[2.4] Ren's Spectral Throw - Life or Low-Life & Physical or Elemental (Uber Atziri) - 280K/470K DPS

Disclaimer

This guide is still under construction, more information and videos are to be added.



Prologue

Hello exiles, I'm Ren and I will be providing you with the ultimate guide to Spectral Throw.
Through this guide I will elaborate on multiple variations of the build such as Life-Based, Low-Life, Physical, and Elemental.

There was a time when Spectral Throw was praised as the overall best build, and I'm here to bring those days back with even better build optimization.

I would like to say thank you to NeonGreen and YJShin for helping me min/max the build in areas where assistance was needed.


Why Spectral Throw?

The skill known as Spectral Throw throws a spectral form of your melee weapon which then returns to your character upon reaching the end of its path. When this skill gem is paired with high projectile speed, and Greater Multiple Projectiles it provides a very large damage radius - leading to very fast and efficient clear speeds. This skill is also one of the few ways to remain ranged and use mobility only accessible to melee weapons such as Whirling Blades. In addition, this skill is presented in a very fun and enjoyable manner which is adored by many players.

After all the nerfs Spectral Throw has received, I believe with the right build optimization it can still be amazing and allow us to relive the greatness it once brought - to possibly an even better extent.


Deciding between Physical and Elemental Damage

Physical damage overall has a slightly better impact due to monsters normally having higher elemental resistances, but unfortunately physical daggers are much more expensive than elemental daggers.
Whether physical or elemental damage is chosen a high percentage of damage will be elemental due to auras used to increase the damage of Spectral Throw.

When working on this build in a new league or a budget, the elemental variant of the build is recommended.


Ascendancy Classes

Choosing the right ascendancy class can be tough for any build, but for the most efficient Spectral Throw build only a few are recommended:

For the overall fastest clear and efficiency, Deadeye is the best option. Deadeye provides us with an additional projectile, high projectile damage, and better yet insane projectile speed which allows us to never have to use the support gem Faster Projectiles which would normally take up a gem slot to increase our range drastically. The raw damage, attack speed, increases to critical strikes and projectile speed make this ascendancy one of the best if not the best choice.

In terms of more impactful damage against enemies with high resistances, Inquisitor is a strong choice as it will allow us to solve the problem elemental damage faces since all critical strikes will completely ignore resistances which provides a great increase in our effective damage. Inquisitor is more efficient when working with elemental variants of this build which allows us to drop the Lightning Penetration gem, and only draw back is the position on the tree taking us even farther away from the required life and mana leech.

Another solid option is Ascendant, which will provide valuable tree position and a reliable form of additional leech, critical strike chance and power charge generation. These bonuses are acquired through the use of the the Berserker and Assassin nodes.


Deadeye
Inquisitor
Ascendant




Pros

  • Insanely high DPS.
  • One of the fastest map clears.
  • Atziri & Uber viable.
  • Can do physical and elemental reflect.
  • Easily carry a full party.
  • Ability to tank one to two heavy hits.
  • Able to run many auras.
  • Very enjoyable.


Cons

  • Very expensive in most cases.
  • Hard to completely optimize.
  • Unable to use life flasks.
  • Low evasion and armor rating.
  • Unable to safely run Blood Rage.



Gear

My Gear & Gem Setup







Crown of Eyes is one of the mandatory items used in the Low-Life variation of this build. The helmet provides decent energy shield, good accuracy, useful life and mana leech, and finally the main reason we use this helmet; it allows increases to spell damage to apply to our attacks. Meaning all of the additional spell damage we pick up or get on our gear will add a significant amount of damage to our Spectral Throw.


The famous Shavronne's Wrappings, the core item to all Low-Life builds. This item ensures we are not instantly killed by any source of chaos damage, since this body armor prevents chaos damage from ignoring our energy shield and directly attacking our life pool. That aside, Shavronne's Wrappings also provides a good amount of energy shield and lightning resistance.


The best in slot pair of boots for Low-Life characters, Skyforth. No words can explain how amazing this item truly is, a reliable way of generating power charges without the skill gem, reduced mana reservation, and most importantly allowing our stun threshold to be based off 500% of our mana pool rather than our life pool as usual. This stat is important above all, since it basically makes us stun immune in simple terms as stuns are usually a huge issue for Low-Life.


Lioneye's Paws is the best alternative to Skyforth if you cannot afford them, these boots provide us with the ability to not be stunned which is our main purpose in using them - but the high amount of added strength and dexterity is definitely a great bonus. Normally the 20% reduced movement speed while on low life would affect most characters, but through the use of Whirling Blades for mobility; we completely ignore that downside.


When it comes to gloves, Maligaro's Virtuosity is the best in slot. These gloves provide us with a good amount of dexterity which is always helpful, some attack speed, and a large amount of critical strike chance and multiplier which gives our build a lot of damage.


Bino's Kitchen Knife is among the strongest of unique physical daggers, providing high physical damage, very high critical strike chance, with the only downside being the mediocre attack speed. Although, this dagger is what allows physical variants of this build to easily be done on a budget or in new leagues.


