[3.15] Elemental Hit Ballista Totem Hiero | Budget Friendly | League Start to Endgame

"
(12th Aug 2022)

Hey There!

Thanks for taking a look in here. Even if you don't mind outdated guides, the core item of this build, Frostferno, is no longer dropping from 3.19 onwards so Please DON'T follow this guide unless you somehow has access to the item like in Standard but seriously, why follow an outdated guide when there are updated and better ones(Other Builds) around?

Will anything happen to the guide?

I am leaving the guide as is and not deleting it as maybe I might have use for it in the future.


Thank you Message

Thank you everyone who has given your support to this build/guide in the past! Special Huge Thanks to Ahewaz, bartpio, Beverice, lolshie, kikeuy, crimsonraziel9, D3m0n0, Vague_Density, kharadas, SweetCurry for your big contributions. I apologize if I missed anyone's name. There are a lot who helped in one way or another for this guide and even if your name is not mentioned, I am thankful for your contribution and you have my deepest gratitude.

Good Luck and Have Fun Everyone! :)





Hi there!

Welcome to my take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide!

A short history on how this guide came about:

"
This build was originally created by Lunasicc187 (Link) during 3.4 Delve. As time passes, updates became lesser and lesser. During 3.9, I decided to write a small supplementary update post for the build in the same thread (Link) as I really love the build. It slowly grew into a guide spanning 2+ Posts and had 60+ pages of discussion. After some consideration, I decided to post a new thread to consolidate the guide plus increase its visibility and here it is.

Thank you for dropping by and I hope this build will serve you well if you decide to try it out. :)


If this is your First Time Here, please proceed to 01. Introduction below and continue from there. Otherwise you can check out Announcements/Updates below for new info added since your last visit.



[3.15] Initial Thoughts/Comments
(Last Update: 23rd July 2021)

Please refer to my detailed thoughts at this post:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581/page/1#p23724378



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** Announcements/Updates **(Refer to this if you are returning to check for updates)
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Announcements (Last Update: 29th Aug 2021)

Pinned Announcements
(29th Aug 2021)(Updated Announcement)
(15th Feb 2021) kikeuy shared some amazing research results of a crafted helm that is basically a +4 Frostferno by default when crafted. That means, with the correct Double Implicit Corrupt it's like a +8 Frostferno! You can read about it here but refer to the next paragraph below for the updated crafting process. Thanks to kikeuy for sharing! :)

(29th Aug 2021) Update: Vague_Density wrote an insanely detailed (PogChamp!) guide on crafting the Helm in 3.15. Check out his post here if you are planning to craft one. Thank you so much Vague_Density!

(5th Apr 2021) *This is done during 3.13 Ritual League
HUGE Congrats to Ahewaz who attained Delve Depth 1000 with this build!! I have never thought that would be possible with this build since this is not a deep delving build but he showed that it could be done! (Note that he is using very top end min-max gear)

For those who don't know who Ahewaz is, basically, without Ahewaz, there will be no videos in this guide. Yup, he provided all the videos(Nice 1440p quality ones btw!) here :) Obviously as a video creator, he definitely recorded a video for his Depth 1000 run.

Check out his final journey to 1000 here :)

(24th Jan 2021)
Hi guys, just in case you are not aware, if you have "What should I upgrade" Question, you can refer to 26. Item Upgrade Priority to find out what is the next step to upgrading your equipment. Just follow the checklist from top to bottom.



Announcements
(26th July 2021)
riverstomp posted his experience with this build/guide in Expedition so far which I think is a very good reference for players considering whether to play this build since there's so much nerfs/changes in 3.15. Check out his post here to get an idea how things are going for the build :)

(22nd July 2021)
I am working on both testing and guide updates. The best way to track the status(Of each Section) is to refer to the version in the Parenthesis e.g. (3.14) besides every Section Title, once the section is updated, I will change it to (3.15)

My current guide update plan is in this Order:

1)*Update Done* Leveling Guide(Section 9)(Will finish before League Launch)
2)*Update Done* Pastebin in Section 7(Will finish before League Launch)
3)*Update Done* Main Content of guide, Section 1 to 11(Will finish before League Launch)
4)*Update Done* The rest of the guide(After League Launch)

Appreciate your patience as I work on it.

(21st July 2021)
My comments for the 3.15 Patch Notes is up in the Initial Thoughts/Comments Section. Check it out here.

(20th July 2021)
Balance Manifesto is out and I wrote my TLDR comments on it for this build here. *The detailed version has been merged with 21st July 2021 - Patch Note Comments/Summary in the Initial Thoughts/Comments Section.

(19th July 2021)
For those who are wondering why I didn't wrote anything about Focused Ballista Support in my Initial Thoughts/Comments section, basically I think the Gem is not relevant to our build. Though I posted my thoughts on it in response to a question asked and if anyone is interested, you can check out my thoughts on it here.

(16th July 2021)
Base on the 3.15 Announcement yesterday, it seems like there will be a lot of changes which needs to be tested after league launches. This would mean I will not be able to do much update during the time after Prepatch Notes is out but before League Start. It will probably also take quite sometime to update this guide. Just thought its good to give everyone a heads up first regarding this.

(14th July 2021)
Ahewaz did an Act 1 to Act 10 leveling video with his own way of leveling this build. It's not some 3 hour insane speed leveling video but a very decent 6.75 hours one(With 3 Labs done, Excludes Act 9 Blood Aqueduct Farming). Definitely much much faster than my personal speed leveling record of... *Ahem* 4 days. ;)

If you don't need to speed level to maps in Formula One Style and want to take a look at some video demo of the leveling process, you can check out his video here.

(10th July 2021)
As 3.15 draws nearer, just to let everyone know that I will be keeping a lookout for things revealed in 3.15 that's relevant to this build, and comment on them in the Initial Thoughts/Comments section, similar to what I have been doing for this build in the past.

Updating the guide will be after patch notes are out and should be able to be finished before league start Unless it requires a major overhaul or there are some big changes to the build.

Let's see what 3.15 offers this build. Hope we get some juicy buffs/toys! ;) less nerfs..

Older Announcements



Update History (Last Update: 12th Aug 2021)

(12th Aug 2021)
- Added additional comments on "Non-Channelling Skills have -X to Total Mana Cost" under Boots in 5.1 Gem Setup

(6th Aug 2021)
- Added a note beside Summon Skitterbot in 5.1 Gem Setup to have its Level at 14 if going for Xoph's Blood as the amulet of Choice and don't have other sources of Int
- Added a note under Gloves in 11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details highlighting that we can use Harvest to change the Resist on the Gloves, which will change the Puhuarte type (Thanks Beverice for the secret tip ;))
- Added some additional comments for each Amulet Option in 11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details
- Added some comments to clarify that Savagery is used for Amulet DPS calculation and we should go for what makes sense for us instead of taking it in the Amulets section under 22. Equipment/Notable Rankings by DPS
- Added Flat Accuracy as one of the affix to look for on Quiver in 11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details

(1st Aug 2021)
- Added a "Budget 7% Increased Critical Strike Chance" Option for Quill Rain under 11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details
- Renamed 26. Upgrade Reference List to 26. Item Upgrade Priority

(31st July 2021)
- Added "Enlighten Support(Level 3)" and lowered the priority of "+2 Skill Amulet or Xoph's Blood" in the Medium Priority Section of 26. Item Upgrade Priority
- Removed the Flammability Curse Setup in 5.1 Gem Setup We need all the DPS we can get after the 3.15 nerfs so Sniper's Mark is the way to go.
- Added some Flat Accuracy Numbers(500-700) to aim for in 21. Stats in order of DPS boost and Top Priority Subsection of 26. Item Upgrade Priority

(30th July 2021)
- Added 3 new questions, "Can I switch from Holy Flame Totems to Elemental Hit earlier if I have the the required items already?", "Please tell me how Combat Focus's Threshold Requirement works", "Why don't I have enough Mana to reserve my Auras?" to A. FAQ
- Added an additional DPS option, "Going for Divine Judgement and Divine Fury Notable" under 9.1.1(Optional) Additional DPS Options
- Section 21 to 26 Updated for 3.15

(28th July 2021)
- Updated the Preview Picture on 07. Passive Tree Preview and POB Pastebin and 08. Passive Tree Progression also edited some of the info/description below the picture. Special Thanks to D3m0n0 for adding the Nice and Beautiful Numbers in Circles and sharing it!

(24th July 2021)
- Updated the Tabula Rasa Gem Setup on 10.3 Note for Early League Rushers and edited some of the info there. (Sorry I miss this Section in my Initial Update Pass) Also updated "9.3 Buying Skill Gems from Vendor during Leveling" to reflect the changes in the Tabula Rasa Gem Setup.

(23rd July 2021)
- Added some additional comments to "21st July 2021 - Patch Note Comments/Summary" in the 3.15 Initial Thoughts/Comments Section.
- Main Content of guide, Section 1 to 11 Updated for 3.15

(22nd July 2021)
- 09. Leveling Guide and 07. Passive Tree Preview + POB Pastebin Updated for 3.15

(21st July 2021)
- Added "21st July 2021 - Patch Note Comments/Summary" to 3.15 Initial Thoughts/Comments Section.

(16th July 2021)
- Removed the "Not Your 1 Second Boss Kill Gif.." Intro at the top of the page for now. I think it's better this way to avoid what might possibly give the wrong expectations with the upcoming 3.15 Skill Nerfs Balances, just in case.

(14th July 2021)
- Added 1 new video, Act 1 to Act 10 Leveling from Ahewaz to the Videos Section.

Older Updates

(24th Apr 2021)
- Updated the Amulet DPS Rankings under 22. Equipment Rankings by DPS, rechecked DPS numbers plus added new ones base on the new 20% Unstable Catalyst and also factoring in Culling Strike on Marylene's Fallacy
- Added "+2 skill(Dex + Fire) Amulet with High Tier Crit Multiplier" to the "Low Priority" Subsection in 26. Item Upgrade Priority
- Added a new question, "Does Cinderswallow Urn's "Enemies Ignited by you during Flask Effect take 10% increased Damage" works for us?" to A. FAQ

(20th Apr 2021)
- Added 2 Note to "10.3 Note for Early League Rushers" suggesting 6 and 5 Link Body Armour as possible alternatives. Thanks to Bartpio's post on 6L Rare Body Armour for the idea.
- Added Lifetap and Pierce Support Gem as alternatives for the 6th Gem in "10.3 Note for Early League Rushers"
- Added 3 new questions, "What can I do to increase my totem's survivability?", "How much pierce should we get on this build?" and "Where can I find some source of Pierce?" to A. FAQ
- Integrated B. Questions into A. FAQ
- Added "Watcher's Eye with Precision/Grace Mods" to the "Medium Priority" Subsection in 26. Item Upgrade Priority

(17th Apr 2021)
- Guide is now fully updated for 3.14
- Added "17th Apr 2021 - Options to go for now that Chainbreaker/Berserk is no longer used" to 3.14 Initial Thoughts/Comments Section.

(16th Apr 2021)
- Added "16th Apr 2021 - Amount of Non-Channelling Skills have -X to Total Mana Cost to get for Hierophant/Ascendant/Raider" to 3.14 Initial Thoughts/Comments Section. (Mostly a copy paste from my post on Page 76 with Hierophant numbers added)

(12th Apr 2021)
- Extracted out "Non Hierophant Ascendancy Mana Needs Plan" into another section by itself and edited around 1/4 of the content(And included some new thoughts) in 3.14 Initial Thoughts/Comments.
- Added 4 new videos, [3.13]Maven's Invitation(The Feared, The Hidden, The Twisted, The Formed) from Ahewaz to the Videos Section.

(10th Apr 2021)
- Added "10th Apr 2021 - Nerf to Non-Channelling Skills have -X to Total Mana Cost" to 3.14 Initial Thoughts/Comments Section.




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** VIDEOS **
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(Last Update: 14th July 2021)

I am personally not familiar with Video Creation and Ahewaz who has been using this build for a long time(Much more earlier than me) was very kind to share(Thank you!) the videos below for the guide. Hope these videos give a good preview of this build's playstyle.


Act 1 to Act 10 Leveling(Ahewaz's Own Style, 3 Labs done, Excludes Act 9 BA Farming)(6hr 45m 46sec) - https://youtu.be/qx0eatT-sq0


3.13 Videos

[3.13] Maven(3m 28sec) - https://youtu.be/5bzohq9rM-w
[3.13] T15 Canyon(100% Delirium, 1x Beyond, AW 9)(17m 13sec) - https://youtu.be/7G_ua12HWeA
[3.13] Aul(Depth 942) + Delve Depth 998 to 1000 run(6m 20sec) - https://youtu.be/sPAAoeKbgU0

[3.13] Oshabi(1m 6sec) - https://youtu.be/wmziD8Drm0o
[3.13] Cortex(4m 8sec) - https://youtu.be/QlO2UTuVB-g
[3.13] Uber Atziri(3m 55sec) - https://youtu.be/Oins_g0CeMw
[3.13] Chayula(80)(2m 14sec) - https://youtu.be/-CTjC7LKrHw

[3.13] Ahuatotli(Depth 1017)(2m 22sec) - https://youtu.be/0nNRPk3fUgs
[3.13] Aul(Depth 657)(2m 29sec) - https://youtu.be/uqH0UOY6Fc0
[3.13] Kurgal(Depth 780)(3m 33sec) - https://youtu.be/SCF7oQP3f40
[3.13] Ahuatotli(Depth 370)(1m 54sec) - https://youtu.be/C70njdXsuyA

[3.13] Maven's Invitation - The Feared(5 Bosses + Invitation)(20m 18sec) - https://youtu.be/LvVOTqoaQhU
[3.13] Maven's Invitation - The Hidden(4 Breachlords + Invitation)(10m 40sec) - https://youtu.be/lI6uccM_BMg
[3.13] Maven's Invitation - The Twisted(4 Elder Guardians + Invitation)(9m 40sec) - https://youtu.be/QLhjbXxGDZE
[3.13] Maven's Invitation - The Formed(4 Shaper Guardians + Invitation)(9m 49sec) - https://youtu.be/-aUk-2r6RlU
[3.13] Maven's Invitation - The Forgotten(4 Synthesis Map + Invitation)(12m 7sec) - https://youtu.be/A4RdoUKI7Kk
[3.13] Heist's 5 Unique Contracts(10m 38sec) - https://youtu.be/1FQzodG318k

*Earlier 3.13 League Videos*
[3.13] Sirus(AW 9)(5m 39sec) - https://youtu.be/QSxChI22vKE
[3.13] Legion 5 Way(6m 10sec) - https://youtu.be/lOa6kio-8uY
[3.13] Simulacrum 20/20(21m 45sec) - https://youtu.be/aE0bZgnrDtY
[3.13] 5 Breachlord(Normal Breachstone)(12m 15sec) - https://youtu.be/0A8JBMV7UQk



3.12 Videos

*Please note that for 3.13, we are only able to place ONE totem each time instead of two. These videos are 3.12 ones that can place 2 totem each time, so please take that into account when viewing the videos.

Note that in the videos below he is using Many Top Tier Gears(Just to set the expectations right, Pastebin below).

[3.12] Sirus(AW 8)(4m 24sec) - https://youtu.be/W_65wFy0Ksk
[3.12] Uber Elder(3m 26sec) - https://youtu.be/vJ8JyVbfOPc
[3.12] The Shaper(7m 11sec) - https://youtu.be/Wt7M91e8Zvw

[3.12] Simulacrum 20/20(21m 38sec) - https://youtu.be/DMyR7ioALB8
[3.12] T16 Tropical Island(100% Delirium, 1x Beyond, AW 8)(15m 39sec) - https://youtu.be/0e4yDf7eD34

[3.12] Mastermind(Lv 83)(4m 18sec) - https://youtu.be/pYvaaZ2IhaQ
[3.12] Uber Atziri(4m 59sec) - https://youtu.be/oMXUCSn3VcE
[3.12] The Elder(2m 22sec) - https://youtu.be/ytv43ZwcEhA

[3.12] Chayula(Lv 80)(2m 14sec) - https://youtu.be/QX2PbStIqk8
[3.12] Kurgal(Depth 200)(2m 42sec) - https://youtu.be/lkmLnHCl2zc
[3.12] Ahuatotli(Depth 189)(2m 0sec) - https://youtu.be/3k22hfUgJ8U

[3.12] Legion 5 Way(With Headhunter)(6m 13sec) - https://youtu.be/SyvLxLxeffU
[3.12] All 4 Bestiary Bosses(6m 11sec) - https://youtu.be/2Lrun4D7e2o
[3.12] All 4 Conquerors(AW 8)(Includes Mapping Part)(7m 49sec) - https://youtu.be/fSy82zJZ86I


POB Pastebin for above videos: https://pastebin.com/2FNxNkdz
Might have slight variation(A Jewel, Flask, etc change) here and there among the various videos.

