[1.3][WIP] Kinetic Blast + AA + EB + Vaal Pact - Leveling Progression + Crafting + Videos

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I decided to try out the new wand skill in 1.3 and use it as my initial build in Torment, I did some testing in standard before hand and thought it should work out pretty well so I've put up a basic guide for leveling and eventually transitioning into Kinetic Blast for awesome screen shatters.

Gear choices would be evasion/ES bases for the chance to evade reflect as well as the added mana, with a decent evasion/ES chest I got 10k evasion rating with a Jade Flask (meaning you evade 20-30% of reflected damage). No unique items are required for this build at all, but it can make use of Atziri's Foible in early leveling, Maligaro's for damage late game, Carnage Heart for life leech and Carcass Jack to negate th AoE reduction from concentrated effect. Rat Cage with high level AA is tempting and oh so cheap (1-5c), as well as Alpha's Howl so you can run Purity of Fire.

The build also needs about 600-850 added accuracy on gear to get ~90% chance to hit at level 82. The wand is best as a high attack speed physical wand with about 10% crit chance, so Tora will be important as well as the Granite Flask crafting recipe.

Power charges are generated via Herald of Thunder + CoH + Assassin's Mark, as well as Vaal Power Siphon, which grants a power charge per kill and Power Charge on Hit linked to either Frenzy or Barrage for single target. Vaal Pact shouldn't be picked up until you notice heavy reflect damage, until then use a Jade Flask along with the life gained on hit support gem while leveling if you need to.

5L: Kinetic Blast + LMP/GMP + Phys Proj + WeD + Life Leech (or LGoH or Faster Attacks or Conc Effect)

6L: Kinetic Blast + LMP/GMP + Phys Proj + WeD + Faster Attacks + Crit Multi (or Conc Effect)

With Vaal Pact and high life leech on gear you may get enough leech from physical damage to not need a life leech gem in the setup until you are doing large amounts of damage. There is also the potential to use Blood Rage at late game, for the added physical damage leech, you can weapon swap with "X" to turn off the degen effect if you have BR on your shield / weapon.

Swap WeD for Life Leech if you take reflect damage from elemental reflect maps, I think that Vaal Pact will negate most of it though.

Auras: Hatred, HoA, HoT and Clarity. Or Hatred, HoA, Purity of Fire and Clarity (if using Rat Cage)

Bandit Rewards: Kill All - Kill All - Power Charge
-You can take +40 Life and +8% attack speed if you want, but I prefer having passive points.

I chose to level with crit lightning tendrils but it could just as easily level as Fire Trap Proliferate. I think the best point to transition to Kinetic Blast would be around level 65-75, depending on gear drop RNG.

Torment Progression Videos
Build and skills I used to level to merciless in Torment: http://youtu.be/l2kKBLjun-k

Testing the build at level 58 Torment League, mostly self found gear (it works): http://youtu.be/4AKZeZ1_jBM

Level 65 - Map Ready: http://youtu.be/uhzVt_xT-WM

Level 66 in a 66 Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsSfveWsxmY&list=UUs5NYawxi5ewSau4EbvXyqg

Testing Reflect and AA lvl 70-73: http://youtu.be/-_SAHyL8F0M

Kinetic Blast AoE Modifiers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDWbikDI1MU

Level 75 Fragment fun and first level 70 map: http://youtu.be/bihiyedyVaE

Testing Double Reflect (-max, +vuln): http://youtu.be/Ja_lBolTcRA



Standard Testing
Standard build test prior to 1.3: http://youtu.be/rNhPfj5b6H0

Standard testing pictures: http://imgur.com/MlPQDxu,bKpxgKF




Potential End Game Gear Links

If you want to use Rat Cage (I intend to test it) you need to swap HoT with PoF and probably need to get Alpha's Howl for it to fit, but I will see.




My Current Gear


Potential Unique Items (not essential)


Only for Blood Magic support gem version (aura stacking):


Also Physical or Cold Version:


Crafting your Wand

As you level with elemental spells such as freeze pulse, lightning tendrils or fire trap you want to keep your eye out for a wand with increase phys% and increased crit, this is the first wand I used when testing the build at level 58, it has only 80 pDPS but was a nice start:


Once you hit a level 63+ zone in Merciless you want to identify all the blue Imbued Wands you can find, once you have 5 of them you can vendor them to recieve one more blue unidentified Imbued Wand. Ideally you want to save as many alterations while leveling to use on an ilvl 65+ Imbued wand, they can roll Tier 2 added physical damage "Tempered".

