[1.0.6 HC/Nemesis] Ninja Crit Caster (5x10.9k FP DPS) [Videos]

The Scion version of my shadow build:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/710629

Only here simply because the scion is so OP it's not even funny. :(

Idea of the build - main objectives
1. Crit-based caster
2. Utilise Berek's Grip's mods to the fullest (life leech and mana leech)
3. As tanky as possible
4. Have excellent crowd control
5. Have some form of reflect mitigation


Keystones
- Eldritch Battery
- Acrobatics
- Phase Acrobatics
- Ondar's Guile
- Mind over matter (provided for by Cloak of Defiance)

Skills Used
Freezing Pulse - main skill for ranged aoe/single target DPS
Fire Trap - adjuvant skill for ranged aoe/single target DPS
Freeze Mine - excellent CC with a bonus --> reduces enemy's cold resist
Lightning Warp - for mobility around the battlefield
Arctic Armour - excellent form of damage mitigation with some form of CC
Ice Spear - useful adjuvant skill for single target boss DPS while leveling

Gameplay Style
Warp --> Freeze mine and detonate --> Fire Trap --> Warp --> Pulse --> Warp --> Repeat


Gameplay Videos

1.0.4
Spoiler
GMP-ed Pulse with The Taming and my rare wand
- Level 73 Canyon Map Run - Nemesis
- Level 73 Dry Peninsula Map Run - Nemesis

GMP-ed Pulse without The Taming, with my rare wand
- Level 71 Colonnade Double Kole Map Run - Standard

GMP-ed Pulse without The Taming, with Void Battery
- Level 74 Maze Map Run - Standard
- Level 73 Dark Forest Map Run - Standard
- Level 72 Torture Chamber Map Run - Standard
- Level 72 Mine Map Run - Standard - Blood Rage - No CI? No problem

Utility of Berek's Grip
- Level 71 Ele Reflect Map Run - Standard
- Level 70 No Regen Map Run - Standard
1.0.5
1.0.6


Advantages and Disadvantages of MoM - To help those of you thinking of going into MoM
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The main advantage that this keystone offers is an additional damage buffer, which because of the substantial size at which you can get it up to as well as the high mana regen, makes it extremely useful against burst damage. However, the disadvantage is that it offers no protection whatsoever against DoT - meaning stuff like viper strike, corrupting blood, puncture, burning etc. Hence, getting a healthy amount of life is equally as important.

Another disadvantage is that to maintain a decent amount of available mana pool to buffer against damage, you will need to compromise on auras. Thankfully, as a caster, you don't really need that many auras (unless you're an EK user). Clarity is enough, although I may sometimes use Grace and compromise some mana if the map has mainly attackers instead of casters.

My thoughts on Acrobatics in HC
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It is very much improved as compared to how it was before. The damage mitigation can be quite noticeable at times. However, it is still a little dodgy (forgive the pun) as you can't quite help but feel a little unsafe. However, that 'dodginess' can be mitigated by stacking up on HP and Mana for an increased damage buffer, which is the strength of Acro in the first place - just a 6 point investment without a need for anything else. It is probably true however that although one heavy hit might instagib you - that heavy hit which may be capable of instagibbing you would pretty much also instagib an armour user.


Bosses/Mobs to be wary of as an Acro user
Spoiler
- Undying Evangelists
- Perpetus
- Vaal
- Museum map EK-er
- Villa map boss
- Jungle valley map boss
- Labyrinth map boss
- Maze map boss
- Academy map boss

How do I deal with ele reflect maps?
Spoiler
Use a Level 1 Freezing Pulse instead. (I'm actually serious).

You'll still be dealing very high damage.

Examples:
- Level 71 Dry Woods Map with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part I
- Level 71 Arachnid Nest with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part II



Leveling Tree
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28 Points
48 Points
75 Points - I did merci vaal here
98 Points
108 Points
113 Points - Level 95

Bandit Rewards
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Normal - Help Oak
Cruel - Kill everybody
Merciless - Help Alira

Gearing Needs
Spoiler
Chest - Cloak of Defiance

Helm, boots, gloves - Look for Ev/ES gear. Mods to be prioritised (in descending order): Life, Resists, Mana, Ev/ES

Wand/Sceptre - mods to be prioritised (in descending order): spell damage, cast speed, crit chance for spells, mana regen, mana, projectile speed

Shield - mods to be prioritised (in descending order): spell damage, life, resists, crit chance for spells, mana, ES

Amulet - mods to be prioritised (in descending order): Mana Regen, Life, Resists, Mana, Spell damage, cast speed, crit chance/crit multi

Rings - Berek's Grip is useful for leveling early on. The Taming is nice but not necessary. For rare rings, mods to be prioritised (in descending order): Resists, Life, Mana Regen, Mana, Cast speed

Belt - Life, triple res, ES

In cases of ES versus Mana, remember that you have acrobatics, hence the actual mana you gain from ES is halved. In general, when comparing between pieces of gear, if one has mana + ES and the other has ES alone, just do a simple calculation. ES/2 + mana versus ES/2, then take the one with a higher value.

