[3.1] Vortex Bomber Inquisitor - Crit, MoM, Starter Build, Decent End-Game DPS [Guide/Discussion]

Hello, here's my idea for utilizing fast map clearing selfcast Frostbolt(5-6 link with new Shaper/Elder gloves) with decent boss damage with Vortex detonated on Frostbolts. You can call it a guide but for me it's just an idea for my starter character.

Skill Tree:

PoB Pastebin link - https://pastebin.com/zFAfPQyw

Explanation:

The idea here is to get as much Crit and Crit Multi as possible while not getting any specific DPS nodes like AoE or Projectiles in case of eventual reroll if Vortex fails to deliver.

We get 197% Inc Life nodes which combined with decent Mana/Mana Regen nodes brings us to 7k+ Effective HP(not counting ES) with decent rolled items.

Our defenses consists of Freeze/Chill, MoM(up to 40% with Cloak of Defiance), CWDT setup with Immortal Call and damage mitigation from Basalt Flask and Fortify.

We rely on Life Leech from Doryani's Catalyst & Invitation(not required later on if we want to switch with new Abyss base one) + 1 or 2 Health Flasks to sustain our HP.

We use Mana Regen from tree/items + % DMG taken gained as mana from Mindspiral to sustain our Mana Pool.

As you can see this Skill Tree has a lot of Jewel Sockets(6). There are 3 reasons for this:
First is that we use 2(maybe 1 will be enough, we'll see) of them for Frozen Trail(Frostbolt treshold jewels).
Second being that it is an easy way to get even more Crit/Crit Multi source.
Third is that the new Abyss Jewels are gonna be stronger than the regular ones thus making this build even stronger than it is on paper.

Atziri's Promise, Diamond Flask and Vaal Lighning Trap as our offensive setup.

Bandits:

Kill All or Help Alira(I prefere the first option)

The Pantheon:

Soul of Solaris or the Brine King

Soul of whatever suits you

Gem Setup:

1. Chest
Vortex + Spell Echo + Elemental Focus + Added Cold Damage + Conc Effect + Hypothermia

2. Gloves
Frostbolt + Spell Echo + Controlled Destruction + Hypothermia - our base 4-link with something like Inc Crit Strikes, Added Cold Damage or Faster Casting to replace Spell Echo in our Shaper/Elder Gloves. We don't know exact combinations yet so whatever works realy, whatever we can find/afford.

We can switch Hypothermia to Slower Projectiles for boss fights if Frostbolts will happen to be to fast for Vortex follow-up.

3. Weapon
Shield Charge + Faster Attacks + Fortify

4. Shield
This one's flexible. We can use Lightning Golem + Herald of Ice + Decoy Totem but from my experience Golem just dies a lot and slowes us if we have to resummon.

Decoy Totem would be a nice defensive tool for bosses and we could also add Frost Bomb if we get rid of Golem.

Or we could swap Decoy + Frost Bomb for a Blasphemy setup with something like Enfeeble but I'm not a fan of going into meele range with this build.

The one I probably like the most is Herald of Thunder + Curse on Hit + Poacher's Mark but this one's mostly helpful on map clear.

5. Boots
Cast When Damage Taken + Immortal Call + Inc Duration + Vaal Lightning Trap

6. Belt
A possible Abyss Jewel if we choose to swap Doryani's later on.

Stats:

What we look for on gear is:
1. Life
2. Mana
3. Resistances
4. Crit Multi
5. Crit Chance
6. Cold/Spell/Elemental Damage
7. Cast Speed
8. Some Dex/Str to cap on our requirements.

Gear:

There are no required Uniques except for 1-2 Frozen Trail Jewels.

Our chase Uniques are:
1. Cloak of Defiance - pretty expensive, especially 6-link
2. Doryani's Catalyst - medium cost, might be expensive very early on the league
3. Mindspiral - cheap
4. Doryani's Invitation - cheap
5. Frozen Trail - first is free from quest reward in Act 5 Death to Purity, second is cheap
6. Atziri's Promise - cheap

Possible Changes:

Aside from what I already mentioned like Gem Setup on Shield or that the Skill Tree allows for a reroll to other Spell Gems(which I honestly value the most on starter character) I would like to talk about bringing this build to High End-Game. As I'm not experienced with making my own builds I'm asking YOU: What would you change? What are possible End-Game items that we could chase to maximize our defenses/damage output?

I was thinking about a well rolled Essence crafted(% Cold Damage) Opal Rings with Life, Mana and other good stats that we could use like Resistances/Dex/Str. Same goes for Amulet slot.

Obviously I expect that a well rolled Shaper/Elder gloves are gonna be very expesive.

I was thinking about The Wise Oak flask to add some Damage/Damage Mitigation atleast for Cold Damage.

I also thought about switching Atziri's Promise for Silver Flask for more Damage but less Chaos Resistance. Doesn't realy affect our leech rate because there is a cap on it.

Pros and Cons:

+ easy to start with
+ mostly cheap Uniques
+ fast map clear
+ new Reflect changes makes it more comfortable to play
+ flexible Skill Tree allowing to reroll to another Spell Gem
+ decent Damage and Defenses
+ Skill Tree allows to utilize new powerful Abyss Jewels


- can't run reflect maps
- might be clunky to use Vortex on Frostbolts
- relies on getting Shaper/Elder gloves for higher maps
- might have problems with scaling damage to High End-Game

Sup! Can this build make these clearspeed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHMQg9arNV8

Will test this out. Sounds super cool. :)

How far did you get?

I took this build to 85 with some changes. I really enjoyed it and it's not done yet. My characters tend to hit a wall around that time lol but this build feels strong I just haven't had time to play. I'll pick it up again this week hopefully after I finish moving. Character name is PincheWeta if you wanna check it out. Hit me up with questions or improvements!

I thought I would hate using two skills but throwing vortexes EVERYWHERE is really satisfying and I feel like I'm shotgunning .