The Most Well-Rounded Starter Build In PoE - Detailed Leveling Guide for CA/TR Starter by Asmodeus

Smooth leveling through Acts 1-5 in Mayhem.

Only one close call when I didn't realize I was in the AoE of and Incursion boss's ability, which is really more of a don't play distracted than an issue with the build.

Pain points.

Mana if you decide to run Flesh and Stone (R) along with Summon Skitterbots (B) and Vitality (R). (to be clear the guide doesn't say run Flesh and Stone (R) early. I went ahead and tried to fit it since it is used later in some of the example gem setups and I know it is a strong defensive layer.

That gets much happier once you allocate Charisma on the passive skill tree. In the meantime you'll need to use your mana potion liberally.

Felt a teeny bit awkward to find a blue socket for summon skitter bots, along with some extraneous red sockets for Flesh and Stone and Vitality.

So I just found one Armour/Energy Shield base (in my case boots) to cover that.

I ran Chamber of Innocence until I found a combination of items + crafted resistances that allowed me to overcap my resists to the point that I'm still at 75% resists in Act 6. This took some patience as I knew I was capable of taking down Kitava before that. Zone is level 43 so you can run it until level 48 with no experience (XP) penalty. Even with the XP penalty you will still earn XP and your gems take no penalty so farming even beyond 48 isn't the end of the world. Having low resists going into Kitava or in Act 6 and on may end your character's world though!

Oh, a quiver is a great spot to get some resists.

Would suggest offering recommendations on what levels to get Vitality (R) and Steelskin (R) to. Path of Building shows Vitality at 10. I found I had to keep Steelskin (R) at level 10 as well, though even there I had to have some strength on my gear to keep it that high.

I couldn't get an item setup with enough blue sockets to run Despair (B) along with everything else until late Act 5. Didn't really need it though.

Appreciate the guide. The level of detail is great in both the written guide and the video. Appreciate the tip on the "of craft" from crafting on normal items. Did not know you could do that with the bench.

Dumb things. If you pick up every wisdom and portal scroll (I have a problem) you see in the early game you will end up with more portal scrolls because you don't use them as often. You can vendor them 1 for 1 for scrolls of wisdom.

I try to target item bases that are easy to color for my build so I don't pick up and ID everything I come across. Tweaking a loot filter for leveling could certainly make this process easier.

You have permission to spend some currency to get the right sockets and links on items with good stats, but try to have a backup. Say if you need G-G-G-R and you don't get the 4th link. Make sure to have another G-G-G-R item that you can use or take out the least consequential skill gem if you have to. And 20% quality your items before trying to get 4 socket and 4 links on them (doesn't guarantee, but does improve your odds).

Delirium mirror with 20 Incursion boss map is "exciting".

Gear post Act 5 Kitava

i'm following this build to right now. and i'
m now in act 4. but using a golem with withering touch doesn't work (linked them but it doesn't show in the keybinding image).

just wanted to let you know :)

"

roedie01 wrote:

i'm following this build to right now. and i'
m now in act 4. but using a golem with withering touch doesn't work (linked them but it doesn't show in the keybinding image).

just wanted to let you know :)

roedie01 if you are on a PC hold down CTRL to show the 2nd layer of keybinds it will show up there if your first set of keybinds is full. Since this second set is hidden by default you typically put things like auras (in this build's case you would put things like Summon Skitterbots, Malevolence, or Flesh and Stone on this second set of keybinds).

You can certainly put a golem there too, but I find they die too frequently if you are NOT specifically focusing on giving them life through things like Minion Life Support and passives from the skill tree that support golems/minions in general.

That is why some people who want a golem, but don't want to invest the extra sockets or passive skill point will put their golem in a Cast When Damage Taken setup, so the golem gets resummoned whenever you take damage so it will have a full life bar.

Kitava Act 10 down.

Lvl 72
capped resists (aside from chaos res)
19 hrs 10min with every sidequest done except break a fractured wall for Neeko and my third Merciless lab trial in the Ossuary, forgot about that one in my run through the area.
0 deaths
3132 hp
2 exalts and 32 chaos to my name

Vilenta and High Templar Avarius went down slowly and I almost got one shot by Vilenta in her 2nd phase when she flys around dropping bombs. And read one Kitava move incorrectly and almost bought the farm, but not really since I did manage to dodge just in time.

