[3.1] Poet's Pen Volatile Dead dual curse Inquisitor || Budget friendly under 2 EX || Shaper down

Hi all! I wanted to share my budget version of Poet's Pen VD. Whether you're an SSF player or you're on a slim budget, most of the gear can be acquired for under 2 exalts, with Poet's Pen being the most expensive. So if you've wanted to play Poet's Pen but have been put off by the need for Watcher's Eye and Kaom's Heart, read on!

How do we do this on a budget?

We circumvent the leech issues by running Warlord's Mark with Curse on Hit as well as the fire version of Doryani's Invitation. I know I know, it's Abyss league and running a non-stygian is blasphemy, but the belt is like a mini version of Anger leech Watcher's Eye. We're also looking to stack as much life regen as we can. We want a level 20 Stone Golem along with the 150% enchant for it. Because we want to run Warlord's Mark, but don't want to lose Assassin's Mark, we run dual curses. Doedre's Damning is a very cheap ring and is perfect for what we need. If you can find a cheap +1 curse ammy with a bit of life and crit, that will be much better.

Below is my breakdown of the build. Most of my gearing recommendations, sans the Poet's Pens and Starkonja with enchant, are 1 chaos or less.

The numbers and PoB link (everybody loves numbers):
Spoiler

The PoB link: https://pastebin.com/BJuWhKtX

This is without Ele Focus and the 119k is per ball. This also does not factor in the damage done from Unearth (39k) or the personal explosion from Body Swap (79k).




Understanding Poet's Pen mechanics:
Spoiler


Poet's Pen has a 250ms cooldown between casts, which means our attacks need to be in-line with that to avoid "missing" cast triggers. To do this we have our attacks per second under 0.25. I am at 0.24 with full frenzy charges and it feels fine, so aim for that. If you can't it's not the worst thing in the world, even when I was missing I was still doing a ton of damage.



Pros and Cons:
Spoiler


Pros

-Cheap to get going
-Can do most content
-Great Ulab and Shaper farmer
-5-6k life, 900~ life leech on hit, and 400~ regen
-Can operate off a 4L until end game
-Body Swap makes mapping quick and easy
-Halls of the Grandmaster is a joke

Cons

-Uber Atziri feels awful
-Sometimes ball AI will mess up max key runs in lab
-Can't do ele reflect



Passive Tree:
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUBAAKWBAcEswVCBx4I9AmqDFIOSA_EEFgRLRGWFr8YVhhdGjgagRzcJpUnLyj6KgssnC0fMtE1kjpYOtg64Tt8PAU8LT1fQYdBlkVHRZ1JUUyzTeNPBFF0UlNTUlVLVa5Vxl3yYeJmVGh0aPJqQ3BSfIN_xoKbgseDX4PMg9uFe4dlidOLjIw2jxqP-pBVkm6TJ5UglS6XlZo7muCce6EvogCio6ZXppmoua3xrrO3PriTuMq5k7xWvOq-isBmwJrB88MJ0B_Q9dJ81abYvdn82mLhc-vu6_XsOO087WHvfO_r8B_w1fId8kX53fno_gr-jw==?accountName=seanxjohnson&characterName=SeanClaudeVanGCTotems


Video:
Spoiler


I apologize if the videos seem laggy, I was recording from my laptop.

Deathless Phoenix: https://youtu.be/XyRRC07pikA
Deathless Atziri: https://youtu.be/Y6GhFMsrZg0
Deathless Hydra: https://youtu.be/LMgF2lnzkfc
Deathless Chimera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlW5RUEyMMA
Deathless HoGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLilchDW910

I had 2 deaths on this Shaper. The first one during the first phase is a weird death, looks like desynch. Second is in phase 3, had a vortex ball come into the Zana bubble and I ran into bullet hell trying to kite. If I get a less laggy video I'll include it, but being in SSF I'm at the mercy of T16 drops (currently need Minotaurs).

Shaper: https://youtu.be/u79wZPzsihU



Gear selection:
Spoiler


Chest: Carcass Jack, Tabula, or Belly of the Beast. Ideally you'll want a 5L to support dual curses, but a 4L will carry you all the way to Guardians.

Helm: Starkonja's Head fills out of Dex, AS, Crit, and life. Try to find one with Stone Golem 150% buff

Gloves: Fingerless Gloves, ideally with attack speed, life, and whatever res you need to cap.

Boots: Rare with life, res, and MS.

Rings: Doedre's Damning and a generic ring with life and res. Other useful mods are %fire damage, attack speed, and dex.

Amulet: Crit multi, Crit, life, and whatever res you're missing. Other useful mods are %fire damage and dex.

Belt: Doryani's Invitation. As stated in the introduction, this belt helps bridge the gap on life leech since we won't be using Watcher's Eye.

Flasks: Life flask, Atziri's Promise, Diamond Flask, Quicksilver Flask, Basalt/Granite. You'll need of heat, of staunching, and then a 3rd of your choice (Warding is what I would suggest). If you use Body Swap you can drop the Quicksilver flask for a defensive flask.




My gear:
Spoiler


At this point, my gear is no longer budget. I'm only posting it to show what to shoot for as you amass currency and want to make upgrades.





Gem selection:
Spoiler


4L: Frenzy, Greater Multiple Projectiles, Curse on Hit, Warlord's Mark.
5L: Add Assassin's Mark if you're dual curse, otherwise Life Gain on Hit.
6L: Add Life Gain on Hit.

