CONSOLE FIREBIRD TWISTER WIZARD GUIDE
A build guide exclusive to the console versions of the game
Written by PSN rita_g
Last updated on 26/02/23
INTRODUCTION
Firebird Twister Wizard is an S-tier build that is exclusive to the console versions of the game. The following guide does not work on PC as it relies on mechanical differences that are unique to the console versions:
It is possible to cast twisters whilst channeling, thus fully benefiting from channeling buffs such as Mantle of Channeling, Deathwish, and Taeguk gem.
It is possible to corner-stack twisters on consoles (a functionality that was removed from the PC version in patch 2.4.2 season 7) which results in a huge DPS increase.
These differences make the Firebird Twister one of the strongest builds on consoles and a staple in all META activities. Click here for more information.
SEASON 28
Season 28 introduces the Altar of Rites, where players can make an offering in exchange for unlocking seals that provide extra power. Read more about it on Maxroll. Additionally, the season introduces Primordial Ashes, which allow upgrading one piece of gear into a Primal Ancient.
Altar of Rites
Regardless of which build and character you play, it is recommended that you follow the path to unlock the Double Bounties node; this will make your life easier when leveling and will allow unlocking nodes in the Altar that are beneficial to Firebird.
Altar cost planner: https://caleko.github.io/s28planner/
Recommended altar upgrade order (planner link):
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A "Gateway": Your Kill Streak timer duration and reward bonus are doubled.
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C "Anointed": Items have no level requirement.
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F "Exodus": +25% Movement Speed.
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H "Blood": Picking up Health Globes grants a shield for 5% of your maximum health for 7 seconds. Max stacks 5.
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J "Nature": Increases your highest elemental skill damage bonus by 10%.
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O "Bountiful": Double the amount of Bounty Caches that drop from completing bounties.
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N "Vigor": Critical hits grant resource: Mana: 15, Hatred: 5, Wrath: 5, Arcane Power: 3, Fury: 3, Spirit: 5, Essence: 5.
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S "Omen": Gain immunity to crowd-controlling effects. [Path to potion AC]
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T "Revelation": Gain passability. [Path to potion AC]
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Z "Pattern": Double the chance to find a legendary item purchased from Kadala. [Path to potion AC]
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Potion AC "Father": When you drink your health potion, gain a random shrine or the Dimensional Power pylon effect.
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R "Malice": +30% Damage.
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V "Reaper": Elite packs drop one additional progress orb. [Path to potion AA]
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Potion AA "Mother": When you drink your health potion, you manifest one of three runic circles on the ground that grant increased damage, increased cooldown reduction, or increased resource cost reduction.
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W "Roar": Increase damage done to Bosses by 50%. [Path to potion AB]
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Potion AB "Mortal": When you drink your health potion, all enemies within 25 yards deal 25% less damage.
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K "Prowess": Increase damage against elites by 20%.
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I "Numb": +25% Melee Damage Reduction. [Path to node L]
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L "Tenacity": +20% Damage.
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P "Reach": Progress orbs from Nephalem and Greater Rifts are automatically picked up within 60 yards.
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G "Command": Increase damage against elites by 15%.
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X "Husk": Pets pick up and salvage common, magic, and rare items.
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B "Mirror": Pools of Reflection last for the entire Season and are not removed by death. [Path to node D]
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D "Force": +200 Damage.
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Q "Reverence": Reduces the damage taken from elites by 25%.
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U "Carrion": Pets pick up Death’s Breath.
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E "Shadow": +25% Missile Damage Reduction.
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Y "Elegance": Increase your chance to Dodge by 15%.
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M "Stillness": Double the amount of Death’s Breaths that drop.
Adapting the build for S28
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Prioritize using Primordial Ashes on your Deathwish, as it is challenging to roll a perfect one. If you are lucky to find a good one, use the ashes on Convention of Elements, Squirts Necklace, or Firebird offhand.
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Give your follower Gloves of Worship: they work on increasing the duration of shrine effects gained from the potion AC "Father".
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Theorycrafting (will be updated after the season is live):
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The Guardian set may be more beneficial than Aughilds thanks to the extra +Damage to Elites gained from the altar. It may also be more beneficial at lower paragon (under 2k) to roll Intelligence on Deathwish and Firebird's Eye offhand instead of Elite Damage.
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Thanks to node N (Critical Hits grant resource), it is possible that the push version can be made extra tanky by taking both Magic Weapon Deflection and Diamond Skin Crystal Shell.
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Click here for D3 planners
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SKILLS
DISINTEGRATE
Chaos Nexus
While channeling the beam you become charged with energy and discharge at nearby enemies dealing 115% weapon damage as Arcane.
EXPLOSIVE BLAST
Chain Reaction
Instead of a single explosion, release a chain of 3 consecutive explosions, each dealing 520% weapon damage as Fire.
