[2.0] Frost Blades Chain Phys Crit Dagger
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23K standing tooltip DPS
This is enough to also single target, surprisingly. PM me @War_Nozsho to either yell at me or ask any questions regarding this skill. Overall, I think this skill could be pretty good, but takes some work. Currently @LV82, 3.8K HP. Gear is really sub-optimal. Tree is extremely generic Dagger tree, so you can easily abandon this skill if you don't like it. Bandits will be Oak/Kraityn/Alira.
Proof of concept
Final Thoughts w/ Commentary
GEAR
Warbands WIP Setup
Possible Ideal Setup
This is the gear that I happen to have on the level 91 Ranger that I showcase in Standard in my second video. Note that all of this gear is fairly obtainable. I recommend moving away from Binos as soon as you have the currency. I've tried Chain, Fork, and Pierce (along with nothing).
THOUGHTS ON CHAIN
I believe this is the best choice ONCE ENOUGH DAMAGE IS AVAILABLE. This provides enough AoE for a melee (sometimes clearing offscreen). All projectiles (due to nature of Chain) auto-target, so if you are in the right position for a pack, you can turn your brain off. Since Chain can bounce between two mobs, double boss becomes trivial.
THOUGHTS ON FORK
This is second after Chain, and is the optimal choice to use while leveling with Frost Blades. This doesn't reduce damage as much as Chain, and also does not cost as much. *CONFIRM GGG OR SOMEONE ELSE* The projectiles coming out of Fork do NOT auto-target like the initial projectiles.
THOUGHTS ON PIERCE
In my opinion, this is a horrid choice. Granted a played with non-100% pierce chance, but the issues I ran into is in regards to wide packs, or when the projectile targets are extremely close to the melee target. The resulting projectiles will take an extremely wide angle, usually missing the entire pack. This is not an uncommon occurrence. Furthermore, unless you also invest into projectile speed, you will not cover enough of the pack. At this point, you might as well use either Reave or Spectral Throw.
THOUGHTS ON NOTHING
This is an alternative choice for leveling--just run Faster Attacks or LMP if you want to clear well. However, leveling with this skill may not be very good since AoE isn't necessarily there. This is a nice choice if you want quick kills on bosses and rares. See Fork.
Why bother using this over Reave/ST?
I would put this right under Reave in terms of viability (ability to clear maps quickly, boss kill). This skill is more complicated than Reave and Spectral Throw, and if you have an itch to do a melee crit build but NOT Reave, try out Frost Blades.
EDITS
2015/7/14 14:10 PDT: Fixed skill tree, redid gear to current. 2015/7/14 23:40 PDT: Added video section. They'll be up when I can figure out how to render with no real programs... 2015/7/14 23:59 PDT: Added proof of concept video. 2015/7/15 10:34 PDT: Bandits added, Standard character gear added. 2015/7/15 11:45 PDT: Guide video up. Last edited by Nozsho on Jul 15, 2015, 2:52:22 PM
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Old version passive tree.
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" Fixed. Thanks | |
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Any chance you can make a video? I wanna see this deliciousness in action.
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" I can try, but my computer isn't so great at anything, so you'll have to bear with me and the video's eventual crap. | |
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Hey i like the build so far, up to level 34. I feel im having mana problems though. What kind of auras do you run? Also any recommended CWDT set ups? Not a big fan of having to use curses and stuff. Rather just be mowing stuff down.
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" Haha, you weren't kidding. :P Thanks for the video. I made a similar build based off yours. :) | |
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hi, i've been really interested in this new skill and i just wanna ask on what are your thoughts on using lmp/gmp or PPAD?
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" LMP/GMP may be alright for AOE, but be warned that if you run into a large pack, or if the majority of the pack is far behind the main target, the projectiles will likely not cover the pack (eg. if the pack's length spans from your character to one corner of the screen). PPAD only affects the projectiles with the con of less attack speed. The priority of this skill should be attack speed, since you need to be able to hit the main target in order for anything to happen. Less attack speed results in worse movement/locked in place longer, and overall slower clear speed of packs/maps. | |
" thank you for answering, but i read somewhere that PPAD attack speed penalty doesn't affect frost blade since it's still a "melee" skill. and i think that melee physical only affect the initial hit? i'm not sure though. |
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