Lv96 Poutsos' Flicker Nuke - Outdated

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Glutton wrote:

Yeah I think you mistook his comments Poutos. He made the character to have only 2300ES, so if he is insulting anyone it is himself. Awesome DPS man.

Also, coloring my chest is becoming a nightmare. I have this now and don't want to change it, gonna try to trade it for one with at least 1 green. If reave is blue, this could be perfect though. Guess I'll hold out until after the patch.

Grats on getting the 6 link! Keep shooting for GRRRBB, you'll probably get it with 1k chroms or so. I'm not too excited about Reave, no way it can be as good as flicker strike, and it won't have the teleporting action. Best case is it's as good as lightning strike, but then we only use LS for phys reflect typically.

And I disagree, calling it 'scrubcore' is meant to be insulting, just as if I call hardcore 'alt-f4 league'.

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Trefenwyd69 wrote:

Hello,

I would love some feedback on a potential variant of this build:

Hp-based/Vaal Pact Flicker Claw.


First, everyone's reaction is going to be "HP-based Vaal Pact is the worst idea ever". I currently run a lvl 81 Hp-based Vaal Pact Incinerate Witch tank, and it is pure awesomeness - it works great. Once your dps and leech are high enough, all you have to do is have enough mitigation to avoid being one-shot.

So, why change this up to Hp-based and with a claw? Well, I play on anarchy, thus I need to either use the build mentioned way earlier for IR/US or go HP-based. The IR/US gives up a significant amount of DPS, so I'd like to go HP-based if I can. And I just found a sweet claw that I want to build around, so that's the reason for the claw choice. Wtih that in mind, potential tree follows:

Spoiler

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYB_5MeGjBUmVcoKrVIbXtVSyaVjDaxs-1BYeLrY5matvcRL4hrNj2ly-OEDkinNAzyBbW0xSsKwQDbGhB79Uu-OkBVb1cMjQ1JEZbAUXDVcFKdo_yrf8YnqVptJDynXElRoqPB84Ie2wvvoO12an4V_dYHZx6Nv1FHMHx_K9aKPs-95lb6_MVnoId2Sn3dDZAKijhqlTF7ozoTwCzpFSAqTT8nbqqukyo4plc64Yjxqriqf419dEF31_ljFfDnVCT9OlgEfocZpn-H27cXOJZc-YDh4l7z6tUA

It doesn't have as much crit as the OP build here, but that's due to the claw choice. I spend about the same amount of nodes on HP as the OP does on ES, and I go EB for unlimited mana, which will let me run Arctic Armour to help with physical dmg mitigation as well as 6L-anything and no mana-throttled dps.

Ondar's Guile costs 3 nodes, and is s no-brainer for any Evasion based build.

If there is a reason why HP-based Vaal's Pact won't work for this build specifically (to be honest, my witch runs a hybrid armour/es build and the armor % nodes she has helps a lot with granite flasks and damage mitigation, so I am a tad worried about running Eva/ES and not getting one shot since I have no armour % nodes to increase the granite flask effectiveness), please chime in. Otherwise, if there are tree modifications to enhance my potential build, please let me know - I'm sitting on 30 passive pits I need to start spending!

Cheers,

Tref

Going HP based is a really cool idea, but it will be rough getting crit with claws. I recently became a huge fan of life leech, so the 12% from the tree is very attractive. Can you post your claw? If it's 300+ dps then it's worth building around.

Hello,

Here is my claw:





Sadly, not 300 dps (250 phys), but then again, I play in the noobie/no-funds league where what passes for mediocre gear amongst the true end-game folk is godly to me :) I nearly gagged when the OP wrote that his gear was not that expensive at around 20 exalt. Maybe one day I'll find a 6L Shavronnes and be able to gear appropriately, but for now, I'm in the few-chaos per item category.

