[3.1][TRUE SHADOW] Life/ES/Eva Viper Strike Assassin/Trickster - Shaper killer with vids
[THE KARUI WAY] TRUE SHADOW - Life ES/Eva Viper Strike Assassin/Trickster
[THE KARUI WAY PROJECT] " Hello, this is the first installement of my series of characters that are true followers of the way. My first chapter was supposed to be my juggernaut, but after I completed this one, which I am currently playing just to make some vids before moving on, I decided to start with this first, as a celebration of the passed shaper test :) The build is WIP. I'll update it piece by piece, I just can't keep myself out from playing the game for too much time :D :D
The story behind the TRUE SHADOW
2013, I heard about this new game and decided to try it out. My absolute first char was a shadow with claws. It failed miserably i think at lv50-60 in act 3 (max acts were 3 and people were farming dominus as end game). I had no clue of wtf I was doing, so I called it and ditched out Path of Exile. Fast forward 2.0 and then 3.0 I got back in with both my feet. After succesfully making 3 chars on my own (after sooo many others :p) I thought I was ready for my final challenge: to make that darn shadow the same as I dreamed about it. I knew ES/Eva was one of the worst gear possible probably 2nd only to Ar/ES. I knew poison was just nerfed to hell, vaal pact didn't work anymore with ghost reaver, ES was maybe nerfed on ES/Eva as well and the like. But I didn't want to fail this time, and there we are! After much pain I figured out what was to be done, and that's it! Life/ES/Eva poison with Viper Strike and Blade Flurry definitely IS A THING, it IS a Shaper killer (and pretty good at it)!. I can't explain how happy am I, the circle is complete t,t So the idea is simple, I wanted to make a shadow that is the most shadow of the shadowest. We get ES/Eva, we keep life, we get Ghost Reaver, even nerfed, we use Claws for tankiness, we mix Poison Assassin and Crits for maximum synergy. It is pretty much the most simple pure shadow poison you can build, with all the min required gears. I am not sure if I can say it is a good build for beginners. It is good if you want to start somewhere to learn about poison and shadow without going into too many mechanics (like CI, VP, LL, changer uniques). It also scales decently. It is not my best killer, not the tankiest, etc but it is solid, to pass my builds need to farm themselves all maps and kill the shaper. Keep in mind that before I went for a shaper try I hanged around and q20'ed my gems and maxed out the gear (which you will see linked), just to do it flawless at first try. It doesn't have any "unforeseen snowball interactions" so don't expect to kill endgame with 1c gear.
How it works
Current poison resolves all around increasing stacks for increasing damage, starting low to ramp up by quite a lot. You will notice in about all the skills and descriptions. Everything stacks up, from wither to Viper Strike to the weapon added dmg.
I picked Assassin mainly for no reason, but then I noticed that it sinergized fully on the poison. It is not a full glass cannon because I like balanced builds, slightly overtanked (even as shadow), you will notice in the gear choices. In my char the Assassin covers the offensive side, while the tree is overtanked with addition of Discipline + Enfeeble to cover the defensive side. I guess a Trickster will work as well, but it will need a specular approach where you will use probably Haste + Vuln and will probably be able to get less defense passives and more offense passives. Blade Flurry appears to be the Assassin + Poison skill, more on this on a dedicated section. Viper Strike however is the skill we want to use when we want to kill for real, which doesn't happen to be very frequent, but anyway I leveled up to 90+ on VS + melee splash, so it can do anything if you want. The build has various modes which I experimented, Viper Strike mode, Blade Flurry mode and you can switch gems for low hit high poison stacking (for full boss killing) or best burst (for clearing fast) Videos " 3.1: What changed "
Passive tree
