[2.0] Vigilant Strike "Deathsguard" Discharge build (THEORYCRAFTED GUIDE) - Looking for Feedback
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Hi guys,
I decided to make a new post here to share a build I theorycrafted last night. I have to say a few things first: 1) I am aware of the fact that Kingsguard has a more appealing role in a Mjolner/Voll's build, but I also know that such build is too expensive for most of the players (like myself). 2) This can be a budget build with a 5l Kingsguard, with Death's Hand being the only expensive item. 3) I cannot test it right now, nor will be able to do so for at least a week (or at least until I sell all my Windripper/MF gear; off-topic: here's a link to my shop https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1416261 in case you need anything, so I get funds for this new idea). Anyway, because of this reason, don't expect any feedback from me from live tests soon. CHANGELOG - Last update: 04/09/2015
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04/09/2015: Added a changelog section.
04/09/2015: Added a breakdown of major bonuses from the passive tree in its section. 04/09/2015: Added the option to link Blood Magic to Vigilant Strike. 04/09/2015: The gem section is now complete. With that said, let's get to the gear and a detailed explaination of why each item has been chosen.
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1. DEATH'S HAND: This awesome item ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Death's_Hand ) is what made me think about this build in the first place. It has good damaging stats, but what makes it the BiS item for a build like this is that it generates Power Charges on stun (and let's not forget that the more PC you have, the more you crit, the more you get Unholy Might from this weapon). The build's main skill will be Vigilant Strike linked to damaging support gems and, most importantly, to Endurance Charge on Melee Stun, aka ECoMS: in this way we generate 1 EC on stun and we have a 30% chance to get a PC too. Pretty neat, right?
2. KINGSGUARD: This body armour ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Kingsguard ) is what got Mjolner fans super excited when it was released - and we all see why. In this build it serves the same purpose, but with different means. As I said, the main skill is Vigilant Strike, and we know that besides the highest base damage of all skills, and besides the very useful "Can't be evaded" perk, it has a 4s cooldown that can only be bypassed by spending 1 EC. How convenient is that with a single cast of this skill (linked with Multistrike, Melee Splash and ECoMS) we can get A LOT of ECs? So yeah, everytime we attack with our main skill after the first cast we get also 100 life back. 3. ABYSSUS: This helmet ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Abyssus ) is needed because it gives us solid extra flat physical damage, which is great because it will boost our dps, will make stunning enemies easier, and it will also boost the chaos damage dealt with Unholy Might. Besides, it has a good chunk of Crit Multiplier, armour, and even some Str/Dex/Int bonuses. As for its downside, we should try and get a low-on-Increased-Physical-Damage-taken roll, but in any case it will be not too hard to handle because of the high amount of armour, block chance, and life gained with the Kingsguard. 4. MEGINORD'S GIRDLE: This belt ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Meginord%27s_Girdle ) is kinda mandatory too, because it has -yet again- some flat phys damage, 10% increased Max Life, and other useful stats. All in all, pretty self-explainatory. This, instead, is a list of SUGGESTED uniques that will empower the whole outcome of the build, but are not mandatory for it to work.
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1. DOEDRE'S ELIXIR: This flask ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Doedre's_Elixir ) is not mandatory, but it will certainly aid us by generating 1x of each type of charges, which can be helpful when we have none or when they're about to expire and we don't want that to happen. Oh, btw, did I tell you that we're also using Blood Rage to get Frenzy charges as well? No? Well, we are.
2. AEGIS AURORA: This shield ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Aegis_Aurora ) can be BiS if we get a bit of ES from our gear (apart from the shield itself and the Kingsguard, we could get some on a pair of rare gloves or boots, from Discipline -the ES aura- and/or some flat ES from rings and amulet). We invest quite much into Block Chance, not with the Aegis Aurora in mind, but because it is further damage mitigation that allows us to facetank bosses and stuff. By having a lot of armour, this shield can prove to be awesome even with 1k ES, as it will regenerate it very fast and will basically give us around 1k-ish more Health. 3. RAINBOWSTRIDE: These boots ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rainbowstride ) can be BiS in many setups, especially coupled with the Aegis Aurora. They provide a good amount of ES, give us some much needed elemental resists and movement speed, and they also give extra block chance on spells based on our total block chance. 4. REDBLADE TRAMPLERS: These boots ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Redblade_Tramplers ) are very good because of the high amount of armour they give, the high-ish fire resist, and mainly because they're the only kind of boots that adds a flat amount of physical damage which, as I said earlier, is a vital stat for a lot of reasons. Let's not forget that these boots also reduce by 5% to 10% the enemies' stun treshold, depending on the roll. 5. STONE OF LAZHWAR: This amulet ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stone_of_Lazhwar ), while it has 2 perks that we don't really need, has 50% of our block chance given as extra block chance for spells. This is an insane amount, since we should get up to 60-ish block chance from both gear and passive tree. Plus, this one can be corrupted to get extra block chance or other useful stats (like extra charges). 6. THE ANVIL: This amulet ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Anvil ) can be awesome with a good corruption on it, but it has its pros even if we use a non-corrupted one. For starters, it gives a lot of armour, 8% block chance, 3% increased max block chance, and a lot of both life and mana gained on block. It can, together with the Kingsguard and a good APS with our Vigilant Strike, potentially get us around 1k life gained back per second, since we will block a lot. 7. RUMI'S CONCOCTION: This flask ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rumi%27s_Concoction ), needless to say, is very powerful because of the insane amount of armour, block chance and block chance for spells it grants. 8. TASTE OF HATE: This flask ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Taste_of_Hate ) is a luxury item that will boost our survivability and our damage by A LOT. I mean it. The drawback is that it costs a fortune, but combined with the Aegis Aurora and a high Cold Res (you could even use Purity of Ice) it reduces the incoming damage even more. 9. ATZIRI'S PROMISE: This flask ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Atziri's_Promise ) will grant us 35% extra Chaos Res -which you shouldn't expect to be very high- and basically gives us a second Unholy Might. Also, especially combined with the chaos damage gained by Unholy Might, we can get up to 55% extra physical damage as chaos damage, and this awesome flask gives us 2% of Chaos Damage leeched back as life! So yeah, that's A LOT, we should really consider to get one of these. Now that the various gear options have been listed, let's move onto the tree
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This is the tree I thought of (lv 100), even though it can be improved in various ways. In fact, I would remind you that I designed this build last night, so it can be felt a bit "rushed":
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwQAAZEEhwUtBTwGOQthDPcOPBLhFCAUcRT2FewYkRo4Gj4nLylPLdIvzDJOOlI62Ds7PC09D0CgQT9Gt0d-SHhNRlBHUWBR5l4TXz9gkWFSYuxlTWZUZ1hnm2jya7d07Xasd1N5OXrvfLt-4oIHg1-DzITZhO-Fe4V9hjuGYIrwjM-PmZBVkc6SfZSHmAqYb57Fns2fy6IAouqnMKmVrK-uPq9stqS3Prkdu-28n702vqfAv8GCxVPFisauypDPftIh02_Yvdl82sHcI9wy3pbfsuRR5K3lz-lG6dXqGOw47w7vTvAf8kHzBvZI9zL46_uq_go= First off, let's talk about some numbers from the tree:
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+401% Increased Melee Physical Damage (15% of which is only gained during Fortify, but we constantly have it on)
+383 Strength (which means +76% Melee Physical Damage, for a total of 477%) +41% Attack Speed +165% Max Life +15% Increased Fortify Effect (up to a total of around 28% less damage taken with Fortify on) +20% Increased Armour during Fortify +122% Armour +36% Armour and Evasion +23% Block Chance 33% Reduced Enemy Stun Threshold 95% Increased Stun Duration +135% Increased Melee Critical Strike Chance +15% Increased Melee Critical Multiplier We could give up Unwavering Stance in order to link Blind with something, because a blinded enemy has way less chance to hit us, which leads to a even higher damage mitigation. BANDITS: As for the bandits, we should help Oak in Normal and any of them in Merciless. As you can see from the tree I linked above, there are 3 points left at level 100. This is because you can either help Oak in Cruel, or spend a point elsewhere, maybe with some tweaks to the tree I made. So, here we are to the last bit: let's talk about gems and how they are truly, truly, truly outrageous. Sorry for the crossover. NOTE: THIS SECTION HAS BEEN UPDATED, BUT IS NOT 100% COMPLETE YET
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So, the main skill we are going to use is VIGILANT STRIKE ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vigilant_Strike ).
