[3.13] The Bard's Soulrend Trickster | Ele. Ailment Immunity | League Starter | Up to Date!
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Hello there everyone! Claeysken's Soulrend/Bane Trickster was the first build I have played in this game, and even though I've played countless builds after that, I was still captivated by the smooth desolation that Soulrend brought upon the helpless beings all around the atlas. So I dwelled on the idea of creating my own variation of this magnificent skill. But at last, after several failed attempts in Standard, I managed to complete a build that can do all content with ease.
3.13 Update
Spoiler
Even though a nerf hit us from ascendency, I'm happy to see a league that can be dominated with this build. Now that reaching +5m DPS on a self-cast Soulrend build is highly unattainable without mirror tier items, I did an overhaul to the build to be much more tanky instead while keeping a respectable amount of damage.
Changelog
1.4
Major overhaul to the build itself.
1.3
PoB Links updated with minor changes, adjusted to 3.12.
1.2
Added several gameplay videos.
1.1
Seperate PoB's for budget build and endgame build.
Visual overhaul to the build guide. Changed the anoint of the amulet. Pros and Cons +Beginner friendly gameplay +Can run all map mods. +Can do all content, including Sirus, Uber Elder, Blight maps etc. +Fast mapper. Reliable offscreen clear potential. +Very safe playstyle with capped dodge and very high evasion, along with immunity to all elemental ailments. +Can be a great league-starter. It doesn't require lots of investments to annihilate red maps. -Like most of the builds out there, it requires lots of currency to perfect the build. -You won't survive the hits from big boys such as Sirus, Elder, Shaper if they hit. -Lots of off-colour sockets. Overwiev +5k Life +3m Soulrend DPS against Sirus/Shaper 78% Evade chance. 75% Attack and Spell Dodge chance with flasks. Culling Strike against cursed enemies. So overall, if you want to be able to do all content, into DoT builds that can take down big bosses quickly, and looking for insane clear speed, this build might be for you. Media Maze of the Minotaur Pit of the Chimera Lair of the Hydra Forge of the Phoenix Shaper Passive Skill Tree
Spoiler
Skill Tree with Cluster Jewels and endame Gear: https://pastebin.com/XeSQcdXJ
Patient Reaper > Prolonged Pain > Ghost Dance > Escape Artist Budget Gear and Leveling Tree: https://pastebin.com/eWVTvay6
Notes
I highly recommend to get your cluster jewels when you complete the budget tree. Even with sub-optimal large and medium cluster jewels, the build shines with dodge/elemental ailment immunity small clusters.
Bandits
Spoiler
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iu5RT-3Kk08
Skill Gems Soulrend - 6-Link Weapon
Text-Based
Soulrend=>Controlled Destruction Support=>Swift Affliction Support=>Efficacy Support=>Empower Support=>Void Manipulation Support /Greater Multiple Projectiles Support
Explanation
This is our main skill. We use this setup in our Weapon slot because we can get +1 Level to All Socketed skills and +2 Level to Socketed Support Skills on our bow, which boosts our damage significantly. Note that I have listed 7 gems; we can pull off everything with Greater Multiple Projectiles Support as well, but it costs us 1.5m DPS, and it is not very desirable against bosses such as Sirus or Shaper. We don't need the clearspeed that GMP offers, so we switch with Void Manipulation Support for these fellas. You can kill them without Void Manipulation Support as well, but it will take more time and in big boss fights you really would like to end the fight as soon as possible.
Wither Totem - 3-Link Boots
Text-Based
Wither=>Spell Totem Support=>Multiple Totems Support
Explanation
Without wither, chaos DoT tickles bosses. With wither, it melts them.
Vaal Blight - 2-Link Gloves
Text-Based
Vaal Blight => Increased Duration Support
Explanation
We use Vaal Blight to inflict a massive debuff to our enemies, boosting our DPS quite a bit, and we slam an Increased Duration Support to make sure that debuff stays on them as long as possible.
Bane 3-Link Helmet
Text-Based
Bane=>Despair=>Efficacy Support
Explanation
Bane allows us to inflict Despair to the enemies with additional DPS. Despair itslf is a massive boost to our DPS. Efficacy support allows us to squeeze out a bit more DPS from Bane. You can add another support such as Void Manipulation to increase this additional DPS as well, but I prefer Portal, I don't like switching weapons for that.
