Need help theoricrafting Spell totem firestorm + searing bond + flame surge 100% chaos

Hi everyone !

I allways loved totem build, but at the end the bored me because the ancestral bond node.

Since ascendancy, with the hierophant path and the modification done on the searing bond totem, i tried a totem build on the new league.

I have on standard a legacy Consuming Dark and the troll mantle. But .... i have some mecanics questions i couldn't find answers :

1- how works the "searing bond" when 100% fire is converted in chaos ? are the damage still the burning dot ? same question on the burning ground from the flame dash ...

2- if the foes are still considered burning/ignited, the 50% more damage from "flame surge" still applied right ?

3-actually on a firestorm critic, the foes are ingnited. When converted to chaos, this is gone. So the "elemental focus" are fucking worth it right ?

4- With the infernal mantle and the clear mind, it is better to run blood magic ?

Thanks for reading.

1. Still fire, you can't convert damage over time.

2. Yes.

3. You won't be getting any ignites if you do no fire damage so focus won't do anything.

4. That's an option but you don't really have to do it if you don't want to.

considering the point 3 :

elemental damage
X % more elemental damage, supported skills cannot inflict status aliments.

you said that the more damage won't applied ?

(it works on the searing bond ...)

he meant it wont ignite, damage will be multiplied just fine

that's really nice to hear ;) thanks for the answers Raics and Ludvator.

I have some more questions about the spell totem and the interaction with firestrom

1- as read on the poe gamepedia Duration Increasing duration with either supports or passives will increase the total number of fireballs that fall before the spell ends.

what's append when link with a spell totem ? still this or it will increase the totem duration ?

2- are "faster casting" working on spell totem or it's like "spell echo" a self cast only ?

1. It will increase both.

2. Totems are the among the few good ways to use Faster Casting, it isn't very efficient for selfcasting, too high mana multi for too little dps boost.

increased duration is indeed great to have with firestorm. how much, well, thats the question and the answer will depend on your tree pathing and build specifics. It would increase the totem duration, as well as poison duration. If you are going for totemic zeal (to get placement speed), I would suggest getting both duration clusters (as they are near the path) and leave the gem slot for direct damage supports

faster casting works with totems, but will not affect totem placement speed. But if you already have some increased casting from other sources, damage gain will be inferior to other available supports

I run this build for now (lvl 65) and all is pretty good for now.

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUCAAN1BFEEswYOBqAJqgn2C2ENzQ48EMwSaRRxFxwZLhzOHRQlvCftK1AspzLRNZI2xToWPAU8LUShRUdKxFh3Xl1fBGSEaFpo8m6qcXl2rHsgfIODX4PMg_OGgouMjmSPRpErna6iAKcIp5Stja4Sr2yvp7Xytvq3PsBmwJrE9sauz37R_dR82CTYvdlh2fza3dtP37_gw-oY6-7vfPAf9q73pviT-Ov5vfnd_gr-VP6H


Do you see some big failure i did maybe ? (i will get the fire damage node in the witch area and more life node)

What is the point of the firestorm totem?

I mean, it is only some extra damage (if your 6L is flame surge), that is not really worth the point investment. If you want it to be your main damage source then self casting it will be way more efficient (as the less damage mult from spell totem hits both your original damage and your poison)

And that is not even considering how your damage will go to the ground with Ritual of Awakening (50% LESS damage)

the point is ... i love this spell (like stormcall) but HATE selfcasting it (like stormcall :p)