Ahewaz also replied to someone who asked about his gears in the videos here:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581/page/2#p23727081




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** TABLE OF CONTENT **
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Main Content
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01. Introduction(3.15)
02. Offensive Overview(3.15)
03. Defensive Overview(3.15)
04. Gear Overview(3.15)
05. Gem Setup(3.15)
06. Anointment, Pantheon, Ascendancy, Bandits(3.15)
07. Passive Tree Preview + POB Pastebin(3.15)
08. Passive Tree Progression(3.15)
09. Leveling Guide(Level 1 to 60)(3.15)
10. Budget Equipment Details(To get this build going at Level 60)(3.15)
11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details(3.15)


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Helpful Infos
*************
21. Stats in order of DPS boost(3.15)
22. Equipment/Notable Rankings by DPS(3.15)
23. Ideal Non Cluster Jewels(3.15)
24. Enchantments(3.15)
25. Corruption Tips(3.15)
26. Item Upgrade Priority(3.15)


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Optional Section
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31. "OneShotKill" Edition(Optional Modifications)(3.14)



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Miscellaneous
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A. FAQ
B. Community Contributions
C. Initial Thoughts/Comments for New Leagues






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** Main Content **
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01. Introduction(3.15)
Spoiler

1.1 Goal of this guide
Spoiler
The Main Goal of this guide is to provide a Budget Friendly and Accessible Build that everyone can use and doesn't require one to invest tons of currency into it before it starts working(Handling Red Maps, and Other Endgame content) and this is done through the usage of Frostferno, Quill Rain, 2x Combat Focus, Rain of Splinter and Kaom's Heart(Note: Tabula Rasa or "Random" Affix 6 Link Rare Armour with the right Socket Colour will be used in place of Frostferno for Early League Rushers or when Meta drives pricing crazy).

The other Goal of this guide is to provide a leveling guide that requires minimal investing, minimal/zero Passive Tree respec which allows one to use it at League Start(Not suitable for Rushing to maps in the shortest amount of time) until switching over to the actual build at Level 60.

With the above 2, you have a Complete Budget Friendly Build Guide, that covers you from Level 1 all the way to the end game, just like what is stated in the title:

- Budget Friendly
- League Start to Endgame
1.2 Concept of Build
Spoiler
High Level Elemental Hit

We make use of a very high level Elemental Hit to gives us lots of base elemental damage to be enhanced on further. How we get the high level Elemental Hit is through Frostferno Helm.



As Elemental Hit counts as lightning, fire, cold, projectile and AOE at the same time, Frostferno will grant +4 level to Elemental Hit by itself which means Level 25 Elemental Hit using a Level 21 Elemental Hit Gem. That means it effectively acts like a 6 Link on a 4 Link.

Furthermore, with the correct double corrupted implicit on the helm, we can attain a Level 29 Elemental Hit.(P.S. We can get another 2 more levels from Amulet but that will be for later :) )


Converting Cold and Lightning to Fire

Elemental Hit chooses between Fire, Cold and Lightning Damage each time randomly. Since only 1 element is chosen each time, and there are ways to make Elemental Hit not choose specific Element through Combat Focus


we want to select a specific Element to focus on, in this case Fire, and convert all the unused element's Damage, in this case Cold and Lightning, into Fire. Doing this will give us the highest possible Fire Damage from Elemental Hit.

How we do the conversion above is by taking the Avatar of Fire Keystone, which converts 50% of Elemental Hit's Cold and Lightning Damage into Fire. Another 50%(Which makes a total of 100%) of Cold Damage will be converted to Fire through Frostferno's "Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 30 Cold to Fire".


And there we have it, a very high fire damage source which we will then use it with Ballista Totem to do all the work ;)
1.3 Gameplay Description
Spoiler
Put Totems, lots of them(7 Max) besides us and watch them pewpew the enemy at insane speed(Through Quill Rain) while we dodge the enemy attacks. For tougher enemies and boss fights, we will fire some Frenzy shots their way to curse them. Remember to let him know he makes your Blood Rage! ;)

Now that you have an idea of what this build is about, let's go through the Pros and Cons.
1.4 Pros and Cons
Spoiler

Pros
+ Great Clear Speed - Due to Quill Rain's insane Attack Speed
+ Cheap to get build running - Around 40c on PC Softcore League
+ Can do Most Content - The contents we have issues with are Ele Reflect/No Regen Maps and HOGM
+ Safe Way to Play - Focus on dodging mostly instead of aiming attacks. Also great for learning fights
+ No Cluster Jewel used - Our path in the Passive Tree offers lots of offensive/defensive options for us thus we don't need to go out of our way(Which is the dealbreaker) to get Cluster Jewel Notables. Save those headaches/currency on rolling/buying them.
+ Visual Clarity - No big screen explosions or tons of minions blocking the view, combat scene is very clear and visible, what is happening can be easily seen

Neutral
+/- Decent Boss Killer
+/- Not a "Piano Build", but also not a "1 Button Build"
+/- Totems Playstyle - could be a +/- depending on individual preferences
+/- Your Approach - If you have tons of currency looking into investing into the most uber DPS build, this build is probably not the best option. If you are tight on currency and looking to do all the in game content with as little investment as possible, then this maybe could be the perfect build for you.

Cons
- No leech - Only life regen via Totems which makes us rely on 2-3 Life Flasks
- Requires 5 specific Uniques - So not really for SSF
- Not a Tank type build - Though we do have 5.5k to 6k life on average and a decent amount of Dodge+Evasion but that doesn't let us bypass Endgame Boss's mechanics. We still have to learn their mechanics and play around it.
- Playing an Old Bald Man - That might not be to everyone's liking ;)


If the above sounds good to you... well, except that old bald man part, and you like a chill and relaxing build that don't need 6 Links and/or 20 ex(Just 40c and some DPS Passives invested) to be able to play low tier Red Maps, then perhaps this build might be for you :)
1.5 Essential and Important Items
Spoiler

This build requires 3 Specific Unique Items to begin working as follows:



1. Combat Focus (Crimson) Unique Jewel
2. Combat Focus (Viridian) Unique Jewel
3. Rain of Splinter Unique Jewel

Purpose of the 3 Items

Combat Focus(Crimson + Viridian) - To force Elemental Hit to do only Fire Damage
Rain of Splinter - So that our Totems can fire 3 Projectiles

With these 3 items, we can begin playing the intended build although without the next 2 items below, it doesn't really shine, and here are the 2 items which are very important to the build:



4. Frostferno Unique Helm
5. Quill Rain Unique Bow

Purpose of these 2 Items

Frostferno - To achieve a high level Elemental Hit thus big DPS for us
Quill Rain - For the insane Attack Speed which works well with Ballista Totem

Note: If you are playing standard, make sure Quill Rain shows "30% Less Damage". If it shows "50/40% Less Damage" on the bow, thats a legacy one and those are terrible.
1.6 Getting Started with the Build
Spoiler

I would recommend only to start using the intended build at Level 60 as that is the Level when we can start to equip and use Frostferno plus we will also have the 2 Notable(Panopticon and Watchtowers) from the Passive Tree which gives us 2 more Ballista.

Don't worry, there is a leveling guide section that covers using Holy Flame Totems(HFT) from Level 1 to 60 and no Passive Tree respec is required when switching to Elemental Hit. Note that the Leveling Guide is totally not meant for players looking to rush to maps in as little time as possible but it's a perfect one for casuals.

Holy Flame Totem is very strong in the early levels for leveling because there is an added Fire Damage to Spells(HFT is a spell) vendor recipe for weapons which add tons of Damage(Plus we can use 2 of). All are explained in the leveling guide. This makes leveling very smooth compared to using Elemental Hit before having access to the necessary Items and Notables.
1.7 Using This Guide
Spoiler

Understanding the Build

Please continue reading until "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details" and then jump to the Abyssal Jewel Section at "23. Ideal Non Cluster Jewels". That will provide all the necessary information required to play the build. Please read sequentially and don't skip any parts except where mentioned, if not you might miss important info or do the wrong things.


Additional DPS Options for Close Range playstyle(Mainly for bossing)

The main guide is base on playing the build safely/relaxingly at a distance. Some might prefer more DPS and not mind a less relaxing close up playstyle. For you guys, definitely check out "31. "OneShotKill" Edition" after the above mentioned Sections which explains optional modifications(Some Temporary, Some Permanent) to push the build's DPS further by taking advantage of additional DPS options available from being closer to the enemy.


Remaining Content

The rest of the guide are optional reads though I would highly recommend to check them out later on when you are more familiar with the build, especially "26. Item Upgrade Priority" which is basically a checklist for "What should I upgrade" Questions.


02. Offensive Overview(3.15)
Spoiler

- Up to effective Level 31 Elemental Hit - Level 21 Gem, Double Corrupted Frostferno(+8) and Rare Amulet(+2)
- 3+ arrows per totem (Splinter of Rain + Corruption on Bow + Quiver Corruption/Affix)
- 7 totems - 21+ Arrows
- 3 to 4+ attacks per second which means

A) Up to 84+* double piercing projectiles per sec (Great Area Coverage/Clear)
B) Easily proccing on hit affixes(Taunt + Blind on hit from Abyss Jewel)

*Note that you won't be able to see so many projectiles concurrently as the projectiles will fly off the screen very fast due to Quill Rain's 100% Increased Projectile Speed.

- Enemy always shocked and chilled - Through Summon Skitterbot
- 3 Frenzy Charge - From Frenzy Gem
- 4 Power Charge - From Hiero Ascendancy

03. Defensive Overview(3.15)
Spoiler

- Our Totems Taunt on Hit - Through "Taunt on Hit" on Abyss Jewel, which means we receive 10% less damage as taunted enemies deal 10% less damage to targets that aren't the source of the taunt. Additionally taunted enemies focus aggro on the character that inflicted it for 3 seconds(Note: Shaper, Elder and their guardians doesn't retarget when taunted)
- Our Totems Blind on Hit - Through "Blind on Hit" on Abyss Jewel, this effectively doubles our evasion since blinded enemies has their accuracy halved.
- 65%+ Evasion - From Grace Aura, Equipped Evasion Items and Blinded Enemies
- 45% Dodge - From Acrobatics Keystone(30%) + 3 small Passive(10%) + Lunaris Pantheon(Hit Recently)(5%)
- 35% Spell Dodge - From Phase Acrobatics Keystone(30%) + Lunaris Pantheon(Hit Recently)(5%)
- Vaal Grace - Panic button for additional 34% Dodge + 34% Spell Dodge(Makes us reach 75% Dodge/Spell Dodge Cap)
- Wind Dancer - 20% less damage taken if not hit recently
- 4 Endurance Charges - From Hiero Ascendancy, providing 16% Physical Damage Reduction
- 5.5k+ Health
- Our totems does the work, so we focus on dodging attacks from the enemy

04. Gear Overview(3.15)
Spoiler



*Gem, Socket Color and Links on all except the Helm are not representative of the latest iteration. Please refer to the section listed below for the latest details.

For a detailed breakdown of each of the item, please refer to the following Sections in the guide:

- Gem + Socket Color + Links - 05. Gem Setup
- Base/Abyss Jewels - 23. Ideal Non Cluster Jewels
- Remaining items including Flasks - 10. Budget Equipment Details + 11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details

05. Gem Setup(3.15)
Spoiler
*Gems at a level below their maximum are indicated in parenthesis their level I left them at

5.1 Gem Setup
Spoiler

Helm(4 Linked) -
1) Elemental Hit
2) Ballista Totem Support(Upgrade to Divergent version later)
3) Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
4) Awakened Fire Penetration Support(Alternate Option: Divergent Fire Penetration Support if you hate Porcupines and don't mind a bit lesser DPS :))

- Main DPS Skill Setup



Bow(4 Linked and 2 Separate(Linked or not doesn't matter)) -

4 Linked Gems

2 Options Available as follows:

Option 1 - Automated Casting(Sniper's Mark)

Pros - Automated
Cons - Doesn't work well for situations with many enemies since you only curse 1 enemy. Only ideal to use after we allocated most of the Critical Strike Chance passive in the Passive Tree since this is based on Critical Strike and we have low Critical Strike Chance due to using Marylene's Fallacy.

1) Frenzy
2) Greater Multiple Projectiles Support
3) Sniper's Mark
4) Cast on Critical Strike Support

- Frenzy with Cast on Critical Strike for easy casting of Sniper's Mark and getting Frenzy Charges. Greater Multiple Projectiles makes it easier for Frenzy to hit.


Option 2 - Manual Casting(Sniper's Mark) (This is actually a 2 Link)

Pros - Highest Damage
Cons - 2 More Buttons due to Vaal Haste and Manual Casting of Curse

Linked Gems
1) Frenzy
2) Greater Multiple Projectiles Support

Unlinked Gems
3) Sniper's Mark
4) Vaal Haste

- Frenzy for getting Frenzy Charges. Greater Multiple Projectiles makes it easier for Frenzy to hit.
- Sniper's Mark will be casted manually
- Vaal Haste is used for the Vaal Part only, we don't use the Aura.


Damage comparison for the 2 options(Sirus DPS per Totem)
Option 1 - 557k
Option 2 - 627k



Unlinked Gems
5) Blood Rage
6) Flame Dash(Highest Level your Int can support)(Optional - Upgrade to Anomalous version later)

- Blood Rage for DPS
- Flame Dash for movement



Glove(4 Linked) -
1) Precision (Level 1)
2) Vaal Grace
3) Summon Skitterbot (Level 14 - if we plan to use Xoph's Blood as the Amulet of Choice and don't have other sources of Int(17 more Int required for Level 21) on our gear)
4) Enlighten (Level 3)

- Precision(Level 1) for a small bonus and to utilize the Precision Mods on a Watcher's Eye
- Vaal Grace for defense (For Both its Aura and Vaal part)
- Summon Skitterbot for the Chill and Shock which increases Elemental Hit's DPS
- Enlighten so that we have enough unreserved Mana for Immortal Call triggers(Through Cast When Damage Taken)



Boot(4 Linked) -

A. If you don't have Enlighten Gem on Gloves:

1) Cast When Damage Taken Support (Level 1) (Upgrade to Anomalous version later)
2) Immortal Call (Level 1)
3) Increased Duration Support
4) Phase Run

B. If you are already using Enlighten Gem on Gloves and have 2 sources of " Non-Channelling Skills have -7(Or Higher) to Total Mana Cost"

1) Cast When Damage Taken Support (Level 10) (Upgrade to Anomalous version later)
2) Immortal Call (Level 12)
3) Increased Duration Support
4) Phase Run

- Usual CWDT Setup (CWDT + Immortal Call + Increased Duration)
- Increased Duration to extend the duration when using Immortal Call and Phase Run

The difference between A and B are the Gem Levels of Cast When Damage Taken and Immortal Call. Without Enlighten Gem, our Remaining Unreserved Mana will be too low for Immortal Call to be casted(when triggered by CWDT) Thus there are 2 setups depending on whether we have access to Enlighten Gem or not.

Other than Enlighten, we also requires 2 sources of "Non-Channelling Skills have -7(Or Higher) to Total Mana Cost" so we can be sure we have the Mana to cast Immortal Call when it is triggered by CWDT.

Here's a list of the possible sources for "Non-Channelling Skills have -X to Total Mana Cost"

- Crafting the Mod on Rare Rings/Rare Amulet (Up to -7)
- Natural Roll on Incursion Rings (Ranges from -8 to -6)
- Unveiled Elreon Ring with the Mod (Ranges from -10 to -8)
- Replica Conquerer's Efficiency Unique Jewel (-9)
- Using Clarity Gem and Watcher's Eye Unique Jewel with Clarity's mod(Up to -10)
- Praxis Unique Paua Ring (-8 to -4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills

5.2 Notes on getting the correct Socket Color
Spoiler
1. *Important* Depending on the item base you use for the Gloves and Boots, it might require up to 3 off colour sockets, this could be quite hard to obtain. I recommend watching this video which shows how to get off colour sockets using Jeweller's Orb which is much cheaper compared to using Chromatic Orbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCXZkv7E9tE

2. Quill Rain has a low dex requirement which means it's very easy to roll off color on it. When attempting to get the Blue colour Socket, the best way is to use the Chromatic Orb 1 by 1 on it. For a corrupted one, we will use the 1 Guaranteed Blue or Green(If you keep getting too many off colours) with the Socket Bench Craft.

3. For Frostferno, use the Jeweller Method mentioned in Point 1 for the 3 Red Socket


My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
Last edited by Vei on Aug 13, 2022, 4:31:43 PM
Last bumped on Feb 18, 2024, 10:58:51 AM

06. Anointment, Pantheon, Ascendancy, Bandits(3.15)
Spoiler

6.1 Anointment
Spoiler
Expensive Option

- Shaman's Dominion(Best DPS option)


(Oils required - Silver + Azure + Clear)

- Best DPS Option if budget is not a concern


w
Budget Options

- Master Fletcher


(Oils required - Crimson + Verdant + Sepia)

- Go for this if you have not allocated it yet in your Passive Tree


- Heartseeker


(Oils required - Teal + Crimson + Crimson)

- Take this if you already have Master Fletcher in your Passive Tree
6.2 Pantheon
Spoiler
Assuming we have captured all the Souls for our Pantheons.

