by Hotstreak - 9 years ago     show comments

Books have often been society’s only bastion of light for passing along knowledge that would otherwise be lost to time or convoluted by the oral tradition. In order to provide new and old adventurers with as much knowledge of what to expect on their journey in Sanctuary, we created this tome of knowledge – Ars Arcanum. We will regularly feature a Legendary weapon or armor piece, discussing its stand-alone powers and capabilities, as well as how it may synergize with new builds or other item

With this week’s Ars Arcanum we will be going over an item that I never thought would get any kind of attention and that item is Scrimshaw. Remember the days when you would see a legendary polearm drop and then immediately become sad when you saw that it looked like a big tusk? This item use to torment me by dropping all of the damn time and it use to be a sure sign that you were getting trolled by RNG but, not anymore! As of Patch 2.3, Scrimshaw now has a purpose and is a staple in the top Witch Doctor build. Lets find out just why this item went from horrible to a necessity.

Why is it good?

With Patch 2.3 came a rework for the WD’s Helltooth set and a much needed one at that. This set revolves heavily around signature WD spells like Firebats, Wall of Death (formerly wall of zombies), Zombie Charger, and many others. The one that is perhaps used the most in a Helltooth build is the Zombie Charger skill. This is because with Scrimshaw, the mana cost for ZC is reduced by 40-50% making it very spammable and very efficient.

This combo really comes in handy while in big fights since the HT build is a pretty cooldown heavy one and can help you keep sustained damage on Elites, Rift Guardians, and Bosses. Now elts take a look at how the HT set interacts with ZC.

• (2) Set:
• Enemies hit by your primary skills, Acid Cloud, Firebats, Zombie Charger, Zombie Dogs, Gargantuan, Grasp of the Dead, Piranhas, or Wall of Death are afflicted by Necrosis, becoming Slowed, taking 1500% weapon damage every second, and taking 20% increased damage from all sources for 10 seconds.
• (4) Set:
• After applying Necrosis to an enemy, you take 50% reduced damage for 10 seconds.
• (6) Set:
• After casting Wall of Death, gain 900% increased damage for 15 seconds to your primary skills, Acid Cloud, Firebats, Zombie Charger, Zombie Dogs, Gargantuan, Grasp of the Dead, Piranhas, and Wall of Death.

This is where Scrimshaw really shines, the more you can cast ZC the more necrosis you put onto your enemy, increasing the damage your enemy takes. This also gives you some much needed survivability by taking 50% less damage after applying necrosis. You can pretty much proc this whole set by just spamming ZC on your enemies to keep your damage and buffs sustained. But of course you don’t want to just use ZC, you’ll want to use the other skills in the HT build to take full advantage of the set.

Srimshaw allows you to sustain the procs from the set while you wait for all of your cooldowns to reset and it also allows you to do very decent damage a long the way, making it a must have. I recommend this build to everyone who wishes to try a more spell caster like playstyle with the WD.

Who is it good for?

Even though it is a polearm, Scrimshaw is only useful for Witch Doctors since it’s affix benefits a WD only skill.

Where can I find it?

This item is not a season exclusive so it can be found on any mode.

The Fluff

“Great power festers within demon skulls. Wear them close to your heart, and feel their dark magic thunder through you.” —Jeram of the Whispering Valley