Never neglect chaos res! Aim to get at least 0 in merci. (it really isn't difficult)



Documentation of my experience in leveling this character

Part 1 - Dec 19 2013
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Character playtime so far




Current Gear and Gem links
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Current Defensive Stats
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With Grace
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Without Grace
Spoiler


Current Offensive Stats
Spoiler

Freezing pulse - with 5 power charges
Spoiler

With a level 20 FP, a 6L (with the added link being incr. crit damage) as well as fully qualitied supports, projected tooltip DPS should exceed 3x5k DPS

Fire Trap - with 5 power charges
Spoiler


Skill Tree

Part 2 - Dec 25 2013
Spoiler
Character playtime so far




After getting my 6L, I decided to use the extra slot for a life leech gem for increased safety in maps against bosses as well as against DoT mobs and corrupting blood rares, as Berek's Grip, although nice, isn't as reliable as a life leech gem. Also got a wand upgrade, which although it only increased my DPS slightly, increased my crit chance massively.

With added lightning allowing me to shock stack mobs, as well as the Taming which I made, my actual DPS far exceeds my tooltip DPS of 3 x 6308 on Freezing Pulse and allows me to one-two shot most mobs, including rares in maps. With a L20 FP as well as fully leveled and qualitied supports, I expect the DPS to reach 3 x 7.3k. Fire trap DPS has also been improved, and is a hugely reliable alternative when facing ele reflect packs.

Ele reflect is surprisingly not that huge a problem, as the mana pool helps in absorbing damage received, and phase acro is supposed to help me 'dodge' spell reflect. Also, I now have the life leech support linked. To be on the safe side, I still prefer to stick to fire trap however.

Frost wall is proving to be a very useful CWDT skill, as it pushes melee mobs off me and blocks them off as well as blocking ranged and spell projectiles, while still allowing me to freeze pulse over it.

I'm dealing massive amounts of damage now, so my projected skill tree has also changed, and all future points will go towards defensive options.



Current Gear and Gem links
Spoiler

Current Defensive Stats
Spoiler

No change from above, except HP is now 3824 and mana after reservation is now 1870.

Current Offensive Stats
Spoiler

Freezing pulse - with 5 power charges
Spoiler

DPS with GMP is 5 x 4.6k, but I'm a tad reluctant to use GMP atm because of lightning thorns and corrupting blood rares


Fire Trap - with 5 power charges
Spoiler


Skill Tree


Part 3 - Jan 3 2014
Spoiler

Thoughts on this character
This is easily one of the most fun and powerful caster characters I've ever played. Unfortunately, that contributed to my overconfidence and complacency and I RIP-ed to a lowly Villa map boss who stacked me with lightning traps and bear traps which crit and killed me.

Passive tree at death
Level 87

Current Gear and Gem links
Spoiler


Cost of gear
Cloak - bought for 15 chaos, 50 jewellers to 6S, 162 fusings to 6L
Helm - 2 ex 10 chaos
Shield - 2 ex 4 chaos
Wand - 3 ex
Boots - 5 chaos
Gloves - 1 ex
Amulet - 3 ex
Topaz Ring - 5 ex
Prismatic Ring - 8 chaos
Belt - 2 ex

Situational gear



Berek's Grip - to be used in elemental reflect maps or no regen maps
The Taming - to be used in half regen maps with LMP linked to FP rather than GMP

Current Defensive Stats
Spoiler



Current Offensive Stats
Spoiler

Freezing pulse - with 5 power charges
Spoiler

That was with GMP, so actual DPS is 5x
With fully leveled damage supports, DPS should be able to hit 5x6.2k at least


Fire Trap - with 5 power charges
Spoiler



Part 4 - Jan 4 2014
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Did a respec oriented around this unique wand:


Level 87

In terms of nodes, HP was increased by 16%, Evasion decreased by 16%, Cold damage decreased by 24%, mana decreased by 8%, but Power Charge limit was increased by 1. That translated to ~200 increased flat HP and ~100 mana decrement, and a DPS increase (even with the old wand).

