RANGER FACEBREAKER - CRIT

UNARMED RANGER




NEW 3.6 UNDER PROGRESS:


OLD 2017 BUILD (HIGH CRIT):
Spoiler
VIDEOS


Shaper: https://youtu.be/fJfrSNT5ARI in 4K 60fps!
I should have been weapon swapped to Saffell for the sub-bosses.

T16 Pit of the Chimera: https://youtu.be/-ECuTLUJ4n0 in 4K 60fps!

T16 Vaal Temple: https://youtu.be/ObWjVxlWbAg
Ele weakness, +367% monster crit chance, +43% monster crit multiplier, +80% monster lightning res, 110% extra lightning damage.

T16 Forge of the Phoenix: https://youtu.be/ybfFVN8CDBU
Avatar of Chase + Slaughter.

T16 Maze of the Minotaur: https://youtu.be/ex_I9CnIxuM
Avatar of Chase + Slaughter.

T16 Lair of the Hydra: https://youtu.be/5jSDW4uniNs
Avatar of Chase + Slaughter.

Uber Lab: https://youtu.be/EssrZJhL_JE
Quick run today.
Avatar of Chase + Slaughter.


FULL BUILD OVERVIEW VID: https://youtu.be/QThZ5dRWT-Q
Covers summary of full build - offense and defense, gearing options, tree, customizations


Other Videos of T15 and Below
Spoiler
T15 Core: https://youtu.be/xwVsA0Pa1Jc
Just like Vinktar boss it's harder if you can't use a good movement skill like WB.

T15 Dark Forest: https://youtu.be/W2jdtGbt-HM
Quick map play with the Rigwald King boss at new T15.

T15 Overgrown Ruin: https://youtu.be/2U0vM8coGAk
Bosses on new T15

T15 Colosseum (2.3): https://youtu.be/cIwJdMVQ_KE
Boss on Colosseum map.

T15 Abyss (2.3): https://youtu.be/W5EshBZ_dXs
Boss on Abyss map.

T14 Vaal Temple: https://youtu.be/nMeGDHqalvs
Bosses on Vaal Temple map

T14 Conservatory: https://youtu.be/Nlamm8ZRrQM
2x bosses, temporal chains, extra fire damage, turbo.

T14 Palace: https://youtu.be/zuEEkw7r4tw
2x bosses, temp chains, vulnerability, ele weakness.

T13 Vinktar Square: https://youtu.be/3DlR6PlP9HU
Crazy map with lots of boss spell damage and degen beams. #suicidesquad
Customizations: swapped P2L for ICD, swapped Taste of Hate for Topaz flask, and weapon-swapped to Saffell's Frame for final boss.

T13 Plaza: https://youtu.be/CFp_QyenjW8
Double bosses, temp chains.

Quick Atziri Run: https://youtu.be/Q0FB2v1YyH4
I was still testing the build here and had not yet figured out my mana for 1v1 -> so you can see here I run out of mana sometimes. I solved this by adding mana phys leech mod to my flask. You can also use a jewel to get mana leech, or grab mana leech on tree.

Ice Crash Gameplay: https://youtu.be/rNrjI5gdZHU
Gameplay showcasing clearing with Ice Crash.



IMPORTANT NOTE - READ PLEASE

You need this amulet to go crit unarmed:

Available through divination card (each costing approx. 7chaos in Std = 56 chaos total)

Divination Card: created by supporter Waxen.





OTHER IMPORTANT UNIQUES NEEDED

Facebreakers ofc, Rumi's and/or Stibnite flasks, and Diamond flask. You MUST at least try and carry a Rumi's and/or a Stibnite for improved survivability. Sin's Rebirth is perfect for this build as it gives both damage and defense in one flask slot.




WHO THIS BUILD IS FOR

Spoiler
This build is for Rangers bored with the game who just want to go HAM, who want to unleash absurd DPS with their bare hands.

Please keep in mind that I did NOT build this as a TANK build. You can customize it to be more tanky if you like. I rely more on damage avoidance (EV+dodge+blocks) and high DPS to put enemies on blast.



SUMMARY

Spoiler
I got bored and started trying crit unarmed Ranger, and was surprised this build has turned out extremely well and is the most fun I have had in PoE for quite some time.

