[wip]racing witch build and item filter
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Hi,
As you can see on my profile I'm not an avid racer, I just think it's fun, so your position in the races wont in any way be threatened by helping me :) I intend to race when my schedule allows it in season 12 (Emberwake) and I've started to figure out a build I'd like to play and its corresponding item filter. Please critique my ideas and suggest improvements!
How is it going?
Small reports from races I've joined... 12th: 1h Emberwake This just went bad, got in 5min late, died in The Coast :( Tried to remake as a ranger two times, didn't make it to Brutus... Nothing more to say, it was bad! 11th: 60min solo] This went pretty well, nothing really exceptional happened. Oh, wait, yes it did: I realized for the first time that flame dash is not only a movement skill but also a teleportation skill! (Comes in handy in the Riverways :) I'm thinking about actually recording a few of my races and look through them afterwards to see how much I'm standing still doing stuff with my inventory, I think it's way too much :( Things to learn: - take advantage of flame dash - get better at inventory time Things I did well: - I didn't go for the waypoint in the Western forest just picked a side (50% chance to get Alira, I failed, but if I go to the correct side I save a little time :) 10th: 90 min party I wasn't in a party, needless to say I wasn't able to compete at all, still I got my best result so far :) With 3 minutes to go I thought I could have time to farm City of Sarn two times by logging out after the Vaal kill, I failed, not sure if you just have to open the door or actually go there. Things I did well: - I kept progressing well, keeping at 3-4 levels under - I tried doing the SP quest in the Alira area, wont do it next time, now I know :) Things to learn: - I really struggle with keeping the pace, mostly wrt how much time I spend in my inventory. - I need to keep better track of my resources, I +1 cold a quartz sceptre but couldn't wield it since I had a +1 fire wand in my other hand (I chose the +1cold due to socket colors) - You can't logout to get the WP after the Apex, you have to go there, or at least open the door :( 9th: Enberwake sig Gah! I think I need to check my priorities, died to merveil again :( Well, at least I had time for a small brake and to get to lvl 9 again for 3 pts... Things to learn: - don't go faster than you can handle - need to consider getting cold res before +1fire wand Things I did well: - nothing really :( 8th: Descent Champions Started with a ranger, died 10mins in, and made a witch instead. This was fun, I'd love to do more of these, figuring out the different areas, etc. Running out of wisdoms is boring (and possibly stupid too :( Things to learn: - I know this, but wanted to try the effect in this race, but still: don't wear body armour! - don't waste wisdoms - how to double hit with magma orb consistently - inventory management, I suck at it! Things I did well: - Not sure, really, I just played and stayed alive - killed two point bosses - but purely by accident. 5th, 6th, 7th: Decent Burst My first try on the Descent format... it was fun :) Decided to try to play a Ranger, and found a pretty nice combo that got me to lvl5 in the 2nd and 3rd race of the group (the first I restarted 3 times, and got to like lvl 3.5 before end). What worked out was: Frostblades, Dual Strike and later puncture & detonate dead (from the large chest in the first area). I got really lucky in the 3rd race and found a fire trap, what a breeze :) Things I did well: - Only using currency on weapons Things to learn: - The tree, what to do about it? I went for: this, thoughts? 4th: Merveil Kill With so much time to get the kill and no way I'm getting a top time, I played almost like a normal leveling char (no side quests, but still). I've started to +1 fire my starting wand as it has RGB for (Flame Totem, Fire Trap & Flame Dash) and looking for a nice spirit shield, either with spell damage or +1 cold. For longer races, eg beyond Merveil I'll probably +1 fire a quartz sceptre too :) Didn't find any but with plenty of time I got the kill easily in ~48 minutes One mistake I did, was to forget about not having MS boots and alching a spirit shield instead of a pair of boots, but oh well - the format made me lazy. Lessons to learn (hopefully I will, but I'm kind of a slow learner, so we'll see): - Never forget about them boots! - I need to keep better track of my resources, went to town one time too many since I couldn't afford both a red gem and a phys ring :( Things I did well: - Realizing I wont be top-anything I took my time for the 9 pts. 3rd: One burst Came home to late for all three bursts, but managed to do one at least. Nothing really special about it, I did ok: got my 2pts. Lessons to learn (hopefully I will, but I'm kind of a slow learner, so we'll see): - it's twelve minutes, I wont use any currency except maybe wisdoms: don't pick anything up :) Things I did well: - After the first couple of chests I realized it was a 12min burst, no point. - When I realized I've run the wrong way I did the Dweller of the deep, I think it got me more xp than backtracking would have done. 2nd: inferno Everything went really well, got MS boots from Tarkleigh after Hillock, found a Spirit shield with +1 fire and 1 chrome to RG (Flame Totem & Fire Trap) :) Portaled to town just before Merveil to sell of 2 rares to get an alt to get a +1 cold sceptre for my FP, but hadn't paid attention, both where chromes :( Was so stressed out at the Merveil fight, died to her first form at 10% life :( This race was incredibly fun, the inferno tempest really had my adrenaline going all the time :) Lessons to learn (hopefully I will, but I'm kind of a slow learner, so we'll see): - It is better to go slow than die (not that I was going fast anyway, but relatively speaking). - I still struggle to not get dragged into fights that I should run from, otoh I did meet Hailrake, Brutus and Merveil at comfortable levels, just think that there was a faster way of getting there. Things I did well: - went to town just the right amount of times - too bad my item filter didn't distuinguish between chrome rares and alt/trans rares 1st: signature emberrace After practicing in the Tempest league a few times, I felt fairly confident that I'd be able to reach level 18 for my first sweet 6pts. That failed... I died to Brutus while listening to some kids outside my window that where upset. Fired up a second character and got to the Southern Forest and level 11.5 - half a level from 4 pts :( Not terribly bad, but not good either. Lessons to learn (hopefully I will, but I'm kind of a slow learner, so we'll see): - Really know when to go to town and not (I shouldn't go after the caged brute, but instead pick up flame dash when getting to Merveil's Caverns) - It is better to go slow than die (not that I was going fast anyway, but relatively speaking).
