[2.2] 20KES DimenRush ES Fortress!

Really like the look of this. I tried to update the tree to 2.1 and it looks like it got a buff from the changes to the shadow area. Basically got all the same notables and saved 4 nodes. I started witch since there are new nodes in shadow shadow area that give the same thing as the 4 nodes you trim (26% damage, 12% AS) for only 2 nodes (Sleight of Hand 30% Damage, 8 AS). Definitely going to try it if my Viper Strike build ends badly.

http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrIvRsC5Mnf8bBxewYLL8V14auVmMRlo_68NVJUdDQX2oOSF3yKwoRL-tjtUjUQoRvpn_tQXX9Fr8BCbjZ3Ug2PVWFpcsM8rTFFf2KOGSvRfRvV3gZwaDWB-OEDdFjQyoLcFK-iqEvytO0DOq6DXxXySj6gsf56Gh02mJBh7c-g8w8LYNfxq4MXxynU6UYVq4-Z5vkUZtYMft_418_wQRVtZ7NpzCfywthr2xo8jzvGF2t8cBmRUe1BOQiKU-ePIx2a7eFfRps98HviPk3189JsQ==

will life leach from claw work on blade vortex?

Most tanky build? okay.. ES RF, lvl83 tree: https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAQFvBAcGDgY5CPQJ9gthDF8NfBFQGFYZLho-GmwbJRynHNwdTx2qHwIn7Sj6KS4tHzW5NsU8LT0PQYdCS0PIRZ1GcUuuTLNOUk8EU1JTpVXGVkhXDVfJW6Bca18_aGVodGjyakNtGXk5fA58uH31fmx-4oLHg1-DzIPbhEiFxYt6jxqPRpIrmK2a4J2upRinCKcrp1Wtja9sr6e0DLc-uJPAVMNtxFjE9sauz37QH9R812rYJNlb2WHaYt-K4Yji9-kC6dXquuvu7-vxrPIv8wbzm_ZI98H56Puq_QD-SQ==?accountName=AngryEvilCookie&characterName=FlamesOfCookie



Guess how much ES? 13.6k now and 5k armour, without vaal discpline ofc. Now only PoF, Vit, Disc auras.. plans on: PoF, PoL, PoI, PoE, Vitality, AA (max ele res: 83%-84%). Need five 12% energy from within and better gear :P 750 ES shield comes first.. =P

Update to 2.3 pls. These items are unreachable :c

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patik123456 wrote:

Update to 2.3 pls. These items are unreachable :c

In the OP, all of those items are obtainable. Even Shavronne's Revelation, but that is only obtainable via trade or from adding the Onslaught or Anarchy mod to a map.

The build is very simple, you can just follow your own path but keep true to some basic principles for 2.3 and beyond.

For example, what I've done...

Keystone passives in order of priority:
* Chaos Inoculation
* Ghost Reaver
* Zealot's Oath

Defensive passives in order of priority:
* % increased max ES
* % increased life leeched
* % increased ES recharge rate
* % increased life regenerated (@ end-game life regen is #1 or #2 priority)
* + to intelligence (+10 = %2 max ES, so +30 is worthwhile compared to %5 ES passive)

Offensive passives in order of priority (focus on getting with specific weapon, like claws):
* % increased physical damage (you need a decent base to build crit)
* % increased critical strike chance
* % increased attack speed
* % increased critical strike multiplier

Equipment stats and mods:
* + ES
* % increased maximum ES
* + intelligence
* life regen
* increased resistances
* + all attributes
* increased stun recovery (block recovery if using shield)

Weapon stats and mods:
* % damage leeched as life
* % increased physical damage
* % increased attack speed
* + accuracy

Flasks:
* remove freeze (or use equipment with the "Cannot be Frozen" phrase)
* remove bleed (for leveling, later regen will overpower bleeds)
* remove shock
* + armor (to help reduce stun lock)
* + evasion (because you're spec'ed into more evasion with ES ascendancy passives)
* Sulfur flask (life regen + more damage)
* Bismuth flask for leveling, not needed later when max resistances

While leveling...

Normal: you don't need anything specific here, so focus on DPS.

Cruel:

Add ES when possible, crit chance increases, make sure your equipment gives decent elemental resistances, etc. Around 2k ES is good part way through, with 1 to 1.5k life. Mana regen will help (use Clarity aura gem) because your intelligence isn't high enough yet to get you decent mana regen for reave. When you add multistrike to reave your mana regen will thank you, since you won't need to repeat the skill as often. However, the more you add to attack speed, the more mana you'll burn through, so it may help to have mana leech as well.

