Cold/Shadow Falconer Build?

Rogue
1

(Hi there! First post :slight_smile: I apologize for my verbosity lol)

I made a Falconer for my first major character: a level 59 DoT Acid Flask build with a bow that sort of works. Made some other characters with the other classes, too, but I want to build another Falconer. My problem, however, is that I want too many things at once, so I would like some help narrowing the build to a comprehensible level. Iā€™ve got it down to Cold stuff and/or ā€œShadowā€ stuff. Hereā€™s my current train-of-thought:

  1. I have a Vial of Volatile Ice I think is cool (no pun intended). That would mean Acid Flask again, with Falconry throwing the Flasks. Also using a 1H weapon this time instead of my bow.
  2. While Iā€™m building Cold Damage with the Vial, I see Umbral Blades and Decoy have Cold options. Explosive Trap too. Theyā€™re all Throwing Attacks, as well.
  3. There are a couple nodes related to Umbral Blades in the Aerial Assault and Dive Bomb skills, and Dive Bomb can trigger Decoy and/or Explosive Trap.
  4. To get to Dive Bombā€™s Umbral Blades node, I would pass through the node about Shadow Falcons, which took me down a tangent: ā€œI would need Shadows for the Shadow Falcons!ā€
  5. The problem there is that only Aerial Assault can create a Shadow, and only if it kills something. To create Shadows more reliably during bosses or whatever, I would need an entirely different skill (or skills) to create the Shadows, such as Smoke Bomb or Synchronized Strike.
  6. I only just learned that the Shadows could copy Acid Flask.

And thatā€™s where I stopped, having gone in a circle lol. 5 skill slots is not enough for everything I want to do, so like I said Iā€™m hoping for some assistance trimming this mess into a workable idea. Is there something potentially here with the Shadows, Shadow Falcons, Cold versions of the aforementioned skills, and Acid Flask?

Thank you in advance <3

Edit: I should mention I donā€™t care if it turns out to not be absolute top-tier material lol. As long as it can be reasonably fine and still fun.

2

Iā€™m doing something similar with Vial of Volatile Ice right now. Using Falcon to mostly throw flasks, not really activating the single target except on tough solo units. Swift for healing, mana and it drops flask and the start and end of travel, seem good for getting me out of tight spots, explosive bomb and ice and it also drops flaks, good synergy. Umbral blades, I also made them go from bleed to poison, which then get converted by the flask to ice (I think). Seemes to be doing crazy work for me on single target enemies. and of course acid flask as been my main area clear ability the whole time. Just seems great. My build seems to be aided by two other unique I have, Throwing/cold gloves (Riverbend Grasp) and my helm
cold/slow/blind helm(Snowblind)

I think in the end the throw damage doesnā€™t scale well enough and my talent choices might be bad. But atm Iā€™m having 0 problems, killing trash in 1.5 acid fask and harder stuff gets frozen by explosive trap and I gun it down with umber blade, which Iā€™m working on generating duskshroud for extra dodge chance.

3

Intrigued enough to mess around with trees for a few minutesā€¦ Hereā€™s the end result if it helps you spark more ideas!

The nice thing about skills using other skills, is that you donā€™t necessarily need to have them on your bar. So youā€™ll see itā€™s specialized in Flask/Aerial/Falconry/Dive/Umbral, but then uses Falconry/Aerial/Dive/Smoke/Synchronized Strike on the skill bar. I figured Smoke Bomb may will be nice if you want the shadow falcons to dive a second time on bosses, and synchronized strike to generate shadows.

Good Luck! Update too when you decide what to do :slight_smile:

4

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to do this! I guess I wasnā€™t creative enough to think of a skill using another skill to the point where I donā€™t directly cast it myself lol. A really cool workaround :slight_smile:

I will totally steaā€¦I mean, study it and put together a template of my own for analysis on its fun-factor and effectiveness hehe. Will let you know how it goes!

5

Update #1: Currently level 33 at The Shining Cove; I havenā€™t decided yet how effective this is, but to be fair Iā€™m not done acquiring the skills. Donā€™t have Aerial Assault, Dive Bomb, or Synchronized Strike yet, so Iā€™m just spamming Umbral Blades and some defensive abilities. I worry though: how much are my Uniques and the birdā€™s raw ability carrying me, you know? Bleeding Heart, Lessons of the Metropolis, Jungle Queenā€™s Chaps of Holding; kinda hard to struggle with those three early on lol. Iā€™ll report back after Iā€™ve obtained all the skills.

1 Like
6

Update #2: Iā€™m now level 56 in Sorethā€™ka, having defeated Lagon. Only took me two tries this time instead of four, and my death was because I stood in the eye-blast too long instead of Aerial Assault-ing away like a smart person lol.

Anyway, the build is developing, but I made a major change right before Lagon: I took out the Flask, pulled the Cold off Umbral Blade, and shelved my Vial of Volatile Ice for a Close Call shield (the only suitable offhand item I had at the time). I realized that the Flask was using 1.5 of my specialized skills (the Flask itself, plus half of Falconry), but my output definitely went down whenever the Falcon stopped to throw the Flasks - the Flasks themselves werenā€™t doing much, plus I was continuously interrupting the Falcon to do other things. So I replaced the Flask specialization with Smoke Bomb: I can Shred Armor, Slow enemies, and inflict Fraility just like the Flask, but with even more bonuses.

My Umbral Blade damage took a big hit from that decision, trying to scramble and find replacements for the Cold Damage gear I was running, but I think this will be for the best in the long run after Iā€™ve made up for it. Minion Damage has always been the heart of the operation, anyway, and by going with Physical I can improve my Shadow Dagger output too.

The skill rotation at the moment has been to spam Aerial Assault, Dive Bomb, and Falcon Strikes for the regular enemies - they get obliterated quickly - and then against bosses I add the Smoke Bomb ā†’ Synchronized Strike ā†’ Dive Bomb combo for multiple dives. Synchronized Strike seems to be kinda garbage beyond its ability to summon Shadows, so maybe it needs to go too? Smoke Bomb could create more Shadows for me if I specced for it, and then I could use Bows again like Talons of Valor. Something to think aboutā€¦not that I own the bow currently.

Hereā€™s my current direction: Falconer, level 100 (Release / 1.0.1) - Last Epoch Build Planner

Adjusted some skill points based on my preferences, and moved passive points out of Blast Radius and put them into Deflect And Weave. Maybe thatā€™s not optimal, but Iā€™m not super worried about bigger area radii at the moment. I am also not a fan of Umbral Bladesā€™ Explosive Blades node in combination with Cacophony of Steel: the explosion destroys the blade and thus stops Bladestorm from continuing. The Bladestorms trigger Shadow Dagger pretty fast, which is way more damage than the explosions.

ā€¦as I typed that, I realized Iā€™m not wielding a dagger anymore. The node for Shadow Daggers (Lethal Darkness) says it requires a dagger, but the Plumed Daggers node in Aerial Assault says they proc for me anyway? Not sure what the benefit of having both of them was, if anything.

This has gotten rather long, so Iā€™ll finish with saying that Iā€™m still enjoying the build so far despite my tinkering and now-suboptimal gear. Removing the Cold + Flasks was a necessary bummer, and the Shadow Falcons idea might be a needless addon, but all well.

1 Like
7

Fun to hear about how/why youā€™re refining it as you go! Thanks for sharing the planner too :slight_smile: