Octavian's Blight Trickster Build - Cheap, tanky, effective, and scalable into the endgame. S
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Good evening everyone! My name is Octavian, and I've got a build for you that has outperformed all of my initial expectations for it going into 3.0 as my league starter. I've put together a video overview of the build which will go over the moving parts and give you an idea of what you're in for here - but this written guide is meant to go more in-depth into leveling, itemization, and the reasoning behind my decisions. The video can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl_wKkBiA_M
First, lets get into the reasons for going blight. 3.0 brought with it many changes to blight, not least of which was the removal of area damage scaling on the skill - no longer will area damage nodes on the tree or concentrated effect scale your damage! This seemed like the death knell for blight, since this change was announced far before the patch notes for 3.0 came out. I was dissapointed, since I love this skill. Then, patch notes hit. Blight got 25% more damage at max level. Spreading rot was released, causing enemies to take up to 50% increased chaos damage while hindered. Allelopathy was released! Trickster got massively buffed! Efficacy support! The unshattered will! Basically, they took away about a quarter of blight's power and then returned it sevenfold with myriad buffs. Also, breath of the council. Seriously, blight got buffed in more ways than perhaps is strictly reasonable. So, the buffs take care of our damage. How about survivability? Well, thanks to trickster and a regen-specced passive tree, this build is capable of regenerating upwards of 2,000 life per second. In addition to that, enfeeble, temporal chains, block, dodge, arctic armor, and fortify all find their way into the mix. I've tanked some absolutely crazy maps, and the build is capable of running any map mod aside from no regen, since it has such varied defenses and does damage with a chaos degen, thus avoiding reflect entirely. Anyways, lets start the guide where you're gonna start - Leveling. Hit the spoiler to get an overview of how to level this build. --SOME FAQS SINCE 3.1 HIT--
Spoiler
Q - What shield should I use? Really, Unshattered will was only ever a solid spell shield with a nice defensive buff attached. This can easily be replaced by a shield with life, resistances, and spell damage. If you want to go the extra mile and make the build feel even more ridiculously tanky, give a shaper-touched shield with the 3-5% of life recovered on block mod a try. Like this one - Q - Bandits? Okay, this isn't 3.1 specific, but I somehow forgot it in the original guide. Kill all. Probably the best option for 90% of builds, by the way. Q - Belt of the deciever got nerfed. What should I use? Try out the new unique belt Darkness Enthroned. This thing is disgustingly powerful, and infinitely customisable. Need resistances? Socket in some jewels with the appropriate rolls. Wanna be greedy for damage? Screw res, get some damage over time rolls on your belt. Play around with the jewels you use, but mainly aim for life, the resists you need, and applicable damage rolls (added chaos to spells *does not work* for blight, by the way, since you need to hit to use added damage rolls). This is the belt I mean, though the jewels I have socketed are for another build entirely - Q - How to approach the new Trickster ascendancy in 3.2? Swift killer is still your first pick up, in normal lab. After that, I'd suggest getting patient reaper into prolonged pain. Finally, weave the arcane is good for non-MoM and MoM alike, but obviously better for the latter... I'm experimenting with a MoM version of the build, I'll keep you guys updated. Ghost dance is also rather nice, if you can somehow force ES recharge. 40% attack and cast speed is just absurd. The core is still Swift Killer into Patient reaper though, and Prolonged Pain is just an obvious choice. After that, pick to preference. For any other questions, please get in touch with me through direct messages here (which I will respond to slowly, most likely, I rarely visit the forum) or by leaving a comment on youtube, reaching me through twitch, or my discord. I'd be happy to answer whatever you have to ask on any of my builds. Leveling
