EA Templar, or how to deal up to 350k dps.

I am also playing a variation of this build on onslaught ladder. I saw your videos and it reminded me of the ele crit split shot diamond flask rangers from closed beta and I just had to try it. I have to say it is incredbly fun. I have played fp templar, ek marauder, templar ele wander (both life based and ci based) and this is by far the most fun character I have tried.

My variation in your build was to make it mana based and in fact stack so much mana regen that I would be able to run a max lvl arctic armor for defensive purposes since that is something this build lacks a lot of. In addition to making the character more tanky from direct hits from mobs, it negates almost ALL reflect damage too, because that reflected fire damage is just absorbed by the arctic armor. I also went tricurse (enfeeble temp chains and flammability) for huge group utility and to make onslaught much more managable. Atm I just finished cruel and am farming merciless ledge at level 60. 2-3 arrows, and pop goes the entire screen. Its insane.

I will keep you updated as to my progress but I wanted to share my modifications to your build. Most people seem to think that stacking life is the way to make any build more defensive but I wanted to just try something different. Also I use blind on split shot/chain/loh. A mob that is enfeebled, temp'ed, and blinded basically has a threat level of zero. makes the game so much easier for the entire party. I'm like the support tricurse blinding bombing nuker.

My tree so far:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAP0EswVbFE0UsBZvF1AZLhmFGjgdFCSqJ-0pTzbpOVI6MDwFPQ9G10wtTm1VxlgHWfNdxl8qYG1mnnKpdFV65nzOfNl9U331gh6Cm4M4i4yPRpBVm6Gf36IApwinhKyYrKq2hrndvDfAGsT2z2XQ0NR81I_a3dsL3fPhc-Nq52rr5Ow47SDvDu988B_yL_fX-tI=

EDIT: I'm not quite to the point where I can run both arctic armor and spam ea/splitshot, but I am damn close. I think if i pick up one or maybe two more es gear pieces, the boost to mana from eb will push me over the edge.

"

evansptim wrote:

I am also playing a variation of this build on onslaught ladder. I saw your videos and it reminded me of the ele crit split shot diamond flask rangers from closed beta and I just had to try it. I have to say it is incredbly fun. I have played fp templar, ek marauder, templar ele wander (both life based and ci based) and this is by far the most fun character I have tried.

My variation in your build was to make it mana based and in fact stack so much mana regen that I would be able to run a max lvl arctic armor for defensive purposes since that is something this build lacks a lot of. In addition to making the character more tanky from direct hits from mobs, it negates almost ALL reflect damage too, because that reflected fire damage is just absorbed by the arctic armor. I also went tricurse (enfeeble temp chains and flammability) for huge group utility and to make onslaught much more managable. Atm I just finished cruel and am farming merciless ledge at level 60. 2-3 arrows, and pop goes the entire screen. Its insane.

I will keep you updated as to my progress but I wanted to share my modifications to your build. Most people seem to think that stacking life is the way to make any build more defensive but I wanted to just try something different. Also I use blind on split shot/chain/loh. A mob that is enfeebled, temp'ed, and blinded basically has a threat level of zero. makes the game so much easier for the entire party. I'm like the support tricurse blinding bombing nuker.

My tree so far:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAP0EswVbFE0UsBZvF1AZLhmFGjgdFCSqJ-0pTzbpOVI6MDwFPQ9G10wtTm1VxlgHWfNdxl8qYG1mnnKpdFV65nzOfNl9U331gh6Cm4M4i4yPRpBVm6Gf36IApwinhKyYrKq2hrndvDfAGsT2z2XQ0NR81I_a3dsL3fPhc-Nq52rr5Ow47SDvDu988B_yL_fX-tI=

EDIT: I'm not quite to the point where I can run both arctic armor and spam ea/splitshot, but I am damn close. I think if i pick up one or maybe two more es gear pieces, the boost to mana from eb will push me over the edge.

I decided to go with split shot over lightning arrow as well, also with blinds and triple curse. I was going to go with Enfeeble, Elemental Weakness, and Flammability. No eldritch battery for me though.

