How to play CI effectively?

They always say that CI is tanky but when I convert to CI I became so fragile and there is a damage that penetrates to my 1 life.My ES is still at full but im still dying any tips please thanks!(I have 3k ES and almost 22k armour im using a guardian minion btw)

don't swap to using energy shield until you can get upwards of 8k. Even then it's a bit squishy due to difficulty getting regeneration/leech/etc.

The only thing i can think off that can penetrate to your life on a CI build would be culling strike effects in hall of the grandmasters and items you wear that specifically state that you lose life. As for being tanky with CI, you don't get tanky just by using ES instead of life. For ES to be superior you need vast amounts of it. I wouldn't even bother below 7k and to really exceed life builds you need 12k+ at least along with other strong defense layers. 3k ES is worse than having 3k life, though it hardly matters with those numbers.

there is no way to compensate lack of HP with armour

When playing CI, I usually start with 5-6K ES at level 70, aiming for at least 9-10k at lvl 90

edit: to correct above poster a bit, Culling strike does nothing to CI because you are ALWAYS either on full life or dead.

That's my character and im using uniques cause i only followed the build guide just ignore the body armour cause im only using a Tabula but after that the build said that ill just go for a skin of the loyal so the only thing that can give me ES will be jewels but most of my jewels is for minions

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flores91091 wrote:

That's my character and im using uniques cause i only followed the build guide just ignore the body armour cause im only using a Tabula but after that the build said that ill just go for a skin of the loyal so the only thing that can give me ES will be jewels but most of my jewels is for minions

I don't know what build guide you're following but I'd stop using it immediately if it recommends going CI and your only source of ES is from jewels.

If we're talking about SadWhen, you are using replica Sorrow of the Divine which gives you Eldritch Battery during effect. I confess I never tried this. I just assume EB in a CI build should result in exactly what you're seeing. I imagine you want the non-replica version, which gives Zealot's Oath.

I can imagine any CI build using Skin of the Loyal will be pretty advanced, both in terms of correct setup and gearing costs. You seem to need a guide that is more "user friendly"

Are you using Aegis Aurora Shield and max block? 90% phys damage reduction? I survive very well with 4.5k ES, 50k armor, 90% phys damage reduction, and Aegis Aurora.

He is using AA, but his main issue looks like popping replica Sorrow and losing ES coverage. Any damage at all should kill him during the flask effect. What looks like some kind of damage mysteriously going right through his ES is, I think, just the impact of Eldritch Battery on top of CI during flask effect.

There may be other opportunities in the build, but the first priority should be to swap out replica Sorrow for a regular one that gives Zealot's instead of EB.