Default Choice

- Major - Lunaris
- Minor - Gruthkul

Maps
You can consider switching your Pantheon if you are running the following Map Mods

- Monster Poison on Hit - Shakari(Minor)
- Burning Ground - Abberath(Minor)
- Extra Lightning Dmg/Shocking Ground - Arakaali(Major)
- No Regen Maps - Ryslatha(Minor)
6.3 Ascendancy and Bandits
Spoiler

Ascendancy
1. Normal Lab – Pursuit of Faith
2. Cruel Lab – Ritual of Awakening
3. Merciless Lab – Conviction of Power
4a&b Eternal Lab – 2 Small Passive with 20% Mana Regeneration(4a also gives an additional 10% Increased Maximum Mana)



Q: Why don't we take Divine Guidance?

We don't take Divine Guidance because its "Mini Mind Over Matter" effect will make us unable to cast our totems when we stand on DOT grounds(Fire/Poison Puddles, etc) Especially real bad when in deeper delves, tight narrow areas and unable cast our totems!



Bandits
We will help Alira for the Flat Mana Regen, All Resist and Critical Strike Multiplier.

Alternatively, killing all 3 bandits is also a good option if you prefer to have the 2 Skill Points for your Passive Tree.

07. Passive Tree Preview and POB Pastebin(3.15)
*When at Level 96 and helped Alira
Spoiler

This is the default POB Pastebin for the build.

POB Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/29bqjJpx
Note: Gem Setup on Bow in the above pastebin is base on Option 2 in "5.1 Gem Setup"

Skill Tree Preview

*Note: If you are not yet using a Stygian Vise to socket a Dual Blind + Taunt Abyss Jewel, we will the Jewel Socket for the Watcher's Eye above instead for the Dual Blind + Taunt Abyss Jewel until we have a Stygian Vise to socket it.

The numbers in Circles are the Order to get the Notables. Notable Number 8 to 13 are flexible the order you get them.

For when to get the Jewel Sockets and more info on progressing the Passive Tree, please refer to the next section, 08. Passive Tree Progression

(Special Thanks to D3m0n0 for adding the nice and beautiful Numbers in Circles!)

Note:
In the original POB, +skills on amulet(Other item slots are fine) is not working and not being reflected so the actual DPS should be much higher. No issues on PoB Community Fork.


08. Passive Tree Progression(3.15)
Spoiler
Passive Tree Progression below is base on leveling a new character with Holy Flame Totem till Level 60(Earliest we can equip Frostferno) then we will switch to using Elemental Hit with Frostferno.



1. Go for Ancestral Bond Keystone straight (Quite direct path no variation here) so we can start casting 2 Holy Flame Totems.



2. Go for Avatar of Fire Keystone.

Note: This is for Holy Flame Totem, if you are using Elemental Hit, you might want to postpone getting the Keystone till you get and socket both Combat Focus Jewels

Go back and grab Holy Dominion or Divine Fervour Notable if you haven't.



3. The most boring part, establishing the main path in the Passive Tree. Go down all the way, then to the right, then up, taking all the Strength + Dexterity passives until you reach Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics and take them.

Meanwhile while you are doing point 3 above.

3A. When you manage to get a Rain of Splinter Jewel, go for a Jewel Socket to socket it in.



4. Now we will be preparing to get ready when we can use Elemental Hit with Frostferno at Level 60 so we will be going for Panopticon and Watchtowers Notable

Meanwhile while you are doing point 4 above.

4A. Go for 2 Jewel Socket, ideally a few levels before Level 60 so we can socket in the 2 Combat Focus(1 Crimson and 1 Viridian) when we convert to using Elemental Hit with Frostferno Helm at Level 60.

Note: For the 4 Jewel Socket we will be taking base on the final Passive Tree

- Viridian Combat Focus Jewel can be socketed at any of the 4 Jewel Socket.
- Crimson Combat Focus Jewel should not be socketed at the Jewel Socket besides the Fervour Notable as it will not work if it's socketed in there. It can go into any of the remaining 3 Jewel Socket.




5. Now it's time to take all the Life and Defensive Passives to increase our survivability. We will take these first

5A. Thick Skin Notable
5B. Wind Dancer Keystone

After which we will go for the following Life Notables

Purity of Flesh, Barbarism, Golem's Blood, Bloodless, Herbalism, Juggernaut Notables.

Pretty flexible which notable you get first, above is a possible order if anyone wants one.

The small life passives that doesn't need to be allocated to access the above Notables can be taken during Step 6 if you don't need them now.



6. Now that our survivability is taken care of, it's DPS time! Take the DPS Notables in this order:

6A. Lethality
6B. Acuity
6C. Lava Lash
6D. King of the Hill
6E. Master Fletcher
6F. Farsight

Above Order is based on the DPS gained per Passive Point to obtain the Notable in their own area.

Meanwhile while you are doing point 6A to 6F above.

6G. At any point of time, when you feel Totems are dying too fast vs the content you are engaging, go for the Ironwood Notable.

6H. Go for the last Jewel Socket if you have already gotten a nice Watcher's Eye, after which, place the 4 Unique we are using, Combat Focus(Viridian), Combat Focus(Crimson), Rain of Splinters and Watcher's Eye in positions as pictured below.

Spoiler


*Note: If you are not yet using a Stygian Vise to socket a Dual Blind + Taunt Abyss Jewel, we will the Jewel Socket for the Watcher's Eye above instead for the Dual Blind + Taunt Abyss Jewel until we have a Stygian Vise to socket it.

The numbers in Circles are the Order to get the Notables. Notable Number 8 to 13 are flexible the order you get them. For Jewel Sockets, please refer to this other parts of this Section for the info.

(Special Thanks to D3m0n0 for adding the nice and beautiful Numbers in Circles!)



7. We will now have 4 Points Remaining, and there are 2 options possible for them:

7A. Going for Heartseeker Notable

or

7B. Going for a Jewel Socket, in this case, the one besides Point Blank Keystone if we have a nice Triple/Quadruple Critical Strike Multiplier Base Jewel. Anything lesser than a Triple Critical Strike Multiplier Base Jewel, it's better to go for 7A.

The remaining 1 point we will go for a 5% increased Maximum Life Small Passives.



This is the recommended way to allocate our points in the Passive Tree.

09. Leveling Guide(Level 1 to 60)(3.15)
Spoiler
For leveling(Starting of new league), we can consider using Holy Flame Totem(As what we spec in our Passive Tree is useful to Holy Flame Totem) to level till Level 60, which is when we can switch to and use Frostferno(Be sure to have both the Combat Focus Jewel plus Rain of Splinters Jewel before you switch)

One requirement that I have for this leveling guide is to be mostly self sufficient with minimal item purchase(Gems Excluded) so it can be used on a new League Start. In the guide, I highlighted a few items to purchase, all are totally optional except the 2 x Rare One Handed Weapon at Level 40 which we should be able to get for 1 Alch each.

Note that this is not meant to be the fastest/efficient/best, etc, leveling method and is just put here for reference in case someone needs an idea/guide for leveling. Obviously, if you have twink equipments, currencies or personal preferences, go with whatever works best for you :) Also, this is not an exact "Step by Step" guide but rather, list the necessary and important things that is needed during the leveling.

9.1 Leveling Part 1(Level 1 to 40+)
Spoiler

Before we start, as with all leveling guide recommendations, Wanderlust or Nomic's Storm Unique boots will very useful if you could get them as they help a lot not only in movement speed but also other things, Dex/Resist from Nomic's Storm, Cannot be Frozen from Wanderlust.




Level 1 to 4

- Twilight Strand - Pick up and use Glacier Hammer, link to Ele Proliferation when we get it from the shining box.
- Lioneye's Watch - Take the Purifying Flame Gem reward from Tarkleigh and use it until level 4.

Level 4 to Level 40+

When we complete the "Breaking Some Eggs" quest, we will get Holy Flame Totem as the reward and can start using when we are Level 4.

We will link Holy Flame Totem this way as we get the gems and required links on our equipment (In order from Top to bottom)

1) Holy Flame Totem
2) Summon Phantasm
3) Combustion
4) Added Fire Damage
5) Faster Casting


Source for Gems

- Holy Flame Totem (Available as Reward from Act 1 Breaking Some Eggs)
- Summon Phantasm (Can be purchased from Nessa with 1 Scroll of Wisdom after completing Act 1 Mercy Mission)
- Combustion and Added Fire Damage (Both are Available as Reward from Act 1 The Caged Brute Quest, buy the other one from Nessa for 1 Orb of Transmutation)
- Faster Casting (Available as Reward from Act 2 Sharp and Cruel/The Root of the Problem Quest)

Also get a Clarity gem, which can be brought from Nessa for 1 Orb of Transmutation after Act 1 The Caged Brute Quest, helps tons in the mana regeneration needed.



Crafting Fire Damage Wands for DPS boost

Along the way, at the following levels, 8/14/20, we will make Fire Damage to Spells Wands which provides a significant DPS boost to Holy Flame Totem's DPS.

Here's a video you can watch to see how to create the wand and other details. Note that in the video he uses Topaz Ring which is for Lightning Damage, we will instead be using Ruby Ring as we requires Fire Damage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUSltx2INl0


The above should take you to Level 40+ without much issue.



9.1.1(Optional) Additional DPS Options(4 in Total)
Spoiler
Below are some additional DPS Options one can utilize during leveling. Note that all these are optional, please balance using them versus your situation, needs and playstyle.


1. Going for Divine Judgement and Divine Fury Notable.

The quests from Act 1 to Act 10 will give us a total of 20 Respec Points so we can go for Divine Judgement and Divine Fury Notable early on for Additional DPS and respec them off later when we switch to Elemental Hit.



2. In the above suggested Holy Flame Totem Setup, replace the Summon Phantasm gem with Fire Penetration

Source for Gems
Fire Penetration can be purchased from Siosa after completing A Fixture of Fate quest in Act 3(It's also offered as a quest reward for this quest)



3. We will require a 3 link item with 3 Blue Sockets

Gem Link -
1) Flammability
2) Arcane Surge*Read below for info
3) Spell Cascade

For this setup, we want to keep Flammability's casting cost to be always higher than the mana required to trigger Arcane Surge so 1 cast of Flammability will provide us Arcane Surge's buff(Spell Damage, Cast Speed and Mana Regenerated/Sec), which means keeping Arcane Surge Gem's level low, around Level 6-8.

Source for Gems
Flammability can be purchased from Clarissa after completing Lost in Love quest in Act 3(It's also offered as a quest reward for this quest)

Arcane Surge and Spell Cascade can be purchased from Nessa after completing Mercy Mission quest in Act 1



4. We will require a 4 link item with 2 Blue and 2 Red Socket

Gem Link -
1) Wave of Conviction
2) Spell Totem
3) Multiple Totems
4) Combustion

If you are using this setup, you can switch Combustion used in the Holy Flame Totem Setup to Fire Penetration or Culling Strike(If you are already using Fire Penetration there).

This setup lets us summon 2 more totems above our maximum Holy Flame Totem limit. Wave of Conviction provides some additional DPS but the main purpose is for applying -15% Fire Resist to the enemy through Fire Exposure plus another -19% when the enemy is ignited.

Source for Gems
Wave of Conviction can be purchased from Clarissa after completing The Root of the Problem quest in Act 2(It's also offered as a quest reward for this quest)

Spell Totem and Combustion can be purchased from Nessa after completing The Caged Brute quest in Act 1

Multiple Totems can be purchased from Petarus and Vanja after completing The Eternal Nightmare quest in Act 4(It's also offered as a quest reward for this quest)

Fire Penetration can be purchased from Siosa after completing A Fixture of Fate quest in Act 3(It's also offered as a quest reward for this quest)

Culling Strike can be purchased from Yeena after completing Sharp and Cruel quest in Act 2(It's also offered as a quest reward for this quest)




Act 2

In Act 2, take the Herald of Ash Gem as the reward for completing Intruders in Black quests and use it. It provides a good boost to our DPS.



After completing the Through Sacred Ground quest, choose Survival Secrets Unique Cobalt Jewel as the reward and go for a Jewel Socket in the Passive Tree to socket it in.



Both the Flat Mana Regeneration and Increased Elemental Damage are useful to us and we can use it all the way till we switch over to Elemental Hit.



Act 3

Getting Recipe from Act 3 Crematorium

When you reach Act 3 Crematorium, be sure to pick up the following crafting recipe there which gives

"Adds (12–16) to (23–27) Fire Damage to Spells" to one handed weapon

It is critical to increasing our DPS later on.

(Optional)Dropping by The Library for Certain Gems

Some gems, like Elemental Hit and Ballista Totem, are only accessible to us through the Level 1 Gem NPC Vendors(i.e. Siosa(Act 3) and Lily Roth(Act 6 and 10)). If you are planning to purchase them from NPC, you might want to drop by The Library to do the A Fixture of Fate quest so you can get these gems from Siosa and start leveling them earlier.

A list of Gems sold by Siosa that we need for Elemental Hit can be found at "9.3 Buying Skill Gems from Vendor during Leveling"



Normal, Cruel and Merciless Labyrinth

Do them as soon as you meet the requirements to enter them as the benefits from the Ascendancy Notable Passive Skill are very impactful.

9.2 Leveling Part 2(Level 40+ to 60)
Spoiler
Level 40+ to Level 60

At around Level 40-50, we will look for 2 things:



1. Two Cheap Rare One Handed Weapons with

- "+1 to Level of all Fire Spell Skill Gems"
- Have an Open Prefix available
- Not corrupted
- Doesn't have any type of "added damage to spells(Regardless of elements) on it"
- (Optional) Some other helpful affixes on them
- That costs less than 1c each preferably since we are just using them till level 60

Important!

*Make sure both weapons are of the same type, e.g. 2 Wands or 2 Sceptres or 2 Daggers as we cannot dual wield different type of these weapons.
*Take note of the Int and Dex and Level requirements of the weapon and make sure you are able to equip them.


Once you get both weapons, craft the "Adds (12–16) to (23–27) Fire Damage to Spells" we got earlier at Crematorium on the weapons. Each craft requires 4 Orb of Transmutation.


Question: Why don't we do the above earlier?

Answer:

1. The Crematorium recipe gives lesser added fire damage compared to the Level 20 wand we crafted and +1 to Holy Flame Totem doesn't give as much DPS when it's still low level. Thus, it won't be much DPS increase if we do this earlier.
2. Early on, our attributes are still low and thus limited in the weapons we can find and use on the trade website.
3. By waiting till later we also have access to higher level weapons plus also more affixes which means better value for our currency.
4. Our DPS is still great for the content we are facing at the lower levels.

Thus we do this after we are level 40+.(Can search in advance for the above plus the rings below of course!)



2. One/Two Xopec(Regenerate (5–7) Mana per second) Affix Rings

*If you are sustaining enough mana to cast the Holy Flame Totems with Mana Flask then this will be optional.

These have a minimum level requirement of 40. Look for ones with resist if the increase in price is not a lot. Keep the cost to max 2c as we will only be using them till Level 60.

These Rings will help alleviate Mana required from frequent casting of the higher Level Holy Flame Totem which Clarity alone won't be able to keep up with later.

Example of Xopec Rings


Once you got both the above done, you will reach Level 60 easily without any problems.
9.3 Buying Skill Gems from Vendor during Leveling
Spoiler

This section contains a list on where to get the Gems we uses for Elemental Hit if one prefers to get them earlier from vendors during leveling instead of buying them later from Lily Roth at Act 6/10 or through the Trade Website.



