With this guide I want to provide a simple caster build for beginners that is fun and easy to play.
Instead of just showcasing a build, this guide is made to be a comprehensive learning experience.
There's many indepth explanations and links to various wiki pages for new players to understand.
I've tried to keep it short, but some things just can't be explained properly with only a few words.
Path of Building is a tool that lets you fully plan characters from scratch, check out other peoples setups or import your own character to check or compare potential upgrades.
I know that some people jump straight to the PoB without ever reading the guide, which often leads to failure and is then blamed on the build. Don't be that person!
I've invested lots of time into this guide and find it very rude when people just disregard that
and ask about things that are already well explained. This unfortunately keeps happening.
+ cheap to build + smooth playstyle + good damage scaling - not made for SSF and HC - Mana sustain needs some gear
Main Mechanics in this Build
‣ Chaining: Arc is a lightning-based spell with the ability to chain from monsters and destroyable objects, even around corners and out of your line of sight! Each time it chains, it will also split to
a second nearby enemy from where it can't chain further. After chaining twice it can chain back to the initial enemy, hitting them twice within a single cast. The amount of times Arc can chain depends on its gem level and can be increased by enchantments.
‣ Mana: Usually, mana is used to cover skill costs and -reservation. We heavily invest into mana for great damage scaling and defenses provided by skillgems and the Mind over Matterkeystone.
This makes mana our highest priority modifier on both equipment and passives. Stacking mana also makes %-based mana regeneration sources (such as the base 1.8%) much more valuable.
‣ Elemental Overload: This keystone provides a 40% more damage multiplier in exchange for removing all critical strike multiplier, with the condition to crit atleast once within 8 seconds.
While the damage potential is lower compared to scaling crits, the damage is also way more consistent and only takes small investment, which allows us to invest more heavily into mana.
‣ Block: While blocking a hit normally prevents all damage, we only get a 35% damage reduction in return for doubling our block chance with the Glancing Blows keystone. This lets us reach high block chance on relatively low investment to use a powerful Mana recovered on block modifier.
Here's a small collection of generic advice for newer players:
‣ Information: Knowledge is a strong skill in Path of Exile, and it helps to know where to find it. First there's the ingame Help Panel, which you can reach through its icon next to your skillbar.
The Path of Exile Wiki should be your first stop for further information, poedb for plain data.
If you prefer video guides, Zizaran has an informative video series called PoE University that contains information about most aspects of the game.
‣ Lootfilter: You will soon realize that there's lots of redundant loot in this game, a good Lootfilter reduces screen clutter and highlights potentially valuable or important drops. Neversink's Filter is always a good start and you can further customize it at Filterblade.
‣ Flasks: Unlike most ARPG's, this game is directly balanced around using all of your flasks.
This goes beyond the typical life & mana flasks that you're probably used to from other games, during your act progression you'll gain access to various utility flasks which grant powerful buffs. Flasks can also be crafted, but it's not needed until maps so i've kept it for their own section. For now, focus on keeping your life & mana flasks updated, get all utility flasks from quests when mentioned and try to get a feeling for your flask usage.
‣ Crafting: Gear can be enhanced through crafting and recipes, while the latter can also create currency used for crafting. You outlevel gear pretty quickly during act progression, so it's not advised to invest too much at this point. Limit it to a couple of Orb of Transmutation, Orb of Augmentation, Orb of Alteration, Chromatic Orbs and various Essences you can find for now,
use Jeweller's Orbs and Orb of Fusing only on useful gear you've looted. Try to focus on intelligence-based gear for an easier time to get the right colors.
‣ Crafting Bench: After unlocking your first hideout, you'll gain access to the Crafting Bench.
This can be used to craft a targeted affix on gear, if it isn't already there and has a slot open.
Use it to craft any damage affixes, Life, Attributes or Resistances missing on your gear.
Recipes need to be found first, the Crafting Bench tells you all undiscovered recipe locations.
‣ Trading: You can freely trade with other players if you have a Lv25+ char and aren't in SSF. Path of Exile's trading site is good for buying gear, poemap is convenient for bulk map trades.
If you want to sell something, you either need premium stash tabs, set up a shop in the trade subforums or use Acquisition. For pricechecks, look for similar stuff on the trade site, check poe.ninja or use Awakened POE Trade.
