[0.10.4] LS Marauder (The Striker (tm))
" The aim of this guide is to try to help a lot of the guys out there who want to use Lightning Strike and do not know an effective way to do it. There are two good ways to smash away with LS, and here I present the tankier way, which works reliably on HC. I stand behind the "tankier is better" philosophy. I hate dying. As with all the other melee builds, it is best used for soloing, because it's partying capabilities are not all that great. Put simply, you do not bring anything actually useful to your party with a melee character. Build
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105 points.
Pretty standard general setup for an elemental build. In the north section you grab the super important Inner Force and Static Blows. In the south you take the route below Elemental Adaptation, connect to BM, and then keep going the standard US-IR route. The build picks up all three extra Endurance Charges as well. Investing into the Dexterity and Intelligence nodes allows to level up auras and bear traps freely, without being strained on which items you are using. Iron Reflexes paired with Grace offer a nice source of armour, and you are also given the gear flexibility. Bandit rewards - 40 HP, 6% attack speed, Endurance Charge. Skills
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The main skill this build revolves around is Lightning Strike.
4L - LS 20%Q+WED+LoH+GMP 5L - LS 20%Q+WED+LoH+GMP+FA 4L - LS 0%Q+WED+Chain+LoH 5L - LS 0%Q+WED+Chain+LoH+LMP The goal here is to achieve a large number of hits. LS has a 120% damage effectiveness modifier, which affects Life Gain on Hit. Instead of 40 HP on each hit, you will gain 48 HP, for example. Paired with LoH claws, you are looking at practically infinite sustain. The reason you don't want to pair quality LS with Chain is they negate each other, so you end up losing on efficiency. If you are getting quality LS, get as high as you can. Auras: 4L - Anger + Wrath + Grace + Reduced Mana Single target skill (Bosses): 3L - Bear Trap + Bear Trap + Added Fire Damage Single target skill (random): 3L - Elemental Hit/Frenzy + Weapon Elemental Damage + Faster Attacks Curses: 4L - Projectile Weakness + Temporal Chains + Increased AoE + Increased Duration Chain variant: 4L - Conductivity + Temporal Chains + Increased AoE + Increased Duration Buffs: 4L - Enduring Cry + Enduring Cry + Immortal Call + Faster Casting Items
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Any one handed weapon (except Wands, of course) with high fixed Elemental Damage and Attack Speed will be good. Weapons with more than 1.3 base attack speed are preferred. If you can, get a good Claw with life gain on hit innate bonus. It will make you invincible.
Your shield makes for a big part of your defense, so make sure you get high life and resistances on it. Gloves ideally have a mix of Attack Speed, HP and fixed Elemental Damage. Jewelry makes for quite a large amount of damage; but defense as well, so grab rings and amulet with high Elemental Damage, HP and resistances. The best amulet is going to be an Onyx one with a high innate bonus to attributes. A good belt will always have HP, percentile Elemental Damage and resistances. Get high Movement Speed boots, ideally with HP and resistances as well. The chest piece and the helm need high HP and Elemental Resistances. A short section about Flasks!
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Since this build is all about HP, and mana is never being used (except for auras later), you do not need any Mana flasks or Hybrid flasks. That leaves us with HP flasks and utility flasks.
Granite Flask - use two, ideally you want to have +40% Charge Recovery and +100% armour during flask duration. Quicksilver Flask - use one, ideally you want to have +40% Charge Recovery, and the second bonus can differ depending on personal preference. I prefer Movement Speed. HP flasks - use two of these. One of them should be an "Instant Recovery on Low Life", and it is your life saver flask. Be careful when you pop this one. The other affixes are largely personal preference based. An example of two nice HP flasks is shown here. FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions - READ BEFORE POSTING
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Why no Iron Grip? Iron Grip does not scale well with this particular build, so it would be an expensive investment into less efficiency.
Where do I get the Dexterity/Intelligence? By the time you finish the build you will have plenty of both INT and DEX for all the skills and items, and in the meantime pick up +30 Dex nodes, use Onyx amulet, and get a Light Quiver if you need even more DEX. Can I use XXX skill? You can, but this build is designed to work best with the skills outlined in the skill section! Should I level up my gem(s)? Always level up every gem. Where do I go in the skill tree first? It doesn't ultimately matter, but if you want Me to make Your choices, go RT>BM>US>IR then Static Blows and Templar WED ring. Is item A better than item B? Go inside an area the highest difficulty you can, find a safe spot, and buff up. Equip each item, and check your stats to determine which item wins! What do all these abbreviations mean?
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HC = Hardcore
5L = an item with 5 sockets all linked LS = Lightning Strike LMP = Lesser Multiple Projectiles WED = Weapon Elemental Damage LoH = Life Gain on Hit BM = Blood Magic FAttacks / FA = Faster Attacks RT = Resolute Technique US = Unwavering Stance IR = Iron Reflexes Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid. Last edited by VenatorPoE on Mar 20, 2013, 8:34:54 AM
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First!
Edit: Now that I've shown everyone how big my penis is. I've been waiting for someone to make something like this and put LS back on the map. I think it's a great skill that kind of vanished after the "nerf". Good job yet again, Venator :) My Supporter Pack list compensates for my small penis. Last edited by Relidar on Mar 16, 2013, 2:43:11 PM
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Nice guide.
I just wish that LS had targeting mechanics similar to ground slam - Point and Smash, instead of Point, Hold down Shift, and Smash. | |
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Thanks for all the nice comments! I appreciate it.
" Exactly, it was not a nerf but a fix. Rather different meanings... As for putting LS back on the map, I've noticed there is some interest in it, and I love LS myself, so I merely shared my approach to building a character around LS. " I actually prefer to hold Shift while shooting anything in this game. It seems to be helping with the desync issue, and it gives me more control over what I hit. Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
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It's due to LS' unique nature that makes it so interesting and fun, in my personal opinion.
You can be a ranged or melee character if you just press one button! You can run with 2 or even 3 different LS setups, you literally won't need any other skill and the build is benefiting a 100%. On top of this, the weapon choice is pretty wide, you can swap between 2handers and 1h+shield or even DW. I can go on, but you get the point! It's a very fun skill with lots of possibilities. I'm getting inspired to roll my 2h sword LS duelist again! My Supporter Pack list compensates for my small penis.
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" DW kinda sucks considering LS alternates weapons. You get far more character power by either going 2hander or 1hand+shield. As for the weapon choice, as you can see I recommend Claws as the main weapon! I love skills which do not require any specific weapons. They allow for a lot of flexibility. Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
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I am gonna try this build out, any advice for leveling into this? what's the earliest you see being effective with LS? Should I wait for Chain and 4-5 links and just use whatever works until then?
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Well LS itself is limited by the level 10 requirement for use. You can use it as soon as you get it, there is no reason not to. The sooner you get used to its mechanic the better. Push down to Blood Magic ASAP to be able to spam it around, link it to Life Gain on Hit, then Weapon Elemental Damage, and then in a 4L, add LMP/Fork as a cheap option, GMP/Chain as expensive options, and work towards a 5L armour.
In reality though, you have the flexibility to use whatever else you desire, for as long as you desire. Ground Slam, Sweep, Cleave... You name it. As for the passive tree, rush Resolute Technique, then rush Blood Magic, then go for the Templar tree HP and Elemental rings. After that you should be able to decide on your own. Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
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Bump.
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
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This will be my next reroll char - let's hope I don't die but if I do at least I got an ideal of a build :P Nice work Venator.
My LS marauder died tho :( Mess with the best, die like the rest.
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