4L Gloves: Flame Dash, Arcane Surge, Increased Duration, Faster Casting

4L Boots: Anger, Enlighten, Herald of Ice, Vaal Lightning Trap.

4L Helm: Stone Golem, Immortal Call, Cast when Damage Taken, flex socket. I prefer level 20 on all so I don't have to cast Golem, you can tinker with this to your preference.

Poet Pen #1: Unearth, GMP, Body Swap. If you don't like Body Swap you can use Power Charge on Crit.

Poet Pen #2: Volatile Dead, Conc Effect, Increased Crit. Swap Increased crit for ele focus on bosses.



Bandits, Anscendancy, and Pantheon:
Spoiler
Bandits: Alira for crit multi and ele res.

Ascendancy: Inquisitor. Instruments of Virtue --> Righteous Providence --> Inevitable Judgment --> Augury of Penitence

Major: Soul of Lunaris in maps, Soul of Solaris vs bosses. If you are like me and forget to switch, just take Soul of Solaris. Most mobs are a joke and you're really only ever going to die to a boss.

Minor: Soul of Gruthkul. If you don't end up using Body Swap, consider Soul of Tukohama for the regen and further phys reduction.


Bossing and HoGM:
Spoiler
For most bosses you just waltz in, spam balls, flame dash forward and hit your diamond and Atziri flask. It's important to flame dash towards the boss to proc your arcane surge.

For regular Atziri, you take Body Swap out. It's important to stop spamming balls the second Atziri stops moving, this is because of the random AI of the balls, they will clip the reflect and you will die. Pick a corner and if it's not the reflect then start spamming balls BEHIND it. Once it's about to form flame dash through it and move away from the inevitable flame blast. If you pick a corner and it is the reflect, move the one one right next to the it. This is where spamming the balls behind it becomes critical. I do not recommend any form of Atziri for hardcore, simply because of the randomness of the balls. See video for more details.

For Hydra, Phoenix and Chimera I suggest keeping in Body Swap as it does a surprising amount of damage if you stay on top of the boss. For Minotaur and Shaper I like taking it out. You need a bit more precision in those fights and there's normally AOE on the ground that makes Body Swap clunky.

For Halls of the Grandmasters, you will spam balls from safety, trigger the fight, run backwards, and continue to spam balls from a distance. The only problems you may run into are the max block guys. I always bring a Tabula with Scorching Ray, Burning Damage, Controlled Destruction, and Efficacy support to deal with them. Since they only really do damage when they're hit, you can sit on them with Scorching Ray until they die. If you don't have a Tabula, any 4L will work.



Leveling:
Spoiler


Lvl 1 to 12: Freezing Pulse

Lvl 12 to 16: Switch to Pen and use VD, added cold, added light in one, and Unearth, LMP, and added cold/light in the other.

Lvl 16 to 18: Put Frenzy in a 3/4L with LMP. You can also start using Herald of Ice and Lightning.

Lvl 18 to 38: grab conc and ele focus to replace added cold and added lightning.

Lvl 38+: Grab GMP at the end of A4. Be sure to grab a Stone Golem at some point in A4 as well.



FAQ:
Spoiler

TBD as questions come in


Change Log:
Spoiler
TBD

Last edited by seanxjohnson on Feb 4, 2018, 3:54:04 PM
Last bumped on Mar 4, 2018, 4:37:23 PM
Reserved
couple of questions on Hall of Grandmasters:
1. any changes in gem set up?
2. any specific grandmasters to watch out for?
3. What's the strategy? just spawn balls and run in?
I have an Alien pet.
"
kelongngu wrote:
couple of questions on Hall of Grandmasters:
1. any changes in gem set up?
2. any specific grandmasters to watch out for?
3. What's the strategy? just spawn balls and run in?


I bring a Tabula with SR setup (SR, Controlled Destruction, Efficacy, Burning Damage) to deal with the block guys, other than that I haven't needed any other gems. Spam balls, trigger the fight, run backwards, spam balls from afar. If you ever did HoGM with Whispering Ice, it plays very similar.
Last edited by seanxjohnson on Jan 26, 2018, 3:32:50 AM
"
seanxjohnson wrote:
"
kelongngu wrote:
couple of questions on Hall of Grandmasters:
1. any changes in gem set up?
2. any specific grandmasters to watch out for?
3. What's the strategy? just spawn balls and run in?


I bring a Tabula with SR setup (SR, Controlled Destruction, Efficacy, Burning Damage) to deal with the block guys, other than that I haven't needed any other gems. Spam balls, trigger the fight, run backwards, spam balls from afar. If you ever did HoGM with Whispering Ice, it plays very similar.


Thought as much, thanks for the clarification.
I have an Alien pet.
Added Chimera and Hydra videos. Still waiting on Mino map before I can do Shaper again.
Last edited by seanxjohnson on Jan 27, 2018, 12:46:00 PM
Where is the skill tree?
"
Woep wrote:
Where is the skill tree?


Added tree, I foolishly thought PoB would be enough but realized not everyone uses that.

Also added HoGM video.
Finally got a Minotaur drop, Shaper video added.
I'm having a lot of fun with this build. I wish I would have found this build sooner.

By the way... Have you tried Cremation instead of Body Swap for bossing? I've seen one other guide use it. Cremation is quite a powerful spell right now. I wasn't sure how great it does over something like Power Charge on Crit.


Thanks for making this guide.

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