[3.5 Discontinued] Occultist Herald of Agony | 8.4k Life | Tri-Curse | 900k Shaper DPS

● 16 Jan 2019 - Added a Static Strike Setup to the Leveling and Budget Guide Section.
● 15 Jan 2019 - Added Poison on Hit Setups to the Gem Links Section. Added Blade flurry and Static Strike Setups.
● 9 Jan 2019 - Added a visual guide to the "Budget Replacements" section.

● https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2301897#p16129066

Poison application is very important. To achieve High Stacks of Virulence for our Agony Crawler we need to keep applying Poison as fast as possible and as often as possible.


Mortem Morsu is the only Unique required to play this build with fluidity in my opinion. It has high attack speed and a whopping 60% chance to Poison on hit. Bringing our total % chance to Poison on hit to 80% (Herald of Agony gives us 20% to Poison on hit).

Once you have acquired a 6-linked Cospri's Will you can replace Mortem Morsu with Severed in Sleep.

In order to keep up 40 Virulence stacks we use Molten Strike. When paired with Widlfire Crimson Jewel, Greater Multiple Projectiles, Multistrike and Faster Attacks we can produce a substantial number of projectiles and easily sustain 40 Virulence stacks. Life gain on hit now becomes a powerful defensive tool as we can achieve multiple hits in a single attack.

Dominating Blow is especially good as the Magic and Rare Sentinels will keep all special attributes of the enemy it was raised from, including auras which will be applied to the player and all allies. This increases our Map Clear Speed. It's like having a "Mini Headhunter".

● Onslaught
● Profane Bloom
● Shield Charge + Faster Attacks for movement and dodging
● Adrenaline Quicksilver Flask
● Frenzy Charges for our Herald of Agony via Poacher's Mark
● Cursed enemies have 30-41% less Evasion via Poacher's Mark (Helps with Minion Accuracy)
● 15 second Wither via Withering Presence
● Void Beacon
● Malediction
● Helmet Enchantment - Summoned Agony Crawler Fires 2 Additional Projectiles

● 8.4k Life
Resistances :-
77% Fire Resistance
76% Cold Resistance
78% Lightning Resistance
59% Chaos Resistance

● 690 Life regeneration per second
● Fortify
● Enfeeble
● Temporal Chains
● Decoy Totem
● Cast When Damage Taken + Immortal Call
● Life Gain on Hit via Poacher's Mark
● Malediction
● Dominating Blow minions as meat shields
● Chance to Blind via Abyss Jewel
● Cannot be Frozen on Boots via the Crafting Bench

Defensive Focused Flasks : -
● Curse Immunity and Consecrated Ground from our Sulphur Flask
● Bleed Removal from our Life Flask
● Shock Immunity and Removal from our Granite Flask
● 20% of Physical Damage taken as Cold Damage from our Taste of Hate

Pantheon : -
Major Gods
● Soul of the Brine King
- You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds (Prevents Chain-Stuns)
- 30% increased Stun and Block Recovery
- You cannot be Frozen if you've been Frozen Recently
- 50% reduced Effect of Chill on You

Minor Gods
There are a lot of good choices here.
My personal choice :
● Soul of Shakari for Poison Immunity and Reduced Chaos Damage Taken.

Body Armour
Herald of Agony + Withering Touch + Pierce + Damage on Full Life + Maim + Minion Damage

Helmet
Blasphemy + Enfeeble + Temporal Chains + Desecrate

Gloves
● Molten Strike + Multistrike + Greater Multiple Projectiles + Faster Attacks + Wildfire Crimson Jewel

● Blade Flurry + Slower Projectiles/Faster Attacks/Greater Multiple Projectiles + Cast While Channelling + Ball Lightning + Adds # to # Chaos Damage to Spells(while holding a Shield), Hypnotic Eye Jewel

● Winter Orb + Lesser Poison + Greater Multiple Projectiles

● Ball Lightning + Lesser Poison + Greater Multiple Projectiles/Slower Projectiles

Boots
● Dominating Blow + Ancestral Call + Melee Splash + Fortify

● Static Strike + Chain + Ancestral Call + Fortify

Weapon
Shield Charge + Faster Attacks + Decoy Totem

Shield
Cast When Damage Taken + Immortal Call + Spirit Offering

Unset Ring
Convocation

● Kill All

Dangerous Map Mods
● Players cannot Regenerate Life, Mana or Energy Shield
● -(12-9)% maximum Player Resistances
● Monsters have a 65% chance to avoid Poison, Blind, and Bleeding

