[3.15 WIP] Saboteur Crit BL Mines (Life League-start/SSF to Budget LL ES All Content Viable)


Vods
Disclaimer: these vods (and the others in the channel) are from pre 3.15. I'll have new ones soon!

A9 Sirus (Deathless)
A9 T16 Atoll Essence Farm


_________________________________________________________________________

Credits:
I just wanted to preface this by pointing out that I’m still fairly new to many aspects of this game and I learned a lot from other guides on this forum. They deserve their credit, namely Beerleague and Cozmoz for their own BL guides, Enki for general formatting and extreme detail, and Remicaster1 for BL mechanics. I also want to credit Tytykiller for the plethora of leveling guides, resources, and information he's made available. This is just my twist on a build I really enjoy and how I go about the smaller details. I’ll try to explain why I chose what I did as best I can. If you see any errors or misleading comments please feel free to point them out (or even if you just want to suggest something) because this is a learning experience for me as well.

_________________________________________________________________________

Contents:
‣ Introduction
‣ Pros & Cons
‣ PoB
‣ Items & Upgrades
‣ Pantheon & Bandits
‣ Keybinds, Tactics & Resources
‣ Acts
‣ Mapping



_________________________________________________________________________

Introduction:
Spoiler
"
A mine (or remote mine) is a type of active skill that throws a device that can be detonated remotely to produce an effect such as delivering a spell payload, launching a volley of arrows, or teleporting the user to that location.

Mines seem to be fairly misunderstood because of the second keybind attached to detonating. While we do want to use this to our advantage for single target, it's not necessary to have two separate actions to function while mapping and we can automate the sequence, but more on that later.

This particular mine build is focused on the spell Ball Lightning. We'll make use of a few different spells throughout the act progression and early mapping but eventually Ball Lightning will be the primary focus of the build. Because of the complicated nature of the spell, we have quite a few things to consider:

Ball Lightning Mechanics:
Spoiler
Calculator for max potential hits, duration and effective damage per ball
(disclaimer: I didn't make the calculator I simply edited it to the correct values for this build.)

General and DPS Calculation:
‣ Only one ball per mine can damage a single unit at a time, so multiple casts from a single mine cannot “shotgun”. This is why we don’t value added projectiles for bossing.

‣ Each ball can potentially hit every 150ms, so long as the target is still within the ball's radius; 6.66 max hits per second or 13 max hits per ball over a 2 second max duration.

‣ Hits per ball will depend on effective radius (base radius affected by increased/more AoE) and effective projectile speed (base projectile speed affected by reduced/less projectile speed). The slower the projectile travels, the longer that target can potentially be within its' radius to be hit.

‣ With level 20 Slower Projectiles + Adjacent Animosity:
"
135% total increased AoE for 13 potential hits per ball
100% total increased AoE for 12 potential hits per ball
65% total increased AoE for 11 potential hits per ball

‣ We will aim for at least 11 potential hits per ball and sometimes benefit from 12 and 13 depending on gear and how well we maximize active mines during a proper detonation sequence. In short, we can ignore this while mapping and expect at least 10 mines active (average throughout the entire detonation sequence) & 50% increased AoE from Bomb Specialist for single target. Because mines are no longer active as they're being detonated we lose some of the benefit of Bomb Specialist throughout the detonation sequence so we settle for a middle ground of 10 for PoB configuration instead of the full 19. In reality, it will be higher for a good chunk of your detonation sequence.

‣ Calculating effective DPS for mines, particularly BL mines, is very difficult and you have to consider a number of variables (having a properly configured PoB is extremely important to not have misleading numbers so don't mess with the configuration if you aren't confident in doing so):
Damage
The first thing to understand is that due to the nature of mine auras (High-Impact + Demolitions Specialist), Bomb Specialist, how they interact with each other and how massively they benefit from a big stack, your potential greatest damage is effectively in 1.68-2 second windows when detonating a full stack. Outside of having the full stack of mines your damage will be significantly lower so we always prioritize stacking mines and detonating them together over multiple small stack detonations for single target. To calculate damage done inside these windows, we need the PoB average hit per mine (over 75,000 currently with the budget setup, 10 mines active and 9 mines detonated recently for pob configuration), hits per second (6.66, rounded down to 6), our max stack size (19) and our effective damage duration per ball (1.68s for the budget setup).
(average hit per ball*hits per second)*your max mine stack
Example: (75000*6)*19 = ~8.55m DPS or ~15.67m damage over 1.68s, for Sirus. (For context, with the 20c budget red map build we're getting ~20000 average hit, ~2.5m DPS and ~5m damage over 1.9s)
The damage is higher at the start of the detonation and lower at the end but this is a good conservative estimate of your average DPS during these 1.66s windows using the budget setup with no flasks enabled, no awakened gems, and Vaal Righteous Fire inactive. This also doesn’t take into account that you’ll be at 12 hits per ball while your stack is 16-19 mines (without helmet and wand enchant) and doesn’t take into account that for a proper sequence you will be laying more mines after the initial detonation to extend your sequence. Your damage is significantly lower when you don't detonate a full stack.


What DOES NOT work:
‣ Can NEVER chain or fork.
‣ Area damage and Concentrated Effect support does NOT work.
‣ Leech does NOT work with mines. (exception: Machina Mitts)
‣ +%Critical strike chance and adds adds X elemental damage to attacks does NOT work (local modifiers)

What DOES work:
‣ Balls always pierce
‣ Added damage (flat) does work but has reduced effectiveness (50%)
‣ Increased and more %elemental, %lightning, %spell, %mine, %projectile and %damage does work
‣ +%Increased critical strike chance to spells, %global critical strike, %critical strike multiplier, and adds X damage to spells does work (global modifiers)
‣ On hit effects do work but gaining benefits such as life on hit or buffs such as Power Charge on hit do not work


_________________________________________________________________________

Pros and Cons:
Spoiler
Pros:
Single Target: Most boss fights give you an opportunity to "set up". This means we start the fight with a full stack of mines and for a lot of content we effectively "one shot" the boss or at least deal an absurd amount of immediate damage.

Mapping: A simple gem swap (Slower Projectiles -> LMP) can give us 2 additional projectiles for better coverage and alleviate projectile speed issues. We don't have S tier clear speed but we make up for that with versatility being able to do a wider variety of map mods. We have no leech or ailment crutches and because mines are doing the actual damage we don’t care about reflect.

Defensives: 100% chill, freeze, ignite, and shock immunity, Blind nearby enemies via Sand Stance, auto chill and shock from Skitterbots, and a respectable amount of EHP (~6.5k ES scaling up to potentially over 10k) and regen (thanks to Pyromaniac + Zealot’s Oath, ~650 ES/s scaling up to over 1k+ ES/s). Mines naturally give you the ability to damage mobs around corners and through doorways. We’re also using a very efficient scaling and application of endurance charges + Immortal Call.

Scaling: This build gets a lot out of its’ investments at all stages of the game and is a great leveler and league starter.

Cons:
Mines: There are a lot of stigmas about mines in general but these can be aleviated with proper setup of hotkeys. To maximize throughput for single target you will still want to use two separate keys for setting mines and detonating them.

End-game setup is not extreme budget: We're approaching end game content with a low life setup, which does have a little investment attached to it (notably Shavronne’s Wrappings + Presence of Chayula). With that said you should be able to construct a build that can comfortably tackle Sirus and other end game bosses at around ~5-10ex budget in the early to middle of challenge league. The guide also includes options for league starting with a life variant and whatever you find while questing and an extreme budget entry mapping to red maps setup to start acquiring currency for the LL transition.

Not HC viable: While adjustments can be made to easily approach HC, setups as they are aren't suited for HC play. Leveling and end game builds here are focused on speed and offensive throughput while still maintaining a suitable amount of defenses. Taking the more defensive options listed and adjusting passives, gear, and gem options can definitely make the build HC viable but that is not currently covered in this guide.

No ZOOM: This build doesn’t get some insane MS scaling but being someone who likes to move around quick I chose gems and items that enable good mobility without sacrificing other aspects of the build.

_________________________________________________________________________

POB:
Spoiler
Please check PoB notes!
All gems and alternatives are covered within the PoBs!
You will NEED the PoB Community Fork.
To import these, go to "import/export build" in PoB then at the bottom use "import from pastebin", copy/paste one of the following links, and click import.


‣ Budget LL ES (end game all content):
"
https://pastebin.com/JtA3aP1r


‣ League Start and Mapping:
"
https://pastebin.com/tpru7UN8


_________________________________________________________________________

Items and Upgrades:
Spoiler
Items:
Spoiler
Non-unique mod priorities:
‣ Capping cold/fire/lightning resistances + surplus (10-15 extra if you can) for map mods = strength and dexterity requirements > 1x small source of +fire damage to spells (extra 40% crit multi from Explosives Experts ascendancy) > ES, chaos resistance, damage scaling

‣ NO sources of added lightning damage to spells (this will brick Elemental Equilibrium from Malachai's Artifice)

‣ Be conscious of resist values if using Wise Oak (at a minimum, uncapped lightning resistance should be highest and uncapped cold and fire resistance should be lower than lightning and equal to each other, ideally all are equal to get full benefit)

If not specifically mentioned then socket colors can vary as we can accomplish a few of the links through various pieces, as long as we get them all. Use the PoBs for detailed gem information.