Advanced Aura Setup

In order to optimize your build to the extreme and grant yourself a larger mana pool to use, you need to have an item with the corrupted implicit +1 to Level of Socketed Gems. This combined with a Level 4 Enlighten, and a total of 34% reduced mana reserved allows us to run two 50% Auras on our life pool linked with Blood Magic.


It is recommended you either get the +1 to Level of Socketed Gems on Maligaro's Virtuosity or on Lioneye's Paws if running this variant on a budget.

Please note that this advanced aura setup is not mandatory and is just an additional bonus that can be made to the build if you can afford it. If you are not running the advanced aura setup use a 50% aura and 35% aura linked with Blood Magic, and possibly drop Herald of Ashe if you are having mana issues.


Damage Statistics

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Buffed)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Buffed)

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Charges)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Charges)

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Hideout)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Hideout)


What to look for on Jewels

  • % increased Attack Speed
  • % increased Attack Speed with Daggers
  • % increased Attack Speed with One Handed Melee Weapons
  • % increased Attack Speed while holding a Shield
  • % to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
  • % increased Spell Damage
  • % increased Spell Damage while holding a Shield
  • % increased maximum Energy Shield
  • % to Elemental Resistances



Bandits

  • Normal Difficulty: Kill All
  • Cruel Difficulty: Kill All
  • Merciless Difficulty: Help Alira



Passive Tree

Level 100 - Ranger (Deadeye)
Level 100 - Templar (Inquisitor)
Level 100 - Scion (Ascendant)




Pros

  • Very high DPS.
  • One of the fastest map clears.
  • Atziri & Uber viable.
  • High chance to dodge attacks and spells.
  • Easily carry a full party.
  • Able to use life flasks.
  • Can be done easily on a budget.
  • Able to run Blood Rage with minor notice.
  • Very enjoyable.


Cons

  • Hard to completely optimize.
  • Unable to tank very heavy hits.
  • Low armor rating.



Gear

My Gear & Gem Setup







Rat's Nest is most definitely the best in slot helmet for the life-based variant of this build. This helmet provides an insane amount of critical strike chance, very high attack speed, and to top things off a solid evasion rating and movement speed bonus.


The most all around solid option for body armor is Belly of the Beast, which has an amazing increased life multiplier, a bit of elemental resistances, and some minor armor and evasion. This piece will give us the largest life pool out of all unique body armors. Due to the large life pool provided, this will grant us the best overall defense to all types of damage.


Lightning Coil, a great alternative to Belly of the Beast. This body armor provides a good amount of life, decent amount of armor and evasion, but most importantly a huge percentage of physical damage will be taken as lightning damage. Since our lightning resistance will be capped while our physical will not be, this is a great increased in physical defense and will help us take those heavy physical hits when we fail to dodge. The only downside being the large negative resistance included.


When it comes to gloves, Maligaro's Virtuosity is the best in slot. These gloves provide us with a good amount of dexterity which is always helpful, some attack speed, and a large amount of critical strike chance and multiplier which gives our build a lot of damage.


Bino's Kitchen Knife is among the strongest of unique physical daggers, providing high physical damage, very high critical strike chance, with the only downside being the mediocre attack speed. Although, this dagger is what allows physical variants of this build to easily be done on a budget or in new leagues.


Damage Statistics

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Buffed)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Buffed)

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Charges)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Charges)

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Hideout)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Hideout)


What to look for on Jewels

  • % increased Attack Speed
  • % increased Attack Speed with Daggers
  • % increased Attack Speed with One Handed Melee Weapons
  • % increased Attack Speed while holding a Shield
  • % to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
  • % increased maximum Life
  • % to Elemental Resistances



Bandits

  • Normal Difficulty: Help Oak
  • Cruel Difficulty: Kill All
  • Merciless Difficulty: Help Kraityn



Passive Tree

Level 100 - Ranger (Deadeye)
Level 100 - Templar (Inquisitor)
Level 100 - Scion (Ascendant)

Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
Last edited by Mazxn on Nov 4, 2016, 12:59:18 AM
Last bumped on Oct 18, 2017, 7:44:39 PM


Uber Atziri, Queen of the Vaal (Low-Life)
Video Link

A quick clear of the Alluring Abyss by my friend YJShin using an extremely similar setup, nearly deathless with only one unfortunate death to four physical spear hits in a row.
Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
Last edited by Mazxn on Aug 23, 2016, 4:13:51 AM
Reserved.
Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
This guide looks nice :). Waiting for Inquisitor low life skill tree.
Do you think dagger is better for inquisitor than ele foil?
"
Tinziii wrote:
This guide looks nice :). Waiting for Inquisitor low life skill tree.
Do you think dagger is better for inquisitor than ele foil?


Thank you! I'm glad you think so :)
Yes daggers are better than foils, the critical strike chance of daggers is what makes them so amazing for critical strike based builds. I'm currently optimizing the Templar tree and it should be posted tomorrow!
Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
"
Tinziii wrote:


I have gone ahead and updated the guide with the Low-Life Inquisitor passive tree for you :)
Level 100 - Templar (Inquisitor)
Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
Last edited by Mazxn on Jun 27, 2016, 3:23:20 PM
Interesting. I do however, disagree with quite a few of your choices. Deadeye isn't quite that good tbh, since there is a good bit of proj speed on the tree, and the helm can also get a proj speed enchant. That gives all you need.

