[0.10.4] LS Marauder (The Striker (tm))

Was just looking for some tips on my build. My tree is almost the same as yours. I like the claw idea. I am level 60 and am still working on HC gear.

Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEBAecOrRLhFCAYkRjbGS4aOBpsIWAn7Si1KU8ppTIJNug6UkCgQ5xQR1BQVElVqVXGVgRXDVfiWGNZ818_YIhhUme9cql08XflfNmCm4ZgjM-PRpBVl7SboZ2uns2fy6LqpwinMKeErKqsurndwBrG2M9l0NDSIdSP2WHfv-Qi51LsOO8O707yL_ZI


My current gear (I am still in cruel and don't do much trading)

Spoiler


and the 2nd weapon set

Spoiler


Some gems like shield charge I really don't use, but had room to level them.

My problem is that I am level 60 and at the end of cruel and I don't like that damage spikes I take in HC. Kind of scared to kill Pettiy in cruel. Even with my res at 73/59/75 unbuffed (maxed with my 4 endurance charges) elemental damage still hurts. I think I went the wrong way in the tree to start.

Thank you for this thread, and I will be trying a couple of new things.

Edit:

I am planning to drop the Blood Magic node and going with the BM gem so I can stack a couple more auras. Have the % ones for my Mana and the fixed value one using my health. But I need some better mana gear first.

Last edited by IamtheAxeMan on Mar 23, 2013, 3:16:37 PM
Venator, what do you think about the new gems that are coming out? (their in the announcement section)
Breach : MLXFL
Ahh, somehow I missed the new posts in here. Excuse me!

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Spoiler
Was just looking for some tips on my build. My tree is almost the same as yours. I like the claw idea. I am level 60 and am still working on HC gear.

Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEBAecOrRLhFCAYkRjbGS4aOBpsIWAn7Si1KU8ppTIJNug6UkCgQ5xQR1BQVElVqVXGVgRXDVfiWGNZ818_YIhhUme9cql08XflfNmCm4ZgjM-PRpBVl7SboZ2uns2fy6LqpwinMKeErKqsurndwBrG2M9l0NDSIdSP2WHfv-Qi51LsOO8O707yL_ZI


My current gear (I am still in cruel and don't do much trading)

Spoiler


and the 2nd weapon set

Spoiler


Some gems like shield charge I really don't use, but had room to level them.

My problem is that I am level 60 and at the end of cruel and I don't like that damage spikes I take in HC. Kind of scared to kill Pettiy in cruel. Even with my res at 73/59/75 unbuffed (maxed with my 4 endurance charges) elemental damage still hurts. I think I went the wrong way in the tree to start.

Thank you for this thread, and I will be trying a couple of new things.

Edit:

I am planning to drop the Blood Magic node and going with the BM gem so I can stack a couple more auras. Have the % ones for my Mana and the fixed value one using my health. But I need some better mana gear first.


Well, you are level 60 already. Very over-leveled for Cruel. Your gear is not bad at all either. I don't think you should be scared to make your way into Merciless. The only real problem of your character lies within the passive tree. You didn't quite spec enough into HP nodes. A few very important rings you completely ignored! The Templar ring, for example, with the 1% regen node, and the Golem's Blood ring. I would advise speccing out of the Steel Skin ring (3 points), Bloodless (1 point), Elementalist (1 point) and respeccing out of Static Blows and the node before it (2 points). This gives you 7 points, which is almost enough to take these 4 nodes http://i.imgur.com/E6KxgTs.jpg and these 4 nodes http://i.imgur.com/5hG5Pjr.jpg. Get one more level to get the 8th point for those. You end up with +56% HP, +30 flat HP, and 1.5% HP regeneration, which is a rather large improvement. The damage will remain good enough, you just switch the 10% Elementalist node for the 10% node near the Templar HP ring, and the Static Blows ring is coming within the next 3 levels.

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william2433 wrote:
Venator, what do you think about the new gems that are coming out? (their in the announcement section)

The new gems - well for this build in particular, non of the new gems seem to bring anything at all. We will see how exactly the gems will interact with Lightning Strike, though.
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
I just noticed this guide. I've been building a LS marauder myself, and hadn't consulted any guides beforehand. Mine is currently level 71.

