1.3 The Community's Molten Strike, Face Melting Build!! 1h+shield and 2h variants available

Well, exactly what am I looking for as a replacement for the LC - I saw the thread for Arsenaldo, and frankly I don't think there's a hope in hell I could come up with the currency to buy chest armour like that - not unless I'm lucky or want to grind away for another month or two - or three - or four. I got the impression when this whole thread started that the LC/Three dragon's combo was supposed to be THE outfit of choice for this build and that you could go pretty deep with it - I had to grind for a while to get both, given that it was only my second build and currency wasn't plentiful.

As far as Determination is concerned, I actually have one lying around and it's leveled to about the right point. The only Anger gem I have is at base value, so I'd have to buy one.

Regarding groups - don't do them. I just like playing solo. In fact I've only ever done the rounds with someone on one occasion, a map I did last week, which was basically boring as hell because the guy I was following had this insane RF build that just wiped out everything in sight. My puny little role was knocking over the totems! Not the greatest sense of accomplishment in the world!

DPS envy I don't really care about. It's more a case of having enough on hand so that you're not sitting there forever trying to bring even basic white mobs down. That's as bad as having poor armour or pathetic HP because you're exposing yourself so much to punishment.

Stone of Lazhwar I have, but I am just running so thin on mana and low attributes that I simply can't replace the Paua amulet at the moment because it disables some of my gear when I take it out - it's more Dex than int. that's the problem. I think a couple of more levels, maybe 82 0r 83, should see that issue solved. If other people are more or less following the skill tree that's been outlined I'd guess they must have similar issues.

As for all the resists, well, that's LC for you! The one big advantage of ditching it would be that I COULD try and redirect my energies elsewhere. I constantly feel with this build that I'm forever trying to juggle the pieces to cap the resists while trying to eke out other bits and pieces like life, mana, etc elsewhere. I was about to to buy some boots with 40+ resists on all three elements, but if you're now suggesting that I ditch LC perhaps I might be better off waiting - or simply spending the currency on some Rainbowstride boots.

Also, you're right about the HP, and that was actually my next target on the skill tree. Over on the far right of my points layout are three nodes that will give me a total of 28% extra life. When I can I also hope to give life a boost elsewhere on the gear.

Finally, I was thinking of buying some 20/20 versions of WED and Molten Strike because I figured that, even though both are already level 18 for me at the moment, the switch might help boost the DPS a lot closer to 7000 - anything helps!

As a solo player you won't be coming up against nearly as much damage as you would in a full team. A Decoy Totem thrown in front of you can take a good portion of the damage while grouping everything tightly (usually) for your molten strike to do its job.

Once you grab a Lioneye's Remorse you can re-evaluate your build's strengths as far as offense and defense. Getting to max block will make soloing a breeze. From that point you may not need to worry as much about Life stat on gear. You should be able to get a good Lioneye's on poe.xyz.is for about 1 or 2 Exalts. The Aegis Aurora I am using has better stats than Arsenaldo's and cost me 6 Exalts. Either way it will change your resists around a bit so its good to choose a shield before your gloves/boots.

In Arsenaldo's passive tree, you see him removing Unwavering Stance and picking up block nodes above Point Blank keystone, the node is called Precise Interception. I would consider giving up some of the %life and life regen nodes to get to it. Having max block is well worth it. Especially if you have more life from gear you won't need as many passives to boost it.
And just above that node is one called Aspect of the Panther with lots of good offensive stats too, it also has some attack speed nodes next to it.

There are lots of things to consider when making a it past lvl80. I think the defenses (max block, high spell bock, high Armor) make this build shine above most others. So I would work to get those things set up first then focus more on the offensive parts. But there's more than one way to do it, building more offense may be what you are looking for at this point. Experimenting with this build to find what works is part of the fun.

Hi I was wondering if anyone had grabbed born to fight (haven't seen it on peoples builds). Its only 2 away from aegis and the 2% additional block is pretty handy as well. Im at level 78 and have gone Avater of fire (if that makes a difference).
Btw timbo1959 a good lionseye remorse can be had for about 10chaos on ambush.
Cheers all

Oh, I actually have the LR already - picked up one with good numbers for about 10 chaos a week or so ago. Simply haven't been able to use it yet because of some of the issues with int. (now resolved) and because I need to replace the current boots in order to get the resists aprox. where they need to be once the current shield is taken out.

I have wondered about aiming for an Aegis Aurora - just pondered if it was worth the heavy investment (for me), especially over the pure defensive numbers of a budget shield like the LR. This is only my second build and I'm obviously still learning, so you may appreciate why I don't seem to see anything really spectacular in the AA numbers. Is most of its value in the amount of blocking it adds to a build?

