[Strongest Solo Variation: Projectile Madness Spectres] LMP/GMP Ice Spear 2x Totem 2x Curse 3x Traps

Hey quick question regarding curses and the Specters/Flame Sentinels.

I always use Elemental Weakness as my first curse that's for sure and when i have no Specters i use Frosbite as my second.
However, when we have our Flame Sentinels, you suggest to use Flammability for the second curse but is that really the best option? I fear that lowering the totem's dps will reduce the freeze effect and you own dps and thus CC. Wouldn't using a second curse that helps both Totems and Flame Sentinels be better?

Then why not use Projectile Weakness or Critical Weakness? Which one is even better? Do your summons benefit from your own added critical chance from passives and gear? If not, then i guess Projectile Weakness would be better than Critical Weakness no?

Also, having one of these two curses as our second curse would be pratical for when/if we lose our Flame Specters and have to replace them with any other range specters.

*Or do you simply stand by Flammability because the dps it offers outweights the dps lost fomr totems?
*I suppose i could always swap curses if the Flame Sentinels dies.
*Still, Critical Weakness or Projectile Weakness? (to go with Totems and random range Specters)

@Simplestyle - the build is really simple.
Prior to level 50:

-Go north on the skills map all the way to the double curse node.
-work towards the dual totem but don't rush it, remember once you get it you don't do any skill damage yourself.
- you suck overall and can't do anything without a party.

50-ish:

- start working actively on the energy shield boost nodes.
- you actually rock and can kill pretty much anything - but you're one shot kill to anything that does chaos damage (poison = chaos).
- you're thinking "how am i gonna get BBRRG on a 5L ES chest piece"

when you hit 3k-ish Energy Shield:

- CI
- profit

I'm level 37 now,

So what do you recommend i get now? should i get increase minion etc or concentrate on energy shield and increase intel?

Disclaimer - the below suggested path if not fixed and is based solely on a noob attempt at building this out. Meaning, if you have farmed up some uber noob set I imagine this doesn't apply at all. Also, there are some "floating" points, which when you take will change the "flow" as obviously some points will be missing. So, take this all with a grain of salt.. and it may be 200% completely against the original posters flow.... it happened to just be what worked for me.


First 10 Points = +18% Spell Damage, +40% Mana Regen, +16% Mana, +34% ES, +20% ES CD:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghA=

You kill a bit faster, you regen mana a bit better.. you have a decent mana boost, and you have a tad bit of survivability.

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Next 10 Points = +20% Mana Regen, +18% Mana, +20 Mana, +80 Int, +15% ES, +15% ES CD:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xg==

These 10 points also sets you up so you can take the +30 Dex and +30 Str nodes easily should you need in order to support leveling of Traps or Totems.

----------------------

Next 10 Points = +90 Int, +Never Expire Curses
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9G

This is simply a matter of working yourself towards double totems. If you took the Dex/Str nodes called out above, obviously my points will be off by 1-2.

-----------------------

Next 7 Points = +30 Int, +20 Str, +22% Totem Life, +22% Totem Duration
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9GHRT60maewBpZ81orLKc=

You are now set up to take Double Totems whenever you feel comfortable to - by now you should be in your mid 30's.

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Next 11 Points = +60% Armor, +60% ES, +10 All Resists, +42% Mana
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9GHRT60maewBpZ81orLKd0VXzO6-RfKnFNms9DY7cxWPWdxKcIi3qj8g==

By now you've taken or are about to take double totems. Dropping both totems + curses actually is quite mana intensive. You're also pushing into Cruel mode by now and damage gets a little bit scarier. As such, we boost survivability and Mana.

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Next 9 Points = +10 Int, +60 Dex, +30 Str, +30% Maximum Minion Life, +1 Spectre, + Lord of The Dead (10% min life, 15% damage, 1 zom, 2 skele)
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9GHRT60maewBpZ81orLKc=

You most likely had to take the Dex/Str nodes a bit earlier to support your Traps and Totems, just baking them in here - as there is no "set in stone" progression. By now you're farming a Cruel based exp spot... Ledge, FellShrine or Docks. So the focus on this time is building out your undead army and updating the number of spectres you can get.

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Next 10 Points = +50 Int, +40% ES, +10 Str, +30% Crit Chance
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9GHRT60maewBpZ81orLKd0VXzO6-RfKnFNms9DY7cxWPWdxKcIi3qj8trdflknqcy8EJdEBE25a9sc3JMnN2YspqbrN4Pqui1HUEKMNg==

Things start to get really sketchy now.. in cruel you'll notice that Chaos damage mobs take you low... fast.... the snakes in Slums will do 20% of your health in one shot (depending on your gear), and the poison bomb guys will do crazy damage in the sewers (if you see a rare poison bomb guy, simply reset the zone... seriously...) So, the focus here is on building up your ES more so you can take CI faster.. remember you still need like 3kish before you take CI.

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Next 10 Points = +20% Cold Damage, +5% Freeze Chance, +60% Crit Multiplier, +80% Crit Strike, +30 Dex, +4% Move Speed, 10% Evasion, 10% Max Energy Shield

At some point you'll be taking CI... so these points may be off. You're now moving towards additional ES in the Shadow tree - and pleasantly boosting your damage ability along the way.

--------------------------

Next 11 Points = CI, +26% ES, +26% Evasion, +10% ES CD, +10% All Elemental Resistances, +30% Increased Cold Damage, +18% Curse Speed Cast, +1 Curse.

I personally wait to get double curses till late....As one curse is more than enough early game to clear everything in Cruel - and spamming two was too much of an impact to my mana.