Helmet:
Crown of the Inward Eye (at least 3 red linked sockets)

This helmet is cheap and very effective at boosting damage output. We’re looking for 3 red sockets as it’s the only strength based piece we use so it’s much easier to roll those colors.



Amulet:
Presence of Chayula

One of the larger spending points of this build. Anointing Adjacent Animosity helps reach the ideal BL hits per ball breakpoints and the projectile damage is just icing.


Weapon:
Rare Wand

It can be surprisingly cheap to acquire something functioning here. At a minimum we’re looking for +1 to all lightning spell skill gems, a good chunk of increased critical strike for spells and an open prefix to craft another offensive mod: gain lightning damage as extra chaos or increased spell or lightning damage. Stats, resistances, and max mana are other useful mods to look for.


Shield:
Prism Guardian (3 blue sockets)

This shield gives us a ton of ideal mods and a free Blood Magic effect on the beefy auras placed within to enable low life. Non corrupted versions are fairly cheap and the all resistance implicit is nice for reaching caps. You need to roll 3 blue sockets to accommodate the auras we want to put in it.


Armor:
Shavronne’s Wrappings (3 blue and 3 green linked sockets)

The last of our mandatory build enabling uniques. The chaos damage does not bypass ES mod is mandatory for us to fully covert to LL ES. If you’re really struggling with budget a 5 link could work but obviously you want 6 when you can get it to further support BL.


Gloves:
Rare Fingerless Silk Gloves

Look for ES, resistance, and/or stats.


Belt:
Rare Crystal Belt or Stygian Vise

Along with the theme of other rares, we’re looking for ES, resistance, and/or stats. For abyss jewels there are a ton of options so you should be able to find a solid one for cheap, just cover what you need resistance and/or stat wise then go for ES or some offensive stats.


Boots:
Sin Trek

Great budget option that gives us a lot of ES, good MS, and stats.


Rings:
Malachai's Artifice and Dream Fragments

Malachai's Artifice is an extremely cheap way to massively boost damage and Dream Fragments is another cheap option that's giving us a lot of utility.


Flasks:
Quicksilver, Diamond, and Quartz
Wise Oak and Atziri’s Promise

I’d recommend grabbing of Staunching and of Curing wherever you can on every applicable flask (after acquiring Corrupted Blood implicit jewel Curing becomes a higher priority but Staunching is still nice to have) to give you a more complete arsenal of ailment solutions coupled with Pyromaniac ascendancy. Shoot for Experimenter’s on Quicksilver and Quartz to get a little extra duration, and Ample on Diamond to get 3 full uses on max charges. You can consider Dying Sun for mapping but I think the other options to scale clear are better and flasks swapped while in a map start empty. Beastiary flask crafting the ailment immunities can save currency. For orbs, I like Instilling "use when charges reach full" for Quicksilver and Enkindling "increased charged recovery" or "increased maximum charges" for the others. This means we suffer a bit on charge generation for the other flasks but if you pop all your flasks together you'll essentially funnel charges gained to Quicksilver because the others can't gain charges while active. There are quite a few ways to go about orbing flasks, this is just one option I've used too maximize Quicksilver uptime as I'm not really a fan of trying to automate all of the flasks. Experiment with the other options and find something you like.


Jewels:
Energy From Within, Thread of Hope (Large), Watcher’s Eye, Enduring Composure Small Cluster and a Corrupted Blood immunity Implicit Jewel

Energy From Within is a cheap way to boost ES while Thread of Hope with a large ring gives access to some nice nodes while saving some points. The Small Cluster with Enduring Composure is an insane value to scale Immortal Call's effect and duration while giving you near constant uptime of max endurance charges. It really doesn’t matter where you get Corrupted Blood but it’s much cheaper to get it on a rare jewel with ES and resistances, and from there we want stats, crit multi and/or increased mine throwing speed. For Watcher’s Eye, look for max mana as ES while affected by Clarity.

Anoint:
Adjacent Animosity

This really should be your only budget option as the reduced projectile speed is far too impactful for increased AoE breakpoints (going from 105% to 65% for just 11 hits for example) and it will cost too many passives to consistently reach those breakpoints without inc AoE from other sources.


Upgrades:
Spoiler
The majority of these are not mandatory to clear virtually all content in the game but if you want to invest further these are great options. I would personally look for quality on all relevant gems, Bottled Faith, Aspect of the Spider, catalysts, and enchants/corruptions on the cheaper options before going for the very expensive options.

Helmet: Moderately expensive
Crown of the Inward eye is the only realistic option.
Enchant: we really don’t care about clear if gem swapping LMP so the best helmet enchant is inc. BL AoE, which will help more consistently reach 12 or even 13 hits per ball and scale damage further. The next best is inc. BL damage.

Amulet: Very expensive
Presence of Chayula is the only option.
Corruption: if you don’t need the stats, use Discipline has increased aura effect.
Note about anoint: If you upgrade to a Hubris Circlet you may get more value from Tranquility anoint and some passive changes, especially with BL AoE enchant and Swift Assembly.)

Weapon: Very expensive
Wand with +1 to all spell skill gems and +1 to all lightning spell skill gems, increased critical strike chance for spells, gain lightning damage as extra chaos damage, and/or incresed spell or lightning damage. You can also go for the Shaper mod damage penetrates elemental resistances.
Enchant: Harvest inc AoE. If you don’t think the inc AoE will make a difference for you go for inc elemental damage.

Shield: Moderately expensive
Prism Guardian is the only option.
Corruption: +2 to level of socketed aura gems if you don’t need the resistances.

Armor: Moderately expensive
Shavronne’s Wrappings is the only option.
Corruption: +1 to level of socketed spell gems or +2 to level of socketed trap and mine gems.
Enchant: harvest strength, dexterity, or resistance.

Gloves: Moderately expensive
Fingerless Silk Gloves with Aspect of the Spider and/or the Warlord mod increased spell damage with ES, resistances, and/or stats. You can also look for the Warlord mod "culling strike" and save a gem slot.
Enchants really don’t matter for gloves.
Note about Aspect of the Spider: you’ll need to grab the two reduced reservation nodes leading to Sovereignty and down-rank your Precision and Clarity but it’s 5-15% increased damage taken (500ms internal CD so about 1.5s for 3 stacks but the application radius nice, about 1/2 screen) and 30% reduced movement speed (which will help keep targets in BL radius) so it’s worth it when you can afford it/if you can fit it.

Belt: Moderately expensive
Crystal Belt with crusader mod increased max ES and/or increased spell damage during any flask effect with ES, resistances, and/or stats. This is also another slot to potentially grab Aspect of the Spider.

Boots: Moderately expensive
Enchant: damage penetrates enemy elemental resistance if you haven’t killed recently

Rings: Moderately expensive
If you can cover resistances elsewhere you can look for a corrupted Dream Fragments with Wrath or Discipline has increased aura effect.

Flasks: Moderately expensive
Bottled Faith and swap between Wise Oak and Atziri’s Promise depending on what content you’re running for your other slot. You can also consider Cinderswallow for Onslaught and "enemies ignite by you during flask effect take 10% increased damage". Increased critical strike chance during flask effect is the best unveil. Another option is Kiara's Determination + Overflowing Chalice with the Enkindling Orb effect "gain no charges during flask effect" if you want a solution for curse maps.

Jewels: Moderately expensive to very expensive
Watcher’s Eye with max mana as ES while affected by Clarity and/or one or more of the offensive Wrath modifiers (damage penetrates lightning resistance > increased critical strike chance > increased lightning damage). You can also try to get Corrupted Blood immunity on one of the unique jewels to more easily get better stats on your rare jewel.

Anoint: Cheap but very expensive to make it worthwhile
Tranquility becomes more realistic with BL inc AoE enchant and Hubris Circlet.

Catalysts: Fairly cheap
We’re looking for defensive modifiers (Tempering) on Chayula’s Presence to scale the life to ES conversion, caster modifiers (Imbued) to scale the offensive stats on Mark of the Shaper, either resistance (Prismatic) or stats (Intrinsic) on the Shaper influenced ring and Stygian Vise depending on what you need, and defense modifiers to scale ES on Moonstone rings and Crystal Belt.

Gems: Moderately expensive to very expensive
If you couldn't get it from leveling gems and corrupting them, 21/20 Ball Lightning takes priority and then quality on supports and 21/0 on Discipline, Wrath, Zealotry, and Precision.
Divergent BL is a slight damage increase.
Awakened Added Lightning Damage at >=level 5 is a moderate damage increase over Increased Critical Strikes.
Anomalous Trap and Mine damage can help with mana.


