THOR'S RAINBOWNUKE: off to the Marauder forum

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Datamined wrote:

So what's the reason that you can't do uber atziri with this build exactly?

No physical mitigation, not invested in spell block, no ability to use surgeon's flasks to keep permanent flasks up.

The fight is probably possible for very skilled atziri farmers - I know some people can do the Uber fight and take zero damage. But I would not recommend this build if you want to farm Uber. Everything about this build is optimized for mapping and grinding out to high levels as quickly and safely as possible via maps.

Thanks for keeping this build up to date. I'm considering going low-life in 2.2 and you have some interesting approaches.

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tackle70 wrote:

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Datamined wrote:

So what's the reason that you can't do uber atziri with this build exactly?

No physical mitigation, not invested in spell block, no ability to use surgeon's flasks to keep permanent flasks up.

The fight is probably possible for very skilled atziri farmers - I know some people can do the Uber fight and take zero damage. But I would not recommend this build if you want to farm Uber. Everything about this build is optimized for mapping and grinding out to high levels as quickly and safely as possible via maps.

I haven't tried this build, but I played Viviere's life+armour build in 2.0 and his EB+MoM build in 2.1. Viviere's is optimized for uber killing. The two big things that make it work are the ability to stack a ton of armour (>100k isn't too hard with gear swap, 45k with 1 flask + my normal gear) and the ability to have 100% uptime with every flask, even when fighting isolated bosses. This means you can get 99% fire res (or even 100% if you're willing to spend 40-100ex more). 99% fire res is enough to facetank the uber dual striker while he's enraged (98% = instarip).

As was mentioned in previous posts, Viviere's builds are good for mapping, but not great. Clearspeed is much lower than CoC, reave, or windripper speed demons. In particular, the EB+MoM build has pretty low damage. Those builds are all about tanking bosses. I will point out though that you can get really high dps with his builds. I had a max 49k dmg/discharge in 2.0 and in 2.1 I have 10k dmg/discharge with 3 power and 3 endurance charges. I found the 49k setup to be too squishy for uber farming, so I swapped jewels and gear a bit to be much tankier with only a max of 30k dmg/discharge (but hard to reach that max in practice).

Viviere's EB+MoM build is really dependent on a +1 voidbringer or at least a level 4 enlighten. I don't have either, but I borrowed a +1 void for a day. The clearspeed felt atrocious compared to my ele weakness on hit voidbringers, but it would have allowed me to farm uber again.

The biggest problem I see with Viviere's build is that resistance flasks are getting a massive nerf in 2.2. They'll grant +6 max res instead of +10. This will make it extremely hard to hit the magical 99% fire res while also having good lightning res (one will almost certainly have to use RotP). If the "face tank everything" approach doesn't work anymore, then Mjolner players will need to concentrate on damage and clearspeed, as this build does.

Frankly, I don't understand the motivation behind sacrificing so much damage and clear speed to be able to do the 2-3 bosses that are not doable with the more damaging, faster build. How often do you actually fight Core Malachai? My guess is not that often. Who farms Uber Atziri in Standard anymore? My guess is not many people.

Uber farmers will always gravitate to a cheap build specifically designed to do Uber and nothing else. That build is never going to be Mjolner anything. So that makes me think that the only time you'd actually want the slower build would be to complete boss challenges in temp leagues if you need a core malachai kill, but again - there are cheap builds specifically designed to do that and only that which can be used.

Clear speed is still king, and this version of Mjolner is going to be about the fastest clear speed you can get with a Mjolner build.

Hi, thanks for great guide. I luckily got 3 parts of required items so the last 4 days i Hi, thanks for great guide. I luckily got 3 parts of required items so the last 4 days i farmed to change my skill tree to adapt this build. Very love it although my character is quite soft.

I got 1 problem that vaal pact and vitality not working together to keep my hp high enough to use my skill. So that i have to take out vaal pact.
Here is my char items

I can clear easy tier 10 map with it.
This build will be my main goal for the next league.

