ELE LIGHTNING STRIKE - ALL T16s, Shaper, Uber Atziri, HOGM, Chayula, Elder

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Valeli wrote:

Hey, I've enjoyed this build very much. It's actually the first time I've made it to merciless (just the other night), and hopefully I'll stick around awhile. It's just lots of fun to play though. This game has a million gem combinations, but only 4 or 5 builds I've found really click with me and this is tops.

I have some small questions.

1) The part of the tree where you take two dex nodes to grab the two 8% life nodes and then gymnastics. Do we really want this? It's possible that come endgame that 20 str and 20 dex is positively needed, and I'm simply unaware. But failing that.... I was thinking that instead of those 5 nodes, you could say pick up the three life nodes you ignored on that circle with the other three for 28% life, and then grab two of the evasion/life nodes right at the start for another 8% life and 12% evasion.

So you'd end up with a total of 36% life and 12% evasion as opposed to the suggested 26% life, 20 dex, and 20 str. (or if you were in sc and wanted more damage, you could pick up some extra damage nodes instead, I'm just doing this because life is fun in HC, and because it makes for an easier life to life comparison than life to damage).

I opted to do this, at least. I'm slightly concerned that I might have missed something though, and the 20 str/dex is vital in some way I just don't get yet.


2) If you weren't using soul taker/an axe, would it make sense to instead of taking the immediate route towards testudo, going down one more node to the bottom of the tree and branching left there so you could pick up diamond flesh, and have access to (what strike me as) slightly better sword nodes than the sword nodes available on the top branch?

Doing this forces you to nab Golem's Blood so you can get back up to the duelist area and testudo. Is Golem's blood a wasted node for this build?

Is diamond flesh eventually a wasted node? I don't know what endgame gear would have my resists at. Presently though, an extra 12% all resists from that passive would be really helpful though.

Or is that a bad option because, while you still pick up testudo, you aren't able to get there for a much much longer time?

I haven't picked either of those two paths yet, but I pretty much need to at this point.

Anyways, thanks again for the path idea. It's been lots of fun.

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OnlyInferior wrote:

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Old Quotes

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Ceryneian wrote:

"

OnlyInferior wrote:

Greetings Ceryneian.

First off, much appreciation for developing and maintaining this guide. Also, my apologies for having this become a much longer post than I initially expected.

Having tried this build with my own variations and remaking twice, I've become intrigued in what you've posted on page 23. I'd like to test out a low-life variant of this build however I'm not sure how I should go about the passive tree. I know you've stated your own difficulties in balancing ES and damage nodes however could there be another workaround to compensate for the lack of ES?

I've tried using Lightning Coil with the regular variant of this build and it somewhat works I just haven't optimized it enough to provide sufficient conclusions/data. How about also trying Eldritch Battery with Mind Over Matter to soak some damage as well? Some combination may work and I would love to be the guinea pig but again, the passive tree eludes me.

I've also looked through other possibilities for items and came across Daresso's Courage which would help alleviate gear slots while also providing solid stats for a low-life variant. With the high spell block provided by Daresso's on low-life, one could replace their Stone of Lazhwar and Rainbowstrides granted, yes you would have excess spell block if you also went for maxed physical block but that shouldn't be something detrimental.

Having said that, with the following:

Spoiler

Innately high evasion due to build.
70%+ Physical block chance.
Nearly all resists capped.
Relatively safe trigger gem setups posted below.
Ondar's Guile (Doubles chance to Evade Projectile Attacks).
Lori's Lantern (While on Low Life, Enemies are Unlucky when Damaging you).
Daresso's Courage (120% of Block Chance applied to Spells when on Low Life).
Lightning Coil (40% of Physical Damage taken as Lightning Damage).

We should be fairly set to tackle what the original build could minus what's mentioned next.

Currently, the only problem would be chaos damage like all low-life builds fear. However maps with chaos ticking per second could be easily disregarded with enough health regen so that should be a non-issue or at least not as impactful. Taking actual chaos damage on the other hand could prove to be very trivial without Shavronne's however with a big enough health pool despite reductions dropping health below 35%, wouldn't it be possible to sustain with maybe around 1000 health (post-reduction)?

