Shadow - The Frozen Dagger (ST/CoC - Self found, noob friendly) [Gameplay Videos] - Forum

I will not be updating this for an unknown amount of time. I burnt up my GPU and have to use an old one I had laying around for the moment. Well, needless to say, an old gpu barely runs the game as is and certainly can't handle all the pretty graphical effects that this build give us. I should be able to replace my card soon but I do not know when. So, off to play with some new builds for now. In the mean time I will continue to check this thread and answer any questions/comments. Good luck in the new ladders everyone!! *Prologue* **This Build/Guide has turned into somewhat of an 'Adventure through end game with me' post. As you read through this, for the first time, be aware that I started this thread as I was stepping into low maps for the first time with this self found character. Many sections have changed but there is a lot of places you can see the progression. There will also be places here that you can get good ideas on what to do to progress. I guess what I am trying to say is don't look at things like the 20Q gems or the level 82 Skill Tree and think they are required to make this build work. Welcome to Life on the edge!! So, I play mostly self-found and I got sick of "Let's grab all the life nodes we can and leave a couple points for dmg" builds. And the "Well you can build for dmg if you have gear worth 18495034 Exalts or you'll have to farm for 15 years to get your gear to drop". And finally the "This is a cheap build that works but you may want to watch a movie and cook a meal while you play it or you may have an aneurism from boredom." So, I decided to make a dmg based build that was fun, didn't cost more than most people have and could be made with vry little trading involved. This is the most fun I have had playing this game since the start of OB. This build is not for the feint of heart. It lacks conventional survivability. But makes up for that in other ways. While, yes, it is mostly a 1-2 button spam build the fast paced play and barrage of graphics makes it hard not to enjoy. You also can enhance your experience with tactical movement and precise skill placement. Though, for the most part, the latter are not required to be effective. IGN = Crit_ANT_ical You are more than welcome to msg me. But, please know that I tend to leave the game up and running and go afk for loooong periods of time. If I don't answer I am not ignoreing you. I am probably afk. If I don't answer in game your best bet is to msg me on the forums. I will always reply to PM's. Disclaimer: Spoiler I did not look up ANYTHING about what I was doing previous to making this build. It is 100% mine from scratch. It evolved over time and is still evolving to this day. Any and all constructive criticism is welcome. Any and all flaming or stupidity will be ignored. Also, This is probably not a good build for Hardcore Leagues. However crafteri has been kind enough to theorycraft a build for HC that can be found in the passive tree section. I would like to reinforce that this build can be quite squishy. I have a number of PM's from people who make it into their mid 80's and start dying so much they can't level anymore. Please be aware that come late game leveling will be HARD. You WILL die. Especially come 75+ maps. Unless you have uber crazy gear, take it slow. Be cautious. Re-Roll the harder mods if you need. Skip specific mobs if you need. This is by no means a "Kill everything without a care in the world" build. I personally like the challenge. I like to test my reflexes and situational awareness. I like to find ways to do the undoable. If you want a build that can faceroll 75 maps than this isn't for you. But, on the flip side, if your broke and want a build that can get you facerolling and farming ~70 maps then this is a blast!! 1.1 SotV Release There are some thoughts on the new tree in the skill tree section. Tips for Newbies Spoiler This is from a PM I had with someone about the build. It will outline the basis for how the build works as well as give some pertinent information for new players as to how some of the basic skill mechanics work. " Alright let's start with the easy stuff since your new. Skills are classified by the tags notated on the gem itself. If you mouse over ST you will see it says "Projectile, Attack". Those are the keywords that let you know what passives and support gems will directly affect the skill. If you take a look at, let's say, Ice spear it is tagged as "Cold, Projectile, Spell". Anything tagged as a spell will benefit from spell dmg. While anything tagged as an attack will benefit from physical dmg. And anything tagged as a projectile will benefit from projectile dmg. Please also note that not all phys dmg nodes will affect ST's dmg. Many say 'melee phys dmg'. Since ST is a projectile it is not melee. We can also deduce that while you technically 'cast' ST it is not a spell since it is not tagged as such. That should answer your first and last question. Now let's address something else real quick. This build is NOT dependent on ST's dmg output. We utilize ST to proc Cast on Crit (just for more understanding read the notes on CoC carefully "Supported Attacks have a chance to Cast Supported Spells when you Crit an Enemy"). When you link CoC with an attack (ST) AND a spell (Ice Spear) it causes this effect - Whenever your ST gets a critical strike you cast a free Ice Spear. Since ST pierces all enemies, 1 cast of ST can effectively cause 100 free Spear casts per second (due to the 10ms cooldown of CoC). Combine that with lesser multiple projectiles and you can have up to 300 spears per second. Now that's not a realistic number but it is the possibility. Now with that information we can work on answering your second question. First you have to ask yourself "Do I plan on going with mainly projectile spells (fireball, ice spear, eth. knives, ect...) or will I use other non-projectile spells as well (cold snap, storm call, arc, ect...)