[2.1 Updated Tree] The Blasphemer - Low life - 5 Curse Aura and 5 Aura/Herald Support Melee

Note: Blasphemy is now 35%.
Thanks to Skyforth, this may be the solution:
http://i.imgur.com/ceYrKfb.jpg
This also buffs the non-RT variants and provides an alternative to Eye of Chayula.
The build is heavily in flux due to this change.


Picture this: Your little Witch leaping into melee, weapon slick with blood, screaming five simultaneous obscenities so foul that they cow even the mightiest of Wraeclast's hordes.

Welcome to The Blasphemer.

This is a support melee character that can hold her own in close quarters while providing the benefit of 5 curse auras in a huge radius around her and additional buffed auras depending on the chosen weapon and skill. This build is incredibly versatile as you have the option to use any melee weapon (or perhaps a wand if you like) and most skills that are supported by those weapons. You can play either a physical or elemental-scaling damage strategy. You can go crit or non-crit as you like. Your curse and aura makeup will depend on what you choose. The tree supports any of these options with only the slightest adjustments. Example: my planned tree takes only a few nodes that don't work for both elemental and physical scaling. There are no weapon specific nodes in my planned tree.

However, I have two important notes:

1. This is not a budget build. You do need a Shavronne's Wrappings chest to make this thing go at the very minimum. To achieve the maximum output from it, you need some pretty awesome gear. You can scale it down by removing a reserved skill, but my prepared example uses very expensive stuff.

2. I have not played this build yet. There is some question as to whether everything will come together as I expect, especially regarding accuracy and evasion. The cranked up curses may not solve the problems to the extent that I need them to. We'll see. I will update the guide as I get more info.

The Tree (2.1 version)

http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrIvRsC5Mn74j5N9fPSbF_xqKjwfNcisHF7Bhwu9kTL2-P-vDVSVHQ0F9qRwbb52wI8Yq0xWKsbIydqjY9bWy1SOtjES8rCtRCpn_tQYRvD6sWvySLwzoqOJu1hMW-iqEvytO0DEZx4Ygdqv5JgwlgQ249voDqug18V8ko-oLH-ehBh5y-DR88KLiTHNyPGuvupwiPRpuhGGp4L3zlWAf314RIXGvDbR0U-tIXL2TnVdaApCSwVYWlyxmK-wn22hqP53TbGhB7vjr1S8EATm2lxJwy
This version of the tree is for a full conversion to elemental, physical-scaling, non-crit melee weapon that uses Static Strike. With my admittedly crazy weapon, I calculate I'll be dealing over 115K edps without crit. You can have a weapon half as good and still do plenty.
You'll notice that aside from a few nodes in the Shadow area, all the nodes are universal. By changing my auras and reallocating a few points, I could as easily be an elemental-scaling, Gemini Claw Reaver instead. Otherwise, I could reserve another herald or convert a herald into another 50% aura and run a Soul Taker Cleaver. Seriously, go nuts.

Bandits
[Skill point] - [16% phys OR 8% attack speed] - [Whichever charge you want]
I am taking 8% attack speed and Frenzy charge. The endurance charge may prove to be better. The attack speed is only the tiniest bit better than 16% physical damage for me; this choice will be easier for elemental builds.

Ascendancy
Sooooo... The reason this is in the Witch forum and not in the Scion or Shadow forum is that I think the Witch will get a curse-oriented Ascendancy. Here's hoping for +1 curse (getting a ring slot back would be huge), but curse effectiveness would be likewise insane. Depending on how things go, I could see building this as any of those options (especially Scion if the speculation is correct), or even Templar or Ranger if the options are worth the points. I scrapped several trees that used the Templar area heavily in favor of the above tree. It is likely I will add variants later that work for all of them.


The Gear (You were warned.)




The gems are the actual gems I will use, minus the Blasphemy gems that will go in the two emtpty blue slots. If I can get some spiffier lvl 21 auras, then great. I actually want to get 21/20 auras if I can. My radius will be huge and this is a support build after all.


Gear Discussion

Note: Due to the change to Blasphemy, the gems are no longer in the correct places and the boots will need to be replaced with Skyforth and rebalnaced to take the resist load. That, or I'll have to drop down to 4 curses to reclaim a ring slot, and adapt to the new increased cost by running one fewer reservation. Alternatively, adding Conqueror's Efficiency can fix it too. More updates coming later.
Alright, so it isn't cheap, but here is my take on the different slots:

Chest: Bad news. You need Shav's. You can build this as a life build, but it won't really be The Blasphemer anymore. You don't need a legacy one, but every point of ES is going to count without an ES helm or shield.

