[1.2.4] Dual Curse Crit Tendrils Freezer [Lvl 85, ~50k DPS, EB/MOM] - Any advice appreciated!
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Word of Madness' Crit Lightning Tendrils Build
 Hello everyone! I had a quick play around with the two new lightning skills added in 1.2.4, and found them both a lot of fun to use so aimed to make a build around them. Not being an uber-hardcore player, I’m probably a little slow to the show since I can't farm to 90 in a few days, but I thought this would be a good spot to showcase my build to give others some ideas, or a template to copy, and at the same time be a place where I can get some feedback from other players to see where I can improve it. This build uses Lightning Tendrils as a main spell, with a dual curse on hit Ball Lightning, and Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice to boost the damage of the spells, as well as provide their extra on-kill effects. I use a Three Dragons to allow my lightning damage to freeze, and the cold damage from Herald of Ice becomes fire damage with chance to shock from the Pyre ring. For defense, I have Cloak of Defiance, Arctic Armour and a Cast when Damage Taken setup. I’ve noticed my Ball Lightning Curse on Hit does a decent amount of damage, and looking at the passive tree and rest of the gear, I’d do a Ball Lightning build fairly similarly, so the set up is fairly flexible. You could probably even switch on the fly for a hard map/boss where you needed to keep your distance. The other flexible part of this build is I end up touching the start of Shadow, Witch, and Templar, so it could be viable as any of those. This was built in rampage. Although I haven't died since I stupidly attempted a double boss multi-proj Orchard map in my late 60s, the build doesn't feel tanky enough for HC, and I wouldn't use in there in it's current form. It's easy enough to drop some damage and head towards the Scion life wheel though. 
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Great damage Fun to play Great pack clear speed Can use Lightning Tendrils from level 2 till end-game Relatively cheap (I’d guess 3-5ex total value on gear/gems, and could easily save a lot by using a 4L Cloak of Defiance without too much detriment) Isn't super-slow on 75% lightning resist of enfeeble maps. Easy to respec to Ball Lightning if you don’t like Tendrils, and an Arc build wouldn’t require too many changes Cons: Short range Defense is mediocre (primarily from lack of life) Reflect can be an issue (Individual rares are fine, be slow and careful against packs, avoid reflect maps) Single target damage isn’t amazing Slows down if you lose momentum and drop herald effects and power charges
Gem Setup
Lightning Tendrils
The support gems are very flexible, the only thing I’d consider mandatory is Faster Casting. It helps with DPS and reduces the time you’re locked in one spot.
Current 5L: Tendrils, Conc Effect, Inc AOE, Added Chaos, Faster Casting. Options: Concentrated Effect - Run paired with Increased AOE for a big damage boost while only sacrificing a little AOE overall (30% increased then 30% decreased ends up being 0.91, not 1.0). This pairing is also fairly mana intensive, so skip it early on before you have good mana regen from gear and passives. Added Chaos - Extra damage, byspasses armour/ES and lessens the impact of reflect. Added Lightning - A little more tooltip DPS than Added Chaos, but will be a little less in practice. Will help more for scaling freezes and lightning leech though. Lightning Penetration - Great for anything with elemental or lightning resist, and still adds a little damage to enemies without them. Spell Echo - I’d only use this for boss fights. It locks you in place for too long, and causes inconsistency, since if you don’t roll a crit, you’re now missing crits for 8 casts, and if you do roll crit, you don’t need 8 casts to kill most things. The tooltip DPS is way higher, but I find clear speed is lower in practice. Power Charge on Crit - I get enough power charges from Assassin’s Mark, so this isn’t necessary. Could be worth it if you want to run a different curse though. Critical Damage - Lots of extra crit damage, could be worth running once you stack enough crit or for a 6L
Auras
Clarity, Herald of Thunder, Herald of Ice, Reduced Mana.
Curse on Hit
Ball Lightning, Curse on Hit, Elemental Weakness, Assassin’s Mark.
I’ve tried using Herald of Thunder as my Curse on Hit, but prefer this setup. You can switch the curses around for a bit more defense. Enfeeble is nice since you can switch it in and out without worrying about socket colours. If you wanted something more permanent, Temporal Chains is a good option, even Warlord’s Mark might be viable for the leech and endurance charges. Ball Lightning does a decent amount of damage on it's own, so it doesn't feel like a wasted cast either
Lightning Warp
Lightning Warp, Faster Casting, Reduced Duration.
