[1.2.2] ADI's EK - HC viable(beyond)-Acrobatics + blocks + DPS - VERY CHEAP (new ATZIRI KILL video)

ITS MY FIRST GUIDE, WOULD BE NICE IF YOU COULD LEAVE POST ABOUT BUILD OR OVERALL GUIDE LOOK.
THX IN ADVENCE :)



Cantrip's Guide to EK
Tempada's Guide to EK
Snorkle_uk's Guide to EK





About build:
I created this build back on Nemesis league, got unfortunately killed by Volatile mob on –max res map, was right before getting 92lvl.
After 1.2 patch, tree based on my Nemesis character got buffed so I decided to “revive” it on Beyond, had 89lvl and died by crash/bug or idk, cant rly tell what killed me coz my client was off while character was ingame for few more seconds:) (happens)
Its based on using Ethereal Knives skill with Acrobatics, Phase Acrobatics, Ondar’s Guile, and Blocks/Spell blocks.
Build has great potential and is VERY CHEAP, you only need around 3-5 ex (depends on league) to make it work, and can reach 13k+ Dps with ONLY 5 LINK alongside with very high survi. Its also playable without fundings, its still fun and can go over 10k dps without quality gems :)

About Ethereal Knives:
Its very unique spell, because its physical, what makes this spell unique is that it can be used with global physical % buffs (rustic sash or OAK cruel reward) and can be supported by hatred aura etc. Starting from level 1 it has already 10 projectiles which is also very helpful.
While other spell are elemental based and can get reflected by elemental reflects, EK might hurt when hit Phys. reflect mobs.

Ethereal Knives synergy with Spell Dodge and Spell blocks:
We can dodge or block reflects, there are cheap items which will help us get high spell dodges and high spell blocks. With items we will easy dodge or block reflects, or even run maps with physical reflect roll.

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Pros:
- HC viable
- Super cheap
- Easy to solo, works well in party
- Good clear speed
- Very safe
- Can do any map mods
- Reflect does not hurt
- Easy leveling
- Barely getting hit by attacks and spells
- 40+ dodges/spelldodges and 60+ blocks/spellblocks

Cons:
- 0 Armour - hard phys. hitting bosses/ mobs might hurt if they hit you
- need a bit high resists on gear
- low damage for early mapping.
- weak against evangelists packs

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VIDEOS:
note: these movies are recorded by my friend, but with my gear, credits go to Usytasy and Sivlu, i will be uploading movies as soon as they has time to record new:)
P.S. Usyt used his character with free reset only for movies, leveling character from start would give better effect BUT its still VERY NICE :)





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(note: could still have 6% more blocks in tree:))
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Bandits:
Norm. – Oak
Cruel - Oak
Merci. – Skill Point


Tree:
Go for Acrobatics-> phase acrobatics -> ondars guile -> Hearth of Oak-> Scion HP cluster -> Blocks -> Charisma
I recommend taking Charisma before adding BLOOG MAGIC GEM to EK, with charisma we can run 3rd Aura (tempest shield or Avatar of Fire – about it later)
+30 int nodes are for Ratpith Globe, if u don’t have it, don’t add more than you need, you can later remove +30 from tree if u have enough Int on rings or from master crafts.
Master of Force (40% phys cluser) is strong, but it scales well with 18lvl + EK since we already have a lot dmg in tree, it wont scale so good early lvls so leave it for later lvls.

39 SP –

70 SP-

85 SP –

95 SP –


endgame – (109sp)



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LVLING:

EK is good for lvling, I recommend this setup for lvling:
(G)EK + (R) Added fire + (G) faster proj. + (R) Life leech(4L) + (B) faster casting/echo(5L)
4L is easy to get even for not funded characters, that’s enough for easy lvling

(G) Bear Trap + (R) Added fire + (G) Cull. Strike
We have a lot phys dmg at start of shad, bear trap does easy dmg, and Scales with Dark seer.

Spectral works also fine, u have proj and phys nodes at start. LMP should be ok if u don’t like leveling with spells

Gear:

It gives easy mana(amount equal to character lvl) for killing mobs, you wont need more than 1 mana pot, its global dmg buff, so our bear trap gains dmg for easier bossing, and its blind helps us a lot, we are evasion based characters. ITS LEGACY DROP FROM BEYOND


easy lvling with +1 gem, 3link is all we need early


its also fine, u can grab blocks earlier if you need, some nice spelldmg buff, works nice with perandus crest



life, some res, high block, what else do we need? :)
Rustic sashes are good, Magnate belt should work well, u can try it if you don’t need res on belt.

