LoD Energy Twister Wizard Nephalem Rift Speed Farming Variation

Last updated on Jan 10, 2024 at 09:00 by Deadset 14 comments
1.

Nephalem Rift Speed Farming

The LoD Energy Twister Wizard can deal reasonably well with Nephalem Rift Speed Farming, mostly thanks to overwhelming damage potential offered by Energy Twister Energy Twister that allows you to include Aether Walker Aether Walker in the build, and the freedom from set pieces that allows you to spread various utility legendaries for mobility. We have solo speed GR rankings and solo speed T16 rankings if you want to know more about which builds are best for speed farming.

Within the limited scope of regular difficulties, the necessary damage and toughness to triumph over the enemy is significantly smaller. Thus, your best course of action is to improve utility and speed.

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Energy Twister Icon Energy Twister Gale Force Gale Force Right Mouse Button Diamond Skin Icon Diamond Skin Prism Prism 1 Teleport Icon Teleport Calamity Calamity 2 Familiar Icon Familiar Arcanot Arcanot 3 Magic Weapon Icon Magic Weapon Deflection Deflection 4 Storm Armor Icon Storm Armor Power of the Storm Power of the Storm
Passive Skills
2.

Adapting Rotation

When you are speed farming regular rifts, parts of your playstyle will adapt to the lowered challenge and focus more on speed and utility.

The playstyle in T16 is substantially different from the channeling-based GR progression and GR speedfarming builds; it revolves entirely around self-casting Energy Twister Energy Twister and relying on damage multipliers to obliterate fights in a second. Make a note to kickstart your Energy Twister Energy Twister damage at the start of every rift by stacking your The Twisted Sword The Twisted Sword bonuses with five quick casts. From there, simply Teleport Teleport from fight to fight with your unlimited mobility, stunning them for a second via Calamity Calamity and decimating them just as quickly with one or two manually cast Energy Twister Energy Twisters. Apply Diamond Skin Diamond Skin Prism Prism liberally, ideally whenever you know you are about to jump into a fight; spamming the key is also acceptable. The remainder of your skill selection is comprised of passive buffs. Storm Armor Storm Armor Power of the Storm Power of the Storm and Magic Weapon Magic Weapon Deflection Deflection will keep you safe as you recklessly port around the rift in search of the next big fight, and Familiar Familiar Arcanot Arcanot will keep your Arcane Power reserves flowing; just do not let their 10 minute duration distract you from refreshing them in between runs.

3.

Adapting Skills

Parts of the skill and passive selection will overlap with the base Greater Rift progression build, but others will have to change according to the task at hand. Ability to cross over great distances faster and more efficiently take precedence.

  • Your main damage dealer remains Energy Twister Energy Twister, which rips through standard Rift difficulties due to its monstrous damage multipliers. Exchange the static, progression-oriented Wicked Wind Wicked Wind rune for the self-empowering, fiery Gale Force Gale Force rune.
  • Arcane Torrent Arcane Torrent is no longer necessary, as channeling will be too slow for T16s. Replace it with the massive resource cost reduction bonuses of Diamond Skin Diamond Skin Prism Prism, which you will ideally activate just before nuking a screenful of enemies.
  • The precision and timing-based damage bonuses of Wave of Force Wave of Force Arcane Attunement Arcane Attunement from the main progression build will be a huge overkill in T16, and should be replaced by the passive Arcane Power regeneration of Familiar Familiar Arcanot Arcanot.
  • Mobility is crucial in any form of farming, and T16s are no exception; Teleport Teleport remains mandatory, but should be taken with the Calamity Calamity for its momentary stun. The skill will remain spam-able due to Aether Walker Aether Walker, and the CC will be helpful in wiping the battlefield before anyone has a chance to retaliate.
  • The duo of 10-minute protective buffs — Magic Weapon Magic Weapon Deflection Deflection and Storm Armor Storm Armor (with Halo of Karini Halo of Karini equipped) are still mandatory in the GR speed build.
  • Half of the passive selection from GR progression retains its value in Greater Rift speed farming. Audacity Audacity (proximity-based multiplicative damage increase) is still a great addition as you try to burst down enemies with haste. Galvanizing Ward Galvanizing Ward will safeguard your Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace damage buff with a massive shield. Finish your passive lineup with the passive AP regeneration of Astral Presence Astral Presence, and get an emergency cheat death safety net in the face of Unstable Anomaly Unstable Anomaly.
4.