I also don't quite get why you don't use pierce in your gem links over faster attacks. It's a free damage multiplier. Especially in the life variant, where you can use lioneye's vision.

As for foils vs daggers, for ll I would go with a dagger, but for life based, dual wielding foils as an inquisitor is likely te best option. While foils do have lower crit, it's more than made up for the crit multi implicit and greater max attack speed.

I also don't quite see th e benefit of running low life these days. No blood rage abuse makes it not quite better than life based for dps, especially with the existence of lioneye's vision for a 7l. Getting 6k life is also doable, so survivability is also not an issue.
For try, for see, and for know.

This is a buff
"
Etherfire wrote:
Interesting. I do however, disagree with quite a few of your choices. Deadeye isn't quite that good tbh, since there is a good bit of proj speed on the tree, and the helm can also get a proj speed enchant. That gives all you need.

I also don't quite get why you don't use pierce in your gem links over faster attacks. It's a free damage multiplier. Especially in the life variant, where you can use lioneye's vision.

As for foils vs daggers, for ll I would go with a dagger, but for life based, dual wielding foils as an inquisitor is likely the best option. While foils do have lower crit, it's more than made up for the crit multi implicit and greater max attack speed.

I also don't quite see th e benefit of running low life these days. No blood rage abuse makes it not quite better than life based for dps, especially with the existence of lioneye's vision for a 7l. Getting 6k life is also doable, so survivability is also not an issue.


Hey thank you for your feedback. Although, Deadeye is one of the best ascendancy classes in terms of clear speed for Spectral Throw as the projectile speed is unmatched, additional projectile is lovely, and the 30% more multiplier at farther range drastically increases damage dealt.

Using Pierce over Faster Attacks increases the tooltip damage slightly, but it is not worth it. Attack Speed is more important since it allows your attack animation to be more brief allowing you to dodge more reliably in the end game. With such a small damage increase, it's just not worth it.

As for getting 6k life, it is almost impossible on any damage-heavy build such as Spectral Throw; normally only doable on tanks, life builds will be one shot by most heavy hits compared to the ability of a higher energy shield pool which is easily stacked. The only downside being no chance to dodge attacks which comes in handy for life builds. Using two elemental foils is definitely not recommended because you lose the defenses that come with having a shield, especially for such a little increase in DPS at the cost of losing critical strike chance since its not a dagger. Daggers are strong on critical strike builds because base critical strike chance is extremely important.

In terms of low life and blood rage, blood rage is complete garbage after the nerfs regardless - with it's only true purpose is the generation of Frenzy Charges which give a nice boost, but that is more easily achieved with Poacher's Mark and curse on hit; as when the killing blow is struck on one monster it will quickly curse the other monsters before killing them basically at the same time. Low life gains most of its damage over life-based from the ability to run many more auras and have increases to the aura effect, as well as stack spell damage that will boost attacks thanks to crown of eyes.

Also remember, Critical Strike Multiplier means nothing if your Critical Strike Chance isn't high and reliable.
Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
Last edited by Mazxn on Jun 28, 2016, 1:28:40 PM
I really don't like how everyone is posting their DPS screenshots with every damage potion, vaal haste, possibly even headhunter buffs nowadays...
Can you please make a screenshot of your hideout tooltip, or atleast only with charges like it used to be. It's just so much easier to compare values that way.
Aside from that, why do you use Sanctify instead of Augury of Penitence in the Inquisitor tree?
"
MrNuka wrote:
I really don't like how everyone is posting their DPS screenshots with every damage potion, vaal haste, possibly even headhunter buffs nowadays...
Can you please make a screenshot of your hideout tooltip, or atleast only with charges like it used to be. It's just so much easier to compare values that way.
Aside from that, why do you use Sanctify instead of Augury of Penitence in the Inquisitor tree?


The screenshot was taken with only Taste of Hate, Atziri's Promise, and Vaal Haste which are up nearly 100% of the time while mapping. No additional buffs or Headhunter mods were included.

But of course, as requested here are my non-buffed tooltips with 5 Power Charges, and 3 Frenzy Charges.

Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles (Non-Buffed)
Spectral Throw - Pierce/Slower Projectiles (Non-Buffed)


I hope these screenshots are helpful, also my tooltip standing in my hideout is 112.5k with Greater Multiple Projectiles. I will be updating my guide with many more screenshots and videos! Still a lot of work I have left to do :).

As for using Sanctify instead of Augury of Penitence in the Inquisitor Ascendancy, it's mostly because the increased damage bonus when standing on concentrated ground increases party members damage while mapping and it is quite enjoyable. Although, Augury of Penitence is a more reliable option and in the end comes down to preference.
Sincerely,
Ren
Uber Atziri & Mirror Service: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1187517
Spectral Throw Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1692620
Mjolner Guide: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1519485
Last edited by Mazxn on Jun 28, 2016, 2:46:16 PM

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