[2.0] Dad does Reave
|
AS OF 7/28/2015 I WILL NO LONGER BE UPDATING THIS BUILD.
I have decided to liquidate most of my currency and begin playing the market.  WARNING: This build is a GLASS CANNON. I rely on "manual dodging" for most of my defense. Hi there, and welcome to my 2.0 Reave build guide. Shoutouts to Speck and Rezin, they encouraged me to make this guide. Any changes made to the guide since the last update will have an asterisk(*) in the spoiler.
Updates
-UPDATE 7/21/2015: Updated skill tree - Vaal Pact is worth taking (for the most part)
-Before anyone says anything, yes; I do realize that ZiggyD made the "Southpaw Reaver" that uses swords ages ago. I don't keep up with ZiggyD and just recently came to this realization. He released a video today updating said build. It's extremely similar to mine, but I did not copy him. Check the date that I made this post.
Videos
Dad does Reave vs. Dominus ft. White Glass Shank
Here's a demonstration of my build using a Glass Shank with absolutely no mods on it against Dominus. I also switched to Blood Magic instead of using my Soul Taker. Dad does Reave vs. Dry Woods Dad does Reave vs. Dry Woods Feel free to request more videos. I use a Soul Taker as a "stat stick", meaning that it serves no purpose other than the stats on the weapon. I don't use it to deal damage. Soul Taker provides the extremely useful benefit of not having to worry about mana, mana leech, or using a Blood Magic gem. This also means I can reserve 100% of my mana with auras. An important thing to note is that Reave can only be used with daggers, claws, and one-handed swords. Knowing this, I use my dagger in my off-hand to take advantage of Ambidexterity. This gives me 20% increased attack speed with my off-hand weapon. I use Soul Taker in my main-hand so I can use Leap Slam because Leap Slam requires that an applicable weapon be in your main-hand slot. Whirling Blades works with a dagger in your off-hand or main-hand slot.
Defenses (what little there are)
I mainly rely on my Whirling Blades to avoid damage. It's a very high-intensity style of play, and you HAVE to pay attention to attacks. 
Why did you change to Vaal Pact?*
I wanted to see if it would help with reflect. Even with .7 seconds of physical immunity from Cast When Damage Taken + Immortal Call, I was still instagibbing myself in higher level maps. This is, of course, a problem. Vaal Pact, however, did not fix this issue. It HELPED, but I'm still dying to reflect. Once I obtain more respec points, I'll attempt to get more life leech from my passive tree and see if that fixes the problem. I borrowed a friend's Bino's Kitchen Knife and found that my dps only increased by about 15k. Granted, this is quite an improvement, but losing a ton of speed on my Whirly Blades didn't feel good. I also studied up on the mechanics (read the tooltip lol) and found that you have to be NEAR the poisoned monster to benefit from the healing. When I'm hitting monsters at the edge of my screen, I'm nowhere near them.
Old reasoning for not taking Vaal Pact (outdated)
To put it simply, I don't enjoy not having life regen on builds that run Blood Rage. Plus if I ever upgrade to a Bino's Kitchen Knife, the regen effect would be completely negated.
" Yes, Strawman I've made up for the purpose of this question, it would appear that way. However, Cast When Damage Taken + Increased Duration + Immortal Call gives me approximately .7 seconds of physical immunity. If I attack 12 times a second, that's 8.4 of my attacks that I'm completely immune to.
I can't afford a Soul Taker. Can I run this build?
Yes. Simply swap out Melee Physical Damage for Blood Magic in your 6L, and swap out Leap Slam for Blood Magic as well. For your main-hand, I would recommend either of these. They're both wonderful alternatives.
Passive Skill Tree*
Current Passives at level 87 with Vaal Pact You will probably need the Fertile Mind jewel where I've got it as well. I found that I was short on Intelligence.  As for the Bandit rewards: Normal: Skill Point Cruel: Physical Damage/Attack Speed (see below) Merciless: Power Charge
Old, no Vaal Pact
Physical Damage or Attack Speed?
Personally, I prefer the Attack Speed. I enjoy attacking twelve times a second and having 2.0+ speed on my Whirling Blades. However, at a certain point, attack speed starts to feel a diminishing return. Some basic math on this if you care-
Math? I hate math.
