[1.2] Tri Element Trapper (Update to Arkon 9944's build)

**EDIT**

Since there were still some interested in the build I wanted to share the tree I have been tinkering with. With 1.2 the trapper tree felt a little clunky, but perhaps together we can work something out.

My trapper is ready for a full respec on standard so once we find something I will test it out on him. Here is what I am currently considering for a lower budget non crit trapper

http://poeurl.com/yY4AABb

This build utilizes the time tested EB/MoM/IR combo. It would be the easiest transition for those using their full respec. The build does not get EE though as points were really tight to get enough life/mana/damage. Fire trap would be the main source of damage as usual and I would suggest this 5 link

Fire Trap -> Concentrated Effect -> Chance to Ignite -> Elemental Proliferation -> Fire Penetration


The really exciting thing for trappers in 1.2 is reliable power charge generation through assassins mark. This makes being a crit trapper extremely interesting, however i'm currently having a difficult time with the tree. I think the traditional defenses may need to be dropped and we will have to rely on the Mind over matter chest (the cloak of defiance), arctic armor, and endurance charges to protect us.

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Link to previous guide: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/588949



Introduction

Spoiler
Hello,

The previous guide was getting a lot of questions regarding its viability in the latest patch. The simplest answer is the build was buffed due to the shadow area changes. I played this trapper in the Domination league to level 81 and took it into level 72 maps before the league ended. I will now level up a new trapper and give the route I take as I take it to help newer players get an idea of how to navigate the passive tree and how to gear their trapper.



Level 80 Build: http://poeurl.com/yKbFM6u


In this build I am not taking elemental equilibrium. If you want EE, drop a crit node or the strength node near Iron reflexes for it. Regarding that same strength node if you can get enough strength on your gear, ignore this node and put it toward achieving your level 85 goals.

Moving toward level 85 you can work toward more damge, more mana/mana regeneration, or mana reservation/aura effectiveness. This would vary from person to person based on their gearing situation.



Gear

Spoiler





Traps + Links

Spoiler

Fire Trap -> Fire Penetration (Q) -> Concentrated Effect -> Increased Critical Damage (Q) -> Elemental Proliferation -> Empower

Fire trap doesn't really need much explanation I have tested a lot of different links but I feel this is the strongest setup. If you are running elemental equilibrium (or elemental weakness instead of critical weakness) you could use empower instead of fire penetration on your 5 link and have some pretty amazing damage per use.

Shock Nova (Q) -> Trap -> Multiple Traps (Q) -> Elemental Proliferation

Shock nova exists to spread shock stacks, quality on shock nova is required, quality on multiple traps helps get all three traps to go off (not required). If your do not have a quality shock nova...

Lightning Trap -> Added Lightning Damage / Lightning Penetration -> Multiple Traps -> Elemental Proliferation

Cold Snap -> Trap -> Elemental Proliferation

or

Ice Nova (Q) -> Trap -> Concentrated Effect


I highly recommend the cold snap set up in hardcore and/or if you play in groups. Freezing the screen lets you aim a good shock nova or fire trap combo. If you run EE and/or want more damage out of your cold trap run ice nova. Quality on Ice nova will help off set concentrated effect.




Passive Progression

Spoiler

Level 70: http://poeurl.com/yKtc3em


Level 60: http://poeurl.com/yKEvNIP

Between levels 40 and 60 the majority of characters hit a very awkward stage where they don't have enough mana, damage, or life. So you should select your points in such a way that helps you in your current situation. This is just where I suggest you try to be by level 60. The reason is all of your basics are nailed down and from here you can just move into damage and life. Also between levels 50 and 60 you will likely be finding/buying gear that gets you into mapping. So be sure to look for evasion/energy shield gear to make use of eldritch battery.

Level 40: http://poeurl.com/yKx39VI

Moving toward level 40 we want to pick up hp nodes and make our way across the tree toward mind over matter and iron reflexes. We won't be getting those specific nodes for quite a while, but traveling across the tree early on ensures we have meaningful passives when levels slow down.

Level 20: http://poeurl.com/yKtiSTI

We get the attack speed/dex node near the shadow start to help with dex requirements early on. If you get a jade amulet or twink gear to start you don't need to spec into this node. I didn't have dex issues due to having some nice gear to start, but I was using whirling blades for movement and dual strike for single target dps.




The trapper does have some growing pains due to the reliability of landing critical strikes. So as you level I would highly recommend running elemental weakness for your curse and focusing on these links for your traps.

Leveling Traps + Links

Spoiler
() = if links/colors are available

Fire Trap -> Fire Penetration -> Concentrated Effect -> (Increased Area of Effect)

Lightning Trap -> Added Lightning Damage -> Multiple Traps -> (Lightning Penetration)

Ice Nova -> Trap -> Concentrated Effect -> (Added Cold Damage/Cold Penetration)

Bear Trap -> Added Fire Damage -> Culling Strike -> (Item Rarity)



Bear trap is extremely important while leveling your Trapper as it gives you a much needed single target damage. Elemental Equilibrium can be a very important tool while leveling as well, following the rotation you can shred through blue packs and rares. One complaint with EE is that you can screw yourself by say throwing two fire traps in a row, but while leveling at least as long as your have the penetration gems and elemental weakness there really isn't any problem if you mess up the rotation.


