This guide is still in progress and I will be updating it whenever I get the chance. Any questions feel free to ask!
Hi everyone! This is a build I crafted and started building in Hardcore Prophecy but never had the chance to finish because of school. Came back to see HOWA builds dominating most of claw builds which motivated me to upload this guide. I ended up building it in Standard since most of the gear was already there and it's safe to say, this turned out much better than I thought it would. I can't say it outperforms HOWA builds in any way since I haven't played it but this is can be a great alternative if you'd like to play something new! However, I haven't tried much of the new content yet so I'm not sure what it's fully capable of as of now. In terms of stats, 120k+ tooltip dps and solid defenses can be easily achieved even with a 2 exalt budget since the gear providing most of the damage costs only a few chaos!
Updates
-Updated some figures for 2.6
-Separate Passive trees for starting out and leveling tips section
Concept:
Frenzy charges are the core of this build. The Raider ascendancy tree grants us additional effects from frenzy charges and allows 100% uptime on frenzy charges, providing us a great offense (100k+ fully sustainable dps) as well as defense (74/50 dodge). Lightning Strike will be our main skill due to how powerful and versatile it is.
Why Lightning Strike? (Tooltip DPS included)
Using lightning strike and the physical to lightning gem, we are able to convert 100% of our physical damage to lightning. With 52% lightning penetration, high ele resist and even EQ maps won't slow you down too much. Lightning strike is great for mob clearing but can also be used effectively for single target as well. (175% base damage) It grants 7 additional projectiles for free and the free chaining we get from Touch of Anguish means no gems have to be swapped for bossfights!
Decent health pool: Currently has 5.2k at level 92
Immune to all elemental ailments
74% attack dodge and 50% spell dodge with flasks (Can be pushed higher with enchants/corruptions)
Physical mitigation from lightning coil and taste of hate
Purity of lightning for 81% lightning resistance (For lightning coil and reflect)
2% of damage life leech, 40% increased life leech rate, and 46 life gained every hit (.11 attacks per second and chaining makes this incredibly strong)
Vessel of Vinktar for additional lightning resistance (For lightning coil and reflect) and leech
CWDT Immortal call setup
Freezing and chilling enemies to slow down enemies and shatter them
Reflect is handled pretty easily because we have 74% chance to dodge reflect, have fast leech, and have purity of lightning
Ascendancy
Way of the Poacher: This should be grabbed first since it will be the main source of your frenzy charges. With this node, you should be able to sustain your frenzy charges at all times without having to use blood rage or frenzy (assuming you are soloing)
Avatar of the Slaughter: This can be taken second or last depending on your playstyle. It increases the effect of your frenzy charges and grants an additional charge as well, significantly increasing your dps. Avatar of the Veil should probably be taken first if you decide to play this build on Hardcore.
Quartz Infusion: This node doesn't provide you with anything new but the 6% dodge will allow you to bring our dodge to 74%
Avatar of the Veil: This gives you full immunity to elemental ailments which is huge because it allows much more freedom over gear choices. Flasks especially. The 10% spell dodge and 40% increased elemental damage both benefit the build as well.
Core Items:
Although not exactly required, these claws are ideal for this build due to it's synergy with lightning strike and the ascendancy. Not only does it provide great base damage, it also adds a chaining effect to your lightning strike and helps sustain your charges. Because we dual wield them, it is an effective chain gem (chain twice) without any damage penalty, making it a 7-link essentially. We also receive an additional 60% increased cold damage making the hatred aura a bit stronger to improve freezes done to enemies. The increased crit chance allows us to apply more consistent shocks, and the downside can be completely neglected because of how fast we attack and the additional 20% chance to freeze. These can probably be replaced by GG rare claws however if you want even more dps.
These boots are mainly used for the 2% dodge with each frenzy. It also comes with an additional frenzy charge for more dps! With 9 frenzy charges up at all time, you will have 64% dodge which can be increased to 74% with a flask, bringing you to near max. Having the +1 frenzy corruption is really nice here (but expensive!) however some enchantments may be worth considering as well. The reduced frenzy charge duration is mostly cancelled out by the Raider's Ascendancy making the only downside to these boots the reduced light radius and lack of hp. Other Uniques
I originally wanted to use Hyrri's Ire to have max dodge 24/7 but realized the chances of obtaining the right colors on the chest were near impossible. (5 off colors on 197 requirement!) I happened to find a 6L lightning coil lying around in my stash and have concluded it to be much more useful. Not only are the colors easy to roll, it also comes with sweet physical mitigation which is usually a nightmare on evasion/dodge builds. The additional life and lightning damage are a nice bonus as well!