_________________________________________________________________________

Pantheon and Bandits:
Spoiler
Always upgrade pantheons that are applicable, they’re very worth it.
Your pantheon should always be swapped ahead of time to compliment the content you're running.


Major:
Lunaris for general mapping
Solaris for general bossing.
Brine King has uses for cold related content and is king for all leveling/entry mapping setups that don’t have stun immunity.
Arakaali has uses for chaos/poison.

Minor:
Gruthkul feels best for just about everything.
Shakari has uses vs chaos/poison related content.
Ralakesh now has Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you if you have at least 5 Corrupted Blood Debuffs on you. This upgraded minor is now practically mandatory until you get a Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you implicit corrupted jewel.
Yugul now has 20% reduced effect of curses on you which is great for the new troublesome curse map mods.

Bandits:
We're helping Alira until we can cover resists to swap to +2 passives.

_________________________________________________________________________

Keybinds, Tactics & Resources
Spoiler
I noticed a lot of guides layout their items, tree etc very well then neglect to mention anything as far as actually playing. This section aims to provide a little insight for tips and tricks and a few resources that are useful for the build or just PoE in general.

Keybinds and Tactics:
I listed examples of what I use but these are purely didactic, use what is comfortable for you.
The fundamental purposes of setting up binds like this are to give QoL while mapping (left click detonate essentially makes you just a normal BL caster for mapping, activating mines with a spammable key and automatically detonating them while moving with left click) and making it easier to have a nice detonation sequence against bosses. We don't want both activate mines and detonate on the mouse for either combo, your mouse hand will thank you if you can split actions between keyboard and mouse. For bosses, activate mines with right click and detonate through your actual detonate key while continuing to activate more mines during the detonation, which are then also detonated until the end of the sequence where you’ve already began laying another set of mines. We don't want to detonate more than once in the sequence, do not spam your detonate key. We always want to prioritize big stacks for detonation on single target to gain the most benefit from the mine auras and Bomb Specialist, work on building your stack while avoiding mechanics then detonating rather than detonating multiple small stacks. We have a move only and Flame Dash bind to reposition without bricking our active mines. If you have trouble repositioning with non left click, set your left click detonate to move only too for bosses.

Attack without moving enabled (all besides right click mine)
Move only (ex: Space, swap for left click also for bosses if needed)
Secondary bar modifier (ex: Shift)
Detonate left click + secondary detonate (ex: A)
BL Mine right click + secondary BL Mine (ex: Q)

Show/hide items (ex: Mouse Button 4, nice for things like breach splinters etc that pile up to quickly consolidate the items as you grab them. I use mouse button 4 so I don’t accidentally click it but if you don’t have thumb buttons on your mouse just use something that has some space between the bulk of your spammable binds.)

Arcanist Brand (ex: W, we don't need to use this while mapping aside from the occasional league specific mechanic big mobs etc. Try to keep uptime as high as possible when it is needed as the damage increase is fairly significant.)

Vaal RF (ex: E. Always be careful about using this as you’ll take a big chunk of damage initially and it can easily kill you. Alternatively you can bind it to the secondary bar if you're accidentally using it too often.)

Smoke Mine (ex: R, for efficient use of travel abilities activate your Smoke Mine at edge of screen and left click to detonate immediately followed by a Flame Dash to put both on CD. Smoke Mine has superior range for jumping ledges and skipping parts of routes.)

Flame Dash (ex: F, try to keep Arcane Surge buff up when possible. Always save a single charge of Smoke Mine/Flame Dash for emergency repositioning. Staying close to packs maximizes your benefit from Born in the Shadows if you’re using it.)

General Resources:
PoEDB
PoE.Ninja
CraftofExile
Awakened PoE Trade
PoE Overlay
TFT Discord
Google.com
(It’s crazy how informative just asking a question and reading can be!)


Last edited by jpypoe on Aug 20, 2021, 7:49:33 PM
Last bumped on Aug 17, 2021, 6:19:38 PM
Acts
Spoiler
Resources:
Spoiler

Quest rewards
Gem Vendors
PoE Lab
Tytykiller's leveling filter
Filterblade
Recommend semi strict for league start after Act 8, customize as you see fit

General Tips:
Spoiler

‣ Practice and planning are the two best tools to leveling efficiently. The less you have to stop and think about what you need to do and the better your route and strategies are optimized the faster you can finish the process and get to end game content. Always aim to minimize time spent in town!

‣ Always try to avoid over leveling. This will noticeably slow down your times and sink your efficiency as there are experience penalties.
Levels 1-16 try to stay around the level of the zone you're in, no more or less than 1-2 levels above or below
Levels 17-31 try to stay 4 levels below the level of the zone you're in
Levels 32-47 try to stay 5 levels below the level of the zone you're in
Level 48-60 try to stay 6 levels below the level of the zone you're in

Correlation between player level, monster level, and experience penalties
Spoiler

‣ Assign abilities (besides left click detonate) to attack without moving.

‣ Always sell to clear inventory during vendor visits and check for proper links.

‣ Trying to manage gems and equipment while moving with your move only bind can help save some time. This can apply to managing sockets, crafting items, and even something as simple as organizing your inventory to help you quickly figure out what you're vendoring and what you're keeping. Minimize trips to the stash. It's especially helpful to manage inventory during boss phases when you're in no danger.

‣ Use exit to character selection to save TPs but make sure you have a relevant WP and make sure to loot first. Try to creatively use TPs and progressing to the next WP to save time. Ex: TPing before the long bridge in Submerged Passage to come back for The Dweller in the Deep after Brutus or progressing to the next WP instead of backtracking because your objective was near a prior WP.

‣ Save extra gems, Iron rings, Topaz rings, Orbs of Alteration and Transmutation, Essences, and superior "lightning" gems for crafting. Don’t be wasteful with your resources, even more so early on. Essences can be used on items you find with very good links that you probably won't upgrade for a while. Portal and Wisdom scrolls are invaluable resources, pick them up throughout the acts, especially when doing so doesn't require you to go far off your route. Chests along your route are very efficient for drops, click them! Strongboxes and Essences are amazing, they're worth stopping for but be aware of modifiers and move out of explosion etc radius after activating. Always grab shrines.
Armourer's Scrap = 2 Scrolls of Wisdom at vendor
Blacksmith's Whetstone = 4 Scrolls of Wisdom at vendor
Unidentified magic/rare items = Transmutation Shards
Identified magic/rare items = Alteration Shards
Gem cost Act 1 gem level 1-4 = Scroll of Wisdom
Gem cost Act 1 gem level 8-12 = Orb of Transmutation
Gem cost Act 2 = Orb of Alteration
Gem cost Act 3 (Curse/Aura) = Orb of Alteration
Gem cost Act 3 active gem level 20+ = Chance Orb
Gem cost Act 4 = Orb of Alchemy

‣ Always try to upgrade flasks whenever you can, we’re looking for ideally 2x Life flasks and 2x Mana flasks early on and then dropping a mana flask later (and a life flask even later) in favor of utility flasks. It’s generally better to wait for them to drop, especially early on to save resources. You can also craft a flask one class higher by vendoring three of the same type.

‣ For belts you want Heavy Belts if you need the strength or Leather Belts otherwise. If you find a really nice rare belt that isn't one of the above and you don't need strength then use it of course.

‣ Be on the look out for items with proper colors and links. It’s not a bad idea to even keep extras that will allow you to swap things around to gain other benefits while not dropping any of your gems. Save the following string in notepad etc and copy it before starting your run. You can then Ctrl F + Ctrl V to quickly highlight the desired links:
"
b-b-g|b-g-b|g-b-b|b-b-b|g-g-b|g-b-g|b-g-g|runner

‣ Have a plan in mind for weapon swap sockets and get them as soon as you can. Obviously some gems are more impactful than others but you’re doing good as long as you’re leveling either something that you’re going to need in the future for your build or something you can sell for currency. For this build in particular, Ball Lightning (trying for 21/20) and your main auras that will be used in Prism Guardian (trying for 21/0) are good options for end game weapon swaps but you can even use them just to save inventory space early on.

‣ Body armor's and shields impose a slight MS loss. We aren't using a shield at all throughout the leveling process but don't equip body armors until you actual intend to use the sockets.

‣ One of the biggest benefits of being a mine build is that we can pre stack mines while standing in the invulnerable preparation area (generally 2 tiles deep) and frontload a ton of damage immediately on to bosses. In other words, don't walk too far into a boss fight when you first enter the area for bosses that instantly spawn and instead drop a bunch of mines at the corner of your screen near the boss before moving. Also it's beneficial to drop mines behind a dangerous enemy before getting Clever Construction as the mines can be destroyed before you can activate them.

