Elpapasmurf's Poison Blade Vortex Guide
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Greetings Exiles, Elpapasmurf here, today I will be presenting you with my build guide for Poison Assassin Blade Vortex. This is my favorite build to play, and I have been playing many variations of it for the past few leagues. It is an easy build to play with great clear speed, great boss damage, able to do a variety of content with good survivability despite being a dodge based build. It’s a build that is very flexible, contains budget and expenses items that you can mix and match, and is easy to progress. This build is great for both beginner and experienced players.
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Super Budget 1c Rares T8 5link lvl20 Vaal Blade Vortex with under leveled support skill gems
Budget with 1c Rares and Tabula/Bino’s T13 Toxic Sewer (semi under leveled skill gems) Budget with double Obliteration Wands T12 A4 Spider Forest Mid Tier Budget Mixed Items High Cost Budget T16 Minotaur A8 High Cost Shaper ______________________________________________________________________________ Pros +Fast Mapper +Great boss damage +Able to do a variety of content +Great Survivability via layers of defense Cons -Can be squishy starting off -Can’t run all map mods and certain map mods can/will slow this build down -Not a face tank build. ______________________________________________________________________________ Build Mechanics
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Vaal Blade Vortex: This will be our main skill gem of choice. Vaal Blade Vortex provides extra damage with it’s secondary on use effect that will follow enemies around. It also applies and scales our poison damage well for boss fights, making it an excellent choice.
Survivability: This build relies on multiple layers of defense to survive and it does it well. We mainly use dodge/evasion with 5k-6khp. We also add more layers, but I will explain this in further detail in the Gems/Items/Jewels section. Eldritch Battery: Causes our energy shield to protect our mana instead of life. Very useful to fit in our auras which scale our damage and defense and solves our mana problems. Mind Over Matter (optional): an optional layer of defense we use, which causes 30% of the damage we take, to be taken from mana instead. Combine this with Eldritch Battery and we have a pretty decent layer of defense. ______________________________________________________________________________ Playstyle
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The playstyle for this build is pretty simple. Make sure your aura’s and plague bearer are all active. Cast your stacks of Blade Vortex up to a maximum of 10. Run into enemies while your stacks are active. Most regular packs die quickly while rares/bosses might require the use of withering totem, flasks,plague bearer and Vaal Blade Vortex.
Use Withering Step to phase through densely packed mobs while also applying wither stacks. ______________________________________________________________________________ Leveling ***Full Detailed Leveling Section Will be added in the future***
TLDR Leveling
TLDR Use whatever poison/chaos skill based moves you want for leveling. I personally use Cobra Lash or Essence Drain/Contagion and later switch to Vaal Blade Vortex. Other Viable options are Caustic Arrow and Toxic Rain. The reason all these options are viable is because we are scaling physical, chaos and Damage Over Time.
IMPORTANT: I strongly recommend NOT to use Blade Vortex early at lvl 12 when it's an option. It is very slow and clunky to play with without a proper setup. I recommend switching to Vaal Blade Vortex when we hit the mapping phase or when unleash support is available at lvl 38. Bandits: Save Alira (killing all bandits also a viable choice) ______________________________________________________________________________ Ascendancy
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We chose the Assassin Ascendancy because it scales our damage well, and gives us great defensives and movement speed. The order in which you pick them honestly doesn’t seem to matter from what i’ve tested in early mapping.
Noxious Strike Toxic Delivery Mistwalker Oppurtunistic ______________________________________________________________________________ Path of Building
POB
https://pastebin.com/z20U4RjZ
______________________________________________________________________________ Gem Setups Tips for gems: Below are all the recommended gem setups for this build and I do recommend maxing them all out at least with 20/20 (level/quality). Enlightened, Empower and Enhance can be expensive but not needed for this build to function properly. Vaal Blade Vortex quality only increases the area of effect of the skill so it's only a QoL upgrade, but I do recommend getting a lvl 21 version if possible.. You can socket any of the gems to any items you wish with the exception being the main 6-link, and Aura’s to the helmet (only if you’re using The Devouring Diadem Necromancer Circlet)
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Main 6-Link Chest
Vaal Blade Vortex Awakened Unleash Support Poison Awakened Unbound Ailments Awakened Deadly Ailments Vile Toxins (If you are on a budget and can’t afford a 6-link, remove this gem) Helm (Auras and Buffs) 4-Link Malevolence Herald of Agony Enlighten Support Flesh and Stone / Summon Skitterbots Main Weapon (Dagger) 3-Link Whirling Blades Fortify Support Faster Attacks Support Alternative Main Weapon (Wand) Flame Dash Second Wind Support Faster Casting Support Offhand 3-Link (Dagger/Wand/Shield) Plague Bearer Empower (lvl4) Increased Area of Effect Gloves 4-Link Despair Blasphemy Support Immortal Call Cast When Damage Taken Boots Wither Spell Totem Enhance (not needed) Withering Step Other Aspect of the Spider (Craft on rings or belt) Blood Rage ______________________________________________________________________________ Gear General The items listed below are all optional and you should base them on what’s both affordable and available to you. I recommend any Dex/Int(Evasion/Energy Shield) based items but any item bases will do.I will have various item loadouts in the POB as examples of different combinations you can use as well as videos showcasing budget and higher cost setups. ______________________________________________________________________________ Weapons
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One of the best choices for our build will be Cold Iron Point, Ezomyte Dagger. The +3 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems is a massive boost to our damage, and having two of these equipped is highly recommended. During the start of the league these daggers might be a little expensive but the prices do drop quickly.