Crafting steps:
Method 1) Use alterations on your Imbued wand until you get lucky and roll a nice magic such as these two, then regal and add a Tora mod (crit, crit multi, attack speed, +phys or %phys):


Method 2) Use alterations on your ilvl 65+ Imbued Wand until you get Tier 2, 3 or 4 +phys, "Annealed", "Razor Sharp" or "Tempered", then augment and hope for a good suffix.

If you get a bad suffix with your augment you can then upgrade the physical damage tier by vendoring the wand + augment + granite flask (this only works up to T2, so if it's Tempered you can not upgrade it).
For Example



Then you can repeat the augment and have another attempt at a good suffix, repeat until you reach T2. Regal when happy with the suffix.

Other worthy wand mod combinations to keep / sell
Add 40% Spell Dmg with Catarina after regal:

CoC:


Caster:




Optimising Damage

I have just tested removing Chain for Physical Projectile Attack Damage and the AoE clear speed has gone up, as well as increasing the damage to Single Targets, as such I think Hatred will be much better than Wrath. Still not taking much damage from reflect with Jade Flask up, so no need for life leech yet:

Current Links:


Screenshost:

DPS with Chain:
Spoiler


DPS without chain, it clears just as fast, maybe even faster:
Spoiler





Damage Scaling Theory

The way I see my builds damage scaling at the moment is this:

> Hatred + Herald of Ash for phys damage added as elemental (15% fire and 36% cold, then buffed by Inner Force/Aura nodes)
> Herald of Thunder for cursing and lightning damage (prior to getting Tempest Blast)
> The passive tree gets 10% physical damage added as Cold/Fire and 30% of physical added as lightning.
> Physical Proj Damage gives 49% more base phys that then in turn increases the elemental damage
> Weapon Elemental which gives 59% more Elemental Damage to all the damage added by Phys
> I may end up using Faster Attacks in the 5 and 6L setup, unless 3 Frenzy Charges feels enough.
> I also like the benefit of physical life/mana leech, but also like auras and attack speed, so it's a bit of a balance.


That Blood Rage Thing

I just tested it in a 69 Map with no chaos resistance at all (-60%) and maintained full life easily with flasks and life leech, I got up to 9.1k DPS as well.

Incorporate the 5% leech from level 16 BR and the 8% leech I have on gear at the moment and I will have 5.2% instant physical life leech when you pick up Vaal Pact, easily enough to negate reflected damage in most situations.

A 20/20 BR will give 18% total, that's 7.2% instant leech - I'm excited!


Build Cost

Chest ~ Bought 5L for 7c, Crafted with 20 alts + Regal + Haku Mod cost.
Wand ~ 50 alts + 30 aug + Granite Flask + Regal + Tora Mod cost.
Helm ~ Bought for 1 Alch
Phys Proj Dmg Gems x2 ~ 3c
Random Haku / Elreon crafting costs for resistance capping / life.
New Gloves - 1c + 2c Haku Craft for 1-2% leech (got 1%)
Q15% Blood Rage - 4c
Q10% Immortal Call - 5c
High roll Rat Cage - 5c
May buy Alpha's for Purity of Fire instead of HoT, hopefully it just drops!
May also buy Ming's Heart - or just get chaos resistance on gear upgrades.

Continually crafting new wands - making profit if they sell.

Total = About 45 Chaos at level 81, with decent drop luck.

Rest is self found or quest rewarded.


Feedback is welcomed and any build optimisation is much appreciated.

I will update as I level it in Torment.
IGN: MrG.
Build Videos & Item Testing: www.youtube.com/user/MrGxyz/videos
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/mr_g__
Last edited by Mr_G on Jul 4, 2015, 11:28:38 AM


Quest Rewards (pick physical proj damage over chain and hatred over wrath):
Normal
Gate - Fire Trap

Mercy - Quicksilver, Tendrils

Eggs - Bear Trap

Brute - Clarity

Siren - Crit multi

Intruders - Ass Mark or PS

Sharp+Cruel - LMP

Lost in Love - Herald of Thunder (or Kinetic Blast)