The gem setup would also be relatively similar (if one was not utilizing the Bringer of Rain) with my own little twists. Below is a very rough idea as to what I planned on eventually running:

Spoiler

24 sockets - 6, 4, 4, 4, 3, 3

6 used on chest (Lightning Coil) - Blind(G), Double Strike(G), Multistrike(R), Melee Splash(R), Life Gained on Hit(R), Faster Attack(G)

3 used on weapon (?) - Flicker Strike(G), Culling Strike(G), Item Rarity(B)

3 used on shield (Daresso's Courage) - Cast When Stunned(B), Molten Shell(R), Ice Nova(B)

4 used on boots (?) - Blood Magic(R), Enfeeble(B), Faster Casting(B), Immortal Cry(R)

4 used on helm (?) - Reduced Mana?(R), Blood Magic(R), Grace(G), Hatred(G)

4 used on gloves (?) - Cast When Damage Taken(R), Temporal Chains(G), Enduring Cry(R), ?

Socket Colours Req:

- 8+ Greens
- 9+ reds
- 5+ blues

This variant would require absolute focus and would not be recommended in any hardcore league however I feel like the danger that this variant could provide brings even more flavor to the build that I already love so much.

What are your thoughts if you were to try and progress on the low-life variant? I eagerly await your response and once again, thanks for the guide.

Hey, thank you so much for the post! I've actually been thinking about 2 projects, but I've been busy playing a Scion crit dagger spectral throw which is a lot of fun, but I most now get back to the below 2 items I was thinking of:
- Low-life ES evasion based that uses Lori's Lantern
- True evasion tank - very high health, high evasion, max block + max spell block, and Mind over Matter/Lightning Coil + high Endurance Charges (will have low DPS so I am thinking of using Facebreakers with Infernal Blow)

Low-Life ES Evasion
- I actually tried to make a Witch several times with this build, however it has been extremely difficult trying to combine high evasion, high block, high damage, and high ES. Dodge is obviously out of the question because it halves our ES
- However, you mention Daresso's Courage! This is a superb idea and I think it is what will make the build viable. I had completely overlooked this item
- The reason I was having trouble is because without Daresso's your spell block would be so low as you cannot get a lot of block (around +36%) on the Witch/Shadow side if you want to go evasion and block as the block nodes are too far, so the build would be mediocre with around 65% block and less than 50% spell block at best
- However with Daresso's I now see a way and this is the path I plan to try:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK20ZLR9MswQHHwLmfIXFfuIrDZwth2U2xdgkpwi4kwx9EH_Gno9GHRRMNSjF87760nB9qZUaMlFgEdszdsHzoqN_xhGWwuwegUuN_xy0xSsKwQDbGhB79Uu-OohrtvcRL5ma62NcigW1jb9RRzB8fyvWis3q6NabJjIBshnPemHrelPe9to9J2EG6QkhwcXsGMNtflknqXC72RMvb0cGX2oXL4bRJLCApI_6e9d313RBFHUOrUOcGNt08SFgQKDvTii1Kjjb5wzypcs2PQ==

- Why Witch? The Templar has some great block nodes that we need for the build and the Witch has the best path to them (Scion/Shadow not as good)

- To get maximum Spell Block with Daresso's you need 75%/1.2 = 63% regular block. I have overcapped this on the tree and I have +36% block on the tree + say 30% from Daresso's = 66% regular block.
So with this build you will have 66% regular block and 75% spell block

- Other defense layer: evasion. I grab evasion from the Nullification nodes and from the Revenge of the Hunted circle. The extra life from the Revenge of the Hunted circle is actually a PLUS for a low life build: it means we can run higher levels of Clarity because our life pool is bigger. The mana regen from Clarity is great for the Witch because it is boosted by the 40% mana regen node that she takes early on

- Ondar's Guile: for evasion against projectiles

- Vaal Pact: for instant leech to ES through Ghost Reaver

The rest of the nodes I have grabbed take advantage of low-life:
- Arcane Vision
- Aura nodes - reservation nodes (this will help us run as many auras and as high a Clarity as we can) and aura buff nodes
- Inner Force - this will buff the auras as well, as well as Blood Rage - which has great benefits when on low-life
- Fire resistance nodes: not really necessary but to get as much DPS out of this build we will need to use Crown of Eyes (ES leech, mana leech, and taking advantage of Pain Attunement on low-life to increase damage). Crown of Eyes gives -30% fire resistance which is tricky to fix using only gear
- Pain Attunement