?" If you plan on using ONLY projectile spells then Projectile dmg passives are nice since they are in abundance near the shadow/ranger part of the tree. But if you plan on using any non-projectile spells then it is worthwhile to pick up spell dmg since it will affect all of your spell dmg instead of just projectile based spells. And finally the skill trees are located in the "Skill Tree Progression" section of the post. It will also do you some good, as a new player, to check out the whole thread (and any other thread that catches your eye). There is usually a lot of discussion that may not be in the main post. There is a lot of information out there that get's lost in the mix. It's worthwhile to check it out. Pros and Cons Spoiler Pros -Cheap. You can make it to maps on the gear you find while leveling. Every piece of gear I use (except the 5 linked Voll's) was obtained from the corpse of a monster that this shadow has slain. -4 Auras. Not many builds can boast this now-a-days (unless they are running aura specific gear). -Noob Friendly. It is not a hard build to play. Throw out some daggers>Freeze enemies>Monsters Explode>Profit. -Very Flashy. If you like to feel like a machine gun this is the build for you. -Really good dps. Burst dmg and 1 shotting is not the main focus. But throw out 3 daggers into a big group and watch them melt. -Decent survivability. While you can't run in and face tank ... you can run in and face tank. Once you've acquired enough crit chance/dmg you can perma-freeze all but the beefiest of monsters. -Not likely to be 1 shot, even by the hardest hitting mobs. I'm pretty sure my combined ~3k ES/HP has yet to be gotten through in 1 hit yet. *This isn't the case anymore. I had Spider Forest (with vulnerability mod) Blacksmith leapslam 1 shot me once. -Flexibility. Whether it be because you just feel like a change of pace or because you don't want to deal with the high resistance of monsters in specific areas, you can change the dmg type you deal at a moments notice. This includes Fire, Cold, Lightning AND physical (EK). -Fast Paced. You can start an area and not stop moving until the whole bored is clear, if you so choose. Cons -3 Active skills total and 1 Button Spam for the most part. -Can be subject to forget how squishy you are. After perma freezing 99% of the monsters in an area that 1 with a gazzilion health walks through your freeze and smacks you in the face. -With little to no armour you CAN be 1 shot. But, as explained above, it's not likely to happen OR you could run armour instead of eva. -Squishy. You can't just run up and say hello the every mob. Bosses require you to be quick on your toes and to understand the mechanics of the fight. -Ele Reflect and Light Thorns SUCK ASS!!! Now running purities (or having innate high res) helps with this lots. But you will still have to take on these mechanics cautiously. -Can sometimes be an RNG nightmare. It's rare but on occasion you CAN go a few seconds without a crit on single target. Especially before you get your crit well above 50% ... This is not nearly as much of a problem with the new CoC proc chance. -Even though your gear isn't going to be expensive/elusive, the requirements are tight. There are specific mods you will have to roll for this to work. Thoughts on the CoC gem 'nerf' in 1.0.5. Spoiler I Have run a few maps now and you can see a slight decrease in the amount of procs on big groups of 15+ mobs. But from what I can tell it has had no substantial affect on gameplay. The current state of CoC has a 10ms internal cooldown. That is still 100 procs per second. Think about that ... 100 procs per second. I can't realy call that a nerf. In some ways it actually helped. Now that I'm getting 80%+ chance to proc my single target has gone up noticeably. Videos Spoiler I've come to the conclusion that I need a new cpu. I've never had problems recording before but lately I've had to dump the resolution just to not overheat the unit. And then the video comes out choppy as well. It is what it is for now. Please bare with me through the rough videos. Quick low quality choppy video of merc docks. Just to let you see it in action. IDKY the video turned out so choppy my gameplay is typically vry smooth. Frozen Dagger Video And here's an example of how you can change things up --> Shocking Fire Video Blue Grotto map full run. Pandora stopped right before video and I forgot to start it again. Music Starts @ 5:25. Boss fight @ 8:30. The Video has some huge hicups in it here and there. 1 lasts like 20 seconds. It's generally pretty terrible from 6-8:30 it cleans up alright after that though. I'll have to go check out some settings and see if I can fix it. Grotto Run Elemental Equilibrium Map. Also there is a nice tutorial on how to deal with ele reflect packs at the end. Mud Geyser 2 Quick Piety kills, approx 10 second kill each, using ST>CoC>LMP>Ice Spear>Fire Ball and DS>CoC>Cold Snap>EK . Just for proof that single target is by far not low damage. Piety ST Piety DS Frozen Dagger vs. Acton's Nightmare. This is an amazing build for this Unique map since you shatter almost everything. Making the 'Restless Dead' mod null and void. I used almost exclusively ST for everything since it has higher chance to Shatter. So, clear speed is pretty slow. I can speed run this in almost 1/2 the time. Sorry for the bad electronica music. I had to substitute sound b/c 2 songs worth got popped due to copyright crap. Sry :/:/ Acton's Nightmare Jungle Valley Yes I didn't video the boss fight. I had to afk for a while before going in (having 3 yr old keeps me from being able to play non stop). This boss is actually AMAZINGLY easy for this build. More Mobs = more dps = dead boss asap. The only problem is sometimes you get an ele reflect rare in there. once he pops in I rly dont have a choice but to go back to town and switch to EK and kill him. Video is pretty jumpy. Hopefully getting taxes back soon so I can replace some hardware :D. Working on adding a soundtrack. I just left pandora off for this one since it always flags. Jungle Valley Current Stats (level 82) Out of Date atm Spoiler Unbuffed** Defense HP - 2035 ES - 533 Mana - 621 Armour - 265 (3%) Eva - 2336 (23%) Block - 39% Recovery - 30% Stun Avoidance - 30% HP Regen - 23.2 Mana Regen - 25.9 Run Speed - 32% Fire Res - 39 Cold Res - 23 Light Res - 32 Chaos Res - -60 Offense Physical: Hit Chance - 83% Crit Multi - 419% Mana Leech - 3% Using the stat sheets appropriate to (20Q/ Level 1)ST/(20Q/Level 17)LMP/(20Q)CoC APS - 3.35 Main Hand Combined Dmg - 17-69 Crit Chance - 55.8% Off Hand Combined Dmg - 20-77 Crit Chance - 41.5% Using the stat sheets appropriate to (20Q/Level 1)Double Strike/(20Q)CoC APS - 3.18 Dmg Per Use - 343 Combined Dmg - 34-153 Magic: Crit Multi - 479% Using stat sheets appropriate to (20Q)CoC/(Level 20)Ice Spear/(20Q/Level 17)LMP Dmg per use - 688.6 Combined Dmg - 224-336 Crit Chance - 38.5% Using stat sheets appropriate to (20Q)CoC/(Level 19)Cold Snap Dmg per use - 884.8 Combined Dmg - 386-579 Crit Chance - 22% Using stat sheets appropriate to (20Q)CoC/(20Q/Level 17)LMP/(Level 19)Fireball Dmg per use - 1351.5 Combined Dmg - 480-721 Crit Chance - 33% Using stat sheets appropriate to (20Q)CoC/(5Q/Level 19)EK Dmg per use - 1559.3 Combined Dmg - 611-916 Crit Chance - 27.5 Buffed Defense Clarity/{Purity/Grace/Discipline} - Level 19 Reduced mana HP - 1800 (235 Reserved) ES - 1439 Mana - 80 (621 Reserved) Eva - 6801 (42%) Mana Regen - 42.7 Fire Res - 75 Cold Res - 61 Light Res - 70 Chaos Res - -60 Flask Buffs *These are not up to Date* Now remember I have just about 100% uptime on these so they do contribute to my overall stats. This does not include my Diamond flask mods since I can't roll Surgeons to keep it up. I am basing the res off of the 20% from my granite since I can't reliable get the 27 from the health flask. Armour - 3265 (26%) Evasion - 14762 (57%) HP Regen - ~300 Fire Res - 75 Cold Res - 85 Light Res - 75 Chaos Res - -60 Offense Physical: 6 Power Charges Crit Chance - MH: 83.2%, OH 61.9% Magic: 6 Power Charges Ice Spear Dmg per use - 991.2 Damage - 244-365 Crit Chance - 59.5% (+600% base chance increase from 2nd form) Cold Snap Dmg per use - 1232 Damage - 431-646 Crit Chance - 34% Fireball Dmg per use - 1916 Damage - 522-785 Crit Chance - 51% EK Dmg per use - 2224 Combined Dmg - 682-1022 Crit Chance - 42.5% Build evolution Spoiler I started this guy intending to make him a ST, phys/crit, Dagger/Shield. So I leveled him as such all the way to merc docks. Taking the Crit nodes and the major Crit/Dagger nodes. As well as picking up some health and the little eva/es cluster near the start. I Also knew I wanted to grab the 3 Aura clusters as well so I could attempt to kill ANYTHING before it reached me. Then a 4L5S Voll's dropped and I thought, "Hey, My phys dmg is lackluster anyways and I haven't invested into much of anything but crit anyways. I can toss the PCoC and throw on CoC with a spell to get an edge." I started with cold snap since it hits like a truck and Voll's will give me infinite charges. 1 Docks run is all it took. I was hooked like a crack addict. At this point I decided I wanted to stack attack speed as a secondary stat so. I dumped the 3 phys nodes at the start of the tree and swapped them for the 3 dual wield nodes just to the right and grabbed a spell power dagger for my offhand. I had an Ungil's Gauche in the stash so I threw that on my mainhand for the attack speed, block chance, and Global Crit. Over the next few days I tried all combinations of spells and finally settled on LMP/Ice Spear (considering I had already taken Ballistic Mastery this was an obvious choice from the start). Once I found a main clearing skill I decided it was time to drop single target ST since I wasn't getting enough crits with it to be effective. Or more accurately it took to long for the rotation of the throw to come back and allow me to start getting double hits. Well attempting to get as many attacks in in as short a time as possible the most obvious skills were Double Strike or Cyclone. Once again I tried all manner of skill combinations. I could not find more dmg ouput than Double Strike/EK/Discharge. Cyclone is likely to be better but I found that, with no life leech, The loss of control of your character will instagib you over and over and over. I did like Double Strike/double Cold Snap as well but found that I was having problems in places like library. I really needed a second form of dmg. And it seems to me that cold snap does not proc from CoC nearly as often as other skills so a single one just felt lackluster. This is how I arrived at my current build. As I stated before, this is still evolving on a daily basis. Skill Tree Progression Spoiler Thoughts on other passive nodes There are a couple of comments on other passive nodes in the gear section under 'mana concerns'. Spoiler Blast Radius - I've been wanting to get to this for a while now. It synergizes with the spells I use on a regular basis (Cold Snap, Fireball, Discharge). BUT, everytime I go to start the path there I realize that it's only 20% dmg for 3 points. I can get 24% from 2 points into "Spell Damage" at the shadow start. Yes you get the larger AoE radius. But, if you watch the videos (or any other video of ST/CoC on youtube), you'll see that there really isn't a need for a larger AoE. This isn't to say that it should or should not be in the build. I just have better place to invest my skill points that come so slowly now. Iron Reflexes - This is a perfectly acceptable route to take. You just have to decide where you want to get the points from. I, personally, wanted a more actively defensive playstyle with this build. Twin Terrors - This is a tasty little cluster. If you head to IR then pick these up for sure. Chaos Inoculation - If you have the gear for it then by all means pick this up. Even with -60 Chaos Res, I still don't have huge problem with Chaos dmg. It's hardly ever a 1 shot mechanic and spammable pots make it somewhat negligible. But, CI will free up a few nodes, and allow you to run Blood Rage without issue. Acrobatics/Phase - If your wanting more tank you can head this way. If you do that I would sugggest dropping the majority of the witch tree and pick up all the great nodes in the bottom right corner (Heart Seeker, Swagger, Ondar's). Increased Flask effect - These nodes in the witch tree can be extremely valuable, since we have infinite flask spam capabilities. I've been considering these for some time now. Current State - >>>>HERE<<<< is a preliminary build with the new tree for level 83 (98 points). Not changed much. Traded the witch spell nodes for the shadow spell/ele nodes. Grabbed the Flask nodes and the new