The birth of a true lightning mage.

MAJOR UPDATE: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/405126

*Guide has been started. Have patience as I fill it out in my spare time, I went from no job, to full time, and find little energy to play/update. But I will find the time soon to rant on about all aspects of the build, and they are all complete, and quite finalized (unless I find more exalteds to throw away on my gear :)

The rest of this post will be kept as is, and potentially frozen if I figure out how. This will preserve some... continuity between conception, and realization.

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Hello! I am currently at level 62, and everything feels great.
Was thinking one day playing my other characters... why shock nova... why lightning warp?
What if a templar used.... this may sound crazy... ALL the lightning skills?

What you ask!?!? A lighting templar that is simply... a mage of thunder?!

But why not lightning strike!? Why not cleave!?!? Why not (name some other one-trick-pony song)!!!?

Well because my friend... because it should be done... for the good of the land. Thats why.

So I did it..... and it was good. It still is good. And its only getting better.











Now as you may see, my gear still needs work. But heres the overall things:

Basically max resists.
20% armor reduction, 70% with flask.
1000HP/2000ES
25~50% chance to crit (depending on skilll and charges)
350% crit multiplier.

So, shock nova and lightning warp are doing about 2k/1300 [respectively] dmg per hit (not per second) max (non crit/shock) and the skills are only level 15. I get 7 power charges, things just melt, and I'm actually using ALL the lightning skills in tandem, and effectively.

I did a map at level 62, it was a 66 tropical island. Took a full on charge from a gold rhoa, didnt even break shield. Then my arc happen to shock/crit and almost one shot him.

I run up, warp back, summon a spork to where I was. I nova things that clump on my totem. Warp back again (assuming everything didnt die within the first 2 seconds), summoning another spork where i was. Something jumps on me, i discharge all 7 power charges for about 6k dmg (again, without shock/crit factored in, so potentially.... you do the math, lots.)
ALL THE WHILE i'm casting arc, keeping power charges up the whole time not a problem.

Yes, that 4% crit chance spell gets to about 36% with max charges.


Next on the passive tree im headed around the final ar/es tree for defense and in preparation for when I get better ar/es/hp gear. Then I will be getting hp nodes/throatseeker crit multiplier circle. After that its pretty much all hp, and MAYBE the 3 passives of lightning dmg above witch spawn.

Feel free to ask questions/leave comments. But again, I reiterate that I walked through sarn alone without a hitch, I took rare undying grapplers to the face in the sewers and didn't even flinch. So please, don't leave a comment telling me about how my build is gunna not do enough dmg, or my toon is too squishie or whatever, because it does, he isn't, and its just gunna get better.

I will try to keep this thread updated with my progress as I level and get more gear.


** In conclusion (I may shorten this post as time goes on ^_^) ahem, in conclusion, I created this because I was sick of all the "oh I'mma just use one damn spell and see how i can do that ONE THING so good" , that I figured out how to use ALL of the spells for what they were intended. I implore you to all try and do the same with your build. No one likes a one-trick pony for long folks, they always fall short somewhere.

Very interesting build. Why not swap Arc into your shock totem, and use Spark to generate charges. Spark has a higher base crit chance (6% vs 4%), and Arc has a base 10% to shock.

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wyvernfist wrote:

Very interesting build. Why not swap Arc into your shock totem, and use Spark to generate charges. Spark has a higher base crit chance (6% vs 4%), and Arc has a base 10% to shock.

I keep the charges up without a hitch, and spork keeps everything shocked... always (notice the two passives I picked up near corpse explosion, along with conductivity). People do duel-spork totem builds for a reason, sporks are just effective.

Not that I didn't TRY it, oh I did. It's just better the way I have it, trust me. Way better.
Also, arc can be targeted when you are casting it yourself, adding to the beautiful dance that my templar performs.

Did I mention this build is fun as hell? No holding down right click allll day. MAYBE press W to curse or something. Nah, This build is loads of fun to play, and I use all the buttons!

Thanks for the input though!

i was doing around 8-9k lightning damage on shock nova on the top end with my RF caster build, i stopped using it because the dead zone makes it only useful for proliferating enemies with shock stacks, cleaning mobs with that skill is a massive chore, i posted about it in hopes of nerfing the damage a bit and removing the dead zone so it becomes more useful.

its going to be a lot more diffcult to kill mobs in higher level maps for you.. mostly because they hit very hard, they take a lot of damage before they go down, shock nova isnt very reliable as mob clearing spell, you see.. theres a reason everyone is running spork/cleave/LS etc. those skills work, arc and shock nova dont, arc used to be pretty good but now its not very good anymore, and arc, like shock nova, is only used nowdays for shock proliferation because the damage you deal is not very good with it..

Discharge is just a bad skill now with the removal of diamond flasks, if it doesnt crit you waste your charges and the enemies around you wont be dead and you will be in danger of dying so youll have to run away...

Lightning warp is barely usable as a movement spell,let alone as a damage spell because instead of relying on cast speed it relies on movement speed for the landing cast..

A lot of people are asking to change these skills including me, i suggested the removal of the dead zone on shock nova and placing a damage effectiveness on it, making arc usable with LMP/GMP/Fork so it acutally becomes a useful skill for clearing mobs, making light warp scale of cast speed, not movement speed and discharge is getting buffed soon from what ive heard.

So yeah just to reiterate, you are not the first to try to make these skills work, i tried it too and a lot of other people did the same, they dont work nearly as good as the other skills, thats why everyone uses the other ones, its not because they're stubborn or too lazy to try them.

I appreciate your input sir. Thing is that you are missing the entire idea of my build. I use ALL the spells. Not just shock nova, not just arc. I use them all. Now alone, each spell is not as strong as other builds maxing one spell, this I know. What I am doing, is using ALL the spells in tandem, and they work wonders.