‣ Stash Tabs: The default stash space is pretty limited, if you like the game and are able to, consider buying more stash tabs. Getting a Currency and Map Tab is highly recommended, Premium Tabs make trading easier and if you want, a Quad Tab for extended storage.
Purchased tabs are account-wide and won't be lost when temporary leagues end.
There's also a stash tab sale weekend every three weeks if you're not in a rush.
Full Leveling Section
Your journey through the ten acts can be seen as an extensive tutorial, slowly confronting you with the majority of game mechanics and increasingly more difficult enemies to learn to counter.
This section will help you while playing through the ten acts and shows the recommended
passive tree progression, gem setups, quest progression and exp farming zone for each act.
The passive tree goals are just a pointer, it's not a big deal if you're over- or underleveled.
Keep in mind that this section includes major storyline spoilers, if you care about that.
‣ Kill the Zombie, pick up Fireball and switch left-click to move-only
‣ Get Arcane Surge from Large Chest and kill Hillock
‣ Get Freezing Pulse, link it with Arcane Surge and store away Fireball
‣ Check vendors for Boots with Movement Speed and a second Wand
‣ Get the Coast Waypoint, finish your quest in Mud Flats and enter Submerged Passage
‣ Go back to Coast Waypoint, kill Hailrake on Tidal Island and get Quicksilver Flask in town
‣ Back to Submerged Passage, look for Flooded Depths and kill the Dweller of the Deep
‣ Get Orb of Storms, Frostblink and Skillpoint in town
Orb of Storms provides extra damage while you cast Lightning Spells within its radius.
Once you've specced into Elemental Overload, it's also useful to quickly proc the buff.
‣ Set Orb of Storms to "attack without moving" (left-click icon in skillbar)
‣ Make your way to Lower Prison, get Waypoint and then go back to town
‣ Get Added Lightning Damage and link it to Freezing Pulse + Arcane Surge
‣ Check vendors for any item with 3-linked blue sockets if needed for above
Craft two wands by selling the following items to any vendor: Magic-rarity Wand + Normal-rarity Topaz Ring + Orb of Alteration
The resulting weapon will also appear in the vendor window to confirm before selling.
If needed, the recipe for Topaz Rings is: Iron Ring + Green Skill Gem.
‣ Start looking out for 2x Sapphire Rings or use the Recipe: Iron Ring + Blue Skill Gem
‣ Complete Trial of Ascendancy in Lower Prison
‣ Kill Brutus, then get Clarity and Flame Dash in town
‣ Replace Frostblink with Flame Dash and set it to "attack without moving"
‣ Activate Clarity
‣ Progress to Ship Graveyard and get the Waypoint
‣ Look for Ship Graveyard Cave, get Allflame then get Cavern of Wrath Waypoint
‣ Travel to Ship Graveyard Waypoint and kill Fairgraves
‣ Go to town to get Skillpoint and Arc
‣ Replace Freezing Pulse with Arc and set it to "attack without moving"
‣ Equip Sapphire Rings and kill Merveil
If you find a Vaal Arc gem, don't use it! It's not very effective with this build later on.
‣ Once in town, enter the Old Fields first
‣ Start looking out for 2x Topaz Rings or use the recipe: Iron Ring + Green Skill Gem
‣ Look for the Den, kill Great White Beast and get second Quicksilver in town
‣ Continue to Crossroads and get Waypoint
‣ Enter Chamber of Sins, complete Trial of Ascendancy on Level 2 and kill Fidelitas
‣ Get Herald of Thunder and activate it
‣ Get Wave of Conviction, this provides temporary Exposure on bosses
‣ Keep Wave of Conviction at Level 1, we need it at that level later
‣ Go back to Crossroads, enter Broken Bridge and kill Kraityn
‣ Back to Crossroads once more, enter Fellshrine Ruins and Crypt
‣ Complete Trial of Ascendancy in Crypt
‣ Back to town, enter Riverways and get the Waypoint
‣ Go to Western Forest, get Waypoint, kill Alira and Captain Arteri
‣ Look for Weaver's Chambers and kill Weaver
‣ Go back to Lioneye's Watch to get Skillpoint and Increased Critical Strikes
‣ Link Increased Critical Strikes to Orb of Storms
‣ Go back to Riverways and follow the small dirt path to Wetlands
‣ Kill Oak, get Wetlands Waypoint and get two Skillpoints in town
‣ Make your way to the Ancient Pyramid, equip Topaz Rings and kill Vaal Oversoul
Once you're Level 20, upgrade your wands with the same recipe as before, but this time using rare Topaz Rings. You can use Essences to turn normal rarity Topaz Rings rare.