‣ Trials of Ascendancy will always be shown on minimap with the book icon or you may see the levers/plaque while discovering a zone. Use these hints to guide you.

The goal of this part of the guide is to efficiently progress through the “story” and get to mapping in a league start or SSF environment. Obviously if you have access to a bunch of items and resources things change considerably but you can still reference this section to speed things up.

Sections below directly reference this run by Tytykiller, one of the best speedrunners in the world. All credit to him for this route which I analyzed and did my best to break down in text format while making slight adjustments to better support a quick an easy transition to BL. He finished this run including Act 10 Kitava, all skill points, and merciless lab in under 3 hours and 30 minutes--please don't feel discouraged that you can't get close to his times, neither can I! Practice your route and work on improving your personal bests, don't compare yourself to veteran speedrunners.


Act 1:
Spoiler
"
By the End of Act 1 (preferably before Merveil) we want:
‣ Level 11-12
‣ 2x crafted wands (BBG and BBB, at least 1, get the other as soon as you can)
‣ at least 1 Sapphire Ring
‣ MS boots
‣ Heavy Belt if needed, otherwise Leather Belt
‣ 1x BGG, 1x G other than wands
‣ Stormblast Mine + Lesser Poison + Swift Assembly
‣ Frost Bomb + Onslaught + Added Lightning
‣ Flame Dash + level 2 Arcane Surge + Orb of Storms
‣ Smoke Mine
‣ 2x life flasks, 2x mana flasks, 1x Quicksilver Flask
‣ weapon swap or inventory: Icicle Mine, Pierce, extra Topaz Rings

1.
Start by setting a move only bind to something besides left click, and disabling tutorials.
‣ Click the dying exile and kill the hungry corpse. Pick up Viper Strike.
‣ Replace left click attack with another move only bind en route to the opposite end of The Twilight Strand, stopping for the chest. Pick up Lesser Poison.
‣ Find and kill Hillock then enter Lioneye's Watch.
‣ Relog to return to town near vendors.

2.
Before leaving we need at least 1 wand and 1 source of linked BG.
‣ Check Nessa for wands with proper links. We want 2, ideally BBB and BBG. If you don't see good links just get one wand.
‣ Take Stormblast Mine reward from Tarkleigh. Check for MS boots and items with proper links.

3.
‣ Enter the Coast. Change left click move only to Detonate Mines while en route to the WP, heading NE.
‣ Grab the WP for The Coast and enter the Mud Flats.
‣ Find the 3 Rhoa Glyphs and place them in the Strange Glyph Wall then enter the Submerged Passage.
‣ Grab the WP and return to The Coast. Enter Tidal Island.
‣ Find and kill Hailrake. Relog to return to town.

4.
Once you have Quicksilver Flask, Arcane Surge, and Onslaught try to keep those buffs up. Frost Bomb ahead near a pack and keep moving. Frost Bomb has a 2 second delay, get used to positioning it so that it will explode where the mobs will be but still be able to hit them with the pulses. This is our primary clearing skill, use mines and Orb of Storms for single target.
‣ Take Onslaught and Quicksilver Flask rewards from Nessa. Purchase Swift Assembly, Frost Bomb, and Arcane Surge.
‣ Take Frostblink and Orb of Storm rewards from Tarkleigh.

5.
‣ Take the WP to The Submerged Passage and look for the long bridge while managing gems en route. Drop a portal before the long bridge then continue to the exit to The Ledge.
‣ Travel to the other end of the ledge and aim for close to level 8 by the end. You can stop for a few blue packs and clear a bit more here to catch up on experience then find the exit to The Climb.
‣ Travel NE and find the exit to The Lower Prison.
‣ Grab the WP and return to town.

6.
‣ Use the portal you left in The Submerged Passage earlier to return to the start of the long bridge. Don't cross back over, instead look for the exit to the Flooded Depths.
‣ Find and kill The Dweller of the Deep. Relog to return to town.

7.
Iron ring + green gem sold to vendor will yield a topaz ring if needed.
‣ Take Added Lightning Damage reward from Nessa. Check again for wands with proper links if you don't have them (really try to get BBG and BBB before crafting).
‣ Craft both wands or at least one if you can afford it through the vendor recipe: magic wand + normal topaz ring + orb of alteration.

8.
You will automatically acquire the next WP from killing Brutus.
‣ WP to return to The Lower Prison.
‣ Find and complete the trial then find the exit to The Upper Prison.
‣ Find the exit to The Warden's Quarters.
‣ Find the exit to The Warden's Chambers.
‣ Kill Brutus. Relog to return to town.

9.
‣ Purchase Smoke Mine and a heavy belt from Nessa and check again for wands/craft with the recipe if you haven't yet.
‣ Take Flame Dash reward from Tarkleigh.

10.
‣ WP to Prisoner's Gate. Run NE and find the exit to The Ship Graveyard.
‣ Look for the WP then keep an eye out for Fairgraves and The Ship Graveyard Cave location while looking for the exit to The Cavern of Wrath. If you find the Ship Graveyard Cave drop a TP if it's far from WP.
‣ Enter The Cavern of Wrath, grab the WP and either WP to The Ship Graveyard if it's close to the cave or WP to town and take your TP. Find the Allflame and pick it up then exit the cave.
‣ Find and defeat Fairgraves then relog to return to town.

11.
Iron ring + blue gem sold to vendor will yield a sapphire ring if needed.
‣ Take the Book of Skill reward from Bestel.
‣ Make sure you have at least 1x Sapphire Ring.

12.
You automatically acquire the next WP from killing Merveil.
‣ WP to return to The Cavern of Wrath.
‣ Find the exit to the Cavern of Anger
‣ Find the exit to Merveil's Lair.
‣ Kill and loot Merveil. Relog to return to town.

13.
‣ Take Icicle Mine reward from Nessa and purchase Pierce. Keep them on weapon swap or in inventory for now.
‣ Purchase any gems and finish crafts you could not afford before. Make sure you have a weapon swap for gems and use it from here on.


Act 2:
Spoiler
"
By the End of Act 2 (preferably before Vaal Oversoul) we want:
‣ Level 20-21
‣ 2x upgraded crafted wands (BBG and BBB, at least 1, get the other as soon as you can)
‣ 1x Topaz Ring, 1x Ruby Ring
‣ MS boots with one of the desired 3 links
‣ Leather Belt or Heavy Belt if needed
‣ 1x BGG, 2x B, 1x G other than wands
‣ Stormblast Mine + Swift Assembly + Trap and Mine Damage
‣ Frost Bomb + Onslaught + Added Lightning
‣ Flame Dash + level 2 Arcane Surge + Orb of Storms
‣ Smoke Mine, Herald of Thunder, Skitterbots
‣ 2x life flasks, 1x mana flask, 2x Quicksilver Flask
‣ Weapon swap or inventory: Icicle Mine, Pierce, Trap and Mine Damage, Elemental Focus

1.
‣ WP to The Southern Forest and find the exit to The Forest Encampment.
‣ Take the right exit to The Old Fields.
‣ Follow the road to find the exit to The Crossroads while scouting for The Den en route. Drop a TP at The Den if you see it.
‣ Follow the road and find The Crossroads WP then return to town.
‣ Take your TP to The Den if you found it, if not exit right from town and find The Den then find and kill The Great White Beast. Relog to return to town.

2.
‣ Take a second Quicksilver Flask reward from Yeena then return to The Crossroads via WP.
‣ Travel N/NW to find the exit to The Chamber of Sins.
‣ Find the exit to level 2 and complete the trial then find and kill Fidelitas and pick up the Baleful Gem. Relog to return to town.

3.
‣ Take Skitterbots reward from Greust
‣ Purchase Herald of Thunder from Yeena.
‣ Take the left exit to The Riverways.

4.
Use Einhar whenever possible throughout Act 2, he provides an aura and will attack/net mobs.
‣ Follow the path and find the WP then continue to find the exit to The Western Forest towards the border.
‣ Follow the border and find the exit to The Weaver's Chambers. If you find Alira first skip her for now and cross to the opposite side of the zone and follow the opposite border to find exit to the Weaver’s Chambers.
‣ Find and kill The Weaver, loot Maligaro's Spike then relog to return to town.

5.
At level 18 we can start using Trap and Mine damage instead of Lesser Poison.
‣ Take Trap and Mine Damage reward from Silk.
‣ Purchase a second Trap and Mine Damage and Elemental Focus from Yeena whenever you can afford them.

