3.15 ek headless headhunting occultist SELF CURSE IS NOT DEAD

Introductions
This build is a very unethical speed mapper. By utilizing various mechanics we are able to gain 80 second soul eater infinitely chaining vaal skills as well as just generally making anything with a duration on it last a really really really long time.
How does it work ?
By utilizing the unique zerphi's heart
Spoiler
We are able to gain a buff called soul eater for 20seconds everytime we use a vaal skill(note that the duration of soul eater is not refreshed if you activate another vaal skill during the effect of soul eater). While 20 seconds is impressive , we get to the aforementioned 80second duration with the use of self curse and temporal chains by stacking ALOT of curse effectiveness.
Pros:
+Ridculous headhunter style clear speed
+Headhunter experience but without headhunter price tag
+nice shatter and occultist boom noises
+hipster build
+can use almost any spell or attack as your main skill
+a build with MASSIVE investment potential (the sky's the limit for investments!)

Cons:
-cheap , but still expensive for beginners
-not league start viable as there are many semi-expensive uniques for the build to function
-squishy even with a ridiculous temp chains debuff amount (low ehp)
-low dmg without stacks (for bossing)
-playstyle is definitely NOT for everyone
-approximately a metric ton of not recommended/not runnable map mods

3.15 updates
Spoiler
Well another patch another nerf , the build still remains very much playable but with the mana changes to hextouch affecting reservation cost now we can no longer use blasphemy for a 3rd curse (unless you want to do a mid map curse toggle) unless you have lvl 3+ enlighteneds everywhere. This is also the first league I have remade the character to test out the nerfs and how they feel. I am happy to relay that nothing major has changed though due to how assassin's mark was changed we do now lose alot of crit against trash mobs. on top of the diamond flask nerf that every crit build got. As a result porcupines and single target is now a bit worse than before.

3.14 updates
Spoiler
somehow even though nothing in the development manifesto hinted it , GGG decided to further nerf dark discourse passive node by another 4 % , this is a 16% loss in curse effectiveness. This is recoverable but you will have to spend even more points , making the 91 tree into a 95 or even 96 one. This isn't really an issue aside from the lower ehp you will now get at lower levels. The build still works the same , and will still be fun and playable , just slightly worse than before . (as everything will last a little bit shorter , I don't even know why GGG does these nerfs) edit : DO NOT USE HEADHUNTER with this build anymore , as headhunter can steal the hexproof mod from rares which ruins the self curse portion of this build from being able to extend duration , unfortunately this also applies to inspired learning , if you must splash currency now , get a replica headhunter instead , it does similar things but steals from blue mobs instead which will pretty much mean you see hexproof 3 times less often than on rares , but in general headhunter and related items are no longer a strict upgrade and more of a choice now (do you want more consistency or more bizzare mods)

3.13 updates
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In 3.13 the curse effectiveness clusters has been very slightly nerfed , the medium clusters now give 3% per allocated node instead of 5% , with the current setup you now only reach 193% with the same amount of points,and 205% with 4 extra points ( a 95 tree). Aside from these small nerfs the build realyl hasn't changed a whole lot and I still can recommend it. Though is definitely a consideration to go to a solstice vigil setup now once you get Headhunter or enough inspired learnings. I will try to get round to updating the PoB , but otherwise you can still enjoy the build as it is , still as budget as ever , still as wacky as ever . Aside from that , it has caught my attention that blade vortex is likely probably the most optimal skill to use in 0 stack situations (ie endgame bosses) , with bv you hit much higher damage.

3.12 update
Spoiler
We breezed through the patch notes! remains to be seen whether the new assasin's mark is anywhere close to comparable on bosses. But all in all there are now more curse effectiveness nodes on the tree and temp chains itself also gives us more curse effect with quality. The slight nerf to skittering runes shouldn't matter. However I am yet unsure about how much shuffled node locations will hurt us. TLDR : Damage is likely lower vs single target , but much easier now to cap curse effectiveness.Build definitely survived the patch notes !


