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Firebird Explosive Blast Wizard Guide

Last Updated: January 10th 2024

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Introduction

Firebird Explosive Blast Solo Push
View all variants

Firebird's Finery has been one of the weakest and most clunky sets in the game for quite some time, having to juggle between three Fire abilities to benefit from its set bonuses. Comically enough, the strongest Firebird build iterations have been using non-Fire abilities! Yet, Firebird's Finery had its glory days of dominating the META as a Trash Killer from Season 12 to 15 using Meteor Star Pact alongside channeling multipliers like Deathwish.

Season 23 however brought us a complete rework of this set. Firebird's Finery always had a strong fantasy around the Phoenix theme with the (2) Bonus "rising from the ashes" cheat death and the Fire element with an Ignite DoT.

This new rework created a specific playstyle based around channeling Disintegrate to Ignite monsters and build Combustion stacks with the (4) Bonus. These stacks are then used to buff our Ignite DoT when hitting monsters with another Fire ability, on top of reducing our Teleport Cooldown.

In Season 24, Ethereals comforted Firebird in its position of strongest build in Diablo III, especially with Mang Song's Lesson allowing the build to annihilate everything as showcased here. Season 25 however completely changed the landscape by removing the ability for Mirror Images to proc the Ignite, essentially destroying the build which now focuses on Explosive Blast to deal damage. On Console, the Energy Twister setup seen here stays the setup of choice.

This, however, comes at the price of not being able to benefit from the best way to scale our damage in density: Area Damage (AD) does not work with the Ignite DoT! As a result, we stack Cooldown Reduction with Explosive Blast to maximize our hit count and the resulting Ignite DoT ticks. To get as many (6) Bonus Ignite procs as possible, this iteration utilizes Deathwish in conjunction with Explosive Blast (see Mechanics). While the build is quite strong overall, it has to compete with the Firebird Flame Blades build on the leaderboards. Let's get into it!

High DPS ✔
Unique Playstyle ✔
Fast Paced Gameplay ✔
Easy to Get Starter Gear ✔

❌ Heavily Nerfed
❌ Channeling Playstyle
❌ Scales Poorly with Density
Vulnerable to Crowd Control

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • The Firebird's Finery set provides 80% damage reduction to our character as well as a 5,000% damage multiplier and the central Ignite DoT mechanic.
  • Deathwish is a staple for any channeling Wizard build, providing us with a 325% separate damage multiplier.
  • Orb of Infinite Depth grants us a massive 80% damage reduction and a 40% separate damage multiplier when using Explosive Blast.
  • Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac allows us to spam Explosive Blast as much as possible.
  • Ring of Royal Grandeur allows us to complement Firebird's Finery with other sets such as Aughild's Authority and Captain Crimson's Trimmings.
  • Captain Crimson's Trimmings provides us with 20% Cooldown Reduction and grants us damage and toughness based on our CDR and RCR.
  • Jewelry Slots offer several options: Endless Walk and Convention of Elements are commonly used in push meanwhile the combination of Squirt's Necklace and Focus & Restraint can be used at higher paragon or for speed runs for more damage.

Season 30 Soul Shards

Soul Shards are powerful socketable items that initially dropped during Season 25 but they are returning for Season 30! There are 4 available for Weapons based on the Lesser Evils, with another 3 for Helmets based on the Prime Evils. They drop at Rank 0 and be upgraded three times with the brand new Hellforge Embers to unlock additional powers, or be used in the Kanai's Cube as Augments. Here's how they progress:

  • Rank 0: Soul Shards begin with a unique static Legendary Power. Creates a Rank 50 Augment.
  • Rank 1: Gives all powers from the normal gems. Creates a Rank 75 Augment.
  • Rank 2: Grants one additional powerful stat. Creates a Rank 100 Augment.
  • Rank 3: Unlocks 1 of 3 bonus Legendary Powers unique to that Soul Shard. Creates a Rank 125 Augment.

Warning: Leoric's Crown and Broken Crown do not work with Soul Shards!

