3.5 Archetype Cold DoT Occultist | league starter | Uber Elder deathless | every mod and boss
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My_QwNR_Builds
SICKPAW IQ150 Hierophant https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2302750 3.5 BROTEMS brand-totem hybrid Hierophant https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2300354 3.5 4x recovery VD PP Occultist https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2290698 3.5 Archetype Cold DoT Occultist https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2274340 3.5 Indigon PP Crit LL VD Hierophant https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2255866 3.4 NO SOCKET miner-PF Ascendant https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2247804 3.4 Pugilist/Rigwald unarmed Consecrated Path Trickster https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2242641 Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlippnoMrgc&t=5s Uber Elder deathless eventually
Another_deathless_attempt
 Uber Elder with an Eye https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFhhkiJ-HAA&feature=youtu.be "Cast on Death" Uber Elder tragic kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlJgaWUdkrk&feature=youtu.be  Shaper with a Ruby (dummy ele boss) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMnvBWBLDQQ&feature=youtu.be lv 83 Catarina what's going on kill https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIVca27ccrE&feature=youtu.be 100%+ IIQ Minotaur (dummy phys boss) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8I04SqfQ3E&feature=youtu.be Ultra laggy 130% IIQ Lair of the Hydra (clearing + surviving lag + moving boss) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZS08L4OvY4M&feature=youtu.be Casual shallow Delve run (linear clearing) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wiaz6Yezr8&feature=youtu.be POB https://pastebin.com/0YMq2nnL Introduction Cold Damage over Time Occultist is 1 of the 3 new "archetypes" introduced in Betrayal League. Along with the revamped unpopular skills and a new gear mod/passive cold dot actually can do endgame content with ease now in 3.5. With build power mainly stemming from Keystone and gems, not any required gear, this build is the definition of league starter. Build Theory
How_Cold_DoT_Works
Different from most of the popular poe skills, Damage over time doesn't hit and thus inherently can't interact with a huge amount of basic poe machanisms. This confuses the hell outta people who are used to leech, gain on hit, resist penetration, added damage, gain % as extra, crit, cast speed, to name a few. The way dot builds scale damage can, however, be compared parellel to normal skills somehow. Increased and More damage/spell damage/cold damage/elemental damage/area damage work the same; damage over time is exclusive for dot clearly and additive to other increase above.  Crit bonus is applied with a fixed 40% more ele damage for 8 sec after any of your skill crit with this Keystone  Resistance "penetration" is applied with a fixed -50% resist for 5 sec after a different ele damage than cold is done to an enemy with this Keystone Both of the Keystones are activated most commonly with Orb of Storms previously for RF but Brand skills are said to do the job too this league by Mathil  The new "multiplier" mod added this league is similar to Gain % as extra, multiplicative with any other source and additive within itself Dot build still miss the equivalent to added damage and cast speed (you still need some to feel good) to scale damage , but low ceiling poor potential also means easy setup cheap investment for decent damage, at least I have downed T16 guardians and T14 Elder with ease
Why_Occultist
 I see GGG officially appointing Occultist for cold dot as an archetype as they actually want it to work. Since no leech no gain on hit, all recovery is from regen, and Vile Bastioin is among the very few Ascendancies that provide regen that can keep you alive  But clearly they don't really want it to work very well. The new Ascendancy they give is basically a Dream Fragment and a couple small passives, and that ability to statistically stun a boss every 12s hasn't actually been noticeable to me
Why_Starter
As mentioned above, most of the build power is based on Ele Overload and Ele Equi and gems, and not a single unique is needed at all. Simply grab the highest ES gear in each slot to cap resist you want to afford, a 6 link int chest or tabula, and a 6 link staff to roll one or two useful mods and you are good to beat Elder Can you even believe an endgame 6 link with the right colors and 3 useful mods,one of which very high costs 15c?! Well not the person's fault I didn't post this guide then  Passives https://tinyurl.com/ydadvjud
Keystones
   
KeyClusters
  
LevelingProgression
Leveling Guide https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2286846  2 pairs of Str/Dex alongside to make up for attr req, or grab an Astramentis once and for all
Ascendancy
 Bandits 2 passives Pantheon Major God - Solaris for bossing / Lunaris for clearing and Uber Elder Minor God - Abberath for burning ground immunity or Gruthkul for phys reduction Skills
Explanations
The idea of DoT is apply and wait. Ideally the damage is maximized when you apply the last effect and the first expires for you to reapply. Much like Affliction Warlock in WoW, we apply 3 DoT and fill the time with moving around We see 2 of our cold dot skills revamped in 3.5 while 1 buffed then "fixed" in 3.3. Among 3, Cold Snap has higher initial hit damage and a vaal part, good for fast clearing, Vortex has higher dot and is now instant but of melee range, and Arctic Breath has lowest damage but no cooldown so serves as utility. 3 skills take up 2 6 link 1 4 link, and Orb of storms another 4 link. If you need a cwdt in the last 4 link you'll need some special gear for aura/movement skills
GemLinks
