Feels like EK could be a little stronger.

Hi Everyone I am leveling with EK knives. Feels weak compared to anything else I've messed with. Like 3-4 shots for white mobs when arc would be one or two. Not only that doesnt shot gun like many spells...arctic breath...fireballs etc so it really suffer vs rares.

Honestly I find myself fire trapping more than anything. even tho I have projectile damages taken.
gear


tree

hatred less dps than two heralds.

added fire...i am preparing for reflect packs with added chaos

tool tip dps isn't everything, ek bypasses much of the enemy elemental resistance and is also compatible with taste of hate

No shotgunning, no conc effect, low crit. No surprise it doesn't live up to the new standards.

Played a lot ek in the past, but never leveled with it because it starts to be good only at high gem lvls.

Wasn't that how EK was changed in the first place? less damage per hit but more casts and less mana per second?

So far the big problem i have with EA is the fact that it suck as a single target skill and have not much to compensate for. I think the base range should be increase and crit chance raise to 6% and it would become way more interesting.

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Zed_ wrote:

No shotgunning, no conc effect, low crit. No surprise it doesn't live up to the new standards.

Sad but true.

EK could use a buff, yes (and I hope it's an all-around buff rather than just a change to crit chance). It's not the best leveling skill since it's mediocre against mobs and weak against single targets until high levels, and even then its damage is generally unimpressive for the investment. Few people are using it for a reason.

Your tree is unusual. Are you planning a hybrid build? It's weak right now because you hardly have any damage nodes. Are you heading for Vaal Pact? Don't. This looks like a non-crit build and it's unlikely that you'll deal enough damage for reflect to be much of an issue (use life potions, Atziri's Promise, and Life Leech or Warlord's Mark).

Check out these builds if you need some guidance:

-Padsi Templar (highest non-crit damage I've seen without exploiting corrupted items)
-Tempada Shadow (my take on non-crit EK)
-Cantrip Shadow (high damage with corrupted items)

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BearCares wrote:

tool tip dps isn't everything, ek bypasses much of the enemy elemental resistance and is also compatible with taste of hate

Yea, it's cool that spell damage can be elemental/phys and Taste of Hate boosts dps, but I still don't think the current damage levels are high enough... or many other spells need their damage lowered if we're looking for balance.