6.
‣ WP to The Crossroads and run SE to enter The Fellshrine Ruins.
‣ Enter the Crypt and find and complete the trial the relog to return to town.
‣ WP to The Crossroads again, this time running E and enter The Broken Bridge.
‣ Follow the outer border until you find the long bridge. Kill Kraityn and loot his amulet then relog to return to town.
‣ WP to return to The Riverways and find the exit to The Wetlands. It’s near the WP.
‣ Find and kill Oak, loot his amulet then find the exit to The Vaal Ruins.
‣ Find the exit to The Northern Forest and continue N to find the exit to The Caverns.
‣ Find the WP, grab the crafting recipe then WP to The Western Forest. Aim to be level 20 soon.
‣ On the opposite border of the one you used to find The Weaver, find Alira and choose to help her then continue following the border to find the Black Guard.
‣ Kill the Black Guard, loot the Thaumetic Emblem and place it in the wall then relog to return to town.

7. Iron ring + green gem sold to vendor will yield a Topaz Ring if needed.
‣ At level 20 we can try to upgrade our crafted wands through the vendor recipe: magic wand + rare topaz ring + orb of alteration.
‣ Make sure you have at least 1 topaz ring.
‣ Purchase any Act 2 gems if you could not afford them before.
‣ WP to Lioneye's Watch and take the Book of Skill reward from Bestel.

8.
‣ WP to The Cavern and find the exit to The Ancient Pyramid.
‣ Navigate the pyramid to find the Pyramid Apex.
‣ Activate the dark altar, grab the crafting recipe and kill The Vaal Oversoul then relog to return to town.


Act 3:
Spoiler
"
By the End of Act 3 (preferably before Dominus) we want:
‣ Level 28-29
‣ 2x upgraded crafted wands (BBG and BBB)
‣ 1x Topaz Ring, 1x Ruby Ring
‣ MS boots with one of the desired 3 links
‣ Leather Belt or Heavy Belt if needed
‣ 2x BGG, 2x B, 1x G other than wands
‣ Pyroclast Mine + Swift Assembly + Trap and Mine Damage
‣ Icicle Mine + Pierce + Trap and Mine Damage
‣ Frost Bomb + Onslaught + Added Lightning
‣ Flame Dash + level 2 Arcane Surge + Flammability
‣ Smoke Mine, Herald of Thunder, Skitterbots
‣ 2x life flasks, 1x mana flask, 2x Quicksilver Flask
‣ Weapon swap or inventory: Elemental Focus, Conductivity, Ball Lightning, High-Impact Mines, Faster Projectiles, Slower Projectiles

‣ WP to The City of Sarn. Find Clarissa. Kill the guards, talk to Clarissa and exit to The Sarn Encampent.

‣ Enter The Slums and find exit to The Crematorium. Grab the WP. Complete the trial then find and defeat Piety. Click Tolman, pickup his bracelet and get the crafting recipe then relog to return to town.

‣ Take the Conductivity reward from Maramoa. Talk to Clarissa and take the key and purchase Flammability if you can afford it.Enter The Slums and take the immediate exit to the Sewers. Find the first bust then grab WP en route to the next two busts. Exit to The Marketplace. At 24 we can start using Conductivity for bosses.

‣ Find the WP then exit to the Catacombs, which will be near the WP. Find and complete the trial then relog to return to town. Take the Book of Skill reward from Hargan and WP to return to The Marketplace. Continue past the Catacombs to The Battlefront, which should be near the WP also. Find The Battlefront WP towards the middle of zone. Find and enter the Solaris Temple which should N of the WP.

‣ Find the exit to level 2 then grab the WP and return to the Battlefront. Grab the Ribbon Spool then travel directly N to the Docks. Find the Thaumatic Sulphite then grab the WP and return to The Solaris Temple Level 2. Take the Amulet reward from Dialla and travel to The Sewers via WP.

‣ Pass the blockage and enter The Ebony Barracks. Kill General Gravicius and continue N to find the exit to the Lunaris Temple. It may be beneficial to start using Icicle Mines > Pierce > Trap and Mine Damage at this point, especially if you have the links to not give up anything, as the ranged mobs are pretty nasty and you probably need to catch up on some exp.

‣ Find the exit to level 2. Use the ascending stairs to guide you and when you come to the long passage with stairs and a fork take the side with 1 cart and take find the exit to the arena. Defeat Piety, take the Tower Key and crafting recipe then relog to return to town. Take the Book of Skill reward from Grigor. Take the Pyroclast Mine reward from Maramoa. Purchase Ball Lightning from Clarissa if you can afford it. WP to the Ebony Barracks and travel directly E to The Imperial Gardens. Grab the WP.

‣ Aim for at least level 28 soon. Find and complete the trial then enter the Library. Find Siosa and grab the WP then find the candle to open the passage to The Archives. Find the 4 pages then relog to return to town. Make sure you have 3x Orb of Chance in inventory. WP to The Library. Take Faster Projectiles reward and purchase High-Impact Mines and Slower Projectiles. If you can’t afford them all come back for High-Impact Mines and Slower Projectiles later, we don't necessarily need them now. At 28 we can swap Stormblast Mine for Pyroclast Mine. You should also swap Conductivity for Flammability and drop Orb of Storms.

‣ WP to The Imperial Gardens and find the exit to the Sceptre of God in the other direction besides the ones to the trial and The Library. Ascend all the way to the top. Use both mines to help more safely clear his guards and then kill Dominus. Relog to return to town. Get The Aspirant’s Plaza WP then WP to The Aqueduct.


Act 4:
Spoiler
"
By the End of Act 4 (preferably before Malachai) we want:
‣ Level 35-36
‣ 2x upgraded crafted wands (BBG and BBB)
‣ 1x Topaz ring, 1x Ruby Ring
‣ MS boots with one of the desired 3 links
‣ Leather Belt or Heavy Belt if needed
‣ 2x BGG, BBB, 2x B, 1xG other than wands
‣ Pyroclast Mine + Swift Assembly + Trap and Mine Damage (Elemental Focus for 4 link)
‣ Icicle Mine + Pierce + Faster Projectiles (Trap and Mine Damage for 4 link)
‣ Frost Bomb + Onslaught + Added Lightning
‣ Flame Dash + Level 2 Arcane Surge + Flammability
‣ Smoke Mine, Herald of Thunder, Skitterbots
‣ 2x life flasks, 1x mana flask, 2x Quicksilver Flask
‣ Weapon swap or inventory: Trap and Mine Damage, Elemental Focus (if they’re not in 4 links yet), Conductivity, Ball Lightning, High-Impact Mines, Slower Projectiles, Stone Golem

‣ Find the entrance to Highgate. Enter the Dried Lake. Follow the E border while running S then kill Voll. Loot the Deshret Banner then relog to return to town.

‣ Break the seal and enter The Mines. Find the exit to level 2 and continue to find the exit to the Crystal Veins but drop a TP in Mines level 2 before exiting. Find the Crystal Veins WP and grab the crafting recipe. Make sure you’re level 30 soon. Farm the Dried Lake if needed.

‣ Take the WP to the Aspirant’s Plaza and initiate Normal Labyrinth from the activating device then enter the door. Reference PoELab and complete the Labyrinth. Take the crafting recipe before the first Aspirant’s Trial. Make sure to enchant gloves and ascend before exiting! Take Born in the Shadows as your first two ascendancy passives.

‣ Return to Mines level 2 from your TP if you were quick enough and find Deshrit’s Spirit then relog to return to town. Talk to Tasuni and take the Book of Skill. WP to Crystal Veins and enter Daresso’s dream. We can start using Faster Projectiles instead of Trap and Mine Damage at 31.

‣ Find the exit to The Grand Arena, grab the WP and take it back to the Crystal Veins. Enter Kaom’s Dream. Find the exit to Kaom’s Stronghold and grab the WP. Find and Kill Kaom. Loot the Eye of Fury, TP to return to town and WP to The Grand Arena. Use Smoke Mine to hop over ledges and skip travel whenever you can.

‣ Find and kill Daresso. Make sure to use your travel skills to kite him if he closes in to melee. Loot the Eye of Desire and TP to return to town then take the WP back to the Crystal Veins. Talk to Dialla and enter the Belly of the Beast. Find the exit to level 2 then find and defeat Piety. Talk to Piety and enter The Harvest. It’s a good idea to start preemptively corner mining and doing a bit of clear from here on as the mobs are a lot more dangerous.

‣ Grab the WP and take the E path then find and kill Shavronne. Take the organ then TP to return to town and take the WP back to The Harvest. Now take the W path and find and kill both Maligaro and Doedre. Make sure to loot the organs. TP to return to town and take the WP back to The Harvest. Talk to Piety and enter The Black Core.

‣ You need to swap between Malachai and Piety for this fight. Start with Malachai until he phases and then when Piety queues “KILL ME” you burn her down. Do this twice then Malachai will kill Piety. At this point you should TP out to avoid some nasty damage. Watch for slam.

‣ Enter The Black Heart. You need to swap between Malachai and the organs for this fight. Start with Malachai and when he teleports to an organ you start damaging that organ. Malachi’s organs rotation are clockwise starting top right. Try to stay somewhat at range to avoid his slam etc but still close enough to see him and the organ he’s at. After all 3 organs are down you can kill Malachai and TP to return to town. Take Minefield reward from Dialla. Talk to Oyun and take Stone Golem reward. You can swap Swift Assembly for Minefield if you have the colors to support it and prefer that. I’d personally keep Swift Assembly to not hinder mobility or complicate mana.

