Path of Exile is a MAJESTIC incline

[T. Reich]

Anyone saying that ES is dead is retarded. Disregard their opinions.

Poison and iginte ARE dead, though. Which is fine, really.

Also, why not make the bladefall trapper NOT poison-based? You know, to try out the new things. You can stil scale phys+chaos damage if you want.

 

[Varvarg]

skeletons in another 4 link: minion speed, faster casting, minion life. The speed part is important, it will make the skellies home in on enemies. The skeletons will be my nuke against bosses.

will try. Is it with or without from dust?

It's with From Dust. The increased cooldown isn't noticable from my experience

 

[T. Reich]

Damn, my infernal blow slayer is fun and all, but I theorycrafted the sickest life-based RF juggy! Fuck stramer-hyped RF zerkers - sure, they deal more damage (approx 20-25% more), but juggy is tankier and plain cooler.

 

[ArchAngel]

Damn, my infernal blow slayer is fun and all, but I theorycrafted the sickest life-based RF juggy! Fuck stramer-hyped RF zerkers - sure, they deal more damage (approx 20-25% more), but juggy is tankier and plain cooler.

Enemy that lives 25% longer also deals more damage.

 

[Doktor Best]

Still torn between Essence Drain and Frostbolt Miner. Which would you guys recommend?

Is the clearspeed of ED sufficient? I dont mind not playing the fastest build available (i prefer that actually) but i would also hate to level at snails pace.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Damn, my infernal blow slayer is fun and all, but I theorycrafted the sickest life-based RF juggy! Fuck stramer-hyped RF zerkers - sure, they deal more damage (approx 20-25% more), but juggy is tankier and plain cooler.

Enemy that lives 25% longer also deals more damage.

Enemy that deals 25% more damage receives 25% less damage, therefore living 33% longer (or rather, through 33% more enemies in significantly less time). Glass cannon meta is a thing for a reason.

 

[Reinhardt]

Last time i played was right after scion arrival. I don't even remember my old account, so created new one. It's overwhelming.

 

[ArchAngel]

Still torn between Essence Drain and Frostbolt Miner. Which would you guys recommend?

Is the clearspeed of ED sufficient? I dont mind not playing the fastest build available (i prefer that actually) but i would also hate to level at snails pace.

Both are pretty fast. Frostbolts travel outside the screen and kill stuff there as well. Contagion AoE was buffed in 3.0

 

[T. Reich]

Still torn between Essence Drain and Frostbolt Miner. Which would you guys recommend?

Is the clearspeed of ED sufficient? I dont mind not playing the fastest build available (i prefer that actually) but i would also hate to level at snails pace.

I'd search the net for post-3.0.0 ED impressions. The main points to look out for:
1) single-target damage - the bosses' life has been buffed a lot, poison is dead, decay is nerfed.
2) life-based vs ci - occultist should still be a strong pick, but trickster and scion are also looking good. I did a life-based iron will zerker a few leagues ago, and it was amazing, too.
3) aoe clear speed - aoe was nerfed hard, and I'm not sure if contagion has sufficient aoe to carry ED dot far enough now.

Frostblot miner is a solid pick, if you are fine with the peculiarities of a miner playstyle.

 

[made]

Against my habit, I started a new char in the league because of all the new content. Some great and long overdue changes to the game. Harbingers seem pretty boring tho. Ended up with a Frost Blades Shadow since the new skills are all kinda crap. Leveling is so slow without all the low lvl booster uniques Ive amassed on STD lol... I'm thinking I should have picked a raider instead but oh well should be good enough to reach maps with.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[ArchAngel]

so was wondering how minion life translates into dark pact flat dmg boost. Ofc had to do some calculations based on disclosed skeleton life numbers some time ago(i wonder if its still accurate in 3.0)
Assuming we are talking about lvl 22 summon skelly gem, 20% inc minion life gives you 27 flat chaos dmg.
If you slap lvl3 empower to get lvl24 gem, its boosted to 33.

It isnt too hard to get +200% inc minion life total. This means that lvl3 empower adds 60 flat chaos dmg.

also it makes 20% bonus from maligaro lens + necro aegis investment laughable when compared to Apep's Rage... Dps wise that is, putting option to have max block on your crowd aside.

If Im no longer going to use necro aegis, then I have no idea why I went necromancer to begin with

Necro is pointless for dark pact on skeletons, occultist or berserker are better options.

 

[Varvarg]

occultist, or berserker, would make more sense if you are casting on self. Occultist -chaos res is great in close quarters. However that's all it gives, since my build doesn't utilize any curses and is life based. I also made a trickster with insane life regen in Path of Building. It reached around 180 inc. life. Could potentially be solid, when using frenzy charges.

In the end took necro for the general boosts that you get via auras, and the slight chaos damage boost. Plus if you combine with a horde of zombies you get very survivable. Not to mention the zombies have been buffed and will do decent damage. The necro choice is a better league starter hands down

I have no issues clearing with trash gear and a 4 link on lower tier maps. Did not take necro aegis, but I plan to pick up an (two?) apep's rage.

You can see my char here: https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Saltygames/characters (IMustHaveMyRevenge). I will indeed take all the minion life nodes on this build, but as you can see, I still have room to take additional chaos nodes if I so desire. The northern Corruption cluster would probably be next if so.

 

[ArchAngel]

occultist, or berserker, would make more sense if you are casting on self. Occultist -chaos res is great in close quarters. However that's all it gives, since my build doesn't utilize any curses and is life based. I also made a trickster with insane life regen in Path of Building. It reached around 180 inc. life. Could potentially be solid, when using frenzy charges.