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T_Speed wrote:

Hi, thanks for great guide. I luckily got 3 parts of required items so the last 4 days i Hi, thanks for great guide. I luckily got 3 parts of required items so the last 4 days i farmed to change my skill tree to adapt this build. Very love it although my character is quite soft.

Spoiler

I got 1 problem that vaal pact and vitality not working together to keep my hp high enough to use my skill. So that i have to take out vaal pact.
Here is my char items

Spoiler

I can clear easy tier 10 map with it.
This build will be my main goal for the next league.

You just need some decent ES gear and you'll be a lot less squishy - your shield/helm/chest/boots can all get significantly improved. For what it's worth, I'd use ES gloves over Repentance at such low ES.

Looking at some of the new uniques that were released today for preview...don't see anything too interesting for this build. The Power Charge shield looked mildly interesting, but it's no replacement for Romira's and we don't really have any issue generating Power Charges that way. Nor do we have to worry about the silly penalty the shield offers...not worth it.

The Scion Ascendancy was just revealed, and here's a solid link for what to expect:

https://dd.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/47lf41/the_ascendant_scions_ascendancy_class_revealed/

For some quick points - and you can also check the front page of the PoE site, too - here is what I gleaned from it, and obviously not everything:

1. The Scion can pick one or two Ascendancies from other classes, HOWEVER, she can only pick ONE from each class. So, if you wanted one of the Ranger Ascendancies and you chose Deadeye, you cannot pick Raider or Pathfinder. Be aware that while these 'sub-Ascendancies' are nice, they WILL NOT give you everything that you can get from picking a main Ascendancy.

2. The starting nodes appear to be +40 Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence, which by itself is rather insane and considering the heavy Strength requirements for this build, this can open up some more gear flexibility for which pieces need Strength/Intelligence/Dexterity on them to meet requirements.

3. The inner small nodes appear to be additional +1 Passives Points, and I think you can spend them however you choose, and not just in the Scion area, though I will double check this to make sure. I'm pretty sure, however, that you can spend them elsewhere.

4. If you travel all the way to the end of one path (5 point investment) then you can take the 'SPIRIT OF THE <insert class here>' and this allows you to begin allocating points at the starting nodes of the class you chose. For example, if you pick "Spirit of the Witch", you can start putting passive points into the Witch's starting nodes and travel the tree around as you please while also going south from the Scion starting zone and going toward the Duelist. Your separate paths DO NOT NEED TO BE CONNECTED TOGETHER, they just have to connect to the starting nodes of the Scion and the class you have chosen.

Now, I haven't looked over everything yet, but I have a feeling we might have some very interesting options for this class now, and I am sure we can put our heads together to see how we can make this build work even better than before. Going to be offering a lot of interesting possibilities now, and that's not even counting the potential uniques or others things still to come. Again, take this all with a grain of salt and remember that while this stuff is shown off, IT IS NOT 100% FINAL UNTIL IT'S ACTUALLY FULLY RELEASED! Still...LET THE FUN BEGIN! :p

So I think the Scion Ascendancy is actually going to be pretty good, but will need some testing to figure out just how good.

After looking at things for a while, here are my initial theorycrafting thoughts - I'll probably do a full theorycrafted Ascendancy update in the OP once we get patch notes, followed by confirming/denying/amending the theory once I've tested (and yes, I plan to test the best ascendancy for every class in time):

Initial Reaction to Scion Ascendancy

• I don't think that it will be useful at all to get another passive tree starting area. This build has a lot of required nodes that are on the very edge of the tree (keystones, aura passives), and it is extremely inefficient to travel from a new starting area to anywhere on the edge of the tree. We'll need to see the new tree to be sure, but looking at the current tree, you'd have to sacrifice too much to get any benefit from doing this
• The ability to get +40 STR/DEX (and potentially +60 if you take the duelist stat node) is insane and probably the best part about this class. Taking those 3 stat nodes, two passive points, and one Ascendancy class will be a good way to go for players struggling to get enough stats on gear.
• Tentatively, I *think* that the best two-choice Ascendancy combo will be Pathfinder + Berserker. This would allow you to get +40 STR, +40 DEX, 2 Passive Points, a significant buff to your flasks, and 1.5% global life leech. This would enable you to not need Blasphemy+Warlord's Mark - you could use other gems or just a different curse (like Enfeeble)
• I think you could probably swap in Champion for either Pathfinder or Berserker also... you'd be able to drop the Fortify gem if so. However, on paper and in the current state of game balance, I think 1.5% global leech and a flask buff are worth not taking Champion and just running the gem instead.