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The links will be, in order of importance:
1. ECoMS ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Endurance_Charge_on_Melee_Stun ) 2. Melee Splash ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Melee_Splash ) 3. Multistrike ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Multistrike ) 4. Melee Physical Damage ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Melee_Physical_Damage ) 5. Added Fire Damage ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Added_Fire_Damage ) As a 5th or 6th link we can also run our Vigilant Strike with Blood Magic (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Blood_Magic_(support_gem)) to be able to cast it even if we reserve all our mana for buffs and auras. The cost shouldn't be too much of a burden for us because of the life we gain back and the life leech from Blood Rage. If you don't have a 5l Kingsguard , you can try and swap Multistrike with Melee Physical Damage. This is suggested because the more damage you deal, the more you stun. So, in a 4l, the order would be Vigilant Strike -> ECoMS -> Melee Splash -> Melee Physical Damage. Also, if we need to deal single-target damage , we can swap Melee Splash with Added Fire (in a 5l) or with either Stun ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stun_(support_gem) ), or Life Leech ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Life_Leech_(support_gem) ), or Life Gained on Hit ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Life_Gain_on_Hit_(support_gem) ) for extra survivability. As a second damaging skill, we can use the ever-loved DISCHARGE, in a different-from-mainstream-but-so-good-Mjolner-build, self-casted fashion. ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Discharge ) NOTE: I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS SKILL IF EITHER YOUR COMPUTER OR YOUR CONNECTION ARE VERY BAD
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One of the Pros of using a self-casted Discharge is that you have control over the lag spike it brings with every cast. Of course, with a good gaming computer and a stable connection that is not a problem, but in my case it can be. This seems like a minor or close-to-useless benefit, but it can potentially save your character's life many times, as well as your keyboard, computer screen, or whatever you'd smash/throw-against-the-wall if you'd happen to crash during a paid map or before clicking on that good drop you got and hadn't the time to collect.
Anyway, as for the links, we can go with different routes: 1. TRIPLE (was it double?) PENETRATION: This setup is about linking Discharge to Fire, Lightning and Cold penetration. This way, we deal a huge amount of damage and we can possibly use Discharge as a finisher against bosses or hard-hitting packs of mobs. 2. SOME MEN JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD BURN: This setup is thought to deal a lot of fire damage (since the highest amount of charges we have is EC). We link Discharge with Fire Penetration, Increased Area of Effect, and Concentrated Effect. The damage is going to be insane. Also, we can swap any gem with a lv 3+ Empower. Now, I'd like to talk about our handy SINGLE TARGET SKILL to use against unique bosses or bosses immune to stun . That skill is Frenzy ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Frenzy ).
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It should be placed in a 4l item, because we need it to be linked to 3 out of 4 possible support gems:
1. Multistrike (even though it doesn't grant us more than 1 FC per cast) 2. Fortify ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Fortify_(support_gem) ) 3. Power Charge on Critical (aka PCoC - http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Power_Charge_On_Critical ) -I listed Fortify because if the boss is a hard-hitter the buff can be really helpful in the attempt of not dying (28% reduced damage taken from hits, if we grab Rampart and the nodes before it). -PCoC, instead, is useful if we want our Discharge to deal more damage and if we want to proc Unholy Might with our Death's Hand more often, because if the enemy is immune to stun we're not getting PCs from stuns. BUFFS AND AURAS
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I thought about this and there are quite a few options to deal with. The problem is we only have a 4l left, so we have to choose wisely.
