[2.3] (Proph)Poison Prolif Earthsplosion! Dual Wield Earthquake (Uber Lab, Core, Uber Atziri Down!)

1. INTRODUCTION
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Welcome all. I'd like to introduce my take on a voidheart character this league. I'm currently playing Earthquake on a level 95 Assassin in Prophecy. This character has done incredibly well in maps so far, killing all bosses (regardless of # party members or mods) in 2-3 seconds up to T15. Uber Atziri and Core have also been done on the character, which showcases how high damage melee/a bit squishier characters are still great at endgame content.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Introduction
2. My Take on Voidheart
3. Pros and Cons
4. Videos
5. Gear Summary
6. Enchantments
7. Skill Tree
8. Bandits
9. Ascendancy
10. Character Stats and Damage
11. Mapping
12. FAQ


2. MY TAKE ON VOIDHEART
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Hi everyone, this is a earthquake character with an emphasis on poison and bleed due to the new unique, Voidheart:
This allows earthquake to both poison and bleed, which is then scaled up by numerous support gems in addition to passive points on the tree. The result is a powerful DoT build that can down all bosses incredibly quickly, even in party play or with annoying mods such as enfeeble, reduced physical damage taken, and increased monster life.

There are several key aspects to my build I haven't seen from anyone thus far. First, is the use of dual wielding as a mechanism to increase my damage by a large amount. First, dual wielding provides 20% more physical damage, which is incredibly important to scale up the base physical damage on earthquake, providing a huge base damage boost to bleed/poison. I use
as my main weapon. Second, I use both Increased Area of Effect and Concentrated Effect on my gem setup. Why? Concentrated Effect double dips both poison and bleed damage, which results in an insanely high DoT that melts through everything.

In order to combat the shortened range of using conc. effect, I use
This counts for both dual wielding, as well as providing a powerful poison prolif effect that effectively increases the area of effect for Earthquake. Not only that, but using Bino's provides additional global damage over time, as well as the ability to whirling blades! This combined with the 10% more attack speed bonus allows for an earthquaker with amazing mobility, which is key to surviving higher tier maps. Also, Bino's provides an interesting mechanic where rare or unique mobs will often end up having multiple poison stacks proliferate on them, causing them to degenerate incredibly quickly.

3. PROS AND CONS
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PROS
Insane Damage over Time, Ancestral Warchief is Redundant
~8% life regen with Bino's active, running blood rage on 60% reduced regen + Vuln is very doable
Very mobile, whirling blades is amazing! Also very high fortify uptime
Fairly tanky with Acro, 5.5-5.9k hp endgame.
Poison Prolif looks really fancy and satisfying!

CONS
Cannot do phys reflect maps (phys reflect mobs are fine, just basalt up.)
Low amounts of useable mana, whirling blades without hitting mobs is sometimes clunky
Very run and gun (mathil style), constant vigilance needed while mapping even with a decent health pool.

4. VIDEOS
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Bad Quality:
3 Man HP Palace Solo: https://youtu.be/R3WLR--0cwY
Level 80 Zana Academy Boss: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU-ZzNMPzSQ
Uber Lab Argus Kill: https://youtu.be/PPK8vqiLIgs
2 Man Izaro Kill: https://youtu.be/Kt_pK0eiHA8
Shrine Piety Kill 2 man HP: https://youtu.be/X2prVx_m1DE
2 Man HP Haast Kill: https://youtu.be/9O-P2d3H9Bw
2 Man Rippiest Plaza Boss Kill (w/ death), shows insane build damage: https://youtu.be/dwAOVaPW7uA
Not Deathless Core: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1B-Mlxir6qA
3 Man HP Abyss Boss: https://youtu.be/cuVPOhABvGo
Wasteland full clear + build update: https://youtu.be/Ka3zRF9E4XU
Uber Atziri (first attempt, not deathless): https://youtu.be/RUvQlYH3MRE

5. GEAR SUMMARY
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6. ENCHANTMENTS
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I really still have to grind lab to get the enchantments I want. I've been pretty lazy regarding that, but here are my thoughts regarding the enchants.