I cleared a level 66 map at level 62 with ease. I took rare rhoas charging me in the face, and didnt even break my shield, not even close.

Problem with people making something like a 'shock nova' build work, is that shock nova is a great spell to use, but not to rely on. That's why I created a build using all the skills.

And let me repeat myself again and say, it IS working. I am here to share this all with you.
I take burst damage that normally kills most others, and I still clear things in seconds, if not instantly.

Thanks again for the input!

If you want to generate shock stacks, you use tempest shield with elemental proliferation. Period. There is no more effective way of doing so.

Thanks for your input!

Again: Everything is shocked, all the time, always ^_^

Getting hit by 3~5 lightning skills at once, multiple times per second, keeps all of the shocks up at all times, and on everything; always.

Also, just because I can take multiple hits from dangerous flicker'esk mob types that do high burst, does not mean I would prefer the melee method of shockology ^_^

Update! : Not going to play for a couple days due to life. However, I did look at some windscream unique boots and do some math in my head. One day when my other gear is good enough to cover the HP/ES (livability) loss from using these boots, I will test the gain 10% elemental damage, and the additional curse utility.

The loss of mobility and livability will have to be tested once my other gear is in godly mode, but it will be a very viable option for dramatic damage increase later on the game if I add 'critical weakness'. This will be an exciting prospect to test later on in the build.

For now, eventually when I upgrade to a similar 4L5S chest:


I will stick critical weakness into the unlinked slot. This will give me the opportunity to do some testing, and also fill my LAST skill slot [T]; making my OCD very very happy (*I do not keep my auras up on my buttons after they are activated)


EDIT: ps: I found that armor and used like.. 10 jewellers and 1 fusing to make it. W00t
EDIT2: pss: Would like feedback on critical weakness vs elemental weakness. Also would consider curse unique ring as well if my gear 'fits' with it later on. But note that I will NOT use triple curse for the reasons of: 1. I'm lazy. 2. Not enough skill slots.

Whether or not critical weakness is worth using depends on whether you need to stack shock faster, and how much crit multiplier you have.

If you can get your hands on a high quality critical weakness gem, then it will essentially double the *extra* damage you deal on crits. So if your crit multiplier is 350%, then it adds 250% to that. This will be even more effective when you get that crit multiplier cluster in the witch portion of the passive tree. On top of that, it gives you a flat 9% boost to your critical strike chance, which is pretty damn good for any build that centers around critting.



I'd recommend swapping added lightning damage out for lightning penetration, as it will increase your arc damage much more, and will also help you out against those pesky curse immune mobs. I'd also consider using critical damage with arc instead of critical chance, since arc's base crit chance is low, and adding 4% isnt that great of a use of one of your 3 support slots.



Also, have you considered using a staff? It would open up the chance for you to get a 5 or 6L more easily, and you'd also get to benefit from the serpent stance cluster, which gives you 70% global crit chance, and 40% global crit multiplier for only 3 points.

For example, take a look at phoenix beam from this thread: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/154748/page/1

+2 to level of lightning gems, 17% increased attack speed, 30% global crit multiplier, and 5 links to do with as you please.


+2 to the level of arc is generally about a 20% increase to its BASE damage, which is essentially like adding a 20% MORE damage modifier to it. It would also increase the level of lightning penetration and added lightning damage or whatever other lightning gems you decided to use to support it.

I'm thinking that when I find some more time to play, I will be using elemetal weakness as a potential second curse, because I already swap it out when I'm in parties so we can get that sexy -all resists going on. Stacking this with my conductivity is never a bad bet.

Did some research on critical weakness and it seems that it IS addidtive, so if I have 25% chance to crit, and level one CW (+5%) I will have 30% chance to crit. This is unimpressive since I seem to crit enough anyway. Alongside this, the crit multiplier is multiplicative, this I am also unimpressed with. The only things that do not melt almost instantly are double resisted mobs. Even normal elemental resist mobs are no problem. I crit enough, I shock enough, now all that is left is making mobs take more damage on their own end by reducing their resists.

Also, been slowly swapping out added lightning damage from my spells as the spells level up because I can get more utility out of other gems. Problem at first was that faster casting and other gems did about the same damage, but simply cost more mana because of casting/%mana cost demands. Now that my mana is up to par, other gems are starting to be swapped out to up my dps/shock/crit in a nice way. Also, seems that later on added lightning dmg scaling is geared more towards high IAS builds that attack 10 times in a row, and not toward elemental lightning skills like mine. I will update the gear and the gems involved as I make this transition (I have already done so in most of my gems).

As for staffs...
I started this build with all intentions of doing a lightning staff templar... because it just seemed right. Right? Serpent stance and all that. Some call me 'Tim'. In fact, I had a slew of lightning staffs all lined up, one was even a nice 5L lightning staff for level 52.
Sadly, until they come out with the third unique staff, taking those 4 points from serpent stance and using them elsewhere along side those two beastly lightning wands is just too good to be replaced by any staff.

As soon as a unique lightning staff is released that is on par with the other two as far as epicness, I will gladly switch back.

Also, I've been testing out the difference between the crit gems paired with arc, and crit chance was just better while I was leveling. Now that my crit chance is high enough, and I have 7 charges instead of 3, I will be testing out other gems besides added lightning dmg, and one sexy gem may be the crit multiplier gem. We will see.

So in conclusion, I will be adding elemental weakness to my fifth slot at level 67 for party utility and overall never-is-bad 'ness. Then I will probably be closer to level 76 with much better gear before I even consider committing to double curse. Also, will be swapping around gems (mainly added lightning) for other gems now that my mana allows it. Critical weakness will be most likely abandoned.