[Outdated] Lancing Steel Raider | SoftCore | Not league starter viable anymore


A9 Sirus

Update - After extensive testing in kalandra league I arrived at the following:

Since theres no dodge anymore and evasion isn't as easy to stack as dodge used to be, the glasscannon version can't achieve decent survivability before having high damage. If you wish to achieve high survivability I recommend building a Champion for this skill, Ranger can reach high survivability but you'll have to invest so much in order to cap spell suppress and get decently good dodge and/or armour that you'll have lacking boss damage without HEAVY currency investment. I ran a glasscannon setup for most of the league and was able to do most of the game content. According to PoB my dps was higher than the Min-maxed characters I had on ritual and ultimatum legue, however I was always left feeling like my damage was not as consistent as before and felt the opposite of that. The character would not die unless it got OHK or was afflited by high amounts of degen or DoT.

Considerations for 3.20

Lord of steel lo onger exists, so the skill will be very clunky to play thanks to the cast time of Call of Steel;
Ther Saviour had its damage doubled, will positivelly affect the build, however the droprate has been reduced and will be harder to aquire one earlier on the league;
The league mechanic will be probably punishing on glasscannon builds, so I don'tt recommend running LS as glasscannon this league unless you just want to make currency fast killing bosses;
Having that in mind, the new relics from the league mechanic may be able to help a lot;

Pros/Cons
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Pros:
-Can achieve really high dps
-Very Good clearspeed with The Saviour
-It's fun to watch the huge amount of projectiles

Cons:

-Without heavy investment can't run Uber bosses;
-Can't run Uber Atziri without proper anti-reflect setup
-Expensive to min-max, thanks to the changes to crafting and defence mechanics
-Need to keep your steel shards stacks up to maintain optimal dps(can be clunky)
-Cannot run Phys reflect maps
-Not Hardcore viable


PoB Links:
All PoBs are heavily outdated and I didn't have the time to update everything this past league.
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Warning: I'm using the Community Fork PoB in this guide, if you don't have it, feel free to download it at https://pathofbuilding.community.

Leveling PoB for Ranger: https://pastebin.com/5AgFPtv8
(READ THE NOTES!)

End-game Low Budget - No Clusters: https://pastebin.com/HwmHEN0T
End-game Low Budget - With Clusters: https://pastebin.com/iJ7p7Mma

You will need a Thread of Hope with a medium size ring for the PoBs below.
Mid Budget with Cluster: https://pastebin.com/aMpjkCLi

Min-Maxed Glass-cannon: https://pastebin.com/0KzuEEym
Min-maxed End-game Life Gain on Hit: https://pastebin.com/t3KRvada


Basic Build Mechanics
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Lancing Steel works like a melee weapon Barrage. When you sacrifice steel shards you multiply the amount of base projectiles you fire up to 3 times the amount of projectiles fired when sacrificing 4 steel shards(that's the cap of sacrificed shards per Lancing Steel attack, you can hold up to 12 shards without allocating Blade Sovereign on the passive tree). In other words, hehe sword go BRRRRRRRRR ...
Sorry, I meant to say that you'll need to spam Call of Steel in order to keep your shards up to maximize dps.

"But doing that don't we lose actual dps?"
Nice that you asked! Call of steel pulls all impales from enemies in range dealing all the stored impale damage as AOE reflected damage, so you'll still be dealing damage when pulling the shards. Also, the more impales the enemies have, the faster you'll get the steel shards stacks, being possible to get all 12 shards instantaneously. Furthermore, to reduce downtime we will use this:

This Jewel speeds up the cast of Call of steel, makes it almost an instant cast, I really recommend to use that, especially a roll with 98%+ CoS cast speed.

That's about it, since the dps get really high at some point, you will not need to stack shards for clearing since you'll explode everything anyway, but in bossing you'll absolutely need to stack the shards up every 3-4 attacks in order to keep your dps high AF. Also, notice that I forgot to use Call of Steel in the Sirus kill in the GIF, the kill would be even faster if I used that.

Do remember to set up your enduring cry on the left click so you can autocast it while walking, but DO NOT do that before getting the Call to Arms keystone since the warcry wont be instant and you'll be locked in place using the skill!

Remember to use your movement skill(dash/leap slam/whirlwind blades) if you're using Beltimber Blade(to keep the extra projectile bonus active at all times), to place and replace the Ancestral Protector totem at boss fights and to use Blood Rage. Use your curses on bosses!

Obs: Despite being used with melee weapons, Lacing Steel DOES NOT count as a melee skill, it is a ranged projectile attack.
Obs²: Whenever you see me getting steel shards in my videos and don't see the Call of Steel skill being activated, the reason you don't see it in the hotkey bar is the following:
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I set Call of Steel in the last ability hotkey AND my last ability hotkey is set to space bar, this way I can have frequently used skills on the second page while having access to other frequently used skills in the q-w-e-r-t keys.
Also, you don't see the cast animation because of the 100% increased Call of Steel cast speed from the Lord of Steel unique jewel.


