[2.1] Voltaxic Rift Crit Poison Spark Totems - Safe and potent for high lvl maps with all mods

Update 2/10/2016: Totem damage affects poison instances created by totem spells. See note on page 3. Shamanistic Fury and Totemic Mastery are very good for this build and jewels get a great new damage option.

Note: This build has grown out of my Dual Apep's Rage Dual Totem lvl 1 Spark build:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1107432
It has an almost identical tree, so using Posion EK into the Apep's build at 62 for leveling until you can afford a Voltaxic is recommended if you are starting from scratch in a new league.

This build makes use of truly busted Poison mechanics to allow you to double dip on most of your damage nodes (chaos/projectile). The goal was to create a safe and very powerful delivery system for the Poison to take advantage of stacking poison procs. The best one that I have found yet is Spark totems, as Spark now adds projectiles as it levels and totems can be used with the Rain of Splinters jewel to get 8 projectiles for each shot with each totem. Between the tree and the Projectile Weakness curse, you can get 100% pierce chance without the support gem. Defensively, we use Mind over Matter for mitigation and Acrobatics/Phase Acrobatics with other dodge/evasion gear for avoidance. This combination is much more defensive than I thought it would be; combined with the relative safety of a totem caster, it is a good setup for mid to late maps.

Pros and Cons

Short Version!
Pros: Damaging, safe, tight maps are awesome.
Cons: Bow is kinda expensive, can't leech, and open maps are less awesome.

Long version
Pros:
-Great damage. The ability to get double duty from nodes is so powerful against bosses and rares.
-MoM/Dodge/Evasion is surprisingly safe. 54/56% Dodge/Spelldodge with Hyrri's Ire and corrupted Atziri's Step.
-You can run any map mod. (No Regen and Blood Magic interact poorly with MoM, but you are totally fine even with just one hybrid flask.)
-Spark crushes in narrow corridors.
-Chaos is not resisted by many enemies. 100% of damage is chaos.
-Totems and Sparks can be used around corners to deal with strong ranged enemies. Melee are even easier to avoid, as you don't need to stop moving to kill them.
-Totem casters are immune to reflect and (mostly) deal with corrupted blood stacks.
-Voltaxic makes chaos shock. This is a crit build, so this happens regularly.
-You can achieve 100% pierce chance without the support gem.
-Blink Arrow is a superior move skill.
-You can use a utility 5L/6L in your bow to apply curses or do anything you want with (I like Blind and Life on Hit). The gem slots are very, very open.
-Each Spark volley resets "shotgun memory" for the whole volley on every wall bounce for even one projectile (Translation: every time one of the 8 projectiles hits a wall, all 8 can hit every enemy again.)
-Leveling is pretty optimal using Physical EK with Poison (and maybe Apep's Chaos lvl 1 Spark totems at 62 until late 70's) with only slight changes in the tree when you swap over to a Spark build.
-You have the option to negate your MoM damage with Rallying Cry and the threshold gem, Spirited Response. Rallying Cry is already very good for this build due to double-dipping.

Cons:
-Voltaxic is expensive! It took a bit for Poison to catch on, but did it ever.
-Spark is worse in wide open spaces.
-You cannot leech.
-You cannot reduce the resistance of the few enemies that are chaos resistant.
-Totem Casters only get inconsistent value from "on kill" effects (Silver lining: Poison kills go to you, not your totems!), making it harder to use Assassin's Mark to get power charges unless you cull on your utility attack.
-You have lower than usual mitigation. Arctic Armour/Enduring Cry can make it better, but they take away from what MoM and Rallying Cry can do for this build.
-Projectile Weakness is not very party/melee friendly unless your buddies are on board.
-This build wants to use several uniques. Life, resists, and stats on gear are harder to balance, especially while trying to cram in crit stats.
-Voltaxic has a high DEX requirement (212) that is difficult to work in. Fortunately, if you can get to 197 DEX for Hyrri's Ire, it will supply the remaining DEX to get to 212. STR is rough too.
-Getting life to HC levels is quite difficult for this build, due to the stretch between Acro and Ancestral Bond. A non-crit variant is much more reasonable for it, but the damage is much lower.


