[3.22 STD] Aura fireball hit elementalist

EDIT: 3.23 build in later post. Will update this top post in future.

I'm no expert so bear with me, this is not a guide so much as a post to show it's possible. This won't win any awards or become a crowd favourite but it works if you want to use the play style. I'm sure someone more experienced could find a way to improve upon this, but then again I did this mostly myself so I'm posting it now after all the time investment.

Let's face it fireball sucks for scaling to major damage, and the elementalist isn't exactly the best for defences, so having a character that has to stand and shoot all the time with low defences is not a good combo. Nonetheless I happen to like the mechanics of actually shooting things myself and have a fond history with fireball from D&D so I kept persisting till this build worked. Additionally my avoidance skills really suck so I've gone overboard with the defences. This build copes extremely well with pretty much all map modifications, curses, and searing/eater downsides EXCEPT for "during any flask effect" downsides. It's great with hordes/mapping especially linear runs, and decent for bossing.

This is the end game build, along with a hefty budget requirement:
POB:
https://pobb.in/bLrMmW6tqwvk
15M DPS from fireball
16.1M with vortex
(31.4M with molten shell)

There are two legacy items in the build (the shield and the curse effect cluster jewels) along with some tattoos inherited from Ancestor league. There's probably another 1M DPS to get out of it, but it would cost another couple of mirrors get there. The last 10% costs 10x as much.

Build without any legacy/league items:
https://pobb.in/ybeAe6ttun59
13.9M DPS fireball

You'll note a slight switch of the combustion to vortex and using cruelty on the fireball instead. This combo is slightly better but theoretical only as I didn't have the skin with the right colours.

Older video example of playstyle mapping and versus Drox


There are no tricks to making fireball hit scale dramatically so it's simply all the standard scaling things, cast speed and fire damage being the major nodes to work on.

Since you spend a lot of time standing still, it has to be rather tanky which requires hefty armour early on, or Auras + the Skin of the Loyal/Lords later on to double the aura effects.

Main skills:
Fireball

I prefer to use volley rather than other multiple projectile support as it doesn't decrease damage at max level, though it doesn't have huge coverage and any other multiple projectile support would work though decrease dmg. I've tried replacing volley with something that scales damage more for bosses, but having to be precise with your aim makes it less useful. It's easier to be able to aim approximately with volley instead.

Vortex

At first glance the vortex would seem to be a waste, but I rest something on my numpad 0 key to activate it at all times, and it acts like an incoming shield that clears out fodder, but more importantly its chill effect is vital to scaling fireball's damage.

Summon Holy Relic

This piddly thing is the only source of life regen in my build and gives more regen than a golem, and dies less often thanks to it flying. The anomalous variant has more life too.

Curse


Auras

Auras galore for both damage and defence, so increased reservation efficiency is the key. If you're confident in your dodging skills and don't need the evasion from grace, substituting it for haste can increase damage further.

Mobility

Shield charge to get around faster - enhance improves movement speed, and flame dash for emergency withdrawals.

Armour buff/damage

This combo makes molten shell last much longer since I need as much defence as possible, but in addition all the fire damage scaling means this thing does more damage than the fireball when it explodes at the end.

Equipment:
Helmet:

Required as early as possible to start stacking auras and Eldritch Battery which can be taken on the passive tree in the meantime. The feast of flesh is great for life/ES regen when fighting hordes.

Body Armour:

Expensive finding the right jewel combo and elemental overload, but Skin of the Loyal can do most of the job at a fraction of the cost, and EO can be taken on the passive tree alternatively. The right combination of colour sockets is mandatory and only corrupted gems can be used.

Weapon:

Get some extra critical chance to make elemental overload activate all the time, at least 10% makes a massive difference, otherwise the rest is self-explanatory.

Shield:

Spell suppression required.

Rings:

The second ring isn't perfect but what it does add is very complementary to the build.

Belt:

What else would it be? Super expensive, but a Stygian vise with a suitable abyssal jewel comes at a fraction of the cost earlier on.

Amulet:

The charisma anointment is the key here.

Gloves:

The most important part here is getting fire exposure. A lesser implicit comes at a fraction of the cost.

Boots:

Elevated onslaught is hugely helpful even if we already have onslaught permanently from flasks.
Elevated tailwind
Elusive optional but nice to have

Flasks:


Life flask with bleeding/corruption works best in virtually all circumstances with this build.
The magic utility flasks work best with "used when flasks are full" for as much uptime as possible without a mageblood belt.


Play style:
I assign the molten shell to left mouse button and rarely think about it.
I assign vortex to numpad zero, and once in a map, I rest a weight on the zero and just let it fire repeatedly.
You must keep shooting things, as this keeps ES and life replenished.
Hit tougher opponents with flammability, run around and pew pew shoot fireballs, that's it. You're not really a tank so do try to get out of the way of incoming damage.

Scaling issues:
The combo of MoM and EB only work with this build once there's enough energy shield leech, otherwise you'll run dry casting spells, so getting leech mastery is mandatory. Before the keystones and leech are picked up, mana flasks and/or regen will be required to cast this many spells, along with "non-channeling skills have -x to total mana cost" crafted. Firestorm can also be used early on instead of fireball since it has inbuilt area of effect coverage until you can link to volley, since most of the damage scaling works for both spells (except for projectile bonuses.)

Hopefully someone finds this amusing/entertaining/interesting/helpful.

Here is all equipment with gem layouts, uniques first.



A few other points of note:
Elemental Overload needs to be taken on the passive tree if you haven't gotten it on the armour, but it's only a slight detour that can be re-specced later. The auras only become usable once you have Eldritch Battery. Once again this can be done on the passive tree before getting it on the helment. The first auras to get would be Anger and Determination.

Arcane Surge and Inspiration at first look to be good matches for fireball, but they do NOT work with Eldritch Battery since you're consuming ES, not mana. They are a good stepping stone before getting EB as they also don't increase mana consumption.
Do not take elemental focus with the vortex, as you lose the all-important chill that makes it power up the fireball. EF with the fireball would lose ignite on the fireball as well, and vortex would not be reliable enough to get ignite all the time, especially in maps with increased cooldown.
Culling strike is a good alternative support gem for vortex if you don't have it on the cluster jewels.

Here's an updated video doing the annoying kilnkeeper in the silo map with searing influence, beyond, & a juiced up metamorph.

Just saw that vortex will no longer be instant in 3.23, that's going to completely change this build which depended on its chilling. I can't see how stopping moving 4.6 times per second will work, even if it does fire off vortex much more frequently. That's going to hurt pretty much every vortex DoT build much more though. Will have to rework the build for 3.23 or it'll be nerfed even more, taking almost 4M DPS off its damage without the chill. Why does fireball have to suck so much?

Here are the updated builds for 3.23 and probably the final iteration of these before I give up on fireball. GGG devs really have no love for fireball it seems. I'll update the top post in time and with video examples when I get a chance.

Replaced vortex chill with a divine blessing zealotry.

Replaced hypothermia with pierce on the fireball which makes quite a difference on mobs.

I use GMP instead of volley with what little delve I do with this build but tankier builds are better suited to it.

With some legacy items only available in standard.
16.3M DPS
140k eHP.
https://pobb.in/56IBtTNXotkT

With no legacy items usable in current league
14.7M DPS
137k eHP
https://pobb.in/NMaBf76MthU5