I Cast Magic Missile! - Cantrip's guide to Ethereal Knives 2.0

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CantripN wrote:

1 - I don't manual curse at all as I feel no need. If I did, it would probably be Projectile Weakness or Temporal Chains / Enfeeble.
2 - I'm running Clarity / Hatred / HoA / AA. HoI and HoT are all but useless in this build. Haste has always been, and still is, mostly garbage + now it raises the already hard to maintain mana cost per sec.
3 - The only kind of Reflect that's ANY problem is Phys Ref maps, and I swap in Phys to Light for those, making it a non-issue.
4 - Molten Shell on a build with Acrobatics? :D Check the defense tab, you'll see how pointless that is.

Glad to hear it's working out for you so far :)

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated. Phys to Lightning makes so much sense hah.

Just wondering what CoDT setup you run at the moment? My low level one is Warlords + Summon Skellies but I'm wondering if a high level with IC is even worth it?

IC is dead to us now. Might as well pretend it doesn't exist. Just War Mark and nothing else - currently linked to Increased AoE.

I'd be interesting in knowing what else you're using your links for if you could? Now that I've ditched the high-level CoDT I feel like I have a million free links and sockets that I could be using for something useful.

4L = Enlighten + 3 Auras or Heralds
4L = Flame Golem / GMP / Blind / your 4th Aura or Herald
4L = Increased Duration / Vaal Grace / Enduring Cry / Blood Rage
3L = Lightning Warp / Faster Casting / Less Duration
3L = CwDT / War Mark / Increased AoE
6L = EK / Faster Projectiles / Faster Casting / Spell Echo / Added Fire / Empower

My 4 Auras/Heralds = Clarity + Hatred + HoA + AA
Currently have Enlighten 3 and Empower 3, both very useful.

Other links that I've tried are:
Summon Skeleton on CwDT, Culling Strike + Rarity on the Golem, Rallying Cry instead of Enduring Cry, Hypothermia / Phys to Light / Life Leech / Mana Leech on EK.

*In general, Hypothermia is probably better for boss fights where the range isn't an option, but I like kiting.

*Phys to Light is used only for Phys Reflect maps instead of Faster Casting or Spell Echo, allowing me to not kill myself every shot (you still can't spam into a huge pack non-stop, that will still kill you eventually), and possibly Life Leech instead of Empower. (That's if you're not on a Tabula, I actually remove Empower first, Faster Casting second, since I don't care about colors).

*With the current state of mana, there is a chance you'll need a boost to mana regen in the form of Rallying Cry or Mana Leech until you have great gear.

*Enlighten 3 saves you the need to take the Scion Aura circle and 1-2 points from the Templar, so 4-5 points saved in total.

*Conversion Trap is a fun little trick to use with Increased Duration if you're feeling silly.

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Current Stats (level 86, another 130 life per level):
5500 Life + Acro
12% Regen, 8% left after Blood Rage (more if you account for Endurance Charges)
Over 1000 (!) HP/sec with Enduring Cry
~60K DPS with 7 Frenzy Charges (upto 70K with life-less Jewels)
Flasks:
1 - Jade, +20 Charges, Anti-bleeding (perfect would be Curse-immune)
2 - Taste of Hate
3 - Life Flask, Anti-Curse
4 - Life Flask, Anti-Freezing
5 - Atziri's Promise

As a side note, tried to do Atizi last night. Did the Vaals get Spell Echo on their Ball Lightning? Either way, made it to the 2nd room, made the mistake of leaving the Cycloner for last but did it anyway. I'm really not great at Atziri, but it's certainly viable.

I'm gonna do a CoC barrage character once the wipe hits, but since it needs at least a 5l I need a backup build to level up with. Seeing how OP your EK caster is I wonder if it will be good to build as one.

BETA Tree:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgIAm40ILu2DGY4AXtN-fXXvev667g5EDbvjo4rI8MSiI_ahIo19TZL0-DB8okBRR-dUjb8-zyT9BbXUI73m_97o1psm53QyAW1sshm1SM96BiPz6h9BKgsDHnBSFr-J0yaVcNVh4l3yVUsOSIw2EZYN0QceY0OVLvDVSVGP-uv1ZJ3yHTY9napsjGKsVYWlyzfU7T9qjPVvyBSi2bDY

One I get my wand and tabula its 15 respec points to remove the phys dmg + proj dmg nodes and beeline for the Wand+EB cluster.

Think this will be good clear speed to get me enough currency for tabula fast? Also what links to put for 4l EK? Ek-Echo-Added Fire-Proj speed?

Hopefully I can sustain crit charges on Assassin's Mark alone.

Also can i sustain mana on pots on 4l? Auras CLarity+Hatred while using EK, Grace+Heralds when i go CoC.

Why do people keep linking to the wrong tree? Offline planner? The proper Prefix :D is "http://cb.poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/".

Anyhow, people used to do that, play as EK and then spec into ST or Wander, the tree certainly allows for it.
Clear speed should be fine, as should mana on a 4L. Assuming you want clear speed, that is the right 4L, or maybe with Proj Speed replaced with Faster Casting if mana allows.

I really don't ever suggest relying on curses alone for charges, but luckily for you, EK doesn't need crit to work.

Yes, I was hoping for the same. If it does enough dmg without crit I can also drop the spell crits nodes above.

I want clear speed for faster currency&item farm. Also thinking of putting EK on spell totem for faster boss killing.

The new cold dmagage + proj speed cluster below ranger gave me the idea to go Freezing Pulse, but EK seems to just scale better. FP has around 20% more damage, but doesn't scale of hatred, added fire and needs GMP/LMP for clear speed.

Just posting my Beta DPS stats with all Life Jewels (and minor damage mods), can be about 70K base with pure DPS Jewels.
The order is damage without Frenzy, 7 Frenzy, Taste of Hate + Atzri's Promise.
This is for Level 86, EK level 23 (all gems level 18-19, q20, Empower 3, Tabula +1, decent gear overall).
You want more DPS, add Hypothermia.

Not sure I'll use it next time I try EK (won't be doing it this stage of Beta), but:
"Vaal Pact no longer penalizes the amount of life Leeched, it will now apply 100% of life leeched instantly, while still not allowing Life Regeneration.
Vaal Pact has also been moved to between the Shadow and Ranger on the passive tree."

That's... interesting :)
Makes for a contrast to using Blood Dance, but still amazing with Atziri's Step. RIP Mana costs.

Final tree update before 2.0:
TREE

After that, get the rest of the life passives you can get - Devotion near Templar, Blood Drinker near Shadow, or the Scion Life tree, more Jewels, or the Templar's entire bottom start with Life and Mana + Regeneration.

Bandits:
Life (Oak) / Point (Kill All) / Frenzy (Kraityn)

LEVEL 100