[2.1] Voltaxic CoC Poison Spork guide - Atziri viable, can run all map mods


This is an updated version of my earlier Voltaxic CoC build. After a lot of testing i believe to have greatly improved the build - compare the videos in both guides and judge for yourself.

VIDEOS:
NEW[Tornado Shot] T8 Canyon - quick Test run
https://vid.me/ImuE

[Barrage] T9 Gorge with 2 exiles
(they die before they can do anything at 2:25 & 4:35 min;D)
https://vid.me/6Qug
[Barrage] T10 Volcano clear - no sound... more videos coming
https://vid.me/ElxX

WHY PLAY THIS BUILD?
-> Unique and strong
-> Reflect Immune
-> Huge area coverage
-> Can easily do Atziri and all map mods
-> Poison everywhere!
-> ...and it looks nice:)

WHY NOT PLAY THIS BUILD?
-> Requires at least one 5-Link to work at all, a 6-Link is highly recommended
-> Doesn't have 10k hp: Our defenses consist of 3 endurance charges, Cwdt-IC, and - depending on passive tree choices - 4-5k hp as well as Acrobatics
-> not super toaster-friendly (not as bad as other CoC builds though!)
-> Not suited as a leveling build, requires a char lvl around 90


-------------------------------Concept---------------------------------------------

In this Cast on Crit build we use the Voltaxic Rift bow in order to deal pure chaos damage with our attacks and spells. We combine it with Rigwald's Quills quiver (granting Global Fork) and GMP or LMP for an insane area coverage. Fork greatly increases the number of projectiles of Tornado Shot & Spark - thanks to Rigwald's Quills it comes without a damage penatly. Especially Spark greatly benefits from that! Spark and our poison damage are further enhanced by getting 90% increased skill effect duration from the passive tree, which also improves our defensive spells. All of this lets us use the new Poison support gem to great effect. Lastly we pick up a good amount of global crit from the tree which improves both the cast on crit as well as our spell damage.

In most situations our damage is aboslutely sufficient to deal with tanky bosses etc - but whenever an extra burst of damage is needed, we use a vaal burning arrow trap with a poison support. This is perfect for Atziri split phases and similar situations.

On the defensive side, the build features 3 endurance charges with virtually 100% uptime (you can get a fourth charge for 2 points if you wish), Cwdt-Immortal Call & Vaal Grace with an extra 90% increased duration thanks to the passives. Furthermore the passive tree allows direct access to the acrobatics nodes should you wish to go acro.

--------------Somewhat detailed explanation of the damage scaling being used------------
Spoiler

One of the main ideas of this build is to use a great number of synergies. Here's a list of the interactions being used:

Lightning damage to chaos conversion:
All our damage (attack & spells) starts out as lightning damage and then gets converted to chaos by Voltaxic Rift. This means that we get the maximum benefit from running Wrath & Herald of thunder and all the chaos/elemental damage passives: They increase the damage of both our attack and our spells.

Projectile Damage:
The same thing applies to Projectile damage incresases; all of those double dip on both our attack and the spells, since they are all projectile-based. (The passive tree as given below doesn't feature a lot of Projectile damage, but we get 30-50% off Rigwald's Quill's and it's something you can look for on jewels).

Again the same double dipping happens when we scale global crit & global crit multi.

Increased Skill Effect duration:
Our 90% increased skill Effect duration double dips as well; namely it increases both the duration of the Sparks and the duration of our Poison damage (effectively being a more multiplier for the poison damage). As you may know, duration is vital for builds using Spark - keeping the Sparks in play for a longer time means more hits and thus damage being dealt.

Poison damage scaling in detail:
The Poison Support gem has the effect that both our attack and the spells contribute poison damage. But that's not the best part yet!
Poison happens to benefit from ALL the points listed so far. Increases to chaos & Projectile damage both double dip on poison damage: They increase the damage of the initial hit (and by that the base poison damage) and then apply AGAIN as addiditve increases to the poison damage itself. And just to reiterate: Increased duration passives effectively act as a "more damage" multiplier to poison.

Fork:
This is another nice synergy; both the projectiles from our attack and our Sparks fork on hitting an enemy. This greatly increases the number of Cast on Crit procs and the number of Sparks we get. Fork also apllies to our Vaal Burning arrow, multipliying its damage by 3!


