[2.1] BDY's Hardcore Sire of Shards Lighting Trapper Guide

Work in Progress, CURRENTLY STRUGGLING TO OBTAIN SURVIVABILITY IN HIGH MAPS. Use caution if making this build I've been able to do T12 maps quickly but it is risky*

* Currently at 5K life / 3K es when using a shield and it's still squishy. On top of that, there are tons of map modifiers that hinder a hybrid build including regen rate and burning or desecrated ground. Will keep trying though.

Hello! I don't normally write guides so please excuse any nuances. But, sometimes I play a build that is really fun or powerful and can't find a guide on it. This build fits that bill. It's reasonably fast and reasonably fun. I've been playing this build the last week and its quite fast clearing with reasonable, if somewhat clunky, single target and can be done with a small budget. I'm currently level 87 and just undergone a respec to prepare for higher tier maps. But, from what I've seen so far, it can carry a small party (1-3) of people in Gorges and other T9s fairly quickly and should scale quite a bit more but it does have some downsides. So let's start Pros and Cons section:

Pros and Cons

Pros -

Fast Clearing
Shocks everything
Bear trap has some great utility
Leveling is a breeze - Super easy through the progression and steady 140-150 million exp an hour in Act 4 Dried Lake farming with a Five Link
Choice between Acrobatics and Hybrid build
Can be done on a Budget
Reflect Immune(Duh)

Cons-
Medium to low survivability - there are way tankier builds out there
Single Target can be clunky vs. fast moving mobs
Chromaticly expensive
Mana cost is through the roof - you will need mana regeneration on your jewelry
Some map configurations are bad for Lighting Trap and Trappers in general
No Leech



Skill Tree


Hybrid -

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYABAcFtQceCNQI9A5ID8QRLxFQEZYdTx7wIG4j9iT9JpUqCysKLR8wfDIBMhg1uTY9N9Q6WDt8QZZFfElRSbFMs02SUDBRR1MxVUtVxl3yYeJh62KsZJ1kqmo2akNsCGyMbRltOnBRcFJ2b3pTew1-sH_Gg9uJ04oGjDaNfY2_j_qTJ5UglS6Xl5smm4adqqKjpyuus7IZswO0OLTFt3W4yrzqwFTB88Lsz3rQH9D118_YVNvn5RnnVOik6NbrY-v17BjtP-4V74jv6_DV8PnxivId-Tf79f_e?accountName=bdy&characterName=BDYT


Acrobatics - Coming soon



Gem Choices

Lightning Trap - Not much to say except these traps have a faster recovery time than other traps. You can throw these exclusively pretty consistently with the new(?) recovery nodes for traps. The Blast Cascade Node is a decent PCoC type effect but really benefits from Power Charge Duration Nodes since it's not 100% reliable.

4L: Multi-Trap + Lightning Pen + Chain
5L: Trap and Mine Damage (NOTE!: I ran Added Lightning Damage in my 5L because the colors took tons of chromatics to get. You will most likely run Added Lighting as well but don't worry the % difference is roughly 5-8% and might actually be worse depending on your gear)
6L: Added Lightning Damage

Note: I compared this setup to a setup using my friends level 4 empower and it does about 20% more damage than a level 4 empower so it seems pretty optimal.

Bear Trap - Bear trap is our single target DPS. When you encounter a boss and after you clear out the trash, you throw down your Vaal Lighting Trap and then start bear trapping. A huge portion of the damage comes from the burn so we really just want a few critical strikes and the bosses will burn out very fast. Note: I have one shotted a Tier 5 map boss with just my regular Lightning Trap and a critical hit so if the monsters are clustered up, throw out your Vaal Lighting Trap and take a shot at em'

4L: Added Fire + Trap and Mine Damage + Increased Critical Strikes
5L: Increased Critical Damage (Here again, if you are working with a 4L, you will notice that Increased Critical Damage does more in the 4L than Increased Critical Strikes. But, I prefer the consistency of Increased chance over the tool tip dps because you really need that burning damage)
6L: Hmm, I'm fairly sure empower would be best but I don't have a 6L. Other options include increased burning damage, fire pen, culling strike(adds increased damage), or rapid decay.

Vaal Lighting Trap
- This is rigged. This skill shocks anything and everything. If honey badgers used vaal skills, they would definitely use this one.

