[3.10] Emperor's Decay Brand Occultist
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Introductions:
Hi there! Thanks for dropping by. The build below can be used to leaguestart 3.10, as far as I can tell. I wouldn't recommend it though. Clear is sub-optimal and defenses are horrible, meaning it probably won't hold to the requirements of Delirium's Endgame. That, and it kinda relies on a Betrayal enchant so... not ideal if your goal is getting a complete build setup during the first few hours. Still, this thing works and ran yellow and red maps during metamorph. Should still be able to do so this league. Build TL;DR: A Life based Chaos DoT Occultist. Uses Storm Brands that apply Decay and warps around the map as packs explode due to Profane Bloom. Good clear, but dies easily, and struggles to deal with bosses and tough rares towards the later stages of the game. Changelog: Waiting for Delirium. For the time being, the build remains unchanged, and unaffected by the patchnotes. Wont leaguestart with this, but I'll probably theorycraft, level, and tweak a character, see how it goes. Some of the new content might offer interesting opportunities to patch up this build's defences. Will update this if I find something. Character Overview:
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https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/EmperorIzaro/characters
- character is Emperors_Occultist
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Concept:
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Its in the name - we use Brands to apply Decay to kill stuff.
The reason we're using Storm Brand is because its more damage multiplier also works on the damage of decay, so at level 20 it's basically a 130% more damage support (which means that even though the base damage of Decay is pretty bad, it can at least somewhat compete with other DoT skills). While perhaps not optimal, I'm trying to see if this can be done while having the casting of the brands be automated using the cast on skill use craft. In a +gemlevel item and linked with empower, brand recall can hopefully be brought to a reasonably short cooldown. EDIT: I've stuck to automated casting until red maps and while I still don't know if it's optimal, it definitely doesn't feel too clunky. And that's without factoring in that brand recall still could get a few additional levels yet.
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Caustic arrow in a silverbranch and maybe some other skill to supplement single target will get you through the early content easily. From the moment decay becomes available it's possible to swap, though I'd advise to wait until automated casting becomes available.
The moment the craft becomes available, use it and try for an at least 4l setup including Storm Brand and Decay. That's it really.
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Use your movement skills to go into and out of packs, Brand recall when surrounded by mobs, move on - maybe use Blight / Vaal Blight. The moment a brand latches onto an enemy you can just run away or fully focus on interacting with the mechanics of the fight, because now that enemy/pack will die eventually. (If not, rince and repeat.)
Blood Rage generates Frenzy Charges for more damage and faster movement while also ensuring that Energy Leech always provides the better multiplier. - Cheap to get started. I got into red maps on a 4l. - Map-mod friendly. Deals chaos DoT, after all. - Can deal damage from the other side of the screen. - Can clear even while picking up items or just doing nothing. - Can be played using any other chaos-DoT skill. - (open to suggestions) Cons: - Squishy. I can't seem to incorporate defenses without butchering the damage. - Playstyle (especially timing Brand Recall) took me some getting used to. - (open to suggestions)
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There are no required uniques.
