3.18 - Lightning Trap Saboteur - A10 Pts+Labs - 3h33m20s
84Deathless A10 All Skill Points and Story Labs run using Lightning Trap on Saboteur in 3h33m30s. Lightning trap is a very solid skill that allows for good single target while also allowing for superb clearing. There is a balance to be struck between a single target version of lightning trap and a clear focused version one which this run attempts to do by combining swift assembly for single while using pierce (at first through gem and later through tree) to assist clear instead of using multi trap or cluster trap. One interesting adaptation in this run is using rune daggers and crafting on those daggers the 20 crafts, so whirling blades can be used over flame dash. This is done because a spammable attack-based movement skill far outpaces flame dash, especially in the second half of campaign. Although the rune dagger swap is fairly currency or drop RNG intensive for decently colored rune daggers (lvl 10 base Carving Knife or lvl 20 base Boot Knife), getting the 20 crafts onto the daggers provides a significant speed boost and is worth the extra effort. There is some additional marginal synergy with better crit chance on the daggers versus the relatively low impact of global spell damage on early wands and how the tree eventually paths. Ultimately, for most caster based shadow builds trying to get rune daggers online at 20 for whirling blades should improve run time over using wands with flame dash (or shield charge eventually), but comes with increased currency requirements.
PoBs:
Gear/Tree At End of Run: https://pobb.in/9EEx0PEWcXNT
PoB with Some Leveling Notes, Trees, and Gem Acquisition: https://pobb.in/wLWbKYOrnyB0
Vendor Regex Used:
Act 1 until Level 23: b-g|g-b|b-b|g-g|b-.-b|g-.-g|nn|rune
Level 24 and Beyond (Four Links/Four Sockets): "sockets: .-.-.|([rgbw][ -.]){3}"
Some Questions and Answers:
When to swap to rune daggers?
I wait until I can do 20 crafts on them. As soon as they can start dropping (lvl 10 for Carving Knife), I start paying attention to any such drops. If I cannot get drops, I will buy them from vendor if desperate. Otherwise, I will wait on 20 crafts until I have rune daggers ready. The other base you can use is a boot knife which is level 20. You cannot do the craft on non-rune daggers (ie Glass Shank, Skinning Knife, Stiletto, etc).
Why not multitrap for Lightning Trap?
Multitrap damage penalty and performance on single target is lackluster compared to using swift assembly. While multitrap makes clearing more forgiving as its less aim intensive, using pierce can help compensate while still retaining swift assembly's superiority for single target.
Do I need to mule ranger?
No. Muling a ranger for pierce is nice as it allows immediate use of spark on shadow upon entering
coast. It also gives additional currency and shot at good links/items from vendor. You can forgo the ranger mule and still use spark, but I would use some other skill to clear mudflats and equip Spark once you can buy pierce after Hailrake. If you don't want to use spark at all the traditional stormblast mine, OoS, frostbomb setup will work until you get lightning trap. Either setup will transition nicely to lightning trap at 12.
Why swap to grace so early?
Game is a lot spookier with archnem being present on all blues/rares. Additionally, there are not other good options that fit here as Herald effects do not proc from trap kills and 50% damage auras are too expensive.
What if I want onslaught still?
Because this build uses a fair amount of elemental pathing and has flat crafts, frost bomb can be used as a viable onslaught proc throughout run, so if you really want onslaught you can make a linked frost bomb setup work. However, doing so will somewhat interrupt gameplay flow of build.
How do I get more value out of ghost dance?
Depending on what gear you have, you're ES could potentially be pretty low making ghost dance somewhat less valuable. If you want to ensure you have a larger ES pool, I would instead of pathing towards the ranger life nodes, I would pick up Melding between witch and shadow. I would also take ghost dance before any of the trap nodes in the large trap wheel (Clever Construction, Unstable Explosives, Unstable Munitions).
What about OoS?
OoS is great for this build as it has good synergy with the lightning skills we use. I will use OoS typically until I get lightning spire trap. At that point, I replace the OoS setup with lightning spire trap. You can potentially try to work both into the build, you will just be tight on links.
Ascendancy point choices?
The first two, (1) Perfect Crime and (2) Born in Shadows, are pretty locked in place. But, you have flexibility on third between Explosive Expert and Pyromaniac.
Table of Contents:
0:00 - Act 1 and Ranger Mule
21:10 - Act 2
41:41 - Act 3 and Normal Lab
1:09:56 - Act 4
1:28:18 - Act 5
1:45:53 - Act 6
2:08:44 - Act 7 and Cruel Lab
2:33:51 - Act 8
2:55:58 - Act 9
3:15:02 - Act 10 and Merciless Lab
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