[1.3] [Pony's] Cheap CI FlickerStrike Shadow - Physical to Lightning!
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### UPDATED Mar09 ###
Changes in 1.3
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Wow they really went after our Crit Damage on that patch! By passives I counted -46% crit damage and only -5% chance. That's only 5% of weapon crit, so 0.5% total crit which is barely noticable. The real hurt is the Increased Critical Damage support gem getting a massive nerf. It is now questionable as to whether it is worth running ICD or choosing a different Int support gem instead.
I am currently testing the 'Physical to Lightning' which appears really effective. Splitting some of the damage away from pure phys is great for reducing reflect damage. Also the added Shock Status ailment is useful for 1-vs-1 situations where previously this build fell away a little. It is almost certain Phys-to-Lightning support gem will be my replacement for the IncCritDamage nerf. It's not hard to push way beyond 100k DPS TALA MOANA EVERYONE! There's a lot of these FlickerStrike builds out there but I struggled to get good info when putting mine together. I'm posting this to help people like myself looking for advice with this fun build. This ISN'T a build-flex, I'm not here to impress you with end-game gear and unobtainable legacy equipment. I've made this as cheap as possible. Watching someone rip around maps with mirrored gear is totally pointless unless you're a squillionaire. I don't pretend to know everything, I'm still learning every day. If you can point out ways I can do this better please do. The key thing about THIS build guide is that it's CHEAP AND ACCESSIBLE. With the inexpensive gear outlined below 70-90k DPS is pretty standard but later >150,000 DPS (AoE w/ MeleeSplash) is easily obtainable and this doesn't count the added crit damage on AssassinsMark cursed mobs or increased damage from applied status ailments (shock). As a rough guide though, you should be pretty comfortable with anything over 6,000 'average-damage-per-use' (tool-tip). You will notice little difference between 6,000 ADPU and 12,000 ADPU. Once you've cleared 6k ADPU start looking at ways to increase your survivability or IIR/IIQ if you're that way inclined. Too much DPS and reflect will hit you so hard you'll go back in time. WARNING: This build can be a desyning-son-of-a-b1tch. Prepare to die to Desync. Also, that Abyssus helmet hates you and wants to be on your corpse not your head. Physical reflect can be an issue and reflect maps should be avoided. Reflect is an unscaled travesty of injustice. You'll die in a lvl 10 zone the same way you'll die in a lvl 77 zone. Chris Wilson giggles each time you die to reflect. Videos: 1) BUILD OVERVIEW <---- START HERE 2) Delux version for the high-rollers 3) Same thing with 99IIQ/350IIR
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1.3:
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Quick run through lvl73 Cells dual boss NB I think this was about 32k per use w/ 9.5APS so about 345k DPS. Obvious overkill. Should have less damage more MF
77 Shipyard. Just general build-in-action Dominus Benchmarking (99IIQ/350IIR) pre-1.3: Sorry, I only twitch after espresso. If you want to see this in action pm me in-game. Pros/Cons:
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Pros
CHEAP build (a few exalts and you're away) Serious fast clear rate Easy to play, no aim, no kite, just hold key to win Simple to convert to MF gear by substituting DPS for IIQ/IIR until you can comfortably fast-run maps. Cons: You may die to desync Antisocial party play (ready, set, weeeeeeeeeee!) You may die to desync Reflect will 'something-something your-ass' You may die to desync You have to go back and look for all the drops you flew past or trust your party members dont steal them all when you die to desync You will die to desync Build Basics, Auras, Gems and gem-links:
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Obviously blood rage all the time to override the flicker cool-down.
Get as much frenzy as possible (tree and bandit rewards). Add Power Charges only to close on max Crit (95%), then spec out of power charges once you hit 95%. Auras Always linked with reduced mana, always. NB - You will need 'reduced mana reserved' passives to run 2x 60% auras + a herald Hatred: Freeze-on-crit is pretty much essential. No corpses, just kibble. Most useful in Haku-bro 'breaking and entering' missions where collecting the spirit sets off the house alarm and you have to escape with your neighbors plasma TV before the cops arrive. Reducing all occupants to small blocks of ice means they won't get up and try to stop you. Discipline: SURVIVE! Survivability will help you rage less and level better. Herald of your choosing! I prefer Thunder as the 15% Inc Lightning Damage from Quality is good when combined with the new Phys to Lightning support. And the Shocked Status Ailment which I've mentioned. HoI is good to maintain freeze and keep kibbling, HoA has the best DPS but cooked corpses get back up again. If you need, swap your herald for Purity of Elements though you should try and get MaxRes from gear. Curse Assassins Mark now means you don't have to use PowerChargeOnCrit. This is much more apparent with high-level Assassins Mark. Primary Attack Gems Flicker and Supports 5L
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6L
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6L Farming
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Secondary Attack Gems I use Cyclone+LifeonHit+ManaLeech+<something> but you could probably go with a 1-1 attack like Frenzy to build charges. Lots of options here, go with what you're most comfortable with. Note that 1.3 cyclone got a bit of a nerf in terms of hits-per-second. This may effect your ability to restore life in some situations. You're most likely to use your secondary attack to deal with reflect mobs or 'allies cannot die' rares or getting out of a thick cluster. Recommend using a key-press (W) for flicker attack as opposed to mouse-btn since you'll just be holding it down most of the time. Keep your time between engagements as low as possible (Speed pot - run a lot) Level all your gems except your Cast on Damage Taken set which should be held at level 1. Progression and leveling:
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Early on this build can be difficult as you need to survive without life passives and wont be going CI until later. Be prepared for the move to CI, that's a game changer. From around lvl45-55 you'll have a hard time of it without the right pre-CI equipment. Hang in there, it's worth it.