Helm: Anything earthquake related. Reduced duration is obviously the best choice.

Gloves: Anything of ire is preferably, the best one being from endgame lab.

Boots: Life/mana leech is probably the best here.

7. SKILL TREE
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Tree at 94: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAYBALDYotmEojIyyBQHmRCS9W9Z8NmGaoxMjrxvFr8mlXX9YeKEb1VL1EKMNqZ_tUiJ03aC7UHrY3BSyAwRLzY9KgudqhvIXfJsjM_d44QOSGKs8YoN0bcwEZa0xWNDFAkHHsLsE22VLgW1Jojw1Y2_j_pJUVFH1CNcQDB8N9TnVDBxVL2Nfe0_JP3dqBXtI_b_3kt4lotNkqOKOkLVubGz7g4Mc_zF73qVZg2N034V9luvh3Z9dQBeYnlOKuOfZ6D-uhmOAAZM_yPTSn3tg0MxbycILtrBV5cuU3TtC8HTbwUtYEF672NwvqdlTb02R36E2VWFpcs=
Poeplanner link: http://poeplanner.com/AAAABAYBALDYotmEojIyyBQHmRCS9W9Z8NmGaoxMjrxvFr8mlXX9tNFh4oRvyAxVS3aCjDamf7VIidPtQetjcFIRLzY9KgudqhvIXfJsjM_d44QOSGKs8YoN0bcwEZa0xWNDFAkHHsLsE22VLgW1Jojw1Y2_j_pJUVFH1CNcQDB8N9TnVFS9jX3tPyT9Fe0j9v_elotNkqOK1bmxs-4ODHP8xe96lWYNjdN-FfZbr4d2fXUAXmJ5Tirjn2eg_roZjgAGTP8j00p97YNDMY9gCC7awVeXLlN07QvB028FLWBBeu9jcL6nZU29Nkd-hNkwcd2oS3g6Qg==

Prioritize everything on the tree except for: extra phys damage nodes. Jewels are really nice for this build, aim for %maximum life in addition to any damage mods (%damage and %area damage preferred)

8. BANDITS
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Oak, Oak, Alira.

Alira is preferred as the final bandit instead of kraityn, since Assassin benefits so much from power charges.

Oak (Cruel) is optional, but the phys damage seems best from my experience.

9. ASCENDANCIES
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So why Assassin?
There have been many variations on earthquake so far, and most builds have chosen to run Slayer or Juggernaut, since they offer a decent amount of tankiness and damage/aoe. I've chosen assassin due to my emphasis on poison damage specifically, and this synergizes perfectly with particular ascendancy passives. Toxic delivery + deadly infusion allows for high enough crit chance that poison prolifs are incredibly strong. Also, the additional phys as added chaos synergizes further with poison damage, and voidheart insures enemies are always bleeding.

Since my main defence is mobility/acro, this version synergizes perfectly with my playstyle, and is alot more mobile than jugger/slayer variants.

10. CHARACTER STATS AND DAMAGE
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11. MAPPING
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Mods that you can't do:
No Leech
Physical Reflect

Mods that are Sketchy, but doable:
No regen (blood rage is a bit risky, you gotta clear fast)
Chilled ground + Temp chains (mobility is your biggest defence, some mobs are sketchy here)
Extra damage as _ element (a bit sketchy)
Minus Max (just be careful of random stuff like bloodlines mobs, certain bosses)

12. FAQ
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Q: Does Earthquake DPS actually matter with dotquake (e.g. marohi vs. faster weapons)?

A: Despite some people telling you only onhit damage is important with voidheart, this is completely false. This is only true regarding bleed, as you can only have a single bleed stack on the enemy, which makes stronger hits more beneficial. However, poison is a completely different story. You want to maximize your attack speed since poison double dips so heavily, which is maximizes your effective dps in the end. Hence barrage poison being so strong in this patch. So yes, DPS does matter.

