I want to play a class with daggers

Hi guys,

Relative noob here with just two-three weeks of play time and many many characters cycled through.

I want to use these high crit daggers. I want to try a build that leans heavily on crit chance and crit effects. I also know (correct me if I'm wrong) that crits also work on spells which may deal those burning, freezing or shocking effects.

I was wondering which base class I should be playing. I wanted to play a class that has relatively easy access to dex and int in order to adequately conform to the stat requirements of the equipment (daggers!) while also using similar stats for armor purposes. If I can use forking sparks or similar AoE effects as well, all the better!

My current gameplay experience is a lvl 40 tank marauder with fat slow shield and resists. Maurauder seems to have easy access to resist passives, and I didn't even die when playing against Piety on normal thanks to my blood magic and high defensive stats (while I died alot against Merveil early on but that's another topic.)

I understand that the shadow would be the "perfect match" because of its location on the skill tree, however from my gameplay experience (which is <20 on normal act 1) the shadow class doesn't have easy access to resists--this is almost crippling unless I manually take ring "sets" which is not how I want to play unless I am headed for Merveil or the Crematorium. I want to be able to wade in the fray, deal some AoE damage to mobs and get 'em killed before I die, as is the staple of most ARPGs. However, I must admit that I want my gameplay to be relatively simple (I would not be the type to juggle multiple damage types while trying to generate frenzy orbs on a timer so that I could accumulate X or Y bonus for a short period of time all the while clicking the right mobs and flicker striking to and from an area to another then drinking a granite to tank these guys while my mana leech timer progresses...).

So yeah. I wanna use daggers, I'm not even sure if I want to use two at once or just one with a shield; I feel like a single dagger with a shield should be enough. I would probably end up saving on item orbs if I just have to "upgrade" one weapon per 4-5 level gain.

So according to the above (stats to use daggers and easy access to resistance passive nodes) which class should I be using? I don't mind if it's more int-based or more dex-based, I suppose that someone with a marauder build could show me how to get a nice passive path to get int and dex but bear in mind that I need enough dex for accuracy (this is the OPPOSITE of a Resolute Technique build!)

Thanks!

Well if you ever looked at where the dagger nodes are the answer is obvious - Shadow.

Ranger or Duelist would be possible as well but the rest are really not suited.

The main disadvantage currently with daggers (and claws) is that they aren't supported by any melee AoE skills - the closest is Lightning Strike which is a single target melee ability that spawns projectiles.

I actually think there is a viable Lightning Strike Dagger Shadow build in the Shadow forum.

Yup, the dagger nodes are based close enough to the Shadow. My guess with a build like that is that you will need to invest a lot of points traversing the tree to get to one or the other. Immediate access to both isn't possible.

I'm no expert on either of these classes though so I'm sure someone else can give a better example.

How should I play him between levels 4 and 30?

Oh here is something to look at

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/42623

I'd suggest the Shadow class.

I'm in a middle of building my third main, which will be a Dagger Shield Shadow. In the early game, I use claws on him just to help me a bit with survivability. I also plan on helping Kraityn on normal to gain that +8% elemental resist, unless the build you're going for will require a lot of travelling across the tree, then I'd suggest you just kill him.

I also use Tempest Shield for that extra block chance, and intend on using Clarity as soon as my mana pool allows me to use both auras without having too much mana problems.

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ReZar wrote:

Oh here is something to look at

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/42623

Funny coincidence, I had read that thread earlier.

It does say the following about his build though:
Warning: This is by no means an easy build to achieve or master. It will be very tough early on, especially in Cruel and Ruthless. Be prepared to die alot of times if this is your first try with a shadow. I strongly discourage you from building it in HC until or unless you have very good ES gear stashed up. If this is your first time playing, my advice is to steer clear from this build, it is not easy!

I'm not sure if I want to make a chaos inoculation guy or not.

"

reitaaaxD wrote:

I'd suggest the Shadow class.

I'm in a middle of building my third main, which will be a Dagger Shield Shadow. In the early game, I use claws on him just to help me a bit with survivability. I also plan on helping Kraityn on normal to gain that +8% elemental resist, unless the build you're going for will require a lot of travelling across the tree, then I'd suggest you just kill him.

I also use Tempest Shield for that extra block chance, and intend on using Clarity as soon as my mana pool allows me to use both auras without having too much mana problems.

Would you care linking your build?

I'm doing the exact build you're talking about. I'm in act 3 merciless and don't have much trouble.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYABX0FtQzyDkgQexEvEZYWvxnXHhokPCaVJ6koKisKLOEwVDB8Nj0-z0cGSVFQQlFHVUtW6lb1Wm1famHicFJwVn3jfll_K3_Gh9uIQohrjDaNv46KkBuX0JlXmZqaE52joi6ly6Z_pzSnXKxmrs-xs7TFtUi297k-vea-OsBRwQDBxcLsw23N6taK2HbbGttu29TjhOn-62PrjuwY7UHz6vVL_Kv_kw==

I use whirling blades to get away, and I am sure to have 75% of whatever resist I need. I certainly don't have beast gear.

I use 3 sets of 4L:

Lightning strike->LMP->Chain->Rarity(or crit dmg)
Ele hit->Weapon ele dmg->crit dmg->mana leech->crit chance or penetration
Frenzy (have 6 charges, due to not killing kraityn in merciless and my tree)->Mana leech->Rarity (I go for killing blows w/ this on single targets after getting them low with ele hit)->crit dmg / faster attacks

Always run evasion and energy shield chants, grace and discipline. I switch grace(eva) with purity sometimes when I need more resist. Like skele mage dungeons.

Shadow or witch would be my pick but beware. If your going dual (or single) wielding shadow without RT or IR then your gonna needs s**t loads of health on merciless and also daggers are weak compared to claws imo

Claws have a couple of specific keystones that give good benefits and have a natural life steal bonus which is handy. Daggers do better crits but not by much tbh

I can say for sure that the devs have confirmed skills to fill the AOE gap that daggers and claws have, so that's one thing you can expect. Till then, lightning strike.