[2.1]Flexible and Edgy Crit Dagger Reave
 Alright m'ladies and gents, I figured it was time for me to contribute my very own reave build to these forums. This build originated from candoerfer's life based crit dagger reave build, which, while a very nice build, took some turns that I simply couldn't agree with. Since I began deviating from that, I now feel that my reave has a unique style and capabilities. Personally, I prefer to run mine a tad unorthodox, but this build is flexible enough to do whatever you want with. I've done every tier of map successfully, and also with a 5L (due to swapping in IIQ gem) MF, skillswap, and other elements are always an option as long as the core components are kept, especially at higher levels. So, without further ado, here is my guide to Flexible and Edgy Crit Dagger Reave. Required Uniques:
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Daresso's Defiance is an amazing chest. It has everything we could possibly want: additional dodge, high evasion, crazy leech bonus, life, and some very creative (but useful) EC mechanics. This chest is required as its endurance charge generation is essential for our CWDT IC setup. Try and get the best rolls you can, but a 5L is advised.
Doryani's Catalyst is our offhand of choice. This may be confusing, and I myself was originally unsure of why it was used, but its high elemental damage increase, global crit chance, and leech make it the highest-damaging offhand possible. That's all there really is for required gear. Beyond that, we have a lot of flexibility. I don't believe in nailing down every bit of a build, and this guide should be open enough to allow you to swap in and out anything aside from these. In fact, I myself use only these uniques (not counting flasks) when not MFing. Gearing Guide:
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It should go without saying that all armor pieces have as high evasion as possible.
Dagger
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This is perhaps the most important part of the build. If you are on a budget, this should be your greatest expense. Shoot for as high physical DPS as possible. This dagger is not spectacular by any means, only around 295 pDPS (340 total) but I crafted it myself, for cheap. DO NOT NEGATE CRIT CHANCE. In my opinion, an 8% crit 250 dps dagger is better than a 6% 320 dps one. Your crit scales directly of of this stat, so MAKE SURE it is above 7.25. Attack speed is also extremely important, as it directly correlates to clear speed (whirling blades speed). If you have to sacrifice some DPS for one or both of these, do it.
Bino's Kitchen Knife (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Bino's_Kitchen_Knife) is also an excellent option for budget builds. However, if you can, replace it with a solid rare. The 1.4 AS is pretty low, and will lower clear speeds. Gloves
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On gloves, you NEED life, physical damage/atk speed, and resistance. This will get expensive, which is OK: your gloves should be one of your most expensive armor pieces (behind 5L Daresso's, or perhaps in front of it). If you can manage it, accuracy is also a nice touch.
Boots
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On boots, your #1 stats to look out for are life and resistances. Movement speed is always nice, but not a priority, especially on a budget. My boots cost me 4 chaos, but to have the same stats with movespeed, it would have been 10 exalt. I fully intend to get this upgrade at some point, but with very high APS whirling blades, it doesn't matter all that much. A nicely-rolled pair of Atziri's Step is also an excellent option, if you don't need res.
Rings
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Your #1 priorities for rings are high physical damagem, and high life. Diamond rings are by far the best basetype, but if you have specific needs, resistance rings should be just fine. Again accuracy is nice to have here, but should not be favored over other stats. Aside from life, phys, and of course resistances, look out for a mana leech mod. I got very lucky and exalted .38% leech onto one of my rings, and it really helps mana regen. Also be aware that rings, like other items, can be a solid spot to pad on attributes.
Amulet
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Alright, here's where things get expensive. Our amulet needs are generally pretty high, especially if you're hurting for attributes elsewhere (like I was). We need, in order of importance, phys damage, crit chance, crit multi, life, and attributes. When I say order of importance, I really mean "get as many of them as possible, because you're gonna need all of them". I bought my amulet with only its crit mods, attributes, and phys, and double exalted hoping for life. I did not get it, and so I'm stuck below the 5000 life mark until I find a replacement or craft a new one. Buying your ammy is gonna suck, and be expensive, and you should expect to spend at least an exalt or two on it.
Helmet
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Getting extreme evasion and life on your helmet is important. Above all, look for above 800 eva, and as high a life roll as possible. Put on resistances as needed, but note that the cost goes up exponentially the mroe res you need on the helmet. I actually found my helm in a T7 map two days after buying a slightly-worse 2 exalt one. Don't expect to be so lucky.
Belt
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Our belt needs are pretty standard. We want high life, resistances as needed, and a weapon elemental damage mod. Ideally, we want to use a rustic sash or leather belt base. Simple stuff, I spent about 1 ex on mine.