Tree @93: Max Burst My preference, best for clearing speed and still good vs Bossing with more than 1mil top dps https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAYBAAEJAhEFkwW1BnAHHgeZCPQOSBB7ES8RUBGWFf0WvxewGo0bJRvIIuoi9CM2I_YmiCaVJ6kqCysKLiMwfDIBNj031EX0SRNJUUmxSotLHEuuTI5NklFHUdlTEFVLWfBbJl3yX2ph4mHrYqxkr2pDbAtsjG0Zb1dwUngZelN6f3_Gf_uEooTFidOJ4Io4jDaNfY2Bjb-P-pKAkyeTkJUumhebtZ2qoS-i2acrsJKw2LIZtMW00bVItzC42bzqvjq-isGgwuzDOsgjzerPes_d0NDWB9fP2VvbGt1I4tXndOha6NbpAutj7T_tQe-I8NXxivk3_5M= Max Stacks - Deprecated! Just remove Perfect Agony. Boss killing is good already and we get much better map clearing or faster killing of adds phases. The tree for absolute max stacks. Perfect agony gives your multi to poison increasing the theoretical total by a lot, it goes over 2mil dps. But it is not fast for clearing, which makes the build imbalanced towards paperbosses and harder packs https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAYBAAEJAhEFkwW1BnAHHgeZCPQOSBB7ES8RUBGWFf0WvxewGo0bJRvIIuoi9CM2I_YmlSepKgsrCi4jMHwyATY9N9RF9EkTSVFJsUqLSxxLrkyOTZJRR1HZUxBVS1nwWyZbb13yX2pfsGHiYetirGSvakNsC2yMbRlvV3BSeBl6U3p_f8Z_-4SihMWJ04ngijiMNo19jYGNv4_6koCTJ5OQlS6aF5u1naqhL6LZpyuwkrDYshm0xbTRtUi42bzqvjq-isGgwuzDOsgjykrN6s96z93Q0NYH18_ZW9sa3Uji1ed06NbpAutj7T_tQe-I8NXxivk3_5M= The tree is way finished before 90. The focus is to get all life nodes, to get ES, to get claw clusters that will give: aspd, inc dmg & inc ailments dmg, crit with claws. Then we get chaos res, extra poison dmg. We add chaos res clusters and the jewels. The only big passive is Ghost Reaver that will regen the ES during combat, even 1 ES will grant the 50% chance to avoid stun given by ES, so we are almost always in this status. Note on Perfect Agony: After a lot of tries, I ultimately got away from this passive. I prefer to have the highest hit damage as possible, and it is preferable to do a simple gem switch on-demand for Deadly & Unbound Ailments instead of Added Chaos + Void Manipulation than having a perma 30% LESS hit dmg. The build really melts bosses, especially standing ones, so we need more burst for clearing weak packs than bosskilling power It is quite compact so we take the +STR nodes (even the +DEX if needed) to fill the stats hole. Stats required: - 111 STR, filled with 1 str mod on gear and 2 +30 passive pts - 300 DEX, filled with 2 dex mods on gear or the +30 passive pt if needed - 150 INT, i think it is covered by tree entirely Bandits Alira for crit multi and the +all res that helps a lot with lifting the burden of capping the res PASSIVE TREE PROGRESSION
Spoiler
Below some logic behind how I usually build up a char: 30pts: www.poeurl.com/bA5e At start we make a beeline to open the Claw cluster and others. We will take the jewel slot so we will put the VS jewel in there 56pts: www.poeurl.com/bA5h - Health & Leech We will be upgrading out DPS by changing weapons. So the next step with the tree is to start pumping up the defense, take all health points (do not forget the ones south!) and the Claw leech Soul Raker. We will also open the path to the ES points, Ghost Reaver and all the remaining clusters. Make your call on when you want to get Soul Raker for the leech, it depends on how many DPS you have, it starts to get noticeable when you have some thousands. 81pts: www.poeurl.com/bA5j - Claw attack speed & other defense There is a gap before Wasp Nest when we are not able to get more dmg by changing weapon. This is when we will start getting all the Attack Speed points (ignore crit for now), there are also 3 points in the poison cluster that will increase its damage by a lot. Meanwhile we will also take the needed Chaos Res and we will open up the last Life cluster in the ranger area. Try to find a good balance between DPS and Defense, if you feel like you need more defense you can anticipate taking the ES points. 93pts: www.poeurl.com/bA5k - All ES nodes & Ghost Reaver Once you feel like your HP is secured and you have a good ES buffer you will take Ghost Reaver and pump the ES. Finishing the tree: I like always to get all last defense points before the offensive points. In this tree the last points to take are the little Claw crit clusters and the Jewels. You can choose the order it is up to you. Core items: Chaos ES/Eva gear " GEAR PROGRESSION