Q: Why don't you use ancestral warchief? It benefits so much from voidheart as well and adds dps!

A: This builds damage is so high that I would rather focus my links on utility/survivability rather than invest in another damaging skill. You can watch the boss kill videos to see why it isn't needed, although you could argue removal of certain links in order to put warchief in.

Q: Why don't you use hatred and herald of ash? It boosts your DPS so much!

A: The main issue with herald of ash and hatred is that they artificially boost any voidheart build's DPS by not really adding anything to the poison/bleed. Poison and bleed scales ONLY off of physical/chaos damage, so fire/cold damage do absolutely nothing but make your dps values look good.

Q: Why not use concentrated effect only on bosses?

A: Bino's effectively extends the range in which your poison can effect, so double dipping the poison damage will make it so the poison spread kills every mob, rares are not an exception. Therefore, AOE doesn't matter much.

Q: How does double dipping actually work? What is it?

A: Double dipping is the act of increasing the damage of an initial hit through passive modifiers or support gem modifiers such as: Increased physical damage, increased area damage, increased damage.. Additionally, some of these modifiers also increase DoT damage (poison and bleed are different in this regard). For example, increased area damage will increase the damage of Earthquakes initial hit in addition to poison/bleed damage. Hence, it double dips since it increases Earthquakes damage as well as increasing poison/bleed damage yet again. Double check the wiki pages:
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Bleed and http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Poison
for reference on modifiers and what modifiers actually double dip.

Q: Why Rapid Decay?

A: Rapid decay has several effects which make it beneficial for earthquake. First, it increases all damage over time, which is incredibly important for this build. Second, it also adds reduced skill effect duration, which is very nice for earthquake.


ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
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Please leave any questions you have below, and I'll get back to you as soon as possible!

First Video Up!! Palace Dom Kill 3 Man HP (sorry for bad quality)
Shrine Piety Up, Haast Kill as well (81 plaza)
Core posted!
Uber Atziri Posted!

Looks nice, since I have both the Rod, Blade, and Ring. I was considering it. With just the ring alone on my Jug I can breeze through a lot of maps... except Torture Chamber - that laser beam from off screen is murder.

Survivability though... Gotta have leech like mad.

Also, instead of using the PoE site's builder, try using Poeplanner.com - that will show us all of the totals on your nodes. It's easier than trying to port everything over to check things out.

Also, how did you path your leveling? That is a bit of travel to get to the Duelist area.

Hi BlaqWolf,

So here's the main drawback I would say compared to other more tanky EQ characters. This one requires higher mobility as a defensive mechanism, since whirling blades has so much more utility compared to other melee skills. I did find though that with fortify up, as well as a basalt flask, I wasn't really dying to anything phys related on the path to 94. I levelled solo without using any gorge/plateau rotas, so I've survived enough rippy map mods to guarantee the survivability of build. Leech is also a non-issue since your base life regen is so damn high. Blood rage suffices with the sheer amount of phys damage the build puts out, and the fact you can even run blood rage on Vuln + 60% less regen makes it so in the majority of cases you have enough leech.

With regards to your Jugg having troubles with torture chamber, I think the main reason players aren't maximizing voidheart's utility is because they use hatred and herald of ash. When it comes to voidheart, these auras are mainly just tooltip boosters and really serve nothing to emphasize the strengths of the item. Vulnerability is a much more powerful aura to run, and when combined with lightning trap, the majority of bosses really melt, to the point where that much damage makes you very survivable (the boss dies before doing anything, such as torture chamber or plaza boss). I'll be posting more boss kills with rippy-ass high level mods, just to show why the build is so safe when it comes to these things.

I'll update the tree to poeplanner.com from your suggestion. Thanks!

I just checked out Vulnerability and I really never paid attention to it before... And I feel stupid!

No, really, my int is below 90 on my Jug, I doubt he could pass a third grade math test.

