[0.10.0] Eldritch Battery Ethereal Knives Shadow [Videos Included]

I, too, have been working on an EB/HP EK build, and I opted to go up to EB then down through Ranger and into the Duelist for the HP stuff.

My question is regarding the difference between nodes involving spell damage versus projectile damage. I decided to go for the projectile damage, and I am curious how you feel that works compared to your build.

Thanks for your involvement in the community, really appreciated.

Does EK get full benefit from +spell dmg?

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Lachis wrote:

Does EK get full benefit from +spell dmg?

Sure it's a spell. Also gets full benefit from projectile dmg, since it's a projectile spell. It only doesn't get anything from elemental nodes since well, it's physical.

@NyllA - coming soon! :D

@Zeshin - Yup, I have considered Deshret's Vise as well. would work great and provide 50 life as well, except that I am unable to lay my hands on it yet at the moment and I need to figure out a way to replace the cold resists on my current pair of gloves which I would otherwise be missing. Iron Will is the strength to spell damage conversion spell and is basically free spell damage at no increased mana cost. I've actually been considering how to fit in Kaom's Heart into the equation as well. I need to write that into the guide too.

@Epsi - :p

@Omnivore61 - thanks!

@Anabolikabizeps - Yup it will probably be rather viable in PvP as well. EK is actually pretty decent and Bear Traps are very very strong in PvP and quite tough to dodge if you play it right! DPS isn't optimized yet coz my gear isn't as strong as my other character's gear so it's probably still a distance away!

@PyrosEien - If you notice the skill tree, I've actually already got 180 str from the skill tree. Add to that my gear and starting stats, I'm currently standing at 296 str. Chain is actually pretty awesome but yeah it'll only be more relevant later on in the game.

@Chocolatedrop -

1. no particular reason actually! Just that I can't find a better caster weapon at the moment.
2. Yup I crit less than 30% of the time at the moment but i've always liked crit because its effect is cool and its great in this case because you get to freeze shatter mobs and burn them at the same time, with freezing being crucial in defensive situations as well. Also, pretty much nothing affects EK DPS other than Spell Damage, Crit Chance and Cast Speed. Given the choice between a slight DPS drop if I choose spell damage as opposed to Crit Chance/multiplier, I generally prefer to go for crit chance/multiplier.
3. Ya I recommend helping oak to get extra health. Its not that tough actually! on the contrary, its pretty easy. I haven't posted the stats yet from my build but even though I've only helped oak twice, i'm sitting at 4.5k HP at the moment.

@Carpola - thank you! :)

@shakewell2 - Projectile damage works fine as well! My main reason for branching into templar area was to grab the Body and Soul nodes to boost my armour as well as my ES (mana pool) and also to grab Inner Force along the way. The 20% mana regen and 6% cast speed node as well as the 7% reduced mana cost of skills node were also attractive, with the RMC node in particular able to bring down slightly the extravagant cost of EK.

added a notable uniques section under the end-game gear section.

You have a rather high Life mod on all your armor pieces.

How do you manage go through all early game with no life regen?

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heatzz wrote:

You have a rather high Life mod on all your armor pieces, which kinda makes me think if it's relevant for a fresh start in OBT.

I think I mentioned in the FAQ section as well as the second post that this character was built during the one week HC race. You can't get as close to a fresh start in OBT as that! :)

Regarding the life regen - Health Flasks basically. They're still the best source of health regen throughout the game until you get to maps whereby you'll also need flask-independent health regen.

I think you should at least mention that in HC week long races people are willing to part with really good gear for very cheap. Seeing as there is no need to hold on to gear for alts and what not. It is really easy to get top end gear in a race from other players.

So when you say you can't get more fresh start then you can in a hardcore race you are wrong. In open beta the gear you can trade for in a HC race will be super expensive to trade for in default normal mode.

This was not a fresh start character cause you traded for gear to make it work.

I like all your builds, but none of them are new player friendly at all. If a new person wishes to try out one of your builds (a really new person). They should first roll one of the easy mode early game cookie cutter builds like Blood Magic Mara or Minion Witch to farm up gear to make one of your builds work.

Just my opinions and once again great build.

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tribeca76 wrote:

I think you should at least mention that in HC week long races people are willing to part with really good gear for very cheap. Seeing as there is no need to hold on to gear for alts and what not. It is really easy to get top end gear in a race from other players.

So when you say you can't get more fresh start then you can in a hardcore race you are wrong. In open beta the gear you can trade for in a HC race will be super expensive to trade for in default normal mode.

This was not a fresh start character cause you traded for gear to make it work.

I like all your builds, but none of them are new player friendly at all. If a new person wishes to try out one of your builds (a really new person). They should first roll one of the easy mode early game cookie cutter builds like Blood Magic Mara or Minion Witch to farm up gear to make one of your builds work.

Just my opinions and once again great build.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion and I respect that! :) but would just like to add on a lil bit more.

Having played both Default and HC, the kind of gear I'm using will actually be much cheaper in default, simply because default players have a different mindset. In default it is the high DPS and high MF gears that go for much higher than in HC and it is the survivability gears that go for much lower than in HC.

It is indeed true that HC race economy differs slightly from OB HC, but that is only in the latter stages of the race, such as the last 2 days for instance whereby people start getting desperate for map crafting orbs and start selling stuff really cheaply. However at the start of HC races, which is certainly about the time I created the character, the economy doesn't differ much from the start of OB.

Things tend to go for alchs or chaos in HC and even now in regular HC, that hasn't changed. When OB starts no one will be asking for extravagant amounts in both default and HC because no one will be that rich yet.

To be honest, the only bargain I got was for Magnate which would usually be worth about an exalted but I got it for a GCP and 3 Chaos/Alchs. The other pieces of gear which I had to trade for were if anything more expensive during the race as compared to out of it because they were equipment with high +life rolls which were essential for survivability and subsequent progression. Again, with the different mindset of default players I expect default prices will be much lower.

I guess my opinion of a fresh start character differs from yours because to me, trading is part of the game, so is interaction with the online community. It is very difficult to succeed in HC in a race situation without trading because you need orbs to craft and you need upgrades, not all of which can be found. I didn't think I needed to define a fresh start character as one having to rely on all aspects of the game, ie. trading, crafting and farming but to me that's what a fresh start character has to do. On the other hand, if it were not a fresh start character, you would probably already have items in stash to support your character so that's a different story!

I admit that my builds aren't exactly the most newb-friendly builds to follow, but if they were easy to come up with in the first place I wouldn't have to try and write a guide about it! :)

That said, I'm still trying to make it easier to understand for new players, so guys, do feel free to let me know regarding aspects of the guide that could be improved!

I'm glad you voiced your opinions, and thanks for the compliment! :)

First of all once again ty for the guide and well thought out build.

I would just like to apologize if I came off as rude in anyway. It is hard to express tone in a text post :D