Merciless:

Elemental resistances maxed is important, keep your ES high, and double down on DPS. Switch to CI keystone when chaos damage is annoying around Act 2 or 3 merciless. Snakes and Ancient Constructs are the worst, but anything that leaves desecrated ground or hits you with viper strike is going to be annoying. If mobs are taking more than a third of your life per hit with chaos damage, it might be time to switch. Since you're not bothering with Chaos Resistance gear because you're switching to CI, when you enter Merciless that -60% is going to hurt sometimes.

Try to get at least 3k ES when you switch. Save up 4 passive skill points before you make the switch so you can get CI and all three % ES passives behind it in one shot. You might have to trade for some good equipment with ES and helpful mods if you don't have equipment stockpiled from other characters. Don't invest too much into equipment until may be in your mid to late 60s. When you switch to CI you'll be forced to run much more often, but your ES recharge rate and time until recharge will be very good at this point. When you switch to CI, don't forget to switch your flasks to run all utility at that point, and don't forget to slot your Melee Damage on Full Life support gem for Reave.

When running on CI, life leech with Ghost Reaver and ES recharge are going to be your best friends. With Reave you'll be able to hit many targets at once, meaning you'll stay near full ES most of the time in large battles, but once their numbers dwindle and it's just the rare or unqiue mobs left, you'll start to notice the hits.

I don't use the OP's config, as I've improvised a bit as I leveled. I took a lot of advice from other CI builds as well. This build is great to highlight all-out-ES, but it's not very well balanced. Because of this, it's geared towards end-game ES leech/regen tank when your numbers will start to line up with something playable. So don't worry about trying to get anywhere near the numbers the OP has while leveling. And you'll need to balance your build more than the OP did during that time as well, since changing your gameplay and tactics only goes so far. As such, the gems the OP suggests probably won't work well during leveling.

Gems:

I always use Molten Shell with this build for the armor and burst DPS when I get hit hard. Not only is it like a free CoDT to let you know when to step back a bit, it's also decent burst damage for very little investment. Add at least Chance to Ignite and Concentrated Effect as support gems.

As the OP stated, Discipline is a must. I don't use Vitality, but will use it later because life gen won't help you until end-game. At end-game you'll have points to unlock a lot of life regen through passives, and the keystone Zealot's Oath. Instead, while leveling I use Haste for more DPS and speed when I need to run away for a moment.

As with pretty much any melee build, you need an evacuation plan. And even ranged builds can benefit from this too. I really like Phase Run because you don't need any other support gems to make it worthwhile. The only support gem I have on it is faster casting. You don't need to have it last longer, as it gives you plenty of time to escape. In fact, you can use Phase Run to completely avoid combat in maps that don't require much backtracking (it's great for racing). I like to run into melee range with Phase Run, reave like mad, then hit Phase Run to escape for ES recharge.

Vaal Discipline is great, but doesn't help you at all until you have the ES stats that give more than 3k ES. It's more of an end-game thing, but does help for boss battles in Mericless. I face tanked Merciless Act 3 Piety without flinching thanks to two pops of Vaal Discipline. You can't generate enough souls to use it consistently, so absolutely save it for the tough battles. Vaal skills is just one example of why GGG won't give us more key-bound skill slots and why macros that do more than one task are prohibited. But fortunately for this build, two Vaal Discipline is plenty for most tough battles. The rest of the time you retreat to get ES recharge going.

My profile is public, so you can inspect what I'm using at level 71 on my Cipherin character, at the end of Act 3 in Mericless. Blade Vortex I have just for destroying breakables, as I will fill that helm with something else later.

When I get further along, I'd be happy to report back more on what I discovered in 70s and 80s if anyone is interested?

At level 76 I was 5.9K ES, but I backed down to 5.5K to grab more regen in a passives respec. 400-something ES regen/sec along with a lot of flasks I pop all at once usually helps me survive almost anything. I can play level 70 content ok, but very cautiously, running out of battle often to let ES regen. At this point I could probably get 8k ES if I dump my Tabula Rasa for a 5L Vaal Regalia, then craft it a little. Will have to drop critical strikes gem for now, then pick up back it for 6L later.

Compared to the OP, I didn't go all the way over to pick up the crit passives near the west side of the tree. I instead plan to pick up crit closer to home over in the Shadow starting area. You just get more bang for your passive count over there. At 76 I have many of the regen passives, but still about 5 to go.

It's doable, but not the best build to level with in a league (unless you level multiple characters per league). Too many awkward leveling gaps. This is certainly a build to do with the support of other characters in standard or hardcore. Still it has been a fun journey. And when my Vaal Discipline boosted my ES to 9k-something while still progressing in merciless, that's fun. :-)

My biggest complaint is the stun lock, and without the right gear to reduce or eliminate that, you'll pop flasks often. Reave needs to hit at close range once before it builds and gets some distance, but you don't want enemies right on top of you while leveling. So try to lead out packs to hit one or two first, then hold your ground and take the rest in. Fortunately your hits will either kill them before they reach you, or interrupt them enough not to have them swinging at you so much.