Auras 4/5-Link Body Armour
Text-Based
Malevolence=>Zealotry=>Flesh and Stone=>Enlighten Support
Explanation
Malevolence and Zealotry boosts our DPS significantly, and thanks to Zealotry, we gain Arcane Surge whenever we create Consecrated Ground with the modifier from Watcher's Eye. Flesh and Stone is just too great to skip as a defensive aura for every single build, even for those who don't stack evasion at all. Helps us to have a respectable evasion rating. If/when you can afford a level 4 Enlighten Support gem, you can add in a Dread Banner for even more evasion rating.
Movement
Text-Based
Flame Dash
Explanation
You can use any movement skill you prefer, but I prefer using Flame Dash as it is the best option available for us.
Cast When Damage Taken Setup 2-Link Gloves
Text-Based
Immortal Call=>Cast When Damage Taken Support
Explanation
I think our life pool makes Immortal Call superior to Steelskin, but if you have a lower life pool you might use the latter one.
Gear
Spoiler
In-Depth
Weapon
This bow is one of the most useful weapons we can use overall. Warlord Suffix "Skills fire an additional projectile" works with Soulrend, further improving our clear speed and also gives you room to use another support gem instead of Greater Multiple Projectiles Support.
You can hit higher DPS numbers with dual-wand setups if you use some extremely good wands but your survivability will suffer a bit because you will be giving up the life and resists from your quiver, and you will spend several mirrors to acquire a single of those said wands.
Quiver
We want life, DoT multiplier and Chaos DoT multiplier here. Resistances are sweet as well. Try to find one with T1 life, T1 DoT multiplier and if you can handle the resistances, DoT multiplier. You can also get +% to Maximum Chaos Resistance here, which is not that important but it was easy to get in harvest so I went for it.
Armour
Hyrri's Ire gives a huge boost to our evasion, and the attack&spell dodge is the icing on the cake. The most important aspect of our survivability is avoiding the damage, and Hyrri's Ire is the best in slot to pull it off. We don't need a 6-Link so it should be affordable early on. I suggest you to colour your sockets with Harvest options or Jewellers method on your crafting bench.
Helmet
We use a rare Hubris Circlet here, preferrably with the "Soulrend Fires an Additional Projectile" enchant. With this enchant and the Warlord suffix from our bow, we shoot 3 projectiles without Dying Sun or Greater Multiple Projectiles Support. With 3 projectiles you can blind-shoot conquerors or bosses, as they will seek and destroy, but it usually is not enough to clear maps effectively. Either use GMP Support or Dying Sun for mapping. Nearby enemies have -9% to Chaos resistance is an excellent modifier to boost our DPS as well.
Boots
Atziri's Step is the only unique item we wear except for the body armour in the end. It is not expensive from the early on, allows our spell dodge to hit the cap with flask on, and gives a significant amount of evasion along with a nice boost of life. Unless you are extremely deprived of resistances/attributes, don't bother trying to find a pair of rare boots.
Belt
Stygian Vise is the best option to use in this slot, because it allows you to put on an Abyssal Jewel. Even a mediocre Abyssal Jewel can beat every implicit modifier you can get on this slot. I've went with a Hunter influenced one for the +% Life mod, and increased chaos damage is just a bonus that you can skip if it is out of your budget, it gives you less DPS than you'd think.
Gloves
Chaos DoT multiplier and life are the important stats here. I prefer evasion based gloves, but you can use Fingerless Silk Gloves for even more damage output as it has increased spell damage as its implicit modifier. Unnerve doesn't increase our DPS at all since we deal DoT damage, but I have that modifier, because it looks neat./spoiler]
Rings
We prefer Vermillion Ring as bases. We get life and resisances here, and we need an empty suffix on them so we can craft +1 to Minimum Frenzy Charges or Endurance Charges. Frenzy charges gives us dps and cast speed, which helps us to kill our enemies faster and a bit of survivability because we cast quicker and relocate more often, whereas with Endurance Charges we tend to survive most hits that manage to reach us through our several evasive mechanics. I currently prefer Endurance Charges over Frenzy Charges.
Amulet
Here, we want an open suffix, +1 Level of Chaos Skill Gems and +1 Level of Intelligence Skill Gems if possible. Chaos DoT multiplier is great as well, but skill levels are more important. This amulet is just insane and probably won't be obtainable without Harvest, so prioritize Chaos and Intelligence skill gems and Life modifiers if you can, settle for +1 level and chaos dot if you can't.
We annoint "Corruption" here because it gives a huge DPS boost. "Whispers of Doom" is another great option here as it will increase the uptime of Soulrend DoT, Vaal Blight debuff and Despair but I've found "Corruption" as the superior option after we stack some "Wicked Pall" notables from clusters.
Jewels
We're looking for on the Watcher's Eye are "Gain Arcane Surge for 4 seconds When You Create Consecrated Ground while affected by Zealotry" and "+# to Damage over Time Multiplier while affected by Malevolence". It is not usually easy to find, and might be a bit expensive so if you cannot afford it, prefer to use the Zealotry one. Even though DoT multiplier from Malevolence mod is good, its hard to beat the Arcane Surge. For small jewels, prioritize %7 life and Chaos DoT multiplier. For Sirus fight, make sure you have a jewel with "Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you" corrupt. We use two Large Cluster Jewels and three Medium Cluster Jewels. Generally, most of the notables work fine, but here is my breakdown on them: Wish for Death is the mandatory notable to get, Culling Strike is just too good to give up. Misery Everlasting is a notable that boosts your DPS against enemies affected by Despair, which helps us to increase our damage output against bosses. You will always have Despair on them thanks to Bane and skill effect duration increases from Wicked Pall. I like stacking Wicked Pall because it increases the DoT duration of Soulrend as well, it allows us to freely relocate after we cast Soulrend and gives a good DPS boost as well. Eternal Suffering helps out while clearing, when we don't cast our Wither totems. At some point, our DPS is too high to benefit from this so Eternal Suffering is one of the least important notables you can get. Brush with Death helps out to recover our life without relying on flasks while clearing. With a single cast, you can recover your life to full against a crowded pack of monsters. Flow of Life gives a nice DPS boost and additional HP. My top pick in endgame, paired with Wicked Pall. Unholy Grace and Unwaveringly Evil are self-descriptive. We would like to have one Unwaveringly Evil. Unholy Grace gives us everything we want as well. Touch of Cruelty allows us to hinder enemies on hit, and boosts our dps significantly. Try to fit in a large cluster with it. Elegant Form allows us to hit dodge cap, and makes us immune to all elemental ailments after we spec into Thick Skin if we use 3 of them. Flasks Blood of the Karui provides an amazing HP recovery. Basalt flask, paired with Staunching suffix protects us from physical hits and removes bleeding on use. Sulphur flask gives us Arcane Surge with our Watcher's Eye, provides a tiny DPS boost and removes curses with Warding suffix. Quicksilver flask of Adrenaline allows us to breeze through maps, and finally Quartz flask makes us to hit 75% Attack/Spell dodge. Budget Alternatives
Spoiler
Any rare item can be replaced with lower rolls, so if you are using the build as a league starter try to cap out your resistances then go for lower roll DoT multipliers/gem levels. For DPS, your first goal should be increasing the level of Soulrend. Eber's Unification is an excellent helmet if you can't find/afford a good Hubris Circlet with the -% Chaos Resistance modifier, and can be upgraded late into league. Actually, if you can find one with the enchantment and if you can cap out your resistances without a Hubris Circlet, Eber's Unification is much superior to any rare helmet in terms of sheer dps, Void Gaze adds 700k dps to Soulrend. Cane of Unravelling is a great alternative for almost all Chaos DoT builds, and this is not an exception. You can't use a quiver with it and it is its most important downside. Two-Stone rings make it very easy to cap our resistances. Try to find with good life modifiers. My achievements with the build so far: +Deathless Shaper +Deathless Elder +Deathless Sirus Awakening level 8 +Deathless Uber Elder +2-Death Simulacrum. I'm pretty sure I could pull it off deathless if my PC was a bit better though. All in all, this is my take on Soulrend as a self-cast chaos spell. This guide will be updated and improved as soon and frequent as possible.
Spoiler
Special thanks to Claeysken for introducing me with the Soulrend, and LordGreedy and Miyokard for helping me to cumulate the required currency for the build, since I couldn't play a lot in this league because of my job&education
Last edited by KodiakTheBard on Jan 14, 2021, 11:30:40 PM Last bumped on Mar 20, 2021, 11:35:02 AM
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Awesome guide man!!!
Glad to see you've been able to improve this build so much! Greetz | |
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Thank you very much! Soulrend is such an underrated skill, it would be a shame if i did not tried to do so :)
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No gameplay video is a big negative :)
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" I'm aware of that, unfortunately. I am working on it though, most of the screen capture software destroys my FPS at the moment. Edit: Just updated the guide with Shaper and Shaper Guardian kill videos. Even though my PC sucks, they should give an idea about the potential and the playstyle of the build. Last edited by KodiakTheBard on Sep 11, 2020, 11:07:23 AM
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Could just anyone tells me how the author could set ''beginner friendly" and an amulet for 160 exalts in one sentence? Most of the other key stuff in this build are definately the beginners balls crushers.
