[1.0.6] CI Crit Dagger Shadow (30k DPS Flicker Ninja) [OB video up!]

Note: This is not a dig or a negative comment of the guide, I love this guide, the build and have infinite respect for Invalesco and appreciation for this and his many other guides and builds, without him I wouldn't have had a clue where to start. That said I feel that there are some extra that my own experiences may add and aid players when they get to higher levels of play with this build.

The playstyle suggested in the guide and what I see a lot of people talking about is completely solo play, even so far as to expect end game to be about soloing maps. So I think it's important to remember that the game is better played in a group and if you are struggling then look for PUGs and play as a team. There is no need to try and solo the world, unless that is specifically your aim.

One of the key examples of "the guide" suggesting solo play is the fact that 6links are used on LS rather than Double Strike. In group play I rarely if ever use LS, even if it didn't drop me down to 10 FPS it's damage it poor at best compared to the other abilities you have. So using 5/6L items I would suggest using them on Double Strike rather than Lightning Strike.

The second is to assume that you will be using warlords curse in groups, I highly doubt that you will ever be able to use it in a group so you can't assume that you will have that leach. And have the endurance charges,so I would suggest when heading towards the top end and when you have VP to get at least 1 piece of get with 2% leach, because without Blood Rage up and Warlords mark you have no natural leach.

The other thing that I often read and feel needs to be mentioned is peoples belief in the importance of Dream Fragments and the immune to stun neck. Both of which cost a lot. I strongly advise against getting either of these items, the neck in particular, until you have got at least 5K ES and capped resists. Within the guide itself it even lists them as being situational, don't waste all your money on a Dream Fragments, spend it on a ES shield. The ability to remove Freeze can easily be achieved with the use of Flasks, both Granite and Mana. Personally I used 2 Flasks "of Heat" until I had my own Dream Fragments and while DF is better, it should not be held in such high regard, it is a luxury at best and what is far more important is obtaining a good ES Shield.

Within the same frame it's also important to have at least 1 flask that removes curses, in high end maps and even low maps if you randomly spike and don't understand why it will often be due to having Vulnerability or some similar curse on you, being able to remove these is key to surviving.

Edit: Another useful tip for maps both solo and group is to carry a lvl 1 Detonate Undead around with you, you can easily swap it in if you need to use it. Sometimes in maps your go against a Elite or Boss Necromancer that you can't burst down, so just blow up every skeleton and corpse you create to prevent them rezzing it. It's also useful in the Springs Map where the boss herself uses it, so you can blow up all the corpses before she herself does it.

The final point I'll make is to remind people of the importance of resists, have 75% in all resists is a must for any level of map play, if that means you use Purity, use Purity. To that extent I would also suggest swapping the suggest Quick Silver Flask for a Surgeons Topaz Flask, because of the way shock stacks work and the nature of the mobs lightning damage is the most dangerous element that we face as CI/Daggers.


Note: That's the important stuff, this following is my own personal ideas and thoughts about leach pre and post VP and can be mostly ignored as it's minor improvements but may be of interest to some players.

As stated earlier in the thread without VP you are capped at how much HP/Shield you can leach per second and as Invalesco correctly stated this is a complex art of balancing your Damage along with your max HP/Shields. It goes without saying that when you are in the "grey" area of moving into CI you should only spec for Ghost Reaver when your Shields are larger than your HP pool, this will hopefully happen before you move into CI.

The next point to look at is the attack speed of the dagger you are using, a slower dagger will create more spikes of damage, which pre-VP is bad as it's more likely to take your crits/damage over the leach cap, if you have a very fast dagger with the same DPS the numbers will be smaller and your crits will create less "wasted" damage. With that in mind I would also advice against taking gear with crit multipler Pre-VP as this again will make the spikes higher and create more "waste". Pre-VP you want to look for fast daggers with a constantly stream of DPS, Post-VP you want slow ones that maximize the crit. multipliers you have from your gear and spec and the fact that Double Strike crits twice within the same second, give yourself large jumps in leach, which is why you specced VP in the first place.

Essay over. Again, give love to Invalesco and all CI/Dagger shadows, there is a light at the end of the tunnel just keep on trucking.

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Bladesong wrote:

Isn't it nearly impossible to roll RRGGBB or RGGGBB on a PURE ES chest?

It can be pretty rough.

Is the "Eye of Chayula" really the best ammy for the crit-dagger-shadow?

I know, "cannot be stunned" is fking awesome, but..a really good rare amulet with resis, +lightning dmg, +weapon ele dmg, and so on, is that not better?

"

Invalesco wrote:

Vaal Pact Scenario
You get 10k damage reflected back to you which after 15% damage reduction is about 8500. Your ES leech is 14% of 50k which is 7000. Your ES leech is instant and is not capped. Reflect damage is instant.

End-result: You get reflected for about 8500 damage. The amount you leech back is 7000. 8500 damage - 7000 = 1500 damage which is <6000 ES. You don't die due to reflect.

I respect you, Invalesco, but IS it really true scenario? I mean, how can leech apply on you on the VERY same time as damage, mitigating it? I have VP, and big dmg, and reflect is killing me pretty fast.

On A3 cruel and getting owned... a lot...

Along with as much HP as I can get, should be stacking amour or evasion? I've got a mix of both atm and its really not working out for me.

Stacking armor seems kinda pointless as it assumes you have any HP to tank with. Evasion seems to make more sense in that your avoiding getting hit all together.

PS: I also only have the grace passive. I dont have the one that boosts armor but it would be nice to have - not sure how to get it or if its all that important seeing as passives support evasion rather than armor.

"

Vitalidze wrote:

"

Invalesco wrote:

Vaal Pact Scenario
You get 10k damage reflected back to you which after 15% damage reduction is about 8500. Your ES leech is 14% of 50k which is 7000. Your ES leech is instant and is not capped. Reflect damage is instant.

End-result: You get reflected for about 8500 damage. The amount you leech back is 7000. 8500 damage - 7000 = 1500 damage which is <6000 ES. You don't die due to reflect.

I respect you, Invalesco, but IS it really true scenario? I mean, how can leech apply on you on the VERY same time as damage, mitigating it? I have VP, and big dmg, and reflect is killing me pretty fast.

I'm not certain if this is indeed the actual scenario. It's just my own hypothesis based on my own experience and in all honesty would be rather difficult to prove unless we can get a direct dev response.

Invalesco, I love you. Can we make out?

"

Azrael_Reborn wrote:

On A3 cruel and getting owned... a lot...

Along with as much HP as I can get, should be stacking amour or evasion? I've got a mix of both atm and its really not working out for me.

Stacking armor seems kinda pointless as it assumes you have any HP to tank with. Evasion seems to make more sense in that your avoiding getting hit all together.

PS: I also only have the grace passive. I dont have the one that boosts armor but it would be nice to have - not sure how to get it or if its all that important seeing as passives support evasion rather than armor.

yes determination will help a lot, check page 124 i covered that part pretty good tbh,
i would recommend to go determination, grace lvl1 gem is enough, hatred and wrath

My new upgrade



Chest cost me 2 exalt.

350 Jewelers for 6 Socket.

60 fusings for 5 Link.

Double post