[1.2.x Beyond] Jentes' Crit Lightning strike with Abyssus | 900% crit multi 75-150k dps


*Work in progress - Gonna add more detail tomorrow after work*

Hello!

I've gotten alot of inspiration from other builds, but belive that I have made somewhat my own take on the so underused skill Lightning Strike.
I'm currently playing this build in the beyond league, but I'm still not sure that I would recommend it for newer players.
The build is capable of, in hardcore terms, ridiculous damage in partys. I have been up to 150k so far, and that is with a mere 230 dps Binos!

Videos of the build in action:

General idea of the build:
Spoiler
I wanted to make a glasscannon build with crit dagger, that would have the potential to work in a hardcore league. I basically made the build around the insane dps helm "Abyssus". and had to cover up for the huge increase in physical dmg taken that it gives. To accomplish that I had to pick up a Bino's knife and a Lightning coil. The build ended up being a ton of fun to play. It is dynamic, it is a hybrid build in all aspects, and it's incredibly fun to make use of Lightning Strike, wich in my opinion is underused and overlooked.

Some stats at lvl88:
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Offensive stats in my hideout (Hatred/HoA/HoI)



Defensive stats in my hideout




The Skilltree at lvl 88:

Comments on the skilltree:
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There is not really alot to say about the skilltree. I take the obvious crit and phys dmg nodes to up my dps. Taking Acrobatics keystone in conjunction with Ondar's Guile is a must if you want to have any chance vs reflect (both phys and ele). Actually, one thing that makes this skill really viable is the fact that it can abuse that combo, comparing to skills like reave or doublestrike, where you have to have other forms of mitigation (usually IR) to even stand a chance against reflect, when you reach endgame dps.
The pierce cluster comes in handy combined with 20% quality on LS, since it gives us 100% projectile piercing, wich really helps out clearing those large packs.

Gear at lvl 88:
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Comments on the gear:
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My gear is not in any way perfect, but it has those key items to make it an extremely dps heavy build. Using Bino's and Coil really helps us through those tough packs, and apart from those two, the rest of my gear is just good rares with life and res.

Auras:
Spoiler
The auras of choice is Hatred/HoA/HoI

Bandits:
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Normal: Oak
Cruel: Kill/Oak/Krait. I killed all, to be able to be more versatile in the tree pre 90, but getting either of the other two is equally as viable.
Merc: Kill, although I will probably help alira for the PC, once I start utilizing those fully.

Leveling:
Spoiler

Lightning strike is perfectly viable to level with. Pick up Mightflay at 35, and it will carry you through merc until you get a 180+ dps rare to get you started.
If you are playing in a hardcore league, obviously go for lifenodes first, picking up some damage along the way. The only thing I can comment on is to pick up the Revelry cluster down by Iron Reflexes. It makes the mana issue non-existant.


Future plans:
Spoiler

It's going to involve getting a rare 350+ dps dagger. Then I will chrome my chest to RRRBBG, to switch out FA for PCOC.
The reason I'm doing this is to make sure I can maintain the mana, and start scaling the dmg with more crit. I have tested using a brightbeak instead of Bino's, and if I remove FA I get almost identical attackspeed, so PCOC would be a great addition.
That is probably when I'm getting the extra powercharge in the skilltree by shadow, and respeccing alira in merc for another powercharge, getting me up to 5 total.

Feel free to comment or ask questions if you are intrested

Peace out!
IGN: HowToDoADab
Last edited by Jente on Oct 3, 2014, 12:49:11 PM
interesting build
lightning strike seems pretty powerful, possibly the new spectral throw?
"
Chorcher wrote:
interesting build
lightning strike seems pretty powerful, possibly the new spectral throw?


Yeah, if you are gonna be using Abyssus, then for sure LS is the way to go, since it synergizes so well with multistrike. That way we can scale dmg way better than any ST build could.

I'm just throwing this guide out here for now, gonna work more on the detail tomorrow after work, too tired atm :)
IGN: HowToDoADab
Hi. I am using basically the same gear as you (minus the Maligaro's) and I would like to share some thoughts with you.

1. I use both Molten Strike and Lightning Strike(LS). It seems to me that Molten can kill bosses and Tanky monsters faster than LS because Molten does splash damage from projectiles. Do you have any comments/thoughts as to whether or not LS has splash damage from projectiles to single targets?

2. I see you use Ondar's Guile but I have found it to be unnecessary with the Coil. You could save yourself 4 skill points by getting rid of it. Or maybe I don't need it because I have 57% block chance?

3. I run three auras Hatred + Grace + Herald of Ash. The damage from Herald of Ice seems very minor and maybe a different damage aura would be better. Have you tried other combinations?

