[3.21] Megachonk RF Jugg | Ultra Tanky + Endgame Viable + Very good starter

Build looks fun, been years since I played RF, so going to try it out. How does it fare against the Crucible monsters who hit pretty hard?
@devon752 - Have a lot of fun with this build, thanks a ton!

Could you give a quick breakdown on how to craft the elder helm?
+1 i have no idea how to get the determination enchament or the helemt
Any trick to off color the helm? I got this for now


From what i'm seeing it would need 4 blues? That would be about 1300+ chromatics....
What was your crafting process? Buy elder base with the enchant and then what?

Get 2 blues on there and then use T4 Vorici to get some white sockets and hope it hits, might have to do it a couple times. You can use the craft to get 2 blues.
"
devon752 wrote:

This build was done as a request. The Brass Dome and the Profane Proxy were the conditions. And as requested, dedicated to Daft Punk :D

My atlas tree:
3.21 Update Changes
------------------------------------------
-> This ring, STILL THE KING!!
New perfect Recovery mastery!
New perfect Armor and ES mastery!
New perfect Armor mastery!
Lost some damage on Fire mastery but got explosions!

Conclusion: It's really buffed! (not that we needed it).
Around 20% more effective life and explosions, at the cost of around 5% less damage.

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


If you don't like dying this is the build for you.

Pros
+ works on a budget
+ really good starter
+ can do most map mods (except for no regen, less recovery and -max res)
+ tanky af (check the effective life for each element and phys in PoB)
+ HC viable
+ fast clear
+ Elder, Conquerors, Sirus and Atziri are a joke

Cons
- slightly tougher start (because of RF sustain without regen)
- maxing out is expensive (elder influenced helmet)
- has to use Fire trap for bosses

How does it work?

You set yourself on fire with RF and do everything in your power to mitigate the overwhelming fire damage. The build stacks a lot of Life, Life regeneration, Elemental Resistances and in the end elemental damage. After you can sustain the everlasting Righteous Fire you will just be walking and everything will die around you.
Uses Leap slam to traverse gaps and ledges and shield charge to move around with high speeds.
Fire Trap will be your main DPS skill for tougher enemies and Bosses. Anomalous Infernal Cry is used to weaken enemies and trigger death explosions on big packs.


GIFs and Videos

Facetanking Elder Slam


Facetanking Sirus Die Beam (A8)


Video guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-zyf_3ChaY

Showcase
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdLnM3bMlp0


Path of Building - Pastabin

https://pobb.in/AxiWYIGnm7FE (3.21, updated 15.4.2023.)
- updated the Tree and the leveling trees (removed the 15% life mastery as it did nothing, replaced with a decent regen Fire mastery)
- updated skills, now uses 2x 5Ls (Fire trap + Searing Bond) instead of just 1x 6L (Fire Trap)
- best corruption for chestpiece is now "+1 to level of Socketed Gems"
- leveling gems and notes updated

Use this as much as you can, everything is inside. A lot of leveling trees inside and Non-Cluster/Cluster alternatives, to the bottom left where it says "Endgame - 95 (default)", click on that and you can swap out the trees to see what you need to prioritize. Also here you can check out the whole tree, gear, gems, enchants, damage, etc. Basically you can see everything that I had and what you should aim for at each point in your leveling process.
Added a Flammability Ring option to replace the Profane Proxy.


Leveling

General tips:

Spoiler
Armour:
You want to focus on Armour based gear. Every single item should have as much armor as possible. For example if you are crafting your RF Elder helmet make sure to use a high ilvl "Royal Burgonet" or "Eternal Burgonet" as they have the highest base armour.
A little bit of Dexterity should be somewhere on your gear. If you just can't get it anywhere don't worry, the only downside is you wont be able to level your swift affliction as much. But you can leave it on a lower level it wont change your damage too much.

Weapons and shields:
This is a spell based build meaning the pDPS/DPS of the weapon don't matter. Spell damage also doesn't apply to RF but it does apply to Fire Trap and Searing bond.
The primary focus should be on: +1 to all Fire spell skill gems, % Elemental damage, % Fire damage, % Damage over time, % Fire damage over time multiplier and % Damage over time multiplier.
The shield should be anything that helps you sustain RF (Springleaf, The Oak, Saffel's Frame, Rise of the Phoenix).

Links and skill gems:
Links are always important and your primary skill should have the most links during leveling. If you find a 4L/5L/6L (Tabula rasa) you should place your main skills inside. I used Tabula Rasa to make double 5L's since Searing bond and RF both use the same support gems.
If you are struggling with a high regen monster/boss use Frost bomb and it will reduce its ability to regenerate by 75%.
Instead of Faster attacks for your movement skills you could use Culling strike.