‣ Enter the Ascent. Find and active the resonator then take the portal to The Slave Pens.


Act 5:
Spoiler
"
By the End of Act 5 we want:
‣ Level 39-40
‣ 2x upgraded crafted wands (BBG and BBB)
‣ 2x Two-stone Rings (if you have a really good Topaz or Ruby ring that is fine also)
‣ MS Boots with one of the desired 3 links
‣ 2x BGG, BBB, 2x B, 1x G other than wands
‣ Pyroclast Mine + Swift Assembly + Trap and Mine Damage (Elemental Focus for 4 link)
‣ Icicle Mine + Pierce + Faster Projectiles (Trap and Mine Damage for 4 link)
‣ Frost Bomb + Onslaught + Added Lightning Damage
‣ Flame Dash + level 2 Arcane Surge + Flammability
‣ Smoke Mine, Herald of Thunder, Skitterbots
‣ 2x life flask, 1x mana flask, 2x Quicksilver Flask with decent modifiers on at least 2 flasks, prioritizing Bleed and Freeze immunity/removal
‣ resistances > life crafted from hideout bench on all applicable gear
‣ Weapon swap or inventory: Trap and Mine Damage, Elemental Focus (if they’re not in 4 links yet), Conductivity, Ball Lightning, High-Impact Mines, Slower Projectiles, Stone Golem

‣ Find and kill Overseer Krow then enter Overseer’s Tower. Take the ring reward from Lani that will help balance your resists the best, check beforehand.

‣ Enter The Control Blocks and find the Miasmeter. Find and kill Justicar Casticus and loot the Eye of Zeal. Find the exit to Oriath Square. Grab the WP and find the exit to The Templar Courts. Continue to find the exit to The Chamber of Innocence and grab the WP.

‣ Take the WP back to Overseer’s Tower. Take the Jade Flask reward from Lani and stash it for now. If you find any flasks with Bleed or Freeze Immunity use them, they are very valuable moving forward. Take the Book of Skill reward from Vilenta.

‣ Return to the Chamber of Innocence via WP. This is a good time to catch up on experience if needed, monster density and level is high. Rerun this zone to level ~39-40 and make sure to grab the crafting recipe. Kill High Templar Avarius. Exit through the new door and enter The Torched Courts.

‣ Find the exit to the ruined square then find the exit to The Ossuary but grab the WP before entering. Find the Sign of Purity and TP to return to town. Talk to Lani and grab whatever jewel you want. Unless you want something for a particular reason just vendor it. Take WP back to The Ruined Square.

‣ Find the exit to the Reliquary and grab the WP but if you find the exit to the rooftop drop a TP. Find all 3 Kitava’s Tormnents then run back to the WP (do not TP if you found the exit to the rooftop) to return to town.

‣ Take the Book of Skill reward from Lani. Take your TP to The Ruined Square and enter The Cathedral Rooftop. Find the exit to The Cathredral Apex. Defeat Kitava, making sure to avoid the arm swipe and the ground effects. You will rotate between Kitava and the heart through the phases. Talk to Lilly Roth and sail to Wraeclast. Now would be a good time to upgrade some of your items via essences or orbs of alchemy. Craft resistances > life with your crafting bench as needed to account for the resistance loss from Kitava. Spend a few alterations and augmentations to try to roll some decent mods on your utility flasks.


Act 6:
Spoiler
"
By the end of Act 6 we want:
Level 45-46

‣ WP to Lioneye’s Watch and enter The Coast. Travel NE to the WP then enter Tidal Island. Grab the manuscript from the chest then save and exit. Take the Citrine Amulet or Leather Belt reward from Bestel (depending on which of your amulet and belt is worse) and craft resistance > life from your hideout bench then WP to return to The Coast. Enter The Mud Flats.

‣ Find and kill the Dishonered Queen. Pickup the Eye of Conquest. Head back somewhat towards the entrance and along the border find the entrance to the Karui Fortress. Find the exit to Tukohama’s Keep and kill Tukohama. Get the crafting recipe and exit to other side of the Karui Fortress. You will damage Tukohama until his shield goes up then kill the outer totems connected to the big totem in the middle to disable his shield, allowing you to finish the boss. Enable the Soul of Tukohama minor pantheon after defeating him.

‣ Find the exit to The Ridge and grab the WP right near the entrance. Next find the exit to The Lower Prison and grab the WP which will again be right near the entrance. Find and solve the trial but make sure to grab the crafting recipe right before the plaque. Now look for the exit to Shavronne’s Tower.

‣ Ascend the tower until you find the rooftop then kill Shavronne and Brutus. Take the exit to The Warden’s Chambers, grab the crafting recipe then relog to return to town. You will have to kill Brutus first, avoiding the projectiles, then Shavronne. When she floats up into the air focus on dodging the projectiles. Finally you’ll kill Brutus again. Stand at the bottom corner during the phase before the second Brutus fight and front load mines to the center of the arena, he will walk right into them.

‣ Take the Book of Skill reward from Tarkleigh and then take the evasion/ES helmet reward. You can now 4 link BL or Icicle Mine, your choice depending on if you want single target with the former or clear with the latter. Enter The Twilight Strand and full clear the zone. Return to town via TP and take the Book of Regret reward.

‣ You now have most gems unlocked to purchase from Lilly Roth. CWDT + Immortal Call are nice for more bulk if you have red sockets, but you’ll need to make a trip to Act 4 for the former. You can now purchase gems for end game to start leveling on weapon swap but I would approach this slowly to not dump all your resources, you only have so many sockets anyway and some of them or advocating towards gems waiting to be used a lot sooner.

‣ Take the WP to Prisoner’s Gate. Find the exit to the Valley of the Fire Drinker. Kill Abberath and return to town via TP. Take the Book of Skill from Bestel. Be carefull for the fire ground effects when fighting him.

‣ Return to the Prisoner’s Gate via WP. Travel in the direction opposite of Abberath’s arena and find the exit to the Western Forest. Follow the road N and find the exit to The Riverways. Continue following the road N to find the WP, then go slightly W and enter the Wetlands. Follow the outer border until you find the exit to The Spawning Ground. Kill Ryslatha and TP to return to town. Take the Book of Skill reward from Lilly Roth. You will need to clear the minions surrounding the arena to reveal Rsylatha. Be careful for the poison ground effects when fighting her. Enable the Soul of Ryslatha minor pantheon after defeating her.

‣ Return The Riverways via WP. Follow the road E to find the exit to The Southern Forest. Travel E and find the exit to The Cavern of Anger but grab the WP before entering. Navigate the cavern and find the exit to The Beacon. Grab the WP near the entrance. Run to the opposite end of the zone and refuel the beacon by escorting the two cylinders by staying inside the indicated radius while they move forward.

‣ Light the beacon and talk to Weylam Roth to sail to the Brine King’s Reef. Follow the outer border until you find the exit to The Brine King’s Throne. Kill the Brine King and TP to return to town. Activate the Soul of the Brine King major pantheon. Take the WP to The Bridge Encampment. The Brine King fight will have 3 phases. After reaching an HP threshold he will become invulnerable and the arena will close in with a surge of water while Nessa fires projectiles in the small area. Avoid the projectiles until the phase ends and repeat.


Act 7:
Spoiler
"
By the end of Act 7 we want:
Level 50-51

‣ Enter the Broken Bridge and find the Silver Locket chest. Follow the road W/SW and find the exit to The Crossroads. Continue following the road N and and grab the WP. Take the W path where the road splits and find the exit to The Fellshrine Ruins. Continue following the road to find the exit to The Crypt. Grab the WP as you enter and talk to Einhar. Find and complete the trail then find the sarcophagus and take the stairs down. Find Maligaro’s Map then TP to return to town and take the WP to return to The Crossroads.

‣ From the WP, this time take the path E to find the exit to The Chamber of Sins. Find the WP, get the crafting recipe then place Maligaro’s Map into the map device and take the portal to Maligaro’s Sanctum. Find the exit to Maligaro’s Workshop and kill Maligaro then loot the Black Venom then TP to return to The Chamber of Sins. You will have to rotate between Maligaro and the spider he summons. Talk to Silk and take the Obsidian Key and enter level 2 which should be near the WP. Find and complete the trial then find the exit to The Den.

‣ Talk to Einhar then find the exit to The Ashen Fields and grab the WP near the entrance. Follow the road N to find the exit to The Fortress Encampment. Kill Gruest then take the exit to The Northern Forest. Careful for his spear attack, watch his animation and side step when he throws.