Weapon: Much better news! Use whatever sweet thang you've got. Fine tune your tree and your auras to fit. Maybe drop Hatred, AA and HoA for Wrath and Anger and use that elemental foil left over from an old Spectral Throw build. Soul Taker is cheap now; grab one and reserve all your mana. Physical crit dagger? Take some of the scads of adjacent crit nodes and swap EleWeakness for Assassin's Mark.

Shield: Prism Guardian. Another must have. This item is insane as is reserves your three biggest auras on life without multiplying through the BM gem. Again, a legacy one is really helpful, but not required.

Helm: Alpha's Howl. When you reserve 10 different skills, the reservation discount from this is vital. Plus, you don't want to get frozen, and this opens up your belt slot (so you won't need to use Auxium).

Gloves: High ES with resists. Much of your ES is coming from your gloves and your boots, so getting a ton of ES is paramount. Chaos resist doesn't hurt. Accuracy (if you do not use RT), strength, and physical damage are also great. I'm still looking for better gloves than what I've got.

Boots: Either Skyforth or ES, resists, and speed. Strength could also come in here if you can spare the suffix space. Again, chaos resist could get in here. Skyforth hurts ES badly though, so choose carefully and beef up ES in the tree if you go with the new boots.

Belt: ES, strength, resists, armor, and especially WED. Move speed is a good mastercraft if you have room. The new WED and ES mods only need ilvl 81 to show up. I crafted this one after I could not find one I liked. I crafted another one a heavy belt base that still has room for move speed too.


Amulet: You need a +1 curse amulet. If you are not using Skyforth, you want Eye of Chayula. Stuns are no fun. This build could make much better use of this slot, but you'll have to find a +1 curse amulet with good stats, which are next to impossible to find.

Rings: Double Doedre's Damning. I like the WED corruptions myself. Get them while they're not cool yet...

Jewels: I get 5 slots in my build. You are in striking distance of several more. Different trees will path slightly differently, so my slots might not be the right ones for your version. The one next to Melding and the Shadow exit socket are crazy good for the Energy from Within unique. The Scion attack speed start is the best of the 3 point sockets, as it gets 8% attack speed on the way. You can even start Scion that way. I path between Witch and Templar, but going through the Witch north exit will help certain characters that want to access that area or skip Skittering Runes. The one near Vaal Pact is almost always going to be worth two points. I would also look at the WED nodes near Whispers of Doom and the Templar exit socket. I only barely cut the Templar area, but this would be an easy pickup for anyone going to RT. I may use an Efficient Training jewel to fix my strength gap until I can patch it otherwise.

Mantra of Flames is also a fantastic jewel for damage. It is 8.5 base fire damage per buff on us. Although curses and flasks won't count, we still have at least 6 buffs between auras, AA, HoA, and Fortify. It is better in an elemental variant, but it will likely out-damage anything else. (Thanks, Alex_Lied)


Flasks: Remember that you are getting 100% (multiplied by curse effectiveness) extra charges for flasks from Poacher's Mark. Rumi's is a great granite flask for non-crit builds that can block. ToH and anti-bleed Quicksilver are self-explanatory. I like Atziri's Promise, as it does triple duty for leech, damage and chaos resist boost, but I may need a topaz anti-shock. We'll see. Lavianga's Spirit is my flask to test. I'm pretty scared of Curse Immunes, as they cut through much of my offense and defense. I get no mana on hit from them and think this might be the key to fixing it.


Reservation Skills

New reservation math for 35% Blasphemy. We lose Increased Duration on AA and Vaal Discipline.
Physical Scaling:
https://poe.mikelat.com/#pa9v7Ii/_WEDD9lh/zIy_6l3/lDsQrA8v/57wdHkph
Elemental Scaling (Conqueror's Efficiency needed):
https://poe.mikelat.com/#l2q4zZKd/uckwbGd/A6GuhMH/lDsQrA8v/tMT87cxo

We'll see if 11% of my mana and buffed mana curses are enough to run Static Strike. One of the reasons that I picked Static Strike is that it can hit 6 times per payment for the skill. Using a Gemini claw would solve the problem with Curse Immunes being immune to your mana leech/on hit.
Conqueror's Efficiency also gives you more options.


