[3.2]♦Pants On Fire! LLRF Scorching Ray Guardian ♦ FULL VIDEO GUIDE UP! ♦ NO CHANGES FOR 3.2

Chest:

If you're low-life, you need to be wearing a Shavs so Chaos Damage doesn't bypass your energy shield. A +1 Gems Shavs is not necessary, but it is one of the highest pure damage upgrades for this build, period. A double legacy Shavs isn't really worth the price tag associated, I would really recommend a +1 Gems shavs instead. For leveling, you can use a Solaris Lorica.

Weapon:

Any sceptre with lots of elemental/fire dmg with good cast speed is what you want. A free prefix for leo-crafted 30%DoT is great since that boosts both SR and RF. If you can get a rare sceptre with +2 Fire Gems in order to achieve Level 23 Purity of Fire, that would also be a BiS prefix for us. A Doryani's Catalyst is a great unique for this slot. Sceptre is great so you can use Shield Charge while leveling, and eventually swap to Lightning Warp for endgame/boss farming.

Shield:

Arguably one of the most important pieces of the build is a good spell damage shield with crafted rDoT. If you're in Standard, get one with legacy 20%, but if you're in league the regular 5% can work just fine. Springleaf will be used for early leveling with RF. Once you can equip a Rise of the Phoenix, it will be your go-to shield. After RotP, an Elder ES shield with +2 Max Fire Res and a free suffix for 5%rDoT is BiS. It is a good way to keep your regen up while gaining 1k+ES from Rise of the Phoenix.

Helmet:

The highest-rolled ES helm with a mana reservation enchant is BiS for us. Since we turn Life into ES with Presence of Chayula, a solid ES/Life helm is also usable. For league play, Vertex is a great helm for this slot. It is quite affordable, can give ~300 flat ES, and gives us +1 Gems for our auras and enlighten.

Gloves:

A solid pair of Rare Delirium gloves are BiS for us. 30% MORE DoT essentially turns our RF into a 5L at no additional cost. Dex is a great suffix to have on gloves since we cannot get it on helmet or boots. Commandment of Light enchant is the best Enchant for us since it drops Consecrated Ground. CG gives us 6% ES Regen, which is MASSIVE. You could run any difficulty of lab to get the 6% regen from the enchant, it doesn't have to be the Uber lab/Commandment version, as that only scales the damage it proc's around you.

Boots:

Death's Door with a 2% Regen enchant is the safest pair of boots for us. Bleed immunity is GG since we run RF. We don't want any unexpected sources of DoT to catch us. Strength is great for us as well since we need strength for Vitality and Blood Magic. Sin Trek is another good option, especially for league play.

Belt:

3.1 brought a very important, new mod for us! The Shaper-exclusive mod of "20% Increased Energy Shield Recovery Rate". This is one of the most important mods for this build since it boosts our ES regen significantly. Once you are able to, having this mod on a belt is essential. You can go with either a Crystal belt base for 80 flat ES implicit, or a Stygian Vise in order to use an Abyss Jewel. I prefer a Stygian Vise. Essence of Spite for 55int+ is also quite useful on a belt since INT gives us both ES% and mana (which turns into more ES). Lastly, the shaper-exclusive mod of 10% Maximum energy shield is another amazing mod for us for obvious reasons. 3.1 definitely gave us a lot to choose from in the belt department!

Amulet:

Presence of Chayula is almost the centerpiece of the entire build! Stun immunity, life transforming into ES, and even 60% Chaos resistance. This is indisputably the best neck for this character. +1 Max Res is the best corruption but is quite expensive. 4% Extra Block is a pretty handy corruption for us as well.

Rings:

Rings are a great source of ES and damage for us. Essence of Anger crafted Opals are BiS for us. You also want them to have Flat ES, Life, Intelligence, and if you are in Standard league, a ring with 20%ES is a must. If you are in Temporary league, your last prefix should be Mana. Since we are guardian, Mana also translates to ES. Your last suffix should be Mana Regen for the sustain or a res/stat you might need. If you do not have a +2 fire gems sceptre, a +2 or +3 unset ring is also a great spot to put your Purity of Fire in order to achieve Level 23.

