[3.8] CI Mjolner CoC Ball Lightning Assassin - up to 6M Shaper DPS, 11k ES, 5k+ ES Recovery/s

i doubt anyone will get a energy on hit watchers anytime soon in the new league. and without this build doesnt work well. any ideas to solve that problem?

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NomadFX wrote:

i doubt anyone will get a energy on hit watchers anytime soon in the new league. and without this build doesnt work well. any ideas to solve that problem?

Fenumus Spinnerets


As for the rest of the build, only minor nerfs regarding some potential es gains from hybrid life/es rolls.

On the other side we get Awakened CoC & Ele Focus, that's a buff.

And can get even more Strength or other stats through Catalysts on Jewelry.

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larsahh_ wrote:

looks like no nerfs to this build, hyped for 3.9!

I am troubled by the demotion of elder/uber elder fights from being a regular endgame encounter to being a rare endgame encounter. What are your thoughts on the increased difficulty in getting the right watcher's eye jewel, since it's the one item that makes or breaks the build's defenses? (The gloves will be harder to get too, but they are less critical for the build)

Edit: NomadFX was slightly faster on this subject :)

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I've had a lot of fun with your build, reaching 11.4k ES and 6m DPS at lvl 98 in Blight. Personal best success with a build in 6 years playing in every single aspect of the game (level, delve, 40/40, #UEs down, wealth...), uncontested. Leveling to lvl 97 spontaneously by "just playing the game" was also an exhilarating experience -- the ES gain on hit is just that good.

I'd like to play it again in 3.9, but I'm afraid it won't work as a starter at all. What other Shadow-based build would you recommend as a starter that would easily convert into an assassin later on?

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Also, I have one slightly different and totally optional take on the build:

- I use GMP permanently in my Mjoelner. We have so much DPS that I'm delving at depth ~500 like hot knife through butter with GMP. For example, I still finish the tier 3 azurite encounter boss before it manages to turn off the lights at depths ~500 every single time with GMP. GMP also gives us better survivability in deeper delve.

Since my Wise Oak is triple-balanced, there's too much to lose when switching to Dying Sun.

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As a side note, I've experimented and theorycrafted with Granite, Jade and Stibnite flasks for the fifth slot:

- Stibnite is best for stationary targets, ~55% chance to evade attacks from blinded enemies. Shaper, Minotaur, Aul (somewhat) and similar targets are good for stibnite. Maps and Delve are not good for stibnite.
- Granite gives us ~30% physical damage reduction and is best for mitigating consistently dangerous attacks. Given our ES pool, this shouldn't happen before deeper delving, I've had no issues at ~500 depth. Also, Granite doesn't prevent stuns when running.
- Jade flask gives us the best unconditional avoidance at ~40%, and the corresponding stun avoidance from avoided hits when running. So not only do we get the generic best damage avoidance, we also avoid stuns which is a big thing when we want to or have to run through monsters. Chimera smoke phase is made easy with Jade flask too.

(Quartz and Basalt flasks can't compete here)

Edit: Since the man himself considered this analysis interesting I thought I'd add a screenshot with exact numbers on my blight implementation of the build.



The only thing not apparent in the screenshot is that Stibnite gives an additional multiplicative 50% chance to evade attacks from monsters standing in the cloud it creates. Other than that, Jade flask is the overall winner.

same here, i even tweaked it in standard with legacy reduced ball lightning speed enchant, clarity watchers and legacy shav.

in 3.9 i will try a similar setup but with Bow COC. Voltaxtic, Asenats chant as MJ replacement and Soul Strike.

Unoptimised i pull of 80k BL avarage hit and 500k on Arc in the helmet.
LL, 8k+ ES. with an es on hit watchers you can can rid of the fenumus boots and surpass 10k ES.

Leveling with Lightning Arrow should be ok and from there i can slowly convert to CI, then LL.

very curious how that will work out :-)

Edit: with the changes to voltaxic (100% increased damage from shoking enemys) this gets even more interesting.

Edit II: Forget that, feels terrible. The Damage is very good but mapping just feels slow. Tried several bows, skills and supports.

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larsahh_ wrote:

Oh almost forgot, but I was curious how you deal with Stuns, if there are big hits incoming, since there is not much stun protection included. I tried Assassin/Occultist combo and it felt pretty good but it feels like it doesnt give lot other upsides, besides the stun immunity.

I don't think stun is a problem because you are immune to stun while cycloning. The only exception was the smoke phase of the Cimera, but he's (almost) gone in the next league.

