[3.1, CI/Life] ASMR Inquisitor: Elemental Crit Ethereal Knives - Extreme clearspeed & sound orgasm




INTRODUCTION

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response

ASMR EK has taken PoE by storm by being one of the most satisfying builds in modern time. The Herald of Ice oriented build with high critical chance and clear speed will leave both you and your potental party members drooling after hearing the constant CRACKs and BANGs from Herald of Ice.

It is one of the fastest map clearing builds available. Built around EK's threshold jewel, which gives you incredible clear speed, coupled with 100% physical -> elemental conversion together with ignoring resistances from Inevitable Judgement.

It has few requirements on your character, in terms of both uniques and character level, but have tons of opportunities to make your characters incredibly strong over time!

This build will likely not get majorly nerfed in 3.1 and CI will be in a much better place because of the VP nerfs, which is why I think it's 3.1 ready and recommend CI over Life!

You can find me playing this on my Twitch stream daily: https://twitch.tv/bittermandel

VIDEOS

Peninsula Run at level 83 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0G-XJyIZf4


OVERVIEW

Pros:

+ Absolutely insane clear speed
+ See above
+ Low gear requirements
+ Clean progress throughout the game (all the way to level 100)
+ Can run both as CI (Better in both damage and survivability due to aura nodes) and Life without issues
- Actually OK single target with new Abyss Jewels and Weapons.

Cons:
Less single target than you could wish for.

SKILL TREES


LIFE
Spoiler

Passive Tree (Level 96)

We grab all easily available life nodes for survivability (Will net you about ~6k life with Belly of the Beast equipped), 2+ maximum Power Charges, Vaal Pact and some extra projectile speed & damage down in Ranger. You will have 4 jewel slots available (Ring of Blades uses one).

Ascendancy Points: Righteous Providence (Normal) -> Inevitable Judgement (Cruel) -> Instruments of Virtue (Merciless) -> Augury of Penitence (Uber)

Bandits: Kill all.


LEVELING TREES

Passive Tree (25 Passives) Go straight for the closest Dexterity supporting jewel slot for Rain of Blades. These points will be refunded later.

Passive Tree (60 Passives) Grab Elemental Overload until we get more crit multipliers!




CI
Spoiler

Passive Tree (Level 94)

We'll get almost all of the ES nodes that's within reach (Will net you about 10k+ ES with good gear) and the general nodes for Projectile Speed and Spell Critical Chance/Multiplier. 5 jewel sockets are available.

We also grab 3 aura node clusters to be able to run Hatred + HoI + Discipline (or Haste) for 10% more damage (Aura effect nodes) and ~8% ES from Discipline.

Ascendancy Points: Righteous Providence (Normal) -> Inevitable Judgement (Cruel) -> Instruments of Virtue (Merciless) -> Augury of Penitence (Uber)

Bandits: Kill all.


LEVELING TREES

Follow the Life leveling tree until you are 90+ and ready to go CI.




JEWELS

The only required jewel is the threshold jewel for EK: Ring of Blades. You will have 3-4 more jewel slots left over, fill these with great Abyss jewels! Not all mods are known yet, so feel free to experiment! Onslaught/Cast speed/Damage on kill is AMAZING!


DAMAGE STATS (unexpensive gear with Bisco's)




SURVIVABILITY (unexpensive gear)




GEAR

Spoiler

Weapon

There's several options until you've cleared Merciless Lab. I personally used Tulborn all the way for QoL charge generation & mana on kill. It also gives you some needed damage while leveling.

As soon as you get your merciless lab points, switch to using Brightbeak and Shield Charge around in HYPER SPEED! This is when the build starts to feel AMAZING!

If you have an abundance of currency, consider rolling or buying a dagger with the following stats (in priority):

* Spell Critical Chance
* Attack Speed (For faster shield charging)
* Spell Damage
* Cast Speed


Off-Hand

Life:
Shield with the following mods (in priority):

* Spell Critical Chance
* Spell Damage
* Cast Speed

CI:
Shield with the following mods (in priority):

* Spell Critical Chance
* High Flat/Max ES
* Spell Damage
* Cast Speed


Helm
Rare helm with good resists and life/ES. If possible, enchant with EK Projectile Speed or Damage.


