[3.8] Scourge Arrow Ignite prolif Elementalist 🏹 Melt the Atlas on a budget, 1M+ Shaper Ignite DPS

Scourge Arrow, Ignite Proliferation Elementalist





Intro
Hey everyone, Swiks here. I'm a PoE player for 4 years now and I always enjoyed creating off-meta builds capable of reaching endgame. This is my second guide on the forum, you may have seen the Shocking Elementalist I made back in Bestiary League. I hope this new guide will reach the same level of success and would be happy if it could make you want to play Scourge Arrow !

I don't know if Build of the Week is still running this League but I would love to see one of my build featured in an episode one day, and out of all that I made, I think this one is the most inventive and original. I'm not sure if it's worthy of an episode or not, but that would be the peak of my PoE experience !

English isn't my native language so I'm sorry if some sentences sounds weird.



The build

3.8 Blight League Update : Huge Ignite and Elementalist buffs ! This should be the best iteration of the build so far, damage and smoothness wise. The build also dodged the Mana sustain nerfs.
Spoiler

While this patch is aimed at Poison and Summoner playstyles, Ignite also did get buffed. Ignite will be a very good playstyle for this league, in Blight we will have to defend a static structure kind of like a Tower defense. Ignites proliferates from alive monsters and also dead bodies so it will be an effective way to defend from different directions at once.
Just for info my optimized setup rocketed from 1M3 DPS to 1M7 DPS with a few other improvements.


So the buffs :

* They introduced a new modifier "+x% Fire Damage over time Multiplier" which will directly multiply our ignite damage. Think of it as extremely valuable, we don't know yet how available it will be on items but there is a bunch on the tree and they are very conveniently placed for us. So the tree is changing a bit but only to get better with no downsides.
* Elementalist got buffed. +30% Shock Effect on Beacon of Ruin, this means Shock will be around 40% more damage.
* +25% Effect of golems per golem summoned for a total of 50% effect per golem. We have 3 of them so 150% increased effect of Fire, Ice and Lightning golems (a bit more damage, faster attacks, more Hit chance and Crit for Elemental Overload). Stacking Golems is no a viable way to play a non-golem build !
* The ailment immunity is reworded and is now better. Instead of immunizing for 1 type of ailment (Fire golem for Ignite immunity, Cold golem for Chill immunity, etc...) it's now 35% to avoid elemental Ailment per golem. We have 3 of them so it mean 105% chance to avoid elemental ailments, so an immunity to all elemental ailments. It means we are also Freeze immune now ! It frees a flask mod.

That's it for the main changes, some other things changed but are not very impactful. Unbound Ailment Support got a slight buff and
Bottled Faith will finally be available. It will be crazy expensive but for those who like to min-max it's great news :)

Stay tuned for updates :)

Previous leagues changes :
Spoiler
https://pastebin.com/zhXhskha (it's a normal Pastebin link :3)

After the mitigated feedback from the community when Scourge Arrow was released, I really wanted to give it some love. I tried to find an alternative and endgame viable way to play it without needing tons of investment.
The main goal for this build was to clear map as fast and as smoothly as possible with Scourge Arrow, and I can say that it's a success ! Here is what I came up with.

This is a build for an Elementalist, using Scourge Arrow to deliver high Ignite values through a combinaison of unique items and rely on the Ignite proliferation from the Ascendancy to clear screens of monsters.




Personal achievements with this build :
At level 92 I cleared everything up to Uber Elder. That includes Shaper and his Guardians, Breachlords, T16 Shaped maps... I only need Uber Atziri to complete all the hardest encounters it should be doable with some modifications in the tree and a bit of practice.
I also managed to pull off a deathless Uber Elder run this League even with my poor dodging skills.

With my end-game optimized setup, the Ignite DPS broke the 1M DPS mark and reached 1.7M !
By following this guide you should expect around 800k DPS with the recommended items, non-optimized gear and 5c jewels. For the budget version, expect around 400k DPS with really cheap gear and no jewels.
It's Shaper DPS. While clearing maps, white monster Ignite DPS is approximately 40% more than so even the budget version will allow the build to clear red tiers maps.



Path of Building links: (Updated!)

Character name is Kirima on my profile.

If you know what you are doing and don't care about the explanations :

Classic Version : https://pastebin.com/60dyXQ3N
This is the version I used to kill Shaper early in the League, good price/performance balance.
It has Emberwake equipped so multiply the Ignite DPS by 2.

Low-Budget Version : https://pastebin.com/swgyqxpi
Version with the recommended budget Uniques, no Abyssal jewels, 3c max rare items, no Uber Lab, level 18 no quality gems. Recommended if it's your first character of the League or just have a really low budget. This is enough to clear maps up to T13-15 depending on map mods.
It has Emberwake equipped so multiply the Ignite DPS by 2.

