[2.6] NOT HoWa Claws / Lightning Strike 300k+ ToolTip / 74|50 Dodge / SUPER Cheap / starter friendly

This guide is still in progress and I will be updating it whenever I get the chance. Any questions feel free to ask!


Hi everyone! This is a build I crafted and started building in Hardcore Prophecy but never had the chance to finish because of school. Came back to see HOWA builds dominating most of claw builds which motivated me to upload this guide. I ended up building it in Standard since most of the gear was already there and it's safe to say, this turned out much better than I thought it would. I can't say it outperforms HOWA builds in any way since I haven't played it but this is can be a great alternative if you'd like to play something new! However, I haven't tried much of the new content yet so I'm not sure what it's fully capable of as of now. In terms of stats, 120k+ tooltip dps and solid defenses can be easily achieved even with a 2 exalt budget since the gear providing most of the damage costs only a few chaos!



Concept:
Frenzy charges are the core of this build. The Raider ascendancy tree grants us additional effects from frenzy charges and allows 100% uptime on frenzy charges, providing us a great offense (100k+ fully sustainable dps) as well as defense (74/50 dodge). Lightning Strike will be our main skill due to how powerful and versatile it is.





Core Items:

Although not exactly required, these claws are ideal for this build due to it's synergy with lightning strike and the ascendancy. Not only does it provide great base damage, it also adds a chaining effect to your lightning strike and helps sustain your charges. Because we dual wield them, it is an effective chain gem (chain twice) without any damage penalty, making it a 7-link essentially. We also receive an additional 60% increased cold damage making the hatred aura a bit stronger to improve freezes done to enemies. The increased crit chance allows us to apply more consistent shocks, and the downside can be completely neglected because of how fast we attack and the additional 20% chance to freeze. These can probably be replaced by GG rare claws however if you want even more dps.

These boots are mainly used for the 2% dodge with each frenzy. It also comes with an additional frenzy charge for more dps! With 9 frenzy charges up at all time, you will have 64% dodge which can be increased to 74% with a flask, bringing you to near max. Having the +1 frenzy corruption is really nice here (but expensive!) however some enchantments may be worth considering as well. The reduced frenzy charge duration is mostly cancelled out by the Raider's Ascendancy making the only downside to these boots the reduced light radius and lack of hp.
Other Uniques

I originally wanted to use Hyrri's Ire to have max dodge 24/7 but realized the chances of obtaining the right colors on the chest were near impossible. (5 off colors on 197 requirement!) I happened to find a 6L lightning coil lying around in my stash and have concluded it to be much more useful. Not only are the colors easy to roll, it also comes with sweet physical mitigation which is usually a nightmare on evasion/dodge builds. The additional life and lightning damage are a nice bonus as well!







More to come!

I've always loved the feel and playstyle of lightning strike and always include vaal lighting strike as it can provide a huge burst to single target damage on minimal links. Have you tried using vaal lightning strike instead of vengeance maybe? Lightning strike has such incredible range plus you usually have a fast whirling blades when are you ever in range of mobs to make good use a melee counter attack linked to leech when you already have 2% leech from the duelist area? That's definitely one thing I switch up if i were playing a build like this and recommend trying or considering.

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p0t wrote:

Have you tried using vaal lightning strike instead of vengeance maybe? Lightning strike has such incredible range plus you usually have a fast whirling blades when are you ever in range of mobs to make good use a melee counter attack linked to leech when you already have 2% leech from the duelist area? That's definitely one thing I switch up if i were playing a build like this and recommend trying or considering.

I always thought VLS was kind of underwhelming so I hadn't really considered it. Took your suggestion and after a couple runs, and now I think it may as well be my new favorite vaal skill! I didn't realize you get 3 charges, and found it very useful for bosses. The vengeance setup was just there for face-tanking high hp enemies and having that bit of leech was quite nice sometimes. However, I found VLS with life leech can basically do the same but much better (more reliable leech while also providing significant damage) A VLS setup is definitely worth investing into and might be worth dropping vaal haste to put into a 4L even. I'll include this into the guide when I get the chance, thank you for the feedback!!

is it possible to start with this build in the upcoming legacy league?

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sharbe wrote:

is it possible to start with this build in the upcoming legacy league?

Yes, I believe it can be done quite comfortably since the 'core' items of this build are usually fairly cheap. This should allow you to approach endgame at a pretty fast pace. Lightning coil might be a bit pricey early in the league but if you are playing a little more cautiously, there are a number of other affordable chests worth considering. (Lightning coil is just my personal preference for endgame) Another thing to note, is that running a 5L should have similar mob clearspeed to what I have in the preview video, since the melee physical damage gem I used there doesn't apply to the projectiles.

Skill (is it Static Strike?) you use in video is pretty awkward and hard to scale really high. How this gonna work with Blade Flurry? How it's gonna fair as League starter?

Myself and LS go a looong loong way back. Always loved the skill but still can't stand the way it hits pebbles and stops. With regards to your links: melee physical damage does not actually benefit the projectile component of your attack. Considering you've probably got shift binded together with your attack skill and that you're using the projectile component of the skill 90% of the time, you'll probably want to switch melee physical damage for something else to help you clear maps quicker.

Hey, how do u get 60k without frenzy charges?? Im in lvl 82 and with a 5l and I only hit 10k without frenzy charges. My gems still need to lvl up though. Is the helmet ench. important? BTW, im missing uber lab.

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SunL4D2 wrote:

Skill (is it Static Strike?) you use in video is pretty awkward and hard to scale really high. How this gonna work with Blade Flurry? How it's gonna fair as League starter?

Lightning strike is actually quite nice because it allows 100% of physical to lightning conversion. This means your damage can be scaled off both physical as well as elemental damage. Blade furry wouldn't give the full 100% conversion, so it would be less effective I think. I think it would be a nice build to start since the claws can be bought for like 5 chaos each. (Weapon is typically the most expensive item for a build)

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TheJusticeBrings wrote:

Hey, how do u get 60k without frenzy charges?? Im in lvl 82 and with a 5l and I only hit 10k without frenzy charges. My gems still need to lvl up though. Is the helmet ench. important? BTW, im missing uber lab.

Alot of it has to do with the flat physical damage I get from my gear. Dual wielding just the claws on a tabula rasa (with astramentis for attribute requirements) with hatred and golem up, I get about 37k dps. (Weapon Elemental Damage, Multistrike, Phys to Light, Faster Attacks, Lightning Penetration). Without faster attacks, it sits at 30k. So if you are following my passive tree, your damage shouldn't be lower (or too much lower) than this with 20/20 gems at level 92. I believe it is just a matter of the skill tree and unleveled gems.

As for the helm enchant, it's something to work for if you'd like to try to max out your character, but not needed at all. It bumps my dps up by 4k (64-68) so you can use that for reference with the uber lab ascendancy for the 40% increased elemental damage.