ZiggyD's Etheral Knives Mana Shield Scion/Shadow Build Guide - Hardcore (Updated for 1.1)

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Indoxit wrote:

really wanna give this one a try, would love a step by step passive tree part though.

It's easy. Take the passives that will help you the most at the time. It isn't rocket science.

I haven't read the entire thread, so it's possible you already addressed this, and if so, my apologies.

Instead of going deep into Templar, have you considered dipping into Marauder for Iron Grip? I'm not completely sure IG works with EK -- EK is tagged as being a projectile, but IG applies to projectile attacks. If they do stack, it should be a significant damage buff.

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Dmillz wrote:

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Indoxit wrote:

really wanna give this one a try, would love a step by step passive tree part though.

It's easy. Take the passives that will help you the most at the time. It isn't rocket science.

Also take all the items you need the most and use the skills that benefit you the most so all in all remove all the guides since it isn't rocket science. /s now go away

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procproc wrote:

I haven't read the entire thread, so it's possible you already addressed this, and if so, my apologies.

Instead of going deep into Templar, have you considered dipping into Marauder for Iron Grip? I'm not completely sure IG works with EK -- EK is tagged as being a projectile, but IG applies to projectile attacks. If they do stack, it should be a significant damage buff.

IG does *not* work with EK. As you noted, IG specifies "attacks" and EK is a projectile spell. IG works with EK's cousin, Spectral Throw, but not EK itself. Iron Will support gem is what you're looking for if you want to convert Strength -> Spell Damage.

Ziggy, I've been watching your videos for a while, and started to follow this build in Domination after watching you run a few unique maps. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate all the content you generate, and let you know how my story has panned out so far:

In case anyone is wondering, this build is SUPER easy to use, SUPER cheap to build, and EXTREMELY effective.

I'm now level 66, and my passive tree looks like this:
It's seriously the most fun I've had playing this game so far. I ran Spectral Throw until I got the Chamber of Sins in Cruel (around level 48-50, if I remember correctly), and then Ethereal Knives REALLY started scaling with levels.

Once I got up to Piety...at level 59...I farmed for a while, doing a few docks runs, then running Catacombs up to 66, with the odd Merveil run in to break it up and roll the dice on some unique drops.

The one significant change I made on my Path of Exile (:P) was to go for reduced mana reserved nodes before getting all the Templar ilfe nodes (as you can see, I still haven't grabbed them). I found I was pretty tanky as I was, and just decided to go for the third aura (I was running Discipline and Clarity, and finally was able to run Hatred with about 550 mana unreserved) before fighting Piety.

I spent a bit of currency (all dropped on this character) getting quick and easy upgrades for my gear by trolling the Domination Shops thread, never bought anything for more than 15c, and that was a decent 5L body armor slot.

My gear is as follows:

I currently sit around 2400dps on level 16 Ethereal Knives, and run level 15 Arctic Armor all the time. My total mana regen with auras on is about 280. 75 resist all (-19% chaos...yikes!). This build is much more tanky than needed, can offscreen mobs with EK with no fear of physical reflect, and does plenty of damage to get through 66 maps with no difficulty. The only thing lacking is enough armor to mitigate physical damage adequately, but that's my gear, not the build.

I actually use Power Siphon with Item Rarity, since it has a built in Cull, instead of Bear Trap with Culling strike. I have to HIT, which is a bummer, so I'll probably swap it out after I 3L my wand, but that's a fairly low priority right now.

Time to farm before I fight Dominus! I need more armor!

second pg ever, started from 0 3 days ago, almost no currency used, i have done dominus merciless at lvl 66 (domination) with almost no deaths.

Pretty cheap and strong build i'm loving this. I'm not so sure about projectile speed i dont see a lot of difference with or without when i have projectle gem linked.

!!!!HUGE UPDATE!!!!

As requested many times I have added progression passive trees for every 20 points spent along with explanations of what's going on.

I also added a full gearing guide.

Sorry it took so long to get updated, thanks for all the feedback and questions!

is there another gem can be used to replace Iron Will? I didn't pick it from the quests and I for now, got no clue how to get it . . . so I just wonder if there's another replacement for it :( merciless lv 61 for now :'(

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koros wrote:

is there another gem can be used to replace Iron Will? I didn't pick it from the quests and I for now, got no clue how to get it . . . so I just wonder if there's another replacement for it :( merciless lv 61 for now :'(

You should be able to buy one for less than an Alch in trade chat. Empower is the altenrative but it's closer to 10 chaos and needs to be levelled...

Otherwise you could just use added lightning/cold or mana leech for a while?

To be honest, that 6th link doesn't add THAT much to EK, unless it's Empower level 3. It's nice to have, but not crucial.