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First things first - do not attempt to level with blight. Blight has terrible base radius and very low starting damage at low levels. It will suck. That said, keep a blight socketed somewhere while leveling so that it is gaining levels! This way you can switch to it when it gets high enough level to not be awful. What you will want to level with Essence Drain. Essence Drain has far better early levels than blight, and is accessible as soon as you have entered the Caverns in act 1. Nessa will give it to you as a quest reward. You will also need to use a contagion - for those of you who have not used Essence Drain before, it is a fairly unique skill. It is a slow, single target projectile that applies a powerful chaos degeneration on hit. This degenerative debuff can then be spread to nearby enemies by marking the enemy hit with contagion - this will cause the essence drain damage to spread on enemy death. Use these in conjuction with each other for far better clear than what blight will offer early. Up until you get this, you can use either freezing pulse or frost blades. Support Essence Drain with Void Manipulation and Arcane Surge, both of which you have access to in act 1. Dual wielding lifesprig will give you an easy leveling experience, or you can craft a +1 to socketed chaos gems wand by selling a chaos gem and a blue wand to a vendor. Either way, aim to be on a 4-link with controlled destruction as your fourth link by around act 4. Essence Drain should serve you well up until blight has gained some base radius - I'd suggest switching to blight when you are able to pick up Abyssal Cry in act 4. Once you've outgrown your lifesprigs, you should be looking for rare wands or daggers with spell damage and cast speed up until you can equip Breath of the Council. This skill tree should be your leveling guide up until level 65 - poeurl.com/buKU Pick up the corruption and growth and decay wheels last since you won't get any use out of them until you've switched to blight. Once you have whispers of doom, equip dual blasphemies of temporal chains and enfeeble. When you do switch to blight, make sure both of those jewel sockets are using the new Spreading Rot jewels - you get one for free in act 5 as a quest reward! For lab, take Swift Killer in normal, and Patient Reaper in cruel. You should likely attempt lab a bit over leveled for it, and with a stibnite and basalt flask to help you through the izaro fight. Now you've made it past leveling - lets take a look at the skill tree!
Spoiler
This is the endgame tree, at level 92 - poeurl.com/buK2 Dual curse is grabbed to make use of temporal chains enfeeble on blasphemy. A heavy emphasis is placed on percent life regen, since patient reaper scales it hard. Outside of that, it is pretty straightforward. Lots of life, some skill effect duration since it synergises beautifully with blight, and some aoe to help with our abysmally tiny starting area. Blast radius in witch is avoided since blight no longer scales with area damage - thus, it would be two points for just 10% aoe, which isn't quite worth it. The tree paths past several 30 stat notables, so if you need to pick up +30 strength or +30 dex at any point in order to fill out stat requirements, feel free to do so. As far as ascendancies go, swift killer and patient reaper are basically the reason for going Trickster. Patient reaper allows the build to regenerate about a third of it's life a second, and swift killer is amazing for both clearspeed and damage. Outside of that, Prolonged Pain is tons of damage, and weave the arcane gives lots of movement speed and free movement skills. Since 3.2, I am experimenting with a MoM version of the build that takes further advantage of this, I'll update it as I go. Skill gems and links!
Spoiler
There are two versions of this build. The cheaper version, which the video guide focuses on, uses the new unique gloves, allelopathy, to cheat out a level 22 blight. These gloves are incredibly cheap and effective, and I've been able to take down everything short of shaper and uber atziri using them. Get a well rolled pair as cheaply as possible, and socket in Efficacy, Increased AOE, Void manipulation and Controlled Destruction. The more expensive version, which is capable of doing literally everything in the game, requires a six link - and is only worth switching to if you have at least a level 3 empower and a level 21 blight skill gem. If you want to use this version, the ideal setup is Blight(Lvl21), Efficacy, Swift Affliction, Increased AOE/Controlled Destruction (swap these for single target or clear), Void Manipulation, and Empower(LVL 3 or 4) In both versions the rest of the gems are the same. For auras, you will want to run dual blasphemies of Temporal Chains and Enfeeble, except when fighting specifically shaper, where you should swap enfeeble out for a Purity of Ice. This will free up a curse and allow you to use witchfire brew for more damage against shaper. In addition to this, you should be running Arctic Armor as it is incredible for channeling builds. For mobility on a three link, you will want Shield Charge linked with Faster attacks and Fortify. For assistance in clearing, use a low level Abyssal Cry linked to Onslaught and potentially Reduced Mana Support (so you can still use it with most of your mana reserved) Finally, I use a cast when damage taken level 7 supporting Immortal Call(LVL 8) and Tempest Shield(LVL11) linked with Increased Duration. Itemization! Get yer gear here!
