Lightning Strike
Trinity Raider Build

Updated for Patch 3.19

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Lightning Strike is an Attack that can be performed with a melee weapon that converts a portion of your Physical Damage to Lightning Damage and fires Projectiles to Hit your enemies standing further away. You will use it with Trinity Support and a Claw, the reason for this is an excellent synergy a Raider has with Elemental Attacks, and a huge variety of Added Flat Elemental Damage Affixes you can find on a Claw, their high base Crit Chance, great passives near your Starting Location, and Life/Mana gained on Hit Implicit mods. Trinity Support Requires you to have a somewhat equalized amount of each of the three Element's Damage you will be dealing - you can't use only one type of Elemental Damage because you won't create Resonance with Trinity. The most important stat to look for is a Flat Elemental Damage of various types - a fixed amount of added damage is better than an increase in your already existing damage. That's why it is recommended to use Anger over Hatred and Wrath and Herald of Ice over Herald of Ash or Thunder.

It's a Life-based build with a high Evasion Rating - it's possible to achieve 4 or 5k of Maximum Life and up to 50k of Evasion Rating and 100% Spell Suppression Chance. It is, however, glass cannon build - your most reliable defensive layer is to kill enemies instantly. The build can reach millions of DPS with the right gear. It offers fast-paced gameplay like most of the Raider builds do; you should constantly have 7 Frenzy Charges, Onslaught, Elusiveness, the benefits of Rotgut Flask, and Avatar of the Slaughter. The build is expensive, there are costly Uniques such as Mark of the Elder or Farrul's Fur, but the most valuable are the Rare Items that could have a lot of Affixes synergizing well with this build.

Patch 3.17 introduced Crystallised Omniscience which is a game-changer for such builds. You can still play without it, but the vast majority of players switched to this new archetype that requires Attribute-stacking. Besides that, the new version included Secrets of Suffering - the recently popular Keystone from Unique Small Cluster Jewel to deal even more damage. Most of the Skill Gem setups remain untouched - we've added Determination, and Assassin's Mark to be linked with Mark on Hit.

As of patch 3.19 - both Crystallised Omniscience, and the effect of Brittle have been nerfed, so it's not as good as it used to be. The price of the Amulet is also too high for most players. You may now have some issues with Mana Reservation Efficiency, the modifiers increasing it can be found on Redeemer's Helmets, Shaper's or Hunter's Shields, and various Amulets. You can also use the Enlighten Support Gem.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Lightning Strike is a melee Attack to use with a Claw, it fires up to seven Projectiles that improve your Clear Speed significantly. To enhance your Clear Speed even more anoint your Amulet with Tribal Fury or get a pair of Gloves with Hunter's Prefix that works the same way. Use Ancestral Protector and Ancestral Warchief to boost your damage during long fights, Whirling Blades as your movement Skill, have a Blood Rage constantly up, and Link your Immortal Call to a Cast when Damage Taken Skill Gem. Use Precision, Grace, Anger, and Herald of Ice which is a preferable alternative to Herald of Thunder - it helps with clear speed.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Raider using 300~ Elemental DPS Imperial Claw, Farrul's Fur, Darkray Vectors, Mark of the Elder, and a bunch of random rares. Lightning Strike's DPS was at around 2kk, which isn't the highest possible, but allowed us to comfortably and quickly farm Red Maps

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Start with any Attack that creates projectiles - it can be Spectral Throw, Spectral Helix, Splitting Steel, Frost Blades, and other such skills you feel comfortable with. Lightning Strike can be used as soon as level 12, but it's not crucial to use it right away. As you start putting your Skill Points specifically into Claws be sure to have one by then. Around act 2 or 3 start specializing in Elemental Damage, especially Cold Damage. You can use most of the Essences really, especially Essences of Hatred. you can use Crystallised Omniscience early on, after allocating Utmost Swiftness.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Ice Shot setup
	Spectral Throw - use this or a similar Skill Gem to level up your character
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - to increase the Elemental Damage you're causing
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds flat Cold Damage to your Attacks, you can use Added Fire or Added Lightning Damage Support gems too
	Inspiration Support - it lowers Mana cost of Skills, increases Elemental Damage and Crit Chance

