[1.2.] Serge's EB-MoM-AA Ball Lightning

I would like to give you a few advices since i have been testing myself ball of lightning and i think i can safely say i know whats best for it.

First : Whoever says that lmp is better than increased aoe just hasnt tried with enough increased aoe lol :p.
THe advantages of IAOE start from the fact that you dont have to lose 30% of your damage to things like targeting mobs that have surrounded you to hitting mobs an overall higher amount of times. It also makes single target not that shitty.. It makes shocking easier , its just overall better.

Let me tell you what i mean with hitting enemies an overall higher amount of times.

Lets assume the mob is ==> O , Ball lightning is ===> - .

Of course everybody understands that when there are many mobs ====> {OOO) you need a ball lightning with as high aoe as the mobs
| |
likee ===> |---| and many people just assume that lmp does the job perfectly because oh well the thing is increasing aoe is a bit harded then equipping a gem and leaving it there.

What people dont understand is that they lose more than 30% dps because they dont consider the usefulness of IAOE when considering things vertically ..

Lets repeat the same thing as above but now including the "length" of the ball too
mobs ===> (OOO) and ball ===> (+) .If it is a low aoe ball it obviously is one + and the effect is something like
| + |
|OOOOO|
| + |

As you see the problem with a low aoe is not only the width but the length too and that is something lmp can never take care of . Lets see the effect of a high aoe ball lightning ===> |+++++|
|+++++|

|+++++|
|+++++|
|OOOOO|
|+++++|
|+++++|

As you can all hopefully understand the high aoe ball will not only hit all the mobs aligned horizontaly , it will kill the ones aligned verticaly too faster than a lmp on AND it will be able to hit them from a longer distance . When they close up they hit faster which means more and they do the same when they leave.

It also combines greatly with knockback and slower projectiles , slower projectiles its not worth it over another dps gem as it is just slower and its range is shit. FAster casting is 100% better but knockback , knockback is the 6th gem for me for sure. It greatly improves survivability too , until you can get a 6th gem you should definitely go double cursing with proj weakness there as it does the job decently .

Its obvious that the more aoe means more dps overall but that doesnt mean you have to focus on aoe only . Imo there is an easy way to get some really nice aoe boost in your tree , first you 7% reduced mana cost at templar going for the 2 aoe nodes which is basicaly 8% for 1 point and also since you are templar the 2 one 4% one 8% for 12/2 = 6 % aoe

3 points for 20% increased aoe , its definetely worth it and the difference is soo noticable.The other step is getting a high quality , high level aoe . 3 nodes , a few orbs and you will have way more dps than now with even more aoe clearing . A windscream and you are gonna rape everything , that life lost will be nowhere comparable to the advantage you get from constantly knocking back mobs + atziri amulet can be replaced if you find an amulet with the few stats you are missing.

I've tried inc. aoe already, wasn't convinced, but I'll give it another chance.

I bought a 20/20 Increased AoE gem, and well, it beats a 20/20 LMP for sure. A lot of people are saying BL is bad. I'm determined to show it's not bad, in the sense that it would be total trash. This change is the first step. It's not as good as Arc, but it's not bad.

Gem setup is now as follows:
BL - Echo - Lightning Penetration - Faster Casting - Inc. AoE

For a 6L I'd probably add Added Lightning Damage (slower proj. makes BL too slow).

hi, not to be rude or smt but when i click on the passive skill tree link it only shows me the first 5-10 skill point but then there is 93 i can use?? it dosnt show what skill point u used where

Is this updated for the 1.2 already? Gonna reset my templar stat soon :D

Hi there, I'm waiting for you to reply, please let me know, thanks :D

Sorry to post a again, was wondering when you can come up with a 1.2 guide? I was playing templar and I still haven't spend my last 8 points since leveling. Thank you.

Wow, sorry, but I didn't thought this thread was followed. I updated the witch thread for this build ages ago, even before patch 1.2. was up and when the new tree was released.

Since there is obviously interested people, I will update this thread - the EB/MoM/AA build is still doable from templar/witch/shadow.

For those interested into BL even further, I made 3 (!) build versions of BL for the witch in patch 1.2.: a CI crit version, a hybrid life/ES crit version, and the standard EB/MoM/AA version. If you want to read about them, here is the link to the witch thread:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/959508
(Unfortunately, from the templar start, only the EB/MoM version is doable.)

"

ComradeSerge wrote:

Wow, sorry, but I didn't thought this thread was followed. I updated the witch thread for this build ages ago, even before patch 1.2. was up and when the new tree was released.

Since there is obviously interested people, I will update this thread - the EB/MoM/AA build is still doable from templar/witch/shadow.

For those interested into BL even further, I made 3 (!) build versions of BL for the witch in patch 1.2.: a CI crit version, a hybrid life/ES crit version, and the standard EB/MoM/AA version. If you want to read about them, here is the link to the witch thread:
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/959508
(Unfortunately, from the templar start, only the EB/MoM version is doable.)

Wow, thanks for the updated build :D
The passive skill tree, to my understanding, I just start invest points in where I started as a templar right? I the passive skill tree I saw you started from the witch node.
I was wondering, is the Cloak of Defiance expensive or what do I do to get it? I started poe not long ago, so I have not much idea about the currency.

Cloak of Defiance in Rampage league can be bought for 1-2 ex, or 30-60chaos. I'm selling one atm for 40 chaos. It depends on the roll.

Of course, if you play a templar, you start where the templar starts :)