While this build is focused on offensive power, defense is also an important consideration. One of the best ways to boost survivability is by using the Architects of Astral Blood chest, a primordial unique item that grants substantial defense, low life, and ward bonuses. This item alone boosts your effective health by a huge margin, making it possible to Last Epoch gold charge into packs of enemies without fear of dying.
Combining this with Death's Door for more damage reduction and crit multi allows you to take full advantage of being at low life while also dealing immense damage.
Another key defensive feature is Parry. The Traitor's Tongue weapon adds both skill ranks and parry, which offers extra defense against incoming hits.
Itemization: Gear and Stats
For items, throwing damage is the key to scaling your shurikens. You'll want to aim for Flat Throwing Damage on your rings, relics, and amulet. Adding these modifiers can drastically increase your damage output, with some players effectively doubling their shuriken damage just through proper itemization.
One of the unique features of the build is that melee damage doesn't affect shurikens. Instead, you'll focus on adding throwing damage, which scales directly with your shuriken attacks. Relics and rings with high flat throwing damage are your best bet here, and you'll also want to prioritize crit multi and pierce for extra synergy.
Synergies and Final Tips
Pierce: This stat is crucial for shurikens, as it allows your projectiles to continue spinning and hitting enemies multiple times. Without Pierce, your shurikens would dissipate too quickly, making it hard to maintain consistent damage.
Shuriken Frequency: You'll want to make sure that your shurikens cast quickly. This is where Shuriken Storm and Shuriken Frequency nodes come into buy Last Epoch gold play. Investing in these will let you throw out a steady stream of blades, ensuring that everything around you is shredded.