Trying My First Ever Custom Build And Could Use Some Pointers

Hey all. As the title states I decided to give my very first custom build a try and could use some pointers. I got the idea for the build when just farting around with some skills and noticed an interaction between two of them I thought was really cool. I noticed if you cast Tornado and then hit said Tornado/s with Spark, the Tornado will then become infused with lightning and creates a thunderstorm around the Tornado for the duration of it's pathing. I thought that was kind of cool and never noticed that before so I decided to play around with some skill and passive combinations to see what I could come up with and I have come up with a build idea I'm temporarily calling "Apocalypse".

The build revolves, at least so far in my head around Cyclone as the active skill with the Cast While Channeling support gem. It also uses the Windburst support gem to generate more tornadoes, and also a skill called Cremation, along of course with Tornado and Spark. This way, as you're channeling Cyclone you're generating tornadoes that's getting electrified by spark, and when those lightning-infused tornadoes kill mobs, they explode into tiny volcanoes that then kill more mobs that explode into even more volcanoes, looking like you just called down the apocalypse on your enemies.

Herein lies the problem though. I know that in order for ANY skill to scale well into the end-game it needs to be supported by like 5 separate support gems, and with 4 out of the 6 skills being skill gems and not support gems, I'd imagine the build will be pretty weak power wise. My best guess right now as I'm not completely experienced with the ins and outs of this game is that in order to maintain the visual effect I'm after I'll have to split the skills up between probably Cyclone and it's primary support gems and probably like a CoC Tornado type build. And I'd imagine Scion is probably the best class to attempt this on as people in-game have stated that Ele Cyclone works best on a Scion. While not as visually pleasing to the eyes I'd imagine Windburst support will probably have to go since it's not affected by the same Spark interaction that Tornado is. Though they do fly out pretty far and are responsible for over half the map clearing during my testing with level 1 gems on a Tabby.

This is why I am making this post. To see if any of you who read this might have an idea on how to make this build work. I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advanced all.

I'm not sure if it is viable or not. It probably depends on what your expectations are. Sounds like you have thought out the idea mechanically, but are wondering if it can actually be a playable build beyond just an idea. Usually at that point when you are talking about numbers, players will start to make a rough POB, to see if it can achieve roughly what they wanting. With triggering type mechanics, it is a bit more complex, especially when you are talking about having two skills interacting with each other.

One thing I will say, is that you are right that when using these mechanics, such as cast while channeling, there does become a constraint on using sockets for functionality and then having enough left over for damage. I think for this the current mirage league is probably the best time to try it, as the new system of corrupting an extra support onto a skill gem, would give some more flexibility with that.

I sort of lost track of what you were explaining when you started splitting the skills. You are likely right for the reasoning for doing that, but the more skills you need to be using will often mean there is less time spamming the main damage skill. Also if you are not using it for very specific content, like bossing or league content that is in a fixed location, like say for doing mapping, you need it to be functional for moving quickly, without long set up times. If you have a lot of damage, maybe it can overcome a lot of those aspects, but if you don't, the build might become clunky to use.

You probably will want a good understanding of the skills you are going to use, as well as the trigger mechanics, any breakpoints etc. My experience with tornado just using with venom gyre, is that it has a lot of potential, but it is the kind of thing where you want a lot of damage, because you will not get 100% efficiency off it with the way it behaves unpredictably. It is pretty useful and fun if you are getting it to work, and there are lots of ways it can help, particularly with projectile behavior, but it may have some limitations with functionality. It's not necessary, but if your idea is somewhat based off it being used in currently functioning builds, that is probably a good start.

You also need to think about all the other basic requirements when constructing a build. Is it going to have defense or just be glass cannon. How are you going to satisfy mana requirements. Do you have the attributes for the skills you want to use. What sort of budget do you have, will it function on a lower budget, will it be able to level or do you need something else for the levelling, re any of the items you need essential and are they available, Does the build have recovery, etc..

Let us know how it goes, there are players here that can help with any of those things if you have more specific questions that you run into. Sounds like not an easy thing to make, but it is probably a project that will keep you interested.