Offense is based on high Frenzy charges, frenzy + melee splash attack, high crit chance (Assassin's Mark, Power Charges, ICC gem, Claw crit nodes), and high crit multiplier (Facebreakers, Abyssus, Claw nodes).

Defense is based on high damage avoidance (Acro, Phase Acro, Dodges, Block, Spell Block) and blind. Mitigation can be done through combination of Taste of Hate / Basalt flask / Lightning Coil / Fortify.

I also carry a Saffell's to seamlessly swap to high spell defense profile (+max res, and high spell block combined with my Phase Acro) if need be.




UNARMED

Spoiler
This is gear dependent as most of your damage is coming from gear.

Being unarmed, you have to get upfront in enemies faces to do damage. Good thing is the DPS is high so enemies do not last long. However you should EXPECT to take more damage from enemies with this build than other builds that play more at range like Reave / LS / bows.

I have tried to mitigate the downsides of Abyssus as best I can and overall I'm kinda happy with how this has turned out so far.




WHY FRENZY

Spoiler
So I tested both Frenzy vs. other skills like Infernal Blow (see Other Skill section). The AOE clear is faster on Infernal Blow, but not by a huge amount, while the single target for Frenzy is much higher.

Frenzy charges are a pretty ridiculous damage boost when combined with Facebreakers. I also use Darkrays for more survivability with the extra dodge.

As a result, I wanted to have 100% uptime of Frenzy charges including for bosses.


Frenzy AOE links are: Frenzy + Multistrike (nice auto-targeting) + P2L + MPD + Melee Splash + ICC

On this AOE setup I hit 900k+ DPS.

I use P2L to get some nice shocks going when I crit which is a big damage multiplier: 1.5x MORE damage taken by the enemy.

For Frenzy single-target link you can take out Melee Splash and put in a damage gem like Added Fire for even more insane damage.

Obviously not everyone is like me some may want to use a different skill. See alternatives in the bottom section (Cyclone, Infernal Blow, Ice Crash).




MANA SUSTAIN

Spoiler
Usually enemies die quickly and mana sustain is not a problem. Here are different ways you can get mana:

- Assassin's Mark = mana on kill, as long as you are killing mobs/adds you will be fine
and ONE of:

- Soul Raker claw node - gives generic life and mana leech. Very good for mana sustain, and give some life leech to make Vaal Pact useful on this build

OR

- Mana leech % mod on a utility flask

OR

- Mana leech on jewel or on ring

OR

- Other mana leech node on tree




HOW I SCALE FACEBREAKERS

Spoiler
1. Phys damage on gear (VERY IMPORTANT): need as much added phys damage on gear such as helm (Abyssus), belt (Megi), Shield (Old One's), and Rings (see new Steel rings). Amulet for crit unarmed is Rigwalds' Curse.

Old One's shield is absolutely fantastic because it gives high damage, attack speed, and life.

2. Frenzy charges: massive buffs for unarmed. As I was making my build the fully buffed DPS jumped from mid-500k to 600k just by adding an extra frenzy charge.

3. Crit chance: very important - get from ICC gem + claw crit jewels + Assassins Mark. Can also use Dia flasks.

4. Flasks: Lion's Roar is a massive buff. Taste of Hate is great as well.

5. Inc. Phys Damage and Pugilist Jewels: this is to a lesser extent but still gives some high DPS increases. Stack these in high dex areas. I use 3 of these. Good thing is they are cheap as hell, and Ranger can get a lot of dexterity combined with accuracy and crit chance nodes - which are exactly what you need as unarmed crit.

6. Crit Multiplier: high crit roll Abyssus will add a lot of damage

7. Shock: this is not reflected in the tooltip, but P2L + Crit gives me shocks for a 1.5x more multiplier on all my damage.

8. Attack Speed: Blood Rage, Frenzy Charges etc. are all good for boosting your DPS




TREE

Regular Tree:


Tree for those using Lycosidae + Vaal Pact + MDOFL like me:


Tree has 163% life or so, and with Belly's and Meginord's I reach about 4.6k life (which is alright).

Build is also super fast thanks to ignore armor penalties on movement speed node.

I use 3x Pugilist jewel (cheap, about 1 chaos each), and a crit jewel. You can customize your jewels to get more life, resistances, crit chance, etc.