I think the OP has about 430 crit chance in tree alone, and I can only get up to about 280, unless I start taking the 15% nodes. I accept the limitations of the claw build - I don't think that makes it unviable, just a little less dps for some extra leech and accuracy with the claw passives.

Also, I am very interested in wrath and anger. As flat damage, they should increase in value as attacks/second goes up. I have a spreadsheet that I use to calculate dps for various skills and support gems, and later on, I will see what impact those two have, but I have to imagine that it is somewhere between 'not bad' and 'significant'. Running EB would allow me to run unlimited flat auras + 3 % based (limitied only by socket space), so that would make up a bit of the difference in the dps, but it's still not crit...

Tref

Trefenwyd69

Hey there.I like your idea about life based very much.I think vaal pact can be viable with a life build.HOWEVER i do have a suggestion for you.If u are using claws instead of daggers u can use Bloodseeker,the unique claw that gives instant life regeneration without the negative aspects of vaal pact,which you can also combine it the blood dance unique boots that give 1% regeneration with each frenzy charge.If u also take the frenzy on the duelist area and the bandit reward that makes a total of 7% regeneration per second,combined with instant leech that bloodseeker will give.We are building a ranger like that for my cousin,currently level 72 and it is working great.

About the 20 exalt thing.Hehe i know that it isnt insignificant(and currently with this dagger is more like 25 exalts)but when i say its cheap i meant in comparison to other end game builds,which most require either shavrones,kaoms a 6L that basically cost mroe than 20 exalts just these items :).I know how you feel since i was always poor and did my very first trade at level 79!Currently i stopped trading again cause i hate it.I only buy some stuff that i need with the things i find and not selling anymore.Maybe i ll start again if the game forces me but i hate it!

Poutsos,

Thanks for the reply. I was trying to build around what I had, but I will definitely look into the unique claw if its not too expensive - I wouldn't spec into Vaal Pact until around lvl 70 anyway so I have some time to decide. I also largely disdain the mostly 'profit-driven' trading community (one of just a few negatives I have about the game so far). My Vaal witch is doing about 25-30K dmg right now, and as I level gems, I should be around 50K or so (AoE and single target), and I managed that with gear that costs 1 alch/piece, or self found - one of the benefits of playing an off-spec that uses not-in-demand mods. I may try to build a Vaal hp-based flicker claw just for the challenge of it, but if anyone sees any optimization in my build on the previous page, please point it out! As I play around with it low-level, I've already realized that paying for Blood Rage w/o the Blood Dance regen or CI-invulnerability will require maxed chaos res - not the end of the world, but something to take into account if I don't go CI-IR/US.

Tref

EDIT: As a follow up, would you recommend spending 4 pts on getting the 7th Frenzy charge (including the bandit reward) and taking the pts from crit somewhere? (or life, but that's a different debate) I.e, I know you highly recommended getting the bandit reward for the 6th, but I also read in this 41 pg thread that some value PCoC more than the 6th Frenzy (i.e., 5 was plenty)

Hey Tref. Until a couple weeks ago, I played only my life/armor flicker marauder. He has vaal pact and IR, and lots of life/damage/crit/armor nodes. At level 80 i was running with 86k dps flicker (melee phys/multi/crit dam/accuracy/pcoc). 28k armor and 20% leech allowed me to survive just fine against reflect, even with only 2600hp.

Due to the skill tree layout, i didnt spec for any specific wep. Took all generic melee and 1h nodes. Using a 9.38% chance dagger and no dagger nodes, my crit was around 80% for 800multi. It was a pretty great build imo. Super low on life, but as long as youre hitting, youre invincible. I will link his skill tree tonight when I get on my comp.

If you want to do a life crit build, id suggest looking in the duelist/mara areas. There are some great crit clusters north and south of RT. The other very important thing about that area is the reduced mana cost nodes. You can get 45% reduced cost of skills pretty easily, which allows for nonstop flicker spam even in a 6L.