Inspired Learning Jewel
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The Inspired Learning jewel is a very interesting jewel, and one I highly recommend for this build. It goes for about 1 exalt in Standard, and while it does not directly improve our build, it makes things a lot more fun. Basically, every time we kill a rare monster, we gain one of its mods for 20 seconds. This effect DOES stack, and things get a bit out of hand sometimes. For example, when we have two monster speed auras and a vaal haste on, our attack and movespeed gets to be pretty ridiculous. The jewel also provides a load of incidental defensive mods, and the occasional and exciting Nemesis mod. I like to call it the "Mini Headhunter."
Stats
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Defense:
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 Offense:
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Honestly no way to tell. Reave DW dps is bugged, and pretty impossible to derive conclusions from. I'd say my DPS is somewhere around 150k at full capacity, but there's no way to check without sitting here and doing manual calculations for an hour.
Passive Tree (2.1)
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https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAAAYAXgOHBX0FtQceCC4Mcw2NDdEOSBGWFSAV9haqFr8Zjhm0Iuoj9iT9JpUqCyzhLVUtgzBxMHwyATfUOkI90T7PRwZHfklRSn1LeE2SUUdVS13yXkVgQWHiYetieWKsY0NjcGVNaoxsCGyMcFJwVn11feOE2Yd2idOMNo19jb-QG5LzlS6VZpoTmyadqqLZo4qnNKxmsNixs7IZtMW5Pr02vea-p8CcwuzIFM96037UI9h229Tb592o44Tjn-dU6NbtP-2D7g7vevDV8Yr1b_aj9vz66_zF_rr_3gzypct6Uw==
Gem Setups
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Just a forewarning, this build has little wiggle room for gems. The addition of two secondary attacks means we have little room for error. Getting correct links and colors will be a pain, but it pays off. All links are in order of most important--->least important.
Main attack (reave)
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Reave-Multistrike-Melee Physical Damage-Faster Attacks-Inc. AOE-Added Fire Damage
Note that you NEED a 5-link for this to be at full potential. If you can't afford a 5L, sorry, find another build. However, with the 5L in order, don't rush for the 6th link. I was fully capable of killing Atziri with only the 5L, and 98% of the time now, I replace the added fire with an IIQ gem, simply because the clearspeed difference is not noticeable. I've done T15 maps with that IIQ gem swapped in, so really, if you're low on DPS with a 5L, upgrade your other gear first. My 6L Daresso's was actually the last item I bought for this build. 4-link Spectral Throw
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Spec Throw-Power Charge on Critical-GMP-Faster Projectiles
Yes, really. Spec throw with PCoC is our main power charge generation method, so you NEED this setup. Mine is in my boots, but any 4s armor works. This is another reason why we want our attack speed as high as possible, because if it's too low, we can't generate power charges quickly. With my 1.72 APS dagger, I can get off a few rounds of spec throw every 10 secs or so and keep power charges up at all times. Remember also that power charges are easier to keep than generate, so you want to try and keep them up when possible. Also, the damage isn't all that bad. At 20/20, my spec throw does about 15k DPS on its own, so it can clear mobs in low-tier areas too. This can be nice for, say, refilling flasks on tough boss fights, or the 3-boss room in the Apex of Sacrifice. 3-link Blood Rage/Vaal Haste
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Blood Rage-Vaal Haste-Increased Duration
Blood Rage is our source of Frenzy charges, and also provides a nice APS boost. It is important to run this particular setup in a weapon, as we will want to quickly swap weapons in and out to cancel the Blood Rage degen when necessary. Vaal Haste keeps getting more expensive by the day, so buy one ASAP before they rise higher in price. 3-link Flicker Strike
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Flicker Strike-Fortify-Culling Strike
Flicker strike is an excellent way to initiate a boss fight, and by linking it up to fortify, we gain some solid defense when it is used. Use this skill as needed, I bound it to middle mouse button. If you are not running IIQ gem, or you really want that boss dead ASAP, culling strike helps to shut the fight down.NOTE: don't 4L this with IIQ gem. We don't have the sockets for it, unless you use an unset ring. 2-link CWDT Immortal Call
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Cast When Damage Taken-Immortal Call
This setup is immensely important for dealing with reflect, and hugely boosts survivability. Daresso's makes its duration a comfy nearly 2 seconds, during which time you can kill whatever reflect mob triggered the IC. For this reason, phys reflect maps are actually possible, but not advised. 2-link Whirling Blades
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Whirling Blades-Faster Attacks
It's whirling blades. Use it instead of your feet. Very nice for movement, not so much for killing. 2-link Assassin's Mark/Blasphemy
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Assassin's Mark-Blasphemy
Even with the unexpected Blasphemy nerf, we are still running it instead of a Herald. High level Blasphemy matches the AOE of reave quite nicely, and we essentially get a 15ish% damage increase with it active. NOTE: higher quality on Blasphemy DIRECTLY correlates to higher DPS, especially on boss fights. I made the mistake of leveling one from scratch, get a high quality one ASAP. EDITED: We now run Assassin's Mark over Vulnerability, but that does NOT mean that you can remove the PCoC Spectral Throw setup. That setup is absolutely crucial in boss fights, especially if you use Surgeon flasks. And, lastly, put in Hatred all by itself in a spare slot on one of your armors, and Ice Golem in another socket (can be linked to one of the 2Ls). If you were paying attention, we have one armor with 6L, one with 4L, one with a 2L and 2 extra sockets, and one with 2 2Ls. Getting your colors and links will be a pain in the ass (especially with your 2 2Ls) but that's just how it is. No room for error. Leveling
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Leveling isn't all that hard thanks to the introduction of Bladefall. Just run that with two Lifesprigs til level 50-60 and build out your tree as normal. Super easy to level, you can even use just a 4L (no need for tabula)
Flasks
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Flasks might get a bit expensive with this build. I have no idea what they are selling for, but you are going to want at least one legacy Surgeon's Life Flask of Staunching. This with the Spectral Throw helps us to regen life flask uses even in tough situations, and has saved me many times. I prefer Divine life flasks, but most others probably like Eternal flasks. Doesn't matter, just get that legacy Surgeon's. Get a second life flask too, Bubbling is my preferred mod there.