Required gear
Spoiler
The centerpiece of the build
how we "self curse"
How we mitigate the action speed slow from temp chains
Needed to reach the 275% increased curse effectiveness cap for temp chains without sacrificing anymore ehp than we are already doing.
On top of all the above we are also use 4 medium cluster jewels with curse effect to get ourselves to 269% curse effectiveness when the entire setup is applied, due to how linking gear works in the poe forums regrettably I can't link my jewels that I use, But know that you will want to have 6 passive cluster jewels with NO jewel sockets , with the dark discourse notable and "added small passive skills also have 25% increased effect" to reach the 269% curse effectiveness. Note that you can get to the cap of 275% but this will require the voices unique large cluster jewel to provide us with enough jewel sockets



Sample Gear
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Slot by Slot explanation
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Weapon
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The Divinarius Dagger is definitely the Star budget option. This dagger here will take you a long way until you find a good rare. Good mods to look for on a rare will be : %physical as extra chaos damage , +1 to the level of all (physical)spell skill gems , spell damage , spell crit chance and multi. Note that if you are using a shield in your offhand your main weapon can be anything one handed and not just a spell dagger(wands are the cheapest to roll).
If you want to use shield charge or just have more survivability in general , look for a rare with the same damage mods as on your mainhand rare and any life or res that you may want. I have not really found any unique budget options for a spell shield.
Helmet
Spoiler
Not too many fancy mods are possible here , the temp chains enchant is almost mandatory , but apart from that just find a nice rare with life , resistances and attributes that you are missing. Best way to get one of these helms is to buy a high item level helmet with just the enchant on it and self craft the stats on the helmet.
Chestpiece
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A rare with life , res and attributes is what i recommend. However a tabula will be find if you are on an uber strict budget. The next upgrade is definitely an explosion chest. Which will definitely be the BiS.
gloves
Spoiler
There is no choice here , shackles is a mandatory piece of the build's core interactions. The only real upgrade you can get would be either a crit chance corruption or assassin's mark on hit allowing you to free up the blasphemy reservation for another curse (only if you have 4 max curses)
Boots
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we are not Jugg so Kaom's root is again mandatory for the build to counteract the temp chains slow.Good corruptions are : any damage mods that are relevant and move speed
Rings
Spoiler
For rings look for rares with life and res . Beware you need a massive amount of attributes to reach the requirements of your gear and gems thanks to zerphi's so i recommend having one designated "attribute bank" ring. Other than that , opal base is BiS for rares for damage . And if you can afford to essentially drop a ring slot , the mark of the shaper/elder + shaper/elder influenced ring are BiS for damage .
Amulet
Spoiler
once again zerphi's is the core item and there are no substitutions for it. The only game changing upgrade for this slot is the "you can apply an additional curse" corruption ,bringing your max number of curses to 4.(awakened curse on hit also gives you +1 max curse combined you can have FIVE curses !)
Belt
Spoiler
The magnate is my recommendation. Is a perfect substitution for headhunter before you get it. And is a huge lifesaver when trying to cover required attributes.Use attribute catalyst if you need even more dex and str. If you somehow managed to cap your attributes without the magnate. A rare leather belt(more hp)or stygian vise(more damage) with the usual life,res , strength is recommended.Otherwise just use the magnate until you can slap on that headhunter.
Flasks
Spoiler
All of the unique flasks are practically BiS,Bottled faith can be used but is definitely not necessary and way too expensive , the only real slot you can switch out is the bismuth flask,I would recommend sin's rebirth or wise oak if you do.
Jewels
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Once again I apologize for not linking the jewels as unlike the rest of the gear I can't link jewels equipped in the passive tree.So instead have this wall of text

Cluster jewels
The idea here is to have 2 large cluster Jewels linked with 2 medium cluster jewels each. The actual stats on the large cluster jewels are not really relevant, just look for any with 8 added passives and 2 jewel sockets. For the medium cluster Jewels look for 6 passive 5% increased curse effectiveness bases. The mods you want are dark discourse and "added small passive skills also have 25%/35% increased effect"(note due to rounding down maths in poe getting 35% effect is no different to 25%). I STRONGLY recommend self crafting these jewels as they are very niche and probably very expensive/hard to buy/find.Any secondary mods like extra attributes , ele res , life etc are also nice but not necessary.

Other Jewels
I use an ek threshold jewel as ek is the skill I decided to use,but rares with life , appropiate damage mods , missing res , missing attributes.
Apart from threshold jewels I am also using the conqueror's potency jewel to boost curse effectiveness by 4% , is not mandatory but is a nice increase to have . The closer to 275% the better.
I am also using the unique jewel inspired learning to get my fill of mini hh action. This is very point intensive and not necessary but is very fun.

IMPORTANT!:
In order to counteract corrupting blood get the corruption "you cannot be inflicted with corrupting blood" on one of your jewels.In addition silence is a huge issue due to how the build works , so cannot be cursed with silence is also a good jewel corruption to look for.