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From here, personally I believe it's open for interpretation and your comfort level - you could do a few things:

Option 1: Next 14 Points = +20 Int, +35% Cast Speed.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9GHRT60maewBpZ81orLKd0VXzO6-RfKnFNms9DY7cxWPWdxKcIi3qj8trdflknqcy8EJdEBE25a9sc3JMnN2YspqbrN4Pqui1HUEKMNgL-34RCw13ycNVwUvPqFr-H2-tjmZq29xEvjjwXVCKBOVK8N05tWAcsvy-dFvMmPHOz8GsV5welAuNJsriT6-7VgbJ1WBs=


The faster you cast, the faster your totems cast.. the more damage you do, the more you freeze mobs and lock down the room.

----------------------------

Option 2: Next 14 Points = +55% Increased Chill Duration, +55% Spell Crit chance, +30% Crit Multiplier, +20 Int, +20 Str, +44% Armor, +44% ES, +10 Elemental Resists.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBVysHY-aBEVC71jvh4venK9-wghBtGcHzgh6IQsHF7BjDbcBUc1N_xkwtF1AA_RSwOjCsmPfXm6HQ0I9GHRT60maewBpZ81orLKd0VXzO6-RfKnFNms9DY7cxWPWdxKcIi3qj8trdflknqcy8EJdEBE25a9sc3JMnN2YspqbrN4Pqui1HUEKMNgL-34RCw13ycNVwUvPqFr-H2-tjmZq29xEvjjwXVCKBOVK8N05tWAcsv1prvHlNQbb696aOZOQiKU_sODrYTdiePIFvjHY=


This option is more based on survivability.. you have a much longer Chill Duration which means significantly less actions performed by the enemy (most of the stun immune enemies can still be chilled, thus this helps a great deal on slowing down boss/rare damage. You also have a significant increase in Armor and ES and a small boost to resist all - you'll be in merciless by now, where one slip up could cost you your life. Whether or not this saves you in that slip up situation... dunno.

Hey guys. I'm getting ready to start maps and am just plotting out my next few skill points; what do you guys think of Breath of Rime? In theory it seems like a huge boost in CC for only three points, but I could well believe that in maps most mobs are either permanently frozen or not getting hit by your totems, which would render it mostly moot. Could anyone with more experience chime in on this?

"

Cragnous wrote:

Hey quick question regarding curses and the Specters/Flame Sentinels.

I always use Elemental Weakness as my first curse that's for sure and when i have no Specters i use Frosbite as my second.
However, when we have our Flame Sentinels, you suggest to use Flammability for the second curse but is that really the best option? I fear that lowering the totem's dps will reduce the freeze effect and you own dps and thus CC. Wouldn't using a second curse that helps both Totems and Flame Sentinels be better?

Then why not use Projectile Weakness or Critical Weakness? Which one is even better? Do your summons benefit from your own added critical chance from passives and gear? If not, then i guess Projectile Weakness would be better than Critical Weakness no?

Also, having one of these two curses as our second curse would be pratical for when/if we lose our Flame Specters and have to replace them with any other range specters.

*Or do you simply stand by Flammability because the dps it offers outweights the dps lost fomr totems?
*I suppose i could always swap curses if the Flame Sentinels dies.
*Still, Critical Weakness or Projectile Weakness? (to go with Totems and random range Specters)

I've been thinking along these lines too. The knockback on Projectile Weakness certainly wouldn't hurt either, though Pierce is pretty meh for the Flame Sentinels' fireballs.

edit: double posted for some reason, even though I only hit the button once.

"

Xujhan wrote:

Hey guys. I'm getting ready to start maps and am just plotting out my next few skill points; what do you guys think of Breath of Rime? In theory it seems like a huge boost in CC for only three points, but I could well believe that in maps most mobs are either permanently frozen or not getting hit by your totems, which would render it mostly moot. Could anyone with more experience chime in on this?

no difference, i tried already.

"

SaintAugustine wrote:

"

Cragnous wrote:

Hey quick question regarding curses and the Specters/Flame Sentinels.

I always use Elemental Weakness as my first curse that's for sure and when i have no Specters i use Frosbite as my second.
However, when we have our Flame Sentinels, you suggest to use Flammability for the second curse but is that really the best option? I fear that lowering the totem's dps will reduce the freeze effect and you own dps and thus CC. Wouldn't using a second curse that helps both Totems and Flame Sentinels be better?

Then why not use Projectile Weakness or Critical Weakness? Which one is even better? Do your summons benefit from your own added critical chance from passives and gear? If not, then i guess Projectile Weakness would be better than Critical Weakness no?

Also, having one of these two curses as our second curse would be pratical for when/if we lose our Flame Specters and have to replace them with any other range specters.

*Or do you simply stand by Flammability because the dps it offers outweights the dps lost fomr totems?
*I suppose i could always swap curses if the Flame Sentinels dies.
*Still, Critical Weakness or Projectile Weakness? (to go with Totems and random range Specters)

I've been thinking along these lines too. The knockback on Projectile Weakness certainly wouldn't hurt either, though Pierce is pretty meh for the Flame Sentinels' fireballs.

dont read into my curse choices too much. i use flammability only cause i cannot roll another green socket in my gear, or too lazy to do so. unless i otherwise state u definitely have to use flammability, use w.e curse you want that works for you.

Soon...





That being said I'd like to post a variation;

Level 85

6L:
1. spell totem
2. ice spear
3. gmp/lmp
4. faster casting
5. blind
6. added critical damage

Together with blind and arrow dodging, you will be immune to archers. The question is: do you really need the additional survivability if you have access to a 6L? Nonetheless, it's an amusing idea.