Pros and Cons
+ High DPS/clearspeed and several layers of defense for high survivability
+ Lightning strike is very satisfying to play. Chain and shatter them all!
+ Never have to switch out any gems. (All support gems can scale for both single target and AOE)
+ CHEAP to start building. (4 Exalts for a 6L lightning coil is 80% of the costs)
+ Lots of variation since only a few unique items are used
- RIP FPS (Might want to switch out for frost blades in parties)
- Takes a few seconds to build up frenzy charges if you lose them
- Chaos resist might be hard to get up
- Smaller light radius make dark maps kind of annoying
Gem Links
Chest
-Lightning Strike
-Physical to Lightning
-Weapon Elemental Damage
-MultiStrike
-Lightning Penetration
-Faster Attacks or Melee Physical Damage or Increased Critical Strikes/Elemental Focus
For the 6th gem: Faster attacks is the best option if you want to make full use of the 6th link. It affects damage output for both single target and the projectiles while also increasing survivability by having life gain on hit being applied faster. Melee Physical Damage will only affect the melee portion of Lightning Strike which will greatly boost your single target damage. This might be the better option if you are farming bosses. Increased Crit Strikes can be used as well for more consistent crits and allow you to recharge some of your flasks back faster. Elemental Focus can be used to switch out Increased Crit Strikes if maps have mods that reduce your crit effectiveness or are immune to elemental ailments.
Pretty straight-forward, I suggest starting with the duelist area first taking all the main hp nodes for survivability. Any good claws/swords/daggers you find can be dual-wielded to level up. Frost blades is my personal preference to level up but spectral throw and wild fury are also other nice options.
Continue to level with any claws/swords/daggers until you hit 68. Go for Revenge of the Hunted and Forces of Nature first. Then make your way up to the shadow pathing around until you get Coordination. The leech nodes at the duelist can be taken also to reduce flask spamming. You can start grabbing the frenzy charges as soon as you get Way of the Poacher Ascendancy. Darkray Vectors can be used when you get to level 65.
As soon as you hit 68 things will go much smoother! Equip the claws and take out Lightning Strike. Go for the claw ring on the right side of the tree first. When you take Soul Raker unspec out of the hybrid mana/life leech node at the duelist. Then make your way to Arcing Blows grabbing the final claw nodes and hp cluster. Jewel sockets can be taken whenever you get your hands on good jewels and the final Acrobatics nodes can be taken last. (Or first if you prioritize defense)
If you plan to 'complete' the build, Primeval Force seems to be the best choice for the additional 5% penetration and reduced reflect damage taken. This is the skill tree for level 99 or 100 depending on your bandit choice in Normal.
Bandits
Normal
40hp or Passive Point
Cruel
8% Attack Speed
Merciless
Frenzy Charge
More to come!
Hi, im new to the game and am trying ur buidl this is my 2nd character actually. I'm wondering if u coudl actually list what gems to link for leveling and what uniques are better? It would help us new players feel like its easier to follow the build. Like can u tell me what uniques are recommended to go with frostblades etc and like what gems to connect with it and what auras we could run, thank you so much. Im excited to actually reach 68 and try your build. Also any ideas if like this will be affected in 3.0? Thank you!
edit: also what jewels did u use as u have gotten them in the skill tree but have not told us what to put there? thanks!
last 2 post pages states below.
"...This is how I would prioritize the stats. For jewels, try to get life, attack speed, increased physical damage, and resists if you need that...
also trying this build, and it is really a fun way to play the game...
I will give it a try. Seems as a nice build. Going for HC directly ;). What ydo you think about even going SSF? Will I really have hard time finishing the equip etc?
I noticed you're not using power charges. Have you played with a power charge generation setup at all? Maybe a jaws of agony in your offhand for before bosses, or something? With just the 3 charges and a diamond flask up, according to path of building, we could get the crit chance from 30% to 63% which brings my Total DPS in the tool from 250k to 350k, so it seems like it'd definitely be worth doing.
Would love to hear your thought and how you'd set it up!
Thanks.
Playing this build in a new league. Up to act 10 and level 70 so far. Pretty much in garbage gear.
I leveled with claws from the start.
Three deaths so far. Death 1 went afk at portal in lower prison, death 2 harbinger fight, should have bailed out and didn't, death 3 the pantheon goat man fight without having my resists maxed.
Had some fights where it seemed a little squishy but I have been doing a lot of face tanking stuff. Time to try merciless lab.