Spoiler
Equip the latest Claws that you can get as soon as you unlock it, save your alchs for it https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/List_of_unique_claws Equip core items as soon as you unlock them as well. Before that, use rares with +Life and +Res to plug res holes. Non-core items are the same. Get +Life and +Res until you can equip the good ones. Gear for gems progression is: -> Embalmer pseudo 5L -> 5L dendro for pseudo 6L (currently 30c very cheap) -> 6L dendro for pseudo 7L As you can see the gear scales pretty reasonably from cheap 5L to a pseudo 7L On all my chars I usually run with a 5L chest/weapon and have a 99% rolled 6S in the stash that I 6L with what I farm/buy. Dendro 6L however is cheap enough to buy it, but i highly recommend to 6L a good rolled one (perfect/almost) because you need all the dps and ES from it Jewels & other gear: more ES/Eva
Spoiler
Stats Requirements:
The build is starved on Dex (o__O;) and Str. We will need +Str on one item and +Dex on two items Mandatory: get high life on all remaining pieces! Vertex, Dendro do not give life, lyco gives very low amounts, so we are in big deficit, get as much life as possible on the rest of the gear! Life is very important because as Life/ES we are more vulnerable stuns and freezes, you must keep it as high as possible, more than 4K which is already lower than pure life based. Jewels NEW IN 3.1 New Watcher's eye jewel: +ES on hit with discipline aura. It becomes CORE ITEM. Unfortunately I can't test yet, but my main is lv97 so I may reroll shadow in abyss soon :) One slot is reserved for VS jewel, pretty good one, it gives a pseudo perma Unholy Might In jewels MANDATORY is Attack speed with Claws. Others are extra, inc life, multi, dmg with poison. The jewels with inc life are very very expensive. Others with dual to quad mod go from couple chaos cheap to expensive for quad mod What a surprise the 2toned boots are ES/Eva. Ignore movespeed, get life, ES if possible, Dex or Str if possible, Dual Res or Tri Res Chain belt mandatory. Highest ES as possible here. The belt can cover the Str requirement but be careful, Str takes place of a Res mod, I recommend a trires over a dualres + str if you can cover Str elsewhere Trinkets: Accuracy until/if you will have Lyco. Attack speed if you can afford it. Then high life roll AND es mod. The rings will also cover the resistance holes. Bonus: if you keep the "Adds X dmg" open, you can mastercraft "Added X Chaos dmg", which is much better than added phys NOTE: One thing I forgot to mention, I noticed way after I bought my rings that they can have "Increased chaos dmg", I guess this mod gives a big boost on dmg so try to have it Amulet is used only for boss killing (because bisco). Do not cover res holes or stats requirements with it. Take high life, high phys and most important: increased ES. You can add crit multi, if you want/can find it Note on amulet: a very good amulet which can fit perfectly for Life/ES is https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Presence_of_Chayula All stats are perfect for the build, Stun immunity, Chaos res, and Life>ES conversion. It should make the char much more tanky, I can say a lot of my rips come from a single stun while inside a huge pack. I don't have it tho, because I do mapping with bisco and it costs 3+ ex x) The good old Eye of Chayula is good for anti-stun but keep in mind will make you more vulnerable to freezes Gems setups " Other gems setup
Spoiler
Discipline core aura. You will use it together with Watcher's Eye with the mod "+ES on hit with discipline" Here I really like Enfeeble, I like to play tanky chars. If you want to go full dmg, go on with Despair. [NOTE: will probably edit out this one, still unsure how to deal with curse] Despair or better NO curse & Arctic Armour (maybe a Curse on Hit Herald) is probably the most recommended because this way you can apply the curse with Witchfire Brew and still have a free 35% reservation slot CWDT with IC and my golem of choice that is the Lightning for faster poison stacking. You can try out Ice golem for more critting. Maybe we can put the golem into gloves and give him poison for lulz? No idea if golem inherits the added chaos dmg EDIT: No it doesn't Whirling Blades with Fortify. My char has -1 move speed and moves around with WB. Also with my playstyle I do WB into the packs when releasing the BF for example to add little deeps and keep fortify up. Also it is a great escape tool, because when you WB out from a pack with low life, you will get +life on hit We don't need Culling Strike anywhere because Assassin has it built-in with Assassinate :D
