Frost Blades

One of the problem with frost blades is that the dexterity requirement for it is ABSURDLY high (155 DEX at 20)! This kills off many possible build paths like starting at a marauder or templar... No one wants to take the +30 attribute nodes unless they absolutely have to and even then its NOT enough. Getting Dex through gear is possible, but it's just not efficient and there are far better suffixes like resistances.

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Snorkle_uk wrote:

I got gear

Not this shit again.
Anything will "rip" with those items. But FB is still one of the worst choices. MS is better for single target and AoE (and cheaper to boot), and LS is better at ranged.

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Unhold wrote:

"

Snorkle_uk wrote:

I got gear

Not this shit again.
Anything will "rip" with those items. But FB is still one of the worst choices. MS is better for single target and AoE (and cheaper to boot), and LS is better at ranged.

A skill should also perform at all the stages of the game. Not just when you reach lvl 60+ available items.

In it's current state i find it completely lack luster in early game.

@snorkle

Your basically saying "go the old meta with it AND then to top it of, use heralds because it lacks sufficient AOE"

So your going dagger crit, which like already mentioned, will perform a lot better with other skills.

And your fitting in heralds in your design to combat the lack of AOE potential on this skill.

Basically your doing a lot of stuff to make it work, while in fact it should "work" from the basis up.

I also feel the need to point out that this skill is "ranger oriented" so the notion it is "only worth while" with crit daggers is laughable.(since the ranger passive tree is clearly sword oriented)

I understand your build work's, at your gear level, or at lvl 60+ which was one of my own personal observations(it gets better from cruel on-wards), but that doesn't imply the skill is in a good state, i would pose it rather demonstrates the exact opposite, since it's a skill available at lvl 1 it's a
noob-trap currently.

Not mentioning judging a skill on it's performance in a 6-link, is just poor balance business man :).

Peace,

-Boem-

How does disemboweling work with this gem? Im guessing it only works with the first part of the skill and that its probably not worth getting?

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soot wrote:

How does disemboweling work with this gem? Im guessing it only works with the first part of the skill and that its probably not worth getting?

Correct, it only apply's to the melee function of the skill, not the projectile part created upon contact.

Peace,

-Boem-

Gonna do a repost here. I've probably got quite a few things wrong so bear with me.

Edit: I've just switched some things around in my tree, got a new ring and 2 jewels and things are looking brighter now. With all buffs up (all charges and Daresso's proc) I'm sitting at 62k dps.

I'm currently running a Frost Blades crit dagger build (aptly called Lanaya Build for those playing DotA :> )

Skill tree

It's okayish so far. Been clearing maps up to 75 pretty quickly and without much deaths.

Now to the cons:

- Lacks AoE clearing (this is mostly due to mobs "stacking" up and FB not being able to clear them fast enough)
- Even with 4.2k life, Acro, block and Evasion/Armor mix still pretty squishy. This is mostly due to the rebalancing in Awakening though and not related to FB.
- 55k DPS fully buffed should "feel" better. A buddy of mine runs an Ice Crash build with a similar DPS and clears orders of magnitudes faster than I do.
- the only way I currently see to make this 76+ maps viable is to either invest in a ~300-350pdps dagger or a 6L chest

why Melee Phys instead of Added Fire? Melee Phys does nothing for projectile damage, Added Fire does

and i have to agree with the notion that any skill works with 6Link, 300pdps high crit, crit setup

any skill, with lvl1 supports will work then

what makes more sense is to check if it can work in 4 link with 220pdps dagger or 300pdps sword and then talk about viability

one can brute-force any content with mirrored/semi-mirrored gear and claim 'it is ok'

on topic:
ive started using it with.. a 2h RT mace build, just for the lols using this setup and weapon


and it provides nice clear speed with lots of safety (prolif) while leaving tough targets to Glacial Hammer

fun obserwation: it seems that there is no proper animation for this skill for 2h maces.. it looks awkward atm

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Unhold wrote:

"

Snorkle_uk wrote:

I got gear

Not this shit again.
Anything will "rip" with those items. But FB is still one of the worst choices. MS is better for single target and AoE (and cheaper to boot), and LS is better at ranged.

molten strike is a crap skill, its so bad i wouldnt ever use it, same with static strike. This skill is far, far superior to those, kills quicker. I dont even rate lightning strike over blades, Id take this skill any day of the week I think lightning strike is meh at best, Id never use it.