"

ddknight wrote:

Just killed Shaper with this build in harbinger
deathless video here: https://youtu.be/KT9s3DC-gNA
thanks man

Sin Trek boots are great to level with and very affordable.

Stone Golem is great to achieve more regen

Also, Regen from helping Oak while leveling can help sustain RF as well.

Other options to consider are as follows:

1%regen from oak
Level 23 pof
High level stone golem
5%rdot pantheon
5%fire damage pantheon
2% regen enchant on boots
6% regen from consecrated ground (glove enchant and flask)
Springleaf shield for 6% regen while leveling as LLRF
Rise of the Phoenix Shield for +max fire res
+2%max fire res elder ES shield, multimod with 5% rdot can achieve ~300ES.

Lots of options

Any good rumi's you can find will certainly help. Block is important to us because the longer we can let the Ray build and do it's thing, the more dmg we do. I would value the spell damage roll higher than the regular roll since we're more than likely capped on block every 5seconds through ascendancy.


This is the closest thing to a life flask you will ever have. Get the highest duration you can find and you will love it. You could also just as easily roll/buy a magic one with increased duration and another mod you like on there. I choose to use this because it's so common, the duration of 6.70 seconds is longer than a magic Sulphur, and you still get 3 uses out of it.


Witchfire Brew is a great defensive and offensive flask for us. Free Level 21 Despair curse, Smoke cloud on use, and extra DoT. This flask is the trifecta!


Being chilled/frozen is really frustrating for us (especially with death's doors). Also, we need help speeding through maps and keeping up with all of those pathfinders we might be mapping with! If you're playing solo, you could replace one of the quicksilvers with a Ruby Flask to act as a pseudo-life flask as well.


For Uber Atziri and harder bosses, I use Perpetual Ruby Flask of Adrenaline

Energy Within unique jewel is a good option for us by the Melding wheel. Rare jewels are also very important. They are a good souce of damage and ES for us, as there's only so many efficient ES/damage nodes to get on the tree. In league, you want 8% ES on ALL jewels, followed by some of the following damage mods prioritized in this order: increased burning damage, fire damage, damage over time, global damage, cast speed, spell damage, and any res/stats you might need.



For Abyss Jewels, it's very straight forward. Flat ES is top priority, followed by damage over time while holding a shield, flat life, Increased damage if you've killed recently, Regen while moving, Onslaught chance, movement speed or any other res/stat you might need.



For Watcher's Eye Jewel, I would prioritize the ES Recovery Rate mod first. ES gained/clarity mod is really good for raw ES gain, but the recovery brings more to the build. Other good mods are any mod that is useful for us for auras we run like the 3 purities, clarity, discipline, or vitality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIvm5napimE

This is a VERY USEFUL video to watch if you want to level as LLRF. Some people prefer leveling with Scorching Ray, Cast When Channeling, Firestorm. I personally leveled as a pure scorching ray in HC.

If you are using a +1 Gems Shavs, replace Swift Affliction with Empower 4:

Swapping AoE out for Concentrated Effect is handy if you lack some RF DMG on bosses/certain map mods.

These are 3 of our main Auras we reserve on Mana.

These are our two Auras we reserve on life in order to achieve "Low-Life" You want your Discipline as high as you can get it, but don't level your clarity up too much. You can also replace Empower with Stone Golem if you need some more Regen. If you intend on running Hall of Grandmasters, be sure your life is not reserved below 20%, as slayers can instantly cull you. I achieve this by simply taking out the empower before I run the map.

You want Orb of Storms linked to Increased Critical Strikes Support in order to proc Elemental Overload and Elemental Equilibrium on enemies. If you have a +2 Fire Gems prefix on your sceptre, you can achieve a level 23 Purity of Fire. If you do not, an unset ring with +2/3 gems is another good option.

You want to use Lightning warp for endgame/boss farming. For leveling/chaining maps, you can use Shield charge with:

Shield Charge, Faster Attacks, Fortify while leveling.

These are just rough guidelines, trees can be altered to ensure you are comfortable with the gear you have collected. You want to maintain a good balance of damage and survivability. That depends greatly on how much ES your gear has.

Also, these trees are for standard league. For temp league, I would take away 2 points and pick 1% regen from Oak to help sustain RF.

