I played p/m malice nec to 139 after all the changes, the goal was to update my old shitty 2.2 guide but in the process I thought that malice need a few changes and I'm sure it won't stay like it is in 2.9.2. Since the goal was a guide I've recorded most ubers while progressing, so if you wanna see for yourself when I mention x part of the game it's there
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... 9j6iccyCFNFirst off, the spells feeling and mechanics are just right, ripple feel consistent (unlike before) and the enhance (though I didn't play with the second one) is real nice. Same with Dream Eater, 6 proj is doing nice. Adding a buff into the poison skills, ms for pestilence and regen to graveyard, make those skills worth using even as a p/m caster, which feel great and really make the spells go together.
In term of performance the build felt very similar to level with to 2.5 bowa, and I hope I'll explain well enough to not make it take a direct generic -25% damage like she did. Like her, lvl 1-30 is below average. Definitely playable enough though so there'll be no complaints from me. But then the build unlock it's TUs and oh boy... Well end of normal and nightmare ended pretty normally, I think I was in the 2h10-2h20 mark or something at this point. Thing is most build destroy nightmare anyway, so doing well there is mostly related to ms rather than damage. But hell happens and lvl 100-125 is as smooth as it can be, again it was similar if not faster than 2.5 bowa, and that was with me not knowing pestilence ms yet. The result is that 100-120 was literally the same duration as normal nightmare (
https://median-xl.com/char/Kteras/3897 ). Until I cleared 130s bosses I kept using TUs despite having upgrades just for the meme and to see how far I could push it, that's how good the TU set up is. However, after 130 when farming fauzt, angelic zone, scos or doing bosses, at this point even with normal ssf gear and proper upgrades the build felt normal again. It's still doing well, but it's nothing illegal or too unusual at this point, there's plenty of other builds that do it too.
I think you figured out the problem as I've brought it up a few time, the damn TUs. every p/m caster already has wake and a few other good pieces, but malice also get
Darkflesh

Darkflesh
Unraveller Head (4)
Defense: (87 - 100) to (169 - 194)
Chance to Block: 2%
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 5
Required Dexterity: 24
Item Level: 1
+1 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(16 to 25) Spell Focus
5% Cast Speed
5% Hit Recovery
+(6 to 10)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(12 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(7 to 10)%
Lightning Resist +(7 to 10)%
2% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (2)
Defense: (296 - 329) to (527 - 585)
Chance to Block: 2%
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 23
Required Dexterity: 35
Item Level: 31
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(36 to 45) Spell Focus
15% Cast Speed
15% Hit Recovery
+(16 to 20)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(47 to 63)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(15 to 18)%
Lightning Resist +(15 to 18)%
4% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (2)
Defense: (758 - 825) to (1299 - 1414)
Chance to Block: 2%
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 40
Required Dexterity: 74
Item Level: 51
+3 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(56 to 65) Spell Focus
25% Cast Speed
25% Hit Recovery
+(26 to 30)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(81 to 97)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(23 to 26)%
Lightning Resist +(23 to 26)%
6% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (3)
Defense: (1126 - 1217) to (1928 - 2084)
Chance to Block: 2%
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 49
Required Dexterity: 153
Item Level: 77
+4 to Necromancer Skill Levels
+(66 to 75) Spell Focus
30% Cast Speed
30% Hit Recovery
+(36 to 40)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
+(98 to 114)% Enhanced Defense
Fire Resist +(27 to 30)%
Lightning Resist +(27 to 30)%
8% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (4)
and
Fateweaver

Fateweaver
Bone Wand (4)
One-Hand Damage: 5 to 6
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 5
Required Dexterity: 9
Item Level: 1
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.06 per Dexterity)%
+1 to Necromancer Skill Levels
10% Cast Speed
+(6 to 10)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
-3% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(6 to 8)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+15% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Maximum Mana +(3 to 5)%
Socketed (1)
One-Hand Damage: 10 to 13
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 23
Required Dexterity: 15
Item Level: 31
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.06 per Dexterity)%
+2 to Necromancer Skill Levels
20% Cast Speed
+(11 to 20)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
-6% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(11 to 13)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+25% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Maximum Mana +(9 to 11)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: 13 to 19
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 42
Required Dexterity: 32
Item Level: 51
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.06 per Dexterity)%
+3 to Necromancer Skill Levels
30% Cast Speed
+(21 to 30)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
-9% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(16 to 18)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+35% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Maximum Mana +(15 to 17)%
Socketed (2)
One-Hand Damage: 16 to 23
(Necromancer Only)
Required Level: 51
Required Dexterity: 65
Item Level: 77
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.06 per Dexterity)%
+4 to Necromancer Skill Levels
35% Cast Speed
+(31 to 40)% to Physical/Magic Spell Damage
-12% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(19 to 20)% to Summoned Minion Damage
+50% to Summoned Minion Resistances
Maximum Mana +(18 to 20)%
Socketed (2)
, two absurdly good things. Darkflesh in particular could easily go with half it's sd, a bit less sf and one less +sk. Fateweaver also with one less skill and 31-35% sd to align with Herr Donner (the wand will still be better because of the cast speed). On top of that, change the clvl scaling of Ripple to be nerfed by like 15% by level 100 and slowly gain it's damage back to normal by 132. Dream eater could have the same treatment but by 20-25% instead.
One thing truly shocking though is the absurdity of DE leech, during farming one cast and you'll be pretty much full life, and it's even leeching against bosses which makes no sense. The build currently is tanky enough, and even has lots of sustain with graveyard regen and xbow tree passive laek (and I was even playing without them for most of the game), not to mention things like raven's mantle. Malice is very easy to play and pretty hard to die with, with my stupid rush forward gameplay I usually end up with more death that that, malice has to be one of my lowest death count. Anyway, I think DE leech is not only op but also entirely unnecessary, I'd remove it completely. Terror already make the skill unique enough, there's no need to have leech too now.
I didn't play in lab and don't wanna bother to get good malice gear, as always the end gear is pricey but also require relics. But it's pretty easy to imagine how it goes, and maybe you heard Nugwa say it too, but malice struggle a lot against tanky melees that absorb shots from ripple so with sire being not only tanky melees but also having block, they're the incarnation of evil. Lab already has necrobots to go against phy and sire already is very tanky overall, so I really think their block need to be removed not only for malice but every phy build around. Can't say more about it or how well it does exactly though.
Seeya in my next ted talk about pure poison malice, coming one day dunno when