‣ Aim for around level 50 soon. Grab the WP near the entrance then find the exit to The Causeway. Find the WP, grab the crafting recipe, then continue past the WP to find Kishara’s Star and the exit to The Vaal City. Stay towards the inner border and find the WP, use the book map icons for visual queues. Return to The Northern Forest via WP and find the exit to The Dread Thicket. Locate all of the Firefly and kill Gruthkul in the Den of Despair. When you’re finished finding Firefly TP to return to town.

‣ Take the two Book of Skill rewards from Eramir. Take the ES/Evasion base boot reward from Yeena. Take the Aquamarine flask reward from Weylam Roth and replace one of your life flasks with it. Try to maintain at least Bleed and Freeze immunity on your flasks, with Freeze immmunity on Aquamarine being most ideal. WP to the Aspirant’s Plaza, and use the activation device to initiate Cruel Labyrinth. Reference PoELab and complete the Cruel Labyrinth. Make sure to grab the crafting recipe right before the first Aspirant’s Trial. Make sure to enchant boots and ascend before exiting! Take Pyromaniac for your third and fourth ascendancy passives.

‣ Take the WP to return to The Vaal City and enter The Temple of Decay. Descend the temple and talk to Einhar after entering level 2. Continue descending until you find the exit to Arakaali’s Web. Kill Arakaali and take the exit to The Sarn Ramparts. She will climb up to the top corner, place mines there. After phasing her she will eat Silk, climb down, then climb up again to the top corner. Careful for the lasers.


Act 8:
Spoiler
"
By the end of Act 8 we want:
Level 55-56

‣ Follow the outer border and take the stairs up then find the exit to the Sarn Encampment. Take the exit left to The Toxic Conduits. Find the exit to Doedre’s Cesspool then continue to find the exit to The Cauldron. Kill Doedre and exit to the other side. Grab the WP and crafting recipe immediately after you enter then exit to the Quay nearby. Careful for the poison ground effects when fighting Deodre.

‣ Locate the chest and pickup the Ankh of Eternity. Now find the Resurrection Site and talk to Clarissa. Clear the zombies then kill Tolman and return to The Quay. Find the exit to The Grain Gate and grab the WP near the entrance. Find and kill the Gemling Legionnaires. Continue through the Grain Gate to find the exit to The Imperial Fields. Follow the road west and find the exit to The Solaris Temple level 1. Find the WP and continue to find the exit to level 2. Now find the exit to the arena and kill Dawn, Harbringer of Solaris. Take the Sun Orb and TP to return to town.

‣ Take the Book of Skill and Book of Regret rewards from Clarissa. Also take the book of skill reward from Maramoa. WP to return to The Solaris Temple level 1 and find the exit to The Solaris Concourse. Travel S/SW and find the exit to The Harbour Bridge. Travel to the opposite end to find the exit to The Lunaris Concourse.

‣ Grab the WP near the entrance and find the exit to The Lunaris Temple level 1. Find the WP and exit to level 2 near the WP. Use the ascending stairs to guide you and find the exit to the arena. Kill Dusk and pick up the Moon Orb then TP to return to town. Use the WP to return to the Lunaris Concourse. Travel S/SW and find the exit to The Bath House. Find and kill Hector Titucius and pick up the Wings of Vastiri. Find and complete the trial, making sure to grab the crafting recipe. Find the exit to The High Gardens.

‣ Find the exit to The Pools of Terror and kill Yugul. TP to return to town and take the ring, Book of Skill, and jewel rewards from Hargan. Careful for the Porcupines in The High Gardens. Kite and watch out for the projectiles when fighting Yugul. I would recommend Conqueror’s Efficiency for the jewel reward.

‣ Take the WP to return to The Lunaris Concourse, travel S to return to The Harbour Bridge. Reset the instance for a bit of experience. Find the exit to The Sky Shrine. Click the Statue of the Sisters and kill Lunaris and Solaris. Take the exit to The Blood Aqueduct. You will have to alternate a bit damaging the two bosses. Careful for the ground effects, keep moving.


Act 9:
Spoiler
"
By the end of Act 9 we want:
Level 63-64

‣ Travel to the opposite end of the aqueduct to find the exit to town. If your inventory is full sell at the vendor. We can now farm Blood Aqueduct for some experience and drops. Reset the instance and run from the exit to town to WP and back, using both the exit and WP to reset the instance as you reach those points. We can farm this all the way to level 62. You can go a bit further if you want but the experience will really start to fall off. Pickup Divine Mana flasks as they drop and try to roll one with Enduring while running. Continue picking these up throughout Act 9 and using orbs of transmutation and alteration to try to roll one. Rare items dropped from here on (items level 60-74) can also be saved for the chaos orb recipe.

‣ When you’re finished with Blood Aqueducts, return to town and take the exit to The Descent. Descend using the supply hoists until you find the exit to The Vastiri Desert. Find the WP and grab the crafting recipe. Find the exit to The Foothills. Find the WP and take the exit to The Boiling Lake nearby. Kill The Basilisk, pick up the Basilisk Acid, and grab the crafting recipe. Relog to return to town. Around level 63 you can swap Pierce for Trap and Mine Damage once you have the pierce passives.

‣ Use the WP to return to The Vastiri Desert but reset the instance for a bit of experience. Find the Storm Weathered Chest and kill the mummies it spawns. Pick up the Storm Blade and TP to return to town. Talk to Sin then talk to Petarus and Vanja and take the wand reward and the Bottled Storm. Return to The Vastiri Desert through your TP. Find the exit to The Oasis near the WP to the E. Find the exit to The Sand Pit and kill Shakari. You will have to lead the underground Shakari through the passage to the other end. Slowly progress through the passage and let the stinger emerge then move a bit forward at a time while clearing the mobs until you can enter The Swallowing Sands and finish her. Careful for the ground effects when she submerges and the burrow like attack when she emerges.

‣ TP to return to town and take the WP to return to The Foothills. Find the exit to The Tunnel. Find and solve the trial and make sure to grab the crafting recipe then find the exit to The Quarry. Locate the WP towards the middle of the map, should be close to entrance. Now find the exit to the Shrine of the Winds to the E. Kill Garukhan and pick up the Sekhema Feather. TP to return to town. Take the 2 Book of Skill rewards from Irasha. Careful for the tornados when fighting Garukhan, keep some disctance from them.

‣ Return to The Quarry through the WP and find the exit to The Refinery to the N. Kill the general and get the Trarthan Powder then relog to return to town. Take the WP to return to The Quarry and talk to Sin and enter The Belly of the Beast. Find the exit to The Rotting Core. Next find the exit to The Black Core. Talk to Sin and defeat each of the spirits of Shavronne, Maligaro, and Doedre. Careful for Shavronne’s and Doedre’s projectiles.

‣ Talk to Sin, enter The Black Heart and kill the Depraved Trinity. TP to town and take the WP to The Oriath Docks.


Act 10:
Spoiler
"
By the end of Act 10 we want:
Level 65-66

‣ Enter the Cathedral Rooftop and then exit to The Cathedral Apex. Kill the cultists then return to the Cathedral Rooftop. Now find the exit to The Ravaged Square. TP as you enter then head E to find the WP and return to town. Return to The Ravaged Square through your TP. Head the opposite direction of the WP and find the exit to The Control Blocks. Now find the arena and kill Vilenta. TP to return to town.Careful for the beams and ground effects when fighting Vilenta.

‣ Talk to Lani and take the Silver flask reward and replace one of your Quicksiver flasks with it. Return to The Ravaged Square through the WP and enter The Ossuary. Enter The Bone Pits and find and solve the trial. Find the sealed chest and pick up the Elixir of Allure. TP to return to town and take the Book of Regret reward from Weylam Roth. Talk to Bannon and take the WP to return to The Ravaged Square. We can drop the Frost Bomb link after acquiring Silver Flask.

‣ Aim for level 65 soon. Continue past the WP and find the exit to The Tourched Courts. Find the exit to The Desecrated Chambers and grab the WP near the entrance. This is a good spot to catch up on experience if needed. Find the exit to The Sanctum of Innocence and kill Avarius. Pick up the Staff of Purity and TP to return to town. Talk to Lani and take the Evasion/ES base armor reward. Now would be a good time to visit your hideout and craft resistance > life where you can. If you have a red socket you can use Stone Golem for the regen.

‣ Talk to Innocence and take the WP to The Aspirant’s Plaza. Use the activation device to initiate Merciless Labyrinth. Reference PoELab and complete the Merciless Labyrinth. Make sure to grab the crafting recipe right before the first Aspirant’s Trial. Make sure to enchant helmet and ascend before exiting! Take Bomb Specialist for your fifth and sixth ascendancy passives. Now we can more comfortably make the transition to BL but you'll need to make a few changes. First, you'll need to swap your Stormblast Mine sockets for a BBGG if that's not what you're using. Swap the Stormblast Mine gem setup for Ball Lightning + High-Impact Mines + Slower Projectiles + Swift Assembly. (If you're having issues with mana with full stack of mines active, drop HoT.)

