[3.22] Self Cast Phantasmal Lightning Tendrils - Frost Blink - MoM - Block - Balanced and Robust

Firstly, we stack Power Charges for Inner Conviction. Lightning Tendrils is a Spell, so with 10 Power Charges, we get 30% more Spell Damage.


Marylane's Fallacy lessens our chance to Critically Strike in return for a very high amount of Critical Strike Multiplier. Since Lightning Tendrils' Stronger Pulses "Always Critically Strike", we couldn't care less about "40% less Critical Strike Chance" modifier on it. It also grants Critical Strikes have Culling Strike. Because of "Always Critically Strike", this can be easily translated to "You have Culling Strike". It can be raised up to 288% Multi with Unstable Catalyst.


In addition to this huge Critical Strike Multiplier from the amulet, we use Shimmeron. Shimmeron grants us +10% Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge. It also provides +2% Chance to Block Spell Damage, which basically turns this wand into a Shield. Though, these bonuses are not free. Shimmeron causes us to take 200 Lightning Damage per Power Charge if our Skills have Critically Struck. Yes, we do "Always Critically Strike". 2000 Lightning Damage Taken per second with 10 Power Charges. This sounds bad, but we turn this into an advantage. DoT means we are never "on Full Life/Mana/Energy Shield". We benefit from this condition with Essence Rush. This is not a completely reliable way to keep Leeching, but it is a small boost.


We apply "Increased Damage Taken" to our enemies with Consecrated Ground (Inquisitor's Sanctuary Ascendancy & Divergent Purifying Flame). Consecrated Ground is only around our feet. Purifying Flame makes sure that enemies are on Consecrated Ground too. It also inflicts Shock.



On top of Consecrated Ground, we create Profane Ground via Rational Doctrine. Combined with Lightning Exposure, we weaken the enemy even more.


We use curses Conductivity & Punishment. Since we remove big life chunks out of our target's health pool, it doesn't take much long to get its HP ≤50% (Low Life) and melt it after that point (I call this part 50% Culling Strike). Punishment is also a great defensive option because it Debilitates the enemy.


As for map clearing, we use Frost Blink. Because Frost Blink is an instant skill, you do not lose "stationary" effects and can use it while Channeling PLT (you don't have to stop Channeling). This means that Consecrated Ground and Fungal Ground (Sporeguard) will move along with you to where ever you teleport with it. Once you kill an enemy by using Frost Blink, Contaminate will be triggered, and there is going to be a roughly "8-shaped" Fungal Ground. This is how map clear works. Jumping from pack to pack creates these Fungal Grounds, and enemies standing on them explode.

First of all, our defence strategy revolves around Mind Over Matter (MoM). Total of 50% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life (40% Keystone and 10% Divine Guidance). We have big Life, Mana, and Energy Shield (ES) pools along with Endurance Charges and Block to supplement this strategy.



We use Replica Soul Tether in our belt slot. This belt provides Corrupted Soul. Corrupted Soul causes 50% Non-Chaos Damage taken to bypass Energy Shield. This means when we take any damage except Chaos, the damage is shared between these 3 pools. For example, we take 1000 Fire Damage. 50% of it is taken from Life, which is protected by ES, so first we lose 500 ES. Then, the remaining 50% is again split 50/50 (MoM), so we lose 250 Life and 250 Mana. This strategy allows us to withstand damage for a very long time, especially against DoT. So, by having a decent amount of Life & Mana Regeneration and a bit of Recoup, we compensate the damage taken. This way we can easily neglect the 2K Lightning DoT effect of Shimmeron. On top of that, we allocate Rapid Infusion and use Infused Channelling, which provides "Less Lightning Damage Taken" because of PLT's tags and further reduce Shimmerron's DoT.


We use one aura only, Discipline. Reason for this is Sublime Vision. Aim is to have an extra Power Charge along with more ES. Also, we link this single aura to Eternal Blessing for no Reservation whatsoever. This allows us to tank more damage since we use all 3 of our pools to survive. No Reservation = More survivability.

https://pobb.in/b4KJJ2fjMADP
https://poe.ninja/pob/iic
https://pastebin.com/BYFewJdt

Contaminate is affected by socketed gems. If you use Concentrated Effect with PLT, you reduce Contaminate's AoE along with your clear speed because enemies won't be exploding. It is not "wrong" to use it. You can still use it instead of Elemental Focus if you prefer it. With reduced PLT AoE, it could force you to stay close to your target while Channelling, which would guarantee that you keep the enemy on Fungal Ground for its benefits. Also, the Effect of Shock would be much stronger since its effectiveness would be based on the amount of the Lightning Damage, which is from a Critical Strike.

