[2.0] Tempada's AAA EK: An Ethereal Knives Guide | 30-60k+ Non-Crit DPS | Affordable | HC Viable

Hey, you split the tree into different levels for me on the previous page. Can I still follow that in 1.3?

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2talt wrote:

Hey, you split the tree into different levels for me on the previous page. Can I still follow that in 1.3?

Yep, you can still follow that. The only tree change is the addition of one life node near Thick Skin.

Hi. Been following your guide, it's pretty neat.
Do you think the new gem, Physical to Lightning would work well with it?

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unranked wrote:

Hi. Been following your guide, it's pretty neat.
Do you think the new gem, Physical to Lightning would work well with it?

Hi, glad you're liking it so far.

I haven't had a chance to play with Physical to Lightning yet, but it could have a place in the build. It looks like Added Fire Damage + quality Herald of Ash is still going to give the most dps, and I doubt the new gem will replace any of the other slots, but you could try Physical to Lightning + quality Herald of Thunder (instead of Added Fire and HoA) if you like the flavor and HoT's potential to Curse on Hit.

Physical to Lightning >> Socket it on Physical Reflect Maps ^^

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Kalann_Pander wrote:

Physical to Lightning >> Socket it on Physical Reflect Maps ^^

You could do that. I've just never had a problem with physical reflect (as long as Arctic Armour is up).

Is this a viable build for crit like? id like to run the Ball lightning curse on hit, seemed really fun
Not sure if im doing right in dropping so many life nodes for Crit

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Is this a viable build for crit like?

That depends on your definition of viable! You could use this in softcore, but 119% increased max life is very low. I think my current non-crit build has something like 175%, and the reason I don't go crit is because I want extra life for mapping (I have around 5k with my gear) and my 25-32k dps (depending on whether I use Life Leech or Empower) is plenty.

Also, in your build I would take Heart and Soul over Melding, and you can save 1 point up near Eldritch Battery:


Inner Force is a big boost to just about everything in the non-crit build. It's too bad you don't fit it in here.

So I don't recommend your build, but yes, it's viable in softcore.

Thanks a lot for this! Switched my level 74 HC Shadow to this build since ZiggyD's apparently not updating his anymore. Perfect compatibility, everything fits well - it's even more tanky than what I remember from 1.1 days.

There are a few things I would like some advice on though:

1. I seem to have way too much resist (fire 129%, lightning 89%, ice 80%) despite only having 75% cap. Could probably use some more stats (especially STR) or mana in exchange.

2. My unreserved mana is only 229, and regen is 173. It's enough for me to walk around with AA activated for roughly 10 seconds.

3. DPS seems a bit low at 4.6k tooltip.

What do you guys think I should work on first?

Here is my current gear.


And my tree.



Stats:

Thoughts on this Bloodlines variant? Can't use AA, but perhaps Vitality instead? Auras will reserve only 25% of their original reservation with level 20 Reduced Mana.

10% for Vitality
~6% for Heralds
15% for any of the 60% auras

Pros:
- 226% increased max life (incredible for Bloodlines and Blood Magic build)
- don't need mana nodes/gear
- 75% reduced mana reserved
- Iron Grip
- amazing amounts of armor
- good resists

Cons:
- No AA