Congrats on building a 30K beast on a budget.I d like some imput on your withces build/gear if u want.
Back on topic vaal pact on a hP build is challenging as it is,if u add blood rage into the euation is even more dangerous sine ur life will be degenarating and u wont be able to use a life potion.U need chaos resistance but since vaal pact kills your regeneration u ll still take damage which makes it extremelly difficult.Thats why i consider blood seeker a very good choice,especially paired with blood dance.
As for the costs allready from the items u need so far on the top of my mind:
Head: Stankonjas - great sice it gives 25% critc chance,attack speed,hgh evasion and very importantly 90-100 life.Cost:2-3 gcps
Gloves:Maligaros Virtuosity - A must for all crit builds and the best option u have DPS wise.Cost 4-6 gcp on an averange roll
Weapon: bloodseeker - all the reasons mentioned. Cost:4-1 exalt depending on the roll
Boots: The blood dance - Op regeneration per frenzy chance in order to completely mitigate the negative effects of blood rage and add regeneration on top.Cost:I bought 1 for my cousin for 3 GCP,dont know if i got a good deal or not
Shield: Lioneyes remorse - Sure this shield is not optimised with this build which is evasion based but it is very cheap and provides very high armour and lots of life.Cost: 2 gcp

So far total cost: About 15 GCP ,abit more than an exalt which leaves your ring,amulet,belt and chest slots.THere u should obviously aim for a good life roll on every piece and resistances,since your tree,like mine lacks resistances.I ll try to give suggestions on the tree as well

Glutton:Your gear was incredible though.Your dagger is the second best i have ever seen so far

You guys are awesome - thanks for the responses.

Since I play a lot, I have found some decent drops, so I have magilaros, the blood dance, and rainbowstrides - just missing the others. And I can spend an exalt or so without too much problem (I even have a pure one in my stash since it dropped last week to my astonishment)

My witch gear is below - don't want to hijack the thread w/witch stuff (boo hiss) but I am happy to talk about spec/gearing if you want (GMP Incinerate + Arctic Armour)



Glutton - I hear ya with the templar/marauder zone, but I have those already :) Really want to try a shadow-based flicker claw (and he's already at lvl 28 since I'm leveling with friends)

I keep looking at the tree thinking there has to be a way.... Since I'm in the low right corner already, I could dual wield for an extra 125% crit chance . . . but give up about 10% block and the defensive stats on a shield (and have to find another good 1h). And I can't add to my tree without taking away somewhere else, and there was nothing that said "I'm not needed, take me".

The only part of my tree that I'm relatively unhappy with are the evasion/ES nodes. Taking all those nodes just to get a little ES gear to turn in to Mana seems like a significant waste. It makes sense on my witch since she can't leech with fire (unless I waste a socket on it) so she needs the mana to generate 350 mana regen/sec to cover her costs.

With this build and a 2000 mana pool, I will be regenning about 89 mana/sec with a lvl 20 Clarity, and leeching 250 mana/sec, for a total of about 340 mana/sec. That should cover any costs, but again, it seems like I'm taking an awful lot of ES nodes to push my Mana pool up to 2K so I can get my 12.5% mana leech high enough. They all come with 8% evasion, so its not the end of the world, but I'd love to find a better solution.

Tref

So I got a chest yesterday, and am pretty excited. I am on Anarchy BTW. I have to go all the way down to US, so I still have bad DPS, but its getting better now, as I level and get more crit nodes.

This is my dagger. I got it at 56 for 2 GCP as a temporary dagger. I am still using it. I haven't found much better on Anarchy for anything reasonable.



This is the chest. I run Flicker-Melee on Full-Melee Physical-Multi-Crit Damage-Added Fire or Melee Splash depending on what I need.



I am one-shotting most trash now so I suppose it is high enough. I have a new problem now, and want some advice on what you guys do to solve it.

