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

I mixed the passives of ZiggyD's and Shivx's (that ZiggyD linked) builds and got two potential builds.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgABBH4EswX5CGcMfRB_FE0V8Bg8GNsZihqPGtsc3B6UI_Ykiyj6KS4ppS2DLagxnjWSOlg8LT0PPfxBh0ZxSn1KyE3YTeNOKlXGVi1W-lhjWkhbr2BtZ5tnoG6qb5508XfjfLh8u3_GgW-CHoLHgwmDOIUyhxmHdohCiPGMdo9GkyeTOpcGm7WdgJ48ogCmV6cIrD-sWax_rj6xkLQMtfK3PrfWuJO9J8HFwzrEosT2xp7GrsbYykrPZdDQ2wvbWdxX3Q3nY-vu7g7v8PF28h322vlj-ej7CfzF_gr-jw==
To get to Faith and Steel, and Discipline and Training..
I'm wondering if it's viable to go left between Templar/Marauder instead of to the top left through Sovereignty and Body and Soul. It takes 19 points from the intelligence node by Purity of Flesh to get to the Faith and Steel area. Not taking this route, I'll lose -16% mana reserved, 17% armor, 46% to ES, and 12% effects of auras. But it's only 15 points through Templar/Marauder area which can give me 22% more life if I go into the Maurader starting nodes, or whatever else I want around the board. It can make up for the mana reserved or armor lost from not going Body and Soul/Sovereignty or more life or damage.

Basically, are the energy shield and reduced mana reserved (and effect of auras) bonuses at the top left of the tree really essential? Will I lose a lot of tankiness over that lost mana?
My build is only at lvl 46 right now so I don't know yet.

Alternative route still gets Body and Soul/Sovereignty
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgABBLMIZxRNFSAXLxg8GNsZiho4HNwelCHDJIspLimlKk0s6S2DLagxnjWSNuk62DwtPQ89_D8nQYdDY0ZxSn1KyE3YTeNOKlXWVi1X4VhjWPVbr2TnZp5nm2egbqpvnnFNdPF343y4fLt_xoCkgW-CHoMJhTKHdohCiPGMdpBVkNaTJ5M6lwaaz5u1ncSePKIAplenhKw_rFmsf64-sZC0DLXytzG3PrfWvSfAGsHFwzrEosT2xq7G2MpK2wvbWdxX3Q3jaudj7DjxdvId8pf5Zfno-tL8xf4K_o8=
Are either of these viable in endgame?
And is Inner Force essential endgame?

Hey I have to say that I am loving this build although I am in domination league. This is my 3rd character and my other 2 hit a wall in the 60s and, with this, I have finally broken through and am 71 now, actually ran my first endgame map ever last night. The only thing I really added so far is the elemental resists at the start of the scion tree and the left side of Phalanx group by the templar tree because I liked the idea by shivx using the saffell's frame (which I picked up for 3c!! tho it had low rolls) and that group really puts that shield to work with +20% all res, +5% to block and 35% added to the armour and ES of the shield (could still work with the spirit shields too)! I take very little elemental damage now. The only things that really hurt me are big hits/crits and chaos...which I am actually over the 80 caps on resist in my gear and I hope that as I get some better gear I can change that to chaos resist. Been having a tough time finding casting speed stuff though so my EK doesnt have ideal range but it still works. Anyways thanks for posting this up and for your hard work and time! =)

What's a good leveling weapon for this? any uniques? I'm only level 13, using a two-handed sword at the moment because it has the highest physical damage of anything I've found so far.

Hey all! I did some searching (on here and general interwebs) but couldn't find any data on the faster casting breakpoints for EK. Does anyone have a handy link for such data? Thanks!

"

chilipino escribió:

Hey all! I did some searching (on here and general interwebs) but couldn't find any data on the faster casting breakpoints for EK. Does anyone have a handy link for such data? Thanks!

Specifically, I wonder if there is a point where FCR has diminishing returns or no effect. This can be the case if there is a 'min delay' kind of thing going on with, for example, a cast animation. If not, then it's just pure math :)

"

Radagastt escribió:

What's a good leveling weapon for this? any uniques? I'm only level 13, using a two-handed sword at the moment because it has the highest physical damage of anything I've found so far.

I leveled with Spectral Throw until 56 with about 300dps. It was weak in A1 merciless.
Now 59. EK and some self found +spell damage on a mace and shield tripled my dps. now 1,300. And I'm using +IIR as my 6th link.

Used, and still am using :

And do not see any reason to switch out yet.

Weapons, I used:

(1chaos)

then

(1 chaos)

then

(4-6 chaos, cannot remember)

Also used other 1chaos uniques, but the most important ones were:


I just replaced them in Act2 Merc.

Edit: something to remember: while leveling, equip alternate weapons and level up your gems. So when you switch, our not starting at level 1 gems.

"

Neophilus escribió:

Basically, are the energy shield and reduced mana reserved (and effect of auras) bonuses at the top left of the tree really essential? Will I lose a lot of tankiness over that lost mana?

I believe you are quite capable of answering these questions on your own. With both Sovereignty and Body and Soul ZiggyD can only run three auras: Discipline, Grace (or Hatred), and Clarity. Even without working out the math explicitly you'd expect that skipping either Sovereignty or Body and Soul would require you to run Clarity off blood magic (and even then you'd probably not have enough mana for MoM). That is around 400 HP reserved -- not ideal.