Curse Auras
Note - a 20% quality Blasphemy gem and all the curse effectiveness in the tree gets you 50% extra curse effectiveness. This will bring map bosses almost back up to par and make them work much better against non-uniques. Here's hoping that Witch gets a sweet curse Ascendancy to make this even better. For 5 curses, it's worth it to milk the curse nodes. Also, the aura effect nodes don't work on Blasphemy, but aura radius nodes do. Between curse, aura, and generic AoE nodes and the level bonuses from Blasphemy, your curses auras are going to be huge.

Poacher's Mark: Mana on hit, frenzy charge generation, and evasion reduction are the main draw. The increased flask charges gained are a bonus. The life on hit is wasted, but if a unique ever comes out that converts it to ES, watch out.
Warlord's Mark: My build gets all of it's leech from WM as I use full elemental conversion. If you have a physical build, you might cheat your way out of needing it, but you'll miss out on the endurance charge generation and the stuns (elemental can stun too). I like automating my charges, so this was a no-brainer for me.
Temporal Chains: This is a really impressive curse to have automatically. It slows all animations of the enemy, and the curse effectiveness hugely increases the effect. Tack on the auto-chill from AA and the stuns from WM and your enemy might not be doing very much.
Enfeeble: Like Temp Chains, this is another curse that hugely benefits from effectiveness. It amplifies your evasion by reducing the enemies' accuracy by 73% and lessening the damage dealt by 45%. Crit reduction is a bonus.
Elemental Weakness: I use this as I deal 100% elemental damage. It will be better the more resistant they are. It will also help my chills get through from Hatred. It is also party-friendly. This will be the most often cut curse, I think, as Assassin's Mark or a specific elemental curse can replace it. Also, running only 4 curses gives you a ring slot back (or saves currency on the amulet) and lets you run another herald or trade in for another 50% aura.

Auras/Heralds/AA
I am running a physical weapon. Other aura setups will use vastly different curses.

Discipline: Seriously, every point of ES counts.
Vaal Discipline: The panic button. Increased duration is a must. I'd like to run Vaal Clarity to deal with Curse Immunes, but this is just too good to split the souls. If I were running a crit build, I'd work in HoI and Chill of Corruption and take some freeze duration nodes. Vaal Discipline makes playing ES builds much more tolerable.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Chill_of_Corruption
Grace: I really don't see this working without Grace. The only base evasion you get is from your augmented Grace, Alpha's Howl, and maybe a hybrid ES/evasion glove or boot. It combos with Enfeeble and you can get some cheap evasion in the tree from the Shadow ES nodes. I'm not sure if this is enough evasion, but we'll see.
Hatred: Scales from physical. Chills combo with Temp Chains.
Herald of Ash: Scales from physical. Burning overkill damage is a bonus.
Arctic Armour: Physical mitigation stacks with charges and Rumi's. Chills combo with Temp Chains and even chill non-immune bosses guaranteed. I have mine attached to Increased Duration, which I am not sure is correct, but will help with boss chilling as it keeps the ground ice around longer. If it makes the difference for the mana, I'll break my link in Alpha's Howl and leave it just attached to Vaal Discipline.


Let's Talk Numbers

I consulted with my buddy who has a graduate degree in math about how curse, curse effectiveness, the accuracy formula, and the evasion formula interact. Keep in mind that the curses work by reducing the enemies' stats, making them effectively multiplicative with the increases to your own.

Evasion
I get a base of 3965 from Grace after aura effectiveness and +2 level from Prism Guardian and 687 from Alpha's Howl. With 84% increased evasion in the tree and a required 155 DEX (Which I may have to path slightly differently to get, depending on jewels and final gear), I end up with just over 10,000 evasion. Now, running the increased effective Enfeeble numbers through the formula give me approximately a multiplier of x5 effective evasion against non-unique, non-accurate, non-immune enemies. Bosses and Rogue Exiles are partially resistant to it, but the effect is still quite decent. Immunes are trouble.