and improved Mana/HP node in the witch tree. Dropped Mana Geyser and went back with the northern route to the 3rd Aura cluster while grabbing the mana/hp nodes there as well. We end up with more HP and Mana, We trade a little Crit Multi for more base dmg. I don't see a huge change in the way the build will play out. Maybe even do a little more dmg since some of our spells don't have a high crit chance and will do more dps with more base dmg. Gear Requirements Spoiler As I said I wanted a build that you could go out and farm for in a faily short period of time. I acquired most of this gear, by looting it within a couple of weeks. The only thing I purchased was the Voll's. I previously ran with a 4/5 Voll's that I did loot and the build is perfectly viable with that. The Ungil's is realy nice for the block chance and crit chance. But you can manage without it as well. Defensive Spoiler The idea is to stack as much HP/ES on your gear as you can. You could choose whatever defensive stat you like (Eva/Armor/FlatES) and all will work just as nicely. If you choose armour you are better off to go IR. Otherwise you will be slow on your feet. And of course res is always nice. But you can use purities to easily accommodate where your lacking. You will also need to try and find some mana wherever you can. Between the Voll's and running 2-3 auras on your mana try to end up with 60+ mana. It's not as easy as it sounds ;). Also, be sure to throw in some move speed. As an evasive character your job is to not get hit as often as possible. Slow and clunky boots will make this difficult. Offensive Spoiler The main stat is obviously Crit Chance. But don't let attack speed go unnoticed. It is extremely powerful for this build. Try to roll some daggers with 8%+ crit chance and 1.5+ aps. After those two try to grab some accuracy. You can easily find 200+ accuracy on 1 piece of gear. That is more than enough to keep your daggers hitting. And if you have gotten a hold of all of that look for Spell dmg, spell crit and crit multi. End game Gear (70+ Maps) Spoiler Everything mentioned above. You will also NEED to find some more res on your gear. You don't have to be maxed on everything but it should be 60+, with purity. Otherwise you will start getting picked off regularly by fast casting mobs, Elemental Ailments, Curses, and -res map mods. If you want to run 3 auras on your mana you will HAVE to get a good chunk of mana/mana regen/mana leech (any combination of the 3) from your gear. Also, start looking for some Crit Damage mods. At a point crit chance takes a back seat to crit dmg. I noticed around 70% crit chance is where crit dmg rly started to shine. Mana Concerns- Spoiler EB - I originally thought about going EB. But I didn't want to have to stack tons of HP so I didn't want to give up the ES. Also note that I have ~90 mana atm and can continuous cast without carrying a mana flask. So EB is not needed in the end. I only spent 2 for Deep thoughts and the node before it. You could include the 3 life/mana nodes if you really want. But I would take those regardless. They are extremely cost efficient and directly along the main path of the build Mana Geyser/Primal Spirit - While primal Spirit is a great node you "shouldn't" need to use mana flasks come end game. I had it at one point while leveling but dumped it pretty quick. Mana geyser is another great node and more than acceptable trade off for deep thoughts. It would allow for a lower level clarity. All in all most of these observations tie into have mana problems. If you put a little mana on your gear and run clarity on your HP then you should not run into mana issues using LMP. Shield vs. DW Spoiler Both are viable. I personally wanted the Attack speed buff from dual wielding. As well as the additional offensive stats of a second weapon. You could easily drop the few DW nodes for others and go with a shield if that is your preference. Just note that you will loose a chunk of dmg as well as a bunch of block chance (if your using Ungil's) Pros Spoiler Shield -More defensive stats (HP,All Res, and/or ES, and/or Armour, and/or Eva) -Great selection of utility Uniques Dual Wield -More offensive stats (Crit Chance, Crit Multi) -Passive DW attack speed buff -More Block with Ungil's (or TONS of block with 2 Ungil's) -More Crit = More Freeze = More Defense Cons Spoiler Well for the most part the cons and the inverse of the pros. Would love some input for pros and cons Note on gems in this gear. I change out gems regularly depending on Map Mods and difficulty. Check out the Skill Gem section for more information Using this gear I can easily solo ~68 Blue maps. Spoiler Gear Update currently running 70+ Maps Spoiler Gear Update currently running 72 maps Spoiler Update - After about 25 Jewelers (which is quite absurd for a pair of i-lvl70+ gloves) I got my 4soc. I linked them and went back to using Skele's. After a loooong test phase of added cold dmg on Firestorm I decided it rly just isn't great. Come later maps you will never freeze with ~100 cold dmg from a Qgem. Also with 38 all res from Purity, 800+ ES from Disc., and 5000+ Evasion rating from Grace even just 2 skeles make amazing meat shields. Update - Still have yet to find a 73 Map and refuse to vendor my 72's for one. On the plus side I found a decent pair of Sin Treks. Gear Update able to run 75 maps Spoiler Not a ton has changed. Found an extremely fast dagger with acceptable crit. Been running it over Ungil's. I haven't noticed a huge loss in survivability. Though it is a bit noticeable when having to melee a lot. Still rolling colors on it. But it's just my curses. And I like to not rely on them since curse immune is so common. Flasks Spoiler I am giving this it's own section since I believe this is where this build realy shines.Once you are reliably critting you'll want to stack Surgeon's Flasks. I can empty a flask and refill it in less time than it takes for the buff to wear off. So in all reality you will have infinite flask spam capabilities. Pick your favorite suffix(s) and have 100% uptime on it in combat. I can have +3000 Evasion, +3000 Armour, +40% Move Speed and infinite health regen at all times while fighting. Also, can you say "Status ailments ... What is