-----------------------------Skills & Links----------------------------------------

Spoiler
6L GGGGBB
Tornado Shot or Barrage (20/20)- Greater Multiple Projectiles or Lesser Multiple Projectiles (20/20) - Cast on Critical Strike (20/20) - Spark (20/20) - Ball Lightning (20/20) [alternatively, Arc is a viable option] - Poison (20/20)

Whichever combination of Barrage or Tornado shot and GMP or LMP you want to use remains a matter of preference. During a lot of testing i found all combinations to be viable options each with their own strong points and drawbacks. I myself use LMP, +1 arrow Rigwald's Quils and mostly Barrage now.
In maps with wide open spaces TS/GMP tends to do best, in narrow corridors Barrage is better. LMP provides a little more damage against single targets and since the aoe of the damage is great anyway, i tend to use LMP.

On a 5L you can drop either Ball Lightning or the Poison Gem. If you do decide to play without Poison, then obviously don't take the "Fatal Toxins" nodes on the passive tree.

6L GGGGGB
Vaal Burning Arrow (20/0) - Greater Multiple Projectiles (20/0) - Concentrated Effect (20/20) - Trap (20/0) - Poison (20/20) - Point Blank (20/20)

4L RRRG
Cast when Damage Taken (1/0) - Immortal Call (3/20) - Increased Duration (20/20) - Vaal Haste or Vaal Grace (20/0)

4L
BBBG
Herald of Thunder (20/20) - Curse on Hit (20/20) - Assassin's Mark (20/20) - Frenzy (20/20)[level doesn't matter for Frenzy - quality is recommended]

4L BBGX
Wrath (20/0) - Ice Golem (20/20) - Blood Rage (20/20) - ?[Unimportant: Vaal Skill, Portal etc]




--------------Gear Breakdown: The Mandatory Unique Items-------------------------

Spoiler
->Bow: Voltaxic Rift


It allows us to deal almost exclusively chaos damage (apart from the minor phys damage of the bow itself), which in turn lets us boost our damage with the Poison support gem. As a nice side effect we get reflect immunity.

->Helmet: Rat's Nest (using Starkonja's Head is possible, but weaker)

Best in Slot for most Crit builds. If you can't get one or want more life, use Starkonja's Head instead.

->Gloves : Atziri's Acuity or Maligaro's Virtuosity

Not much to say here - either of them is fine. Personally i prefer Acuity because of the life and because i don't like Vaal Pact's no regen penalty. Maligaro's do obviously provide more damage though.

->Quiver: Rigwald's Quills


It makes both the Barrage Projectiles and the Sparks fork, thus greatly boosting the area we cover - plus it provides a good amount of Projectile damage. Try to get a good Proj. damage roll.


-> Flask: Atziri's Promise

This flask is an important part of our gear, since it provides us with a huge amount of chaos life leech on all our damage (spells and attack). Running one or two of them is highly recommended.


----------------Gear Breakdown: The other Items------------------------------

Spoiler

->Amulet: Crit-heavy with Life - if possible Crit Multi & Accuracy

A double Crit roll Hexclaw amulet is recommended, a rare of a different base type would have to be very good to justify the loss of global crit.

->Rings: Diamond rings with (in order of importance) Life, Resists, Accuracy, Master Crafted Crit mod


->Chestpiece: 6L (Evasion based, if you take Acrobatics)


Nothing Special Here: We want lots life and of elemental resistance. Uniques that could be used instead of a rare include Lightning Coil, Daresso's Defiance, Belly of the Beast and maybe even Hyrri's Ire. A good rare is probably the best option because without it, you'll struggle to cap your resistances.

->Belt: Leather Belt with Life explicit and resistances

Same mod priorities as on the chest piece.


If your resists allow it, use The Retch. Since we heavily depend on Atziri's Promise for Life Leech, this unique is a great choice: 60% Flask effect duration, Movement speed while using a Flask and Leech being turned into damage (on top of the damage increase we already get from Atziri's Promise)... the synergy is too good not to use!

->Boots: Life & Move speed, resists as necessary - if no res is needed, go for Atziri's step

The socket colours are worth mentioning here: Since our other 4L slots are taken up by non-int based uniques, int-baed or dex-int-hybrid boots provide a good opportunity to get the required three blue sockets. That's just a convenience consideration, vorici makes it easy enough to get BBBG on any 4L item, but it may cost a few hundred chromatics.


-------------------------------Jewels-----------------------------------------------
Spoiler

On rare Jewels, look for: Life, Global Crit, Projectile Damage, Chaos Damage, Accuracy.

Far less beneficial mods are (aka the "Better than nothing" category):
Resistances, Lightning Damage, Attack Speed, Crit Chance/Multi with Lightning skills/Spells, Damage over time.