Foing from a 5L to a 6L made me unable to constantly flicker. My 6L flicker strike costs 77 mana per use with Added fire and 95 for Melee Splash. I have only 540 mana. I have 2% mana leech. I run out of mana quickly. A couple flickers and stuff is dead, but on big mobs I have to pause, which can be deadly.

What do you guys do? Anyone have a solution? I already damage enough to reach the max 12.5% mana leech per second, so after a short pause I have more mana, but the only solution I can think of is to get more max mana.

How much mana do all of you have?

Sblak,

I can't comment on the flicker build, but all of my toons are mana-based, and I run some very very mana intensive builds, such as:

Ice Shot Ranger (Ice shot AoE in a 5 link with 4+ attks/sec)
GMP Incinerat Witch (needs 350 mana/sec regen)

I have a spreadsheet dedicated to mana calcs and it's the first thing I do in designing a toon. I will say the following:

1. The best bang for your buck is to spec into a 5% reduced cost mana node. This is better that speccing into + mana or + mana regen nodes.

2. If you don't have any reduced mana nodes available, + mana is your best bet since you are predominantly leeching as opposed to regenning

3. Very effective in reducing mana consumption is (gulp) using a lesser-leveled gem. Using a lvl 15 Flicker Strike will shave 8% of your mana costs off for a very small reduction in dps (you lose 10% phys dmg and 2% attk sped - that's like 1 node, so pretend you're playing 1 lvl behind where you are). I was very very hesitant to try this out since dropping my dps was a horrible idea, but it is a much smaller reduction that having to slot a mana leech gem for example.

You can read my thread posts earlier for my anarchy flicker plan, but I'll probably go Eldritch Battery to solve all mana issues (that would be option 4, but probably a whole new toon with all new gear)

just my 3 cents...

Tref

It's funny how noone has commented on OP's name!
I'll make a toon called "papari" to play duo with! (just kiddin :P)

On topic now! I've made a build based on this using claws, mainly for farming purposes,though i didn't go CI. As i mad scientist i needed to experiment!

Pros: I found out that by using Bloodseeker + a high phys dps claw i could drop Vaal pact without losing my instant regen and also keep dps fairly high by spending all those points on more offensive passives.
The LL is ridiculy high while keeping flicker strike+melee splash on the 50k+ mark fully stacked.
This is a HP build so i cap all my mana with auras and link my flicker with bloodmagic thus removing any mana problems.
Wide area maps are perma-flicker friendly
You can easily counter hp degen from bloodrage by using the blood dance boots.

Cons: Obviously you get lower dps in comparison with a dagger build
HP is harder to get than ES. Still i could farm maps up to lvl70 maps VERY easily with 2,5k hp
To use bloodmagic you need a 6L if you want to keep your dps high. You can easily use tabula rasa up to lunaris, but you are gonna need a decent 6L to farm maps
Since it's dual weld you lose nice stats from the shield that MUST be replaced by GG rings + belt to keep your resists maxed
You are gonna CRY if you try to perma flicker on closed area maps :D

This ofc is only softcore friendly since any mistake, low reaction time, desync etc will get you insta-killed. But hey, i farmed the gear for all my toons using this one!

Docks and City of Sarn are ideal places to farm since you can:
Almost drop all your resists for high IIR+IIQ and still pwn tha map in like 1minute
Just hold down right mouse button while drinking coffee :D
Loot, rinse n repeat! Its so fast and i actually get some fantastic legendaries even from CoS selling for 1-2ex like rainbow strides, Aegis aurora etc
If you wanna go crazy on loot drop EVERYTHING as low as 1k hp and 0 resists and farm CoS for currency. Map is getting yellow from tha drops :P

Now on Mr. Poutsos build! I got a CI+dagger shadow currently lvl73, fully geared on OPs specs. And was thinking to try dropping Vaal pact again and try Zealot's oath + The blood dance boots for an insane es regen while keeping the LL high. Obviously i'll run into problems on 50% reduced regen maps but meh....Has anyone tried this? Any thoughts?!