Levels 40-55 are pretty tricky. Use a Volls and mightflay for a while and if you need, use bloodmagic or manaleech on your flicker attack if you can't maintain it. HANG IN THERE! It's worth it once you bridge the gap. If you're raging about dieing all the time through here add Cast on death + discharge + portal. The giggle you get when shit pops will reduce some of the death-fury. At 35 gear gets a lot better (volls + mightflay), prior to that anything goes. Later progress out of Volls into an ES chest and shield. Bandit Rewards:
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Kraytin 8% ele resist Or skill point
Oak Added phys Kraytin for the Frenzy charge. Passives:
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1.3 Passive Tree here
Essentially, stack ES boosts and Crit (obviously). Ghost Reaver and Dagger passives. Whilst you are leveling, chance to crit is key! If you need to pick up some health nodes to survive feel free, you can spec out of them when you swap to CI/GR. Get mind drinker early. Equipment:
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As stated this is a cheap build with good bang-for-buck
Ergh this thing. Good inc stats, inc damage, inc crit, HORRIBLE damage received. 1 chaos. Long term alternative is Crown of Eyes for added spell damage and less squish-ability. Another cheap alternate if you're sick all the reflected damage from Abyssus is 3-Dragons. You will find this works well with the Physical to Lightning as you'll now be freezing mobs all the time. If you added the Fingers of Frost Notable and duration passives it's likely most things, even bosses won't be able to move. Cannot be stunned is pretty essential. Alternative is Unwavering Stance passive. Perhaps one day when you're >lvl80 spec into unwavering stance and swap this for an added phys necklace. Strides are near 'best-in-slot' even for end game. Good ES and Tri-Res and speed. Bang on. approx 25 chaos Flask refills are nice. Meginords belt is better for lower levels, once you have good phys damage the Magnate becomes better. Crit stack. Alternate is Aurseize for 15%Res and farming. 10 chaos Core gear will set you back around 2ex in chaos chump-chance. The only thing that'll hurt will be your chest and dagger and it's up to you how far you want to go here. Variable/Remaining Gear:
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Rings, Your choosing. I go with crit and ele resist and rarity but up to you. Good added phys damage would be nice. You might consider Dream Fragments or carry a 'dispels frozen and chilled' pot. Personal choice. I rarely die to frozen and don't use dream fragments. You will probably need good ele res on your rings as a lot of the other gear will be generating DPS. Shield, Something along the lines of ES is essential, added Arm or EV w/ele resists are good too. If you get Crown of Eyes later you can use an ES shield with added spell damage. The shield is a very important place to get your ele res, don't neglect it here. Or a pure ES shield to get that ES pool up. Chest, Mid-game 5L volls is good for leveling. Later you will need higher ES 5L and eventually 6L (expensive) Examples - and IDEALLY -> GBRRRR so you can use Melee Damage on Full life AND Melee Physical Damage. Flasks:
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Some tricks here. Basic rule is 'Surgeon' Everything (recharge per crit). Granite is your friend. Pot buffs stack really well but the effect is cancelled if you use a mana (or life) flask that takes you to 100% mana (or life). Easy way around this it to add Armor to your ruby/topaz etc and EV to your mana pot.
Eg: - this combo or similar works well and the effects will last so long as none of them are being cancled by a mana pot. Remember that. Always carry Quicksilver to reduce time between encounters. Move fast to keep your frenzy/PC live. Always carry a 'dispel frozen and chilled' pot unless you are lazy and have a dream fragments Consider AutoHotkey Script or Logitech macro for poppin pots (and /oos because, well, desync) Weapon:
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High Crit chance (>9%) with good Phys is essential. Those are the 2 most important things to look for. They can get a little expensive but there's plenty out there. Kris base is good for the 80% inc global but many demon daggers and knives will suffice. Added APS also good if you can get it.
Status Ailment! So often overlooked. Since you are doing crits pretty much all the time you will freeze/ignite/shock mobs a lot (and poison with Adders touch). Even a low roll added lightning on a dagger will make a big difference to hard to kill mobs. However any ele damage on a dagger will be at the expense of a IncPhys prefix. Examples of daggers: etc [plug=]There's usually some cheap daggers avail in my store, check here or get on the indexer[/plug] Cast on Damage Taken and countering Desync:
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I may not have mentioned it, but this build suffers from a bit of desync...