Leveling as a Crit Trapper

Spoiler
I am currently attempting to level as a crit trapper using two ungil's gauche and the critical weakness curse. I am also using a 4 link of;

Whirling blades -> Dual Strike -> Faster Attacks -> Power Charge on Crit

This gives me two ways to generate power charges. I am level 39 right now and do not have a quality power charge on crit, however I can curse a pack whirling blades through them and generate 1 or 2 power charges then toss a trap or two and the mobs are dead and I keep moving. It is also useful to dual strike a rare a few times, whirling blades past it and chuck some traps to finish them off. For my traps I am using;

Fire Trap -> Fire Penetration -> Increased Critical Damage
Cold Snap -> Trap -> Cold Penetration
Lightning Trap -> Lightning Penetration

I have a bear trap leveling but am using dual strike for my single target and cold snap to lock enemies in place.

I don't think this is a better way to level than flat damage, elemental weakness, and elemental equilibrium, but it is extremely fun. Whirling blades and dual striking things then seeing things frozen, shocked, and that great sound of a fire trap crit make re-leveling a character I have already done quite a bit different and interesting.



I highly recommend readers check our Arkon's guide and videos, I simply wanted to share my thoughts on some links and update the passive tree. I will continue to work on the guide and incorporate feed back given by you guys.
Last edited by nosrek_scirocco on Sep 4, 2014, 12:15:17 PM
nice guide
Thanks!

I am currently leveling a new trapper in the ambush league. Once I get more time to play I will update the leveling section some.


As a taste I wasn't sure if I wanted to level a twinked character since I have some currency from my level 80 witch, or if I would go self found. In the interest of keeping the leveling process interesting I decided to use some uniques in my stash.



So my thought process will be to see if I can level up as a "crit" trapper. Meaning I will use critical weakness and penetration gems to generate my damage. So far its going well and pre-level 20 I am able to dual wield some daggers and still get a decent amount of critical strikes. A nice side effect is I have pretty good dual strike dps which helps my clear speed quite a bit.



So my farming character in ambush does have a searing touch (it's a dual totem searing bond character, go figure). So I did consider using it, but I am finding the dual daggers way more fun between the crits, dual strike, and the block chance.

I also stole the idea of using whirling blades from watching Colby-Cheeze's stream. While it's no where as cool as leap slam, or lightning warp, it does let you move through packs when you get caught in a hall for example. That alone is enough to warrant it if you have the hot key and gem slot available.

As I continue to progress I will formally update the guide with my passive tree and links. I would like to know when you guys would like to see my passive tree, I was thinking levels 25/50/70/80. But I could also perhaps add in where I'm at before fighting Dominus in each difficulty
I would really like to try this build because I want to play a trapper with several traps but is this newbie friendly?
Can you make any level progression guide with this build, that would be awesome :)
Also do you need expensive gear?

How much planning before starting this build really?

Thank you!
"
ulletuss wrote:
I would really like to try this build because I want to play a trapper with several traps but is this newbie friendly?
Can you make any level progression guide with this build, that would be awesome :)
Also do you need expensive gear?

How much planning before starting this build really?

Thank you!


Hi,

In my first reply I am talking about leveling the trapper for this league. As I progress further I will get more info in the main post. A leveling progression will start to take shape over the next week.

Newbie friendly; The gear you see linked in the main post is from my level 82 trapper that I made in Domination league. I started Domination league 2 months in, it was my first character. In two months I was able to put together that gear and reach level 81, so I would say from personal experience it is very newbie friendly.

Expensive gear; I bought the sunblast belt for 20 chaos and I think I bought the carcass jack for 10 chaos, then I jewlered it and linked it myself which took a fair amount of currency, I was lucky and found the Divinarius in the last week of the leauge. However, I did not run a shop in Domination and I did not sell items to players. I was able to get that currency just based on currency drops and using the chaos orb recipe. If you were to sell some gear you find to other players you would have much better gear than I have linked there.

One nice thing about the trapper is you don't need much in the way of gear other than life and resists while leveling. Your damage comes from levels on the traps. So as a new player with no currency I would recommend using the vendor recipe to give you a +1 to fire or lightning gems wand or scepter. Other than that just equip the gear you find.

You get most of the skill gems you need from the quests for the shadow, the exception is fire penetration. You would need to buy that or get lucky and have one drop for you. I would say you can jump right in the game and start leveling. The only thing is the passive tree looks a little different as you level up because you need certain stats right away. Towards the end game you re spec out of the points you used to get across the tree faster.