‣ Focus on having 75% Cold-, Fire- and Lightning Resistance from now on
‣ Kill the Blackguards in City of Sarn and enter town
‣ Go to Slums, enter Crematorium, finish Trial of Ascendancy and kill Piety
‣ Get Sewer Key in town and go back to Slums
‣ Enter Sewers, get Waypoint, find three busts and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Marketplace Waypoint and finish Trial of Ascendancy in Catacombs
‣ Enter Battlefront, get Waypoint and kill Captain Aurelianus
‣ Go to Docks and get Thaumetic Sulphite
‣ Back to Battlefront, enter Solaris Temple and talk to Lady Dialla
‣ Destroy the Undying Blockade in Sewers
‣ Enter Ebony Barracks, get Waypoint and kill General Gravicius
‣ Enter Lunaris Temple, kill Piety and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Imperial Gardens Waypoint and finish Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Go to Library and finish Siosa's quest
‣ You can now buy all unlocked gems at Siosa (currency needs to be in inventory!)
‣ Throw away Herald of Thunder and Added Lightning Damage
‣ Get Arcane Cloak, take Arcane Surge from the Arc Setup and link it to Arcane Cloak instead
‣ Get Increased Duration and link that to Arcane Cloak aswell
You can get Strength from Heavy Belts, any Strength-Implicit Amulet or the Might notable.
‣ Get Lightning Penetration and Archmage and link them to Arc
‣ Get Second Wind and link it to Flame Dash
Weapons with 30%+ Spell Damage scale better with Archmage, there's a recipe if needed: Weapon + rare Chain Belt + Blacksmith's Whetstone.
‣ Archmage will eat through your mana, it's a good idea to use two mana flasks now
‣ Enter the Sceptre of God and kill Dominus
Start looking out for 4-linked intelligence-based gear.
‣ Enter the Dried Lake, kill Voll and enter the Mines
‣ Free Deshret's Spirit in Mines Level 2, progress to Crystal Veins and get Waypoint
‣ Get skillpoint in town
‣ Go back to Sarn Encampment, enter the Labyrinth and get its Waypoint
Read up on the Lord's Labyrinth and Izaro to get an idea what's going on. Poelab shows you the daily layouts and Izaro buffs.
‣ After finishing the Labyrinth, ascend to Elementalist and get Liege of the Primordial
‣ Get Summon Lightning Golem and Summon Stone Golem in town
‣ After taking the Golem Commancer notable, also get Summon Flame Golem
The golems can be bound to your secondary skill bar (hold Ctrl).
‣ Go back to Crystal Veins, enter Kaom's Dream and kill Kaom
‣ Now enter Daresso's Dream and kill Daresso
‣ Get Spell Echo in town and link it to Arc
‣ Get Hextouch in Highgate and link it to Wave of Conviction
‣ Get Conductivity in Sarn Encampment and link it to Wave of Conviction
‣ Kill Piety in Belly of the Beast, and finally Malachai in the Harvest
‣ Kill Overseer Krow and enter town
‣ Find the Miasmeter in Control Blocks and kill Justicar Casticus
‣ Get Silver Flask and Skillpoint in town
‣ Replace a Mana Flask with Silver Flask and try to roll of Staunching on it
‣ Make your way to Templar Courts and kill Avarius
‣ Get Ruined Square Waypoint and finish the quest in Ossuary
‣ Back in Ruined Square, kill Utula and finish the quest in Reliquary
‣ Get Skillpoint and optionally Unique Jewels in town
None of the jewel choices are useful to us, but you might want to keep it for later.
‣ Kill Kitava on Cathedral Rooftop
‣ You will suffer a permanent -30% resistance penalty after this fight
‣ Clear the Twilight Strand to unlock Lilly as Skillgem Vendor
‣ Get to Mud Flats and kill the Dishonored Queen
‣ Enter Karui Fortress, kill Tukohama and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Use Soul of Tukohama
‣ Finish Trial of Ascendancy in Prison and kill Shavronne
‣ Enter Prisoner's Gate, kill Abberath and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Riverways Waypoint
‣ Enter Wetlands, kill Puppet Mistress and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Light the Beacon and kill the Brine King
‣ Use Soul of the Brine King
Start looking out for a shield with Spell Damage to use once you take your first block nodes.