TELEPORT
Safe Passage
For 5 seconds after you Teleport, you will take 25% less damage.
ENERGY TWISTER
Gale Force
Enemies hit by Energy Twister take 15% increased damage from Fire for 4 seconds.
MAGIC WEAPON
Conduit *
Enemies hit by your attacks restore up to 3 Arcane Power.
DIAMOND SKIN
Crystal Shell *
Increase the maximum amount of damage absorbed to 80% of your Life.
* You can also use Diamond Skin Prism + Magic Weapon Deflection instead of Diamond Skin Crystal Shell + Magic Weapon Conduit. The former allows for better resource management while the latter is tankier.
PASSIVES
AUDACITY
You deal 30% additional damage to enemies within 15 yards.
Why: we're playing in close range to keep our Explosive Blast buff. In addition, this synergizes well with twister corner-stacking (see playstyle section below).
ELEMENTAL EXPOSURE
Damaging enemies with Arcane, Cold, Fire or Lightning will cause them to take 5% more damage from your attacks for 5 seconds. Each different damage type applies a stack, stacking up to 4 times.
Elemental damage from your weapon contributes to Elemental Exposure.
Why: a nice multiplicative 10% damage buff (15% if you can get cold/lightning on your Deathwish; see gear priorities section below).
Note: even at 10%, Elemental Exposure is still better than Unwavering Will, as UW is additive and not multiplicative.
EVOCATION
Reduce all cooldowns by 20%.
Why: synergizes well with Captain Crimson's set.
GALVANIZING WARD
As long as you have not taken damage in the last 5 seconds you gain a protective shield that absorbs the next 60% of your Life in damage.
Why: helps to keep up Squirt's buff.
GEAR
We incorporate two pieces of the Crimson set, two pieces of the Aughild's set, five pieces of the Firebird set, and wear/cube Ring of Royal Grandeur.
You must wear Firebird's offhand and Gloves, Crimson's belt and Aughild's bracers, but can mix and match the other pieces, whatever rolls better.
Note: Crafted items tend to roll without sockets, so it is easier to craft optimal Aughild's shoulders and Crimson's boots than Aughild's Helm/Chest and Crimson's pants.
Note: Even though we are using twisters, Firebird set bonus does the damage; the twisters are only a means to an end, a way to quickly fill the entire screen with something that constantly procs Firebird damage. Hence why twister skill multipliers (i.e. The Twisted Sword, Etched Sigil, etc) do nothing for this build.
General Gear Priorities
Prioritize getting Critical Hit Chance on your gear, this will help to get back the resources due to "Arcane Power on Critical Hit" on your offhand.
Get Life% on your belt and torso/shoulders -- it will help with keeping your Squirt's up as your shields are based on a percentage of your life.
Put as much into vitality as you need in order to keep your Squirt's buff. Around 900k~ total life is usually enough to push GR 150s.
Due to Crimson's set, it will help your survivability to roll Resource Cost Reduction. However, be sure that you're not going overboard with the RCR, or else you might lose Taeguk stacks. Read more about it here.
Even though we use Obsidian ring, it is still beneficial to roll Cooldown Reduction on your gear as it boosts your damage due to Crimson's set.
Firebird wizard is very sensitive to CC elite affixes (especially frozen and nightmarish) -- rolling Reduced Crowd Control as a secondary stat can be useful. This stat can roll on your helm, amulet and rings. Don't prioritize this over primary stats but if you get it, it's a nice defensive stat.
Attack Speed is not a stat you need on gear as it does not make you shoot more twisters. The only reason you would want IAS is for making for too much RCR and the loss of Taeguk. Read more about it here.
