GhazzyTV - Essence Drain & Contagion (or Bane/Soulrend) Trickster [SC/HC/Uber Elder/Shaper]

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ThunderBiome wrote:

The video that is linked on the post is the 2.3 video.

Thank you a lot for this guide. I'm enjoying it even as I start at level 1.

I'm amazed at how different the skill tree for 3.1 is from the skill tree in the 2.1 video. I guess the new one is stronger

Aye, sadly I'm not a fulltime streamer so I try to make time for everything. This build hasn't recieved a video update in a long time. I will try to get it done before the year changes... ;P
Do keep in mind that I have from what I believe the most build guides out there consistently being updated & responded on than any other content creator in our community.

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Nogenius wrote:

So I'm using the Allelopathy gloves with the mentioned gems. Am I supposed to be using Blight to just keep the debuff on them?

Aye, Blight will help significantly with your boss kills.

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ryujians wrote:

Quick question regarding cloak of defiance. If you run it and already have MoM with the chest piece, do you still spec into MoM just to get the mana nodes behind it?

Aye, we need the mana behind to be able to fully sustain the MoM effect. (Check the MoM calculator)

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Conchubar24 wrote:

Hey guys anyone have any tips for scaling my damage/survivability past T10 maps? Kind of hitting a wall where I am now, have 5.5k hp 1.5k es ~1.5k unreserved mana and capped resists. My damage is starting to feel a bit lacking now. Haven't completed uberlab yet which will obviously help, but hoping for some gear related/passive tree tips :)

Tree looks fine.
Gear:
You can switch around your sockets in your gloves for more optimal DPS output from your Blight if it's harder enemies being the problem.
Also getting Empower lvl3+ is really helpful at this point.

Getting a chest piece with +1 gem lvls or a +1 corrupted Tabula will help LOADS which is honestly the reason I prefer that over the other options myself at least.

Other than that it's pretty much spell dmg and/or chaos dmg increasing jewelleries.

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Saldagmac wrote:

Started mapping last night, loving the build. What level do you think the merciless lab can be completed with a good chance of success? I've got a basic tabula, and just traded for a rathpith globe and allelopathy gloves.

Also, would the Consuming Dark be good with this build? It'd only trigger when directly hitting a boss with ED, which is unfortunate, but i'm not sure what all will modify the decay. I'm guessing my passives, and not my supports for ED, right? At that point, it seems more useful to get a weapon with a strong +spell damage mod with the corresponding essences.

Hey,

Glad you like it bro!
I do merc lab around lvl 80 usually myself.

Consuming Dark used to be a solid choice for this build but is no longer imo.
And yes you're correct, go for high spell dmg and get BotC when you can afford it.

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marki890 wrote:

Hello Guys,

playing this build in the current leauge and really enjoy it. However what I do not understand is the part with Frenzy Charges. Why do we use them? Only 5% DoT increase per charge. Feels a bit low and points could be invested elsewhere.

Also how do we generate Frenzy Charges in Bossfight? Could not figure this out.


@Ghazzy: Nice build I would just recommend to add some example gear. Also what I really like on other builds is if they write down the Gem names they write it in the colour the Gem has. So you can easily see what kind of colours you need.
Example: Contagion

Thank you for your help

Hey,

Cheers!

Frenzy charges grants you increased DMG as well as clear speed by default, the ascendancy makes it grant extra dot dmg on top of that.
The build is designed for clearing not specifically for end-game boss farming so generating charges vs bosses is not it's approach.

I like the idea of color coding the gems in the guide. Will make sure to do that!

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cororo11 wrote:

Hello what's abaout jewels? idk what's better 3 spreading rot cobalt jewels or 3 spectrum jewels?

3x Grand Spectrum Cobalt Jewels are there to help you sustain the MoM effect (check the MoM calculator in the guide).
2x Spreading Rot is to make boss fights smoother & safer.

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XymphosCraK wrote:

Hey Ghazzy; thanks so much for your hard work and your active posting on this thread! Some newbie questions for you:

What makes Tabula so uniquely good on early-game ED/Cont, other than the 6-link? Is there a particular Vaal corrupt I need to look for?