Tree
Current Tree
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAAx4EBwW1BnAHHg5IES8RlhZvFr8dFB8CH0Ej9iT9JpUqCyoTKlsrCi0fMHEwfDY9NsU31DpCQZZDNkWdSVFLeEyzTZJOn06uUUdS7FNSVUtVxljlWitcQF3yXyph4mKsZp5qQ2qMaxdsjHBSdZ559np_fll_xoPbg_OFMofLidOMNo19jb-OZI9Gj_qVIJUumuCdqqKjotmj8qcIp5uuEq6zsNixNrTFtUi2-rmTvOrAVMHzwuzDCcgUzxXQH9D11CPYJN2o42rnVOtj6-Tr7uv17T_v6_DV8h31b_em-tL_3g==?accountName=SirDragos&characterName=The_Agent_of_Chaos

Bandits
Oak-[Alira or Point]-[Kraityn > Alira > Point]
Flat life is tough to come by due to uniques so Normal is an easy pick. The tree is so tight that I might ditch the 5% cast speed in Cruel. I like the Frenzy charge best for Merciless, but I could even see taking the point for some setups. Power charges are tough to sustain, but a setup that does could want it over the Frenzy charge.

Final Tree
The two remaining life nodes in the Witch area are first. The jewel socket below MoM is second. Frenzy charges, Power Charges, or Whispers of Doom seem to be the best additions after that.
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYBAx4EBwW1BnAHHgj0DkgRLxGWFm8WvxzcHRQfAh9BI_Yk_SaVKgsqEypbKwotHzBxMHw2PTbFN9Q6QjpYPs9BlkM2RZ1JUUt4TLNNkk6fTq5RR1LsU1JVS1WFVcZY5VorXEBd8l8qYeJirGaeakNqjGsXbIxwUnWeefZ6f3_Ggl6D24PzhTKHy4nTjDaNfY2_jmSPGo9Gj_qVIJUumuCdqqKjotmj8qXLpwinm64SrrOw2LE2tMW1SLb6uZO86r3mwFTB88LswwnIFM8V0B_Q9dQj2CTdqONq51TrY-vk6-7r9e0_7-vw1fId9W_3pvrS_94=

Alternatively, going along the top of Witch lets you take Corruption and Whispers of Doom while making the Witch jewel socket almost optimal for a 45% Eldritch Knowledge.
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYBAx4FtQZwBx4OSBEPES8RlhZvFr8Yah0UH0Ej9iT9JpUqCyoTKlsrCi0fMHEwfDY9NsU31DlSOkI6WDsNQZZFnUlRS3hMs02STp9OrlFHUq9S7FNSVUtVxlgHWOVaK1xAXfJfKmHiYqxmnmf8akNqjGsXbIxwUnRVdZ56f3_Ggl6D84Uyh8uJ04w2jX2Nv45kj0aP-pUglS6a4Juhnaqio6LZo_KnCKebrJiuEq6zsNixNrTFtUi2-rmTu0286sBUwfPC7MMJyBTPFdAf0PXUI9gk3V_dqONq51TrY-vu6_XtP-_r8NXyHfVv96b31_rS_94=

Leveling Tree
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAAx4EBwW1BnAHHg5IES8RlhXtFr8fQSP2JpUqWysKLR8wcTB8Nj031DpCQzZJUUt4TLNNkk6fUUdS7FS9VUtVxlxAXfJfKmHiYqxqQ2qMaxdsjHX9efZ6f3_Gg9uEb419jb-P-pUglS6Wi52qoqOi2bDYtMW1SLzqwFTB88LsyBTQH9Qj1ELVud2o62Pr5O0_7-vw1fVv
Note the absence of crit and the addition of physical nodes. Physical EK with Poison clears rather well and there are only a few points that need to be changed once you swap into one of the Chaos variants. Then make a break for Ancestral Bond and slam into all the adjacent crit nodes.


Gear
Required:

The entry fee for this build. Suck it up. Play Dual Apep's until you can afford one.

