ELE LIGHTNING STRIKE - ALL T16s, Shaper, Uber Atziri, HOGM, Chayula, Elder

tur_aw - your Scion build looks very good. Your gear and gem choices is also interesting especially the Lightning Coil, if you can cap your Lightning resistance then Lightning Coil gives very strong damage mitigation. However it is not really optimal for this build. And you are really missing out on the Blind, even though you are using Skeletons to help apply the Blind I don't think it is reliable because the skeletons have really low attack speed. I recommend using a Flame Totem linked with Blind and other supports, or a Smoke Mine linked to Cast When Damage Taken. Here is another trick to get Blind applied:

- Cast When Damage Taken - Arc - Arc - Blind. You will be using the 2x Arcs to proc shock and Blind which works great because you don't really care about the damage on the Arc so you can keep them at a low level and link it to a low level CWDT gem.

- If you manage to get Blind applied reliably in fights, then you might consider removing Acrobatics and putting those points elsewhere. I see that you probably have ~67% block which is very high as well. Try running your build without Acrobatics if you can and see if it makes a big difference. If you are using Crown of Eyes and Rathpith Globe - that's a lot of ES you can use that is being halved by Acrobatics

Also: why are you using Crown of Eyes with this life build? Yes it gives a lot of damage but only because of Rathpith's Globe. You can get way more damage running an ES build instead with low -life to get Pain Attunement and maybe Righteous Fire. It only works with spell damage modifiers (i.e. from Rathpith Globe), it does not work with spell cast speed and spell crit chance. It only applies your spell damage to physical attack damage. It gives good life leech and mana leech, but it is not really optimal for this build and I think Bringer of Rain is more ideal.

Cast when Stunned - stuns happen rarely on this build. Stun animation only plays when you block a hit that would have stunned you, it doesn't play every time you block. So I still think CWDT would be more ideal to have. Cast When Stunned also has a % chance to cast the linked gems so it is not guaranteed to cast like CWDT.

However, I encourage you to experiment the build and see what gems/gear you enjoy using and if you decide to stick with CofEyes, Coil and Cast on Stun then please let us know how it works out for you!

any thoughts for wings of entropy?

"

OnlyInferior wrote:

Greetings Ceryneian.

First off, much appreciation for developing and maintaining this guide. Also, my apologies for having this become a much longer post than I initially expected.

Having tried this build with my own variations and remaking twice, I've become intrigued in what you've posted on page 23. I'd like to test out a low-life variant of this build however I'm not sure how I should go about the passive tree. I know you've stated your own difficulties in balancing ES and damage nodes however could there be another workaround to compensate for the lack of ES?

I've tried using Lightning Coil with the regular variant of this build and it somewhat works I just haven't optimized it enough to provide sufficient conclusions/data. How about also trying Eldritch Battery with Mind Over Matter to soak some damage as well? Some combination may work and I would love to be the guinea pig but again, the passive tree eludes me.

I've also looked through other possibilities for items and came across Daresso's Courage which would help alleviate gear slots while also providing solid stats for a low-life variant. With the high spell block provided by Daresso's on low-life, one could replace their Stone of Lazhwar and Rainbowstrides granted, yes you would have excess spell block if you also went for maxed physical block but that shouldn't be something detrimental.

Having said that, with the following:

Spoiler

Innately high evasion due to build.
70%+ Physical block chance.
Nearly all resists capped.
Relatively safe trigger gem setups posted below.
Ondar's Guile (Doubles chance to Evade Projectile Attacks).
Lori's Lantern (While on Low Life, Enemies are Unlucky when Damaging you).
Daresso's Courage (120% of Block Chance applied to Spells when on Low Life).
Lightning Coil (40% of Physical Damage taken as Lightning Damage).

We should be fairly set to tackle what the original build could minus what's mentioned next.

Currently, the only problem would be chaos damage like all low-life builds fear. However maps with chaos ticking per second could be easily disregarded with enough health regen so that should be a non-issue or at least not as impactful. Taking actual chaos damage on the other hand could prove to be very trivial without Shavronne's however with a big enough health pool despite reductions dropping health below 35%, wouldn't it be possible to sustain with maybe around 1000 health (post-reduction)?