CwDT
Cast when Damage Taken, Enduring Cry, Immortal Call, Increased Duration.
I’ve tried Frost Wall in there, I didn’t like it, but it’s another option for you to try out.
Extras
Arctic Armour
With 2 gem slots remaining, I decided to run Vaal Storm Call linked to Spell Echo to get 2 casts for one set of souls. Vaal Storm Call is fairly spammable, so you can set it to clear one room/group while you deal with another. You could also consider Vaal Spark. There’s potential to make this a 3 link, and run the Arctic Armour in a spare gem socket somewhere else (like if my Cloak was 6S5L rather than 5S5L). You could also potentially run it in the boots, and remove Immortal Call or Increased Duration from the CwDT setup, then place it in one of the daggers. You'd probably need to use Vorici to get a 3R Divinarius though, so it won't be cheap.
Gear
All Current Gear
Explanations and Options
Chest - Cloak of Defiance
This is a great chest. It provides MOM to help with defense, as well as some mana, ES and mana regen to help with the defense, while also providing a reasonable amount of evasion. I bought mine for a little under 2ex when the standard price was 2-2.5ex. I believe they’re a little more expensive now. Keep in mind the Vorici recipes for sockets and links if you spot a super cheap one. It’s also pretty cheap to craft a 4S4L with Vorici for under 5c if you’re on a tight budget, damage won’t be drastically lower. Carcass Jack can also be really strong is this slot due to the increased AOE radius and damage. Life resists and a decent amount of armour and ES don't hurt either. I'm not sure how I'd edit the build to reflect the change in defense mechanism though.
Helm - Three Dragons
Used to allow lightning damage to freeze, and cold (via Pyre) to shock. I bought one for a chaos then used Vorici to get the sockets and links.
Belt - Doryani’s Invitation
Not necessary by any means, but it’s hard to pass up decent resists, added lightning damage, and a little bit of leech. The strength also helps meet some gem requirements without needing to pick up extra passives. These can often be a little pricey, but if you’re patient you can often get a great price on one.
Ring 1 - Pyre
Used to convert cold damage from Herald of Ice to fire so that it can shock with Three Dragons. Resists are passable. I used one of the many in my stash, but if you need to buy them, they’re cheap as chips.
Ring 2 - Doedre’s Damning
Used purely for the extra curse. There is the option here to use the Windscream Boots. I had a Doedre’s drop, so it made the choice easy. Windscreams will provide higher resists than Doedre’s, and will add some extra damage too. The main downside is that they don’t allow you to build evasion and limit you to a 10% move speed boost. They both seem to go for 15-25 chaos.
Weapons - Dual Wield Divinarius
Crit and spell damage alone make these nice spellcaster daggers, but the AOE radius is especially helpful with Lightning Tendrils since the range is quite limited. You can pick up low rolls for a handful of chaos, higher rolled ones are a bit more expensive. Go for whatever your budget can afford. Spell damage seems to scale better than crit chance.
Amulet
This is a pretty decent amulet for this build. Lightning leech is great. It also has spell damage and cast, albeit in fairly low rolls. There’s mana and ES to boost my mana pool, and a nice mana regen roll to keep it topped up. There’s a lot of variety in what will work for an amulet. Anything that boosts damage is going to be nice, so keep your eye out for spell damage, cast speed, lightning damage, crit chance and crit multi. Life is always good. It’s good to grab mana regen here since you won’t be getting any on other gear, although there’s a fair bit on the tree if you can’t get it on the amulet.
Gloves
Mediocre, but they were cheap, and do most of what I need. You’ll want ES on them somewhere since you’re going to be rolling 4B or maybe 3B1G. Life and resists as usual, getting some dex can help save passive points. Another option for the gloves is Voidbringer. Since they have no resists you’d need to pick them up elsewhere. The amulet is an obvious spot, but there also room for improvement on the boots, or the potential for the better resists from the Windscreams, and use a rare ring with some good resists (and cast speed, lightning damage and life if possible). The Voidbringers also increase the mana cost of skills, so you may have to go with support gems that have lower mana multipliers on Lightning Tendrils.
Boots
Again, pretty mediocre. Look for life, resists, and move speed. Like the gloves, a little dex can help too. Make sure you get armour or armour hybrid since you’ll be wanting to roll 4R.