Recommended Dodge Gear:

This is my recommended defensive package. 54%/56% dodge/spelldodge and decent evasion gives your mana time to recover between hits.
[Note: the most tempting chest is of course Soul Mantle in order to get a third totem. I'll talk about this variant below in the options section, as my buddy has developed some serious tech for a different totem build.]

Damage Gear:

This quiver is almost perfect for this build (it has T2 projectile speed and crit chance). Only life helps for suffixes, the other two can be garbage. Alternatively, if you decide one Fork is more desirable than 100% pierce, you can go with Rigwald's Quills http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rigwald%27s_Quills. I have not tried it, but losing life and taking a projectile speed hit does not seem worth it to me. I really like keeping the projectiles live after hitting every time and giving them some more reach with projectile speed. The projectile damage double-dips, however, so that could be a really good reason to try it out. It might interact positively with 50-60% pierce chance from Projectile Weakness. I'm just not sure.
I have yet to test with Maligaro's, but I've been wearing Winds of Change since low levels. It's stellar and has a little life. Maligaro's DEX might be just as good though to help fix the gaping DEX hole.

Stat/Resist Fixers:

Life. Resists. Stats. Crit. Mana Regen. As much as you can afford. Upgrade, upgrade, upgrade to take pressure off the tree and work in more damage and survivability.

Jewels:
I currently run one Rain of Splinters and one Life/Chaos Damage/Resist jewel. I have not yet reached the third socket.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rain_of_Splinters
The Rallying Cry threshold gem, Spirited Response, is very useful for this build. You can use it in the Witch socket already. It takes a bit of twisting to get it to work with the socket below MoM. You could also theoretically take the Templar socket if you wanted to trade some other points for the power charge and Light of Divinity or take the Shadow socket by taking the outside route to Atrophy and that power charge, but those take even more wrangling. The upside is that while Rallying Cry is active, your MoM and Spirited response interact together to effectively negate 10% damage per jewel (up to 30%).
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Spirited_Response


Skill Links
5L/[6L]
Spark-Spell Totem-Poison-Void Manipulation-Faster Projectiles-[Controlled Destruction]
I could also see using Increased Duration, Added Chaos (over Added Lightning), Faster Casting, or Crit Damage if you wanted to try things out. (I need to rerun the numbers now with my real stats to see if this is still optimal, but the above is what I found was best in theorycrafting.)

5L/[6L]
Frenzy-GMP-CoH-Projectile Weakness-Blind-[Life Gain on Hit/PCoC/Assassin's Mark/Enfeeble]
I've been a big fan of Blind, as it amplifies the power of my dodge/evade/MoM defense. However, I ditched PCoC for it, so I am not currently making power charges. If I worked in another curse via a Doedre's Ring or Whispers of Doom, it would be either Assassin's Mark or Enfeeble. Assassin's is not ideal as you only get charges from the poison kills; you could replace Blind in the 6L with Culling and that would ensure power charges. You could even set up further around the culling strike and use the Increased Rarity gem. Man, I miss Power Siphon.

4L
Vaal Spark-Trap-Void Manipulation-Poison
Set the trap on a strongbox or Stone Circle and Blink away to curse. Very effective, but remember you must use the Trap support to deal damage!

4L
Rallying Cry-Blink Arrow-Increased Duration-Faster Attacks
Just doubling up on duration for blink clone and warcry. Not a necessity. Rallying cry gives you double-dipping damage for poison and a chunk of mana regen. Very solid for use with MoM. Blink Arrow is my new favorite move skill.

4L
Clarity-Flame Golem-Blind-[Whatever]
A lot of room to play with in these links. Maybe better to split 3 and 1 for CwDT-IC-Golem and Clarity. Or do CwDT-IC-Duration-Rallying cry to use the duration more effectively (keep in mind that CwDT will not trigger the warcry; this is just to share the Duration gem). Flame Golem's buff is great, as the damage will double-dip. Chaos Golem would also be a solid option.