Accuracy
From current tree and gear, I get 711 Accuracy. Taking 150% Poacher's Mark into account against non-unique enemies, this multiplies my accuracy by roughly x3. I'm not sure how 2134 effective accuracy stacks up against other endgame builds, but it seems alright. Against bosses, it gets worse, but PM is still 90% effective (don't know what the multiplier is exactly). If this is not enough for you, his might be a good reason to spend the points and go grab RT (Getting another endurance charge, Faith and Steel, and much needed strength instead of other nodes in the tree. Example:
http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrIvRsC5Mn74j5N9fPSbF_xqKjwfNciuwYcLvZEy9vj_rw1UlR0NBfam1stUjrYxEvKwrUQqZ_7UGEbw-rFr8ki8M6KjibtYTFvoqhL8rTtAxGceGIHar-SYMJ6roNfFfJKPqCx_noQYecvg0fPCiPRpuhGGp4L3zlWAf314RIXGvDbR0U-tIXL2TnVdaApCSwGYr7CfbaGo_ndNsaEHu-OvVLwQBmnrcxjHZyD5RvZlRZ858-LdKsqnKp9zJ82ZUuBx4Rlg5IXfK4kxzcjxrr7qcITm2lxJwy
Alternatively, you could pick up Depth Perception or nearby weapon-specific accuracy nodes if you use a dagger, claw, or mace.
In a situation where you are running only 4 curses, having one ring available can add a ton more base accuracy. I am also looking into improving my gloves, which could come with a higher amount as well.
Note: If using Skyforth, RT removes the utility of power charges, so that is an additional incentive to make non-RT work.


Defenses/Mitigation

Concerns about the defenses in the build were brought up in the thread, so I've added this section from my response to show that the defensive setup is pretty solid.

Evasion: With the linked gear and Grace, I have 10K evasion. Against non-unique enemies affected by 150% Enfeeble, this is an effective 50K evasion after monster accuracy penalty is run through the hit formula. Against map bosses, I still have Enfeeble at 90% after curse resist, which works out to about 30K or so effective evasion.

Physical Mitigation: I have no armor, but I have a way to automate 4 endurance charges in Warlord's Mark and Arctic Armour. I suppose that I could add an enduring cry to help against longer boss fights, but I usually run in a max three man team, so boss fights don't last very long. I also use Rumi's Concoction and Taste of Hate flasks, with +150% flask charges coming in from Poacher's Mark.

General Mitigation: 150% Enfeeble lessens all damage by 45% from non-unique enemies and 90% Enfeeble against map bosses is still less 27% damage. Fortify on Leap Slam is 20% reduced damage taken. I am also considering using Blind on Leap slam instead of Faster Attacks, depending on final attack speeds. And finally, I still have the 22% block and 50/12 block with Rumi's up. Add to that the fact that I will chill with my attacks and use AA on bosses and that slow will stack with my amped up Temp Chains, enemies are not moving very fast.

Leech: 115K dps is what I've calculated based on current tree and gear for a single target. With 3% life leech (1.8% vs. map bosses) and Vaal Pact, I'm getting 3450 (or 2070) ES back per second from instant leeching. Now, that is pure elemental damage that will be partly mitigated by resist, but I have 66% (or 39% against map boss) reduction in resists and I ignore armor entirely.

What I am actually worried about is how low my ES is going to be. With current tree and non-Skyforth gear, it is only just over 6500 ES, which is pretty bad for an endgame ES build. Without an ES shield or helm and using all unique jewelry, I have to rely on very few slots for my base ES. Skyforth probably forces me to increase my ES in the tree to offset the loss of base ES, but a good +1 curse ES amulet (good luck) could fix that. 5 seconds of Vaal Discipline will help as a panic button, massively increasing my ES pool and recharging me through damage, but it does not make up for a generally low ES number. I'm hoping the other levels of mitigation that I've described above will offset it.


Some Additional Builds

I have not had time to look at any of this since the Blasphemy change was discovered. Take it with a grain of salt.
Elemental Gemini Claw Frenzy RT
passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVAi9DW5bAunK5Mnvop_xu-IoS_K06KjwcX5N7QMwfPsGNfP6rpGcVyKj_pwu05tSbENfIMJ4Yjw1dDQ2ROlxFfJHapJUUcGX2ovb5wyKPr-SdvnuJOCx2wItMUc3Pno8YpirOvujxpBh2yMpwicvp2qj0YNHzY9HRSboTwobWxVhetj-tL31xhqD6vndKXLES9mnhcvhEh4Lxa_JIvbGisKtzFyD2TnJLBca3zlwzoQe4x2lG9Z83GFVdaApMNtWAcZipu1Kji-OmZUnz6sqlcp-wmExfVLLdJyqUbX9trBAPcyGo982Q==
I'm pretty sure you could suit this one up with a blue Gemini Claw with speed and lightning damage and do fantastically. This is much stronger against immunes as you don't rely on curses to hit or to get mana on hit. If you ditched Poacher's Mark, HoA, and Hatred for Anger and Wrath, you'll free a ring by going to 4 curses or you can keep a 5th curse and drop AA. You would not necessary have to use frenzy, but you'd need to find a way to generate frenzy charges, as Poacher's Mark does little for you otherwise.