End-Game optimized Version : https://pastebin.com/BytKD818
This is the final state of my character and basically what to aim for, there a not much to improve beyond this appart from better corruptions/jewels.

If you don't know how to use these links I suggest checking out this thread by the creator of Path of Building, it's definitely worth your time if you want to plan a build or share it with the community.

Check the last section of the guide for the Hardcore version !



How does it works ?


"
• 150% more Damage with Hits and Ailments per Stage
• 5 maximum Stages


A fully charged Scourge Arrow gives a total of 750% more Damage with Hits and Ailments , Ignite is an Ailment.

Scourge Arrow damage is 40% Physical and 60% Chaos, and those two type of damage are not suited for Ignite. That's why we use Hopeshredder for its extremely high flat cold damage and frenzy bonuses combined with Hrimburn to allow Cold damage to Ignite.



We also use Stormfire to allow Lightning damage as a source of Ignite, Herald of Thunder, Wrath and the flat Lightning damage on Jewels become two huge increases to Ignite damage. It also means Lightning nodes in the tree directly benefits the Ignite. For example the Breath of Lightning cluster will both boost our damage and the value of our Shock on bosses, making it one of the most efficient cluster for the build.

We also can reach really high Ignite DPS thanks those two keystones


Elemental Equilibrium - Enemies you hit with Elemental Damage temporarily get +25% Resistance to those Elements and -50% Resistance to other Elements

Remember when I said Scourge Arrow was 50% Phys 50% Chaos ? That also means that there is no fire damage tied to the gem unlike Burning Arrow, making Elemental Equilibrium a great and easy Keystone to pick. We use only Cold and Lightning hit damage to inflict Ignite and we have no source of Fire hit damage so our Ignite always benefit from the -50% Fire resistances debuff. It's incredibly strong especially against bosses because they have high elemental resistances.


Elemental Overload - 40% more Elemental Damage if you've Crit in the past 8 seconds. No Critical Strike Multiplier. No Damage Multiplier for Ailments from Critical Strikes

Thanks to that we can completely ignore the Critical Chance and Critical Multiplier stats on gear while still getting that juicy 40% more Damage.



1 - Videos

I only have this end-game boss compilation I made to show it's bossing viability with investment but remember that the main purpose of the build is more clearing maps fast than boss killing, so please don't judge what you will see too harshly ! I will add other footage like level 250+ Delves and Shaped T15-16 later.

3.4:
Shaper and Friends : https://youtu.be/VMV-_iTlQhM


2 - Pros & Cons and Content viability
Spoiler

Pros:
+ Very fast clear speed.
+ Strong off-meta Skill.
+ Strong off-Meta Ascendancy .
+ Good damage on end-bosses for an ignite build.
+ Completely functional at level 60 and doesn't require Uber Lab to do so.
+ Cheap to start and scale well the more money you invest.
+ Viable for 95% of the content.
+ Party play friendly thanks to the Shock from the Elementalist
+ Meme bonus points for playing a Chaos skill with Ignite.
Cons:
- Squishy on a full damage setup, not really HC viable.
- Some pieces can be hard to obtain in the first few days of the league.
- Can be heavy on Uniques, but the recommended uniques have a lot of resistances so capping is not a problem.
- Scourge Arrow is a Channeling Skill so the gameplay can be disliked by some.


Content viability

It is a Softcore build , so it kinda lacks in the defensive department (around 4k2 HP with 80% max res on a full damage setup). For Softcore it is more than enough because of the safe gameplay Scourge Arrow can offer, it reaches more than one screen away, and bosses only require one arrow every few seconds so you can concentrate on dodging. You will die occasionally but unless you want to push past level 94, it's not a big issue.

If you want to play this in Hardcore, check out the last section of this guide !

Bosses
  • Uber Elder*
  • Uber Atziri*
  • Delve Bosses*
  • Shaper
  • Shaper's Guardians
  • Elder's Guardians
  • Uber Izaro
  • Other Map bosses

* Doable BUT require training and gear investment.

Map Mods
  • Monsters have 90% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments
  • Monsters reflect #% of Elemental Damage
  • Cannot regenerate Mana
  • Cannot Leech Life
  • Everything else




3 - Tree, Ascendancy, Bandits, Pantheon
Spoiler

Passive trees
Spoiler

  • Damage setup : poeurl.com/cyG9
  • The the one I use and the one I recommend.
  • Defensive setup : poeurl.com/cyHa
  • Use this one if you want to feel a bit safer.





Ascendancy
Spoiler

Beacon of Ruin -> Elemancer


Beacon of Ruin is pretty obvious, 20% More damage for Ignite and powerful Shock even on bosses. It's the core of the build.

