3.6 CI Occultist Vortex Starter/Endgame Build Guide | Tanky | Budget | All Content +Video

Hello, I'm Durnz and this is my Vortex build that I created on Betrayal League v3.5. This build is capable of to do all content with a very cheap gear and there are options for upgrades. I killed all end game bosses with a low budget gear. The build is very strong. I got surprised on how strong it is.

ps: Didn't update anything in this guide. Still the same of Betrayal League, untouched and very strong.



Pro's & Con's

+ Cheap
+ Good map clear
+ Tanky
+ Immune to Stun, Chill and Freeze
+ Can do most of map mods (only expcetion is No Life/ES Regen and Elemental Reflect mods)

- Using Flame Dash is not the best movement skill but the Quicksilver Flask helps on that.
- Some endgame items can be more expensive cause Cold Damage Over time builds are a bit hyped.
- Less recovery rate map mod is not so good.

Gear
Spoiler

Cheap Gear


Endgame Gear


High ES Vaal Regalia 6 links


Crafted Belt (Stygian or Crystal Belt) with Dense + Frigid Fossils. The best belt should have Increased #% Energy Shield From Body Armour and #% Increased Cold Damage but the mod from Dense Fossil is the best and more important.


The best weapon is an Opal Scepter with Tier 1 (38%) Cold Damage Over Time Multiplier and multimod it with Increased Over Time Damage + Increased Spell Damage + Cast Speed + Increased Cold Damage.


High ES Shield + Spell Damage or Increased Cold Damage and resists.


Shaper Amulet with #% to Cold Damage Over Time Multiplier + Flat Energy shield with open Prefix for #% Increased Maximum Energy Shield. Level 22 Discipline is a plus.

Flasks I recommend for mapping:


Jewels

Unique Jewels

#% Faster Start of Energy Shield Recharge while affected by Discipline
or + #% Cold Damage over time Multiplier while affected by Malevolence

Stats you should look for in a Rare jewel
#% to Cold Damage Over Time Multiplier
#% Faster Start of Energy Shield Recharge
#% Increased Maximum Energy Shield
#% Increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate
#% Increased Cold Damage
#% Increased Spell Damage
#% Increased Area Damage


Skill Gems
Spoiler

WEAPON: Frost Bomb + Vaal Righteous Fire + Increased Duration

BODY ARMOUR: Vortex + Efficacy + Controlled Destruction + Elemental Focus + Hypothermia + Swift Affliction

BOOTS: Cast When Damage Taken + Storm Brand + Increased Critical Strikes Support + Frostbite or Enfeeble
Storm Brand level 8. CWDT level 1 Increased Critical Strike level 20 and Enfeeble/Frostbite level 5.

HELMET: Vaal Cold Snap + Efficacy + Bonechill Support + Controlled Destruction

GLOVES: Malevolence Aura + Clarity + Enlighten + Discipline

SHIELD: Flame Dash + Faster Casting + Arcane Surge(Level 7)

Passive Tree
Spoiler







Ascendancy, Enchantments, Bandits & Pantheon
Spoiler

Ascendancy Points
1. Wicked Ward
2. Vile Bastion
3. Void Beacon
4. Frigid Wake

Enchantments:
Helmet: Vortex Increased Damage or Increased Cooldown Recovery Speed or Vortex Increased Duration or reduced Discipline Mana Reservation
Boots: Regenerate 2% of Life and Mana per second if you were Hit Recently

Bandits: Kill all.

Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of Arakaali.
Minor God: Soul of Abberath

Pastebin
Spoiler
https://pastebin.com/9xvYNGXn

In this pastebin there are the leveling trees and variations for the gear.
Check the section left down corner to choose what tree you want to see as shown in the image below.


For the gear you can choose in the Items Tab and select which gear you would like to see.



Leveling
Spoiler

The leveling of this build can be a bit complicated because you gotta start using life then you'll be Hybrid (Life + ES) and finally you'll get CI (Chaos Inoculation).
For those who doesn't know how the transition from Life to ES/CI works, that's happening between 60 to 90 points passive trees. For that transition you should get a ES based gear and some respec points. Then you start to remove the points you don't need and put them in the points shown on 90 points tree. Try to get around 4~5k ES using your ES gear before respec and don't forget about your resists. resist cap (75%). Now you should be ready to get CI.

If you like to start using the build skills as soon as possible you can start using Freezing Pulse + Arcane Surge and Added Cold Damage (a bit later) until level 12 and then you can use Arctic Breath (That will not be used at the end but you can use that just for now to see how Cold Damage over Time works). Level 16 you can use Cold Snap (Buy the Vaal Cold Snap).

In the act 2 you can get Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice if you're confortable with 50% of mana reservation.
For the Cold Snap and Arctic Breath you'll get Controlled Destruction and Elemental Focus. If you have a tabula you can use both skills on it and link Concentrated Effect, Added Cold Damage or Faster Casting

In the act 3, at level 28 you'll get Vortex and replace Arctic Breath. You will also get Hypothermia, Efficacy and Swift Affliction.
If you're using 4 links at this point you should use:
1. Vortex + Efficacy + Controlled Destruction + Elemental Focus or Hyporthermia.
The gem you didn't use above (Elemental Focus or Hypothermia) will be your 5th link and Swift Affliction is your 6th link on Vortex.
2. Cold Snap + Efficacy + Controlled Destructiont or Hypothermia.
In the act 4 you'll swap Controlled Destruction for Bonechill.

