[3.2] !Theory! Spectral Shield Throw Poison Assassin
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Intro
Hey Peeps
This is my theory crafting build outline till Path of Building gets updated so i can take a look at the numbers to see if its endgame viable. For now i'll give a rough idea of what the tree/gear is going to look like. Side note: i don't own all the uniques i talk about so if there is another way to link them let me know.
Update
Got enough currency on my Starter Build to be able to start collecting gear for the build and leveling. Will try to level as SST but if its as painful as everyone says i'll switch to Spectral throw till near endgame. My plan is to start Leveling on Friday evening, through the weekend and hopfully to be at mapping stage end of Sunday. Ok i've leveled to 60 and SST feels bad. i could carry on with some success but BF is beginning to carry the build. I'll stop for now unless i have some better ideas what to do with the skill or the skill gets buffed. The Build This is my attempt to make a build using the new SST skill and i'm hoping it'll over-perform the way new skills tend to. I'm picking Assassin as its the obvious choice with the ascendancy changes in 3.2 for poison. For clearing i'll be using SST but for single target nothing is going to beat Blade Flurry. Spectral Shield Throw A quick rundown of the skill is it uses you shield as your main source of damage and ignores your main hand. It gives an initial hit which then shatters into an area attack. The initial throw cannot be modified with multiple projectiles but the shatter can, it can also chain and fork for more coverage in packs. The initial hit cannot pierce either however the shatter can and with projectile speed they can cover even larger groups. The way it converts defenses on shields into damage is fairly simple, ES becomes crit chance and Arm/EV becomes flat phys damage. Hopefully with enough investment you can get some high phys crits which in turn become high poison stacks.
Gear
Shield
The Shield will be the source of our SST damage so its going to be important to get a high Armor one. Lioneyes Remorse is a great cheap shield with max of 1727 armor and 180 flat life. It does have minor downsides that are easy to build around. This should give us 115 to 345 flat phys. Great Old one's Ward is also an option but with a max of 226 EV its not mind blowing. It does have life, attack speed and flat phys so its worth using at 46 for leveling. should give 27 to 65 flat phys. The Anticipation A fantastic shield only beaten by one other but will be expensive. High armor, life, block and intimidate make it fantastic. Should give 97 to 292 flat phys. The Surrender is undoubtedly the BIS here with the high armor and life gain on block. less life than The Anticipation it makes up for it with a free reckoning. Should give 100 to 302 flat phys.
Main Hand
The main hand will end up serving two purposes, to supplement the poison damage and to give a high PDPS for blade flurry. The Wasp Nest, now i know what your thinking and you're right, the added chaos damage won't affect SST but it will affect Blade flurry. Probably not what you want to use while clearing with SST but on a weapon swap for bosses it'll give great single target dps. Ewar's Mirage is choice as it gives a free additional chain but i feel there are other stronger DPS choice out there that out shadow it. will test it to see how good it is when the league starts however. Gives great Chaos damage but i'm not sure poison will benefit for the duration unfortunately. Bright Beak is great for leveling, high attack speed, crit and resistances make life much easier. may even have some endgame potential. Prismatic Eclipse has been mentioned but with only 36 attack speed Bright Beak is better. Much better option the Scaeva is the upgraded Prismatic, the crit multi works nicely as does the crit chance. more defenses also never hurt. Bino's isn't as odd a choice as it may seem, crit, multi and with poison prolif might make it a great weapon for clearing but not single target unfortunately. Arakaali's Fang has some potential for both clear and single target but it really depends how bad the spiders are. chaos damage and high phys for ST its worth considering. Taproot is overall the more defensive option. Mana and life leech against poisoned and a chance to main (slow) enemies makes it with looking at for tough bosses or maps with nasty rolls. Varunastra may seem an odd choice but it opens alot of options on the tree and paired with the new unique jewel might of the meek it could come out on top for dps.
