Velvet's elemental buzzsaw {crit} ~ Atziri deathless/map clearing 1.3 Updated!

I put the section on bandits at the end of the Skill tree chapter. I hope it's more visible now for everyone. And ty Ark for the helping hand :)

PS: I still can't play :-/ My computer is busted and I'm on my gf's laptop now, but it's pretty old and decrepid to run PoE. Soon...

Hi I was hoping you could look at my build and give me some tips. Based on your guide. :P

Skill tree:


Gear:


I'm very torn between gmp and lmp. I mainly use gmp cause it seems like it hits more often. With gmp 20/20 my dps is 8,424 with 5 pwr charges. With a lvl 18 lmp 0q it's 11,183. I might finish lmp and just start using it, if I find it helps my clear.
ALSO, I've found when I want to off-screen this thing really helps:

Using this + Saf really helps when I got wuss mode in some maps.

I also like to take my blood magic gem and swap it with WED for no regen or -50% regen maps. Works very very well. Idk if you've tried that but it really helps.

Anyway just looking for some advice on my build/tree.

Thanks!
(BTW I'm lvl 90)

EDIT- how come in your 1.3 update you said that maligaros are a good alternative? How exactly does it help the build?

@Vivian46

Hello Vivian! I have good news and bad news :D The good news is that at lvl 90 with your level of gear it's almost impossible to not get dps above 20K. The bad news is that you will have to change a bit your passive tree and gem setup first of all, as well as invest in a new dagger probably. So I hope you have some orbs of regret and some currency. Here are my advice:

A. Skill tree
#1. What is up with the trap damage nodes in the right side of the tree? You're supposed to grab Adder's touch instead! I assume that's just a mistake you made in poebuilder, but if it is like this in game fix it asap :D
#2. You have insane reduced mana reserved. I guess it's because you are running Haste. But trust me if you run Wrath + Anger + HoI + HoT you will have the same DPS as Wrath + Anger + HoI + Haste, with a lot less mana reserved (and maybe even less mana problems!). So try to switch Haste with HoT.
#3. 'Grab Inner Force' cluster right above the 'Shaper' node. Auras take 'buff effect' bonuses so this will increase your DPS a lot.
#4. If you want to keep using PCoC (and I don't blame you for that at all, although I use FA in that slot) then you should maximize the value you get out of it by taking a 6th PC in the left side of the tree.
#5. As long as you're using the self cast EC+IC setup take 'Potency of Will' cluster. It has nothing to do with DPS but 45% increased IC duration is nothing to sneaze at.

Overall I think this is how your tree should look like:

@Vivian46

B. Gem setup
#1. Drop Haste and take up herald of Thunder, for the reasons mentioned in the previous post. If you do that you should be fine gem wise. This is the only quick fix I can think of, but if you are really ambitious:
#2. IF you have some currency and you like to fool around, try using Faster attacks gem instead of PCoC. You can still generate the Power charges using Assasin's mark, either self cast or cast by HoT and this will further your DPS a lot, although it will not be as reliable to generate the charges. So if you decide to do this, I would limit myself to 4 or maximum 5 power charges (consider taking away the PC+PC duration from the left side of the tree and even switch the PC from alira to something else, point or even endurance charge).

C. Gear
#1. The dagger. It's the weak link in your gear by a large margin unfortunatelly. You don't need 6 mods on it, but having high attack speed and crit is crucial. If you find a dagger with 37% local crit, you will literally be having 37% more crit chance. Obviously, you can also get closer to 2 APS. I had some good daggers and I generally sell for cheap to anyone who uses my build, but I am all out right now :-/
#2. I have an amulet that is maybe a strict improvement of yours:

As per usual, I will sell for cheap, say 15 chaos or so. Hit me up with a reply if interested.
#3. About gloves: Maligaro's was always good for this build, but in 1.3 it because particularely good since it's much harder to get 50% and 35% multi from the tree (you get more value). But gloves with high AS and some accuracy are just as good (if not better if you have a good HP roll and/or need some resists).
#4. Are you not overcapped on resists? I am not sure of it, but if you are maybe you would consider reshuffling things around to sweeze some more offensive mods on something. For instance, WED on your second ring.

Well that's all I can say off the top of my head. There might be some other improvements, but for now that should be enough to work with :D Hope this helped and good luck out there ;)

Thanks for the speedy reply. c:<

A. Skill tree
#1. Uhhhh yeah that was a mistake LOL actual tree doesn't have traps
#2 I'll try to switch out the haste. I really like movement speed so I was being greedy and kept it. I like running fast. Plus the extra attack speed. But yes I do have some mana problems despite my insane mana reservation lol I must fix.
#3 Oh I didn't realise auras got those bonuses. I'm not really sure what I thought honestly. I skipped getting those cause they didn't sound appealing. Wurf.

B. GEMS
#1-2 Yeah I guess I'll just replace the PCoC and get the point from Alira. If I have that hard of a time with charges I can use a fancy flask or something.

C. Gear
#1 I read the part of your build about the ambushers and that the base dps was the same or something like that so I found an ambusher and just threw it in there I didn't know what I was doing honestly hehehehehehhehehehehehehehheheheh
#2 Oh I like that amulet better. I'll buy it from you c:
#3-4 I'll try out the Maligaro's and see any difference, but I guess since I'll be making other mods to my build there will already be a difference. And yeah my second ring isn't the greatest unfortunately. Still looking for a better one.

Thank you so much for the help. I'll do the modifications and after my build sees some improvement I will post update!

