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

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Might keep fiddling with the build, it's too bad that Ondars is so far away. Hmmm... what to give up to grab it...

I tried to fit that in, but you're right, Ondar's is just so far away (at least when the build focuses on auras). To be fair, I haven't had many issues with projectiles. Sallazang (Labyrinth Map), porcupine enemies, and Avian Retches are about the only things that sometimes make me nervous.

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Normal: kill Oak for +40 to base life
Cruel: kill Oak for +18% physical damage since it makes EK significantly more powerful

Probably already been pointed out.

So I've been leveling a new char with this, started from nothing. The biggest tip I can give to a new player: if you're going IR, DO NOT GO DOWN THERE AT FIRST! Get at least Ballistic and Charisma, but after that, head towards EB. The nodes down to IR are pretty lame and weak and suboptimal for leveling, and at the start of cruel, I didn't have enough int to equip new gear. And even if you do get it, you won't have enough mana to run all 3 auras anyways. You can probably barely run two until much later.

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Clerith wrote:

So I've been leveling a new char with this, started from nothing. The biggest tip I can give to a new player: if you're going IR, DO NOT GO DOWN THERE AT FIRST! Get at least Ballistic and Charisma, but after that, head towards EB. The nodes down to IR are pretty lame and weak and suboptimal for leveling, and at the start of cruel, I didn't have enough int to equip new gear. And even if you do get it, you won't have enough mana to run all 3 auras anyways. You can probably barely run two until much later.

Exactly. You want to spread out instead of beelining for Iron Reflexes so you can get enough Intelligence and Strength to run your gems. Eldritch Battery is good to grab early-ish so you can use your Energy Shield to help run Arctic Armour (assuming you have some ES on gear). When I was leveling, I alternated between heading towards Iron Reflexes, Eldritch Battery, and the Scion life wheel (where Constitution is). I also made sure to grab the aura nodes when I was near them. I skimped on life until late game, which worked for me in softcore, but you'll want to grab life when near it in hardcore.

How's the build working for you?

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Tempada wrote:

How's the build working for you?

Overall, pretty well.

I'm a new player - I had a blender Duelist long ago somewhere stuck in Merciless, I had a failed FP and archer Shadow I got bored of. I'm level 50 now, and it's been quite fun and strong. To enjoy the build, you really need that projectile speed. I only got my 4L at level 40, and my what a difference it was. And I've only died against Gravicius, who I tried to facetank with +5% fire resist. But overall, this has been the best leveling experience for me.

The usual leveling problems - not enough sockets to properly link all my gems, getting enough mana to run Clarity + Hatred was... very interesting, I don't even want to think about AA yet.

As I approach late 50s, I've been thinking abot getting a decent 5L chest, then trying to snipe a cheap Alpha's Howl and Rathpith. Would you recommend getting any gear before the uniques, like a wand? I still have a Lifesprig >_>.

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Clerith wrote:

As I approach late 50s, I've been thinking abot getting a decent 5L chest, then trying to snipe a cheap Alpha's Howl and Rathpith. Would you recommend getting any gear before the uniques, like a wand? I still have a Lifesprig >_>. Oh! And would you recommend a Ming's Heart? I read you used to use it.

Oh, a wand is very important. If you can get something inexpensive with decent spell damage, cast speed, and projectile speed, snatch it up.

Alpha's Howl is probably my favorite helm in the game. Get one. Any one. Its stats are fairly unimportant, you just want it for the reduced mana reserved and +2 to level of aura gems.

When it comes to Rathpith, if you have extra currency, spend it here. You want one with very high block chance applied to spells and energy shield. Spell damage is slightly less important, but if you can get high stats on all three mods, it's awesome.

Ming's Heart is tricky. It's not a cheap item and I think the money could be better spent elsewhere. I used one for a while when I was specced into Iron Reflexes and I did love it. Chaos damage against me was largely a joke and my dps had a nice increase. But ultimately I decided that the life downside was too great. Besides, a lack of chaos resistance doesn't really stop you from excelling in this game (at least if your goal is to level as high as possible).

I've been at level 93 for a while now (tree and stats updated) since I'm working on another character. Still love EK, though.

Hello. Should I take IR if I'm using cloak of defiance? Or should I get more mana?

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owowl wrote:

Hello. Should I take IR if I'm using cloak of defiance? Or should I get more mana?

You want either IR or (Phase) Acrobatics. I personally prefer the latter (it's more "tanky" and costs fewer points), but taking Acrobatics makes using Cloak of Defiance a bit tricky unless you have good gear.

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

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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: