[1.30 Video Guide]Ranger Smith-One Man Army Build! Blink Arrow/Mirror Arrow xD

RANGER SMITH: Be your own army!!




My friends wont play with me, so I'll be my own friends...just kidding......... im so lonely....

So ANYWAY, whats the idea behind this build?

To make a crap ton of clones and generally become agent smith in the final matrix movie.

How do we do that?

Increased skill duration+multiple ways to cast clones.

What's important to know about these skills to make the most of them?

The clones don't take any of your base stats, passive bonuses or global stats. They DO however come equipped with your bow and quiver. They ALSO scale on minion nodes.

Another important thing(thanks pneuma and others for making me realize this.) is the auras and running generosity, as well as scaling that damage/aura effectiveness as much as possible.

Mirror arrow can be cast both as normal, and as a trap linked to multiple traps. they do not share a cool down when setup this way.(you can also put blink arrow on traps)

and now, the meat and potatoes:




Gem Setups:


I've tested with both herald of ash and thunder, and while they DO add base damage to the clones, the effects are not proc'd by the clones, so its not worth running them. I am currently running a CWDT setup for arctic breath and fireball, as the clones require constant casting to keep them doing high damage, and with CWDT procc'ing i can blink arrow into the middle and make good use of these spells, mainly for the utility of the freeze/frost ground and ignite.

My Gear:


Alpha's howl is BIG. I dont think its necessary for the build, but it CERTAINLY makes it shine. the +2 to auras as well as to generosity is verrrry nice.

Flasks:


My current skill tree:


My planned skill tree:




So using minion nodes for damage and health, and then taking minion instability for dealing with high damage/high life targets should net me the most bang for my buck, at least from what i can tell. I'm completely open to suggestions on the tree, as I feel like there may be something I'm missing that could really turn this build into something cool.

The other important thing to note about this tree is the increased skill duration. This is a big part of making this work well.

Curse on hit skill tree:


This is the dual curse setup skill tree for ranger.

Witch skill tree with dual curse:


Witch Version:



Scion skill tree with dual curse:


Leveling:




Pros:
Safe
Hilarious
A lot of fun to play
Immune to reflect and corrupting blood
seriously its super safe
also its hilarious
is engaging to play/takes paying attention to how you chin skills
you pretty much dont care what you roll on maps. This build is super safe against most mods.
I still dont like running temp chains, and enfeeble is probably the worst for this build.
So versatile, you can do all sorts of crazy configurations.

Cons:
takes paying attention to how you chain skills
not the most damaging build
if youre sloppy with your clones and chaining, you wont get the maximum out of this build, and you need to to make it competitive with other builds in terms of damage.
all builds cant be this awesome.

Here are some videos showing what the build can do:

Dom farm(old build with commentary)


Dom farm(new build with commentary)


Poorjoy's


Heres a video guide I made today and then through some testing made out of date before i could even publish it! but theres some funny stuff and it still is a good overview of the build in general.
(please note generosity and weapon elemental damage are not used in this version.)

NEW VIDEO GUIDE COMING AFTER CHRISTMAS!
(As well as a special treat involving Jangtzu and I with dom.)

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this build! All your feedback is super appreciated!

Appreciate you taking the time to check it out if you have, leave any critiques or feedback or questions below, and thanks for stopping by!



Also a quick shoutout to Pneuma who made a similar build for templar! Check it out here:



Special thanks:
Julchiar
StahlregenX
Paion
Joo
JungTzu
polo2005
totempole
Wee_Mad_Hamish
darkmag07

My imaginary friend:
Tom1989

-ExponentialCrazy

What skills do the minions use? I have an open 5L in my Poison Arrow build, and am wondering if somehow one of these skills might be useful...but I would basically need to have them use Poison Arrow as well since the bow I use doesn't actually do any damage. But I don't have an understanding yet of how they work.

the minions use a basic attack, so they can be supported by anything that supports attack, like faster attacks phys proj dmg, minion dmg, gmp, lmp, im currently using gmp and lmp as well as faster attacks and phys proj dmg. im also using increased duration to keep them out longer so i can have more going.

updated gear and explanation of build. added some different skill gem setups.

Significant update to the build. Dominus kill video added. Please feel free to critique and leave feedback! we need more wacky builds! xD

Build has been updated and is 70% more awesome!(this is an arbitrary number...but it is more awesome.)

Awesome, good job on that!

Looks like a fun build.

How about a Curse on Hit setup with Split Arrow? You're in the vicinity of Whispers of Doom anyway, so you could probably dual curse packs (I could see Punishment, Vulnerability, Projectile Weakness, Flammability or Temporal Chains working with the build) before you summon your army of clones.

Weapon Elemental Damage over PPAD could increase your damage output due to the larger % bonus and those elemental auras you're running. Did you try it out?

I have a large write-up on my templar variant and I've found some information to cross-pollinate. :D

Herald of Thunder/Ice do not give damage to the clones. It is purely a visual effect that the clones match your character. Can verify this by using a Crude Bow + no quiver/ammy/gloves/rings + Herald and watching damage effects on enemies. If they were doing Herald damage, you would see cold/lightning effects. Similarly, on crits you would see enemies frozen or shocked and they are not.

Your tree is great. Seems to be gelling on the same rough shape of duration + minion nodes + dex as mine and others. Similarly agreed that MI is a beast with these minions due to their ease of summoning and huge amount of base HP and "more minion damage". Easily the most under-rated powerful aspect of the build.

How do you deal with single targets (especially those that run around such as Piety, Tormented Spirits, several exiles)?

EDIT: Really wish I could get my hands on a Drillneck. Your clear speed looks much better than mine and Drillneck looks like the culprit (I'm also using Infractem/Wrath/Anger). :)

Animate weapon also really benefits from your skill effect duration nodes/auras. I guess you're pretty full on sockets, but maybe an unset ring could be used. It's a fun utility move and makes mapping even more enjoyable when you can turn white items into an army.