4. I do find that a Saffel's comes in very handy against high magic using map bosses. What's your plan for these type of situations? Are you getting by on just the Topaz and Ruby flasks?

Thanks for sharing.

(My guide's link is in my sig if you want to see the details of my build)


"
Skywalkerfx wrote:
Hi. I am using basically the same gear as you (minus the Maligaro's) and I would like to share some thoughts with you.

1. I use both Molten Strike and Lightning Strike(LS). It seems to me that Molten can kill bosses and Tanky monsters faster than LS because Molten does splash damage from projectiles. Do you have any comments/thoughts as to whether or not LS has splash damage from projectiles to single targets?

2. I see you use Ondar's Guile but I have found it to be unnecessary with the Coil. You could save yourself 4 skill points by getting rid of it. Or maybe I don't need it because I have 57% block chance?

3. I run three auras Hatred + Grace + Herald of Ash. The damage from Herald of Ice seems very minor and maybe a different damage aura would be better. Have you tried other combinations?

4. I do find that a Saffel's comes in very handy against high magic using map bosses. What's your plan for these type of situations? Are you getting by on just the Topaz and Ruby flasks?

Thanks for sharing.

(My guide's link is in my sig if you want to see the details of my build)


Hi and thanks for the input!

1. If I were to use MS for singletarget, I would have to gemswap to be able to utilize the 6L that I currently have. Now that in itself is not really a problem, but I'm fine with the dmg from LS for now. It could be a viable option.
The only real problem I see with it is the following: MS utilizes Point blank keystone, to amplify the projectile dmg. That is something I do not want on my LS, since I want to make use of the range if needed in a tough fight. That would mean I have to respec in and out of that node alot, and that is probably my biggest turnoff regarding this idea.

The LS has two properties. The first one is the melee hit, shown in the tooltip, and works exactly as any other melee attack (even the auto attack one). The second property of the skill is the projectiles bouncing out from the target (or no target at all) that you are hitting. those projectiles do not hit the initial target, so in a sense they start "behind" that target and then proceeds to travel in a straight line outwards.

2. Your take of this build is just another version, and I would say probably equally as viable. I can share my thoughts on my version tho.

I take alot of dmg in the skilltree, and my biggest issue by far is to kill myself from reflect, be it ele or phys. I thought about the alternatives, and came up with the conclusion that ondars is a really big node, and with my pathing really is just 1 node away.

The way ondars work is by the mechanic "evasion". and you may know that evasion is "mechanic" in its function. If you don't know what I mean by that I'll explain it later.
Althougn block is a very strong mitigation mechanic, I feel that it's better suited in conjunction with some linear mitigation. Why I belive so is because block is random, it does not guarantee anything in terms of mitigation. It's just a % chance of getting lucky. And sometimes you may end up being unlucky, maybe even 4-5 times in a row, and for me that is enough to kill myself from reflect.
That is why I belive that paired up with IR, or something "reliable", block is really strong.

To summerize: I do not feel I have the amount of points to invest in block nodes when I'm not running a armor heavy build. Espescially when my biggest threat is myself.

3. I ran purity of elements a while to cover up for bad gear, but I also have not invested in any aura nodes, so atm I can only afford 1 60% and 2 25% auras and still have a good enough manapool to make my experience enjoyable and fluid.

I guess you can argue that running Purity of Lightning is a viable option, but as I stated early in this build, my main goal was to make a glasscannon build that basically kill stuff before they kill you.

A note on HoI: I find that after they buffed it, it really helps with the AoE part. My projectiles from LS are good, but add in 2 really strong heralds, and stuff melts, and I do mean everything :)

4. At this point in time, I have not had any real issues with heavy ele based bosses or mobs. I do fine with a flask. As soon as I start hitting the mob, it's frozen, and seconds after, it's dead. Yet again refering to my initial goal of glasscannon.

In your case tho, amazing. You are doing it right, but that is only because you have the block in the skilltree to support it.

Hope I gave you something to think about aswell. Happy to share my experience and knowledge.
IGN: HowToDoADab
Thanks for the fast reply.

I see your point about MS, as I do have Point Blank, but even so I still find LS very useful because most things I kill with it are still near enough to be on the plus damage side of point blank. While I have read of others using LS from further away, I tend to not use it that way -- probably becasue of the negative damage aspect of Point Blank. But as I want to switch between MS and LS I will keep the Point Blank keystone (I just switch gems in my armor and off I go).

Your thoughts on reflect are interesting. Maybe as my damage gets higher it might become more of an issue. But with my 50K-75K of DPS it has not been an issue on elemental or physical reflect maps.