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" You can craft the budget-friendly version of that amulet with 1 Awakener's Orb, 1 hunter base that gives +1 chaos/int spell skill gems, which would cost less than an exalt, and 1 elder base amulet which gives chaos dot multiplier, which would again cost less than an exalt. You can check out the budget-friendly Path of Building link to scale into endgame. It has more or same DPS compared to other chaos-dot builds, slightly less survivability with half of the investment. Beginner-friendly does not refer to a cheap build (even though there is a budget-friendly league starter alternative in the guide) . As far as I know it means the build is relatively easy to play, and can scale up from the beginning to the end with a pretty linear progress. You don't have to do calculations (Like CoC Ball Lightning attack speed etc.), you don't have to find a way to proc conditional things with workarounds, I'm sorry if I got the terminology wrong. It's a straight-forward build that you just need to get the better versions of the budget-tier items, which to me, makes it beginner friendly. I'm sorry that I could not provide a build that can hit 6m dps with league-starter tier items, but except for the amulet and the quiver, the other items are very obtainable outside of the harvest in a realistic budget. Bow is a classic chaos-dot bow, only difference is the extra projectile which is a quality of life improvement, rather than being a key modifier. I have explained that the amulet is not realistic for a league other than harvest and gave the alternative. Gloves are nothing special, you can find a similar pair of gloves in a league (minus the unnerve, which does absolutely nothing for the build). Boots are cheap uniques, like 1/10 price of a pair of good Matatl's (which is used almost in any other build that does not require a certain mechanic). Body armour is again a cheap unique, which is not 6 linked. The off-colour sockets are not really helpful though. The only special thing about the belt is the chaos damage modifier, which provides ridiculously low amount of dps and thus ignorable completely. Other than that, it is something you can buy directly later in game. Helmet is great, I know. But then again, the additional projectile is a QoL improvement, and an Eber's Unification, which costs less than 10 chaos in the early stages of a league, nets you significantly more DPS. Vermillion bases are not cheap to come by, but again, nothing special. They are not influenced, and can get lower roll versions for a relatively cheap price. They also can be replaced with any resistance bases or Coral rings. For the cluster jewels, well I provided another version of the build that doesn't use them, and they are not insane-hard-to-get clusters either. You can collect them during the league. The build works without them as well, they are here to make it better. Honestly, as I said the amulet and the quiver are the only items I would consider impossible to get outside of Harvest if you are not playing a lot. In order to reflect the potential of the build, I had to use my own items, and provide alternatives, which I did. I cannot understand what is the problem with it. There are little key items in the build; the Watcher's Eye (which is exceptionally cheap if you only go for Zealotry modifier, which is what I recommend in the budget-friendly version), the chest and the boots. Please let me know if you have any further questions about the gear or the build in general. Last edited by KodiakTheBard on Sep 25, 2020, 8:15:32 AM
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Great build, I'm currently 88 and nearing endgame talents.
I have a question regarding Zealotry vs 2nd Large Jewel Cluster, should I stop using Zealotry until I get a malevolance necklace, since I need the talents from Charisma? |
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" The malevolence necklace is near to impossible to acquire outside of the Harvest league, so I've updated both PoB links accordingly, removed that modifier. You should be able to run both Malevolence and Zealotry together while transisting into the cluster version with the reduced mana reserve nodes. Zealotry is pretty important for us, because it is the only way we gain Arcane Surge reliably (if you have the Watcher's Eye, which boosts everything we want. I've checked your character from your profile, my recommendation would be an amulet upgrade. If you want to keep the reduced mana reserved modifier on the amulet, you can use it to craft an amulet with Chaos DoT multiplier and Reduced Mana reserved modifier. If I'm not mistaken, your amulet has only this modifier from Hunter's influence, and if you slam it to an Elder influenced amulet which gives Chaos Damage ove Time Multiplier (Make sure it has only this mod from Elder influence) you can get a better one. But I would recommend an amulet with +1 Level of Chaos Skill Gems over reduced mana reserved on malevolence. Would be way cheaper as well. |
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can you edit in the order of ascendancy points? right now just going for whichever since i really cant find anything about which to go for first. am i just blind?
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