Level 96 - www.poeurl.com/bJP2
Level 100 - www.poeurl.com/bJP3

For leveling trees, info, gear, and even leveling as life-based Click below:

Temp League: OAK for 1% Regen (Also use Stone Golem if you need to in order to sustain RF with a rare ES shield)
Standard League: Kill them All

"

Ahfack wrote:

"

DarkKaine wrote:

Quick question: won't you get destroyed near instantly when attempting to clear Hall of Grandmasters? My previous Low-life character just got culled with 12k ES. Feels bad man.

Under the "Boots Gems" section:

"

If you intend on running Hall of Grandmasters, be sure your life is not reserved below 20%, as slayers can instantly cull you. I achieve this by simply taking out the empower before I run the map.

With rare helm, you must have enlighten 4 + reservation enchant OR conqueror's efficiency jewel.

With Vertex, you can use enlighten level 3 + reservation enchant OR conqueror's efficiency jewel.

Remember, LL builds require some currency to get going. I would recommend in the following order:

1. Shavs
2. Chayula amulet
3. Death door (ideally with 2% regen) or Sin Trek if you prefer just using a bleed flask for anti-bleed
4. Vertex
5. Doryani
6. Delirium Sorcerer Gloves
7. ES% Recovery Belt
8. 2% Max Fire Res + 5rdot shield
9. Essence of Anger Opal Rings

[3.0] AhfackNoPants - What ES Nerf? Complete Shaper Run LL RF SR Guardian
https://youtu.be/-BcDFVyTYN8

I Will be revamping this thread in the next week. It's kind of a mess right now :)

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Click Above for build reviews from real league players

Disclaimer:
order
This is a self-cast, reflect-immune, tanky build that also deals good damage. This is not a 7M DPS speedy glass cannon build. If that's what you want, exit this thread right now :)

This build is meant to be able to do all content while also leveling and not abusing broken mechanics.

Every ES build has taken a hit, and we must face those facts. What I've done here is try to keep true to the original build that so many (including myself) enjoyed, while also adapting it for a post 3.0 ES nerf world. Not much has changed. Even after the RF/SR nerfs, our damage is very similar (1.8M total down to 1.75M) now using Burning Damage as a MORE modifier instead of Iron Will in our 6L.

Our RF was buffed a bit from 615k to 655k, while our SR fell a bit from 1.18M to 1.09M. These are still REALLY good numbers for being as tanky as we are.

Yes, this build is in standard, and yes it includes GG gear. Low life builds are not budget builds. I love life builds, but I feel that LLRF Guardian will always be superior to various other life builds when talking about a harmonious blend of damage and survivability of LLRF.

Please check the thread where the "leveling" portion and life iterations still exist and are still extremely relevant for league play. This build really shines in standard where 190% Shavs are common, and other legacy ES gear is as well, but I'm sure some of you can make this work in league too. I will most likely be doing a life iteration of this again in Harbinger Hardcore, as I had a great time doing it on an extremely low budget in LHC as well and made it to lvl 88. Going for lvl 90 in HHC this time!

Here are the PoB links that include all of my gear/tree/calcs etc... I will put an updated shaper/endgame content vid after a couple weeks into harbinger. Please review the thread before asking questions, as it might have been answered already. If it hasn't been answered, please post in this thread in lieu of pm'ing me, and I'm happy to help however I can.

Enjoy!

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3.0 PoE link to tree:

3.0 PoE Website Passive Link to Tree - AhfackNoPants LLRF Scorching Ray Guardian


I need to update the guide, but until I do here are the new links for 3.0 you should be using I your 6l: Basically replace rapid decay/swift affliction with efficacy. If you don't have high level empower or a +1gems chest, use swift affliction in it's place.

"

DeathCoreLeo wrote:

Hello. If i have regular shavronne without + 1 lvl to gems and 21 lvl sr then we use 4 lvl empower or swift affliction?