ASCENSION

Best Ascension is Raider it has a nice mix of damage (frenzy charge bonuses) as well as defense (dodge or more ev% chance), good movement speed and ele status immunity for those wanting to use VoV.

I tried Pathfinder but it felt useless.

Way of the Poacher leading to Avatar of Slaughter gives some attack speed and chance to gain frenzy charge. Avatar of the Slaughter is the highest damage node for Raider giving +1 max frenzy charge, and extra movt speed, attack speed and damage per frenzy charge.

Then I mixed with some defense from Quartz Infusion and Avatar of the Veil.

+

+


Note! If you are OK with regular spell damage from mobs, you can go Avatar of Chase instead - this will give you much higher DPS. But also: a) lower spell avoidance - so you will need to rely on Vaal Grace for spell defense especially for bosses, b) you will need to use Silver flask instead of Quartz flask, c) give more ATTACK avoidance.

+



BANDITS

Spoiler
Kill All




OFFENSE All numbers below are for Frenzy path and Phasing path on Raider

Key part of this build is BIG crit damage, SHOCKS, and FREEZE. Damage is very spikey - when you crit - the crit is massive and triple hits with Multistrike. If the enemy is shocked they are usually one shot.

If they are not one shot they will be frozen. Majority of bosses are either one shot or permanently frozen with this build.


Current DPS numbers:

Town: 183k

Add Hatred and Ice Golem: 246k

9 Frenzy charges and 3 Power Charges: 766k

Sip Lion's Roar: 1.0mm

Sip Sin of Rebirth (gives the same as Taste of Hate): 1.2mm regular DPS




Ok that's my basic DPS that I have up nearly all the time which is overkill for everything except T15+ bosses. If you want to boost DPS even more you can do other shenanigans like:

- Add Blood Rage
- Vaal Haste
- Ancestral Protector / Warchief
- Swap Quartz flask for Atziri flask

And that is still AOE ofc. Swapping Melee Splash for Added Fire / Light Pen / MDOFL will be even higher DPS (only really needed for T16 bosses)

Taking out Quartz flask for Atziri flask + adding Vaal Haste + Ancestral Warchief + MDOFL instead of Melee Splash for single target: 2.8mm






LEVELING AND SHOPPING LIST

Spoiler
This build levels extremely fast because you can start using Facebreakers at level 16.

Unarmed damage depends on your gear so as long as you have gear with good +phys damage you will do a lot of damage and can carry groups. As a result you can level by getting mostly the defensive nodes (life, Acro, Scion resistances)

For faster leveling - use Infernal Blow / Ice Crash (for high AOE) until you feel comfortable with Frenzy.

Do not use Abyssus until you have some decent defense (i.e. blind from Stibnite / Sin's Rebirth, block from a Rumi's, Taste of Hate, extra dodge from Darkrays, Raider dodge).

Meginord can be used starting at level 8
Rigwald's can be used starting at level 28
Great Old One: level 46

I know everyone likes to level differently so I can see the case where someone may want to level very defensively into maps and then start switching into damage nodes (i.e. claw nodes) and damage items (Rigwald's and Abyssus).


CORE KIT:
Rigwalds: approx. 50-65 chaos using div card, 1-2ex buying out right

Rumi's Flask

Stibnite Flask

Abyssus: with new crit mult. range and low phys damage taken: ~2ex

Legacy Facebreakers: old crit mult, and 900%+ unarmed phys roll: 5-6ex, going up

New Facebreakers: new crit mult, and 750%+ unarmed phys roll: <1ex

Meginord: Legacy about 15+ chaos. New Megi about 1-5 chaos

Optional:
Great Old One's Ward: 5-20 chaos depending on life roll, perf. life roll: 1ex

Lycosidae: for 100% accuracy. This results in about 1.2x increase in your crit chance (excluding effect of Diamond flask). It's VERY good for DPS but you lose a little life vs. Old One's Ward. You should not be hitting reflect mobs anyway, but if you use Lycosidae you need to be extra careful to use your totem when you see reflect aura.

