



This is a generic starting build for anyone looking to get into low level duelling (or LLD) for cheap, while having high potential if you have the money to spend. The budget build only costs about 20-25 chaos, assuming you have a stash of gems you can use. If not, all required gems are quest gems. This build uses a bow with puncture traps and puncture to poke down enemies before going in for the kill with tornado shot.



Or kill them when they run through multiple traps or run away with puncture I guess.



With this build I got to #10 on the first swiss tournament US STD. My bow is vendor + master crafted, I'm using mostly uniques, my helm is trash and I don't have -mana cost jewellery.







For some basics on Low Level Duelling, check out this beginner guide by Fightgarr.



This build is not intended for people already heavily invested into pvp. I'm sure you people have much better things to build and do than this.



1.Passives



Spoiler https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgIAr-ubjQgu7YMAXhmO037vevljo4ruDv7IGwEZ_o19I_ZNktaKfyswfAW1jb9RR9QjpuB_AjKU2caVBcqpXWia8QiJ



High flat physical bow damage, okay life, Acrobatics + Ondar's Guile help with the defense. I tried crit but this was more reliable and has higher overall dps, though puncture crits HURT. If I had better crit gear it might be better, I'm not entirely certain. Take oak's hp reward.

High flat physical bow damage, okay life, Acrobatics + Ondar's Guile help with the defense. I tried crit but this was more reliable and has higher overall dps, though puncture crits HURT. If I had better crit gear it might be better, I'm not entirely certain. Take oak's hp reward.



2.Gems

-REQUIRED GEMS-



Puncture: Supported by Multiple traps, Point blank + one other gem. Placed in Deerstalker boots for the trap support.



One of your main zoning and damage tools, lay down puncture traps and move in ways that make your enemy walk over them. Try to lay them down either in a way that they have to take the hit to engage (assuming they don't clear the traps) or place them in one area, and move far away to bait them into taking that route. Last gem can be added fire damage, Block chance reduction, Additional accuracy, a lot of stuff. I'm currently using additional crit damage; I personally use this because of the ridiculously high burst you get when you DO crit because of all the flat physical nodes you've taken. Sometimes when a matchup simply isn't going your way you're just going to have to hope for crits, and added crit multiplier can 100-0 some builds that aren't careful with traps.



Puncture: Supported by Block chance reduction, additional accuracy + one other gem (same as above). Place in bow/chest.



Long range poking tool. When you're keeping your distance, shoot out a couple of punctures. Simple enough.



Tornado Shot: Supported by LMP, Point Blank, Added Fire Damage/Stun, Additional Accuracy/Block Chance Reduction. Place in bow/chest.



If you only have a 4L, drop either one of the last two options depending on whether the enemy can be stunlocked or not, whether the enemy has high evasion, or whether the enemy has high block/dodge. Obviously added fire/stun are red, and additional accuracy/bcr is green, so you can only pick one pair to use, but keep it in mind.



If you're quick you can switch out point blank on the fly for poking around corners, but try not to get caught at close range without point blank.



-Optional but still pretty nice to have-



Mirror/Blink arrow, Smoke mine



Helps with mobility, smoke mine also blinds and gives a bit of move speed. You can fight head on in the smoke or use it to run away. Remember you need line of sight for smoke mine to work, which sort of nullifies the usefulness of it in some maps.



Clarity/Herald of Ash



Use clarity if you need to spam your abilities, otherwise you shouldn't really need that much mana, so use Herald of Ash for more damage. Ideally you'll have one piece of elreon jewellery so that your mana-costs are near non-existant, but with the budget build I'll assume you don't have one.



Cast when stunned + Molten shell + Frost Wall



I'm still experimenting with cast when stunned alternatives but frost wall is amazing against melee for two reasons; people without gapclosers such as flicker strike can't run through the wall easily, and it often causes desync for the enemy when it pops up and they try to attack but suddenly wall. Molten shell gives you extra survivability against physical damage.



Curse on hit + vulnerability + tornado shot / split shot / barrage / roa



If you want vulnerability instead of temporal chains but don't have vuln on hit corrupt, use this + rare gloves. If you don't have room for an arc and are using curse on hit you should probably use roa, it can clear traps as well.



Arc/Roa



Clear traps with one of these.







3.Gearing



Buying gear off other people is good if you need uniques that you don't have in your stash, for high-end gear, or for low level jewellery that people are selling. Can be cheap or expensive, so look around on poe.trade for some good deals. Note that generally LLD shops tend to price items higher because they actually know the value of good items. On the other hand, they also know fair values compared to some of the ridiculous values that some people put out because they see level 28.



ilvl 36 is the maximum tier of mods that you can have on a level 28 item, so that's what you want crafting bases to be. You can find ilvl 36 gear at the Mud flats, Upper Sceptre of God, Piety, or in the Act 3 Normal vendor. Master crafting level requirements refer to ilevel requirements, not character level requirements, so master crafting is amazing. You can get a lot of top tier rolls such as flat physical on bows.