The 2 build variants
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Here I'll talk about the difference between the 2 variants.
The Standard Glass cannon:
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This version is really straightforward, focus on stacking damage(flat phys damage, % damage, % phys damage and % proj damage) and attack speed while capping your resistances(res). You'll easily get high damage numbers with this and by abusing the Offering to the Serpent gloves to stack damage while leeching effects from clusters, items and from the passive tree. You can even ditch the mana cost reduction setup I run to maximize damage on the higher end. But do have in mind that this variant usually needs life potions in order not to die if you cannot avoid bosses' attacks and doesn't have enough damage to kill everything before taking damage. You could use Vaal pact to leech a ton of life and it works, but it would negate Enduring cry's life regen. I personally recommend this as a budget version before moving onto the Life gained on hit route. Despite that, it can be min-maxed and will work as good as the other one while being a lot cheaper.


Life Gained on Hit:

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The Life gained on hit variant tries to stack life gained on hit effects on the rings and everywhere it can squeeze it into. Got an open suffix spot on the gloves that wont be needed? Try to get it there. Same thing about the amulet. With that in mind, you mainly focus on getting the hunter mod for life gained on hit on your rings, getting both of them t1 and using some attack or life catalysts will net you around 50 life gained per hit only with this mod on the 2 rings. While dying sun is active, if you have the helmet enchantment and sacrifice 4 steel shards per attack you'll fire 21+ projectiles per Lancing Steel attack(more if you have more additional projectiles effects), that nets you at least 1050 life gained per attack if you hit every projectile. That's not even counting multiple enemies being hit by your attacks!
One could argue that Deadeye would be better for this variant because of the extra projs from the ascendancy, and they are not wrong about that, you would in fact have a higher life sustain, but Raider brings so much more to the table that I still prefer her for that.
You'll do better with rare gloves for this version because you'll be able to get a big damage boost from the influence mods you can get and the extra life adds to the tankyness being able to easily hit 5.8k life with rare gloves. Doing that allows you to drop the Feed the fury large cluster cluster notable, in favour of the Run through notable. Bear in mind that you can easily run this variant while using the Offering to the Serpent Gloves and stacking while leeching bonus damage and attack speed and it is cheaper, but in the higher-end it is not actually better.
In this version of the build you'll spend a lot more currency to achieve ludicrously high dps numbers, but you'll easily achieve around 60 mil combined dps and that's enough to melt all bosses. Have in mind that, despite being more expensive, this version is better!



Classes and Ascendancies
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Choice of class:

Ranger is the optimal choice of class for this build in my opinion, but this build has been seen working very well with Duelists and Shadows. Duelists offer more tankyness as a Champion and a good balance of damage and sustain as Slayer, slayers also don't get phys dmg reflected, allowing them to kill Uber Atziri without any alternative setup.
Having that in mind, Ranger offers the best balance, they can go up into the shadow nodes and down to the duelist nodes without wasting a lot of points, as Raider they get Free Frenzy on hit, permanent Onslaught with 100% increased effect and a high evasion bonus, as Deadeye they get tailwind, increased mark effect(or can get passive damage reduction), increased projectile count and free chain.

Ascendancies:

While leveling I recommend you to pick Deadeye since she gives the highest damage in the ascendancies and survivability isn't much of a problem before mapping.

The order I recommend you to allocate the ascendancy nodes while leveling as Deadeye is Ricochet->Gathering Winds->Endless Munitions->Wind Ward

If you plan on staying as Deadeye, when you get an armour with additional curse OR if you plan on going life gain on hit and still doesn't have a Vulnerability curse on hit ring, change Wind Ward for Focal Point and get a sniper's mark for bossing. Have in mind that Deadeye is a good and valid alternative for Raider if you're going the Life Gained on Hit route because of the extra base projectiles.

Then here comes the main actress, Raider. You get a lot of quality of life as raider with the frenzy on hit and permanent onslaught, this saves a lot a currency on gear and frees up a flask slot that can be used for a survivability flask or a QS Flask.

The order I recommend you to allocate the ascendancy nodes on Raider is Rapid Assault->Way of the Poacher-> Avatar of the Slaughter->Avatar of the Chase


Pantheon and Bandits
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Pantheon:
Major: Go for either Solaris or Lunaris, Lunaris is better if you didn't already hit the dodge cap.
Minor: Shakari if you use the tanky life gain on hit setup.
Ryslatha if you use the more glass-cannon version of the build that doesn't stacks life gained on hit, since you'll usually need to carry a life pot.

Bandits:

KILL THEM ALL!


Gear list

Have in mind this guide will not go into crafting anytime soon.

Here is the gear list and my recommendations:
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Weapons:
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While leveling through the Acts, simply pick the strongest one-handed swords you come by. You may want to use two-handed swords before getting the Ambidexterity notable.

When you get to mapping, try to get your hands on both the a Beltimber Blade and a The Saviour.


If you cannot afford those, get either rare jewelled foilks with decent stats or get a Scaeva with 3 green sockets for the main hand and a Prismatic Eclipse with 2 red and one green for the off-hand. If you do that, try using Fortify - Whirlwind Blades - Enduring Cry on the off-hand weapon.

