Dave/Kripp's 400 str Ethereal Knives Maraader

I very much so think that I'm gonna roll a witch EK. I wanted a fast leveling/farming class but as for now I do not know any of that plus we don't know the final changes either...

I was thinking about a summoner build but then again not sure how it would do in end game as I have no experience with that.

What spells would you exactly use with this witch EK build btw? All I know is EK and Bear Trap for SingleTarget and some auras.

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Unimatrix wrote:

It's not a wtfpwned build. It's supposed to be a quite tanky steady dpsing one. And in theory that's probably what you would want for OB (judging from the difficulty).

The dmg should be quite good but it sure won't be crazy stuff until you got really insane gears.

Not sure what you are expecting, but if you're looking for some kind of LA performance, as in clearing two screens full of mobs with one attack - yeah, this won't be the build for you. Although I doubt you will see much of that kind any more. And GGG will probably try to get rid of obviously op stuff the further the game progresses.

But so far, I can't say the dmg is terrible at all. My Marauder used to one/twoshot most stuff. And the witch build has even more dps. Just gather enough stuff to match your cone and oneshot away. Doesn't seem weak at all. If you make sure to bring some help for ST (I'm using bear trap) even champs and bosses die rather quickly.

So in the end I really can't see any problem dmg wise.

may i ask what your damage on each knife that hits is?

I'm not sure if this would make a good first char since it needs quite some gems you can't get by yourself. On the other hand there should be enough people around to trade, but whatever.

What I'm doing right now is the following:

Auras: Discipline, Clarity, Grace, Hatred (will add Determination once I can afford it).

Curse: Projectile Weakness (guess you could also use a defensive one like Enfeeble or Temporal Chains - Vulnerability should also be a good option)

EK supported with Faster Projectiles (must-have imho, really makes the aoe WAY bigger), Added Fire Damage and Life Leech (temporarily while Iron Will is still hitting my cast speed too much - and since I haven't reached the life regen nodes yet, this actually is pretty decent). I will add Faster Casting soon.

Bear Trap with Added Fire Damage. You can add more stuff here, I just don't have the sockets yet because I'm supporting all my Auras with Reduced Mana (Added Lightning Damage, Increased Critical Damage would be good options).

I also use a Summon Skeletons with Minion Life and Spell Totem. I used Decoy Totem on my Marauder, which does a rather equivalent good job. The Skeletons are superior in my opinion, though.

It's really working very well so far. One-shotting most stuff and almost never needing potions. I like it.

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stickman wrote:

may i ask what your damage on each knife that hits is?

I can't really tell since I'm in the process of rerolling. From the Marauder to the Witch. She's only lvl 39 right now.

On the Marauder on lvl 61 I believe it was something like 3k displayed DPS. In a 5L that is.

Dave mentioned on stream he got his to 5k without all too much fancy gear.

You are really missing out if you aren't using Fork or Chain on EK.

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samuraiduel wrote:

You are really missing out if you aren't using Fork or Chain on EK.

You have not tried out this build.

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buks wrote:

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samuraiduel wrote:

You are really missing out if you aren't using Fork or Chain on EK.

You have not tried out this build.

Yeah, tripling your aoe damage sucks. Since I looked you up and clearly you have won more demigod's than me, posting bullshit without logical arguments really carries a lot of weight.

edit:

Kripp's build is squishier and Dave's build is tankier. This build is also only good if you know what gear to get, so do not choose a build you do not understand just because it is the FOTW.

Now now, be nice guys.

Dave said the same thing, he really likes Fork. I tried both and I didn't like it all that much. You can't really argue, that it increases your aoe, which is always good. But especially Chain badly hurts the dps and the mana costs go crazy.

On my Marauder variant I ran around with Chain, then Fork and after a couple levels ditched them both. It is better for huge packs of weak mobs but it hurts dmg for most situations.

Then again, with OB the new pack sizes will be introduced. More big groups might make this more interesting again.

It's a viable option, no one should deny that. Maybe once I have enough projectile speed and cast speed, I might switch over but so far I prefer both mentioned over Fork or Chain.

So with the OB notes posted there is nothing that immediately seems like a bit negative to the viability of this build, except for the stated "significant" increase in stat requirements for gear and gems.

Now, the patch notes do say "armor pieces and skill gems", so it might be that weapons are not affected. This would be nice as the int requirements for high end wands is already a bit of a challenge. But this might still be a bit of a challenge for dex requirements.

For those of you who have played this build to a higher level, how difficult have you felt that the dex requirements were as it was in the closed beta, and do you foresee that increased stat requirements for the many dex gems the build rely on can be a challenge, at least early on?