"

Boem wrote:

@snorkle

Your basically saying "go the old meta with it AND then to top it of, use heralds because it lacks sufficient AOE"

So your going dagger crit, which like already mentioned, will perform a lot better with other skills.

And your fitting in heralds in your design to combat the lack of AOE potential on this skill.

Basically your doing a lot of stuff to make it work, while in fact it should "work" from the basis up.

I also feel the need to point out that this skill is "ranger oriented" so the notion it is "only worth while" with crit daggers is laughable.(since the ranger passive tree is clearly sword oriented)

I understand your build work's, at your gear level, or at lvl 60+ which was one of my own personal observations(it gets better from cruel on-wards), but that doesn't imply the skill is in a good state, i would pose it rather demonstrates the exact opposite, since it's a skill available at lvl 1 it's a
noob-trap currently.

Not mentioning judging a skill on it's performance in a 6-link, is just poor balance business man :).

Peace,

-Boem-

what old meta? dont even know what ur talking about there.

The ranger tree is not sword oriented, this skill is best with high crit, and high crit is best with daggers, ranger is the best life based dagger start in the game. Daggers work better with other skills? like? Reave and....? Yeah reave, thats it, alright so reave is a little better... great, that doesnt mean theres anything wrong with this skill, theres 1 skill thats probably a little better.

Doesnt matter what Im doing to make it work, its works, there are seriously powerful builds with this skill, doesnt matter if Im using a 6 link, my 6th gem in my half phys version is pcoc which you can just curse to get charges instead. At the end of the day Im comparing it to other skills using the same gear and its the second best skill in the game for endgame crit daggers as far as Im concerned. Im willing to bet Ive played as much or more endgame melee crit daggers than anyone in this thread so I feel like while thats an opinion its ones born out of a lot of experience.


Sry if you guys dont like the fact I play with better gear than you but I ran around with this skill with a 5L gem setup and a 200pdps dagger worth about 3 or 4 chaos for hours and hours and it still obliterated endgame content, which I think I already mentioned. I also already mentioned that none of my observations mean anything for leveling with the skill, only how it works in endgame, I said that from what Ive seen it needs looked at early game and maybe needs to auto target if a mob isnt namelocked without multistrike. In endgame its a crazy powerful skill, sry if the way you tried it was crap and didnt work, the way I tried it worked just fine. That means theres builds for it that work very well, "it should just work" is a load of nonsense, it should work when you build a build that suits the skill, and it does. Shouldnt have to use heralds? Right, I guess TS shouldnt have to use GMP? It should just work, I shouldnt have to make a build with other things going on that make my aoe better the gem should just be everything it needs to be alone... errr.... thats not how this game works. Im not even using heralds on my half phys version but if you want better aoe, use HoI, dont support the skill with chain or gmp or any of that stuff, thats the best method imo, deal with it. Deal with whatever ego issues u have gear wise too, I tried the skill with a 4 chaos weapon, an 80 chaos weapon and a 8000 chaos weapon and it performs fine in endgame compared to other skills using the same weapons.

"

HeavensRejected wrote:

Gonna do a repost here. I've probably got quite a few things wrong so bear with me.

Edit: I've just switched some things around in my tree, got a new ring and 2 jewels and things are looking brighter now. With all buffs up (all charges and Daresso's proc) I'm sitting at 62k dps.

I'm currently running a Frost Blades crit dagger build (aptly called Lanaya Build for those playing DotA :> )

Skill tree

It's okayish so far. Been clearing maps up to 75 pretty quickly and without much deaths.

