[1.0.1] Spectral Critter - Dagger Scion (HC)

This build was heavily influenced by the "Spectral Melter" build seen here: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/548657. Most of what is written there applies here.

I felt this concept was more effective as a Scion, and have adjusted it as such. I feel this build is more effective with a shield, but dual wield is also viable.

Update: I've put a bit of time into this build and I'm currently level 80. I'm quite satisfied with it. I can maintain range and safety in every situation I've come across as of yet. I can faceroll maps without the best of gear.

My gear as of 11/12/2013:
Spoiler


My deaths:
Spoiler
I have died with this build 3 times thus far. I'm taking a break from it for now and doing something a little different.
First death: Level 82. Dungeon map. Death by Brutus - ground slam dealt more than 2.6k damage, assumed to be crit. Had no granite on, though not sure if it would have been my saving grace. Probably would have, though.

Second death: Level 54. Running through Sceptre of God. Internet connection lags out, start to lose every other packet. HP doesn't move on my screen, but I get a soft disconnect back to log-in. Dead on log-in.

Third death: Level 73. Crypts map. Running with a friend, also Spectral Throw spec'd. Fighting the boss, toss a skele totem in the doorway, both of us tossing hits from about 3/4 max range. About 3 seconds pass, and I die. On both my screen and my friend's, it appears as though the boss teleports over to me. My hp bar drops in 3 chunks in the span of about 1/10th of a second. I don't see or hear about cases of "synchronous desync" very often, but oh well. RIP.

My next iteration of this build, when I make it, will likely be CI.


Gear Selection:
Spoiler
This section is to exemplify what I look for in a set of end-game equipment. These are my personal ideal choices, but there are other ways to go about it. In the end, it shouldn't be very difficult to be at around 25% over resistance cap on all resistances, so that elemental weakness maps are not a threat.

Note that having lightning damage somewhere on your gear is advisable. Lightning damage allows for Shock on crits. Possible gear spots: Gloves, Rings, Amulet, Weapon

A decent chunk of flat accuracy is also very helpful, as your hit rate will otherwise suffer.

Dagger: [Platinum Kris or Demon Dagger]
Increased local crit chance
% Increased Physical Damage
Increased Attack Speed
x-y Increased Physical Damage

Shield: [Archon Kite Shield]
+HP
+ES
+Resi
Increased AR and ES

Chest: [Saintly Hauberk or Loricated Ringmail]
+HP
+ES
+Resi
Increased AR and ES

Gloves: [Anything except EV or EV+AR]
+HP
+Resi
+Attack Speed
X-Y Physical Damage
Life Leech

Helmet: [Anything except EV or EV+AR]
+HP
+Resi
+Accuracy

Boots: [Anything except EV or EV+AR]
+HP
+Resi
+Movement Speed

Amulet: [Anything except Coral]
+HP
+Resi
Crit Multi
+Accuracy
Life Leech

Rings:
+HP
+Resi
+Attack Speed
+Accuracy
X-Y Physical Damage
Life Leech

Uniques that go well with this build:
Spoiler
Maligaro's Virtuosity
Gifts From Above
[Suggestions welcome in this department]




Shadow Build Analysis:
Spoiler
Total damage:
24% Increased Projectile Damage
240% Increased Physical Damage
30% Increased Lightning Damage
27% Increased Attack Speed

Total crit:
365% Critical Chance
190% Critical Multiplier

Total defensive:
196% life
22% ES
15% ES cooldown
16% Chaos Resistance

Other:
Iron Reflexes
Eldritch Battery
7% Movement speed
20% Mana Regen
2% Mana Leech
+1 Power Charge


Scion Build Analysis:
Spoiler
Total Damage:
50% Increased Projectile Damage
231% Increased Physical Damage
63% Increased Attack Speed

Total Crit: 490% Chance, 70% Multiplier
490% Critical Chance
70% Critical Multiplier

Total Defensive:
218% Life
2.2% Regen
10% Elemental Resists
16% Chaos Resist
10% ES
24% Armor / Evasion

Other:
10% Movement Speed
2% Mana Leech on Physical Damage
100% Mana regeneration
+1 Power Charge


The Build:


Gems:
6L**: Spectral Throw - Life Leech - LMP - Crit Multiplier - Mana Leech - Power Charge on Crit
4L: Bear Trap - Added Fire Damage - Life Leech OR Crit Chance - Crit Multiplier OR Multiple Traps
3L: Spell Totem - Summon Skeletons - Blind
3L: Reduced Mana - Hatred - Purity
3L: Cast on Damage Taken - Enduring Cry - Molten Shell

Bear Trap is your secondary attack. It is effective for ranged, single target damage. Spell Totem with Summon Skeletons acts as cannon fodder to keep enemies busy, the blind is another layer of protection. Particularly useful on mobs with ranged attacks. Note that it isn't necessary to level Summon Skeletons as they'll almost always die in a single hit anyway, and the mana cost becomes exorbitant. You should, however, level spell totem and blind.

**:
Spoiler
In practice, I have found that I, personally, prefer not to run LMP or GMP. Running single projectile allows me to have absolutely no mana issues with only Mind Drinker, the passive leech. I don't currently have a 6L chest, so I haven't been able to test myself. My current 5L is as such:
Spectral - Life Leech - Added Fire Damage - Crit Multi - Power Charge on Crit
In eventuality, the 6th slot could be a few things. LMP becomes a candidate if your dagger provides enough physical damage. Iron Grip, Faster Attacks, and Faster Projectiles are also worth consideration. In the end, my money is on Faster Attacks, as it will allow for faster stacking of power charges.