:
this low lvl uniq gives 30-40 all res, u can easy use it till merciless or even on merc docks, its low lvl makes this item very easy to chrom into anything we need, this is where I recommend to put 4L EK 


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ENDGAME

GEMS:

Chest arm/eva!! (RRRGB(B)): Blood Magic – Added Fire – Life Leech – EK – Echo(5L) – Faster Cast.(6L)
we need armor based chest because of 3 red colours. Build is based on high evasion so we just look for armour/evasion hybrid and use chroms. in 6L u can try Vorici's bench to get guaranted 2 Blue sockets (25 chromatics)- might take "few" chroms to hit other 4 sockets RRRG (none is offcolour so it will roll randomly or u might be unlucky to get more than 2 Blue :))

Shield(RRB): Lighting Warp – Reduced Duration – Blood Magic


Weapon low int wand or sceptre (RRB): CWDT – Enduring Cry – incr. aoe
Optional: CWDT – Enduring Cry – Immortal Call
I was using low int wand, u probably will never use top tier wands bcoz they need sometimes more than 200 int. if u wanna use wand, look for low int req on it, u can find proj speed, scepters are easier to wear and u can easy roll RRR on it.


Helm/Boots/Gloves
1.(RRGG): Reduced mana – Grace – Hatred – Herald of Ash
(optional tempest shield instead of herald for more def, would be RRGB)

2. (RGGB): Blood magic – Enfeeble – Projectile weakness – Smoke mine
(optional temporal chain instead of smoke mine, u can just run with it Smoke mine in backpack and swap with Temp. chain to safely open boxes)

3. (GGGB): Cast when stunned – EK – blind – Culling/Faster proj
(blind is important for evasion based build, we don’t have level restricon on gems so we can just level up another EK and try Vaal Orb for 21lvl Ek later – overall setup isint as important as other gems, u can put anything u like but that’s how I was running)

quality gems preference:
EK -> Faster Casting -> Echo -> Added Fire -> Life leech -> Blood magic

note:
-you wont realy need blood magic on 20qual, 0 quality is fine, ive never used any 20q.
-remember that EK 20lvl 0qual is still better than 19lvl 20qual



GEAR


CORE ITEMS are:

this is our main source to negate reflects on our character, look for high cast speed and int on Lazwhar and High block chance on Ratpith, spell dmg isint so important but its always nice to have more, % ES is totaly useless here so u can grab cheapest one with lower es %. Go for bBoots only if u have resists capped.


CHEST
i was using regular 6link, didnt rly need resists on it but was just lucky with chaos orb.

would be perfect for this build if u can get alot L.Res for real endgame tankiness.


nice life boost and resists, will work ok, probably could get around 6k hp with it or slightly more :)


is also cool chest, more life leech rate is nice (it gives survi) and u could try added chaos dmg with this chest (atm i was testing 18lvl added chaos - around 14k dps)

WEAPON
WANDS are perfect for EK, you can roll projectile speed on it, but SCEPTRES are cheaper if u dont need proj speed and it has lower INT REQ (had enough range with only tree nodes to kill vaal on maze 74 map and be safe from smash), so if you are looking for wand, keep in mind that this build has small INT problems and it will be hard to get more than 159 (thats what we need for ratpidth) so try to find low int wand.


these are wands i made myself, was just lucky but its what we would aim for endgame
RINGS, BELTS
tree has 74str and 103 int. WE NEED 109STR(for 20lvl str gems) AND 159 INT (for shield)
lazwhar already gives 30 so we still need 26 int and 35str on jewelery. u can easy get STR on belt, thats probably easiest way, while INT would be easiest to get on ring - u can also try master craft on helm or gloves.




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AURAS & CURSES
Hatred(60%) - EK is phys spell, so it work with hatred aura, thats aura main dmg boost, gives additional % based on our phys dmg.
Grace(60%) - evasion is our def - its best to have it alot :)
Herald of ash(25%) - as 3rd aura, with charisma and 17lvl+ reduced mana, it fits perfectly into our mana pool, works like "little hatred", effect on kill does not work but its still free 15% dmg.
Tempest shield(25%)(optional) - you can use it if you want more blocks, but you wont be able to use herald.

Enfeeble - reduced dmg taken from mobs, we are not rly immune to ALL hits, from time to time some mob can hit, with 0 armour it can hurt a bit. best thing in this curse is that it reduces accuracy on mobs.
Projectile weakness - our dmg curse, with pierce chance it helps in cleaning bigger packs (for example packs around shrines)
Temporal chain (optional) - just in case u would need to run away from "turbo" mobs, def curse.

reserved

nice build

updated a bit

updated a bit

This build is very good . I have 63lv in beyond league and i have 4k hp , 3.5k dps , 40% dodge attack , 30% dodge spell , 60% block and ondars . This build has a high survival rate . I recommend this build :)

updated a bit

added more screenshots.

Pretty good, I like the screenshots. I'm too noobish to know if the build is actually good or not, but aside from some general formatting/grammar issues the guide looks good to me.

solid build!

But I don't understand why you take Weapon Artistry, the 20% increase melee physical damage

seems useless to me since EK is the main skill you use.