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

Apep's is not on the list of items for unique rebalance.
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1295414
I've updated the first post and left feedback about it in the announcment thread (page 3).

No love for chaos damage users i see :(

i really hope this build doesn't fall by the wayside.

Notable change to Flame Surge:
Now has .5 second speed. That's a fast spell. With the hit going to base damage, this is a net positive for us. 6% crit, 100% damage effectiveness, and the 50% MORE damage makes for an interesting lvl 1 base. The AoE has always been the issue with this spell, but with that speed, this might be worth trying again. 50% more damage is worth some investment.

I could even see some utility for a single target in a build with a bigger AoE 6L (like EK main). Think about a pseudo-5L in a Rime Gaze, for example. You don't need to get increased AoE for a dedicated single target skill, so you don't miss that 6th link too much anyway.

CB:
http://cb.poedb.tw/us/gem.php?n=Flame+Surge

Live:
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Flame_Surge

Edit: The changes to Flame Surge are the speed, crit and base damage. It still has the 'no ignite' language. It is good, but probably not enough to make this a very good skill for lvl 1 usage.

No last minute buff to Apep's. These are dark days for this item. I hope to have a build with lvl 1 spells and flat elemental mods up soon. Seems like this is where this is going for now.

"

SirDragos wrote:

Edit: The changes to Flame Surge are the speed, crit and base damage. It still has the 'no ignite' language. It is good, but probably not enough to make this a very good skill for lvl 1 usage.

From using Flame Surge, I feel like it's actually pretty easy to get around the 'no ignite' using Fire Trap. Searing Bond and Righteous Fire would also work (though, obviously, RF takes investment to really work and not kill yourself). I don't know how Apep's added chaos damage would work with Fire Trap or Searing Bond. While I'm sure that it would add to the initial damage of Fire Trap, I don't know if it would add to the DoT of either Fire Trap or Searing Bond (I don't think so but still).

Anyways, I hope that you still update for 2.0. I think the build is really cool (and, hey, maybe Apep's will get a buff in the future).

While I know that such a build has fallen behind others in terms of effectiveness since 2.0, I can't help but want to use dual Apep's, if for nothing else but to make use of all the percent-based chaos scaling jewels, etc. (Since the conversion method with Consuming Dark+Infernal Mantle still gets more use from +fire/spelldmg for example)

With that in mind, what do you think would still be a solid skill choice to use for this? FP still sounds about as effective, but are there other options that are possibly longer ranged, etc?

Mainly asking because I had drops of 2 Apep's, a Consuming, and have an old 5L Infernal. The flat chaos, machine-gun-turret approach of Apep's sounds more fun, and if I can make enough use of a fire spell, I might even find the Infernal helpful.

I value the work you put into this guide originally, and would love to find use for these mechanics if still possible. I know mana could be a bigger issue with the new EB, but maybe with Elreon Jewelry and heavy passive investment a non-level-1-spell version might still be possible?

Thanks if you respond, but I don't blame you if you don't.

It's A---liiiive!

There is new hope for this build! Chaos scaling in the tree is really, really easy now, as opposed to insanely difficult. While Apep's Rage still loses out in damage vs. elemental-based weapons, I think it is more than viable again and now has the opportunity to scale through Poison.

Magma Orb seems like it might be a new candidate for this. Controlled Destruction might be good. I also like the Void Manipulation gem, but we'll see how it scales. And holy crap, Poison debuff that stacks uncapped and has perfect tree placement for us? Remember that this build thrives on crit, so it uses the right part of the tree to get the chaos damage, and it's all in the right places.

I should also mention that Spark Totems got a huge buff for chaos stapling. It starts with more projectiles and depending on the mana change, might be worth leveling to 9 to get another. Totem crit got a great cluster in the tree since this was viable and the damage for chaos went from almost impossible to child's play to scale. Can you imagine dual Spark totems carrying crit chaos damage that poisons every time it hits? Use Projectile Weakness, the unique jewel (or scale curse effectiveness), and the pierce cluster in the tree to get 100% pierce. Every time the sparks hit, it has a chance to knockback. Sparks now bounce off Frost Walls so you can corral enemies and shape the killzones. Yikes.

I will need to do some massive overhauling of this thread once I get some testing and see how the gems scale, but seems like we're back in the game.

Really excited to see this thread alive :)

even more excited to theorycraft a new build for 2.1 release!

I'm interesting in a non-crit magma orb version as of now. that's what i'll be working on.


Main links:
Magma Orb - Spell Echo - Added Chaos - Controlled Destruction - Void Manipulation - Increased AoE/Concentrated effect/Faster casting/life leech

Damage calculation:


Auras:


Gear:


2.1 Tree

I don't think I'd build this without crit, but I guess it can be scaled otherwise so much easier now, so maybe it'll work. Take a look at this tree; I've taken your idea in a litle different direction.

http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYABbUGcAceCPQOSA-rEQ8RLxGWFr8YaiLqI_YkiyTYJpUrCi0fMHEwfDIBNj031DpCOlg7DTvjPV9E-0WdSRNJUUt4TC1Ms02STp9RR1JTU1JVS1XGWAdcQF3yXyph4mHrYqxkCWpDaoxrF2yMbWx0VXWeeC96U3p_fOV_xoPbhMWFMoVth8uJ4IoojDaNfY2_j0aP-pMflSCVLpeVmuCbJpuhm7WdqqKjotmnCKebrJiw2LIZtUi86sBUwfPDOsgUzxXPetAf1CPVgdgk3ajmWOjW62Pr7u0_7-vw1fVv99c=

Edit: the weird pathing around the northern Witch area is for best use of Eldritch Knowledge. You miss one node, but 10 INT + 5% chaos is not worth the point.

This was my first impression of the build.
EB MOM ZO Could even make Lvl20 affordable.

What do you think about this version designed for HC?
Does it do enough damage?

http://poeurl.com/tpt