that??" Who needs to build defensive when you have all those stats at your beckon call? Thanks to Tiemo94 I hear that making sure you have a 'remove bleed' mod on one of your flasks is extremely important. He plays in norm so he's be continuously testing out the build at end game since the patch. These are the flasks I generally run with. I have some I switch in and out for special map/monster mods. But for the most part I spam all of them over and over without a care in the world. I'm actually at a point now where I am considering dropping the Diamond Flask. I never have the need to use it anymore. And since you can't roll Surgeons on Diamond then I am missing out on an additional spammable flask. Flask Update Traded out my Diamond for any choice of Ele Res flasks. Also re-rolled other flasks. I am not entirely happy with their current suffixes. I would prefer freeze dispel on the Sapphire, increased armour on the Granite and I haven't fully decided what else yet. Skill Gems One of the best things about this build is ANY dmg spell can work with it. Ive done almost every spell available and most of them are viable. It also adds an element of fun being able to change the way your build looks and the type of dmg it deals anytime you feel like it. Spoiler Main Clearing Skill - ST+CoC+LMP+Ice Spear, 5l - Cold Snap or Fire Ball, 6l - LGoH For your 5l - Cold snap gives you more dmg for tight packs of mobs. They just EXPLODE!!! As well as gives a lot more perma freeze. Fire Ball will give you more consistent dmg when mobs are spread out more. As well as giving you more single target/small pack dps. Thought's on 6th Link - Spoiler Since I have no way to test this I really can't, or more accurately don't want to, say what will work the best. I can theorize on a number of possibilities - LGoH - ~50 life per hit. Possible hundreds of hits per second. You do the math ;) I am unable to test this against reflect/thorns yet. Life Leech - Without VP life leech will never regen fast enough to sustain you the way LGoH can. Crit Dmg - All around benefit. More Dmg, more elemental ailments. Conc - This is one of the first ones I am going to try. Cold Snap and Fireball (the spells I use the most) would benefit greatly from this support. You mention arctic blast. I am not a fan of this. I tried it for a while and feel like the dmg output is subpar. As well as the fact that you loose the secondary benefits, pierce/600% crit chance, of Ice Spear. Arc - Consistent shock stacks ... what's not to like?? Cold Pen (or any Ele Pen) - only extremely useful against cold res. And then you just throw on a fireball instead of cold snap. Chaos Dmg - To Cut through those All Res mods Knockback - This one I've tried and it makes it impossible for any monster to touch you. Added Cold Dmg - More freeze with quality Chance to flee/Blind - Obvious reasons Ele Prolif - This really shouldn't be needed Pwr Chrg on Crit - Possible if you want to drop the volls A lot of people use GMP. I find that LMP is much more effective. Spoiler 1)When your running all 3 auras on your mana then mana becomes difficult to manage. 2)GMP cuts the dmg output of each spear by 1/2. You'll never get more than 2-3 spears to hit a target, from each proc, at any given time. Yes you'll get more procs from GMP but that only applies to large groups. And I garuntee The amount of procs from LMP is more than sufficient to wipe them out. 3)You are relying of freeze/slow to help you survive in difficult areas. The less dmg your spears do, the les freeze/slow time on the monster, the less survivability you have. Also, I tried cold pen and crit dmg as my 5l. It doesn't even touch the dmg boost over adding cold snap, even against cold res monsters. Main Single Target There are 2 variations on this. One using Cyclone and one using Double Strike. Double strike is the 'safer' skill while cyclone will net you faster single target kills. Spoiler 1- Double Strike+CoC+Discharge/Cold Snap+EK This route is much safer. It allows you to get off 2 quick swings and then make the decision to gtfo if you need. 2- Cyclone+CoC+Discharge/Cold Snap+EK First off you have to have enough mana to get 2 casts of cyclone before you can use it. Otherwise you will end up oom all the time and dead most of the time. It can get you in a lot of trouble with desync and environmental obstacles (such as walls/chests/anything that can't be broken). You cant always just run in and cyclone everything. You will have to be aware of the mechanics of the monster you are fighting. Sometimes It will just be better to kite with ST. And last of all it can rly screw you over if you need to gtfo mid cast. Once again I tried multiple combinations of skills/supports. Even multistrike doesn't seem to put out as much dmg as just adding another spell to the link. Discharge just seems to have the most consistent dmg output as well as the ability to do HUGE burst. EK is extremely nice for those ele res monsters. You can substitute Cold Snap for Discharge for the freeze if your having survivability problem in close combat. You CAN use your ST for single target. It's more than viable it just takes longer. Movement - Whirling Blades Rly anything you like can work here. But make sure it's fast and reliable. Your squishy so waiting around for lightning warp to go off probably isn't a good idea ;) Auras - Clarity+BM, Disc+Grace(Haste)+Puritie+Reduced Mana(s) Spoiler Clarity: is REQUIRED. While your skills don't cost a lot to cast your should be attacking very quickly. And with Voll's your mana leech from passive/gear wont be able to keep up. My level 6 Clarity only pulls ~240 HP from my pool. It's well worth the trade. Disc: is a no brainer. With the Aura clusters and my 1 ES/Eva cluster level 18 disc is giving me over +800 ES for 33% reserve. That's insanity. For heavy physical areas I run grace. It currently boosts me over 5000 Eva rating. Between my 39% block chance and ~40% Evasion my phys dmg reduction is amazing for a squishy build. When there's not alot to evade I trade it out for Haste for the move/attk speed. If you choose armour as your defensive stat then you may want to run Derterm. instead, for obvious reasons. Purities: are where you can save yourself a slot or 3 for other skills. If you