Act 1
Sold by Nessa after Cage Brute Quest Completion

Combustion Support(Also a Reward from the quest)*
Flame Dash(Also a Reward from the quest)

*You might already have 1 if you are following the leveling guide above



Act 2
Sold by Yeena after either Sharp and Cruel or The Root of the Problem Quest Completion

Elemental Damage with Attacks Support(Also a Reward from Sharp and Cruel Quest Completion)
Cold to Fire Support(If you are going for the Tabula Rasa Setup mentioned in "10. Budget Equipment Details" and plan to use this gem)



Act 3
Sold by Clarissa after Lost in Love Quest Completion

Flammability(Also a Reward from the quest)
Inspiration Support(If you are going for the Tabula Rasa Setup mentioned in "10. Budget Equipment Details" and plan to use this gem)


Sold by Clarissa after A Fixture of Fate Quest Completion

Fire Penetration Support(Also a Reward from the quest)
Hypothermia Support(If you are going for the Tabula Rasa Setup mentioned in "10. Budget Equipment Details" and plan to use this gem)

Sold by Siosa after A Fixture of Fate Quest Completion

Ballista Totem Support
Increased Duration Support
Summon Skitterbots
Blood Rage
Elemental Hit
Frenzy
Grace
Sniper's Mark
Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support(If you are going for the Tabula Rasa Setup mentioned in "10. Budget Equipment Details" and plan to use this gem)
Pierce Support(If you are going for the Tabula Rasa Setup mentioned in "10. Budget Equipment Details" and plan to use this gem)



Act 4
Sold by Petarus and Vanja after Breaking the Seal Quest Completion

Immortal Call

Sold by Petarus and Vanja after The Eternal Nightmare Quest Completion

Cast When Damage Taken Support
Hextouch Support
Greater Multiple Projectiles Support(Also a Reward from the quest)



Act 6
Sold by Lily Roth after Fallen from Grace Quest Completion

Phase Run


10. Budget Equipment Details(To get this build going at Level 60)(3.15)
Spoiler

The below equipment will cost around 40c in total, according to prices in 3.12 softcore league on PC. These will serve us well till we reach low tier red maps. Most equipment are 1c or less with the exception of Frostferno(Day 4+)/Tabula Rasa(Day 1-3 as stand in for Frostferno, more details below) which is around 20c.

*Please ignore the socket colour, links and gems on the equipment. Refer to "05. Gem Setup" for the info.

10.1 Core/Important Equipment
Spoiler
Required Core Equipment

Unique Jewels

Combat Focus(Crimson and Viridian)



- These Jewels are needed so Elemental Hit only chooses Fire Damage.

Rain of Splinters



- This Jewel is for letting Elemental Hit Ballista Totem fire 3 projectiles each time, just like Lesser Multiple Projectiles, but with a smaller penalty and just taking a Jewel slot instead.



Important Equipment

Main Hand



- The bow which works very well with Ballista Totem.

Note: If you are playing standard, make sure the bow shows "30% Less Damage". If it shows "50/40% Less Damage" on the bow, thats a legacy one and those are terrible.


Helm



- The Main Item which this build is build around with.
10.2 Remaining Equipment
Spoiler

Offhand
Offhand



- Skirmish(High Int) works well until we find a decent rare quiver with some Critical Strike Multiplier with Bows(30%+) + Elemental Damage with Attacks(31%+) + Life(70+) to upgrade to, best with an open suffix so we can craft attack speed on it.
Armour
Body Armour



- A rare one with 140+ life(and % Max life if able) and some resist. We will use this till we upgrade to Kaom's Heart.



Glove



- A rare one with Attack Speed(11%+) and Accuracy(351+) preferably with an open Prefix so we can craft life on it if it doesn't have one.



Boot



- Gang's Momentum works great with our build. Look for one with a high Fire Resist(55%+) and decent damage(30%+). Use this meanwhile until we find a nice Boot with Projectile Pierce 2 Target.
Accessory
Amulet



- This amulet will be used all the way till late end game. Look for one with high Crit Multi(235%+).



Belt



- We will be getting bulk Resists from our belt. Look for one with 90%+ total Resist with open Prefixes so we can craft life on them



Rings

Ring 1



- Praxis for the flat Mana Regeneration and more importantly, the -(8-4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills to alleviate Mana Issues due to the increase in Mana Cost after Patch 3.15. Look for one with -8 to Total Mana Cost of Skills.

Ring 2



- For our other Ring, we will be getting bulk Resists from it just like our Belt so look for one with 110%+ total Resist(Look for the ones that help you reach at least 75% in all resist(except Chaos)) preferably with open Prefixes so we can craft Life on them.
Flask
Flask



Other than Life Flasks, these are the flask we will use. Quicksilver for movement speed, Diamond Flask and Silver Flask for DPS



10.3 Note for Early League Rushers
Spoiler

As Frostferno might not be commonly available/easily accessible(if Estuary Map is high tier) before Day 4 of a league, players who are rushing to the top early on can consider the below setup in place of the Frostferno one somewhere in between your Holy Flame Totem transition into the actual Elemental Hit Frostferno. This is assuming you have the 3 Unique Jewels(2 x Combat Focus and Rain of Splinter) already, and preferably Quill Rain + Skirmish also.

You will need a Tabula Rasa



and the Gems used(In terms of priority) are as follows:

1) Elemental Hit
2) Ballista Totem
3) Elemental Damage with Attacks
4) Fire Penetration

5th and 6th Gem Options(Choose 2 from below DPS and Utility Options):

DPS Gems
5A) Hypothermia(Best DPS, however requires the enemy to be chilled(By our Skitterbot) to get the Increased Damage)
5B) Inspiration(2nd Best DPS and also provides Mana Cost Reduction)
5C) Cold to Fire(3rd Best DPS)

Utility Gems
5D) Lesser Multiple Projectiles(If you don't have a Rain of Splinter yet. Also can use Greater Multiple Projectiles for more Coverage at the cost of lesser DPS)
5E) Pierce(If you need Pierce)

If you encounter Mana Issues, use a Mana Flask.

*Refer to "9.3 Buying Skill Gems from Vendor during Leveling" on where to get the Gems.

This setup's Damage(If the DPS options are chosen for the 5th and 6th Gem) is comparable to a non corrupted Frostferno which means you won't need to rush to acquire that Frostferno, and meanwhile still having the capability to handle those low tier red maps without problems.

Note 1: Do also check out the pricing of 6 Link Body Armours with the correct colors. If they are near the price of a Tabula Rasa, they might be worth considering since they can have additional stats compared to a Tabula Rasa which can't. Thanks Bartpio for this idea.

Note 2: A 5 Link Body Armour with the correct colors will probably just cost 2-3c and is a decent option to consider for those don't mind a bit less DPS to transit to after Holy Flame Totems before they get a Tabula Rasa/Frostferno.
10.4 Farming Tabula Rasa/Chaos Orbs
Spoiler

Tabula Rasa/Chaos Orbs can be farmed by doing either below(and then trading for the other if that's what you need):

1) Farming the Humility Divination Card at The Blood Aqueduct at Act 9

2) Farming Low Tier Maps for rares to do the UNID chaos recipe
10.5 Cheaper Way to acquire Frostferno
Spoiler

If you already have access to maps and can kill(Or have a friend that can help) the Estuary Map Boss, you can go with the original way to create a Frostferno, which is to have Heatshiver in your inventory with A Vision of Fire and Eye prophecy used, then proceed to kill the Estuary Map Boss. It is usually cheaper, even more so during the first few days of league.

Unavailable


11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details(3.15)
Spoiler

These items will form a strong foundation to handle all contents in the game. I will the limit the cost to 3 Exalted or less for each slot(Some items cost like 20-30c only) with the exception of Frostferno which usually cost between 7-9 Exalted and Amulet(+2 Skill Rare or Xoph's Blood) which cost around 4-5 Exalted.

Note that price are base on Softcore League on PC and also might vary depending on the current meta and league age.

*Please ignore the socket colour, links and gems on the equipment. Refer to "05. Gem Setup" for the info.

Main Hand and Offhand

Main Hand



- For Quill Rain, we will be looking for a corrupted one with 14-18% Increased Critical Strike Implicit on it. This Increased Critical Chance is different from those we get from other sources like Passive Tree and Equipment Affix. It is applied to the base Crit of the Bow which in turn, is then multiplied with the Increased Critical Strike we get from other sources, which means, everyone's favourite Big DPS gains :)

Budget 7% Increased Critical Strike Chance Version

Since getting 6 Socket on a Quill Rain with 14-18% Increased Critical Strike Implicit is quite costly requiring 350 Vaal Orb + Jeweller's Orb and the other way to do it, buying 6 Socket Quill Rain and corrupting them for the 14-18% Increased Critical Strike Implicit is too random, an alternative is to go for this budget version.

Steps:

1. Make sure you have your 6 Sockets and the right colours + links on a Non-Corrupt Quill Rain.

2. Get the Harvest Craft:

"Enchant a Weapon. Quality does not increase its Physical Damage, has 1% increased Critical Strike Chance per 4% Quality"

on the Quill Rain.

3. Beastcraft 30% Quality(From Craicic Vassal) on the Quill Rain, it will corrupt the Quill Rain.

Now Quill Rain has 7% Increased Critical Strike Chance, about half of the maximum we can get through Vaaling but at a much much lower cost.

(Credits to goldenmonkey2301 for the idea)



Offhand



- For Quivers, we will look for a Rare one with the following affixes

- 35%+ Critical Strike Multiplier with Bows

And at least three of the below(Craft the other missing one if possible)

- 351+ Accuracy*
- 37%+ increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills
- 80+ Life
- 11%+ Attack Speed

*You can skip this if you already have 500+ Total Accuracy from your other equipments(Excluding the Flat Accuracy from Quill Rain and Marylene's Fallacy)

For the Quiver Base, a Penetrating or Spike-Point one will be the most ideal.
Armour

Helm



- For Frostferno, we will look for one with one of the following corrupted implicit

+2 to Level of Socketed Fire Gems (Best DPS)
+2 to Level of Socketed Projectile Gems (2nd Best DPS)
+2 to Level of Socketed Cold/Lightning/AoE Gems

Additional Corrupted implicits that are useful together with the above(Assuming it doesn't cost a lot more, say 1 to 2 Exalted Orbs) are

+ (4–6)% increased maximum Life
+ 1 to Maximum Power Charges



Body Armour



- Kaom's Heart with 38%+ Increased Fire Damage.



Glove



- For Gloves, we will look for a Rare Cold/Lightning Puhuarte Gloves which are gloves with the following affix:

+(46–48)% to Cold Resistance
(30–50)% increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies

or

+(46–48)% to Lightning Resistance
(40–60)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Shocked Enemies



And at least two of the below(Craft the other missing one)

-70+ Life(Prefix) or
-14%+ increased Attack Speed(Suffix) or
-351+ Flat Accuracy(Suffix)

The Cold version provides more DPS than the Lightning one.

Avoid the Fire Puhuarte Version as that provides a much lesser DPS but if we happen to find a nice one, we can buy it and convert the Puhuarte type from one element into another by using the Harvest Craft that converts one type of Elemental Resist into another. (Thanks Beverice for the tip)



Boot



- For Boots, we will look for a Rare one with the following affixes

- Projectiles Pierce 2 additional Targets

And at least one of the below(Craft the other missing one)
- 30% Movement Speed(Or Open Prefix to craft 20–24% increased Movement Speed on it)
- 70+ Life(Or Open Prefix to craft 56-70 Life on it)


Resist will be a great bonus if it's on the boots, the more/higher tier they are, the better.


Note: Recipe for the "+(56–70) to maximum Life" craft can be found in the Cage Map
Accessory

Amulet

Option 1 - Xoph's Blood



If we go for Xoph's Blood, be sure to respec off Avatar of Fire Keystone and the +10 Int Small Int before it in the Passive Tree and allocate these 2 Passive Point somewhere else since Xoph's Blood has Avatar of Fire on it so we don't need the Keystone on the Passive Tree. Other than this, we will need to switch our Skitterbot to a level 14 one unless we have some source of Int(17 more Int required for Level 21) on our rare gears.

Option 2 - +2 Skill(Dex + Fire) Rare Amulet



Ideally we want one that provides some Int on the implicit, i.e. Turquoise, Agate and Lapis Amulet Bases.

Overall Comments

Both these Amulet's Price are generally quite near each other(Ignoring the Crit Multi on the Rare Amulet)

The Rare Amulet has more more flexibility since it can be crafted with Awakener Orb and get additional Bench Crafts on it. It is also consistant in terms of DPS since it doesn't rely on Enemy to hit us for Max DPS.

Xoph's Blood guarantees and gives a lot of life whereas the Rare Amulet has only 1 chance(1 Possible Open Prefix Slot) to Roll/Craft Life.

Both are good options. You can refer to "22. Equipment/Notable Rankings by DPS" if you want to evaluate them base on their DPS.

Anointment Recommendations can be found at "06. Anointment, Pantheon, Ascendancy, Bandits"



Belt



- For Belts, we will look for Rare Leather Belt or Stygian Vise with the following affixes

- 100%+ Total Resist(Ideally consisting of 20%+ Chaos Resist) at 0% Quality(No Prismatic Catalyst applied)
- 80+ Life
- An Open Prefix so we can craft (24–32)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills on it.

Note 1: Recipe for the "(24–32)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills" craft can be found in the Academy Map
Note 2: For what Abyss Jewel to socket in a Stygian Vise, Check out my comments on the recommended Abyss Jewel below under Section "23. Ideal Non Cluster Jewels"

Alternative DPS Option

If you can manage your resist, and don't mind losing 4 Endurance Charges for a Huge DPS gain, you can consider Arn's Anguish



This belt doesn't has an Abyss Jewel Socket so we will need to take the Jewel Socket near Point Blank Keystone to socket the Dual Blind + Taunt on Hit Abyss Jewel if we still want to use a Watcher's Eye.



Rings



- We will look for two Rare Two-Stone Ring with the following affixes

- 150%+ Total Resist(Without Chaos Resist) or 135%+ Total Resist(With 20%+ Chaos Resist) at 0% Quality(No Prismatic Catalyst applied)

ideally with one of the affix the below:

- 50+ Life
- 31%+ Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

and either:

- Non-Channelling Skills have -10 to -7 to Total Mana Cost affix on it
or
- an Open Prefix Slot to craft "Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost" on it

In 3.15, Mana Cost is increased a lot thus we need to look for 2 source of "Non-Channelling Skills have -10 to -7 to Total Mana Cost" on our equipment to make gameplay smooth. Our Rings are one of the ideal location to get these 2 sources.

Other than that, like with the Belt, We are getting bulk Resists from Rings and our goal is to reach at least 109% uncapped in all resist with the exception of Chaos Resist which we want to keep at least above 0% at a minimum.

Alternatively, if we already have enough resist, we can go for a more DPS focused one like:


Jewel

Unique Jewels

Combat Focus(Crimson and Viridian)



- For These Jewels, we will look for 15% "Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills" ones with one of the following corrupted implicit affix

- Damage Penetrates 1% Elemental Resistances
- Damage Penetrates 1% Fire Resistance



Rain of Splinters



- For this Jewel, we will look for 30% "Reduced Totem Damage" ones with one of the following corrupted implicit affix

- Damage Penetrates 1% Elemental Resistances
- Damage Penetrates 1% Fire Resistance



Watcher's Eye

- Below are the mods on Watcher's Eye to look for:

Precision Mod Options (Sorted by DPS from highest to lowest)

(10-15)% increased Attack Speed while affected by Precision
(40-60)% increased Attack Damage while affected by Precision
(20-30)% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision

Grace Mod Options

(6-10)% chance to Dodge Attack Hits while affected by Grace
(5-8)% chance to Evade Attack Hits while affected by Grace
(10-15)% increased Movement Speed while affected by Grace
Unaffected by Enfeeble while affected by Grace



Rare Jewels

For this, please refer to "23 Ideal Non Cluster Jewels" section for what to look for on Jewels.

Flasks

Flasks

For our 5 Flask Slots, I would recommend the following selection:

1. Instant Recovery Life Flask
2. Flask that Recovers Life over Time Quickly
3. Diamond Flask
4. Silver Flask
5. Quicksilver Flask


1. Instant Recovery Life Flask

Examples


A Seething/Bubbling Divine Life Flask or Near Max Rolled(97%+) Forbidden Taste. These flasks will be our life savior when we get those big hits.

2. Flask that Recovers Life over Time Quickly

Examples


A Catalysed Eternal Life Flask or Blood of the Karui(High Rolled) to let us recover those non threatening small hits and keep our life at Full/Near Full most of the time so we won't die when those big hits hit us.


3. Diamond Flask



Diamond Flask is one of the highest DPS Flask for us


4. Silver Flask



Silver Flask is also one of the highest DPS Flask for us


5. Quicksilver Flask



Standard Movement Flask which everyone uses.


Ailment Removals

We also want to make sure we have access to the following Removals from our Flasks:

- Freeze Removal/Immunity
- Bleed Removal/Immunity
- (Optional) Curse Removal/Immunity
- (Optional) Shock Removal/Immunity
- (Optional) Ignite Removal/Immunity

These will be obtain through Beastcrafting the corresponding Suffixes on Magic Flasks with Open Suffix.

My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
Last edited by Vei on Aug 6, 2021, 3:14:59 PM
Some items in this post are currently unavailable.


