[3.12] bOOgy's Kinetic Blast Wander (Assassin) - ZOOMING T16s on a budget



Introduction:

This is my variation of a Kinetic Blast/Power Siphon Wander played as an Assassin.

This always seemed like a "Veteran" build to me, so I thought a fresh look at it could help to make it accessible for newer players. Especially the Spellslinger addition really shines here.

The build has incredible clear speed for maps and doesn’t take much effort to gear or level.
I also wanted to have decent and consistent single target damage without relying on Inspired Learning or Headhunter buffs.

The build is very flexible and can be adjusted to your liking.
You have to play carefully against bosses, but you have all the tools to fight them.

Conquerors and Sirus AL8 are perfectly fine with this build. But you cannot facetank them. Simulacrum is fine to ~wave 19.

If you have any questions, let me know in this thread or when I'm streaming on https://www.twitch.tv/boogywc <3



Changes in 3.12
Because of the Spellslinger mana reservation changes, you might have to tweak your mana reservation a little bit. But it should not have a huge impact. I would consider to keep precision at a bit lower lever, and maybe not use the phys to lightning support in the wave of conviction-spellslinger setup. This is more like an inconvenience. Just make sure that you dont run into mana issues.
Everything else will still work the same way.
I converted the passive tree in the PoB-Link to 3.12, but i changed nothing.

Changes in 3.11
Nothing really changes.
You could maybe consider to use Enduring Cry instead of chaos golem, but Warcries without any supporting passives on the tree seem a little weak - but could be tested, i guess ;)

I added a Orb of Storm / Ball Lightning alternative for leveling in Leaguestart conditions (example ItemSet, skills and passive tree).
I was considering to start with this in SSFHC, but i couldnt get enough defence to be deathproof.
I would definitely start with this build in SC-Tradeleague though ;)


Video Guide:

I also made a guide on Youtube if you are into that:
Youtube Guide


Pro's & Con's:

+ very efficient for mapping
+ good linear progress in dps per currency spend
+ decent against most bosses
+ Using endgame skills very early on
+ engaging gameplay
+ Off Meta

- you have to dodge boss mechanics D:
- can’t do elemental reflect maps
- some variations can be hard for the GGG Servers D:


Gear:
I highly recommend using Path of Building Community Fork.
There is an endgame gear set and an extra leveling gear set.
The passive tree in PoB has 2 extra versions for leveling to Endgame.

[EDIT]Added League Start Caster Leveling to Maps in PoB

https://pastebin.com/pT6m933z

You can find the latest Version of "Path of Building Community Fork" here.

Endgame

Alternative for Body Armour would be Inpulsa's Broken Heart.
Even a 5-link should be good for a long time.

If you dont know how to craft good flasks, watch this: https://youtu.be/Bm3aXY19e-w (12min video)


UsefulForLeveling

Storm Prison (lvl 12 - VERY strong and cheap)
Tabula Rasa
Wanderlust
Goldrim
Prismweave
Praxis or Thief's Torment

If you dont have access to a Storm Prison Wand, you are looking for 2 decent rare wands with elemental damage to attacks (cold,fire or lightning), spell damage, critical strike chance and attack speed.


WeaponCrafting

Base: Imbued Wand ilvl 82+ , preferably with Crusader influence
Use Essence of Wrath (Shrieking or Deafening). It guarantees X-Y Lightning Damage to Attacks
You look for:

Prefix:
-High X-Y Elemental damage (local to weapon damage- NOT spells)
-Spell damage

Suffix:
-Critical strike chance (for base weapon critical strike chance, NOT spell crit or crit multiplier)
-Increased Attack Speed

The perfect roll would look something like this (but very unrealistic to roll everything perfect):




Gem Setup: (In order of importance)
Spoiler

Single Target:
Power Siphon - Elemental Damage with Attacks - Barrage Support - Energy Leech - Damage on Full Life - Added Lightning Damage

Clear Skill:
Kinetic Blast - Elemental Damage with Attacks - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Energy Leech
An alternative for GMP would be Greater Volley Support. Feels pretty good, too.

