Looking for tips and advice on making my first build

New lightning skills have been released and I figured maybe ill try making my own build using lightning tendrils. The biggest challenge for me here is I havent really played PoE since the beta so I have a lot to catch up on.

Im making this thread in hopes of getting some input from the community on some do's and donts when making a build. Ill list what I'm looking for in the build and hopefully you guys will be able to tell me some things i will need and want to avoid.

Heres what i'll need with the build:
-Budget, As I said I am just returning to PoE and gave most of my currency away when I left. However I have had some good luck with RNG in the past and hopefully that will continue.

-Life, I've never been big on ES builds. For some reason its just never had any appeal to me so I would prefer to make this work with a life build and avoid ES

-Cast Speed, I refuse to make a character that does not attack or cast quickly.

-Sustainable mana, No one wants to play a build where youre constantly starving for mana.

-And obviously good DPS.


Now the input i'm looking for.
- I assume the best class to start with for this would be a witch.
- Secondary skills, curses etc to mesh well with lightning tendrils
- Key Nodes that I NEED to hit
- Important but affordable gear that would help this build.


I know this may sound like a lot to ask for help with, but the most important thing I need to know is the nodes that I have to hit. A skill tree will make or break a build. I Will try building some skill trees and posting them here if anyone is interested in helping.

If you want to keep the budget low then I would avoid going crit.

Stack up on %spell/ele/lightning damage, cast speed, shock chance, and aoe.

I would also recommend going for dual curse (ele weakness+conductivity). Use the curse on hit support gem and your skill of choice to apply these (from what I've seen, herald of thunder works well for this, but I haven't tested it myself).

For keystones, the only thing you will need is eldritch battery. This will solve any mana issues.

For gear you have a lot of options. You will probably want to go for a spell damage+cast speed 1h+shield and a rare 5l chest to start, but cloak of defiance (for survivability) and carcass jack (aoe) are two good options once you get a bit of currency together.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. going to work on a skill tree tonight