**********************************
** Other helpful Info for reference **
**********************************


21. Stats in order of DPS boost(3.15)
Spoiler
A. Flat Accuracy(Until "Chance to hit %" reaches near 100%, ignore "Chance to hit Evasive Monster %" as that doesn't affect our DPS by much)*

B to C. %Attack Speed/%Global Critical Multiplier

D. %Increased ("Generic"/Fire/Projectile/Elemental etc) Damage (All these types gives the same increase per %)

E. % Accuracy above 15%

F. %Global Critical Chance(Low DPS increase, better to go for other affix like the ones above or affix like resist, etc)

G. Adds # to # ("Generic"/Fire etc) Damage (%Damage Works better for our build)

H. % Accuracy below 15%(Too low %, just "ignore" this)

A to C - adds lots of DPS, always look for them in your rare equipment
D to F - is ok adds a small bit of DPS but don't prioritize them.
G and H - Don't bother about them


*For Accuracy, usually one to two Tier 1 Flat Accuracy affix on our rares is enough for us to reach near or 100% Chance to Hit. Anything over 100% Chance to Hit doesn't contribute to our DPS so avoid overinvesting in this stat. A good target to aim for is between 95-99% Chance to Hit which means getting 500-700 Flat Accuracy in total on our equipments(Exclude the Flat Accuracy from Quill Rain and Marylene's Fallacy)

22. Equipment/Notable Rankings by DPS(For cases where there are many good options)(3.15)
Spoiler
These are DPS VS Sirus in order from highest to lowest
Amulets
Amulets

1. *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who hit you in the last 4 seconds, 20% Turbulent Catalyst Applied)

2. These 3 are almost Similar

2A. *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who hit you in the last 4 seconds)
2B. +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi, 20% Unstable Catalyst Applied)
2C. +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi)

3. These 3 are almost Similar

3A. +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(No other Offensive Affix)
3B. *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who didn't hit you last 4 seconds, 20% Turbulent Catalyst Applied)
3C. +1 skill(Dex/Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi)

4. These 2 are almost Similar

4A. *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who didn't hit you last 4 seconds)
4B. Marylene's Fallacy(Culling Strike Factored in)

5. Marylene's Fallacy

6. These 2 are almost Similar

6A. Yoke of Suffering
6B. +1 skill(Dex/Fire) amulet(No other Offensive Affix)

*Since Xoph's Blood has Avatar of Fire, we can save 2 Passive Point used to get Avatar of Fire Keystone on the Passive Tree and allocate it to another DPS Notable. The most ideal DPS gained per Passive spent Notable(For 2 Passive Points specifically) will be Savagery in this case and the above ranking for Xoph's Blood is base on this.

Taking Savagery is just for the purpose of DPS comparison, the 2 Passive Points should be invested to what makes the most sense for you base on your Passive Tree Progression status or Personal Preferences.
Flasks
Flasks

1. Bottled Faith(150% Crit + 10% Damage Taken)(Enemy on Consecrated Ground)
2. Cinderswallow Urn(10% Inc Damage Taken + 60% Crit Chance Craft)
3. Cinderswallow Urn(10% Inc Damage Taken)

4. These 4 are almost Similar:

4A. Diamond Flask of Acceleration(12% Attack Speed)
4B. Silver Flask(60% Crit Chance Craft)
4C. Diamond Flask(60% Crit Chance Craft)
4D. Silver Flask of Acceleration(12% Attack Speed)

5. These 2 are almost Similar:

5A. Sulphur Flask(60% Crit Chance Craft)
5B. Sulphur Flask of Acceleration(12% Attack Speed)

6. These 3 are almost Similar:

6A. Diamond Flask
6B. Silver Flask
6C. Wise Oak(8% Penetration)

7. Sulphur Flask

Note
- For Wise Oak, it's assumed that our uncapped Fire resist is the highest among our 3 elemental resist.

- As Wise Oak is roughly similar to a Silver Flask in terms of DPS, it's a better idea to just use the Silver Flask so we don't need to maintain our Fire Resist to always be the highest unless the +35% all resist from Wise Oak is required.
Notables
Notables

Below rankings are based on DPS gained per Passive Point Spent to obtain the Notable in their own Area.

1. Lethality(Left Path - 4 Passive)
2. Lethality(Right Path - 3 Passive)
3. Acuity**
4. Lava Lash
5. King of the Hill
6. Master Fletcher**
7. Farsight**
8. Heartseeker
9. Primeval Force(Top Path for DPS, Bottom part for additional Ignite Chance at the cost of slight bit lesser DPS if using Divergent Fire Penetration)
10. Divine Judgement(Bottom Path)
11. Divine Judgement(Top Path)
12. Savagery/Fervour

**Assuming taking it doesn't make you go over 100% Chance to Hit


23. Ideal Non Cluster Jewels(3.15)
Spoiler

Base Jewel

Ideal Rare Base Jewel

2 Prefix from below

- (14–16)% increased Damage with Bows
- (14–16)% increased Fire Damage
- (15–18)% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Fire Skills
- (15–18)% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Cold Skills
- (15–18)% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Lightning Skills
- (12–16)% increased Totem Damage
- (Defensive option) (5–7)% increased maximum Life


2 Suffix from below

- (3–5)% increased Attack Speed
- (2–4)% increased Attack and Cast Speed
- (12–15)% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Elemental Skills
- (9–12)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
- (10–12)% increased Projectile Damage


A Jewel with 4 Affixes above is as good as a DPS notable on the Passive Tree. Highest DPS will be a pure 4x Crit Multiplier Jewel.
Abyss Jewels

Ideal Rare Abyss Jewel


2 Prefix from below

- Adds (16–18) to (27–32) Fire Damage to Bow Attacks
- (Defensive option) +(36–40) to maximum Life
- (Defensive option) +(101–180) to Evasion Rating

2 Suffix from below

- +(9–12)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
- +(3–5)% increased Attack Speed
- +(121–240) to Accuracy Rating
- (Defensive option) +(5–6)% chance to Blind Enemies on Hit with Attacks
- (Defensive option) +(6–8)% chance to Taunt Enemies on Hit with Attacks


In particular, I would like to highlight the 2 defensive suffixes above which are very strong affixes and synergizes very well with our build due to us having multiple totems firing multiple projectiles thus easily triggering "on Hit" Affixes on the enemy.


1. +(5–6)% chance to Blind Enemies on Hit with Attacks

Blind lessens the chance to hit of the affected target by 50%. As our build is Evasion Based, it effectively doubles our Evasion %, no other mods comes close to doing that(Doubling Evasion) at such a low cost of 1 affix!

Note that this affix is only available on Searching Eye Jewel and Murderous Eye Jewel.


2. +(6–8)% chance to Taunt Enemies on Hit with Attacks

Taunted enemies deal 10% less damage to targets that aren't the source of the taunt. Thus when a Totem Taunts the enemy, we take 10% Less Damage from that Enemy. As most know, Fortify which grants the player 20% Less Damage taken is a very strong gem that a lot of players use as long their build can utilize it. This 1 single affix does half of what fortify does by just 1 Single Affix!

The other thing I haven't mention, which is the primary thing it does, is that it helps to divert the enemies attention to the totems. Though it's not as strong in this area since Taunt does not cause The Shaper, The Elder, each Guardian of the Void, and Elder Guardians to retarget but it's still another beneficial aspect of it and definitely helps versus the enemies on harder maps and deeper delves.

Note that this affix is only available on Murderous Eye Jewel.


The most ideal Abyss Jewel for us will be one with both Blind and Taunt Suffix with Life as the Prefix.

Example



Highly Recommend getting 1 to put into a Stygian Belt's Abyss Jewel Socket


Note: Other Defensive Options outside life like resist, etc are not mentioned. These will be up to individual's needs, please factor them in as your need requires.

24. Enchantments(3.15)
Spoiler

Some of our gear slots allows us to place Enchantments on them. These are, Helm, Boot, Glove, Belt, Body Armor, Weapon and Flask.

Source for the Enchantments are as follows:

Helm - Merciless/Eternal Labyrinth
Boot - Cruel/Merciless/Eternal Labyrinth
Glove - Normal/Cruel/Merciless/Eternal Labyrinth
Belt - Eternal Labyrinth of Potential
Weapon - Using a Tempering Orb
Armour - Using a Tailoring Orb
Flask - Using an Enkindling or Instilling Orb

For enchants on Flasks, go with the one that makes the most sense for you and the flask mods.

For enchants on Helm/Boot/Glove, the highest difficulty Labyrinth(Eternal) gives the highest possible Enchant Tier.

An alternative way to get Helm/Boot/Glove Enchants on rares, assuming you are crafting the item, will be to use an Enchanted Fossil socketed in a resonator and apply it on the item before crafting. This will result in the item having a Random Labyrinth Enchantment applied to it.


Below is a list of desirable Enchants for some of the gear slot, specifically Boots and Belts. I am skipping the rest* as we generally go for Corrupted Implicits on them. Getting the correct Enchant Plus the correct Corrupted Implicits is generally not practical/feasible since there too many possible enchant rolls and corruption results.

*For Gloves, although we generally don't go for Corrupted Implicits on it, the available Enchants on them are pretty weak so they are not worth mentioning.


Boot Enchants

Best DPS enchants(Sorted by Shaper DPS from highest to lowest) will be:

1. Damage Penetrates 10% of Enemy Elemental Resistances if you haven't Killed Recently
2. 120% increased Critical Strike Chance if you haven't Crit Recently

Outside of DPS enchants, these are the other nice options we can consider

- 10% increased Movement Speed if you haven't been Hit Recently
- 8% chance to Dodge Spell Hits if you've taken Spell Damage Recently
- 10% Chance to Dodge Attack Hits if you've taken a Critical Strike Recently


Belt Enchants

Best Enchant:

- +300 to Evasion Rating while you have Phasing


Other Ok options(Assuming we have the source for them):

- Enemies Blinded by you have 30% reduced Critical Strike Chance
- 30% increased Accuracy Rating while you have Onslaught

25. Corruption Tips(3.15)
Spoiler

For Single Corrupt, it might be cheaper and less of a hassle to buy them directly as they are more common.

3.14 introduced an item called Chronicle of Atzoatl to the game which is an item we can use in the Map Device to open up portals to the Temple of Atzoatl with the properties stated on the item. This allows us an easier and generally cheaper way to access the Locus of Corruption Incursion Room for Double Corrupting our items.

When Corrupting items, pay attention to their item level. Below list the ideal levels that increases the chances to get the implicits we want.



Frostferno

It's best to corrupt one with Item Level 20-39 as this range removes 7 possible implicit rolls which are either useless or not as powerful ones.

Note 1: In case you are rolling for 4 Socket before corrupting it, you will need the 4 Socket Bench Craft for those between item level 20-24, using Jeweller's Orb to roll normally will only give you Max 3 Sockets for these.

Note 2: If we can't find one with the correct item level, we can consider making Frostferno ourselves, this is done by having Heatshiver(With the correct Item Level Range) in our inventory and the "A Vision of Fire and Ice" Prophecy before killing the Estuary Map boss.



Quill Rain

For Quill Rain, the best double corrupt is % increased Critical Strike Chance + Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow and the best item level for this is one between Item Level 75-83 which removes a number of high weightage and less desirable implcit rolls for us.

Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow is a rare roll with a weightage of only 200 compared to the usual 1000 for others though so don't expect it to come easy.



Kaom's Heart

For Kaom's Heart, the best double corrupt is % increased Damage + % increased maximum Life and the best way to get this is to corrupt a Kaom's Heart with Item Level 2. This will remove 13 possible rolls(Only 1 of them is nice for us, so it's totally worth it)

The way to get an Item Level 2 Kaom's Heart is to create a new character that just kills only Hillock to access Lioneye's Watch(Which makes the character Level 2). After that, trade in a set of 8 "The King's Heart" Divination Card to Navali and you will get an Item Level 2 Kaom's Heart.


Note: One commonly forgotten thing is using Armourer Scrap/Blacksmith Whetstone on the item before the corruption. Don't forget it!

26. Item Upgrade Priority(3.15)
Spoiler
"What should I upgrade?" is definitely one of the most asked questions in any build guides. In this section, I classify the Upgrades to look for base on the Average Cost over Power Gained from it. Hopefully these can be a handy reference for people looking to upgrade their character.

If you are repeatedly dying/having survivability issues VS the content you are facing

I would recommend having these as a minimum for your character:

- 5,500+ Life
- 109%+ Uncapped Elemental Resist(So we are still at the 75% Resist Cap when we are cursed)
- 0%+ Chaos Resist(Preferably 20%+)

Hugely recommended:

- Dual Blind+Taunt on Hit Abyss Jewel
- Level 20 Grace Aura
- 2-3 Life Flasks(Refer to "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details" Flask Section for more details) - Use them often to keep life Full or near Full as much as possible so we won't die when we get those big hits.

For big boss fights(Sirus, Uber Elder, etc), gear is only part of the equation. Understanding the Boss's Mechanic is the other part of the equation and is necessary to achieve victory.


I have sorted the list by the priority to get them in each Section from top to bottom(Excluding the Gems in Low Priority Section).
Top Priority

These are the upgrades we should always go for as long we can afford them/meet their requirements:



These 3 are Key Upgrades to get when progressing to High Tier Red Maps:

- Kaom's Heart(No implicit) - This helps a lot in increasing our survivability when we progress to the higher tier red maps.

- Level 21 Elemental Hit - Just 0% quality, 20% quality doesn't add as much so belongs to Medium Priority, 23% quality is for min-max and is usually costly so Low Priority.

(For References - A Level 21/0% Quality Elemental Hit does much more damage than a Level 20/20% Quality Elemental Hit)

- +2 Implicit Corrupted Frostferno - Even though this is a very costly upgrade compared to the rest, please don't skip this one even if the plan is to use the Chronicle of Atzoatl to try one's luck on Double Corrupting a Frostferno. Skipping this is just giving ourself a hard time.

The ideal approach will be to get/buy a +2 Implicit Corrupted Frostferno as we try to double corrupt one, then sell it off if you happen to successfully Double Corrupt a +2/+4 Implicit Corrupted Frostferno



- Dual Blind/Taunt on Hit Murderous Eye Jewel - The defensive benefits from this jewel is just too strong to not use it.

(Make sure you get the right affixes, our Totems are counted as Allies, not Minions so Minion's Blind/Taunt On Hit Affixes don't work on them)

- Having 95%+ Chance to Hit - Chance to Hit contribute a lot to our DPS and 1-2 High Tier Flat Accuracy Affix from the rares we use is more than enough so don't miss this. We want to aim for 500-700 Flat Accuracy in total on our equipments(Excluding the ones from Quill Rain and Marylene's Fallacy)

- Shaman's Dominion/Master Fletcher Anoint on Amulet - Strong DPS Boost for Small Cost.

Medium Priority

These are the ones to consider after the Top Priority ones:

- Going for Rares/Uniques listed in "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details", i.e. Quiver, Glove, Boot, Belt and Rings. Goal is to end up with 109% uncapped Elemental Resist, 0%+ Chaos Resist, 2+ Pierce. (*Amulet is further down in term of priority due to it's cost versus power gained)

- Switching to 20% Quality Divergent Ballista Totem - This increases the aggro range which determines how far our totems can "see" for the purposes of targeting enemies with attacks and spells which is a very significant upgrade.

- Quill Rain with 14-18% Increased Critical Strike Corrupted Implicit - A good amount of DPS increase for it's cost(Bow is usually cheap, cost is more from getting the sockets/links on the corrupted Bow)

- Labryinth Enchantment on Boots - Refer to Section 24. Enchantments for the ideal enchants

- +4 Implicit Corrupted Frostferno - Though +4 gives one of the biggest increase in DPS for this build, it tends to be very costly and is definitely the top/top few most expensive item for this build. Thus I feel value wise it belongs more in this section.

- Watcher's Eye with Precision/Grace Mods - Refer to the Jewels Subsection in 11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details for mods to get on one

Gems as follows:

- Awaken Elemental Damage to Attacks Support
- Awaken Fire Penetration or Divergent Fire Penetration
- Level 21 Elemental Hit with 20% Quality
- Switching to Alternate Quality Gems(Anomalous Cast when Damage Taken Support)
- 20% Quality Gems(All Gems including Heist Alternate Quality Gems except Greater Multiple Projectiles, CWDT, Precision, Vaal Haste, Frenzy, Enlighten)

- Going for a Rare +2 Skill Amulet or Xoph's Blood listed in "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details"

- Enlighten Support(Level 3) together with 2 source of "Non-Channelling Skills have (-7 to -10) to Total Mana Cost" and Level 10 Cast When Damage Taken + Level 12 Immortal Call

- Combat Focus(15%) and Rain of Splinter(30%) with Damage Penetrates 1% Elemental/Fire Resistances Corrupted Implicit

- 20% Quality on Items - Best Effect Catalyst on Rings, Belts and Amulets(If required), Glassglower Bauble on Flasks, Armourer Scraps on Armour Slots
Low Priority

These are nice upgrades but optional due to their low Average Cost versus Power Gained, mainly for min maxing when you have more spare currency

- Kaom's Heart with % Increased Damage Corrupted Implicit

- 26% Quality on Flasks

Gems as follows:

- Level 21/23% Quality Gems(Elemental Hit, Fire Penetration, Sniper's Mark, Blood Rage, Elemental Damage with Attacks, Increased Duration, Vaal Grace, Summon Lightning Golem)

- Level 20/23% Quality Gems(Ballista Totem/Divergent Ballista Totem, Summon Skitterbot, Phase Run)

- Level 21/20% Quality Gems(Divergent Fire Penetration)

- Level 21/0% Quality Gems(Vaal Haste)

- Level 6/23% Quality Gems(Awaken Elemental Damage to Attacks, Awakened Fire Penetration)

- 23% Quality Gems(At your required Level)(Immortal Call, Anomalous Cast when Damage Taken Support, Flame Dash)

For those who are interested in an example, here is a Post where I took someone's POB with 262k Sirus DPS, applied the above "Top Priority" and "Medium Priority" checklist to it to reach 668k Sirus DPS, then increased the Character Level to 92 to attain 1m Sirus DPS at the end. I skipped expensive things like Double Curses and +4 Frostferno in the above list.


