[1.14B HC/Nemesis] Ninja Crit Caster (5x11.6k FP DPS) [Videos]
 Banner courtesy of engrace Hi everyone! I just started POE again last week seeing as it was the christmas break, and after having a look at the new uniques, decided to try and build around Berek's Grip and the Cloak of Defiance. From the forums, I got the impression that Freezing pulse and casters in general were lacklustre, so I decided to go down that route. Just for kicks - since i've never tried anything like it in HC before, I decided to throw in acrobatics as well just to see how it would turn out. Similar to my RF build in the beginning of the year, this isn't really meant to be a guide, but just some info for ppl who might be thinking of heading down that path. Idea of the build - main objectives 1. Crit-based caster 2. Utilise Berek's Grip's mods to the fullest (life leech and mana leech) 3. As tanky as possible 4. Have excellent crowd control 5. Have some form of reflect mitigation Keystones - Eldritch Battery - Acrobatics - Phase Acrobatics - Ondar's Guile - Mind over matter (provided for by Cloak of Defiance) Skills Used Freezing Pulse - main skill for ranged aoe/single target DPS Fire Trap - adjuvant skill for ranged aoe/single target DPS Freeze Mine - excellent CC with a bonus --> reduces enemy's cold resist Lightning Warp - for mobility around the battlefield Arctic Armour - excellent form of damage mitigation with some form of CC Ice Spear - useful adjuvant skill for single target boss DPS while leveling Gameplay Style Warp --> Freeze mine and detonate --> Fire Trap --> Warp --> Pulse --> Warp --> Repeat Gameplay Videos 1.0.4
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GMP-ed Pulse with The Taming and my rare wand
- Level 73 Canyon Map Run - Nemesis - Level 73 Dry Peninsula Map Run - Nemesis GMP-ed Pulse without The Taming, with my rare wand - Level 71 Colonnade Double Kole Map Run - Standard GMP-ed Pulse without The Taming, with Void Battery - Level 74 Maze Map Run - Standard - Level 73 Dark Forest Map Run - Standard - Level 72 Torture Chamber Map Run - Standard - Level 72 Mine Map Run - Standard - Blood Rage - No CI? No problem Utility of Berek's Grip - Level 71 Ele Reflect Map Run - Standard - Level 70 No Regen Map Run - Standard
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- Merciless Dominus run
- Level 75 Plateau Map Run - Standard - Level 76 Precinct Map Run - Standard - Level 77 Shipyard Map Run - Standard - Level 77 Shrine Map Run - Standard - Level 71 Dry Woods Map with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part I - Level 71 Arachnid Nest with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part II Boss fights only - Level 72 Labyrinth - Level 72 Jungle Valley - Level 74 Maze - Level 74 Residence - Level 76 Academy How to fight undying evangelists - Level 74 Maze Map Run - Standard Advantages and Disadvantages of MoM - To help those of you thinking of going into MoM
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The main advantage that this keystone offers is an additional damage buffer, which because of the substantial size at which you can get it up to as well as the high mana regen, makes it extremely useful against burst damage. However, the disadvantage is that it offers no protection whatsoever against DoT - meaning stuff like viper strike, corrupting blood, puncture, burning etc. Hence, getting a healthy amount of life is equally as important.
Another disadvantage is that to maintain a decent amount of available mana pool to buffer against damage, you will need to compromise on auras. Thankfully, as a caster, you don't really need that many auras (unless you're an EK user). Clarity is enough, although I may sometimes use Grace and compromise some mana if the map has mainly attackers instead of casters. My thoughts on Acrobatics in HC
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It is very much improved as compared to how it was before. The damage mitigation can be quite noticeable at times. However, it is still a little dodgy (forgive the pun) as you can't quite help but feel a little unsafe. However, that 'dodginess' can be mitigated by stacking up on HP and Mana for an increased damage buffer, which is the strength of Acro in the first place - just a 6 point investment without a need for anything else. It is probably true however that although one heavy hit might instagib you - that heavy hit which may be capable of instagibbing you would pretty much also instagib an armour user.
Bosses/Mobs to be wary of as an Acro user
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- Undying Evangelists
- Perpetus - Vaal - Museum map EK-er - Villa map boss - Jungle valley map boss - Labyrinth map boss - Maze map boss - Academy map boss How do I deal with ele reflect maps?
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Use a Level 1 Freezing Pulse instead. (I'm actually serious).