"

Zindax wrote:

"

evansptim wrote:

I am also playing a variation of this build on onslaught ladder. I saw your videos and it reminded me of the ele crit split shot diamond flask rangers from closed beta and I just had to try it. I have to say it is incredbly fun. I have played fp templar, ek marauder, templar ele wander (both life based and ci based) and this is by far the most fun character I have tried.

My variation in your build was to make it mana based and in fact stack so much mana regen that I would be able to run a max lvl arctic armor for defensive purposes since that is something this build lacks a lot of. In addition to making the character more tanky from direct hits from mobs, it negates almost ALL reflect damage too, because that reflected fire damage is just absorbed by the arctic armor. I also went tricurse (enfeeble temp chains and flammability) for huge group utility and to make onslaught much more managable. Atm I just finished cruel and am farming merciless ledge at level 60. 2-3 arrows, and pop goes the entire screen. Its insane.

I will keep you updated as to my progress but I wanted to share my modifications to your build. Most people seem to think that stacking life is the way to make any build more defensive but I wanted to just try something different. Also I use blind on split shot/chain/loh. A mob that is enfeebled, temp'ed, and blinded basically has a threat level of zero. makes the game so much easier for the entire party. I'm like the support tricurse blinding bombing nuker.

My tree so far:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAP0EswVbFE0UsBZvF1AZLhmFGjgdFCSqJ-0pTzbpOVI6MDwFPQ9G10wtTm1VxlgHWfNdxl8qYG1mnnKpdFV65nzOfNl9U331gh6Cm4M4i4yPRpBVm6Gf36IApwinhKyYrKq2hrndvDfAGsT2z2XQ0NR81I_a3dsL3fPhc-Nq52rr5Ow47SDvDu988B_yL_fX-tI=

EDIT: I'm not quite to the point where I can run both arctic armor and spam ea/splitshot, but I am damn close. I think if i pick up one or maybe two more es gear pieces, the boost to mana from eb will push me over the edge.

I decided to go with split shot over lightning arrow as well, also with blinds and triple curse. I was going to go with Enfeeble, Elemental Weakness, and Flammability. No eldritch battery for me though.

Yes for more endgame when I feel safer I fully intend to drop either enfeeble or temp and swap in ele weakness. I may possibly at that point refund all those points through the top too and become dual curse again, I'm not sure.

I'm not sure if the lighting damage will be enough or not, but I also intended to try using the thunderfist gloves and linking my split shot inside of them while running wrath. This will give me lvl 18 added lightning, 1-100 lightning from the gloves, and whatever level my wrath is at in lightning damage on my split shot, and I will use this to stack shock the mobs while proccing EE for the explosion. An idea I had, I'm not sure if the damage will be enough to shock stack bosses though.

My reasoning for this was that I would need the extra slot on my EA to run conc effect on it as well because running so many auras (discipline, clarity, grace, wrath, purity, and possibly even haste/vitality at true end game. My mana pool will be massive, why not make use of it?) will make it necessary for the chest piece to be free'd up for those gems. I won't be able to have a single target EA with magic find and a group EA for mobs/shock stacking, so I needed to find a different way to do this. Split shot slotted in thunderfist with wrath should do the trick.

"

evansptim wrote:

I am also playing a variation of this build on onslaught ladder. I saw your videos and it reminded me of the ele crit split shot diamond flask rangers from closed beta and I just had to try it. I have to say it is incredbly fun. I have played fp templar, ek marauder, templar ele wander (both life based and ci based) and this is by far the most fun character I have tried.

What does your tree look like at ~100 points?

Some very interesting intesnions, iam impressed :)

Have you got any advice on managing reflect damage with the new values ?
it seems really an upside hill and i'm gona get tired soon if i dont resolve this issue.
Basically with 77 res all my explosions sometimes get the occasional group
at the border of my screen and i'm instagibbed.
I mean if i can spot em it's doable.. but with the aoe increases and the explosions randomly
exploding around sometimes is really not possible to pay attention and the damage
reflected is so high...
Any real advice ?
Maybe some way to convert to physical or chaos , without changing bow .. idk how to save this build
from the reflect vs boring cemetery.