‣ Find the Silver Locket in Broken Bridge and get Jade Flask in town
‣ Replace your low item level Quicksilver Flask with Jade Flask
‣ Enter Crossroads, get Waypoint then enter Crypt through Fellshrine Ruins
‣ Finish Trial of Ascendancy and find Maligaro's Map
‣ Go back to Crossroads and enter Chamber of Sins
‣ Kill Maligaro in Maligaro's Sanctum
‣ Finish Trial of Ascendancy in Chamber of Sins Level 2 and enter the Den
‣ Make your way to Ashen Fields and kill Greust, then get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Northern Forest Waypoint and enter Dread Thicket
‣ Collect all Fireflies and kill Gruthkul, then get Skillpoint in town
‣ Find Kishara's Star in Causeway and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get the Vaal City Waypoint, enter Temple of Decay and kill Arakaali
‣ Finish the Cruel Labyrinth and get Elemancer
‣ Go back to Highgate and get Summon Chaos Golem
‣ Enter the Toxic Conduits and kill Doedre
‣ Go for Quay first, find Ankh of Eternity, kill Tolman and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Kill the Gemling Legionnaires in Grain Gate and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Enter Solaris Temple and get Sun Orb
‣ Go back to Doedre's Cesspool and go for the Grand Promenade now
‣ Get Bath House Waypoint and finish Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Enter High Gardens, kill Yugul and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Back to Bath House, get to Lunaris Concourse and get Waypoint
‣ Enter Lunaris Temple and get Moon Orb
‣ Back to Lunaris Concourse, enter Harbour Bridge and kill Solaris & Lunaris
‣ Find the Storm Blade in Vastiri Desert and look for a blocked entrance
‣ Go to town, talk to Sin and then to Petarus & Vanja
‣ Go back to the blocked entrance, kill Shakari and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Foothills Waypoint, enter Boiling Lake and get Basilisk Acid
‣ Enter the Tunnel and finish Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Get Quarry Waypoint, enter Refinery and get Trarthan Powder
‣ Go back to Quarry, kill Garukhan and get Sekhema Feather
‣ Go to town and give the feather to either Tasuni or Irasha to get Skillpoint
‣ Enter Belly of the Beast and kill the Depraved Trinity
‣ Go left on Cathedral Rooftop and kill Plaguewing
‣ Now go right, enter the Ravaged Square and go south
‣ Enter the Control Blocks, get Waypoint, kill Vilenta and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Go back to Ravaged Square and get its Waypoint in the upper part
‣ Enter Ossuary and complete Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Finish the Merciless Labyrinth and get Mastermind of Discord
‣ Get to Desecrated Chamber through Torched Courts and kill Avarius
‣ Enter the Canals and make your way to the final bossfight
‣ You will suffer another permanent -30% resistance penalty after this fight
‣ Talk to Lani for two Skillpoints
‣ Find Kirac in the Templar Laboratory and finish his quest
‣ Now it's time to look at the second part of this guide!
‣ Gear up for endgame and switch to the endgame gem setup
‣ If you lack currency, run Currency Delve nodes and/or start doing the Chaos Orb recipe
personally id ditch enchant on helm for arc chains at your level, more hits gotta be good yeah ? and my stone Golem does die alot , which means there goes ya enchant from time to time
Helm enchant is definitely temporary. Just bad luck in lab. I figured it was better than the nothing I had there previously. I'll get the right one eventually.
"
i would look for a decent wand too , high spell , high max mana as you can afford but id say shield more important, shield with Recover #% of your maximum Mana when you Block , it is actually quiet nice
I've been having problems finding reasonable upgrades for both of those. Very pricy the last day or two when I looked. Also, I've been reluctant to lose any increased mana regen rate. Is Recover #% of your maximum Mana when you Block a better choice on shield if I can't do both? Also, on both weapon and shield, I've been thinking that high increased spell/lightning damage is a good thing. Which stats should I really be focusing on for these and what can I lose from them when I have to choose?