Mana Reservation:
1.:Spellslinger - Conductivity - Wave of Conviction - Physical to Lightning

2.:Herald of Thunder - Onslaught

3.:Precision (lvl 20+)

Utility:
Cast when Damage Taken (lvl 5) - Immortal Call (lvl 7) - Summon Chaos Golem (lvl 7) - Increased Duration (max lvl)
(Golem is up to you)

Movement:
Flame Dash - Second Wind - Faster Casting
(Dash if you like it more)

AlternativeManaReservation
for Phys-explosion chest only.
This might cause Server/fps issues and has less single target dmg:

Herald of Ash - Burning Damage Support - Swift Affliction - Deadly Ailments
Herald of Ice - Onslaught - Innervate

You would lose the Spellslinger setup and Herald of Thunder.



Skills for leveling:
If you need some help for skills to use while leveling until you have access to endgame setup:
Spoiler

A1:
Single Target:
1.: Stormblast Mine - Swift Assembly - Added Lightning Damage
2.: Orb of Storms - Added Lightning Damage - Added Cold Damage
Clear Skill: Kinetic Bolt - Onslaught - Volley Support - Added Lightning Damage - Added Cold Damage
Mana reservation: Precision

For movement whatever you prefer.

At the end you get access to:
Power Siphon - Added Lightning Damage - Added Cold Damage

A2:
Pick up Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice
Another solid single target option:
Wave of Conviction - Physical to Lightning - Faster Casting
You also get access to Elemental Damage to Attacks support. If you have an extra link on any wand skill, put it in there ;)

A3:
Spellslinger Setup rdy
You can disable Herald of Thunder until you have enough mana sustain.
Herald of Ice will help more for clearing.

A4:
Barrage Support for Power Siphon
Stone Golem is excellent for survivability (Labyrinth/Trials!)

__________________________________________

As an example, I'll post what your complete setup could look like at the beginning of Act 6:


Single Target:
Power Siphon - Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - Barrage Support - Added Lightning Damage support -
If you have a more than 4 links, add these: Addded Cold Damage support - Innervate Support

Clear Skill:
Kinetic Blast - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Added lightning damage support - Elemental Damage with Attacks Support

Mana Reservation:
1.:Spellslinger - Conductivity - Wave of Conviction -
If you have a free 4th link, add Physical to Lightning

2.: Herald of Ice - Onslaught

3.: Precision (lvl as high as your mana can handle it or until you are at 100% chance to hit. Don't overlevel it, its just nice to have at this point. You should be comfortable with mana)

Movement:
Flame Dash - Second Wind - Faster Casting
(Dash if you like it more)

Utility:
Cast when Damage Taken (lvl 5) - Immortal Call (lvl 7) - Summon Stone Golem (lvl 7) -
If you have a free slot in a 4 link: Increased Duration (max lvl)
(Golem is up to you, and you could run the golem separate of the cast then damage taken setup and level it higher, it has decent survivabilty before Endgame)




Passive Tree:
I highly recommend using Path of Building.
I have a leveling tree and proper endgame tree here:

https://pastebin.com/pT6m933z

You can find the latest Version of "Path of Building Community Fork" here.

Alternative is here:
Generic Endgame Tree
A1-A5
A6-A10


Bandits
Help Alira

Pantheon
Major: Brine King
Minor: Shakari (you are flexible here)

--------------------------------

That's all I got for now. I will be reading here if questions come up and try to improve the guide wherever needed.
Last edited by boogywc on Sep 18, 2020, 11:47:02 AM
Last bumped on Feb 12, 2021, 3:37:06 PM
Was watching your stream, loved the content and gameplay of this build.I love the survivability and how itmelts content/maps. I was searching for a build to play and i guess i found one : D. One question tho, any alternatives for that chest? Maybe and explode one would be better?
"
Was watching your stream, loved the content and gameplay of this build.I love the survivability and how itmelts content/maps. I was searching for a build to play and i guess i found one : D. One question tho, any alternatives for that chest? Maybe and explode one would be better?


I don't quite get the question, because i do use a crusader influenced explosion chest :D
Inpulsa works, too. But if you would want to mix it up, you could use a regular life/resistance chest and get clearing explosions from herald of ice.
Clearspeed should not be a concern at all with Kinetic Blast :)
Nevermind!
Last edited by Jenjur on Apr 28, 2020, 1:42:30 PM
okay need to ask two different things first, Is the enchant on the helmet is that important? that escalated the price from 2 chaos to 4 exalts. Also can i use void battery as my wand?
Enchant on helm is not that important. It will help with single target. I got mine pretty cheap, otherwise i wouldnt have used it. I used the helm without any enchants for a long time.