Again, these numbers are with my setup

If you don't have a +1 shavs then you are better of using Swift Affliction:

Swift Affliction 20/20 = 45%
Empower 4 = 39%








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[3.0] PoB Link: https://pastebin.com/E8AvUXFV
Scorching Ray: 1,211,020 DoT DPS (743,295 Shaper DoT DPS)
Righteous Fire: 871,137 DoT DPS (630,447 Shaper DoT DPS)
Total: 2.08 DoT DPS (1,373,742 Shaper DoT DPS)
ES Total: 15,059 ES







Original 2.6 Thread for detailed explanations:


AhfackNoPants Low Life Scorching Ray

Deathless Shaper + Tree/Gear (5:47)

https://youtu.be/9wYYhMi9eVk



I didn't create this build as a budget build, but you can definitely do a budget iteration for under 1ex. There is a "Budget Build" section and a "Leveling" section at the bottom that can get you started. I have min-maxed the pure damage of Scorching Ray the best I can while keeping my character tanky and mobile. You can sacrifice a bit of tank for a bit more dmg and vice versa. Do what feels right for you.

I created this character to be able to solo content, while also being a decent support for a party if an Aurabot isn't around. Also he melts bosses :D

I have 15,754ES wearing a 181% shavs, 81/81/82 Res, death door boots, and chaos spammed gloves/helm. My shield/rings are original crafts, and they do contribute greatly to the damage output as well as some tankiness for the build. You can find more information on them inside the gear spoiler.

I use Orb of Storms and Lightning Warp to proc Elemental Overload and Elemental Equilibrium, but you can use whatever method you prefer (Sceptre/shield charge etc...). I do not rely on curses to primarily scale my damage, but I do use a Witchfire Brew flask.

With 2.6, we now have TONS more AoE on our RF

Our Scorching Ray has 1.2k more DoTps, and .01 less cast time!

"

ddknight wrote:

Just killed Shaper with this build in harbinger
deathless video here: https://youtu.be/KT9s3DC-gNA
thanks man

"

Anvesi wrote:

A 'short' build review:

As someone who has been playing since closed beta, this build is by far the most fun build I've had in PoE since 2012. I've been playing LL Guardian RF/SR for the past 2 leagues, and I keep getting amazed at how well tinkered and balanced it is. This build takes some best things from several different sides and combines them to make one smooth running machine.

So what's it all about?
You're a tank plowing through everything. You feel powerful. You can take nearly everything in the game face on without worrying too much. You have an active play style, Righteous Fire is good to kill small stuff by just running past them and giving them a disappointing look at how weak they are. When something appears worth your attention, you unleash your fire-laser at it and it will literally melt. Something inferior tries to hit you...at least you think. Your energy shield doesn't budge an inch. You're almost a god, exile.

Ahfack's LLRF Guardian takes a far underestimated ascendancy who has amazing defensive capabilities. One could argue that it's pretty much the best choice for low life. Then we take Righteous fire, and scorching ray who both work extremely well with low life, and coupled with a high life or ES pool which the guardian can provide. Chuck in gear that somehow seems to be perfect for this setup such as shav's (obviously), presence of chayula & death's door. With some standard ES gear to top it off and some flasks such as the sorrow and divine, witchfire and rumi's we're running around with an easy 10k ES. With the 3 purities our resists are 82, 81, 82. Rumi's active over 12k armor. With witchfire there's even 20%+ evasion. What more do you want from your defences?
Offensive we got RF taking take of the small white mobs. Even a magic pack will generally disintegrate. Rare mobs easily fall with a couple of seconds of scorching ray. But then the bosses and tankier mobs. Drop a orb of storm to proc EE, get the stacks of scorching ray. All of the sudden they have -74% fire resistence. You will start to see the hp of your foes go down faster and faster while outregen nearly everything they throw at you. and I'm going to say, it feels damn good.

Tho I have to admit, this gear is about min-maxing. which makes it even more fun then most other builds. The first treshhold you need to reach is tot sustain RF. Generally with purity of fire, vitality and a rise of the phoenix. Once you've done that you're ready to roll. From that point you start acquiring upgrades which make you stronger every time. Get a shav's, go lowlife. Spike in damage / defences. Get a Death's door, stop caring about bleeds. Get a presence of chayula, laugh at your ridiculous ES and ability to tank everything. You are now a tank. Keep rolling onward.

My gear in the Harbinger league after about 2 weeks:

Spoiler

For anyone who ever ran a RF or scorching ray build and enjoyed it: I would wholeheartedly recommand you check out this build and try it.

