[2.1] Dual Apep's Chaos Crit - Stapling Chaos to a Level 1 Spell (Draft Spark Totem tree up)

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EK: The recent cast speed buff is huge, and makes EK probably the best spell for the build currently. Low mana cost, 6% crit, and scales off of projectile damage. Might need to use Faster Projectiles and/or Pierce for faster clear speed. Completely obsoletes Freezing Pulse. Possible links: EK - Echo - Chaos - Crit Multi- LL - FP.

I'm a fan of EK. not sure if Faster proj or Pierce is the correct choice, but it sounds like a very good spell candidate for chaos stapling.

Here's a quick mock-up tree i made for life based crit acro/pahse acro



items could be Cherrubim's Maleficence or Belly of the Beast + 2 Apeps + maligaros + atziri's step + life eva resi crit rares.

@lDantonl

I really like where you are at with this tree. I have not seen too many ideas that look very good for a non-Witch area tree, but yours is much closer than what I've seen. The huge downside is that the Witch area has a crazy spot for Eldritch Knowledge (see current first post), that gives 45% chaos damage at a pretty reasonable cost, as most of my current setups would take all those INT nodes anyway to get around, except for maybe one of the jewel-adjacent ones. Because of that, I can't see not using this tree base for the Acrobatics concept:

http://cb.poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAx4FQgW1BiMHHg3RDkgPxBEPEZYWvx9BI_Yk_SaVKgsqWyycLR8wcTB8Nj06QjpYOw07fDvjQZZDNkSrRPtJUUt4TC1Ms02SUDBRR1LsVUtVrlXGXfJfKmHiYqxjQ2QJbIxtbHBScNV0VXn2f8aCEIPbidOKKIw2jX2Nv4-mj_qVIJUunaqio6yYrrO0xbVIuMq5k8HzwuzDCdAf0PXUI9te3ajfsOdU6_Xv6_DV8h3z6v_e

If Eldritch Knowledge does not happen, this could change.

I have done a very similar build with a 6L Belly back with shotgun FP and it worked great. You may be correct to use the right side more heavily and I like coming down into the Ranger start if I decide I need Charisma. Power charges are not something to give up though, so the Shadow one needs taking. I do like Faster Projectiles and bringing in the 15% pierce jewel for 55% pierce total. Probably reasonable for a spread like EK (pierce chance rolls independently per hit! http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Pierce#Pierce).

@SirDragos

Ah, i like your witch adaptation to my tree very much. I took yours as inspiration and came up with this strange looking tree.



Tried hard to maximize life and crit, let me know what you think.

If EK stays in its current state for 2.0 release, i will be testing this variation of the build or a low-life shavs version (tree for that if you're interested).



EK > Added Chaos > Spell Echo > Faster Projectiles > Life Leech (> Crit Multi or Chance or Faster Casting?)

@lDantonl

3 main things:

I'm not sure I like the branch by Leadership. The life variant should not care as much about reservation/auras, and unless there is a compelling reason to take those nodes math-wise, I'd lay off Leadership and Influence and take other nodes. Losing True Strike hurts, but we get Heartseeker, which most of my Apep's builds do not, so it seems ok.

Eldritch Knowledge only works at peak capacity if you take the INT nodes in the medium radius. This includes Deep Thoughts and the intro node to Dark Arts (so might as well take it). There is a small possibility that the +1 curse jewel is better there, but I'm willing to bet 45% chaos is better.

The Witch generic spell damage is one of the biggest reasons to start with her. Chaos is super hard to scale and that is the best spot in the tree for it. Take them instead of the right exit.

Here is my tweaked version:

http://cb.poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBAx4FQgW1BiMHHgj0DdEOSA_EEQ8RlhXnFr8fQSP2JP0mlSoLKlssnC0fMHEwfDIBNj06QjpYOw07fDvjQZZDNkSrRPtJUUt4TC1Ms02SUDBRR1LsVUtVrlXGXfJfKmHiYetirGNDZAlknWpDaxdsjG1scFJw1XOzdFV59npTf8aCEIJeg9uJ04oojDaNfY2_j6aP-pUglS6bJp2qoqOsmK6zshm0xbVIuMq5k7zqwFTB88LswwnPetAf0PXUI9te3ajfit-w51To1uv17-vwa_DV8h3z6v_e

I added Revenge of the Hunted, but that might not be the best; I like it better than Hired Killer though. Nimbleness, Whispers of Doom, Ballistic Mastery, Frenzy charges, Corruption, or a branch by Thick Skin to the Duelist area with Fury Bolts, Golem's Blood and Bravery might be better options, but I'd have to work out gear and whatnot first.

