[2.2] The versatile Assasin: Dual Claw, Wildstrike, Blasphemy
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UPDATE INCOMING
It has been a bit silent around this build. But with that major Wild Strike buff coming in PoE 2.4 (19% more damage + 1% increased AoE per level) I will update this as soon as I can get the new numbers and some testing in the first two or three days of 2.4. Here he comes. He is fast, he looks good and he has brought some fireworks. This is the first Shadow I started and it became a really fun to play versatile build.  This build makes use of the new Curse Auras and the relatively young Wild Strike attack. It is beginner friendly - with a little luck though. I started it in Darkshrine and leveled it from an empty stash and with only little playtime to 79ish, continuing in standard. A major update with 2.2 was not needed, since the tree stayed mostly the same on the right side. Of course we can now have some Ascendancy Skills ;) PROS - cheap - fun - versatile in choice of skills (any physical based melee) - can switch attacks when it comes to phys or elemental reflection - can switch support when it comes to curse immunity CONS - needs at least two unique items to work - needs more life and resistance on gear - maybe hard to get quality gems in standard By now it has around 3200HP and 30k tooltip DMG (on the initial hit). That sounds not much but overall works surprisingly well due to Wild Strike's secondary damages, life gain on hit and a tripple defense strategy. PLAYSTILE
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Claw builds rely on live gain on hit and a bit of leech. So jump in and hit them hard. Your chance of survival is much higher when you keep hitting something in the face. In most cases don't bother to outrun enemies :)
It's best to have the bigger part of a pack in front of you though, since a third of Wild Strike spreads from behind the monster you are beating (the ice wave part). SKILLTREE
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Tree at lvl 87. The tree focuses on Claws and physical damage. Don't take "Increased melee physical damage" nodes for Wild Strike. "Increased physical damage with melee weapons" work though. We pick up a bit of critical strike chance, too. This is an Armour/Evasion build. We will need this unique jewel to make it work: It's common and cheap, you should find one on your way to that part of the tree. The jewel goes to that upper right jewel socket and turns Nullification as well as Void Barrier in the shadow area to +15% Evasion, +20% armour nodes. Try to reach the Duelist area (Bravery, Cloth and Chain, Dervish) before going up to the Witch area. It gives good damage and especialy defense. I added that Jewel as well: If you have no second jewel you want to use skip that slot and spend the skill points on similar passives in the tree or on life nodes. GEAR CLAWS
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Its pDPS, pDPS, pDPS you are looking for. Try to reach above 200 physical dmg per second early on and go up from there. Close to 300 pDPS claws get really(!) expensive. Look on critical strike chance and implicit mods only as secondary aspects. My claws' pDPS are about 250 and 280 by now. Do not bother with any elemental dmg on your claws (in fact avoid them, they eat up affixes and are not calculated in WS' secondary dmg, although they push your WS tooltip). You may want to use a calculator now and then. CHEST
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As an Evasion/Armour-build a full dragonscale is the obvious choice. I had good luck in crafting mine. I bought a cheap white 5L-chest and made it a fine armour for less than 5 chaos. Before that I got very far with four linkls only. Even after getting that 5L I used it a long time with an unecessary Increased Rarity support or (before Blasphemy was introduced in 2.1) with Power Charge on Critical. Next step is to make it having multiple craftet mods and get some life. BOOTS
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To keep up Frenzy Charges you will wear The Blood Dance. They can be found quiet often or bought from as cheap as a Jewelers Orb. HELMET
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I took Devoto's Devotion. It has good Armour/Evasion, Movement Speed and Chaos Res. And, yes it looks really good :) You can use any other helmet if you do not care. It could help your ele res. GLOVES, JEWELRY, BELT
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As you can see the rest of my gear is pretty "meh!". The belt is the best of the set. Those rings I might have found somewhere in cruel. There is plenty room for improvement here (more ele resists, more life, more Phys Dmg.). I was a bit lazy on those slots but will take care of it in the next step. For grinding maps I use a Thief's Torment now and then it gives some extra drops and live on hit but leaves you with low ele res, so be careful. SKILLS PRIMARY ATTACK Wild Strike
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That skill scales on physical damage. It triggers the initial hit and spreading from it a randomly chosen elemental attack. Melee Physikal support will only affect the initial hit while Weapon Elemental Dmg only affects the elemental part behind it (wich is EITHER a projectile, an Area of Effect or a Chain). Most support gems are not effective that way. Multistrike gives you a huge targeting advantage since the second strike always automaticaly targets the next close enemy.
