plans

• In the Pit, start with Choron's Haste and Choron's Blessing for extra glyph upgrades, then work down to Choron's Soul. We take Choron's Shortcut over Heart of Stone, because this build moves too fast to carry the Heart safely.
• In Helltide, we like Hellmouth into Writhe and Rot and Bursting Brood for Lair Keys and Boss Trophies. Fall of the Fell doubles your Cinders.
• For Lair Bosses, Two by Two into Greater and Ultimate Nemesis is the best line for mythics in our view. Lair of Plenty adds a hoard chest to every kill, and Children of Zir lets Lord Zir's uniques drop in the Pit. That's also where your Ring of Writhing Moon can drop.
• In the Undercity, Jade Epiphany and Endless Swarm give the most experience. Add Finely Tuned for extra Tuning Prisms.
• In Nightmare Dungeons, Branching Pathways keeps your runs chaining and Waking Spoils adds a chest at the end.
• In the Infernal Hordes, Infernal Hoard and Forged in Flame bring gear and Obducite. Take Flawless Find instead if you need gems.
• In the Tree of Whispers, take Corrupted Roots first, then Wisdom of Whispers for experience and Resplendent Favor for Sparks.