Lastly, if you don't mind a more up close and personal playstyle, definitely check out "31. "OneShotKill" Edition" for optional modifications to the build that enhances the build's DPS greatly.



********************
** Optional Section **
********************


31. "OneShotKill" Edition(Optional Modifications to Build)(3.14)
*Note: This Section is not updated for 3.15 and there are no plans to update it at the moment. The 6 modifications mentioned are still valid for 3.15 though the Pastebin and numbers are outdated.*
(Named "OneShotKill" to pay homage to the original build as most of the modifications listed below makes use of multiplicative mechanics like the original)

Spoiler

Introduction
For those who are looking at how much further this build can be pushed, this is the right place.

Before we begin, let me highlight a few things:

1. What you are going to read below, are modifications suggestions to the Default Build, and these modifications are meant for bossing mainly.

2. This is a bit less relaxing Playstyle of the build because it:

2A. Requires you to be at close range/besides the enemy

2B. Requires two more keypress due to additional Flasks usage

31.1 What can we get from this?
Spoiler
How about 20m+ Shaper DPS if you use all of them?

Sounds good? let's begin!
31.2 Possible Modifications
Spoiler

1. Taking the Point Blank Keystone(More Damage at Close Range)

Spoiler
I am sure you can see it coming as this is pretty obvious. Close Range = Point Blank = 30% More Damage. It's along the path for our build's Passive Tree so we don't need to go out of the way for it or look for it on items which is perfect.

2. Using Bottled Faith Unique Flask(Flat Crit and Increased Damage Taken)

Spoiler
We are already standing beside the enemy so using this will definitely guarantee them to be standing on Consecrated Ground, which means up to 2% Flat Critical Strike Damage and up to 10% increased Damage taken.

Other than additional DPS, we also get 6% Life Regeneration when we stand on the Consecrated Ground which gives a nice 300-400 Life Regeneration.

Obviously this is not a cheap Flask so it's something to aim for later on if you are interested in going this route.

3. Using Infernal Cry Skill Gem(For Covers Enemy in Ashes)

Spoiler
A level 20 Infernal Cry provides 3% increased fire damage taken per 5 power(Unique counts as 20 Power). Assuming there is only 1 Unique in the Warcry Radius, this will provide us with 12% increased fire damage taken to the Enemy. More enemies in the Warcry Radius will increase the % amount, up to 20% Max

To avoid having an additional button to press because of using this, we will take the Call to Arms Keystone on the Passive Tree, then bind Infernal Cry to the Left Mouse Button. This will automate the casting of Infernal Cry whenever we move as long it is not on cooldown.

Possible Gem Slot to be replaced with this Gem will be either, Increased Duration Support, Vaal Haste, or using an Unset Ring to socket in the Gem.

The next three will require equipment switching

4. Replacing either Non-Awaken Elemental Damage with Attacks Support or Combustion Support in our Helm with Barrage Support

Spoiler

Which means Having a Frostferno with the following Gem Links

Helm(4 Linked) -
1) Elemental Hit
2) Ballista Totem Support
3) Combustion Support/Awaken Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
4) Barrage Support

This Frostferno can be a spare one in your inventory as a swap before facing the harder bosses(Guardian Tier and higher) Normal bosses shouldn't be an issue with the original build.

Depending on which support gem you have available for this spare Frostferno, Barrage Support will replace Non-Awaken Elemental Damage with Attacks Support first if it's in the helm, else it will replace Combustion Support.


Barrage by itself actually provides more DPS compared to Elemental Damage with Attacks/Combustion but since it removes the Arrow Spread, it's not as ideal for mapping but perfect versus Single Target which means it's excellent for Bosses.

By using Barrage Support, it enables us to "Machinegun" the boss as every projectile/arrow from the same shot can hit the boss. Thus, every additional Arrow/Projectile Affix we can get will be a big DPS addition for us.

Now, where can we get the Additional Arrow/Projectile Affix from? They can come from the following:

4A. Bows with "Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow"

As we are using Unique Bows, we will obtain this through the Bow's Corrupted Implicit.

4B. Quiver with "Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow"

This can be rolled as a Prefix(Easier) on Shaper or Warlord Influenced Quivers or on a corrupted implicit(Harder as it is a Very Rare Roll so Not Recommended).

4C. Dying Sun Unique Flask

We will be using this Flask for the 2 Additional Projectiles provided during the Flask Effect

5. Swapping to Chin Sol Unique Bow

Spoiler
Remember Chin Sol? For those who played Lunasicc187's build originally, I am sure you definitely remember.

So, within 20 Tile Range, Chin Sol is still the King for Damage even after the nerf(From 100% to 50%) to "More Damage with Arrow Hits at Close Range"

Chin Sol can be integrated easily as a Weapon Swap, though 1 thing to note is that if using my Passive Tree, you will only get 174 Dex from it, 38 more dex from some source will be needed to equip Chin Sol which requires 212 Dex.

Note: If you are planning to use Chin Sol, then the "Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow" implicit won't be as necessary as the original implicit on Chin Sol, "+(15-25)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier" at 25% is not a too big difference in terms of DPS compared to "Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow"'s DPS

6. Swapping a Ring to Malachai's Artifice with Summon Lightning Golem
Spoiler


The purpose of utilizing this combination is so that Lightning Golem can trigger the effects of Elemental Equilibrium on the enemy after its lightning attacks(Galvanic Bolt or Orb of Sparks) hit the enemy, which temporary reduces the enemy's Fire and Cold resist by -50% for 5 seconds, providing us with a Huge DPS gain versus Bosses.


All in all, 6 possible modifications for us to push the build further.

Note: Point 4's Frostferno Helm/Barrage Gem, Point 5's Bow and Point 6's Ring are temporary swaps when fighting bosses. We will swap back to our original equipment when not bossing. Point 1 to 3 are "Permanent" modifications to the default build.

31.3 DPS and Pastebin
Spoiler
Let's take a look at how much Shaper DPS we will get from implementing all these

DPS(1 Totem) - 3.8m Shaper DPS
DPS(7 Totems) - 26.6m Shaper DPS

*DPS Numbers are from PoB Community Fork. I believe the Original POB doesn't reflect the DPS of the Barrage Projectiles added together.

POB Pastebin

https://pastebin.com/wpMgjgWp

Also, I didn't use the best possible items in the Pastebin, e.g. only using single corrupted +2 Frostferno and non Corrupted Kaom's Heart so the DPS definitely can be improved further :)
31.4 Flask Setup
Spoiler

and One Life Flask of your Choice

Hope this lets you see the possibilities this build can do/reach. :)



******************
** Miscellaneous **
******************


******
A. FAQ
******
Spoiler

Q: What gear/equipment should I upgrade?

A: Unfortunately, due to commitments, I am not able to go through everyone's "What should I upgrade" questions in depth like I did in the past. I would recommend referring to "26. Item Upgrade Priority" as a guideline.

Feel free to still post your question though, there are many knowledgeable people viewing this thread, I am sure they can offer some good advice.

Q: What comes after "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details"?

A: At this point, the guide has completed its job and goal. Your character is basically able to engage all end game contents. If you still can't, make sure you had followed exactly according to the recommendations stated. Note that for Endgame bosses, it requires knowing and playing around their mechanics.

Anything after "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details" is up to individual preferences, its time to explore. :)

Q: What about a 6 Link Elemental Hit Ballista Totem Setup?

A: This guide is base around Frostferno and Quill Rain and being accessible and budget friendly at the same time. I personally has no interest and desire to explore any 6 Link Elemental Hit Ballista Totem Setup so it will not be explored in the guide.

Q: What about using Cluster Jewels for this build?

A: Cluster Jewel is mostly a reduction of our DPS and Currency for this build. I wrote an example and provided DPS numbers in this post:

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581/page/51#p23855671

There might be a few exceptions/combinations but they are likely to cost a lot, requires Tradeoffs(Life, Quality of Life), not so accessible or perhaps requires revamping the whole Passive Tree so these won't be explored in this guide unless there are changes/discovery to Cluster Jewel in the future that makes it good for this build.

Q: What can I do to increase my totem's survivability?

A: I recommend taking Ironwood Notable on the Passive Tree. Also if your Ballista Totem Gem is under leveled(e.g. you bought a low level one, etc), definitely get one that is appropriate for your current level.

Q: How much pierce should we get on this build?

A: I recommend 2 to 3 pierce on this build.

Q: Where can I find some source of Pierce?

A: These are the possible sources of Pierce for this build:

Recommended Sources

- Implicit on Penetrating Arrow Quiver gives 1 Pierce

- "Projectiles Pierce an additional Target" bench craft on Gloves with Open Prefix - This bench craft has a chance to be obtained through unveiling Veiled Prefix Glove/Helmet drops from Immortal Syndicate member

- Projectiles Pierce 1, 2 or 3-5 additional Targets affixes on Hunter Influenced Boot - Note that "3-5" is only available through using a Maven's Orb on a boot with at least 2 influenced modifiers, one which is "Projectiles Pierce 2 additional Targets" and requiring the Maven's Orb to hit it.

- Piercing Shots Notable on the Passive Tree gives 2 Pierce

- Small Notable near Piercing Shots Notable on the Passive Tree gives 1 Pierce

- A Synthesized Quiver can have the Arrows Pierce 3 additional Targets implicit(This is pretty rare, even more so for a high item level base one )

Other Sources

- Pierce Support Gem gives 2 to 4 pierce - If you using a Tabula Rasa or 6 Link Body Armour, you can use this Gem as the 5th/6th Gem. Not recommended to use on Frostferno

- Poacher's Aim Unique Viridian Jewel gives 1 pierce - This is obtained as a quest reward from Act 5 The King's Feast Quest. It's a very weak Jewel so only use it if you really don't have any other options

- Essence of Insanity crafted Quiver guarantees "Projectiles Pierce 2 additional Targets" on it

- Projectiles Pierce an additional Target as an affix on Elder(Ilvl 68+) or Hunter(Ilvl 75+) Influenced Quivers

Q: Does Cinderswallow Urn's "Enemies Ignited by you during Flask Effect take 10% increased Damage" works for us?

A: Yes. bartpio and kikeuy tested Cooked Alive Notable, which has a similar wording "Enemies Ignited by you have -10% to Fire Resistance" and saw the "Vulnerable to Fire" tag on the enemy. kikeuy's post can be found here and bartpio confirming it works after testing himself on the next post.

Q: Why don't I have enough Mana to reserve my Auras?

We only use the following Auras:

- Grace(Highest Level)
- Summon Skitterbot(Highest Level)
- Precision(Level 1)

If you don't have enough mana to reserve auras, the problem is either because you have a high level Precision(We only use Level 1) or trying to use Haste Aura(We only use the Vaal part of it)

Q: Please tell me how Combat Focus's Threshold Requirement works, it's confusing!

A: It means 40 of either or both stats combined in the Jewel's Radius. They need not be allocated with Passive Points.

Example

For Combat Focus(Crimson), which requires "40 total Strength and Intelligence", you can have in its radius:

20 Str and 20 Int
or
40 Str and 0 Int

Both will work to enable the Jewel.

Q: Can I switch from Holy Flame Totems to Elemental Hit earlier if I have the required items already?

A: I would recommend to switch from Holy Flame Totems to Elemental Hit only after you have the following:

Minimum Recommended things to have

- 2 Combat Focus socketed into the correct Jewel Socket in the Passive Tree
- Rain of Splinter socketed in the Passive Tree or Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support Gem in your Elemental Hit Setup
- Avatar of Fire Keystone taken
- Quill Rain Unique Bow
- Tabula Rasa or a 6/5 Link Body Armour with the correct Socket Colors for the Elemental Hit setup

Optional but Highly Recommended

- Ancestral Bond Keystone taken
- Skirmish Unique Quiver

If you encounter Mana Issues after switching, you can:

- Use a Mana Flask
- Use a Clarity Gem
- Use a Praxis Unique Paua Ring with high -X to Total Mana Cost of Skills

Q: Advise on rushing to Maps on League Start in X hours

A: I am a casual player who reaches map in 4 days so rushing to maps in the shortest time is totally not something I am knowledgeable with. Maybe others can assist with your question.

Q: Is this build is good/fast/efficient/etc?

A: Everyone has different preference, playstyle, experience, requirements, buget, etc so it's very subjective. You can take a look at the Videos Section and see if this build might be something that suits what you are asking about.

Q: How is this build compared to "that" totem build?

A: I think it's not fair(To that build) for me to comment on them when I have not played the build myself and only by just looking at their POB/Guide. And to be honest, I haven't really played much builds outside of this one so I'll leave this for others to comment. :)

Q: Questions about Endgame Boss Fights

A: Endgame bosses are about understanding and playing around their mechanics. I personally don't do a lot of bossing so I will leave this to more experienced players to answer your question.


Thanks for reading!
My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
Last edited by Vei on Aug 26, 2021, 10:20:28 AM
*************************
B. Community Contributions
*************************

Occasionally there's a helpful/informative post from the community and to avoid them from being lost when the thread grew larger, I'll consolidate them here for easier reading. I'll also provide a link back to their original post as references. For now they are used to store some nice post from the old thread(Will add more when I can find time to go through the old post).



lolshie sharing his detailed method on leveling the build for the 1st 4 acts

Spoiler
"
lolshie wrote:
Hey yall

Im looking forward to leaguestart with this build in heist (despite not playing it even once after lvl 60 kekw).

I've been playtesting and practicing with it a couple of times this week (so far about 5:00 to 5:20 with all passives and 3 trials, decent speed for skilltree with almost 0 dmg) and here are my tips for first 4 acts (imo they are the hardest and messiest):

Spoiler

ACT1

Lvl 1
kill hillock, loot stuff. Enter town and check vendors
Sockets we need:
damage setup red-red-blue, blue-blue-blue
other links/socket colours: bue-blue(-blue), red, red, blue.

something like that

if you found nothing equip second sceptre from hillock

Pick purifing flame as a reward.

go out

Grab coast tp, enter mudflats, collect 3 quest-thingy, enter submerged passage, tp to coast, enter tidal island, kill glacial-cascade-casting guy, exit to character selection screen.

You should be lvl 3 or 4 here


Check vendors again, hopefully you'll find something usefull.
Sell stuff. Keep in mind that we will need atleast 2 transmutes and 2 alterations for +fire dmg to spells wand recipe, so try to balance how you are selling and id'ing stuff.

Pick flame totem, infused channeling, frostblink as a quest rewards, buy arcane surge (keep low lvl, about 2-4)

link totem+channeling, surge+purifying flame or surge+frostblink

tp submerged passage

find long stairs in submerged passage drop portal, go to the ledge and on to lower prison, waypoint to town, enter portal, seach for flooded depths, kill crab. exit to character selection screen.

You should be lvl 6-8 here

Grab added fire dmg support.

Hopefully you got enough stuff for 2 firedmg wands. (if you are really want to you can do lightning wands, but keep in mind that we will grab avatar of fire at around lvl 20 and if you are not sure that you will be able to make lvl 20 fire wands dont do it).
You'll need 2 ruby rings (you can create them with red gem +iron ring), 2 magic wands, 2 alterations.
If you cant make 2, 1 is more than enough for act1.

if you are rich buy combustion support.

links for now: totem+added fire+infused channeling, purifying flame+combustion+arcane surge, frostblink.

tp lower prison

Trial in lower prison.
Kill brutus. exit to character selection screen.

You should be lvl 8-9 here

grab flame dash, if you are rich buy clarity (keep as low as needed).

tp next zone (i forgot it's name)

find ship graveyard, grab waypoint, find graveyard cave, find afflame (something like that), go out, find caverns, waypoint to graveyard again, find fairgraves kick his butt, exit to character selection screen.

you should be lvl 10-11 here

You can grab any red gem for later
If you are rich buy 2 sapphire rings from neesa
if you are not, you will suffer

tp merveil caverns

Find and kill merveil, transition to act 2


ACT2


Go right, clear beast den if you want to (i usualy skip it), grab waypoint in crossroads, go up, trial at chamberofsins 2, kill some lightning-scorpio-dude-hybryd-w/e-that-thing-is, grab quest item, exit to character selection screen.

you should be lvl 13-14 here


Grab wave of convicion in town, if you are rich buy herald of ass(mhm)

tp crossroads

go right, find sword-dude-bandit and slap him good. exit to character selection screen.

you should be lvl 15 here

tp crossroads, go down, trial in crypt lvl 1. You can complete quest here also, exit to character selection screen.

you should be lvl 15-16 here


ditch purifying flame, socket in wave of cockwiction. socket in herald of ash.
Links: purifying flame-combustion-arcane surge. totem-added fire-channeling, flame dash, herald of ash, clarity.

