JEWELS

Spoiler



Flasks:





Off-hand:





Swaps:





Jewels can be seen by clicking my character on TSC (Cantrip).

Flasks:Off-hand:Swaps:Jewels can be seen by clicking my character on TSC (Cantrip).

Status update:

Spoiler



Because why the hell not:





Off-hand:





Flasks:





Jewels can be seen by clicking my character's Passive tree on the site.

Current ones are (possibly upgraded since, but there's not much to upgrade):

Because why the hell not:Off-hand:Flasks:Jewels can be seen by clicking my character's Passive tree on the site.Current ones are (possibly upgraded since, but there's not much to upgrade):

Spoiler without any Jewels and with effective EK 21 (meaning EK 19 + Empower 1), Life is 6269, base DPS 26901 without Charges (even more now, this is from level 91, SO A BIG DIFFERENCE). In short, Jewels and spell levels matter, a lot, but you're not useless without them.



I will note I barely use Flame Totem + Blind atm, and a sightly different CwDT setup, but my partying habits and maps I run are why. You should usually use what I outlined below before you start doing insane mods like Phys Ref + Vuln or such. This Axe helps a lot with Phys Ref maps :D

Gearing

---------Hello, and welcome to my/our guide to Ethereal Knives! ...and Bladefall. ;)This build is a non-crit EK caster, basing the DPS off-of Auras, Spell Damage, Cast Speed, Frenzy Charges, and EK level. Defenses are Acrobatics, (some) Evasion, Regeneration and a high life pool.We don't have IR, we don't have MoM, and we don't have Crit. You can modify it to add any of those, but I don't suggest it.*Fair warning - you can get to maps and start out with minimal investment, but to get to what I do you need to work hard.*Changes for 2.0 for EK:Cast Speed 0.8 => 0.6Crit 5% => 6% (don't really care)Q20 was 15% Damage, it's 20% Projectile Speed now!Damage is higher.and Golem add a LOT of DPS.---Bladefall is an AoE Physical Spell, quite alike to EK in terms of build, just AoE instead of Projectile. That means your end-game chest should be a 6L Carcass eventually, probably, unlike EK, and you can use Conc Effect as a support. Otherwise, much of the following applies (obviously the gloves are of no use for Bladefall).You can also do a tankier Bladefall build using a Hyrri's.One important thing to note on Poison scaling (more on this later) - AoE Damage does NOT affect it (for Bladefall), while Projectile does (for EK).---2.1 Talisman (424% Increased Damage for Poison):Level 95:7062 Life (579 Regeneration before Blood Rage, Life Leech from War Mark / Vinkar's / Atziri's)189/1136 Mana (113.5-159 Mana Regenation, Mana Leech from War Mark / Vinkar's)47219 DPS + 53788 Poison (Total = 101008) without Charges (90.58% of DPS Poisons)68700 DPS + 100171 Poison (Total = 168871) with 7 Frenzy Charges (90.58% of DPS Poisons)83604 DPS + 124163 Poison (Total = 207767) with 7 Frenzy Charges + Atziri's (92.26% of DPS Poisons)Boss DPS (with Shock):145880 DPS + 290352 Poison (Total = 436232) with 7 Frenzy Charges + Atziri's + Vinkar's + Vaal Haste (82.43% of DPS Poisons)Resists = 169/168/183/12 (for Ele Weakness)5031 Evasion (33%) or 5951 (36%) with Charges, 11381 (49%) with Flask and Charges.Block = 16%Dodge = 50% vs Attacks / 56% vs Spells (75/75 with Vaal Grace)Tree and Jewels:Gear and links:----2.0 Build:Gear:Current Tree (2.0 Tree, a bit older):Tree for EK (2.1, skip the 3-points Jewels until later, obviously. Consider Sniper+Nullification.):Tree for Bladefall (2.1):What is EK?EK = Ethereal Knives As some of you may, or may not know, EK is a Spell, not an Attack; As such, it can only Leech Life/Mana with a Life Leech Gem, using Doryani's Invitation (Physical Variant), or using Warlord's Mark It deals Physical Damage, is not Elemental. On the tree, "Increased Physical Damage" works, but "Increased Physical Damage with Dagger/Staff/Wand" does not (since it's not using the weapon itself).It's affected by +% Global Increased Physical Damage mods on gear like:but not +% Local Increased Physical Damage like:One other to bear in mind: While EK will have a relatively high tool-tip DPS, it's REAL DPS is much higher than you think. Since this spell deals primarily Physical damage, it doesn't care about Resistances, and not even about Armor later on (since the hits are so large, you cut right through it).