Why Shield Charge? Is it mostly because the build really makes use of Rathpith Globe, or for the Endurance charges? Before that, is it possible to choose something else such as Leap Slam or Whirling Blades? Otherwise, a wand build might be quite powerful, would it not?

Is it worth levelling Contagion just for Arcane Surge? Should Clarity's level be kept down? Any other gems which should have their level suppressed? I see above that it seems to be Immortal Call, Shield Charge and Fortify?

Is it possible to invest a dash of points into Method to the Madness, or is such an investment of 7 points really not worthwhile?

Sorry for the many questions - I tried looking through the pages of the guide, but it's really overwhelmingly long.

Thanks!

Hey,

Cheers! Always nice to hear that my time & work is being appreciated :D
Tabula Rasa is among the cheapest 6L items you'll ever get in a league, due to how easy it is to farm there will be TONS of +1 corrupted ones up on the market which makes that purchase VERY cheap as well compared to other end-game chest pieces.
Shield Charge vs Whirling Blades is a matter of taste as both are the top choices for fastest movement in the game atm.
Yeah you should lvl contagion to increase it's mana cost as well as granting a TINY bit of extra DPS.
Clarity should be lvld to help MoM be sustained.
Shield Charge & Fortify doesn't matter. Immortal Call doesn't matter either as long as it's not too high for your CWDT to trigger.

You can invest those points if you wish, I chose not to as I mainly play hardcore and wanted higher defensive stats, specially as I'm running Tabula.

Never ever apologize for asking questions on my threads, youtube vids, discord or stream. I do what I can to keep up on all my guides to make sure everyone can enjoy the guides I create.

Any advice on bosses at around level 40? they are getting stronger and my gear isnt quite there yet. I always have a lull in the game around this level. I am killing everything really easy...bosses are my problem..as damage is too slow. Tips? Advice?

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Badtwo wrote:

Any advice on bosses at around level 40? they are getting stronger and my gear isnt quite there yet. I always have a lull in the game around this level. I am killing everything really easy...bosses are my problem..as damage is too slow. Tips? Advice?

Make your character profile not-private (pathofexile website, account settings => private something something something to uncheck privacy) so that I can check your character and help you from there!

Hi Ghazzy,

thank you for all the respones. I am glad you liked the idea with colour coding the gems. The overview is much better and it is easier for new players.

One more question: Is there anything to do again interruptions? I am often infight and when I try to cast ED the mobs are hitting me and I got interrupted...Mostly this happens if I whirl to fast..

Thank you

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marki890 wrote:

Hi Ghazzy,

thank you for all the respones. I am glad you liked the idea with colour coding the gems. The overview is much better and it is easier for new players.

One more question: Is there anything to do again interruptions? I am often infight and when I try to cast ED the mobs are hitting me and I got interrupted...Mostly this happens if I whirl to fast..

Thank you

Hey,

My pleasure I do my best to keep up!

Apprecaite the feedback, any feedback is more than welcome to make sure the guides I create for the community caters to at least most people :)

Try to stay back but also using the Major Pantheon god "Bring King" can help you avoid getting chain stunned at least.

I know it's quite a bit of work but it would be amazing for beginners if you could write down the stat priority for each item (for which bonus you should look out in weapons for example)

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I know it's quite a bit of work but it would be amazing for beginners if you could write down the stat priority for each item (for which bonus you should look out in weapons for example)

It's been asked before, the problem is that the stat priorities changes depending on the stats of the other items.

For example in the end-game you want to reach 75% all elemental resistances, or 109% if you wish to be elemental weakness capped. Now if you get 2 items with tons of fire res the fire res priority is VERY low on the rest of your gear, vice versa for other res rolls. Same goes for attributes, once you hit the desired Dexterity and/or Strength/Intelligence to fully sustain all your support gems then there is 0 need for those stats which means the rest of your focus goes on Life / str (because it gives life).

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marki890 wrote:

Hi Ghazzy,

thank you for all the respones. I am glad you liked the idea with colour coding the gems. The overview is much better and it is easier for new players.