Aura setup
	Precision - keep it at a low level so it won't affect your Mana Pool too much, it increases your Crit Chance
	Herald of Ice - use this Herald to deal more Cold Damage, Freeze and Shatter enemies

Curse and Mobility setup
	Frostbite - lowers Cold Resistance of your foes, you can use Curses such as Conductivity and Flammability if you're dealing more Lightning or Fire Damage
	Whirling Blades - your Movement Skill you can use with Swords, Claws, or Daggers

Bandits:

Two Additional Passive Skill Points seems like the best option for this build

Leveling Skill Trees:

37 Points Skill Tree
look for Projectile Damage, Elemental Damage, and Claw Damage

70 Points Skill Tree
Get more Life, Elemental Damage, Accuracy Rating, Point Blank Keystone, Dexterity, and Fangs of Frost to deal more Cold Damage

Recommended leveling items:

Tasalio's Sign - adds a lot of Flat Cold Damage and other bonuses to help you early on

+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance Adds (7-10) to (15-20) Cold Damage to Spells and Attacks +(200-300) to Evasion Rating 50% chance to Avoid being Chilled 10% chance to Freeze Adds 40 to 60 Cold Damage against Chilled Enemies

Hrimsorrow - another great cold-related unique item for this build

+(20-30) to Strength +(40-50) to Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 100% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage Reflects 100 Cold Damage to Melee Attackers

Prismweave - adds flat damage for each Element, increases your Physical Damage, Elemental Resistances, and Elemental Damage during Flask Effect

(12-24)% increased Global Physical Damage Adds (14-16) to (30-32) Fire Damage to Attacks Adds (10-12) to (24-28) Cold Damage to Attacks Adds 1 to (60-68) Lightning Damage to Attacks +(6-15)% to all Elemental Resistances 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills during any Flask Effect

Goldrim - one of the best unique leveling helmets for it gives a lot of Resistances

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Tabula Rasa - a Body Armour that allows you to you can connect any six Gems

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

108 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
121 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Quartz Infusion
2. Avatar of the Veil
3. Way of the Poacher
4. Avatar of the Poacher

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each
nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Shakari: for You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you; 50% less Duration of Poisons on You and additional Chaos Damage mitigation

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Lightning Strike setup
	Lightning Strike - The main damaging Attack in this build - it's a strike Attack that creates Projectiles, which helps with clear speed
	Nightblade Support - more Crit Chance, Elusive Effect on Critical Strike, and enhanced effect of Elusive
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - increases your Elemental Damage with Attack Skills
	Inspiration Support - reduces your Mana Cost of Skill, increases Critical Strike Chance, and Elemental Damage
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds flat Cold Damage to your Lightning Strike
	Trinity Support - Creates Resonance Stack as you deal damage with more than one Element - these increase your Elemental Damage and Elemental Damage Penetration

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Anger - an Aura that adds flat Fire Damage to your Attacks and Spells
	Precision - increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance, keep it a low level to save Mana
	Herald of Ice - adds flat Cold Damage to your Attacks and Shatters Frozen enemies increasing your clear speed
	Vaal Grace - your chance to evade Attacks, and Spells is increased, use during boss fights

[UTILITY] Duration Spells setup
	Withering Step - grants you Elusive Buff with increased effect and inflicts Withered debuff on enemies
	Blood Rage - increases your Attack Speed and Life Leech while generating Frenzy charges and draining your Life

[MOBILITY] Whirling Blades setup
	Whirling Blades - a quick dash you can perform while wielding Claws that has no cooldown
	Lifetap Support - you will use Life instead of mana for Whirling Blades