Flasks
Fast Heal - Catalysed Eternal with remove curse/shock/bleed/freeze. Instant Heal - Seething with remove curse/shock/bleed/freeze. Sustain Hybrid - Saturated with remove curse/shock/bleed/freeze. With enough leech and mana regen this won’t be necessary and can be substituted with another instant heal, or a utility flask. Surgeon’s Jade of Reflexes - Could also go for one with extra charged so you can get 2 uses out of it without needing a refill. Increased charged gained may be viable too. Quicksilver - A few possibilities here. I use +move speed and increased charged gained. You could also use increased max charges for more uses without a refill. If you don’t want/need the move speed then you could switch for another utility flask. Doedre’s Elixir is an option to help maintain charges during big breaks between combat. Atziri’s Promise also has potential with the increased damage and leech.
Skill Tree
Current - Level 80
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgYABAcFQgVbBx4I9A5IEFgRlhOeFE0V5xZvFr8aOBpsHwIkqiaVKU8snDbFNuk8BT1fQZZFfEbXSVFMs1AwUlNVS1XGVytdxl3yXypgbWHiY0NqQ2sXbRlwUnDVc7N2EX4zf8aCHoM4g9uFfYnTi4yMNpBVlSCVLpeVl5eX9J2Ana6f36IAoqOkkacIp4Sus7UEvOq9gsBUwfPQ9dgk2t3bC9te4XPjauQi6-TsOO0g73zwa_DV_rPyHWSd6_WP-t-K6QJ-WQ==
Intended Path - Level 92
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgYABAcFQgVbBx4I9A5IEFgRlhOeFE0V5xZvFr8aOBpsHwIkqiaVKU8snDbFNuk8BT1fQZZFfEbXSVFMs1AwUlNVS1XGVytdxl3yXypgbWHiY0NqQ2sXbRlwUnDVc7N2EX4zf8aCHoM4g9uFfYnTi4yMNpBVlSCVLpeVl5eX9J2Ana6f36IAoqOkkacIp4Sus7UEvOq9gsBUwfPQ9dgk2wvbXuFz42rkIuvk7DjtIO988Gvw1f6z8h1knev1j_rfiukCflk6WASz8B-2-vemjmQfxyt4bIydqjY944RirA==
Intended Path - Level 100
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgYABAcFQgVbBx4I9A5IEFgRlhOeFE0V5xZvFr8aOBpsHwIkqiaVKU8snDbFNuk8BT1fQZZFfEbXSVFMs1AwUlNVS1XGVytdxl3yXypgbWHiY0NqQ2sXbRlwUnDVc7N2EX4zf8aCHoM4g9uFfYnTi4yMNpBVlSCVLpeVl5eX9J2Ana6f36IAoqOkkacIp4Sus7UEvOq9gsBUwfPQ9dgk2wvbXuFz42rkIuvk7DjtIO988Gvw1f6z34rpAjpYBLPwH7b696aOZB_HK3hsjJ2qNj3jhGKs3YzZX-ASjRl-rxEPiig740T7TC1kCfPqKgs=
Leveling Tree - Level 40-50ish
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgYAFeeXl0V8c7Pwa4w2pJETnl3yfjNh4lVLJpUWv0lR8NWVLgceEZYOSGpDwFS86msXlSDB86Kjf8ZtGQj0PV9SU5f0QZaus0yz0PUFQnYREFgsnFXGg9sEB3BSidNw1ZeV
Leveling Tree - Level 60-70ish
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgYAFeeXl0V8c7Pwa4w2pJETnl3yfjNh4lVLJpUWv0lR8NWVLgceEZYOSGpDwFS86msXlSDB86Kjf8ZtGQj0PV9SU5f0QZaus0yz0PUFQnYREFgsnFXGg9sEB3BSidNw1ZeVNsUfAtgkpwgabJ2u42o26SSqFm_kIkbXXca1BClPGjjsOJBVp4Sf34uM4XPtIO98PAU=
Bandits
Normal - Help Oak - +40 Life Cruel - Kill All - Skill Point Merciless - Help Alira - +1 Max Power Charge
Stat Tabs
As of Level 80, to be updated for level 85.  DPS is 26-27K with 7 power charges up. Could push higher with spell echo, but I don't like it. 
Videos
WIP
 I hope to hear any optimisations I can make, or any ideas I can add, if this gives someone their own ideas for a Tendrils build, or provides a good template, then even better. Thanks for dropping by! Last edited by Word_Of_Madness#0829 on Nov 7, 2014, 5:58:34 AM
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Reserved post if it's needed for some reason.