In the end took necro for the general boosts that you get via auras, and the slight chaos damage boost. Plus if you combine with a horde of zombies you get very survivable. Not to mention the zombies have been buffed and will do decent damage. The necro choice is a better league starter hands down

I have no issues clearing with trash gear and a 4 link on lower tier maps. Did not take necro aegis, but I plan to pick up an (two?) apep's rage.

You can see my char here: https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Saltygames/characters (IMustHaveMyRevenge). I will indeed take all the minion life nodes on this build, but as you can see, I still have room to take additional chaos nodes if I so desire. The northern Corruption cluster would probably be next if so.

Necro is not a better choice, and it certainly is not hands down. You seem to not understand how the skill works. Your minions don't do damage when using Dark Pact, they are just a center of effect and their max life is added to base damage of the skill. necro has 20% inc minion life and that is if you go for Spectre node (which you won't so only 10% inc life). Necro also gets 20% inc chaos damage boost and 30% inc from aura.

Occultist gets -20% chaos resistance which turns into 20% more damage increase, has 10% inc chaos damage and another enemies TAKE 10% inc damage when they are cursed which is another MORE multiplier. And Occultist can still go CI and have great survivability. And Occultist can get minion life passives from the tree and equipment so to boost Skeleton life, he lags in this behind Necro only by 10% of base skeleton life which is nothing.

Other option is Berserker. You go full life, you get 40% more damage that is always active, you get a Baron and 1000 str and minion life nodes for skeletons. You also get a super fast warcry that boosts your damage even more. And the movespeed and attack speed bonuses help you clear faster.

Also both ascendancies can do this with totems and Berserker can also do this selfcast.

Necro is only good if you are doing some hybrid build where DP is not your main skill but just a bonus to your army of whatever. But for a DP focused build, it is the worst choice of these few (even Scion is better).

 

[Varvarg]

It's not the best for pure dark pact deeps, but still the best as a starter, since survivability is super high with junk gear and low levels. But, you need to combine with other minions. Zombies as a minimum, but you could very well run spectres on 4 link as well. Currently i'm running both, and will probably take the spectre ascendancy node. Hell, you could even run a 6 link staff for pure spectre/dark pact.

It's hard to gauge if a hybrid summoner/dark pact would be better or worse than a occultist in regards to combined damage potential. Berserker cast on self seems like the most popular choice by the way. Would be interesting to see how the ladder looks, but only the first page works. Server overload or what not.

Edit: in SSF HC Harbringer we have currently a lvl 92 occultist leading the race. Easier to build around I guess.

 

[ArchAngel]

It's not the best for pure dark pact deeps, but still the best as a starter, since survivability is super high with junk gear and low levels. But, you need to combine with other minions. Zombies as a minimum, but you could very well run spectres on 4 link as well. Currently i'm running both, and will probably take the spectre ascendancy node. Hell, you could even run a 6 link staff for pure spectre/dark pact.

It's hard to gauge if a hybrid summoner/dark pact would be better or worse than a occultist in regards to combined damage potential. Berserker cast on self seems like the most popular choice by the way. Would be interesting to see how the ladder looks, but only the first page works. Server overload or what not.

Edit: in SSF HC Harbringer we have currently a lvl 92 occultist leading the race. Easier to build around I guess.

Raizqt is #1 on SSF HC, he is playing SRS

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

Finished my storm burst and did some mapping, I'd say it has good clear speed but I still have problems facing one-on-one I even reduced damage and increased life on tree but still no go, think I'm done.

 

[ArchAngel]

Finished my storm burst and did some mapping, I'd say it has good clear speed but I still have problems facing one-on-one I even reduced damage and increased life on tree but still no go, think I'm done.

What is your secondary defense? Evasion, armor, endurance charges? High Block, Dodge? Flask duration and good defensive flasks? Any source of life leech?

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Veelq]

My Crit Spark Totems Hierophant got pushed back by Dark Pact totems for now, Spark i think needs Pierce to be anything decent atm.
Slowly leveling with 2 totems ( 3 with Soul Mantle when i get the setup for curse removal ) and casting skeletons from hand ( using the 3 in 1 cast jewel ), damage is very good, and will be even better with Pursuit of Faith + Crit later.

End goal in PoB shows around 10k ES ( with Soul Mantle and mostly craftable ES gear ) and over 100k dps per totem ( a bit less using skeletons but its 3 pulses so on single target its even more ). Apeps seems to be THE option for good dmg, and Sanctuary of Thought should eliminate the 40% inc mana cost problem.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Lol, Touch of Anguish for 80 chaos ando Baron for 180!
Fucking streamers I say.

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

What is your secondary defense? Evasion, armor, endurance charges? High Block, Dodge? Flask duration and good defensive flasks? Any source of life leech?

Warlord's mark for leech, some regen nodes, my chest piece is using evasion because of sockets the rest is life and armor, all are outdated and would require some grinding and not very fun boss fights, flasks are life and and extra crits.

 

[ArchAngel]

My Crit Spark Totems Hierophant got pushed back by Dark Pact totems for now, Spark i think needs Pierce to be anything decent atm.
Slowly leveling with 2 totems ( 3 with Soul Mantle when i get the setup for curse removal ) and casting skeletons from hand ( using the 3 in 1 cast jewel ), damage is very good, and will be even better with Pursuit of Faith + Crit later.

End goal in PoB shows around 10k ES ( with Soul Mantle and mostly craftable ES gear ) and over 100k dps per totem ( a bit less using skeletons but its 3 pulses so on single target its even more ). Apeps seems to be THE option for good dmg, and Sanctuary of Thought should eliminate the 40% inc mana cost problem.

Or maybe get Kitava's Thirst to cast your skeletons for you

 

[Veelq]

Or maybe get Kitava's Thirst to cast your skeletons for you

In 3.0 i kinda need the ES on my helmet, and reduced cast speed sucks.
I may test this setup with some kind of poison - it should stack pretty well.