Demolitionist Gear

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

As an experiment, my current XP gear for the ANB is all Demolitionist (1 dropped piece and 5 from Ephemeral boxes). I am finding the 6 piece bonus makes the sticky bombs incredibly effective.

I have enough Glory to unlock all the recipes for a Demolitionist set to make my push gear. Or, I could skip one of the 20 Glory recipes, keep the current piece, and use the 20 Glory for the Molten Belt recipe. I already have the Belt of Special Ordinance recipe, as that works well with heat-seekers, which is usually my max damage ability, so I could go with that instead of a Molten Belt.

But, looking at the leaderboard, 9 out of the top 10 are the old standard Stalkers. The sole hold-out is currently in the 2 spot and is using a mixed set of 4 Demo and 2 Havoc.

Now let me be clear that I have no ambitions or even chance to be at the top of the leaderboard. I am playing for fun. But, I would like to get to TL 130 for the 20 Glory points.

It is too late to switch to Stalker as I have developed my abilities with Havoc in mind, But Demo instead is feasible and seems like it would be high on the fun scale.

I have a bit over 4 hours of Event Time left and am busy building Champion Levels so I don't need to make this decision right away.

What do all you experts suggest?

[Ozymandius]

I played a six piece Demolitionist set leading up to the ANB, but like most everyone else, I went with Stalker set in the ANB because I already have those recipes. In this event, I was lucky enough to have an Epic Assassin's Belt drop early on. It has allowed me to play a hybrid style of Stalker/Demolitionist that works similar to the Demolitionist build, and I have completed TL95 in under 5 minutes with that build. You could build a hybrid Demolitionist/Havoc BH by adding Assassin's Belt to get the sticky bombs without losing out on the Havoc abilities that you already have (e.g., Explosive Shot, Tracer Ammo, Magnetic Trap, & Heatseekers). I doubt that you can get anywhere near TL130 playing an Epic set of anything, but it feels too early for me to go "all in" on Demolitionist given the dominance of the Stalker w/Molten Belt build.

I have not made it past TL115 using my Havoc BH and my full Demolitionist BH has only just cleared TL120 in just over 9 minutes, and they both have a lot more CL than you can earn in an ANB.

If you just want to have fun, play out the Demolitionist BH build [keep your two best Epics and craft the other 4 pieces & Molten Belt to complete the set], but if you want to have a shot at TL130, I would switch over to Stalker and start cooking those abilities right away.

Happy Hunting!

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

I really don't think Stalker is a realistic option at this point, unless I spend a ton of gems to upgrade the abilities, which I don't want to do. Besides, Stalker is not my favorite gear set and I do play for fun.

Getting to the 20 Glory at TL 130 is a wish, but if I don't get there, enjoying the attempt is more important. I suspect I have the best chance with my usual Havoc build. But it would be fun to try with the Demo build. The downside to that is it will put me to zero on Glory so I won't be able to try anything else in the near future. If I don't spend anything here, I should finish with enough Glory to get the recipe for Bracer of Mastery, which seems pretty key.

Happy Hunting right back at ya!

[Daniel Cluley]

Craft the Molten Belt.

Molten Belt is crazy good for boss debuff with Tracer ammo.

[TheExorcist]

i'm very happy with "Havoc BH"
dont care whether i will succeed with it at trials
play it just for fun
and it's fun indeed!!!!!
Trials? You are not yet ranked
will play step by step later
at the moment "my 6/6 Havoc BH" Just Story Mode for "Goldly, Gems etc purposes" and try to learn how to play BH proper
ooh...i like "Heatseekers" so much
and also "explosive shot"
erm...can't make my mind between "Magnetic Trap or Multishoot".?. Both are good IMAO. which one better for trials advancement? any recommendation?
Thank you

[Ozymandius]

I totally Agree, Havoc BH is my favorite build, especially with a BoM with Heatseekers bonus! I am up to TL120. However, Demolitionist has real potential. I like the 4 Demo:2 Havoc build on the BH leaderboard in ANB Gold. I plan to give that a go once my event ends.

Magnetic Trap is great for mob control, but it doesn't impact bosses. With Molten Belt, however, you can outlast the bosses without the extra ability. I have used Multishot to get more damage in early trials of ANB events, but I don't really use it on my Havoc BH, especially now that I have good Igniters Pistols.

Would you rather spend your time clearing mobs (use Multishot) or fighting bosses (use Magnetic Trap)?

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

Hey TheExorcist - like you I am a fan of the Havoc build. Heat-seekers are a ton of fun and with the Belt of Special Ordinance even more so.