Now to the cons:

- Lacks AoE clearing (this is mostly due to mobs "stacking" up and FB not being able to clear them fast enough)
- Even with 4.2k life, Acro, block and Evasion/Armor mix still pretty squishy. This is mostly due to the rebalancing in Awakening though and not related to FB.
- 55k DPS fully buffed should "feel" better. A buddy of mine runs an Ice Crash build with a similar DPS and clears orders of magnitudes faster than I do.
- the only way I currently see to make this 76+ maps viable is to either invest in a ~300-350pdps dagger or a 6L chest

Gear

you want to drop melee phys because its not effecting the projectiles which is hurting your aoe, added fire or critical hit damage would be the gems. You could obliterate any map in the game with this skill using a 2ex 240pdps binos and a 5L chest, trust me on that Ive tried it. You dont want to use acro with a mix of armour, evasion and block, youre destroying your armour and block for dodge, which is essentially doing the same thing as your block and evasion, I would either ditch acro or go pure evasion tbh. Honestly Id never play pure evasion without a lightning coil so Id probably ditch acro and go ham on armour I guess, maybe... I dunno, just food for thought man, its your char and your choices to make.

"

sidtherat wrote:

what makes more sense is to check if it can work in 4 link with 220pdps dagger or 300pdps sword and then talk about viability

which I did, if you bothered to read my posts, which you obviously didnt despite commenting on them. Did you try it with a 220pdps dagger or a 300pdps sword?

Thanks for the suggestions about Added Fire. I've been going over my links and passives trying to optimize them.

I also think the description of the skill is a bit fuzzy for the "casual user".
I've also been thinking that just pushing the initial hit alone should do the trick.

Might this be a way to improve the skill? Just cut out the removal of the melee bonus on the projectile?

I think it's a pretty solid skill it just takes more time finetuning the build than other skills do.

The other thing is that even though it would allow for projectile modifiers like Chain, LMP or Fork the low damage don't really allow for those. The only time I would put them in is either in a 6L or a superior dagger to Binos.

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Snorkle_uk wrote:

you want to drop melee phys because its not effecting the projectiles which is hurting your aoe, added fire or critical hit damage would be the gems. You could obliterate any map in the game with this skill using a 2ex 240pdps binos and a 5L chest, trust me on that Ive tried it. You dont want to use acro with a mix of armour, evasion and block, youre destroying your armour and block for dodge, which is essentially doing the same thing as your block and evasion, I would either ditch acro or go pure evasion tbh. Honestly Id never play pure evasion without a lightning coil so Id probably ditch acro and go ham on armour I guess, maybe... I dunno, just food for thought man, its your char and your choices to make.

I'd really like to see a video/guide showing you trying to do it with the stuff that Warbands currently offers.
I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just not seeing it currently.

I'm pretty torn on the Acro thing to be honest. I'm pretty sure if I ditch it and get Iron Reflexes I will get slaughtered pretty hard as the added armor will never offset the ~50% loss in Evade/Dodge. If I go full Evasion I'll die horribly anyway as pretty much ever Rocket Worm past L76 will oneshot you with 4K life.

I realize that increasing my DPS will automatically increase my survivability but there are always situations where you'll get hit and it's definitely not worth sacrificing life nodes or life on equipment (I'm looking at you 4 Ex low roll Maligaros :> )

Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure your build works and you're theorycrafting skills are top it's just that a lot of feedback in this thread is along the lines of:

- "LOOK I INVESTED 50EX ON STANDARD AND IT KICKS ASS"

- "OH LOOK AT MY SKILL TREE, I HAVE 10 GAZILLION DPS BUT JUST 101% LIFE WITH MALIGAROS AND RATS NEST"

"

HeavensRejected wrote:

The other thing is that even though it would allow for projectile modifiers like Chain, LMP or Fork the low damage don't really allow for those. The only time I would put them in is either in a 6L or a superior dagger to Binos.

Ya Im not sold at all on using projectile supports for this skill. Sure you might get better aoe but if youre nerfing your dips to do it then its hurting as much as its helping against packs, and then you lose single target damage on top and you really dont want to be dropping single target damage on a 5/6L 1h weapon skill as its likely the only single target u have. I got the best results from just going all out non melee non projectile specific damage gems.

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HeavensRejected wrote:

I'd really like to see a video/guide showing you trying to do it with the stuff that Warbands currently offers.
I'm not saying it's impossible, I'm just not seeing it currently.

I'm pretty torn on the Acro thing to be honest. I'm pretty sure if I ditch it and get Iron Reflexes I will get slaughtered pretty hard as the added armor will never offset the ~50% loss in Evade/Dodge. If I go full Evasion I'll die horribly anyway as pretty much ever Rocket Worm past L76 will oneshot you with 4K life.

