getting out of the 1.1 blahs.

[shoju]

I posted in another thread, that I wasn't sure how long I was going to continue to play.

I have, at least for now, gotten over the hump of being unhappy. I completely rerolled, and havent touched my other chars since. I started a Shadow, with the expressed intent of making him a Lightning based caster.

This is my current build

I'm level 39.

This is where I'm shooting to be mid 70's.

The build is based around arc. I'm going the cast speed increase route, since Arc has an innate chance to shock. Static Blows cluster will increase that, as does the lightning node in Shadow. I have a 35% chance to shock pre-conductivity, or quality on the gem. Cast Speed will do far more to increase shock stacks than anything else.

I'm not shunning crit, but I'm not going to go out of my way to stack it sky high.

So far, the build is doing well. I've rip'ed a couple of times to lag on opening strongboxes. Massive AoE effects + Rogue Exiles is creating a lot of backend lag.

I've rip'ed to a couple of secret area bosses.

But I'm still having something that I haven't had in game since 1.1 started.

Fun.

Even with terrible drops.

My eventual goal, is to have a CI Lightning Shadow that is using:

Arc + Leech + Lightning Pen + Faster Attacks + Inc Crit Chance
Storm Call + Faster Attacks + Lightning Pen + Inc Crit Chance
CWDT + Conductivity + End Cry + Shockwave Totem
Vaal Spark + GMP + Lightning Pen + Inc Crit Chance
Lightning Warp + Faster Casting + Reduced Duration
Discipline + Clarity + Reduced Mana

At level 39, I'm pulling in a respectable 500 DPS on Arc, + more from Shocks, Conductivity, and Lightning Pen.

The build is performing admirabily. I'm a little nervous about Dominus, but I will update this thread as I move along. I think that I finally have a "new build" that will hold my interest, even while the RNGods continue to laugh at me.

[shoju]

I have hit that spot where things go to die. Otherwise known as Act III Cruel. I don't understand the massive ramp up in difficulty from AII to AIII, but it's there. I need to get some gear sorted, I need to figure out my mana issues, and I need to keep killing. We'll see how it all works out, but right now, the build is still going well, just slower than I'd like.

[MonTy]

Arc + Leech + Lightning Pen + Faster Attacks + Inc Crit Chance
Storm Call + Faster Attacks + Lightning Pen + Inc Crit Chance

I assume you mean faster casting :)

I need to get some gear sorted, I need to figure out my mana issues, and I need to keep killing. We'll see how it all works out, but right now, the build is still going well, just slower than I'd like.

Yea Mana is one big problem I have with this game, it's so very frustrating to finally get your links only to deal with massive mana issues. You'll need regen on several pieces of gear. Mana leech was nerfed hard, so that's not really a great option.

How are things going with this char? I hear once you level up Arc it can do tremendous damage. Are you playing any other build at the moment?

But I've been playing again, took a break from my Invasion character and been playing my standard ones that have good gear. Respecced my original level 90 dual wield cleave marauder into the spellblock aegis cyclone build, which allowed me to take on Atziri. I finally found the rare midnight piece which allowed me to enter her map, thanks to the recent buff in drops.

The Atziri map was pretty fun, but I can't get over how hard it was to access and complete it. That's a pretty big deal to have a mini-expansion with a new main boss and zone that is inaccessible for most of your player base. I've heard in a recent interview that they plan to have new content be more accessible, so that's great to hear.

I've also enjoyed my new crit split arrow build, that is currently using the low level fast attacking storm cloud bow, combined with triple aura (wrath/anger/grace), acrobatics, and lots of crit passives. Only issue is that my life is low. It's my first character with under 200% life, and it's been fun trying to dodge death. I figured standard would be a good place to try this type of build. We'll see how far it can get. I have a feeling once I get to 75 maps I'll be one-shot too much for my liking, so I'm hoping offense will be the best defense.

Anyway, glad to hear you're playing again!