Is it viable in the Endgame?

ES + VP combination works in 2.6 but not in 3.0 (some ES/life things might change though)

Vaal Pact
This keystone will no longer affect Energy Shield in any way. It will only apply to Life Leeched.

You can check it in this thread:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1899919

Mastermind of Discord should proc cold penetration due to its "fire" tag but I am not 100% sure here.

Although Sweep is not a "meta" skill and elementalist class isn´t perfect for melee skills I think you can make it endgame viable and we don´t know skill changes in 3.0 yet so who knows ...

Thanks for the Information about the ES changes.

I have tested something during the last days and I think I will use Ice Crash, because I can leave out these really bad Hrimburn Gloves.

My test character is currently a level 42 and stands Normal in act 4. If I have properly understood it, there should be no changes in the first 4 Acts, right?

If I remain Normal up to the release in act 4, I should be able to continue directly in the new act 5 or?

Gem Setup:



My test character has currently still no Ghost Reaver, hence, I am unsafe to me whether the Devouring totem generates then with Ghost Reaver Life or ES. Does it know somebody?

Level 80 Passive Tree:



I think for the 4 Jewels must have stats are x% increased Maximum Life and x% increased Attack Speed, then there should be laxly 158%+ increased maximum Life.

Level 100 Passive Tree:



To reach Vitality Void and pick up the 2% Life Leech i need 8 Passive Points, i think this is too much. With these 8 Points i get round about 80% increased Damage from the Passive Tree, the Life Leech Gem looks like not an bad option.

Thanks for your answers.

I haven´t played the beta but there had been some changes to quests such as Bandits etc and we don´t know yet much about that anyway.

There are some better passives such as Fangs of the viper or Weapon artistry instead of lower elemental ones in the passive tree.

When you reach the Vitality void you can also take Thick skin near the path and if you drop leech gem you can get 1 more multiplier gem instead (conc effect/AoE) to boost the damage further but I haven´t tested it in PoB or any builder so you should compare it with weapon/stuff equipped but it´s up to you.

As an Elementalist, or any witch based ascendancy your best option when it comes to physical damage/physical conversion will be claw. Claw has high base atk speed, easy to reach on the skill tree toward Shadow side, natural leech node in the form of the "Soul Raker" node in the big claw wheel.

Then comes the fact that Whirling Blades is a better movement skill especially for class that lacks attack speed. Blade Flurry, Spectral Throw are all very strong attack skills that will carry you to endgame. Charged Dash, the newly revealed skill is also 50% Lightning conversion and works better with high attack speed.