[3.5] Say_Ten's Melee Shadow - Murder Everything Cheaply
" Dual strike...not double...but honestly anything that gets Vaal'ed is going to be a slight added bonus if you are really micro-managing your character but also not necessary to make things work. My safe rule of thumb was that if I had extra 20/20 gems I would try it. Obviously in a new league this requires a lot of playtime...but that's just how I roll. | |
" hahaha. go to town! yeah, stone golem would be a decent choice and now there is the lightning golem for IAS too. on this build, IAS could mean better "life regen" if you are using the LGoH claws, which I prefer with high attack speed. Main thing is to get as much life as you can though. I am currently, slowly leveling a different variant of this build as a Champion. Right now, level 70 in Prophecy. Going with perma-Fortify and a little more life vs. super high crit/damage/attack speed. Wanted to see if it would be a lot more tanky. Looks like I have a few weeks left to mess around with it. I can say, though, that the damage is still high enough that I was rocking a Tabula and Elreon rings until very recently. My resists were all negative up until Act 4 Merc. | |
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Hey I have some questions about the build:
1) What's the build's viability? Atziri/Izaro/Ubers? 2) How far can it take me? Max tier maps, what mods can't it run? (from seeing the build I reckon it doesn't take to Phys & Elemental reflect kindly) 3) Any specific armor if I used Abyssus instead of BoR? Belly of the Beast/Kaom's Heart if going for life methinks. But if I picked 6L BotB, what gems would be good to put in it? I'm thinking that linking Blasphemy+Assassin's Mark would be good, as it gives an aura if the mana pool allows. Last edited by sqvirel on Sep 8, 2016, 1:52:56 PM
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" 1) Killed the regular versions (on merc) no problem. Haven't tried uber versions yet. I will keep you updated. I suspect they will be quite doable but it's all about you being able to pay attention and remain calm to react to what's going on. That is the trick with most bosses you can't facetank or instakill. 2) Highest I have brought this specific build was to 93 (I'm more on the casual side than hardcore 24/7 side) and can run most mods, including blood magic without auras on. Even reflect maps are doable if you take your time not to hit too many monsters at once and keep fortify up. It's really about how bored you want to get (or how challenged you want to be) but I have done pretty much all mods within reason. For example, I wouldn't bother running a map that was like temp chains, ele weakness, -max res, and ele ref...you get the point. If it's only one bad mod at a time, you can do it. 3) Those are good suggestions. You could also run Lightning Coil for the physical damage mitigation. Any more questions, let me know. | |
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Also wanted to share with you guys how f'ing amazing these new unique claws are for this build:
They are dirt cheap, have very good damage and crit, add cold damage and, even more importantly, allow your Lightning Strike to chain. It's hard to confirm but I think it is, in fact, chaining twice with two of these equipped. I may level two LS gems to keep one with no pierce and one with to experiment and get back to you all. Happy murdering! | |
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updated a couple of things in the main post
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My first go at playing the game and I decided to give this build a try for essence. Man it's a ton of fun! I'm surprised at what I survive when I'm playing lazily and not flasking on maps. Currently 81 and having a blast.
That said I was wondering what your thoughts were on looking for points to redistribute for Vaal Pact. I know you said between Leech and Life on Hit were mostly preference so when I saw that keystone I wondered why the build doesn't go for it. |
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" It's a valid question... Vaal Pact removes life regen, which I currently take quite a bit of. It helps to over-sustain Blood Rage, and helps with situations where I might not run BR, such as running through lab traps or maps with insane vulnerability curse level. Plus BR provides excellent DPS and attack speed. I have been a bit more focused on LGoH over leech because it is instant. So if I'm at 10-15 APS and getting 50 life on hit (multiplies with splash), that's some pretty good life regen. The leech is powerful and is good as a complement to the build but as I have the tree, it doesn't grant life back quickly enough to be a keystone. With Vaal Pact, you could perhaps situationally use Blood Rage or just forget it, but you would then need to go for more leeching nodes. Basically, I think it is balanced as-is. This season, I took a few more block nodes instead of extra jewel sockets or frenzy charges. We'll see how far I push it. My goal is to shoot for at least 5500 life, 60%+ block chance with Rumi's up, and perhaps even more damage. If I fully optimized gear and got to lvl 95, I could probably get up to 6000 life. | |
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Gotcha! Thanks a bunch for the insight.
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What kind of end-game content are you capable of clearing with this build? I am following it and just getting into Tier 5/6 maps, I still haven't gotten a Bringer of Rain because I need to find some good 4L gloves/boots so I can set up all my gems correctly. I am nearly level 85, and Have only been able to solo merc labs once, I am assuming once I get the helmet that everything will be a little bit easier to survive in.
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