Go out left.

Grab waypoint, go forward to western forrest, find waypoint. on the side of waypoint is allira (slap her good), kill blackguards all the way to the left of the zone, complete quest, find arachnid nest, find big-spooder, kill him, exit to character selection screen.

you should be lvl 16-18 here


Grab contdestruct, buy elefocus if you can.

Links - wave of conviction->combustion->controlled destruction, totem-added fire-channeling, ash, clarity, flamedash-arcane surge.

Hope you are prepping for lvl 20 wand upgrades.
You'll need 2 rare ruby rings, 2 alts, 2 magic wands. Easiest way to get rare rings is essences.

Tp riverways, go top, kill oak in wetlands, enter vaal ruins, enter northern forrest, enter the caverns, grab waypoint, tp to act1 town, grab skillpoint, tp to act2 town, grab 2 skillpoints, do lvl 20 wand upgrade. go kill vaal construct.

you should be lvl 20-21 here


You should have avatar of fire at around lvl 20, skip ancestral bond for now (you can path up to it, just dont take it yet.)


ACT3


Town->slums->crematorium. Do trial, slap piety (first time). exit to character selection screen.

Grab keys, grab flammability.

go out.

You should be lvl 21-22 here

Sewers->market (another trial in side area near wp)-> battlefront, grab quest item->docks, grab quest item. exit to character selection screen.

Vendor can sell 4links from lvl 24, check him everytime you are in town (you can even check every time you lvl up). You will need 2 items with red-red-blue-blue, blue-blue-blue-blue for now.

Links to work up to:
Wave of conviction-controlled destruction-combustion-arcane surge
totem-added fire-infused channeling-ele focus
flame dash
Flammability (-spell cascade if you want to)
clarity, herald of ash


Waypoint battlefront -> temple of solaris, find crazy lady, grab +int amulet, exit to character selection screen.

You should be lvl 25-26 here


Waypoint sewers -> ebony barracks -> kill angry general -> lunaris temple -> kill piety (second time), exit to character selection screen.

You should be lvl 27 here

If you want to/need to you can create/buy topaz rings to make dominus ezpz

Waypoint -> barracks -> imperial garden, do trial, you can complete siosa quest in the library if you have blue-green link and a chance orb, or if you have green and red socket in weaponswap for elehit+ballista totem. -> go kill dominus in his tower.


You should be about lvl 30 here


ACT4

Get to act4 town, go to act3 town, do normal lab. Grab Pursuit of Faith

Start doing a4, everything is pretty straight forward for the most part here. Optimal strat is to clear one of the dreams first, get to next zone wp and tp to the other dream to catchup with xp

You should be about lvl 36-37 when you are killing 3 souls before big-scary-dude fight. (also third piety kill here..)

Kill the dude, exit to character selection screen.

Grab multiple totem support, as a reward.

go to act5



ACT5+
You should hit lvl 38 at control blocks or so,

time for the last major gem shuffle untill 60+
if you have red-red-blue-blue socket in spell totem, multiple totems, wave of conviction, combustion. Grab ancestral bond node on the three.

From now on everything should be pretty simple. Sometimes later you can swap out clarity for anger to boost your dmg a bit if you are comfortable with mana issues.


setup live trade searches for heatshiver, upgrade prophecy, combat focuses, rain of splinters and quil rain to snipe them early if possible. I think to buy everything we will need to farm blood aqueducts for a bit. But you can skip it and just go do chaos recipe in t1 maps with totems, just focus on caping your resists. Also be on a lookout for socket colours needed for a swap.
Keep in mind that heatshiver/frostferno is dex based and we need red-red-blue-green sockets there, so be on a lookout for chromes or try to snipe already colored helm



Wish you all luck! and ty Vei for such a nice build
ps. english is not my first language so sorry for any grammar mistakes.

Original Post: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2224772/page/233#p23499491



lolshie sharing a way to get Rampage without swapping belts/gloves, just using Weapon Swap. A bit tricky to do.

Spoiler
"
lolshie wrote:
Hey guys.

While im working on being n1 elehit with ballista totem on poe.ninja (j/k, no way i will maintain even top 5) i found a way to gain rampage without swapping items from inventory (gloves or belt) manualy.

Since we cannot use ballista totem with melee weapons and we deal 0 dmg i discovered a stupid workaround.

Spoiler

1. So, you need some weapon with rampage on weapon swap (i use dervish)
2. At the start of your map wield your bow normally.
3. when you encounter first mob you place totem, wait for it to fire a projectile
4. immidiately swap to your rampage weapon. Your totems will dissapear, but! projectile will still hit the target. and since we only need 1 kill to actually get rampage started and most of the time our ballistas will oneshot any white/blue/yellow mobs thats all we need.
5. weaponswap to bow again and zoom-zoom rest of the map. Hopefully it's something linear where you can maintain rampage till the end.


It's dumb but it works

Original Post: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2224772/page/239#p23545797


My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
Last edited by Vei on Apr 20, 2021, 10:21:31 AM
******************************************
C. Initial Thoughts/Comments for New Leagues
******************************************

This will be where I post my thoughts on upcoming new league's info that is relevant to this build.

3.15 Initial Thoughts/Comments
*This post will be updated as GGG releases more info that I find worth mentioning(i.e. related to our build)*

21st July 2021 - Patch Note Comments/Summary(Last Update: 23rd July 2021)

Overall Comments(Added: 23rd July 2021)

Overall compared to 3.14, after factoring in all the Changes(Gems, Flasks etc), we lost about 33% in DPS. I saw some builds lost 50-60% DPS, I think we didn't get hit that bad, but also didn't emerge as a winner either, probably somewhere in the middle?

With the nerfs, things won't be as smooth as in the past and for players who have played the build before, the nerf definitely be will be felt and it won't be a good feeling.

That said, I think the build will still work fine, just need more upgrades to do the same level of content compared to the past.

Other than that, Mana Cost has been increased quite a bit. I mention the solution to this below.



With regards to the Patch Notes, I'll just summarize things and mention the big changes that requires adjustment and my plan for them.

Gem Matters

New Elemental Hit Gem Setup in Helm/Frostferno
Base on the Support Gem changes, we will be swapping out Combustion Support for (Awaken) Fire Penetration.

The new Elemental Hit Setup in our Helm/Frostferno is:

Elemental Hit + Ballista Totem + (Awaken) Elemental Damage with Attacks + (Awaken) Fire Penetration(Changed from Combustion)

This setup provides us with the highest DPS out of all the new support gems.

We will need 1 Green and 3 Red Socket on the helm.

(Additional Comments: 23rd July 2021): A 20% Quality Divergent Fire Penetration will be an alternate option to Awakened Fire Penetration for its "Anti COD" Effects at the cost of slight bit lesser DPS.


Awaken Hextouch Level 5 no longer grants "Supported Skills can apply an additional Curse".
This makes it less of an incentive to go for it.(Now the build is more budget friendly! ;)) People opting for a Double Curse setup will have to go with the Whisper of Doom Anoint on Amulet. I'll have to work out the Combinations to see what make sense in this case.

(Additional Comments: 23rd July 2021) Double Curse with Whisper of Doom doesn't really make sense base on the numbers so far so the build will go with Single Curse.


Cast when Damage Taken: Now has a 250% Cost and Reservation Multiplier.
This makes Immortal Call cost a lot and as we reserve a lot of our mana, we might not have enough mana to pay for it when it triggers. For now, my idea is to switch to a Level 1 Cast when Damage Taken and Level 1 Immortal Call so we have enough Mana to use this setup. I'll keep a lookout to see if there are any other good ideas we can implement.

(Additional Comments: 23rd July 2021) We will go with 2 setups base on whether we have the Enlighten Gem or not. Without Enlighten Gem, we will go with Level 1 for Both Gem. With Enlighten Gem, we will go with Level 10 CWDT and Level 12 Immortal Call.


(Awaken) Hextouch: Now has a 140% Cost and Reservation Multiplier.
This, when combined with the CWDT change and Support Gem Swap(Combustion to Fire Penetration) adds to the Mana Issues we will face.



Mana Issues

Due to the Cost and Reservation Multiplier addition/changes to Gems like Cast When Damage Taken, Hextouch, swapping Combustion to Fire Penetration, we will face some Mana Issues:

The solution is either:

1. Use an Enduring Mana Flask
2. Use 2 source of "Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to -9 to Total Mana Cost"

We can also go for Solution 1 first and later switch to Solution 2.

Solution 1
Solution 1 is pretty straight forward.

Solution 2
For Solution 2, we can start with one source of "Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to -9 to Total Mana Cost" first then later increase to 2 source. With 1 Source, things are kind of Ok, occasionally the CWDT might not be able to trigger due to not enough mana, especially if Totems are being spammed, while with 2 sources, things will be very smooth.

For a start, we can use one -8 Praxis Unique Ring first. Ideally we will buy this Praxis Unique Ring during leveling since it helps the leveling too. Later on we will get the 2 source from the following options:

- Crafting the Mod on Rare Rings/Rare Amulet (Up to -7)
- Natural Roll on Incursion Rings (Ranges from -8 to -6)
- Unveiled Elreon Ring with the Mod (Ranges from -10 to -8)
- Replica Conquerer's Efficiency Unique Jewel (-9)
- Using Clarity Gem and Watcher's Eye Unique Jewel with Clarity's mod(Up to -10)
- Praxis Unique Paua Ring (-8 to -4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills


Go for the solution that suits you best base on your individual preference.



Flask Changes

Diamond Flask Slot
For our Diamond Flask slot, there are 2 options for us, Diamond Flask and Silver Flask. Both gives us around the same DPS and their duration is now the same.

In this case it will be between:
1. Ability to use the Flask 2 times before requiring to recharge(Diamond Flask)
2. Increased Mobility but only 1 use before requiring to recharge(Silver Flask)

I am not really leaning towards any of them for now, so go with whichever base on your personal preference/playing stlye.


Forbidden Taste
It's something that I will have to test now that it's changed to "25% of maximum Life taken as Chaos Damage per second" which is quite a big number. Will see if this is still a practical Flask for us to use.


Diamond Flask changed to 100% increased critical strike chance(Copied from My Balance Manifesto Comments)
This change will make Marylene's Fallacy not as strong as it was in the past. I did some DPS number crunching:

With New Diamond Flask

773k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who hit you in the last 4 seconds + 20% Turbulent Catalyst)
758k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who hit you in the last 4 seconds)
754k +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi + 20% Unstable Catalyst)
743k +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi)
689k +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(No other Offensive Affix)
685k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who didn't hit you last 4 seconds + 20% Turbulent Catalyst)
680k +1 skill(Dex/Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi)
672k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who didn't hit you last 4 seconds)
665k Marylene's Fallacy(Culling Strike Factored in)
647k Marylene's Fallacy
634k Yoke of Suffering
634k +1 skill(Dex/Fire) amulet(No other Offensive Affix)

Without New Diamond Flask

720k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who hit you in the last 4 seconds + 20% Turbulent Catalyst)
707k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who hit you in the last 4 seconds)
699k +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi + 20% Unstable Catalyst)
690k +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi)
642k +2 skill(Dex + Fire) amulet(No other Offensive Affix)
639k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who didn't hit you last 4 seconds + 20% Turbulent Catalyst)
630k +1 skill(Dex/Fire) amulet(with T1 Crit Multi)
627k *Xoph's Blood(Against Enemies who didn't hit you last 4 seconds)
614k Marylene's Fallacy(Culling Strike Factored in)
599k Marylene's Fallacy
591k Yoke of Suffering
591k +1 skill(Dex/Fire) amulet(No other Offensive Affix)

*Since Xoph's Blood has Avatar of Fire, we can save 2 Passive Point used to get Avatar of Fire Keystone on the Passive Tree and allocate it to another DPS Notable. The most ideal DPS gained per Passive spent Notable(For 2 Passive Points specifically) will be Savagery in this case and the above ranking for Xoph's Blood is base on this.


Base on the Above, I think Marylene's Fallacy still remains the best in terms of budget option at the start(Hard to beat the DPS it provides for it's few Chaos cost) Later on, when progressing to the mid-tier, a +2 Skill Amulet or Xoph's Blood will be the choice for our Amulet base on the DPS numbers.



Estuary Map at T2

Frostferno is going to be much more common, accessible and also cheaper. That said, maybe consider making one for yourself by buying the Prophecy and Heatshiver, could be even cheaper this way.




LINK BACK TO THE GUIDE

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581/page/1#p23724373



********
Archives
********

3.14 Initial Thoughts/Comments

17th Apr 2021 - Options to go for now that Chainbreaker/Berserk is no longer used

Note that these are not meant to be DPS equivalent replacement to Chainbreaker/Berserk but rather, options to use now that we have a free Jewel and Gem slot from not using Lethal Pride(Akoya) and Berserk

The option to go for will be dependant on which Jewel we have access to



Option 1 - Have a nice Watcher's Eye with Precision(And/Or Grace) Mods

For this option we will replace Berserk with a Level 1 Precision and Lethal Pride(Akoya) with the Watcher's Eye

Watcher's Eye Precision Mod Options (Sorted by DPS from highest to lowest)

(20-30)% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision
(40-60)% increased Attack Damage while affected by Precision
(10-15)% increased Attack Speed while affected by Precision

Watcher's Eye Grace Mod Options

(6-10)% chance to Dodge Attack Hits while affected by Grace
(5-8)% chance to Evade Attack Hits while affected by Grace
(10-15)% increased Movement Speed while affected by Grace
Unaffected by Enfeeble while affected by Grace



Option 2 - Have a nice Crit Multiplier Base Jewel

Note: Refer to "23. Ideal Non Cluster Jewels" of the guide for the Crit Multiplier Affixes.

For this option we will replace Berserk with Enhance Support and Lethal Pride(Akoya) with the Crit Multiplier Base Jewel

Some Gem Shuffling/Change will be required as we will link Enhance Support to Gems as follows:

1. Enhance
2. Sniper's Mark
3. Blood Rage
4. Divergent Summon Skitterbot (Instead of the default Quality one)

Phase Run can replace Sniper's Mark/Blood Rage/Summon Skitterbot if you prefer the additional Move Speed through the improved quality from Enhance Support.



For the purpose of the guide, I will be updating it to use Option 1.

POB Pastebin base on Option 1 - https://pastebin.com/M1HAFdjf



3.13 Initial Thoughts/Comments

25th Jan 2021 - Arn`s Anguish

Note: I don't recommend this to non-Hiero Classes unless you have some way to maintain 3 Endurance Charge consistently(Enduring Cry + Call to Arms Keystone is not good enough imo)

3.13 released this new Unique Belt:


This belt basically converts Endurance Charges into Brutal Charges.

So what does Brutal Charges do?

1 Brutal Charge = 3% chance to deal TRIPLE damage which means
4 Brutal Charge = 12% chance to deal TRIPLE damage

This is a Huge gain in DPS, around a whopping 300k increase in the default POB Pastebin!
(Note that POB doesn't have this item yet and is unable to calculate "Chance to Deal Triple Damage" so I made some modifications to "Chance to Deal Double Damage to calculate the amount gained")

Other than DPS increase, the belt also provides 12-15% Maximum Life and 40-60% Fire Resist which makes it even better.


However, I also want highlight that we will be sacrificing 2 things for this:

1. The belt will not have an Abyss Jewel Socket for the Dual Taunt + Blind on Hit abyss jewel.

After taking a look at the possible options, it seems to me that the most ideal solution will be to take the Jewel Socket near Point Blank keystone to make up for the loss of the Abyss Jewel Socket since we will always want to use the Dual Taunt + Blind on Hit Abyss Jewel.

That said, investing 3 Passive Tree Points to get the Jewel Socket actually doesn't make the DPS gained from the Belt a lot less attractive(Maybe just a slight bit), because we can now Corrupt the belt, and looking at the possible corruption options for belts:

DPS Corrupts(In order of DPS)

- +(20–25)% to Critical Strike Multiplier during any Flask Effect
- (8–12)% increased Attack Speed during any Flask Effect
- (35–40)% increased Critical Strike Chance during any Flask Effect

Other nice Corruptions

- (6–8)% increased maximum Life
- Grace has (15–20)% increased Aura Effect
- (12–15)% increased Skill Effect Duration
- (8–12)% increased Movement Speed during any Flask Effect
- (3–5)% increased Quantity of Items found

It kind of covers up the 3 Passive Point cost we now need to get a Jewel Socket on the Passive Tree.