Note on Reservation:
I prefer to have a large part of my mana available for MoM, which is why I only normally reserve Clarity. You can expand your damage immensely by also reserving the Wrath aura, which give you 21% more lightning damage, which will affect your initial hit, but will only help your poison insofar as your initial hit is higher. I have a buddy that I often play with that runs it and this build does tons more damage when I stand next to him. You could lower your MoM effectiveness to run Wrath or you could even cut MoM entirely and use AA/Enuring Cry or some other form of mitigation. Now I find that I don't need this damage, but it is nice to have. It might be worth considering running it when not in a dangerous zone and turning it off when you think you might need the additional mitigation.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Wrath


Mechanics/Build Choice Explanation
Under Construction
Why is Poison so busted?

Why not just use the bow?

Why Spark?

Why Spell Totems?

Why Crit?

How does Spark's memory resetting work?


Offensive and Defensive Options

Offense
Run Wrath (or find a buddy that does).
*See note at the bottom of the Links section.

Add a Searing Bond totem.
Variant: What is that burning sensation? (Non-Crit)
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Searing_Bond
Now that one Searing Bond totem does not count toward your totem limit, you can cast it to damage enemies that approach any of you or your totems in line of sight. This seems like it would not be well scaled, but you could alter the build to take advantage of it. You go right by Entropy, Growth and Decay, and Corruption, which all scale both Poison and Burning damage! You also pass right by the Holy Fire cluster, which is an impressive boost for three points. This would be a much more Poison-damage oriented variant, but I imagine it would be really effective.
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYBAx4FtQZwBx4I9AzyDkgRDxEvEZYSaRNtFAkWbxa_FxwYahzcHRQfQSP2JogmlSoTKlsrCi0fMHEwfDY9N9Q6QjpYOw0-z0M2RZ1JUUt4TLNNkk6fUUdSr1LsU1JVS1XGWAdY5VorXEBd8l5dXyph4mKsZp5n_GpDaoxrF2yMcXl0VXWedoJ4L3n2en98g3zlf8aD24Uyh8uNfY2_jxqPRo_6lSCVLprgm6GdqqKjotmj8qXLpwinlKebrJitSrDYtMW00bVItzC7TbzqvebAVMHzwuzIDMgUzxXQH9H91CPdX92o42rrY-vu7T_v6_DV9W_31_rS
You don't have to use this variant to use Searing Bond, but this would be one way to take advantage of the overlap.

Use Soul Mantle.
Three big reasons you might give up a more defensive chest option for Soul Mantle are 1. You can get a 3rd totem or 2. You can skip Ancestral Bond and un-stretch your tree and 3. You get a "free" Spell Totem link that puts you one link ahead. All are extremely desirable, but you lose some serious defenses in the form of 10% dodge/spelldodge and 2000 base evade. You also have to deal with the curse drawback. Even from the relative safety of a totem strategy, this is going to add danger.
Variant: Soul Mantle Self-Flagellator
My buddy has come up with a rather interesting strategy for weaponizing the Soul Mantle curses using the Self-Flagellation jewel.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Self-Flagellation
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1572176
This kind of caster uses the pile of curses to push the (incidentally double-dipping) damage up by 20%*#curses. In order to live under the crushing weight of all those curses, you can use these rings to help keep them under control.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Kikazaru
However, a variant that makes use of this strategy likely will not able to use MoM because it will need to be running Purity of Elements and use Kikazaru rings to keep resists capped while under Elemental Weakness/Conductivity/Flammability/Frostbite. PoEle is also great at keeping totems alive, so it is not a bad aura to be using anyway. Taking some aura nodes along the path like Charisma, Influence, Leadership or Sovereignty can make a Clarity/Grace/PoEle reservation work (and boost their effectiveness considerably), which at least replaces your lost evade but still leaves you short on mitigation. It might be a good idea to use a defensive curse like Enfeeble by picking up Whispers of Doom. That will give at least some protection.

I'm not sure exactly what the tree would look like for this build; the Ancestral Bond version and 2 totem version would be very different. Note that under a 2 totem Soul Mantle build, you could use your bow attack to actually deal damage as well. Between generic crit mods, chaos/projectile mods, and Self-Flagellation, your damage will not be half bad either, but you'll have to find a way to fix your accuracy.