can get everything you need on gear and also have res on it then your more than able to drop the purities. Otherwise you will want them available. A single purity gives me over +50 res (not max level). And a Purity of Elements gives me over +35 all res (not max level). Both at 22% reserve I have the ability to run 3 Auras on my mana (60/60/40) and still have enough to continuous cast with clarity. CwDT - There are a large number of great possibilities with this gem. Everything ranging from End. Cry, free curse casts, Chance to flee (combined with a spell), and quite a lot more. Here are a few of my favorites. Spoiler CwDT+Level 7 Skele+Level 1-8 Firestorm+Chance to flee You may look at the level 7 skeles and ask "Why?!?!?!" Well with the 800 ES and 30% Evasion and Resistance they get from my auras the are amazingly durable. Their distraction has saved my arse more times than I can count. I wanted a blind but the chance is so low that nothing ever proc'd it. So I went with chance to flee. I also chose firestorm since it can hit multiple times with 1 cast. as well as the fact that it isn't stopped by environmental blocks like barrels. Also, quality on firestorm cause the fire to drop faster causing more hits in a shorter time frame over the same overall duration. Hence procing more 'Chance to Flee'. CwDT+Level 7 Skele+Level 5 Enfeeble+Enduring Cry (whatever level is appropriate I just left mine at 1 atm) Enfeeble is self explanatory. With my 40% eva + enfeeble it is HIGHLY unlikely that I will be crit and 1 shot. CwDT+Firestorm+Chance to flee+Q Added Cold Dmg Add an Added cold dmg and you can put a little umph (+100 dmg @ level 18) behind your low level Firestorm as well as added chance to freeze with quality. The cahnce to freeze from 'QAdded Cold Dmg' will fall off HARD come later maps. There's just not enough dmg, vs. monster hp %, to cause them to freeze. All in all making this gem useless at end game. It's great pre-70 maps. But after that go with something else. Other Skill Choices Spoiler - Blood Rage Currently with my -60 Chaos Res I can still run BR since I can spam Health Pots all day. It is more than doable things just become more hairy more quickly while doing so. If you can stack up enough Chaos Res then BR will be a walk in the park. - Projectile Weakness The knockback is extremely useful. as well as the dmg increase for Ice Spear and Fireball. - Critical Weakness The 50% Crit dmg on this is AMAZING. The added benefit of additional crit chance is also nice - Elemental Weakness/Frostbite Not much to say outside of the obvious. - Molten Shell - A little chunk of armour and some added dmg on explosion. - Enduring Cry - I run this when I am doing harder content. The survivability jump while charges are up is invaluable. - Temp. Chains - The slow is absolutely amazing. As well as the fact that it makes your freezes really stick (pun intended). -Decoy Totem - We are squishy. Distractions are always good. Where to invest your GCP's - Spoiler Priorities - Other than crit, attack speed is extremely powerful with this build. Luckily for us we can gain an additional 20% attk spd and 20% crit chance (for ever skill linked to it) for just 3 GCP's invested into our ST links. And 10% attk speed and 20% crit for 2 GCP's in our DS links. Other thoughts on gem quality - -LGoH (No gem to link quite yet) A 20/20 will give you 54 life per enemy with every single attack/spell. -Critical Weakness. A 20/20 will net you an additional 79% crit dmg. That's huge! -Cold Snap (no Gem to Link quite yet) 20Q will give you 40% increased freeze duration. This will help a lot with high HP mobs and Bosses. -EK A 20/20 will give bump EK's dmg up to 835-1252 (after passives). This will help drop bosses a bit faster. -Whirling Blades Depending on how you have built this will be a much bigger help than you may think. Attk Speed will cause a faster animation and recovery time for this skill. Meaning we can gtfo faster if/when we need. Many people will think it's a waist of a GCP. But, it's something to consider when 1 death is days worth of XP. Or in the case of HC leagues where 1 death is ... well ... death ;) -Reduced mana quality shouldn't be a factor since it doesn't affect our auras. If you need you can use it on your Curse(s) to help conserve mana a bit. -Ice spear quality is a waist. It gives projectile speed. We are already shooting them ~2 screens away at blinding speeds. The same goes for Fireball. Fireball quality gives chance to ignite. We are critting so often that our ignites are always up. Dealing with Reflect Spoiler Well for reflect packs there is a short tutorial at the end of the Mud Geyser video You can also now do reflect map mods with a change of armour. If you grab up a 1/2 descent 5 link armour you can roll a ggggb. This will allow you to go with ST>CoC>LMP>EK>PCoC. Also, make your 4l DS>CoC>EK>PCoC. I have tested this recently and it works just fine. It is a little dangerous since you are no longer freeze things. So, you will have to play safer. But it will allow you to run some maps you roll that are great except for the Ele reflect. Gem Priority While Leveling Spoiler I have had a few PM's about Skill gem priorities while leveling. These are my suggestions. Pre-CoC Hatred* <-- Very Important for freeze/slow With Voll's Double/Dual Strike>Multi-Strike or Faster Attacks>LGoH/LL>Added cold dmg (preferably with quality) Low crit - ST>LMP>LGoH/LL>Added cold dmg (preferably with quality) High Crit - ST>LMP>Faster Attacks>Added cold dmg (preferably with quality) Without Voll's Double/Dual Strike>Multi-Strike or Faster Attacks>LGoH/LL>PCoC Low Crit - ST>LMP>PCoC>LGoH/LL High Crit - ST>LMP>PCoC>Faster Attacks Post-CoC No Longer need Hatred With Voll's Double/Dual Strike>Multi-Strike or Faster Attacks>Cold Snap or Discharge>EK ST>CoC>Ice Spear or Cold Snap>LMP Without Voll's Double/Dual Strike>Multi-Strike or Faster Attacks>PCoC>Cold Snap or Discharge ST>CoC>PCoC>Ice Spear>LMP>Cold Snap Bandits Spoiler You can choose to take Skill Points by killing all the bandits in any difficulty. This Build can benefit greatly from xtra points since there are a lot of passives, near the main path of the build, that we could utilize If only we had a few more points to invest. Please