Darkrays: 5-10 chaos. Corrupted Darkrays with extra +1 Frenzy: 4ex-5ex




CURRENT KIT

Spoiler



URSA BEAST - YRIEL'S FOSTERING

Spoiler
I managed to chrome my Yriel's. This is a nice chest to use on this build due to the added flat phys to attacks version with your Ursa beast:


Negatives
- Chest is a pain to chrome
- Loss of approx 200hp vs. with Belly's
- Loss of 12% res vs. with Belly's
- Ursa takes 180 mana to summon (now changed by GGG to 30)

Positives:
- High EV chest, perfect for those on the Path of Slaughter, since they need good EV for the Onslaught EV buffs. I hit 44% EV tooltip EV chance which is awesome
- Ursa beast adds about 370k extra damage. Regular combat with melee splash I hit 2.0mm tooltip DPS (no totem, no Vaal Haste)
- Since Frenzy is also classifed as a projectile attack, it benefits from the X% increased crit chance mod on the chest, xD

To Deal with Mana
- Easy way - spec 2 points into mana notable - like Druidic Right (which gives you more flask charges and longer flask durations as well) or into Soul Siphon (Shadow, which gives you more total mana). Other options are Ranger's Primal Spirit, Scion's Arcane Chemistry (also reduces flask charges used), Duelist's Mana Flows (high mana regen %)
- These notables usually have a third node - so you can spec 3 points instead of 2 to get even more mana
- With 2 - 3 point sin mana you will get to 195 - 215 unreserved mana. It seems that the notables that give you faster mana regen work best
- The other option is to unload Assassin's Mark, summon the Ursa, then recast Assassin's Mark

Ursa beast has 17.6k HP, but his AI is very aggressive so he doesn't follow you as strictly as the Ice Golem. Either way he is giving us more DPS - making enemy fights even shorter than before. If he gets low, just re-summon. For boss fight, pop Vaal Grace so he can benefit as well.

Anyway, this is NOT CORE for the build, just something nice to try.




FLASKS
Spoiler

I use 1+2 just before I engage monsters. Then 3 for more defense and 4 for crit (usually for bosses only). 5 is either life flask or VoV for instant leech. You can add a mana leech mod (phys) to your Diamond flask to help you sustain Frenzy 1v1.



Sin's Rebirth is perfect for this build as it gives both HIGH damage and great defense with Blind.

You can use Rumi's flask instead of Quartz:



If you don't have Sin's Rebirth you can use Taste of Hate:


Legacy VoV is very nice for the instant leech - however it is not completely necessary. By getting more "life recovery from flask" nodes on the tree - you can get greater quantities of life recovered from the life flasks. So you can recover life very fast from just 1 sip.

For those going Avatar of the Chase route, you can get Silver or Rotgut flasks to help you maintain Onslaught:


If you can't find a Taste of Hate, you could use an Atziri's flask:




WEAKNESSES

Spoiler

Key Map Dangers:

VOLATILE BLOOD:
Orange rares with a nemesis mod may carry Volatile Blood and explode on hit dealing high damage based on the monster's attack damage and map bods. Looks like this cannot be blocked or dodged in any way. So AVOID or just drop an AOE Ancestral totem like Ancestral Warchief to take care of these

REFLECT:
With high damage avoidance there is a high chance to avoid your own reflect damage, however you don't need to take risks like I do. It is easy to see reflect auras on mobs, so either avoid these monsters or drop an Ancestral totem to take them out. If you use an ele skill like IB or Ice Crash you can convert 100% of your phys damage to elemental damage with P2L - allowing you to run phys reflect maps.




OTHER SKILLS

Spoiler
I know not everyone likes Frenzy, so I tried some other skills - these are all solo with buffs I can keep up: BR + Ice Golem + my 3 PCs from Assassin's Mark + 9 FCs + Taste of Hate and Lion's Roar.

Haven't added Vaal Haste yet, I'll probably prefer Vaal Grace for more dodge since I no longer use a Quartz flask.

Overall I really prefer staying with Frenzy, especially with Darkrays which has reduced Frenzy charge duration.

If you can't keep your frenzy charges up that will be a massive DPS loss.


