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

Iron Grip doesn't work on spells, for one.

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MaurEzekiel wrote:

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?

I'm glad it's working for you. If this feels tanky, wait till you can switch over to the Acrobatics tree.

Too much resist is a nice problem to have, although that dps does seem low. I'm hesitant to suggest that you drop Life Leech if you play HC, but it is possible to use Warlord's Mark in a CwDT setup instead. Doing so would allow you to replace the Life Leech gem with Spell Echo or Empower. I recently switched over to lvl 4 CwDT + lvl 7 Warlord's Mark + lvl 7 Frost Wall + lvl 7 Enduring Cry. If you can get your hands on Atziri's Promise, you'll be even safer since that leeches too. Trickery and some cast speed nodes help dps as well.

Tree nodes like Influence and Inner Force should help your mana issues with Arctic Armour (since they make Clarity more potent). I'd also try to get mana regen on your amulet.

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dwlee wrote:

Thoughts on this Bloodlines variant? Can't use AA, but perhaps Vitality instead?

The trees given for this build already work in HC, although I'm open to suggestions.

I don't think Blood Magic is a good idea. Running auras with life when you could run them AND Arctic Armour all with mana doesn't make sense to me. And, like Cantrip said, Iron Grip doesn't work with EK since EK is a spell.

Updated gear and stats.

Would you prefer a 5L setup or a 20/20 ek, assuming u are using a 4L ek now
On the side note which culling spell would u use for Item rarity

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Etc_Bobo wrote:

Would you prefer a 5L setup or a 20/20 ek, assuming u are using a 4L ek now
On the side note which culling spell would u use for Item rarity

4L that is +1 Gems, pick the 20/20. A good-rolled/unique 5L, pick that. But the 4L +1 gems is nearly as good and cheap.

As for Culling, from what I've tried, another EK is best. Spells that make small hits are bad since your EK can kill from a high hp in one hit, so just switch to another EK.

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CantripN wrote:

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Etc_Bobo wrote:

Would you prefer a 5L setup or a 20/20 ek, assuming u are using a 4L ek now
On the side note which culling spell would u use for Item rarity

4L that is +1 Gems, pick the 20/20. A good-rolled/unique 5L, pick that. But the 4L +1 gems is nearly as good and cheap.

As for Culling, from what I've tried, another EK is best. Spells that make small hits are bad since your EK can kill from a high hp in one hit, so just switch to another EK.

Yeah, nothing's going to beat EK for culling. I personally wouldn't waste any gem slots with a culling setup on top of the basic EK setup, but it's cool if that's your thing.

Level 94.

Updated gear and stats.

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Tempada wrote:

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2talt wrote:

Could you split the passive skill three into level brackets? Like 20 - 40 - 60 - 80.
I have no idea what to take over what. :(

Are you going with Acrobatics or Iron Reflexes? The paths will be a bit different, but here's a guideline for the IR tree:

20 Points

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAx4GIxa_H0EmlTY9VUth4mqMbIxtbIw2naqi2bDYtUjIFMu95oH1bw==

~40 Points

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAx4GIwceDkgRlha_H0EmlTIBNj1JUVVLXfJh4mqMbIxtbHC7f8aCHow2j_qVLpsmnaqio6LZsNiyGbVIwfPIFMu9z3rbC-OE5oHndOjW7Bjw1fVv

~60 Points

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAx4F-QYjBx4OSBGWFr8ZihqPHNwdqh9BJpUtgzIBNj1GcUlRVUtd8mHiaoxsjG1scLt_xoIegwmMNo_6kyeVLpcGmyadqqKjotmw2LIZtAy1SLvjwfPEosgUy73PetsL4YjjhOaB53To1uwY8NX1b_ba-wn-ug==

80 Points

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAx4F-QYjBx4NfA5IEZYV8Ba_GYoajxzcHaofQSP2JpUo-imlLYMyATY9RnFJUUp9TZJOKlVLVvpXyVuvXfJh4megaoxsjG1scLt_xoIegseDCYd2jDaP-pMnlS6XBpsmnaqio6LZo4qw2LIZtAy1SLvjwfPEosgUy73PetsL3Q3hiOOE5oHndOjW6rrsGO4O8NX1b_ba-WP56PsJ_MX-ug==

