[2.6] Burning Half Naked Man Terrorizes Coastal Community - Life RF/SR Budget-ish HC All Content

OK so not sure if you care, but wanted to relate my leveling with this build (which will also, eventually, provide an example as to how much can be done with a super-budget version) Just switched to RF at level 36 and my regen almost exactly matches the degen, which means that any flask or Enduring Cry gets 100% of its effective healing. Actually I switched at 34 when I got the Stone Golem, degen was relatively low and a simple life flask was enough to farm Dried Lake until 36. Prior to that I leveled with Molten Strike + Sunder + Herald of Ash (+ Orb of Storms and Ancestral Protector), was the slowest I've ever killed Normal Dominus... but also the safest by a huge margin. As in, I tanked the lightning stream (Kikazarus ftw) and facetanked the Ascendant form entirely. Didn't try to tank the huge punch though, I've died enough to that skill with my Softcore chars. (same with Voll)

I was helped by someone who gifted me a Primal Skull Talisman (2% life regen - I guess when you tell someone that you have no hideout for the trade, it's a telltale sign that you're poor as hell in that league), though looking at poe.trade they're not that expensive (a few below 1c in LHC). Sadly this won't work in 3.0, so I guess a Coral Amulet will have to do instead.

My current tree is this :

At next level I'll take the last Intel node on the right and respec the two nodes below Sanctity (that I took earlier to rush Combat Stamina, Berserker and Arsonist) and take the two Area nodes because my RF has a pitiful AoE right now even without Concentrated Effect, and Increased Area isn't available yet. Level 39 will be EE and then I think I'll go down towards Juggernaut, Warrior's Blood and Heart of the Warrior just to be sure about the regen. Actually I should probably get Constitution before going into the Marauder area because 1150 hps might become a liability soon, such as against Piety or Shavronne.

Also wanted to ask what's a safe level for Normal Lab with this build according to you ? I really dislike the Lab and I'm not exactly looking forward to doing it in Hardcore. With my RF Juggernaut I waited until full build (with Kaom's already bought) to do all three labs in a row, but maybe for the Inquisitor it's better to do at least Normal earlier ? You mentioned that the first Ascendency passive is a pretty big QoL improvement for the build.

P.S. I totally saw that you RIP'd. Care to explain how/against what it happened ? (Especially if it's something like a map mod that proved to be too dangerous)

I actually sat this league out because I was expecting the beta to start sooner, so this guy didn't die any time recently and when he did I don't know what he was built as. I decided to pass the time waiting for the beta by experimenting in standard where I've got a lot of leftover currency. So, I did a ton of respecs and test fights against guardians, shaper, etc with various builds and eventually settled on the one presented in this guide as my personal favorite for life RF.

That's not to say that I haven't died experimenting in standard. That's part of the reason I wanted to do it here, so I could test out how much the build can take. Deaths that I can remember at 9k health/8 endurance charges:

-crit shaper slam (could tell it was a crit because the previous slams consistently did around 7k)
-anything uber atziri throws out except for the bleed spear and normal flameblast
-uber trio physical damage (unchecked bleed from the sword guy, any amount of time in the spike rain from the ranged one)
-heavily modded pack phases during chimera fight
-heavily modded phoenix
-charging blindly into giant packs of hedgehogs in high tier modded mops


Anyway, as for the lab, I'm pretty impatient and usually tackle it in each difficulty when I'm around the level of the zone itself, which is usually about the time I'm finishing act 3. The traps are a joke when you've got high regen. Just switch off RF and leap slam around them. I'd leave RF off for the Izaro fights as well and use SR only, unless it's one of the types where you need to kill him quickly. In that case, slap all your support potions and stand on his toes unless you see a big hit + the goddess volley are going to land at the same time.

Really though, if you're not confident about the lab fights or whatever else, you shouldn't push it. Wait until you're significantly over-leveled and do just normal difficulty, then leave the rest for way later. Instruments of Virtue is the only node that you really want for leveling. 20% attack speed is a really nice mobility boost for shield charge, and 30% cast speed+spell damage will also almost double the effectiveness of your scorching ray early on.

Xoph's blood is a nice addition to the build if anyone is wondering, would recommend it if you have the currency to spend on that

Wouldn't it prevent Elemental Equilibrium from working due to the "deal no fire damage" part of Avatar of Fire ? Also can Orb of Storms still crit (for Elemental Overload) if it's not doing any damage ?

Spells without damage can still crit but yes avatar of fire from xoph's blood ruins elemental equilibrium. I would not recommend xoph's for this particular build, though there are other RF builds that might benefit from it.

It's too expensive for such a mixed bag. A bit more life and strength, but less damage even factoring in the ash effect. Ash isn't going to come into play much against many end game bosses because you're dodging most of their hits, and it's hardly useful against regular mobs that die before they even get a chance to attack. Fire penetration isn't useful at all since it doesn't apply to damage over time.

Also, that's one more slot that you can't use to shore up stats and resists, and you're already pretty limited.

So what would be a safe level and maximum life to beat Merciless Malachai ? (I'm trying to get the "Finish Merciless in Hardcore" achievement. By definition, I can't exactly test beforehand) Right now I'm thinking around level 75 with at least 6k hps (7k maybe ?) and the first two Ascendencies - is it okay ? I'm even more scared of Merciless Lab because I really suck at traps.
It's unlikely I'll have a Kaom's Heart by then (cheapest with terrible rolls at 4Ex right now in LHC - crazy when I think in LSC I got a perfect one for 150 or 200c) - should I keep farming until the Heart just to be sure ?

Hi Guys. I like your build guide my friend. tried it thou, and got my Templar now on 92. I'm using Xoph's Blood in my Build, because i got enough resi on my Boots/Gloves/Helmet. It's working well, I'm on 9700 life, 88 fire, 78 light and 75 cold resi. my Armour is on 6k now. And im doing t13-t14 maps without a problem. So, as conclusion, it's a pretty nice build, but i would recommend to use Xoph's :P gives a little boost on life, and if you can afford Boots/Gloves/Helmet with enough Resi, than it gives a nice boost.
Best Wishes, Dream

P.S.: im still trying to get corrupted Xoph's with 1% to all max resis.. would be again a (little) nice def boost :P

Well I'll just answer my own question : did Malachai at level 80 with 6054 hps. Those few levels probably mattered quite a lot since that's when I started taking jewel slots and that +7% max life per slot on top of some damage mod is insane. Here's my gear :


Yes those are Kikazarus, still have them from level 20 and will likely keep them until the character dies. Probably due to low demand + being so late in the league, Kaom's Way (or The King's Path prophecy) is 2Ex in LHC right now which seems waaay overpriced, no way am I paying that before getting Kaom's Heart. Similarly there's barely any Marble Amulet in the market and I've had no luck crafting the white one that I bought, so blue Primal Skull Talisman it is.

I think it does show the build's resilience though : I wasn't truly in danger once against Malachai (did the fight with SR only though, except I activated RF during the first phase to kill Piety more quickly and then turned it off again) despite this mediocre gear (I think I've had the gloves since Cruel Dried Lake) and not being exactly a great player. And to prove this point, I immediately got greedy and RIP'd in a master mission cuz I played with sun reflection on my screen. xD

Do you go for pious path first since it gives life regen on the way? If yes then what do you prioritize next?

As of 3.0, I'm taking mind over matter early in the game and going for pious path with my first four ascendancy points to get both mana and life regen. Based on what I've seen in the beta, there are a ton of potential changes coming up for this build so I'm not updating any further for 2.6.

In 2.6 I prefer to take instruments of virtue first for the additional attack speed on movement skills, then up to pious path, then augury.