"

Rakschas666 wrote:

TL;DR: Supreme build. Tanky, quite fast, trivializes bosses. Obviously reflect immune. A feast for the eyes, very fun and akin to the joy of creating a perfectly tuned clockwork.

-----------------------------

I had never tried a guardian before and took this as a end of the league project. It has been phenomenal. I've hardly ever felt that "when a plan finally comes together" feeling as strong as with this one.

Leveling is as hard as you make it on yourself. I leveled this as a life based SR spellcaster and it was smooth. Ascend to guardian and get the "Time of need" as soon as possible, it's bonkers. It took like 10 respec points later to transition to the LL tree showed above, all those and more you get through the quests anyways.

I've been able to sustain RF on LL at around level 70 and with purities around gemlevel 17. As soon as you start using RF everything is a total breeze, as you kill all white and low hp base blue trash by simply running through them once.

Capping resists isnt hard on this build either, you need good gear, but not gear thats insanely expensive. A lot of the stuff that boots your dmg by insane amounts is rather niche and so far priced very cheaply. The level 4 enlightens (or running a conquerors jewel) are necessary if you want to use a 4th aura on mana, there is no reason you are fored to run all 3 purities though. Capping resistances is not harsh on this build.


I encourage everyone comming here to give this a try!
Thanks to Ahfack for this build and guide!

"

Un_kn0wn wrote:

So I've played this build in all kinds of variations. Pohx version and Yalani's, Life and Low Life, with and without Scorching ray. But this version.... Oh man let me tell ya!

So I'm a absolute fanboy when it comes to RF. I love the mechanic and that you really have to build around this gem so it doesn't kill you! It's the most expensive build I ever had! And also the saves, strongest and most fun one!

I dumped a LOT of currency into that character but just yesterday I got the Helmet as the last piece of the Pain Train that is now perfectly working. I would never change anything besides Mirroring Ahfack's stuff to make it perfect.

My Gear:

Spoiler

I can farm everything in the game with this setup. Shaper, Uber Atziri, Hall of the Grandmasters you name it's no problem with this build. And not only can you play brainless if you want by turning on RF and walking around, maybe drop a Orb of Storms here and there. You can also play very acitvely with Scorching Ray and Warping around. And for uber lab farming this build is just insane! No brain walk through traps don't give a damn! ;D

The defensives on this build are absolutely insane and you only have to worry about no regen. You are Block capped for the most part, You have insane regen, All your resists are over 80% and you got a Good amount of Armour so you midigate the small hits as well. And on top of all that good stuff you get very good DPS 1.4 million with my current gear.

For me this is by all means the best Allround build ever! It is a bit costy but which build isn't costy on a high level? ;)

Hope you all have fun playing this build and thank you Ahfack for making this version for the endgame :D <3

Screenshot's of Tooltip and PoB:

Spoiler

Def stats with Bastion of Hope



Def stats with BoH and Flasks



EHP and Mana



Scorching Ray Tooltip



Path of building stuff

Scorching ray 1 stage



Righteous Fire



SR with all flasks and buffs



RF with all flasks and buffs (inc AOE)



RF with all falsks and buffs (conc Effect)

"

Tatsuya wrote:

So i managed to full clear hall of grandmasters with this build at 11k ES. Was easy for the most part excluding a few high phys dmg characters that could 1 shot me if i positioned badly. With more ES and dmg it should be a fairly efficient farm.

"

Ethario wrote:

I Just completed the halls of the grandmaster (first try) with this build. Simply amazing only came close to death 2 times.

5L SR (lvl 21 tho), first time I ever completed it, simply amazing !

"

Anvesi wrote:

Finally mustered up my courage to attempt the Shaper, for the first time ever...

And with succes :)
First kill with 2 deaths, gloves dropped
Second kill with 1 death, boots dropped.
Not bad at all considering I've never done him before! I feel a little bit proud now <3

Thanks Afhack for all the support!
Onward to more shaper kills & uber atzi is next!

"

Z0ud wrote:

Shaper down first try ( 1 tp left) with this build (nice uberfarm btw :D)

My first shaper in three leagues

Thanks a lot Ahfack !