Doable Map Mods but should be avoided if possible
● Monsters have a 45% chance to avoid Poison, Blind, and Bleeding
● 60% less effect of Curses on Monsters
● Players have 60% less Recovery Rate of Life and Energy Shield

Map Mods that we can SAFELY DO
● Monsters reflect XX% of Elemental and Physical Damage
● Cannot Leech Life and Mana from Monsters
● Monsters are Hexproof

I've included the various leveling trees into Path of Building as well.
https://pastebin.com/UpQjF1qq

Is this build Hardcore viable?
Yes. Look under the "Defenses" section if you have doubts.
I've also reached level 100 with this build.

If I want to forego this Build's defenses and just focus on maximizing my DPS what should I do ?
Simply swap out the Defensive Curses for Offensive Curses like Projectile Weakness and Despair.

I'm having trouble keeping up Virulence stacks for my Herald of Agony.
Swap out the Dominating Blow Setup for a Static Strike Setup.

● Dominating Blow setup
Dominating Blow + Melee Splash + Ancestral Call + Fortify

● Static Strike setup
Static Strike + Chain + Ancestral Call + Fortify

You can also use The Golden Rule Jewel. https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Golden_Rule

How to get double virulence stacks using golden rule? I don't see how the mechanics work here.

The Golden rule reflects poisons you inflict. Selfpoisoning counts towards virulence.

Be careful when using this jewel. Make sure you have sufficient Chaos Resistance.

Source : https://old.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/a36xd2/herald_of_purity_and_herald_of_agony/eb46ht2/

How's the Build as a League Starter?
If you're a Path of Exile Veteran this build can bring you all the way to Red Maps and beyond. The Passive Skill Tree can easily be turned into a Storm Brand/Arc Totem Build, if you wish to rush through the early stages of a new league.

If you're a casual/newer Path of Exile player this Build can be difficult to level with as you will need to get Gems from other Classes and Dexterity can be difficult to find in the early stages of a new league. Furthermore, you will have to respec a couple of points on the skill tree.

This is just a rough guide. It is by no means the best/fastest method.
There are plenty of ways to level.

● From level 1-16 use Freezing Pulse linked with Onslaught Support + Frost Bomb to clear packs fast. Explosive trap linked with Combustion Support for single target.
● Once you're level 16, you can now equip Herald of Agony. You can continue leveling as a caster if you wish.

If not you'll need the following setup :-
Molten Strike + Lesser Poison + Faster Attacks (Level 18)
Static Strike + Lesser Poison + Ancestral Call + Melee Splash/Faster Attacks
● Once you have equipped Mortem Morsu you can replace Lesser Poison for another Support Gem.

You can also use the Ball Lightning Setup : -
● Ball Lightning + Lesser Poison + Greater Multiple Projectiles/Slower Projectiles

Herald of Agony + Pierce + Minion Damage
Spirit Offering
Desecrate

Best if you have high attack speed weapon. You can Dual Wield for more attack speed if not use a Shield for better defense. Remember to get Dexterity on your Gear and on the Passive Skill Tree.

● 6-link Cospri's Will + Severed in Sleep for >>> Tabula Rasa + Mortem Morsu
(Or any other decent 6-link body armor. Even a 5-link Cospri's Will will suffice.)
● Solstice Vigil for >>> Asenath's Gentle Touch
● Curse on Hit Poacher's Mark Ring for >>> Mark of Submission
● Taste of Hate for >>> Basalt Flask

Additional Skill Points from Book of Skill(s) are not included in the following skill trees : -
- Level 25 Tree
- Level 35 Tree
- Level 50 Tree
- Level 70 Tree

Level 25 Tree


Level 35 Tree


Level 50 Tree + Wildfire Crimson Jewel


Level 70 Tree + Careful Planning Viridian Jewel + Use your respec points here


Level 94 Tree + All Book of Skill(s) + Bandits, Kill All

● Lesser Poison Support
● Herald of Agony - Requires level 16
● Poison Support - Requires level 31
● Mortem Morsu - Requires level 34
● Cospri's Will - Requires level 72