~100 Points

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAx4F-QYjBx4I9A18DkgRlhXwFr8ZihqPHNwdqh9BI_YmlSj6KaUtgy9vMZ4yATY9OuFBh0WdRnFJUUp9TZJOKlNSVUtW-lfJW69d8mHiZ6BqQ2qMaxdsjG0ZbWxwu3_Ggh6Cx4MJh3aMNo_6kyeVIJUulwaa4Jsmnaqio6LZo4qmV7DYshm0DLVItz6747zqwFTB88SiyBTLvc962L3ZE9sL3Q3hiOOE5oHndOjW6rrr7uwY7g7w1fJF9W_22vlj-ej7CfzF_gr-ug==

It's been a long time since I leveled an EK character from scratch, but this should do the job. You might need to get Strength on gear early on or take a node like Prowess to help you out, but you can drop that node later when your gear is better.

I'm not going to add this to the front page yet since the tree is changing soon.

Hope this helps!

I was playing this path in BL until my character got cornered and killed in the catacombs due to some stupid play on my part, but found that past level 45 the path suggested hits a very bad defensive slump. Following as posted, you have 1) low mana regen from nodes (20%), 2) somewhat low max life (78% at the 60 point distribution, a great deal lower than the target final build @178%) and 3) no IR. I had maxed resists in Cruel and somewhere around 1200 life, only capable of a rank 4 AA at a slight degen while moving with something like a 35% chance to evade. I ended up dropping added fire in my 4L chest to pick up leech and that sufficed where incoming damage was not very high, but gimped my offense further exacerbating the defensive issue.

I think there's probably a more decisive way to approach this level range to not end up spread so thin. so to speak, and was wondering what your thoughts might be as far as that goes.

I was thinking if you delay the int trail towards the scion area and put off the charisma nodes as well as the 4% reduced mana near EB and its prerequisite nodes that you might be able to find your way to IR in a more timely manner and possibly mitigate some of that slump. The reduced mana nodes were nice for mitigating and enabling a higher level clarity, but that alone wasn't giving me the dividends of mana regen needed to run much higher level arctic armour. This time around I think I'll try this route to 60 points, filling the aura nodes in afterwards. I might also try to pick up the mana regen offered on the path towards scion (potentially respeccing those points later when more potent regen nodes are available). This gives me the option to run Grace over Hatred to smooth out damage spikes I started encountering in this area as well as picking up 37% additional max life, and the flask nodes a decent clip earlier than the posted progression.

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jxfaith wrote:

This time around I think I'll try this route to 60 points, filling the aura nodes in afterwards. I might also try to pick up the mana regen offered on the path towards scion (potentially respeccing those points later when more potent regen nodes are available). This gives me the option to run Grace over Hatred to smooth out damage spikes I started encountering in this area as well as picking up 37% additional max life, and the flask nodes a decent clip earlier than the posted progression.

Thanks for the suggestions, they look quite good! It's been a long time since I leveled this character (although I did level it completely as EK, unlike some other characters that I've specced into at high levels with a free tree reset), so I didn't remember the exact route I took when I wrote the leveling guide. I also leveled with IR originally. Acrobatics feels so much better to me now, but it's a tough call. It's easier to get a high level AA with IR, but dodging spells and attacks with Acro/Phase Acro is, despite being reliant on randomness, excellent too, even without AA, especially while leveling.

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Tempada wrote:

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jxfaith wrote:

This time around I think I'll try this route to 60 points, filling the aura nodes in afterwards. I might also try to pick up the mana regen offered on the path towards scion (potentially respeccing those points later when more potent regen nodes are available). This gives me the option to run Grace over Hatred to smooth out damage spikes I started encountering in this area as well as picking up 37% additional max life, and the flask nodes a decent clip earlier than the posted progression.

Thanks for the suggestions, they look quite good! It's been a long time since I leveled this character (although I did level it completely as EK, unlike some other characters that I've specced into at high levels with a free tree reset), so I didn't remember the exact route I took when I wrote the leveling guide. I also leveled with IR originally. Acrobatics feels so much better to me now, but it's a tough call. It's easier to get a high level AA with IR, but dodging spells and attacks with Acro/Phase Acro is, despite being reliant on randomness, excellent too, even without AA, especially while leveling.

The biggest problem I'm having is getting an established high level character to build wealth with, hence why I was leaning towards IR. Everything I've read about acro paints it as a high wealth option, can I succeed on a tight budget (~1 exa) with acro?