My build's a bit different from yours, but not too much. It's actually pretty close. I have a few damage nodes (just a few), but I also take iron grip, which should make a big difference, though it's hard to tell since the tooltip DPS applies to only the initial melee attack and not the projectiles.

Anyway, the main difference between my LS marauder and yours is that yours seems to focus on elemental damage (i.e. the guide mentions a 1h weapon with high fixed elemental damage), whereas mine focuses on physical damage. One-handed weapons kind of suck in the physical damage area, so I switched to two-handers, which means I pass up a lot of tankiness as well.

The main question I have is, at higher levels is it more effective to go with an elemental weapon or a physical weapon in a lightning strike build? The reason why I ask is because I'm using a 2h axe with over 400 dps, and the damage dealt out by lightning strike simply isn't all that good. It's enough to clear lower level maps, but it's far from efficient.

So I'm trying to figure out whether I would increase my DPS by switching to a totaly elemental weapon instead.

Any input you can give is welcome. For reference, my build is:


My gem setup is LS (20%) + LMP + WED + Life Leech, since all I have access to is a 4L right now. Maybe a 5L alone would solve my DPS problems.
Could you link the axe please? 400 DPS is a too vague of a description.

When it comes to DPS with elemental builds, your weapon is usually only a relatively small part of the whole damage. You want to get elemental rolls on your jewellery, belt and gloves as well. This will all get pumped up by the Elemental % damage in the passive tree, and then multiplied by your WED gem.

When it comes to weapons, you should always carefully evaluate the weapon before using it. Examine it's stats and calculate how much flat elemental damage would it give. Also take into consideration that the attack speed of the weapon effectively multiplies the damage of your whole character. The thing about elemental mods is that you can get much higher elemental values than with the conversion of physical through Lightning Strike (even with Iron Grip), and weapons with highest base attack speeds usually have really bad physical damage values. The attack speed you get from various sources scales really well with high base attack speed as well, effectively increasing your damage even higher. Using two handers means you cannot use shields, which provide a really huge amount of bulk to your character. I don't think it is a worthy trade for an elemental based melee build.


EDIT: also a little suggestion for your passive tree, if you need more DPS.
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
Last edited by VenatorPoE on Apr 4, 2013, 9:25:54 PM


That's the axe. I was a bit limited on funds so I had to go with what I could find, but that one was affordable, and it was a gigantic upgrade from the 1h physical mace I was using, but it still feels weak in maps, especially vs packs of blue mobs.

I'm a little hesitant to pass up iron grip, because if it works like I think it does, then it should be giving me more than 70% increased damage on the LS projectiles, and it affects both the physical and converted lightning parts of the attack. It is a bit out of the way though.

Obviously I could get more projectile DPS by just taking off LMP, but then I pass up a lot of AOE as well. It seems like LS builds have to make a lot of tradeoffs that just don't have to be made with other builds.
"


That's the axe. I was a bit limited on funds so I had to go with what I could find, but that one was affordable, and it was a gigantic upgrade from the 1h physical mace I was using, but it still feels weak in maps, especially vs packs of blue mobs.

I'm a little hesitant to pass up iron grip, because if it works like I think it does, then it should be giving me more than 70% increased damage on the LS projectiles, and it affects both the physical and converted lightning parts of the attack. It is a bit out of the way though.

Obviously I could get more projectile DPS by just taking off LMP, but then I pass up a lot of AOE as well. It seems like LS builds have to make a lot of tradeoffs that just don't have to be made with other builds.


I started to level a LS marauder, and planned out a whole build and itemization (you can find that here, if you are interested) I was going more of a tanky-route, where I just used LS to add shock stacks, do decent damage, and stop waves from hitting the real DPSers in my party. But, the concept is still the same for weapons.

I'd try and find a Tiger or Reaver 2h sword, since they have the best atkspeed out of all the high item level swords. Try and roll it for more IAS and phys damage and you'll be set for a long time.