Keep in mind: Increased Physical Damage on the tree/bandit rewards/what have you is much easier to obtain than attack speed. Below is simply a simulation where I'm saying one point of Increased Attack Speed is worth 10% and one point of Increased Physical Damage is worth 20%. This is obviously not accurate, but it serves my point of showing the diminishing returns. I'm going to simplify this as much as I possibly can for my benefit and yours. If you attack 100 times a second for 10 damage, you're doing 1000 dps. Adding 10% attack speed to that gives you 110 attacks per second at 10 damage per attack, or 1100 damage per second. Now instead of gaining 10% attack speed, gain 20% physical damage. You're attacking 100 times a second for 12 damage. That's 1200 dps. Gaining the Onslaught buff (20% Increased Attack/Cast/Movement Speed) from http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Relentless_Fury gives me a whopping 2k dps.
Character Sheet Reave Damage
Increased Area of Effect
(image is too big to fit in the forums, shows my attack range #humblebrag) http://puu.sh/j2UN3/a112c4eebd.jpg  
Concentrated Effect
 
Sockets
3L: Increased Duration (level 20/20%), Cast When Damage Taken (level 1), Immortal Call (level 3) I put Herald of Ash in my boots (4L Red) because it has no interaction with Cast When Damage Taken or Increased Duration, meaning the mana reservation does not go up. 3L:Herald of Thunder (level 20/20%), Curse on Hit (level 20/20%), Assassin's Mark (level 20/20%) Automatically curse things with Assassin's Mark. Wonderful! I put this in my dagger (3L Blue). 6L: Reave (level 20/20%), Multistrike (level 20/20%), Faster Attacks (level 20/20%), Melee Physical Damage (level 20/20%), Increased Critical Strike Damage (level 20/20%), Increased Area of Effect (level 20/20%) This is your chest armor's links. Two red, two blue, two green. Swap out Melee Physical Damage for Blood Magic if you cannot afford a Soul Taker. 3L: Blood Magic (level 20), Summon Ice Golem (level 20), Blood Rage (level 20/20%) 4L: Whirling Blades (level 1/20%), Fortify (level 20/20%), Faster Attacks (level 20/20%), Leap Slam (level 1) Your main source of movement. Use Leap Slam when you have to cross a ledge or anything Whirling Blades can't do. Linked with Fortify for extra defense.
Gear
Helmet
Abyssus is probably best in slot for any crit based melee character. I don't recommend using anything else.
Main-hand
As mentioned earlier, Soul Taker is a "stat stick" for this build.
Off-hand
Generic rare crit dagger. I chose the Ambusher base because I love attack speed. This can, however, be replaced with a Bino's Kitchen Knife.
Gloves
Maligaro's should only be replaced if you are having trouble capping your resists. They're a huge dps boost.
Rings, Amulet, Belt, Boots
All rares. Prioritize Life and Resists, then look for Global Critical Strike Multiplier, Global Critical Strike Chance, Added Physical Damage, and Increased Attack Speed (in that order) on your jewelry. Movement Speed on your boots is NOT important at all. You should be using Whirling Blades at all times to move around.
Chest Armor
Generic 6L armor. You could use a Tabula if you wanted to, however as soon as possible, I will be upgrading to a 6L Belly of the Beast. http://puu.sh/g7zN0/12d7f6184c.jpg Last edited by dadhismom#4396 on Jul 28, 2015, 10:25:05 PM
|
|
|
I'm playing a similar build in Warbands except for mana I'm using a Gemini Claw and for a stat stick im using the new "Death's Hand" sceptre. I am literally always at full mana even vs single targets, and Death's Hand provides me with max power charges AND 30% of phys as extra chaos permanently in combat.
IGN: Impair
|
|
|
I would run claws but I really enjoy having infinite free Whirling Blades uses. Plus Adder's Touch is just amazing.
I hadn't even seen Death's Hand until you mentioned it, that would definitely be a viable alternative for a stat stick. Permanent uptime on Unholy Might is very cool! Plus with how large the AoE is with Vaal Reave stacks up, I find that I sometimes don't completely sustain my power charges because Herald of Thunder can't hit anything. Death's Hand would definitely solve that issue. http://puu.sh/g7zN0/12d7f6184c.jpg
|
|
|
I use a Blood Magic gem for free infinite Whirling Blades uses. Though yeah no Adder's Touch for me.
IGN: Impair
|
|
