[2.0 SC] Ball Lightning Crit Scion, with a twist!
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Hello there!
This was a build I ran in 1.2 and now I am back to update it, offense is the same while defenses have been completely revamped with this new patch. It was a bit of time that I wanted to try new spells and a different way to play scion instead of the usual CoC/EK/ST stuff that's commonly played, a Ball Lightning crit caster that also deals cold damage! Let's start from the gem links: Ball Lightning +Added Cold Damage: Additional DPS. Quality for freeze chance is nice, but not mandatory. +Spell Echo: Must-have for every spell build. +Lightning Penetration: Another good option for extra damage. +Life Leech: Useful if you feel uncomfortable with reflect. (which you can mitigate by using the totem anyway) Currently I don't use it but I could change my mind some day. Remember that Catarina can craft lightning leech on gear (plus the Doryani's Lightning belt). You can replace this with another DPS gem, such as Faster Casting. +Increased Critical Damage: Late-game, probably the last link for extra damage.
Why Not this gem?
Increased AoE: Tested a bunch. Felt like didn't do much for a gem slot consumed.
Lesser Multiple Projectiles: A fine option that lowers your DPS in exchange of a triangular skill rather than a linear one. You are certainly aware that Ball Lightning doesn't shotgun. Well, some Spectral Throw builds use it anyway, so really, it's up to you. Slower Projectiles: More damage in exchange of less range? Nah. Faster Projectiles: More range in exchange of somewhat lower number of hits? Nah. Innervate: this new Lightning gem grants you a temporary increase of 20% to cast and movement speed when you kill a shocked enemy, plus you get an increase in shock chance. It's probably the gem in this section that's closer for me to try to find a replacement, but so far it seems that it could be outclassed by the other options that are already present. Secondary Skill: Arc + Spell Totem + Added Cold Damage + Elemental Proliferation/Faster Casting/Chain Self explanatory, will help you a lot in various situation, trust me. :) Proliferation has been nerfed heavily in 2.0, so if you don't like it anymore you can swap it with extra speed or extra targets (or even extra lightning damage), if you please. Movement: Lightning Warp + Reduced Duration + Faster Casting The usual Lightning Warp piece that's always nice to carry around. Ok, these are pretty much locked in from the offensive side, now let's talk about defenses. Originally, this was a MoM-less EB AA build (I chose to not run MoM because it doesn't pair well with reflected crits), with the new EB and AA, we have to rearrange the chairs a little bit. So far I'm testing the new EB, but feel free to switch to a normal life build if you don't like it.
100ish Point Passive Trees + To EB or not to EB?
Life and Mana
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAABLMHHghnC2EOSBGWFecWvxg8GFYaOB2DJpUnLyoLKlMtqDBbNZI62DrhPC1Bh0V8RnFG10lRTeNQQlM1VUtXKVnzXfJh4mSdZlRo8m-ecFJw1XGFcg9zs3cHfEt-WX_GgpuDCYNfg8yFe4cTidOMNo_6kFWTJ5M6lS6Vh5Z0l5eaO5ykoS-iAKZXrJevbLFCsZCycLQMtz631r0nvoC-isBmxq7K09Wm2L3bWeFz6_XsOO088B_wa_DV8h3yRfMR8-r56P4K_o8=?accountName=TheElementalist&characterName=AquamarineOfTheStorm
Pretty much your standard build, you just have to take a bit more mana points than before, and of course you have to reserve less for auras.
Life and Energy Shield
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAABAcFQgceDkgPxBFQEZYV5xa_FvMYVhslHU8dgx3ZJjwmlSepLJwtHy2oL50wWzW5O3xBh0GWQ1REq0V8RnFJUUmxTLNQQlM1VUtVrlXGXfJh4mSdaHRtGW-ecFJw1XOzdwd-WX_GghCCHoMJg9uHE4hCidOMNo-mj_qTJ5SglSCVLpWHl5ecpKEvoqOnK6yXrrOxkLQMtz631rjKuZO-gL6KwfPDCcrT0PXXz9hN2L3ZW9pi2wvbWd-w6_XviPBr8NXyHfRx-Tf56P4K
Pros: +No need for +% Mana and +% Mana Regen, or Clarity +Can run No Regen maps better than the mana equivalent +ES usually regenerates faster than mana and you can reach higher values easily +100% Mana Reserved: Wrath, Herald of Ice and Thunder, which means more damage +AR/ES gear is still relevant Cons: -You can't do potentially infinite casts anymore, you will have to wait 2+ seconds for ES to fully refill when it's depleted -Which is why you need to invest in +% ES recovery nodes That's pretty much what you need to know to make your own choice, further expansion of the tree can be reached in the Templar Area: Armor, Life, ES, Regen, Damage, there are a bunch of cool nodes actually.
Auras and Defenses
Life and Mana: I'd run Herald of Ice+Thunder+Clarity here, thinking about dropping AA and then you can either use pure Armor gear or even try Lightning Coil for extra physical mitigation. AA has become a somewhat stationary skill while this character more often than not plays as a kiter, but it's your preference to swap HoT with it. Life and ES: As mentioned before, double herald (or HoI+AA) + Wrath is the way to go. Use AR+ES gear. Other general advice on gems to run as defense: Enduring Cry / Immortal Call + Increased Duration Enfeeble + CWDT Tempest Shield, bonus with the always good Rathpith+Rainbows combo This build doesn't need any uniques, though there are some optional ones that could enhance it. It's generally expensive stuff anyway and you can run with random AR+ES gear just fine.
