[3.24] Holy Flicker Strike Necro [League start > All content] All content done. Rant time.

Looking forward to your update. Did a testrun already leveling with Absolution and doing heists til the money for the initial setup with rampage gloves and +1 tabula etc, and the general mapping is exactly like u advertised it: very solid aside from juiced essences which I wouldn't go for then. But the rest is smooth as butter.

Just a tip for further information sharing: captainlance9 created a few weeks ago a Holy Relic Start with Scion going Necro + PF, this could be also an alternative to get different gear pieces and atlas completion while using the same main spell.
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Vennto wrote:

Just a tip for further information sharing: captainlance9 created a few weeks ago a Holy Relic Start with Scion going Necro + PF, this could be also an alternative to get different gear pieces and atlas completion while using the same main spell.


Oh I am well aware and was going to reflect that in update post. His version is VERY shit rocking up 5 mill DPS WITH tripple Slum lord. And I can't wait to see him doing Exarch on it if he even does it. Would make my day seeing all the logouts. But that means that if he starts it - the gear for this build would be harder to find.
The build looks super neat. I'm looking forward to the 3.21 crit update (assuming it doesn't get nerfed). I might try it as a league starter as well.
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Viiyen wrote:
The build looks super neat. I'm looking forward to the 3.21 crit update (assuming it doesn't get nerfed). I might try it as a league starter as well.


The Crit + step by step upgrades PoB is already out in the comments, but yeah. Waiting for patch notes. My guess that we should maybe get 40% damage decrease on apssive tree at worst (prolly nerfing traveling necro nodes), but I'm on copium. That would be about 8% DPS loss. So still gonna be good. But all we can do is wait and guess.
Last edited by Fire_Archer on Mar 30, 2023, 12:53:40 AM

MFW I need to go through all this changes...

But I can already tell you - the build would work just like last league. With a LOT of potential to min max it further.

Detailed post later.
The build got a nerf in the new patch. They lowered the attack speed of part of the sceptres, will be harder to find good affixes on acceptable attack speed levels:

> As Sceptres are meant to be more caster-oriented than their One-Handed Mace counterparts, it didn’t make sense that many early game Sceptre bases had significantly faster Attack Speeds than One-Handed Maces. These Sceptre bases have had their base attack speed values lowered, and physical damage values buffed to compensate.

Driftwood Sceptre: Base attacks per second is now 1.20 (previously 1.55), Base Physical Damage is now 8-11 (previously 5-8).
Darkwood Sceptre: Base attacks per second is now 1.20 (previously, 1.50), Base Physical Damage is now 11-17 (previously 8-12).
Bronze Sceptre: Base attacks per second is now 1.10 (previously 1.40), Base Physical Damage is now 15-29 (previously 10-19).
Quartz Sceptre: Base attacks per second is now 1.10 (previously 1.40), Base Physical Damage is now 21-32 (previously 14-22).
Iron Sceptre: Base attacks per second is now 1.10 (previously 1.40), Base Physical Damage is now 27-40 (previously 18-27).
Ochre Sceptre: Base attacks per second is now 1.15 (previously 1.45), Base Physical Damage is now 24-45 (previously 17-31).
Last edited by TheEighthPanda on Mar 31, 2023, 3:53:21 AM
I welcome everyone in 3.21 Info Post!



Patchnotes that affect this build
Spoiler

League rewamps.
Spoiler

Breach
So this is very interesting. Breach already were one of the best mechanics for the build, but it was historically nerfed a lot and it was a bit hard to keep momentum inside of it. Now things gonna change and I expect Breach to be one of the BEST mechanics for this build.

Spoiler
1) Breach encounters in maps will have more monsters the longer breach stays. This is pretty beneficial for our build as Vaal Flicker Strike combined with Asenath explosions can just fly over the breach rim smoothly.

2) The number of Breach Splinters dropped are now affected by increases and reductions to item quantity – this doesn’t affect us directly as we don’t have really have those stats on items, but we can roll pretty dangerous map mods without a fear, as well as take almost all the altar mods.

