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

Level 80 map, insane dps, think block dogde is the main thing we can trust here

map 80

part2

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JunKx wrote:

oh dang dunno why i read that as belt, probably cause there was the chain belt right there, lol.

also the lazhwar can also roll +1 frenzy charge that has been verified, so it isn't only lvl 1 mods it rolls.

Thanks man, yup there are a bunch of other higher level mods which I think believe depends on the item level of the Lazhwar you area trying to corrupt so you would need an ilevel 60 Lazhwar at least to have a chance to roll the level 60 mod for (-24 to -17) Physical Damage taken from Attacks.

I also noticed you can get some seriously OP elemental avoidance with corrupted mods on shield and Lazhwar:

- Up to 95% Chance to Avoid Being Ignited: 20% on Corrupted Lazhwar + 20% on Corrupted Shield + 15% from Crystal Skin node (on Ranger tree above Ondar's Guile) + 2x20% from Avoid Ignite nodes after Crystal Skin

OR:

- Up to 95% Chance to Avoid Being Frozen: 20% on Corrupted Lazhwar + 20% on Corrupted Ring + 15% from Crystal Skin + 40% Avoid Freeze (2 nodes after Crystal Skin)


Harder to get high avoidance against Shock because it only rolls on belt and chest armor (which we do not use with Bringer of Rain)

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1up1up1 wrote:

Level 80 map, insane dps, think block dogde is the main thing we can trust here

map 80

part2

Thanks man, interesting map. I think I would have the same issue where the 3 degen bosses give me a very hard time with this build. They will definitely be worse than in Apex of Sacrifice with higher damage, and maybe also higher attack speed/movement speed. I will definitely have to do them in the right order or the ranged character will most likely kill me if she gets buffed.

I think the Vaal and Atziri boss should be the same as before since I am relying more on manual avoidance and also evasion/dodge/block damage avoidance, instead of tanking - Atziri can already one shot me in Apex with her Flame blast, and I'm sure Vaal can also one shot me with his smash in Apex as well - so there really will not be much difference (for me at least) in the level 80 map.

To handle the regular mobs, I would prefer to try Enfeeble + melee LS mode, if that is too risky I would switch to using ranged LS projectiles at the cost of DPS - but it would be much safer.

Unfortunately the map is extremely rare since the fragments only drop from Apex Atziri - so I will not be able to try for quite some time.

I agree with you that damage avoidance i.e. evasion/dodge/block is the way to go - especially as monster damage gets higher and higher with new content in the game.

Also - I'm curious if anyone is trying to turn this build into a true tank build with Kaom's/Endurance Charges/etc.. - if so please post here or PM me!

UPDATE: Still testing out using Eldritch Battery vs getting life nodes. I will also test a few more times on reflect maps (so far zero problems - do not even notice reflected damage, but need to test double reflect) and then post the updated build. Overall the LS build is feeling VERY strong and VERY flexible - although you do need a high physical dagger to get good damage with LS. I sold my ST for a very strong dagger. And I love the versatility with the tree since you can choose to go Point Blank or even go with Spectral Throw since I get a mix of projectile nodes. The damage is extremely high, and even higher with shock and so far I am having zero problems reflect - not even noticeable. I think you will definitely need Dodge to help with reflect. Also recommend the Atziri boots to get insane spell dodge.

Main downsides are:
- Lower evasion (so groups of mobs are more likely to land a hit - recommend using Enfeeble and Jade flask)
- Managing mana costs (EB and Primal Spirit help a lot)
- Managing resistances (my cold resistance is extremely low at 44% - because Soul Taker provided a lot of cold resistance - it is nearly impossible to manage resistances if you use Bringer of Rain (no resistance on chest or helm) and use Rathpith's Globe (only lightning resistance). As a result I have to run Purity of Ice to help my cold resistance. I don't think there is any way you can run this build with maxed res with the number of uniques I am using (BofR, Rathpith, Lazhwar, Atziri's Step) UNLESS you have a lot of $$ to splash on near perf gear OR can max 2 resistances on gear and then run aura to help max the 3rd resistance.
- New gameplay - life leech is no longer instant like it was with DS and LGOH. Vaal Pact is too far to get as well. So you either need to change skill to DS and LGOH in Bringer of Rain if you like having instant life gains - but you will loose flexibility of Lightning Strike ranged ability, OR use Life Leech gem with high quality for increased rate of life leech.
- Lightning Strike projectiles do not do insane damage and sometimes miss, so true damage for LS really comes from being in melee range and getting shocks up. However you can at least use the projectiles to kite and play safe at lower DPS.

few things to consider.

#1 vaal gems. i think its good to load up at least one to have as 2ndary dps. for instance vaal double strike is absolutely boss. im going to soon play around with lightning strike and compare the two, but right now with my vaal double strike load out it gives me a total dps of slightly over 120k. im not kidding you.