--Chest: 6L Lightning Coil (if you can max res without Purity of Lightning) or Belly of the Beast or Hyrri's Ire . If you're crazy enough (or have great life gear), a Tabula Rasa with +1 to Gems is... fun. I tend to go with a Tabula +1 until I get crazy enough to make a 6L +1 gems :D.With 2.1, I suspect Hyrri's is best overall as a 6L. Empower can easily be replaced with Poison, making colors realistic.Weapon: Even with not being a crit caster, your weapon should be a Dagger or a Sceptre, since Whirling Blades / Leap Slam is more or less mandatory for Fortify use (and if you want to live, you'll use that). Besides, Whirling Blades is FAST. For Phys Reflect maps, use Moonbender's Wing + Phys to Light gem, and deal NO Physical Damage.Boots: Blood Dance or Atziri's Step , hopefully with +1 Frenzy Charge. 2.1 halved the Regen from Blood Dance, making this a real choice.Gloves: Winds of Change . A GODLY Rare might be better, but it'll be hard.Gear should have a lot of Mana Regeneration in general, as well as Life, and Resists. 2.1 makes Mana Regen less of an issue, but you should still get as much as you can. I don't suggest relying on Mana Leech alone since a lot of things can interrupt that, party and Curse Immune included.Cast Speed and Spell Damage are of course a nice boost.These are viable, but less important in 2.1: Goldwyrm Getting an Atziri's Promise is handy for bosses. Same goes for Taste of Hate If you can afford it, and I'm sure you can, get a Lifesprig to level with, it lasted me well into my 50s, until I got a Geofri's Crest . The Reverbration Rod is also a viable leveling item. Geofri's Crest will hold you until you can afford a 6L, or possibly forever if you don't aim to do insanely high-level maps.All that said, this build is viable Self-found all the way, due to the way spells and auras work. Will obviously take longer to gear/level, but it will work well. If you're SF, remember to use the Crafting Benches (that applies to everyone, really)!--Bandits:Normal Oak, Cruel Point/Oak (up to you), Merciless Kraityn.--Links (2.0):3L = EK / Added Fire / Faster Casting4L on G. Crest = EK / Added Fire (or Empower level 2) / Controlled Destruction / Spell Echo5L = EK / Added Fire / Faster Casting / Spell Echo / Controlled Destruction6L (best) = EK / Added Fire / Faster Casting / Spell Echo / Controlled Destruction / Empower4L = Enlighten / Clarity / Hatred / Lightning Warp4L = Increased Duration / Vaal Grace / Vaal Haste or Vaal Grace #2 / Enduring Cry or Rallying Cry4L = Whirling Blades / Faster Attacks / Fortify / Frenzy3L = Flame Golem / GMP / Blind3L = Blasphemy / War Mark / EnlightenBoth Enlighten 3 and Empower 3 will help a lot. Given good enough mana on gear, Enlighten 2 is enough, possibly enough anyway with the mana changes in 2.1.Other links that I've tried are:Culling Strike + Rarity on the Golem, Phys to Light / Life Leech / Mana Leech / Pierce / Culling Strike on EK. Leech is a waste in 2.1 except Curse Immune maps.*Phys to Light is used only for Phys Reflect maps instead of Faster Casting or Spell Echo, allowing me to not kill myself every shot (you still can't spam into a huge pack non-stop, that will still kill you eventually), and possibly Life Leech instead of Empower. (That's if you're not on a Tabula, I actually remove Empower first, Faster Casting second, since I don't care about colors).*Pierce along with Frost Wall on CwDT is amazing, and is also viable on a 6L Lioneye's Vision . If I could get one of those with +1 gems, well... :D---Using a Dagger so I can use Whirling Blades, despite not being a crit caster. Yup, I'm crazy.Tools:Happy gaming!