Cyclone + P2L + AF + MPD + ICC + Inc AOE
Swapping Inc. AOE for Conc. Effect = single target

Good: stun immunity
Bad: a little higher mana cost, harder to maintain frenzy charges especially 1v1


Infernal Blow + P2L + MPD + ICC + MSplash + Multistrike
Swapping MSplash for AF = single target

Good: fast AOE clear, phys reflect immunity with P2L
Bad: looks lame (not a real downside lol), harder to maintain frenzy charges especially 1v1


Ice Crash + P2L + MPD + ICC + AF + Inc AOE
Swapping Inc AOE for Conc. Effect = single target. Middle ground is swapping Inc. AOE for ICD

Good: fast AOE clear, looks badass, phys reflect immunity with P2L
Bad: lower single target, and wow this one lags my FPS the most I can't use it on this PC in some areas, harder to maintain frenzy charges especially 1v1.
Last edited by Ceryneian on Apr 2, 2019, 6:32:24 PM
Last bumped on Jun 5, 2018, 7:05:21 AM
TBU
Last edited by Ceryneian on May 31, 2018, 12:52:08 PM
A video would be cool.
Hi buddy I'll try and post a new vid soon. My new PC is weak and lags bad.

Anyway, I just swapped my legacy Facebreakers and Meginord's for these: a 682% FB, and the new Meginord's with lower phs:


I hit about max 520k DPS which is pretty darn good. This is with 7 frenzy charges which are always up.

For those who are crazy and just want to go HAM with more DPS you can swap life boots for corrupted Darkrays - the extra 2 frenzy charges pushed me from 700k to mid-800k AOE DPS. Then swap Melee Splash for Added Fire for your boss single-target - and that is over 1.1mm DPS. But I have lower life (4.6k -> 4.2k HP) and my fire res is not capped. This can be mitigated by getting the fire res node by Scion which I skipped, however the lower life is not great IMO so I'll just stick to my EV life boots.

EDIT: This is pic showing the 1.1mm DPS for single target on my Raider with Darkrays. This is all solo buffed - 9 FCs (always up since we use Frenzy), 3 PCs, Lion's Roar + Taste of Hate. No Vaal Haste or anything. I take some flask duration and reduced flask charges and generally don't have any problems with flasks.

Last edited by Ceryneian on Mar 27, 2016, 7:30:33 PM
I got one problem, how do you manage your mana regen ? Also would be nice to know which quest reward you choosed. And at last why immortal call if no endurance charge ?
Last edited by alleyez on Mar 28, 2016, 9:32:56 AM
Im nowere near your dps and got almost everything you have exept for the 6 link... I dont know what i did wrong.
"
alleyez wrote:
I got one problem, how do you manage your mana regen ? Also would be nice to know which quest reward you choosed. And at last why immortal call if no endurance charge ?

"
Im nowere near your dps and got almost everything you have exept for the 6 link... I dont know what i did wrong.


Hi, mana sustain is mostly from Assassin's Mark which gives good mana on kill. The rest is just regular mana regen. As long as I have Blasphemy + Assassin's Mark and am killing things I have no mana problems.

If you need more mana you can just take a small mana regen flask or use a hybrid life + mana flask.

Alternatively you can also swap Poacher's Mark for Assassin's Mark to get mana on hit and faster flask charges.

Also you can get mana leech on jewel or on the tree. I'll add a mana section.

About Immortal Call + CWDT - it doesn't really help but it's a little something. I need to figure out an easy way to add Fortify.

About my DPS - for Facebreaker builds you really need to get high added phys damage on gear and a good roll Facebreaker

For this crit build you will also need:
- Frenzy charges
- Lots of dex on tree for Pugilist jewels
- Lion's Roar flask at least

If you can, link your gear and tree please.
Last edited by Ceryneian on Mar 28, 2016, 12:23:28 PM
"
Accedie wrote:
A video would be cool.



Quick Vid: https://youtu.be/Q0FB2v1YyH4
Any recommendations on what bandits to kill?
Hi I was already specc'd as: Kill All, Help Oak (phys damage), Help Kraityn (frenzy charge).

Resistances can be a bit tight on this build so you might want to Help Kraityn in Normal for +10% all res. If you want to build more tanky get life from Oak in Normal.

If you are not really focusing on Frenzy charges - you can Kill All in Merciless for an extra skill point.
Last edited by Ceryneian on Mar 28, 2016, 3:38:28 PM

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