Adapting Gear

The overall gearing philosophy will remain intact from the GR progression setup. This is still a Legacy of Dreams Legacy of Dreams build, so you run legendary items instead of set pieces and obtain the necessary damage amplification and reduction associated with the traditional 6-piece sets. This will cost a legendary gem slot, but will net you all the jewelry slots for powerful jewelry options. Similarly to the GR setup, you should wear a Squirt's Necklace Squirt's Necklace for its massive damage boost; its "damage taken increased" downside is negated by your various shields. For rings, wear your best two rolled rings between Convention of Elements Convention of Elements (cyclical damage buff; burst down elites during the Fire cycle), Halo of Karini Halo of Karini (massive damage reduction from Storm Armor Storm Armor), and Unity Unity (further reduces incoming damage when paired with another on the follower, along with an immortality relic for them). Cube your worst rolled ring. Note that you can drop Unity Unity from the setup and wear a Fire damage Stone of Jordan Stone of Jordan once you grow confident in your survivability for the targeted GR level farm.

LoD Energy Twister armor pieces for speed farming can be roughly divided into the following categories:

  • Resource management is the most important category, as Energy Twister Energy Twister is quite AP intensive and has limited resource cost mitigation in a self-cast build. You should replace the damage of Andariel's Visage Andariel's Visage for Pride's Fall Pride's Fall, and further cut down costs with Cindercoat Cindercoat (hence the choice of Gale Force Gale Force).
  • Damage amplification items. Stat-wise Cindercoat Cindercoat also falls in this category; so do Magefist Magefist, and a Fire damage roll of Blackthorne's Jousting Mail Blackthorne's Jousting Mail.
  • Protective items. When playing solo, you should make use of the extra safety of a cheat death proc from the Act I bounty cache-specific legendary Pauldrons of the Skeleton King Pauldrons of the Skeleton King. This is because your follower can wear the teleportation utility of Homing Pads Homing Pads and emanate their power to you; in groups, where you lose the follower, you should wear the Homing Pads Homing Pads yourself. The final protective piece will be Goldwrap Goldwrap, which is part of the triumvirate of gold bonuses with Avarice Band Avarice Band (on your follower or in Unity/SoJ's place in groups) and a socketed Boon of the Hoarder Boon of the Hoarder.
  • Utility items. When playing solo, you should use the environment destruction-based movement speed procs of Warzechian Armguards Warzechian Armguards. This is because your follower can wear Nemesis Bracers Nemesis Bracers and proc extra elite spawns for you; in group play, you need to wear the Nemesis yourself. The Act II bounty cache-specific Illusory Boots Illusory Boots will further supplement your mobility, as you will not need the progression oriented Ice Climbers Ice Climbers.

In T16 speed farming you can afford to drop a damage multiplier from your weaponry; thus, drop the slightly weaker Valthek's Rebuke Valthek's Rebuke bonus and either cube or wear an Aether Walker Aether Walker. Since this will not be a channeling-based setup, replace Etched Sigil Etched Sigil from the GR variants for the additional teleport utility of the craftable Cosmic Strand Cosmic Strand.

Slot Pieces Stat Priority
Head
  1. Intelligence
  2. Socket
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Energy Twister % Damage
  5. Crowd Control Duration Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Shoulders
  1. Intelligence
  2. Resource Cost Reduction
  3. Armor
  4. Vitality
  5. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)
Torso
  1. Intelligence
  2. 3 Sockets
  3. Vitality
  4. Armor
  5. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
  6. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
Wrists
  1. Intelligence
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Fire % Damage
  4. Life per Hit or Vitality
  5. Reduced Damage Melee Attacks (Secondary stat)
Hands
  1. Intelligence (or Area Damage at high Paragon)
  2. Critical Hit Chance
  3. Critical Hit Damage
  4. Resource Cost Reduction
  5. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Waist
  1. Intelligence
  2. Vitality
  3. Armor
  4. Life %
  5. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
  6. Life per Kill (Secondary Stat)
Legs
  1. Intelligence
  2. 2 Sockets
  3. Vitality
  4. Fire % Damage (if Blackthorne's Jousting Mail Blackthorne's Jousting Mail)
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Feet
  1. Intelligence
  2. Energy Twister % Damage
  3. Vitality
  4. Armor
  5. Pickup Radius (Secondary Stat)
  6. Health Globe Healing Bonus (Secondary Stat)
Amulet
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Fire % Damage
  5. Crowd Control Duration Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Melee or Missile Damage Reduction (Secondary Stat)
Ring #1
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Resource Cost Reduction
  5. Crowd Control Duration Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Ring #2
  1. Socket
  2. Critical Hit Damage
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Resource Cost Reduction
  5. Crowd Control Duration Reduction (Secondary Stat)
  6. Physical or Lightning Resistance (Secondary Stat)
Weapon
  1. High Weapon Damage (Cold element preferred)
  2. Socket (preferably from Ramaladni's Gift Ramaladni's Gift)
  3. Intelligence
  4. Resource Cost Reduction
  5. Damage %
Off-hand
  1. High Damage Range
  2. Intelligence
  3. Critical Hit Chance
  4. Energy Twister % Damage
  5. Resource Cost Reduction
  6. Arcane Power on Crit

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

4.1.

