[2.11] HC Dodgy CoC Ranger [Cast on Crit Barrage]

Intro:

I wanted to make a Hardcore Cast on Crit build. All the one's I see have like 2.5-3k life glass cannons, and use lots of uniques. This one can be done without a single unique, but does benefit from a couple, and also offers over 5k life end game. I chose wands because they have the highest crit chance of any weapon, and make capping crit chance much easier, and without having to rely on uniques without life rolls.

Skill Choices:

Barrage is used as the main attack to proc Cast on Crit. The main benefits to using Barrage over Kinetic Blast is primarily the mana cost. A 6linked, 3 spell set up costs just 12 mana.

The spells you use are up to you, but from experience I find the most effective combo to be: Arc + Bladefall + Cold Snap/Arctic Breath. Ice Spear, Glacial Cascade, Firestorm, Freezing Pulse, Essence Drain, Fireball, Ball Lightning are all decent options if you prefer another skill. Make sure to match your Purities to the spell types you use.

Video Demos:

My first Dried Lake run with Cast on Crit; low lvl gems + tabula: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vljs53IuO-M
Facetanking Carnage in Colonnade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jujIMsFaB4
Jungle Valley Boss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQNKYGTNGrA

Will add plenty more!

Pros:

Fun to play
Great clear speed + high single target
Safe
Explosions everywhere
Always possible to improve gear (rares in most slots, corruptable uniques, 21 gems etc)
Tested up to tier 11 maps in Hardcore, no problem with damage.


Cons:

Ele + Phys reflect maps. Can switch spells around to get past this though.
Can be frustrating with low crit chance
Cheap to start, expensive to perfect
Need a decent computer
You might end up playing solo due to screen freeze with herald of ice etc
Relies on decent flask management to stay alive in HC (Vinktars mainly).

Defensive Mechanics:

Since this is a HC build, I don't want to die. So I stack a lot of life (>200%), pick up Acrobatics, Phase Acrobatics and grab high evasion gear. Since we don't need Rat's Nest or Maligaro's gloves, we can focus on high life + evasion in these slots.

Leech is a huge defensive mechanic of this build. As long as you're attacking, you're leeching. The Vessel of Vinktar is a unique flask that magnifies your leech in dire situations, or for rushing down bosses.

Being ranged and freezing enemies has it's inherent benefits; mobs will rarely reach us and shattering most enemies leaves no corpses to be abused.

Offensive Mechanics:

The main stat you need to focus on is Crit Chance. Every % closer to 95% crit cap will be a huge quality of life improvement. Second you want Accuracy, as this will also improve the rate at which you crit. See: http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Critical_Strike#Accuracy for mroe detail.

Since the Cast on Crit gem itself only has a 68~% chance to proc, you're effectively rolling three times per attack to proc your spell:

Do I hit? Yes.
Do I crit? Yes.
Does Cast on Crit proc? Yes.

Attack Speed is not only a quality of life improvement, but also helps get through the bad RNG streaks more quickly.

Spell damage, Spell Crit, Crit Multiplier and of course Life + Evasion are other important stats to us. Jewels are great on this build as you can roll many useful mods. More on that later.

Bandits:

Normal - Help Oak
Cruel - Help Kraityn
Merciless - Help Alira

Skill Tree:

For leveling I used Storm Cloud + Split Arrow until level 38 when I equipped two Twyzel + Ungils Harmony + Tabula and started my Cast on Crit journey. Can be a bit frustrating with low crit chance, but the amulet really helps. You can use Power Charge on Crit or Increased Crit Strikes in the tabula to help boost your crit chance as well.



poeurl.com/wuc

Tree progression - pick up all the life, make sure you're on top of stat requirements and have enough intellegence to use your end game weapons around 60-68. You usually need 200-245 int. Then start picking up crit chance, and jewel sockets. Should be entering maps with at the very least 4k life.

Level 90 tree: poeurl.com/wud

After that, can pick up witch Flask nodes, AOE, spell crit, another jewel etc...

Gearing:

Wand: Crit Chance (>11%), Attack Speed (1.3 aps at least), then Spell Dmg, X-Y spell dmg, spell crit, % Cold/Lightning dmg

Shield: Life, resists, Spell dmg, Crit chance for spells

Helm: Life, resists, evasion, accuracy. Rat's nest not needed.

Amulet: Life, Crit Chance, Intellegence; Hexclaw Talisman is gg, Mandible Talisman is nice.

Rings: Diamond rings, life, resists, accuracy, % cold/lightning dmg, attack speed

Belt: Doryani's Invitation or Life + resists + flask charges gained/duration, strength.

Boots: Atziri's Step or 30% movespeed, life + evasion + resists.

Gloves: Life, attack speed, accuracy, resists, evasion. Maligaros an option because crit multi but... not needed at all.

Chest: Tabula rasa, Voll's Protector, any 6link you can get colours on. Will have to sacrifice a gem socket if not Voll's though.

Flasks: Vessel of Vinktar + Atziri's Promise/Taste of Hate + Seething of Staunching Divine Flask + Curse Immune Quicksilver + Shock Removal Jade flask

My Gear:

Spoiler




This is just a shell of a guide for now, I will improve and add to it gradually and hope to make this a valuable resource for those wanting to play Cast on Crit in a Hardcore environment. Thanks for reading!


Last edited by dandan88 on Feb 10, 2016, 9:01:07 AM
Last bumped on Mar 31, 2016, 7:03:12 PM
I think storm prison is a good alternative to twyzel.

I trying your build in HC too since I love the idea.

Might rip because I never played CoC but it's the most fun build I've had in months.
Nvm old thread.
Last edited by Jes00jes on Mar 31, 2016, 7:04:04 PM

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