Our third flask is an Atziri's promise, which is an excellent DPS boost for cheap. You have no excuse not to buy one, it's like a chaos for perfect rolls. Get it, use it. Our fourth flask is a Taste of Hate. These are about 6 exalt on Standard right now, but it's well worth it. More DPS boost than Atziri's Promise, and it stacks. Plus, we have added survivability and reflect defense. When you can, drop the 5-6 ex on it, and enjoy dat damage. The last flask is pretty much up to you. A Jade Flask is a nice choice, for added evasion chance. A third life flask is also a nice option. If you need more mana regen, a Divine mana flask is acceptable. Personally, I'm running a Divination Distillate I found the other day, for extra MF capabilities. This is a "whatever works" flask. Strengths + Weaknesses
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Strengths:
+Crazy high clearspeeds +Lots of flexibility on gear, we use a good amount of rares +Viable for all map mods but phys reflect +Lots of MF capability +Excellent gear scaling, this build is as viable with gear worth 5 exalt as 500 exalt. But, at the same time, damage will scale accordingly. Weaknesses: -Phys reflect is tough to handle (on maps) -Some bosses are tough on melee -Not viable as a starter/newbie/new league build FAQ
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Q: Why Doryani's? Isn't that some spellcaster sceptre?
A: We actually deal a pretty large amount of elemental damage, especially with Added Fire swapped in. The leech on Doryani's is also an excellent touch. Q: Inspired Learning jewel? Do I really need that? A: No, you don't. The build is perfectly fine without it. But, I wanted to include it, as it makes the build probably 3x as fun. Q: Can I use Blood Dance? A: No, there's no reason to. It would simply nerf our damage, as Blood Rage's degen effect isn't all that bad honestly. Q: BUT WHATS UR DPS BRO LELELE A: Enough. I really don't care at this point, the DPS is "high enough." If I had to guess, it's probably somewhere around 140-160k with this 295 pDPS dagger. Reave tooltip is broken AF, so no way to tell from there. Q: Atziri viable? Uber? A: Atziri, absolutely. If you know how to fight her, not too hard. Uber I have not tried, but I don't see why not if you have the gear for it. I don't. Bandits
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Normal: Oak
Cruel: Kraityn Merciless: Kraityn Playstyle+Videos
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For playstyle, firstly you whirling blades just about everywhere. Upon entering a pack, either go to town with reave or use flicker first for fortify. For tough rares, pop the ToH/Atziri's for quick DPS boost (don't be afraid to use them). About every 10 seconds or so, use spec throw a few times to generate/regen power charges.
For bosses, start the fight with a flicker strike to get fortify buff. Pop Atziri's+ToH and DPS hard while they're active. For hard bosses, don't be afraid to back off if you need to dodge: just flicker back when you're good. This is not a facetank build, so don't try to make it one. Whirling blades is your friend. For really hard bosses, cut the blood rage and use spec throw often to get surgeon flask charges and power charge DPS. If you want, you can even level Viper Strike in your offhand and use it on some of the harder bosses too (I use this in Atziri fights.) Videos: Full MF Tropical Island run
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https://youtu.be/NOH4txgMDok
Full Damage Gear "Typical Gorge" Run
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https://youtu.be/lfUFpjcP5pI
Jewels
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I have a couple jewel sockets allocated (one of them is supposed to be Inspired Learning). For the other, or both, you want 6 or 7% life with at least two damage or crit mods. The life is important, past that, it's up to you. Personally I would go for attack speed and crit stuff, but whatever works.