Elemancer for the 3 elemental Golems with 150% increased effect (50% for each summoned). We benefit from all three fully. It solves the problem of Accuracy and Attack Speed so you don't have to worry about those stats in the gear, so cheaper gear. It also comes with decent elemental damage and the sweet Ignite, Chill, Shock AND Freeze immunity, which is more comfortable than rely on flasks and add more flexibility on flasks rolls.
Picking this over Paragon of Calamity also alows some shenanigans with additional golems to get even out of them (Primordial Chain, Golem Commander, ...)

Paragon of Calamity, it's an ok choice for a little bit of conditional survivability plus you can run Reflect Maps if you are too lazy to reroll them. Clearly a very suboptimal choice but you should still be fine with it.
Pendulum of Destruction We only benefit from it half of the time so it's not worth and the Mastermind of Discord behind it looks interesting but doesn't helps Ignite builds at all. Don't take those two.



Bandits
Spoiler

Kill all, +2 Skill Points
The build doesn't benefits from the bonuses offered by the bandits.


Pantheon
Spoiler

Major Gods, three choices.

1 - Soul of Arakaali
5% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time
10% chance to Avoid Lightning Damage when Hit

Helps mitigate the Hopeshredder DoT.
  • Upgrade 1 : 50% increased Recovery of Life and Energy Shield if you've stopped taking Damage Over Time Recently
    You take Damage Over Time every time you move with Hopeshredder, this DoT stops every time you stop moving like when shooting an arrow for example. Effectively, you are always affected by this Life Recovery bonus that applies on Life Regen, Life Leech and Life Flasks, that's why this Major God really powerful.
  • Upgrade 2 : 30% reduced Effect of Shock on you
    30% reduced Shock Duration on You

    Not needed if you chose the Elemancer Ascendancy node like suggested.
  • Upgrade 3 :+25% Chaos Resistance against Damage Over Time
    Not great, but still useful.


2 - Soul of Brine King
You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds
Can't be Stunlocked, really interesting when you want to push Delves and monsters start to hit really hard.
  • Upgrade 1 :30% increased Stun and Block Recovery
    Reduce the time you will be Stunned, it's really good and helps a lot during fights with high hit damage bosses.
  • Upgrade 2 :You cannot be Frozen if you've been Frozen Recently
    Can't be Freezelocked, pairs well with the main bonus.
  • Upgrade 3 :50% reduced Effect of Chill on You
    Not needed if you chose the Elemancer Ascendancy node like suggested.


3 - Soul of Lunaris
1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%.
1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%.

The "nearby" is quite large so it's basically a perma 8% physical damage reduction. The movement speed isn't very noticeable but that's still something.
  • Upgrade 1 :10% chance to avoid Projectile Damage
    Pairs well with the Avoid mechanics of the Hopeshredder, useful against all the porcupines.
  • Upgrade 2 :5% chance to Dodge Attacks and Spells if you've been Hit Recently
    Another layer of Dodge.
  • Upgrade 3 :Avoid Projectiles that have Chained
    Pretty cool to have on Chain maps because projectiles can Chain on our Golems.


Minor Gods

1 - Soul of Ryslatha
Life Flasks gain 3 Charges every 3 seconds if you haven't used a Life Flask Recently
Helps with long boss fights like Shaper or Uber Elder.
  • Upgrade :60% increased Life Recovery from Flasks used when on Low Life
    Really good when you need that panic flask to get you to full life quickly.




4 - Gear (New!)
Spoiler

My gear at level 90 (Same as in the Shaper video)
Spoiler






I would estimate this gear at around 5 Exalted + the fusing cost to 6L the Loreweave. It is pretty cheap for an endgame setup cost imo, but it's nowhere near necessary and you can run T15 maps on a 50c budget. Check bellow to see my recommended and cheap setup.

Current gear at level 92 (Final gear)
Spoiler



I evaluate this final gear at 15ex. This price is high mostly because I wanted good corruption on well rolled items.
I will not push that gear further, it's already way to much overkill with 1M Ignite DPS on Shaper. Uber Elder is down (1 death because I can't dodge balls) video coming soon.



Mandatory Uniques :
Spoiler

These uniques are required for the build to function or are best in slot, you need them.

Hopeshredder

  • Huge flat cold damage.
  • Good Frenzy Charges bonuses
  • Good Attack Speed

Unrivaled when you look at the flat elemental damage, perfect to inflict big Ignites.
The slight degen is a downside but it is completely sustained with leech even when you add Blood Rage degen.


Hrimburn

  • Allows Cold damage to Ignite

This is the item that enable the build.
It's the fated version of the Hrimsorrow, search for the Fire and Ice Prophecy it's usually cheaper to get a good roll that way.