not that if you choose to take Skill points you are probably better off to grab at least 2 if not all 3. But, if you plan on taking this guy all the way to 90+ then I really feel like your better off taking the buffs Norm Help Oak (+base HP) - Since we are squishy every little bit helps. Other Thoughts - Kraityn: +6 All res can be gotten with 1 skill point. Don't waist your bandit reward here. Alira: This one may be worthwhile if you take more +mana% nodes. It allows for more flexibility on your gear. Cruel Kraityn(+Attack Speed) - More Daggers = More CoC procs Other Thoughts - Oak: We don't care how much phys dmg we deal, so this would be wasteful. Alira: We don't cast spells so this would be a terrible choice Merci Help Alira (+Power Charge) - This is a crit based build. This is the obvious choice. Other Thoughts - Kraityn: If you plan on running Blood Rage and don't feel like you need the extra Power Charge then this is a great option. Oak - If you plan on running Enduring Cry, and can keep up the charges, then this will help greatly with survivability. Other Builds Jugg's Exploding Daggers My /oos macro program Juggla's PoEoos Thank you for taking the time to check this out. I hope it brings you as much joy as it has brought me!! Check out my Frozen Dagger build in the Shadow forums!! Last edited by Juggla1570#0315 on Apr 16, 2014, 2:39:36 PM	Posted by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 18, 2013, 2:38:00 PM Quote this Post
this build absolutely 100% matches the play style I'm trying to acquire. I've been lurking forums all morning and finally have come across something that really catches my attention. I am relatively new to Domination so I have almost no currency or items to use, so this is right up my ally. just created my shadow in Domination - definitely going to report back here when I am a bit higher level and let everyone know what's up. thanks for your time to make this build/guide :) edit - I forgot to add, for lvling purposes before I get both my CoC gems and links setup, what is linking priorty with my ST and DS attacks? Chris plz Gimme good RNG Last edited by Immortxlz#3456 on Dec 18, 2013, 3:52:13 PM	Posted by Immortxlz#3456 on Dec 18, 2013, 3:51:01 PM Quote this Post
" Immortxlz wrote: this build absolutely 100% matches the play style I'm trying to acquire. I've been lurking forums all morning and finally have come across something that really catches my attention. I am relatively new to Domination so I have almost no currency or items to use, so this is right up my ally. just created my shadow in Domination - definitely going to report back here when I am a bit higher level and let everyone know what's up. thanks for your time to make this build/guide :) edit - I forgot to add, for lvling purposes before I get both my CoC gems and links setup, what is linking priorty with my ST and DS attacks? Well like I said I leveled as phys/crit. So i would suggest making sure your wpn(s) have acceptable dmg for their level and prioritize ST->LMP->added dmg (of some sort) And set up DS just as you would any other phys ds build. I guess what I'm saying is it doesn't rly matter outside of LMP for ST. The only thing to note is don't go throwing in crit dmg gems till you can either get a PCoC or voll's. Edit: Until you get CoC I would also suggest taking Hatred for the majority of your leveling. It adds acceptable dmg, but more importantly, it mimics the freeze you will get once the build starts to come together. This will make your life much easier when you get to harder areas. Check out my Frozen Dagger build in the Shadow forums!! Last edited by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 18, 2013, 5:00:16 PM	Posted by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 18, 2013, 4:05:24 PM Quote this Post
Thanks for the clarification and quick reply, looks like you edited your post and added that handy section just after asking my question. How much can I expect to pay for that unique dagger and Voll's Protector? Chris plz Gimme good RNG	Posted by Immortxlz#3456 on Dec 18, 2013, 6:49:11 PM Quote this Post
" Immortxlz wrote: Thanks for the clarification and quick reply, looks like you edited your post and added that handy section just after asking my question. How much can I expect to pay for that unique dagger and Voll's Protector? I am absolutely horrid at pricing things. As I said I play mostly self found. I know currency to currency ratios but beyond that I'm at a loss. I paid 1ex, 10c and 4 regrets for my 5l/6s Voll's a couple days ago. As far as I know I could have gotten a great deal or been swindled ... I honestly have no clue lol. I didn't buy any other piece of gear so idk what the dagger is worth. Sorry I couldn't be more help. Check out my Frozen Dagger build in the Shadow forums!!	Posted by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 18, 2013, 6:55:00 PM Quote this Post
UPDATE - Added more to the skill gems section Added a Flask section Added Current Stats Updated Skill Tree Check out my Frozen Dagger build in the Shadow forums!!	Posted by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 28, 2013, 2:43:59 AM Quote this Post
Brillianst work, but there a handful of points that you should include, I think. Eldritch Battery first and foremost. You need mana, it gives i, in tonnes. You spend a good deal of points trying to get mana, but it only takes 2 points. Also with mana primal spirit is flanked by a pair of 8 pointers and mana geyser is only 3 points away from the core path of the build. The mana problem ties into the issue of shield vs. dual wield. A good shield could give mana and almost 50% resist all + a good dose of ES ~ mana. There are a few nodes you need to perhaps argue why not to take or that that they will be taken. Doom cast is the major question. 60% spell crit?! y u no take? Heart of ice, it's just a fine lil' node. Blast radius, with cold snap and perhaps arctic blast it would be nice. Elemental dominion. Also, how should one go about with a 6 link voll? And a major question. Conc. effect or no conc. With cold snap and perhaps arctic breath it could give a major dmg. boost and with quality reduced cost. AOE or projectile? If projectile then a 20/20 freezing pulse could easily substitute cold snap. Cold penetration gem? And lastly, curses? crit and projectile weakness would wreak havoc with the crit chance and amount of projectiles you put out.	Posted by Chiliconkarma#3790 on Dec 28, 2013, 6:19:59 AM Quote this Post
