S-TIER | WARLOCK BUILD Cri ardent fosse 150 (@wudijo) | SEASON 15

ENDGAME | PIT PUSH | PIT 150 | PTR DEMONISTE

Build Overview

The Warlock Blazing Scream pit 150 build by @wudijo is, in his own words, the strongest candidate for build of Season 15. On the test server, the Warlock cleared a level 150 Pit in a little over two minutes, a result wudijo himself finds suspicious: some mechanics behaved oddly on the PTR, and he expects a small adjustment at launch. Even his pessimistic version still clears Pit 150, which makes it his likely starter build for the season.

Everything fits in one skill: Blazing Scream sends out demon skulls that fly through packs and melt everything in their path. The unique weapon Elegy turns this Greater Demon skill into an Archdemon skill, adds free small skulls and brings their damage up to that of the main skull: every projectile hits for 728% weapon damage instead of 163%, a multiplier above three before any other bonus is counted. The second key unique, Infernal Homunculus, uses the Archdemon tag to make Blazing Scream both a Greater Demon and a Lesser Demon skill, which grants it every side effect normally reserved for lesser demons for free: Vulnerable through Profane Sentinel, resource regeneration, and enemy slow.

The rest of the kit serves that loop. The talisman seal keeps the Flesh of Abaddon set active at all times, which rewards staying in Metamorphosis without interruption, while Moloch's Beating Flame multiplies damage for each of the five Hellfire skills buffed by Volatility. It is a pure crit build, mobile, and by Warlock standards one of the easiest to pilot once the setup is understood.

Pros and Cons

Recommended Gear

Horadric Seal S15

The talisman combines five Flesh of Abaddon charms and three from Ritual of the Nameless, a combination made possible by the mythic Seal of the Diamond Mind. The Abaddon set is the heart of the build: while transformed, you stack Hellish Hunger charges that convert into demonic power when you hit elites and Bosses, with an extra 66% multiplier on Blazing Scream. So you must stay in demon form at all times and accept five to ten seconds of ramp-up at the start of every run.

Ritual of the Nameless only asks you to apply a sigil once a minute, which Sigil of Chaos does effortlessly while running, for a big dose of damage and damage reduction. For fast farming late in the season, wudijo mentions Anathema of the Primes as a far more mobile alternative. On charms, look for ranks to Hellfire and Demonology skills, All Stats and resistances.

Gameplay Tips

The loop of this Warlock Blazing Scream pit 150 build is short: activate Metamorphosis right away and never leave it, spam Blazing Scream, and jump from pack to pack with Rampage as long as Dominance allows. Nether Step is as much a repositioning tool as a defensive one thanks to its damage reduction. Cast Dark Prison whenever it is ready: it applies Weaken, grants Fortify and reduces incoming damage.

The thing to watch is the self-burn. With Destruction Demon, Metamorphosis becomes unlimited, but it drains your life with every attack, and harder the longer it lasts. Sadistic Aspect is there for that: every skull that dies counts as a killed demon and restores life, which adds up to enormous regeneration in practice. If the burn still gets too violent, briefly leave the transformation and go back in, the counter resets. A bit of life on hit on the weapon or healing on the pants can also help.

Finally, check Vulnerable: it is Profane Sentinel that, through the Lesser Demon effects of Infernal Homunculus, applies it automatically with Blazing Scream. Change any of those pieces and you lose that debuff along with a large share of your damage.

Talent Tree

The tree maxes out Blazing Scream, Sigil of Chaos, Nether Step and Dark Prison, with eight points in Metamorphosis and a single one in Rampage, which is only there for Demonic Smash and mobility. On Sigil of Chaos, Volatility Casts, Volatility Duration and Hellfire Aura feed the five Hellfire skills that power Moloch's Beating Flame. On Metamorphosis, Destruction Demon, Stagger Bar and Damage Scaling turn demon form into a permanent state.

The Endgame version adds Sigil of Subversion with Sigil of Lava, a slow and some movement speed, by taking four points back from Sigil of Chaos. wudijo notes that you can drop Nether Step to fit a sixth Hellfire skill and push damage even further, but he prefers to keep the mobility: the build already has too much damage.

Mercenary S15

Paragon

The Paragon follows three stages, at 200, 250 and then 300 points, across five boards: the starting board with the Attrition glyph, Demonic Spicules with Demonologist, Fathomless, Dominion with Eldritch Sight and Greater Hex with Wrath. wudijo describes it as simple, with plenty of strong options on these boards. His notes add two tips: take the defensive nodes before the offensive glyphs, and do not chase the stat-threshold nodes on the last boards, the layout is already designed to work without them.

Soul Splinters: the Season 15 theme

Season 15 introduces soul splinters, items you socket into your jewelry, in four rarity tiers up to the Abyssal version. The build uses three of them. The Abyssal Splinter of Anguish grants 35% critical strike chance and attack speed at the cost of a 30% higher resource cost, and it is what tops off the crit cap. The Abyssal Splinter of Pain brings 40% damage reduction in exchange for movement speed. The Abyssal Splinter of the Black Soulstone absorbs a soul on every kill for fifteen seconds, and each soul increases your damage: on the PTR, every small Blazing Scream skull counted as a demon kill, which sent that counter through the roof. wudijo doubts the interaction will survive the launch patch, but the splinter remains solid even without it.

Leoric's Crown, the season's new unique helm, counts as jewelry and amplifies the effect of the splinter socketed into it by 100% to 130% depending on the version, which makes it the best slot for your strongest splinter.