I realize that increasing my DPS will automatically increase my survivability but there are always situations where you'll get hit and it's definitely not worth sacrificing life nodes or life on equipment (I'm looking at you 4 Ex low roll Maligaros :> )

Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure your build works and you're theorycrafting skills are top it's just that a lot of feedback in this thread is along the lines of:

- "LOOK I INVESTED 50EX ON STANDARD AND IT KICKS ASS"

- "OH LOOK AT MY SKILL TREE, I HAVE 10 GAZILLION DPS BUT JUST 101% LIFE WITH MALIGAROS AND RATS NEST"

id like to show u a vid of that too but I feel like attack builds in a temp league are at an all time low and the way I play the game I only build stuff in temp leagues that I dont have in standard or at least dont have maxed. I dont see myself playing attack builds in a temp league again after the recent changes.

I hear you on the evasion/IR side, honestly IR, thats full armour no evasion, for a melee build I think thats a pretty weak defense. Same with pure evasion, pure EV I feel like Ill get 1 shot by something unless I have a 6k life build, even then... I dunno man, pure armour or pure ev, in my experience I wouldnt be running those setups for melee. Id want either armour + evasion or lightning coil + evasion or armour + all the block in the world.

I dont believe in maligaros gloves either, Id never swap rare gloves for maligaros. I buy most of my gear in temp leagues and I can usually get life + resist + accuracy + attack speed gloves for like 5-15 chaos, possible bench on the attack speed 12%. I think the ticket is searching without attack speed and looking for things with a free suffix. I bought like 5 or 6 pairs of gloves like that last league to take back to standard. Malis probably more dips but Im not a dips chasing player, I focus on survivability, making super tanky characters and then see what dps I can squeeze out after. If I hit 140k dps with a build you can bet theres a guy out there whos defenses are non existent hitting 400k with the same basic theory.


the phys version I have is 185% life, Im running around with about 6k life but thats a lvl93 character and the gear.. I got almost all of it in temp leagues so its not impossible gear to get in a league but its right on the verge of the best you can possible muster in that environment. People look at my gear and say "oh standard league lol course that gear blah blah" but really only my dagger and shield actually come from standard I think everything else Im wearing I got in previous temp leagues, and I have an armour shield just as good as my evasion shield I got in torment for 2 exalts.



50ex shield standard league, lol standard etc, but



2 exalt shield torment, the gears out there in the temp leagues you just got to know what you want and search for it every single day, when it comes up for sale u need to be right in there within hours of it being listed.



https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwIAAF4B0QUtBbUHHgguDY0N0Q5IEZYUdRa_GY4j0yP2JJ0k_SaVKgss4S_MMHEwfDIBOd06QkMxQ-dHBkd-SVFKfUt4TP9Nkk4qUUdTu1VLW69d8mHiYetiWmKsYuxjQ2VNbIxvJ3BScFZw1XTtelN67311feOE2YTvh3aJ04w2jX2Nv5AblS6aE5pqmyabjZ2qo4qkwqZ_pzSsZq_rsbOyGbTFtUi2irk-vTa-p7_VwYLC7MS4z3rTftQj1fjYdtrB29Tb592o45_nVOjW7UHtg-4O73rw1fLh8-r2_PzF_rr_3g==?accountName=Snorkle_uk&characterName=Fat_Dorothy

thats the phys tree, I really want flaying, and I can get it next level if I drop 5% life, 8% attack speed and 20% accuracy, but then Ill need another 3 levels to get those back and theres 4% life I really want still sitting there, so its a lvl98 build before its 'finished'. I dont buy maps so for me with map rng thats a pretty harsh grind, my highest lvls are all 94 atm, I dunno if I still have that kind of passion for the game tbh.


I left torment after 3 weeks and had 4500 fusing in my stash, if u gave me 4500 fusing at the 3 week point in warbands Im pretty confident I could put together a 75k+ dps binos phys to lightning ele variant of this skill and destroy absolutely everything. This game just changes too much though, they mess about with it constantly and Im probably never going to invest that much effort again. If no one has 4.5k fusing to donate then its on you guys im afraid, but the builds are there for sure. From the looks of nugi leveling with it Id say its a case of buy 2 last resorts, level reave and then transition late game. Or just stick with reave lol.