1h Shield Flicker build help PLEASE!

Hello People!


Thanks in advance for taking a look at this for me :)

I havent been around for a long time and recently come back to a 86 point respec so I want to make it right this time.

Any suggestions advice etc would be hugely appreciated.

For the record

Im pretty sure once upon a time long ago I was one of the first people to run a super speed multi-strike flicker build. I would basically blood rage then just hold flicker and pretty much clear everything in view... People would always be like "WTF are you doing!!!", "Dang your hurting my eyes!!!" etc etc....


See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I93HEhZF64 or something to that effect.

Eventually I hit a wall in my build, it was all together homemade, I was originally using the Iron Reflexes and Unwavering stance keystones and a ton of mana crap. I had spec'd to use raipers and the general lack of a good 1h and many bad choices in my path I eventually lost interest in the game. *sigh*

I mean level 71 and could not kill shit with 3 man group (even though my raiper did over 190phys 90ele dps). I was at a loss. I had nothing to trade for high end weapons and gear and trade chat feels like a Moroccan marketplace on crack.

Well now im back... avoiding trade chat like the plague and messing about with some friends and having a great time.

So here it is... the new improved flicker build

This is what ive worked out so far...


Let me reiterate that I have very little currency to invest in this build.

I do have a Bronn's Lithe, Sin Trek and few other bleh uniques to use on this though.

I intend to use Bloodrage, Warlords Mark, Doublestrike->lifeleach->Melee Splash, Leapslam->Stun->Endurance Charge on Melee Stun, Whirlwind, Flicker->Culling Strike->Multistrike->Increased Critical Strike Chance, Enduring Cry, Haste (or clarity)->Reduced Mana, Herald of Thunder->blind (and something else?).

I have a Puncture->Melee Splash->Chance to Flee thats fun too... and Use Viperstrike->Powercharge on Critical, for tough bosses...

Forgive my newbish approach to this.. many thanks again!

You should read through some Flicker Strike Guides/builds (e.g. by Mathil)

Basically, you go Daggers, and Crit, often also Chaos Inoculation and then stack ES so you survive the one occasion in 10 mins of gameplay when a bigger mob actually hits you.

Soon as you know how you want or need to customize this basic idea into your own build, use poe.trade (often referred to as poe.xyz.is) to search for matching items.


Also, if you want more detailed feedback, post your Gear.



P.S.: I would for now just forget about the build you linked there as it is damn expensive and that guy can't even seem to know the difference between a Residence Map (which it was, Lvl 74) and a Palace map (which it was not, those are lvl 78 and have a different kind of fighting the same boss).

Thanks for the advice...

I am dedicated to using swords.

The video I linked was more as an example to show what it used to look like when the original build had was working.

Im not willing to travel up all the way to CI as a duelist it is a bit far.

I did check that trade site! Awesome... I will fiddle with that for a bit. hell that could even make me some orbs. THANK YOU!!

Well I am sorry to say, but neither Duelist nor Swords have a good synergy with Flicker Strike atm.

You need a good sword to deal enough damage, you need a fair bit of life, and life regen due to compensate Blood Rage. The Warlord's Mark approach is not necessarily bad but I think it makes the build really squishy.
So, if we take swords as granted (Duelists and Dagger don't go well either, a Shadow would make most sense here), you need to decide if you go crit or non-crit. Going crit involves a massive amount of passive tree nodes to invest, but might (and just might) pay off some time.

Then, the thing with FlickerStrike itself is: You don't get hit too often. Using a Shield then is a waste. CI builds use one to max their ES, but as non-CI you would grab Life nodes from the tree and that's it.

Also, the budget thing is pretty hard to do. For now I would advise you to play something else with a duelist, and maybe start a new character as Shadow for Flicker Strike. In about a month you will get a Passive Tree reset when Patch 1.4 hits. Until then, I would not invest too much in a flicker build, cause your start with Duelist and not-so-good gear will give you a hard time.

If you insist on playing this, I think two-hand swords are an option. They provide the necessary damage, and are cheap to obtain since they are not used much. Also, their low attack speed fits Flicker Strike better as it speeds you up quite a bit.

Tree proposal:



EDIT:
As for auras: Go Hatred, and maybe Clarity. Haste is not needed. If you have trouble with mana, grab 2 Mana nodes in the duelist starting area and see to get mana leech on your gear anyways.

"

Harakala wrote:

Thanks for the advice...

I am dedicated to using swords.

The video I linked was more as an example to show what it used to look like when the original build had was working.

Im not willing to travel up all the way to CI as a duelist it is a bit far.

I did check that trade site! Awesome... I will fiddle with that for a bit. hell that could even make me some orbs. THANK YOU!!

Question,
Are you dedicated to using shields as well? If not, a two-handed sword might be your solution to getting the damage you might lack. If you get enough crit, there is also a unique two-handed sword that gives you a frenzy charge on crit. It should also be cheap since people don't normally go two-handed.