I've left the main 6L listed as is due to the fact that not everyone may be interested in running single projectile. Its a lot less flashy and the arc is tighter, so you have to be more efficient with where you decide to throw your hits.


Leveling:
23 Points Used


49 Points Used


70 Points Used


My current skill tree (Level 80):
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgAAA5YFfQ5ID8QRlha_HNwelCQ8JpUnqSzhL28xnjIJNZI64TsoO3xGcUlRSshN41VLVupW9VpSWm1apmBDYeJjQ2xGbXtuPW6qcFJwVnC7cNVybH3jfll_xoIegwmH24hCiPGMNo6KkBuTJ5fQmhObXZ2joqOmV6Z_pzSnXKiaqW6sP6xZrGaxs7QMtMW1SLXyuMq5PsBRwcXC7Nh22RPbC9tu29TcV9zH4YjjhOdj6f7tQfF28kXyl_Lh8-r8q_4K_o8=


Things learned from the build in action:
Spoiler
Physical reflect is not a threat. I am running with 72% crit chance and 678% crit multi. Physical reflect doesn't budge my hp. I have theories as to why this is, but nothing for sure. I run Hatred along with 34% increased effect of auras from passives, making Hatred at level 18 account for approximately 47% of my damage. When I'm not running IIQ / IIR, I also run an Added Fire Damage gem. This leads to me believe that, perhaps, because of how much of my damage is elemental, the physical reflect isn't so significant. Neither is elemental reflect. It also means that IPhysD is significantly more beneficial than IProjD, since both Hatred and Added Fire Damage are based directly off of your physical damage.

I took out a significant amount of crit chance after a while. With my 5 power charges (one from Alira, 1 from passives) I sit at 72% crit chance after removing 125% increased crit chance, and my dagger really isn't that great.

The DPS readout on the tooltip is pretty low in comparison with most builds, but I don't think the tooltip is quite fair to ST. One cast of ST typically strikes the target 3 times - twice on the way out, and once on the way back. Even if your returning hit misses, the fact that it hits twice on the way out is a pretty significant factor that I don't believe the tooltip relays properly. I mow through mobs quickly and with ease.


A side note about flasks:
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Surgeon's mod is your best friend. My flask setup:

Ideally, I'd probably change the first flask to a staunching, just haven't really gotten around to it. The main point is that two granite flasks with Surgeon's mod allows you to have granites basically 100% of the time. Currently, they're the main source of my armor.


A side consideration: The Spectral Sniper
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Because of the way ST's max distance is calculated, this concept has come to mind a few times. With a high level Faster Projectiles (and
) it becomes possible to hit targets that are very far away. I am leveling a Faster Projectiles in my back pocket for situations in which this may make for some interesting possibilities.


Let me know what you think, and feel free to ask questions!
Last edited by Xoere on Dec 3, 2013, 10:45:45 PM
I guess i'll try this build out, i don't really want to use a 2h st build like nearly everyone else is doing, i'd rather be tank-ish and survive.
So did anyone try this build?is it viable for endgame and maps?
Not very different from my own build in nemesis and it is working fine so far at level 71.
Crit daggers are very fun and the scion starting area makes the builds much more stable then starting from shadow in my opinion.
Last edited by t_t on Nov 6, 2013, 5:35:43 AM
I updated the build. My own is currently level 80.
I really like it. I've been trying to come up with a really good crit dagger ST build as I think it has the most potential late-game in HC. You're build is good but I feel like it's a little overkill on the crit nodes.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYBAdwFLQV9DkgRlhUgFr8Zhhv6Hhol3yaVKCoppSpNLOEs6TBUMZ41kj8nQKBHfkp9SshN404qUzVT31VLVupW9VjbW69gS2HiYqxjQ2VNZ6BtbG17bmluqnBScFZ07Xf9eA16733jfll_xoTZhO-HdofbiEKI8Yw2joqQG5LNkvOX0JlXmhObg5u1naqeuaQZplemf6c0qW6sR6xZrGasr7GztMW1SLXyuT6-ir6nwA_AUcHFwuzDOsS4ykrSTdX41p3Ydttu29TdDeOE6yztQfLh8-r8xf6P_5M=

I pick up a bunch of armor/evasion nodes and IR with this and still maintain a lot of dps nodes. I feel like in HC this might be a safer route to take. Thoughts?
IGN: Dmillz
The way you've done it isn't a bad way to go, if you want IR. Personally, I feel that with the nerf to IR the only reason to take it is to expand your gear possibilities and for the added benefit of Grace. Personally, I'm not worried about either of those things. With the change they just made to CWDT, I will have to see if its still viable to rely on it the same way, but CWDT + Enduring Cry + Molten Shell is quite a bit of survivability on its own. One of the benefits of such a large amount of crit is that, with two Surgeon's granite flasks, I can basically have a granite applied 100% of the time I am in combat, as long as the fight doesn't run for exceedingly long. Granite + Molten shell + 3 Endurance charges pops me up to 68% physical damage reduction, and I have complete garbage for armor from actual gear.

TL;DR: If you don't want to cycle granites, you're probably better off running with a slightly different setup.
Actually that is a VERY good point. I have never run a crit based build before so I totally forgot about refilling flasks and such through crits. The only time you would really run out of flasks was a drawn out boss fight and even then you could probably kite long enough to recharge through crits. I like it!
IGN: Dmillz
hey, I really like this build and have been using it. I was curious at what point do you start using only daggers and grabbing the only dagger nodes? I have gone for the ones that are not specific yet like just the 1handed damage increase.

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