You'll still be dealing very high damage. Examples: - Level 71 Dry Woods Map with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part I - Level 71 Arachnid Nest with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part II Leveling Tree
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18 Points
28 Points 48 Points 75 Points - I did merci vaal here 94 Points 107 Points 114 Points - Level 96 Bandit Rewards
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Normal - Help Oak
Cruel - Kill everybody Merciless - Help Alira Gearing Needs
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Chest - Cloak of Defiance
Helm, boots, gloves - Look for Ev/ES gear. Mods to be prioritised (in descending order): Life, Resists, Mana, Ev/ES Wand/Sceptre - mods to be prioritised (in descending order): spell damage, cast speed, crit chance for spells, mana regen, mana, projectile speed Shield - mods to be prioritised (in descending order): spell damage, life, resists, crit chance for spells, mana, ES Amulet - mods to be prioritised (in descending order): Mana Regen, Life, Resists, Mana, Spell damage, cast speed, crit chance/crit multi Rings - Berek's Grip is useful for leveling early on. The Taming is nice but not necessary. For rare rings, mods to be prioritised (in descending order): Resists, Life, Mana Regen, Mana, Cast speed Belt - Life, triple res, ES In cases of ES versus Mana, remember that you have acrobatics, hence the actual mana you gain from ES is halved. In general, when comparing between pieces of gear, if one has mana + ES and the other has ES alone, just do a simple calculation. ES/2 + mana versus ES/2, then take the one with a higher value. Never neglect chaos res! Aim to get at least 0 in merci. (it really isn't difficult) Documentation of my experience in leveling this character Part 1 - Dec 19 2013
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Character playtime so far
 Current Gear and Gem links
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Current Defensive Stats
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With Grace
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 Without Grace
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 Current Offensive Stats
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Freezing pulse - with 5 power charges
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 With a level 20 FP, a 6L (with the added link being incr. crit damage) as well as fully qualitied supports, projected tooltip DPS should exceed 3x5k DPS Fire Trap - with 5 power charges
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 Skill Tree Part 2 - Dec 25 2013
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Character playtime so far
 After getting my 6L, I decided to use the extra slot for a life leech gem for increased safety in maps against bosses as well as against DoT mobs and corrupting blood rares, as Berek's Grip, although nice, isn't as reliable as a life leech gem. Also got a wand upgrade, which although it only increased my DPS slightly, increased my crit chance massively. With added lightning allowing me to shock stack mobs, as well as the Taming which I made, my actual DPS far exceeds my tooltip DPS of 3 x 6308 on Freezing Pulse and allows me to one-two shot most mobs, including rares in maps. With a L20 FP as well as fully leveled and qualitied supports, I expect the DPS to reach 3 x 7.3k. Fire trap DPS has also been improved, and is a hugely reliable alternative when facing ele reflect packs. Ele reflect is surprisingly not that huge a problem, as the mana pool helps in absorbing damage received, and phase acro is supposed to help me 'dodge' spell reflect. Also, I now have the life leech support linked. To be on the safe side, I still prefer to stick to fire trap however. Frost wall is proving to be a very useful CWDT skill, as it pushes melee mobs off me and blocks them off as well as blocking ranged and spell projectiles, while still allowing me to freeze pulse over it. I'm dealing massive amounts of damage now, so my projected skill tree has also changed, and all future points will go towards defensive options. Current Gear and Gem links
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Current Defensive Stats
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No change from above, except HP is now 3824 and mana after reservation is now 1870. Current Offensive Stats
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Freezing pulse - with 5 power charges
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 DPS with GMP is 5 x 4.6k, but I'm a tad reluctant to use GMP atm because of lightning thorns and corrupting blood rares Fire Trap - with 5 power charges
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 Skill Tree Part 3 - Jan 3 2014
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Thoughts on this character This is easily one of the most fun and powerful caster characters I've ever played. Unfortunately, that contributed to my overconfidence and complacency and I RIP-ed to a lowly Villa map boss who stacked me with lightning traps and bear traps which crit and killed me. Passive tree at death Level 87 Current Gear and Gem links
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Cost of gear Cloak - bought for 15 chaos, 50 jewellers to 6S, 162 fusings to 6L Helm - 2 ex 10 chaos Shield - 2 ex 4 chaos Wand - 3 ex Boots - 5 chaos Gloves - 1 ex Amulet - 3 ex Topaz Ring - 5 ex Prismatic Ring - 8 chaos Belt - 2 ex Situational gear Berek's Grip - to be used in elemental reflect maps or no regen maps The Taming - to be used in half regen maps with LMP linked to FP rather than GMP Current Defensive Stats
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 Current Offensive Stats
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Freezing pulse - with 5 power charges
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 That was with GMP, so actual DPS is 5x With fully leveled damage supports, DPS should be able to hit 5x6.2k at least Fire Trap - with 5 power charges
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 Part 4 - Jan 4 2014
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Did a respec oriented around this unique wand: Level 87 In terms of nodes, HP was increased by 16%, Evasion decreased by 16%, Cold damage decreased by 24%, mana decreased by 8%, but Power Charge limit was increased by 1. That translated to ~200 increased flat HP and ~100 mana decrement, and a DPS increase (even with the old wand). Stats are below: Defensive Stats after the respec
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 Offensive Stats after respec
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Freezing pulse - these are with GMP, so actual DPS is 5x
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Old wand, 0 charges
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 Old wand, 6 charges
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 Void Battery, 0 charges
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 Void Battery, 7 charges
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 Void Battery, 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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 Fire Trap
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Old wand, 0 charges
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 Old wand, 6 charges
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 Void Battery, 0 charges
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 Void Battery, 7 charges
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 Verdict regarding Void Battery
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Nice, but not necessary. Great against PvE, but will not be as good as a good rare wand in terms of providing consistent damage output in PvP.