Unique Jewels being used in the build:
2X Lioneye's Fall
1x Intuitive Leap (not mandatory, but saves 3 passive points)

---------------------- Passive Tree & Bandits ---------------------------------------
Spoiler

Bandits:

Life-Attack Speed or Passive point-Power Charge

Please note that i was a bit greedy with the passives: Instead of 4 chaos damage nodes ("Method to the Madness"), you may prefer to take 4 life nodes or 3 life nodes & acrobatics.

NEW Tree - dropping the Volley Fire Jewel. For other details see the explanation of the old tree below. If you want to use the new tree with Barrage & 1 Volley fire Jewel, take a 10 dex node right above "Method to the Madness) and use the jewel socket next to it.

Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAA5YD7gW1BnAPqxNxFr8aOB0UHb4fGCLqI_YkiyT9JpUnLyoLMHwzhzQxNZI31DnUOyg8LT8nQXJBh0kTSshNkk6fUUdR-1VLWK5ZbVnzWlJepV-YX7BgQ2HiZp5oWG1sbj1uqm-eb_JwUnIPcql3B3p_e8N_K4LHgwmDX4PMhMWHE4nTidiJ4IwLjDaNfY2_j0aQVZJ9kx-Yb5tdm7WcpKCfqJqsqrVItfK3Prl8vJq-gMM6xPbGrsjcyWfKSs0WzzLXlti93CPlz-ZY51To1uyw7T_tRPKX9zL56PrS-4v-Cv_e


Intuitive Leap Version - intuitive leap goes into the southern Scion socket

Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAA5YD7gW1BnAPqxNxFm8WvxhWGjgdFB2-Hxgi6iP2JIsk_SaVMHwzhzQxN9Q51DsoPC1BckGHSRNNkk6fUUdR-1VLWK5ZbVnzXqVfmF-wYENh4mZUZp5oWGh0bWxuPW-eb_JwUnIPcql3B3p_e8N_K4LHgwmDX4PMhMWHE4nTidiJ4IwLjDaNfY2_j0aQVZJ9kx-Ub5SgmG-bXZu1nKSgn6iarKq3Prl8vJq-gMM6xPbGrsjcyWfKSs0WzzLXlthN2L3aYtwj42rlz-ZY51To1uyw7T_tRPKX9zL56PrS-4v-Cv_e


Old Tree
Spoiler
Unique Jewels
1x Volley Fire
2x Lioneye's Fall

Tree Explanation
We pick up almost all the global crit available on the tree, this requires a high level char.
Lioneye's Fall Jewels go into the sockets on the far left and the upper left side of the tree, transforming staff & melee crit into bow nodes.
Volley Fire can be put into either the socket between ranger and shadow or the socket next to the ranger's frenzy charge.
As starting nodes for the branch going to the left, regen or projectile damage is possible - projectile damage costing more points. If Vaal Pact is being used, then obviously Projectile damage would be the way to go at the start.

LINK TO THE TREE



COMMENTS, QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
My 2.3 Build Guides:
Oro's Crit Flicker Assassin: view-thread/1691639
Sire of Ignites Elementalist: view-thread/1703646
Low Life CocSpray Occultist: view-thread/1711959
Last edited by EvilChomsky on Jan 24, 2016, 8:01:09 AM
Last bumped on Jul 27, 2016, 10:01:46 AM
Added sections on damage scaling synergies being used, Jewel recommendations and an Intuitive Leap version of the Passive Tree.
My 2.3 Build Guides:
Oro's Crit Flicker Assassin: view-thread/1691639
Sire of Ignites Elementalist: view-thread/1703646
Low Life CocSpray Occultist: view-thread/1711959
Last edited by EvilChomsky on Jan 23, 2016, 10:54:36 PM
Is this hardcore friendly by chance? If so, is there a tree you might have so I can take a look at it? :)
Hey, you can find the Passive Trees are at the end of the guide.

The build as you see it here is more of a SC glasscannon. This being said, i think it might be possible to make it fit for HC by giving up some damage & crit nodes in favour of Life and Acrobatics. The tree pathing has access to a lot more life than i actually took, and also to acrobatics & another endurance charge. Maybe for HC i would not travel up to the Serpent Stance cluster and go for King of the Hill instead, investing the points you save into more life.

