[3.5] (This is a bad league starter) Lancing Steel + Shattering Steel - Deadeye - League Starter

Pretty good guide. Very good skill.

Clearing t11-13 pretty easily havn't hit a wall yet. Even cleared a Rare Elder. I think I can swap in slower proj later for t15+ damage but don't need so yet. Surprisingly sturdy build rarely die.

Thanks!

Maybe this skill really su..ks

I have 4 chars pure physical, and all work very well
Slayer EQ bleeding dot
Champion double strike, bleeding stack exploit, fortify bonus and now Impale
Assassin crit, poison exploit
Gladiator shield block, little bleed exploit, low life bonus from Coward's Legacy and Dreadbeak.

All does tier 15 very well, uber lab very easy

Idk why most players don't like pure physical

Been trying these skill out in a few different ways in pob and in game this evening on some out of action standard chars...


so far its all a bit meh tbh. So I just got through reading the thread, and it seems a lot of people have been using similar trees and ideas to what Ive been messing with.

I dont tend to make high dps builds, I usually make high defence builds and the dps is ok. With that said, I think the damage on these steel skills seems fairly bad. Im basing that on essentially having ranger builds that have roughly the same life, 7k, with at least the same amount of defences if not more, and the same level of gear, but using a skill like reave or frost blades I get literally double the damage Im getting with these skills.

I know I could make changes and get more damage by sacrificing defence here or life there etc etc, and with the gear I have the damage is still absolutely faceroll for running maps already... but I feel like you have to look at it comparatively. Reave and frostblades just seem to be less clunky, do way more damage and can manage that on a char whos more tanky. I dunno, I havent tried a pure phys version, thats my next step, maybe tomorrow, but looking at it on paper it looks worse than the pure ele version Im currently playing in terms of damage, which in itself is underwhelming.





So I started with just a regular phys version with a bit of extra as ele from hatred, toh etc. I knew that would be pretty bad because its a proj skill using a melee weapon and just wouldnt have the supports to make that work, but its how things like my reave and tornado shot builds work so just tried it for knows. Was shit, as expected.



The impale part wants u to be phys but with these support starved skills I feel like ele conversion is usually where its at. Thats how spec shield throw comes together, although again thats imo a shit skill that needs buffed, but the best way I could make it work was phys to ele because it opens up wed, ele focus, more tree nodes, lets you use hatred efficiently, taste of hate etc etc. I seen in the tread Guffinn took it down a similar road.


So Ive currently got it in an ele version like this...





using lancing and shattering for single target and aoe, shatter in the gloves with lance in the chest for the 7 link deeps.


its killing things just fine, but with that sort of gear just fine isnt rly good enough, it should be a complete apocalypse of death even with a more defence focused build, and its just not. Its got the same problems as spec shield throw, its more clunky than the alternatives and seems to result in half as much damage when you invest the same kind of points and gear into the equation. I feel like no matter what I change to add more damage, I could just make similar changes on a reave or frostblades build and always have twice as much damage, while using a lightning coil and acro so id be more tanky too.



Gonna try a pure phys version tomorrow, similar tree but dropping ele stuff, go brutality + maim + maybe crit damage, herald of purity with war banner. Maybe the impale will make it work a lot harder than the paper sheets are showing, but looking at a pure phys version in pob if anything it looks like it will be worse than ele scaling, at best similar.



Its not terrible, it works, but I feel like its far enough behind the melee alternatives that Id struggle to justify its existence. I think even something like spectral throw would probably outclass them, certainly on usability and fun if nothing else.

Playing this as SSF feels lacking aswell.
Ofc, gearing issus are hitting hard at league start if you arent playing it much.

5l chest and scaeva is what i got for now. t9-t10 feels slowish for clear.
Syndicate is pain in ass.

Definately bad league starter compared to other skills.
I want to feel the difference when i get 6l and 400+ dps weapon. Even though, reading all comments i expect it will be still worse than reave

Really struggling to get my maps going to try it out in some challenging content. Hate buying maps, but might have to.

Managed to 6l my Daresso's though - pretty easy. I'd 24% qualitied my third one after 5 linking the previous ones (only had low rank Hillock) and it linked in 4 fusings!
Damage is definitely better than PoB makes out. At one point I was worried about even killing izaro without vaal double strike, but I pretty much insta phase him with a decent crit. The 6l hardly affects that as the 6th link isn't great (As I still don't want to use damage on full life).

Only thing I can really do damage wise now is switch to rare foils, though they will need to be pretty GG to beat out the beltimbers. Or switch to an elder crit chest and drop increased crit strikes for another damage link. Steel rings and aspect of the cat somewhere too, but that's going to be fairly minor.
Dying sun is next target.
Might get a tombfist and dps jewels for endgame bossing - Haemophilia won't help there. Or go oskarm, and drop inc crits.

Current gear

@Hollyphantom
I'm doing the cast on crit version you changed to, and the map clear speed is very good, but I'm having trouble with single targets.

Any thoughts on how to make this better?

"

skey23 wrote:

@Hollyphantom
I'm doing the cast on crit version you changed to, and the map clear speed is very good, but I'm having trouble with single targets.

Any thoughts on how to make this better?

In my opinion it's +proj corruption on weapons, dying sun,elder chest, some t1 jewels and 21lvl gems.
PS and you dont have vaal rf and you need to change your flasks.

"

skey23 wrote:

@Hollyphantom
I'm doing the cast on crit version you changed to, and the map clear speed is very good, but I'm having trouble with single targets.

Any thoughts on how to make this better?

Your jewels aren't right, you will be much better off with non-abyss jewels with crit multiplier for your spells. And especialyl get rid of 'First Snow'!

Dying sun would be good, but before that, an Atziri's promise is a chunk of damage and leech. The chaos res is good this league too.

The OPs idea of using Malachi's Artifice with storm brand is a good one if you can squeeze it in. Don't have a lot of cold pen.
Are you remembering to use frost bomb?

Thanks for the replies so far. I'll make some of those changes.

Im still with the Pure Phys variant and im fine. Made some Changes. No more Chain but Pierce now with Ascendancy. Swapped out Point Blank, feels overall better without. Now with 2x Ahn´s Might and a Pacifism Jewel. I think less than 20 Chaos for both Weapons ^^

Gear


Tree
https://poeplanner.com/AA8AAO8ADyIAAHQABgBeAdEDhwSxBS0FtQYgBqIILgxzDY0RLxX2Fr8X3BmOG60j9iT9JpUuUzBxMHwxsDIBNj031DiWOkJDMUd-Sn1LeEz_TZJOKlFHVUtbr16LYEFh4mHrYnlirGNwZU1noGyMcFJ0oHTtdct1_XpTeu97FH11gOGDvYRvhNmHdonTjDaNfY1-jb-VZpsmm42dqqOKpn-v67Gzshm0xbVItxe9Nr6nwuzL9c2Yz3rTb9N-1CPUQtRS2sHcvd2o4l7jn-aI5w_nVOjW6mLrY-0_7UHtg-4O_MX-uv_eE9pTz2EQaU6xAfK4AAAAAAA=

Just did Mastermind in 72 Zone, no real Problem. Died two times caust it was my first time doing her.

No Problems with mid tier maps, even with Damage Mods and Syndicate Assaults. Have not reached red Tier, no final Ascendancy, no 6-Link. Also Bad Life, not even 5k. But can improve Boots and one Ring.

Maybe no absolute Endgame Setup, but im happy with it for now.