As far as Unwavering Stance, I actually ditched it yesterday and used one of the two points to pick up Water Dancing for some extra DPS - also solved my dex. issues at the same time! So I presently don't have any attribute issues - unless I take out the amulet of course.

I did actually look at Precise Interception and Aspect of the panther, and while good I wondered if I wouldn't be better off chasing the boosts elsewhere. Over on the far left I could either use five passives to give the scepter a 52% damage boost via the Bone Breaker nodes, four passives for a 38% boost on Baptism of Light, or two passives to take out two of the remaining passives on Blunt Instrument for 24%. Shield-wise I could also use up four passives to get the same defensive boosts via the Testudo and Aegis nodes.

It's all still a moot point though if the basic gear combo isn't good enough to go deep into end game. As everyone keeps referencing Arsenado's build, remember, he's taken a different direction and gone with chest armour that would cost a minimum of 100 - 150 Ex. to buy (I looked it up on .xyz - wow!) which thus removes it from the grasp of the vast majority of people playing with this build. That's not a criticism of him - good luck to him in fact - just the fact this build started out as basically a budget version that was supposed to be accessible to just about everyone yet now the reference point for many is something that would be considered near elite in cost.

It's really simple. How far has anyone gone with the LC/Three Dragons/Doryani's combo - anyone actually managed to successfully take on Atziri with it? When I started out with the build that was my idea or goal for end game, to get through the three levels, work up through maps, and then get to her. Didn't matter if it wasn't a clean kill, or if I died multiple times, or had to use 10 sets before I finally beat her. Then I could retire and give away all the gear I've acquired, because I don't really have an interest in starting all over again with another version. I don't really give a crap about Uber-Atziri - I figured she's there for the game's elite with all their high-end gear. But perhaps it's just a function of the game that even basic Atziri is out of the grasp of most of us until you grind away for months and months (or play 20 hours a day!) - or get lucky - and are able to acquire the kind of high end gear necessary to reach that goal.

So if working away to reach the low 90's and get to those aforementioned nodes will prep the LC/three dragons/Doryani's build for a run at Atziri then fine, it's worth the effort. But if it's still not going to be enough than that would be handy to know as well.

And thanks for all the feedback to date. It's appreciated.

Sorry - mistake!

Figure I'd share my current build status. I went in a slightly different direction as the one in this thread. That's the nice variability built into poe. I don't take avatar of fire because I can run on mana I get 1 more gem (no blood magic).

I also leveled with three dragons and then in my 80's replaced it with no noticeable difference except now I have more life. Spell block from stone and block chance is sweet. At I think 63% block.

Level 84
5.1K life, 730 mana (170 after reservation), tooltip 9.1K. (hatred, multistrike only level 18; molten strike level 19)

Gear


I run off mana even with tempest shield, purity of lightning and hatred. I have 170ish mana leftover. Also, have mana flask (only need maybe 1 usually but carry 2 often). I could remove vaal clarity and put in a regular clarity. I may grab the remaining 4% mana reserve node. Not sure. I could also toss on an alpha's howl but at the cost of life and some resists (really it comes down to math. x2 4% nodes + life on helm or x2 life nodes and alpha's. Which gives more life will be my choice.) I don't generally have much mana issues except bosses like kraitlyn with their immortal call which blocks all physical while up (so no leech).

tree


Also, plan to grab the 3 block nodes up top to bulwark that add up to 8% more block.

I don't use the doryani's belt currently due to life and resists. Also, I don't have any to test out. Will eventually try the physical and fire ones but life is important. Haven't tried atziri yet, want to. Palace dominus kicked my butt but that was before stone of lazhwar and with less life. I expect a much different fight. Shrine map no prob. I tend to switch out to aurseize gloves for rarity on maps 75 or lower.

I feel that this build is somewhat lackluster when it comes to DPS in group situations and a bit survivability wise.
Don't get me wrong, I love the shit out of this build; I suppose I was just expecting more.


I am currently lv 86 and tooltip around 7100 dps (if I remember correctly, last time I plugged into a spreadsheet my projectiles were doing 14k-16k).
I run 7 endurance charges, have 4987hp, and run 3 auras (purity of lightning, purity of fire and haste) which I reserve nearly all of my mana for.
I manual cast enduring cry(I keep my endurance charges up constantly) and immortal call. I found I kept getting fucked when immortal call was on CWDT.

Links are Molten strike -> Multistrike -> life leech -> Weapon elemental damage -> Bloodmagic


Tree


Gear



I am wondering if it is worth the trip up to purity of flesh if I do not plan on running 3 dragons/getting static blows and possibly putting the points toward path of the warrior or getting a 2h specific node such as destroyer/reckless abandon.

