2.4.2 [WIP] Life-Based Crit Blade Flurry - "Wolverine"

This is a work in progress to get set up for a new build going into 2.5 so constructive feedback is greatly appreciated and will make this a better product. The idea behind this build stems from stacking flat damage and using a very fast attack. I first tried to do this with an elemental- and life-based assassin build using fast swords but found that to be a bit lackluster. Next, I tried to stack physical damage via jewelry and an Abyssus helmet. I found this to be an amazing approach with a 2+ APS swords and a Razor of the Seventh Sun that does 100% increased damage against ignited (from HoA and added fire gem). Then, after reading another guide for CI BF, I settled on Scourge claws and found them to be superior because of similar damage AND the 2% leech on each. The obnoxiously big claws and instant regen are what make this the "Wolverine"!

At that point, I found the biggest weakness of this build was in terms of defense. Even with acrobatics and fortify, it’s spiky because of the damage increased we take due to the Abyssus. In order to help improve survivability, I found a Lightning Coil (and was even able to 6-link it with exactly 75 fusings!). With Vaal Pact, 4%+ leech of an estimated 100K+ dps, and tens of hits per second, it was now survivable as long as we don’t get 1-hit by a big physical attack (or get decimated by traps in the lab). To make it more forgiving, I use a taste of hate for physical to cold mitigation and I'm also contemplating a basalt flask to help with an additional 20% mitigation on top of the that.
I'm still working on balancing the build with respect to auras and buffs. I'm pretty certain hatred is a no-brainer but I need to decide between enfeeble (defense), vulnerability (offense - bleed and poison bonuses), and temporal chains. It's likely TC will be supreme because it is both defensive and because it causes the damage over time effects to last longer.

Here is the skill tree at level 88. This is where I could use the most input.
Wolverine
Here is my current equipment, far from best in slot but it's not too bad either.


Video

For life-based, unless you think you can 1 shot everything under 3 seconds, you should just have gone with Duelist for extra survival, all 3 of duelist's ascendancies are extremely good, especially Slayer. Of course you'll deal less damage and require a Voidheart for reliable bleed/poison, but you don't have to die every 10 seconds due to that Abyssus and minimal life pool.

Yeah, definitely a little low life for for how much spike damage you take. Uploaded a video that showed a stupid death because I was hitting the empty flask rather than the health one. Still such a fast kill!

Still, melee damage on full life is not really optimal, even with Vaal pact instant leech your health to maximum, you should use fortify instead. I have a Slayer version of blade flurry, still run everything smoothly up to t16 maps and shaper, haven't tried uber atziri yet.

"

Brown14 wrote:

Still, melee damage on full life is not really optimal, even with Vaal pact instant leech your health to maximum, you should use fortify instead. I have a Slayer version of blade flurry, still run everything smoothly up to t16 maps and shaper, haven't tried uber atziri yet.

I'd be interested to see a slayer version of Blade Flurry, I have no experience with Slayer so far, wanted in fact to try dual-wield claw BF blocking with Gladiator.

I looked at your characters, very nice, I only saw one Slayer, do you just replace Lacerate with BF?

I suppose I am looking for a Wolverine version that works without the need of Legacy Voidheart, a 6-linked Starforge, and other such godly gear (if I can get those, I don't need a guide for anything...).

"

onomastikon wrote:

I'd be interested to see a slayer version of Blade Flurry, I have no experience with Slayer so far, wanted in fact to try dual-wield claw BF blocking with Gladiator.

I looked at your characters, very nice, I only saw one Slayer, do you just replace Lacerate with BF?

I suppose I am looking for a Wolverine version that works without the need of Legacy Voidheart, a 6-linked Starforge, and other such godly gear (if I can get those, I don't need a guide for anything...).

I respec into a Lacerate for Uber lab service.

Choosing Gladiator means that you are going non-crit, since it requires some block nodes on tree and gears to cap block/spell block. But you'll gain 50% chance to bleed with gladiator ascendancy and 35% chance to poison on hit asumne that you take Dirty technique wheel and Fatal tocxin on tree, so no Voidheart needed. This is the cheapest option.

With Slayer, you can still go crit and decent defense with endless leech and 50% reduced phys reflect taken, so no worry with reflect and no Vaal pact needed, but you will need a non legacy Voidheart for reliable bleed/poison. Champion is an all-rounder. Tree for slayer and champion is pretty much the same as the thread, just start from duelist.