"

thelatecrusher wrote:

"

evansptim wrote:

I am also playing a variation of this build on onslaught ladder. I saw your videos and it reminded me of the ele crit split shot diamond flask rangers from closed beta and I just had to try it. I have to say it is incredbly fun. I have played fp templar, ek marauder, templar ele wander (both life based and ci based) and this is by far the most fun character I have tried.

What does your tree look like at ~100 points?

Alright so I RIP'd in onslaught apparently because of a connection issue that logged me out, only to log back in and see that my character was in default. Did not even get to see a death screen. Became kind of frustrated with the game and stopped playing for a couple days. That's why I hadn't responded to your post. This did give me some time to think the build over a little more and there are some adjustments I'm going to make that will be mandatory for mapping on HC eventually. I'm also rerolling the same character and hopefully will have a video to show what it looks like in a week or so.

New Skill Tree (lvl 81):
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAP0EswUtBVsGDgn2DjwOrRRNFHEUsBZvF1AY2xkuGYUaOB0UIWAkqiWtJ-0otSlPKaU26TpSPAVAoEGqQ5xG10wtUFBUSVXGVgRYY1nzXcZfKl8_YEtgiGFSY_1mnme9cql0VXTtdPF65nrvfM582X1Tgh6Cm4M4hmCLjIzPj0aQVZitm6Gfy5_fogCnhKyYrKq2hrndwBrG2M9l0NDUfNSP2wvd8-Fz42rnUudq6-TsOO0g7m_vDu9O73zwH_Iv8932SPcy99f46_rS

Differences from previous:
-dropped tricurse, permacurse
-picked up iron reflexes and unwavering stance

Reasons for this being that shield chargers in act 3 merc were totally kicking my ass before i dc'd and died, and I know that if I would have encountered them or rhoas on a map I would be living on a prayer. Those two passives in addition to offering cannot be stunned will also give the build a crap ton of armor from grace + determination, further enhancing the benefits of Arctic Armor. Also, casting three curses is kind of drag and takes away from the fast paced play that a build with this kind of kill potential offers.

IDEAL ITEMS + GEMS FOR ITEM SLOTS:

HEAD: Chitus : Faster Casting/Increased AOE + Ele Weakness/Enfeeble + Flammability + Temp Chains

CHEST: Cloak of Flames : Explosive Arrow + Chance to Ignite + Elemental Prolif + Life Leech + Increased AOE + Concentrated Effect

GLOVES: Thunderfist : Split Shot + Chain + Life on Hit + Elemental Prolif

BOOTS: Windscream : Reduced Mana + Clarity + Determination + Discipline

WEAPON: Quillrain : Reduced Mana + Grace + Purity + Wrath + Arctic Armor

RING 1: Shavronne's Revelation (left ring slot for insane mana regen):

AMULET: Atziri Foible :

RING 2: :

QUIVER: :

BELT: :

Notes on items:

Atziri's Foible and Shavronnes Revelation are the two new notable unique items I've added to the build. They are what make it possible in addition to Eldritch Battery, for you to achieve such a large mana pool and mana regen. It may also be possible to use dream fragments instead of shavronnes; This however is much much more expensive.

You will see that this build only requires a single 6 link in the armor, and the reason it is there instead of the bow, is because the color of the gems needed for your explosive arrow are more easily obtained in a int chest than a dex bow. Further, the bow itself only really requires a 4 link, as linking arctic armor to reduced mana does nothing. This means the entire build in perfect form only requires one 6 link and a bunch of 4 links which is nice and cheap :).

I don't believe that there is an optimal unique second ring, quiver, or belt for this build. You should try to find rare items that have life and resists imo, chaos resist especially as this build has relatively good elemental resists already from passives, chitus, windsreams, purity, etc. and chaos is a glaring weakness on most life based characters.