Offense:
This is the hard part and is what I am worried about - as you can see from the tree - it is hard to get decent block, decent evasion, and damage, and I hardly take any damage nodes (except Pain Attunement and some fire damage nodes for the fire resistances). I think these are the 2 few ways that may work to get high DPS on the build:
- Facebreakers with Infernal Blow -> this would work well if you are using Lightning Coil (great suggestion) as the colors would be easy to roll say 1/2Gs and 4/5Rs as you lay out. Downside is you have to fight in melee range. However I am hesitant to use Lighting Coil because: no ES, no Chaos defense -> it is still possible as you mention but it requires a ton of focus
- Spectral throw crit dagger -> this would work better if you are using Shav's Wrappings as the colors are easier to roll: 2Bs (crit chance/crit damage/PCoC/IIR), 2/3Gs (ST, Faster Attacks/LMP) and 1/2Rs (Life Leech/WED/Added FIre Damage/IIQ). Why crit daggers? -> because crits works great with Spectral Throw and Vaal Pact and the dagger nodes are right there by Witch and Shadow. However you will probably have to unspec from some block/evasion nodes and grab dagger crit nodes. The upside to Spectral Throw is that you get to fight in range mode and can kite to avoid damage!

This would be the Spectral Throw build (I took off 8% Block and some evasion):

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK20ZLR9MswQHHwKcLYdlNsXYJKcIuJMMfRB_xp6PRh0U-tJwfamVGjJRYBHbM3bB86Kjf8YRlsLsHoFLjf8ctMUrCsEA2xoQe_VLvjqIa7b3ES-ZmutjXIoFtY2_UUcwfH8r1orN6sHF7BjDbX5ZJ6lwu9kTL29HBl9qj_p713fXdEEUdQ6tQ5wY23TxIWBAoO9OKLUqONvnDPKlyzY9TDUoxfO-naP8q4hCkBtwVpoT29RW6gV96f65fOZ8hcV-4isNl9BW9bk-22594w==

Auras: we will take advantage of low-life and Inner Force to run as many auras as possible. We should be able to use 4:
- Grace (say on life), if you are using Spectral Throw we may not need evasion since we are kiting and not in melee range and still have very strong block. In this case use Wrath instead
- Clarity (on life)
- Hatred (on mana)
- Discipline (on mana)

Other Gems:
- I think the other gems you lay out are great. If using Spectral Throw then I would substitute Whirling Blades for Flicker Strike
- I may also run CWDT linked to Flame Totem + Blind + LMP/GMP + ... OR Arc + Arc/Frost Wall + Blind if I do Spectral Throw. Frost wall works great with ST giving nice survivability and pushback

Other Thoughts:
- The key behind this build would be Lori's Lantern and Daresso's Courage. However it becomes extremely expensive with the Crown and Shav's. I hear that Shav's is extremely cheap in Nemesis because no one is running low life builds, but the new Crown is very expensive (however it only adds DPS to the build)
- I really really like the idea of using Lori's Lantern on this build - I think this is another underrated/underused item similar to how Stone of Lazhwar was underrated
- It would work extremely well against Lightning damage (Piety, Dominus) - because lightning typically has a wide range of damage roll from very low to very high
- It would also work extremely well against crits (and I'm not sure but would this also apply to reflect if you run a crit build?)

Anyway, thanks again for the post and suggestions! Would be interested to hear how you are thinking about this and what tree you were considering.

Thanks for replying, Ceryneian.

Your insight and explanations has allowed me to create a tree which I'll post below which is a combination of what you've devised along with KorgothBG's actual Facebreaker Witch https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/606841 (credits to him for that). Both builds are similar yet take different paths that I wished to incorporate into one build that could work as well.