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Assassin's Mark - increases your Critical Strike Chance and its Multiplier, and recovers your Life and Mana on Kill
	Mark on Hit Support - Assassin's Mark is applied on Hit

[UTILITY] Determination
	Determination - use it for more, and increased Armour

[UTILITY] Totems setup
	Ancestral Protector - increases your Attack Speed
	Ancestral Warchief - increases your Melee Damage
	Multiple Totems Support - allows you to have both of these totems up at the same time

[UTILITY] Immortal Call setup
	Increased Duration Support - increases the duration for Immortal Call
	Immortal Call - keep it at level 3 to periodically take much less damage
	Cast when Damage Taken -  keep it at level 1 t automatically cast Immortal Cast as often as possible

6. Gear Setup

You're using Lightning Strike so the Stats you're looking for the most are Elemental Damage with Attacks, Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier, Elemental Penetration, Attack Speed, Accuracy Rating, and added or increased Elemental Damage with Attacks. Your defenses are primarily Maximum Life and Evasion Rating with Spell Suppression. Look for Flat Added Damage to your Attacks, and if you're using Farrul's Fur, have an item with Aspect of the Cat. The build requires a lot of Attributes to benefit from Crystallised Omniscience.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) Rare Blizzard Crown - The best option is a Blizzard Crown since it adds a lot of flat Cold Damage to your Attacks. Get one with standard mods such as Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances.

Min. requirements: 90 to Maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances 30% increased Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Nearby Enemies have decreased Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance Accuracy Rating Evasion Rating increased Area Damage

Helmet enchantments: Lightning Strike enchantments

(Weapon) Rare Claw - There are many affixes you can get, the most important are ones that add flat Fire, Cold, or Lightning Damage to your Attacks. Use Imperial Claw for Life gain on Hit, or Gemini Claw for Life and Mana on Hit. Try to balance out the types of damage you're dealing so that none of the three types of Elemental Damage stand out too much.

Recommended affixes: adds Fire Damage adds Cold Damage adds Lightning Damage increased Attack Speed increased Critical Strike Chance increased Critical Strike Multiplier Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate #% Elemental Resistances Accuracy Rating

(Weapon) Rare Shield - you can score a lot of nice defensive mods there, especially Life, Evasion Rating, and Elemental Resistances; some mods may also be offensive such as increased Attacks Speed

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 50% increased Evasion Rating +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chance to deal Double Damage increased Attack Speed Accuracy Rating

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - you should look for high Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, additionally - strive to increase your Base Critical Strike Chance, it's one of the very few offensive mods you can find on Body Armour

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances Attacks have +1% to Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: You can apply an additional Curse Enemies you Kill have a #% chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their Maximum Life as Physical Damage increased Area of Effect increased Maximum Life

(Body Armour) Farrul's Fur - If you decide to go with this Body Armour, keep in mind that you will need to have an Ascepct of The Cat crafted on some of your gear. This Body Armour offers a lot of Life and Evasion, but no Elemental Resistances.

(100-150)% increased Armour and Evasion +(80-100) to maximum Life Aspect of the Cat has no Reservation +2 seconds to Cat's Stealth Duration Gain up to your maximum number of Frenzy and Power Charges when you gain Cat's Stealth You have Phasing while you have Cat's Stealth

(Boots) Darkray Vectors - these have great synergy with Frenzy Charges, high Evasion Rating, and Lightning Resistance, definitely one of the best choices for the build

(40-70)% increased Armour and Evasion +(20-40)% to Lightning Resistance 5% increased Movement Speed per Frenzy Charge +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges 40% reduced Frenzy Charge Duration 25% reduced Light Radius 2% chance to Dodge Attack Hits per Frenzy Charge

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - You can use Gripped Gloves as a base for more Projectile Damage. You should look for one with high Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, and optionally Hunter's "Strike Skills target 1 additional nearby Enemy".