Elreon crafting is for people with money to burn. If you have the money for Elreon crafting, you probably don't need me to tell you what to do with it.



This crafting guide by Fightgarr is highly useful, check it out as well.



I'll link what gear I"m currently using in each item slot, as well as Budget / Mid-tier / High end alternatives plus possible swaps. Sockets are assumed to be 4L. My price estimates are based upon standard.



Bow





Budget: Get a rare rustic sash, either from your stash, getting an alch and a white sash, or go farm until you find one. Find some white ilvl 36 royal bows, and use the % damage on weapon vendor recipe (white weapon + rustic sash + a whetstone). With a rare rustic sash, you should get the Wicked prefix 70-89% damage. What % is put on the bow is based upon the bow, not the rustic sash, so ideally you want to have several bows and keep on checking until you get a high roll. Remember to whetstone the bow you're using. Once you do this, augment a suffix, use a regal on the bow, then master craft level 30 flat physical. Total currency used is ~5-7c, maybe a bit more if you want to redo the regal if it got a low flat physical roll.



Mid-tier: Get the



High end: Do the same as Mid-tier but regal for hybrid physical, and repeat if you don't get hybrid physical. Once you have a satisfactory hybrid physical regal, Elreon craft the rest of it. If you're very rich, go for additional arrow corrupt.

Budget: Get a rare rustic sash, either from your stash, getting an alch and a white sash, or go farm until you find one. Find some white ilvl 36 royal bows, and use the % damage on weapon vendor recipe (white weapon + rustic sash + a whetstone). With a rare rustic sash, you should get the Wicked prefix 70-89% damage. What % is put on the bow is based upon the bow, not the rustic sash, so ideally you want to have several bows and keep on checking until you get a high roll. Remember to whetstone the bow you're using. Once you do this, augment a suffix, use a regal on the bow, then master craft level 30 flat physical. Total currency used is ~5-7c, maybe a bit more if you want to redo the regal if it got a low flat physical roll.Mid-tier: Get the Prismweave unique Belt from someone by trade or be lucky. Do the same as budget. Alternatively, skip augmenting, regal, then craft Elreon multiple mods for flat physical, attack speed, then whatever. Total price: 15c to 1ex OR about 3-3.5 ex if Elreon was used.High end: Do the same as Mid-tier but regal for hybrid physical, and repeat if you don't get hybrid physical. Once you have a satisfactory hybrid physical regal, Elreon craft the rest of it. If you're very rich, go for additional arrow corrupt.



Quiver





I got lucky with my Vaal. I forgot to master craft something onto it before I vaaled it, but.... eh...



Budget:







Mid-tier: Still Craghead, but you want a swap for people who have an



High end: Get a quiver with additional arrow + good stats. The more money you can spend the better quiver you can afford. I got lucky with my Vaal. I forgot to master craft something onto it before I vaaled it, but.... eh...Budget: Craghead is used for the high stun values and decent damage. It's also cheap as hell. I still use the Craghead sometimes if I can stunlock the enemy with it. Total price: 1 alch-1c.Mid-tier: Still Craghead, but you want a swap for people who have an Eye of Chayula or Unwavering Stance. Life, flat physical damage, attack speed and resistances are good rolls on a quiver. Try to get at least life and another then master craft a third good affix. Luckily, there are a decent amount of good quivers on poe.trade. You can easily find a good quiver for 1-5 chaos.High end: Get a quiver with additional arrow + good stats. The more money you can spend the better quiver you can afford.



Helmet





My helmets are pretty terrible. Oh well.



Budget:



Mid-tier: Get a helmet with life + resistances. This is actually much harder than it sounds because nobody in standard keeps low level helmets. Not sure if it's any easier in HC. Alch helms until you get some decent life + res if you need to. Price: 2c-10c depending on luck, prices of stuff on trade, etc.



High-end: Get a good helmet then try for a cast when stunned corrupt. This probably isn't necessary at all but there's not much you can do with helmets once you hit the life and resistance.



Optional swaps:

My helmets are pretty terrible. Oh well.Budget: Goldrim /any random helmet you have lying around. 1c max.Mid-tier: Get a helmet with life + resistances. This is actually much harder than it sounds because nobody in standard keeps low level helmets. Not sure if it's any easier in HC. Alch helms until you get some decent life + res if you need to. Price: 2c-10c depending on luck, prices of stuff on trade, etc.High-end: Get a good helmet then try for a cast when stunned corrupt. This probably isn't necessary at all but there's not much you can do with helmets once you hit the life and resistance.Optional swaps: Fairgraves Tricorne is alright if you're up against someone who can shock consistently.