Right Hand - IIR or Added Lightning

Fate - Curse on Hit


Cruel
Gate - Searing Bond

Mercy - Life Leech

Eggs - Item

Brute - AA

Siren - Reduced Mana

Intruders - Item

Sharp+Cruel - Faster Attack / Mana Leech / Phys Proj

Lost in Love - Warp

Right Hand - Reduced Mana / Increased Burning / Culling

Fate - Purity if needed or Ele Weakness


Merciless
Gate - Added Fire / FA / Faster Cast / IIR

Mercy - Life Leech

Eggs - Item

Brute - Haste / Purity if needed

Siren - Added Acc / Added Cold / FA

Intruders - Item

Sharp+Cruel - Item

Lost in Love - Item

Right Hand - Item

Fate - CwDT or Conc
IGN: MrG.
Build Videos & Item Testing: www.youtube.com/user/MrGxyz/videos
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/mr_g__
Last edited by Mr_G on Dec 15, 2014, 2:16:29 AM
Torment level progression:





Level 49:
Just killed Cruel Dominus, on to Merciless. Almost 1.8k Life, level 8 AA and 1.7K DPS on Tendrils. Piety dropped an epic pair of boots and I found a "Addition Unique Item" strongbox for Atziri's Foible.


Level 57:
Farming Merciless Docks now, had to buy a Herald of Ice gem as I hadn't seen one drop, got lucky to have a reduced mana drop for me though, so I had two for the auras. Aside from that I think this build can be leveled as an elemental caster spec quite easily with self found gear, I did get some lucky drops though. 2.2k Life, 2.8k Tendril DPS with 5 power charges, level 10 AA.



Level 63:
Kinetic Blast time - 2.6k life or so, leveling into more nodes in the scion life wheel, need to pick up the 2% mana leech node as well. Crafted a new wand with a few alts and a random regal, not sure whether to go for higher attack speed or physical damage with Tora. 30% crit without power charges, so that would make it about 55% with 5 charges, soon to be 6. Have done a few maps with a mate and soloing docks the DPS feels fine, next upgrade is a 5L Evasion/ES or Arm/ES chest. Single Target is lacking a little bit at the moment, need a 4L for barrage or power siphon. Also sustaining power charges with HoT + CoH in a party isn't as easy as when you're solo.




Level 65:
2.9k life, using Barrage + Faster Attacks + PCoC to generate charges, much more reliable in maps with party member stealing kills. I alched a GG Diamond Ring and found a GG Evasion / ES Shield, all it is missing is max life, but I can add cold resist to cap my resists.




Level 70:
3.1k life, 1.6k on KB and 2.8k on Frenzy, which is much better for damage, but not as good as Barrage for gaining power charges, as Barrage hits multiple times per crit, meaning the percentage chance to gain a power charge with PCoC is rolled multiple times.



Level 73:
3.3k life, 4.7k on KB and 3.6k on Frenzy, still prefer barrage for Power Charge generation in party, may end up using blood rage for Frenzy Charges and Power Siphon as single target.

175 mana regen/s - using a level 14 Arctic Armour, don't want to level it any higher yet, as Inner Force will increased the mana drain.

Tested Concentrated effect in a map, didn't like the reduction in AoE clear ability, the 50% more damage was equivalent to what the Increased Crit Damage gem gives me at the moment, taking my crit multi from 200% to 300% (50% more crit damage).

Still need to regal my chest, made a better wand though with the method shown in the OP.


Gear:




Level 78:
Ready for Vaal Pact: Damage scaling is starting to kick in now and if I had life on all pieces of my gear I would be around 4k life, still finding / crafting and buying gear at the moment, not sure how much leech I will need for Vaal Pact so bought a 2% leech amulet for 1 chaos. Also bought new gloves for 1 chaos, added leech to them with Haku. Added physical damage on rings/amulets is really starting to show its value, so look for or alch some diamond rings for +physical damage.

Doing 7.2k at the moment, starting to need Vaal Pact, and if you forget to put Arctic Armour on you better have your Jade Flask ready if a physical reflect pack rolls up. Don't seem to take too much from small elemental reflect packs, but I wouldn't risk doing an 18% elemental reflect map.

Stats: 3.8k Life, 8% phys life leech, 7.2k DPS, 69% crit, 365% multi, 86% chance to hit (may need more on gear soon), 133 Mana Regen (testing new amulets), 6k Evasion with Jade Flask (need to roll a 90%+ Evasion one).