Chest
Life:
Tabula Rasa can be used up until Tier ~10 maps safely, especially in non-mayhem leagues.
Highly prefer to use Belly of the Beast, as it will give you an amazing boost to maximum life and resists are generally not a problem due to low unique item requirements.

It is also not too bad to use a great rare chest with high life and armour.

CI:
ES chest with 500+ ES with good resistances. Not much room here.


Gloves
Use Hrimsorrow for the 50% physical -> cold damage conversion. This is the base item of this build and mandatory for it to work. It will, together with Physical to Lightning gem, convert all of EK's damage to elemental and let you utilizie Inquisitor to it's full potential.


Boots
Best in Slot for both CI & Life is Brinerot Whalers, because of it's high projectile damage & physical damage!

Try to get 0.3% leech enchant from lab ASAP. This is crucial and will let you run Hatred instead of Blasphemy + Warlord Mark.

If you cannot afford them, do the following:
Life:
Kaom's Roots for survivability, has huge +maximum life and it makes you immune to freeze, stun and chill.Rare boots with movement speed, life & resists. You can also use regular rare boots with maximum life, resistances and movement speed.

CI:
You can start using Steppan Eard for a cheap way to high ES and MS. Otherwise use rare boots with high ES, resistances and movement speed.



Amulet
BISCO'S COLLAR! This is a super high clear speed build and using this amulet for the MF will give you a lot of value over time!

Another great alternative (although expensive) is Victario's Acuity for a easy way to generate Power Charges and a good 25% projectile speed & 15% projectile damage.
Use any amulet with life, critical chance/multiplier & cast speed if you can't get hold of one of these 2.


Rings
You need to use Sibyl's Lament in your left ring slot to feel safe. Together with the Pantheon passive to lower reflect, you won't accidentally one shot yourself on a reflect rare in your first T1 map (hehe). Other ring should be a super high resistance ring so you can roll freely on the other items!


Belt
Life:
Either a rare leather/rustic belt with high life & flask mods or use Belt of the Deceiver for a welcome increase of Physical Damage.
ES:
Crystal/Chain belt with high flat ES and resistances.


Flasks
Run Atziri's Promise, Diamond Flask, Silver Flask, Basalt Flask and Quicksilver Flask.

If you are running life, replace Quicksilver Flask with a Bubbling Divine Flask!

End game, try to fit a Taste of Hate!



LINKS AND GEMS


Main DPS Setup

Ethereal Knives + Increased Critical Strikes + Spell Echo + Physical to Lightning + Pierce (6L = Faster Projectiles)

Physical to Lightning is used to convert the other 50% (after Hrimsorrow) to elemental damage. Faster Projetiles can be switched in with Increased Critical Strikes if you feel that your build is not covering enough area.

For single target, use Cremation + Mana Leech + Controlled Destruction for great damage and continuous mana leech with 100% uptime!

CWDT Setup

Just a level 1 CWDT and level 1 Immortal Call, you'll go fast so this will trigger all the time.

Mobility Setup

Flame Dash + Arcane Surge.
Shield Charge + Faster Attacks + Fortify (Gotta' go fast)

Shield Charge will be very useful as soon as you start using Brightbeak. For sure the fastest movement skill + item combo in the game! Also neat to get survivability from Fortify.

Aura Setup
With leech boot enchant:
Hatred

Without leech boot enchant:
Blasphemy + Warlord's Mark for the Leech

Regardless:

Herald of Ice + Curse on Hit + Assassin's Mark + Ice Bite. This setup will give you reliable Power charge (From Assassin's Mark) and Frenzy charge (From Ice Bite) generation.

If you are CI you'll fit another 50% aura. Use Discipline or Haste to fill that.

Golem

Use Lightning Golem for the Attack and Cast Speed.


LEVELING


Level up using any gem that you like. There will be some spell damage early in the passive tree so using Freezing Pulse + Fire Trap into Firestorm/Blade Vortex is to prefer!