‣ Take the WP to return to The Ravaged Square. Talk to Innocence and enter The Canals. Find the exit to The Feeding Trough. Now find the exit to The Alter of Hunger. Grab the crafting recipe and talk to Sin then enter. Kill Kitava. Talk to Sin, take the portal to Oriath and take the Book of Skill reward from Lani. Make sure to have a source (or multiple sources) of bleed removal. You will have to rotate between Kitava and the heart. Careful for the slams, ground effects, and arm swing when fighting Kitava. Don’t let the mobs overwhelm you, clear them with Icicle Mines throughout the fight.

‣ Complete the short quest chain for the epilogue to unlock the map device in your hideout. Don't forget to grab the crafting recipe in N Oriath. ARE YOU STILL SANE, EXILE?!

_________________________________________________________________________

Mapping
Spoiler
Entry-level Mapping:
Spoiler
Resources:
Atlas Progression Guide
Atlas Map Overview/Horizon Orb Cheat Sheet

Goals to start mapping:
‣ 2.5k+ Life, capped resistances
‣ At least 4 link BL
‣ Filter to emphasize quality "lightning" gems and item level 60+ rares for chaos orb recipe
‣ 2x wands with decent %spell or lightning damage > crit to spells > resistances (having one wand with +max mana can help a ton)
‣ Panicked Life Flask
‣ Enduring Mana Flask (can swap this with Diamond Flask if mana is not an issue)
‣ Amethyst Flask
‣ Quartz Flask
‣ Quicksilver Flask
Your priorities should be atlas expansion (map bonuses), chaos orb recipe for funds if you're playing trade, upgrading pantheon, trials of ascendancy through maps for eternal lab, and upgrading your rares and crafted wands. Be mindful of the “approaching red maps” goals and links as you should be working on these from the time you start mapping.

Links:
‣ BL + High-Impact Mines + Slower Projectiles + Swift Assembly (Trap and Mine Damage for 5 Link)
‣ Orb of Storms + Onslaught + Added Lightning Damage + Lightning Penetration
‣ Level 1 CWDT + Level 3 Immortal Call + Increased Duration (Drop Increased Duration if you're having issues with mana)
‣ Level 1 Arcanist Brand + Level 1 Hydrosphere + Sniper's Mark (Use Level 1 WoC instead of Hydrosphere for exposure if you can get WoC tool tip minimum lightning damage > max fire/cold damage.)
‣ Low level Arcane Surge + Flame Dash
‣ Skitterbots, Arctic Armor, Smoke Mine and low level Clarity/Precision wherever you can fit them. (Drop Precision if you're having issues with mana)


Red Maps:
Spoiler
Goals to start red maps:
‣ ~4k Life with Tabula or ~4.5k life with rare 6L armor, capped resistances + 15 over cap if possible
‣ 6L BL
‣ Self crafted wands with +1 to all Lightning Spells and Crit to Spells and/or %spell/lightning damage
Recipe: normal wand + 40% total quality “lightning” (2 or more) gems sold to vendor gives a magic +1 to all Lightning spell base, bench craft and/or regal orb to get the rest. if you hit +lightning damage to spells you bricked it for EE. (Alternatively, if you find a good shield you can use 1 wand/shield)
‣ +max mana wherever you can get it is great for helping fit all your auras and keeping a decent mana pool with a full stack of mines out
‣ Corrupted Blood Immunity implicit jewel (Vaal your decent jewels, prioritize resists and life but the corrupted mod itself is most important)
‣ Enduring Composure small cluster (buy the base item “15% increased armor” item level 68+ and try to roll the mod yourself)
‣ Malachai’s Artifice socketed with Armageddon Brand (drop Arcanist Brand and make sure there are no sources of added lightning damage to spells on your items)
‣ Diamond Skin annoint
‣ Atziri’s Step boots and Atziri’s Promise flask (we can self farm these rather easily, alternatively you can use rare Two-toned Boots and/or an Amethyst Flask until you get them)
‣ Eternal lab (Explosives Expert), upgraded Pantheons
‣ Panicked Divine Life Flask
‣ Enduring Eternal Mana Flask (Can swap this with Ample Diamond Flask or Ample Silver Flask if mana is not an issue.)
‣ Experimenter's Quartz Flask
‣ Experimenter’s Quicksilver Flask
Of Staunching and of Curing are the best flask suffixes but bleed is more important. Once you have Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you of Staunching has less priority.

Links:
‣ BL + High-Impact Mines + Slower Projectiles + Swift Assembly + Trap and Mine Damage + Increased Critical Strikes
‣ Bear Trap + Advanced Traps + Culling Strike
‣ Level 1 CWDT + Level 3 Immortal Call + Increased Duration
‣ Low level Arcane Surge + Flame Dash + Second Wind (having quality on Second Wind and Flame Dash helps a lot with mobility)
‣ Level 1 Hydrosphere + Hextouch + Conductivity (alternatively you can drop Hextouch/Conductivity for Sniper's Mark and manually cast it vs single target bosses like some conquerors and Sirus)
‣ Skitterbots, Arctic Armor, Vaal Righteous Fire, Vaal Grace and low level Clarity/Precision wherever you can fit them
Last edited by jpypoe on Aug 21, 2021, 1:39:49 PM
A very pro guide, tyvm for spending your time to make it!
Last edited by Lethalicus on Jul 8, 2021, 2:51:23 PM
"
Lethalicus wrote:
A very pro guide, tyvm for spending your time to make it!


Thanks! More to come as soon as I can, I probably rushed the post a bit to get the skeleton up. My availability is not that great and we have a camping trip in the next few days but I’m enjoying the project so I’m investing quite a bit of time into it.
In the near future I’ll have the act progression finished, a setup and skill tree for entry level mapping, item links, gem links and detailed explanations in the guide itself (covered in depth in PoB notes for now), and already have revisions for PoB and skills in the works from testing. I’m trying to finish vods as well.
Last edited by jpypoe on Jul 8, 2021, 3:24:59 PM
POB link is broken
"
ErueTV wrote:
POB link is broken


added a note about using community fork and link as it should’ve been there already.

E: added a few changes to the pob and re-generated the pastebin then added the new one to the guide. I also added a few more details about how to import the build and checked to make sure it works. Enjoy.
Last edited by jpypoe on Jul 13, 2021, 1:47:28 AM
gonna be my league start for sure.
"
fallengz wrote:
gonna be my league start for sure.


Hope you have a good time with it!

Updates:
Revised leveling trees and updated PoB. Corrected a few notes, added a few more resources.
Should have completely revised with full details Acts 1-5 finished for leveling up tomorrow (DONE!) and I’m planning to get acts 6-10 along with entry mapping to red maps on ultra budget fleshed out before launch day, hopefully I have enough time to get everything. Waiting for those patch notes to hit to see what needs to be adjusted.

E: will also be doing some theory crafting and testing with Eye of Winter and Storm Rain Mines, which both look very interesting.

E2: updated PoB again with improved map start tree and an alternative dodge based map start tree.
Last edited by jpypoe on Jul 18, 2021, 12:42:33 PM
Initial thoughts from manifesto: We’re fine!
Arcane Surge, Second Wind, Smoke Mine, and Flame Dash all took a hit so we lost a good bit from the mobility department but nothing game breaking. Phase Run could be something to look into. I will probably experiment more with reduced reservation, downscaling clarity and precision earlier and trying to fit in something else defensive with mana reservation. We will take some hits to damage thanks to support gems being nerfed but that’s across the board and I didn’t see any specific mention of Ball Lightning for targeted nerfs but I’d expect something to be realistic. Flasks will obviously need to be reworked, Diamond Flask meta is a thing of the past but consequently it frees up a defensive option for something like the new Aquamarine Flask. I’d expect hits to Bottled Faith and possibly Wise Oak as well as both are very popular, more so with the former, but I doubt it gets to a point where it won’t be an extremely good flask.

I was worried about Sab ignite and shock immunity but so far so good. I was very worried about Enduring Composure but literally didn’t see anything mentioned about it at all. I’d say Immortal Call is not out of the woods yet necessarily. On another note, Lightning Spire Trap looks quite good to be honest.

For leveling, Lesser Poison may now be worth keeping for quite a while. The mobility hits to Smoke Mine/Flame Dash hurt hard but they’re almost certainly still the way to go for leveling, at least for the first few acts. Smoke Mine is my most likely target for replacement but I may just drop Second Wind for Phase run and still use Flame Dash/Smoke Mine as the combo together is still really good mobility and allows for some nice terrain skips. More on the changes when I have time and patch notes.

E: Also, I will have acts 6-8 for leveling finished and added by tomorrow afternoon!
Last edited by jpypoe on Jul 20, 2021, 9:00:13 AM
definitely going to be my starter now lol. everything got destroyed

Report Forum Post

Report Account:

Report Type

Additional Info