Those are just the first things that come to my mind when thinking about a HC version. If you have some ideas or suggestions i would love to hear them.:)
My 2.3 Build Guides:
Oro's Crit Flicker Assassin: view-thread/1691639
Sire of Ignites Elementalist: view-thread/1703646
Low Life CocSpray Occultist: view-thread/1711959
Thanks for the quick reply, I'm actually not too familiar with the tree @.@, but once i test it out i'd be happy to give you my input.

Also, quick question does Serpent Stance give bow users (our main weapon: voltaxic) the critical strike chance/multiplier even though it says "while wielding a staff"?
Yes, thanks to this Jewel:

Used in the socket next to this cluster, it transforms the passives into bow passives. So with the jewel, we get global crit while wielding a bow & global crit multi while wielding a bow from serpent stance, as well as bow crit from the blunt trauma passive next to it.
We do the same thing with the Smashing strikes and Disembowling Passives on the left side of the tree. There we get that sweet "10% chance to gain an endurance charge on critical strike with a bow" - very nice for a bow crit build of course...

But just to repeat, you definitively would need to make some changes to the build to make it HC viable. I'll try to come up with a first draft of a HC passive tree and post it here soon.
My 2.3 Build Guides:
Oro's Crit Flicker Assassin: view-thread/1691639
Sire of Ignites Elementalist: view-thread/1703646
Low Life CocSpray Occultist: view-thread/1711959
Last edited by EvilChomsky on Jan 24, 2016, 5:20:38 AM
Wow, well, that was a simple answer to my question! I can't wait to see what you could come up with for a HC passive tree ! Thanks for taking the time :)
So i thought about the HC variant some more. YOu have two options as far as i can see:

Option 1 - Using GMP + Increased Critical Strikes support gem
Spoiler
One would have either to drop the poison gem or the second spell in favour of an increased critical strikes support gem. Without it, it is not going to be easy to get enough crit chance and enough life nodes at the same time.


Option 2 - Without GMP, using the Volley Fire Jewel + Increased Critical Strikes support gem

Spoiler
There is however the possibility to go for Barrage & maybe 2 Volley Fire Jewels, this would save you 1 support gem, so you could still use the setup given in the build guide - just with an increased critical strikes gem instead of GMP.


Whether the build would still be strong enough (as compared to f.e. LA/BR Voltaxic) to be worthwile with these modifications i don't know... maybe not. Would require some testing

This is the kind of passive tree one might use (Acrobatics + Phase Acro + 163% Life WITHOUT Jewels -> close to 200% life in the end):

My 2.3 Build Guides:
Oro's Crit Flicker Assassin: view-thread/1691639
Sire of Ignites Elementalist: view-thread/1703646
Low Life CocSpray Occultist: view-thread/1711959
Last edited by EvilChomsky on Jan 25, 2016, 1:42:41 AM
Very interesting build. I was wondering, what is your tooltip DPS, and whether you notice clearspeed decreases in party play.

Thanks!
Ok, i am not sure how much you know about this kind of CoC builds, so i am going to give you as complete of an answer as i can - sorry if it does get a bit long:)

As with many CoC builds, the tooltip can't really tell you anything. The tooltip can only tell you how much damage one spark/ball lightning would do, or how much dps Spark would do if it was self cast - but here we obviously don't do that... The important question is how many CoC procs you can produce in a given amount of time. This is difficult to tell: Currently - WITHOUT any charges - i have 90% chance to hit, 66.98% chance to crit and 2.62 attacks per second. The rest depends on whether you use Barrage/TS & LMP/GMP and on whether there is 1 monster or a pack. I honestly don't know how one could calculate an average damage value out of all that.

Plus a big part of the damage of this build comes from poison, which again doesn't show up in the tooltip damage. And on top of that the Sparks fork, possibly hitting a wall and coming back to the monster from which they forked etc... if you know a way to calculate that mess, be my guest!;)

Vaal Burning Arrow trap has a similar problem; it uses at least three damage modifiers that don't show up in the tooltip: Concentrated Effect, Point Blank & Poison.

From my experience the damage is absolutely good enough to comfortably carry f.e. a 4 man party in a T12 map - i didn't have the chance to test it in bigger parties yet. There is not a huge difference in clear speed. Unlike some other chaos builds, this build still benefits from many multiplayer synergies, such as: Haste or Anger aura, Vulnerability or Projectile Weakness curses...
My 2.3 Build Guides:
Oro's Crit Flicker Assassin: view-thread/1691639
Sire of Ignites Elementalist: view-thread/1703646
Low Life CocSpray Occultist: view-thread/1711959
Last edited by EvilChomsky on Jan 25, 2016, 3:32:01 AM

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