Stress-Free PoE! ANIMATED POISON (AW): No Required Items! 1-Button Play! SSF League Start-End! 3.12

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Kuzare wrote:

Spoiler

I've been meaning to put a PoB together to show what I've been doing.

The most difficult part of this build is the time I spend re-casting AW, otherwise it's just unbelievable. Been a while since I played something which requires I stand in the middle of the enemy to get shit done.

I apologize for bragging here, but there is nothing as satisfying as finding a Tabula Rasa on your first character in a new league. =D Everything melts, and I don't even have the 3rd curse, Despair, up and running yet.

Awesome Kuzare

It's so cool to get a Tabula early on your first playthrough of the league. Nice find!

Ya, recasting AW can be a pain when levelling. Once the skill gets going though, you'll notice the 40-60 second duration of the weapons and it won't be an issue any longer. I'll be including a few options for people in terms of how many buttons people want to use. I'll be starting writing this guide tomorrow morning :)

I'm glad the build is going so well for you! Thanks for sharing.

So far this build is looking like another winner for me. It was ROUGH leveling, pretty much until the first ascendency. That might be because I am stubborn and disinterested in respeccing passive points or wasting XP on leveling gems, so I just slogged through.

Right now I'm level 65 and getting ready for the third ascendency and boy is it smooth now. Applying 3 curses at once feels really strong. The only part that's a little tedious is recasting Animate Weapon because you lose them when you change areas or go too long without enemies, so bosses can feel a little tedious at the start. Otherwise it's a thing of beauty though. I'm excited to push this into maps soon.

It's the second guide/build from Wrecker_of_Days I'm following, and I'm enjoying this one as much as I did the zombie one a year (maybe more?) back.

As far as leveling goes, I just brought summon zombies, skeletons, and phantasms along for the ride -- I was resocketing them according to my gear.

Eventually, I found the Doedre's Damning ring ("You can apply an additional Curse") and decided to delay the "Whispers of Doom" passive somewhat.

I have a suggestion: I'm not sure the blood magic gem is needed (at least in the end game). I've only realized it recently and replaced with Vaal Summon Skeletons -- now I press the 3rd button every now and then :)

Also, a tip: Desecrate generates corpses of monsters that are inhabiting this zone; so you don't need to actually find, say, a Stygian Silverback, just go to the Riverways in Act 6 and cast some Desecrate. But then go to your Hideout! Now, should the specters die, you can cast Desecrate in your Hideout, where the only monster is your specter.

I have a great time leveling this build! Many thanks for your guide Wrecker :)
Just to bee on the safe side, I throwed in some Vaal Skeletons, just in case some boss doesn't cooperate and die! :D

And, as somebody said earlier it the tread, it really starts rockin' after second labyrinth!

/HEX

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VilandilTasardur wrote:

Spoiler

So far this build is looking like another winner for me. It was ROUGH leveling, pretty much until the first ascendency. That might be because I am stubborn and disinterested in respeccing passive points or wasting XP on leveling gems, so I just slogged through.

Right now I'm level 65 and getting ready for the third ascendency and boy is it smooth now. Applying 3 curses at once feels really strong. The only part that's a little tedious is recasting Animate Weapon because you lose them when you change areas or go too long without enemies, so bosses can feel a little tedious at the start. Otherwise it's a thing of beauty though. I'm excited to push this into maps soon.

Awesome VilandilTasardur! I'm sorry levelling was rough but I'm glad the build has improved for you! If you're up for it, I'd love to hear how mapping goes. Thanks for the feedback!

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Erendir wrote:

Spoiler

It's the second guide/build from Wrecker_of_Days I'm following, and I'm enjoying this one as much as I did the zombie one a year (maybe more?) back.

As far as leveling goes, I just brought summon zombies, skeletons, and phantasms along for the ride -- I was resocketing them according to my gear.

Eventually, I found the Doedre's Damning ring ("You can apply an additional Curse") and decided to delay the "Whispers of Doom" passive somewhat.

I have a suggestion: I'm not sure the blood magic gem is needed (at least in the end game). I've only realized it recently and replaced with Vaal Summon Skeletons -- now I press the 3rd button every now and then :)

Also, a tip: Desecrate generates corpses of monsters that are inhabiting this zone; so you don't need to actually find, say, a Stygian Silverback, just go to the Riverways in Act 6 and cast some Desecrate. But then go to your Hideout! Now, should the specters die, you can cast Desecrate in your Hideout, where the only monster is your specter.

Awesome Feedback Erendir! Thanks! I'm honoured you like both builds :).

Blood Magic just gives your minions a huge mana pool. They'll cast their stuff very frequently. If what you added works for you, keep it in!

Thanks for the kind words :) I'm glad you're having fun.

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KurtVresig wrote:

Spoiler

I have a great time leveling this build! Many thanks for your guide Wrecker :)
Just to bee on the safe side, I throwed in some Vaal Skeletons, just in case some boss doesn't cooperate and die! :D

And, as somebody said earlier it the tread, it really starts rockin' after second labyrinth!

/HEX

Awesome KurtVresig! I'm glad levelling went well for you! I appreciate the feedback. Let me know how things keep going if you're up for it.

Thanks for your kindness!

Any tips on order of Ascendancies? I was thinking Void Beacon, Withering, Bloom, then Malediction.

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Nozomroto wrote:

Any tips on order of Ascendancies? I was thinking Void Beacon, Withering, Bloom, then Malediction.

Great questions Nozomroto!

With this build, there isn't an obvious path. It's REALLY hard to choose. But I
think I'd prioritize Malediction over Whithering Presence. As long as the mana reservation nodes are already selected so that we can have all three blasphemies, I think the build benefits more from that node that the pure offence of Whithering Presence.

There isn't a wrong path though. You can't really go wrong either way. Cause getting Whithering Presence with Enfeeble and TC is just like having no Whithering Presence and all three blasphemies. I like your path choice. Go for it.

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Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

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VilandilTasardur wrote:

Spoiler

So far this build is looking like another winner for me. It was ROUGH leveling, pretty much until the first ascendency. That might be because I am stubborn and disinterested in respeccing passive points or wasting XP on leveling gems, so I just slogged through.

Right now I'm level 65 and getting ready for the third ascendency and boy is it smooth now. Applying 3 curses at once feels really strong. The only part that's a little tedious is recasting Animate Weapon because you lose them when you change areas or go too long without enemies, so bosses can feel a little tedious at the start. Otherwise it's a thing of beauty though. I'm excited to push this into maps soon.

Awesome VilandilTasardur! I'm sorry levelling was rough but I'm glad the build has improved for you! If you're up for it, I'd love to hear how mapping goes. Thanks for the feedback!

No worries, the rough leveling experience was mostly my fault. I switched from an offensive attacking skill early on and tried to ride the minions long before they were ready. And it didn't help that I prefer to prioritize links and gem leveling over gear, so I was basically always under-geared.

I play Co-op with my brother, who was playing your zombie build. He felt substantially stronger through the leveling process, I think because of the sheer number of life and damage nodes for the zombies he took. But after the second ascendancy I caught up in power very quick from being able to run all three auras. Now we are running early maps and so far feel very even in power.