ELE LIGHTNING STRIKE - ALL T16s, Shaper, Uber Atziri, HOGM, Chayula, Elder

Rest in pepperoni.

Hi sir! I just wnna ask if 1.3 patch will affect your build big time? And wht are the downside of 1.3 in terms of your build, thanks!

A lot of people are saying this build is dead when it is NOT. We need to wait to see what the new reactive skill gems are.

A simple fix for this build is to drop Acrobatics and just use the below 3 items to get your max blocks:

- Bringer of Rain - 15% block if this has not been nerfed
- Shield - 30% block
- Rumi's Concoction - up to 40% block and 20% spell block

We will then save a lot of points on the tree since we do not have to get Acro and we do not have to get block, so we can put more points into damage / life or whatever.

The build will be more flexible because we will only have to buff our block when we really need it - which is more optimal than running around with 100% uptime of max blocks.

Dropping Acro is NOT a big deal. In fact in my old double strike build - Acro was a luxury I recommended to take for only level 90+ characters who could spare the points. I dropped Acro and was using just block for about 2 months in the old build - I said this before - you will hardly notice any difference in regular play and we can still use Vaal Grace.

On top of that we are now ranged hybrid so we are much safer, and our DPS is extremely high which helps a lot.

After this patch I will redo some hard maps to show that this build is still viable. I may tweak some things, but the core build will still work. I may have difficulty with Uber Atziri again but if you watch the vids:
- Uber Vaal I have no problems because they can get shocked and die very quickly
- Uber Trio I have now started using 4L Puncture making it very easy
- Uber Atziri - I may have more trouble with the spear but we can take full spear hits and regenerate so it is not a problem as long as you can manually dodge the spells which I do 90% of the time.

Anyway, I don't think anyone is really using this build to do Uber Atziri because if you were serious about farming her there are other more expensive builds that can easily do her. I like testing on her to see how far this build can go xD.

I DID think about dropping block and just using evasion + acro - but there really is no benefit to using those defenses as melee when you can use the same with a bow character.

If you fellow Rangers are bored and want some background reading to how often we have discussed the necessity of dodge in this build please see links. If you are looking for some fun I recommend you try doing some maps without Dodge to see if it makes any difference for you.


Sept'13
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/503727/page/8
This was when I decided to unspec from Dodge because it was unnecessary point investment and I did not notice any difference in regular play. The amount of points required did not justify the % chance improvement to avoid damage in my opinion.

Phase Acro will always be a special case but unfortunately it is tied to Acro so back in this day you had to spend 6 points to get Phase Acro


Oct'13
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/503727/page/13
Further discussion on why I dropped dodge.


Jan'14
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/503727/page/51
Very extensive discussion on usefulness of Dodge with Autocthon


Mar'14
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/503727/page/58
With the release of Atziri's Steps I respecc'd into dodge to use these lovely boots and get the extremely high spell dodge.

I no longer use Atziri's Steps and it is no longer core item for this build so dodge remains optional, but not really efficient.

This build is far from beind dead.

Its just transforming.

Right now I am testing this new build variation:



I removed ALL DODGE and removed ALL shield nodes. I use this flask:

so I still hit 75% block 75% spell block for ~5s per sip for when I need it.

I like this a lot because it makes the build very efficient! This saved about 11 points. Which I put into Ranger attack speed, Quick Step, Deadly Dilettante, and Shadow phys damage nodes. I hit about 320K fully buffed.

This is not really how it will be in the new tree but it helps me get a feel for how the defenses are. So far I am really liking the flexibility to able to turn on the high defenses when I need it. It is basically like a Vaal Grace boost that you can decide to use whenever you feel like it. DPS is through the roof, but may be a bit lower in the next patch.

Ran GMP Palace and Atziri so far - no issues.

EDIT: Updated tree.

You can save 1 point by speccing out of the two connecting dex nodes above acro and joining it to the bottom of quickness. However doing this will prevent you from going into deflection if you change your mind.

New melee reactive gems look useless:

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1119966

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Ceryneian escribió:

New melee reactive gems look useless:

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1119966

ya. thats all 8 of the new skills to. looks like you just get extra damage when you block, and there is no block aura or buff or anything.
so unless there are changes to actual gear or mechanics then that all around passive tree massive block nerf was almost unjustified IMO.

i can understand the nerf to acro, thats fine, but why they cut block in half in almost every case it was present in the tree, as well as full out removed a number of block clusters, kind of has me scratching my head right now.

the physical to lightning sounds useless to, if its similar to cold to fire, which is garbage. can't wait for the final patch notes to be released. im still looking forward to this patch either way and i'll update both my builds as i know you'll continue and update this one.

counter-attacks. little disappointing. i guess you can take advantage by maybe a huge DoT/max block bulid or something

GG guys. Patch has hit us very hard. Was fun while it lasted.

- Increased Critical Damage now provides 50% critical strike multiplier, up to 69% at gem level 20. It now provides 0.5% critical strike multiplier per 1% of quality.

- All shields have had their block chance reduced.

- Rumi's Concoction: Chance to block during flask effect has been reduced from 30-40% to 20-30%. Chance to block spells during flask effect has been reduced from 15-20% to 10-15%

- The Bringer of Rain: Chance to block has been reduced from 15% to 6%. The chance to gain an endurance charge when you block has been increased from 10% to 20%.

You can barely get any block on Ranger tree now, shield base block reduced, BofR block reduced, Rumi's reduced. So let's say they nerf shield base down to 20%. We have a max of 20% + 30% + 6% = 56% regular block using shield + Rumi's + BofR, without taking any block nodes which I think is pretty shitty when you compare bow user can take 40% Acrobatics for 100% uptime.

Melee reactive gems are also useless.

All in all a very disappointing patch and kills Ranger melee hard!

Can this build survive?: YES
Is this build worth doing?: I don't think so anymore