[3.9?] Sidefx Frost Blades - Hyped for Support +

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skeithyip wrote:

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modestjord wrote:

ive been doing a bunch of testing and heres what ive found for the optimal 5L gem setup

1- even with 2 TOA and the extra 10% chance to freeze from the tree = 30% total chance to freeze, if im using ele focus, i never get power charges with the curse on hit + herald of ice setup. not one time. if i did i dont remember it. DPS was still crazy high from the ele focus bonus dmg.



2- the alternative was to check the dps swapping out ele focus out for ice bite so i could get power charges and boost my crit chance. Right now, my base crit is 40% with no power charges. i found something interesting though. i found that when i was max charges (7 frenzy + 3 psiphon) i was still doing less dps (tooltip) then when i was using the ele focus. ele focus gave me no pcharges but still netted me more tooltip dps.

its possible the crit scales better with insane jewellery but with average stuff it seems like ele focus might just be better even if you get no power charges.

FYI those 2 nodes that give you 10% chance to freeze (5% each) are still better then the other 2. you lose 4% ele dmg but you gain 10% chance to freeze which basically ensures power charges uptime

can someone share some insight on this because im sure im making some mistakes.

for sure Elemental Focus will net better DPS due to "more dmg".
Ice Bite is good because of +15% freeze chance. so with 2x ToA + 2x 5% freeze chance from passive, you get 2x 10% + 2x 5% + 15% = 45% chance to freeze. It enables you to use Herald of Ice more effectively, don't forget about shatter damage which cannot be reflected.

Ice Bite is good for clearing trash mobs since power and frenzy charges are always up.
Elemental focus is good for most boss.

Problem is both gems are different colors. so you can't just switch one to another. unless you have a 6L with a blue socket.

but what im trying to say is even if you have charges up 100% of the time its still less dps then 0 nocharges ele focus. essentially ele focus might just be more damage even whe nthe other version is full charged.....?

Hi guys, would it be better to go dual TOA or 1 TOA with a crit/pdps claw? Thanks in advance!

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modestjord wrote:

"

skeithyip wrote:

"

modestjord wrote:

ive been doing a bunch of testing and heres what ive found for the optimal 5L gem setup

1- even with 2 TOA and the extra 10% chance to freeze from the tree = 30% total chance to freeze, if im using ele focus, i never get power charges with the curse on hit + herald of ice setup. not one time. if i did i dont remember it. DPS was still crazy high from the ele focus bonus dmg.



2- the alternative was to check the dps swapping out ele focus out for ice bite so i could get power charges and boost my crit chance. Right now, my base crit is 40% with no power charges. i found something interesting though. i found that when i was max charges (7 frenzy + 3 psiphon) i was still doing less dps (tooltip) then when i was using the ele focus. ele focus gave me no pcharges but still netted me more tooltip dps.

its possible the crit scales better with insane jewellery but with average stuff it seems like ele focus might just be better even if you get no power charges.

FYI those 2 nodes that give you 10% chance to freeze (5% each) are still better then the other 2. you lose 4% ele dmg but you gain 10% chance to freeze which basically ensures power charges uptime

can someone share some insight on this because im sure im making some mistakes.

for sure Elemental Focus will net better DPS due to "more dmg".
Ice Bite is good because of +15% freeze chance. so with 2x ToA + 2x 5% freeze chance from passive, you get 2x 10% + 2x 5% + 15% = 45% chance to freeze. It enables you to use Herald of Ice more effectively, don't forget about shatter damage which cannot be reflected.

Ice Bite is good for clearing trash mobs since power and frenzy charges are always up.
Elemental focus is good for most boss.

Problem is both gems are different colors. so you can't just switch one to another. unless you have a 6L with a blue socket.

but what im trying to say is even if you have charges up 100% of the time its still less dps then 0 nocharges ele focus. essentially ele focus might just be more damage even when the other version is full charged.....?

yes. more dps at the expense of status alignment.
for me i will take freeze/chill for its defensive mechanism.

btw, how much of dps diff are you seeing?

Ice bite w/ 7 frenzy charges + 3 power charges = ~100k
ele focus w/7 frenzy charges = ~115k

so quite a bite.

note: my ice bite still has like a few more levels to go.

also im level 86 with 2 TOA and the only crit node i havent speced yet is heartseeker so i dont see my crit jumping out of its seat anytime soon with scaling. Like i said i can try to get more crit on jewels but im still not totally sold.

my gear:

Guys, do the single target damage goes up? i melt the mobs on maps but the bosses are a pain =/

On 6L most bosses till t13 are ez, though the survivability seems to be a problem.

Warning: Longpost.

Fun build.
I had planned to play this for 3.0 start since testing it a bit out in Beta/Mayhem.

I love ranger projectile builds; I've played 8 total Raider/Pathfinder builds in past several leagues, to lvl 80/90+. EleBuzzsaw, HoWA, BF, BV, Ele Raider Wander, Wanderfinder... I love Rangers :) Wanted to try something similar to ST but with a change; Frost Blades was it!