Oh, I haven't mention double corrupt yet. I think you can see the loss of the Abyss Jewel socket isn't that bad now.


2. Not having the 4 Endurance Charges means We will be losing 16% additional Physical Damage Reduction + 16% Elemental Resistances. That is quite a bit of defense we will be sacrificing.


To conclude, for those who are just looking at maximizing your DPS and don't mind the Endurance Charges loss, this is definitely your go to belt.

I suggest buying it soon since it's still pretty cheap currently at around 10-15c(As of the time I post this), just in case it goes up in price as more people find out about it.


I'll not make any changes to this guide's POB for now since the item is not implmented in POB yet but I'll make references to this item in "11. Mid-Tier Equipment Details"

13th Jan 2021 - 3.13 Patch Notes
Ballista Totem Support
Now causes supported skills do deal 32% less damage at gem level 1 (from 42%), up to 20% less damage at gem level 20 (from 33%).


This is a big buff to Ballista Totem and it's roughly around a 17% increase to our DPS! To put that into perspective if we have 1 more max totem its like around 14% more DPS so it's like we got 1+ totem for "free" but we don't need to place it down to gain it effect which is nice considering that 2 become 1 nerf :)

Estuary Map at T15

Frostferno is going to be rarer and more expensive this league. Unless you are playing the league much later, will have to farm that Tabula Rasa and use the 6L setup until getting access to Frostferno. More info at "10.3 Note for Early League Rushers" and "10.4 Farming Tabula Rasa/Chaos Orbs"

For references, when Estuary was at T14 in Harvest, it costed 50c at Day 4.

Hiero Ascendancy Changes

I have already commented on this further below, refer to the "3.13 Live Reveal + Announcement Page (8th Jan 2021)" Spoiler comments


There was also some very negligible nerf(To us) to some aura gems quality(Divergent Clarity/Divergent Precision) that we might use which I think is not worth mentioning.

Easiest Patch Note evaluation for me. :P


8th Jan 2021 - 3.13 Live Reveal + Announcement Page

TLDR at the end

I think most will have already know the news by now but for the benefit for those who are not aware, GGG mentioned that they rebalanced every Ascendancy Classes for 3.13. Although Hierophant's Ascendancy was not shown in the Live Reveal, we are able to see a preview in the Announcement Page

3.13 Hierophant Ascendancy


Removal of "Skills that would Summon a Totem Summon two Totems instead"

The biggest one here is definitely the missing "Skills that would Summon a Totem Summon two Totems instead" from Ritual of Awakening.

The overall reaction including my own to it is definitely not good. However I would like say that the build is not dead, but rather it's less smooth and the clear speed will be slower compared to the past, especially to people who are used to Hierophant's "2 Totem per cast", since the deployment of the totems will be much slower.

The other thing will be the double amount of mana required to place the totems which will make the "Non-Channelling Skills have (-9–-8) to Total Mana Cost Bench Craft" or an Enduring Mana Flask necessary for more players.


DPS

DPS wise, I did some number crunching base on the following differences(Between the New and Old)

- No more 6% increased Damage per Enemy Killed by you or your Totems Recently(Pursuit of Faith)
- No more 10% increased Attack and Cast Speed while you have a Totem(Pursuit of Faith)
- No more Damage Penetrates 5% Elemental Resistances while you have a Power Charge(Conviction of Power)

- We gained 2% more Damage per Summoned Totem(Ritual of Awakening) (So 14% more wth 7 totems up)
- We gained 1 more Power Charge(Conviction of Power)


With the above changes applied to 3 Scenarios:

1. Against Normal Monsters

Although we lose the Pursuit of Faith's "6% increased Damage per Enemy Killed by you or your Totems Recently" but considering normal monster die pretty fast generally, the less damage isn't as big an impact in this scenario for many situations(Except on harder maps(like 100% delirium) and deeper delves where we want as much as DPS we can get)

2. Against Boss that has/generate some Normal Monster during the fight

Depending on how many Normal Monsters that the fight have access to, I would say on average its roughly around the same/slight bit lower in terms of DPS.

3. Against Boss without any Normal Minions during the fight

This is actually a DPS increase.


Overall, I think it averages out.


Conviction of Power

With regards to Conviction of Power changes, we now have permanent 4 Endurance and Power Charges!

I did a test just to confirm, took a +1 Minimum Endurance Charge notable(Disciple of the Unyielding) and it seems like after I generate the one Endurance Charge, it does carry across different instances, including my hideout!

This means before we set off to do anything for the day, just go to a random area to get the 4 minimum Endurance Charge(With an Enduring Cry Gem) and 4 minimum Power Charge(With Power Charge on Critical Gem) and we will permanently have those for the whole session.

Though the bad thing about the Conviction of Power change is the endurance charges no longer interact with Immortal Call, i.e. Immortal Call doesn't consume the Endurance Charge to buff itself so the CWDT + IC setup might not be that good now and we might want to switch to another alternative say CWDT + Steelskin. Will have to test and see.


Others

There have been speculation/mentions(Note: 100% talk, 0% fact!) that the "Skills that would Summon a Totem Summon two Totems instead" might be moved to a Keystone on the Passive Tree, I am not betting on it but I think that will be nice and allow more Ascendancy as viable options for Totem builds.

And I think it's good that at least we got to know about these Hiero changes earlier, and players have time to able to react to it, adjust to this change or change build etc. Imagine if we only got this information on Patch Notes Day(12th Jan), that will be so terrible!


TLDR

Build is not dead, DPS wise it averages out to be about the same, people who are used to playing the Totem build with Hiero will definitely feel bad being unable to place 2 Totem per Cast and feel the much slower Totem Setup speed thus clear speed, plus probably need to make some adjustments to support the mana required for additional Totem Cast.

Considering that all class/ascendancy is now equal in terms of being only able to put 1 totem per cast, I would see this as an opportunity to explore ascendancies outside of Hiero for this build.

3.12 Initial Thoughts/Comments

21st Sept 2020 - Alternate Quality(Inc Range) Ballista Totem Test

So we wanted to find out if the "Increased Range" of the new alternate quality Ballista Totem(Called Divergent Ballista Totem by the way) is referring to the Max Range that the totem can "see" for the purposes of targeting enemies with attacks.

To test this out I looked for an Enemy Totem since Totems can't move, which is perfect for the Test and tested the Maximum Range of both Ballista Totem.


Here's a picture showing a 14% Quality(which means 14% increased range) Divergent Ballista Totem shooting at the Enemy Totem




And Here's a picture showing the Original Totem shooting at the Enemy Totem with added notes/drawings highlighting the Maximum Range of each totem



Base on the Test Results, it shows that indeed, the "Increased Range" is referring to the Max Range that the totem can "see" for the purposes of targeting enemies with attacks which means this alternate quality is the best Ballista Totem option for us.

Lastly here's a link to the Divergent Ballista Totem Gem for those want to take a look


17th Sept 2020 - Alternate Quality Gems Comments(Last Update: 21st Sept)

These are the few that we will go for(For Ballista Totem, assuming it is as what I expect it to be)

- Frenzy - Alternate Quality 1: Fires an additional Projectile

We can then remove GMP and free up a Gem Slot.

(Update: 21st Sept 2020) - Name of Gem is Anomalous Frenzy



- Cast When Damage Taken - Alternate Quality 1: Supported Skills have 20% increased Skill Effect Duration

Longer Immortal Call, fantastic!

(Update: 21st Sept 2020) - Name of Gem is Anomalous Cast when Damage Taken Support



- Combustion - Alternate Quality 2: Supported Skills deal 20% increased Fire Damage, Ignites from Supported Skills deal Damage 10% slower

We don't deal much ignite damage so a slower ignite in exchange for 10% Increased Fire Damage is a great deal.

(Update: 21st Sept 2020) - Name of Gem is Divergent Combustion Support



- Ballista Totem: Alternate Quality 2: 20% increased Totem Range

This is different wording compared to the Ancestral Reach Notable which says "25% increased Totem Placement range" which by the way I tested it before it doesn't increase the range that we can place our Ballista Totem. If this quality refers to the aggro range which determines how far they can "see" for the purposes of targeting enemies with attacks, then this is awesome!

(Update: 21st Sept 2020) - Name of Gem is Divergent Ballista Totem and it's confirmed that it increases the "Aggro Range"


16th Sept 2020 - Patch Notes Comments(Last Update: 20th Sept)

Overall not too much changes to this build, main ones are the changes to curses and maybe a new skill implementation to our build.

New Skill

Flame Wall looks like it could work well with our build, will wait for Gem Info on the 17th to evaluate again.

(Update: 17th Sept 2020) - Tested the numbers with a 20/20 Flame Wall Gem, doesn't provide a big DPS increase, might be better if the Gem is linked to some Support Gems, but we might not have gem slot for that. Not implementing it for now.

Curses Outlook

Spoiler

Single Curse Setup
Considering we don't really need to Curse normal/magic mobs as they die pretty fast, this mean Curse for us are usually used versus Bosses or sometimes rares when they take a while to be killed. In this case we would like to maximize the effect a Curse provides for us which means going for Marks as they have 100% effect compared to 66%/33% effect Hex have on Bosses/Shaper respectively.

As for Mark choices, we have 2, Sniper's Mark and Assassin's Mark. Sniper's Mark looks to be a clear winner since Cursed enemies take 35% increased damage from projectile hits at gem level 20 taken is HUGE since it's multiplicative damage. Nevertheless I'll verify with POB in case I miss something.

Going for Mark also means we no longer need Curse on Hit gem as that doesn't work with Marks so we free up a Gem Slot for us to use.

(Update: 20th Sept 2020) Path of Building was updated with the latest Gem Info and it seems like Flammability Hex is still stronger than both Sniper's Mark and Assasin's Mark even with the 100% effect on Bosses/Shaper. We will stick to using Flammability Hex.
Refer to Announcement dated 25th Sept


Double Curse Setup
This will mean using 1 Mark(Sniper) + 1 Hex(Flammability) and that means an additional Gem Slot required. I'll have to play around to see if it's worth the Gem Slot cost.

(Update: 17th Sept 2020) This is worth going for.

(Update: 20th Sept 2020) We will be using either
- Flammability Hex + Elemental Weakness Hex or
- Flammability Hex + Sniper's Mark


Other Curse Related Info
There are some new "areas" in the Passive Tree for Curses, specifically

- Marked for Death(southeast of the Duelist)
- Mark the Weak(southeast of the Ranger)

Mark the Weak seems to be very strong as Marked enemies have reduced accuracy, take increased damage and cause hits against Marked Enemies to have increased Critical Strike Chance.

Mark for Death provides increased Effect of our Curses, Culling Strike against Marked enemies, and increased damage with Hits and Ailments against Enemies Marked us.

Both look very strong and definitely something I will look further into.
(Update: 17th Sept 2020) - Both not good enough to be worth pathing to.

Other Changes

Spoiler
Precision Gem
With these considered

- Nerfs to Crit Multiplier Precision mod on Watcher's Eye
- We are using Precision mainly for mods on the Watcher's Eye Jewel
- We don't have any spare Jewel Socket in our current Passive Tree for Watcher's Eye(Nearest costs 3 Passive Points)

My current plan is to drop it and replace it with Vaal Haste(Just for the Vaal Part) assuming there is no better options for the Gem Socket.

We currently have Berserk and when we use it, its also usually the time we will want to use Vaal Haste. Berserk multiplies the Speed provided by Vaal Haste so I think they synergizes very well with each other when both are used together.

On the other hand, if you manage to lay your hands on a Double/Triple Precision Watcher Eye, it's definitely still worth using a Precision Gem for it. We just don't use it by default.

(Update: 17th Sept 2020)I will be dropping Precision for Vaal Haste but will put a note to swap Vaal Haste for Precision for those who are using a Precision Watcher's Eye or just prefer 1 less button to press.


Glancing Blow Keystone Nerf

For those who are interested in the Iron Reflex Version of this build which uses this Keystone, I am not sure how good Glancing Blow will be after the nerf so I will label the Iron Reflex version as "Experimental" for now for those who are still interested in exploring it.

Ultimately we are not a tank build and the default build is still the Dodge version so this nerf doesn't affect us as much.


10th Sept 2020 - Replica Shroud of the Lightless




So GGG released this armour preview a few days back. This armour is very interesting because we don't use any Gems on our Body Armour slot so we can replace Kaom's Heart with this Armour easily.

My first impression is, it definitely will do a lot more Damage(With decent Abyssal Jewels) compared to Kaom's, but by how much? Since it will not be easy to get 6 decent Abyssal Jewels. I did a comparison to see and here goes...


The below comparison is using the Default 7 Totems EV Pastebin(Pre 3.12 Patch Notes) with some slight modifications(To get the 6 Jewel Sockets for the Abyss Jewels)

I will be comparing between:

A. Kaom's Heart with 40% Fire Damage

B. Kaom's Heart with 40% Fire Damage and 50% Increased Damage Corrupted Implicit

C. Shroud of the Lightless with 6 "Reasonable" Searching/Murderous Eye Jewel

Jewel stats as follows:
- +30 to maximum Life
- +10% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
- +5% increased Attack Speed

This should be a Reasonably Obtainable Jewel that we can get 6 of in Heist(Assuming Trade Leagues)

D. Shroud of the Lightless with 6 Perfect Searching Eye Jewel

Jewel stats as follows:
- +40 to maximum Life
- Adds 18 to 32 Fire Damage to Bow Attacks
- +12% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
- +5% increased Attack Speed

Just to see how the best case scenario looks like cos why not. This actually is definitely possible with Harvest League but unfortunately not quite with Heist(At least not 6 of)


Shaper DPS(Per Totem without Berserk active)
A. Kaom's Heart (40% Fire Damage) - 513k
B. Kaom's Heart (40% Fire Damage) with 50% Increased Damage Implicit - 541k
C. Shroud with 6 "Reasonable" Abyss Jewel - 630k
D. Shroud with 6 Perfect Abyss Jewel - 682k

Life
A/B. Kaom's Heart - 500(1300 with *160% Inc Life)
C. Shroud with 6 x 30 Life Jewel - 210(468 with *160% Inc Life)
D. Shroud with 6 x 40 Life Jewel - 240(624 with *160% Inc Life)

*From Passive Tree


Definitely quite a big increase in DPS with Shroud if you can get 6 decent Abyss Jewels but also quite a big tradeoff with the 832(1300 minus 468) less life. Obviously we can get even more DPS from a corrupted Shroud with **% Increased Damage Implicit like the Kaom's.

Overall I think it's definitely something to go for if one wishes to min max their DPS and don't mind the much lesser life.


My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
Last edited by Vei on Jul 25, 2021, 7:57:07 AM
That's some sweet forum guide right here, good job man. I'll give it a try in 3.13, hoping that the patchnotes are mild to the build.
"
kljimby wrote:
That's some sweet forum guide right here, good job man. I'll give it a try in 3.13, hoping that the patchnotes are mild to the build.


Thanks a lot! Really appreciate it and I hope the build will serve you well when you try it :)
My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
Awesome Vei! It is nice to see you started your own thread... This build is sick... Easy to level... Can kill anything...

Sometimes you even get lucky twice.

Spoiler
I am not Anti-Social, I am just selective on whom I wish to be social with.
"
Ahewaz wrote:
Awesome Vei! It is nice to see you started your own thread... This build is sick... Easy to level... Can kill anything...


Hey there Ahewaz!

It's great to see you here man! Welcome welcome :D

Yeah finally decided to go with a new thread since both Part 1 and 2 of the old post is exploding at the word cap of 50,000/post and I figured not much point creating a Part 3(In the middle of "nowwhere") lol.

"
Ahewaz wrote:

Sometimes you even get lucky twice.

Spoiler


Wow Congrats!

Hope it will be 4 Times the luck for you next league! ^_^

My 3.15 take/update to Lunasicc187's OneShotKill Elemental Hit Hierophant Guide

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3005581
I created some videos in honour of your new thread. You are welcome to use them if you want.

All are 3.12 Heist League.


Edit:
Added 2 more videos - Simulacrum - Chayula
Spoiler

1 stupid death - My fault.
Simulacrum - https://youtu.be/DMyR7ioALB8
Chayula - https://youtu.be/QX2PbStIqk8


Edit 2:
T16 Tropical Island - Nemesis / Single Beyond / 100% Delirium - Yes, I died a few times but, it was a lot of fun. If you ever get a chance, try it.



Edit 3:
5 Way Emblem with


Edit 4:
Mastermind's Lair - Catrina 83


Grand Architect's Temple


Arch Lich's Tomb


Edit 5:
Einhar's Beasts

I am not Anti-Social, I am just selective on whom I wish to be social with.
Last edited by Ahewaz on Jan 4, 2021, 9:13:28 PM

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