In short, Concentrated Effect is for only bossing -- Elemental Focus is for all purposes.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Concentrated_Effect_Support
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Elemental_Focus_Support
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Contaminate
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Fungal_ground

Because of Sanctuary of Thought Ascendancy node, our skills are almost free, given we have regen & recoup. It is there to help you gain stages for Sigil of Power.

We use it with Frost Blink to have control over our Mana Spent. This setup also encourages you to keep on moving against bosses. REMEMBER! You can use Frost Blink and PLT simultaneously. You don't have to stop Channelling PLT to use Frost Blink.

Linking Archmage to CWDT setup automates the Sigil of Power stage gain process but not controllable. It will have a very high Mana Cost, and Mana is our secondary Life. It will be triggered as you take Damage, so it is a bit contradictory.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Archmage_Support
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Sanctuary_of_Thought

Phantasmal is for min/maxing. We use Archmage anyways, so 10% Mana Cost does not matter at all, but 20% Increased Spell Damage does.

Use Sigil of Power, and blink 3-4 times. Number of blinks required depends on how long you have used PLT, and/or how many times Purifying Flame has been triggered between the blinks. Arcane Cloak is more important at this point. Do NOT spam them back to back. Read Sigil of Power's caption. Wait 1 second between Frost Blink and Arcane Cloak.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Sigil_of_Power

Arcane Cloak is a guard skill. However, Arcane Cloak is not to "tank the damage". On the contrary, it is mainly for offensive purposes. When you get your target below 50%, use Arcane Cloak to melt it in seconds. Do NOT use it when you know you are going to take a big hit in the next second. It spends our Mana which is our indirect Life. PoB adds ~15K EHP when it is activated. Well, PoB still assumes Mana is on maximum, which is not because we just spent it to have the buff. You need at least 2 seconds to get your Mana back to a decent level, even with a flask. It is not a "panic button"; use it only when you know the big hit is about happen at least after 2 seconds (which is an extremely rare case scenario). If you want a panic button, Vaal Arctic Armour is an epic option (instead of Siphoning Trap/Frost Shield) because you can still move around with Frost Blink while it's active.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Arcane_Cloak
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Vaal_Arctic_Armour

Because it is contradicting with itself. Reserving Life to be more tanky is against this build's defence mechanism.

This adds extra layer of difficulty to the build, and result isn't optimal. INT means more Mana and ES. Also, other Ascendancy nodes aren't as powerful. At this point, we have invested in Consecrated Ground so much that not benefiting from it wouldn't be efficient. You can still have them equal and use 2x Rare Critical Strike Multiplier Jewels if you want. Alternatively, you can allocate Pious Path by sacrificing damage for defensive purposes.

Enemies somehow deal Physical Damage. Having it greatly contributes to survival. We have ES Gain On Hit from Watcher's Eye and ES Leech from passives, yet these two sources aren't enough sometimes. This is because ES is the pool which suffers the most in our defence mechanism (Fire Damage example above). Life & Mana regenerate automatically, but we cannot Recharge ES for 4 seconds after Critical Strike because of Shimmeron. ES Leech & Gain require a target to hit. This Mastery backs up ES recovery tremendously.

Combined with Regeneration, it helps mitigating Shimmeron's DoT. Of course, Damage from DoT cannot be Recouped. However, if Regeneration is busy mending Shimmeron's DoT, then what will get us back on our feet when the Bone Archer hits us? Yes, you're right. Recoup. All jokes aside, it is quite a boost to survival. You can see the difference in a map with "Less Recovery Rate of Life, Mana, and Energy Shield" modifier. The build wouldn't collapse without it. It is not a must for the build; you can drop it if you don't want it and/or need points.

Tattoo of the Tawhoa Shaman (2% of Damage taken Recouped as Life) might be useful if you prefer.