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Mihaniksvc wrote:

Hi!
Very nice guide, im planned to start 3.9 with that and I have one question.
It is good idea to use Atziri's Reflection shield and Coward's Legacy belt for get perma low life and use Pain Attubement node for 30 more spell damage?
We lost some amount energy shield (not so much) but got damage and curse immune.
Also we can drop Transfiguration of soul from oil and take Charging Offensive that give us 6% Attack Speed, 20% chance to gain an Endurance Charge when Hit while Channelling, 20% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge when Hit while Channelling. So that easy way to generate endurance and frenzy charges. It is better than ~50% inc spell damage from Transf of Mind?


What u think about this?

Sorry for my English :)

Atziri's Reflection + Coward's Legacy: For my character this combination gives 2500 less ES. In addition, you get only 20 strength from these, so you will most likely use at least one Efficient Training to equip Mjolner. So the question is if you want 30% more damage and curse immunity for 2500 ES, a passive point and stat from a rare jewel. I prefer 2500 ES, but some players might prefer more damage.

Tranquility: It gives more than 120% inc spell damage, not 50%. Also, I don't think Charging Offensive is a reliable way to generate charges. You have to be hit to gain a charge, and the probability is only 20%. On average, you have to be hit 15 times to gain 3 charges. I might be wrong, but are you sure that you are hit so often?

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Irfy84 wrote:

What are your thoughts on the increased difficulty in getting the right watcher's eye jewel, since it's the one item that makes or breaks the build's defenses? (The gloves will be harder to get too, but they are less critical for the build)

Well, nobody knows how expensive the ES on hit Watcher's Eye will be, so...
Or We might get ES on hit mods on a ring with a new influence, just like life on hit on a Shaped ring.

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Irfy84 wrote:

I've had a lot of fun with your build, reaching 11.4k ES and 6m DPS at lvl 98 in Blight. Personal best success with a build in 6 years playing in every single aspect of the game (level, delve, 40/40, #UEs down, wealth...), uncontested. Leveling to lvl 97 spontaneously by "just playing the game" was also an exhilarating experience -- the ES gain on hit is just that good.

I'd like to play it again in 3.9, but I'm afraid it won't work as a starter at all. What other Shadow-based build would you recommend as a starter that would easily convert into an assassin later on?

This is a hard question, but in blight I played ball lightning mine before this, and the conversion was very smooth because you can just use the same skill gems (ball lightning, elemental focus, slower projectiles, etc.).

"

Irfy84 wrote:

As a side note, I've experimented and theorycrafted with Granite, Jade and Stibnite flasks for the fifth slot:

- Stibnite is best for stationary targets, ~55% chance to evade attacks from blinded enemies. Shaper, Minotaur, Aul (somewhat) and similar targets are good for stibnite. Maps and Delve are not good for stibnite.
- Granite gives us ~30% physical damage reduction and is best for mitigating consistently dangerous attacks. Given our ES pool, this shouldn't happen before deeper delving, I've had no issues at ~500 depth. Also, Granite doesn't prevent stuns when running.
- Jade flask gives us the best unconditional avoidance at ~40%, and the corresponding stun avoidance from avoided hits when running. So not only do we get the generic best damage avoidance, we also avoid stuns which is a big thing when we want to or have to run through monsters. Chimera smoke phase is made easy with Jade flask too.

Interesting analysis, I didn't know that jade flask alone gives you 40% evade chance. Looks like it's much better than Granite flask. Btw, I don't like Stibnite flask because I usually push flask buttons like a piano.

Hi everyone, thank you for all the comments in this thread.
I added some comments to the guide, and this will be the last update of this guide. I played this build too much in the past two leagues, so I want to play something else. I hope I will find interesting builds that I can share with you in the future.

I sooo wanna do this as a starter but i got concerns what to do until i got the currency for mjolner. If i remember correctly - it costs around 1 exalt the first week?

How are you guys doing it?

I sooo wanna do this as a starter but i got concerns what to do until i got the currency for mjolner. If i remember correctly - it costs around 1 exalt the first week?

How are you guys doing it?

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kaldaskeren wrote:

I sooo wanna do this as a starter but i got concerns what to do until i got the currency for mjolner. If i remember correctly - it costs around 1 exalt the first week?

How are you guys doing it?

My plan is to play something like https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2660573/page/1 The trees are fairly similar, should be no problem respeccing passives and ascendancies once I have all the core items I need for the transition.