[3.0] How to Flicker. Two Handed Weapon Edition!

Yeah whoever updated the culling strike page really mucked it up.

The damage per level wasn't there before 2.0. Look here:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1304441

"
Culling Strike: No longer penalises attack speed. It now grants 2% increased damage per level.
IGN: Frazetta
Last edited by Sicyo on Jan 14, 2016, 4:18:04 PM
Yes, yes i've looked at that but also i've looked in the culling strike gem thread in the Support Gem Feedback and there were some people there complaining that 20% damage increase is not enough and it should be at least 60%. Also there are some ancient reddit threads discussing this and some info can be gathered from some reddit threads about the buffed Culling Strike in the Awakening closed beta ( where it was 3% per level and not 2% ). And of course i can clearly recall that i've used culling strike for my ripsote back in 1.3 and i was using it because it gave me damage as well as culling strike, and actually when i think about it i had level 20 culling strike with no quality and it had -10% attack speed but i didn't care because counter-attacks don't care about attack speed.
So in the end i'm pretty sure that the gem at level 20 used to give +20% increased damage and -10% attack/cast speed and with 20% quality the speed penalty was removed.
In any case it doesn't really matter what it was, but what it is now :)
"I'm going to show you pain you never knew existed, you're going to see a whole new spectrum of pain!!!!! Like a RAINBOW!"
Last edited by KorgothBG on Jan 14, 2016, 4:32:14 PM
Hey, I've been following ur guide and so far love the build. So tonight I decided to try out maps but for some reason I don't seem to gain any frenzy charges on hit. I know it's based on chance but 0 out of a lot of hits is kinda "wtf is going on"?
You don't get frenzy charges on hit you get frenzy charges on kill.
"I'm going to show you pain you never knew existed, you're going to see a whole new spectrum of pain!!!!! Like a RAINBOW!"
Last edited by KorgothBG on Jan 14, 2016, 7:38:59 PM
I just wanted to say thanks for this build! It's the most fun I've had in the game so far, after trying a bunch of other builds. I can't imagine playing this on HC, as sometimes I can't keep track of where the flicker strike chains are going -- but I think it's amusing and I'm having a great time. Just need to save up for the boots (they seem pretty expensive). Cheers!
"
emilminty wrote:
I just wanted to say thanks for this build! It's the most fun I've had in the game so far, after trying a bunch of other builds. I can't imagine playing this on HC, as sometimes I can't keep track of where the flicker strike chains are going -- but I think it's amusing and I'm having a great time. Just need to save up for the boots (they seem pretty expensive). Cheers!


(assuming you're talking about Darkrays) Honestly the boots are hit or miss, not everyone likes them. I prefer sticking to rares because I like more consistent movement speed and I find the 50% reduced Frenzy charge duration is limiting, especially when going through a boss portal like Kaom or Daresso, etc.

If you're on Talisman Softcore I've got a pair if you want to try them out. Probably have a pair hiding somewhere on standard too.
IGN: Frazetta
Last edited by Sicyo on Jan 15, 2016, 3:43:15 PM
Doomsower is also great if you have an open socket setup like a 5L6S. If you run Herald of Ash in the Red socket that is free you get a Herald of Ash that gives 25% of your physical as extra fire. I don't think too many people are aware of this feature of the sword. It's truly an amazing 2h for the currency.
The more I think about Ascendancy classes (keep in mind we're getting this in March) the more I get nervous.

Why nervous? Because I like playing Duelist the most but Ranger's Raider Ascendancy class looks the best so far. It's got a small boost for gaining Frenzy Charges which will be welcome. It's got some nice stuff for Onslaught which is pretty situational since it won't be always up, especially not during boss fights. Also phasing seems neat and should help our defense. However, the big thing that shines out is Avatar of Frenzy:

2% increased Movement Speed per Frenzy Charge
3% increased Attack Speed per Frenzy Charge
3% increased Attack Damage per Frenzy Charge
+1 Maximum Frenzy Charge


That Max Frenzy charge and up to what, 18% attack damage/speed with all charges is huge for Flickerstrike. Keep that in mind when reviewing the Duelist classes:

Slayer seems nice but nearly every single thing is situational.
Spoiler

Headsman is just more damage against targets on low life. We've already got Executioner in the build and Culling Strike (if you use it) essentially makes it only useful for 25% hp. We're going for one-shots most of the time so this makes it even less useful.
Bane of Legends is great for rare/unique but no extra damage for white/magic.
Overwhelm has some nice defense mechanics which has great synergy for the mace build I was talking about for Hardcore, still probably noticeable defense boost for Softcore... but no damage.
Brutal Fervor is extra damage/attack speed while leeching. We'll essentially always be leeching so this might be the only one that isn't entirely situational!
Endless Hunger has stun immunity and makes it so leech is always incoming even at full health which is nice. Still no damage and won't stop us from getting one-shot.
Impact (15% increased radius) is certainly nice but I'm worried about the interaction with Melee Splash - if it's a second splash hit that's a nice boost. That and it's not really going to help on bosses or other single target. Great help for map clearing though.