Gems and links
Spoiler

6Lchest-insert your damage skill setup.

example for ek : ek - pierce - crit strikes - crit damage - added chaos damage - spell echo

3L - Vaal clarity
- increased duration - free slot
note that if you are a spell build vaal clarity is realistically the only way to sustain mana during soul eater (due to massive cast speed increases) , as such you NEED vaal clarity to have a base duration of 20+ seconds to have mana for the entire soul eater buff duration.bonus points for it being exactly 20 seconds long which will give you a good indicator of how long soul eater lasts.

3L
- Assasin's mark- free slot - golem or gem levelling slot
not much to say really , since the mark curse/hex changes you can't really automate them anymore , so press the mark whenever you feel like it manually to get some free power charges and extra damage.

4L move skill (please for the love of all that's unholy might , use something with 0 cd and scales with atk or cast spd)

example shield charge setup - shield charge - faster attacks - fortify - maim

4L CoH
- Herald of thunder- Herald of Ice - Hextouch - temporal chains
Note that Herald of Ice is not mandatory but is really nice for shatters.
If your selected skill can't really make use of Herald of thunder , make sure to have the curse on hit setup on your movement skill instead. Though I would highly recommend using Herald of Thunder as it automates the curse on hit process and makes gameplay much smoother.


Bandits and ascendancy
Spoiler
Bandits-kill all
ascendancy- occultist : profane bloom - malediction - Void beacon - forbidden power (yes in this order before anyone asks)


Dealing with certain mods
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I didn't actually think this part was going to be necessary , but following some users dming in game about it , I thought to include a little something extra.

Corrupting blood:
This is a type of bleed debuff that is usually far more dangerous than normal bleeding hits , most common within bloodline magic packs (tho not exclusively limited to). As such is it definitely necessary to have an unbleed flask to remove/ become immune to this dot/debuff.
This can be rolled on any of your non-unique flasks. Alternatively , a more expensive but ultimately better version of dealing with this problem is to get a jewel with the corrupted implicit "cannot be afflicted by corrupting blood" . Keep in mind that this is often very expensive and rare to buy on trade. So I recommend simply buying Jewels that you use in bulk and vaaling all of them to get this.

Many guides such as mine, will have PoB links, which is usually a thing that semi-experienced to vetaran players will skip straight to as really the PoB gives you most of the necessary information about the build. However the PoB I linked is not my character game ,but rather a very budget setup during the early concept stages of the build. So as such , certain things like unbleeding flasks , unique choices , jewel choices etc will not be accurate to the build. Please use the details from this actual forum guide until I update the PoB link to a more updated version of the build.



Notes for playstyle/How to play

1. Kill a few packs and get your vaal skill ready
2. activate vaal skill (which triggers soul eater)
3.Kill many things get many stacks
4.????????
5. enjoy the madness
6.slowly and sadly pickup your loot as you watch your funtime duration drain away.
7. contemplate life without this build
8.crippling mapping addiction.
9.nerfed by poe.
10.revive the build
11. kicked by poe servers for performing too many actions
12. kicked by poe servers for being too op
13. Become a sexy rock climber youtube man that plays video games very well.


Actually important notes:
MAKE SURE TO NOT CLICK VAAL SKILLS OFF COOLDOWN. While soul eater is active it will NOT refresh the duration by using vaal skills. Only use vaal skills when you are sure your soul eater is gone to ensure minimum downtime. Also using multiple vaal skills share the souls gained. Is not a huge issue but something note worthy if you decide to use something like vaal grace or haste.



Many Links
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POB( you may need to manually reselect the cluster jewels and allocate the points. Damage numbers are for standard bosses and simulation of 100 soul eater stacks.):https://pastebin.com/7iEsETN0

gameplay
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fan video (not me) of beach map clear :https://youtu.be/tBzA7NbWADE

gameplay 3.15
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https://youtu.be/jW_S6hU-ztA

YT
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZpTk4ByBUYged7wH7CHN7Q

Twitch
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https://www.twitch.tv/soraneptune






Last edited by yugimoto177 on Aug 11, 2021, 7:48:07 AM
Last bumped on Oct 9, 2020, 2:04:28 PM
first to comment, fun build, if you havent got the monies to get
HH this is the build, build mine around 450c and have just about as much fun with the HH lamo
Last edited by y562565 on Jul 19, 2020, 5:09:14 AM
What skill setup do you recommend for leveling?
Last edited by deklan006 on Sep 24, 2020, 11:10:36 AM
Wanna try this, can u update the tree to 3.12?
I have the char built now, check my profile for a reference to use :)
The tree on profiles are still not up to date with the ingame equivalent, so an update to the POB would be amazing!

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