I still think that Shadow's Trickster Ascendancy is going to be the best class for this build, and that is what I will be playing and testing first most likely. It does something no other Ascendancy does in that it grants a new mechanic to the build (free movement skill), rather than simply buffing existing mechanics. I believe that a free movement skill will substantially improve clear speed in maps - particularly nonlinear maps where you have to backtrack - so think it will be best suited to this build overall.

Initial guesswork ranking of Ascendancies, and a guess at ranking their strength out of 5 *'s... note the keyword GUESSWORK
1) Trickster (Shadow) *****
2) Champion (Duelist) ****
3) Ascendant (Scion) ****
4) Pathfinder (Ranger) ***
5) Occultist (Witch) **
6) Inquisitor (Templar) **
7) Berserker (Marauder) *

Echoing what Tackle said, I too feel that picking 2 subclasses seems like the way to go for scion. +80 to stats and 2 free passive points is nothing to scoff at, it makes gearing so much more simple. Plus the ascendency bonuses. Heres a quick run down on my thoughts of some of the more relevent sub-ascendency bonuses:

1) Berserker: 1.5% global leech means that warlords mark/life leech gem can be dropped for something more useful. 10% more damage is also very strong. However, there is a tradeoff of taking more damage. Needs to be tested to gauge strength.

2) Ococulist: 20% increased max ES and 1% ES regen, coupled with bonus damage for killing cursed enemies. Solid overall. Using this with shavronnes revelation and RIse of the Pheonix might enable the old RF version of the build again.

3) Elementalist: 5% elemntal pen and 4% reduced elemental damage taken. I'm pretty sure this is mediocre.

4) Pathfinder: A sweer array of flask bonuses. Strong enough overall.

5) Champion: Can replace fortify gem with something to else. Not bad bonuses.


I'll probably burn my 120 regrets to test all the witch ascendencies, then i will re-roll as a scion to test further.

I've been doing some more looking at the potential Ascendancy picks, and these are my thoughts. As always, keep in mind everything is subject to change and may differ in the end if more changes come about to the tree or what not. Please also bear in mind that these Ascendancy picks ARE FROM THE SCION'S TREE AND NOT THE CLASS ASCENDANCIES THEMSELVES...just what she has access to in her tree. Let's start with what I think are good choices for us (not in any particular order in listing them out):


1. Occultist - The extra 20% increased ES is pretty much a bit more than 3 passive points worth of ES, and nothing to sneeze at. The 1% ES regen isn't a whole lot, but it's nice to have a little buffer going, potentially even counterattacking those annoying burning and chaos ground effects some. The -Chaos Resist and extra damage aren't a whole lot for us, though the little extra damage might be nice for those who maybe can't get a nice spell damage roll on their shields, or to boost up a weaker roll a bit. Even so, this one is mostly for the big chunk of ES and regen, which is nice.

2. Elementalist - The reduction in elemental damage isn't much, but do remember that the Topaz, Sapphire, and Ruby flasks are getting their +Max Resist implicits shaved down from +10 to +6, so every little bit will help here. The extra 5% penetration for resists will go nicely to boost our damage and Elemental Conflux is rather interesting. While I know our build really is ok for damage, the fact that ANY of our damage will pretty much cause all status ailments to occur, that is nice, especially chill. Remember, that does slow down enemies when attacking them (bosses included) and while the VoV flask will cover shock, it does allow us to shock should we run out of charges. Of course, you have to kill a rare/unique enemy for it to activate, so that will likely limit its use, sadly. :(

3. Berserker - The static 1.5% leech from all damage is really nice, and I think that shouldn't be affected by boss reduced effectiveness like curses are (I may be wrong here, but I am pretty sure it won't be). As tackle said, it may be possible to drop Blasphemy + WLM, though you still may want to run something like Blasphemy + Enfeeble for additional safety, or perhaps even stack the two if you so desire. Not sure how the additional damage that we'll take will affect us, though if it isn't a big deal in the end then that along with the 10% more damage could make this a hot contender.