Armour
Dendrobate is the only option and a 6-linked will set you back a pretty penny. With the increased damage and duration, a free 50% chance to poison on hit its a no brainer. With this you can remove Poison support from your set up. Belly is always a standard but again a 6=link is expensive Failing either option go for a good Rare.
Helms
Devoto's is fast and safe but no life, nice dex towards Dendrobate 300 though. Starkonja seems to be the helm of choice these days with the decent life roll, attack speed and global crit. Again dex works great for us. The Brave man's option is of course Abyssus, this will get you killed occasionally so it's best to expect it.
Gloves
Rare Gloves are probably top choice. Try getting attack speed, life and resists. EV base should work fine and gripped gloves implicit (ignore my bricked pair) will add to SST projectile damage Spiked gloves will work for both. More leech isn't bad either. Here are some unique's that might be worth looking at for leveling or end game if you can fit them into your build (have enough life/resists ect.) Nice crit/multi and attackspeed. no life though. Abyss gloves are always going to be amazing but that cost with abyss being 10% on maps and sextants only i'm not going to hold my breath. Atziri's Acuity are also top quality gloves but expensive.
Boots
Like gloves a solid pair of rare boots to cover resists life and movement speed are tops. There are some good lab enchants for boots but often i'll try and craft a pair of two-toned to maximize the resists they give and let me take more dps elsewhere. its your choice really. Atziri's Step is decent defensive choice with life and dodge. Oddly Rainbows are viable with the extra block to spells and resist make them worth looking at. No life though...sigh...
Belts
Rare's will be the best option here i think, a triple resist life belt will be cheapest good option with Stygian being rarer but better overall. Darkness Enthroned is amazing but will be much rarer as will good jewels for it. Fallen from grace belt of the deceiver isn't terrible just over shadowed. The physical damage Doryani's covers all bases with leech, damage and triple resist. No life though. Headhunter's as is so often the case is fantastic clear belt. Shame it costs the earth.
jewelry
Good Rares win out, with the high stat requirements on Dendrobate try and get as much as you can on rings and amulets. Getting some Accuracy and flat phys won't hurt either. Doedre's ring is always an easy source for 2 curses but admittedly not much else, pairing it with witchfire brew or even a rare shaped ring like the one below to minimise the reserved mana impact. Jewels stats are simple, life, crit multi, chaos damage, damage over time/poison damage/duration and attack speed. Secondary stats can be block, phys damage (weapon or global), projectile damage, stats and resists. Shouldn't need crit chance. If you end up needing to slot in abyssal jewels stick to life, Damage over time (with shield), phys to attacks or your weapon type and global multi. Watcher's eyes can be a little tricky to get right but getting one with the correct buff is often worth while. I will be looking closely at the 3.2 jewel Might of the Meek as it giving 50% extra from non keystones could work well in the right place.
Flasks
Atziri's Promise is a great fit for damage and leech. no brainer imo. Lion's will work with this build as SST doesn't suffer too much from the knockback but BF will so avoid during boss fights unless the boss is immune. Dying Sun is cheaper but might not add alot of dps since it only affects the second part or SST and doesn't affect BF at all. if you don't mind swapping flasks then it could speed up your clear. Sin's Rebirth is fantastic for this build. With all the phys and chaos nodes we're stacking it works as a nice damage boost. Witchfire sounds like a good fit with despair aimed at chaos damage over time but its unreliable uptime might make a blasphemy despair set up more appealing. IF you go with dual curse then having this with a assassin's should work out well. Coralito's Signature is one i'll avoid for now. Being crit based i don;t think adding multi to ailments is worth it dps wise. i might be wrong so i'll test it.
