Need help with an evasion/dodge/split arrow ranger

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Fleve wrote:

Thanks everyone, I've re-geared and respecced and it's clearly helping. My ranger survives better AND deals more damage now that I've specced into the shadow area and picked a different amulet. Here's the current build:

Spoiler

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgIAAF4EfgW1CC4PqxXwFr8ZihmOGdUZ_hqPGwEhdiLqI_Yk_SaVMHEwfDH6MgEylDMMOdQ6QjpYSn1LeFFHVUtW-lpIX-Fh4mHrZ6BrJG1sbXtv8nBSdEF293fUd9d6U311fwJ_K4bOhxmHdofbjDaNfY2_lQWV6Zsmm42btaCfoaSm4KfUqn-quK_rsTCyGbVIu-PEosaiyqnN6s96037UI9UA1orZxtwV3ajh2-dU53To1usU7YPuDu967_DwQvPq9tr7CfzF_rr-yP_e

There are some nodes in there that might be temporary (Thief's craft, some eva/life nodes) until I have enough free points to spec into a notable passive node. I would love to get Mind Drinker, Bloodthirst and Influence to finish it off.

The only difference (other than the Heart of Oak connection) my current build has compared to yours, Asidra, is that yours has progressed 5 points further up the shadow area (crit node, int, int, life%, life% nodes) because I used those 5 points to spec into Charisma instead. I really wanted to see and try whether I'd like a dual aura (hatred/grace) setup, and it's just 5 points I can easily unspec. So far I'm loving it but it has its drawbacks. Yesterday I spend the day fixing the problems I had created with losing 8% life leech from the amulet, and having far less mana because of two aura's I'd love to keep running.

I really, really didn't want to replace my +fire dmg gem on my split arrow with a life leech/gain on hit gem, the dps loss is outrageous (almost 600 on the tooltip). So the only way around was to get life leech on other gear. I replaced Meginord's Girdle with a Wurm's Molt I still had stashed away (2% life/mana leech), bought some gloves with better resists and 1% life leech, which allowed me to switch to a different quiver with less resists but +2% life leech and 1% mana leech, for a total of 5% life leech and 3% mana leech. For single target tanking I replaced the rarity gem on my barrage with a life leech gem, which currently makes for a total of 12% leech on barrage. I lost a bit of dps like this as well (Meginord's gets me an extra 100 life, 200 dps) but it's better than losing the fire gem . Once I spec into Mind Drinker I'll ditch the Wurm's for a better belt.

I tried 1% mana leech from only the quiver, but with only 107 mana left after the aura reservations that just didn't cut it. It worked as long as I was hitting 3-4 enemies or more, but being able to spam your main attack is just vital. With 2-3% mana leech I can keep spamming split arrow indefinitely as long as I'm hitting at least 2 enemies, any less and I'm better off using barrage anyway. 12% life leech on barrage is amazing and with more life, enfeeble and smoke mines, melee bosses have become a lot less troublesome.

Currently I'm sitting at 4k hp, but once I replace the Wurm's that's 4250, and if I notice that's still not enough I'll ditch the Rat's Nest for an arguably better helmet I've got stashed to make for a total of 4500. I found a nice quiver with good dps but no resists (6-12 phys; 20% ele; 7-16 fire dmg; 33% crit multi; +86 life, and some other stuff), that covers the dps loss from ditching the Nest, I'd just have to get some better resist gear first.
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Very nice to see the changes had a positive impact. Good luck!

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feyith wrote:

Do you have an extra item to run Clarity + Reduced Mana + Blood Magic? Level 8 + Mind Drinker is enough for me to spam Split + Chain and only costs 200 life.

Another option: running Elements instead of Grace would give you more mana and allow you to trade out some gear.

Critting with Hatred aura freezes everything most of the time, so you shouldn't be getting hit that much anyway.

When your crit chance gets high enough, roll Surgeon's flasks and they should be pretty much always refilled.