Beltimber Blade is the Budget option for the main hand, you'll want to get one as soon as possible then focus on getting your The Saviour and later on upgrade to either a 195+ physical DPS Paradoxica or jump straight into a Rare Jewelled Foil with high pDPS. Before getting The Saviour, use 2 Beltimbers.
The Saviour being the priority because it will effectively double your clear speed and single target dps, the way the mirage saviours work is unbelievably OP, to puto it simply they deal 50% of your damage post calculations and the increases and decreases in your damage update their damage in real time, so if you pop a flask that affects your damage, it will also affect theirs.

A Paradoxica like that is only second to a 670+ pDPS well crafted Jewelled Foil with a Crit multi Suffix.


Gloves:
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While leveling just get something that helps you not die, you already know the drill by now, life and resistances, attributes and phys dmg to attacks is a +.

When you get to the epilogue, the budget options are either a Tombfist with one abyssal socket or an Oskarm.

A Tombfist with a attacks have +x% to critical strike chance or maximum Frenzy Charges corrupted implicit mod is not expensive and will hold out for a while.

The Oskarm works well since it gives a decent life and gives you a curse on hit, freeing some sockets, but is straight worse than the Tombfist if you already have a curse on hit ring. You can have a budget combo using that glove, a Briskwrap/Wildwrap and using the Obscurantis helmet you can stack a bit of accuracy cheaply before getting both a better body armour and helmet.(Same as with Tombfist, a Oskarm with i]attacks have +x% to critical strike chance[/i] or maximum Frenzy Charges corrupted implicit mod is not expensive)

When it's time to make upgrades you should start to decide the path you'll take with the build.
You can either get a pair of rare warlord influenced Gripped Gloves with +1 to maximum frenzy charges or an Offering to the Serpent with a +1 to maximum frenzy charges implicit.

The rare gloves are better if you plan on stacking some life gain on hit in order to face tank bosses, it will also give you more life. Later on you can upgrade to a pair of Gripped Gloves with intimidate on attacks and the already mentioned maximum frenzy charges(you can also get culling strike as the third influence mod on the high budget).

If you go the Offering to the Serpent(OttS) route, you're in for the "glass-cannon" version with higher dps that kills things before dying. Just go for any OttS with maximum frenzy charges for starters, later on you should upgrade to one that also has attack speed or increased physical damage(or both).


Helmet:
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The helmet slot is really easy to gear up. Anything with life, high evasion and resistances can keep you up to the task until the end-game, then I suggest getting a Crown of the Inward Eye with the Lancing Steel fires an additional projectile enchantment. You can also use an Obscurantis helmet as budget(see Oskarm in gloves section).


On the high budget, after acquiring a Power Charge on crit Body armour, get a crafted helmet like this one:

The enchantment is really important to increase your dps. You'll want the crafted +1 to socketed AoE gems to buff your slotted Auras. The Elder mod nearby enemies take 9% increased Physical Damage and the Warlord Mod X% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier are self-explanatory, and you'll want the +1 to maximum Power Charges for and extra crit chance and damage when you have a way to get power charges.

DO NOT USE THE ABYSSUS!, you'll take extra damage for little damage gain when compared to other options.


Body Armour:
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While leveling you can use whatever armour you find that gives you life and resistances or a Tabula Rasa to speed up the acts.

When you get to the epilogue, you can either get a good rare body armour with decent life, res, and atributes OR a unique body armour.

There are 4 Unique options for this slot, you can rock Wildwrap, Lioneye's Vision and Belly Of The Beast.
The cheapest option for a 6-link is Wildwrap, it'll give you cold res, extra damage per dexterity and some evasion, but it doesn't give you life, so not the best option, but at least it's cheap and decent. It's usually the cheapest option of the 4 for 6-link at league start.
Lioneye's Vision gives you a good amount of life and inate pierce, allowing you to get a 5-link one at league start for cheap setup, but one 6-link is usually more expensive than some of the other options. It's the best option after the support and mana nerf.
Belly Of The Beast gives you a lot of life, some resistances and that's about it. Great overall body armour, kinda pricy at league start since tons of builds like to use that.

On the mid to high budget you'll want something similar to this:

(This is legacy gear!)
You'll need something similar to that body armour above, but without the explode mod(That Body armour used to have the go to mods, but since the crusader influence explode mod has been nerfed, it is no longer a must have.). So focus on the attack extra crit chance(preferably tier 1), you cast an additional curse and chance to gain power charges on critical strikes. Those are the mandatory mods, but you can go for one with all those mods above and the new crusader "Enemies you kill have a x% chance to explode" mod. You can also dump even more currency into the armour and get one with elevated mods, it's unecessary, but it'll give you even more damage.
If you're rocking Deadeye, you can opt to get a hunter/redeemer body armour with frenzy charges on hit instead of the crusader power charges on crit if you do not have a Divergent Blood Rage gem(gives you frenzy charges on hit against bosses, uniques and rare enemies).
The best bases for the mid-high budget body armour are Astral Plate(free elemental resistances) and Assassin's Garb(extra movement speed and good evasion).