A top tier mirror-worthy rare wand with the top spell damage prefix, spell damage + mana hybrid prefix, top cast speed suffix, top critical chance for spells suffix and proj speed/mana regen will definitely outdps or be more useful than void battery. Part 5 - Jan 7 2014
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Character playtime so far
 Currently level 89, doubt I have the patience/time to grind much further with exams coming up. Bought a void battery for 30 SC exalteds (the last one in nemesis sold for 17) as well as another ring with chaos res for 3 HC exalteds. DPS screenshots for this build is still not fully optimised yet, with 3 of my support gems still not at max level. Gear-wise I'm quite pleased with what I've got offensively, aside from the amulet which can use some improvements. I am able to run blood rage easily, which has raised my DPS. FP's tooltip DPS right now is 5 x 7414.3, although with max leveled gems it should hit 5 x 8.2k. Current Gear and Gem links
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Situational gear Berek's Grip - to be used in elemental reflect maps or no regen maps The Taming - to be used in half regen maps with LMP linked to FP rather than GMP Current Defensive Stats
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Without Grace
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 Current Offensive Stats
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Freezing pulse - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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Added Lightning support
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 Increased Critical Damage support
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 Fire Trap - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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 Part 6 - Jan 14 2014
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Bought an ammy upgrade, leveled some gems.
Current Gear and Gem links
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Situational gear Berek's Grip - to be used in elemental reflect maps or no regen maps The Taming - to be used in half regen maps with LMP linked to FP rather than GMP Current Defensive Stats
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Without Grace
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 Current Offensive Stats
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Freezing pulse - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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Added Lightning support
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 Increased Critical Damage support
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 Fire Trap - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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 Empowered Fire Trap - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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 Part 7 - June 17 2014
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Current passive tree Current Defensive Stats
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Without Grace
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 Current Offensive Stats
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Freezing pulse - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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Added Lightning support
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 Increased Critical Damage support
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 Build of the Week 14 The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader Last edited by Invalesco#7360 on Jun 17, 2014, 5:46:33 PM
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Looks like a solid build! And let me be the first to say: " Welcome back! "
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It seems like this is 1 of the few builds that I'd go Equilibrium for.
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Thanks Freelong! :)
Elemental equilibrium may be interesting, but i'm slightly hesitant about it because some situations require just one skill or the other (ie fire trap when kiting heavy hitting bosses, freeze pulse for squishy mobs, etc.) Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader |
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That is also what I'm thinking but you have all 3 elements in play and with freezemine the "placing + light warp + trigger + fire trap inferno and all kinds of fun." Or perhaps an unsupported / +chain light. trap.
It seems doable and perhaps even worth going double curse. |
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The man of the RF build when no one used RF. I did, and even though it was expensive as hell it was awesome fun - until I got horribly killed to desynch back then :(.
Id run this build if it wasnt too similar in playstyle to the STR Iron Will FP/Fire trap/double curse im running right now. Also, welcome back! EDIT: At least in the build I mentioned above, having double curse (frostbite + ele weakness in my case) is too good to pass up. Last edited by Xoraisse#4078 on Dec 20, 2013, 6:05:50 AM
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Can you elaborate a little on the leveling process? What order you go for the keystones of the build?
Also, bandits? HP, Skill point, Power charge? Last edited by Kutur#2224 on Dec 20, 2013, 4:20:35 PM
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" Thanks Xoraisse! :) " Sure. :) I went towards the witch tree initially, aiming for the heart of ice cluster while picking up the available hp nodes along the way. Acrobatics and Phase Acro was a late game spec process as I wanted my granites to be fully effective during the merciless vaal fight - I believe I only fully specced to phase acro just before piety as I wanted my dodge to be in effect versus her lightning bolts. I solo-ed piety at around level 70. Bandits - exactly as you said. I didn't want to go for cast speed as I preferred the skill point. On a side-note, anyone willing to contribute to 6L-ing my chestpiece? holding a lottery - winner takes home 10 exalteds! Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader |
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I'm using your build actually i'm level 52. Is it not too hard to run acro with EB ?
I hope i will have a monster char like you :) with my FP and my Cold penetration 20% |
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" Not really :) But you'll need to get the gear right - mana regen and enough ES/Mana is important to have enough mana regen to run arctic armour. Cold penetration with quality is best linked with freeze mine for maximum effect. Managed to get my cloak 6L-ed after 162 fusings. Playing around with gems/colours a little - might take out cold pen from my freeze pulse and use another skill gem in it's place. Will most likely also make the Taming and use that. DPS currently sitting at around 3x4.2k with a L18 FP Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader |
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