3) Xoph's, Tul's and Esh's Breachstones now have a Monster Level of 81 (previously 70). Uul-Netol's Breachstone now has a Monster Level of 82 (previously 75), with Chayula's Breachstone having a Monster Level of 83 (previously 80).
You could, and I’m not joking, put a cup on a keyboard on a flicker strike button and go away for this build to finish breachstone. Seeing those are buffed makes me really happy. You can farm the crap out of breach domains easily. But those will be in demand.

4) Breach Blessings are now rarer
This is a bit concerning because combined with how rare breach stones are, and Chayula's being the rarest of them. That means Skin of the Lords with proper colors and a proper Keystone will be harder to come by. Hell, even getting Skin of the Loyal would be harder.
But its not too concerning because there is still a div card that people love to gamble a lot – that grants random upgraded Skin of the Lords.
There is still “Breach Monsters in your Maps to have 50% increased chance to drop a Breach Unique”

5) Normal Breachstones are now the only kind of Breachstones offered by Kirac upon using an Otherworldly Scouting Report, and are only offered as a red Kirac Mission.
This is interesting because Kirac farming was(and still is) a fairly legit strategy. Build can do most if not all of map mods so rolling reports can be very beneficial if fully spec into it early on

Abyss.
Changes to abyss makes it kinda awkward.
Spoiler
Last league Abyss was my prime money making strategy, as you could just guarantee Abyss Depth to spawn, hop in – check if there is a lich, and leave if there is a lich – because lich fight takes too long and you won’t want that. If there was no lich – you’d rush to the Stygian Spire and milk it for unique jewels and belt bases.

Now all that is gone.

Now Stygian Spire can only randomly span at the end of the map encounter that takes like forever.

Result – less Stygians to roll with harvest, less Unique Jewels.
Lich fights are EVEN LONGER. Amazing.
TL;DR: Breaches are more fun, but Skin of the Lords/Loyal are harder to get. Abyss is less fun.



Endgame Changes
Spoiler
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Added a series of new "Profane" modifiers that can roll on Maps, Logbooks, Delve Biomes, and Heist Contracts. These modifiers cause Monsters to deal extra Physical Damage as Chaos and cause Monsters to Inflict Withered for 2 seconds on Hit.


This is kinda spooky, considering there is less Chaos resist on the tree now, and build was already moving away from capping chaos res to begin with. Combined with eldritch altars that further remove chaos resistance this mod can be very dangerous. However, there might be an upside to it in my future plans for the build.


Passive Skill Tree Mastery Changes
There are a lot of changes there, but luckily our build is not really affected by any of them. But there are now a LOT of interesting options on a tree to pick up. That is hard to do because of lack of passive points. But it can be managed.

First of all – the thing that affects us – 10% increased life, 10% reduced life recovery rate – is gone. It is replaced with – 15% increased life if your armor has no life. Our armor has no life. This is a buff. 5% increased life and 10% increased life recovery rate is very nice.

Now to the interesting passive options.
Spoiler

Armour and Energy Shield Masteries
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Recover 5% of Energy Shield over 1 second when you take Physical Damage from an Enemy Hit

Not sure if this effect stacks, but that’s a 100 ES regen per second if you have Corrupted Soul on. This is VERY good. And not too far from our path. Ony 4 points.

"
10% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Chaos Damage

Very interesting stat too, as Physical damage is what this build mostly struggles with.

Flask Masteries
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Recover 4% of Life when you use a Flask


This is just insane. It’s a 16%+ life recovered instantly. Basically Pathfinder ascendancy on Necromancer. AND its not too far from the main path – only 4-6 points away. Certainly something to think about.

Mana Masteries
"
Regenerate 5 Mana per second


Pretty cool for solving Mana issues early game. No brainer pick up. On the tree pass – costs 1 point.
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12% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills


Can be interesting, but for the most part – is a bait. We already have reservation problems solved. Still. This might be something that enables the return of Discipline. And it only costs 1 point. Very A nice.