Archived 1.2 Thoughts
This is the 1.2 passive tree at endgame (100ish points) I keep it here for reference:
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgAA-egYPL0nkzoIZ5DWIcP5ZVfht9aDCbGQLajbWW-enKR3B4cTHNyTJ7QMRnF_xiepflmio9sLgh7B8w_EO3y4ypUgaxdqQ8BUvOoI9EyzLR_Q9UGWrrMsnAVCj6ZEq1Wu37CCEAQHVcaD29i9_gq3PkGHEZZJUfDVlS4HHvIdZJ3r9Y_6uZPDCQ5IXfJQQqIujDYmlWHiVUsWvyoLcFKJ03DV8-oW8y-dJjz79bQ45RlFfJeXbRm9glcr_rPpAt-K
100ish life, 400+ crit and a bunch of damage and cast speed. You don't need shock chance since shock doesn't stack anymore. You could expand this tree by getting more life in the scion wheel and/or general tankiness in the Templar/Marauder area. If you need extra damage, there is also extra cast speed and elemental damage right above the Shaper scion node, which is conveniently in front of more mana regen, in case you need it. Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Discuss below! ^_^ Greetings, Frozen Fire / The Elementalist Last edited by TheElementalist#3211 on Dec 1, 2015, 5:26:36 PM
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Update!
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It looks a little risky. What do you do for defence ? You do have +98% to life, but what do you do for elemental resists and physical mitigation ? Arctic Armour can take a little bit of physical and fire damage, but do you think it will be enough all by itself ?
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My own build runs Greater Multiple Projectiles for the leveling phase. Sure, it can't shotgun, but the massive amount of damage going out really handles problems coming in, especially in choke points like the Submerged Passageway. Defense is generally your ability to quickly handle the situation and move.
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Defenses: Currently I have AR+ES gear, Arctic Armour and 75% to all elemental resistances.
I am currently looking to get some numbers regarding a possible addition to the build, Rathpith+Rainbows. These two uniques combined to some block nodes could easily give me access to 40ish % block AND spell block chance, but I'm not sure if I will take those at the moment. Thoughts? GMP: Again, that gem decreases your damage and increases the area covered by the skill. If you say that you do "massive amount of damage", you'll do even more of that without it. |
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OK so... where do you get your resistances from? I'm following this build as I like the gameplay style and I've made it to the point where I can farm Docks on Merciless, but my resistances are absolute garbage.
Is it from jewelry alone? Any advice on jewelry? From the best pieces of jewelry I have, my resistances are 30% fire, 40% cold, and negative %'s for lightning and chaos. I tried snorting coke once. The ice cubes got stuck up my nose.
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2.0 Update in progress!
Major 2.0 changes to this build: -Arctic Armor reserves 25% of mana, but doesn't drain -Tempest Shield becomes free to try, yay! -Eldritch Battery works in a completely different way -No more Enduring Cry+Decoy Totem on CWDT The build now can go in two directions, with or without EB. These are the prototype 100ish point trees:
Life and Mana
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAABAcFQghnCPQOSA_EEZYV5xa_FvMYPB2DIcMmPCaVKlMsnC0fLagvnTBbNZI6WDrhO3xBh0GWRKtFfEZxTLNN41BCUzVVS1WuVcZX4V3yYeJilWSdakNrF20Zb55wUnDVc7N3B35Zf8aCEIMJg9uHE4nTjDaPpo_6kNaTJ5M6lSCVh5eXnKShL6Kjplesl66zsZCycLQMtz631rjKuZO86r0nvorAVMHFwfPDCcrT0PXYvdtZ37Dr9ewY8GvyHfJF-WX56P4K_o8=?accountName=TheElementalist&characterName=AquamarineOfTheStorm
Pretty much your standard build, you just have to take a bit more mana points than before, and of course you have to reserve less for auras. I'd run Herald of Ice+Thunder+Clarity here, thinking about dropping AA and then you can either use pure Armor gear or even try Lightning Coil.
Life and Energy Shield
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAABAcFQgceDkgPxBFQEZYV5xa_FvMYVhslHU8dgx3ZJjwmlSepLJwtHy2oL50wWzW5O3xBh0GWQ1REq0V8RnFJUUmxTLNQQlM1VUtVrlXGXfJh4mSdaHRtGW-ecFJw1XOzdwd-WX_GghCCHoMJg9uHE4hCidOMNo-mj_qTJ5SglSCVLpWHl5ecpKEvoqOnK6yXrrOxkLQMtz631rjKuZO-gL6KwfPDCcrT0PXXz9hN2L3ZW9pi2wvbWd-w6_XviPBr8NXyHfRx-Tf56P4K
Pros: +No need for +% Mana and +% Mana Regen, or Clarity +ES usually regenerates faster than mana and you can reach higher values easily +100% Mana Reserved: Wrath, Herald of Ice and Thunder, which means more damage +AR/ES gear is still relevant Cons: -You can't do potentially infinite casts anymore, you will have to wait 2+ seconds for ES to fully refill when it's depleted -Which is why you need to invest in +% ES recovery nodes Last edited by TheElementalist#3211 on Jul 22, 2015, 9:15:10 AM
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