As soon as you get the EK threshold jewel (You can start using it at level 24), go ham with EK with support gems like Added Cold Damage, Added Lightning Damage, Faster Casting, Ice Bite & Hypothermia. Make sure to replace Ice Bite, Added Lightning Damage & Hypothermia with appropriate gems at a higher level (Cruel lab suggested).

Amazing leveling uniques:

Tabula Rasa (or Skin of the Loyal) for the free 6L (Will work until yellow maps or later).
Goldrim for amazing resists (Will work until maps.
Axiom Perpetuum for extreme spell critical chance and flat spell damage.
Tulborn for scaling Power Charges.
Karui Ward for the projectile speed.

THE END



CHANGELOG
Spoiler

2017-12-11.1: Updated CI and Life tree with Jewel/Aura nodes.
2017-12-05.1: Changed the main focus of this build to CI! Also added Flask section
2017-12-04.1: Added damage and survivability statistics using semi-high end gear
2017-12-03.1: Added leveling gems and information about Victario's Acuity
Last edited by nikentic on Dec 11, 2017, 11:03:11 AM
Last bumped on Mar 28, 2018, 7:44:08 AM
How is this different from the Crit EK Nova Inquisitor build? Just curious.

Also how long should I be using the leveling gems? (going with Sunder but its slo going). Until level 24?
"Bonus points if it is Scion/Witch because they have nice knees. Ranger has ugly knees and other characters are men so playing them would be homoerotic." - CAKE, 10/20/21
Last edited by darciaz on Dec 3, 2017, 12:12:36 PM
Question about your tree. Why spend those 5 points on the rangers projectile damage starter nodes instead of Force Shaper? Does it not scale physical damage the same way it scales projectile damage?
"
darciaz wrote:
How is this different from the Crit EK Nova Inquisitor build? Just curious.

Also how long should I be using the leveling gems? (going with Sunder but its slo going). Until level 24?


This doesn't differ right now, it's a WIP guide for now, but will differ more with the 3.1 changes with going into poison. The idea is to make it super comprehensive for the skill & playstyle. More to come soon!

I got the EK threshold jewel straight away from poe.trade and started using it on level 24 (when the first leveling passive tree). Equip a few of the items under the Uniques section, like Tabula + 2 Axioms, and put a few damage gems together with EK (Added Cold, Faster Casting, Added Lightning, Ice Bite, Hypothermia). Those items will give you a huge boost in damage and clear speed, and will last you all up until maps!


"
highwind123 wrote:
Question about your tree. Why spend those 5 points on the rangers projectile damage starter nodes instead of Force Shaper? Does it not scale physical damage the same way it scales projectile damage?


You're right, absolutely it does. I hadn't though about that. I'll reevaluate those nodes, add Force Shaper and perhaps skip the Ranger nodes completely! Thanks :)
Last edited by nikentic on Dec 3, 2017, 1:32:06 PM
Updated the guide with Damage & Survivability statistics and some further information about items.
Updated the guide with Damage & Survivability statistics and some further information about items.

Also added a video of a map run at early levels!
Good guide, solid build, chill stream. Nuff said.
Does this function well as a league starter? just save for 5L and brightbeak and smash low tier maps for currency
"
Lanzatron wrote:
Does this function well as a league starter? just save for 5L and brightbeak and smash low tier maps for currency


Yes, it will work quite fine! Strongly recommend to farm up a Tabula Rasa, it will help you progress much faster.

I was able to clear Kitava pretty safely while leveling (albeit level ~76 when killing it) using BV for single target. BV is one of the few physical spells you can use as a replacement for EK during bosses and could be used through all tiers.

As soon as you get to maps, try to farm up a good base for each tier as you won't be able to farm bosses quickly. Don't rush higher tiers because it's fun, you'll thank me later ;)


PS
This build will transition into CI in 3.1. Tested last night with end-game maps, worked amazingly well + can run 3 auras!
Updated the post with the new CI build that I highly recommend over the Life version when 3.1 hits. The VP changes will make life much less attractive.

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