For example this is where you want to be at level 24: http://poeurl.com/yKth7DC

Hope it helps
I added some to the leveling section and shared my setup for leveling as a crit trapper. I imagine I can hit act 3 cruel or act 1 merciless tonight so more updates should come tomorrow.
Hey great build, just wondering whether there's any use for Reduced Duration in conjunction with Sunblast to get instant trap explosions, is this any useful? Thanks :)
"
"
ulletuss wrote:
I would really like to try this build because I want to play a trapper with several traps but is this newbie friendly?
Can you make any level progression guide with this build, that would be awesome :)
Also do you need expensive gear?

How much planning before starting this build really?

Thank you!


Hi,

In my first reply I am talking about leveling the trapper for this league. As I progress further I will get more info in the main post. A leveling progression will start to take shape over the next week.

Newbie friendly; The gear you see linked in the main post is from my level 82 trapper that I made in Domination league. I started Domination league 2 months in, it was my first character. In two months I was able to put together that gear and reach level 81, so I would say from personal experience it is very newbie friendly.

Expensive gear; I bought the sunblast belt for 20 chaos and I think I bought the carcass jack for 10 chaos, then I jewlered it and linked it myself which took a fair amount of currency, I was lucky and found the Divinarius in the last week of the leauge. However, I did not run a shop in Domination and I did not sell items to players. I was able to get that currency just based on currency drops and using the chaos orb recipe. If you were to sell some gear you find to other players you would have much better gear than I have linked there.

One nice thing about the trapper is you don't need much in the way of gear other than life and resists while leveling. Your damage comes from levels on the traps. So as a new player with no currency I would recommend using the vendor recipe to give you a +1 to fire or lightning gems wand or scepter. Other than that just equip the gear you find.

You get most of the skill gems you need from the quests for the shadow, the exception is fire penetration. You would need to buy that or get lucky and have one drop for you. I would say you can jump right in the game and start leveling. The only thing is the passive tree looks a little different as you level up because you need certain stats right away. Towards the end game you re spec out of the points you used to get across the tree faster.

For example this is where you want to be at level 24: http://poeurl.com/yKth7DC

Hope it helps


Thanks so much for the reply, its really helpful for me as a new player. I will start this character soon and follow your build carefully so I dont mess anything up!
I dont have any high level character that can provide me with gear so that´s why I wanted to know about if you need expensive gear to make this build viable :)

It seems to me that you need the sunblast belt at higher levels to make this build work, but I will work it out in some way! Lucky for me I have the Fire Penetration gem already!

One more question: What do you mean with the vendor recipe, +1 to fire/lightning gems wand or scepter?

Thanks.
"
ulletuss wrote:
Thanks so much for the reply, its really helpful for me as a new player. I will start this character soon and follow your build carefully so I dont mess anything up!
I dont have any high level character that can provide me with gear so that´s why I wanted to know about if you need expensive gear to make this build viable :)

It seems to me that you need the sunblast belt at higher levels to make this build work, but I will work it out in some way! Lucky for me I have the Fire Penetration gem already!

One more question: What do you mean with the vendor recipe, +1 to fire/lightning gems wand or scepter?

Thanks.


Check out this link, it has all the vendor recipes including the +1 to fire or lightning gems. Knowing these recipes will make starting out fresh sooo much easier.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vendor_recipes#Crafting

The sunblast belt gives pretty great damage and the mana regen and 1 resist is nice, but this is not necessary unless you want the instant explode traps like Arkon demonstrates in his guide/videos. Late game a belt with life, strength, 2-3 resists, and armor would make sorting out the rest of your gear much easier.

I use a sunblast because I always want more damage :)
Last edited by nosrek_scirocco on Apr 4, 2014, 11:31:06 AM
"
AraShaun wrote:
Hey great build, just wondering whether there's any use for Reduced Duration in conjunction with Sunblast to get instant trap explosions, is this any useful? Thanks :)


So there is a use, especially while leveling and getting the hang of traps. I personally felt as I was progressing through maps that I wanted more damage instead of an instant trap. This just required me to get better at placing my traps, especially the shock nova trap.


A fun setup for cruel and merciless difficulty is to use the deer stalker unique boots with cold snap, shock nova, multiple traps and a level 1 reduced duration. This gives you 2 traps in one slot and makes gearing a lot easier. This issue is BBGR can be difficult to get, I beleive it took me around 80 chromes.

Also the deerstalker boots are very difficult to use in your endgame gear due to no resists and a lack of energy shield/mana to fuel the mana pool.


I will look into doing a video of some maps like Arkon did, I one shot the map version of Merviel's first form last night and felt that would be a great way to demonstrate the amount of damage the trapper is capable of.

I have also been doing Dominus runs to update my gear on standard (i got a rathpith and new boots last night) and that fight is extremely easy when you can just one shot everything up until Dominus decides to fight you. This could make the trapper a competent farmer if you can find a way to stack some rarity/quantity without gimping yourself. I have like 15 quantity and 20 rarity plus a rarity gem on my bear trap that I cull with.

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