Dyadian Dawn

  • Enemies Ignited by an Attack burn faster
  • Good HP and resistances
  • Leech

The faster burn is in fact a More multiplier and does a lot for the build. Cheap, easy to use with all the resistances and you can get good corruptions on it relatively easily : Malevolence Aura Effect, %maximum life, Attacks speed while using a flask, ...


Stormfire

  • Allows Lightning damage to Ignite
  • Flat lightning damage
  • Resistances

Equipping Stormfire really kicks the build to another level, it allow Lightning damage to Ignite which means any source of flat Lightning to attacks will also increase the total Ignite damage. You can now use Herald of Thunder.


Careful Planning*

  • Dexterity

Sadly Hopehredder require a lot of Dexterity and it is hard to get on this portion of the tree so we have to use this jewel on the slot near Elemental Equilibrium.

* It's not exactly mandatory because you can always find enough Dex on gear, but when you take the opportunity cost in consideration, it's by far the most efficient solution.

Recommended Uniques :
Spoiler

The hard to skip Uniques, by order of importance for the build :

Drillneck

  • Arrows deal 50% increased Damage with Hits and Ailments to Targets they Pierce
  • Some Damage, Attack Speed and Life

Since the main arrow of Scourge Arrow always pierce we always benefits from the 50% increased damage. It also means that you don't need the Pierce implicit and can search for corruptions like flat Cold/Lightning damage when you want to invest a bit more in the build. Drillneck is a quiver commonly corrupted so it's quite easy to find a cheap one.

Alternatives :
Voidfletcher, very good Cold flat damage, Proj Speed for the clear speed and the active got buffed in 3.5.
Rearguard, defensive alternative, good Block source.
Rare Quiver Elder base with Life, % increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills and 3 to 6 Cold Damage per Frenzy Charge would be great damage wise.


Lightpoacher or Hale Negator

  • 2 Abyssal Sockets
  • Good defensive bonuses

Abyssal Jewels are extremly valuable in this build so try to take one with 2 sockets. I used Lightpoacher up to level 92 because I forgot the existence of Hale Negator but it's actually a really good defensive option if you don't feel safe enough in high maps.


Cinderswallow Urn

  • 10% Increased damage taken
  • Onslaught
  • Great Life and Mana recovery while mapping
  • Multiple good veiled mods to chose from

Really good and cheap flask, a strait upgrade from a regular Silver flask (that you should use before getting this one). If you want you can use a CWDT lv1 + Flesh/Bone/Spirit Offering to get some charges back when you get hit.

The best veiled mod to chose imho is 3% of Life Regenerated per second during Flask Effect.


Loreweave

  • 78% Max Resistances (since 3.6)
  • Okay Life
  • Some offensive stats
  • Source of All Attributes


I love this chest, good offense paired with great defenses you can never go wrong with that one. Aim for 78% maximum resistances and high Life roll.

Alternatives :
(Budget)
Tabula Rasa, easily farmable and good corruption like +1% Max Resistances or 50% reduced extra damage taken from crit are cheap.
Skin of the Loyal, a Tabula on steroids and it's dirt cheap.
(Defensive)
Belly of the Beast, high %max HP and resistances.
The Perfect Form, Free Arctic Armour, Phase Acro, good Evasion and Life. Careful, needs a lot of Dexterity.
Rare Body Armour, Elder base with high amount of +Life and %max Life.
(Offensive)
Inpulsa's Broken Heart, HP with tons of damage/screen clear and Shock Effect.


The Taming

  • Elemental damage
  • Damage with Hits and Ailments
  • Resistances


This is an extremely good Ring, quite expensive though, consider buying one when you have enough funds. Vendoring Berek's Respite + Berek's Pass + Berek's Grip is generally cheaper than buying The Taming itself.

Alternatives :
Emberwake, can stack two ignites. It has a 65% less multiplier on Ignites so it will only augment your single target DPS while reducing your damage while clearing maps. It's a matter of feeling.
Circle of Regret, a new ring introduced in Synthesis. It has some weird mechanics in the Synthetiser but I will not spend to much on that part. Anyway you want one with 2 mods : Herald of Thunder has (70–100)% increased Buff Effect AND (40–60)% increased Lightning Damage while affected by Herald of Thunder. It's really powerful damage wise and will even slightly beat The Taming at the cost of some all res.
Rare Ring, with Life and Resists. You can also search for Elemental Damage with Attacks, added Flat Lightning/Cold, general %increased Fire/Lightning/Cold damage.


Yoke of Suffering

  • Increased Damage per type of Ailment on the enemy.
  • Good amount of resistances.