I think my damage will feel better once I figure out how to run Malevolence on top of everything else.

Gear

I was going Assassin Poison BV for the Mayhem event for being one of those well-stablished builds that are great on trash gear. Fortunately, I found this guide so I could try something different.

Took me 23 hours to get to maps. I usually take 8-10 hours to finish, but I took my time with all the mods on the zones. I also wasted a few hours trying to farm a Tabula and some other leveling gear which was stupid, considering how well I knew this build was going to perform since I made a test run on Heist.

Got really lucky with the bow. Was trying to craft a 4L and got a 5L with a couple of jewelers and 2 or 3 fusings :)

Anyway, a very smooth run. My 3 deaths were all strongbox related.

Now I'm thinking about how I'm going to scale the build for maps. I guess the bow is not good enough to make the transition to TR, and there's only so much I can try to roll or bench craft on a lvl 40 bow. Guess I'll focus on the rest of the gear for now.

Current gear:

that was a very smooth leveling through mayhem on this build(in fact I think it was the fastest I ever got to maps(around 10 hours), even did it solo other than A10 Kitava)

I do see some useless gems linked to skitterbot(I am assuming just leveling to sell later?), might I recommend swapping in a summon stone golem(more life regen, occasional taunts, does decent damage with slam, mostly to draw aggro)

"

cirerrek wrote:

roedie01 if you are on a PC hold down CTRL to show the 2nd layer of keybinds it will show up there if your first set of keybinds is full. Since this second set is hidden by default you typically put things like auras (in this build's case you would put things like Summon Skitterbots, Malevolence, or Flesh and Stone on this second set of keybinds).

You can certainly put a golem there too, but I find they die too frequently if you are NOT specifically focusing on giving them life through things like Minion Life Support and passives from the skill tree that support golems/minions in general.

That is why some people who want a golem, but don't want to invest the extra sockets or passive skill point will put their golem in a Cast When Damage Taken setup, so the golem gets resummoned whenever you take damage so it will have a full life bar.

i have the golem working (and no problems with it's survival), but i mean that the withering touch support isn't working with the golem. normally in the hotkey image you can see that a support is linked or not, but this isn't the case with withering touch.

that's what i meant to say sorry for the confusion :3

"

roedie01 wrote:

"

cirerrek wrote:

roedie01 if you are on a PC hold down CTRL to show the 2nd layer of keybinds it will show up there if your first set of keybinds is full. Since this second set is hidden by default you typically put things like auras (in this build's case you would put things like Summon Skitterbots, Malevolence, or Flesh and Stone on this second set of keybinds).

You can certainly put a golem there too, but I find they die too frequently if you are NOT specifically focusing on giving them life through things like Minion Life Support and passives from the skill tree that support golems/minions in general.

That is why some people who want a golem, but don't want to invest the extra sockets or passive skill point will put their golem in a Cast When Damage Taken setup, so the golem gets resummoned whenever you take damage so it will have a full life bar.

i have the golem working (and no problems with it's survival), but i mean that the withering touch support isn't working with the golem. normally in the hotkey image you can see that a support is linked or not, but this isn't the case with withering touch.

that's what i meant to say sorry for the confusion :3

Ah re-reading what you wrote I can see what you are getting at. I just tested it myself to see if it would work for me and I do get the "supported by" icon on a Stone Golem when I support it with Withering Touch. Did not try it with a Flame Golem.

"

cirerrek wrote:

Ah re-reading what you wrote I can see what you are getting at. I just tested it myself to see if it would work for me and I do get the "supported by" icon on a Stone Golem when I support it with Withering Touch. Did not try it with a Flame Golem.

I tried it with a stone golem and it works for me to, when changed back to the flame golem it doesn't. maybe it's a bug, or it just doesn't work with flame golems.

hi. have you guys the same mana problems? only have 4 link and my mana gone very fast