Boots:
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While leveling just focus on movement speed and res.

In epilogue strive for T1 life and 30%+ movement speed with good resistances. Then, when you decide to upgrade, get a pair of boots with those mods and Tailwind on critical strike(Hunter influence mod) if you're Raider, Deadeyes should go for chance to dodge attacks or elusive on critical strike(both Redeemer influence mods).

High-end should be something at least like this pair(or better):


Tailwind, chance to dodge attacks, at least 30% movement speed and at least T2 life. Elusive is awesome, but flat chance to dodge attacks is better, it's a consistent stat instead of the fluctuating dodge chance elusive gives you, so if you have to chose between both mods, get flat chance to dodge attacks.
If you're Deadeye, get projectiles pierce additional targets instead of tailwind.


Amulet:
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Amulets are simple, you just want life, res, and phys dmg to attacks while leveling and on low budget.

Later on you should grab either a fractured amulet like the one I use for very high crit multi

Or a Warlord influenced one with T1 life, phys dmg to attacks, good res, crit multi and +1 level to all physical skill gems.


Rings:
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Same as amulets while leveling, you want res, life and attributes you need (phys dmg to attacks is a +). But you may want at least one Praxis unique ring to lower your attacks' mana cost.

Eventually you'll get to the epilogue and that's where part of the stuff that defines what kind of build you're going for is!

Do you want higher survivability?
If yes, get rings with high life, good res, T1 Hunter influence mod Life gained for each Enemy hit by your attacks and, preferably, an open preffix slot to craft Non-channeling skills have -X to mana cost.
If you want to embrace this playstyle, remember to get one of the rings as double influence with Elder's Trigger Level X Poacher's Mark when you Hit a Rare or Unique Enemy besides hunter's life gained on hit, this will give you even more Life Gain on Hit.

Do you want to simply erase threats before they kill you?
For that just get rings with phys dmg to attacks, life, good resistances and an open prefix slot to craft Non-channeling skills have -9 to mana cost(if you're not using Lifetap).
One of the rings needs to be a warlord influenced ring with vulnerability curse on hit,

the other can be a essence crit multi fractured ring with life, phys dmg to attacks and good res.
Ideally you want steel rings with those stats, but if you need res, don't be afraid of going for ele res rings.


Belts:
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Belt gearing is also easy. While leveling, a Belt of the Deceiver is very good, if you can get your hands on one running your acts it will improve your clear.

The very low budget belt for the build is a Darkness Enthroned with 2 murderous eye jewels with life and phys dmg to attacks (and phys dmg with sword attacks if you manage to pick one cheap).

A bit higher on price is The Nomad, it gives a lot of resists and gives a lot of damage, just fails at delivering life.

But the Best In Slot is Ryslatha's Coil, gives you so much damage it's dumb.

Not even worth wasting time crafting a double influenced stygian vise.

If you're on the high-budget, get a HeadHunter, it'll turn all map clearing buttery smooth even though this build is focused as a boss killer.





Amulet Annoints
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Marked for Death(Sepia, Silver, Indigo) is the best annoint if you're using marks. If you can't afford it or are not using marks, get Blade Master(Clear, Silver, Sepia). If you're in need of more life sustain, get Hematophagy(Violet, Black, Silver).


Flasks:
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As always, pretty straightforward.
Go for Life, Mana, Quicksilver, Silver and Sulphur Flasks while leveling. You should get bleeding removal in the life flask, freeze removal in any other flask and extra movespeed, attack speed and evasion rating on the remaining flasks.

When you get to the epilogue and/or have a good enough mana sustain, drop the Mana flask for a Jade flask.

The ideal End-game flasks for Raider are:


Bottled Faith for damage and crit chance.

Dying sun for extra projectiles in order to stack damage.

Quartz Flask for survivability.
And a Jade Flask for extra evasion.

If you're going for the life gained on hit variant you can choose between those 2 Flasks below, since you will be recovering at least 1176 health per attack, there is no need for Life pots.


The glass-cannon variant need life pots on some circunstances, like some bosses, simulacrum and t16+ 100% delirium maps to escape some pinches. You'll will have life leech, but the life leech you'll have is not enough to simply face tank stuff, you'll have to try to avoid some attacks and effects, gotta play smart.

Blood of the Karui fills your HP twice per flask use(once during flask effect and then again after the effect ends), helps a lot in fights like Sirus and Maven if you don't fully grasp the moveset. If you don't need that, get an Eternal Life flask with Bleeding immunity.

If you're going for Deadeye, trade the last flask for a Cinderswallow for onslaught and extra sustain, and get a Jade Flask of stauching to remove bleeding.


Lord of Steel:
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Get one Lord of Steel gem as fast as possible with the highest increase to Call of Steel's cast speed you can to smooth out the gameplay.
Afterwards you should upgrade to one with Impale effect and at least 98% increased Call of Steel use speed, would also be nice to get a good corruption implicit on the jewel(such as corrupted blood immunity).