Elemental Crit
http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrwfNciqKjf8b3113yhEiboSoLKwrw1bQMXGuPRhhqcFIRL4_66rpGccNtHRR4L-tj7BjQ0A18gwnhiPrSfOVwu0cGX2odqhcvWAdtbNkT8uH-SWTnJLDndC9vY0NV1oCkFr_bGsM6EHsZiio4vjr7CfbaGo9cQFS9Fe2Wi9W5SVEPqySLNj2dqmyMYqzBxYnTjDbb5_GKV8ko-oLH-ehBh5y-DR88KE5tpcScMm-enKSVIC0fHU-btYTFX7DKSocTdwfssIwLbAi0xbl89Uu4kxzcjxrr7qcID8Q7fLjKwQA=
Use a weapon like

and swap Hatred, HoA, AA, and Poacher's Mark for Wrath, Anger, and Assassin's Mark. You'll have to take another look at accuracy. Might have to use jewel mods to raise it.

Crit Physical/Poison Dagger Reaver
http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrHU8tH0yzlSAgbtAfwfNQMO_rXIqiozsNf8YPxBEPkyc7fKyYvorviLjK99dd8qEvytP5N4RIm6EqCysK8NW0DNfPXGuPRhhqcFIRL4_66rpGcUmxw20dFHgv62PsGNDQDXyDCeGI-tJ85bVIcLtHBl9qHaoXL1gH1EJtbNkT8uHYdv5JZOcksKZ_hG_ndC9vY0O5Plb1VdaApO1BFr_bGujWrGbDOhB7BbUs4RmKKji-OgZwfeP7CfVLTp_22sEAen8ajyLqdf1cQFS9Fe2Wi9W5226X0I6KEZYHHpUuDkhJUQ==
This tones down the curses significantly and is designed to cut a Doedre's ring for
or
.
Warlord's Mark is probably the cut as you can leech normally now.

Yolo Lightning Hyaon's Fury AKA "Dare to be Stupid"
http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVAi9DW5bAunK5Mnvop_xu-IoS_K0xGWoqP5N7QMk5UOSAcewfPXz-q6RnGtM13ylS5cioIeSbENfIMJ4YgZ1ysKnsTw1RSw9OkdqhEvpr6P-klRTC02if5J62PsGNDQEQ9nvTY9cLtfan6vOw2smG1sVYXZE7WFjRnv6_fXD6vndKXLL2_vUOAShEiboRa_JIvbGsG02V9ca49GGGrDOhB7LX3djMNtHRR4LxmKKji-OvrSfOX7CfVLZp4XL1gH9trBALcxcg9k5ySwGo-MdpRvcYVV1oCkZlTMt9V1sULauUbXTm2lxJwy
Who needs elements other than lightning? Who needs to live through every fight? Not this build. Trade Hatred, HoA, and Eleweakness for Wrath, HoT, and Conductivity. Grab your trusty Stupidstik and go. Stupidstik:


Elewander?
http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMA34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrHU8tH5UgwfNQMO_rXIqiozsNf8YPxBEPkyc7fKyYvoq4yvfXoS_K04RIm6EqCysKtAxca49GGGpwUhEvj_rqukZxw20dFHgv62PsGNDQDXyDCeGI-tJ85XC7HaoXL1gHbWzZE_5JZOcksOd0L29jQ1XWgKQWv9sawzoQexmKKji-OvsJ9Uv22sEAGo_jhA3RJIsPqwMeH0HFKPZbWbxMLRSwgh7bXpphx8rJRL7uP3PCc2znCaDOcHNwn4jbAvMJUWzBxYw2idNd8l9q74j5N9fPSbH5yLVIRwby4Q==
Maybe not. Once again, cut a curse, as you ditch the curse effectiveness. I think that a wander is a bit ill-suited for this build, as the curse AoE will be huge, but you will stil be mostly fighting enemies a screen away.