Main skills - Cold Snap/Vortex  Damage contribution is in order. lv 4 Empower has the same More Damage as Conc Effect if in a +1 lv chest. But they are all within 40%-55% more damage so choose according to the color of your chest/staff and the utility (area/chill/duration) you'd like Cold utility skills - Arctic Breath  Bonechill is the new gem analogous to Combustion of fire skills. It increases the cold damage enemy takes so it's a more multiplier that doesn't need to fit in 6 link main setup. POB only shows 30% increased cold damage over time taken but according to gem description (all) cold damage taken is not specific to hit so I don't know if in practice both counts. It would be pretty imba but GGG needs to clarify it in that case LMP GMP or volley have the same chill ground coverage Crit utility skills - Orb of Storms  I'm running low on gem sockets so I fit Flame Dash in here in Shaper Faster Casting gloves CwDT - Immortal Call + Enfeeble + Frost Bomb Aura - Discipline + Grace or Purity Stone Golem Gear and stats That said, there is still some space between good and bad gear. This part will be edited a lot as I earn more ex and explore the better option in Betrayal
Chest
The most accessible +1 lv gem and the most accessible 6 link unique after Tabula, 100% defense to Occultist is not too worse than a vaal regalia, especially after scaling armor and evasion. Upgrading loyal to lords with any of the 4 Keystons for this build saves at least 2 points. Or with Incursion's Uber brick coming back, we can dream for the sky
Rich_or_RNGod_Only
  The new unique chest seems interesting especially we have efficacy to extent the duration
Weapon
 As we need 2 6 link for 2 main dot skills, very unpopular staff is used for weapon, which means it's cheap. Taryn grants another 20% increased damage taken with Ele Focus off, and Xirgil is the ultimate defensive weapon For rare staff, buy a 6 link block staff for no more than 2 divine orbs' worth and alt roll or fossil craft some of these only useful mods. Shaper/Elder mod supported by Arcane Surge/Reduced Mana may be of use With the outright addition of the new mods (upper bound value is rare T2) this trash exclusive to lab turns to somewhat treasure. Duel wielding weapons with Cold dot Multiplier is equal to a 7 link to skill in chest but you need a god tier Shaper/Elder helmet/sceptor to make the other skill works
God_Trade_Link
OtherArmor
Rime Gaze is another trash to mediocre treasure for the addition of the mod. Otherwise Shaper/Elder helmets always have unthinkably high potential Shaper gloves with Faster Casting and Elder boots with Increased Duration squeeze in two gems
Accessories
The new unique ring is interesting too, and Discipline has the biggest increment between lv 23-25. Attr and regen are exactly what we need, and a minimum Endurance or Frenzy charge is a permanent mod of 4% phys reduction 4% all resist or 4% more damage 4% cast speed Rare rings gives nothing if not 100%+ resist. Without Leo the new T1 Faster Start of ES Recharge cost 1ex each time. nty Amulet can grant Grace the build can't usually get from gem for dex requirement. Otherwise many unique amulets can always fit in but are always too expensive to justify
ShaperElderRingPair
All of our cold spells have an initial hit that's able to freeze but also ruin Ele Equi until Orb of Storm/Flame Dash hit the enemy afterwards The newly buffed trash (the 3rd to potentially be used in our build) now has full effect Ele Equi that allows any added damage or just straight up main skill hits (+ at most 40% net resist) seems an good choice especially for the nature of Cold DoT skills Shaper's ring provides a 4th cold Dot skill on kill that can be precisely scaled by this build to ~20k/s damage But the fun thing is, taking advantage of Elder Essence Worm wannabes, we can get Elder Malachai's Trash easily (I got mine for 15c right after my first Uber Elder down with Shaper ring loot) and this synergy just seems too good to be passed
Jewels
When wearing Skin of the Loyal, Abyssal jewels with 46-50 ES are about the only thing you need For when you cannot meet the Str and Dex requirements. Even only connected to Scion both Attr and mana regen are very relevant Finally an ES recovery Watcher's Eye boost defense by 30% more singlehandedly and pretty accessible compare to Gain 18% mana as extra ES which is what every aurabot is after Bonus for today  I don't know why I use it, I just know that I use it
Flasks
Most of the otherwise great flasks are useless to dot so we rather focus on defense a bit more. ES builds always suffer from negligence to phys reduction but we can easily counter it by using 2 flasks with Skin of the Loyal to quadri halve (block 40% armor 45% evade 50% blind 50%) phys or attack damage to under 10% statistically The rest goes to ignite/bleeding/shock removal Dealing with Map Mods
EleReflect
Damage over Time cannot be reflected, however each of our cold spell has an initial aoe hit that will kill us when slammed on a big pack. So we have to slam it on the empty ground and attract mobs to walk to the "trap" - a real trap playstyle On the other hand, because our ring slot and mana is flexible, we can compromise a little damage and evasion for and Minor God Yugul or Ash, Frost and Storm for reflect immunity A third option is reroll Elementalist and click X on the upper right
NoRegen
This is actually the single worst map mod of all. Even 60% less recovery, dangerous for any leech and impossible for RF, is acceptable for us. But in no regen all recovery comes from recharge so you can't cruise through mobs anymore but hide and wait for it to begin, or use Also we can't leech mana, so a large mana pool is needed for mana flask to work. Grace will have to be turned off Last edited by Arthur606 on Jan 8, 2019, 1:07:37 AM Last bumped on Feb 18, 2019, 9:41:23 AM
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This is along the lines of what I started the league as, though like most GGG-approved league builds it immediately fell flat on it face compared to Arc, traps, totems, and all the samey starter builds we've used to play for a week then quit since 3.0.