Short conclusion: Frostblade Raider is probably the most fun and smooth build in terms of map clear of all the above i've played (save maybe Wander). Whirling Blades easily puts this over a Wander (clearspeedmeta.) The bouncing blades (with an Anguish) "feel" much better than stuff like ST, BF; both are very strong, but seem more clunky (ST having to switch to Slower Projectiles on bosses, for example)

I'm still fiddling with the build, best 6-L setup, etc. I've seen a few other FB players building 1-Claw + Shield instead, while maintaining high DPS (and easily 6k+ HP). May try that next, but for now, quite happy with the mapping strength. There's also a lot of builds utilizing Abyssus. Really might not be bad with this playstyle, I may test that next; Sure, you risk dying more... but as a 5k life Eva ranger build, you are already quite squishy - The best defense is a good offense! Dying is much less likely if you one-shot all packs and kill bosses 2x quicker. (Obviously this is as a SC build. For HC i'd definitely NOT recommend 2 weapons, as you can achieve similar DPS with a shield and have much more defenses/life.)

Currently level 89, but basically "finished" my itemization to as good as it's going to get for a league-start farmer. I can definitely invest more (IE. getting GG opal rings, etc.) but unsure if I want to sink more into this character. Might just farm more maps and save up for an alt.

Here's my current PoE Builder pastebin for those interested:
https://pastebin.com/F8neuvFG

Here's the tree:


Here's my gear:


Relevant Stats (VS. Normal):
345k DPS
5110 Life
48% Evasion
52% Dodge
10% Spell Dodge

(Bonus Stat: I spent a considerable amount of time balancing all 3 of my resists to be exactly 79%, so Wise Oak is giving me 10% reduced elemental damage for all three elements)

NOTES:
This is with Hatred & BLASPHEMY ENFEEBLE.
I originally was HoI, but dropped HoI for Blasphemy Frostbite.
This is a BIG DPS increase, especially against bosses; without the need to land the gimmicky Orb of Storms. Plus it works on trash; you generally never get to drop orb of storms on trash. The recent "re-buff" of Blasphemy AoE feels great; it basically almost reaches edge of screen, definitely long enough for Frost Blade range.

I dropped the Frostbite for Enfeeble as I felt damage was plenty already for mapping... and Enfeeble REALLY helps survive as a squish Life/Eva character. Might swap back to Frostbite for guardian/shaper etc.

I also chose to use Shaper's Touch and Darkray Boots as I felt they offered a lot for the build. A GG Spiked Glove would likely be better, but those are expensive right now.

Note I currently have 400 Dex, 140 Str and 140 Int - This means Shaper's Touch is giving me +100 Life, 80% Increased Melee Physical Damage, 280 Accuracy, 1% Evasion (meh)... Not bad for a 5c glove.

Darkray obviously for the extra frenzy, which is great for Raider (especially since we lost bandit charge) and while often overlooked... 16% Dodge is not bad when already stacked on an evasion/dodge based Life char. If I picked up the nodes leading to Phase Acrobatics, I'd be at 62% Dodge (on top of 48%+ Evasion - and 40% Spell Dodge.)

Other considerations:
1) Don't have full Heartseeker node yet; Will have it at lvl91. Twin Terrors at 95, to round out rest of crit. These crit nodes are optional; I could instead put it all into more Life.

2) ELEMENTAL FOCUS. I know this is a big debate. I played with Elemental Focus for a long time; the DPS is definitely a big boost (something like 340k to 450k). However, for doing maps up to T14-15 I just don't seem to need the extra DPS. Being able to permafreeze EVERYTHING (including dangerous stuff like entire Harbinger packs of Beyond bosses.) is helpful. I would definitely go EleFocus for Guardians/Shaper.

Best 6-L setup might be 2R 3G 1B. This way you can run Increased Critical gem (which according to PoEBuilder provides roughly the same DPS as Ice Bite/Cold Pen) and then swap it for Ele Focus on harder bosses. Melee Physical might actually be better overall; Best "single target" dps setup is definitely Melee Phys + Ele Focus (highest multipliers) - drop Ice Bite and Added Cold or Cold Pen.

3) The Halcyon / Pandemonius Necklace
These seem REALLY GOOD for this build... unsure if it would fit; maybe without unique gloves/boots. Would essentially be 100% chill and 100% blind uptime on everything you hit, I would assume including bosses? Add in 30% increased cold damage and 20% increased cold penetration... wow.

4) Would like to eventually run a Taste of Hate but not sure what to drop. Maybe Lion's Roar or Silver Flask?


Hopefully my experience helps others interested in trying this build, or looking to improve. Would appreciate any suggestions on optimizing my Skill Tree/Gear if anybody sees any improvements.

Happy hunting Exiles!

Doublepost :(

Would anyone mind messaging me or replying to this the preferred pantheon set up? I'm sure i can figure it out but i'm laaazy.

I cant get your passive tree links to load... please help. :(