Recovery Masteries
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Life Recovery from Regeneration is not applied, Every 4 seconds, Recover 1 Life for every 0.1 Life Recovery per second from Regeneration


Not sure what to think about that one. Not having life regen is a pretty heavy drawback. Its softened by the fact you gonna have a bit of recoup and maybe a leech on a flask. The upside is that you heal for ~8000 life ever 4 second. Having 4k life is a bit wasteful. Is that good on a block build? Maybe. Gotta try it out.


Sceptres
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Sceptre bases have had their base attack speed values lowered

Now it will be harder to get a good base with the desired mods, but realistically, you’d want Karui Scepter all the time anyway so not that big of a deal.

Wand and Vendor Recipe changes
"
The Vendor Recipe granting flat Elemental Damage to Spells no longer exists.

Rip your Absolution leveling strategies. I welcome you to SRS leveling instead :3

There are two new Vaal skills that can be a good addition to the build, if I can find sockets for them.
Vaal Arctic Armour, Rejuvenation Totem.
We need to wait for gem details, but...
Vaal Arctic Armour can be insane because Static Strike doesn't stop when you are frozen/petrified. We also don't know what it does yet.
Vaal Rejuvenation Totem can replace Decoy Totem - but we don't know what it does.





Now when we are done with things that affect the build, let move over to the things that affect Gameplay overall.

Spoiler
Endless Heist is gone. Ripbozo. Not only you can't delevel, but shops will not refresh on level up. No fresh contracts for you.

Absolution leveling is nerfed - rip ele wands. However, you now can get Vaal Absolution. It looks a bit crazy.

Weapon and Shields passive trees. - aka New League Mechanic. Lot of powercreep, but not as much for us. Scepters are not considered as minion type weapon, so they will have generic spell bonuses that we have no interest on. Shield on other hand can be spicy. And lets not forget you can empower unique items. And if it was not enough itself, you can empower unique items used by your AG. Think about that juicy Kingmaker that will cost 200 divines that you will lose to a AG dying to a random blue monster. Ah the classic Path of Exile.

League mechanic combat. - Lots of monsters in a tight area. Perfect for the build. Damage reduction as part of difficulty kind of sucks because its very effective against Physical damage.

New league monsters. - new specters to play with! Maybe there will be something with high utility we could include to the build.




Guide adjustements and tweaks.
Spoiler
So its clear that we are not getting many changes in terms of the build functionality. There still might be some random changes to the skill gem that GGG “forgot” to mention, but hopefully it will all be good.

Thus all the discoveries of the 3.20 will apply and that means I will have to CHANE LITERALLY EVERYTHING in the guide to bring back the crit version. Again. Its like I’m working here for free…

Th PoB for crit is already out ( https://pastebin.com/VABmL114 ) in case you missed it. The changes to the text guide will be done over the week before leaguestart.

The changes include:
Few new items – belt and a shield. Upgraded boots. Tweaked weapon.
Reshuffle of the skill gems, use of the crit support gems.
Update on AG items
Most of that is already reflected in PoB so use that


In conclusion

The build managed to avoid every major nerf that had currently devastated a lot of players judging by the reaction of people.

It even GAINED a little bit of power from Mastery rework.

It also gained a lot of interesting options to explore and make it better in the future.

And since it didn’t suffer any changes, I’m sure that it will shine in 3.21 with all the powercreep they are adding.

I am very excited to start with this build and see how it will perform against new content and how fast I can push it into the uber game/boss carry.

As always I will be starting at day 0 and try to log the maximum info on my progress.

I am also hanging around THIS forum thread a lot, and happy to answer your question in a free time between playing and making update posts.

And for the new people who are interested or maybe just thinking to try this build (or maybe for old ones too) out I wanna say a few things:

1) This is not your typical minion build, it plays more like a strike/melee build where you are always in the middle of things doing something, even though its not button heavy. Check videos, try basic setup in the game, make sure its really something you wanna play.

