[3.19] Build idea: Big Poison with Alchemist's Mark

Hello. I would like to discuss a build idea I'm currently brewing: a big single poison + Alchemist's Mark.

Here's what I came up with:

Idea:
Spoiler
It's pretty simple actually: abuse the Poisons you inflict on non-poisoned Enemies deal 300% increased Damage.
You can get one from Poison mastery on the tree and more from Low Tolerance notable on Chaos Dot medium Cluster Jewels. So realistically, you can get either 3 (2 medium clusters) or 5 (4 medium clusters) for a total of 900% or 1500% increased damage with Poison.

Now, for it to work, the next poison should be applied only once the previous one is expired, so it should be a slow-hitting build.
Hexblast playstyle fits perfectly since we need to wait for Doomsday anyway.
3.19 gives us a perfect Mark skill for the occasion: Alchemist's Mark and we already have Vixen's Entrapment to autocast it whenever we cast Despair.
Short story: it gives 120% more damage with Poison
Long story: it creates a ground effect that deals Chaos DPS equal to 80% of the strongest poison. And the only way to scale the damage is with the Curse effect, synergizing perfectly with Hexblast passives.
(I left it at 100% more damage with Poison to account for last-minute changes and to be on the conservative side in general)

3.19 has some gear as well.
1) The 3.19 Apep's Rage, we can finally "concentrate" the poison duration to about 1.15-1.25 seconds, which aligns just right with Curse's cast time + Doomsday.
2) With 3.19 The Covenant we can have a 7-link. And the 3.19 Doedre's Scorn adds another 200 base Chaos Damage.


PoB, Tree, Ascendancy:
Spoiler
https://pastebin.com/navTv1JP

I went for just one Cluster and 5 Wither stacks to be on the conservative side when evaluating the concept.
I also put 10% less Damage with Poison to account for a small delay between poisons and non-perfect play.
So yeah, all in all, pretty gimped from PoB Deeps warrior's point of view.

Tree:
Click it!

Ascendancy - Occultist:
1) Malediction
Extra Curse, better curses, Malediction
2) Profane Bloom
Hexproof
3) Void Beacon
Just some damage
4) Withering Presence
Damage, utility/QoL for Wither, massive Chaos res


Gear and Gems:
Spoiler
1) Body (The Covenant) B-G-G-G-G-B:
- Hexblast (boom bada boom)
-- Chance to Poison (we want 100%, can be replaced with Curse Mastery + Septic Spells from the second cluster)
-- Deadly Aliments (just DPS)
-- Swift Affliction (DPS, less duration actually helps to sync with Despair-Doomsday-Hexblast cadence)
-- Void Manipulation (just DPS)
-- Efficacy (just DPS, Skill Duration has no effect on Poison Duration)

2) Main Hand (Apep's Rage for big bosses, Bino's Kitchen Knife for clear) B-R-R:
-Malevolence (DPS aura)
-- Divine Blessing (we handle the cost with EB)
-- Increased Duration (self-explanatory)

3) Offhand (shield with defence) B-R-R:
- Despair (manual curse with Doom)
- Purity of Elements (I don't like elemental ailments on me)
- Flame Dash (mobility)

3) Helmet (Doedre's Scorn for big flat damage) G-B-B-B:
- Enfeeble (Defensive curse #1)
- Temporal Chains (Defensive curse #2)
-- Blasphemy (I feel safer with defensive curses always online)
-- Enlighten (LVL 3 nails the reservation, use Conqueror's Potency or small passive in Influence cluster if you don't have the gem)

4) Gloves (Vixen's Entrapment for Extra Curse and Mark trigger) G-R-B-?:
- Alchemist's Mark (uber DPS)
-- Empower (a tiny bit more DPS)
-- Increased Area of Effect (bigger ground effect for better consistency on mobile bosses)
- (dunno what to put here)

5) Boots (Rare with Movement Speed, Life, ES and so on) B-R-R-B:
- Wither (we want 15 stacks asap on bosses)
-- Spell Totem (who wants to self-cast it?)
-- Multiple Totems (stacks aSaP)
-- Faster Casting (yeah, ASAP)

6) Amulet (Rare with Dot Multi, life, and gem levels):
7) Ring 1 (Rare with Life, Res, and stats):
8) Ring 2 (Rare with Life, Res, and stats):
9) Belt (Rare with Life, Res and stats):


So yeah, quite some text for "just a concept", but that's why we love PoE, right?
Thank you for checking this out and let me know if you have ideas about this concept.
Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.
Last edited by Sarganis87 on Aug 16, 2022, 6:26:23 PM
Last bumped on Aug 25, 2022, 2:16:18 PM
Dope concept but I'd work on adding in defenses as well, that is a major hurdle to overcome to make any build viable :)
I think it is a build for slams

I'm thinking personally Occultist Sunder Hollow Palm, one juicy big hit, the ground effect and the profane blood to make slams feels nice

Or an ignite prolif version with Elementalist

Or better.. blackflame tech with both, mixing occultist/elementalist acendency with the jewels :p
Last edited by ryuukk33 on Aug 16, 2022, 8:22:53 PM
Upon crunching some numbers, I've concluded that unfortunately, the original PoisonBlast idea cannot compete with the Blackflame Ignite version.
Even with 1500% increased damage with Poisons and 80% more from Alchemist's Mark, the numbers are only kinda the same, where a single misplay (Hexblasting an already poisoned enemy) will nullify your deeps for a good 2-3 seconds.
The juice is not worth the squeeze.

So yeah, I'll look into the slammiest slam (new Sunder) next.
Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before. He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way.
Playing it, works like a charm. Had the same idea when I saw Alchemist Mark. You just have to go full retard poison with pathfinder and then use Apep's Rage to lower your poison duration and stack faster poisons without getting poison duration => guaranteed first poison every time you hit. Is fun and works well. Will use Forbidden Flame/Flesh to have the Deadeye mark Ascendancy for 75% mark effect which scales the damage as well as curse effectiveness.

Poison prolif works like a charm and bosses are okay until now. I dont have a Cluster or Low Tolerance yet and I am fine doing everything up until T11 now. (Kinda hanging behind bc. of my work).

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