Poison builds after Explosion Nerf

Hello everyone, this is my first post here after playing PoE for 7 days.

I'm not following any meta builds or guides; I just really like poison builds. While studying some options, I found the Pathfinder poison build. Its abilities scale really well with poison damage, BUT I ran into some problems after the gas explosion patch.

I don't rely on that mechanic for damage, but now, if an enemy is ignited, my build loses some of its damage. The explosion nerf also indirectly nerfed poison damage, which feels frustrating.

I think there should be some interactions to balance poison with gas explosions. However, converting 100% of poison damage into fire damage feels counterproductive for a poison-focused build. If it's possible to lower the chance to explosions from ignited enemies, that would be a big help for pure poison builds.

Another issue is that Herald of Plague doesn't seem to synergize well with 100% poison-focused builds. Since I already spread poison passively, the 30% slow effect feels redundant because I have growth mechanics and passive abilities for spreading poison. In my opinion, Herald of Plague could use a small buff.

Some heralds add damage to builds, but for poison, the core damage comes from the number of stacks you can apply to a monster. What if Herald of Plague increased the number of stacks you apply while it's active? For example, a single poison arrow could apply 2 stacks instead of 1 when the herald is active. Also, increasing the maximum stack limit by 1 (from 5 to 6 duplicating it with passive make 12 stacks and increasing the amount generated considerally) could improve damage over time and help mitigate the frustration caused by mobs igniting themselves and triggering explosions.

This kind of change would enhance DPS for poison-focused builds while keeping them balanced. It would also make Herald of Plague a more compelling choice for pure poison builds.

What do you think, GGG? I believe this would create a strong build that's not overpowered but has great synergy with a few small changes.
Last bumped on Dec 17, 2024, 10:43:48 AM

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