[3.1] [Theorycrafting] Volatile Dead Hiero (?) Inq (?)

Very tempted to try your build approach Burmania. I'm currently running a build that I'm not very happy with and will most likely reroll to this.

Few questions:

- Bandits?
- What stats do we prioritize?
- Which Ascendancy passives in which order are preferable?
- In your profile it looks like you're using VD atm, or are you just testing something?

... hello?

Alright, allow me to chime in. I have been building a character using VD as the main skill and seeing this thread has urged me to also discuss things regarding this skill.

I would like to state the shortcomings of the skills first since they are numerous and very critical to the build. I'm trying various ways to find the fix for some of these problems and any constructive opinions are welcoming.

Cons:
- VD/Cremation/DD are all corpse skill so they are naturally clunky because of the corpse requirement which is very annoying and clunky.
- It's a caster build, meaning it is vulnerable to all of the following: Stun, Silence, Freeze, Chill. Having any of those status can be devastating, thus lowering your DPS significantly.
- VD/Cremation/DD are all relatively short-range spell compared to spell like Frostbolt or Ice Spear. This means you will have to at least face some of the dangers if you want to take it down.
- VD balls are stupid. They tend to overkill mobs by homing themselves toward only one mob, ignoring another pack altogether. They also ignore rares most of the time and going toward packs of mob although the rares are hitting you right in the face.

Pros:
+ Damage for all the skills are very promising. They are viable using even the crappiest gear you can get to scale it up since a good portion of the damage is from the corpses themselves. Haven't got enough gears to test it out but I can safely assume that the damage from the skills will pay off if you willing to invest.
+ Cremation preemptive casting nature and VD seeking effect can help reduce some of the range limitation I mentioned above. With the recent fix to VD, it's truly wonderful to be able to hide behind corners and pop dead-balls at bosses.
+ Not many auras are usable for all of the corpse skills. This opens up the possibility of using MOM and Clear Mind jewel.
+ Unlike SRS stupidity, VD balls are always move toward bosses if they have no mobs around them. This is very effective in bursting down lone bosses such as Shaper.

Some of the attempts:
- Since the build does not rely on fire damage, but mostly on Crit Chance and Crit Multi, aiming for those on your gear are essential, especially Crit Multi.

- Cast Speed are VERY GOOD for the build since its lowering the time taken between putting down Deserate and casting VD, making the build much smoother for both general clearing and boss fight. I had tried out Necta's Lantern before swapping out for a high cast speed rare wand and shield and the experience has been much better.

- Oskarm for Power Charge generation since the ball is calculated as hit upon exploding at mobs. Jaws of Agony is another way of generating charge during boss fight.

- Taking Soul of the Brine King is an easy way to prevent stun (which account for most of my early death). Having Kaom's Roots should prevent this and allow us to take another Pantheon.

- Pious Path and Sanctify are good Ascendancy skills which allow us to avoid unwanted Chill and Freeze. For speed clear, you may want Instrument of Virtue but Pious Path have been much comfortable. You can also use Hrimnor's Resolve to fix this problem.

- Abyss Jewel is a very critical source of power for us. I even consider respect some aspect of the tree for more slots on the tree. Some jewels can be acquired for very cheap since there are not yet been used by any streamers so grab them while you can. Some mods to look out for: Maximum life, Crit Chance/Multi, Cast speed, Add fire damage to spell, Crit chance if you haven't crit recently.

- Having leech enchantment on kill for your boots is very critical.

Possible improvement:
- Doryani's Catalyst should be the easiest boost for the build since it has all the stats we need: %increased Elemental Damage, Leech, Crit Chance, Cast speed, Attack Speed and the ability to use Shield Charge. An end-game dagger that have high Crit Multi, Crit Chance and Attack Speed should be more desirable but Doryani's Catalyst should serve as a stable and I reckon hardly any other weapon will provide the same benefit.

- Belly of the Beast or a good Rare chest that provide at least 100+ maximum life should be beneficial to us. Since the tree having at least 190% increased life, the difference between a Belly and a Rare chest with 100+ maximum life should be minimal. You can aim for whatever work best for you and trying to maximize the benefit provide by the chest piece.

- Rare shield that have at least 50% increased spell damage, 70% crit chance and life are very good. If you cannot afford it, a shield with high cast speed will do but must absolutely have the crit chance and life.

- Haven't tried a curse setup but I assume it would do nicely, especially against Elder Guardians and Elder himself since they hit pretty hard. Doeadre's Damning should be a good choice if you are curse-oriented player.