Thoughts, suggestions and criticisms are all appreciated

"

timbo1959 wrote:

I have wondered about aiming for an Aegis Aurora - just pondered if it was worth the heavy investment (for me), especially over the pure defensive numbers of a budget shield like the LR. This is only my second build and I'm obviously still learning, so you may appreciate why I don't seem to see anything really spectacular in the AA numbers. Is most of its value in the amount of blocking it adds to a build?

The main thing on AA is the Energy Shield regen on block. You can stand in the middle of a large pack and never lose a point of life due to all the blocking from passive tree. It works best on lots of smaller attacks, bosses with big attacks will get through a quarter of their attacks and do some damage. But on trash mobs you are invincible against everything but degen.
That said, the LR shield is perfectly good for this build, don't need an AA by any means.

"

timbo1959 wrote:

It's all still a moot point though if the basic gear combo isn't good enough to go deep into end game. As everyone keeps referencing Arsenado's build, remember, he's taken a different direction and gone with chest armour that would cost a minimum of 100 - 150 Ex. to buy (I looked it up on .xyz - wow!) which thus removes it from the grasp of the vast majority of people playing with this build. That's not a criticism of him - good luck to him in fact - just the fact this build started out as basically a budget version that was supposed to be accessible to just about everyone yet now the reference point for many is something that would be considered near elite in cost.

Agreed, his chest is godly. There are 6L chests selling for 17-22 Exalted (still a lot!) that have over 1k Armor, 70Life, dual resists. Of course 6L is still a luxury not needed for Molten Strike to work well. At level 83 I still wear a 5L chest and run Molten Strike off of mana. Using a mana leech gem instead of blood magic due to split AR/EV stat on armor.


BTW, Precise Interception node is amazing! Get it. Love it. Live it.

"

Ptyochromis wrote:

I am currently lv 86 and tooltip around 7100 dps (if I remember correctly, last time I plugged into a spreadsheet my projectiles were doing 14k-16k).
I run 7 endurance charges, have 4987hp, and run 3 auras (purity of lightning, purity of fire and haste) which I reserve nearly all of my mana for.
I manual cast enduring cry(I keep my endurance charges up constantly) and immortal call. I found I kept getting fucked when immortal call was on CWDT.

Links are Molten strike -> Multistrike -> life leech -> Weapon elemental damage -> Bloodmagic

...

I am wondering if it is worth the trip up to purity of flesh if I do not plan on running 3 dragons/getting static blows and possibly putting the points toward path of the warrior or getting a 2h specific node such as destroyer/reckless abandon.

Thoughts, suggestions and criticisms are all appreciated

Spending 6 points for Purity of Life seems like a big investment for a little bit of return.
With that massive axe damage, I would be upset at only 7.1k tooltip. Going for more damage notable nodes with those six points is so much sexier than having -52% chaos resist instead of -60%. Other than that, your passive tree is exactly what I would have done with a Kongor's. The two Strength nodes, Beef & Might, get you +60Str which is 12% damage and +30 flat life for three passive points invested. *shrug* just a possibility.

"

SteamPoE2080 wrote:

"

Ptyochromis wrote:

I am currently lv 86 and tooltip around 7100 dps (if I remember correctly, last time I plugged into a spreadsheet my projectiles were doing 14k-16k).
I run 7 endurance charges, have 4987hp, and run 3 auras (purity of lightning, purity of fire and haste) which I reserve nearly all of my mana for.
I manual cast enduring cry(I keep my endurance charges up constantly) and immortal call. I found I kept getting fucked when immortal call was on CWDT.

Links are Molten strike -> Multistrike -> life leech -> Weapon elemental damage -> Bloodmagic

...

I am wondering if it is worth the trip up to purity of flesh if I do not plan on running 3 dragons/getting static blows and possibly putting the points toward path of the warrior or getting a 2h specific node such as destroyer/reckless abandon.

Thoughts, suggestions and criticisms are all appreciated

Spending 6 points for Purity of Life seems like a big investment for a little bit of return.
With that massive axe damage, I would be upset at only 7.1k tooltip. Going for more damage notable nodes with those six points is so much sexier than having -52% chaos resist instead of -60%. Other than that, your passive tree is exactly what I would have done with a Kongor's. The two Strength nodes, Beef & Might, get you +60Str which is 12% damage and +30 flat life for three passive points invested. *shrug* just a possibility.

Yea, if i hit might then that sets me up for galvanic hammer. My question is: will the "20% increased elemental damage with maces" apply to my projectiles? Still not sure I want to restrict myself to maces, Kongors was only temporary until I had enough to buy a beastly 550+ dps 2h.

I read further back on this thread about re-specing through the evasion/armor nodes duelist tree. Not sure if the added armor is really going to do enough good to warrant the investment