point of second weapon slot?

With my Explosive Arrow Witch I'm using a different bow and support gems so that I can have more dps vs single target (while the first set is heavily based on groups).

With my duelist I have a set for damage and the other for speed and defense.

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Sony_Black wrote:

I agree with the above and i would like to add: leveling of a gem which you are not currently using. E.g. some support gem you can't yet connect to your main skill and you wait for the right equipment, or if you find quality version of your main skill, which you would like to get to a better lvl, before you start using it...

I think this will go away. If they don't want us using auras on 2nd set I don't see how it would make sense to allow us to lvl upwards of 6 gems with no intention of using them.

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Moosifer wrote:

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Sony_Black wrote:

I agree with the above and i would like to add: leveling of a gem which you are not currently using. E.g. some support gem you can't yet connect to your main skill and you wait for the right equipment, or if you find quality version of your main skill, which you would like to get to a better lvl, before you start using it...

I think this will go away. If they don't want us using auras on 2nd set I don't see how it would make sense to allow us to lvl upwards of 6 gems with no intention of using them.

AS others said they do use different skill gems on their secondary weapons (for different purpose) if those gems doesn't lvl up than all 2nd weapon sets loose their points, because the alternate abilities they have won't be leveled up enough IMHO.

I'm using the weapon swap feature as it was intented to be used: for switching weapon types. (I never used the aura exploit. Yes that was an exploit.)

I'm working on a Ranger build that uses dual wielding and a bow. When I loaded up the passive skill tree on the website to plan the build out, I thought it was going to be really really difficult to design.

After about 30 minutes I realized that not only is it doable, but there are several ways to accomplish it. There are many many types of nodes that are generic. Those nodes can benefit all weapon types. If you mostly get generic nodes and only take a handful of specific weapon nodes, you can create a versatile hybrid character without losing that much DPS. Plus if you make an elemental build instead of physical, you can take +30% cold damage, +10% elemental damage etc. Those elemental nodes don't care what weapon you are using! Also: every defensive node you take will work regardless of what weapons you use. (except dual wield block nodes)

My hybrid Archer/Dual Wielder is lvl 40 in hardcore mode and is at least twice as powerful as I thought it was going to be. Right now my bow side is much weaker because I don't have a good bow yet, but that will change as I level up.

Basically I will only spend about 3 points in dual wielding skills, and about 3 points in bow skills. The rest of my skill points will work for both weapons. Therefore I am only sacrificing a small amount of DPS and I gain tons of versatility. I can switch weapons to meet the threat. Facing Merveil? I go dual wield and facetank. Taking down the False God? I sit back from a distance and snipe him. It is really working out nicely, plus it is so much fun! When you start to get bored of melee, you can instantly switch to ranged.

The biggest problem with the build is the fact that I MUST have my attack skills in my weapons so that they switch properly. This is a bit of a hassle, but I feel it's worth it. I have Dual Strike in one weapon, Lightning Strike in the other. On my weapon switch I have 2 bow skills in my bow. This way my left and right mouse button will swap correctly between my 4 main skills.

If you want to try a hybrid melee/ranged build using weapon switch, here are the kinds of nodes you want to focus on. These nodes will benefit both weapon types:

-Attack Speed
-Weapon Elemental Damage
-30% increased Cold Damage with Weapons
-30% increased Lightning Damage with Weapons
-Accuracy
-Critical Strike Chance
-Critical Strike Multiplier
-Strength nodes (if you also use Iron Grip)
-Mind Drinker (mana leech from physical damage)

As you can see, there really are lots of options to use when making a hybrid build. My first plan involved crazy amounts of critical strike chance but I redid my build plan and switched to attack speed + elemental damage.

Actually thats a pretty cool idea, alternating between a bow and melee.. I'm kind of lazy though but if you're getting over whelmed that's an awesome back up.

yea the only other thing i used the slot for besides auras was leveling skill gems.

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Axebane wrote:

The biggest problem with the build is the fact that I MUST have my attack skills in my weapons so that they switch properly. This is a bit of a hassle, but I feel it's worth it. I have Dual Strike in one weapon, Lightning Strike in the other. On my weapon switch I have 2 bow skills in my bow. This way my left and right mouse button will swap correctly between my 4 main skills.

You can still have a skill that's used by both weapon on your clothes socket. Like Puncture

Already a lengthy thread on this topic here:

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/51326

Please continue to use it for discussion.