Altar of Rites

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

Altar of Rites Planner

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

5.

Adapting Gems

Most of your legendary gem selection from GR progression retains its value in T16 Nephalem Rift speed farming. Legacy of Dreams Legacy of Dreams forms the basis of damage reduction and damage multiplication in the build, while Bane of the Trapped Bane of the Trapped still brings excellent damage multiplication value to the build. While certainly not weak, you should consider dropping Bane of the Powerful Bane of the Powerful in order not to overkill on damage, and replace it with Boon of the Hoarder Boon of the Hoarder instead. Paired with a worn or cubed Goldwrap Goldwrap, and an Avarice Band Avarice Band worn by your follower in solo play (or yourself in groups), this legendary gem increases your movement speed and provides near-infinite Toughness through its interaction with the aforementioned items.

5.1.

Season 30 Soul Shards

In Season 30, your helm and weapon sockets will be taken over by the supremely powerful Soul Shards. For this variant, we recommend the following:

  • HelmShard of Hatred with "Your movement speed is increased by 50%" as its Rank 3 power. For optimization benefits, aim for Intelligence or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction on its Rank 2 roll.
  • WeaponStain of Sin with "You gain an additional Rift Progress Orb when you kill an elite pack" as its Rank 3 power. For optimization benefits, aim for Fire Skills % Increase or Weapon Damage Increase on its Rank 2 roll.
Slot Gems
Jewelry
Helm
Torso and Pants
Weapon

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

6.

Adapting Kanai's Cube

In the limited challenges of T16 keyfarm, one legendary weapon damage multiplier should be enough; thus, we advise you to stick to the multiplier from The Twisted Sword The Twisted Sword and replace Valthek's Rebuke Valthek's Rebuke with an Aether Walker Aether Walker. This legendary wand turns your Teleport Teleport from a cooldown to a spender, and allows for near limitless mobility. Simply wear your better rolled item between The Twisted Sword The Twisted Sword and Aether Walker Aether Walker, and cube the other.

Ranslor's Folly Ranslor's Folly brings tremendous damage multiplication and monster pulling value to the build. In T16 farming, your competing bracers for the slot would be Nemesis Bracers Nemesis Bracers for the extra elite spawns (worn by yourself in group play), and Warzechian Armguards Warzechian Armguards for the extra movement speed (in solo, where you have a follower to wear the Nemesis and emanate their effect to you).

Your jewelry Cube slot will still be occupied by your worse rolled item between Halo of Karini Halo of Karini and Convention of Elements Convention of Elements. Stone of Jordan Stone of Jordan is a waste to cube, since you lose the elemental and elite damage bonuses of the item — they are innate rolls but are not part of the legendary power, and are thus not extracted in the Cube.

7.

Follower

The recommended follower for this build during GR speed farming is the Enchantress, due to her cooldown reduction bonus (cutting down Teleport Teleport downtime) and elemental damage increase. Note that this requires that you run Hand of the Prophet Hand of the Prophet and optimize her survivability, as per our guide.

For more information regarding followers, we advise you to read our Follower Guide, which contains detailed advice for choosing the skills and the gear of your follower.

8.

Legendary Potion

The preferred potions for this build are Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid (allowing you to break down Waller affixes that impede Frozen Orb Frozen Orb DPS), Bottomless Potion of the Unfettered Bottomless Potion of the Unfettered (giving you a brief window of CC immunity to counter your lack of CC-breaking or immunity skills), or Bottomless Potion of the Tower Bottomless Potion of the Tower (whose Armor-increasing properties complement the naturally high All Resistances stat of Wizards). Pick whichever you feel helps you out the most.

9.

Changelog

  • 10 Jan. 2024: Revised guide for the permanent addition of the Altar of Rites, and added Season-specific Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 13 Sep. 2023: Added Season 29 Paragon Cap and Gearing recommendations.
  • 22 Feb. 2023: Added Season 28 Altar of Rites recommendations.
  • 26 Aug. 2022: Added Season 27 Angelic Crucible recommendations.
  • 14 Apr. 2022: Guide reviewed for Season 26.
  • 06 Dec. 2021: Added Season 25 Soul Shard recommendations.
  • 30 Oct. 2021: Guide added.
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