So here is what we will use: 4L: Wild Strike - Multistrike - Fortify - Added Fire Dmg 5L: + Weapon Elemental Dmg (only for the second part of the attack!) 6L: I would throw in Faster Attacks or Empower or Increased Melee Physical Dmg (only for the initial hit!) SECONDARY ATTACK Dual Strike
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This one is used only when you face tank single strong targets. Or if you encounter a target that reflects elemental dmg. It gives an extra bit of survivability. 3L: Dual Strike - Life Gain on Hit - Melee Physical Dmg 4L: Faster Attacks for dmg or Increased Crit Chance or even Increased Rartity if you want that extra luck on a final blow Most of my attack and support gems are 20% quality. You could get them easily in Darkshrine. It gives a good boost to your damage. Try to get your hands on quality gems when you see them. AURAS
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We use Hatred on this and Blasphemy with Assasin's Mark. Assasins Mark gives you a great offensive buff, Mana and Life regeneration and most important: Power Charges! I tried a variant where I could use Herald of Ash as third Support but the dmg gain was not worth the 5 passives to pick up Reduced Mana Reservation. So HoA is only used on maps/enemies you cannot curse. CHARGES
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We have 4 Power Charges (Bandit Quest Reward) which are always up due to Assasin's Mark Aura. We have 3 Frenzy Charges always up from Blood Dance boots. We have a lot of fun when we can steal Endurance Charges from packs. But that is not very often. DEFENSE This build relies on three defensive strategies. It has a block chance of 28%, it has a 38% chance to evade attacks and decent dmg reduction from armour (37%). DEFENSE BUFFS
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Fortify (see "Skills"). A Molten Shell which is Cast when Damage Taken at around one fifth of your HP. It is a low level support but gives around 10% more armour when needed. 3L: Cast when Damage Taken (around lvl 3) - Molten Shell (around lvl 11) - Increased Duration (max. lvl) On a fourth link you can throw in a debuff that hits enemies with Molten Shell's explosion. I chose Blind. A flask to enhance Elemental Resistance. A Granite Flask for Armour AND Evasion. That last one boosts my Evasion to 7.500 and Armour to 14.700 for 5 seconds on each use and can be kept up during most boss fights - that's a face tank utility. " Put that flask keys somewhere easy to reach! I have them on the two thumb buttons of my mouse. OPEN SOCKETS
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Youse an Ice Golem. It supports your critical strike chance and accuracy a lot.
To me Lighning Warp comes in handy as a movement skill (combined with less duration). Do not level it too far, it has high intelligence prerequisites and might have you stuck with some shitty amulet later on. You won't get much INT from the tree. You can also make use of counter attacks, namely Riposte and Vengeance. They might not shatter mobs but some additional damge is better than none. Ascendancy Class
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Well, Acendancy Classes leave us not much choice with this build. They Focus on Trap/Mines (Saboteur), Mana/ES (Trickster) and Crit/Poison (Assasin). Assasin would be the only one you can gain anything of with this build, so you will (have to) use this one. On the second look it will buff this mainly physical build quite good. There are two possibilities here.
1. (my choice as of now): Ambush 60% increased Critical Strike Multiplier against Enemies that are on Full Life 100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Full Life BOOM - one Shot at mobs. Assasinate Hits deal 30% increased Damage against Enemies that are on Low Life 100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Low Life Critical Strikes have Culling Strike You could not kill them with this first hit? BOOM here's another! Toxic Delivery 30% increased Damage Over Time Gain 10% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time Not a perfect fit for our build but gives some defense buff, 10% more dmg and a little more for the burning part of Wild Strike (if it incinerates) 2. (Maybe a good choice for you if you want more crit) Unstable Infusion 10% chance to gain a Power Charge on non-Critical Strike Actually a waste of skill points - we get power charges from the curse aura - BUT we can maintain them in Boss fights Deadly Infusion 5% increased Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge +0.5% Base Critical Strike Chance per Power Charge[ This will come in handy but its not worth to waste the points on Unstable Infusion IMO (which is a prerequisite) and again Ambush 60% increased Critical Strike Multiplier against Enemies that are on Full Life 100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Full Life BOOM - one Shot at mobs. BANDITS
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Normal: Kraityn for +10% to all elemental resistances
Cruel: I chose the skill point, you can also take Oak for +16% Phys Dmg Mercyless: Alira for +1 Power Charge MANA Mana can be a problem early on. It gets all solved at lvl 31 when you finally can use Blasphemy/Ass. Mark. Until then try to get a "Mana gained on Kill" suffix on an item or use a cheap Elreon's jewelry. It can also help to take Soul Siphon right next to the shadows starting point and regret those skill points later. Also the Soul Raker skill in the Claw wheel on the right has Mana Leech, you might want to go there as soon as possible. A WORD ON PERFECTION This build has room for improvement. It has been developed in a trial an error process (I've spent around 20 Orbs of Regret on that damn tree). If someone wants to throw in some numbers to help making it better - you are very welcome! :) VIABILITY It is not the strongest build in Wraeclast. It is cheap and I like how it feels but you will not cut through rare high lvl maps like a knife through butter. I always kept (succesfully) mapping on the lowest Tier of maps from which I could get a 100% or at least 98% XP-gain and avoided hard mods like reflection or curses and especialy too much increased monster damage. For now I am stuck because I did not find enough Tier 9 and 10 maps to go on up. I can do and survive magic Tier 9 maps very well by now. With better gear it will get easier. In the near future that build might hit top Tier maps and its early 90s. We will see. I came here to drink milk and kick ass...and I've just finished my milk. Last edited by King_of_Limbs on Aug 31, 2016, 5:41:11 AM Last bumped on Jun 22, 2016, 4:22:43 AM
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Hello there! This build is exactly what I am looking for, just tell me what is yours clearing speed and dps?