FIREBIRD'S PLUME
Set Helm
Stat priorities: Critical Hit Chance, Intelligence, Vitality, Socket
Desired secondary stat: Reduce duration of control impairing effects
Alternative: Aughild's Spike Set Helm (Craftable)
Socket: Diamond for an extra damage boost or Topaz for better resource regeneration and survivability (due to Crimson's set)
FIREBIRD'S BREAST
Set Chest Armor
Stat priorities: Intelligence, Sockets, Life% / Vitality / Armor
Desired secondary stat: Missile / Melee damage reduction, any resistance
Alternative: Aughild's Rule Set Chest Armor (Craftable)
Sockets: Topaz for extra damage or Amethyst to increase your life pool and keep Squirt's buff
AUGHILD'S POWER
Set Shoulders (Craftable)
Stat priorities: Intelligence, Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction, Life% / Vitality / Armor
Desired secondary stat: any resistance
Alternative: Firebird's Pinions
FIREBIRD'S TALONS
Set Gloves
Stat priorities: Critical Hit Chance, Critical Hit Damage, Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction
Desired secondary stat: any resistance
FIREBIRD'S DOWN
Set Pants
Stat priorities: Intelligence, Sockets, Armor, Vitality
Desired secondary stat: any resistance
Alternative: Captain Crimson's Thrust (Craftable)
Sockets: Topaz for extra damage or Amethyst to increase your life pool and keep Squirt's buff
CAPTAIN CRIMSON'S SILK GIRDLE
Stat priorities: Intelligence, Life%, Armor, Vitality
Desired secondary stat: any resistance
Set Belt (Craftable)
CAPTAIN CRIMSON'S WADERS
Set Boots (Craftable)
Stat priorities: Intelligence, Armor, Vitality
Desired secondary stat: any resistance (or All Resist primary roll)
Alternative: Firebird's Tarsi
AUGHILD'S SEARCH
Set Bracers (Craftable)
Stat priorities: Fire%, Critical Hit Chance, Intelligence, Vitality
Desired secondary stat: Missile / Melee damage reduction, any resistance
FIREBIRD'S EYE
Set Source
Stat priorities: Arcane Power on Critical Hit (4), Critical Hit Chance, Intelligence / Cooldown Reduction / Resource Cost Reduction / Elite damage%
Desired secondary stat: NOT fear / knockback on hit!
Note: "Arcane Power on Critical Hit" is your main source of resource regeneration. It is important to roll 4 (and not 3).
SQUIRT'S NECKLACE
Legendary Amulet
Stat priorities: Socket, Critical Hit Chance, Critical Hit Damage, Fire%
Desired secondary stat: Reduce duration of control impairing effects
CONVENTION OF ELEMENTS
Legendary Ring
Stat priorities: High legendary power affix, Socket, Critical Hit Chance, Critical Hit Damage, Physical Damage
Desired secondary stat: Reduce duration of control impairing effects
* Note: the ring always rolls with primary stat (Intelligence), Critical Hit Chance and Socket. You need to get a perfect ring that already rolled with Critical Hit Damage or Physical Damage, where you can re-roll Intelligence to the 4th needed stat.
OBSIDIAN RING OF THE ZODIAC
Legendary Ring
Stat priorities: Socket, Critical Hit Chance, Cooldown Reduction and Resource Cost Reduction
Desired secondary stat: Reduce duration of control impairing effects
Note: Attack Speed does not matter for twisters on console and would not increase the number of twisters you can shoot.
DEATHWISH
Legendary Sword
Stat priorities: High legendary power affix, High damage range, Damage%, Cooldown Reduction, Elite%, Cold or Lightning damage range
Desired secondary stat: NOT fear / knockback on hit!
* Note: you will benefit from an extra 5% damage increase if the damage range is Cold or Lightning thanks to Elemental Exposure passive. It is not a priority over the other stats but it is a very nice boost.
KANAI'S CUBE
Legendary Source
ORB OF INFINITE DEPTH
Each time you hit an enemy with Explosive Blast your damage is increased by 10% and your damage reduction is increased by 20% for 6 seconds. This effect can stack up to 4 times.
Legendary Shoulders
MANTLE OF CHANNELING
While channeling Siphon Blood, Whirlwind, Rapid Fire, Strafe, Tempest Rush, Firebats, Arcane Torrent, Disintegrate, or Ray of Frost, you deal 25% increased damage and take 25% reduced damage.
Legendary Ring
RING OF ROYAL GRANDEUR
Reduces the number of items needed for set bonuses by 1 (to a minimum of 2).
LEGENDARY GEMS
BANE OF THE TRAPPED
Increase damage against enemies under the effects of control-impairing effects.
Why: since we are fighting in close range, the gem's buff will always be active.
TAEGUK
Gain increased damage for 1.5 seconds when you spend resource on a channeled skill. This effect stacks up to 10 times.
Why: this is a channeling build so we benefit from increased additive damage and armor.
Alternative: in groups with a zDH it can be replaced with Bane of the Powerful or Bane of the Stricken.
ZEI'S STONE OF VENGEANCE
Damage you deal is increased for every 10 yards between you and the enemy hit. Maximum increase at 40 yards.
Why: Zei's minimal buff is active even at 0 range so it provides us with a nice multiplicative damage boost.
Alternative: Bane of the Powerful
PARAGON
Prioritize Critical Hit Chance to help with resource regeneration due to "Arcane Power on Critical Hit" roll on the offhand.
Put into vitality as much as you need to keep your Squirt's buff. In general, 900k~ life overall is enough to keep the buff at GR 150s.
Put into movement speed enough points to reach 25% overall movement speed.
Area Damage is not needed in this build and can even introduce lag in group play.
FOLLOWER OPTIONS
ENCHANTRESS
The enchantress is a very good option all around. Click here for example d3planner.
Enchantress' Skills:
Temporal Pulse to proc Bane of the Trapped.