Watcher's Eye:
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WE for dummies:The Watcher's Eye Prismatic Jewel(a.k.a WE) is a drop from The Elder and Uber Elder that rolls 2 random mods(or 3 on the Uber Elder Watcher's Eye) that give bonus while affected by auras. For this build you'll will mainly need bonuses while affected by the Pride Aura.

Any increased damage or double damage while affected by pride WE will do for the low budget.

For the mid to high budget I personally recommend a WE with impales last 2 additional hits with Pride for maximum dps and Non-Channeling skills have -10 to total mana cost with Clarity to neutralize LS' mana cost.
The perfect WE would have those 2 mods and also either Critical Strike Multiplier while using Precision or Intimidate with pride(if you're not using an intimidate gripped gloves, if you are, go for double damage with pride as the last mod).


Thread of Hope:
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You will need a Thread of Hope with medium size ring for the Mid and high end versions of the build. Get one with the lowest elemental resistance penalty you can afford and later upgrade.


Clusters, Base Jewels and Abyss Jewels
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Clusters:
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Large Clusters:

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The large clusters need to be axe and sword damage ones, and don't get clusters with more than 8 passives.

Best notables are:
Prefixes: Feed The Fury, Fuel The Fight, Run Through
Suffixes: Smite the weak and Martial Prowess


Medium Clusters:
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The medium clusters can be either with 4 or 5 passives, there's no real difference since you can allocate everything you need with the same amount of passive points.

You can go for 2 different kinds of medium clusters, projectile damage or critical strike chance.

For projectile damage clusters you'll need Eye to eye and Repeater notables.

For Critical strike chance clusters you'll need Precise commander and Basics of Pain notables.

There is also a cluster combo, you can get a projectile damage medium cluster with either Eye to Eye and Shrieking Bolts or Repeater and Shrieking Bolts combined with a critical strike chance medium cluster with Precise Commander and Provocateur. Shrieking Bolts makes so your hits have a 10% chance to taunt and provocateur gives you a LOT of damage against taunted enemies. So you'll almost always taunt the enemies because of the sheer amount of projectiles fired and you'll deal more damage to them because of that.

It's your choice, I prefer the pure projectile damage clusters.


Jewels:
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For basic jewels you'll follow the priority list of mods below:

Must Have: %Increased Maximum Life

Priority 2:
If you do not have enough attributes to use your gear, get the atribute you need. If you do, skip to the next.

Priority 3:
If you're not capped on any elemental resistance, get the res you need. If you are capped, skip to the next.

Priority 4: Either %to Critical Strike Multiplier with one-handed melee weapons or %to Critical Strike Multiplier while Dual Wielding

Priority 5: %to Global Critical Strike Multiplier

Priority 6: %Increased Projectile Damage

Priority 7: %Increased Damage

Those are the mods you want to go for to maximize effectiveness and damage.
If you can't get any of those, go for attack speed or damage with swords.


Abyss Jewels:
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If you're going for Abyss Jewels, always go for jewels with Maximum Life, Phys dmg with sword attacks for prefix and Crit multi, attack speed or phys dmg to attacks for suffixes.
Unless you need resistances and/or attributes, in that case, prioritise mods that give you what you need.



Gear progression:
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Here I'll talk about the priorities when upgrading your gear. I've already said a lot to keep your res capped, but that's basic stuff.
From low to mid budget:
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-The first upgrade I recommend is getting one Offering to the Serpent and getting at least one large cluster jewel with Feed the Fury, Fuel the Fight and Martial Prowess. This will help with life sustain, damage and mana sustain;
-If you manage to cap your resistances without using The Nomad belt, you should get a Ryslatha's coil, it gives you a lot of base damage and good life;
-From there get a decent rare helmet with Lancing Steel Fires an Additional Projectile enchantment or get a Crown of the Inward Eye with that enchantment;
-Now you gotta get better jewels, first of all get a Lord of Steel unique jewel with impale effect, at least 98% increased Call of Steel cast speed and corrupted with the Corrupted Blood Cannot be Inflicted on you implicit(or any other good implicit if you already have Corrupted Blood immunity). Then pick up a Watcher's Eye to give you a damage bonus while using pride, be it increased damage, double damage or intimidate(don't go for this mod if you're using Tombfist). DO NOT GET A WE WITH INCREASED IMPALE CHANCE WHILE USING PRIDE! You don't need it to reach 100% chance to impale on hits! Lancing Steel already has a 20% base chance to impale on hits;
-Get a Thread of Hope with a medium sized ring;
-By this point you should not need any attributes in your base jewels, follow the priority list on the jewels section to pick better base jewels and move on;
-Now you'll get a new sword! You'll drop the Beltimber Blade and pick up a Paradoxica with at least 189 physical DPS and 1.4 attacks per second. DO NOT get a Paradoxica with chance to trigger Blood Rage on kill, it will overwrite your own Blood Rage resulting in a net dps loss;
-Get a level 3 enlighten support and a lvl 4 enhance support, you'll
be changing your sockets setups(see gem links section).
-Now decide, life gained on hit or pure dps? If you're in for the life gained on hit, go after hunter rings with the life gained on hit mod that have nice res, good life and, if possible, an open prefix to craft mana reduction for non-channeling skills. The pure dps route will stick to normal rings with phys damage to attacks, life and res, but will pick up one warlord ring with Vulnerability curse on hit;
-Lastly, if you're Raider get a hunter body armour with additional curse and +% attacks base crit chance. If you're Deadeye get a Redeemer body armour with chance to gain Frenzy charges on hit;

