Staff Master - an attempt.

Hello,

I've been playing PoE for only a short while, but I've thought that it's a good time to start developing my own build. From what I've read, Physicial damage staff usage is discouraged, but I really like the concept, so I though that I'd give it a try.

The basic idea is to get a very high block chance (About 30-40%, with Whirling Barrier being essential) with decent to very good damage.

The skills that I plan to use are :

Single target - Heavy Strike.
AoE - Ground Slam, Sweep.

Not entirely sure about the rest.

The current plan for the build :

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAhMREcop0D1SpaBRNogAEs4FvnjxN2Ix28B_FipMHRY69Obdy1Ys62Ow4GjinhJBVwBpZ86yqxuciG7lDp6VKLq9sr3M=

Not sure whether I should go for Resolute Technique or Crit though.

Judging by the amount of replies I'm guessing it isn't such a good idea after all?

Templar forum isn't the most active.

Staff phys builds are workable.

First link in my sig should help you plan it out a bit more.

I'm fooling around with a similar build, though i'm only levle 45. I envisioned using sweep with knockback gem and nodes to blow enemies away from my partner's char who would be more DPS oriented. Also using groundslam for DPS and getting big stuns.

In practice, sweep just kind of sucked. The knockback isn't very big and the dps is terrible.

Staves naturally lead themselves to crit, but physical damage doesn't, you don't really get returns on crits like you do with ele damage.

If you do go crit though, you have pure brutality and blunt trauma within arms reach. If you were feeling ambitious, you could climb up to serpent stance and intense zeal. You'd have to hit some of those big accuracy nodes though since you'd be low on dex. (two in templar area, one in mara) then, just worry about health and any damage you can pick up.

I am currently running ground slam+knockback+stun+endo charge on stun. I always have max endos and knock back enemies so frequently that it's hilarious(I also grabbed fending and went RT instead of crit).

I make no claim that my build, or yours, is end game viable, but it's pretty fun.

Thanks for the answers!

Fooling around a bit, I came up with this :

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAhMREcop0D1SpaBRNogAEs4FvnjxN2Ix28B_FipMHRY69Obdy1Ys62Ow4GjinhJBVwBpZ86yqxuciG7lDp6VKLq9sr3NyqfcyJOH7RRfqFvmIOJ2KVJFmoPuLZp5xTZrPQ2O3MVj1ncT60h0Uj0aBSbI4Zk_Q0Juh99dbWZ-0WK6smBSwAP0XUEwtgh7B86KjD8Tcxzt8Wqa4yn_GEZado9A5F9j8q176-Ov_sATkddCBKw==

Lots of crit to leverage Blunt Trauma (knocks backs enemies on Staff crits) + Knockback distance.

Would probably need some accuracy nodes, though.

How does it look?

(Thanks for the link, Kirielis)

As for the skills :

Main AoE - Ground Slam
Main Single Target - Heavy Strike
Mobility - Leap Slam

Support Skills :

Molten Shell?
Critical Weakness
Vulnerability?

I came up with a staff build but intended it for ST:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAecCcQSzCZYPVBQgFE0Wbxb5F-oZLhmFGjgabCSLJKonICftKQcpLilPLdIyfjNANug26TpSOtg9Dz38Q3lEckWOSi5QR1RJVJFVxlcNV-JYY18_YwtmT2agZ5t35Xy4fLuBSYTEhX2IOIp0j0aQVZHOkweXAZ2Kna6ezaIApwinMKeEp6WpaK9zsji1BLdyuUO53bvtvTnAGsQVxPbFisbYyWfPZdDQ0iHUj9WL2WHjauQi51LrCew47UTvDvAf8i_z3fe--0X7i_yJ

You are going to get slaughtered with that build. I'd stop at serpent stance and aim for more HP, resist, armour or energy shield nodes.

You spent 20 nodes to get 70% multiplier, 105% crit chance and 100 int. The int isn't particularly useful for this type of build.


http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAhMREcop0D1SpaBRNogAEs4FvnjxN2Ix28B_FipMHRY69Obdy1Ys62Ow4GjinhJBVwBpZ86yqxuciG7lDp6VKLnKp9zIW-Yg4nYpUkWag-4tmnnFNms9DY7cxWPWdxPrSHRSPRoFJsjhmT9DQm6H311tZn7RYrvjr_7AE5HXQz2VVxjbp42ot0iftGS7ZYVcNkc677dSPud3yL-8O51JUSV8_0iGezacw974UIFBHFm8YXYM473x8u_NxAnE=


That has a lot more survivability, but isn't really optimized to it's max potential.

Thanks, that looks good!

The question is, is knockback actually worth it to build around it?

What I'm sure is that I want to have highest possible block, while retaining very good damage (balancing these two could be a problem).

As for the items, I'm going to get :

1. Stone of Lazhwar http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stone_of_Lazhwar

2. Maybe Gifts from Above? http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Gifts_from_Above

3. The Bringer of Rain http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Bringer_of_Rain

hey man, ive thought about making a staff cyclone build, here is a tree that would be very good for such a build and can still rely on mana only



good life/dps and enough intel for your curse, with bringer of rain you will have 40%+ staff block which is great compared to mauls or swords which offer none

works best for cylone because it is easier on your mana if you do longer whirls as long as you have 2-3% leech on ur gear youll be fine

so cylone + inc aoe (or conc effect for bosses) + added fire damage + life on hit

or use both conc effect + inc aoe

kinda need bringer of rain to make this build shine becuase of the blind + block

if you find unwavering stance is not needed becuase you are cyclone + have high hp + get no benefit from blind just spec out of it and into the aoe nodes near templar start

enjoy

Thanks for the build, friend - looks very interesting. How does it do at the endgame?

Also, what do you think about that Knockback build posted by Legendracula here?

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAhMREcop0D1SpaBRNogAEs4FvnjxN2Ix28B_FipMHRY69Obdy1Ys62Ow4GjinhJBVwBpZ86yqxuciG7lDp6VKLnKp9zIW-Yg4nYpUkWag-4tmnnFNms9DY7cxWPWdxPrSHRSPRoFJsjhmT9DQm6H311tZn7RYrvjr_7AE5HXQz2VVxjbp42ot0iftGS7ZYVcNkc677dSPud3yL-8O51JUSV8_0iGezacw974UIFBHFm8YXYM473x8u_NxAnE=

By the way, crafted a nice staff for this build recently :