Z's **0.9.12** LS CI GR! Spec

As requested, my gear :) 2 separate accounts, same person

Armor




Main Hand - Offhand



Jewelry

6L and 20% quality gems ! I have never ever had a 6l and been playing since January.

Question, you seem to have very little ES and defense in general, how do you survive ? do you have to always run far from enemies and casters/archers ?

I have a 67 shadow and before I respec following your thread, I want to be sure I don't do something stupid, it takes me too much time to do a new char and I already destroyed two with the new patch.

Also someone asked if spell damage was affecting the LS, I have the same question.

Cause I see you mix elemental damage, spell damage and physical, so I suppose they all affect LS ?

My friends & I have been running some gnarly lvl 63 rare maps the last few days. With about 1700 ES & extra mana by NOT using Discipline, there is enough mana to unleash a sustained hell. This is even more important against mobs with heavy ES & resist all.

I have a simple principle to my min/max glass cannon playstyle. It is to kill everything before they get to you & manually get tha fk out of the way of incoming attacks. The best defense is an overwhelming offense.

I have been using the incredible speed Shield Charged + Faster Attacks & a very high APS weapon. As soon I take damage I shield charge away so ES can recover. So no, I dont have to run far. Usually into a cleared part of the map relative to where the party members are. Try testing this out with a fast weapon. It also works with a focus (but you look really stupid)

The physical damage was a nice balance to the LS & elemental dmg node nerfs. This also provides more mana leeched.

Spell damage seemsto affect LS. Cast speed does not. I just tested this with a 22% spell dmg ammy. The one element independent of the ammy replaced spiked when spell damage was applied.Then again i equip a focus with 60% spell dmg & nothing happens...

**Additionally Marquis, the most important gem in that chain is Weapon Ele Dmg. Pre patch (last week) I raised its quality 9%. This yielded over 2k damage.

I switch between 2-3 Diamond flasks & 2-3 vials/mana flasks with instant recovery. 300mp usually tops me off.

As I level the additional stat points will be going to ES delay & % ES increases. The dmg output is solid for lvl 63 maps.

Many thanks for your reply, so I will follow this as soon as I have time and will try to find a map to test it.
Question about the quality of the elemental damage gem, how many gcps did you need to raise it from 0% to 9% I have never ever used a gcp for that and I have 5 in bank

Use those 5 to purchase a high quality ele wpn dmg gem. Of course dont tell the seller you have 5 at first :P

1 gcp = 1% quality

Only use them on gems which benefit your spec the most. Elemental proliferation with quality is total hax as it provides % bonuses to those elemental effects. You can squeeze more dmg out of LS by looking at which element your gear gives the highest % increase. Try using that gem.

Additionally, you dont need a 6 link for this to work. All LS truly needs (using this build) is increased criticals, ele wpn dmg & a added element dmg gem. A 4 link will make this work but you will have to rely on gear to give more mana/leech.

Tried this build and can say I like it way more than the flicker strike build I played pre 9.11

Is it better to get the high quality ele weapon gem than a quality Lightning Strike? Is the piercing chance not really worth it?

"

Jozen wrote:

Is it better to get the high quality ele weapon gem than a quality Lightning Strike? Is the piercing chance not really worth it?

Yes, a quality Ele Wpn Dmg is the most effective dps boost for LS. Improving Ele Wpn Dmg 9% jumped LS dps 2k+ with my setup. Try Improved Crit Chance as well as Ele Wpn Dmg.

I suggest having some quality on LS. Mine is only 8% but it is next to be improved. Piercing is very nice in higher level endgame maps as the mobs become concentrated in small areas.

hmm im gonna give this build a try. so for armor its better to get eva/ES or go armor/Eva

I prefer to go es/evasion because not getting hit means your ES will recover mid fight. With Shield Mastery your EVA or EVA/ES shield numbers will have a nice jump to their effectiveness. The higher the value the better.

Its easy to focus on the dps but there are certain tricks to boost your survivability. Block gets overlooked here but it is another open ended defensive choice for you to make. A good eva shield with good resist all & a few elemental res stats will get the job done.

Find a balance between dps as a defensive measure, evasion values & block. If you find a very high ES focus/shield you can spend 3 regrets & move those points into Arcane Focus (18% increased es) Energy Shield (8%) & ES Delay (15%). All those are really good!

Actually im going to try that :P

**For the first time since .9.11 was released I got 100% 1 shot in full gear. It was a big ugly monkey.