After that just go through the acts and follow the gem setups shown in the Skill Gems section.


Additional Info - Gear, Gems and Tree Options
Spoiler

One of the problems you may have is about the Mana Sustain. If you're using a Shaper Amulet with 22 Discipline then you can use Clarity Aura on gloves instead Discipline but thats not enough for the sustain. You'll need some Mana Regeneration in your Rings or Shield (something like 50% should be enough).
In case you don't have a Shaper Amulet with 22 Discipline on it you should use Clarity (level 10) instead Culling Strike in your Cast When Damage Taken setup or you can use an Unset Ring with a blue socket and use clarity on it.

About the Helmet, Rime Gaze is the best for damage but If you're looking for something "better" or similar thinking on damage you can get a Rare crafted using Fossils. And for that you should use Frigid + Dense and try to get High ES and Nearby Enemies have -9% to Cold Resistance. With that you would lose some damage but wouldn't have 50% reduced Energy Shield Recharge Rate what is pretty good and probably gain some Energy Shield. By the way, if you get a Helmet like this, you can craft gloves using Essence of Delirium trygin to get some ES and an open prefix for crafting +1 to AoE gems and use Cold Snap on that.

This is the helmet I'm using

Another option to boost your DPS is picking Elemental Equilibrium and self casting Storm Brand or Orb of Storms. I think the best option for that is by using Malachai's Artifice and socketing Storm Brand or Orb of Storms on it. I'm not pretty sure if picking Elemental Equilibrium on passive tree works as good as on ring but seems like it does.

ES Leech is useless for this build. DoT can't Leech!

Videos
Spoiler

Uber Elder Kill - Low Gear
https://youtu.be/IOhWbLtvGT4
Pastebin of the gear used in this kill: https://pastebin.com/chn6jfdt

Uber Elder Kill - Endgame Gear
https://youtu.be/UNwkC-IoEUM
Pastebin of the gear used in this kill: https://pastebin.com/zvu4fv2h


Character Info - in hideout
Spoiler

Stats



Vortex info





Other guides I've created: 3.5 Saboteur LS/Arc Trap - Starter/Endgame Build Guide | Tanky | Budget | 2~3M+ DPS +VIDEOS

If you have any question about the guide you can find me on www.twitch.tv/durnnz or just ask me here and I'll respond as soon as I can.
Last edited by Durnz on Mar 20, 2019, 7:25:06 PM
Last bumped on Jun 30, 2019, 9:04:43 PM
For those who plays in console


Last edited by Durnz on Mar 31, 2019, 8:45:27 AM
Great, I know what to try next.

Any leveling tips? how soon can we start using cold snap or do we level with arc until we get vortex at level 28?

Thanks again for the effort you put in creating these guides.


"
theeze wrote:
Great, I know what to try next.

Any leveling tips? how soon can we start using cold snap or do we level with arc until we get vortex at level 28?

Thanks again for the effort you put in creating these guides.




Well I gotta think in this part a little.. I don't know very good way on leveling this build. I just like to do the leveling using skill I'll use in the future but thats up to you of course. But I'll add this part in to the guide soon.

And yes, leveling with arc is not bad. I think you can use Freezing Pulse or Cold Snap/Arctic Breath and Vortex at 28.
Something seems wrong with your pastebin. There is no equipment selected, only the skill tree and the skills. I boggled for a moment at seeing 3k ES and 1HP :D
How do you sustain mana?
How about The pandemonius? I think it pretty good to boost both damage and defend with cold damage, cold pen and blind the enemy
"
Aleoddio wrote:
How do you sustain mana?


If you do like me then you can get an amulet with discipline and put clarity on gloves or on boots instead using Culling Strike. I've used an unset ring for some time it is also an option. But you'll need an item with at least 50% mana regeneration for the sustain. I have like.. 100 mana but thats enough with the high regen.

I fell like should've explain that in the guide now. Noted
"
darkside1231 wrote:
How about The pandemonius? I think it pretty good to boost both damage and defend with cold damage, cold pen and blind the enemy


Yea.. not bad. Probably a good option. Gotta simulate this against a shaper amulet with Cold Multiplier. And a shaper amulet give you some good ES. Idk.. MAybe for damage can be a bit better but not sure but its interesting
"
CedricDur wrote:
Something seems wrong with your pastebin. There is no equipment selected, only the skill tree and the skills. I boggled for a moment at seeing 3k ES and 1HP :D


Yea.. I had so much to do in this guide that I didn't put the gear on it. I'll add that soon and update the pastebin. I thought that with the gear section in the guide I wouldn't need to put the gear on pastebin but I just realized that is good to see the damage, ES, etc.. Sorry

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