Void Battery doesnt really work, because you get a lot of spell damage, but you really want the flat elemental damage from the wands. It really doesnt have to be a crazy expensive wand. i would highly recommend crafting it yourself with essences.
Thank you so much for replying, Now i'm building your build and almost , I'm rn 84 Assassin till now i'm a little bit satisfied as i'm clearing maps tier 11-12 no problem but the real problem is that i'm so squishy although i have 4k hp ,almost 3k es and the tooltip dps on the KB is a little bit low maybe around 30k or something i don't have any idea why to be honest
May i give you my POB to take a look?
Hey, sure. I see your character in your poe profile.

A few things:

1. Your flasks. You use the same flasks that i am using, but you dont have the same Affixes on them.
You need Bleed removal, freeze removal (you have that twice :P) and curse removal. The prefix (experimenter) is not that important. Chemists would be equally good. If you want some further help, i made a youtube video about it Basic Flask crafting
Technically, you also want shock removal, but in softcore you go blasting with the Dying sun, which you already picked up ;))

2. You crafted spell crit on your wand. That doesnt help, because if you look at the power siphon or kinetic blast gem, it says "attack" on it ;) So you can just craft the normal crit for the weapon on it (or attack speed).

3. You overleveled your Immortal Call / Chaos Golem setup. Look at my gem lvl. its way lower. Reason is: it procs more often. Just delete the gems and buy new ones from the vendor and relevel them. If they get a level up, you can "Right click" the gem level up and it will not level further :D (if you want to continue to level the gem, you can do so, it will appear in your inventory at the bottem somewhere.

[EDIT]
4. One more thing, Try out Energy leech instead of added lightning damage support in your inpulsa. I would value that higher if you run it on a 5 link. Its a little bit less dmg, but it works better with your items and leech = better survivability when bursting down bosses.
[/EDIT]

Thats what i can tell you so far. And dont mind the tooltip dps, it is very inaccurate in most cases. For example, look at the tooltip in your hideout, and then when you are in a map with full frenzy and power charges. Then you have to multiply the dmg for every projectile, and then all the explosions.... its just dumb to calculate ;)

PS: I edited the Flask Setup into the Equipment in the main post! Oops, forgot that! :)
AND also the Utility Gem setup for better understanding with the gem level! :)
Last edited by boogywc on May 4, 2020, 7:12:50 PM
Hello. This is first my assasin build. It is awesome! Im wondering about which one wand is better because I crafted one with:
10-18 fire damage
21-283 lightning damage
27% incr cold damage
15% penetrate light res
37% projectile speed
9% attack speed / 12% quality

and second:
23% incr lightning damage
16-257 lightning damage
18-32 cold damage to spells so sad ;<
17% attack speed
+137 mana
28% multiplier

Tooltip says this second one has better dps but in my opinion this first one should be better...
Hey, nice to see you playing it. (and you already got some nice stuff)

You cant compare tooltip dps there, because the lightning penetration doesnt show up (as you probably suspected).
Thats a very good affix for sure.

If you want to compare, you have to do it in Path of Building or just testing it ingame in a map :) Maybe it just feels better immediately.
I tried to manually type it in PoB, but thats a major Pain in the ass and would be much easier if you do it yourself. :D
If you load your character into PoB, you can compare the dmg of the wands pretty quickly. You can copy items with CTRL-C ingame (with your mouse curson on them) and then press CTRL-V while you are in PoB. It will create the item immediately.

And for the second wand, you should try crafting regular critical strike chance on it. It will improve the base crit chance of your wand, which will net into more dps overall. And then you compare them ;)

Without comparing it in PoB, i think i would agree with you though. The first one looks better to me. But to judge it correctly, I would compare them in PoB.

PS: Your Flasks are not super bad, but also far from optimal. I linked my youtube video in the post above yours, check that out! ;)

PS2: I edited the description in the original guide post about weapon crafting for better understanding. Thx for replying, I learn with you to be clearer in my description :)
Last edited by boogywc on May 6, 2020, 1:27:16 PM

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