You will notice that I changed a few of the gems as well. They mostly have to deal with the pickup of unwavering stance and iron reflexes. First because of those two keystones, I will have armor to multiply by using determination which previously was useless. So I chose to drop either Haste/Vitality for Determination. Second, because of unwavering stance, the build can no longer evade attacks. This makes blind, which was slotted on the split shot in the thunderfists, pretty much useless to you. If you have party members that can make use of this still and want to be a team player, feel free. I however thought for a moment about what to replace it with and I don't know why it didn't occur to me before. Elemental Proliferation! Split shot is what this version of the build uses to stack shock the mobs, but like the original build by IsodorRodosi, the damage is not enough to shock bosses, it needed to be proliferated through weaker monsters. So why not do the same with this? I feel this will be a much quicker way to shock stack mobs/ bosses as well because you are able to shoot 3+ splitshots per second all which hit the entire mob and all of which will proliferate to the rest of the mob if even of one of arrows shocks. This is opposed to setting off explosive arrows with a 1 second fuse time.

So all in all I think this will be a much better variation of my previous variation, especially defensively. It should have somewhere in the neighborhood of 5k armor without flask, 81 all res, and constant upkeep of arctic armor (for physical mitigation, fire mitigation, and therefore, reflect mitigation), while using the grace, clarity, determination, discipline, wrath, and purity auras and spamming splitshot/explosive arrow freely.

Would love some feedback or thoughts on this. Especially from Isodor, I'm glad that I was able to impress you. As I said before this character is just too much fun to play. Even without the insane damage numbers that your variation boasts, it still nearly one shots everything and is just a blast.

So at level 63 I would say that defensive plan for pimping up this templar has been very successful.

Here is my tree at the moment:



Here is my max tree:



My stats at level 63:

Life 2251
ES 2671
Mana 540

Physical Damage Reduction: 42%
with Molten Shell: 57%
with 3 endurance charges: 69%
will be adding 100% extra armor while healing and granite flask soon

21% evasion (with grace)
does not include blinds - which would raise the number of 80%
and enfeeble - which would increase phys dmg reduction and evasion rate

Resists (with purity)
77% fire
75% cold
70% lightning
-1% chaos

does not include endurance charges

341 int
147 str
139 dex

My current gear:



I will be replacing the second ring with Doedra's Damning to get my 3rd curse soon. Almost to dual curse. Then inner force, then towards the shadow tree. I have the option of switching out either some 6% life or 6% ES nodes for power charges and putting power charge on crit on my split arrow. Need to get 6L. Plan to have aoe exploding arrow on one bow, split arrow on chest, and single target exploding arrow on bow #2. Auras plus enduring cry and rejuv totem on head and gloves. Enfeeble, elemental weakness, flammability and molten shell on boots.

And you know about this guy:



Reduced mana is swapped in the head and gloves for enduring cry and rejuv totem, then removed after auras casted. First the blood magic auras: wrath, discipline, grace, then mana auras: determination, purity, vitality. Blood magic gems used in 6L weapons and 6L chest when I save up.

With Zealot's Oath, Vitality and Rejuv Totem regenerating ES. Potions and Life Leech and Life Gain on Hit to replenish life. Potions will be long lasting life potions with +% armor and +% evasion while healing. Blood magic gem intentionally drains these so damage reduction can be boosted higher. Split arrow with chain and fork (which is better than GMP) is used with life gain on hit and blind. Fork can be replaced with power charge on crit. Still need to get chaos resistance in 2 of the 3 items: belt, gloves, boots. Want chaos resistance relatively high since regen is on ES.

Ruby Flask handles reflect. Will be quite strong with inner force and purity. I see no need to waste nodes going for Elemental Adaptation. Life + ES combination seems quite efficient from Templar starting area.

Use armor plus ES gear. Favorite 3 prefixes are:

+life
+ES
+% armor and ES

I thought you guys might want a status update. 4922 life + ES isn't bad for level 63 post 11.0, especially with these defenses.

"

Zindax wrote:

So at level 63 I would say that defensive plan for pimping up this templar has been very successful.

Don't you have some extreme issues regarding both accuracy and mana regen?

Edit: I just read through your entire post, the above was just something I spotted from looking at your tree. You said later you intend to use a blood magic gem along with zealots oath? The blood magic gem was something I considered as well. But I considered it too be pretty much suicide and I'm almost certain it will be zealots oath. I think you might be underestimating how much your abilities will cost with it.

split shot + Chain + fork + loh + blind + blood magic: 19 * 2 * 1.25 * 1.5 * 1 * 1.96 = 139.65

Keep in mind that first, this is a max level blood magic which you are unlikely to get, and second, that you attack 3+ times per second this means that you would actually be expending ~420 health/ second.