"
Grab a Rummis and put it on the goto flask spot , highest stats as possible and try and get your spell block etc maxed out , it helps when you get 1 shot
Rumi's is easy enough to get. However, it is close to 1 exalt in price for perfect rolls. Good idea, though. Should I replace silver or jade flask? (Onslaught or evasion). I suspect the right answer is actually to replace quicksilver, but I hate to not have the speed boost when needed.
"
look for a belt with 100 + life max mana and resists , they are kinda cheap
Now that you mention it, this might possibly be the best thing to upgrade first. That way, I can see what resists I need on other items.
Thanks again for taking the time to offer suggestions.
Hello everyone, I have a question.
In my "mana section in pob" there is an item "mana degen" from the node "The Agnostic", but the author does not have such an item, but this node is also taken.
Please, tell me, what am I doing wrong?
Grab a Rummis and put it on the goto flask spot , highest stats as possible and try and get your spell block etc maxed out , it helps when you get 1 shot
Rumi's is easy enough to get. However, it is close to 1 exalt in price for perfect rolls. Good idea, though. Should I replace silver or jade flask? (Onslaught or evasion). I suspect the right answer is actually to replace quicksilver, but I hate to not have the speed boost when needed.
no probs mate im no expert at all but i am really enjoying this build this league and i dont play any other characters i just try and get the most outa 1 and this is it ,
have a look at my flask setup , it works for me and it may give you some ideas
my rums isnt perfect but it doe get me spell and attack spell block
def go with belt first , some really good cheap belts out there
Hello everyone, I have a question.
In my "mana section in pob" there is an item "mana degen" from the node "The Agnostic", but the author does not have such an item, but this node is also taken.
Please, tell me, what am I doing wrong?
Spoiler
1.Author pob
2.My pob
Enki probably has clicked the thing "always on full life".
Hello everyone, I have a question.
In my "mana section in pob" there is an item "mana degen" from the node "The Agnostic", but the author does not have such an item, but this node is also taken.
Please, tell me, what am I doing wrong?
Spoiler
1.Author pob
2.My pob
Enki probably has clicked the thing "always on full life".
Thank you!
Last edited by norwin on May 13, 2021, 10:12:04 AM
First, thanks for the detailed build guide. It is the best one I have followed to date with the level of detail that is included.
I'm starting to struggle into higher end red maps (t15/t16 medium juice) and feel like my single target DPS struggles. Clear speed is good as long as the the pack size is good. I find myself having to pay attention and don't dash into a pack of porcupines, but think that's normal.
I don't mean to be the person who keeps piling on asking for advice, but I'm going to be for now. I'm currently crafting the medium cluster jewel and have around 6-7ex to spend. I'm over stacked on resistances so could lose some on a few pieces of gear. I think belt is probably next best upgrade option for me but everything is silly expensive right now.
First, thanks for the detailed build guide. It is the best one I have followed to date with the level of detail that is included.
I'm starting to struggle into higher end red maps (t15/t16 medium juice) and feel like my single target DPS struggles. Clear speed is good as long as the the pack size is good. I find myself having to pay attention and don't dash into a pack of porcupines, but think that's normal.
I don't mean to be the person who keeps piling on asking for advice, but I'm going to be for now. I'm currently crafting the medium cluster jewel and have around 6-7ex to spend. I'm over stacked on resistances so could lose some on a few pieces of gear. I think belt is probably next best upgrade option for me but everything is silly expensive right now.
Thanks in advance!
Some things I immediatly noticed:
Your wand can be quite a bit better still. Aim for 90%+ spell damage and 150+ mana.
Quality on the relevant gems.
Fertile quality on at least your amulet.
I doubt you need 2 life flasks, you can get utility or some more damage from there.
Since you're currently working on your med cluster and your budget, I'ma leave it at that for the moment. :P
Some things I immediatly noticed:
Your wand can be quite a bit better still. Aim for 90%+ spell damage and 150+ mana.
Quality on the relevant gems.
Fertile quality on at least your amulet.
I doubt you need 2 life flasks, you can get utility or some more damage from there.
Since you're currently working on your med cluster and your budget, I'ma leave it at that for the moment. :P
Thanks for the quick reply - will work on what you suggested and see how that improves things while I farm some more currency.