2) Be up to date – check new comments. If you plan to follow this guide, I will be logging my current build progression and leveling PoBs. Make sure to also read the New Post and FaQ on the main page.

3) Even if you decide that this build is not for you, you can always swap to other popular minion builds. SRS and Absolution looking very fine and will not require you a ton of regrets – the passive trees are very similar. Additionally – you can always change your Ascendancy from Necromancer to Elementalist or Occultist simply by doing normal Lab and respecing all passive points before using Ascendancy Altar.

4) You can try bother me in game if you need to get a Specter set up. I will gladly share them with you – some people have trouble getting They of Tul or Demon harpy. Try to use Global 6666 before you bother me though. And don’t ask questions about the build. This is what forum for. If people won’t see your questions, they will not learn from it if they have similar issues.

I hope we all will have a lot of fun this league!

Future game plans
Spoiler

So as usual I’ll try to start at the launch, usually I fail every time and just fall asleep few hours later. So if you are no-sleep rushing – my updates might come late for you.

I expect things to be a bit tighter on gear this league and there are several reason why. Endless heist is gone and that’s a big source of cheap early game uniques that this build utilizes. Legion is not on the map device so Asenath prolly gonna cost a fair bit for a while.

On top of that – CaptainLance drew a bit of attention to the build and might be starting Holy Relics this league. I still highly doubt it, especially since Ascendant-Pathfinder got nerfed. Still – if that happens there will be more people playing Holy Relics and gear demand will rise. Don’t think it will be significant though.

My own project for this league is to push the build into ES CI. There are several reason to that. There are a lot of Chaos Damage and Chaos Damage Over Time in the game currently. And GGG even adding more. CI seem like a really good way to mitigate damage. ES though can be a bit problematic because most of our gear is locked for unique slots. I have some ways to deal with that in mind and can expect around 3.5-4, maybe even 5k ES. Not having to bother with Chaos damage also frees a lot of suffixes on gear.

On top of that there are very nice ES related Masteries added that can help make ES variant better.

This in theory should make build more durable and flexible. In theory. Because I was wrong before last time I did project like that going max spell suppression. That felt terrible.

So I be starting according to the guide. Life max block. Reach Uber levels of DPS and start getting ES gear crafted.

Money making plan – abuse Expedition (still the best mechanic for the build – as Static/Flicker hits remove ward from enemies, causing follow up relic hits do full damage) - lots of currency. Maybe Rituals – while rewards are medium across the board, vaal flicker strike speeds them up A LOT. Then possibly transition to Breach.

But for the most part just unlocking the atlas fast and getting to the boss drops.


PS: There are lots of things that I'd love to share more but my fingers are getting tired. Hope you had a good read. Picture update coming soon as I finish drawing it.
Last edited by Fire_Archer on Mar 31, 2023, 9:52:02 AM
PoB and Gems in the main post are updated.
Gear and AG gear soon(TM). Lots of changes there but most of them are in PoB.

Also noticed they did put out Vaal Arctic Armour. Its...kinda interesting?
Few things to point out:
1) It has 1 second cast time. Its very slooooow to use. Also 24 second cooldown. Sheesh.
2) Your relics will trigger with static strike beams while you are frozen. So you can just sit in the ice block, melting enemies.
3) The woring on it says 'breaks after taking 3 DAMAGING hits". So the hits have to do damage to you. Blocking a hit would not break the ice. So thats kinda cool.
4) 90% damage reduction is only from hits. The enemy places dot pool under you, and you are frozen? You dead.
Personally I don't see that many used of it. I would assume it could be kinda cool against SOME ubers? But lot of them have either multi hit attacks that will insta break it, or have massive degen zones. Maybe it would not be bad in Feared to just hard focus Atziri. Idk - gotta try.
Awesome, have a great leaguestart on friday :)
Looking forward to trying this as I'm always looking for fun ways to use Flicker Strike! Curious (and I haven't looked at the PoB yet so if it's answered there I apologize), how will you be leveling initially?

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