I ultimately retired the build idea because I found the LS skill to be just too buggy for me. i will revisit it when they fix or change it.
Mess with the best, die like the rest.
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Edzilla wrote:
I ultimately retired the build idea because I found the LS skill to be just too buggy for me. i will revisit it when they fix or change it.


I'm curious about this. Buggy? What bugs have you noticed?

I noticed how sometimes a LS projectile can seem to pass right over (or through) an enemy but he takes no damage, as if the animation isn't lining up with the underlying grid somehow. But it doesn't seem to happen all that often. Not often enough to break the build anyway.

But I do feel like the LS skill could use some reworking somehow. You can't control the spread, so the outermost projectiles often just fly off and hit nothing unless you're sitting practically in melee range all the time so LMP is practically necessary for decent AOE, and indoors the projectiles will just get stuck on every little bit of debris lying on the ground. I feel like the build is just strictly weaker than a comparable lightning arrow build in every way, although maybe that'll change with an improvement to my gear.

I'll keep my eye out for a decent Tiger or Reaver sword, but I'd have to stack a lot more dex on my gear than I am currently.
"
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Edzilla wrote:
I ultimately retired the build idea because I found the LS skill to be just too buggy for me. i will revisit it when they fix or change it.


I'm curious about this. Buggy? What bugs have you noticed?

I noticed how sometimes a LS projectile can seem to pass right over (or through) an enemy but he takes no damage, as if the animation isn't lining up with the underlying grid somehow. But it doesn't seem to happen all that often. Not often enough to break the build anyway.

But I do feel like the LS skill could use some reworking somehow. You can't control the spread, so the outermost projectiles often just fly off and hit nothing unless you're sitting practically in melee range all the time so LMP is practically necessary for decent AOE, and indoors the projectiles will just get stuck on every little bit of debris lying on the ground. I feel like the build is just strictly weaker than a comparable lightning arrow build in every way, although maybe that'll change with an improvement to my gear.

I'll keep my eye out for a decent Tiger or Reaver sword, but I'd have to stack a lot more dex on my gear than I am currently.


It's less noticeable at higher levels with faster attack speed and haste etc - but yea, it was really awful in norma/cruel for me, so I ditched it and leveled EK. But, i'm starting to return back to LS, it's just more fun for me while EK is kind of boring.

Here's my wep, trying to 6 socket it and then 5 link it



Not as good as your axe, but, it works for me atm. Ideally you would want some elemental damage on there, but, it's a good pre or low level maps weapon. If i can ever get past 4 sockets :-/

I'm trying to decide if I should remove Pierce from my links and just run 20% LS with projectile weakness, or run conductivity. My pal that I run with is a RoA guy, so might do run with no pierce support while solo and with him, and run it in maps where i can't control the curses. Any thoughts on this?
Mess with the best, die like the rest.
Last edited by Edzilla on Apr 5, 2013, 6:23:57 PM
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Edzilla wrote:
I'm trying to decide if I should remove Pierce from my links and just run 20% LS with projectile weakness, or run conductivity.


I just run 20% LS and no Pierce, and no projectile weakness either. 60% pierce is obviously not as good as 100% pierce, but the sockets are too valuable especially if you're having to run LMP, life leech / LGOH, blood magic (depending on whether you take the keystone)... most of your sockets end up devoted to utility supports rather than damage supports, which isn't good as far as dps goes. At the very least you need weapon elemental damage in there, and if you can put another damage support, it makes a huge difference. I'd take that over 40% pierce easily.

I don't run with projectile weakness either. I did for a while but I just didn't see the point. Most of the time I'd rather spend the time spamming lightning bolts and dealing more damage than cursing enemies. I run conductivity for heavily lightning resistant blue/rare enemies and enfeeble for anything that hits really hard. Those are the only 2 curses I carry. If you're stacking elementals, then ele weakness instead of conductivity, but same idea. I'm not an expert but that's just what I've come up with from my own experiences.

I managed to figure out, earlier, how to get my build where I want it to be, and it involves having a 5L at the minimum. That extra socket can make all the difference.

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