I don't think the build needs it, but you can have Multiplier on other gears if you can afford. It is not cheap, especially on ring. The build doesn't depend on +%40-50 Critical Strike Multiplier. I find other modifiers you can have, such as cast speed, stat etc., a bit more useful and affordable. Frenzy Charges are extremely powerful as well. They grant More Damage and Cast Speed. They free a flask slot by allowing Rotgut into the belt. You can drop Silver Flask if you have Frenzy Charges and a Rotgut.

Mirror Tier Rings have three-implicits one of which is +1 to Maximum Power Charges. Damage wise, Power Charges are the backbone of the build. The more you have, the harder you hit. 10 is quite enough, but if you can afford more, why not? Other two implicits could be Onslaught on Hit/Increased Spell Damage per Power Charge/Global Critical Strike Multiplier/Life/Mana/ES/Cast Speed etc.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Rotgut

The build works perfectly fine with either. If you cannot afford Chaos Resistance but can afford Strength on your gear, The Burden of Truth is to go. The Burden of Truth puts more pressure on Life & Energy Shield, which is already under more stress compared to the other two pools. Replica Soul Tether, on the other hand, has STR and provides more ES. It is up to you. Replica Soul Tether is recommended.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/The_Burden_of_Truth
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Replica_Soul_Tether

Siphoning Trap increases our Regeneration ridiculously, even against a single target. It also inflicts Chill which we need in order to benefit from Snowstorm. Basically use this with Arcanist Brand where your target stands.

Frost Shield is a boost to our survival as well. Also inflicts Chill. Use this right before fight starts so you can Recharge the ES it "borrows". The buffer it makes is really sweet. You don't have to leave the enemy out of the dome. In fact, keep them in, both for Chill and efficiency. If you leave the enemy outside, Frost Shield will collapse much faster, resulting in a short up-time. Also it might cause you to use it more than once, which is considered a bit annoying in this game.

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Frost_Shield
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Siphoning_Trap
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Passive_Skill:Affliction~notable~snowstorm

Here's the list I recommend, decreasing in importance:

a. Forbidden Flesh & Forbidden Flame + Militant Faith
b. The Burden of Truth/Replica Soul Tether + Rumi's Concoction
c. Rare Cluster Jewels
d. Amulet with Additional Curse
e. +1 Power Charges (Sublime Vision, Void Battery, Helmet)
f. Watcher's Eye
g. Impossible Escape

a, b, c, and d are the most important. Rest of the list doesn't really matter. Just make sure you have enough Jewel Sockets for other Jewels. Don't hesitate using 10 Chaos worth Rare Jewels to meet your requirements (stats, Resistances, etc.).

1-7 Lightning Damage isn't worth it. The Damage it grants doesn't seem to worth the Mana+ES it takes away. If you want to hit harder, go for it, but I doubt you would feel any difference. As for +1 to Level Level of All Intelligence Skill Gems", it doesn't seem possible. We are already on the Witch side of the tree, and as you know, there aren't any "+30 to Intelligence" passives in that area. Nearest one is 5 points away... You can use it if you want it; there are many tree variations on PoB.

Update after enough data:
Tattoos aren't generally mixing well with the build. For example, to get the +1 Power Charge Tattoo on +30 INT, the points we give up don't worth it. Same applies to 7 point requirement tattoos. They come down to the same thing.

Here are some of them I find useful:

This can free a flask slot:
- Honoured Tattoo of the Berserker (You gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Hit) Use it on "Agility" node, which is just above MoM Keystone.

Not really recommended but can be helpful:
- Honoured Tattoo of the Tuatara (+4 to all Attributes)
- Honoured Tattoo of the Dove (+4% to Chaos Resistance)
- Honoured Tattoo of the Sky (+3% to all Elemental Resistances)
- Tattoo of the Tawhoa Shaman (2% of Damage taken Recouped as Life)
- Tattoo of the Valako Shieldbearer (+1% Chance to Block Attack Damage)

Could be really useful based on your gear (to maintain Life/ES/Mana levels):
- Honoured Tattoo of the Oak (2% increased maximum Life)

Only "Honoured Tattoo of the Berserker" seems good because it is reachable. Tattoos are completely up to you; use them as you like, but I recommend INT for most of the cases.