Lightning Strike Champion Endgame Build Info & Playstyle.
Build Info
Positioning for Single Target
Lightning Strike is the primary source of damage for this build. Lightning Strike as with other projectile based attacks, does not shotgun by default therefore we must use additional strikes and clever positioning to be able to do so. The Strike Skills target 1-2 additional nearby Enemy mod allows us to hit with both our melee strike and projectiles. When positioning, make sure you see a Lightning Strike hit where your character is striking the ground, as well as an additional lightning strike on your target. You must stand at a specific distance away from your target to double your damage.
Defences
Armour & Evasion
Champions have easy access to many layers of defences that grant an absurd amount of mitigation for all incoming hit damage. Perseverance allows the Champion to scale Attack Damage by stacking Armour and Evasion. The bulk of our base defences come from Armour/Evasion hybrid item bases as well as both Jade Flask and Granite Flask flasks. In addition, Grace and Determination grant additional flat Armour/Evasion and a massive multiplier. Due to the unique effects of Perseverance, it is important to best maintain a balance between our Armour and Evasion, as we gain extra value the closer they are together.
Ailment Avoidance
Through itemisation you will be able to achieve 100% Ailment Avoidance. This will keep you safe from ailments such as shocks, chills, freezes and ignites as well as all alternative ailments. Eldritch Altars and certain rare monsters can reflect non-damaging ailments you inflict therefore It is important to itemise for this as they can drastically increase the damage you take from all sources or slow your character's action speed substantially.
Spell Suppression
Suppression halves the damage of all incoming spell damage, making it an extremely valuable defensive layer. Spell suppression cap is easy to achieve thanks to passive tree clusters granting a large sum of it. The rest will be itemised for in order to ensure you are at 100% or more.
Fortify
Fortify reduces all hit damage received by 1% per stack. By default it has a maximum of 20 stacks and lasts 6 seconds however, the Champion ascendancy Fortitude grants 20 fortification stacks, resulting in an unconditional 20% damage reduction from hits at all times.
Elusive
Elusive is a buff granted by Nightblade Support. It grants a large amount of movement speed and a chance to avoid damage from hits when it is first applied, and it's effectiveness decays over time. Once applied you must wait for it to expire before you can re-apply it at full strength.
Progenesis
Progenesis causes 25% of incoming damage to be taken over a 4 second duration. An equal amount of leech, recoup, regen or life gained on hit can offset this damage over time, effectively functioning as damage reduction against hits.
Recovery
Life Gained on Hit is the largest form of recovery available to you with this build. The Imperial Claw, our choice of weapon grants a substantial amount of it as an implicit. Thanks to this you can gain back any hit points lost very quickly thanks to the high hit rate you achieve with this build. When mapping this will ensure you are always topped up when hitting enemies. With all these defensive layers against Hit-damage our main weakness remains Damage over Time. As a result, we always try to maintain a high uptime on a target if we are degenerating, as leech and life gained on hit will effectively mitigate them.
Omniscience
Crystallised Omniscience converts all of our attributes into Omniscience which is used instead of attributes for satisfying gem and item requirements. This also means Dexterity won't grant Evasion or Accuracy so it is vital to pick these stats up in other places.
How much Omniscience you get from some mods can be deceptive, for example: +25 to Dexterity and Intelligence only grants 25 Omniscience and +12 to All Attributes grants 12 Omniscience.
Crystallised Omniscience provides a massive amount of Resistances and generic Elemental Penetration. The optimal amount of Omniscience is 1500, this almost caps our Resistances from Attribute stacking alone.
Pantheon & Bandits
| Bandits: Kill all |
For information about acquisition, alternatives and upgrading check out our Pantheon Guide!
Lunaris is our Major Pantheon of choice it provides additional damage reduction and movement speed.
Aberath is our choice of Minor Pantheon, fully upgraded it offers immunity to burning ground.
Ralakesh is also an option for Minor Pantheon if you need access to a way to mitigate Corrupted Blood.
Mapping
While mapping ensure all your Aura's and Blood Rage are active. We must be wary that damage over time is not mitigated by our defence. We are practically near-immortal as long as we are attacking thanks to the immense recovery provided by claws' life gained on hit implicit, as well as the ability to spec into leech nodes on the passive skill tree. Whirling Blades and Elusive give the Champion massive movement speed and packs are cut down rapidly thanks to the projectiles piercing from Lightning Strike. When the souls are filled for Vaal Lightning Strike, drop it to speed up your map clear thanks to it's autotargeting and coverage.
Map Modifiers to Avoid
The following modifiers are to be avoided if possible:
- Players have #% reduced effect of Non-Curse Auras from Skills
- Cannot Leech from monsters
- Monsters reflect #% of Elemental Damage
- Players have #% less Armour
- Players have #% less Accuracy Rating
Bossing
Positioning on single target encounters is crucial to maximize DPS with Lightning Strike. Standing at the right distance from your target doubles your damage from Strike Skills target 1 additional nearby Enemy which is critical for your endgame setup. This modifier has a range reaching further than the primary strike, allowing us to hit a target with both our projectiles and the melee hit. Before engaging, activate Blood Rage and place both Ancestral Protector and Ancestral Warchief to gain their buffs. When the souls are filled for Vaal Lightning Strike, drop it directly on the boss for a big damage burst. Adrenaline from our First to Strike, Last to Fall Ascendancy will proc whenever we go below 50% hp, granting a substantial amount of life and damage increase.
Farming Strategies
As a mapping focused character you should focus on the mechanics listed below depending on what level of content your character is currently capable of completing. Clicking the League Mechanics below takes you to either a full Explanation Guide or a detailed Currency Farming Guide based around maximizing your profits from that mechanic or content.