Ditch other defenses for more raw power.
Variant: Whatever, I'll just use Frost Wall

Screw both defenses AND crit and go nuts with double-dipping and skill duration. Use Soul Mantle for the second totem and reserve Wrath. Your Voltaxic attack now deal damage, so Wrath deals double duty. Light the enemies up with piercing bow attacks from the relative safety of your Frost Wall fortress while your totems mow them down.
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYBAF4A7gHRAx4FLQW1BnAGoAguES8VIBa_GY4ZtB9BI_YmlSpNKlss6S2DLlMwcTB8NZI2PTfUOkI64T7PPydDMUM2RwZHfklRSshLeE2STeNOn1FHUuxVS1WFWW1aGlpSXEBfmGHiYqxkhGVNaoxsCGyMbqp07XWedct2gnn2en9673vDfXWGs4fLjX2Nfo2_j_qdqqEiokCi2aOKpcumV6ebqJqv67DYtMW00bVItfK74702vea-p8LswzPEosgMyBTNmM8VzzLQ0NNv037UI9i92sHb592o6mLrY-0_7YPuDu968NXxivJF9Pj1b_aj-b3-Cv6P_ro=

Defense
Get more life.
Variant: Life > Damage
Here is a non-crit tree with 198% life after life jewels. This tree also gets duration nodes, which are extremely useful for Spark and almost all of your utility skills. However, this version's damage is not nearly as good. The double-dipping that makes this build most desirable is not as well utilized here. However, it gives you an idea about a completely different route you can take from Acro/Poison to Ancestral Bond.
http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAAF4A7gMeA-4FtQZwBqAILhEvFSAWbxa_GY4c3B0UHb4fQSLiI_YkqiaVKPoqEypNKlss6TBxMHwzhzWSNj026TfUOkI64T7PPydBh0M2RZ1H4krIS3hNkk3jTp9RR1LsU1JVS1WFWOVZbVorWlJeXV7AX5hh4mKsZIRmnmqMbIxuqnaCefZ6f3vDfIOCXoLHhTKGs4hajX2Nv48aj0aa4J2qotmjiqPypDmly6ZXpwinlKiasNi0xbTRtUi18rc-uJO95sLsyAzIFM8y0f3TftQj2L3dqONq62Pr7u0_7YPuDu968kX1b_aj-b356PrS_gr-jw==


Prefer not to use Mind over Matter? Run Endurance Charges and Arctic Armour instead.
Variant: I HATE MoM

Doomed for Life
Last edited by SirDragos on Feb 10, 2016, 3:45:59 PM
Last bumped on Mar 10, 2016, 1:42:52 PM
Sections updated.
Added leveling tree.
Doomed for Life
Added non-crit options (one is sillier than the other).

I've outlined some questions about ther build I will answer in the Explanations section, but let me know if you have any that are not listed.
Doomed for Life
I play alongside this guy, and his build does crazy amounts of damage. But the really impressive part is the stuff he's able to live through (aka occasionally facetank).

One thing - I clicked the tree that you were talking about that pathed along the top and got whispers of doom appears to have not done that.
My Shop - http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/524349
Incinerate Totem Guide - http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/781048
Thanks, Treehead, I fixed the second final tree.

Treehead is my mobile Wrath totem. I mean he's my friend that I regularly play with. Forget that first part.
Doomed for Life
Added some variants and my buddy's Soul Mantle/Self-Flagellation concept.
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1572176
Doomed for Life
Given that the entire point of this build is to exploit broken poison mechanics, wouldn't it be easier and more efficient to go non crit?

With non crit build you could pick both duration clusters, ALL chaos clusters AND totem cast speed clusters and have 155% life.

