ZiggyD's Etheral Knives Mana Shield Scion/Shadow Build Guide - Hardcore (Updated for 1.1)

I'm surprised that Lightning Coil isn't a popular item with this build, as it is going to do a far better job of absorbing any big hits than anything else, and AA is there to eat the small ones.

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Oxyn escribió:

I'm surprised that Lightning Coil isn't a popular item with this build, as it is going to do a far better job of absorbing any big hits than anything else, and AA is there to eat the small ones.

Well, it is. In my guide anyway ;)



But if we're talking about "cheap" gear, a 5L+ Lightning Coil is NOT cheap. Well, compared to a normal 5L.

#Help

Which item should I be looking to upgrade next?
Let's say my next 3 items.
Which order should I upgrade them in, I've currently got about 2.5 exalts in currency and probably another exalt if I sell some of the gear I'm stashing.

I have been saving the exalts and I was thinking about getting Alpha's Howl as my next item, but if someone with more experience can guide me in a better direction, the help would be greatly appreciated.

I'd like to add a few pointers that has helped me a lot through the game so far (lvl 60)

-I've been using a 4-link with faster casting and not life leech, you get better dps and you shouldn't be face tanking stuff anyways, kite them, use flasks.

-Use poe.xyz.is to get those mods that are really specific to our build. Often you can't get EVERY mod you desire or it would cost too much, strategically remove one or two mods that you will consider taking out. For example, a ES shield with life, high spell damage, resists AND mana regen is very rare/expensive. I instead got one without mana regen and less resists. Same thing goes for rings, I sacrificed life on my ring to buy a cheap one with mana regen, ES, resistances, iir. Most of the stuff I bought for really cheap under 8c. I recommend TRY searching IIR as one of the mods for each piece. You could get 100+ iir with aurseize and maxed resists and still 2shot white mobs in merciless, I love seeing those yellows drop.

-Aurseize is a good alternative mid game. I'm still using it at level 60, I love the IIR and the resists. I have my resists more or less capped and my health is decent enough that i can use this. With the cheap but great rings I bought, I sit at 103% iir on my EK. Eventually I'll remove the gloves once I get a nice one with life/resists/IIR

-Energy shield stats is better than mana. Because of our nodes, we get more mana from +ES than +mana stats

For reference on gear I've bought under 8c (most of them were around 4-6c: Capped at 75% resists and 100+ iir on ek

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ZiggyD escribió:

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Travman87 escribió:

What auras should I have active around level 40?

I just took eldritch battery and equipped EK. Reserved mana is at 423 with clarity and 170 if discipline is active. Mana regen is currently at 38.1. At the moment, if I run clarity and discipline with arctic armor (which is currently at level 1), mana drains very slowly while walking and EK drains the rest of the mana very quickly. EK is currently hooked up with faster projectiles, added fire, and life leech.

Am I on the right track here? What should I add or take away?

Just use Clarity and keep Arctic Armor at a level where it wont drain your mana and you can sustain EK. You don't really run discipline until level 75 or so.

Though in terms of mana I don't even think I was using EK by that point - Spectral Throw is much cheaper and more effective at lower levels with a decent 2her.

Thanks for the reply! I ditched Discipline for now, and am running Clarity with Grace/Hatred. I've found some good mana regen gear so things are looking up now. When did you start using EK? I'm at 53 now and EK seems to be doing great but perhaps Spectral Throw would be a little better until the mid 60s or until I find a 5 link.

Thanks for taking the time to make this build, it's definitely the best build I've played on HC so far!

can i get some help here please?
so i like followed the build and has ek linked with life leech faster projectiles and faster casting and no mana problem with artic armour. but the ek skills is not doing any damage 46.3dps at lv 40s ? what am i doing wrong ?

Probably your EK is very low lvl? I actually took EK before eldrich battery because i would get the passive at about 40lvl+ but before that i do 15 lvl of docks farming with party, so i took EK quite early. And EK went from 17 dps at lvl 1 to lvl 9 during the time frame and its dps is 260 or so. With very shit items. Only got 11% increased spell damage i believe.

I don't have 5L or 6L Armour...should not be this build?

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I don't have 5L or 6L Armour...should not be this build?

Honestly, i picked up a 5L chest, for 13 Chaos with this stats.

45 life
23 mana
34% cold resist
25% lightning

I'm level 60 and i'm doing perfectly fine at soloing everything.
I started playing again last wednesday

(Soz for not knowing how to link gear)

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tozuo escribió:

(Soz for not knowing how to link gear)

1. Hit reply
2. Select your char at the top left of the page
3. Go to the appropriate category and Left Click anything you want linked
4. Close the Char window
5. Format and edit the message as needed

On topic;
Very durable for a self built HC char. A 5L is indeed vital, but with a little luck should be easy enough to acquire. Getting the proper socket mix is a whole other thing.