Level 98 Hybrid Lightning Conduit Trickster^3.19

Notes

***IN THIS POB I ADDED CRIT AND NON-CRIT SETUPS***
note you must switch the gear, passive tree, and gem setup to properly see crit vs non-crit


THUNDERFIST

Originally I thought this build would not require thunderfist as much as it does. Let me be clear - it can clear all pinnacle bosses and map without Thunderfist... however Thunderfist easily doubles the single target and makes the shocks a lot more
consistent. It also has the added benefit of making Orb of Storms viable in a 6-link and allowing nice clearing supports. 

Lightning Conduit is more dps in Thunderfist than it is in a normal 6-link - this only changes when you add in awakened gems, which this build can use quite a few of (Awakened Lightning Pen, Awakened Added Lightning, Awakened Ele Focus)


ARCTIC ARMOR VS CRAB (or both!)

The plan originally was to use Aspect of the Crab to mitigate big physical hits - however in the meantime I decided to use the newly buffed Artic Armor. Since I'm playing SSF I tried to farm for Crab but got quite unlucky and never managed to get one.

However, Arctic Armor impressed me quite a lot and to be honest, I would use it over Aspect of the Crab in this build. This has the added benefit of letting us drop One Step Ahead in favor of a more damage or tankier Ascendancy node.

Another option is to take Sovereignty and run them both! (this is a bit overkill, as I am able to tank shaper slams by standing still with just Arctic Armor, but it is an option)


ONE STEP AHEAD vs SOUL DRINKER (or the other options)

Trickster has been balanced quite well, all the nodes seem viable in different situations. I originally didn't think much of Soul Drinker combined with Spellbreaker - but once you have enough of an ES pool it turns out it is quite a bit of ES overleech.

Currently we have about 800-900 ES Leech with no investment and it is a bit of a damage buff as well. This also synergizes with Spellbreaker by keeping us at full ES a lot more often. And since we are using Arctic Armor we are still freeze immune.

If you want more damage another option is Frenzy Charge every X second chest implicit combined with Swift Killer - Accumlator wand is also probably quite nice with this node but I would recommend the chest implicit as well to gurantee frenzys.


AWAKENED LIGHTNING PEN

This is the most important awakened gem, it allows you to drop wave of conviction which saves a link for Divine Blessing set-up in the Vertex.

VERTEX

I talked about it before but Vertex + Inspiration allows free divine blessing. It is a good trickster item.


CRIT VS NON-CRIT

I have decided to stay non-crit to spec more defensively - it is also quite a bit harder to gear for crit. However, with access to trade league and awakened gems, really good crit gear, and less defense nodes in favor of crit nodes - crit becomes
quite a bit more damage.


WHY NOT CI?!

This question has been asked a TON - CI is just not worth it, the only real benefit is not needing chaos res - however... you end up losing all the life for very little ES gain, so you are effectively a lot squishier. The only way I see CI being worth it is
if you decide to go CRIT and want more damage. But in this case I would recommend just going lowlife with petrified blood - or if you are in SC, just lowlife with an aura reserved on life instead + Pain Attunement. (you will likely die to burst chaos dmg)

CHAOS DAMAGE

Chaos damage is a non-issue if you take the "30% chaos damage doesn't by-pass" ES/EVA mastery and have around positive 30% chaos res, it's quite easy to do with One With Evil nodes (which is what I do for SSF)

I also take the "Arakaali Pantheon" for some more chaos resistance against dots (it helps with poison and toxic mobs especially) - DOT damage is basically the only noticeable damage you'll take while mapping with this character normally.


WHY TRICKSTER AND NOT INQUISITOR OR ELEMENTALIST?

Trickster is INSANELY tanky, if you watch the video I will showcase face tanking shaper balls, exarch ball phase, shaper slam, pretty much every boss mechanic. Even Inquisitor will struggle to do this.

Mapping is quite insane as well, as long as you kill monsters this build will feel unkillable. The downside is Elementalist has a way easier time early on with shocking bosses. (it's also EXTREMELY squishy without gear) 

Inquisitor is somewhere in between, its tankier than Elementalist, but easier damage than Trickster.

IF I had to choose to play this build again, I would pick Trickster 100% of the time (assuming I was guranteed to find Thunderfist at some point)


ORB OF STORMS / Wormhole Jewel / Trickshot Annoint

For Trickster Orb of Storms is by far the best ability to combine with Lightning Conduit - there is no equal that I have found, it strikes a good balance between really good clear and it has a higher damage hit than something like Storm Brand.

The only downside for Orb, and admittedly it is a big one, is that you have the playstyle of a melee character, and cannot do damage if you can't facetank monsters. However, with a proper set-up and decent gear, Trickster accels at doing just that.

The clear speed with utility gems such as chain, ele prolif, and inc aoe along with Chain Range from using the "Acrobatics" Wormhole jewel make the clear extremely satisfying.


SCORCH or BRITTLE GROUND or even SAPPED GROUND

You'll want to have at least one of these boot implicits, ideally one with 4seconds or more duration for QOL. Scorch is nice for both CRIT and NON-CRIT, Brittle is competitive with Scorch vs CRIT, and Sapped is a good defensive choice. We scale

ailment effect so they are all quite good.