Something like this:

http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYBA-4FtQZwBqAHHg-rFr8c3B0UHb4i4iSLJpUo-ioTKk0qWzBxM4c1kjY9OkI6WDrhPydBh0M2RZ1HBkfiSRNJUUrIS3hN406fUUxSr1LsU1JVS1XGWOVZbVorXEBfmF-wYeJirGSEZp5n_GqMbIxtbG6qdZ559np_fVuCx4PbhMWHy4ngjb-PGo9Gj_qTH5UumuCboZu1naqi2aPypDmmV6cIp5usR6yYsNi0xbVItfK3PriTu03C7MM6yBTKSs8VzzLQ0NQj2L3b591f3ajmWOvu8NXyRfVv99f5vfno-tL-Cv6P
@diablomig

I really dig your idea. I'll take a look at the numbers on a non-crit variant that keeps AB and isn't going for HC life (as opposed to two other variants I have in the guide). However, if I were to do it, I'd do it more like this:

http://poedb.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAAF4B0QMeA-4FtQZwBqAILg-rES8Wbxa_GYoZjhzcHRQdvh9BIuIkiyaVKPoqEypNKlswcTOHNZI2PTpCOuE_J0GHQzZFnUfiSRNKyEt4TeNOn1FMUuxTUlVLVYVY5VltWitaUl-YX7Bh4mKsZIRmnmqMbIxtbG6qefZ6f3vDfVt9dYLHhMWFMongjb-PGo9Gkx-XBprgm7WdqqEiokCi2aPypDmly6ZXpwiomqxHr-uw2LTFtUi18rc-uJO748LswzrEosgUykrPMtN-1CPYvd2o42rmWOtj6-7tg_JF9Pj1b_m9-ej60v4K_o_-ug==

Keep in mind that MoM is pretty key to lategame defenses, so I need to keep that. Additionally, projectile damage works just the same as chaos (it double-dips for poison, etc.), so moving into those nodes makes the tree more efficient. Plus, getting Ballistic Mastery and Sniper will amplify the effects of the duration nodes. This is a cool way to extend the lifespan of the Sparks.

However, I think that this version will likely have a slower clear speed than the crit version, but the reasons are complex. Your tree doesn't really add that much more increased damage. If you count the extra jewel socket as 20% damage the chaos/projectile damage in my final tree is 227% to your tree's 260% (my version of your tree gets 283% and more frenzy charges). Crit adds a considerable amount of burst on the front end that will factor into the Poison damage as well. I'd get about +738% increased crit between my current gear and the final version of my tree and 4 charges (-100% if I use Controlled Destruction as my 6th link, but that will add waaay more damage than it takes away) and 200% multiplier. Edit: That comes to about a total damage boost of x2.6.

That is a sizable damage boost to give up for the duration nodes.
Doomed for Life
Last edited by SirDragos on Jan 25, 2016, 5:19:37 PM
diablomig has made a very good point on reddit here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/42mm2r/voltaxic_poison_spark_totems_viable/czbpken

Skill duration nodes also help poison duration. Much like projectile damage double-dipping, this flies in the face of reason a bit, but as long as it works this way, we might as well make use of it if we can. It is especially weird, as the Increased Duration gem does not help the poison (although it does help the Spark duration), as it only affects active skills it is linked to, and Poison is a support. Despite the fact that the skill creates the poison in a way that the nodes recognize, it does not also recognize the linked gem. Bass Ackwards.

This pulls a non-crit variant that gets the duration nodes much more in line damage-wise with a crit variant that has to go through Witch territory and skip the duration nodes. This is talking only about when you're talking about things that will last for more than a couple seconds like bosses and tough rares (i.e. the only things we really care about). The interaction between Duration and Projectile Speed really works in its favor too, as they multiply. I maintain that speed > duration, as you get the same effect over a shorter time, as the distance traveled is the same and you'll bounce around and hit the boss the same number of times, just in fast-forward, but if I have duration too, the speed will have even more time to help.

I also like the fact that this tree takes you by Totemic Zeal. That cluster is phenomenal. I might be tempted to figure out how to make Totemic Mastery work too if the totem nodes double dipped (they don't). All in all, I like the idea better than I did initially. I'd be inetrested to see how it plays. I might have to mock it up in Standard to see what it looks like. If I do, I'll post it here. diablomig, is this something you are planning to run or just playing with ideas?
Doomed for Life
I'm definitelly going to level one up in Standard to test this idea. But it might take some time between work and family :)

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