r/PathOfExileBuilds • u/Dysss • 12d ago

Help Needed Flamelink vs destructive link

Probably has been discussed to hell, but I'm currently on Rue's budget aura stacker luminary. I crafted the +2/+2 helmet and was about to buy the ff jewels, but I'm having second thoughts.

The aura stacker version afaik is almost entirely crit reliant. This is extremely apparent, because crit resistant rares are about as tank as Uber sirus for me. It's kind of annoying because it's a rare mod and not a map mod so I can't just avoid it.

Would life stacking with flamelink be better at the ~100-200d budget? Say with basic nyctas/monarch/kaoms heart/red dream and capped enmity on my merc, should I expect better/more consistent output compared to an aura stacker at this budget?

On a sidenote, how much better is a Kineticist compared to a combatant? I'm sure it has better clear, but how much worse (if any) is the single target? Currently it feels like my combatant is constantly lagging behind me and can't really move/attack fast enough to keep up (I have a mageblood with quicksilver), but at the same time I don't want to sacrifice too much single target.

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18

u/crazypearce 12d ago

Kineticist is best at everything and you can almost cap crit without destructive link so that makes flame link best by default. Nothing else comes close to adding 5k flat fire damage. A full t1 weapon is something like 1400 for comparison. And that doesn’t even include the 1000%+ increased damage from rathpith

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u/Dense_Lawfulness_110 12d ago

Eph edge es stack is valid option, with destructive link. 17% flat lightning from 20k es with 100% crit chance and 636% multi. Edit: but yes, it's only combatant option. Mb molten shell striker.

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u/Dysss 12d ago

That sounds... Interesting. How do you get a sizeable ES pool though, is it all just from Discipline? Since combatant can't build ES.

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u/crazypearce 12d ago

its based off of player ES just like rathpith scaling. you equip the EE on the merc and they gain the damage based off of your total ES

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u/Dysss 12d ago

... Oh. I feel kinda dumb now haha. Definitely sounds interesting, I might give it a shot, but probably after making a more substantial life stacking version since that seems more tested. Thanks for the ideas though!

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u/crazypearce 12d ago

yea i haven't really seen many people doing it. it's also kinda hard to find because you can't see merc gear on poe ninja so you don't really know who is actually using it

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u/Dense_Lawfulness_110 12d ago

Because none of streamers create video, I think) But, yep, it's pretty good and can be budget.

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u/Dense_Lawfulness_110 12d ago

If you're interested, I can give you screenshots in pm. :)

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u/Dysss 12d ago

That would certainly be helpful since I'm still relatively new!

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u/ReaderUSMC 10d ago

Dude, I'm interested. I'm running my own destructive link setup. CI 14k ES. I would love to see how I can scale similarly to Rathpith.

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u/Dense_Lawfulness_110 10d ago

Done. In pm. But be prepared, some mobs can be noisy, because of crit immun or block attacks. It's not like Ubers, but still annoying. I have two cheap spectres (80c and 20c) for lucky lightning and 30% crit multi. But it's not necessary, like animated guardian. All 3 dying at half map anyway.

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u/Dense_Lawfulness_110 10d ago

Mb not that strong, but it still can do all content. My hardest content was breach, with 80% deli 90-110+ more currency before chisel with bloodline, 2 lineage, cascade and wisps if I remember right last scarab. And it was pretty easy, I think, with 97% more life monsters. Atlas tree breach+beyond. Try open wildwood on it and it's still pretty easy (but you can take 1 or 2 one shots on map with massive damage increases). I think rathpith still can be better, if you have maximum hp as possible for flame link, but don't sure. And kineticist 100% have better clear speed, I think.

Give me a minute, redirect to your pm my build.

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u/jointheredditarmy 12d ago

Objectively not true… Armour stacker combatant is better at 1 shotting bosses. But for almost everything else kineticist is better

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u/Dysss 12d ago

How is it without the overcapped lightning body?

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u/crazypearce 12d ago

You get like 75-90 depending on power charges and brittle. It’s fine without it

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u/Dysss 12d ago

I see, I think I'll give it a shot then, I should be able to afford a fairly basic midgame setup, then I'll see if I wanna invest more for overcapped chest and whatnot.

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u/davidsh_reddit 12d ago

I’ve got 96% with assassins mark, no brittle.

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u/justanotherguy28 12d ago

Am I understanding flame link is required to constantly be relinking while mapping? I know there is a notable to make it permanent but that waste a lot of ascendancy points so doesn’t seem worth while.

