[2.2] I Cast Magic Missile! - Cantrip's guide to Ethereal Knives / Bladefall. 7K Life, 100K+ DPS!

I was thinking about crit EK as well.

Build based on current tree. New tree is going to save some points due to more efficient Shadow Pathing.

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAsNii2cgU9W9qjBa_Ax4mlR9BYeIGI1VLtUiMNvPqKgtwUonTcNVd8g5IEZYN0Qcef8ZjQ5Uukyfw1b6K74hsCy-dSVGP-qEv-Tci9Bbz6_XXz20ZJjzDCUmxLYsRULmTH8c1ufIdK3inKx1PLJwFQhEtQZZ8g66z0PXr7kyzHNwy0Zrg0B8gbo8aRUdFne_rUDDAZlNSBLOiAOFzmjuCm-081absOIV7ZlTwH2jyfEuWdDrYJy-QVRo4CPTAVGpDvOoEB4PbVcY6WA==

Put Intuitive Leap into the Templar node to get Power Charge, the ES node and the HP nodes. Drop the entry node towards templar HP.

Rely on hybrid ES/HP defenses, possibly with the assistance of Corrupted Energy Jewel.

Nah, if you're doing Crit EK, you have to take Vaal Pact no matter what (eventually). After that, it's a question of whether you want Blood Magic (gem) or rely on Mana Leech from Berek's + some mana regen. Don't forget Assassin adds a MASSIVE amount of Crit Damage, meaning you will die to Reflect in an instant without VP.

On top of that, I'd take Acro every time, no matter what, meaning Hybrid isn't an option.

This means going south of the tree and you won't be getting many Power Charges in that direction, which makes Assassin not that great. Are you sure about VP being mandatory though? I got 20 lvl Explosive Arrow and havn't had any problems with reflect so far. Of course I am not running Ele Reflect maps.

You can easily sustain EK crit on mana pots if you leave a bigger-ish mana pool (at least 250-300). Perpertual mana flasks will never run out of charges. Your only mandatory aura is Hatred.

Further the pathing towards Templar is pretty horrible if you are not scion. So you are cut off from that Power CHarge node as well. Going into Witch side is very weak for EK. That leaves you with 5 Power Charges in total.

The Damage Crit EK does per-hit, and the type (no res to a large chunk) makes VP a must, yes. Not at first, but eventually... As for relying on Mana Flasks, eww.

Did you see that new wand that adds Chaos dmg and makes enemies explode? I don't know if those are local or can apply to spells. Could be pretty good with EK.

The lightning scepter that slows enemies is amazing for Shock Nova.

PS: Bladefall also seems promising. It has comparative damage to EK, but at 0.8 cast speed. We'll have to see how exactly the skill works, because if the volleys can shotgun easily it might be a good alternative to EK.

Thaks for this guide, I'm having a lot of fun with it. EK is probably my fav skill so far (been playing only for a month or so though). But I've got a question - what are your thoughts on crit EK builds? What are the differences between your build and crit builds? For now I'm going to stick to your guide, but I think I'll make some EK crit char in the near future, and I wonder how different will it be from this build.

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enjoythejuice wrote:

Thaks for this guide, I'm having a lot of fun with it. EK is probably my fav skill so far (been playing only for a month or so though). But I've got a question - what are your thoughts on crit EK builds? What are the differences between your build and crit builds? For now I'm going to stick to your guide, but I think I'll make some EK crit char in the near future, and I wonder how different will it be from this build.

Glad you're enjoying Path of Exile, stay and support GGG :D

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Crit EK will have more DPS given that it can stack the things we do AND Crit Chance + Damage.
However, Crit EK won't have as much more damage as you'd think, since EK has a lot of MORE damage support gems, and even a new one in the coming patch (meaning the disparity will get even smaller in that regard).

Once Ascension Classes come to the game, Assassin will become the go-to one for Crit EK, and we're yet to see what Scion has to offer, so that's all theory for now.

As for defences, no Crit build can have defences approaching the ones this build has, unless you count Vaal Pact as a major defence. Crit builds will ALWAYS have lower Life, and will only be able to get Acro at VERY high levels, if ever. Also, since they'll have Vaal Pact, that means no Regen, which we have a LOT of.

Crit EK is also more Tempo-reliant, since it needs to sustain Power Charges (as well as Frenzy if it uses those) or it has a much lower DPS, and those have no way to recharge other than killing things unlike Frenzy.

On the upside, Crit builds can have nearly constant Flasks due to "Recharge on Crit" mechanics, and they can clear super fast even in groups given good gear (possibly even with Chain, I'm told).

Looking for a viable spell to cast, I've come upon this guide. I'm thinking of using your build in in a Mind over Matter variant with Pledge of Hands - do you think it is viable in general? With the changes for more base mana in the next patch, Mind over Matter + Pledge should be even stronger.

I'd also use Frenzy charges and take Dodge/Spell Dodge but (of course) use no auras other than Clarity, so damage would be lower but still decent I think - according to my calculations about 35k DPS (physical + fire) at level 80 without Empower (since I don't own one). Probably Lightning Coil for a body armour but since Pledge already gives me six or seven links I could even use Kaom's Heart or something.

The tree could look like this:

You can't really play EK without Hatred. That's a downside, at least compared to non-physical spells. But you can have quite a bit of mana left anyway. As for the Staff, I wonder what links you'd use that are worth it, perhaps just use Faster Projectiles again in addition to the new support?

How would you be regaining mana? Flasks and Mana Regen? I'd actually say that for MoM builds, the best thing now is an Aura of Warlord's Mark (sadly along with Hatred and Clarity, which you must use for EK, your mana will be too low for serious MoM).

Thanks for your fast reply!

Hmm, I thought I could get by without Hatred because I don't see a 50% aura as viable in a Mind over Matter build. For mana and life sustain, I would be using Warlord's Mark with CWDT just like you, plus of course the regeneration from about 1400 mana + Clarity (regeneration would already cover half the mana needed for the EK casts). Blasphemy + Warlord's Mark would of course be very sweet.

Links in a 5-link Pledge would be Faster Projectiles + Added Fire + Faster Casting + Controlled Destruction (the new support gem) in addition to Spell Echo from Pledge itself.