The problem I have with gearing is that delicate balance of resistances, life, and some of the very nice properties of uniques that, alas, tend to offer a lot of one thing (life, for existance) and none of the others at the same time.
Voidheart, even with my current setup, is surprising. Run into a pack, EQ, run on and hear the moans groans and clatters... then turn around and go back trying to find whatever made that 'special' sound. And, unfortunately, bosses just don't seem to melt much at all.

Take argus for example. I smack him with my EQ and run circles to make him move... but he doesn't suffer the bleed any more than he might standing still. In Uber I have to use temp chains (I run a single curse) just to slow him down enough to evade his typically insanely fast clobber.
And yesterday I opened the door at the wrong time and he got invested by a tormented spirit... THAT was a fight. Luckily it didn't make him curse immune or faster than normal, he just kept summoning skels (which kept my pots full, at least) and launching skulls after me.

Overall, however, I like this jug build and EQ in general, so I like your idea of a far higher voidheart based DoT crit EQ Assassin. I'll just have to figure out other ways of getting past twinkish traps.

Hi BlaqWolf,

Glad to see you're having some success with your juggernaut EQ! But you're very correct in terms of the whole crux of the unique issue: I've had to give up many good uniques (e.g. abyssus, maligaro's/facebreakers) in order to grab more life on this character. I'm sure you've also had to make similar decisions.

Regarding scaling EQ dot though, it does require semi-heavy investment into alot of damage over time as well as generic damage amplification nodes on the tree. Please see Bleed and Poison on the the poewiki for details. This will give a good indication as to what passives you want to invest in (jewels included) to "double dip" the bleed/poison with your initial attack, resulting in your EQ becoming much more powerful than normal!

I'll post videos with my experience during Argus and final phase izaro just to show the effectiveness once you start scaling the DoT. I'm sure your juggernaut is much more survivable than my character, but it's really up to player choice at the end of the day whether to invest more into damage or into survivability.

How did you level this build as far as weapons go?

Hi murybcm,

Thanks for reminding me, I should probably add a levelling guide for this build. I actually respecced this from puncture at high 80s, so I'm not too sure as far as levelling goes.

If I was to relevel this char from scratch though, I would probably just do blade vortex with axiom perpetuum until ~50, then switch to earthquake w/: Earthquake - Inc AOE - Less Duration - Rapid Decay. That's when you should also switch to a voidheart as well, and levelling should go smoothly after that. BV should suffice if you take the top shadow portion stuff early on: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAYBALDYotmEojIyyBQHmRCS9W9Z8NmGaoxMjrxvFr8mlXX9YeKEb1VL1EKMNqZ_tUiJ0-1B62NwUhEvNj0qC52qXfJsjA5IYqwRlrTFBx7C7JUuBbXw1Y2_j_pJUdQjXEBUvRXtlovVuVFHN9TtPzB8jX0j9k2S

I'll update a levelling guide with better information later on, this is just rough.

Cool build. But tbh, you really shouldn't use conc effect, except when fighting bosses. Use Crit damage instead, since you're already quite low on multiplier due to not using facebreaker or abyssus. Keep conc effect as a switch in for bosses. It's not like you need more dps for trash mobs.

Hi Etherfire,

Thanks for the feedback on the build. With regards to increased crit damage, I have considered it but I don't believe it is better in this particular setup for several reasons:

1. As stated in the guide and after numerous testing, bino's prolif is more than enough to cover a wider AOE, so the loss of AOE is not detrimental.

2. As this is a poison/bleed build, inc crit damage only serves to make your tooltip slightly larger, but does NOT double dip your DoT damage! You want to have as many double dipping supports as possible (reference other ranged poison builds as well)

3. The purpose of crit in this build is not to focus on stacking multi for big hits, but to take advantage of Toxic delivery, which does 100% more poison damage on crit strike. Therefore, crit multi is only a cherry on top and will not help at all with min maxing the damage over time this build is best for.


Hope that clears up my support gem selection. Thanks for bringing this up though!

Edit: Actually, this conclusion only came after playing in party. It seems inc. crit damage is pretty good for solo. Thanks for the suggestion! Would strongly advise to get a diamond flask though, in order to raise your crit chance