earliest possibility to spec CI?

hey,
did 1.2 change anything about how soon you can go CI? afaik you could not really go CI before merci, is it still the same?
thanks

Seen lvl 30-40 guys with CI and 1.2k+ es easily. The new crown of thorns and es buffs really make it viable, atleast in sc leagues. In hardcore i would still wait for merc

It all depend on the gear you have. Tweaked chars may switch earlier.
Speaking in general, life is safer and more convenient to play early to midgame - you can regen with flasks, leech, avoid stuns and status ailments, can have higher HP pool with crappier gear.

Early CI with bad gear = stunlock, freezelock, low ES pool that can't absorb incoming damage.

ES builds are very strong, because of the very high HP pool, that makes you to avoid great investment in secondary defences, but it's just when you have the proper equipment.

I advise you to switch at late A2M and to find/buy Chayula meanwhile, along with the removes freeze flasks.

Just couldnt bear it... If you go CI with less then 3k you will DIE alot. Period. Best is to have 3-4k before transition. Also you need some way to regen/leech es back, because you will lose flasks also. Without these few things, there is absolutely no reason to go CI.

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eragon1111 wrote:

Just couldnt bear it... If you go CI with less then 3k you will DIE alot. Period. Best is to have 3-4k before transition. Also you need some way to regen/leech es back, because you will lose flasks also. Without these few things, there is absolutely no reason to go CI.

I've been doing 66-68 map easily with <3k ES. But I had 6 or 8% life leech with ghost reaver. Also problem with stuns is not big, occures very rarily, no need to use that crappy amu.

I wouldn't transition before dom cruel unless you plan on getting carried through it since you probably can't outleech his 2nd phase

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SidleJinks wrote:

I've been doing 66-68 map easily with <3k ES. But I had 6 or 8% life leech with ghost reaver. Also problem with stuns is not big, occures very rarily, no need to use that crappy amu.

Only specific CI builds may afford to avoid stun immunity, also not all of the players plan to get GR, which doesn't work being stunlocked anyway.
Let me guess, you got ranged crit glass cannon CI build, usually playing SC, always in a party and barely touching high level content? If it's the case your thread is misleading.

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torturo wrote:

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SidleJinks wrote:

I've been doing 66-68 map easily with <3k ES. But I had 6 or 8% life leech with ghost reaver. Also problem with stuns is not big, occures very rarily, no need to use that crappy amu.

Only specific CI builds may afford to avoid stun immunity, also not all of the players plan to get GR, which doesn't work being stunlocked anyway.
Let me guess, you got ranged crit glass cannon CI build, usually playing SC, always in a party and barely touching high level content? If it's the case your thread is misleading.

I'm CI crit dagger ST. I never play in party. Sure I play SC, I'm not some kind of masochist. Currently I'm playing 72 maps with 4.8k ES, doing them easily and fast. Soon I'll move to the highest maps.

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eragon1111 wrote:

Just couldnt bear it... If you go CI with less then 3k you will DIE alot. Period. Best is to have 3-4k before transition. Also you need some way to regen/leech es back, because you will lose flasks also. Without these few things, there is absolutely no reason to go CI.

bah.

i suck at this game, i've only made 4 CI builds total and on the last one i switched over @ 2k and experienced very little issues. i wanted to do the switch at merciless in act 2 because the chaos damage things in chamber of sins are sooooo annoying. at that point you should have enough respec points to convert without needing additional regrets.

the process is simple. make sure you have the ES gear first and _know_ you'll be over 2k ES when you make the switch. Just takes planning.

make sure your resists are maxed !

but 2k is definitely as low as i would try, although i'm pretty sure someone really experienced in CI builds could do it sooner.

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torturo wrote:

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SidleJinks wrote:

I've been doing 66-68 map easily with <3k ES. But I had 6 or 8% life leech with ghost reaver. Also problem with stuns is not big, occures very rarily, no need to use that crappy amu.

Only specific CI builds may afford to avoid stun immunity, also not all of the players plan to get GR, which doesn't work being stunlocked anyway.
Let me guess, you got ranged crit glass cannon CI build, usually playing SC, always in a party and barely touching high level content? If it's the case your thread is misleading.

i played enki91's CI incinerate build which uses cast when stunned to proc EC/IC.

works great, and while incinerate is a ranged attack i'd hardly call it a ranged build.

but CI melee without eye of chayula ? that would be crazy. i've tried it, you can make it work with CWS/EC/IC, but it's much, much better with the eye of chayula.

but then you give up a potential damage enhancing ammy, so you are better off going IR/US.