[3.1] Poet's Pen Volatile Dead - all content - HC/SC

"

Alizae wrote:

Doing this as scion, i dont really like it :/ dps kinda shit somehow. Having a trouble there and there. I should probably drop ventor and bisco but whatever

Struggling on some bosses, even on abyss monster that spawn on T14/15 map

"

i have 0.20 cooldown time for volatile dead,
so i gonna need 5 attack speed on frenzy???

"

WhiteShip wrote:

So if I use leech with Vitality from the jewel. What aura do I take off to use vitality?

"

Kiehn123 wrote:

"

i have 0.20 cooldown time for volatile dead,
so i gonna need 5 attack speed on frenzy???

This im wondering too, this guide is poorly explained, and took me awhile before i even noticed the acuity part, and the watchers eye's wich is atleast 15 exalts


would be nice to get this build more in depth and explained properly, diffrent alternatives etc

"

WhiteShip wrote:

So if I use leech with Vitality from the jewel. What aura do I take off to use vitality?

"

Krabbsatan wrote:

Videos:

Shaper kill (pretty bad gear at this point, was like day 3 of league): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ta-4h82IVIs

Chayula kill: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWqoEUm_p3w

---

This is a build that shines on bosses but also has pretty smooth mapping.

DPS: 1 - 2 million with good gear, depending on buffs

Life: Up to 8k with kaoms, 7k easily achievable

---

The build works by using Poet's Pen wand. The wand casts any spells socketed in it every time you attack.

So we trigger the spells by using a frenzy curse on hit setup.

One wand casts unearth which creates corpses. The other wand casts volatile dead on those corpses.

---

Build can be played as Scion, Inquisitor, Pathfinder, Raider

I recommend Scion it's the best all round and also best for hardcore in my opinion.

The reason is Slayer life leech effects are not removed on full life which I think is one of the strongest defenses in the game when combined with vaal pact.

Slayer leech basically gives you permanent 20% life regen if you deal enough damage. 40% with Vaal Pact and 60% with the CWDT + Blood Rage + Immortal Call + Soul of Arakaali upgraded pantheon (50% increased Recovery of Life and Energy Shield if you've stopped taking Damage Over Time Recently).

The build already has very good damage so getting extra damage from inquis is not as important as having 40-60% life regen which is up almost all the time.

Don't bother with life gain on hit from spells, it does not heal enough to make a difference.

The elemental penetration from inquis is nice but it's much easier to get elemental penetration now. Wise Oak + Abyssal Jewels + Shaper Amulet is enough.

---

Tree and Gear

Path of Building Inquisitor: https://pastebin.com/ehefuxrN
Skilltree: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.1.1/AAAABAABABzcEFhBh6hyjxr56O98hXvQ9bQ4wGY64SaVguRmVLiTuZPyHb687-upSASzDkhVS4w2rrMFQklRlS69J0WdGjiCmwQHl5fA46i7ES0y0ZBVS1dwUpM6i4ymMjwFb56HZQhnXfJSU6ZXTePyRevu7DjtPGpDFr81kvDVVcakDLc-LJyCx7FbPC2DCYnTCap3B76AfIP53di9TLNBltLonKSP-uv1_gqXlXvDt9bbWaIA8B862Cj6aPKDX7zqkBFg3mHiBx4DBIcTsZARlhhW8bMnL4PMRXwqC5_f-_VTUtAfAl-a4Bg8PV8I9EVH2fzlGTpY1aaD28MJmjvAmv6PLag=