Spell Variant - Burn Caster
http://exiletools.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMABx4NHw18DkgPqxB7EQ8RLxFQEZYSaRa_FxwXLxhlGGoZihqBGo8bJR0UHU8dqiGwJIsksCj6KjgqjSsKLR8ulC9vNPc1uTbYOw08KEGHRnFJG0lRSbFLrkyzTm1RdFXWV8lYB1xrXIpd8l9qZOdtGW1scLtxeXaCeC9713zlf8aApILHgwmESI9Gj_qTJ5UglS6XhZuhnDKcvqEvoqOlxKaZpyusmLQMtUi-Or6KwQDB88M6w23IDMrT0B_Q0NfP2RPZW9sa34rfsOGI53TpAuq662PsGOxV74jv6_DV8Wz1S_ba99f5N_no-tL7Cf5J
There really is no reason that you can't make this a Pain Attunement spellcaster build. Here is a non-crit ignite caster that swaps Hatred, HoA, and Poacher's Mark for Empowered Anger and Flammability. There are tons more DoT nodes and ways to scale fire in the area as well.
Doomed for Life
Last edited by SirDragos on Dec 12, 2015, 2:33:04 PM
enjoyed reading this, very much looking forward to seeing how it plays out! thanks for all the work you put into it.
nice riped HC gear =D
This idea looks really nice and you really put much thought into it. Really nice job xD

To be honest it's hard to find anything more to improve it but I have one suggestion.

With some tinkering to your auras and linking gems setups I thought of a way to get rid of alpha howl, and still have the same numbers of auras... all so you can use this headgear:

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Doedre's_Scorn

...clearly it is just perfect for your tree and rest of setup as it will give you both boosts to curses, dmg increases - since almost all tree and gems shouts "more" in your build, this increases will really work well here.

This is the aura setup I propose:

https://poe.mikelat.com/#crmnxMCd/lDsQrA8v/nCBMD9lh/SkKLh/vQAptR6/1FOn0h

...if you prefer to have all five of them as auras just change in "Aura Group 2" HoA to one more Blasphemy. But I think that linking herald of thunder to CoH, with your huge lightning dmg should result in constant cursing via lightnings in the area.

I also made some space for clarity aura so you shouldn't have any problems with mana costs.

What do you think ? xD
Last edited by Alex_Lied on Dec 3, 2015, 8:53:28 AM
@PvtPJ

Yeah, this axe is old school HC.

@Alex_Lied

I think that the idea is solid, but I could only see it working with the Soul Taker setup, as the mana % left over is not high enough to sustain attacks. I'm not sure it is going to work with 13% let alone 6% of your mana left. Just to activate the skill, it is 42 mana. However, if someone is going that route, this is a legitimate possibility. Especially running a full conversion or elemental build would be able to take advantage of the whopping 120% increased damage you could get. This build has a relatively low increased modifier (I calculate my very pimped out gear and gems to be only about +240%), so that bonus is especially valuable. Also, the +1 curse works better with what gems are left over after the largest aura reservations go in Prism Guardian. The best use I have for the +2 aura is Discipline and Vaal Discipline.

However, Alpha's does triple duty in this build: It helps reservation, provides a chunk of base evasion, and makes you freeze immune.
You've solved the reservation part, but the other two are important too. The base evasion is not really replaceable unless you are willing to dish out for crazy hybrid gloves and boots. It may not actually matter that much, as Grace and Enfeeble provide the vast majority of the protection, but it is the difference between 35K and 42K effective evasion against non-unique enemies.
The 60 ES you get from the helm is not a great replacement for high ES gloves or boots. I suppose you could add more defense to your tree to let the increased damage from the helm compensate for the loss. The real loss is in your belt slot. If you want to have an adequate defense against freeze, you would then need Auxium. This will help your ES replacement issue, but you lose a stack of resists, strength, and damage there. (Edit: Even using Auxium might preclude you from wanting to use Taste of Hate. Going without either would almost guarantee that Taste of Hate would be too dangerous and you'd need to swap it for an anti-freeze flask.)

