(https://i.imgur.com/qpu5lOS.jpg)
It feels a bit embarrassing that i am sharing a build that hasn't even finished act 3 epic yet. I thought about finishing at least epic first before sharing but when i tried playing, i lasted only about 15 mins before exiting. Yeah good luck with finishing epic then. The same fun just wasn't there anymore. This character isn't really new but hasn't seen daylight for quite a long time.
But if you look at the pic, i should just replace SB cuffs with a legendary version, socket it with perhaps incarnation of sigurd's courage with pierce res comp bonus and it should be good for legendary already. And all my items are nothing awesome. And yep that occult ring will have to be replaced with a better version. The socket essence of dionysus wineskin is also so outdated by this time. Actually, i spent very little time (about 5 mins) thinking about gear that i played this through epic for a long time with only -40% pierce res.
So this build revolves around 2 neiths will.
100% skill disruption protection
100% vit res
100% stun res
30% CDR
50% total damage
That's better than any staff can give you. I remember i even tested before whether that total damage will stack multiplicatively or additively. Thankfully, it seems to stack additively. If you want to check my test, see spoilers below.
For a larger picture, it's all 2 neiths will, ice shard, lightning bolt, squall, battle standard, and permanent ancestral warriors. Storm skills are fun because you just click anywhere and it will hit. Battle Standard gives +1 to all skills, much needed survivability and reduces energy cost by 50%. Goes well with squall. Ancestral Warriors are the best pets in the game. So this build works best if you have the 2 expansions.
Not really a guide but at least i was able to show the idea. I haven't spent a single point on str yet. I have 59 unspent stat points, I'm not planning to spend any of that the whole epic (no need to). I probably will add more points on dex for more DA and to equip legendary SB cuffs. Warfare doesn't add any points to energy so I'm using persephone's ring and polaris, and it's still a little bit mana hungry. But it's fine, it's about 75% reduced energy cost as long as you cast battle standard all the time (which you should). It's not a smooth starting caster because warfare doesn't help you with anything except higher health, but when you start casting battle standard all the time and summoning an army of pets, that's when getting warfare finally pays off.
here is how i remember testing %total damage:
i used warfare + dream (what's that called again?)
dream because the damage shown from distortion wave is always the same, so that's the damage you check using show damage option
first, to be more accurate, i unequipped all items
i hit dummy or any other enemy, and noted the damage (say 100.. i forgot the exact values)
then i equipped 1 neiths will and checked the damage (say the damage went from 100 to 120)
then i unequipped the 1st neiths will and equipped the 2nd (say the damage went from 100 to 122.. %total damage is not always the same)
then equip the 2 neiths will and again check damage
so if the stacking is additive, the additional damage should be 42 (20 and 22)
if it's multiplicative, it should be lower (25% from the 1st neiths will, then 25% of 25% from the 2nd)
if you test it yourself, you will see the additional damage doesn't get lower
i even equipped myrmidons pendant and it's still the same (it was as if it's additively)
finally, i checked this pet damage guide by Vio
https://www.kirmiziperfect.com/titan-quest-all-about-pet-damage-by-violos/
if you scroll down to build example under practical example, he counted 3 ritualist jewelries as 36% physical damage (that's additively)
he even added 90% physical damage from strength of the pack as if it stacks additively
now, i don't know how he does it but when it comes to mechanics like these, Vio knows his stuff