With Elementalist on bosses you have Ignite, Shock, Chill, that's 15% increased damage taken on the enemy. You can add Poison or/and Bleed to the Curse on Hit setup to get another 5-10%.

Alternatives :
Primordial Chain, to get +3 Golems. Each of them will give an additional +50% effect for all the golems and +20% increased damage ! You can get very powerful buffs from golems with that, even defensive buffs with Stone and Chaos Golems. Very efficient amulet.
Rare Amulet, Life and resistances. You can also search for increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills, added Flat Lightning/Cold, general %increased Fire/Lightning/Cold damage.



Watcher's Eye

  • Damaging Ailments you inflict deal Damage #% faster while affected by Malevolence
  • Gives some life so it's ok


Watcher's Eyes with that Malevolence mod are relatively cheap, it makes enemy burn faster in the same fashion than Dyadian Dawn. Keep in mind that a very well rolled Abyssal Jewel will beat this but it's pretty cheap for what it is.


Oils: (New!)
Spoiler

In the 3.8 Blight League we will have access to new crafts on amulets, they works kinda similarly to Helmet enchants.
You combine 3 Oils gathered with Blight mechanic on an amulet to add a Notable of the passive tree on you amulet !

Here is the list of the best Notables to craft on your Amulet for this build :
(I don't know how the cost of the Oils to craft them yet !)

Growth and Decay
  • 20% increased Damage over Time
  • +10% to Damage over Time Multiplier
  • Regenerate 1% of Life per second

The best damage node that we can't afford to travel to, by a large margin.

Fervour / Savagery / Frenetic
  • +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges

Frenzy Charges gives a lot for this build thanks to the Hopeshredder, it's a bit less damage than Growth and Decay but you get Movement Speed and chance to avoid elemental damage.

Avatar of the Hunt
  • 24% increased Damage with Bows
  • +200 to Evasion Rating
  • 6% increased Movement Speed
  • 24% increased Damage Over Time with Bow Skills
  • 20% increased Cooldown Recovery Speed of Movement Skills

Again, a bit less damage than the two above but Movement Speed and CDR on Blink Arrow is great.

Golem Commander
  • 20% increased Damage while you have a Summoned Golem
  • 30% increased Effect of Buffs granted by your Golems
  • Golems have 15% increased Maximum Life
  • +1 to maximum number of Golems


+1 Golem means your golems have 230% effect, so it's a bunch of Crit/Accuracy/Att Speed/Damage. It's quite effective and pairs really well with Primordial Chain (+3 Golems). If you want you can add a Stone Golem for the life regen and taunt or the Chaos Golem for the physical damage reduction.
That said, taking the nodes on the tree might be more efficient.

That's it for the best for damage notables. If you feel like you need more tankiness go for any big life node Golem's Blood is the best.
If you need resistances, Diamond Skin is the best (it also gives Movement Speed).



Other slots :
Spoiler


Boots :
Spoiler

Rare Boots


The newly added craftable mod "30% increased Effect of non-Damaging Ailments on Enemies" is huge for the build, it's around 6% more Damage in a single affix. Try to get boots with an open Suffix so you can craft it !

Except that nothing too crazy here, try to get all life and Movement Speed you can and cap your resists ! You can also get some Dexterity to save a point in the tree, Hopeshredder is Dex hungry.

Stats to search for on boots:
  • Life
  • Elemental Resistances (if not capped)
  • Movement speed
  • Open Suffix to craft the non-Damaging Ailments effect mod
  • Dexterity



Jewels :
Spoiler

As I mentionned before, Jewels and more precisely Abyssal Jewels are a huge part of the DPS. Don't hesitate to spend money on good ones, it will be worth it !
Rare Searching Eye Jewels


This is the type of jewel you want, as much Flat Cold and Lightning damage as possible.

! DO NOT TAKE ANY FLAT FIRE DAMAGE ! It will destroy Elemental Equilibrium and reduce the damage of the ignite by an awful lot.

List of mods useful to search on jewels by order of importance:
  • Adds # to # Cold Damage to Bow Attacks
  • Adds # to # Lightning Damage to Bow Attacks
  • Adds # to # Cold Damage to Attacks
  • Adds # to # Lightning Damage to Attacks
  • +# to maximum Life
  • #% increased Damage over Time while wielding a Two Handed Weapon
  • #% increased Effect of Shock
  • (corrupted implicit) #% increased Effect of non-Damaging Ailments on Enemies


Attack speed mods can be useful for the confort but don't sacrifice too much to get it on jewels.
You can also get one of these mods on one of the jewel for the quality of life :

  • #% chance to gain Phasing for # seconds on Kill
  • #% chance to gain Onslaught for # seconds on Kill
  • #% chance to Blind Enemies on Hit with Attacks


If well rolled Abyssal Jewels are too expensive try to find regular jewels with at least
#% Fire Damage over Time Multiplier

This new mod is a great multiplier and there is really few sources of it for us so it's quite valuable.