Gloves





The most expensive item on my LLD character. Vuln on hit hnnng.



Budget: Get yourself an



Mid-tier: You can either keep the Asenath's / rare gloves, or get a



High end: You want Vulnerability on hit corrupt. If you have a +curse corrupt on your amulet, you can get it on the Asenath's for double the curse, otherwise find it either on rare gloves or Maligaro's.



Note: TBH I was using maligaro's from back when I was using crit. I'm not 100% sure if it's optimal in this build, but the vuln on hit corrupt is just too good for me to switch to any gloves right now, so testing is hard.

The most expensive item on my LLD character. Vuln on hit hnnng.Budget: Get yourself an Asenath's Gentle Touch. Gives good stats and free temp chains on hit. Alternatively if you want vulnerability instead of temporal chains, you can get rare gloves and slot in curse on hit with a skill of your choice (tornado shot, barrage, split shot, pretty much any bow skill that deals multiple hits and/or covers a wide range). 1-3c.Mid-tier: You can either keep the Asenath's / rare gloves, or get a Maligaro's Virtuosity with vuln curse on hit gems. Asenath for cheap + temp chains, rare gloves for survivability, Maligaro's for damage. Cost: 1-15c. Cheaper if you buy a corrupted Maligaro's.High end: You want Vulnerability on hit corrupt. If you have a +curse corrupt on your amulet, you can get it on the Asenath's for double the curse, otherwise find it either on rare gloves or Maligaro's.Note: TBH I was using maligaro's from back when I was using crit. I'm not 100% sure if it's optimal in this build, but the vuln on hit corrupt is just too good for me to switch to any gloves right now, so testing is hard.



Boots



You only have one option in the boots department and



If you have vaal orbs to burn you can try for corrupts. +gem level, move speed, cannot be knocked back are all okay.



You only have one option in the boots department and Deerstalker is it. The free trap is just too good to pass up. Price: 1-3c.If you have vaal orbs to burn you can try for corrupts. +gem level, move speed, cannot be knocked back are all okay.



Chest









Richer people can try for a 6l and/or a corrupt on either foxshade or a really well rolled rare.



Foxshade is great. Move speed, flat phys and high evasion. It's also cheap. Total price: 1-3c.Richer people can try for a 6l and/or a corrupt on either foxshade or a really well rolled rare.



Amulet





I found this amulet for only 2c and added on the mana regen. Amazing for me. Look around in your own stash for good jewellery. Low level bases mean that often you have decent stuff that you can use in LLD. Budget and mid-tier sort of blur here. Spend 1-5c and you should have a good amulet. Maybe a bit more up to 10c if nobody's selling anything decent at the time.



Use Eye of Chayula against people who can stunlock you. It sucks giving up stats and that 20% reduced life REALLY sucks, but it's better than getting stunned five times in a row then dying. If you're confident in not getting hit you can forgo it but just be careful.



The stats you want are Life, flat physical damage, resistances, intelligence, accuracy, mana and mana regen in roughly that order. Try to get something good on a lapis/onyx base. You can master craft top tier flat physical.



High end you want to master craft elreon with -mana cost and/or try for +1 curses.



I found this amulet for only 2c and added on the mana regen. Amazing for me. Look around in your own stash for good jewellery. Low level bases mean that often you have decent stuff that you can use in LLD. Budget and mid-tier sort of blur here. Spend 1-5c and you should have a good amulet. Maybe a bit more up to 10c if nobody's selling anything decent at the time.Use Eye of Chayula against people who can stunlock you. It sucks giving up stats and that 20% reduced life REALLY sucks, but it's better than getting stunned five times in a row then dying. If you're confident in not getting hit you can forgo it but just be careful.The stats you want are Life, flat physical damage, resistances, intelligence, accuracy, mana and mana regen in roughly that order. Try to get something good on a lapis/onyx base. You can master craft top tier flat physical.High end you want to master craft elreon with -mana cost and/or try for +1 curses.



Rings





The two rares were just sitting in my stash from farming elsewhere.



Price is roughly the same as amulet x2, maybe even a bit cheaper. Richer people want elreon master crafting with -manacost.

The two rares were just sitting in my stash from farming elsewhere. Dream Fragments is a good swap against freezing pulse / cold snap, but a bit pricey. If you don't have the money for Dream Fragments, just make sure to carry an anti-freeze flask.Price is roughly the same as amulet x2, maybe even a bit cheaper. Richer people want elreon master crafting with -manacost.



Belt







Budget: Magnate is good. Strength requirement taken care of, good damage and stun duration. 1c max.



