[3.24] 🗡The Nightblade🗡 Unholy Might : 100% phys converted to chaos

Well, this build clearspeed is... ok. No more, no less. Like 3/5.
I've removed all Impale bonuses in 3.8 to get a better minimum dmg.

You can check the video I've put yesterday (msg above yours), you'll see what I can do with endgame gear in a T19 map with Incursions. It's not awesome but it's not bad.
On a budget in league (like 6ex), I'm able to get a decent clearspeed in T16, but obviously not in a 8-mod-Beyond map.

In Delirium, I'll try to get an explode chest to improve this, as the Delirium monsters will be much tougher.

Other option : Herald of Ice is good + the new jewel cluster "Self-fulfilling prophecy" to easily proc coldsplosions.

- I've cleaned up a bit the beginning of first post.
- Most of the banners are back.

The new Guard skill revelead today, Arcane Cloak seems a fine addition to the MoM version of the build : takes dmg from hits and grants additional lightning dmg based on mana.
We're assassins, that's a cloak, I guess it matches !

I'm still waiting to see a jewel cluster for us, before they are all revealed on tuesday.

All the banners are now back in first msg + this new one :




*

Here is my last video in Metamorph.
When I did this map, I hadn't played the league for two weeks. I wanted to try just one more for fun.
I alch'd it and got 100% IIQ, so I decided to record it. And it turned out to be the best map I've ever done in 6yrs of playing this game.

It had no less than :
- Abyss with Liege of the Lightless boss
- A Synthesis map from Zana
- Legion
- Blight
- Metamorph

= The content of 5 leagues in one map !

The map itself took me 30mn ; then I spent an unreasonable amount of time to edit the recording, adding titles, musics and dynamic transitions, to make it my most enjoyable video so far.

But you be my judge, as we walk this T16 Promenade to give :

#17 : A Farewell to Metamorph

Hope you like it :)

Ok, here we are Exiles : 7 Keystones and 280 notables
*cracks fingers*

Let's see what we can find for The Nightblade Assassin !

There are actually a lot of good nodes for us.
You can search the list with those keywords :
Channelling, Chaos, Chaos Res, Dagger, Dodge, Dual Wield, Evasion, Maximum Life, Maximum Mana (v3.9) ...

In particular, the Channelling nodes are awesome.

Here is my personal selection of 12 notables :



If I had to choose just one that would be :



Among the new Keystones, one stands out for us : Veteran's Awareness



As its name indicates, it's rather for veteran players. I will recommend it in the Endgame section.

With MoM version of the build, it can be used in conjunction with the new guard skill, Arcane Cloak and Wind Dancer Conquered Keystone.

How will the two Keystones work together ?

Next step : Patch Notes tomorrow, and we will be ready to face our inner Delirium :D

Patch notes 3.10 : nerfs & buffs
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2784310

The nerf wave is about to hit the coast of Wraeclasts very hard, drowning Necromancers and their skellies, leaving them in foetal position in a muddy puddle of chaos damage over time (... only for them to rise again even stronger raising their animated weapons, with the typical maniac laughter from hell).

We Assassins are also getting splashed :

* Precision now grants 20% increased Critical Strike Chance to you and nearby allies at gem level 1 (from 40%), up to 58% at gem level 20 (from 59%).
> IMO, still worth it at level 1 for a meager 22 flat mana reserved, as the accuracy bonus remains the same.

* Elusive now grants 30% increased movement speed (from 40%), 15% chance to dodge attacks (from 20%) and 15% chance to dodge spells (from 20%).
> Can be partially compensated with the "No Witnesses" jewel cluster that grants 25% increased Elusive Effect, bringing us back to 38% ms and 19% dodge.

* Mistwalker now grants 15% increased Attack and Cast Speed while Elusive (from 20%).
> It's only a matter of Increased, not More, so we shouldn't feel it too much.

I was afraid of a nerf on the Shaper's gloves, but that will be negligible for us :
* Shaper's Touch now grants +1 maximum mana per 4 Strength (from 2 maximum mana per 4 Strength), and 1% increased Energy Shield per 10 Strength (from 2% increased Energy Shield per 10 Strength)

On the other hand, we get those buffs :

* Opportunistic now grants 25% more Damage while there is at most one Rare or Unique enemy nearby (from 20%)

* Ambush and Assassinate now grants 25% more Damage with Hits and Ailments against Enemies that are on low life (from 20%).

And last but least :

* Ancestral Protector
Now rises out of the ground, leaving a hole in its wake like a devourer.

I guess that's stylish ! :D

I have just installed the fork version of PoB by LocalIdentity, which offers a lot of improvements over the base version developed by OpenArl.

I was able to double check the calculations I manually entered for Elusive, Nightblade support and Ryslatha's Belt, as LocalIdentity take them into account. I was glad to see they match.
So even if you continue to use the main version, rest assured they are correct.