Getting 120% increased damage at the cost of 40%+ on your belt and needing to shift to some more defense in the tree to make up the ES is a little bit less desirable. It kinda locks you into Soul Taker as your weapon option, which is solid, but limiting. If you were willing to give up a reservation (120% increased damage might be better than HoA or something), this might let you run another weapon. You also need to spend a jewel socket on Conqueror's Efficiency, which is a small, but tangible difference. I really wish that Doedre's Scorn fit better into the plan and I'm sure there is a variant that is going to want it, but I think that Alpha's benefits outweigh Scorn's in most cases.

Good find though. I hadn't considered how much raw damage you can get from this item. Perhaps once the rest of the Ascendancies are spoiled, there will be a better way to incorporate it.
Doomed for Life
Last edited by SirDragos on Dec 3, 2015, 12:20:06 PM
GGG might bring back jewel with +1 curse So you might try to make 6-curser
"Is there such a thing as an absolute, timeless enemy? There is no such thing, and never has been. And the reason
is that our enemies are human beings like us. They can only be our enemies in relative terms."
@kamil1210

As cool as that would be, I think that I might be tempted to reclaim a ring slot instead. A ring has much more powerful mods than a jewel and it would take a huge amount of pressure off of the gloves, boots, and tree to provide all the missing mods.

There is room in the reservation for another curse if you use Soul Taker, but most builds that would use it would not necessarily need a sixth curse; you would almost always be able build around cutting Poacher's Mark or EleWeakness without giving up too much. However, if I were doing a crit elemental variant, I could see wanting to squeeze Assassin's Mark in alongside EleWeakness and the others. I'm not sure how I'd fit it in, considering that Hatred, HoA, and AA would likely be converted to Anger and Wrath. Soul Taker does not crit well and cutting AA is rough too, so the goal would be to get both the new curse and AA in. Adding Conqueror's Efficiency back in makes it technically possible to fit everything in using Enlighten gems for 10% of mana left over (which I'm not sure is enough), but you'd lose at least one of your movement skill links to accommodate the gems. I think cutting back to 5 curses is likely still better.

Edit: Even if they do not bring back the +1 curse jewel, we could see a +1 curse come out of a Witch Ascendancy class too.
Doomed for Life
Last edited by SirDragos on Dec 3, 2015, 2:20:18 PM
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SirDragos wrote:

(...)

@Alex_Lied

I think that the idea is solid, but I could only see it working with the Soul Taker setup, as the mana % left over is not high enough to sustain attacks. I'm not sure it is going to work with 13% let alone 6% of your mana left. Just to activate the skill, it is 42 mana. However, if someone is going that route, this is a legitimate possibility. Especially running a full conversion or elemental build would be able to take advantage of the whopping 120% increased damage you could get. This build has a relatively low increased modifier (I calculate my very pimped out gear and gems to be only about +240%), so that bonus is especially valuable. Also, the +1 curse works better with what gems are left over after the largest aura reservations go in Prism Guardian. The best use I have for the +2 aura is Discipline and Vaal Discipline.

However, Alpha's does triple duty in this build: It helps reservation, provides a chunk of base evasion, and makes you freeze immune.
You've solved the reservation part, but the other two are important too. The base evasion is not really replaceable unless you are willing to dish out for crazy hybrid gloves and boots. It may not actually matter that much, as Grace and Enfeeble provide the vast majority of the protection, but it is the difference between 35K and 42K effective evasion against non-unique enemies.
The 60 ES you get from the helm is not a great replacement for high ES gloves or boots. I suppose you could add more defense to your tree to let the increased damage from the helm compensate for the loss. The real loss is in your belt slot. If you want to have an adequate defense against freeze, you would then need Auxium. This will help your ES replacement issue, but you lose a stack of resists, strength, and damage there. (Edit: Even using Auxium might preclude you from wanting to use Taste of Hate. Going without either would almost guarantee that Taste of Hate would be too dangerous and you'd need to swap it for an anti-freeze flask.)

Getting 120% increased damage at the cost of 40%+ on your belt and needing to shift to some more defense in the tree to make up the ES is a little bit less desirable. It kinda locks you into Soul Taker as your weapon option, which is solid, but limiting. If you were willing to give up a reservation (120% increased damage might be better than HoA or something), this might let you run another weapon. You also need to spend a jewel socket on Conqueror's Efficiency, which is a small, but tangible difference. I really wish that Doedre's Scorn fit better into the plan and I'm sure there is a variant that is going to want it, but I think that Alpha's benefits outweigh Scorn's in most cases.