Read our Soul Shards Guide written by Chewingnom for full details on how they work. What you should prioritize on them for Solo Pushing is the following:

  1. The Correct Soul Shard & Rank 3 Power
    The best shards for Solo Pushing are:
    • Helmets: We want to use Sliver of Terror for the massive damage buff from our abilities on cooldown. For the Rank 3 power take the Ring of Fire to unleash a devastating AoE blast for big leaderboard pushes! The Fire Damage when 3 skills are on cooldown is also a strong option.
    • Weapons: We want to use Essence of Anguish for the Movement Speed and Cooldown Reduction. For the Rank 3 power take the explosion to help us clear out large densities during the Rift. Hint: Make sure to get a Poison Damage Range on your follower's Weapon so it can stack the buff automatically.
  2. The Rank 2 Stat
    The stats that come from the second upgrade are not equal. Here's what we're looking for on them:
    • Helmets: We want either Main Stat for damage or Melee/Ranged Damage Reduction to survive. Avoid Armor and All Resistance as their stat ranges are far too low compared to the other options.
    • Weapons: We want either Fire Damage to boost our character's power the furthest, although % Damage and Critical Hit Chance are not too far behind. Avoid Attack Speed because it is a completely useless stat for this build.
  3. The Stat Ranges on the Rank 1 and 2 Powers
    This is just icing on the cake because the ranges will not make or break your build. Still, look for the Soul Shards with the best stat ranges, especially on the offensive stats.

For the other game modes, other Soul Shards can be used. Check the Variants below to see what's used there.

What about extra Soul Shards? Either salvage them for gems, or upgrade and use them in Kanai's Cube for Augments.

Global Stat Priorities

You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Critical Hit Chance and Damage as well as Fire Damage. Area Damage is useless in this build (and actively avoided in groups including in Paragon Points). As this build only deals damage with Firebird's Finery (6) Bonus Ignite procs, Cooldown Reduction is our most important stat by a long shot in order to maximize Captain Crimson's Trimmings (3) Bonus and Explosive Blast Chain Reaction casts. Aim for 66.67% CDR to get Explosive Blast Cooldown below 2 seconds which essentially lets you spam it every 0.5 second with Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac procs.

It is mandatory to get 4 Arcane Power on Critical Hit (APoC) on your Off-Hand in order to keep channeling Disintegrate for Deathwish, especially for Rift Guardian fights. Attack Speed is not useful as it doesn't scale Ignite procs damage.

For toughness, we prioritize Vitality and Life % as Galvanizing Ward and Magic Weapon Deflection generate Shields based on our HP pool (See Mechanics). This is why we aim for around 1 million HP in Greater Rift Solo Push. The next priority would be Armor, mainly in Chest and Pants sockets using Flawless Royal Ruby if you feel too squishy. In solo push, Life per Hit on Bracers is very important to get some welcome recovery.

Crowd Control Reduction is an incredibly valuable secondary Affix to roll on both Rings, Amulet and Helmet as we are extremely sensitive to Hard Crowd Control effects because of Deathwish delay, so that mitigating these will ease up our gameplay significantly. Make sure to get the Primary Affixes locked in before attempting to get CCR though. Furthermore make sure to use Bottomless Potion of the Unfettered.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Speeds
GR Group Speeds
GR Solo Push
Echoing Nightmare
Firebird Explosive Blast T16

Concept
Like usual we utilize Boon of the Hoarder with Goldwrap and Avarice Band to become invincible and instantly vacuum the juicy Progression Orbs from Elites.

We focus on Explosive Blast Chain Reaction in conjunction with Cooldown Reduction and Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac to kill monsters.

Gameplay
Immediately cast Disintegrate to build Combustion stacks. Another good trick is to numlock Explosive Blast. While Teleport is a good mobility skill, its animation time and minimum 0.5 second cooldown are the reasons why we will move faster by running around using the Movement Speed buffs of Boon of the Hoarder, Echoing Fury, Rechel's Ring of Larceny and Illusionist.

Move from Elite to Elite and use Teleport only to keep up the Illusionist Movement Speed buff. Then cast Disintegrate on top of your character to proc an Energy Twister from Etched Sigil that sucks all the monsters in while you Ignite them with Explosive Blast Chain Reaction doing the work.

Setups
If you lack damage early in a season, remove Echoing Fury to equip In-Geom and cube Orb of Infinite Depth. If you don't like the Ranslor's Folly playstyle, you can swap them with Warzechian Armguards and equip Orb of Infinite Depth while keeping both Echoing Fury and In-Geom.

In groups, replace Warzechian Armguards with Nemesis Bracers and Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac with Avarice Band. Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac is mainly used to help us kill the first Elite pack to get our In-Geom proc so losing it should not impact you in parties as your teammates can help you kill the first Elite. If you are comfortable enough with your damage, use Sage's Journey instead of Captain Crimson's Trimmings. On the Rift Guardian, you can swap to Cain's Destiny while keeping your Firebird's Finery (6) Bonus if you rotate out Etched Sigil for Firebird's Eye.