From mid to high budget:
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Juicy stuff!
-Get a WE with impales last 2 additional hits(and non-channeling skills have -10 to total mana cost if you want to go that route) to increased impale dps;
-Get better rings with crit multiplier and if you're going the life gained route, get a double influence ring with life gained on hit and vulnerability on hit; You may also get a double influence ring with life gained on hit and trigger Poacher's mark on hit;
-Get Awakened Brutality support and Awakened Vicious Projectiles support;
-Get a body armour with chance to gain power charges on crit, attacks have +% crit chance and additional curse(Crusader + Hunter influence). If you're Deadeye, you'll also need to pick up a Anomalous Blood Rage to keep stacking frenzy on hit. If you don't want to invest in that gem yet, get a hunter/redeemer body armour with chance to gain frenzy charges on hit, attacks have +% crit chance and additional curse body armour;
-Go for double crit multi, increased (proj)dmg + % life base jewels;
-If you're using OttS, get a better Offering to the Serpent with +1 maximum frenzy charges implicit and either global phys damage or attack speed implicit as well(or both). If you're going the Life gained on hit route and want to upgrade to/the rare gloves, pick gripped gloves with chance to intimidate enemies on hit and +1 maximum frenzy charges and good life(remember, Hunter + Warlord Influence);
-Get Anomalous Enlighten lvl 4;
-Get a crit multi amulet with good res;
-If Raider, get Boots with Tailwind + chance to dodge attacks and at least 30% movement speed. If you're Deadeye go for chance to dodge attacks + elusive on crit and at least 25% movement speed(elusive will give you a good movement speed bonus);
-Get a perfect 30% qual the saviour;
-Get a max pDPS Paradoxica;
-Get a Headhunter;
-Get a great rings with crit multiplier, life gained for each enemy hit, vulnerability on hit, t1 maximum life, phys damage to attacks and a resistance you need(if you don't need resistances on one ring, go for attack speed instead). This ring will substitute your curse on hit ring in either version of the build;
-If you're Raider, get a Tailwind, Elusive, chance to dodge attacks two-toned boots with at least 30% movespeed. If you're Deadeye, get projectiles pierce additional targets instead of tailwind(or chance to dodge spells);
Optional:
-Upgrade your rare gloves to ones that also have culling strike;
-Get a GGG tier Jewelled Foil.



Gem links:
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Leveling:

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Your links should be something like this as you progress through the acts.
I STRONGLY DISCOURAGE USING LANCING STEEL BEFORE HAVING EITHER A SOURCE OF PIERCE OR CHAIN! STICK TO FROSTBLADES OR CHANGE TO SPLITTING STEEL OR SHATTERING STEEL UNTIL YOU MEET THAT REQUIREMENT!

Before getting Ricochet and Endless Munitions:
Spoiler
While leveling I recommend you to use whatever skill you want until you pick up Lancing Steel. Below is my suggestion when it comes to rushing through acts 1 and 2, using Frost Blades.

Act 1:
There is a quick setup you can do before starting your Ranger, you can create a marauder and rush to the submerged passage to get an Ancestral Protector earlier than you would get as Ranger as reward for the quest Breaking Some Eggs(the gliphs quest that unlocks the submerged passage), the gem will greatly improve you single target dps.
Get Frost Blades and a two-handed sword from Tarkleigh as soon as you get on Lioney's Watch and rush to the submerged passage. Get back to the Coast and head to the Tidal Island to finish the Mercy Mission quest. Turn in your quests and get a Quicksilver flask, Dash, an Ancestral Call Support, an Onslaught Support and a Chance to Bleed Support if you got the Ancestral Protector earlier with the marauder strat.

By now your attack links should be:
Frost Blades - Ancestral Call Support - Onslaught Support
and
Ancestral Protector - Chance to Bleed Support

When you kill Brutus, get an Added Cold Damage Support and if you already have a 4-link equipment, slot it in, otherwise swap Onslaught Support for that. Now go to the Flooded Depths and kill the Dweller of the Deep, then proceed to The Ship Graveyard and Finish Fairgraves' quest. After that you just need to go through the Caverns and kill Merveil.

Act 2:
Rush to The Forest Encampment and go to the right(The Old Fields), rush to the Crossroads and pickup the waypoint. Now you should go to The Chambers of Sin(usually to the north-northwest of the map) and rush to the second floor. Kill Fidelitas, go back to town and get a Blood Rage for killing Fidelitas then teleport to the Crossroads and head to The Broken Bridge. While there, kill some mobs on the way if you feel like leveling and then go kill Kraityn.
Now head to The Riverways. Find the waypoint and head to The Western Forest. When you get there, follow the road to find Captain Arteri and his bunch, slay them good and use the Thaumetic Emblem on the wall to get a passive point later. Find Alira's camp, kill her then proceed to The Weaver's Chambers, kill some spideys on your way to the spider boss. Kill her, get the quest item and go back to The Riverways.

