[2.2] Occultist (Contagion + Essence Drain) Beginner starting build

Hi guys, thanks for all this feedback and good words, you make me happy!

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froshambo wrote:

- If we're not making use of the non-Chaos to Chaos conversion part of Malediction, I'm not sure it's worth a whole Ascendancy point simply for the +1 max curse. Would it be better to take Wicked Ward for better defenses, and get +1 curse from gear?

At longer run, it sounds good but, take into consideration that we are running dual curse build mainly based on HP, secondly on ES. Wicked ward is great point for CI where you still invest 4 points to take Whispers of Doom. Here, we sacrifice whispers of doom points to get more survivality and take Malediction to keep up dual curse.

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froshambo wrote:

- Is there some way that we can get Abyssal Cry in this build? I'm guessing/assuming that the two death triggers will go off, resulting in more explosions. This will also help us vs Curse Immune. Also looking at the change that just got discovered to Profane Bloom, this will help explosions happen more consistently. Source: https://imgur.com/7DNY6ma

Helmet, most of the time you will utilize 3 links and will have 1 slot free.

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froshambo wrote:

- What about using pierce instead of Slower Projectiles? Sometimes we need to get that mob in the middle of a pack of Allies Can't Die.

"Something for something" i could say - pierce require diffrent build path to be efficient in longer run and in my opinion starting from Scion to take both - Occultist and deadeye ascendancy nodes. It isn't imo required. Smart positioning can give you window to throw ED into "cannot die" monster and just let him die first.

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Zenotho wrote:

Nice work - thanks for making this build. Just curious why you went Witch for this starter build over Shadow? I'm a new player so I'm probably missing something, but doesn't Trickster offer more than Occultist (30% increased DoT damage > 20% chaos penetration) as well as having better overall energy shield + movement speed nodes? Additionally, Shadow starts closer to some early DoT/chaos nodes which should make the leveling go faster.

I was planning to also utilize an Essence Drain -> Contagion build, but my plan was to go Trickster. You've definitely given me some food for thought though.

Trickster offer honestly only 30% dot damage and still i prefer 20% resistance reduction since most bosses are tagged "resist chaos damage" which will put reduction over additional damage.

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WolyThoctar wrote:

In terms of your full tree, wouldn't it be more efficient to travel through Practical Application instead of the three Intelligence nodes outside Whispers of Doom? The Strength and Dexterity will have more use and make gearing jewelry a bit easier probably. I would also recommend going down the inner highway passed Elemental Equilibrium and though Shaper rather than south from the Templar area. This puts you beside Potency of Will, which I find very helpful with one-shotting magic packs as well as whites. Albeit you do lose quite a bit of Strength which is nice, and don't pass beside a 1-point Jewel socket, but it's something to consider! Solid build plan and GL in Perandus HC.

Took your opinion into consideration and i made changes in skilltree.

I think it's final right now.

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datenshiddd wrote:

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froshambo wrote:

- What about using pierce instead of Slower Projectiles? Sometimes we need to get that mob in the middle of a pack of Allies Can't Die.

"Something for something" i could say - pierce require diffrent build path to be efficient in longer run and in my opinion starting from Scion to take both - Occultist and deadeye ascendancy nodes. It isn't imo required. Smart positioning can give you window to throw ED into "cannot die" monster and just let him die first.

To be clear, I meant using the Pierce support gem instead of the Slower Projectiles support gem with ED. Not sure if that changes your answer. That said, looking over the patch notes, it seems like Pierce didn't get the damage modifier....

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froshambo wrote:

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datenshiddd wrote:

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froshambo wrote:

- What about using pierce instead of Slower Projectiles? Sometimes we need to get that mob in the middle of a pack of Allies Can't Die.

"Something for something" i could say - pierce require diffrent build path to be efficient in longer run and in my opinion starting from Scion to take both - Occultist and deadeye ascendancy nodes. It isn't imo required. Smart positioning can give you window to throw ED into "cannot die" monster and just let him die first.

To be clear, I meant using the Pierce support gem instead of the Slower Projectiles support gem with ED. Not sure if that changes your answer. That said, looking over the patch notes, it seems like Pierce didn't get the damage modifier....

I think it's not needed. I am considering making second build, same for ED but from Scion side of tree. Here is 100% pierce chance 192 life/173% max life skilltree:



For occultist i will try pierce and after release will point out my honest feeling.

No auras or heralds?
What about flasks?

saving this

I had the chance to watch Mannercookie's stream today and he was planning his ED build and was going with Scion for Occultist+Deadeye combo, lots of life, dmg and aoe from tree, 6 jewel too, I think I'm going with that, looks more powerful than this one. What do you guys think?

Always liked DoT builds in some other games. Will probably give this build a try in new league.

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buks wrote:

I had the chance to watch Mannercookie's stream today and he was planning his ED build and was going with Scion for Occultist+Deadeye combo, lots of life, dmg and aoe from tree, 6 jewel too, I think I'm going with that, looks more powerful than this one. What do you guys think?

Could you post a link for that build for comparison? The small amount of life nodes is my biggest hesitation with the OP's build.

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magicrectangle wrote:

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buks wrote:

I had the chance to watch Mannercookie's stream today and he was planning his ED build and was going with Scion for Occultist+Deadeye combo, lots of life, dmg and aoe from tree, 6 jewel too, I think I'm going with that, looks more powerful than this one. What do you guys think?

Could you post a link for that build for comparison? The small amount of life nodes is my biggest hesitation with the OP's build.

Sure: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAt9a-vNtZguQtqJARsZCKr4MJSshGcW-ebqo_J7QM8bO18ipNytNLVzWSeA1H4qPvAO6-isDj_o_YvcAaIuJUgizpkyehL03j_gpvO6Q5hrN_xu-IbAumV7c-8kURlvk3IvQ64YPMDkgHHtfPbRk8LbcwXfKVLkmxl_QI9INfxq7oWisK8NVSU8BUC2EmiBEvAx5JUY_6l5U9X7zqakOvbOtjH0FcQEyzaPK1SDY9h8sEB9AfRX7wH3aCG8idqqebg9vv6w5cogDIDM_dbIx1nlXGavoEs7TR8YpirM8VOljAZha_PAUmlZ_f73xh4lVLE20UCYuq4q0J2cpGMTV7bpchwXyHB3vD

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Sure: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAt9a-vNtZguQtqJARsZCKr4MJSshGcW-ebqo_J7QM8bO18ipNytNLVzWSeA1H4qPvAO6-isDj_o_YvcAaIuJUgizpkyehL03j_gpvO6Q5hrN_xu-IbAumV7c-8kURlvk3IvQ64YPMDkgHHtfPbRk8LbcwXfKVLkmxl_QI9INfxq7oWisK8NVSU8BUC2EmiBEvAx5JUY_6l5U9X7zqakOvbOtjH0FcQEyzaPK1SDY9h8sEB9AfRX7wH3aCG8idqqebg9vv6w5cogDIDM_dbIx1nlXGavoEs7TR8YpirM8VOljAZha_PAUmlZ_f73xh4lVLE20UCYuq4q0J2cpGMTV7bpchwXyHB3vD

What way do you start in that build?