The gem setup would also be relatively similar (if one was not utilizing the Bringer of Rain) with my own little twists. Below is a very rough idea as to what I planned on eventually running:

Spoiler

24 sockets - 6, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3

6 used on chest (Lightning Coil) - Blind(G), Double Strike(G), Multistrike(R), Melee Splash(R), Life Gained on Hit(R), Faster Attack(G)

3 used on weapon (?) - Flicker Strike(G), Culling Strike(G), Item Rarity(B)

3 used on shield (Daresso's Courage) - Cast When Stunned(B), Molten Shell(R), Ice Nova(B)

4 used on boots (?) - Blood Magic(R), Enfeeble(B), Faster Casting(B), Immortal Cry(R)

4 used on helm (?) - Reduced Mana?(R), Blood Magic(R), Grace(G), Hatred(G)

4 used on gloves (?) - Cast When Damage Taken(R), Temporal Chains(G), Enduring Cry(R), ?

Socket Colours Req:

- 8+ Greens
- 9+ reds
- 5+ blues

This variant would require absolute focus and would not be recommended in any hardcore league however I feel like the danger that this variant could provide brings even more flavor to the build that I already love so much.

What are your thoughts if you were to try and progress on the low-life variant? I eagerly await your response and once again, thanks for the guide.

Hey, thank you so much for the post! I've actually been thinking about 2 projects, but I've been busy playing a Scion crit dagger spectral throw which is a lot of fun, but I most now get back to the below 2 items I was thinking of:
- Low-life ES evasion based that uses Lori's Lantern
- True evasion tank - very high health, high evasion, max block + max spell block, and Mind over Matter/Lightning Coil + high Endurance Charges (will have low DPS so I am thinking of using Facebreakers with Infernal Blow)

Low-Life ES Evasion
- I actually tried to make a Witch several times with this build, however it has been extremely difficult trying to combine high evasion, high block, high damage, and high ES. Dodge is obviously out of the question because it halves our ES
- However, you mention Daresso's Courage! This is a superb idea and I think it is what will make the build viable. I had completely overlooked this item
- The reason I was having trouble is because without Daresso's your spell block would be so low as you cannot get a lot of block (around +36%) on the Witch/Shadow side if you want to go evasion and block as the block nodes are too far, so the build would be mediocre with around 65% block and less than 50% spell block at best
- However with Daresso's I now see a way and this is the path I plan to try:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK20ZLR9MswQHHwLmfIXFfuIrDZwth2U2xdgkpwi4kwx9EH_Gno9GHRRMNSjF87760nB9qZUaMlFgEdszdsHzoqN_xhGWwuwegUuN_xy0xSsKwQDbGhB79Uu-OohrtvcRL5ma62NcigW1jb9RRzB8fyvWis3q6NabJjIBshnPemHrelPe9to9J2EG6QkhwcXsGMNtflknqXC72RMvb0cGX2oXL4bRJLCApI_6e9d313RBFHUOrUOcGNt08SFgQKDvTii1Kjjb5wzypcs2PQ==

- Why Witch? The Templar has some great block nodes that we need for the build and the Witch has the best path to them (Scion/Shadow not as good)

- To get maximum Spell Block with Daresso's you need 75%/1.2 = 63% regular block. I have overcapped this on the tree and I have +36% block on the tree + say 30% from Daresso's = 66% regular block.
So with this build you will have 66% regular block and 75% spell block

- Other defense layer: evasion. I grab evasion from the Nullification nodes and from the Revenge of the Hunted circle. The extra life from the Revenge of the Hunted circle is actually a PLUS for a low life build: it means we can run higher levels of Clarity because our life pool is bigger. The mana regen from Clarity is great for the Witch because it is boosted by the 40% mana regen node that she takes early on

- Ondar's Guile: for evasion against projectiles

- Vaal Pact: for instant leech to ES through Ghost Reaver

The rest of the nodes I have grabbed take advantage of low-life:
- Arcane Vision
- Aura nodes - reservation nodes (this will help us run as many auras and as high a Clarity as we can) and aura buff nodes
- Inner Force - this will buff the auras as well, as well as Blood Rage - which has great benefits when on low-life
- Fire resistance nodes: not really necessary but to get as much DPS out of this build we will need to use Crown of Eyes (ES leech, mana leech, and taking advantage of Pain Attunement on low-life to increase damage). Crown of Eyes gives -30% fire resistance which is tricky to fix using only gear
- Pain Attunement