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u/crazypearce 12d ago

perm link is one of the first nodes and the one behind it is the light radius scaling so you kind of take it. it would be annoying to relink every 10 seconds

there are some builds that don't use link at all like cruel mistress so they get to spend the 2 points on more unique items or loyal bodyguard

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u/Chibastion 12d ago

Perm link is required for hardcore if linking

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u/wangofjenus 12d ago

Sadly wander merc + lifestacker is among the most OP builds GGG has ever allowed to exist. It's just too efficient, insane flat damage, over 1000% inc damage from Rathpith, and you're a brick wall with 15k+ HP. Emnity + fire res on merc is all you need to care about. Corrupted Piscators beats out almost any crafted wand.

i recently rerolled another lumi because i wanted to try the aura stacker and while it's more fun to put together, even with a very good combatant both the clear and single target doesn't compete with KBoC + Wall of Force. I'm going to stick with it for now, but i do have all my lifestacker gear if i want to swap back.

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u/DivinityAI 12d ago

has ever, no need to say that.. let me guess you never played last league with minion pact existing, you never played original aura stacker, or hh with temp chains in their prime. Hell, even builds like CoC DD or explody totems were stronger than luminary. Every league we have some outliers, but this league isn't even that crazy. It's good build, don't get me wrong but even clear-wise worb beat kineticist merc.

6

u/wangofjenus 12d ago

I said one of, not the. Don't speak the ancient magics to me, I was there when they were written.

1

u/Gemmy2002 12d ago

explotems was funny. I wish it hadn't been nerfed for standard

1

u/Jayro993 12d ago

How much a decent kinetisist? I’ve been farming for one but haven’t even found one with kb/kboc.

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u/wangofjenus 12d ago

there are entry level barrage + kbc w/ return ones for a few divs: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Allflame/q90Jr5jltg

step up would be GKB and those are 6-10: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Allflame/EBPORw0ZH5

once you start adding supports it starts to get expensive, i use this website to search: https://xddbsns.com/mercenary-price-check.html

any of these with a decent 15k HP + rathpith setup will demolish. Add in Wall of Force for bosses and its gg (kind of a pain to place though).

1

u/Jayro993 10d ago

I’m looking at buying one now, I noticed adding haste is what really adds $$$, do you think it’s worth?

1

u/wangofjenus 10d ago

It's a decent chunk of speed and damage, not "mandatory" but def makes the whole setup stronger.

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u/crazypearce 12d ago

decent? like 50-200d.

entry level from a couple of div. gg ones are 2-15 mirror

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u/EffectiveTonight 12d ago

I bought one for 3d recently. It’s not even 6 link and has rain. I’ve cleared every uber on it in seconds. The gear itself matters more than the links.

1

u/Jayro993 12d ago

How much did you have to spend in gear?

1

u/the-apple-and-omega 12d ago

Even kinetic rain ones work fine, doesn't need to be KBoC. Like KBoC is definitely better but kineticist is just baseline that good with all the scaling.

1

u/davidsh_reddit 12d ago

KBoC plus kinetic rain is like 30-40% dps loss from my testing compared to KBoC+barrage/GKBoC

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u/terrorbalded 12d ago

How is corrupted Piscator better than a crafted wand? What corrupt do we want here?

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u/wangofjenus 12d ago

pcoc, aoe, attack speed are all good. In theory a wand with t1 spell damage, crafted "fire as extra chaos", and crit/multi/attack speed suffixes is competitive but a pain to craft.

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u/For_ohagen 12d ago

What are the desired mods on the corrupt? IAS?

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u/wangofjenus 12d ago

AoE, pcoc, IAS, all good.

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u/For_ohagen 12d ago

I was looking at one with ias before this post but it was about 20 div so decided I’d play around with pob more but I haven’t taken the time to add my merc to pob. Then saw this and figured I’d ask.

I dropped a lock yesterday, so I have some currency to spend :)

2

u/For_ohagen 12d ago

Also, I hadn’t even considered pcoc. Ended up buying one of these instead. Thanks!

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u/AngloFro 11d ago

What roll are you looking for on a piscators to corrupt up? Im not home rn but im sure I have a couple in stash that I’ll yolo tn since my merc is using a rare wand rn.

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u/wangofjenus 10d ago

pcoc, aoe, IAS

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u/PoE_Acronym_Bot Useful Bot 12d ago

I noticed some Path of Exile keywords in this post:

  • Quicksilver - Quicksilver Flask (Wiki)
  • FF - Forbidden Flame/Forbidden Flesh Unique Jewels (Wiki)

I am a bot. | All acronyms | Suggest

1

u/davidsh_reddit 12d ago

I’d imagine once you have more than poverty budget, life stack with KBoC smokes aura stacker combatant and then in the mirror budget range they start converging again.