Gladiator has some stuff that doesn't benefit us much at all, but has some noteworthy stuff that's always effective.
Spoiler

Painforged has block chance which is useless to us. However, the 35% boost damage boost after not taking damage is pretty significant since we're avoiding damage most of the time.
Versatile Combatant is useless for us.
Violent Retaliation is useless for us.
Outmatch and Outlast is great (25% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge) assuming 2H counts as mainhand. I wish they'd give us a +1 Frenzy Charge here. That would probably assuage my concern completely.
Gratuitous Violence is really nice for map clearing. More bleeds, more damage against bleeders, and exploding enemies sounds both fun and effective. Playing Swords this league and I've noticed lots of bleeding targets even with only 5% chance to cause bleeding.
Blood in the Eyes is also really nice. Combined with Gratuitous Violence that's 50% more damage against bleeding targets. If you use Atziri's Disfavour or another "causes bleeding 100% item" that's a huge boost.


Champion seems easy to overlook at first. It actually has the most benefits that are always up and always beneficial.
Spoiler

Inspirational 30% damage and 5% movement for you AND your allies. Always up. This is fantastic.
First to Strike, Last to Fall 30% damage when you're not on low life, which is the vast majority of the time. Safe to count this always up also. And more defense including a crowd-control breaker when you're on low life. Great stuff.
Unstoppable Hero Considering Fortify is one of our main links, we'll always have it up. So we'll always have this bonus of more fortify effect, attack speed, and movement speed.
Fortitude Oh look, we just always have fortify now? Frees up another link if we want!
Conqueror & Worthy Foe The taunt stuff I'm not so certain we would want. Still, it sounds like we've got 6 points to spend assuming we still have 3 difficulties, and there's plenty of stuff above we can spend on.


Pretty sure we won't use Juggernaut from Marauder so we'll have to see what the other 2 classes have in store. From the pictures it looks like one is melee oriented (yipee!) and the other is some Fire shaman thing so probably useless for us. Also we've yet to see what's going on with Scion, and we have to keep her in mind since she's close to this build too.
IGN: Frazetta
Last edited by Sicyo on Jan 18, 2016, 5:34:23 PM
HYPE FOR ASCENDANCY!

Well regarding the Ranger: Avatar of Frenzy may look great but the +1 Frenzy charges is the only benefit that matters. Increased dmg is found everywhere and increased speed simply not needed (attack aswell as walkspeed). +frenzy charges is great!
Gladiator is for block and spellblock, which is GREAT - but we dont block.
Champion seems to be a hardcore/teamplayer choice or for archers who want fortify. Flicker strike isnt exactly team friendly and the dmg increase is topped by the small Slayer nodes already.

Slayer though saves us the melee-spash and gives us stun immunity. Also tons of leech and reasonable DPS through great small nodes or big nodes which increase dmg even more. That seems more than just "situational"!

Dunno what you are all looking for but Slayer seems fine to me, giving us quite something. Yeah it isnt Spellblock or "%red dmg from magic attacks on endurance charges" but if you wanted a real Tank-char you wouldnt be playing flicker strike in the first place right?
Last edited by Ezrael49 on Jan 18, 2016, 6:02:24 PM
Well really the choice is between Raider, Slayer and Champion.
Ok so let me break down exactly what each of the possible options will give.

Raider ( ranger )
4% movement speed
6% dodge
20% chance to gain phasing* for 3 secs on kill ( *the ability to move through enemies)
45% evasion
36% frenzy charge duration
10% attack speed
10% chance to gain a frenzy charge on kill
Avatar of frenzy which with 8 charges equals 16% movement speed, 38% attack speed, 24% attack damage and 4% more damage ( the extra frenzy charge bonuses included )


Champion ( duelist )

30% evasion
30% armour
20% fortify effect ( read as extra 4% reduced Damage Taken from Hits )
10% attack speed
8% movement speed
Free fortify ... you'll have a free socket for something else though you'll loose the increased physical damage from the support gem ( but again .. 1 free socket to make up for that )
30% increased damage when not on low life ( read 30% increased damage 95% of the time )
100% increased armour and evasion rating on low life ( not really useful though still nice to have )
Status Ailments are removed when you reach Low Life ( getting rid of status ailments just when you need it .. pretty good )


Slayer ( duelist )

0.4% life leech ( from elemental and physical damage )
42% increased damage
30% increased damage while leeching ( pretty much all the time with Endless Hunger )
5% increased attack speed while leeching ( pretty much all the time with Endless Hunger )
Cannot be stunned while leeching ( pretty much all the time with Endless Hunger )
Leeching life at full life ( pretty good )
+5% of maximum life per second to maximum life leech rate ( also good .. faster leeching is always nice )
Impact - free melee splash that frees up a socket BUT this splash deals less damage and the radius is smaller compared to the support gem version ( but again .. 1 free socket to make up for that )

I really don't know guys ... they all seem good to me and nothing really stands out in my mind.

Raider has has dodge, crazy movement speed and attack speed as well as some damage.
Champion has good defenses, some damage and frees up a socket (sadly the loss of the physical damage from the fortify gem is the drawback here).
Slayer has good damage, some defenses ( leech related ) and frees up a socket (sadly the weaker melee splash is the drawback here).

Really all of them look good to me...
And let's not forget that we haven't seen all classes yet ... maybe scion will provide something good too.
"I'm going to show you pain you never knew existed, you're going to see a whole new spectrum of pain!!!!! Like a RAINBOW!"
Last edited by KorgothBG on Jan 18, 2016, 7:09:37 PM

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