"

Scilarion wrote:

Killed my first Shaper! Not deathless; all due to either error or not being quick enough on the mechanics. Did it with mediocre gear, level 88 and with level 19 gems with barely any quality. A couple of levels, level 20 gems and I reckon I could do it deathless.

Cheers AhFack :D

"

soulesschild wrote:

Level 85 now. Definitely one of my most relaxing and fun builds. Definitely going to finish this out to end of league as I'm a bit tired of my Cycloner's squishyness in certain situations.

I had gear that I liquidated (woo love when people pay exorbitant amounts for perfectly rolled items. Got 20ex from my 40% belly). So my view is slightly skewed as I went LL ASAP. I would say I invested close to 15ex to get all the gear together. Maybe a bit less as I spent 2-3 ex buying jewels/gloves/rings to craft. RIP, should have just bought them off poe.trade but I was stubborn to get exactly what I wanted. Still didn't end up quite right.

Generally just gonna focus on getting gems up and getting the mana reservation enchant so I can run clarity. Mana regen is still sort of an issue for me as I can't just AFK hold down SR. I could just swap PoL or PoI depending on the situation but I'm just lazy. RF + EE pretty much eliminates any trash while a bit of SR downs most map bosses/rares easily.

Sitting at about 8.6k ES. All maxed res, 55% chaos resist which is not too shabby.

General thoughts,

- Leveling can be done with RF if you invest a bit in some starter uniques.

Basically let me level with RF for the most part and just AFK/shield charge through everything and RF just passively kills.

A lot of the gear aside from Presence and Shav's is actually pretty cheap. Maybe 3.0 ES nerfs made a lot of things I feel underpriced. Rings I got for about 1ex a piece. Belt was 1 ex. Gloves actually I got for 50c which I thought was ridiculous.

Still playing around with the passive tree. Haven't decided if I want to go with Derptimes or Ahfacks or do a hybrid. I like the idea of alchemist with the increase dura of flasks and all that jazz but there's just not enough points to go around (I'd have to lose the arsonsist cluster IIRC) I'll play around a bit more with the tree tonight in PoB to compare.

"

nathanielvd wrote:

Thanks so much for the guide!
Been playing it only for a day but I've already done Shaper deathless (level 84) and I've still got so many upgrades to go! I've done it with level 21 scorching ray and level 20 and the difference is really pretty big I've noticed so I do recommend investing in that if you can :)
For my passive tree just check my profile. Character: I_ALS_LIKE_GREEN_ONES

Here's the gear I use atm:

Spoiler

Edit: I bought the helmet for 2ex. Before that I used the Vertex (same gem links)

And before I got my level 21 Purity of Fire I used this unset ring:

Spoiler

In short: I highly recommend this build for anyone that's kinda done with the league and just wants to lay back and enjoy all the content the game has to offer :) Thanks Ahfack! <3

Edit: Replaced my shield with a decent ES shield with a little spell damage, resists and leo reduced dot craft. Replaced Empower with Stone Golem and went with Oak instead of 2 passives for much more es (9.4k) and more damage too!

Yet another edit:
Last couple of kills I completely forgot to take the "Elemental Equilibrium" passive.. Derp!
Here's a video of a deathless run at level 86 with 9.2k ES. https://youtu.be/sYZLJKdrGMU
Gear used in the video:

Spoiler

Edit: With this shield resistances are currently sitting at 164/132/123/12.
I had 2 passives from bandits and +3 empower in my boots but changing to the shield I had to swap to Stone Golem and Oak's favour. Big changes but also very good ones once you can get a nice shield like this :)

"

Melnevacor wrote:

Thanks for awesome build. Despite being standard optimized, it works very well in temp leagues too. I've managed to complete all content of the game with it - including Hall of the Grandmasters, Shaper and Uber Atziri. Shaper seems to be the toughtest fight for me, since I lack essence crafted gloves and 21 lvl SR, so my DPS is rather on the lower end. Here is my gear in Harbinger:

Spoiler

I strongly recommend using high rolled Sin Trek if you don't have GG legacy gear - after nerfs it's impossible to get that much ES on boots. It boosts my survivability way more than Death Door and allows me to reach 10k ES.