Min. requirements: 70 Maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance increased Critical Strike Chance Accuracy Rating Strike Skills target 1 additional nearby Enemy increased Damage with Hits against Chilled/Burning/Shocked Enemies

(Belt) Rare Belt - Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances will be the mods to look for; Stygian Vise is the recommended base for additional Abyss Jewel Slot. The best case is to find one with Synthesised Implicit modifier for increased Dexterity, or other Attribute.

Min. requirements: 90 Maximum Life +90% to Elemental Resistances 20% increased Elemental Damage Strength Optional affixes: increased Dexterity (Synthesised Implicit) increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills increased maximum Life increased Flask Effect Duration

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - What you shall be interested in besides the obvious defensive mods are increases or better yet - added in Elemental Damage with Attacks.

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills adds Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage to Attacks Damage penetrates Elemental Resistances increased Global Critical Strike Chance Strength

(Amulet) Crystallised Omniscience - You should use it. Most of the Elemental Hit-type builds with no build-defining Amulet should use it.

+(10-16) to all Attributes Modifiers to Attributes instead apply to Omniscience +1% to All Elemental Resistances per 15 Omniscience Penetrate 1% Elemental Resistances per 15 Omniscience Attribute Requirements can be satisfied by (15-25)% of Omniscience

Recommended Anointments: Disciple of the Slaughter

(Ring) Rare Ring - Get a ring with a Curse on Hit, Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and optionally Strength, and added or increased Elemental Damage. It's a good place for Aspect of the Cat Skill.

Min. requirements: 60 Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances 100 Attributes Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Accuracy Rating Non-channeling Skills have (-7–-6) to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Added Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage to Attacks

(Ring) Mark of the Elder - The amount of Attack Damage this ring grants is too big to ignore. The only downside is the need for a Shaper's Ring on your other Ring Slot and no defenses besides increased Maximum Life.

Adds (3-4) to (10-14) Physical Damage to Attacks 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Tentacle Whip on Kill Adds (26-32) to (42-48) Cold Damage to Attacks (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Attack Damage if your other Ring is a Shaper Item Cannot be Stunned by Attacks if your other Ring is an Elder Item

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewels - Look for Affixes with Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, Attributes, or added Elemental Damage with Claws. Abyss Jewels are valued more than the regular ones since they add flat values instead of increasing your existing ones.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Critical Strike Multiplier mods Elemental Resistances Strength Intelligence Critical Strike Chance with Elemental Skills Added Elemental Damage with Claws

(Jewel) The Interrogation - Secrets of Suffering makes your Critical Strikes apply Brittle, Sap, and Scorch, which is better than Chill, Shock, and Ignite

Adds Secrets of Suffering

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - It can grant you a lot of Dexterity, put it nearby other allocated nodes, for example, next to Frenetic

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of (Asenath-Balbala-Nasima) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) Intuitive Leap - put it near Fervour and allocate all of the nearby Notable nodes

Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye -  One of the most expensive, but impactful Jewels. Look for Precision or Anger Aura modifiers that will suit your build.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: Precision: Inc Attack Damage Precision: Inc Attack Speed Precision: Inc Crit Strike Mult Anger: inc Critical Strike Mult

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - these Jewels are completely optional, however, you can add them to the build if you're lacking some specific offenses and more Jewel Sockets for your Abyss Jewels

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Drive the Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Opportunistic Fusilade 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Corrosive Elements 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess

(Flask) Bottled Faith - an optional Flask to increase your Damage by a lot

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (20-40)% increased Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Flask effect

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - adds more Chaos Damage based on your Elemental and Physical Damage, and it also increases your Chaos Resistances

+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (5-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (5-8)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

Other suggested Flasks: Diamond Flask of Staunching (Bleed removal) Life Flask of Heat (Freeze immunity) Jade Flask with random ailment removal Quicksilver Flask with random ailment removal

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.