Passive Tree

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http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgABvryC5JARiq9KyD8nKk0VICzp3Q3K0_zFGbRW-mqTdEG2QdXtd9dDMcAPQKB_KxvI0k3vTp65MHzWil4TvqcotVFHw4ZuaSo4jb_nkYTZBbWsr83qtMXo1sLsKwre9iLqmyZHBh6BwQDaPed0m7UyAdvnX2pLjdsaJ2Fh4hmKshmP-v8cEHsG6Yfb-wnPeuwY9UsJIetj9trBxcNtvjqZmhqPf8a29xGWHNyioxEvDkhwu_F2wfOnNNkTbRlcii9vO-Hi96crCGeE72EhEuGi6u4OGtvXy7fTPeKzPw==

Passive Summary

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http://pathofpoe.com/builds/passive-calculator/share/AAAAAgABvryC5JARiq9KyD8nKk0VICzp3Q3K0_zFGbRW-mqTdEG2QdXtd9dDMcAPQKB_KxvI0k3vTp65MHzWil4TvqcotVFHw4ZuaSo4jb_nkYTZBbWsr83qtMXo1sLsKwre9iLqmyZHBh6BwQDaPed0m7UyAdvnX2pLjdsaJ2Fh4hmKshmP-v8cEHsG6Yfb-wnPeuwY9UsJIetj9trBxcNtvjqZmhqPf8a29xGWHNyioxEvDkhwu_F2wfOnNNkTbRlcii9vO-Hi96crCGeE72EhEuGi6u4OGtvXy7fTPeKzPw==/

I've also taken the liberty of starting from a Scion because I'm not too keen on using Crown of Eyes and her starting passives are just immensely powerful especially if I'm running a Lightning Coil chest (if rolling off colours weren't so difficult, I'd be using Carcass Jack instead). Not the mention, Facebreakers themselves already offer quite a substantial amount of damage already even if non-legacy. The Templar nodes would have been a nice addition, especially the aura nodes however I feel like I'm gaining more from traveling to the Duelist nodes instead. Plus I've been able to slightly compensate with the aura nodes closer to the Shadow.

You will also notice that I only have 34% physical block which covers the 33% required for max spell block from Daresso's Courage but I'm also factoring in only having a Daresso's with either 31% or 32% innate physical block so I'll still hit 65% to 66% physical block in the end. Also, slight miscalculation in your block math; you forgot to factor in the extra 12% block chance applied to spells from a Templar block node so in reality for your tree, you'd only need 57% physical block, not 63% (if my math is correct).

I must admit though I also struggled a bit when it came to figuring out what to do with a few points remaining especially when I took Vaal Pact into consideration; the ability to regen is completely gone and that had skipped my mind especially when I wanted to include a hefty amount of regen to combat maps that have chaos damage per second mods. On that note, I'm greatly worried about using Blood Rage as well because of the chaos damage and our remaining health pool of 35% and below - having both Blood Rage chaos damage on top of map chaos damage might prove to be overwhelming. To be honest I'm not sure how to go about this issue currently.

On a more positive note, I've begun to look into other possible uniques that may be used in slots alleviated by Daresso's Courage. Bear in mind however that my suggestions are made under the assumption that Scion is the starting class with all the resists. The Blood Dancers looked like a perfect choice but again, the % regen is nullified. I then looked at Darkray Vectors which may still be an option (this choice may seem out of place but this will help the negative portion of Lightning Coil). Other boots to make note of are Sin Trek, Wake of Destruction and Ondar's Flight.

In place of Crown of Eyes, I initially thought about what I'm running on the original variant of your build which was Starkonja's Head but that's not too impressive. My attention then shifted to Devoto's Devotion because it's nearly perfect for this variant however the cost might be a bit steep if you can even find one (nearly impossible in Domination). Finally I considered two last options that could work which are the reliable Alpha's Howl and Rat's Nest. Alpha's Howl, much like Devoto's Devotion is perfect for this build because of the auras ran, evasion and most importantly "Cannot be Frozen". Rat's Nest on the other hand is novel but also interesting in the sense that it's just a damage helm which is never a bad thing if you're confident and safe (with capped resists). An honorable mention though to Honourhome; sigh why couldn't it be higher level with a better base? It too would've been perfect.

The second ring and belt are up to the individual at this point. Many unique belts will work and it's dependent on what someone needs for example: Auxium, The Magnate, Meginord's Girdle, Wurm's Molt. If those aren't what one needs, they can simply opt for a rare chain belt for ES or rustic sash to dish out more damage to compensate for the lack-of from the tree.

Amulets are iffy, not many uniques would help aside from the general use Astramentis. Again, this would depend on the individual but a unique amulet to make note of is The Anvil. The Anvil would allow the user to actually have both maxed physical and spell block and not sacrifice potential passive points to obtain said block amount without any downsides to be honest. The reduction in attack speed, cast speed and movement speed really aren't an issue and are counteracted when running Blood Rage. Running on low life with the "on block" mods might prove to be safer as well (unless of course Vaal Pact nullifies them too, correct me if I'm wrong please and thank you).

Lastly, where would you personally place your culling/IIR gem without a weapon?

Thanks once again Ceryneian, I hope to hear more from you on this subject.

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xmrhan wrote:

been running this on nemesis and it works good, havent had any real issues. Lvl 78 right now Main thing to watch out for are the slow heavy hitters i just tend to avoid them. One unlucky hit could kill you. You can kiting attacks but Im just not brave enough and scared of desync. Barely get hit with spells or attacks but still play careful if your playing HC

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Taz47 wrote:

Great Build,

Up to level 75 maps have been easy so far, sitting at about 7-8k DPS with Hatred, just need to save up for Rainbow strides for the extra spell block.


Current Gear,

trying to get mana leech on my second ring but im doing fine with 2% plus pots so no rush.


Thanks for a great Build!.

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DoomsdayFighter wrote:

hi ceryein, i finally got myself a ST :D (unfortunately its a shit roll, but might eventually get 140/25)

The only reason i did go for the soul taker was because i LOVED your dominating blow video. Since i dont care that much about 40k++ dps, but more about fun, it seemed like your build was like the most fun build in the entire game!! (I mean who doesnt like an entire army of enemy monsters, right? :D)

could you perhaps link your tree? i want to focus 100% on dominating blow, becaus if i would want a 40k+dps build with high survivability i would just use my soul taker on a dual wielded whirling guy :)

Thx in advance! and thank you for showing us the most fun build ingame!!! :D

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1up1up1 wrote:

Hi,

just finish respec to use Wing of trophy. Here is the stat and gear.

Spec

gear

tree

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgIAAtADhwR-BfkILg5IER4RLxHVFHUV8BjbG60byCaVMgE0kzpYOrM67UMxQ5xHfkp9TipQQlVLVvpXl1uvXhNgQWBLYSFh4mNwZU1l8GegbXtuaXBydEF0rnTtdU5313rvfPV9dX8rhNmE74cZh2qHdofbiiKMNpP8lK2XBpkrmZqbJpuNoi6jiqc0qZSrxazqrgyuz6_rshm1SLZBtve7472BvqfApsDzwYvEosqQzerPetLq037T_NaK21XdDd7253To1usU62Prju4O73rv4_zF_ro=

Basically, I can run hatred and grace but with big mana issue, thus, only grace I use.

DPS is 17k. If running Hatred, dps will be ~23k.

I don't know why my spell block is only 67%, should it close to 75%??

For Vaal Pact and Life Leech, I used it at the beginning. However, I think it's not very good comparing to LGoH. Also, attack speed seems much better than investing in physical damage.

Still trying to optimize the skill tree....

Again, thanks for the build, really enjoy it.

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xenochaos1 wrote:

hmm im lookin at your build and i was wondering is it worth getting diamond skin since we are only 2 node away and it is awesome?

and what about Leather and Steel passive (duelist tree) is it worth spending 2 more point for 24% evasion rating?

and also if we take iron reflexes do we just change our bild from evasion to armour? in only 1 node?
because i would like to try both if it only 1 node difference ;p!!

"

ganjamain wrote:

"

Ceryneian wrote:

Ganjamain, glad you are enjoying build; you need to compare the equipment I am using vs yours. I was using legacy ST with 198% increased physical damage if you compare to your ST you can see that is how I am getting higher damage.

Hello Ceryneian and thanks for your reply, I think its more or less the only difference as you said, because I am looking further everywhere... However because I am now 82 I have all the physical damage boosts waiting for me to take on the next levels.

Can you please post your lvl 90s version of your passive tree please?

In the forums I coulndt find in the first thread

best,

"

NastyToxic wrote:

Hey I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but what about this shield as an intermediate between Crest of Perandus and Atziri's Mirror/Rathpith Globe if I'm too poor to afford them?

It has good resists, 20% more phys. damage, and 38% block chance total. I would use this until I could afford either Rathpith or Atziri's. Thoughts? Oh and great build thanks for sharing it btw.