Mid-tier: Get a Meginord's. Slightly more expensive than a magnate but gives health, cold res and slightly more strength at the cost of stun duration and a bit of damage.



High-end go for a +trap corrupt.

Budget: Magnate is good. Strength requirement taken care of, good damage and stun duration. 1c max.Mid-tier: Get a Meginord's. Slightly more expensive than a magnate but gives health, cold res and slightly more strength at the cost of stun duration and a bit of damage.High-end go for a +trap corrupt.



Flasks





There are a lot of options for flasks. Ideally you'd be able to switch out before each match depending on the matchup, but that's not a luxury you can really afford with the current game system so I use an all purpose flask setup. Bubbling + move speed, staunching, warding, a quicksilver and a jade flask. I swap flasks if/once I know who I'm up against. Experiment with setups you like.

There are a lot of options for flasks. Ideally you'd be able to switch out before each match depending on the matchup, but that's not a luxury you can really afford with the current game system so I use an all purpose flask setup. Bubbling + move speed, staunching, warding, a quicksilver and a jade flask. I swap flasks if/once I know who I'm up against. Experiment with setups you like. The crafting guide has a very good section on flasks, go read over that.



Total budget gear set: ~20-30 chaos. That's all you need to make a very decent pvp set.



Total mid-gear set: ~2 exalteds.





Buying gear off other people is good if you need uniques that you don't have in your stash, for high-end gear, or for low level jewellery that people are selling. Can be cheap or expensive, so look around on poe.trade for some good deals. Note that generally LLD shops tend to price items higher because they actually know the value of good items. On the other hand, they also know fair values compared to some of the ridiculous values that some people put out because they see level 28.ilvl 36 is the maximum tier of mods that you can have on a level 28 item, so that's what you want crafting bases to be. You can find ilvl 36 gear at the Mud flats, Upper Sceptre of God, Piety, or in the Act 3 Normal vendor. Master crafting level requirements refer to ilevel requirements, not character level requirements, so master crafting is amazing. You can get a lot of top tier rolls such as flat physical on bows.Elreon crafting is for people with money to burn. If you have the money for Elreon crafting, you probably don't need me to tell you what to do with it.I'll link what gear I"m currently using in each item slot, as well as Budget / Mid-tier / High end alternatives plus possible swaps. Sockets are assumed to be 4L. My price estimates are based upon standard.Total budget gear set: ~20-30 chaos. That's all you need to make a very decent pvp set.Total mid-gear set: ~2 exalteds.



4.Playstyle

Have this simple flow-chart to decide on your course of action during 1v1 matches.







Seriously though, this is about it. Kite and poke with puncture and puncture traps along with your mobility skills, all in with tornado shot when you have the advantage. It's not hard to play; the only hard part is getting people to run into traps when they have active trap clearing skills, or when you're at a disadvantage.



I might have forgotten if the enemy starts to kite you. Generally they're on the backfoot in that situation, or playing a caster build which can wreck you if you get close anyway. Try to lay traps ahead of where they'll run, or if you can, cut them off and try to stun them.



Mana is precious and if you're running herald of ash, you can't spam your skills. Luckily, you don't really need to spam with this build. Just play cautiously. If you find yourself in a matchup which does need long range spam, switch out for clarity.



Have this simple flow-chart to decide on your course of action during 1v1 matches.Seriously though, this is about it. Kite and poke with puncture and puncture traps along with your mobility skills, all in with tornado shot when you have the advantage. It's not hard to play; the only hard part is getting people to run into traps when they have active trap clearing skills, or when you're at a disadvantage.I might have forgotten if the enemy starts to kite you. Generally they're on the backfoot in that situation, or playing a caster build which can wreck you if you get close anyway. Try to lay traps ahead of where they'll run, or if you can, cut them off and try to stun them.Mana is precious and if you're running herald of ash, you can't spam your skills. Luckily, you don't really need to spam with this build. Just play cautiously. If you find yourself in a matchup which does need long range spam, switch out for clarity.



Hi.This is a generic starting build for anyone looking to get into low level duelling (or LLD) for cheap, while having high potential if you have the money to spend. The budget build only costs about 20-25 chaos, assuming you have a stash of gems you can use. If not, all required gems are quest gems. This build uses a bow with puncture traps and puncture to poke down enemies before going in for the kill with tornado shot.Or kill them when they run through multiple traps or run away with puncture I guess.With this build I got to #10 on the first swiss tournament US STD. My bow is vendor + master crafted, I'm using mostly uniques, my helm is trash and I don't have -mana cost jewellery.This build is not intended for people already heavily invested into pvp. I'm sure you people have much better things to build and do than this. Last edited by Tornspirit on Jan 8, 2015, 4:09:51 AM