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Hi! Nice to see people are reading this ;)
Tooltip DPS is around 30k on both the Dualstrike attack and the Wild Strike - with all charges up (which is like always) both go up to 37k. While wildstrikes real (mob)DPS is much higher because of the elemental effects behind the inital hit that are not shown in the tooltip. Its mostly a one- to two-shot magic mob kill at adequate maps. Clear speed is quiet good. If I do not bother to pick up and sell everything I reach about 100 million XP/hour at the early to mid lvl 80s. He runs at good speed and l-warps fast. Hope you'll like it! Please tell me when you hit lvl 100 :D I came here to drink milk and kick ass...and I've just finished my milk. Last edited by King_of_Limbs on Dec 26, 2015, 10:07:48 AM
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I am already leveling my shadow to try this build!
Thanks for your answer, I also want to ask what gems you used when leveling up? Best regards. | |
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Like with all builds on an empty stash it starts a bit (too) slow. You get Dual Strike in Act one, which is good on single targets. For AoE you will have to go with Frost Blades or something alike (which I did not like too much). But already in Act 3 Normal you get Wildstrike and in Act 4 Normal you'll get Multistrike, this is a must, for it helps targeting with Wildstrike a lot and boosts your clear speed really good. Go for Added Fire Dmg next and if you can't support it early on ad a Mana Leech support gem.
I came here to drink milk and kick ass...and I've just finished my milk.
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Yup, just as I thought, thank you very much and cheers!
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Hey, I wanted to make a wild striker when it came out but then I took a break from the game for quite some time. Now after I returned I saw your build and went ahead and tried it and it feels awesome. I am still level 40 but after I got wild strike it was so fun and cool looking :) So I thank you for doing this build and guide, as it seems wild strike is not a popular choice lately.
The only change I made was to use faster attacks instead of fortify and I only have fortify on my whirling blades but to me it is enough. I don't die easily unless I do something stupid. And a leveling tip: make max quality and craft level appropriate white claws (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vendor_recipe_system#Crafting) into % phys damage claws. I have only had 1 good claw drop so far but blue crafted ones kept me going like a truck. Also you can use reave between 12-28 for aoe, which feels far better than frost blades. Also when you hit act 4 try to get at least one claw with "life and mana gained on hit" then you will be set for mana. Anyways, thanks to King_of_Limbs and good luck to kurwokwas :) | |
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Glad you are having fun! :) Those are some good leveling tips, thanks!
I'd go for the lately added Gemini Claws (for life AND mana) too but at higher levels they are a bit rare for now. I hope it gets better soon or I manage to craft a good pair sometime. I came here to drink milk and kick ass...and I've just finished my milk.
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Any thoughts on an Acendancy class?
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Well, Acendancy Classes leave us not much choice with this build. They Focus on Trap/Mines (Saboteur) Mana/ES (Trickster) and Crit/Poison (Assasin). Assasin would be the only one you can gain anything of with this build, so I will (have to) use this one. On the second look it will buff this mainly physical build quite good. There are two possibilities here.
1. (my choice as of now): Ambush 60% increased Critical Strike Multiplier against Enemies that are on Full Life 100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Full Life BOOM - one Shot at mobs. Assasinate Hits deal 30% increased Damage against Enemies that are on Low Life 100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Low Life Critical Strikes have Culling Strike You could not kill them with this first hit? BOOM here's another! Toxic Delivery 30% increased Damage Over Time Gain 10% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time Not a perfect fit for our build but gives some defense buff, 10% more dmg and a little more for the burning part of Wild Strike (if it incinerates) 2. (Maybe a good choice for you if you want more crit) Unstable Infusion 10% chance to gain a Power Charge on non-Critical Strike Actually a waste of skill points - we get power charges from the curse aura - BUT we can maintain them in Boss fights Deadly Infusion 5% increased Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge +0.5% Base Critical Strike Chance per Power Charge[ This will come in handy but its not worth to waste the points on Unstable Infusion IMO (which is a prerequisite) and again Ambush 60% increased Critical Strike Multiplier against Enemies that are on Full Life 100% more Critical Strike Chance against Enemies that are on Full Life BOOM - one Shot at mobs. I'll definitely go for the first combination and will update this build as soon as I get there (next to playing the league I guess ;) I came here to drink milk and kick ass...and I've just finished my milk. Last edited by King_of_Limbs on Mar 3, 2016, 5:55:08 PM
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