Lightning Tendrils
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I don't know how the damage works out in the long run, but the crowd control potential on this skill is glorious. At the very least, it's a good skill for troll totems, maybe better than the flamethrower options (assuming LT works with totems).
It seems like shock passives are very important for this skill (more so than other lightning skills). You can't rely on crits, because the base chance is low and it's only rolled once per cast (which will take a while with Spell Echo). Chance to shock on the other hand seems to be rolled every time you hit a monster, so with a moderate chance per hit, you're almost bound to succeed in a short period of time. The duration threshold could also be an issue because of the low damage per hit, so increased duration passives could be quite important. |
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My active Bloodlines Character is currently a level 76 Templar with non-crit LT as the main skill. I have taken a different tack than any I have seen posted previously-one that doesn't need anything bigger than a 4L to work perfectly. I thought I would share it.
One of the biggest problems with LT is its mana cost, which becomes truly excessive in a 5L or 6L, necessitating either EB or many nodes invested in mana/regen. But the most special thing about LT (imo), that no one seems to mention, is that its damage scales tremendously by level. So I have chosen to use it in a +3 wand. LT+Lightning pen+inc Aoe. That's it. Offhand uses a second wand with good inc spell damage and some cast speed. The damage output is excellent, particularly because all of the nodes I would have to spend on mana to use LT in a 5L are instead spent on every decent lightning damage and spell damage node in the Templar and Witch area. Clarity/Discipline/herald of Thunder all run without running out of mana, and discipline can add to survivability instead of being sucked into the eldritch battery. A quality increased aoe gem and both aoe clusters give the skill a well ranged feel. I just added a carcass jack within the last level. Skill now reaches nearly to the edge of the visible map. Most non-boss mobs end up briefly perma-stunned well out of melee range. Tooltip dps is a little over 10k. Add virtually inevitable shock to bring to roughly 15k. Add Conductivity/lightning pen/lightning pen passives to reduce mobs lightning res by another 76%. Against mob without lightning res I believe the yield is a little over 26k dps that hits about half the screen (someone feel free to check my math). Warlord's Mark enhances the stun effect, provides extra survivability through leech, and handles reflect reasonably well as long as one is paying attention. Blows through maps up to 72--haven't gotten my hands on anything higher yet. Currently runs on 3400 life and a little over 1300 ES with discipline. Most fun I have had with a build since I started playing. We'll see how much longer it lasts. Hope some of you get to try it out. Also happy for any feedback. Skill tree is here: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUABAcEswj0CaoNzQ5cEFgRDxFQFm8XLxo4Gmwb8RzOHwIkiySqJy8rUCycLX0yNDW5NsU26TpYOtg8BT0PPV9FfkbXTLNSU1XGVdZXKWTnaPJqQ2r6bRlxhXYRfEt8u36vfseApIKbg9uLjI0ZkFWWdJeVl_SaO52un9-iAKcIpyusmLFCtYW86sAawFTAZsCawbTMt9V11abYJNlf2fza3d2M4BLjauQi5Ozli-w47TzvUO988B_53frS_lQ= I would post gear, but I'm not sure how, never having done any kind of write up before. +3 light wand, carcass jack, Doedre's ring are only items of note. Everything else is optional-life/resists/energy shield etc. Good luck! |
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I like this skill so far. Leveled a lighting witch to lv 62 in 2 days with it(was motivated because I finally made a 6link lv 80 vaal regalia with 590ES after ~5 Chaos). Skill is fun to use and is a real DPS powerhouse.
My plan is to use: Lighting Tendrils-faster casting/spell echo-lighting pen-life leech(very useful)-concentrated effect-increased AOE(to compensate) Currently I have only 3 gems in +2 wand but it really feels like I can "outdps" enemies who would kill me in ~2 sec... Imo one of the strongest Spells, but come at the cost of low range, which can be compensated with AOE. Currently I have +~36% increased AOE, but if I add those AOE gems it will be like ~40-30+~40, which will be even more(the +36% already feel sufficient, but more AOE/range will add safety) I did the math and compared faster casting with Spellecho, and both gems have really intersting down and upsides, but I think Spellecho is better because ~16% more DPS and lower total mana cost. I just have to see how fked up the "root" will be in maps... Btw.: I wouldnt go for crit but rather shockchance. You save a lot of skillpoints and affixes and I really think you will do enough damage without crit |
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This skill is quite overpowered. It simply does more damage than other lightning skills and you can get really good range with some investment in area skills. It can benefit from concentrated effect for a massive boost.
If I compare to arc with 5L pledge of hands, non crit build: arc (19/20) + faster casting + lightning pen + life leech + empower (lvl 3) = 12500 dps lightning tendrils(19/20) + faster casting + life leech + conc effect + increased area of effect = 40400 dps If I swap conc effect for lightning pen: 24300 dps My build use some shock chance and things are shocked constantly. I could build out of 5 area nodes and get 56% spell damage for arc, it would still be far behind. |
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Are you seriously just comparing listed DPS? :/ Because uh, Arc hits six or seven times, which the DPS display does not account for. Additionally, Arc basically has infinite range, which is immensely useful.
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" I am and LT hit an unlimited amount of targets with very good range. LT is simply better. |
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Hi all, I'm using a crit based Tendrils witch with maxed aoe.
At level 89 I'm leveling many Tendrils to try to get 21q20 via vaal most of my tendrils are now Lev 19 Quality 20 BUT they still do LESS damage than Lev 20 Quality ZERO... And I'm talking about 38k, 40k tooltip Is it normal? That 20% increased lightning dmg should not fill 1 o 2 levels of gap??? In many other active skill used 20% quality give you a very big boost! |
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All Increased and Reduced type modifiers are additive - the Quality bonus is simply added to your total Increased Lightning/Spell/AoE/etc. Damage pool, which is then applied as a single multiplier to your base Damage. The more Increased Damage you already have, the less impact another 20% is going to have.
Leveling LT from 19 to 20 grants you 10% higher base Damage. Higher base Damage -> higher yields from all your Increased/More Damage. |
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Hi, Vipermagi, thank you for your clarification, I was thinking at it as a specific increased dmg on the skill instead of a generic +lighing dmg.
So using the gem should increase also my lighing warp damage... I'll try and post feedback Thank you |
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Er, no. Lightning Warp is not Lightning Tendrils. Modifiers specific to one Skill have no effect on other Skills.
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