Stats are below:

Defensive Stats after the respec
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Offensive Stats after respec
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Freezing pulse - these are with GMP, so actual DPS is 5x
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Old wand, 0 charges
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Old wand, 6 charges
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Void Battery, 0 charges
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Void Battery, 7 charges
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Void Battery, 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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Fire Trap
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Old wand, 0 charges
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Old wand, 6 charges
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Void Battery, 0 charges
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Void Battery, 7 charges
Spoiler


Verdict regarding Void Battery
Spoiler
Nice, but not necessary. Great against PvE, but will not be as good as a good rare wand in terms of providing consistent damage output in PvP.

A top tier mirror-worthy rare wand with the top spell damage prefix, spell damage + mana hybrid prefix, top cast speed suffix, top critical chance for spells suffix and proj speed/mana regen will definitely outdps or be more useful than void battery.

Part 5 - Jan 7 2014
Spoiler
Character playtime so far




Currently level 89, doubt I have the patience/time to grind much further with exams coming up. Bought a void battery for 30 SC exalteds (the last one in nemesis sold for 17) as well as another ring with chaos res for 3 HC exalteds.

DPS screenshots for this build is still not fully optimised yet, with 3 of my support gems still not at max level. Gear-wise I'm quite pleased with what I've got offensively, aside from the amulet which can use some improvements.

I am able to run blood rage easily, which has raised my DPS.

FP's tooltip DPS right now is 5 x 7414.3, although with max leveled gems it should hit 5 x 8.2k.

Current Gear and Gem links
Spoiler



Situational gear



Berek's Grip - to be used in elemental reflect maps or no regen maps
The Taming - to be used in half regen maps with LMP linked to FP rather than GMP

Current Defensive Stats
Spoiler

Without Grace
Spoiler


Current Offensive Stats
Spoiler

Freezing pulse - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
Spoiler
Added Lightning support
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Increased Critical Damage support
Spoiler


Fire Trap - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
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Part 6 - Jan 14 2014
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Bought an ammy upgrade, leveled some gems.

Current Gear and Gem links
Spoiler



Situational gear



Berek's Grip - to be used in elemental reflect maps or no regen maps
The Taming - to be used in half regen maps with LMP linked to FP rather than GMP

Current Defensive Stats
Spoiler

Without Grace
Spoiler


Current Offensive Stats
Spoiler

Freezing pulse - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
Spoiler
Added Lightning support
Spoiler

Increased Critical Damage support
Spoiler


Fire Trap - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
Spoiler

Empowered Fire Trap - with 7 power charges, 3 frenzy charges
Spoiler

[/quote]
Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC
Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader
Last edited by Invalesco on Feb 2, 2014, 8:56:29 AM
surprised this havent gotten more replys ect gonna try it myself:)
"
supertaffer wrote:
surprised this havent gotten more replys ect gonna try it myself:)


good luck! :)

Also, how to deal with elemental reflect - use a level 1 freezing pulse!

- Level 71 Dry Woods Map with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part I
- Level 71 Arachnid Nest with a Level 1 Freezing Pulse - Ele reflect Part II
Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC
Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader
This build looks very nice !

I've been wanting to try some Freezing Pulse action for a long time, and I'm thinking of finally trying it when the new leagues come out (I'm taking a short break till then).

In this context, how would you think this build would fare in a brand new economy, when a 20q FP, Cloak of Defiance, quality Added Lightning, Berek's Grip, or rare rings with Life AND resists AND ManaReg are not available or too expensive? What would be the absolute priorities, in terms of gems and gear (uniques?), and what aspects of the build would you have to compromise with (Blood Rage, Arctic Armour)?


Also, I have a couple of more specific questions on the build itself :
- since you don't take a lot of Evasion nodes, if any, even with Grace your Evade chance is quite low. How is the survivability when facing a lot of mobs, especially ranged ones since you're not taking Ondar's either?
- Still on the topic of survivability : if I'm not mistaken, your Scion 100-point build only has ~170% Life. It seems really low for Nemesis. Do you rely that much on your Mana Pool?

Finally, you didn't really go into the comparison between Scion and Shadow for this build. Would you care to elaborate?


I think that's it, for now.....
Last edited by Bebekija on Jan 27, 2014, 2:56:20 PM
"
Bebekija wrote:
This build looks very nice !

I've been wanting to try some Freezing Pulse action for a long time, and I'm thinking of finally trying it when the new leagues come out (I'm taking a short break till then).

In this context, how would you think this build would fare in a brand new economy, when a 20q FP, Cloak of Defiance, quality Added Lightning, Berek's Grip, or rare rings with Life AND resists AND ManaReg are not available or too expensive? What would be the absolute priorities, in terms of gems and gear (uniques?), and what aspects of the build would you have to compromise with (Blood Rage, Arctic Armour)?