Other resources
* RaizQT posted a video of him racing and becoming top scion in the first race. * Another vid, this one by Nerdstalggic - showing off a first run in Descent Champions. * One more vid, this one by Games 4 Days * Hellmans Descent race video Questions Q: do you have to go out thru the door in the Apex or just open the door the get the WP? Previous questions, answered in thread.... Q: Is there any point in not helping Oak? (I'm thinking +40 life and one less travel to town) A: No convincing argument made. Q: How to deal with Masters and boxes? (I'm thinking ignore until you have enough scrolls to id blue+ boxes and engage if favorable - whatever that means) A: Masters don't spawn in races. Boxes need judgement, see ChronoExiles answer below
The build
Thanks to tagpt for fixing my original ideas
Gear & Gems
<Breaking some Eggs * Freezing Pulse + Fire Trap <The Caged Brute * +1 Fire Sceptre/Wand: Flame Totem + Fire Trap * Freezing Pulse <The Sirens Cadence * +1 Fire Sceptre/Wand: Flame Totem + Fire Trap * Freezing Pulse * Flame Dash (might go into the +1 Fire Sceptre if very lucky) Final * +1 fire quartz sceptre: flame totem + added cold + added lightning * +1 cold quartz sceptre(/spirit shield, depending on drops): freezing pulse + added cold + added lightning * MS boots: HoI, HoT * Gloves: ele weakness * Helmet: flame dash * Chest: ??
Progression
General idea Act1: * Hillock * Tidal Island * lvl 8 for Brutus * lvl 12 for Merveil Act2: (Order will change if I decide to not help Oak) * Broken Bridge * Chambers * Western Forest * Wetlands Act 3: * either run, run, run to docks or farm city
The loot filter
/Kruff Edit: fixed links and changed tree a bit... Edit: adapted to almost fully comply with advice given, added some specific questions Edit: formatting, giving credit and a report from my first race in the Emberwake season Edit: Added a video from RaizQT Edit: another report Edit: a few more reports added, and confirming that even the fastest SP quest is a bad choice :) Last edited by kruff on Jul 28, 2015, 4:52:49 PM
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Hello,
Welcome to the racing community. I'm not a tier 1 racer but i have been racing for a long time and i have a good understanding of it. A lot has changed since the last race season so the information i will give you is what i think is best right now (with very limited testing), but as the season goes, we might find out there are better ways. As far as your build goes, it depends on the length of the race. In a 1h race for example, you can't expect to get lvl 30, so it's not worth to travel very far in order to get good notables because you either can't get them at all or get them in time for it to really matter. (Btw, your ptree links are broken) This should always be your lvl7 tree (https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMBLJxEq1WughCPpt-w). From there, i think the best is to pick Fire Walker at lvl9 and then Practical Application at lvl11 (https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMBEFgfxyt4LJxEq1WughCHZY-m37A=)
Spoiler
The reason for this order is, you will need +str to lvl flame totem at lvl 9 and +dex for fire trap at lvl 11. And i think i would rather get fire dmg that helps all your spells and delay the lvl up for flame totem a little bit. After that, i would probably go to Blast Radius and then Alchemist at lvl21 (https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMBDlwQWB_HK3gsnC2LPV9Eq0V-TLNSU1WuavptGYIQh2WPppeVl_TfsA==)
Spoiler
There are other options like going Templar but i like the radius nodes. The flask nodes are relatively worse than they were before because you will run less and flame dash more but they are just nearby. But maybe going Templar is probably better i dont know. There's also the possibility to just go up top to Heart of Flame, or go to the Templar tree instead (specially for longer duration races). If you find yourself dying too much, you can adjust the tree to be a little more defensive, but overall, it is better to just work on your mechanics and get defense from gear instead of ptree. Apart from the build, in terms of crafting, you will want to craft a +1 fire scepter or wand ASAP. That's your first priority along with trying to get MS boots. Scepters are better than wands (elemental dmg works with fire trap degen while spell dmg does not) but its ok to craft your starting wand. You can use flame totem (red), fire trap (green) and magma orb/fire storm/incinerate (blue) on it. I would save my first transmute for the wand/scepter and try to id all rares to get an alt orb ASAP. If you get an alch or a vaal orb, use it on boots to try and get MS. If you