Amplification is more beneficial than Prophetic Harmony due to the amount of cooldown we already stack via gear and passives.
Powered Shield is a great defensive option as the wizard lacks armor.
Fate's Lapse for the cheat death or Focused Mind if you need to make up for RCR Taeguk loss.
SCOUNDREL
On consoles, it is possible to reduce the cooldown of Scoundrel's skills by rolling CDR on his gear. This allows you to gear him similarly to the Templar and reduce the time on Night's Veil's to 10~ seconds. Read more about it here.
Scoundrel's Skills:
Crippling Shot vs Powered shot -- ideally you should pick neither if you prefer to reduce the CC effects.
Piercing shot for the extra 10% damage boost.
Night's Veil and Anatomy skills -- both synergize very well with your "arcane power on critical hit" roll on the offhand and will help tremendously with getting your resources back (not to mention the great damage boost).
PLAYSTYLE
BUTTON ASSIGNMENT
The most challenging thing about this build is the amount of buttons you need to hold!
During a fight, you need to hold down 4 buttons: Disintegrate, Explosive Blast, Diamond Skin and Twister. Hold down and don't let go.
Map those 4 skills to buttons that you're comfortable holding down.
Example of a button configuration:
Disintegrate: R2 on PS4 / RT on Xbox / ZR on Switch
Explosive Blast: R1 on PS4 / RB on Xbox / ZL on Switch
Twister: X on PS4 / A on Xbox / B on Switch
Diamond Skin: Square on PS4 / X on Xbox / Y on Switch
Magic Weapon: Triangle on PS4 / Y on Xbox / X on Switch
Teleport: Circle on PS4 / B on Xbox / A on Switch
ROTATION
Always begin by casting Magic Weapon. It lasts for 10 minutes, so you need to refresh it again in the middle of the GR + after any death. Don't press it constantly, as it drains your resources.
Start channeling Disintegrate and get your stacks to 50.
Teleport around until you find an elite pack/large pack. Continue tapping Disintegrate every so often to keep your stacks up.
Once you found a pack: stand in place and hold down Disintegrate + Diamond Skin + Explosive Blast + Twister, letting go only to teleport.
When you're not in a fight, teleport around: you will be a bit fragile as you don't have uptime on Diamond Skin and you should press EB less frequently as it drains your resources, so be more careful and make sure to tap DS and EB before you land in a pack.
Avoid fighting lone elites, try to get a bit of trash around them. This is not for area damage, but for your resource regeneration from critical hits.
When pushing high GRs, you might want to consider letting your massacre stacks drop when you get to 150 kills (by teleporting to town, dying on purpose, or waiting in a beginning of map) -- this will help with generating Nephalem Glory globes that are needed on consoles for double damage buffs. Read more about Nephalem Glory in the Console Secrets section.
POSITIONING
Use the twisters to your advantage! Positioning is everything in this build: you want to put the enemies up against the wall and let the twisters bounce. This will deal massive damage and help with your resources as it will proc more critical hits and thus give you back arcane power.
Practice corner-stacking on inverse corners, see this video guide.
We are using Audacity, which increases your damage to enemies in 15 yards -- stand close to elites and the guardian.
When in a fight, try to stand still and channel in order to get the buffs from Deathwish and Mantle of Channeling.
When possible, try to get to an oculus ring by the time for the Fire cycle of your convention of elements.
Beware of the frozen affix -- getting frozen will likely cause you to die/lose your squirts. Get away from the blast.
SPEED GR VARIANT
Use Diamond Skin Prism + Magic Weapon Deflection for easier resource regeneration. If you're running very low GRs and can keep your squirts buff, you can opt for Diamond Skin Prism + Magic Weapon Conduit for even more resource regeneration.
Replace Zei with Powerful -- be sure to kill all the minions in a yellow pack to benefit from the Powerful buff.
Replace Mantle of Channeling in the cube for Ranslor's Folly.
Use Wormhole rune on teleport for faster animation.
In groups you can use Disintegrate Entropy to lessen the lag.
In groups with a zDH you can replace Taeguk with Powerful or Stricken.
GUARDIAN FIGHT
The general rule of thumb is to use Bane of the Stricken gem when the guardian fight takes longer than 2.5~ minutes. As long as you can kill the guardian in this timeframe, you don't need Bane of the Stricken. The following tips will help you kill the guardian efficiently:
Versus most guardians, corner-stacking is an effective way to take them down quickly.
The best guardians will be those who spawn minions as it will eliminate your resources problem and spawn Oculus rings.
If your resources begin to drop, it is an indication that you're not positioned correctly and are not hitting the guardian enough. Press Explosive Blast less frequently, and let your resources build up and reposition yourself.
Always, always, always get the guardian in a tight corner/corridor. Most guardians will follow you, so go to the nearest choke point and let them come to you.