On rares, the stats to look out for are resistances, Life, Chaos Damage over time multiplier, Damage over time multiplier, chaos/minion/general damage - in roughly that order of priority. A Ring that curses enemies with Despair on hit is heavily recommended. A +2 Honourhome is a cheap way to lower the cooldown on brand recall, and recommended for the QoL. Current gear (definitely not optimal):
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PoB / Skilltree (WIP):
- https://pastebin.com/nYbAxYm1 Ascendancy: - Occultist (Profane Bloom, Void Beacon, Withering Presence, Malediction) Gem Links:
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Weapon: (Staff, BBBGGG)
- Storm Brand, Decay, (awakened) Void Manipulation, (awakened) Swift Affliction, Efficacy, Energy Leech Body Armour: (any, BBBGGG) - Vaal Blight, Infused Channeling, (awakened) Controlled Destruction, (awakened) Void Manipulation, (awakened) Swift Affliction, Efficacy (swap Blight for Essence Drain and Infused Channeling for Energy Leech if Blight can't be used safely) Helmet: (+2 Honourhome, (RRBB) - Brand Recall, Empower, Summon Stone Golem, Arcane Surge (level 6) (not sure if Chaos Golem is the better pick.) Boots/Gloves: (any, BBGG): - Smoke Mine - Summon Skitterbots (, Bonechill if not using Flame Dash) - Flame Dash , Culling Strike - (If not using Flame Dash: Portal, or anything else really) Gloves/Boots: (any, RGBB) - Blasphemy, Temporal Chains - Steelskin - Malevolence Ring: G - Blood Rage
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Current maximum (solo) Delve Depth: 47 (didn't really delve much yet)
Uber Lab (1 key run): done Uber Lab (full key run): not tried yet White maps: done Yellow maps: done Red maps: done Atziri: done Uber Aziri: not done yet Crusader: 4 watchstones Hunter: 4 watchstones Warlord: 4 watchstones Redeemer: 4 watchstones Awakener: not yet done (Asked for a carry to get me through it during the first time, who proceeded to pretend to be bad to waste my portals.) Shaper Guardians: not yet done Shaper: not yet done Elder Guardians: not yet done Elder: not yet done Uber Elder: not yet done Last edited by EmperorIzaro on Mar 12, 2020, 5:24:44 PM Last bumped on Mar 12, 2020, 2:48:09 PM
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I'm currently looking for a build with brands, and your take on it looks very interesting, looking forward to some more input from you end. I'm no pro or anything but if you need someone to help you out testing stuff lemme know i could level one myself and we could try out some different scenarios.
Really interested in your build, good work |
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Thanks! I'm currently trying to figure out the most ideal single target setup.
Issue atm is that if I weaponswap for ST, the brands vanish - meaning I lose my seeking area covering decay appliers. To fix that I'm now trying out how Blight feels like in a (so far) 4l chestpiece. (As to avoid weaponswap) Also really important is getting hold of a Fenumu's Shroud and Spinnerets for the ES regen, it should help make me feel less unable to take hits (goodbye, exalts I don't even have yet). Maybe swap to full life and/ or MoM and/ or EB, would have to sacrifice some damage in the process but eh. Another thing on the to-do is looking into getting both ED and Contagion integrated. If at all it has to be both though, since I feel like investing into pierce just for the sake of ED wouldn't be worth it. And as one can see from how much dps I'm willing to sacrifice for automation, I don't really want to have to cast contagion myself. Maybe I can find a setup to automate the whole ED + Contagion deal. I'll have to test how reliable a low level cwdt + contagion setup would be (contagion for dealing with ads bodyblocking the boss and ganging up on me). Should be done testing later today. Will report back once done! (Worst case... I'll have to push one more button, I guess) In the meantime, I'd very much appreciate if you could help find an optimal setup, so feel free to experiment. The build should be solid regardless, given that I have no real issues (syndicate and stupidity aside) in yellow maps with my current gear. UPDATE: The devourning Diadem seems like it could be awesome! Freeeeeeeeeeee EB (and ES regen)! So many points saved! And MoM is a single point, so that's pretty nice. UPDATE 2: The Aylardex is a better option (compared to Impresence, since with Diadem we can afford reserving mana for all our stuff) - also easier to get a +1 curse corruption on! Last edited by EmperorIzaro on Dec 10, 2018, 6:34:43 AM
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UPDATE 3: Updated the PoB
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UPDATE 4: More Videos, updated PoB - will be posting more videos as I get material. Purchasing actually good gear aside (and maybe figuring out if ED + contagion is worth it vs another decay brand setup), I'm done.
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UPDATE 5: Updated the whole guide.
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Hi ive got a question.
which skill gems do you level up and to which level do you level them. | |
" Thanks for asking! Guess I wasn't specific about that in the gem links sections. The description has been updated. |
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Hey you didnt say anything for ascendancies, its my first time playing a occultist so i have no idea on what i should focus first, sound like a great build im excited to get to maps !
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" Thanks for the feedback! Added a working link to the online skilltree, including ascendancies (previous one was bugged for some reason), and also wrote out the ascendancy order. It's in the PoB/Skill Tree/ Ascendancy/ etc. section. Last edited by EmperorIzaro on Dec 12, 2018, 11:44:15 AM
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