Path of Building Scion with Acuity: https://pastebin.com/YWDPWgK1
Skilltree: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.1.1/AAAABAABABzcEFhBh6hyjxr56O98hXvQ9bQ4wGY64SaVguRmVLiTuZPyHb687-upSASzPV9VS4w2rrMFQprgRXy9J0Wdf8YaOBhWBAeXl2DeqLsRLTLRkFVLV3BSYeKLjKYyUXRvnodlCGdd8lJTplco-qaZ6-7sOO08akMWvzWS8NVVxqQMtz4snILH8B88LYMJidPVpr6AfIMYPNi9TLNo8tLoCPSP-uv1_o8HHsCamjvDCZeVe8OD2zpY8kW4yrFbkBFN4zwFg19BlhqBkzqio_4KD8Q7fKIAEZbA47fWgpvbWTrYlS686vv1U1LQHwJfSVH53Q5IAwRFR9n85RmxkAmq8bMnL4PMKguf3y2o

Path of Building Scion (no Acuity): https://pastebin.com/N0bpysR6
Skilltree: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.1.1/AAAABAABABzcEFhBh6hyjxr56O98XznQ9ZsttDjAZjrhTiq4k7mT8h2K8O_rBLMOSFVLjDauswVCSVG-p5UuvSdFnX_GGbSCmwQHl5dg3qi7Kjgy0XBSkzqLjEQlpjJRdIdlCGdd8lJTpldN48Hzppnr7mVNwJrtPGpDogA1kv6PVcakDA_ELJy9NoLHsVuVIIMJidPVpr6AfIP53di9LR9Ms0GW0uiaO4_66_W31gceapMWv_DVl5VFRwmqg9vyRbjK8B8o-kd-AwRFfDwFsZD-CmjyYeKwq8SCEZb3fREtCPS86qKjGFZM__v1O3zQHwJfJpWa4CoLn9_bWdn85RlTUhg8PV8agbc-wwk6WC2o

Important! One of my pens have modified damage values for easier damage calculations. Look at average damage of volatile dead, not DPS

Bandits:

Kraityn for slightly faster clearspeed
Alira for slightly higher damage and ease of gearing

Ascendancy order:

Scion: Assassin-> Slayer
Inquisitor: Instruments -> Inevitable -> Augary

Current Inquis gear:

The raise spectre in the boots is supposed to be Assassin's Mark, sorry about that.

I'm using the Watcher's Eye that gives 1.5% life leech while affected by anger. If you can't afford it there are other options for leech.

Budget:

Curse on Hit Warlords Mark instead of Assassins mark + Atziri's Promise

Medium:

Eye of innocence + Mokou's Embrace

or

Watcher's Eye with leech while affected by Vitality

High:

Watcher's Eye fire leech Anger

---

Cooldown Gear:

Default Cooldown of Poet's Pen is 250ms or 4 per second. With cooldown gear (shaper exclusive mod) you can get as low as 200ms or 5 per second.

Therefore it's important to never have more attacks per second than the cooldown. If you attack while the spell is on cooldown nothing happens and you lose DPS. You can check cooldown by hovering the triggered spell in the hotbar.

So fully buffed with no cooldown gear you want to have 3.9 attacks or .26 attack time.

With cooldown gear 4.9 attacks or .21 attack time.

---

Atziri:

Atziri has reflect so you will instantly kill yourself unless you get Yugul Pantheon + Sybil's Lament + Shaper reduced reflect chest.

---


FAQ:

Q: Why not scale only elemental damage to scale the corpse explosion damage
A: We have no data on unearth corpse life so it's hard to know how effective this is. Besides, the strongest part about Volatile Dead is the ability to precast for 5 seconds before a fight and shotgun the boss. Corpse scaling wouldn't help with this

Q: What do I need to start?
A: All you really need are two poet's pen. If you can't afford them you can have the same passive tree just play self cast Volatile Dead and Desecrate until you can farm the poet's.

Q: What items do I get first?
A: Poets > +1 Helm enchant > Kaoms > Cooldown Gear > Acuities > Essence crafted Opals or Shaper Rings with spell damage

Q: What ascendancy do you prefer?
A: Scion best overall imo

Q: Why not use bodyswap?
A: It makes me feel a bit sick, don't like the playstyle

Q: How is the build after the nerf to helm enchant?
A: Still very strong, the enchant was way too powerful, it's still likely the best enchant in the game.