Vaal Discipline - Your oh shit! button. CAUTION: You can get stunned mid cast and it will take your vaal charge and not activate the skill. This happened to me a few times and its extremely dangerous! So be careful!

Flame Dash - Sadly your cast speed and attack speed sucks. This is just a skill to get over things. Feel free to replace it with leap slam depending on open socket colors. But, they both suck on this build.


Auras -

Wrath + Clarity


Well that was a short section. I have a corrupted level 2 enlighten because this build really requires a lot of mana. If you hit a point where your gear cant supply you with enough mana then I strongly suggest swapping Wrath out for Herald of Thunder. (I used HoT while leveling most of the time. Traps won't proc the lighting storm though)

Sire of Shards Chromatic Numbers

The chromatics you spend on the staff will most likely cost more than the staff itself. The online Vorici Calculator shows the following chances:

5L(BBBGG): 34.2 (Note: this number is misleading since you may get one of the green gems in the loner socket. It cost me roughly 250)

5L(BBGGG): 117.4 (This is slightly better but if you are low on chromatics I would just aim for the above setup.)

6L(BBBGGG): 493.9 :(


Current Gear






Bandits

Normal - 40 HP
Cruel - Skill Point
Merciless - +1 Maximum Power Charge



How to level quickly

Skills used: Ice Nova Traps (Frickin' Insane!), Fire Traps, Bear Traps, Vaal Lighting Trap
Start leveling a Ice Nova gem from the git-go and get a Fire Trap into a life sprig or +1 fire wep wand as early as possible. Once your able to, put your Ice Nova into a link with Multi-trap, Trap, and added Cold or Trap/Mine Damage. At level 22, use the unique Deerstalker boots. It's a free 5L and 30% movespeed(sort of). The Ice Nova traps absolutely crush content throughout the entire leveling process. The fire Traps are just there because your Trap recovery time. I personally alternated between the two traps. But, either way you will clear entire screens in a throw or 2.
Lastly, don't forget your bear trap setup to handle the bosses.


Videos


Canyon Map - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eyqSpQNIr4
30% monster life chain Bazaar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDq4A_YU8kg
More to come soon



If you have any questions feel free to ask in this thread or send me a PM @BDYT
Last edited by bdy on Jan 10, 2016, 2:09:34 PM
I was searching for something new in TSC and thought a lot about Sire of Shards. This is definitely my next project.

Mind creating a small leveling section (trees)? And you might also add a section for potentially useful uniques (thought of Winds of Change? the Knockback could work quite well with the amount of hits this build provides and the added damage is nice. Sunblast is also a rather obvious possibility). People can search for it themself, but having it in once place is a lot better :)
Last edited by Vexra on Jan 4, 2016, 12:47:28 PM
when did you find it a good time to switch from the ice nova trap to the lightning trap with sire of shards
I've wanted to do this for ages, but with Ball Lightning instead.

Unfortunately I don't think I'd have the patience to try to GGGGBB a Sire.

Still an awesomely fun build though, GL!



That's like 5 exalts worth of chroms for mean success. The mind boggles.
Last edited by Galadedrid on Jan 8, 2016, 10:50:14 AM
"
Galadedrid wrote:
I've wanted to do this for ages, but with Ball Lightning instead.

Unfortunately I don't think I'd have the patience to try to GGGGBB a Sire.

Still an awesomely fun build though, GL!

That's like 5 exalts worth of chroms for mean success. The mind boggles.


But, GGGBBB is better for ball lit imho. BL + trap + trap dmg + multi trap + inc aoe + lit pen. Or trade inc aoe for controlled destruction. Also, I tried BL and the clear speed is less than lit trap in almost all scenarios. I tried both of them together and it's not bad. But, they have poor synergy because the ball lit kills chain targets so I think you're better off running a bear trap setup.
"
I was searching for something new in TSC and thought a lot about Sire of Shards. This is definitely my next project.

Mind creating a small leveling section (trees)? And you might also add a section for potentially useful uniques (thought of Winds of Change? the Knockback could work quite well with the amount of hits this build provides and the added damage is nice. Sunblast is also a rather obvious possibility). People can search for it themself, but having it in once place is a lot better :)


Sure I can do that. I'm a procrastinator though :(
yo mate, i will try dp it, what do u think about cold snap for solo target?

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