[3.21] 🌿Ultimate Claw Poison Pathfinder - Untouchable Viper - Molten Strike update by FEL

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Apologies if this has been asked recently, I tried to look around but didnt see it anywhere and can't seem to get the search to work like I want it to. I have used this build quite a bit the last few seasons and absolutely love it, but I was looking to see how much it is affected by the ascendency / skill changes being introduced in 3.13. It looks like Pathfinder is changed quite a bit with todays expansion and was curious how much it is going to affect us end game. Is the Ascendency section of the guide that suggest which nodes to grab in what order updated for the new changes?

I wonder why you would think that.

Lets check our nodes:

1. Natures Reprisal
- 30 increased chaos damage --> 15 more chaos damage with attack skills
- 50 incr. area of effect --> 30 incr. area of effect
- 40% of physical damage converted to chaos damage
- Poison prolif --> Swapped to Master Toxicist
Result: We lost additive damage, gained multiplicative damage, lost a bit AoE and Poisons who are 20% of our total combined phys + chaos damage now derive from a higher chaos base due to the conversion.

2. Master Noxicist
- Gain 10% of phys damage as extra chaos damage --> removed
- 10% of phys dmg converted into chaos damage --> now 40% on NR
- You lose Virulence 50% slower --> removed
- 40% chance to deal 100% more damage --> lowered to 30%.
Result: Again, just a small nerf in terms of the damage which does equal out with the small damage buff from Natures Reprisal (since multiplicative damage is stronger than additive), we lost all those phys-related nodes which does not change a lot since the gems have 60% conversion, giving us 100% phys to chaos conversion anyway.

3. The last nodes we just take for elemental ailment immunity, less elemental damage taken and flask upcharge and nothing changed.

Where do you see "quite a bit" changes? Overall with Pathfinder GGG did exactly what they announced. Made the Ascendancy easier to get a hold off, more clear in terms of the effects while 0 to no changes were done. The BIGGEST change is the Master Surgeon Node which we unfortunately cannot use properly without sacrificing a lot of convenience.

Absolutely exceptional guide, clear and works for multiple main abilities.

Quick Q, I'm leaning towards Venom Gyre for this season as it seems likely to perform well against multiple bosses at once - what's the best place to pick up Piercing Shots?

Do we divert in the tree, or anoint? Assuming SSF.

Thanks, and again, amazing guide.

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Absolutely exceptional guide, clear and works for multiple main abilities.

Quick Q, I'm leaning towards Venom Gyre for this season as it seems likely to perform well against multiple bosses at once - what's the best place to pick up Piercing Shots?

Do we divert in the tree, or anoint? Assuming SSF.

Thanks, and again, amazing guide.

Since I am not leveling with Venom Gyre there is no perfect tree we have for that case. So I rather give you 2 important tips:

1. Ranged Skills cost more mana so your first target will be Soul Raker to help with mana leech.

2. To make venom gyre feel good you need pierce. Therefore, once you have the mana node just allocate the pierce nodes asap. Once you have 3 pierces it is going to feel quite nice.

That means your focus should be on the upper and right part of the tree while leveling.

For Endgame, things change and you will have different options:
1. Just anoint Piercing shots
2. Get pierce on different gear-parts
3. Small Thread of Hope in the cluster jewel above phase acro to be able to pick up piercing shots and other interesting nodes.

What way you go highly depends on your gear, currency and state of the char.

i absolutely love this build guide and build. played it for 2 leagues now.

right now im undecided between this build and poison blade vortex assassin as a league starter.

does anyone have an advice for me which build will have an edge over the other after the new patch? (min/ maxed) i didnt play heist that much, so every info is appreciated.

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i absolutely love this build guide and build. played it for 2 leagues now.

right now im undecided between this build and poison blade vortex assassin as a league starter.

does anyone have an advice for me which build will have an edge over the other after the new patch? (min/ maxed) i didnt play heist that much, so every info is appreciated.

Poison Assassin
pros:
- easier to max out in terms of complexity (a lot of uniques, less fiddling with rares)
- faster early game
- higher damage, early game as well as min-maxed
- more fluent playstyle
- a lot simpler from a theoretical build standpoint

cons:
- more expensive, especially at the beginning of the league
- way squishier and prone to oneshots
- stronger on maps and single bosses, weaker on everything else

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Keldrath wrote:

I'm not sure I know what you mean, I must be missing something. Like when I look at the POB i see this and I would expect to see multiple sections for certain milestones.

nvm I found it, it was farther down in the guide than I expected and separate.

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Vennto wrote:

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i absolutely love this build guide and build. played it for 2 leagues now.

right now im undecided between this build and poison blade vortex assassin as a league starter.

does anyone have an advice for me which build will have an edge over the other after the new patch? (min/ maxed) i didnt play heist that much, so every info is appreciated.

In regards to what?

mainly bossing/ survivability and clear speed. especially with the new 10 boss system.

clear speed never was a problem for me with this build. bosses did hit hard sometimes.

I updated my post. Have a look.

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hazerer wrote:

right now im undecided between this build and poison blade vortex assassin as a league starter.

does anyone have an advice for me which build will have an edge over the other after the new patch? (min/ maxed)

Depends on what you mean by min/maxed. If you are someone who feels that more than 10 seconds for an end-boss fight is too long, the damage on a maxed out BV Assassin will definitely be higher, even after the nerfs there.

I happen to prefer the Pathfinder defenses (much better) and playstyle, and I think the damage here is in the sweet spot.

This is really a matter of personal preference.

If you are looking for a straight-up evaluation of which build will be better at handling 10 bosses, I think either can. "Better" will be a function of which bosses and what mods. (Also whether you choose to go ranged on the PF.)

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Vennto wrote:

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i absolutely love this build guide and build. played it for 2 leagues now.

right now im undecided between this build and poison blade vortex assassin as a league starter.

does anyone have an advice for me which build will have an edge over the other after the new patch? (min/ maxed) i didnt play heist that much, so every info is appreciated.

Poison Assassin
pros:
- easier to max out in terms of complexity (a lot of uniques, less fiddling with rares)
- faster early game
- higher damage, early game as well as min-maxed
- more fluent playstyle
- a lot simpler from a theoretical build standpoint

cons:
- more expensive, especially at the beginning of the league
- way squishier and prone to oneshots
- stronger on maps and single bosses, weaker on everything else

thank you.

my main concern is that you get oneshot by the 10 bosses while attacking with PS. Poison BV seems to be a bit more mobile. never played it though.