NOTE: You have 2 4l left if you decide to drop Discharge for whatever reason. There are many AURAS from which we greatly benefit, such as: 1. HERALD OF ASH: ( http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Herald_of_Ash ) this gem grants us a nice bonus of 15% Extra Physical Damage as Fire, besides an awesome AoE overkill burning damage. With this buff on, our Vigilant Strike with Melee Splash is going to melt through enemies. 2. HATRED: (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Hatred) this aura grants a huge amount of extra Physical Damage as Cold, namely 36% at level 20, but it also reserves 50% of the mana. 3. DETERMINATION: (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Determination) this is a defensive aura that grants, for 50% of your mana, 51% extra armour at level 20. It's quite a bit, so you can go for it if you feel that your character isn't tanky enough. 4. ARCTIC ARMOUR: (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Arctic_Armour) this one is a very useful buff that reduces a percentage of both physical and fire incoming damage. It also chills the nemies that hit us and our movement leaves an icy trail that chills enemies who step on it. 5. PURITIES: I'm talking about 4 different gems here: Purity of Ice (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Purity_of_Ice), Purity of Fire (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Purity_of_Fire), Purity of Lightning (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Purity_of_Lightning), and Purity of Elements (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Purity_of_Elements). These auras are extremely good for further mitigation of elemental damage, especally the first 3, that also increase our maximum resistances from 75 to up to 79 at level 20 (or 80 at level 23). For example it would be a good thing to run both Purity of Fire and Purity of Lightning if we want to use the Aegis Aurora, so that all resistances are capped at around 79-80%. 6. CLARITY: (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Clarity) this aura is very useful if you want to have your mana up for every cast of your skills. It can also efficiently be linked to the Blood Magic gem, so that the flat mana cost becomes a flat health cost that we surely can bear easily. 7. DISCIPLINE: (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Discipline) this aura has a low mana reserved cost (35%) and is very efficient in giving a good chunck of extra ES. Thias aura is invaluable whenever we want to use the Aegis Aurora, as it gives us enough ES to survive more and it gets regenerated on block. In the end, there are a lot of auras we can run and all of them are very useful. I'd suggest you to choose the ones you are going to pick based on your gear, your resistances and your offensive stats. In any case, I also want to remind you that all auras can be linked to Enlighten (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Enlighten); this powerful gem reduces the mana reserved by all auras linked to it, so it's ideal to pick 3 auras and link them to Enlighten, for example. To check how much of your mana will be reserved by the auras you want to use, especially when you have tools that reduce the mana reserved for each of them, you can use this very accurate calculator from Mikelat: https://poe.mikelat.com/. It can be found as a link in the Aura page from the PoE Wiki. Now we have to discuss about which BUFFS -not auras- we should use and why. These are gems that should be placed in our weapon or shield, in a 3l.
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The main buff we are going to use is Blood Rage (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Blood_Rage). This skill increases our attack speed and gives us a good amount of Life Leech, but it also grants a chance to get a Frenzy Charge on kill. But this buff has also a downside: we loose 4% of our energy shield and health as physical damage. Good news is we're regenerating both of them in time and we're also reducing the amount per second thanks to our armour.
There are 2 other buffs which are very helpful for this build: the first one is Tempest Shield (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Tempest_Shield), which grants 3% extra block chance, along with a useful chaining lightning attack on block, which can shock our enemies and make them take 50% MORE DAMAGE for a short duration; the second one is Molten Shell (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Molten_Shell), a buff that grants armour and absorbs damage until it explodes in an area around us. Both or one of them can be linked to the gem Cast when Damage Taken - aka CwDT (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Cast_when_Damage_Taken). Another gem very worthy of mention is Immortal Call (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Immortal_Call). This skill makes us immune to physical damage for a very short duration, and it consumes all ECs we have on its cast to increase its own duration. It is often linked to CwDT, but I feel that it's too risky to use it in a build like this, that's based on consuming one EC at a time to bypass the cooldown on our main damaging skill. So, we've come to the end of this journey (for now, since I still have to update the gem section and add a jewel section), but the real adventure is about to start! (Don't quote me on this, sounds like a cartoon-ish speech from a teen character, but it was fun) I hope to see some feedback here by the time I come back, because I'd really like to go for this build and see how far it leads me. Every form of criticism is welcome, but I'd encourage you to not be rude nor post non-constructive comments. Bye for now! Last edited by Sunderboi#5479 on Sep 4, 2015, 12:40:23 PM
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I'm not sure about the possibility of sustaining ECs with ECoMS with Vigilant Strike but anyways, I'll just point out some things in the build real quick :
- Be prepared, Melee Splash isn't in a very good place, it feels very clunky compared to other AoE melee skills - Kingsguard + Vigilant Strike could be great if you get the skill working though - You get a lot of damage for your weapon on the tree but you're also planning on using Discharge. First of all, linking 3 Pen gems to it is a pretty bad idea, you have much better support gems available there. But anyways, I'm warning you : you have no damage for Discharge on your tree/gear, and you're not able to spam it like a Mjölner/CoC build, so its damage will be TERRIBLE, 100% guarantee. -> "The damage is going to be insane" : don't get your hopes too high about Discharge, because maths will smash them down as soon as you try to use it in that way. |
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