Offense:
This is the hard part and is what I am worried about - as you can see from the tree - it is hard to get decent block, decent evasion, and damage, and I hardly take any damage nodes (except Pain Attunement and some fire damage nodes for the fire resistances). I think these are the 2 few ways that may work to get high DPS on the build:
- Facebreakers with Infernal Blow -> this would work well if you are using Lightning Coil (great suggestion) as the colors would be easy to roll say 1/2Gs and 4/5Rs as you lay out. Downside is you have to fight in melee range. However I am hesitant to use Lighting Coil because: no ES, no Chaos defense -> it is still possible as you mention but it requires a ton of focus
- Spectral throw crit dagger -> this would work better if you are using Shav's Wrappings as the colors are easier to roll: 2Bs (crit chance/crit damage/PCoC/IIR), 2/3Gs (ST, Faster Attacks/LMP) and 1/2Rs (Life Leech/WED/Added FIre Damage/IIQ). Why crit daggers? -> because crits works great with Spectral Throw and Vaal Pact and the dagger nodes are right there by Witch and Shadow. However you will probably have to unspec from some block/evasion nodes and grab dagger crit nodes. The upside to Spectral Throw is that you get to fight in range mode and can kite to avoid damage!

This would be the Spectral Throw build (I took off 8% Block and some evasion):

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK20ZLR9MswQHHwKcLYdlNsXYJKcIuJMMfRB_xp6PRh0U-tJwfamVGjJRYBHbM3bB86Kjf8YRlsLsHoFLjf8ctMUrCsEA2xoQe_VLvjqIa7b3ES-ZmutjXIoFtY2_UUcwfH8r1orN6sHF7BjDbX5ZJ6lwu9kTL29HBl9qj_p713fXdEEUdQ6tQ5wY23TxIWBAoO9OKLUqONvnDPKlyzY9TDUoxfO-naP8q4hCkBtwVpoT29RW6gV96f65fOZ8hcV-4isNl9BW9bk-22594w==

Auras: we will take advantage of low-life and Inner Force to run as many auras as possible. We should be able to use 4:
- Grace (say on life), if you are using Spectral Throw we may not need evasion since we are kiting and not in melee range and still have very strong block. In this case use Wrath instead
- Clarity (on life)
- Hatred (on mana)
- Discipline (on mana)

Other Gems:
- I think the other gems you lay out are great. If using Spectral Throw then I would substitute Whirling Blades for Flicker Strike
- I may also run CWDT linked to Flame Totem + Blind + LMP/GMP + ... OR Arc + Arc/Frost Wall + Blind if I do Spectral Throw. Frost wall works great with ST giving nice survivability and pushback

Other Thoughts:
- The key behind this build would be Lori's Lantern and Daresso's Courage. However it becomes extremely expensive with the Crown and Shav's. I hear that Shav's is extremely cheap in Nemesis because no one is running low life builds, but the new Crown is very expensive (however it only adds DPS to the build)
- I really really like the idea of using Lori's Lantern on this build - I think this is another underrated/underused item similar to how Stone of Lazhwar was underrated
- It would work extremely well against Lightning damage (Piety, Dominus) - because lightning typically has a wide range of damage roll from very low to very high
- It would also work extremely well against crits (and I'm not sure but would this also apply to reflect if you run a crit build?)

Anyway, thanks again for the post and suggestions! Would be interested to hear how you are thinking about this and what tree you were considering.

"

xenochaos1 wrote:

Hello, im kinda searching for the tankiest build ever that cab still do around 12k dps...

well for the videoS he posted he seems to be able to facetank pretty much everything in the game to me...
so what is not tanky about that? is life is not moving at all and when it moves he heals right away... can you even die?

I would like to know if this build is not a tank as u said what can a tank do more than this build? for me tanky = not taking damage at all and when u take it you heal immediatly... so for me this build seems really tanky...

also if this build is not tanky could you lead me to a recommended tanky build? (wish survive better then this one)(if possible?)

Hi, what is TANK?

I regard a tank as a build that can sit and absorb damage with little effect. There are many builds like this - check the Duelist and Marauder forums. They are all high armor based builds.

This build is NOT a tank in that sense because it is based on avoiding damage. I am not taking or absorbing any hits, I am simply avoiding/deflecting those hits. IF you get hit - the key thing with this build is that: those hits are few and far between, and you can regen very rapidly back to full life.