"

Neophilus escribió:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgABBH4EswX5CGcMfRB_FE0V8Bg8GNsZihqPGtsc3B6UI_Ykiyj6KS4ppS2DLagxnjWSOlg8LT0PPfxBh0ZxSn1KyE3YTeNOKlXGVi1W-lhjWkhbr2BtZ5tnoG6qb5508XfjfLh8u3_GgW-CHoLHgwmDOIUyhxmHdohCiPGMdo9GkyeTOpcGm7WdgJ48ogCmV6cIrD-sWax_rj6xkLQMtfK3PrfWuJO9J8HFwzrEosT2xp7GrsbYykrPZdDQ2wvbWdxX3Q3nY-vu7g7v8PF28h322vlj-ej7CfzF_gr-jw==

Unoptimized. Let's first analyze the left side of the tree. You spend 14 points near the Marauder area for a meager 43% increased armor and 22% HP. For 15 points you can replicate ZiggyD's build (but skip Body and Soul) to get Sovereignty (which is rather essential by the discussion above) and 40% HP. The armor loss is almost negligible, and can be easily made up by eventually taking Body and Soul or dumping 3 points into the evasion wheel to the lower right of the Scion starting area.

Now let's analyze the right side of the tree. I condone taking Charisma (I will discuss that later), but there is no reason to go so deep into the Ranger area. I assume you (and many others) really want Ballistic Mastery, but it is in fact not that good of a node even if you've already made your way to Charisma. Indeed, you are spending 3 points from the Charisma ring to get 20% projectile speed, 15% damage, and 20 Dex. First, you do not need the Dex; the 40 Dex you get on your way to Charisma together with the 100 Dex you get on your way to IR/MoM means you only need an Onyx Amulet to run Grace at max level. Second, you do not need the projectile speed; your EK will just reach the left/right edge of the screen with a high level Faster Projectiles, and this is more than adequate in my opinion. So, taking Ballistic Mastery is essentially equivalent to spending 3 points for 15% increased damage, which is clearly not worth it.


With all that said, my recommendation is to follow ZiggyD's build but take Charisma (and Mana Geyser) instead of Body and Soul. The mana increase you gain from Body and Soul is more or less matched by the mana increase, mana regen increase, and mana reservation reduction from Mana Geyser and Charisma. The armor increase you gain from Body and Soul is essentially moot when you must forgo running Grace in favor of Hatred half of the time -- an absolutely horrible practice for Hardcore in my opinion. By taking all the reduced mana reservation nodes from Sovereignty, Influence, Leadership, and Charisma you can run Discipline, Grace, Hatred, and Clarity all off mana (with slightly subpar gear you might need to run Clarity off blood magic), giving you very good offensive and defensive capabilities at all times.

In terms of progression, I recommend the following.

1) Scion life wheel.
2) Templar life clusters (Purity of Flesh, Holy Strength, Athleticism, Discipline and Training) and Faith and Steel.
3) Eldrich Battery (by the way, don't waste a point on Doom Cast).
4) Aura clusters (Influence, Sovereignty, Leadership, and Charisma).
5) Iron Reflex and Thick Skin cluster. (There is little point in taking IR early; some chance to evade is much better than no chance to evade while leveling. If I recall correctly I didn't grab it until grinding City of Sarn to Lv63. At that point my Grace and Arctic Armor are sufficiently high leveled to make IR worth it.)
6) MoM. (Again, little point in taking this early. If you take it before you have good mana pool, mana regen, and damage reduction you'd find yourself out of mana most of the time. I took it after grinding Docks to Lv67.)
7) Life and Mana nodes.
8) At this point you should be Lv84, which is my level. I personally haven't found a need for Inner Force, so I plan on dumping the next 3 points into Nimbleness (3-3-6 cast speed near EB), then, when I hit Lv88, refund those 3 points and dump all four into 3-3-3 cast speed and Path of Savant in the Scion area. After that I grab the Nimbleness cluster and the Inner Force cluster in one order or another.

As far as leveling goes I used EK from Lv1 without problems. (It was my first Nemesis character; no Karui Ward or Tabula Rasa or anything fancy -- I was using a level 6 wand until Lv57.) You need mana potions and a paua amulet at the beginning and you'd want a Reduced Mana gem for auras as soon as possible. Keep leveling Clarity. As you start grabbing aura nodes you should be able to run Clarity and Hatred simultaneously. When you grab IR at the beginning of Act 3 you should be able to run Clarity, Hatred, and Grace simultaneously. To grab MoM you'll most likely need to BM your Clarity at first, but once you are geared high level content you would be able to run all four aforementioned auras off mana with plenty to spare. I currently have 710 (~750 with maxed discipline) unreserved mana with relatively low ES chest and shield.

Should I have more mana with my gear? I'm only sitting at 1.8k mana

Counterstryke - well said post. I appreciate the time you took to write that, and the detail.

This by far is the best thread on these forums.

Counterstryke, I've been trying to play with getting more DPS from ZiggyD's build and was also taking those inefficient nodes. I'm going to reconsider.

Open ended question: There has been some talk about Lightning Coil chest (which converts 50% of inbound physical damage to lightning) and also Saffell's Frame (spell block). Can this build survive 70 maps without shield armour contribution, or shield +spell damage, and that chest? Is this viable increased mitigation (providing we can overcome the -60 Lightning resist penalty).

I have around 5k armour, lightning coil and a spirit shield.
70/72 maps are no problem what so ever for me using a similar build.

Having the Alpha's Howl with +2 levels brings lightning res to 81 and I have gotten a shock stack from physical crits like... twice. Ever.

The chest is amazing for reducing physical reflect together with artic armour and MoM.
Be aware that running reflect maps can be an issue because the constant reflect drains your mana.