Skill Set Up
Our clear will be Spectral Shield Throw. With it being knew i'll have to experiment to see what the best clear/dps balance will be. also what set up feels good to play. SST>Void Manipulation>Vile Toxins>*clearSkill* 5th link Deadly Ailments 6th Link Unbound Ailments Without knowing how SST feels the clear skill will either be, Fork, Chain or even GMP. I might also have to fit in pierce if what's on the tree isn't enough. For single target it's much easier we swap to Blade Flurry and keep the 5g 1b Blade Flurry>Void Manipulation>Vile Toxins>Deadly Ailments 5th Link Unbound Ailments 6th Link Faster attacks For both skills Dendrobate is out 7th link of Lesser poison. Without it you will have to put Poison support into a green slot, it sup to you which one you choose. I may change faster attacks for something else but it helps get to 6 stacks. when going to single target we just swap the clear skill and the attack skill. It can be a pain to have to swap two skills but if SST feels good on single target i might just swap out the clear skill for faster attacks, faster projectile support or physical projectile attack damage. Golem will be lightining for attack speed or Ice golem if you feel low on accuracy and crit. I love using Whirling blades for movement so Whirling Blades>faster attacks>Blood magic>Fortify If you prefer Shield charge same setup just replace whirling blades. There is also an opportunity to use Culling Strike instead of Blood Magic (or Faster Attacks if your attack speed is high enough), not required since poison stacks should burn down bosses easily enough but the option is there. For bosses A whither totem Wither>Spell Totem>Increased Duration>Faster Casting Auras will be Despair and grace. If we go dual curse use Witchfire and Assassins mark aura or keep despair aura and have assassin's mark on hit ring. Despair>Blasphemy>grace Fit in a lvl 3 Enlighten if you can afford it as we will have 85% reservation without it. Vaal haste is alwasy a good option for fast attacking crit builds Vaal Haste>Increased Duration Blood Rage can put people off with the degen so only take it if you feel comfortable. That leaves two Skill slots open for what ever you want.
Bandit's
Alira or two passives.
Ascendancy
Obviously we're going Assassin Noxious Strike Normal Lab Toxic Delivery Cruel Lab Unstable Infusion Merc Lab Deadly Infusion Uber Lab
Skill Tree
https://pastebin.com/AT65cbHz lvl 92 Tree http://poeurl.com/bNTS So far it has 100% chance to poision, single target using Waspnest, Lycosidae (not req'rd) and perfect gear numbers is 1.2 million Shaper dps on 5 stacks. SST using Bino's and Lioneye's nets us 295k Shaper dps on 5 stacks. More than enough to clear but not enough for bosses. Taproot and The Surrender will help keep you alive in tough maps but at the cost of a small amount of dps. All in all the numbers look promising but without knowing how SST feels its hard to know what the clear will look and feel like. Blade Flurry is as solid as always and will obliterate Shaper.
Leveling
Level 10
Started with Spectral Throw and Summon Phantasms. https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.0/AAAABAYAABEvFr8mlWHiaox2gqLZsNi00bVIyAzIFOtj9W8=
Level 20
Moved to using SST at lvl12 with Summon Phantasms. https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.0/AAAABAYAAAW1BnARLxa_JpUuI2HiaoxtbHaCotmw2LTRtUjIDMgUzerndOjW62P1bw==
Level 30
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.0/AAAABAYAAAW1BnARLxa_IuomlS4jMgFh4mKsaoxsjG1sdoJ6f5u1naqi2bDYshm0xbTRtUjC7MM6yAzIFM3qz3rndOjW62P1bw==
Level 40
Working towards the leech and swapping in BF for bosses when i feel i need it. Don't forget to use spell totem wither for anything too tough and it'll melt. https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.0/AAAABAYAAAW1BnARLxX9Fr8i6iaVLiMyAUtXX7Bh4mKsaoxsjG1sb552gngZen-DCY2Bjb-btZ2qotmw2LIZtMW00bVIwOPBoMLswzrIDMgUykrN6s9653To1usU62Pxs_Vv
