New build video: Shadow w/Ethereal Knives

From what I've heard, most people didn't like the new Ethereal Knives skill, and that sort of thing attracts me like a moth to the flame (sometimes with the same results). I decided to try out a build centered mostly on this skill, just to see what all the lack of fuss was about. Here's the result in Chaos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7zuqEXIwec

From what I've seen, it's really not so bad. While I agree that EK does have some issues, most of them can be mitigated by smart support gem choices and passive build options.

Urist McDwarfy Has done it again! Marvelous! Wish we had more people like you on the forums...

Also: I don't think the damage or radius of the skill was really the issue. It kinda feels just underwhelming when using it. No matter what supports I used it felt like being a premature ejaculation. A little spray, and then the feeling of dissatisfaction (on both sides). Did you get that same feeling at higher levels as well, or did it properly stimulate you while shooting this video?

Does projectile speed really increase the range of the skill ?
I haven't heard about such a feature.

Smooth moves. I would have gone for a more crit focused build and exploited crit damage though, grabbing bloodthirst + spellcrit and spell damage in witch and maybe even the templar crit nodes.

Maybe the bonus frenzy charges make up for it though.

Thanks for the great responses, everyone.

"

Big_Z wrote:

Did you get that same feeling at higher levels as well, or did it properly stimulate you while shooting this video?

In the Ethereal Knives skill feedback thread I suggested it looked more like a sneeze, but that's definitely another way of putting it. Visually I did not find it very satisfying. But mechanically, I didn't have any trouble with potency after getting a little green tablet called Faster Projectiles.

"

zriL wrote:

Does projectile speed really increase the range of the skill ?
I haven't heard about such a feature.

I hadn't heard it either, but I just figured with such an unspectacular range and EK having a similar feel to Freezing Pulse (fading away with higher distance) that projectile speed must help it or it would be almost impossible to use effectively. It was pretty easy to test it early on, thankfully, since I found a wand with projectile speed.

"

Neonexe wrote:

Smooth moves. I would have gone for a more crit focused build and exploited crit damage though, grabbing bloodthirst + spellcrit and spell damage in witch and maybe even the templar crit nodes.

That sounds like a great plan. With so many people complaining about the cast time, I figured it would be a good match for a build similar to one I had already proven to be somewhat successful, with frenzy charges and projectile damage for speed over power. Heartseeker will be an option for me in a few more levels as well for a little more crit chance/damage as well. Going the more extreme power over mobility route as you suggest would probably work too.

I go crit on everything though >.>

Crits!

Nope, I'm being serious. Crits are extremely powerful when you can get them to happen. If you 1-shot most everything with crits, you don't really need to worry about casting again quickly.

Unfortunately, EK doesn't have very high base crit, so it'd take 1000%+ crit chance to get it above 50% crit chance, unlike with Ice Spear's inherent bonus. On the other hand, you don't have to think about mana cost as much when you cast more slowly and can kill with less casts.

Mine's a witch. It'll be interesting to see the differences to Shadow as I level her more. I had a dagger witch before the Shadow anyway (it's a concept thing), but with throwing knives being classed as a spell it made complete sense to try it.

First attempt was to rush for the mana-per-kill nodes, using daggers for melee support and aesthetic value: failed due to low damage.

Second (and current) attempt: sacrifice the daggers for wands (sigh), balance the usual Witchy things like mana regen, spell damage, cast speed and spell crits. Urist's revelation of increased projectile speed resulting in knives that travel further was a game-changer. Right now my Knives Witch is 23 with EK+Faster projectiles+Added Lightning damage. It's still probably no better than a typical elemental build, but the pure physical thing definitely comes in handy against the many, many elemental resist critters out there.

Great work, Urist.

"

UristMcDwarfy wrote:

From what I've heard, most people didn't like the new Ethereal Knives skill, and that sort of thing attracts me like a moth to the flame (sometimes with the same results). I decided to try out a build centered mostly on this skill, just to see what all the lack of fuss was about. Here's the result in Chaos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7zuqEXIwec

From what I've seen, it's really not so bad. While I agree that EK does have some issues, most of them can be mitigated by smart support gem choices and passive build options.

Can you post your skill tree?

Thanks

It's on the video blurb too, but here ya go: Skill Tree