[3.6] Acid Molten Strike Assassin - Uber Elder-viable Poison Build

I was already leaning in on Volkuur's with a few small tweaks of my own. Nothing major, just a few points here and there. What I really like about this build is the AoE of Molten Strike (always been a fan), and the herald backup that pops in when needed. The side effects of Blood Rage took some time getting use to, but I'm managing.

All in all, I like the contrast of this face tank versus my fire totem build.
3.8 viable again or...?

i started to try this with volks and viper strike but got busy and didnt hit end game, it sure didnt feel as great as the old version with MS pre nerf


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FKNalpha wrote:
3.8 viable again or...?

i started to try this with volks and viper strike but got busy and didnt hit end game, it sure didnt feel as great as the old version with MS pre nerf


Well, it did get buffed, but Molten- and Multistrike are still relatively bad/clunky now.

I'd say it's viable, but other skills (especially the new ones) might be better.
Builds and Guides:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2198879
Last edited by SHEPUUURD on Sep 4, 2019, 6:03:14 AM
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SHEPUUURD wrote:
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FKNalpha wrote:
3.8 viable again or...?

i started to try this with volks and viper strike but got busy and didnt hit end game, it sure didnt feel as great as the old version with MS pre nerf


Well, it did get buffed, but Molten- and Multistrike are still relatively bad/clunky now.

I'd say it's viable, but other skills (especially the new ones) might be better.



I feel like you also didn't take into account the ancestral call buff. No damage penalty at level 20 gem? seems pretty insane.

Can you explain to me how multistrike is clunky/bad, I do not understand as last league all I played was cyclone. (I took a league off from what normally is my starter; this build). As soon as I saw poison/assassin buffs, I was SUPER STOKED for this build, and am a little sad that the creator thinks its bad, and genuinely don't understand why.
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I feel like you also didn't take into account the ancestral call buff. No damage penalty at level 20 gem? seems pretty insane.

Can you explain to me how multistrike is clunky/bad, I do not understand as last league all I played was cyclone. (I took a league off from what normally is my starter; this build). As soon as I saw poison/assassin buffs, I was SUPER STOKED for this build, and am a little sad that the creator thinks its bad, and genuinely don't understand why.
Besides the damage nerfs to MS (it should do more damage now than pre-nerf actually), it has also been changed that you need to hit enemies with the strike in order to spawn the balls.
This means you can no longer use AC to double hit bosses, aswell as have less aoe in general.

Multistrike has been changed to:
-Grant less attack speed than before (nerf to this build)
-Gain a damage bonus on consecutive hits.
The issue here is that the damage bonus stops as soon as you animation cancel, which is why it wasn't used much last league.

You would also have to go with the Volkuur's version now since MS received added flat fire damage.

All in all the damage should be fine, probably even higher than the new poison skills, but the build won't be what it used to anymore.
Builds and Guides:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2198879
Last edited by SHEPUUURD on Sep 5, 2019, 4:07:55 AM
so last league you suggested Viper strike, how would you build your 6 link around Cobra lash? This build was a blast to play and wouldn't mind still keeping it alive even if we went back to fenemus and a new gem like cobra lash
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SHEPUUURD wrote:
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I feel like you also didn't take into account the ancestral call buff. No damage penalty at level 20 gem? seems pretty insane.

Can you explain to me how multistrike is clunky/bad, I do not understand as last league all I played was cyclone. (I took a league off from what normally is my starter; this build). As soon as I saw poison/assassin buffs, I was SUPER STOKED for this build, and am a little sad that the creator thinks its bad, and genuinely don't understand why.
Besides the damage nerfs to MS (it should do more damage now than pre-nerf actually), it has also been changed that you need to hit enemies with the strike in order to spawn the balls.
This means you can no longer use AC to double hit bosses, aswell as have less aoe in general.

Multistrike has been changed to:
-Grant less attack speed than before (nerf to this build)
-Gain a damage bonus on consecutive hits.
The issue here is that the damage bonus stops as soon as you animation cancel, which is why it wasn't used much last league.

You would also have to go with the Volkuur's version now since MS received added flat fire damage.

All in all the damage should be fine, probably even higher than the new poison skills, but the build won't be what it used to anymore.



thanks A TON for the information. I think I will try it out again. See how it feels on early bosses like act 2/3 and make a decision by that point. And set up a backup build with viper strike.
;p
Last edited by UntoTheCruel on Apr 10, 2020, 3:53:52 PM
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UntoTheCruel wrote:
Well, I played this build on Legion, basically only this build, i didn't knew what to build and this was one of my favourite builds ever back when i did it first time (think it was bestiary) - and for this I thank you - and what I've got to add is, although the playstyle didn't make it very safe against legion monoliths, the damage was still pretty good. When I hit the guardians I was impressed that I downed minotaur in like 5 seconds, did all the shaper and elder guardians, shaper, red tier elder - all deathless - and my first uber elder kill (i've not played much since uber elder came out) was in Legion with this build; I died like 20 times to them, but i never did it before and was bacause of positioning and learning things, when I finally got him with my 3rd shaper set I died only 2 times and definitively could done it without dying; also did uber atziri, lvl 83 mastermind, lvl 80+ breachlord and lvl 84 lich: all done with ease (apart from uber elder ;p). I did volkuur following your suggestion about the nerfs and added fire damage, but after the league finished I got my old items from the fenumus build and put on the character, and it still basically the same, I think even more damage came because of blasphemy with despair and the double duration for not using volkuurs. Another thing I got to mention is that the more bonus for repetitions on multistrike works on poison, so it's a pretty large damage modifier (50 then 100% bonus poison damage) and it should compensate (in part) for the loss of ancestral call extra target projectiles. The atk speed nerf really make it clunky until certain point, but after you get enough attack speed it feels almost the same as before, it just take more investment on atk speed on tree and jewels.

So, looks like the mechanics on this league won't require that much area coverage like legion, and the buffs to assassin are insane in both damage and survivability and, furthermore, I can testify that even last league the build was good for both volkuur and fenumus. I don't know if I gonna do the build this league 'cause I just did it, but I put my money on it that it will be extremely good.
Multistrike got a buff this patch, but it's actually a nerf for this build. I'd still use it as a support gem though. Other than that it's just getting better than in legion.

There are a couple of changes I'd make currently, but I'm not going to update the guide because I won't play the build myself.
Since I'll probably play Cobra Lash, I can give a some advice on that.

This is the build I plan on playing: https://pastebin.com/0NGewRAt

You can use exactly the same skill tree and gem setup (replace Cobra Lash for MS) as in the PoB. Mistwalker + Opportunistic is much better than the old Infusion pathing on Assassin.
The character is actually more tanky this way, even with less life nodes taken. (the old skill tree pathing with ranger life nodes is still an option however)

The gear should still be the same as in the guide for the Volkuur's version. The only thing I'd consider is to use Betrayal multimodding for the rings and claw at high budget.
Builds and Guides:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2198879
Last edited by SHEPUUURD on Sep 5, 2019, 3:06:20 PM
Thank you SHEPUUURD for taking the time to comment

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