I do not want to go into more debate about armor vs. evasion in this guide as it has been discussed many times in the previous pages - please check the main forums because there are also many threads about this.

I think end game builds will soon become focused on damage avoidance rather than "tanking". Dominus boss has high enough damage to one shot many characters in the game, what happens when GGG introduces bosses harder than Dominus? Builds that have no damage avoidance will start to hit walls, whereas the builds with high damage avoidance will start to shine.

You can see this happening in the game - block is getting very popular and more and more builds are using block + spell block. The prices of Bringer of Rain and Aegis Aurora have increased greatly.

If you want to play an armor "tank" - I recommend you check out LendoKaar's 1H + Shield Duelist or Dragon's Infernal Blow Marauder - they are both very tanky with high block but they also have a weaknesses like every build does.

This build also "tanks" - but it uses evasion which is a different mechanic.

If you are looking for a true end game build - I recommend you look at the high DPS crit Flicker Strike or low-life crit Spectral Throw builds that use Whirling Blades - these are mobility-based builds with very very high DPS; so you can see what makes them powerful: they avoid damage using extreme mobility = nearly untouchable, and have very high DPS for insane life/ES regen through leech and to quickly end fights. The downside is that these builds are extremely expensive.

Hope this helps. There is no "best" build in PoE - just different styles which depends on your preferences.

"

wasteno404 wrote:

any thoughts for wings of entropy?

I have yet to get around to this, but I believe it would work very well with this type of build and could make it even stronger. You will need to redo the tree to get dual wield and 2H nodes instead of 1H nodes, but it would work very well.

The critical parts of the Wings are the i) block, and ii) benefits from both dual wield and 2H passives (damage, attack speed, crit, etc)

It replaces our 1H weapon and shield. I use Soul Taker + Rathpith Globe and this is how it affects not having those 2:

- The DPS is very high on this weapon, however it does not have Soul Taker's mana mod - so there may be some mana problems with the build but there are ways around that by getting mana leech, mana regen, and increasing mana pool size

- Ratpith Globe: 30% chance to block, up to 60% of block applied to spells ((you also lose some life and resistance by not using Rathpith but not a big deal)

- Entropy Wings: 15% automatic dual wield block chance + 10% additional block chance from Wings mod = 25% Block chance (compared to 30% from Rathpith), 25% of block applied to spells (you also gain some other things like attack speed from dual wielding)

- Spell block combinations (assume you manage get max 75% block from dual wield nodes on tree + using the Wings + Bringer of Rain):

a) Wings + Lazhwar stone = (25% + 50%) x 75% = 56% spell block (this is very strong and is the same you get using Lazhwar + Rainbowstrides in this current build in the guide)

b) Wings + Rainbowstrides = (25% + 25%) x 75% = 38% spell block

c) Wings + Lazhwar Stone + Rainbowstrides = (25% + 50% + 25%) x 75% = 75% spell block (max spell block)

You will also most likely have higher DPS using Dual Strike, and it will be much easier on gear requirements because Rainbowstrides gives a nice amount of all the resistances.

I will test this out if I can but I have yet to get a hold of a Wings of Entropy to test. I suspect it would make the build even stronger because you would have similar evasion, still have Bringer of Rain with blind, max block, max spell block, and DPS would be even higher!

EDIT: Another benefit to the Wings is you can get a 6L on them, so now you have 7L in Bringer of Rain and 6L with Wings - which would be great for a ranged safe skill like Spectral Throw.

Hi there,

I have a question regarding DPS.

I am currently building a ranger, 58 now with a 278 DPS Sword equipped.


Using Reave + MPD/Multistrike + FA + Blood Magic gets me to 2k DPS.
Also tried Reave + MPD + Multi + FA -> 3k DPS. This would be in a 5L with Blood Magic.
Using Cyclone + MPD + FA + Blood Magic gets me to 900 DPS.
In order to use skill+Melee Splash, a 6L is mandatory IMO, otherwise DPS will be low.

This seems pretty low. The weapon is pretty good IMO.

Atm I am using this passive tree.

I have a feeling that even if I get another 100% increased physical damage with one handed won't be much difference. Maybe I will get to 2.5K.

With a 5L probably 3.5-4k DPS.

Still this seems low.

How can I scale my DPS in the 10-20k range?
What am I missing?