Flasks :
Spoiler



This is what I use currently but the Flask setup is really free because the only flasks that can boost Ignite damage are Sulphur flasks Cinderswallow Urn and Witchfire Brew, we cannot use the later because it applies a Despair Curse and remove our Flammability so it's not a good trade.

You at least want one anti Freeze, one anti Bleed and one anti Curse.



Enchantments on Helmet, Boots and Gloves :
Spoiler


For the helmet I would aim for one of these :
  • Scourge Arrow deals 40% increased Damage
  • 150% increased Effect of the Buff granted by your Fire Golems
  • (Lightning and Ice works too on a smaller scale)
  • Blood Rage grants additional 12% increased Attack Speed



For the boots I would choose in that order :
  • Adds 1 to 160 Lightning Damage if you haven't Killed Recently
  • Adds 45 to 68 Cold Damage if you've been Hit Recently
  • 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently
  • 10% increased Movement Speed if you haven't been Hit Recently
  • Regenerate 2% of Life and Mana per second if you were Hit Recently

If you roll "Adds 45 to 68 Fire Damage if you've Killed Recently", don't use the boots it will drastically reduce the Ignite damage because it will mess with Elemental Equilibrium.

For gloves I wouldn't bother too much but if you want one :
• Trigger Decree of Reflection when Hit, it spawns a double that can draw aggro for a short time.
• Trigger Decree of Light when you take a Critical Strike, it creates consecrated ground under yourself for a bit of hp regeneration.




5 - Gem Links
Spoiler

Gems will be sorted by order of importance.

Main Damage setup :

No need to gem swap for bosses, we use the same setup as when clearing maps.

Auras :

If you don't have Stormfire yet, use Herald of Ice instead of Herald of Thunder


Quality for Herald of Thunder is important as it gives up to 15% (even 17% with the 23% quality corruption) GLOBAL increased lightning damage which will increase Ignite damage.

Golems :

Use all three elemental Golems if you picked Elemancer, drop the Lightning if you picked Paragon of Calamity.

Curse + Frenzy Charge :

Try to maintain the Frenzy Charges, the buffs they give are really significant.
A good 6th link is Culling Strike, or if you have the Yoke of Suffering, Poison will add another 5% increased damage taken which will be more helpful on bosses with phases.


Blink Arrow + Blood Rage :


They are important but you can socket them anywhere, they don't need links.

CwDT setup :

Linking Phase Run to Cast when Damage Taken will remove your Frenzy Charges and drop the DoT from your bow when you take too much damage.
It's not that useful, I would recommend leveling it past the CwDT cap so you can control when you want to drop the Frenzy Charges.


6 - Leveling
Spoiler

I would recommend leveling as a Storm Brand character, this skill is crazy strong early on and the tree is not too far from what we are aiming for.
Basic guide is, pick Freezing Pulse at level 2, swap to Storm Brand at level 12 and stick with it until you switch to Hopeshredder(level 60 ideally).

If it's your first league or if you have no clue about how to level up a spell build, here is a very detailed and complete Leveling guide made by ShermanDiablo

Recommended cheap leveling items :




Leveling Trees :

28 points : poeurl.com/cxZO - Rush Elemental Overload and take the 3 Brand nodes as soon as you unlock Storm Brand
47 points : poeurl.com/cxZP - I wouldn't recommend doing first lab too early as it is not really impactful but if you do, pick Shaper of Desolation
66 points : poeurl.com/cxZV - Pick Runebinder then path to the Scion's Life wheel.
84 points : poeurl.com/cxZ0 - Start picking up minions nodes.
95 points: poeurl.com/cxZ1 - You should start switching to the Hopeshredder setup as soon possible, level 60 ideally if you have the items. Pick Elemental Equilibrium when you do so and don't forget to remove all the Brand related nodes ! Also note the subtle changes near Divine Judgment and Holy Dominion.

You can now go to the end game tree at the start of this guide :)



7 - Hardcore players look this way !
Spoiler

I am not a HC player, but I received a lot of questions about how to play this build in HC so I made an effort and tried to come up with something.
This version of the build will have way less damage potential but should be able to keep you alive for most of the game content barring the hardest encounters. (Uber Elder, 350+ deep delves and delve bosses)

I didn't go in too much of details here because I assume you are experienced enough in the game to play HC. If something isn't described in this section, it means it's the same as the normal version.

PoB
For those who don't have time to lose reading guides : https://pastebin.com/K5a15QHs
This is the most HC it can get while keeping decent damage, I listed the alternative gear in the item list, look at the unused items.