Also, I have a couple of more specific questions on the build itself :
- since you don't take a lot of Evasion nodes, if any, even with Grace your Evade chance is quite low. How is the survivability when facing a lot of mobs, especially ranged ones since you're not taking Ondar's either?
- Still on the topic of survivability : if I'm not mistaken, your Scion 100-point build only has ~170% Life. It seems really low for Nemesis. Do you rely that much on your Mana Pool?

Finally, you didn't really go into the comparison between Scion and Shadow for this build. Would you care to elaborate?


I think that's it, for now.....


Thanks!

I just played with 2 normal 0q freezing pulse gems and then vendored 1 with a GCP for a 20q FP and just leveled that before vendoring my other 0q freezing pulse gem to sell.

Cloak of Defiance cost only 15 chaos when I bought it. I imagine it shouldn't be that expensive in a new economy as well. Seems to drop quite common and massively under-rated. Added lightning doesn't have to be q for the build to work. I just vendored my 0q added lightning once it hit level 20 and just leveled it from there (as you can see, it's still only L19). Only the shock duration aspect of it is useful.

Berek's Grip only cost me 3-6 chaos. Can't remember. No idea if it'll still be available in the new league, but that's fine coz it's not necessary.

I reckon you should be able to get some of the lower tier rare rings cheap. My leveling ring which I used all the way from level 40 onwards was quite cheap.


In terms of gems - arctic armour, freezing pulse and fire trap are your priorities, followed by LMP and then GMP as and when you get it. Ele weakness/Frost bite will be your curse of choice while leveling. The other support gems come later.

In terms of gear - life and resists, followed by mana and mana regen. Blood rage is not necessary. I used it because I like the free cast speed, but you need to be really good with managing your resists well being able to get suitable upgrades without being tempted to buy stuff which may look good but that you don't need. I wouldn't expect everyone to be able to achieve the 40% or so chaos resists in order to make it work.

I did take ondars actually. Mobs aren't a problem especially when you can just pop a jade flask. I don't even bother with grace because I much prefer having a higher amount of unreserved mana pool to increase my EHP. There's plenty of high level map runs in the video section if you want to see the kind of stuff that is a danger to this build. Mobs aren't a problem, it's only the physical spell damage casters that are - and evasion is useless against them, hence I don't bother using grace.

Yup, your mana pool helps alot. 170% incr. max life with mana pool on top of it is fine. If you look at my character's stats when he was level 80, that hp + mana combined would be pretty much the amount of EHP you'd be having.

If you really want to you can try comparing both trees in the skill tree planner and check out the comparison.

The key things with scion are: 1% extra life regen and easier access to life nodes and mana regen nodes. Scion is stronger, no doubt about that. This might change in the future though as shadow is due a buff and scion a nerf or at least changes to the passive tree which would render other classes at least on par with it.
Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC
Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader
the cloak of defiance is like 8 exalts 5 linked on standard atm i bought a 3 socket for 5 Chaos tho already got it to 5 sockets and will link it later but just a heads up it can be expensive if u buy it linked it seems
"
supertaffer wrote:
the cloak of defiance is like 8 exalts 5 linked on standard atm i bought a 3 socket for 5 Chaos tho already got it to 5 sockets and will link it later but just a heads up it can be expensive if u buy it linked it seems


ah, well at least it's cheaper on standard than it was on nemesis! 15c was for an unlinked one as well. Tbh I would recommend you 6S it first before trying to link it.
Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC
Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader
sadly i dont have alot of currency think i got around 10 ish exalts in total atm but will try:)
im leveling this as my first character, and things seem fine

dont plan on getting a cloak till i have a lot more currency...from what i can gather, you can pretty easily skim the witch startng area and make your way down towards mind over matter...youll miss out on the mana, but you get better health nodes on the way

thisll also give you the option to go iron reflexes over acrobatics, which is easier to gear for and will give you the full effect from EB (meaning you wont miss the witches mana nodes all that much) as well as giving you access to the golems blood life and regen nodes
Last edited by LoCicero on Jan 27, 2014, 10:08:14 PM
"
LoCicero wrote:
im leveling this as my first character, and things seem fine

dont plan on getting a cloak till i have a lot more currency...from what i can gather, you can pretty easily skim the witch startng area and make your way down towards mind over matter...youll miss out on the mana, but you get better health nodes on the way

thisll also give you the option to go iron reflexes over acrobatics, which is easier to gear for and will give you the full effect from EB (meaning you wont miss the witches mana nodes all that much) as well as giving you access to the golems blood life and regen nodes


That is true. However, going down there means you sacrifice alot of dps. Personally, I despise Iron Reflexes, hence my taking Acro. ALso, the mana regen from COD does come in useful.
Build of the Week 14
The first Righteous Fire/Non-Shavronne's/Shavronne's HC
Shameless self-proclaimed theory-crafting extraordinaire and forum crusader

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