Spoiler
Allelopathy, the new gloves released with Fall of Oriath, are essential to this build. They are cheap however, so purchasing a pair should be simple. In addition to this, get two Spreading Rot Jewels, and socket them into the tree in the two jewel sockets provided in the level 65 version of the skill tree. Other necessary uniques include Breath of the Council for the incredible amount of damage and utility it provides, and Aylardex in a Mind over Matter version. Outside of this, the rest of your gear slots can be made up mostly of rare items with good life and resistance rolls. However, I have supplemented my life regeneration when not under the effect of Patient Reaper by including Voll's Vision and Immortal Flesh in my build. These are both rather experimental choices, and not strictly necessary. Going for one or the other will probably provide you enough in the way of life regen - and Immortal Flesh does wonders for any mana regen problems you might be having. As far as rares go, though - Theres nothing really special to look for. You will likely need a strength roll and/or a dex roll on a piece of jewellery to hit stat requirements, and if you can get a marble amulet base that would be IDEAL. As well as that, the only place you can really get damage is through a spell damage roll on your amulet slot, shaper touched rings with spell damage, or essence crafted envy rings with chaos damage, so that as well would be great if you can afford it. A brief note on the Pantheon system - Soul of Tukohama is best in slot for basically every situation, and you'll want to upgrade it as soon as possible by capturing the soul of the marshes boss. For major powers, use Brine King for general mapping, and capture the soul of the waterways boss at minimum for upgrading it - this makes chilled ground maps so much nicer! For bossing, Soul of Solaris is a no-brainer, especially with the Penitentiary Incarcerator upgrade. Thats all! Any questions can be asked below, of course, or directed to the comments section of the youtube video linked at the top of the page, since that will more likely get my attention. Hope you enjoy blighting up wraeclast! Last edited by Octavian0 on Feb 27, 2018, 11:42:35 PM Last bumped on Jun 1, 2018, 12:24:24 AM
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Kill all for bandits? That's what I'm doing, hope I don't need to spend 20 orbs of regret later. haha
Edit: Got a reply from Octavian, he prefers killing all bandits. Last edited by wyzim on Aug 24, 2017, 3:15:02 AM
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I support this build :)
I represent only myself, my own thought and believes. I am individual, not a representative of the community.
I am not speaking on behalf of someone else and I don't get offended by things that have nothing to do with me. 3.13 was the golden age. | |
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Looking forward to trying this out. It is very much like my SR Trickster, but I always liked the idea of Blight. Looked at your character, is the Brine Helmet the best in slot do you think?
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I have been running this build the last few days and can absolutely give it a big thumbs up.
I am playing in HHC and this build easily provides enough defense to keep me alive, as well as clear content reasonably quick. I have cleared through tier:14 maps, and am working on tweaking and upgrading some gear before trying guardians and beyond, but things are looking pretty good so far. +1 Current Gear ~ 120c
Spoiler
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Thanks for the build, looks really nice.
Three questions, which aren't clear for me: - What generates the frenzy charges? I can't find any items or skills, but maybe missed it. - Why do you pick the Swift Killer first and the Patient Reaper only after cruel, when the later gives 30% incr DoT plus the fast regen, while SK gives only 4x5=20% incr DoT in best case? - do you level Abyssal Cry all the way up? In an older build a few leagues before it worked fine on lvl2-3, with less strenght and mana requirement and I could attach support gems to it without being afraid of the mana. Last edited by halaci on Aug 28, 2017, 4:50:35 AM
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Great build!!!
I wonder if you can clear the Hall of Grandmasters unique map with this build? If so how would you work around the CI character? Also wonder if you max lvl all gems or keep some low (CWDT setup & abyssal cry). *edit The Frenzy and power charges are generated by the Swift Killer Ascendancy passive. (15% chance on kill) Cheers Last edited by rextar on Aug 28, 2017, 8:12:48 AM
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"The Frenzy and power charges are generated by the Swift Killer Ascendancy passive."
Thanks, i don't know how didn't catch that line! | |
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Do you think "Shade Form" is much more useful than "Walk the Aether"?
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" I have been debating this myself. Two ascendancy points for....a small amount of dodge and out of combat movement speed seems...underwhelming. The problem is without walk the ether, you will have trouble shield charging around on low or no regen maps. *shrug* |