Aaaand I think that's about it. I typed this whole thing up in Notepad, so I hope it all displays right. If you have any questions or comments, just let me know. You can reach me in-game by sending out a PM to @Wheeshnaw and I will answer any and all questions. Last edited by Weeshnaw997 on Jan 15, 2016, 10:13:45 PM
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Running this build, lvl44 right now ... seems quite interesting. Been using frost blades tho, so far they are doing better than reave
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" Perfectly fine til ~lvl 50, after that you're gonna want to get a crit dagger to level with. I think I started using reave around level 40 (when I got multistrike) and only started with daggers at level 52. Last edited by Weeshnaw997 on Jan 1, 2016, 1:21:21 AM
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Doryani's Catalyst is better than death's hand ?
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" Surprisingly, yes, especially on a 6L. Death's Hand is nice for lower tier maps, but when you get to higher tiers, its effects are less noticeable. Doryani's provides a very large boost to ele damage, and while on the surface (or tooltip) it may not seem as effective as Death's Hand, it ultimately deals more damage and hastens clearspeed. I originally thought that Death's Hand was better as well, but I did a period of side-by-side comparisons with both, comparing clearspeeds, boss kills etc and Doryani's won out clearly. If you don't believe me, test both if you have the funds, Doryani's will come out on top. This is especially true in high tier maps (T11+) where getting the stuns that make Death's Hand so desirable is much harder. |
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why no vaal reave or vaal pact?
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" I personally do not like Vaal Pact with this build, I think that the high leech rate from Daresso's, Doryani's, and Mind Drinker make the life leech very easy to keep effective without VP. However, by all means try it yourself, it's only two points out. Vaal reave we simply don't have any sockets for. I would run it if I could, but we're pretty much full. I suppose you could remove the flicker strike and set up whirling blades with fortify and FA, but you would lose culling capabilities that way, and the vaal reave would only be 2-linked. So, ultimately, we just can't fit it in. |
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few questions, do you suggest any changes in your tree for temp leagues like tali?
-I am currently 83 and have just over 3500hp with most/all life nodes on tree slotted in, max rez, taste of hate, and though i can survive most maps, it feels super glass cannon-y. My gearing is by no means complete (esp jewelry), but to get more life and damage while staying rez capped will be expensive (and the economy is pretty fucked in tsc). Without added fire damage gem (running 5L daresso because money), do you think doriana's still win's out over death's hand? What do you think about running assassin's mark over vuln? A guildie of mine insists that since assassin's mark gives a MORE damage multiplier for crits, and vuln gives a INCREASE damage scaling, assassin's mark will not only give me more damage, but also help make power charge generation more consistant. This also seems like it will make it more comfortable to swap out death's hand for doriana's. I have also opted out of 4L spec throw since death's hand/assassins mark keep me at max power charges constantly, atleast in lower tier maps. Overall i really enjoy the guide and look forward to hearing your thoughts! | |
" Sorry for slow response, took a few days break from playing. Personally I prefer to run the Vuln Blasphemy for its raw DPS increase, but if you find Assassin's Mark to be more helpful go for it. Haven't really thought about it tbh, will level one up and test. As for power charge generation, using Death's Hand is pretty good right up until you actually need some DPS. At t10+ you do not stun as often, and beyond t8 or so you will begin having significantly less power charge generation. Once you get to those higher tiers you'll see. A lot of Doryani's power comes from Hatred. That skill currently tops my list of "OPOPOP" gems, because at level 20 it has 36% of phys as added cold. That with a high Doryani's roll is upwards of 75% physical DPS increase in ele. The 30% increase with Death's Hand does not provide this bonus, and instead of 75% added, you get 66% added. Now, this might be balanced out outside of tooltip due to monster resistances, but once you get that added fire gem your DPS will absolutely skyrocket past what is possible with Death's Hand. As for your life issues, life on gear is absolutely important in every way. If you look at my gear, I made every effort to pad life on as much as possible aside from on my ammy (failed at exalting life on it). Link your gear and I can advise further. Also, I don't really think any passive changes are necessary for temp leaagues. Last edited by Weeshnaw997 on Jan 15, 2016, 7:40:39 PM
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Alright, so I did a bit of testing, and I think that the crit bonuses from Assassin's mark make it worth it to run. Much more critical strikes, much more power charge generation, and roughly equal or better clearspeed compared to Vulnerability. Will update guide.
However, I strongly do not recommend ignoring the PCoC spec throw setup. Why you ask? Well, the power charges generate quite a bit of DPS in tough boss situations, and with Surgeon flasks you can keep up charges even in tough fights. The PCoC basically carries me through Atziri trio sometimes, as I regain flask charges. |
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