[3.1] [Abyss] VD Mines | Budget Friendly | W.I.P Hipster

''Wait, a Volatile Dead mines build? What is this hipster build''

Notes
This build is still work in progress.
Every feedback is welcome.
I will update the build guide based on your feedback.
Gonna add PoB links when the build is more finalized.
This is my first build i post on the Forum
Still need a Catchy Build Name. :/

Why this build
Since Volatile Dead Poet's Pen builds are super meta right now and GC miner build currently the only viable miner builds exist today, I decided to make a combination of these meta builds. And this is currently the result. Also I wanted to try out new ways to use the new Volatile Dead skill.

Pro's & Con's
+ Budget friendly with cheap uniques
+ Fast mapping, fast boss clearing (able to cheese some bosses)
+ Works on 4-link
+ Currently Uber-Izaro viable
+ Does not require a poet's pen
+ Somewhat flexible with gear
+ Requires actual brain cells to play
+ Able to run a lot of map mods*
+ Aesthetically pleasing

- Currently unknown if the build is (uber) Atziri, Guardian, Shaper viable
- Build in progress
- Extreme mana costs (130+ per cast)
- Not gonna try this in Hardcore
- Relies on Flask usage
- Maps with X curses are annoying, run with caution.
- Maps with No regeneration is risky but very possible, but you need a good mana flask.


Closer look at Volatile Dead

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Volatile_Dead

From the gem description:
'Corpses near the targeted location explode, dealing damage in a small area and creating an orb which moves towards nearby enemies before dealing spell damage in a larger area. The explosion of the corpse is not affected by modifiers to spell damage, and cannot be reflected.'

Deals X Fire Damage
Destroys up to 3 Corpses
Explosion deals base Fire Damage equal to 3% of the corpse's maximum Life

There are 2 situations where this skill deals damage. The corpse explosion and the orb explosion.
Both damage sources scale with the different damage types. The corpse explosion scales with Fire damage, AoE damage but NOT Spell damage. The orb scales with Fire damage, AoE damage AND Spell Damage. The corpse explosion does not scale with with spell damage but it will do additional damage based on 3% of the corpse maximum life. Each cast explodes 3 corpse maximum
This means getting Elemental damage, Fire damage and AoE damage is somewhat more important than spell damage.
In order to use this skill you need some corpses. for example if you cast unearth/desecrate.


But this is gonna be mine build, so that means that volatile dead corpse explosion and orb scales with mine modifiers. This also means that we use desecrate with mines.

What about it's defenses?
I'm currently at level 88:
4.3k hp with,
30% spell dodge, (Phase Arcrobatics from The Perfect Form)
26% Block chance,
38% chance to evade,
Freeze, Chill Immume,
and 4% physical damage reduction
700 energy shield
This still can be improved with better gear and Flask

Acrobatics?
I want to keep my Block chance and Armour, Abyss monsters are the reasons why i'm not taking Acrobatics, I don't want to get One-shot.

Mind over Matter???
Mind over Matter is ineffective when i have very high mana cost. And since the recent nerfs is it no so effective anymore. But i'm gonna test soon if i was wrong.

What to do when in combat
Cast Desecrate once then volatile dead twice and detonate your mines.
Are you standing on a lot of corpses? Cast Desecrate 3 times and then detonate.
Once you get used to the damage you can run into a pack with or ahead of your orb and cast Volatile dead twice.

There is an nice interaction between mines and volatile dead.

Imagine pack of 8 mobs and 2 corpses. you cast your Volatile dead onto the 2 corpses.
What happens if you have enough damage. the first mine will destroy the 2 corpses and deal damage to the surrounding targets. If the explosion kill all/some of the mobs, then the second mine will destroy the mobs killed by the first mine. (INSERT A DEMONSTRATION VIDEOS HERE AM I RITE?)
This means a chain reaction of Volatile dead corpse explosions and mines


Gear

NOTE: AVOID COLD DAMAGE TO SPELLS AT ALL COST.
Why? Because if you have cold damage there's a chance the corpses you destroy are shattered, rendering the corpse useless.

Main hand - Offhand



Armour



Body Armour



Jewelry



Flasks:



Skill gem set up



Passive tree, Ascendancy, Bandits, Pantheon:


Leveling




Probably gonna make some video's and screenshots very soon.
I keep updating this post with more inforation if needed and grammar checks

I will happily answer every question there is about this hipster build.

Just an idea, and good luck getting VD consumes +1 corpses on one, but you could try using Kitava's Thirst to trigger Desecrate, Unearth, Detonate Mines, etc. whenever you're tossing out your 100+ mana mines. Kitava's Thirst is unique in its trigger mechanic in that the 30% proc is your chance to trigger all the socketed spells at once rather than each separately in turn.

Could it be good? Probably not. Would it be worth it? Certainly not. Is it hipster? Definitely.

"

but you could try using Kitava's Thirst

Just ran a test with that item. Each time I cast volatile dead then there will be 3 mines on the ground able to destroy 9 corpse. This effect stacks up to 11 mines (Mines limit) But with a 30% chance to trigger desecrate, unearth or Detonated Mines means every 9 mines (3 casts) on average, something will happen.
It could trigger Desecrate and spawning 5 corpses, it could trigger unearth spawning 1 corpse (+4 with GMP) or it could trigger Detonate mines, both when there are corpses laying around, and without corpses.

So i tried only Desecrate and Unearth in Kitava's Thirst and manually cast Detonate Mines which resulted in sometimes 1 Orb, sometime 5 orb. Pretty meh.

Then i tried only desecrate with the helmet. The result was when i engaged a pack i tried to trigger desecrate and took way too long. But when the helmet triggered Desecate instantly than this setup is much faster. This helmet is nice, already thought of this idea, but too inconsistent.

Will update my guide with both the Helmet explanation and why not getting +1 VD explosion

"

Could it be good? Probably not. Would it be worth it? Certainly not. Is it hipster? Definitely.

Love this quote.