Tree
Use this Hardcore setup : poeurl.com/co1k
You lose around one third of the damage compared to the recommended setup, but it is still enough to farm Red maps. And you gain 1k hp, Acro + Phase Acro, so it's way safer.

Gear
This version still use the mandatory uniques described in the 4 - Gear section

• Helm
Hale Negator
Really good helmet, big hits are way less scary.

• Body Armor
Belly of the Beast, Lorweave (with 80% max res)

The two best defensive unique chests for this build. Either is fine but I feel like Lorweave is great because of most of the damage is elemental.

Kaom's Heart can work too but you will become really socket starved.
You need at least 6s for Scourge Arrow, 3s for the golems, 2s for the auras, 2 sockets for Blink/Blood Rage. So if you use Kaom's Heart there is only 4 socket left for Frenzy, Curse on Hit setup and the CwDT setup.
Taking Paragon of Calamity instead of Elemancer to gain a socket slot (drop Lightning Golem) and gain a bit of defenses in the process should be just enough to squeeze everything in.

• Quiver
Drillneck or Rearguard

If you really want to feel extra safe and don't want to route to Acro/Phase Acro, the block from Rearguard will do the trick. It comes at the price of Drillneck damage.

A Rare Quiver Elder base with Life, % increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills and 3 to 6 Cold Damage per Frenzy Charge would be great damage wise too.



• Amulet, Boots and second Ring
Your best bet would be to skip the uniques, any Rare item with high amount of life and res will do the trick.

If you still want uniques in those slots :

Hinekora's Sight adds Dodge and Spell Dodge which pairs well with Acro/Phase Acro.
Alternatively, if you use Rearguard, The Anvil will add another source of Block and Life on Block.
Your call on what type of defenses you prefer (Block, Dodge or Life)

If you capped your resistances with the other slots, Atziri's Step adds a fair amount of Life and Spell Dodge. Bubonic Trail give a bit of %hp and allow you to socket two Abyssal jewels with 40+ life each.





F.A.Q
Running out of characters for the guide so I relocated the F.A.Q.
Spoiler




If you have any question or want to discuss item choice or pathing or anything build related just write it in this thread so it can help other players too !
Also don't hesitate to post your progression with this build if you try it yourself !

Thanks for reading :)

[3.7] Scourge Arrow, Ignite Proliferation Elementalist. Melt T15 on a budget, All content viable.
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2222701
____________
[3.7] Shocking Elementalist, Lightning Tendrils Cast when Channeling Arc. Budget version included
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2109605
Last edited by Swiks on Sep 26, 2019, 1:23:39 PM
Last bumped on Mar 21, 2020, 4:01:39 AM
What do you think of this tree for a HC build?

https://pastebin.com/MTv2Cj2M
would you be able to push farther with kaoms heart instead?
"
leaderzz0rz wrote:
What do you think of this tree for a HC build?

https://pastebin.com/MTv2Cj2M


Going on that side of the tree works, I changed minor things mainly to get Jewel sockets that can be extremly valuable offensive and defensive wise : www.poeurl.com/b5R4
If you take Mind Over Matter be ready to include Clarity in your gear or you will have a hard time regenerating mana when hit. No regen maps will require a mana flask too, or a reroll.


"
liekmudkips wrote:
would you be able to push farther with kaoms heart instead?


Kaom's Heart would work too if you feel the need to more HP.

I did not include it in the recommended items because the lack of sockets is a bit of a problem. We need at least 6s for Scourge Arrow, 3s for the golems, 2s for the aura, 2 sockets for Blink/Blood Rage. So if you use Kaom's heart there is only 4 socket left for Frenzy, Curse on Hit setup and the CwDT setup.
Maybe take Paragon of Calamity instead of Elemancer to gain a socket slot (drop Lightning Golem) that should be just enough to squeeze everything in.

If you are ready to pay 2ex+ for a Kaom's Heart you may also want to look at an Elder base chest with 100+ HP 10%+ max HP and other Life regen/recovery mods they offer good defenses for a moderate price and you get to keep the sockets for more flexibility.
[3.7] Scourge Arrow, Ignite Proliferation Elementalist. Melt T15 on a budget, All content viable.
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2222701
____________
[3.7] Shocking Elementalist, Lightning Tendrils Cast when Channeling Arc. Budget version included
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2109605
Last edited by Swiks on Sep 21, 2018, 6:18:12 AM
Hi man, I'm really struggling with survivability with this build. First, my gear:

Spoiler



Then, tree:



I suffer from tons of 1shots and rapid hits if I don't kill everything quickly. Can you help me with some tips, please?
"
sparkergg wrote:
Hi man, I'm really struggling with survivability with this build. First, my gear:

Spoiler



Then, tree:



I suffer from tons of 1shots and rapid hits if I don't kill everything quickly. Can you help me with some tips, please?