Flasks
Flasks are not really much flexible. Get surgeons if possible (i dont have optimal because i am lazy) My life flask always is eternal with anti-bleed, get seething/divine if you prefer Onslaught pretty much needed for poison stacking. Also I put anti-freeze here. Witchfire is pretty much your dedicated flask. Eva, smoke cloud AND vulnerability (which keep in mind is wasted if you use enfleeble like me) and increased dot. It is the Lion Roar of the shadow Diamond I like Ample but get what you like. The other mod is open, get Eva, anti-shock whatever Atziri promise will boost both your poison and your Viper Strike. Also caps your chaos res if you ever need it
Pantheon
Pretty much take notice of what gives you problems and pick a pantheon about it. Personally I noticed that one of the biggest weakness I had was vs ailments burning ground so I picked Abberath to be burning ground immune & reduce ignite, plus Brine King to reduce chill, to have some stun recovery and to be immune to stun and freeze locks
POB link
Not sure if to post the poblink. If you play around with the poblink of my current char it gets pretty huge DPS, i could make it 2.5mil in poblink but that's not real. Realistical is less than the nr shown, and also I was overzealous with the gear rolls that i have equipped, you can be complete with much less. Think about a 1mil reference that can ramp up for some seconds, also base dot my guesstimate is that you're keeping a 100k-200k dot but just
WIP: - Active & Support Gems - DONE 10/13/2017 - Progression - Gear DONE Tree DONE 10/17/2017 - Extra stuff Gives streamers & friends queue priority and leaves supporters who spent hundreds $ packs in the 100k queue. GGG: Don't you guys follow streamers? Last edited by ZaeN on Jan 17, 2018, 6:32:34 PM Last bumped on Mar 28, 2018, 12:07:44 PM
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Perfect build. Thanks so much :)
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" Thanks :D Added an important section on gems, have a look and let me know! Gives streamers & friends queue priority and leaves supporters who spent hundreds $ packs in the 100k queue.
GGG: Don't you guys follow streamers? | |
What are the bandits?
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" Ah forgot to mention, Alira for crit multi and the +all res that helps a lot with lifting the burden of capping the res Gives streamers & friends queue priority and leaves supporters who spent hundreds $ packs in the 100k queue.
GGG: Don't you guys follow streamers? | |
Finally! :D
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Is it worth the loss of dendrobate to use this?
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" I don't think you are going to get to highest tiers with the BoR It can be a good temporary gear to level/farm while you prepare the dendro. Gear progression should be Embalmer pseudo 5L -> 5L dendro (currently 30c very cheap) for pseudo 6L -> 6L dendro for pseudo 7L On all my chars I usually run with a 5L chest/weapon and have a 99% rolled 6S in the stash that I 6L with what I farm/buy. Dendro 6L however is cheap enough to buy it, but i highly recommend a good rolled one because you need all the dps and ES from it Gives streamers & friends queue priority and leaves supporters who spent hundreds $ packs in the 100k queue. GGG: Don't you guys follow streamers? Last edited by ZaeN on Oct 15, 2017, 7:40:37 AM
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Gives streamers & friends queue priority and leaves supporters who spent hundreds $ packs in the 100k queue.
GGG: Don't you guys follow streamers? |