Now exploding arrow. You didn't say which gems you were going to use so I will just take a guess here but...

exploding arrow + chance to ignite + elemental proliferation + inceased AoE + life leech + bloodmagic: 34 * 1.1 * 1.4 * 1.5 * 1.3 * 1.96 = 200.11

This will also assume all level 20 gems so it might not be quiet this high but it will still be ridiculous. This will also be at 3+ attacks per second so a drain of ~600 life/second.

And your curses will need to be blood magic'd as well...

Blood magic + ele weakenss/flammability: 70 * 1.96 = 137.2

Both need to be casted so your cost here is actually ~274.

Your typical rotation:

explosive arrow (only 3 charges, and assume that you don't miss) = 600

curses = 274

split shot (say you shoot only twice, once before and after explosion to proc EE and nothing else) = 280

Total health expended in about 2.5 seconds = 1154. (THIS HALF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!)

Now keep in mind you have zealots oath so you will need regen this ALL through health pots/your LoH. Thing is by the time you get to use split shot for LoH, you've already lost 900 health minimum (assuming you dont miss, dont stack higher than 3 fuses, and don't take any damage from mobs). The best potion I believe for heal over time is sapping and that offers 1843/8 seconds. This is ~230/second, nowhere near enough to counter what you are expending, even with CONSTANT flasking, which is quite the drag and requires a lot of micro management and takes away from the fun imo.

Long story short, I think you will kill yourself.

"

evansptim wrote:

"

Zindax wrote:

So at level 63 I would say that defensive plan for pimping up this templar has been very successful.

Don't you have some extreme issues regarding both accuracy and mana regen?

Edit: I just read through your entire post, the above was just something I spotted from looking at your tree. You said later you intend to use a blood magic gem along with zealots oath? The blood magic gem was something I considered as well. But I considered it too be pretty much suicide and I'm almost certain it will be zealots oath. I think you might be underestimating how much your abilities will cost with it.

split shot + Chain + fork + loh + blind + blood magic: 19 * 2 * 1.25 * 1.5 * 1 * 1.96 = 139.65

Keep in mind that first, this is a max level blood magic which you are unlikely to get, and second, that you attack 3+ times per second this means that you would actually be expending ~420 health/ second.

Now exploding arrow. You didn't say which gems you were going to use so I will just take a guess here but...

exploding arrow + chance to ignite + elemental proliferation + inceased AoE + life leech + bloodmagic: 34 * 1.1 * 1.4 * 1.5 * 1.3 * 1.96 = 200.11

This will also assume all level 20 gems so it might not be quiet this high but it will still be ridiculous. This will also be at 3+ attacks per second so a drain of ~600 life/second.

And your curses will need to be blood magic'd as well...

Blood magic + ele weakenss/flammability: 70 * 1.96 = 137.2

Both need to be casted so your cost here is actually ~274.

Your typical rotation:

explosive arrow (only 3 charges, and assume that you don't miss) = 600

curses = 274

split shot (say you shoot only twice, once before and after explosion to proc EE and nothing else) = 280

Total health expended in about 2.5 seconds = 1154. (THIS HALF YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!)

Now keep in mind you have zealots oath so you will need regen this ALL through health pots/your LoH. Thing is by the time you get to use split shot for LoH, you've already lost 900 health minimum (assuming you dont miss, dont stack higher than 3 fuses, and don't take any damage from mobs). The best potion I believe for heal over time is sapping and that offers 1843/8 seconds. This is ~230/second, nowhere near enough to counter what you are expending, even with CONSTANT flasking, which is quite the drag and requires a lot of micro management and takes away from the fun imo.

Long story short, I think you will kill yourself.

So I will talk about how I deal with each issue separately.