I don't have any experience playing Magnetic trap with Havoc. Tried it with Stalker and decided Frozen Trap is better. But now that you bring it up, I can see the appeal of Magnetic Trap - pull those suckers into a tight group so you can launch Heat-seekers at them. But with the BoSO, I find Heat-seekers really don't need a boost. I suspect that either Multi-shot or Rapid Fire would be better as a third active ability.

I usually play with Heat-seekers, Multi-shot and Snipe.

I am seriously considering going the full Demolitionist route. I think that if I do, I should replace Heat-seekers with something else, as without the 6-piece Havoc bonus and the BoSO, Heat-seekers will be under-powered.

[Ozymandius]

I prefer Magnetic Trap, but my Havoc BH build has mostly fire damage stats.

Haven't tried the BoSO yet, but I had one drop in the ANB event that I plan to try. After bashing my head against the wall playing Havoc BH for several ANBs, I am running Stalker BHs in Gold event to see if I can get the extra Glory awards.

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

Well, I decided to go the full Demolitionist route. Just beat TL 90 for the first celestial with almost 2 1/2 hours of event time left. So I've got plenty of time to improve Champion Levels before the final push.

At the moment, my best Demo piece is a level 75 helmet, so that is what 'll use the Celestial on, unless I craft something better later on.

[Ozymandius]

Sounds good. Best of luck to you!

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

Thank you.

And good luck to you as well, sir!

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

OK, here's something you can try for fun! (I wish I knew how to make a video of this)...

With a 6-piece Demolitionist build - get 3 or 4 hordes of bad guys mad at you, with a couple of sticky bombs attached in each group, use vortex to sweep them all into a tight clump, then hit the clump with Snipe and watch 20 or 30 bad guys go up in a puff of smoke and body parts!

It's at least as much fun as a well-placed salvo of heat-seekers!

[LodWig]

Be aware that there is a bug granting the Demolitionist 6-pieces bonus effect with only 2 pieces, or with the Assassin’s Belt. This is why you see people with only 4 pieces on the Leaderboard.

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

Well, it is official - I am now a fan of the Demolitionist gear set. Ran it for the Bronze league and while I didn't get to the 2nd Celestial at TL 110, I did beat TL 100 for the 15 Glory points.

Also achieved 1200 Champion levels, which I have never done before. This was enough to push my main account over the CL2000 mark!

Demolitionist gear really rocks for grinding experience!

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

Thank you kindly.

[Ozymandius]

Congratulations! Did you open the Demolitioniist gear recipes or just run the Epics from e-boxes?

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

I have purchased the recipes. Currently have 5 Glory left, after using 10 more for a belt for my WW Warrior.

There's no way I could have gotten as high as I did by using Epic e-boxes.

[TheExorcist]

Ubba Lothbrokson..how's your Demolitionist progress in trials? everything ok?
are u still using 6/6 demo gears?
Heatseekers ok?
Thank you

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

TheExorcist - I am enjoying using Demo gear a whole bunch.

I have not really pushed high trials yet. I have one of my Bounty Hunters equipped with a Demo set optimized for experience and I am using him for my on-going study of gear drops at various Trial levels. This study had to be re-set with all the new gear sets and pieces, so that is my main focus right now.

As far as Heat-seekers go, I am currently using Magnetic Trap instead, along with Snipe and Scattershot. That seems to be the best combo for now. And yes, a 6 piece Demo set, as it's the 6 -piece bonus that really makes the set work, IMO. At the Trial Levels I am currently running, I go through the mobs like a buzzsaw through balsa wood. I miss the Heatseekers fighting the bosses, but so far Molten Belt seems to make up the difference.

[TheExorcist]

i miss heatseekers very much
of all the BH skills Heatseekers is so much fun for me

[Naktl]

I ran a 6 x Demolitionist BH during last ANB Gold. My first ANB and didn’t get all that far, but the build was much fun. Think I may have also used the sticky bomb belt. Don’t remember. Large pulls were really fun since if you could hold it long enough for everyone to have a bomb the whole group explodes at roughly the same time.

[chessmaster58]

I did different hybrid during bronze for a spell. I did 6 demo epic for a spell, swapped out 2 pieces for stalker (gloves for + poison/helm) played that till I could upgrade again and swapped out in a pair so I still had 2 demo pieces, until I could afford the final pair
I found myself missing the sticky bombs during mob phase once i became all stalker, but stalker still more powerful
The one thing i didnt do was use torch/firebug combo - I stayed with the assassins guns knowing I would finish as a stalker

[Ubba Lothbrokson]

I'm not sure what the best gun set is for Demo. Given that I use Snipe a lot, I think that the Assassin's set is probably the way to go. My current Demo BH is optimized for experience and is using a pair of very good non-set pistols which are just fine for now.

[Naktl]

I have used the Igniters because I run Tracer Ammo and Sploding shot with Demo.