Influenced items:
In the endgame a few of your items should be influenced. My recommendation is buying the base and crafting it yourself as it will usually turn out cheaper. Alternatively look for similar items that I had on: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/
Helmet should be an Elder base and should be crafted with the essence of Horror. Looking for: Socketed gems are supported by level # Concentrated effect/Burning damage (or both) and Life + Resistances.
Gloves should be a Shaper base and should be crafted with the essence of Delirium. Looking for: % Fire damage over time multiplier and Life + Resistances.
Amulet should be a Warlord influenced Marble amulet and should be crafted either with essences of Anger or chaos spammed. Looking for +1 to Fire spell skill gems, Fire damage penetrates % resistances, % Damage/Fire over time Multiplier and Life + Resistances.

League Mechanic:
Try to get a good Crucible sceptre base and then Craft it yourself.

Early Acts guide

Spoiler
Act 1

Dual wield 1h Sceptres early on as they increase your elemental damage and deal decent physical damage for Molten Strike.
Keep an eye out for a 3L (all red sockets) item. I found a nice 1h Sceptre sold by Targlieth that had 3L all red sockets.
Focus on items that have Life and Resistances.
For boots use Wanderlust or any boots with Movement speed if possible, otherwise Life/Resists.
Use Fire Trap as soon as you can (ask somebody to buy it for you) so you can drop Molten strike. You can stack it with Searing Bond as well :D

Act 2

At this point you should have Herald of Ash + Vitality(lvl1) as your auras.
Around lvl 22 you can start using RF if you have CAPPED RESISTANCES, Vitality, Springleaf and all of the Regen nodes on the passive tree taken by that point.
Life regeneration items like Kikazaru or just rares with life regen help a lot.

A good way of using RF and Searing Bond together is by placing both of them inside tabula rasa and linking them with gems that benefit both.
RF + Searing Bond + Elemental Focus + Efficacy + Combustion + Lifetap (Lifetap is optional, it does give more damage when you place a totem but costs a lot of life).

A good Elemental Damage or +1 to all fire spell skill gems Sceptre will be optimal for leveling. (Check "Items" and find the "RF leveling" set)

Use Shield Charge + Leap Slam + Faster Attacks all linked together inside your weapon or your shield.

Act 3

Look for 4L items at this point and if you find one use an essence or an alch on it. Alternatively buy 1c rares from players.
Get Determination and replace Herald of Ash with it. Should be usable, if it isn't, wait for the mana reservation efficiency nodes.
Complete the Normal Lab before you fight Dominus. It should help quite a bit. Alternatively do it before Malachai in a4.
At this point your Auras should be: Vitality (lvl1) + Determination + Purity of Fire.
Swap out Combustion with Burning damage in your main Link setup. If you're not using Tabula Rasa check the "Skills" section and link the gems appropriately.


Passive Tree, Ascendancy, Bandits and Pantheon


Passive Tree

https://pobb.in/AxiWYIGnm7FE

Ascendancy

1.) Untiring - to sustain RF early
2.) Unflinching - endurance charge generation
3.) Unbreakable - mega tanky, double chestpiece armour
4.1) Unrelenting - even more tankiness
4.2) Unyielding - extra AoE and damage
4.3) Unstoppable - stun immunity and speed


Bandits: Kill all.


Pantheon
Make sure to pick up all of the upgrades for both pantheon powers. It's a huge survivability boost. In this game it's best to stack multiple layers of damage mitigation. This is one of them.

Spoiler
Lunaris -> Definitely the most survivability out of all of them and some movement speed.
Yugul -> 30% reduced effect of curses on you - stacks with one of the masteries we take on the tree for a total of 50% permanent curse reduction!


Skills

Spoiler
You can go with the regular 21/20 RF or the 20/20 Vaal RF. The regular 21/20 will provide more damage on average but the Vaal RF will provide better burst.
Fire Trap should be 21/20.
For Utility gems there's a bunch of options but something like a Blessing, a Golem, a Frost Bomb (good against high regen enemies).
Check Gloves below to what I'd use.

[from most important to least, prioritize like this]
(A) means it would be nice if it's an awakened variant

3L Weapon -> Vitality(17) + Shield Charge + Faster Attacks/Culling Strike

Use culling strike here when you're killing endgame bosses like Sirus and whatnot. It really helps with that final phase.


3L Shield -> Anomalous Infernal Cry + Immortal call + Increased Duration

Vitality should be lvl 1-20 depending on how much mana you have available at the moment. Use Anomalous Infernal Cry to cast it faster. As for Molten shell it can be a regular one if you prefer to only have 1 Vaal skill (RF).


4L Elder Helmet (Conc. effect roll) -> Vaal Righteous Fire + Burning damage (A) + Elemental Focus (A) + Area of Effect (A)

4L Elder Helmet (Burning damage roll) -> Vaal Righteous Fire + Elemental Focus (A) + Efficacy + Area of Effect (A)

Depending on which link you roll on your helmet with your Essence of Horror you should use that setup. If you prefer to have only 1 Vaal skill (Vaal Molten Shell) you could use a regular RF (21/20).