With mana, while soloing, I typically only one run aura (on magic), either determination or purity, depending on what I am facing. Mana is still an issue, but the way I deal with this efficiently is through a process you may call "herding". I run around the area with molten shell up or gathering enemies with enduring cry. I keep running until I get a sizable mob in a tight bunch. Then I give myself some distance, curse, and fire EA shots into the mob while pressing the mana potion once. After I get a few shots in, I move away for the explosion to take place. All the mobs die and I am full on my potions. Its not an inefficient way to progress and I usually do instances above my level this way.

With regard to accuracy, this has not yet been a problem, and I have my LA/frenzy dualist to compare to. With a single target attack like frenzy, I need accuracy. But with this stick and move strategy and the very fast attack speed of quill rain, I don't really need accuracy. If I fire exploding arrow into a crowded mob group, I am going to hit something each time and all the mobs will die. It's not a problem. When you are talking about split arrow with like 6 arrows, then chained to give 18 arrows, then forked to give 36 arrows, some of the original 6 arrows will miss, but with chain and fork, they will hit the targets they initially missed anyway.

You link this to life gain on hit, and you are talking about a sizable amount of INSTANT life return. A q20 lvl 20 life gain on hit gem will give 54 life on each hit times a possible 36 mobs. That's 1944 life per split arrow gained instantly. Continuing this line of reason, I think you underestimate the life leech/life gain on hit, in combination with relatively long acting life potions on a moderately sized life pool (I have quite a bit of life nodes left still/room to improve/and I'm only lvl 63 with 2251 life already and quite shielded with ES on top of that), that will regenerate very quickly with the rate that you kill things. The only thing you need is a fairly decent chaos resistance level since you don't have shavronne's to run this.

Also, only split arrow and AoE and single target EA will be linked to blood magic. Even running determination, purity, and vitality, I will be able to use all 3 curses, molten shell, enduring cry, and rejuv totem solely with magic with my intellect/mana pool. I have already run molten shell, enduring cry, and rejuv totem on a dualist using mana with hatred, haste, and determination with a 1/3 of the intellect this guy has right now with no mana pots. None of those gems are linked and my dualist doesn't have the 10% reduced mana that this templar has. Besides, vitality is just icing on the cake. I don't really need this if I find myself running short.

Also, my life leech, life gain on hit, and both blood magic gems are being leveled in my off weapon that I don't use now just so I don't start from scratch when I get enough currency to go for a 6L and have enough chaos resistance to run a blood magic gem.

Thanks for the calculation though. Only a minor correction on this, I will be using added lightning with this version, not increased AoE, so a 1.4 multiplier not 1.5 so 187 life instead of 200, which is still high, but consider the only difference between my strategy and the initial build is that I have blood magic instead of increased AoE so a 1.96 multiplier instead of a 1.5 multiplier, and I have blind on my split arrow (no cost), fork (which is cheaper than GMP (1.25 versus 2) and will hit more targets (36 versus 30), and I have blood magic (1.96x more), AND life gain on hit has been BUFFED since then. Plus, need I mention again that at lvl 63, I already have 2251 life shielded by 2671 ES for a total of 4922 life + ES. The standard for maps is around 3k and at this level I already have about the same life ALONE as the original poster.

So, I dunno man, maybe I will have problems when I get to maps, but from where I'm looking this looks pretty darn good so far. I'm looking to make a point here regarding templar defense:

After 11.0 - just listing defensive attributes
156% life
178% ES + 70% alone from the intellect on the tree
104% armor
36% evasion
34% elemental resistance
16% chaos resistance
1% regen
Dual Curse - to become triple curse
Inner Force
Zealot's Oath

All from the tree alone

For the single target attack though, I may have to and want to use a lionseye, but I'm not sure yet. If I have no chance with split arrow other than to blind, I cannot afford to miss much. Also, there is a delay between firing and explosion and life leech. So I will have to prime the life leech pump a bit to get my life leech going. Also, that weapon with chance to ignite, concentration effect, and added lightning damage may be my only chance build shock charges without proliferation from lesser health mobs on a boss. If I have no chance anyway, than increased burning damage/fire penetration/increased crit chance or dmg (if I go the power charge route)/added quality might be the way to go for the third support. That will require some more testing.