- Absolute end-game upgrade should be the helmet enchantment that allow us to summon 2-3 extra orbs from one cast of VD. This enchantment is basically a +100% increased in cast speed for VD. With only Spell Echo in our gem setup, we can raise 12 orbs with one cast in a 2 extra orbs enchantment and a whooping 15 orbs with one cast in a 3 extra orbs enchantment.

Tree: poeurl.com/bGeT
Bandit: Alira (for crit)

Hello Guys, I have been playing so far with inquisitor and VD / Body swap .

I am doing very well, it would surprise you probably that I am not using crit but consacrate with fire penetration and flat damage.

I am doing quite well farming now at level 89 in t10 - t11 and some higher map , elder done on yellow maps.

Any suggestion on how to improve my build ? atm I am at 65k tooltip dps on VD and I reach around 100k buffed. Its doing well but I have some problem with survivability .

Any suggestion is well appreciated , my profile is open :)

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/SantaCIaus/characters

Abyss_more_meta_build

Lvl 89 breezing thru red maps atm as non-crit inquisitor. Huge regen with conc ground, elemental immunity, unwavering stance, 6.5k life, 1.2k mana and 5k armor. The base damage is so high on VD, I didn't bother with too much in the way of offensive nodes, as 1 cast is still one-shotting rares in red maps.

Interesting choices:

Armor-5k armor is enough to not get popped by the fairly dangerous Elder mobs.
Chernobog's Pillar - 1k armor, 110 health, added fire damage (with VD's 1.2x base effectiveness PER BALL), and enfeeble (which is amazing with VD's seeking function)
Unwavering Stance - Stunlock is super dangerous in red maps, and this puts me next to amazing armor nodes
Ele resist on the tree - this was to open up the Ventor's Gamble possibility, as well as freeing up some spots for increased rarity (55/9 rarity/quant atm)


Next steps:
1. Upgrading to a 6L Atziri's Splendor. 1.7k armor, easy enough to color, amazing life+mana on kill, resists, and max life. I think this is BiS for a defensive build like this.
2. Respecing and picking up Juggernaut - 20% flask effectiveness, 10% life, 24% armor is also hard to pass up
3. Possibility removing MoM completely, taking 9 points and hitting 8k pure life. This is kinda a hard call, but it will open me up to using Anger, as well as changing up my flasks. Main concern here is VD casts 125 mana per cast, which is pretty hard to sustain without a large pool anyway
4. Battle Rouse? - If I stay MoM, I may drop 2 points for Battle Rouse, 23% mana, 15 flat, and the 3% recovery is still fairly good actually.

Abyss_more_meta_build

Yep. Best build I saw till now for sure. Seems like better then any crit builds atm.

You actualy dont have to self cast desecrate spell totem can do it for you. What is even more interesting is interaction bewen CWC and volatile dead. During CWC the VD will seek corpses on its own to detonate in certain range. Soo you can run melta beam CWC with VD on it. Combined with totem this removes most of clunkines.

Totem also allow to use shamanistic rage passive. This is 33% global crit chance per point when counting for useless prequistes.

Hey guys,

im doing a similiar build with Detonate Dead its really similar to Volatile Dead!





but as a Necromancer

(getting as much Block for cheap as possible with Bone Offering max Block 50% spellblock)

CharacterName= DetonateCast


1. of all the Corpse Skills (if relying only on detonating corpses) Shine in HIGH LVL MAPS (T12+)
because the HP of the Mobs scale to insanity (thous making %hp explosions insane)

2. Forget all the Spell Damage you can get! Damage only scale with Fire% and Elemental% Dmg
3. Fire Penetration (if you can make the Enemy Vulnerable to Fire) is a MORE Multiplier !


So Getting Fire Penetation in the Skill Tree (if you can afford it) a nobrainer




I like Detonate Dead over Volatile dead .... because of only 1 thing!

You can use Detonat Dead at lvl 1 and leave it the whole Game at lvl 1
(saving you alot of Mana! And Make Reflect Maps a piece of Cake)

I tried the Difference between lvl 1 and lvl 20 ... non existent in High lvl Maps! the Tooltip Dmg of DD is so much lower than the Corpse Explosion



The AoE of DD is much better than VD

But if it Comes to Clearspeed VD outshines DD



Right now im thinking if i want to change my setup a little

DD/VD
Fire Penetration
Chance to Ignite
Elemental Focus
Conc Effect

and as a 6th Increased AoE ( if the dmg is enough )
or Blood Magic to not have a Mana Problem (0,4 Life leech form Fire Skills) eough to sustain the cast




Carcass Jack the the way to go if you want Corpse Explosion Dmg.
Since Spell Damage dont Scale the main Damage from Corpse Skills ( only the Toop Tip DPS change wich is only semi important if you are below lvl 50)