Hey !

I'm actually trying to do a deathless run of Uber Elder but couldn't manage to do it with the damage tree, so I switched to something like that : www.poeurl.com/b6b1. It should solve the one shots and might suit your playstyle more. If you really struggle with HP consider dropping the Yoke for an amulet with 70+ hp and enough dex to get rid of the +30 in the tree.

If it's still not enough for you, you will have to sacrifice some damage to go all defensive. Drop the Taming for an Essence Worm and put Wrath in it (or drop Yoke for Aul's Uprising with Wrath reserve no Mana if you are an extremely rich guy) doing so allows you to pick MoM and Healthy mind nodes. A Belly of the Beast would be good to cap the resist and give another 40% maximum life, Cloak of Defiance is also an okay choice for the 40% MoM.

If you plan on facing T16 maps with dangerous mods or Shaper/Uber, Loreweave will be your best bet, the 80% max res are really good for this build.
[3.7] Scourge Arrow, Ignite Proliferation Elementalist. Melt T15 on a budget, All content viable.
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2222701
____________
[3.7] Shocking Elementalist, Lightning Tendrils Cast when Channeling Arc. Budget version included
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2109605
Hi,

Just a quick question, in your forum guide here, you do NOT use added lightning or cold gem, but on the PoB links you use cold in the budget and lightning in the endgame one. What should i choose?
"
kskytte wrote:
Hi,

Just a quick question, in your forum guide here, you do NOT use added lightning or cold gem, but on the PoB links you use cold in the budget and lightning in the endgame one. What should i choose?


Hey !

The only PoB where I used Added Light was the one I posted on Reddit iirc, and someone pointed out that it was a lot better to use Unbound Ailment (comparable damage but you gain Ignite duration and Shock Effectiveness) so I adapted the PoB for the forum guide.

I would say start with Added Cold until level 80 where you can equip Stormfire then switch to Unbound Ailments.
[3.7] Scourge Arrow, Ignite Proliferation Elementalist. Melt T15 on a budget, All content viable.
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2222701
____________
[3.7] Shocking Elementalist, Lightning Tendrils Cast when Channeling Arc. Budget version included
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2109605
Last edited by Swiks on Sep 27, 2018, 5:36:15 PM
Hey dude, nice build, rerolled mine to pick your ideia. I made a few changes in the tree and came so you can help me. I put a fire born jewel at the top of witch area to change the lighting damage to fire and I'm feeling REALLY squish. only 4k life (tabula) but almost no evasion (my gear need improvements, I know), no armour, how I don't get one shoted in delves? If you wanna look my profile, my char are "necroopeventr" but I'm still using orbs of regret to make the right trasition to your build.
"
iunoso wrote:
Hey dude, nice build, rerolled mine to pick your ideia. I made a few changes in the tree and came so you can help me. I put a fire born jewel at the top of witch area to change the lighting damage to fire and I'm feeling REALLY squish. only 4k life (tabula) but almost no evasion (my gear need improvements, I know), no armour, how I don't get one shoted in delves? If you wanna look my profile, my char are "necroopeventr" but I'm still using orbs of regret to make the right trasition to your build.


Hey ! Thanks for trying my build :)

When you have enough regrets you can aim for that type of tree www.poeurl.com/b6yR. Just that will give you around 400+ hp

I see you already have Stormfire, in that case Fireborn do next to nothing for the build. Lightning damage can Ignite so any increase to Lightning damage will indirectly buff Ignite. A Jewel with life and a mod or two of flat lightning/cold will be way better.

I don't know what your budget is at the moment but i'm pretty sure you can change those boots, you are way overcapped in res. Something like that and craft fire+light res with Haku 7 would be good.
You also could change your helm for a Hale Negator, and add 2 jewels with life on it. It will boost your survivability by a lot.

Don't worry too much about Armor, it's not that good anyway. Evasion doesn't do that much for the build so I wouldn't bother with Grace but as you want, but if you feel safer with it that's okay too.

It will never be a facetank type of build, but you should be pretty safe with a few more HP when your tree will be completely transitioned and a few item changes. A last thing you could do is switch to a Belly of the Beast, even if you have to downgrade to a 5L (drop Unbound Ailments) the damage will not drop too much and will be way safer !
[3.7] Scourge Arrow, Ignite Proliferation Elementalist. Melt T15 on a budget, All content viable.
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2222701
____________
[3.7] Shocking Elementalist, Lightning Tendrils Cast when Channeling Arc. Budget version included
pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2109605

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