Thanks for the guide! I have a couple questions. I plan on using the "my own" skill tree section, but wanted to try a different setup for gems. I plan on using the ST setup, but GMP and faster attacks and leaving out the crit strike gem. I also plan on using all heralds+clarity for my auras in alphas howl. CWDT as usual and leap slam for mobility. If I follow your skill tree and am able to buy the gear you suggest or close to it will I be able to run all maps with little to no problem? I'm already level 16 and am leveling fast, but if this won't work I don't want to keep leveling it. Thanks for any help or advice!

@FeatherGunSoul

#1. You are free to wiggle around with gems as you wish. Faster attacks should give better DPS boost than ICS on most setups. Also you can use GMP if you like (I do as well, depending on the situation). When it comes to the auras I don't really get what you want to do. Clarity in alphas? Elaborate please :D

#2. If you reach similar gear to mine and lvl 90+ you will have a breeze in most maps, given that you don't run some crazy mods like blood magic or no regen. Also, you will obviously be able to do Atziri deathless. And just for the record elemental buzzsaw with crit is Uber capable. I will try it soon enough and tell you how it went :) At the moment I have 32k DPS without power charges, Atziri's or Vaal Haste. We will see...

#3. Many people have been complaining about leveling up this build. In the mid levels I think it's somewhat of a struggle. And I would understand why, since crit builds are more pretentious and not as effective then. So take my leveling guide with a grain of salt or even consider leveling as a non-crit buzzsaw until you reach a high enough level.

Overall, it should be clear that this build works for 1.3 if that was your general curiosity. And if you ever have questions/run into trouble I will try to help. That is, if someone else in this thread doesn't beat me to it :D

"

SFXisMag1c wrote:

@FeatherGunSoul

#1. You are free to wiggle around with gems as you wish. Faster attacks should give better DPS boost than ICS on most setups. Also you can use GMP if you like (I do as well, depending on the situation). When it comes to the auras I don't really get what you want to do. Clarity in alphas? Elaborate please :D

#2. If you reach similar gear to mine and lvl 90+ you will have a breeze in most maps, given that you don't run some crazy mods like blood magic or no regen. Also, you will obviously be able to do Atziri deathless. And just for the record elemental buzzsaw with crit is Uber capable. I will try it soon enough and tell you how it went :) At the moment I have 32k DPS without power charges, Atziri's or Vaal Haste. We will see...

#3. Many people have been complaining about leveling up this build. In the mid levels I think it's somewhat of a struggle. And I would understand why, since crit builds are more pretentious and not as effective then. So take my leveling guide with a grain of salt or even consider leveling as a non-crit buzzsaw until you reach a high enough level.

Overall, it should be clear that this build works for 1.3 if that was your general curiosity. And if you ever have questions/run into trouble I will try to help. That is, if someone else in this thread doesn't beat me to it :D

Thank you for the quick response! I'm going to put 3 heralds + reduced mana in alpha's howl and run clarity with blood magic like you suggested. It seems it would free up a lot of mana while still being just as effective as running the other auras you suggested unless i'm wrong then i'll switch out what I need to. Is it possible to run 3 heralds + clarity without blood magic and sustain enough mana to spam my ST attack? I honestly don't care about killing atziri right now. I have been playing for a while now and still haven't found a build I like that can run 74+ maps without running into trouble, so until I find a solid build i'll leave atziri alone. I'm probably going to stick with aurumvorax's until lvl 50 or so then look for a good mid game dagger I can use until I can buy a solid ambusher. Other gear I pretty much have other than a 6 link which i'm trying to sell my 6l carc to get what I need, so that shouldn't be a problem. What did you use for leveling?

@FeatherGunSoul

About auras: let's have a short recap of how the build works shall we? I use flat elemenatal damage combined with high attack speed and high crit. The build requires no physical damage so Herald of Ash is pretty useless (since it scales percent-wise off of guess what? physical damage). So the auras that can help your DPS are Wrath, Anger, HoT, HoI and Haste. In 1.3 Haste is a waste (sounds familiar?) in my opinion since it improves your DPS by about the same ammount as one of the Heralds while reserving more than twice the mana. So in truth you are left with 4 possible auras for damage. I use all these 4 and I recommend the same as soon as you have the levels in clarity and gear to back you up. While leveling, try and see what fits, keeping in mind that Wrath and Anger are each pretty much equivalent to both Heralds combined.

About gear: I used a 5L/tabula until I got my hands on a 6L. Now I would recommend anyone that is gearing up for this build to aim for a 6L Belly of the Beast (it's probably the best option at the moment). But I have to say that I leveled this char during patch 1.0 (not 100% sure, I can't really remember) as a standard ele buzzsaw and when the next patch came out I switched to crit.

Note: Some people have had problems leveling up. Just use some common sense. If you can't sustain the mana consider using a blood magic gem. If you have trouble with accuracy or low crit rate consider leveling as a standard ele buzzsaw (i.e. rush res technique and focus on nodes without crit until you have the necessary gear). Many people have done it though even in the fresh leagues (check mathil's channel etc.) so don't get discouraged too easily.

Good luck!

Hey velvet! First of all , thank you for this amazing ST Guide! I have a question for ya : I am currently 88 and have 2 nodes that give me +8% extra reduced mana reserved than you have and i cant run PoF+PoL+Wrath+Anger because my mana pool becames something beetwen 30~40 mana left. By the way , i am playing as shadow. I cant figure it out why i have so much less mana than you have . Hope you can help me :3

The rest of my build its exactly like yours