Tips for Motivation on low DPS builds?

I basically always play weird offclass builds with, let's say "not the greatest" survivability.
Recently tried an actual melee marauder and I was bored out of my mind around level 40.

Problem is, everything with real survivability tends to get horribly boring due to low dps, and thus slow progress. Not including things like Searing bond totem, which was kills my wrists.

So, what am I missing? I can theory-craft pretty much everything, and I have no problem with spending more time planning than playing, after all I also spend free time with Excel, but whenever I want to try something actually tanky, maybe excepting a frenzy tank because the damage kinda comes with the territory, I never even get there.

So, how does everyone else do that? Respec at some level?
Expensive leveling uniques?
Or maybe I'm just overdoing it with the defenses in compensation for foregoing it on other builds?

Define "low dps". Remember that high dps is only really relevant when fighting bosses/rares or really high level enemies. 20k dps is more than enough to one/two shot enemies in non-red maps, and 20k dps is basically crap.

Are you going defensive passives from 1-40? Because that might be the reason you find it boring. 1-40 (normal difficulty) should be largely offensive/build enabling passives. 41-60(cruel) is where you try to pick up the bulk of your defenses in preparation for merciless. 61-80(merciless) is where you pick up the last of your defenses, and fill up your damage. And 81 onwards is roughly where you just grab every single life node you can get.

Levelling uniques are never expensive, because they are low level and see constant circulation. People buy them, use them, sell them once they don't need them anymore.

Edit: Motivation for high levels. Remember that dead men do no dps. And that men who need to dodge/reposition all the time do less dps (unless they're running caustic arrow or DOT builds).

untie survivability from hps and defence, and tie it to DPS.

a freezing build prevents danger, a fast moving build with
high hit recovery prevents burst damage. getting you
out of danger asaply.

kill your way out of danger :P

I'm running an fp glass cannon where I am generally able
freezelock most map bosses to the point I can let off a series
of attacks that do tens of percent of damage before I am forced
to maneuver again. the lower bosses just die without even
maneuvering. why dodge what cant attack you right?

I am 1 hittable by most bosses and many of the rare ones,
so this build has nothing to do with hardcore, or 90+
leveling.

getting to 85 was fast. just hard to get past 90. I might do it
because the build is so fun. I farm with it a lot with IIR gear on
and still clear pretty fast.

I think that my personal motivation comes from playing something different and seeing it actually work. Also I have a few (read: lots) of different characters and I level them all at once.
Switching between playstyles really helps keeping the motivation up. Sure, flicker strike is fun, but sometimes I just wanna play tornado shot witch or whispering ice CI templar instead.
Try multiple things and just switch to something new once in a while, that might actually do the trick! For me personally, the insane diversity this game offers compared to others (looking at you, D3) is my absolute main source of motivation.

PS: Another person that enjoys weird builds! Yay! ^^

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UnDeaD_CyBorG wrote:

Expensive leveling uniques?

This seems like what you're doing wrong. Just get cheap levelling uniques instead.

I assume you're using Geoffri's baptism, and it's slowing down for you around 40. So try Reaper's Pursuit instead. If you can get to 45, maybe try Blood Reaper or Rigwald's charge. Then go for Kaom's Primacy or Marohi once you can equip those.

And if you like weird builds and want to start murdering everything at level 40 instead of floundering, try Trypanon instead. :)

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UnDeaD_CyBorG wrote:

So, how does everyone else do that? Respec at some level?
Expensive leveling uniques?
Or maybe I'm just overdoing it with the defenses in compensation for foregoing it on other builds?

Having a lot of patience is the key, as long as it's getting somewhere it's good enough for me, you can always just upgrade your levelling gear more frequently but I'm kinda lazy there. The last build I played in Perandus was a very slow starter, first it has absolutely nothing, then it gets tanky and dps came really, really late, had to wait around 80-85 for it. But, I knew it has potential to get decent dps in the end too, you just have to wait for it and it's all the more satisfying when it comes together.

"

raics wrote:

Having a lot of patience is the key, as long as it's getting somewhere it's good enough for me, you can always just upgrade your levelling gear more frequently but I'm kinda lazy there. The last build I played in Perandus was a very slow starter, first it has absolutely nothing, then it gets tanky and dps came really, really late, had to wait around 80-85 for it. But, I knew it has potential to get decent dps in the end too, you just have to wait for it and it's all the more satisfying when it comes together.

Is it Hercia? How did she turn out?

"

FCK42 wrote:

PS: Another person that enjoys weird builds! Yay! ^^

High Five!

... I actually never did a Caster Duelist, I think.

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dudiobugtron wrote:

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UnDeaD_CyBorG wrote:

Expensive leveling uniques?

And if you like weird builds and want to start murdering everything at level 40 instead of floundering, try Trypanon instead. :)

Trypanon has been a Blast so far, but the CoC-Discharge-Vortex-Cyclone Templar has problems with survivability because keeping Fortify up is challenging.

Which build is low dps? I find with ascendancy classes and the very large number of uniques now available that nearly every skill (that I've tried) can get good damage in several different ways. It's like solving a puzzle these days when you are making your own hipster build. You could very well fail on a build only because you forgot that a certain jewel existed or that a certain belt was in the game.


I actually spent 50% of this league making elemental hit characters. And you know what, you don't have to go attack speed. I used that new 100% crit hammer+ that amulet with the 200% crit multi, and stacked a bunch of damage, used that helmet that gives +2 levels to elemental gems. And boom stupid build. But lots of dps ahaha.

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Bars wrote:

Is it Hercia? How did she turn out?

Much better than expected from a hybrid spec, clear speed is decent and she's pretty tanky, especially so with bone offering up but she's no slouch without, some armor, 6 charges, zombie mitigation, fortify, enfeeble and MoM is pretty solid. I should probably make another video with EQ bleed + Evangelists setup, using Horrors to trigger bleed with bloodlust in main is a nice combo, but Horrors aren't really spamming it often enough to be honest.