[3.6] Immune and Tanky: CI Soulrend/Bane Occultist [Starter, Cheap, End-Game Viable, SSF, HC]

"

GrunkleBob wrote:

WOW!!! Thanks!
My build is self built itself, I am very happy with it as well.
I did not know about APEP! THANK YOU!!!
It is perfect and I have been looking for bleed immunity!
With the ES leech, I am on fire most of the map and just laughing from ignite, but 20 bleed stacks will wipe me out... well NOT anymore!
LOL that is beautiful, thank you!
I also have dream fragments, it is one of the most OP low level items in the game!
I actually put bleed remove on my mana flask because it gives me 6 uses vs hard boss. Now I can put shock there.
Immune to chaos, freeze, chill, maim, stun, and soon bleed!
Now I just need shock, and I am getting "Silenced" too lately, but I can usually escape that.
Yes, I expect a soulrend nerf, the leech is just crazy.
Now I just need red maps to start dropping...
Got lucky with a 10.5ex jewel sale and bought a 750es chest with 3bl3wh link for 10.1kes now! My shield has nothing I won't miss so that APEP is makin me drool!
Thanks again!

One last thing, I wouldn't sell single target as bad, it's just not the fastest... but that's the price for damage over time. It's really getting easier to say "Just don't get hit". They all die, eventually :)

Glad I was of help :)
The leech is kind of meh IMO tho because most of your damage (93% judging by my current calculation) comes from the dot, not the actual hit damage, and you only leech that. That is why the recharge of ES is so important in this build, since leech is just very impractical.

And yeah, the damage really not bad at all, but it's just not as good as other builds, although pretty insane considering how much basic gear costs.

"

moonias wrote:

"

Slower Projectiles is basically useless as it only scales up the hit damage, but not the DOT damage, and that is the damage you're trying to scale.

Have you tried it on single target like bosses that don't die in one shot?

Soulrend duration is really low, 0.4s base. So slower projectile might mean it can actually hit twice per 1 cast, effectively doubling your damage per cast of Soulrend.

I am also curious why Unleash and not Void manipulation? I have played on my ED/Contagion Occultist with Soulrend (not too much because I don't have enough mana to cast it repeadatly), and I had no trouble one shotting every monster so unleash actually didn't feel needed at all, just a single cast with GMP.

I would suggest trying Soulrend > Controlled Destruction > Efficacy > Swift Affliction > Void Manipulation > GMP/Empower(3 or 4).

I believe spell damage of soulrend (of most spells) scales a ton more than support gems the higher level you get it. So by getting a 21/20 Soulrend, you probably benefit more from Empower (3/4) than from another support gem (except controlled destruction). Easy to check in Path of Building.

Thanks for the guide!

Yeah you have to re-apply the DOT for bosses/tough rares. I mean I can't tell exactly how the mechanic works with slower projectiles, I guess I'll have to test the exact numbers in a comparable enviornment (AKA I'll hire a mate to a pvp duel and count some numbers lol), but it seems to me that would be dependant on the range the mob stands to you, e.g. this probably would not do anything if you stand directly next to a mob, which you often do. I can't confirm, but Unleash just feels way better at clearing because I assume it actuallys stacks the DOT per cast (aka. x2.something with Unleash).

On the Empower I could not find a single combo that is better (number-wise) than the one I have (expect VM instead of Unleash because Unleash has no multiplier per se). It starts to get better once you get a corruption implicit on your chest, mainly the +1 to socketed Gems. You can check the new PoB, the "Perfection" set has it's own link, together with the perfect gear doubling the DPS of the default set with decent items.

Also, UPDATE: added different trees and tiers of gear sets to PoB:
https://pastebin.com/t1ThzP9G

"

Tarekis wrote:

Glad I was of help :)
The leech is kind of meh IMO tho because most of your damage (93% judging by my current calculation) comes from the dot, not the actual hit damage, and you only leech that. That is why the recharge of ES is so important in this build, since leech is just very impractical.