Good find though. I hadn't considered how much raw damage you can get from this item. Perhaps once the rest of the Ascendancies are spoiled, there will be a better way to incorporate it.


True, I was assuming using flask for freeze immunity. And this setup is surely more offensive version of your proposition. And I might have gone a bit too far in the aura setting getting one more aura into the build.

Maybe something like that would be more viable:

https://poe.mikelat.com/#gS4e55/lDsQrA8v/p2V2N7lh/fYJLh/vQAptR6/1FOn0h

Without Conqueror's Efficiency only low level of Clarity is possible but it still should give you a bit more mana for attack cost.

Still, evasion could be a problem here.

Also....when you mentioned that single attack will get to 42 for single use.... after a bit of calculation I still think you you will have problems with mana for both your and mine setup - you need to consider that your attack will only work for non-immune mobs and you need to hit at least 4 of them, otherwise attack will stop on the first strike. 42 per strike and at least 3 of them per second, so mana regeneration is not an option. You need leech or mana per hit. Let's say you get 16 from curse (12 * (1 + 0,4 effectivness) and get gemini claw for 14, you will still get 30. If we go for my setup you also get 31 regen for so if we assume that your avarage number of attacks is around 3 you should get to 40 mana costs (you get 9 regen from clarity (considerin aura nodes) + normal regeneration give another 9 (500*0,0175) and then we multiply it by 1,85 (increases from the current tree)). That would make you only use 2 mana per attack.

I also try to check if going for mana leech could be viable via fireborn jewel (mana leech near old GR):



If you prefer to use herald of ash this also could be viable. I am not sure coz I have some problems to calculate what is the final fire dmg you can get here.
Last edited by Alex_Lied on Dec 3, 2015, 4:00:19 PM
@Alex_Lied

Note: With the curse effectiveness in the tree and 20Q Blasphemy gems, curse effectiveness will be +50% rather than +40%. Rory confirms in my second link in the OP.

About the mana, I really think I'm okay against everything but immunes.

Remember that Static Strike using Multistrike hits a single target 6 times for every time you pay 42 mana. Now half of that is delayed by .75 seconds, but that should actually help the second and subsequent attacks hit more smoothly. As long as I have a mana buffer enough to get that second swing started with only the initial 3 hits worth of mana, it should work fine. And that is when only one target is in the radius of the AoE. I do agree though, the most optimal weapon mana-wise to use with this build is a Gemini Claw; both that and Soul Taker solve a ton of problems.

As for mana leech, getting 3% from Warlord's Mark is usually going to be more than enough, even against bosses with curse resistance. If I find that having some that is not attached to curses is necessary, I'm kinda out of luck. The idea to use Fireborn is interesting, but I don't think it works; it specifies 'increases and reductions to other damage types,' which would suggest to me that it only works on damage. That's a neat trick if I'm wrong, as HoA and Added Fire will do a decent percentage of my damage. I am really hoping that Lavianga's Spirit will bridge the gap to let me get those swings in. It has four activations before it needs filling, but I'm a little concerned that it is going to fill my tiny mana pool too quickly.

I like the idea of working in a small Clarity aura, and it will be worth experimenting with to see if it makes the difference for immunes. I'd probably have to give up my Increased Duration on Vaal Discipline, but if it lets me fight immunes at almost even mana, then it could be worth it.
Doomed for Life
@SirDragos

I didn't know that discharges from static strike still count as a melee attack. It looks really useful so I need to remember that.

And yes, it works with fireborn jewel as this jewel just add "fire" anywhere where there is attack damage (so bow dmg becomes fire bow dmg etc etc). But since that's the only spot where mana leech is in the jewel reach not many builds use that - most fire based ones goes more into witch or maruder parts for fire dmg nodes or shield block in case of incinerate. For incinerate that amount wouldn't be enought anyway.

If you still prefer alpha howl, you can get even higher level of Clarity if you add it to my setup. Still, if static strike get two hits, gemini and low level clarity should be enough for curse-immune maps. But you probably need to check it the game after the patch to see what is more optimal.

Edit:

On the last note, if the price is not a problem for you, you might also try to use mantra of flames jewel. With so many auras on you it should give you similar dmg boost as "add fire damage" gem.
Last edited by Alex_Lied on Dec 3, 2015, 7:16:29 PM

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