[3.0] Dark Pact self-cast Ascendant (Beginner, SSF and low-budget friendly)

First of all, thank you for your time and effort making the guide.

I'm a returning player (not playing this game since 2013 or so) and currently I'm playing your build.
I'm only level 37 at this moment but I'm enjoying the leveling process (it is fast and safe) and looks kinda fun.

Thank you so much again sir, you helped a lot a newbie with 0 clue about the game.

Edit: BTW In your extended leveling guide, part 09 in Act 1, what's the use for Spell Totem?

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Nun wrote:

First of all, thank you for your time and effort making the guide.

I'm a returning player (not playing this game since 2013 or so) and currently I'm playing your build.
I'm only level 37 at this moment but I'm enjoying the leveling process (it is fast and safe) and looks kinda fun.

Thank you so much again sir, you helped a lot a newbie with 0 clue about the game.

Edit: BTW In your extended leveling guide, part 09 in Act 1, what's the use for Spell Totem?

That should be for the Wither spell - use it to wither though mobs and bosses while you lay the chaos damage on.

Great Guide Really thanks it helps me really well in the game :D

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tekkenshu7 wrote:

Keep up the great work bro - I will be running this now because I got tired of my AW zerker xD
Do keep us updated if there are further improvements too :)

One recommendation I can apply is the use of Carcass Jacks (probably for better QoL) or The Covenant (cheaper and can be considered a 7L dark pact).

I've been testing out The Covenant today as I finally managed to get a 5 link on the one I had. I quite like it, it's got the potential for more damage as it's technically a 7-link and you can also run Arctic Armour for more mitigation, or even work in some "Reduced Mana reserved" somewhere and try to get a tri-curse going. The downsides are that the 10% increased life doesn't match a T1-T3 life roll from a rare (my T1 roll of 114 life with no Strength drops me 200 HP). You'll also lose around 1K life per DP cast and around 500-600 ES over using a chest piece like a Vaal Regalia.

It's got its pro's and con's for sure, but it's definitely a viable item to use so I'll add it to the guide later on. Carcass Jack however, while a very nice damage increase, doesn't give us enough back unfortunately to be better than a rare or Covenant.

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tekkenshu7 wrote:

That should be for the Wither spell - use it to wither though mobs and bosses while you lay the chaos damage on.

I've added a mention of it in the guide to pair it with Wither early on :) Thanks!

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Zarasi wrote:

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tekkenshu7 wrote:

Keep up the great work bro - I will be running this now because I got tired of my AW zerker xD
Do keep us updated if there are further improvements too :)

One recommendation I can apply is the use of Carcass Jacks (probably for better QoL) or The Covenant (cheaper and can be considered a 7L dark pact).

I've been testing out The Covenant today as I finally managed to get a 5 link on the one I had. I quite like it, it's got the potential for more damage as it's technically a 7-link and you can also run Arctic Armour for more mitigation, or even work in some "Reduced Mana reserved" somewhere and try to get a tri-curse going. The downsides are that the 10% increased life doesn't match a T1-T3 life roll from a rare (my T1 roll of 114 life with no Strength drops me 200 HP). You'll also lose around 1K life per DP cast and around 500-600 ES over using a chest piece like a Vaal Regalia.

It's got its pro's and con's for sure, but it's definitely a viable item to use so I'll add it to the guide later on. Carcass Jack however, while a very nice damage increase, doesn't give us enough back unfortunately to be better than a rare or Covenant.

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tekkenshu7 wrote:

That should be for the Wither spell - use it to wither though mobs and bosses while you lay the chaos damage on.

I've added a mention of it in the guide to pair it with Wither early on :) Thanks!

That's exactly what I thought as well. I thought of Covenant because I saw it being used by some DP zerkers and occultists (a lot use carcass jacks too). One thing that could bother people is the blood magic support in the Covenant which can be dangerous on some cases.

One thing I can say is that we can also use a Heretic Veil to slot in the curse gems into but this basically lessens our opportunity to add more HP in the long run so I think it would just be better to run an enfeeble+warlord's mark post level 72 or so (well as long as you have the high crit required).

Thought I'd do a new video so recorded a quick Tier 13 Beacon map from when I was farming today with a Bisco's Collar which I added to the video section, and also cleaned up some sections and put some information on The Covenant and Void Battery. Had to remove some colouring from the levelling guide unfortunately so it's a little harder to read as I was well past the 50k character limit.

Other than that nothing much new - just farming away and working on my Altas (100/120). Been debating trying out a Atziri's Splendor to get more armour so I think that's my next step. Ran the simulation on a Void Battery but it's barely breaking even over an Apep's Rage for me at the moment. Bisco's is great though, and still very easy to farm even with all the stats lost from an amulet slot. Dropped my Atziri's Promise as it's not really needed. It's good early on when you lack damage but once your damage scales higher the extra leech isn't really necessary (handy for those pesky unid maps that end up having Hexproof though).

Added another video for a T14 Volcano to show how to handle curse immune bosses without using Atziri's Promise.

Hey really great guide, and I have been loving the build so far but I am having trouble on what to improve now I am level 76 and have gotten to T10 maps. here is my profile if you could give me some tips on what I can improve. The biggest things I am having problems with is running out of mana when using the 2 curses and dark pact. and I take lots of physical damage. thanks a bunch for the guide.

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/forkheals/characters

Hey! You're lacking a lot of life from some slots, especially your body armour, amulet and belt. I'd look into that to help with defences and damage. I'd also switch to using another wand rather than the shield with lightning damage for shock. The wand alone will increase your damage by a good 25% (going from a simulation with your profile in Path of Building) before shock is applied. See this poe.trade link for an example of what to buy. Look for a wand with an empty prefix then craft spell damage on it from Catarina's headstones. You're looking at around 3 - 5 chaos for a wand of that type. The more life we have the more damage we do. The more damage we do the more we leech, stun monsters and the faster we kill. I'd also switch to using Enfeeble over Assassin's Mark at your level and progress to help with incoming damage.

wow thanks for the very detailed guide. Trying it out right now!


In your full guide for beginners, in act 1 when you say to link "Blight > Contagion > Void Manipolation" you can maybe suggest also to keep an eye for B-B-G wands and do the vendor recipe "magic wand + chaos gem" because all three gems (and later essence drain) benefit from the +1 level to chaos gem and it's quite a boost to .

Hey. I am starting on maps now and I'm saving up for 2 big purchases: void battery and a 6L chest. Since I'm poor those are the two main things I don't have yet.

I have about 40 chaos right now, should I spend it all on a 4L chest and the best wand I can get (and maybe an amulet with more life) or should I save up until I can get one of those two items? I already have Apeps.