Find The Wetlands(usually the way is close to the waypoint), when there kill Oak, get the waypoint and return to town and get the reward passive points and The Apex Quest item from Eramir. Go back to the wetlands and rush to the end of the act.

Act 3:
From now onwards simply rush until you get on the Battlefront, there pick the waypoint and the quest item that usually spawns next to it. Go to the docks and get the quest item from there then rush through the Solaris Temple, get the Infernal Talc while proving you're not an cockroach to Lady Dialla on the second floor. Clear the path on the Sewers and rush to the Plaza where you'll slay General Gravicius, unlocking Lancing Steel. Remember to get 2 one-handed swords instead of the Two-handed sword and you’re good to go.
Also, remember to ger a Sniper's Mark or Vulnerability when you finish the Lost in Love quest, also pick up a Dread Banner.


After getting at least Ricochet:

Lancing Steel - Maim Support - Lifetap Support - Vicious Projectiles Support(+ Life Gain on Hit Support - Onslaught Support if you got 5+ links)

Run those links until you get to lvl 31 and unlock Impale Support and Slower Projectiles Support, then pick those up and level them in the second weapon set or put them in place of Life Gain on Hit Support and Onslaught Support if you already have 5+ links.

For "auras" just use Herald of Purity and Dread Banner until you get enough mana sustain to slot in a Pride as well.Dread Banner can be purchased from Clarissa on Act 3 after finishing the quest Lost in Love and Herald of purity can be acquired after finishing the quest A Fixture of Fate on act 3.
I recommend Whirlwind Blades as movement skill before getting a The Savior. When you get to level 31 link a Fortify Support to your Whirlwind Blades.

When you finish the quest Lost in Love on act 3, pick either a sniper's mark to help with single target dps or buy from Clarissa a Vulnerability and use it whenever you need to your increase damage.

Pick up an Ancestral Protector at Act 3 after finishing A Fixture of Fate or simply ask for someone to give it to you (you can also create a marauder and get it early on lioney's watch as a reward for the quest Breaking Some Eggs).
In act 3 you may as well pick up a Flame Dash.
At that point, also pick up a Lifetap Support and swap Maim Support for it

At level 34 change Slower Projectiles Support for Brutality Support and pick up a Summon Ice Golem. Remember not to level up too much your golem because it will require intelligence.

You should already have Blood Rage by that point, support it with Increased Duration. That should be enough to rush you through the rest of the acts.


If you're getting overrun by mobs as Deadeye, change Slower Projectiles for Pierce Support or get the passive Piercing Shots on the tree.

Low budget:

Spoiler

Lancing Steel links:
Lancing Steel - Lifetap Support - Pierce Support - Vicious Projectiles Support - Brutality Support - Impale Support
If you're using a 5 or 6-link Lioney's vision, you wont need Pierce Support, instead, slot in a Maim Support.

Weapon 1 links:
Dash - Second Wind Support

Weapon 2 links:
Enduring Cry - Ancestral Protector - Increased Duration Support

Note: If you do not have a The Saviour yet, you may want to use Whirlwind Blades + Fortify Support instead of Dash + Second Wind Support for the extra survivability. DO NOT use Whirlwind Blades or Leap Slam when you get a The Saviour because these attacks can and WILL trigger your mirage saviours, resulting in a clear speed and net dps loss.

Survivability links:
Immortal Call(lvl 3) - Cast When Damage Taken Support(lvl 1) - Increased Duration Support - Vaal Grace

"Auras":
Pride - Dread Banner - Herald of Purity

Curse + Minion:
Vulnerability(lvl 5) - Summon Ice Golem(lvl 3) - Cast When Damage Taken Support(lvl 1)

The last remaining sockets must be used by Blood Rage if you're using a Tombfist and Blood Rage + Vaal Haste if you're using Oskarm, Offering to the Serpent or rare gloves.
If you're using Oskarm, drop the vulnerability curse gem for a lvl 1 Precision.


Mid budget:

Spoiler

Lancing Steel links:
Lancing Steel(lvl 21/ 23% quality) - Lifetap Support(lvl 21) - Pierce Support(lvl 21/23%) - Vicious Projectiles Support(lvl 21) - Brutality Support(lvl 21) - Impale Support(lvl 21)
Whenever possible, try to get a Awakened Vicious Projectile since it is kinda cheap and will increase your damage.

4-links "Auras":
Pride - Dread Banner - Herald of Purity - Enlighten(lvl 3)

CWDT links + Precision:
Summon Ice Golem(lvl 3) - Cast When Damage Taken Support(lvl 1) - Immortal Call(lvl 3) - Precision(lvl 10)

Weapon 1 links:
Ancestral Protector - Culling Strike Support - Maim Support

Weapon 2 links:
Enduring Cry - Flame Dash(lvl 3) - Increased Duration Support

Blood Rage + Vaal Grace:
Blood Rage(20/23%) - Enhance Support(lvl 3+) - Increased Duration Support - Vaal Grace


High budget:

Spoiler
Lancing Steel links:
Lancing Steel(21/23%) - Maim Support(21/20%+) - Pierce Support(21/23%) - Awakened Vicious Projectiles Support - Awakened Brutality Support - Impale Support(21/20%+)

4-links "Auras":
Pride(21/20%)) - Dread Banner(21/23%) - Herald of Purity(lvl 21) - Anomalous Enlighten(lvl 4)

You can go for Divergent Pride, but I prefer the default Pride because of the bigger AoE.

