Pick apart my EA build (need help/pointers)

Remember projectile damage doesn't help EA in anyway.

Even bow damage doesn't matter in anyway, the correct bow to use is Quill Rain for the fast stacking.

Okay, I'll have to rework a little bit of my Passives with that information.

How much should I expect to pay for a Quill Rain?

Also, is it worth getting Iron Reflexes?

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TortuousAugur wrote:

How much should I expect to pay for a Quill Rain?

Also, is it worth getting Iron Reflexes?

- nothing, it's dirt cheap.

- maybe, depends on your gear.

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Chundadragon wrote:

Remember projectile damage doesn't help EA in anyway.

Even bow damage doesn't matter in anyway, the correct bow to use is Quill Rain for the fast stacking.

Projectile damage nodes do apply to the explosion of EA afaik.
Here is the tree of my EA ranger (can be tweaked for scion).

gem setup:
EA(20%qual) - fire penetration - slower projectiles - elemental proliferation - concentrated effect or chance to ignite
Split arrow - chain - life gain on hit - blind
use (trap) - poison arrow - slower projectiles for reflect mobs.

BTW if you don't pick up resolute technique you will need much more than 100 DEX to hit anything.

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Bada_Bing wrote:

Projectile damage nodes do apply to the explosion of EA afaik.

Oops, yeh - mods to weapon damage like the one on Quill Rain won't affect it but pure will.

Maybe I should clarify that I'm basically a newbie to the game, and have yet to fully understand much of how the passive tree's complexity works outside of what is directly said on each node.

I was looking for a little more information contained within the answers to my questions then "it depends."

What kind of gear would be recommended with a build similar to mine, using mostly strength? What kind of gear would best benefit from iron reflex? Will iron grip benefit this build? I found a Quill Rain that I'm wanting that has 100% inc proj spd, 48 accy, 18 dex 2L r/g and an unlinked g. What would be a reasonable offer for it? 1 chaos? More? Less?

Less, an alch maybe. Make sure you get one that has high Item level. Ask them what the item level is and if it's above 50, GG you can buy it. (If you have plans of linking it)

IR is good for you only really if you run Grace. If you don't then don't really bother.

Imo for EA that uses Blood Magic it is best to use a DEX based build with evasion and dodge as defensive mechanisms.
Evasion vs armour:
a) You can't run auras, especially grace. Like already mentioned that makes iron reflexes an obsolet choice. You don't get much protection from mediocre armour.
b) The best defense for this build is using dodge/spell dodge. That also prevents using armour. Evasion synergizes well with dodge.
c) you only need 1 red gem (fire penetration) for a 5link. If you go for a 5L chest that makes armour a bad choice as you need to roll 4 off colours. You probably want the 5L on your chest as the pool of 5L evasion/eva-hybrid chests is much bigger than the pool of 5L quill rains.

Dex vs Str:
a) You need at least 151 DEX for the gems you are using. Less for Str (fire penetration gem).
b) Dex gives accuracy. With low accuracy you won't hit your targets. A Str based char is forced to take resolute technique. The Str damage bonus also doesn't apply to EA's explosion (even with iron grip as that only applies to the initial attack part of EA but NOT to the explosion).

For additional defense i use Cast when damage taken (lvl9) - Temporal chains (lvl10) - enduring cry (lvl10) - decoy totem lvl12 (with quality for extra totem life!!)

Gear:
One of the best chests for this build would be The price in standard ranges from 15-20 chaos up to 4 exalt for a 5 link.
For endgame is a good choice because of the extra spell dodge

If looking for gear use http://poe.xyz.is/. Check the buyout only button to get priced stuff only.

Oops, I meant that it had 100 Inc attack speed and 100 Inc proj speed, along with previous mentioned stats. No idea of the item level, though. He wanted an exalt for it, which I sure don't have anyway. He said it was either a perfect roll or near perfect.

Thank you for the additional information and very in depth replies. Hopefully, with the new patch coming, I'll be able to reroll both my characters for free...