Last edited by Word_Of_Madness#0829 on Oct 31, 2014, 9:05:51 AM
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Okay, so I see you still haven't gotten any feedback on this build. Not sure why, your write up is great, and the build is tons of fun!
I was looking for some thoughts on a Tendrils build that wasn't a witch (only because I'm tired of playing witch) and this one fit the bill so I thought I'd give it a run through, making some minor changes as I went. I'm just wrapping up merciless now, so I haven't started mapping yet, but here are my early thoughts. First off, I lucked out and 6 linked my CoD when I was shooting for 5 links, so I'm working with a BBBBBR build. I'm currently using Life leech in the red slot, because I don't have a good lighting leech item. As I'm using Voidbringers, I may use a reduced mana there when I get the gem high enough and a lightning leech somewhere. Perhaps an empower. Not sure I feel like gambling for 6B link. Regarding Spell Echo - not sure one way or another. Damage is definitely higher, but not drastically. However, I don't really notice much of a difference regarding how long I'm committed to the cast animation either. Still playing around with it. One BIG benefit to echo: Because it lowers the number of actual casts you make (one click = 2 casts, but at mana price of 1), using it means I can run Voidbringers. Swapping it out for any other support at the moment pushes the mana/sec cost higher than I can currently support with AA. Faster casting seems like a must, as is Increased AOE for trash and Concentrated Effect for bosses. Easy to swap the latter two as necessary. Tried added Chaos, wasn't impressed, but I'm still not mapping so I haven't bumped into much reflect. I've been playing with Elemental Proliferation, and it seems to be working amazingly. Trash/Blue and Yellow Mobs are pretty much freeze locked quite often, and I'm not even using my Divinarius' yet. I'm using Windscream, because I don't have a D. Damning ring, and it helps with the resistances as my ring slots aren't great, and the Voidbringers don't have resists. Armor on it is kind of a wasted attribute, but neither armor/evasion are high enough that I think they're contributing anything to defense. On that note, I am a bit squishy feeling, but it's not as bad as I expected - haven't died yet, but had some close calls (corrupting blood stacks crazy fast). Pretty much par for the course for casters, if not somewhat better. I corrupted a +4% mana shield mod onto my Three Dragons, and that seems to be helping. Anyway, I'll keep leveling this to maps, because it has one really strong thing going for it - it's such an entertaining build. Last edited by Quadricwan#2514 on Nov 15, 2014, 2:18:34 AM
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Cheers! Making fun builds is my aim, even if they don't have the fastest clear speed of best defense. If they do, then that's a bonus.
Empower could be good if you don't want to blow a bunch of fuses on getting 6B. Leech is also nice, I'd run more on my weapons if I didn't need the AOE from Divinarius. I think having some gems to swap in and out for certain situations would be beneficial, and I sometimes do that with nasty bosses anyway with the different curses. Conc effect + spell echo for bosses, switch to AOE + something else for trash. I'm usually lazy though, so I often end up with things like added chaos that work okay all round. I've also made the switch to Voidbringer recently to bring my crit rate up to help with consistency, in doing so I've switched to the Windscream boots to get a little extra resists since I can't afford GG items to fill out the last little bit of resists. I'm still testing a couple of things, but all going well I'll get a few updates to the thread shortly. I find I'm freezing everything anyway, so prolif wouldn't help much, it may help with the shock though, but I find it difficult to make out of an enemy is shocked or not, so it's hard to tell. Defense isn't the greatest, but freezing everything helps with that, and careful play should cover the rest. Most of my deaths come from silly things: "I wonder I can tank Dominus +damage touch of god?" "No". Not HC viable, since one death is the end of you, but it's no biggie if you die 1/100 maps on SC. I haven't had too much trouble with CB since I run remove bleed on two flasks, but really I should have something else on the other, I just haven't been compelled to sit there with a few stacks of alts. I haven't had a chance to look at corruptions yet, but the MOM effect sounds nice. +2 Vaal Gems could work nicely too with Vaal Storm Call, since I find between it, the Heralds and Ball Lightning I don't really need to use Tendrils too much aside from Bosses or tough rares. It'd need a bit of fiddling with links, and might be hard to get socket colours, but it's something I might look into when I go shopping for GG gear. Keen to hear how you get on with maps. I've got a few low 70 runs recorded(terrible luck with sustaining mid 70s this time around, might have to just buy a few). It's been a while since I fiddled around with editing videos, but once I get a quiet week I'll upload a quick video guide for those who prefer their content in that form. |
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Small tweak, dropped two elem damage nodes by Templar and picked up an 8% mana node to complete the path then picked up a 12% elem damage/+12 int notable. End result -6%elem +8% mana +12 int. The nice thing is that the notable doesn't have to be taken and could be placed elsewhere/just not taken and used to get to your goal tree 1 level earlier, it was just the most obvious place to put it
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYABAcEswVCBVsHHgj0DkgQWBGWE54UTRXnFm8Wvxo4GmwfAh_HJKomlSlPK3gsnDY9NsU26TpYPAU9X0GWRXxG10lRTLNQMFJTVUtVxlcrXcZd8l8qYG1h4mKsY0NknWpDaxdsjG0ZcFJw1XOzdhF-M35Zf8aCHoKbgziD24V9idOLjIw2jmSP-pBVlSCVLpeVl5eX9J2Anaqdrp_fogCio6SRpwinhK6ztQS2-rzqvYLAVMHz0PXYJNsL217d89-K42rjhOQi6QLr5Ov17DjvfPAf8Gvw1fId96b-sw==
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My take, frees up a ring slot, sacrifices some crit multiplier for crit chance but can be easily modded to take the multi nodes by Templar over chance by shadow. Might also have to give up the 4/5 life/mana node for a +30 dex node to run level 20 HoI if you can't get it on gear. However the curse node freeing up a ring slot makes dex much, much more obtainable.
Major con: way harder to spec into, it doesn't shine until it actually hits level 100 as every node it takes leads to a major gain. The Templar area could be avoided until 80+ or you could sacrifice either life nodes or mana nodes and run a 14/15 AA (or exclusively use light warp and level 20 AA)
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYABLMFQgVbBx4I9A5IEFgRDxGWE54UTRSwFecWbxa_GGoaOBpsH8ckqiaVKU8reCycNj026TpYO-M8BT1fQZZE-0V8RtdJUUwtTLNQMFJTVUtVxlcrWAddxl3yXypgbWHiYqxjQ2QJZJ1qQ2yMbRlwUnDVc7N0VXYReC985X4zfq-CHoM4g9uFfYhCidOKKIuMjDaNGY9Gj_qQVZUul5WXl5f0m6GdgJ2qna6f36IApJGnCKeErJius7UEvOq9gsBUwcXQ9dlf2wvbXt2M3fPfiuAS42rjhOQi6QLr9ewY7DjvfPAf8Gvw1fId99f-sw==
Last edited by Gypsy1#1533 on Nov 19, 2014, 6:19:47 PM
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Yeh, I wasn't too certain with my pathing around that area. I felt although it's an extra node, elemental damage is more useful than the extra mana.
I don't really know what else I'd want for the ring/boots slot, so I figured I'd save the 6 points and use Doedre's or Windscreams instead. I'm not really sure what I'd be speccing into after the low-90s though, so maybe doing that and going tri-curse could be a decent extreme end-game option (if I ever have the time to level that far). Tendrils doesn't really need the 5L since it's mianly for tough mobs or bosses. It also scales fairly well with Gem level, so there's not too much DPS lost from running it in a 4L on Voidbringers, although that depends a little on what supports I use. If I grab the Practical Application and Dark Arts nodes then I shouldn't need the +30dex nodes, but may need a little on gear, which I have zero of currently, and even a low roll on the crafted dex should be plenty. Last edited by Word_Of_Madness#0829 on Nov 20, 2014, 2:13:52 AM
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Is this still viable in 1.3?
Also i noticed your gear is evasion and ES, I would have thought for defense you would go more Armor and ES, I must be missing something, love playing it so far, only at level 30 but its moving so fast |
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Read your write up--thought it well done. I am currently leveling up a templar variation using tendrils and tri-curse applied with ball lightning (assassin's mark, warlord's mark, conductivity). I use a 5L chest to have ball lightning apply all three curses in one hit. Since tendrils scales well by level, I'm trying a different, less mana intensive approach to dps--dual wielding wands. Socket tendrils, lightning pen and increased aoe in one with +2 lightning level, and use second wand slot purely for increased spell damage/faster casting stat. Damage output seems comparable to what I would get putting tendrils into a 5L with supporting gems, but with significantly less mana cost. Leech from warlords mark makes it durable, while damage output from combined assassin's mark & conductivity seems very good. Character is only mid-50s at the moment, so interested in your/others feedback on the concept.
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