Well I wish you the best of luck and thanks for your comments.

"
Skywalkerfx wrote:
Thanks for the fast reply.

I see your point about MS, as I do have Point Blank, but even so I still find LS very useful because most things I kill with it are still near enough to be on the plus damage side of point blank. While I have read of others using LS from further away, I tend to not use it that way -- probably becasue of the negative damage aspect of Point Blank. But as I want to switch between MS and LS I will keep the Point Blank keystone (I just switch gems in my armor and off I go).

Your thoughts on reflect are interesting. Maybe as my damage gets higher it might become more of an issue. But with my 50K-75K of DPS it has not been an issue on elemental or physical reflect maps.

Well I wish you the best of luck and thanks for your comments.


That was exactly my point. You are running a different version of basically the same build, and if you play LS the way you describe it then it's a given to use PB.

The point about reflect is quite accurate aswell. Scaling crit, and even more so with abyssus, the dmg ramps up at the later levels, when every node you take gives such a huge increase. I reached a point when I was barely surviving when shooting into ele reflect. The phys reflect is not that bad for now, since it only covers 1/4-1/3'rd of my total damage.
IGN: HowToDoADab
Herald of Ash..

Ive created a budget version of LS build (no trading so no real gear), it is described somewhere in Ranger but go no replies (lol)..

Lightning strike is a PERFECT vehicle for Herald of Ash

to make it work one needs:

- SLOW and hard hitting dagger
- no multistrike! hits have to be as big as possible, dps is irrelevant
- pierce nodes
- Herald of Ash + Ele Prolif (+ AOE + Inc Burn)

i use it with LS + WED + PPAD + Faster Attacks + MeleeDamage (but can be replaced with Crit Multi, i just like to play close range) and with a 5 link had incredible clear speed (with a tooltip of 17k..)

Due to piercing shots of LS and way Herald of Ash works with Ele Prolif one good crit clears entire screens

im pretty sure that there will be more LS + Ele Prolif HoA builds in the future as it is as cheezy as builds can get
Last edited by sidtherat on Oct 2, 2014, 2:11:03 AM
"
sidtherat wrote:
Herald of Ash..

Ive created a budget version of LS build (no trading so no real gear), it is described somewhere in Ranger but go no replies (lol)..

Lightning strike is a PERFECT vehicle for Herald of Ash

to make it work one needs:

- SLOW and hard hitting dagger
- no multistrike! hits have to be as big as possible, dps is irrelevant
- pierce nodes

- Herald of Ash + Ele Prolif (+ AOE + Inc Burn)

i use it with LS + WED + PPAD + Faster Attacks + MeleeDamage (but can be replaced with Crit Multi, i just like to play close range) and with a 5 link had incredible clear speed (with a tooltip of 17k..)

Due to piercing shots of LS and way Herald of Ash works with Ele Prolif one good crit clears entire screens

im pretty sure that there will be more LS + Ele Prolif HoA builds in the future as it is as cheezy as builds can get


I think you are confused on how LS works:

Your conclusion about Multistrike is not correct as in my build which currently has 24K tooltip DPS with a Bino's, Multistrike adds 5K of DPS - it is not a DPS detractor.

Secondly your gem choices aren't ideal, PPAD does not add to the melee hit of LS because there are no projectiles in the melee hit. Faster Attacks is a poor substitute for multistrike as it is only increased damage - not a multiplier of damage, and your last gem Melee Physical Damage only increases the melee strike and does nothing for the projectile damage.

The author of this article uses LS + Multistrike + Faster Attacks + WED + Additional Accuracy + Increased Crit Multi in his Coil, and all these gems increase both the melee attack and projectile attack.

I ues LS + Multistrike + Increased Crit Chance + WED + Added Fire Damage in my 5 link Coil. Again all these gems increase the tooltip DPS and the off-sheet projectile DPS.

So I hope this helps you to see that your gem setup is not ideal.

Your comment about needing a slow hard-hitting dagger doesn't make much sense if you are going to then add an Increased Attack Speed gem.

Anyway some things to think about. If you want further clarification on the melee and projectile properties of Lightning Strike, I direct you to the PoE Wiki which has a very good write-up on the subject.

I think it is you who is confused at this point. Youve made an assumption or two and based your post on that. Try to read it again and tell me what is difficult to understand for you so i can explain it better.

Btw. I know perfectly well what and what scales which part of LS damage, thanks. Read my post again and note that it is about herald of ash plus proliferation. Herald of ash promotes BIG hits. Multistrike cuts them in more than half thus making the biggest dmg source (proliferated burn) a lot less effective. Faster attack do not have such effect. And melee damage is for melee attacks and has nothing to do with projectiles.

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