[1.2.0] AcroBlock BoR Viper Striker

Having some troubles getting a BoR - not many avaliable on Rampage yet and the ones that are have been priced way too high. I'm almost at 67 now, so I'm going to take a break from this char once I hit the BoR level and wait until I can get my hands on one. It really changes the build a lot.

As far as leveling, it's been going well so far. I hit 64 yesterday and my damage has been really decent. Still using a 4L of Viper Strike > Melee Splash > Faster Attacks > Multistrike and only Haste for auras. Even without my major damage links and hatred it's clearing out packs well with a "DoT 'em up and move on" play-style.

With a 2% mana leech ring and 2% off the tree I can sustain the skill. For now - once I get BoR I will see how it goes.

Another update! Got this today...



...and I'm really excited to start to get together the end-game parts of the build.

Some notes:

- Added Chaos is a very nice tooltip dps increase as well as hidden dps increase with the DoT.
- I had to take a 30 int node as well as use a non-corrupted Stone of Laz to reach enough Int for Added Chaos - but this should be enough for a lvl 20 version of the gem, so that's not bad.
- Mana is a tiny bit sketch. I keep going out of mana for split seconds where I think I do stop DPSing - but it might just be for one hit, not sure, it's hard to tell.
- I think one of a few things needs to happen: a "minus mana" mod, another 1-2% mana leech, or leveling up reduced mana to get a tiny bit more pool to work from. I'm hoping the last part.
- I'm currently running a 150 PDPS sword, so maybe even upgrading that will sort out my mana. I'm hoping that a 300 PDPS will double my tooltip but I'm not 100% sure how that will work.

I still need to get the Atziri boot/belt, a better weapon, a high ES shield, better gloves and rings that don't suck. So...basically everything that isn't my BoR or Stone of Laz needs to change :P That said, I'm rocking 6.2k tooltip DPS without ANY of that! It's pretty nice when you factor in the tooltip not counting the DoT. I'm hoping a sword upgrade will take me well over 10k!

Very interesting. I am doing a very very similar build to yours mainly in gear but a little bit more focused on dagger damage and more shield block (with 38% shield I should be capped with BoR).

Aimed build:


So far I have found that most targets drop in 1 hit with crits. Spec'ing into more dots or even more chaos damage seems to be either too costly for the points or it will be amping damage I will never see as most targets drop like flies. When the dot is applied from a crit on a larger mob that lives more then one hit, it absolutely melts it. Mind you, I am only lvl 30 at this point. I did kill Val in normal with 10 swipes which was kinda nice :)

I have a few questions about your build.

How is your strength and int requirements working out for your support gems?
What are your mana costs like for VS in BoR with your current set up?
How limiting is running both grace and hatred? Grace seems tempting.
and lastly how is your durability? Are the dodges keeping up?

First I'll answer your questions:

How is your strength and int requirements working out for your support gems?

* I've had to pick up one 30 int node to run a high Added Chaos. I need a Str base belt as well for some of the more str heavy red gems. I'm planning to run a Dory's belt so that won't be an issue.

What are your mana costs like for VS in BoR with your current set up?

* 48 mana per three hits (multistrike). Mana is an issue. I'm trying some things out, but I am JUST on the cusp on being able to sustain it.

How limiting is running both grace and hatred? Grace seems tempting.

* Running Haste/Hatred all the time right now. Grace is always on hand, but have not needed it yet.

and lastly how is your durability? Are the dodges keeping up?

* Fairly decent with the BoR blind on phys. No deaths or issues yet. I chunk a fair bit still, but that is mostly spell Damage - still need to cap resists, having a hard time getting the right rings and affording the unique belt to cap them out - and the new flasks are super dandy so even that hasn't been a problem.

As for my build, I am currently playing around with some regret points and fine tuning it. I'm taking out all DoT/Chaos clusters except Entropy. It's zero travel points and for three points it is actually super efficient.

I still plan to focus on a hit-and-run style since I am not crit. White mobs mostly just die as if I was using dual strike, but for magic packs, rare, etc. I just tag it until I see a fair bit of DoTs circling and move on to another pack while it dies. The Chaos scaling is really nice, but now that I'm 100% set on using Foils, I can spec into the superior sword clusters. Any damage I do scales the DoT, so it should not change how I play.

Small update:

I'm 75 now and running 66~68 maps right now. On open maps, I don't drop rampage. It feels really nice. I still am not fully res capped (trololo~) but even helping friends in 70 Zana maps I've yet to die.

I never take a hit from a projectile attack. I rarely ever take a hit from anything melee. Spells are blocked often enough that they are not an issue.

I am really enjoying the CWDT > Temp Chains > Arctic Breath > GMP set-up. It really slows those attacks and casts down so I am hit way less. On top of that, though, the loud "THUD" that the GMP AB makes is a very good alert that something HAS gotten through all the evasion and I might want to pop a flask.

Can't wait to get gear that isn't shit and level up my gems.

I decided to start running a similar build to this on standard since that's where I've decided to settle during these leagues in order to focus on leveling my masters. I really liked the idea of going viper strike which lead me to this thread and it took me some time thinking and running numbers to decide that with my 60+ gear on standard that dagger would be best. Anyways I didn't get to level four before I decided that claws would suit me even more. And, hey, I'm going to do it on a ranger because I'm kind of sick of leveling shadows since this patch came out lol.

I spent a few more points (108) but I'm happy with the build and the mana leeching attached to Soul Raker should remove any mana issues. I took Mind Drinker in the planned build to be safe, but I'll likely be dropping it. I also ended up going Method to the Madness instead of Corruption since I wasn't going that way for dagger nodes. This allowed me to grab Charisma which is always useful. Since I'm not running a hardcore character, I also dropped some block and move speed.

Based quite a bit off ClaytonVerdun's tree that he posted


Probably going to run herald of ice and ash with hatred while I level, but I may move to hatred and grace/haste when I'm mapping, since by then my reduced mana gem and Charisma will support it better.

I went back and edited my original post to reflect all the changes I've made to the build since leveling and into early mapping.

I don't think much will change about the build at this point. If you are thinking of running it - or something similar - I would definitely say go ahead. It is a very solid build, IMO.

can you make a post with your current gears and gem links?

"

Giften wrote:

can you make a post with your current gears and gem links?

I've got all my gem links there in the first post.

As for my gear, it's really nothing special. I also have most of the important stuff about it in the first post.

Really, apart from the unique items, I just got 2% mana leech and -8 skill cost on my rings, attack speed on gloves and then everything else is life and resists to cap. Pretty basic.

Weapon is this currently (just upgraded):



The near 2.0 APS means I stack my DoTs like crazy. A slower weapon can be a little annoying if you miss a few of the 50% chance to DoT.

Would you be able to post a video of your playstyle?