#2 multistrike. my buddy made a good point and that was, "well, they're obviously going in the direction of boss fights that require you to move and have phases and shit, so daggers are prob the way to go, mad burst dmg, but the ability to hit once and gtfo"
i tend to agree, but this would cause one to rethink about multistrike since it lowers your initial hit damage for more hits. yes it creates higher DPS but if what we're looking for is a punch then we may need to reconsider the use of multistrike.

multi traps you in an animation until its over. if you're dual wield this also slows down the use of each weapon if you use a skill that alternates weapons. 3 swings with one 3 swings with the other. multistrike also since its lower dmg but higher dps over many atks, technically gets lowered dps because of the way armor and resistances work.
as of yet there hasn't been a monster to really make this point prevalent, probably until now...Queen bitch. Her armor and resistances are probably high enough to exploit multistrikes lower dmg hits and reduce them further - causing the one bit hits to be better overall dps, also considering time frame for attacks is not large so "dps" is not the way we should be looking at it.

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JunKx wrote:

few things to consider.

#1 vaal gems. i think its good to load up at least one to have as 2ndary dps. for instance vaal double strike is absolutely boss. im going to soon play around with lightning strike and compare the two, but right now with my vaal double strike load out it gives me a total dps of slightly over 120k. im not kidding you.

100% agreed. I only have Vaal Double Strike linked to Inc. Duration and Crit Damage - and the copy does some SERIOUS damage. What links are you using with Vaal DS btw?

Also agree on multistrike vs. armor and resistances - tooltip DPS will be really high from MS. For punch I think using Melee Physical on Full Life or WED for the more multipliers will get you some serious one hit damage. I am testing this right now, will see if leech is affected (I don't think it is), mana cost should be easier with lower mana multiplier too.

EDIT - so I tried taking out multistrike - problem is that we lose our ability to proc on hit status effects: especially Blind, and Freeze with crit from cold damage on Hatred. We also lose on AOE DPS because we have less projectiles over a point in time, and less piercing with the lower APS(60% chance). Without the Blind and Freeze for crowd control, and pierce for AOE - survivability becomes riskier. Had ~3APS without MultiStrike vs. ~6.5 with Multisrike, so I'll be switching back to MultiStrike.

ya my char also needs multistrike - the blind and just because i don't have another viable support gem to take its place for single target. im already running frenzy/multi/melee dmg on full life/added fire.

my current VDS setup is in my boots with multistrike, melee physical dmg and increased duration. since the shadow can't die increased duration is basically the biggest dps boost it can get and i don't even have quality gems with it yet.

i will be testing out vaal lightning strike when i get back on in order to compare with VDS. it would be great to cast both on a boss and let the double get the shock stacks (since i don't use shock) but for you the double would be doing much more dps than mine because you have crit and shock...win win win there.

i also tested vaal double strike for a couple of things. its dmg is based upon your base damage so using 2handers i think VDS is an absolute must. however you cannot swap switch and cast VDS so don't consider having a massive dmg 2her in a swap set and get the bonus to base dmg. props to GGG for not sucking on that point.

and in case you didn't notice i updated my thread finally, so all my current build and loadout is back there if you wanna see the ins and outs of my build

Thanks man. Just curious. I also link vaal double strike with increased duration and increased critical strike / add chaos dmg (3 link), but the tool tips dps is just 2k something, anything wrong?

Thanks

yes, it isn't the tooltip DPS its the tooltip damage per cast - so what you need to do is figure its dps out on your own. damage per cast is the damage per hit, so you need to multiply it by the attack speed of the shadow and the duration to know the full dps.

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JunKx wrote:

yes, it isn't the tooltip DPS its the tooltip damage per cast - so what you need to do is figure its dps out on your own. damage per cast is the damage per hit, so you need to multiply it by the attack speed of the shadow and the duration to know the full dps.

Yup - the tooltip is misleading for Vaal Double Strike. Other interesting gem to try with Vaal Double Strike is Culling Strike.

UPDATE - finished some reflect tests:
- phys reflect map
- -max, ele reflect map with double ele reflect aura mobs
- map with both phys and ele reflect mods

I will post some small videos later - but I had no issues and did not even see any reflect damage.

One more thing to test is low mana regen maps and Vaal Lightning Strike which I will try and do later today. Thanks JunKx for the suggestions.

I also need to upgrade flasks and try some new life flasks - if I can figure out a way to have high instant life regen that would be awesome.

EDIT: I think I figured out why the ranged boss in Apex (A'alai) does more damage than I expected - I believe her skill is Rain of Arrows which for some reason is not considered a projectile attack (although it can be modified by projectile nodes and damage) so Ondar's Guile does not apply when trying to evade her Rain of Arrows. Not 100% sure on this though..