Edit: Whoops, someone already mentioned two-handed swords. My bad :)

Thanks for the advice guys :)

I am really set on the shield bc the original idea was a flicker/tank and I want to be more supportive. (yes I know this makes no sense) I am weird. I realize that I will not be getting 200k or even 50k theoretical DPS with this build but the idea is to make it challenging but effective to a degree and have a good bit of survivability (yes I know killing something means I dont have to defend against it).

I really do appreciate the advice to play with other classes to explore the flicker concept. I have done a bit of it and can definitely see how a shadow or scion could make it increasingly right for flicker.
And as I side note, I do have the max allowable characters for a basic account including 2 59+ witch and marauder. I have a scion in the 40's that is an op room clearer, she uses claws and static strike to great effectiveness. I have several other midlevels and I enjoy them! :)

So,
The idea here is to basically get extra resists through the shield, use primarily Double Strike->Melee Splash etc, Enduring Cry, and then have this crazy flicker as a clean up

I know I can make this reasonably viable with the gear I have. (links will come eventually as I was recently educated as to how to do it so I will experiment later, bacon is calling me) a high dps rapier or 1h sword with high speed will tip the scales to flesh out the flavor of what I am trying to do.

I am definitely thinking about everything that has been said. I like the idea of the 2h sword flicker and in fact might try and tweak the marauder I have to use it.

I am basically just asking if the passive tree looks like I have spent in the right direction to maximize my crit, life, sword physical and whether or not I should do evasion entirely (which is what I think would work best).

Thanks again for your thoughts :)

If you want to focus on crit, you need a lot of sword crit nodes. (You skipped quite a few)

Example tree:


36 pts remaining, you should probably travel to the Scion lifewheel now.

Inc. Sword phys dmg is not nearly as important as critting reliably. but you need really good accuracy too, then.
Problem is, with your current lvl you do not have enough skillpoints to reach reasonable amounts of crit and life/survivability.

Also, Flicker strike works best against packs, Double strike or frenzy should be for single-target.

Furthermore, going Acrobatics reduces you block chance by 30%. Just cut that for now I'd say

Excellent Help Carmondai89!

Thanks a bunch on this... I have been busy with 60-70 ranger, witch, and marauder lately and just abandoned this Duelist. I am eager to give this a try now with 1.4 coming up soon I will get to experiment with this for a bit.

So travel to the scion tree for what exactly? If you would take the time to sketch out from which path I should head there that would be awesome. :)

Many thanks and respect,

You're welcome!

This is a tree where I took the said Scion Life wheel (so called because it is near scion start):



Also I cut one point near "Defiance" where you get 40% inc Shield defences...up to you to take it or not.

I think when you reach the Constitution node in the mentioned life wheel, you can try yourself if you want to go all life or even more dps. You might try for the "Disemboweling" cluster at the left side of the tree, giving you more crit. Just toy around, with the upcoming beta of Act 4 you will still have some weeks of testing if needed.

If you want to compare different skilltrees, or create a few and see which fits best, I recommend taking a look at poebuilder.com. No need to click every single node there ;)

@OP --- read the other feedback here but it sounds like you are getting advice from people telling you to play a different build than what you want.

So......

First of all - you are most definitely NOT even close to one of the first people to do a flicker-strike build.
I did a very popular build like this in early closed beta; and *I was not even the first!*.
I also wrote a guide a long time ago - which is here: [FlickZerker] /view-thread/425311


So - going off that guide - what you can do is go 2-handed and set it up fairly cheap to test it, before you decide to fully commit.

The best item for flicker-strike build just to see how well it works is this 2H axe:


Get at least a 5L and put in:
Flicker + Multistrike + Melee Splash + Melee Damage + Added Fire
This will tear up packs so hard its not even funny; plus of course it culls them on low life so you should just see packs explode.

For single-target / bosses you should have frenzy with multistrike and a few good links.

You can also do fairly well reserving 2 slots in a 6L to put in IIR/IIQ for MF farming with this build.

The easiest way to do this build is testing with life; though to maximize it you will want to be CI.
With CI you will want to have Vaal Pact as well; which negates one-shotting yourself on reflect - and you dont suffer any of the downfall of Vaal Pact with CI.


If you decide to go 2H - then I suggest also looking at staff as an alternative weapon.
You can get a decent enough block at around 28% with some basic staff nodes near templar and a crafted 18% block staff.
Staff also has very good crit nodes; if you want to go crit with it.

The ultimate build I think for flicker after having played it for 2+ years and tried many different builds - is most definitely a staff crit build.
It hits hard so you get killing shots; it has great crit synergy with 20%Q flicker; and gives you a minimal block as added defense.



For 1h/shield flicker crit builds its definitely dagger - or claw; as a shadow (ranger can also do well) which does best. As the synergies there are just obvious.
Any other 1h weapon is a waste on that build setup.