Not in a while; I only run HM stuff infrequently, and not since I got back from a half-year hiatus this month. Definitely is the place to put builds to the test. When I did run in some of the AE difficult arcs I had to be careful, was not invicible any more. Which was kind of the point of those arcs, I think! If you do, post your experiences!
My Mercs/Nature is super strong after the update. No numbers but clear night and day difference in damage and survivability. In my mid 30s, I'm now inspired to max them out after they languished the past couple years.
I think they'd also pair well with Dark, Time, FF, Traps, or Trick Arrow.
Also, in case I didn't spell it out, ty to Krow and Chaos United for all their fun, well-organized and frequent community runs, MSRs, etc. Really helps the community thrive! Merry christmas you guys.
Welcome back!
Never go wrong with Storm, but I do also recommend Dark if you haven't already played it with a pet set. Even with the improved damage to Necromancy, they are still very good at control and I like to lean into that with the set and dark miasma offers lots of extra control and thematic. I also added Diamagnetic for extra debuffs, it's a beast. Time is also excellent.
Throwing in my vote for Ice/Ice/Cold Blaster. Nasty damage, lots of control, safe as houses to play.
Also DP/Martial/Mace Blaster. Be the heroic bloodshed Gun Fu badass you always knew you were. Feels epic, also very tough.
I'd prefer Dark Blast for the heal and Acc debuffs, but would not bother slotting to improve the -Acc. Instead 4-slot Thunderstruck (or other set) each attack and then 2 damage procs each, for example.