2.0 Universal Shadow crit CI flicker strike build - Flicker is not dead!!!

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AWAKENING UPDATE
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Great News, guys!
After 2.0 Blood Rage and Leech nerf build is not dead! It is still as fun and effective as it was + even better with new Lockstep mode!

All you need is:


Check out a new video -> http://youtu.be/mGgGMTcC1p8

New 109 points tree:



As you can see, i have 5k ES w/o chest, so with good 500+ ES chest you will have 8-10k total ES!

Gear I used while testing:



Important note: If oyu have Acuity, you can try to take Zealot's Oath, and some regeneration nodes and run Blood Rage. W/o Ice bite gem you will still have 50% chance to get Frenzy on kill + insane regeneration:



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SHORT INTRO
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Hi everyone! First of all let me appologize for possible grammar mistakes, - English is not my native language =)

Playing PoE since release, i was looking for the most universal melee build, that will give me a good combination of survivability, AOE and single-target DPS, clear and movement speed.

I don't have enough money for mirror stuff at that time, so the second idea was - to make an effective build w/o end-game gear.

Why frenzy-flicker strike ? IMHO it's one of the best and combinations for both AOE and single target DPS + insane clear speed and good survivability (you are moving too fast and enemies die fast as well).

How does it work? Answer is - flicker strike + blood rage + a lot of frenzy charges (i currently run 7, but it's possible to get 1 more from corrupted boots). You kill -> get frenzy -> spend it for next flicker -> kill -> repeat. With 7 charges and multistrike you can do 21 flicker before run out of charges, - it means NEVER actually =)

Why ES, not life? If you are doing life-based build, it VERY hard to get more then 4.5-5k life (not using legacy Kaom) w/o sacrifice of descent DPS. ES + CI will give you FULL IMMUNE to chaos damage, that is great sinergy for Blood Rage chaos degen!

Pros & Cons of the build:

+ Good survivability
+ Very fast clear speed
+ Fast movement due to Whirling blades
+ Good single-target DPS
+ Does not need expensive gear to be effective and can be your first build in POE (or new league)
+ Very fun to play :D
+ Atziri capable

- Sometimes hard to control
- almost zero defences, exept ES-pool
- Not for Hardcore (see above)
- (double?)Reflect could be an issue

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DAMAGE AND DEFENCES (for 1.3)
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Flicker Strike Damage per hit = 13 385 x 1,5 with shock = 20 077. 5 attacks per second gives over 100k dps ! And it's with the Dagger that cost me 12ex !!! Immagine the mirrored one!

Frenzy DPS = 52 683 x 1,5 with shock = 79 024 !

New defences/offences:




If you have any ideas for futher improvement- please, feel free to share!

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PASSIVES AND LEVELNG (ubdated for 2.0)
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Untill level 50-55 (when you got good ES-chest and rainbowstride), you should progress as life + ES build. When apr. at level 55 switched to CI (you should take CI when coming to the left side of Act2 Miracles (clean the right one first) and you'll be around 55-58 level till that time.)

As for level progress - focus on flat physical dmg and ES (maybe some life nodes as well, you'll just re-roll them later), when on crit and block.

Lvl 60 tree (after taking Chaos Inoculation):

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYBBx4OSBGWFdcWvxmKGo8dqiLqKgsqOCy_LOE2PUZxRwZJUVWFVmNW9V3yX2pfsGqMbIxtbG-ecFJwVnC7cNV3B33jgwmGrocTidOOio_6kBuVLpfQmhObtZyknaqi2aXLpn-nNKxmsNixs7VIuT7DOsgUykrQ0Nh2227b1OGI53To1uwY7UHw1fPq9W_22vb8-wk=?accountName=BOOMbastik_RUS&characterName=Arago_the_Dark_Assassin

Lvl 88 tree:

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYABX0FtQceDkgPxBB7ES8RUBGWFdcWqha_GYoajxslHU8dqiLqJP0nqSoLKjgsvyzhLR8tVTW5Nj07fD3RPs9GcUcGSVFLrlFHVYVWY1b1XfJfal-waoxsjG0ZbWxvnnBScFZwu3DVdwd943_GgwmGrocTidONv46Kj_qQG5UglS6X0JmamhObtZyknaqio6LZpcumf6crpzSsZrDYsbO1SLjKuT695r46wfPDOsgUykrQ0Nh22VvbGttu29ThiOdU53To1ukC62PsGO1B8NXz6vVv9tr2_PsJ_94=?accountName=BOOMbastik_RUS&characterName=Arago_the_Dark_Assassin

Option 2 - more ES and DPS but less block:
http://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYBBX0HHgixDY0OSBB7ES8RUBGWFdcWvxzcIQMi6iL0KgsqOCpNLL8s4S1VNbk2PT8nP_xGcUcGSVFJsUrIS8RRTFZjVvVd8l9qY0Nl8WqMbAttGW1sbqpvnnBScFZw1XcHeA19W33jf8aDCYauhxOJ04wLjoqQG5MnlS6X0JmamhObtZykotmly6Z_pyunNKlurEesZrDYsbO0DLVItfK5Prl8vjrBxcM6yBTKStAJ18_Ydtsa227b1Nvn53ToZun-62PssO1B74jw1fLh8-r1b_b8-Tc=

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SKILLS
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1) Main AOE. You need at least 5L:
In 5l just through out MDoFL

2) Single target:

Auras: Discipline + Hatred + Herald of Ash (better in 4l with Enlighten)

CTDT (better lvl 8-12):

7) VAAL gem - Discipline for healing in critical situation, or Double strike / Vaal Haste for bosses will be a good choice.