Other features included for us : Withered stacks (6 from Withering Steps), Thread of Hope jewel, Timeless Jewel bonuses (but not the Conquered Keystone)...

Now, I understand why he gets so much praise on Reddit ("LocalIdentity take my energy" has become a meme there)

> In 3.10, I'll use his fork, but I'll keep a link to the 3.9 build in the main version.

It's easy to install, you just have to change one line in a file, and that's clearly explained here.

If you already have it, here is a 3.10beta link for the build : https://pastebin.com/xQ5nGuz7

See you in the mist, Exiles :)

Infos about the skill tree

I have devised two versions of this build :

* Version 3.8 skill tree goes into the Duelist area and up to the Marauder. It uses a lot of auras : Blood & Sand, banner, Flesh & Stone, Precision, Pride, an Aspect etc.



* Version 3.9 travels to the Witch to get Mind over Matter, and continues into the Templar. Because of MoM, this version reserves few mana, no more than 35%. So it can take more dmg, at the cost of doing less DPS.



I've noticed that most players doing this build prefer the v3.8. MoM is simply not popular. I can get it : if you're an Assassin, why try to play tanky ? "Just juice up the DPS ! Can't get hit if the enemy is already dead !"
Also, you can run out of mana and be unable to attack. Once, the ignite from Enslaver guardian depleted my mana, so I had to use default attack to leech. That... wasn't epic :D

Mind over Matter allows you to make some mistakes from time to time. It can also save you when you don't see what's coming to you, which happens when the screen is shock-full of mobs. Your mana becomes a mini life bar : hearing your char say "low on mana" is a first alarm bell, giving you a second chance to react before you're dead. That is what I appreciate in this version.

In 3.10, the new guard skill Arcane Cloak can reserve 64% of your max mana to give you a buff in defence and offence. This synergizes well with the MoM setup.

If you don't like MoM, you can still use the 3.9 tree without the Keystone. You get lot of life and res in the Templar area, and you can allocate Nightstalker, which is the best dagger notable.

*

Whatever the version you prefer, you can put a Thread of Hope jewel with small ring near the Ranger, to allocate Phase Acrobatics and Silent Steps (+ Fatal Toxins).
But there appears to be a problem in 3.10 :



Phase Acro has been moved slightly and is not in the jewel radius anymore.
I'll check if that's the case when 3.10 launches. If that's confirmed, at least it can free some points to get a jewel cluster.

As we prepare to enter Delirium, here are two new videos :

* The first one is a dynamic medley of 4 boss fights : Sirus, Baran, Aul the Crystal King and the Eradicator (I hate this guy).

The music is by French retro-wave artist Morgan Willis and the tune gives its title to the video. That's :
The Grid of Death



The second one was made after I received some criticisms about the build : "too slow", "where is dps??", "gotta go faster bro", "BF to clear srsly dude ?", "Hi! TotallyNotSpamTripHop channel here wanna be YT friends? :)"

So, I bought these Tailwind boots :

(2ex in Standard)
That's 10% more DPS, but I didn't feel much difference.

Then, I decided to go full power-creep and bought an explode chest :

(12ex)

Frankly, I don't know how I could live without it. With this shit, you can NUKE all the screen !
To test it in harsh conditions, I've run a Uul-Netol's Pure Breachstone and a Towerless T16 Blighted Map.

And the video is called :
#1 : Blight Breach Boom... Blade Flurry !

Say it out loud and fast ("BrightBleachBloomBedFlower"...)
Or just watch the bastards go...

Lot of lags tonight in league and standard. Unable to join instances, game crashes, visual bugs, can't convert maps etc.
Your usual league launch :D

So, it's time to theorycraft in PoB !

Good news : Phase Acro is still is the radius of the Thread of Hope jewel.
The mistake hasn't been corrected in PoB.

I'm making some tests with Arcane Cloak (not yet supported in PoB).
Quick calculation :
At 20/20q, with 700 unreserved mana, Cloak spends 700*0.64 = 448 mana. It can take that much dmg, and it gives 448*0.14 = 63 added lightning dmg. PoB says : 2% more dmg. So it's negligible dmg-wise and it's a smaller Molten Shell defence-wise.

Have fun, Exiles :)

I'm beginning act10 and I've allocated a first cluster jewel :



I found the white jewel, then proceeded to transmut/augment/alt it, before spamming a regal.
The result is good but I lack a socket to add a medium cluster.

The further you go from the Mirror, the harder the enemies become. Not only have bosses more life in the mist, but they also receive an additional Delirium mods. It can turn any casual fight into a rippy encounter.
Here is an example in video, with :

#2 : Solaris & Lunaris (act9 bosses)



Hope you like it :)

...

Ofc, I'm talking about my Tricorne !