6L Body Armour -> Fire Trap + Lifetap (15, divergent) + Trap and Mine Damage + Burning Damage (A) + Controlled Destruction (A) + Swift Affliction (A)

Make sure to use divergent Lifetap so the buff from it lasts longer. This way you wont have to recast the totem as much.


4L Boots -> Summon Skitterbots + Determination + Purity of Elements + Enlighten (3)

Purity of Elements can be changed for Malevolence if you think you can cap your resistances easily and want more damage. Or if you found a really nice watcher's eye with Malevolence on it.

Utility Setup
4L Apothecary Shaper Gloves -> Frost bomb + Culling Strike + Arcane Surge + Flame Dash

Rare Ring -> Flammability on Hit

OR
1L Profane Proxy Ring -> Flammability (21/0)


Elemental weakness (20/20) can also work but Flammability (21/0) is better because it scales with +1 to all Fire spell skill gems that you can get on your weapon and amulet.


Gear

Stat Priority
Spoiler
If your Elemental Resistances are capped go for Chaos resistance instead.
Weapon: Fire damage/Elemental Damage > Fire damage over time Multiplier > +1 to all Fire spell skill gems
Shield: Saffel's Frame > Good Corruption > Spell Block
Helmet (Elder base): Socketed gems deal 30% more elemental damage > Socketed gems are supported by Conc Effect/Burning damage (or both) > Life > Resists
Body Armour: Brass dome > +5% to all Maximum Resistances > Good Corruption
Gloves (Apothecary Shaper base): Life > Fire Damage over time multiplier > Resistances
Boots: Life > Movement Speed > Resistances > Life regeneration rate > Onslaught on kill (Redeemer infl)
Belt: Life > Resistances > Regeneration
Amulet (Warlord): Life regeneration > Life > +1 to all Fire skill gems > Fire damage over time multiplier/Damage over time multiplier > Resistances > Dexterity
Ring1: Profane Proxy or a good Rare Flammability on hit ring
Ring2: Life > Resistances > -7 to non-channeling skills (craft) > Dexterity


Leveling gear
Spoiler


My OLD Gear
Spoiler
Helmet must be an elder base and crafted with the Essence of Horror. Either supported with Cocentrated effect or Burning damage (or both).
Gloves should be Shaper base Apothecary gloves. Aiming for the Fire damage over time multiplier, life and resists.
If you can get the brass dome with +1% to all max resists you won the game.
"Legacy of Fury" are a good option for boots. If you go with these make sure to get more resists and life on your gloves, helmet, rings.
You can replace your Profane Proxy ring with a good Flammability Rare Ring if you wish so.
Cluster should have the Master of Fire notable. Other additions can be: Smoking remains, Burning bright and similar stuff.

Check Gems and Gear in PoB or under Skill Gems section (these are outdated)



Flasks

Every flask should be "Masochist's" AKA it should have the 6-7 charges gained when you are hit by an enemy.


Anointments:
Spoiler
Best for damage:
Divine Judgement
Growth and Decay


Second Curse:
Whispers of Doom = If you want to use a "curse on hit" ring or if you will be using "Asenath's Gentle Touch" Gloves this is necessary

Tanky:
Soul of Steel = +1% to all Max resists and a lot of Armour


My personal current achievements with the build:
Killed all conquerors (a8) - deahtless
Killed Sirus (a8) - deathless
Killed Elder - deathless
Killed Shaper - deathless


Check out what I'm playing this league and other guides:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2724153
"
Brian9824 wrote:
Any trick to off color the helm? I got this for now


From what i'm seeing it would need 4 blues? That would be about 1300+ chromatics....


You go to your bench, craft 2 sockets, craft 2 blue, then craft 3 sockets and back down to 2 until you get a third blue, then craft 4 sockets and back down to 3 to get 4.
"
"
Brian9824 wrote:
Any trick to off color the helm? I got this for now


From what i'm seeing it would need 4 blues? That would be about 1300+ chromatics....


You go to your bench, craft 2 sockets, craft 2 blue, then craft 3 sockets and back down to 2 until you get a third blue, then craft 4 sockets and back down to 3 to get 4.


Ok thx, ill wait on that till i get a good helm with determination enchant. For now those colors work ok for fire trap in it, and still gearing up.
Should I buy a Brass Dome and try to 6-link it or save up for one that is already a 6-link? That armour is so expensive.
"
Should I buy a Brass Dome and try to 6-link it or save up for one that is already a 6-link? That armour is so expensive.
Big brain strat is buying a good corrupted Brass dome (with good corruption) and then using tainted currency to 6L it.
"Let your smile change the world, but don't let the world change your smile." -unknown
"The Emperor beckons and the world attends." -Izaro
"Shine boldly so that all may find you when the night falls." -Izaro

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