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GEAR (1.3)
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My current gear - still a HUGE way to progress :)


Tips for gear:

1) Helmet - ES, accuracy, resistances.

One more good option - just get as much ES as you can:



Or
It'll give you a HUGE dps boost for the price of survilability - only if you are tough enough :D

2) Chest - You need R-R-R-R-G-G colours. 900+ES Vaal Regalia is the best. Saintly Chainmail or Carnal Armour is also fine: get more ES first, then Evasion and resistances. This one is also possible:



3) Dagger - flat physical damage, Crit (8.5%+). Bino's kitchen is good and if you have it, you can try to take Zealoth's Oath from the tree.

4) Shield - more ES, high block, resistances.

5) Amulet. Crit chance, crit multi, ES.

6) Rings - simple, here you need at least 2% mana leach, resistences, crit is good as well.

7) Gloves. For sure, Atziri Acuity is the best gloves in game for 90% of builds, but if you are not rich enough yet, just use Maligaro.

8) Boots - Rainbowstride =) Love these boots so much, almost all builds benefit from them. Spellblock + mana + ES + resists. Try to get +1 frenzy one)

9) Belt - Doryani's Invitation (physical) or +pdm +edm +res +es
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BANDITS
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Norm: Point
Curel: Physical (oak)
Merciless: Frenzy (Kraityn)

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MY CURRENT GEAR AND DPS
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Here is Double strike DPS with 6 frenzy, 5 power, Vaal haste and Atziri's flask:



Flicker strike Damage:



18 840 * 13.4 = 252k PDS :D

New defences (with Rumi's flask):


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Some videos (will upload more later)
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Before 1.3 - old version of build:


After 1.3 patch:

Came across your build on youtube and I've been loving it already at lvl 42. Rather cheap to build, and fun to play.

Would suggest that you put in skill trees at 20, 40, 60 and 91 to make it easier for people to understand progression. Otherwise eggcellent build!

"

fxspt22 wrote:

Came across your build on youtube and I've been loving it already at lvl 42. Rather cheap to build, and fun to play.

Would suggest that you put in skill trees at 20, 40, 60 and 91 to make it easier for people to understand progression. Otherwise eggcellent build!

Thanks, man)

I attached lvl60 tree (after taking CI) - this is the base of the build.

As for lower levels - it all depends on gear you have - just follow this logic -> focus on flat physical dmg and ES (maybe some life nodes as well, you'll just re-roll them later), when on crit and block. And balance DMG, ES/Life pool and resistances.

How come you don't run out of mana ? is the 2% mana leech enough ?
Tested * looks like it is

is this build beyond viable? looks like fun, I would like to try it out.

i dont want to sound hatefull,
but this build requires very high affordability, and by high i mean "REALLY HIGH",

As cool as it looks in the video its actually not that cool,
you need to kill enemy in 1 hit in order to do continuos flicker strike, and for that u really need VERY VERY HIGH end gear!!!

+ this build is very much shitty early on i.e no flicker strikes nothing,
you need to have good gear + atlest 40-50 level in order to do good 8-10 jumps at most,
and if you are unable to 1 shot enemies, u will just stop, the flicker will stop,
(this build is not viable in 1.2 patch too as frenzy as has been nerfed more than needed)

LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, this build is shitty in PvP,
and still if someone wants to try this build, Go ahead, Good luck, wasting ur time and energy!!!

Thanks for making this guide, having fun levelling with it.

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delpnazz wrote:

i dont want to sound hatefull,
but this build requires very high affordability, and by high i mean "REALLY HIGH",

As cool as it looks in the video its actually not that cool,
you need to kill enemy in 1 hit in order to do continuos flicker strike, and for that u really need VERY VERY HIGH end gear!!!

+ this build is very much shitty early on i.e no flicker strikes nothing,
you need to have good gear + atlest 40-50 level in order to do good 8-10 jumps at most,
and if you are unable to 1 shot enemies, u will just stop, the flicker will stop,
(this build is not viable in 1.2 patch too as frenzy as has been nerfed more than needed)

LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, this build is shitty in PvP,
and still if someone wants to try this build, Go ahead, Good luck, wasting ur time and energy!!!

Thanks for your reply!

But...

1) Where do you see high end gear? I use 276 pDPS dagger, witch i got for 10-13ex and gloves for 5 ex (non-legacy version cost only 1ex).Everything else could be better or worse. I didn't say, that this build is the best for new leagues or to be your first build, but if you have some currency it so easy to make it effective.

2) I never had ANY problems leveling up - before middle act 2 miracles the game could be passed by any character with any build and almost closed eyes. Then you get Chaos inoculation, descent emount of ES and maximize your dmg and crit.

3) IF you stop flickering you JUST kick them with Frenzy, get charges in second and start flickering again! Before i got CI and blood rage, I used only frenzy as a source of charges. Easy.

4) Build is NOT for PVP, since I don't play it

"

Craynet wrote:

How come you don't run out of mana ? is the 2% mana leech enough ?
Tested * looks like it is

I have 2% from gear + 2% from Mind drinker

The screenshot is too small :O