4. Guardian - The extra block chance isn't much, but it's not unwelcome. THe additional 12% IAS just for running a single aura isn't bad at all...that's pretty much the Berserking notable right there that we'll have at all times, and this build can never have enough IAS as it is. :p

5. Pathfinder - Wow...just...wow. Pretty much nothing here is wasted and right off the bat getting 50% increased flask charges gained (which applies to unique flasks, too) is amazing, and since we're always popping flasks we'll pretty much have the 25% increased damage buff up at all times. The status ailment avoidance isn't bad at all either (won't replace Free/Chill dispel or Shock dispel), and finally hte reduced elemental damage is also rather nice since, again, we're losing +Max Resists on flasks.

I would put Slayer here as well, but I am not totally sure how the leech mechanics will play out so I'll wait a bit on that. NOW, as for the classes themselves and their Ascendancies that you'll get if you start as that class other than the Scion...let's see:


Occultist - The curse line going to Malediction is all right, but it's Wicked Ward + Vile Bastion that really make my mouth water. The extra 100 flat ES, getting some ES recharge protection when you have to back off to let it recharge (nice against Academy Boss), and the stacking 1% ES regen for when you kill enemies...wow. Since most bosses have a group or two of mobs around them, that at least gives you 4 seconds of around 8%-10% ES regen while you smash the boss and again, great for ones like Academy or Crematorium with their constant damage attacks. Trash clearing will also likely give you some pretty insane numbers if it indeed doesn't have a stack limit, and of course you could get Profane Bloom with your last 2 points for the extra chaos damage explody fun. All of that and the small nodes will give you about 24% increased ES...not too shabby indeed.

Trickster - The obvious lines here are to Walk the Aether, then Ghost Dance + Shade Form. WTA means we could use Leap Slam with no mana cost, and each time we use it, we get a huge 20% IAS boost and from teh small nodes you're looking at about 12% IAS that you get at all times and even 8% ES, too. GD is nice for the ES recharge start, and the movement speed at full ES doesn't hurt either if you don't need to Leap Slam around. Then the big one, Shade Form...MASSIVE 250 flat ES (sick nasty) and if you have to get out of dodge to let your ES recharge AND THEN LS back into the fray, you've got a massive 40% IAS for 4 seconds or thereabouts. Yeah, this one definitely has potential for sure.

Champion - I've done a lot of initial theorycrafting on this one, and I believe that this may end up being one of the strongest classes we can pick, despite being on the 'opposite side of the tree' so to say. The simple reason is that Iron Reflexes + what amounts to 145% increased Armour/Eva from just the Ascendancy tree alone, along with what else you pick up from the regular tree is a lot. Combined with decent gear, a Grace aura (potentially even one we could reduce the mana reservation of further with one of the helmet enchants...if it has one), the aura increase nodes we get, the large amounts of IAS the Duelist can path through, and of course not needing Fortify in our setups, this could offer a lot of potential for covering our weakness, which is physical damage.

It could very well make Armoured Granite Flasks (or whatever the affix is) give us an even bigger boost to what we could potentially get as 'base value' of around 18,000-19,000 armour before the flask is popped...not bad. Also, can't forget that we won't have any Dex issues we normally have when starting here, and going through Art of the Gladiator removes movement speed penalties and we are also getting around 15% or so IAS from the Ascendancy tree alone and an improved Fortify effect, which will help now that our resist flasks have lost their +Max Resist potency.


Well, those are my initial thoughts for the time being...as always, things could change. :)