One more question: Is there anything to do again interruptions? I am often infight and when I try to cast ED the mobs are hitting me and I got interrupted...Mostly this happens if I whirl to fast..

Thank you

Most annoying thing about this build, and it's because ED is SOOOO slow to cast. Few things I have been doing to mitigate this:
1. Cast ED first, then pop contagion second. Contagion is a must faster casting spell.
2. Check out my boots, I got 80% avoid stun if killed recently enchant, plus the boots have 22% as an elder mod.
3. Since I have stun taken care of, now I'm using Soul of Lunaris maxed out for more dodge/avoidance.
4. Use Ghost Dancer & Shade Form ascendancies, more dodge and evasion.
5. Dont whirl right into packs. Move between casts so that you manually avoid projectiles.

Hey, first I wanna say thanks for the guide, I really enjoy playing it. I just did the first Lab run at lvl 28 and it was really smooth. But I have some questions about the mechanics in this build.

I am starting to put Skill Points into Frenzy Nodes, but I realized I don't have any way of generating them right now, since I didn't get Swift Killer yet. Should I skip these nodes and pick them up later when I did my 2nd Lab run and got Swift Killer, or do you recommend me picking up a Skill Gem to generate Frenzy Charges? I could use Poachers Mark with Blasphemy, but I don't know how well that would work with the curse dropping immediately since I'm just dashing through packs and dropping Contagion here and there, and it won't help with bossfights (although I didn't have problems yet) because I won't get a lot of kills unless there are adds.

Also, the only reason we're using a dagger in this build is to use Whirling Blades, correct? Becuase a Wand would provide a lot more damage output if I'm not mistaken.

And lastly, does Increased Area of Effect on Contagion increase the "spread-range" of the spell, or only the initial cast area?

Edit: Forgot something, since this is impossible to test for me (I'm very over-leveled right now, everything just dies instantly). When Contagion and Essence Drain spread to a new target, do they get the duration left on the previous target, or do they get get the base duration on the cast' spell?

ED Trickster Leveling Gear

Hey Ghazzy, this build is my absolute favorite. Having run it 3 times to lvl 90 I'm thinking at this point these items should be added to the front page as good leveling options:

Weapon: Heartbreaker Skean (spell damage, mana, culling strike for spells) Costs less than 1 Chaos. This can take you from level 50 to until you can afford a BotC.

Helm: Geofri's Crest (+1 to gems, all resists, chaos resist) Costs less than 1 Chaos. I run the Wither grouping here since the contagion group is on gloves and 1) the vaal lightning trap is used less often than Wither and 2) Immortal call level doesn't matter. Of course there are better rare helms, and the Geofri's Crest resist rolls are capped at 20, but I've used this from lvl 50 into end-game for multiple leagues.

Amulet: Atziri's Foible (Mana, Mana %, Mana Reg, Reduced Attribute Requirements). 1 Chaos or less. Since the mana nodes behind MoM have been reduced, this moved wayyy up the rankings for amulet choices. For the first 60+ levels, this amulet will ensure you take full advantage of MoM and die less frequently. It also allows you to level all gems without taking additional strength or dexterity nodes. By the time you hit end game and are looking at sacrificing life/mana/resists for bisco/rathpith/atziri slink you'll need to swap this for a rare ammy with resists, but until then this is a solid leveling amulet.

Ring: Le Heup of All (% Increased Damage, All Attributes, Item Rarity, All Resists). ~ 5 Chaos. I've been running one of these for every league with no regrets. The IR, resists and attributes are nice, but the damage boost can make leveling ridiculously easy when you're still working on getting all your gems set up or don't have some of the other damage boosting pieces. Depending on the resists roll you can make a case for this into end-game as well. So the first chaos I spend after a tabula rasa is normally here. It just gives everything you could ask for except life and mana, which I focus on for the other ring slot. A decent roll on Le Heup of All plus a Life/Mana/Resists second ring can take you all the way to level 90.

Note that item prices are as of 1-2 weeks post league start.