[3.4] Say_Ten's Double Strike/Spectral Throw Melee Scion - Cheap and Easy to Play

and if you get ahead of me, here are my thoughts as far as where to go with the passive tree:

- once again, vaal pact is up to you. you can experiment with it and see if it's worth your time. though i read some comments from guys about the buff flasks got which may negate some of the need there.

- some of the nodes toward the marauder and/or between the marauder and templar look nice. there is damage, armor and life out that way and it's not too far. a good goal.

- if you're hurting for resists, go for the cluster that has "cloth and chain" at the bottom. i will definitely be picking that up.

- you could look for aura effect nodes and decreased mana reserve nodes but to me, that's end-game shit for this build. like, you have money (passives) to frivolously spend.

- don't worry about sword specific damage nodes until later

- i don't see much useful stuff to the right of the duelist tree anymore. maybe "weathered hunter" since i'm close to it.

- if you are hurting for INT or DEX, you could always grab one of those +30 nodes, even just temporarily

- haven't even cared about endurance charges yet since i don't have CoDT set up

if you guys have more questions, let me know. you can message me in game if you want (Grundle_Police) or just post here. usually during the week i have more time to respond because on the weekends...well...i'm playing!

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i wrote some notes to "update" the build for 1.2, even though nothing has really changed on a large scale

current lvl74 skill tree updated

i am going to be taking some more sword nodes and some life nodes and that'll probably be it

build will be finished somewhere between level 85 and 90 i'm guessing...any additional points could go into life, aura buffs, possibly even mana nodes to assist with running hatred and grace at the same time without any special gear (like alpha's howl).

Played a similar spec some time ago on my Marauder was a lot of fun, thx for the build will try it on my Scion.

no problem. about to update the skill tree to make it current. at level 80 (later today hopefully), i will be swapping the 3 2h damage/stun nodes at the bottom left for the 3 sword nodes at the bottom center.

i ended up getting a pretty decent weapon recently too and my dps is about 25k for double strike and over 4k for spectral throw. had to spend some of my own currency to re-roll sockets and links, but thanksfully i've been pretty lucky with fusing orbs this season.

updated for level 88 and counting

i am working my way towards Martial Experience (top left of my tree) for extra damage. then at lvl90-91 I could respec for more life if i wanted to via Thick Skin (right of my tree).

i have 4000 life, now running hatred and herald of ash, which is viable with 4% mana leech. double strike dps is up to 32k or so.

my plans are to find a better weapon, which could easily put my dps over 50k. perhaps find a better armor.

ideally, if i could get 6L weapon and armor, i would add blood magic gems and run grace too.

some notes:

i have an alpha's howl but it still doesn't really help enough with mana reduction to run hatred and grace and sustain attacks for a long enough time. it could perhaps be swapped on for bosses (eliminate herald of ash) because i will generally be using double strike. however, if it's a boss you need to kite, then you need to be able to spectral throw and miss (waste mana) because you won't hit every time.

i can face-tank a lot of map bosses. obviously depends on map mods, but for a cheap character, i am pretty strong.

i seem to do the worst against crazy elemental shit. probably why everyone wants Block as the tank DNA.

Is this build viable for Beyond... was kinda getting tired of reeping and remaking ST CoC builds :D

I guess that depends on your definition of viable. I find the only types of characters that are tankier than me are characters with shields. I can face-slap a real lot of things without a problem. And with my culling strike/IIR set up on leap slam, I have about 90% IIR to boot.

You could definitely re-route for 1h damage, though there are a lot less available. However, there are some block nodes nearby.

When it comes down to it, viability is largely based on how intelligently you play given both in-game circumstances and environmental circumstances (lag).

Another thing I can tell you for sure is that this build is "cheap". You can play with self-found gear no problem. In the end-game, what you will grind (or pay) for is a better weapon and probably more armor/evasion...or even 6L items if you dare.

About to update my tree for current level (90) and counting

I'd also like to add that I have leveled my gems to 20 and swapped most to 20% quality. I'm also using a new weapon. Even with the gems still leveling a couple more times or so, I'm still doing ~65k dps on double strike.