Anyway. Frigid Wake is so thoroughly mediocre that it's not worth investing in, period. It's there to prop up the inconvenient truth that all these Cold DoTs you're throwing around won't actually freeze or chill anything - and it does a remarkably shit job of it. Meanwhile you could just take Malediction and run Blasphemy + Temporal Chains + Frostbite to totally replace that line, except with significantly stronger resist reduction, guaranteed snare, and some fun bonuses like everything taking more and dealing less damage, goons exploding for some extra clear speed, some free chaos damage, and the power to pierce Hexproof. Plus you're able to swap TC and/or Frostbite out and sub any of the other curses in to optimize what you're doing at the time. So, yeah. No contest whatsoever. Avoid Frigid Wake like the plague. If they added "Cold DoTs can now apply Chill," it'd be more impressive/functional. As for the passive tree itself, it seems fine in broad strokes at least. You left out Spiritual Aid but there are enough flex points left to pick that up, especially if you trim the fat from around the Scion (the 2 points in spell damage after the jewel socket for instance). Otherwise pretty good stuff. I did forget what Zealot's Oath looked like which left the keystone skill picture slightly confusing, but that's the only gripe I have. Last edited by boho on Dec 16, 2018, 8:48:44 PM
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" Chill ground from any of the 3 skills can chill with ELe Focus off and it's not based on damage but fix 10% multiplied by chill effect which I currently have 133%. And all 3 skills have an initial hit to freeze and shatter but that in fact interferes with ele equi so is a bad thing without Taryn I tried Profane Bloom but I honestly can oneshot mobs all the way to guardian maps without it with Cold Snap anyway. Malediction actually has diminishing effect with Bonechill on increase damage taken and deal 10% less damage is mostly transferred to Frigid Wake. And I don't have links for curses until I get a 6-7 link Shaper/Elder helmet. And curses have minimal effect on bosses which is the thing that matters and I care about. I'm honest just tired of Dream Fragment or freeze all the time without all time flask spam Last edited by Arthur606 on Dec 16, 2018, 9:30:07 PM
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" I don't really understand the hype around that thing if I don't have jewels of minion mode or a Bone Helmet. 14% increase per point doesn't stand out and justify whereas all my other points have other utility or purely defensive or jewel socket. Connecting to Scion start is for Pure Talent. This ridiculous build has 500 int and struggle to cross 100 Str Dex. And the whole Scion region is just for the Unnatural Instinct I'm just able to afford today | |
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It's just a better deal point for point in terms of damage than most. 69% damage and 1% Life (ES) regen for 5 points.
edit: I missed the Pure Talent comment. Makes more sense now. I like the laser focus on Intelligence but I'm not sure how starter-friendly that is with the often SSF nature of day one/two. I assume it'd be easy to work around that by doing a "shortcut" version that beelines straight to the juicy passives instead of the long INT-heavy way around. Later you can "wire up" the long INT path and then regret out the redundant DEX/STR nodes. Last edited by boho on Dec 17, 2018, 1:21:20 PM
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" 500 Int was really unintentional but also natural as no relevant damage/ES nodes down there. The whole circle is for sure modified for efficient final tree. Both pairs of 30 Str/Dex are readily available Last edited by Arthur606 on Dec 17, 2018, 1:47:43 PM
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Nice, i wanna try this soon !
a chance to have a leveling tree? or a node order to focus ? thanks for sharing ! | |
"  Scion part is optional until endgame boss (Ele Equi) and Unnatural Instinct is all time optional Last edited by Arthur606 on Dec 18, 2018, 12:37:45 PM
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Hi, this build looks extremely interesting to me! I am considering starting to level an occulist in the upcoming week.
Did you level using cold snap or freezing pulse? As for the use of Artic Breath, do you use this for clearing as well or purely cold snap with vortex? Final question: Does frost bomb have a use for this build or seeing you manage to get -95% resist it's useless? 'You know why I enjoy Math? If something doesn't exist we simply create it.' Last edited by TotemLols on Dec 18, 2018, 7:16:20 PM
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The build has gone well for me thusfar Arthur, well done! I changed a couple things for personal preference/leveling but overall it's a solid performer.
One question about Elemental Equilibrium - I've been using Herald of Ice it seems to interfere with EE when used with Storm Brand (since Storm Brand applies Lightning and Cold, targets get Cold and Lightning resist every tick). Am I missing a mechanic/trusting the UI too much or would Herald of Lightning (or no Herald) be a better option? To be fair you don't mention a Herald in the guide but I did notice one in PoB. Last edited by boho on Dec 18, 2018, 7:51:23 PM
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