[3.23] Mike's Etherial Knives Guardian with Magic Find

Hi there! My name is Mike and welcome to the guide. This build is a tanky and fast mapper that excels at farming juiced abyss spires. It isn't super cheap, but IMO, it's worth the investment. Compared to other magic find builds it really isn't that expensive. Headhunter is not explicitly required, but highly recommended. Starting budget including headhunter is around 200 div. Current version costs around 350 div.

POB: https://pobb.in/pY8PwTvvxPlD
Bandits: Kill all

Pros and Cons
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PROS: Fast travel with lightning warp
Excellent clear, hits in a large nova around the player
Great recovery and defense allow you to stand inside monster packs including the abyss spire

Cons: Only around 1.6 million shaper dps without HH stacks or flasks (bad for bossing)
Not tanky enough for fully juiced t16s --> t11 cemetery is the sweet spot
Vulnerable to elemental reflect



ASCENDENCY
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Guardian:

Radiant Crusade
Unwavering Crusade
Time of need
Radiant Faith

Primalist:
Might of the Bear
3 charm sockets





BUILD CONCEPT
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This build aims to be a fast mapper with superb clear, while maintaining a noticeable amount of Magic Find. In the current version this build has 40% IIQ and 98% IIR.

The main damage skill is Ethereal Knives of the Massacre. This variant of EK fires many projectiles in a circle around your character. With some extra pierce and a little projectile speed, you can hit nearly everything on screen.

For movement you will be using lightning warp to quickly jump from pack to pack. I have lightning warp bound to 'E' and EK bound to 'R' on my keyboard. I alternate between each resulting in very fast clear.

Defensive layers are a little on the lower end, but the build has superb recovery in addition to Defiance of Destiny, so any damage taken, especially small hits, are mostly ignored. I would consider the build tanky based on being able to stand in packs of enemies without worrying about dying. This is important because farming abyss spires results in a huge surges of monsters and you need to focus on the spire, rather than the enemies it spawns.




GEAR and GEM LINKS
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This bow is very specific to this build and provides lots of damage.
Here is a link to a video showing how I crafted it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syO0ATDEtvM&t=1s


2 Conversion mods are required. This quiver is crafted with an awakener's orb then spammed with essences until you have conversion mods. The phys as extra cold is not easy to hit, so for the budget variant, don't worry too much about it. An alternate quiver base to use instead of a vile arrow quiver is a feathered arrow quiver.


Again conversion is very important. We achieve 100% physical to elemental conversion with both the quiver and gloves alone. Do note that it doesn't matter what element you convert to, so mix and match as need be.


The evasion and es roll should be on the higher end, it won't cost much more. This provides 20% elemental pen 15% life and mana with 5 abyss jewels total.

Take note of the abyss jewels socketed in the body armor and helmet. You will want flat added damage paired with life. Flat physical is preferred, but any element is useful if there's a lot of it


This provides 75% phys as extra elemental damage while mapping, but falls off against solo targets.


20% IIQ is required


42% life gained is recommended, this one also has good resists, which is less important once you get good ventors


This ventor's gamble was around 40-50 div. For starting out, I recommend 2 getting similar ventor's, with a lower life/resist total. 10% IIQ and 30% IIR is a good target.


In lieu of HH you can use darkness enthroned, but the dex roll is really important, so you will have to make it up somewhere else. I strongly recommend HH since it is so cheap this league.



JEWELS
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It is very important to have your strength and intelligence be equal. Profane ground is -10% resist and 100% increased chance to crit. Consecrated ground created while stationary enables energy shield regeneration. (see forbidden flame/flesh) The implicit modifiers aren't too important.


The number 12179 is not 100% required, but the conquer should be Kaom.
Alternate and viable versions include: 10637,13084,13240,13889,14368,14648,14677,15245,15982,17117


Pious path provides 'while on consecrated ground, life regeneration also applies to energy shield regeneration'. When paired with time of need, it results in massive recovery.


Provides much needed recoup, mana reservation efficiency of heralds and lots of mana.


The only required mod on this is 'leech while affected by vitality'. Other stats are optional since they can make the watcher's eye very expensive.



The 2 strength on this is very important. I path through 3 small passives, so the jewel gives me exactly 6 strength, the perfect amount to match with intelligence. This may be different with your build based on if you have more or less strength than my character.


The notables aren't super important, but should be 3 notable. I recommend getting one with the 'essence rush' notable located before the jewel sockets. You won't be taking the notable passive located after the jewel socket. If you get essence rush here, you won't have to get es leech on your megalomaniac.

Speaking of megalomaniac...

The only required mods are enduring composure and some form of ES leech (if you can't get it on your large cluster)
Eye to eye is not required, just try to get something that increases your damage.
Worst case scenario, you can use a small cluster jewel with enduring composure instead of a megalomaniac.


These clusters give you lots of damage, cast speed. A little bit of projectile speed goes a long way too. This projectile speed isn't required if you use a feathered arrow quiver base.


This cluster is sort of 'extra space' and can be ignored if you are only level 95.


CB immunity, damage and life. Avoidance is not required, but can really help the build against poison and bleed. Dot can be deadly sometimes, so it's worth it to look for those avoidance stats on your other abyss jewels.





CHARMS
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you really only need mana reservation efficency charms and enough so you can cast ek without issue. I recommend aiming for a total of 20% or more RMR, which you can do easily with only 2 charms.

My third charm gives me culling strikes for crits, but you can also get the consecrated ground provides increased damage taken




CLIPS
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Juiced t11 mapping showcase:
https://youtu.be/ywZ_IT4-EMg


Leveling
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I recommend leveling as a minion build and respeccing into EK when you reach level 95 or so. Personally, I leveled the build as an absolution guardian until level 93.




Atlas Tree



Thanks for looking through the build. This is my first build guide posted, so if you have any questions about specifics, I will try and read your comments.
Last edited by spaceball1#6900 on Feb 20, 2024, 4:20:38 PM
Last bumped on Feb 20, 2024, 4:03:50 PM

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