Level 50
Working towards more health and damage. https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.0/AAAABAYBAAW1BnAHmQ-rES8V_Ra_Iuoj9iaVLiMwfDIBP2xLV02SUUdVS1b6X7Bh4mKsaoxsjG1sb1dvnnaCeBl6f4AigwmEoow2jX2NgY2_m7WdqqLZo4qw2LIZtMW00bVIwOPBoMLswzrIDMgUykrN6s9653To1usU62PuDvGz9W_8xQ==
Level 60
Put on a 5 link dendrobate for a significant poison dps boost. https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.2.0/AAAABAYBAAW1BnAHmQ-rES8UdRX9Fr8Y2yLqI_YmlSoLLiMwfDIBM9k5JT9sSn1LV02SUUdVS1b6X7Bh4mKsZ6BqjGyMbWxvV2-ecFJ2gnfXeBl6f4AigwmEood2idOMNo19jYGNv5u1naqi2aOKsNiyGbTFtNG1SMDjwaDC7MM6yAzIFMpKzerPeuLV45_ndOjW6XbrFOtj7UHuDvGz9W_8xQ== Edit:1/3/18 Added to Gear Section, Gloves, Boots, Flasks, Belts, Jewelry and Jewels. Also added Bandit Passive Section, Acendancy Section, Skill Tree Section and Skill Set Up Section. Edit2:1/3/18 Changed tree to claw nodes and more block nodes with less life. Edit3:2/3/18 Added to Skill Tree Section, added to Skill Set Up Section movement skills Edit4:2/3/18 Changed Tree, added more life and gear. Edit5:3/3/18 Added Poeurl tree for those without Path of building Edit6:6/3/18 Added Sin's Rebirth to build and updated Path Of building link. Added update Edit7:9/3/18 Added Leveling Section Edit8:10/3/18 Added More to Leveling Section Last edited by Bizmarc#1123 on Mar 10, 2018, 7:38:58 PM Last bumped on Mar 7, 2018, 2:56:49 PM
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What kinda defense are you planning on?
I was thinking evasion/ES. You have some good shields there I hadn't thought of/found. My (very in progress) skill tree is looking like this: POB: https://pastebin.com/UCsRfaH6 Also, you thinking of adding in a coralito's flask? |
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Why not Deadeye for projectile speed + Tailwind.
Also what about an Inpulsas instead of Belly? |
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It seems to me the build isn't really going for elemental damage (hence the lightning shock for impulsa).
The theory seems to lean towards dendrobate, which would support the poison goal extremely well for BF/SST. As far as deadeye, that would help out SST but in no way support boss killing in the way assassin would for BF, right? Also this answers my question from earlier about defenses; I think we'll want to focus evasion/ES for this build. As far as some skills, what do you think about: Survive: CWDT - (Phase Run / Blade Vortex) - Immortal Call - (Blood Rage / Arctic Armour) Movement: Whirling Blades - Curse on Hit - (Poachers Mark / Despair) QOL-Survive/dmg: Vaal Haste - Vaal Grace - Incr Duration Need to do some thinking for dmg from BF/SST. Last edited by lastsung#7139 on Feb 28, 2018, 4:42:16 PM
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" For Aura's maybe Grace Despair+Blasphemy or Proj.Weakness+Blasphemy (Witchfire Brew Flask for Despair then, +1 curse somewhere) There ain't that many possible Buffs for your Poisen dmg Last edited by Alienbutter#5323 on Mar 1, 2018, 3:05:17 AM
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I feel trolled.
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" Yes and atziri's promise. " Belly is really a last resort. It might even work out that a 4 link dendrobate is better than a 6 link belly but they can be expensive especially at the beginning of the league. " Won't got ES but with the initial investment into armour thanks to the shield (no high EV shields unfortunately) I'll probably go for armour EV with maybe some small block investment. Still not sure what shield to throw onto the weapon swap for BF, might just go with old ones for the flat Phys or a good rare. |
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Consider highly to try this out :)
lookin forward for the last parts of the guide! Last edited by CaptainFalcone#2748 on Mar 1, 2018, 1:40:41 PM
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