[2.2 Assassin] Crit Varunastra - Atziri/HC Viable - Budget

Introduction
This is dual-wield crit focused melee build using the unique sword Varunastra from the Perandus League. I got to level 92 in Perandus Hardcore (position 150 on the ladder) before I facetanked conservatory smash and returned home. This build uses sunder but the tree is so flexible it can be easily adapted to suit any melee attack you choose (I played as Reave for most of the league).

Why Varunastra?
Last league I played a lot of Bino's reave and found it to be underwhelming when you got into red maps. The damage just wasn't there and it felt very dangerous for a hardcore build. In order to get the kind of damage you needed to keep yourself safe it meant spending tons of currency on a gg rare dagger which was a big negative. Varunastra solves the damage problem, the safety concerns and has a very low price for what you get from it. To begin with its a 270dps 1-hand weapon which is already better than bino's 235dps. On top of that you are able to take more damage from the tree while maintaining ~200% increased life. If that wasn't enough it even costs half of what bino's does.

What Skills Can I Use?
Literally anything that can be used with a 1-hand weapon can be used with varunastra and they all work well. The two skills I spent the most time with were Reave and Sunder. I also played with earthquake a bit but found that without the increased AoE nodes it wasn't as enjoyable to play.

Reave works better than it does with other crit dagger builds using bino's, but it still suffers from the danger of losing stacks and having to approach monsters at an undesirable range to rebuild them. Sunder allows you to attack dangerous mobs and bosses from range without ever having to get close.

Videos


Tooltip Damage
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Keep in mind this also has the poison gem linked, so the damage from poison is not calculated in the tooltip.

Sitting in Hideout


Full Charges n Stuff



Mandatory Uniques
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Varunastra is the build enabler, then choose one of the following offhand weapons




Links
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6-link: Sunder - Multistrike - Melee Physical Damage - Faster Attacks - Increased Critical Strikes - Poison (Drop Poison in a 5-link)
Defensive 4-link: Cast When Damage Taken - Immortal Call - Enfeeble/Temporal Chains - Increased Duration
Buff 4-link: Vaal Grace - Vaal Haste - Blood Rage - Increased Duration
Utility 4-link: Spectral Throw - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Faster Attacks - Power Charge On Critical
3-link: Whirling Blades - Faster Attacks - Fortify
3-link: Hatred - Herald of Ash - Summon Ice Golem


Current Gear
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Skill Trees

Current
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https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAYBAQBeBS0FfQW1BiAGcAaiCC4ISQvBDY0QkhEvFqoWvxfcGY4i6iPTI_Yk_SaVKgss4S1VLlMwfDIBMjI2PT3RQzFHBkd-Sn1Mjkz_TZJOKk6fUUdVS1boVvVW-leXWHVbr13yYEFh4mKsY0NjcGVNaoxsCGyMcFJ0oHTtdf1313p_eu99dX3jhG-EooTZh3aJ04w2jX2Nv46Kj2CX0JsmnaqfgqLZo4qsZrDYsty0xbVIuT68b702vqfC7MgU02_TftQj1ELYdtmG2sHbbtvn3Q3gleOf51To1utj7YPuDu968Yry4fVv_MX-uv_e


Level 100 Version (Reflect Immune)
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https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAYBAQBeBS0FfQW1BiAGcAaiCC4ISQvBDY0QkhEvFqoWvxfcGY4i6iPTI_Yk_SaVKgsqOCzhLVUuUzB8MgEyMjY9N9Q90UMxRwZHfkp9TI5M_02STipOn1FHVUtW6Fb1VvpXl1h1W69d8mBBYeJirGNDY3BlTWqMbAhsjG8ncFJ0oHTtdf1313p_eu99dX3jhG-EooTZh3aJ04w2jX2Nv46Kj2CX0Jpqmyadqp-CotmjiqxmsNiyGbLctMW1SLk-vG-9Nr6nwuzDOsgUz3rTb9N-1CPUQth22Ybawdtu2-fdDeCV45_nVOjW62PtP-2D7g7vevGK8uH1b_zF_rr_3g==


Bandits
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Oak - Kraityn - Alira


Levelling
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I used frost blades from levels 1-64. Once I was able to use varunastra I switched over to reave. Once I got bored of reave I switched to sunder.

Start by taking the health and dagger nodes in the tree, don't spend points on the sword and multiweapon nodes until you're using varunastra to make use of it.

For unique weapons I'd recommend running a last resort until 10, use a princess until 20, use ungils gauche until 35, use mightflay until the 50s, pick up a 200pds dagger for a couple chaos and use that to 64. Once youre at 64 pick up your varunastra, switch to your preferred melee skill and go ham.

Starting at level 27 I would recommend picking up a Relentless Fury and use that as an offhand until you can switch to a Death's Hand.

As far as how to level... just the basic stuff, only attack well-grouped monsters, don't chase down stragglers, don't waste time in town, that kind of stuff.
Last edited by Aeoliana on Mar 21, 2016, 2:03:51 AM
Last bumped on May 26, 2016, 8:44:07 AM
looks pretty awesome, i kinda hate sunder though. might try it with reave. though im playing gladiator not shadow so the crit would probably be awful
Last edited by alexvsevil on Mar 14, 2016, 11:07:31 PM
Pretty legit build. How does it do with Uber atziri?
IGN: BendieStraw
Could you please post some screenshots from you Def/Off please?
I can put up a video of Atziri at some point. You can use sunder on vaal and trio but you're going to need to use viper strike on atziri. You basically can't do split phase with sunder because you just instagib yourself on the mirror even if you max range it. You can switch to viper strike in that case.
Hey, I'm currently considering playing this build, however I would play it in SC, any tips on what to change for a SC version?
Hey,

Just hit level 60 with this build, seems fine so far, about to get to use the juicy uniques.
However i only have 5link atm, which gem would you drop? Inc crit.strikes i guess?

Thanks for the guide!
Hey could you add the Gems Links that you have? seems like your Chest is missing to.

Thanks
-Sakken
what jewels do u run?
He is running Daresso's Defiance 6L

Sunder - Multistrike - Melee Phys - Poison - Faster Attacks - Increased Crits

I'm more interested in how did you level till 70? What skill did you try except Reave?
Laihduttakaa.
Last edited by Einea5mk on Mar 16, 2016, 8:03:11 AM

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