Protector + Golem:
Phantasmal Ancestral Protector(20/20%+) - Anomalous Summon Ice Golem(20/20%+) - Cast When Damage Taken(20/20%) - Enhance(lvl 4)

Weapon 1 links:
Blood Rage(21/23%+) - Sniper's Mark(21/20%+) - Enhance Support(lvl 4)
If you're using a Trigger Poacher's mark on hit ring, change Sniper's mark for Increased Duration Support and have this setup in The Saviour to increase the mirage saviour's duration.

Weapon 2 setup:
Enduring Cry(20/20%+) - Flame Dash(lvl 5) - Increased Duration Support (20/20%)

Extra Auras + Survivability:
Divergent Cast When Damage taken(20/20%+) - Anomalous Steelskin(20/20%+) - Divergent Precision(12/20%) - Vaal Haste(lvl 21)

If you prefer, run Immortal call(20/20%+) instead of Steelskin. Also, if you're already using a Watcher's Eye with Non-Channelling Skills have -X to Total Mana Cost while affected by Clarity, change Vaal Haste for a level 1 Clarity and you may level up Precision until you have enought mana to cast Lancing Steel.



Sniper's mark vs Poacher's mark: Sniper's mark gives you better single target damage and helps with clearing packs of mobs. Poacher's mark wil mainly give you a lot of life gain. If you feel your clear ad single target damage is good enough without Sniper's mark, get Poacher's mark, otherwise stick to Sniper's mark. Poacher's mark gets better with curse on hit rings, but gives way less damage.
Obs: Whenever I speficy a gem level in brackets, do not level the specific gem over the specified level. Also, whenever i put something like (20/20%+), it means this is the minimum level and quality recommended for this speficic gem. Do not waste currency getting a Divergent Precision with more than 20% quality, it wont make any difference!


I think that's about it. I'll try to answer every single question I can.
Fell in love with PoE and now it's my crack.
Last edited by Leckarion on Dec 9, 2022, 10:26:44 AM
Last bumped on Sep 17, 2022, 5:57:45 AM
Saving for 3.14, guide very complete and gameplay looks fun af
"
joaohanson wrote:
Saving for 3.14, guide very complete and gameplay looks fun af


Thanks! I'll be sure to update it when the patch preview for 3.14 comes out.
Have a great one :3
Fell in love with PoE and now it's my crack.
"
Leckarion wrote:
"
joaohanson wrote:
Saving for 3.14, guide very complete and gameplay looks fun af


Thanks! I'll be sure to update it when the patch preview for 3.14 comes out.
Have a great one :3


Thank you, and great updates you've made already!
Very nice build and very complete guide
Very nice! I have tried this build on this season. The damage is amazing! Clearing all content

"
wisley23 wrote:
Very nice build and very complete guide

Thanks a bunch! There still is a lot to improve, but I'm glad you like it.
Fell in love with PoE and now it's my crack.
"
knexrtn wrote:
Very nice! I have tried this build on this season. The damage is amazing! Clearing all content



Nice! Did you build it with Ranger as well or another class?
Fell in love with PoE and now it's my crack.
Fala meu querido, great guide! Made me interested in coming back and trying it in these last days of the league.
I already have the paradoxica, watchers yey and the belt. How well do you think i would go with it +60~70ex to buy the rest of the itens?
"
Artamian wrote:
Fala meu querido, great guide! Made me interested in coming back and trying it in these last days of the league.
I already have the paradoxica, watchers yey and the belt. How well do you think i would go with it +60~70ex to buy the rest of the itens?


Heya, man! Thanks a lot for the reply! I'm glad you liked it and it picked your interest.

Cara, about the gearing I think you'll be able to get a mid-high end gearing with your budget. You can get the OTTS for 1ex(https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Ritual/LZrWjVHn). The saviour is very cheap right now and nice rings and amulets can be found for reasonable prices(up to 5ex each depending on how good you want them). If you're lucky you can get the mid/high end body armour for around 30ex, but I couldn't find any for sale at the moment of writing. The clusters are easy to find, except the exact ones I use, but you can find similar ones to test it out. I just don't know if you'll be able to find a nice helmet with the enchatment or even Crown of the Inward Eye with the enchantment for sale at this point, so you'll have to do without the enchantment unless you get a base item and craft your own helmet. The perfect rolled base jewels are more of a min-max, you don't actually need them to get the build up and running. And that's about it.

Hope you like the build!
Fell in love with PoE and now it's my crack.
Last edited by Leckarion on Apr 7, 2021, 1:04:50 AM

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