I think that dodging LL with a curse or the jewel might work, and it is worth looking into. Otherwise, Crit Damage or PCoC is likely the way to go. I am interested in trying out HoI with Frenzy charges and the new freeze gem if we can get the freezes to go.

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SirDragos wrote:

@lDantonl

I'm not sure I like the branch by Leadership. The life variant should not care as much about reservation/auras, and unless there is a compelling reason to take those nodes math-wise, I'd lay off Leadership and Influence and take other nodes. Losing True Strike hurts, but we get Heartseeker, which most of my Apep's builds do not, so it seems ok.

I agree, i haven't played much on beta recently so i was trying to budget in against the recent reduced mana changes with these nodes. It may be best to forgo them.

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SirDragos wrote:

Eldritch Knowledge only works at peak capacity if you take the INT nodes in the medium radius. This includes Deep Thoughts and the intro node to Dark Arts (so might as well take it). There is a small possibility that the +1 curse jewel is better there, but I'm willing to bet 45% chaos is better.

I was unaware that this was how the jewel worked, this explains your reasoning behind taking those upper clusters. thanks for that.

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SirDragos wrote:

The Witch generic spell damage is one of the biggest reasons to start with her. Chaos is super hard to scale and that is the best spot in the tree for it. Take them instead of the right exit.
I think that dodging LL with a curse or the jewel might work, and it is worth looking into. Otherwise, Crit Damage or PCoC is likely the way to go. I am interested in trying out HoI with Frenzy charges and the new freeze gem if we can get the freezes to go.

Noted, the spell damage sounds like a must. i thought it had no effect on chaos damage but again it looks like i misunderstood. The aura reduced nodes were to allow for HoT with curse on hit with warlord's mark + others. Maybe alpha's howl could be incorporated, not sure though.

Overall, i'm pretty excited with the prospects of this build. it's probably going to be one of the first builds i try when 2.0 releases. thanks for the inspiration :)

@lDantonl

Good luck and let us know how it goes. I think there will be a ton of movement here once 2.0 goes live as it looks like there will be lots of things to try.

@Hrishi

I saw that. I've got my eye on the spell details; we'll see what survives. Maybe something new will filter to the top. It's all about battlefield coverage x damage effectiveness/cast time.

I am interested to see what effect the x-y damage on spells will have on lvl 1 spell builds. That might actually be awesome. Depending on the values, maybe another non-Apep's idea will be viable for low level spells.

It also looks like the relevant jewels are sticking around for the moment, as they were not on the cut/modify list in the announcement.

Interesting to note: Rory says that FP will have a damage effectiveness of 125%. This is probably not enough to pull FP out of the weeds for this build, but it signals good things to come from the Damage Effectiveness change.

Source:
http://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/397ifi/cb_discussion_incinerate_damage_effectiveness_is/

Damage effectiveness looks like a mixed bag. No change to EK as I think REDACTED was Fire Mortar before they changed it. I just happened to see it (I think).

Buffs relevant to our discussions:
FP 125%, Tendrils 35%!, Spark with a huge buff to 70%

Buffs on previously cast aside spells, maybe making them more viable:
Arc 70%, Firestorm 30%.

Notable nerfs:
GC took another huge hit to 60%, Ball Lightning 20% booo, Ice Spear 80%, Ice Nova 70%, Shock Nova 50% (reworked?).

Looks to me that Tendrils, EK, and Spark are our front runners. Firestorm could be interesting and Arc is a bit of a surprise.


As for the Apep's situation, I think that I agree it's not positioned well against the other mods. They are too high, in my opinion. Having played with flat damage as much as I have, I feel like I've got a good handle on what the numbers look like, and it's pretty scary. Spell weapon prefix is some pretty wiggle-room-friendly real estate for such a powerful mod to go. I really can't imagine some of my other weapons with a good roll there, so Ireally can't see how Apep's keeps up. If chaos gets an additional hook, that could change immediately, but I think the solution is to either tune down the new mods or improve Apep's. I just don't see how those last as they are though.

Maybe having not played in the beta, I am underestimating changes to moster life. Am I crazy?