EDIT:
I made some calculations:
350 DPS weapon
With 182 %Physical with OneHanded and 75% melee physical damage from passives
Reave+MPD+Multistrike+FA
Final DPS is 5.5k This would be my final DPS.
So how do you get over 10k?

"

Ceryneian wrote:

"

wasteno404 wrote:

any thoughts for wings of entropy?

I have yet to get around to this, but I believe it would work very well with this type of build and could make it even stronger. You will need to redo the tree to get dual wield and 2H nodes instead of 1H nodes, but it would work very well.

The critical parts of the Wings are the i) block, and ii) benefits from both dual wield and 2H passives (damage, attack speed, crit, etc)

It replaces our 1H weapon and shield. I use Soul Taker + Rathpith Globe and this is how it affects not having those 2:

- The DPS is very high on this weapon, however it does not have Soul Taker's mana mod - so there may be some mana problems with the build but there are ways around that by getting mana leech, mana regen, and increasing mana pool size

- Ratpith Globe: 30% chance to block, up to 60% of block applied to spells ((you also lose some life and resistance by not using Rathpith but not a big deal)

- Entropy Wings: 15% automatic dual wield block chance + 10% additional block chance from Wings mod = 25% Block chance (compared to 30% from Rathpith), 25% of block applied to spells (you also gain some other things like attack speed from dual wielding)

- Spell block combinations (assume you manage get max 75% block from dual wield nodes on tree + using the Wings + Bringer of Rain):

a) Wings + Lazhwar stone = (25% + 50%) x 75% = 56% spell block (this is very strong and is the same you get using Lazhwar + Rainbowstrides in this current build in the guide)

b) Wings + Rainbowstrides = (25% + 25%) x 75% = 38% spell block

c) Wings + Lazhwar Stone + Rainbowstrides = (25% + 50% + 25%) x 75% = 75% spell block (max spell block)

You will also most likely have higher DPS using Dual Strike, and it will be much easier on gear requirements because Rainbowstrides gives a nice amount of all the resistances.

I will test this out if I can but I have yet to get a hold of a Wings of Entropy to test. I suspect it would make the build even stronger because you would have similar evasion, still have Bringer of Rain with blind, max block, max spell block, and DPS would be even higher!

EDIT: Another benefit to the Wings is you can get a 6L on them, so now you have 7L in Bringer of Rain and 6L with Wings - which would be great for a ranged safe skill like Spectral Throw.

thx for the reply, and yes when i check on the passive tree, i see most duel wield nodes has some 2% block chance increase each while trying to make your way getting dmg duel wielding nodes and another question..since i be using these axe, what gem you recommend other than duel strike?

Hi Ceryneian
Cast when damage taken do not work with Smoke mine. Now I'm using Blind flame totem and may consider to respec(my 75 witch char) to low life build if i got Shavronne's Wrappings one.

"

nebunelux wrote:

Hi there,

I have a question regarding DPS.

I am currently building a ranger, 58 now with a 278 DPS Sword equipped.

Spoiler

Hi, I get many questions about DPS. You need to compare my level, tree, gear, gems, and aura to see how I am getting higher damage.

Please try and compare the following:
- Level - you have 35 more points to spend to get to where I am. You are level 58 as you said
- Nodes - you will need Sword specific nodes to boost your sword DPS just like I have taken axe nodes to boost my axe weapon
- Weapon - my axe is giving ~350 DPS which is ~1.3x higher than your weapon, this then gets multiplied by all the damage and attack speed nodes I take
- Gear - +physical damage on gear gives a lot of DPS because it gets increased by your physical damage nodes and by Hatred
- Auras - I am running a Level 20 Hatred aura
- Accuracy - this needs to be 85%+, preferably ~90%
- Attack speed - I am attacking at ~9 APS, I'm not sure what your attack speed is but that is also where you can improve your DPS
- Gems - I am using level 20 gems with quality. You can buy a level 1 20% quality gem for the gems you need and just keep using those gems when you start your character

"

tur_aw wrote:

Hi Ceryneian
Cast when damage taken do not work with Smoke mine. Now I'm using Blind flame totem and may consider to respec(my 75 witch char) to low life build if i got Shavronne's Wrappings one.

Ah, my mistake here - thanks for pointing out. I thought Smoke Mine used to work with CWDT. I'll check again and if true I will remove from guide and put in the Arc suggestion.