And yeah, the damage really not bad at all, but it's just not as good as other builds, although pretty insane considering how much basic gear costs.

I am rarely low enough on ES to see the recharge ;) but when it happens it is near instant! My leech is constant, I put leech gem in soulrend and ED totem!
I just want to live long enough to see you die, and half the time because they are slowed, I never see them die, I just see the achievement pop up! LOL LOVIN IT! Also remember the hit damage is 10-20k, so 2-6%x3-6 cats per second is a lot. When Uber Izaro died, I had to go look for his body! Weeeeeeee

That shield.... WOW... it's a dream come true!
RUNNING with 20 bleed stacks ROFLMFAO!!!!

Thanks sooo much for this, it was one of my main death problems, now I have shock on my mana potion and these monsters are doomed...

UPDATE: PoB: Fixed crafted gloves because they were impossible, added wand with better Synth implicit. (https://pastebin.com/HNSbfnjP)

"

GrunkleBob wrote:

"

Tarekis wrote:

Glad I was of help :)
The leech is kind of meh IMO tho because most of your damage (93% judging by my current calculation) comes from the dot, not the actual hit damage, and you only leech that. That is why the recharge of ES is so important in this build, since leech is just very impractical.

And yeah, the damage really not bad at all, but it's just not as good as other builds, although pretty insane considering how much basic gear costs.

I am rarely low enough on ES to see the recharge ;) but when it happens it is near instant! My leech is constant, I put leech gem in soulrend and ED totem!
I just want to live long enough to see you die, and half the time because they are slowed, I never see them die, I just see the achievement pop up! LOL LOVIN IT! Also remember the hit damage is 10-20k, so 2-6%x3-6 cats per second is a lot. When Uber Izaro died, I had to go look for his body! Weeeeeeee

That shield.... WOW... it's a dream come true!
RUNNING with 20 bleed stacks ROFLMFAO!!!!

Thanks sooo much for this, it was one of my main death problems, now I have shock on my mana potion and these monsters are doomed...

LOL, I can see you are enjoying your shield, cheers!

Oh well if you're running ES Leech in your link that explains that, but it's gonna cut down your damage. Playing with Recharge is more than enough considering the Ascendancy, Apep's and Watcher's Eye, but the Build has additional Regen and Leech from Soulrend and the Tree anyways, it's just a little on the side, which helps, but nothing beats Recharge with Occultist.

So I just abused my good friend Ben as a target dummy to compare damage per cast, so I got a pretty definite update to this.

"

moonias wrote:

Have you tried it on single target like bosses that don't die in one shot?

Soulrend duration is really low, 0.4s base. So slower projectile might mean it can actually hit twice per 1 cast, effectively doubling your damage per cast of Soulrend.

Yeah, as you suggested, this works. However, this only worked for one of three casts, depending from where I casted, I took a 1/0 gem tho, might work smoother with a 21/20 as it will travel even slower. Personally I wouldn't switch that in tho, those projectiles will be slower than walking speed, which feels extremely akward.

"

moonias wrote:

I am also curious why Unleash and not Void manipulation? I have played on my ED/Contagion Occultist with Soulrend (not too much because I don't have enough mana to cast it repeadatly), and I had no trouble one shotting every monster so unleash actually didn't feel needed at all, just a single cast with GMP.

And as I have previously suggested, Soulrend (if charged up obviously, as it will add no benefit if you perma-cast it) DOTS are applied per Seal, wich means if you run from area to area and cast charged Soulrends, this will count as casting it trice, you will have 25% less damage (when casting with more than one Seal, on a 21/x Unleash), but considering you will want to move out of some mechanics for bosses and walk to the next pack for trash Unleash is no theoretical, but only a "practical multipler", especially on bosses and beefy T16 maps or similar. If you're actually looking to permacast it, Unleash is a bad link, yes, but considering it effectively tripled my DPS on the "Vinktar Square" I just ran before (because even with 10k ES that Boss is scary, you don't wanna stand around perma-casting), I'd say Unleash has earned it's place in that link.

How to level this?

"

Sillenzedd wrote:

How to level this?

I'm currently rerolling my occultist because i was following a different build that didn't feel great in the passive tree. I think it will level much like other chaos casters, use blight and contagion/ED until you get Bane and Soulrend. Bane is very strong right away, and Soulrend just needs LMP when you get it to feel quite good (GMP being out of reach at that point). Other than that, just follow the PoB and work towards the gem links he recommends.

Some good general leveling items that you might find useful: Tabula Rasa, Goldrim, Wanderlust, Lifesprig, Karui Ward, Lochtonial Caress, Praxis. You can get all of these for under 20 chaos.

Respecced my char into this build and it is going very well. I was messing around in PoB and Witchfire Brew seems to decrease my DoT for some reason and I was just wondering if you knew why.

"

JustinOfDelve wrote:

Respecced my char into this build and it is going very well. I was messing around in PoB and Witchfire Brew seems to decrease my DoT for some reason and I was just wondering if you knew why.

Happy to hear you're enjoying it! Yeah, now that you mention it, I actually remember that it was bugged, no idea why, but makes no sense, yeah... I just might report that to the developer(s) of PoB.

"

Tarekis wrote:

LOL, I can see you are enjoying your shield, cheers!

Oh well if you're running ES Leech in your link that explains that, but it's gonna cut down your damage. Playing with Recharge is more than enough considering the Ascendancy, Apep's and Watcher's Eye, but the Build has additional Regen and Leech from Soulrend and the Tree anyways, it's just a little on the side, which helps, but nothing beats Recharge with Occultist.

Hello, just checking in mostly because there are not a lot of guides for soulrend/bane and you literally saved my life with that shield!
I am lv94.5 and have removed all the leech gems in favor of damage.
When I started playing properly with the right supports, SR went from 141k to 406kDPS, I can live with that!
You are very right, the 30 stacks of ES recharge are amazing and I have at least 10 stacks the entire map.
Also the leech from 5 cats going down a hallway makes you pretty much immortal with phase run.
I'm just having trouble getting maps and delving, and to my own amazement, I MISS the syndicate! As CI they really aren't a problem, outside the lag, and that is getting MUCH better.
No gameplay complaints, this is my favorite build ever and I haven't even thought of rolling something else!
Just doing content as I find it, I'm into the nexus more, but it's soooo boring and the decay... sigh.
Thanks for taking the time to share this build, it's a blast!

"

GrunkleBob wrote:

"

Tarekis wrote:

LOL, I can see you are enjoying your shield, cheers!

Oh well if you're running ES Leech in your link that explains that, but it's gonna cut down your damage. Playing with Recharge is more than enough considering the Ascendancy, Apep's and Watcher's Eye, but the Build has additional Regen and Leech from Soulrend and the Tree anyways, it's just a little on the side, which helps, but nothing beats Recharge with Occultist.

Hello, just checking in mostly because there are not a lot of guides for soulrend/bane and you literally saved my life with that shield!
I am lv94.5 and have removed all the leech gems in favor of damage.
When I started playing properly with the right supports, SR went from 141k to 406kDPS, I can live with that!
You are very right, the 30 stacks of ES recharge are amazing and I have at least 10 stacks the entire map.
Also the leech from 5 cats going down a hallway makes you pretty much immortal with phase run.
I'm just having trouble getting maps and delving, and to my own amazement, I MISS the syndicate! As CI they really aren't a problem, outside the lag, and that is getting MUCH better.
No gameplay complaints, this is my favorite build ever and I haven't even thought of rolling something else!
Just doing content as I find it, I'm into the nexus more, but it's soooo boring and the decay... sigh.
Thanks for taking the time to share this build, it's a blast!

Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoy the build so much! :)