Here is why Alchemy Orbs are OP:
Spoiler


http://i.imgur.com/FiYldOq.jpg

Gear



Should really start to head for Vaal Pact, still haven't gotten the 2% mana leech, haven't needed it.

Passive Tree
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAx4GIwceB2MJoA18DkgRDxGWFLAWvxzcHaofQSaVJ6ko-ioLL28xnjWSNj06WDrhP3NBh0V8RnFJUUmxSppMLU3jUDBVS1XGV8ld8l8qYeJirGNDbIxs53BScLtw1XRVf8aCHoLHgwmD24hCidOMC4w2kyeVLpeXmmGdqqZXrJiw2LQMtDi1SLc-uXy-7sHFx8rJRMu918_YvdkT2wvbXuGI44TlGeq67BjssO-I8NXyRfPq-Tf56Prv-_X8ZP4K_o8=


Level 81

I'm getting a bit stressed out with a few things, not able to enjoy the game too much at the moment. Build is fine, damage, life, defences all good - just going to take me a bit of time before I feel ready to play again.

Swapped back to Barrage + PCoC - much better for sustained boss fights, self casting curse now.

Stats: 4k life, 3.3k Barrage, 10k Kinetic Blast - don't need Vaal Pact yet.
Gear


IGN: MrG.
Build Videos & Item Testing: www.youtube.com/user/MrGxyz/videos
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/mr_g__
Last edited by Mr_G on Dec 22, 2014, 4:48:24 AM
I'm interested in your build sir, but can i use Lightning Tendrils as main attack skill till i can reverse to Kinetic Blast? what nodes should i take?

and how about bandits rewards? which i should choose?
Last edited by xfatal on Dec 13, 2014, 1:08:41 AM
Hey, I will be updated the third post down as I level up, showing what gear I used and the links, as well as the passive tree progression.

I am using Lightning Tendrils now as main skill and it is doing amazingly, 20%+ crit with charges, HoT + CoH + Ass Mark is good fun.

You can take up to 18 points different to the final build during leveling, these you can respec for free by finishing all the side quests. I have picked up the lightning damage nodes, also thinking about getting spell crit and cast speed at Shadow/Witch area.
IGN: MrG.
Build Videos & Item Testing: www.youtube.com/user/MrGxyz/videos
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/mr_g__
Added a quick video of the leveling build that I used to get to Merciless Act 3: http://youtu.be/l2kKBLjun-k

I am shocked, the build actually works already at level 58, with this 80 pDPS level 40 wand and almost no DPS gear or wand passives.
Check it out: http://youtu.be/4AKZeZ1_jBM
IGN: MrG.
Build Videos & Item Testing: www.youtube.com/user/MrGxyz/videos
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/mr_g__
Last edited by Mr_G on Dec 13, 2014, 1:42:57 PM
Why is the level 58 torment league video private?
"
Mr_G wrote:
Added a quick video of the leveling build that I used to get to Merciless Act 3: http://youtu.be/l2kKBLjun-k

I am shocked, the build actually works already at level 58, with this 80 pDPS level 40 wand and almost no DPS gear or wand passives.
Check it out: http://youtu.be/4AKZeZ1_jBM


What the f*ck is going on with you guys?
Every video is private and cant be watched.

Dont post Videos if you dont make em viewable...
"
xX999Xx wrote:
"
Mr_G wrote:
Added a quick video of the leveling build that I used to get to Merciless Act 3: http://youtu.be/l2kKBLjun-k

I am shocked, the build actually works already at level 58, with this 80 pDPS level 40 wand and almost no DPS gear or wand passives.
Check it out: http://youtu.be/4AKZeZ1_jBM


What the f*ck is going on with you guys?
Every video is private and cant be watched.

Dont post Videos if you dont make em viewable...


Maybe he thought that private = non public one, I dunno.
Anyway I'm following this build, but I'm not sure if it will fit to end-game..

I was thinking also about doing Templar Static Striker and I can't decide.
Sorry they were stuck as private for a few minutes because they were still uploading, should be all good now.
IGN: MrG.
Build Videos & Item Testing: www.youtube.com/user/MrGxyz/videos
Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/mr_g__
Last edited by Mr_G on Dec 13, 2014, 7:34:31 PM

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