Firebird Explosive Blast Greater Rift Speeds

Concept
Explosive Blast is still our damaging ability. We replace Boon of the Hoarder with Taeguk for additional 80% additive damage as we channel all the time due to Deathwish.

Gameplay
Your biggest enemy will be Hard Crowd Control Effects since you have no way of mitigating these except for Crowd Control Reduction on your Amulet, Helmet and Rings. Don't forget to refresh your Bastions of Will buffs with Flame Blades before channeling. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
Replace Bane of the Powerful with Esoteric Alteration if you are dying too much. You can also replace Teleport Wormhole with Safe Passage for an additional 25% damage reduction. If you're comfortable with both your damage and toughness, go for Invigorating Gemstone instead of Bane of the Powerful for the Crowd Control Immunity.


Firebird Explosive Blast Greater Rift Speeds

Concept
In Group Speeds the setup is exactly the same you use in Solo Speeds with the exception of can replacing Dominance with Elemental Exposure for more damage. The setup revolves around two Wizards supported by a zBarb pulling Elites and grouping monsters together so you can hit many targets at once, with a zDH tremendously buffing your damage.

Gameplay
The gameplay stays the same as in Solo Speeds: rush to Elites and big pulls of monsters, kill them and move onto the next pull quickly. Luckily, you won't have to care about Crowd Control Effects since the zBarb is providing you with Ignore Pain Mob Rule. Don't forget to refresh your Bastions of Will buffs with Flame Blades before channeling.

Setups
As there are two Wizards in the party, the Wizard with the least damage should replace Elemental Exposure with Conflagration to provide everyone with a 6% Critical Hit Chance debuff.

Reverse Archon Explosive Blast is a possible setup with 67.5% Cooldown Reduction to get a 39 seconds Archon Cooldown and Dominance to sustain shields for Squirt's Necklace but can be inconsistent due to its low Area of Effect potential in comparaison to a Reverse Archon Flame Blades setup found here.

Select Build Version

Standard Setup
Firebird Explosive Blast Solo Push

Concept
This build is very straightforward in terms of gearing. We use the same setup as in Speeds with the exception we take more toughness with Flawless Royal Ruby and more Vitality.

Gameplay
As usual, Hard Crowd Control Effects when you're actively channeling Disintegrate to buff your damage are going to be your worst enemy since you have no way of mitigating these except for Crowd Control Reduction. Cast Frost Nova right before your CoE Fire cycle. On single target Rift Guardians, you might have troubles with Arcane Power, just make sure you can channel during your CoE Fire cycle. For a step-by-step gameplay description on how you should sequence your skills, check out the "Gameplay" section above.

Setups
At lower Paragon, using Blur is a good option. You can use different followers: Enchantress or Templar. At lower Paragon or if you want to feel safer, the Templar is a great choice due to its Heal while the Enchantress is a more cut-throat full damage option. At high Paragon, you can swap Magic Weapon Deflection with Black Hole Spellsteal if you can keep Squirt's Necklace without it.

Echoing Nightmare Setup

Concept
For more information, check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and our META post for the best builds and strategies! This build is bad for this game mode. Typically we utilize a Greater Rift pushing build with a few tweaks.

Changes

  • Swap Bane of the Stricken for Bane of the Powerful since we are fighting hordes of enemies.


Gameplay

  1. Click Speed Pylon instantly to boost your mobility and dodge Green Meteors.
  2. Around Wave 90, click Channeling Pylon and Power Pylon.
  3. After Wave 100, use Conduit Pylon.
  4. At Wave 122, stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.

The only thing to do is to Teleport around and bodypull enemies together using Disintegrate while spamming Explosive Blast to keep Orb of Infinite Depth stacks up at all times. Never stop casting Explosive Blast Chain Reaction! A few seconds before your Fire Convention of Elements cycle starts, cast Frost Nova Bone Chill and Blackhole Spellsteal (if you have it) for massive additive damage buffs then channel Disintegrate to gain Deathwish separate damage multiplier after its 1 second delay.

Video Guide

Mechanics

Firebirds Finery

Deathwish

Wizard Shields

Elemental Exposure

Console Version

In-Depth Season 23-24 Firebird Mirror Images Build Overview

Summary

  • Put together the core items and acquire the full Firebird's Finery set.
  • Channel Disintegrate at the start of every Rift for damage reduction and infinite Teleports.
  • Hard Crowd Controls Effects are now your worst nightmare!

Good luck!

Credits

Thanks to Rob for extensive PTR testing!
Written by Chewingnom.

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