Some CWDT will help distract things from licking your face while you embarrassingly stand still and wait to die somewhere. CWDT+ImmortalCall+IncDuration+EnduringCry works well but MoltenShell and Decoy totems are also very nice. Decoy Totem is quite under rated however the STR required to run good ones can be prohibitive. CWDT will save your bacon a lot but not all the time. A good desync lasts for 10-13 seconds while the server shits itself and no amount of CWDT will save you then. I'm currenly just running low level CWDT +MoltenShell (for the free AR boost), +Enduring Cry (for free Endurance Charges and +Warlords Mark (more Endurance Charges). Here are the 2 CWDT sets I am currently using. 1) Procs often - brief phys reduction which helps with reflect 2) Procs often - heaps added AR - chance to freeze Also bind a key or button to /oos to help compensate for some of the desync issues (yes, they're really that bad) Changelog
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UPDATE Dec (for 1.3) Nerfed complaining about Desync (yeah, there used to be more) Nerfed complaining about physical reflect (yep, previously more of that too) Nerfed complaining about nerfs (we must go deeper) Added 1.3 tree which stayed more-or-less the same. Added Physical to Lightning (more crackling than a bush fire in a bacon factory) Added some build videos - sorry if I sound a bit like Chris Wilson, he has Mirrored my accent. UPDATE Oct In 1.2 I swapped Vaal Pact for more ES (witch notables). Herald of Ice added. FYI Current farming rig -
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DPS/ZanaTimed rig
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and swap IIR IIQ for
UPDATE Mid-Feb
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I've saved some cash and gotten out of Abyssus which should be your primary goal once you have made lvl 80 and have things sorted. My current rig looks something along the lines of
Nothing fancy, but does the trick. Still the fastest clear rate I've ever seen Post 1.1
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Main thread has been updated to reflect changes for 1.1. Seem to have lost a little DPS but plenty of theorycrafting in progress to get it back. Over-all distance to VP has been reduced so a couple spare passives avail. Not certain increased ele damage is much use. Still testing.
1.2 - Massive overhaul, too many to list! My Current Equip FYI (zomg build-flex!)
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496107DPS (AoE)  I'm happy to help out if you need it. This is a fun and rewarding build and I welcome the opportunity to share it with you (nohomo). PM me here or question when ever. One of the main reasons I have this post here is because people are always asking about my build and it takes to long to explain in %party. Desync in a nutshell - http://youtu.be/1uvm3GixEj4 Last edited by ep0nymous on Mar 12, 2015, 11:52:07 PM
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^ updated for 1.1
Desync in a nutshell - http://youtu.be/1uvm3GixEj4
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I just got back into PoE, and plan on using this as my first new build. I have a few questions though such as:
Where should I place my early skill points in, like what direction or major nodes should I stride for. Also what should I use to level up early on? Should I just use flicker strike or some other gem. Lastly can you add a section for what you are currently using. Thank you. | |
" Head out to Mind-Drinker and focus on the 'Increased Crit Chance' nodes. You will rely on freeze and power-charges throughout the leveling and end-game so getting these to proc (off crit strikes) is essential. Don't put-off the long trip to Vaal Pact as it can be hard to do really late in the game. Mostly 'top-right' Crit passives in the tree early on then ES and EV later when you're ready for the switch to CI/VP/GR " If you plan to play 'standard' league and already have some gear just use what ever skills and equipment you have until mid-30s where you can pick up a Volls and Mightflay dagger. If you are playing Ambush you will have to make do with the scrapings you find. Lastly can you add a section for what you are currently using. gl! Desync in a nutshell - http://youtu.be/1uvm3GixEj4
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How to deal with mana problems at lower levels? I have mind drinker and a bunch of extra mana leech on gear and I still run oom way too quickly.
Last edited by glykeria on Mar 14, 2014, 1:26:50 PM
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Your CwDT plan has really saved me MANY MANY times.
aboout vaal pact, its that making really difference? i'm not willing to go for it. IGN: ShadowBeholder
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" I solved this spending 3 passive points on Soul Siphon (total +25 mana gained per kill). For a Flicker build, that explodes a pack in 1 attack, this helps a lot. IGN: ShadowBeholder
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" yep at lower levels I found the mana cost an issue as well. I experimented with a few things including Blood Magic but found if I could squeeze Mana Leech and Reduced Mana into a 5L Volls I was able to sustain flicker. Remember Surgeons pots help a lot here as well. Desync in a nutshell - http://youtu.be/1uvm3GixEj4
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" I've heard of a few that have struggled with VP following the nerf. I haven't noticed however and with a good leveled quality bloodrage gem you'll be leeching so hard you wont notice. I couldn't imagine CI without VP. You're a braver man than I if you can pull it off. Desync in a nutshell - http://youtu.be/1uvm3GixEj4
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" thinking about that, I got a 20/20 blood rage (with Increased Duration and 5 frenzies). Tested a map with reflection, couldn't make it, I mean, not even for a couple of minutes. However, facing a Rare Mob with reflect, it's cool and much better. Not dying. I think it's a waste of points going for Vaal Pact only to counter attack reflect. If I'm doing really fine in all game challenges, but dying because of reflect, I can live with that. because I only have to skip maps with all mobs with reflect. IGN: ShadowBeholder
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