" Chiliconkarma wrote: Brillianst work, but there a handful of points that you should include, I think. Eldritch Battery first and foremost. You need mana, it gives i, in tonnes. You spend a good deal of points trying to get mana, but it only takes 2 points. Also with mana primal spirit is flanked by a pair of 8 pointers and mana geyser is only 3 points away from the core path of the build. The mana problem ties into the issue of shield vs. dual wield. A good shield could give mana and almost 50% resist all + a good dose of ES ~ mana. There are a few nodes you need to perhaps argue why not to take or that that they will be taken. Doom cast is the major question. 60% spell crit?! y u no take? Heart of ice, it's just a fine lil' node. Blast radius, with cold snap and perhaps arctic blast it would be nice. Elemental dominion. Also, how should one go about with a 6 link voll? And a major question. Conc. effect or no conc. With cold snap and perhaps arctic breath it could give a major dmg. boost and with quality reduced cost. AOE or projectile? If projectile then a 20/20 freezing pulse could easily substitute cold snap. Cold penetration gem? And lastly, curses? crit and projectile weakness would wreak havoc with the crit chance and amount of projectiles you put out. Good points. Here is my thoughts on them. Mana Spoiler EB - I originally thought about going EB. But I didn't want to have to stack tons of HP so I didn't want to give up the ES. Also note that I have ~90 mana atm and can continuous cast without carrying a mana flask. So EB is not needed in the end. You say I spent a good deal of points on mana ... I only spent 2 for Deep thoughts and the node before it. You could include the 3 life/mana nodes if you really want. But I would take those regardless. They are extremely cost efficient and directly along the main path of the build Mana Geyser/Primal Spirit - While primal Spirit is a great node you "shouldn't" need to use mana flasks come end game. I had it at one point while leveling but dumped it pretty quick. Mana geyser is another great node and more than acceptable trade off for deep thoughts. It would allow for a lower level clarity. Shield vs. DW - Both are viable. I personally wanted the Attack speed buff from dual wielding. As well as the additional offensive stats of a second weapon. You could easily drop the few DW nodes for others and go with a shield if that is your preference. All in all most of these observations tie into have mana problems. If you put a little mana on your gear and run clarity on your HP then you should not run into mana issues ussing LMP. Passive Nodes Spoiler Doom Cast - It is definitely in the plans for "final build". I just feel like my clear speed/Freeze uptime is fine for now without it. Heart of Ice - I had this for a looooong time. It is one of the best nodes on the tree imho. BUT, I took it out b/c I don't want to invest into a single element. First my main single target attack has zero Ice dmg. And I switch elements on ST pretty often. Though I never take off Ice Spear so it would still be beneficial. I just feel that those 3 points could be better spent elsewhere for this build. Blast Radius - I've been wanting to get to this for a while now. It synergizes with the spells I use on a regular basis (Cold Snap, Fireball, Discharge). BUT, everytime I go to start the path there I realize that it's only 20% dmg for 3 points. I can get 24% from 2 points into "Spell Damage" at the shadow start. Yes you get the larger AoE radius. But, if you watch the videos (or any other video of ST/CoC on youtube), you'll see that there really isn't a need for a larger AoE. This isn't to say that it should or should not be in the build. I just have better place to invest my skill points that come so slowly now. Elemental Dominion - It's just WAY to many points to invest to get 20% dmg. If you choose to do blast radius than the 3 points for Ele Dom is probably worth it since you get the 20 Int with the 20% dmg. 6th Link Spoiler Since I have no way to test this I really can't, or more accurately don't want to, say what will work the best. I can theorize on a number of possibilities - Crit Dmg - Probably the most likely Since it is an all around benefit. More Dmg, more elemental ailments. Conc - This is one of the first ones I am going to try. Cold Snap and Fireball (the spells I use the most) would benefit greatly from this support. You mention arctic blast. I am not a fan of this. I tried it for a while and feel like the dmg output is subpar. As well as the fact that you loose the secondary benefits, pierce/600% crit chance, of Ice Spear. Arc - Consistent shock stacks ... what's not to like?? Cold Pen (or any Ele Pen) - only extremely useful against cold res. And then you just throw on a fireball instead of cold snap. Chaos Dmg - To Cut through those All Res mods Knockback - This one I've tried and it makes it impossible for any monster to touch you. Added Cold Dmg - More freeze with quality Chance to flee/Blind - Obvious reasons Ele Prolif - This really shouldn't be needed Pwr Chrg on Crit - Possible if you want to drop the volls Curses - I have used both Crit and Proj curses and both are great. I am unsure of how I have missed putting them in the main post 3 times now :/ Edit - Added these points into the main post Check out my Frozen Dagger build in the Shadow forums!! Last edited by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 28, 2013, 2:04:37 PM	Posted by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 28, 2013, 1:51:16 PM Quote this Post
Bandits?	Posted by jeefawin3#3466 on Dec 30, 2013, 12:40:49 AM Quote this Post
" jeefawin3 wrote: Bandits? I took Health/Attack Speed/Power Charge Edit - added a bandit section in the main post Edit - Also updated numerous other sections Check out my Frozen Dagger build in the Shadow forums!! Last edited by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 30, 2013, 4:14:55 PM	Posted by Juggla1570#0315 on Dec 30, 2013, 1:25:39 PM Quote this Post