get a chaos orb, use it on rare boots if you don't have ms yet. If you get a chance orb or a second transmute, use it on your quicksilver. Save your first augment for the quicksilver in case it only rolls one affix. Use the second augment on your crafted weapon. For your offhand, you probably want a high %spell dmg or flat dmg added to spells. You might want to keep a shield on your 2nd gear slot for boss fights. You might want to check a few streams of racers on twitch to get a general idea of how much you should kill in each zone, the order in which you should do stuff and the overall way you should play. That's about it :) Have fun and ask if you have any question... Edit: In terms of gems, fire trap still reigns supreme as the best dmg skill for casters. Also, flame totem is a pretty good utility skill so you definitely want to focus on fire. You can use magma orb early on and firestorm later. Incinerate costs a transmute and is a very good single target if you put it on your +1 weapon. With the nerf to tendrils dmg and aoe i dont think its that good anymore. Flame Dash is the best racing skill of all time, just use it! :) In the race ladders there is going to be a huge gap between classes that get it and classes that don't. Also, if the gem drops for a class that does not get it, it has the potential to get a record thats very hard to break...i rly dont like that... Last edited by tagpt on Jul 22, 2015, 6:17:26 PM
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+1 for a Tag knowledge post.
Pointing out a simple correction, in the list of options for the blue socket (if you +1 your starting wand) I think Tag meant Magma Orb, and not Molten Strike. My 2c on the item filter. Do what makes sense for you. People who have been racing for a number of seasons already just know what they need to pick up, and sometimes this is already on auto pilot. I would be a little nervous to write a filter utilizing hide blocks, so if I were to make one for racing it would just emphasize the desirable items. |
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Thanks for the great responses.
I've adjusted my trees a bit (not strictly following your advice, but taking them into consideration) Wrt to the loot filter, I currently keep things showing very small and pale checking to see if there is anything I would pick up. One thing that I did miss was a perfect normal quartz sceptre, so I'll have to change the filter for that (showing 3L, normal rarity, quartz sceptres) Keep it coming! /Kruff | |
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I'd recommend *NOT* doing any of the optional quests that give skill points. They're just not worth the time. Progressing is #1 priority. I would also recommend following tag's advice on skill trees. Maximizing damage is super important.
SeoHyun (www.twitch.tv/Awkamess)
My racing guides for S11: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15DtU8a7ruzt_q7x51pS6lG4QOl_XxAmcdP6RU-61qUU "Terrex is irrelevant." ~Lonestar420 2015 | |
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Ok, thanks for the help, I will almost take it all :)
(I'm too stubborn to not do "The way forward" as it is 1min for 1sp) I have some specific questions: * Is there any point in not helping Oak? (I'm thinking +40 life and one less travel to town) * How to deal with Masters and boxes? (I'm thinking ignore until you have enough scrolls to id blue+ boxes and engage if favorable - whatever that means) /Kruff | |
" Unless this has changed, Masters do not spawn in races. One less thing to worry about. With strongboxes I know there are some racers who roll for magic packs for the extra XP gain. But that also depends on currency and progression in the race too. |
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" Oak is usually the fastest and most effective bandit. 40 life is pretty significant. I would usually yolo most white/blue boxes as most of the deadly boxes come from multiple dangerous affixes combined, rather than just one. Like Chrono said, getting a magic pack box is HUGE. It's whatever you feel comfortable with, though. SeoHyun (www.twitch.tv/Awkamess)
My racing guides for S11: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15DtU8a7ruzt_q7x51pS6lG4QOl_XxAmcdP6RU-61qUU "Terrex is irrelevant." ~Lonestar420 2015 | |
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Thanks for taking the time to help a noob :)
I've updated the first post - with a small report from my first race this season. Please take the time to reread it and keep throwing me advice. Do you know of anyone recording their race for me to watch? /Kruff | |
" helman is giving private racing lessons afaik d:^) |