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Another great option is Bino’s Kitchen Knife, Slaughter Knife. While not as a massive DPS increase compared to Cold Iron Point, Bino’s Provides great damage regardless and even has a great map clear thx to its unique effect. This weapon is cheap and a good starter if Cold Iron Point Ezomyte Dagger is too expensive. It also provides a good life regen on killing a poisoned enemy.
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Obliteration Demon’s Horn is another alternative for a starter weapon. It is very cheap and offers a great bonus with its chance to explode on enemy killing making map clearing a bit better in the early stages of mapping.
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Rare Rune Daggers/Wands are something that are also viable, but not really necessary for this build. You can craft a really amazing dagger/wand but the effort and cost is too great for it to matter for such a small dps gain compared to the other choices. If for whatever reason the previously listed items are not obtainable, you can always buy/craft your own rare with the following modifiers. +1 to level of all chaos spell skill gems, to chaos damage over time multiplier, increased damage with poison.
______________________________________________________________________________ Shields If you feel squishy and want to add another layer of defense to the build we have two great options for shields.
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Mistwall Lacquered Buckler is a great choice for a shield. It adds movement speed, great evasion stats and as well as some fire and cold resist. It also gives us more survivability with its unique effect, adding max block chance, phasing on block, and avoiding elemental damage while phasing. Highly recommend this shield.
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Apep’s Slumber Ancient Spirit Shield is also another great option but requires MoM(mind over matter) and item setup to be fully effective. It grants great energy shield regen, and thanks to our synergy with Eldritch Battery, Mind Over Matter and self poisoning with The Golden Rule Viridian Jewel, we will always be constantly refilling our Energy Shield.
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Any Rare Shield with life, energy shield, and resistances.
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The Devouring Diadem Necromancer Circlet is going to be our best helmet choice. It adds +1 to the level of socketed gems, thus increasing the effectiveness of the auras we have socketed in them. Socketed Gems also have 20% reduced mana reservation which is also a huge bonus. But most importantly it gives us Eldritch Battery , which allows us to path our tree in a better route. This helm can be very expensive at the start of the league but prices do go down for it.
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Maw of Conquest Steel Circlet is another helmet I will highly recommend. It provides increased critical strike with spells, energy shield, life and a big bonus with one of its unique effects, Unaffected by Poison. (More on this in the jewel section)
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Rare Helmets are great for adding more evasion/energy shield, life, as well as any remaining uncapped resististances you may be missing.
For higher budgets, a Hunter Influence Rare Helmet with Adds Chaos to Spells and/or Nearby Enemies have -9% to Chaos Resistance are good to look for. ______________________________________________________________________________ Body Armour
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Kintsugi Exquisite Leather has personally been one of my favorite chest pieces to use. It has good evasion rating, decent health, 30%+ to fire resistance and interacts well with our dodge/evasion. If we take no hits recently, we will take 20% reduced damage taken, and upon hit will receive 50% increased evasion rating. Great item if you want to add even more defense.
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Carcass Jack Varnished Coat is also a great body armour. It gives some +% to all resist, life, and some nice boosts to our evasion and energy shield. It also provides great quality of life by increasing the area damage and area of effect of our Vaal Blade Vortex/Plague Bearer.
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Tabula Rasa offers no defense and much else other than an easy 6-link. I’ve personally used this item many times mapping into red maps.
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Rare Chests are another great option as well. 5 link chests are very affordable while 6-links might cost a bit more but nowhere near the amount of the uniques listed previously above.
Chests offer great opportunity to stack any missing resistances, life, evasion and energy shield we may be lacking for defense. If you want more powerful and expensive rares, you can get Crusader influence based chest with the modifier Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 3% of their life as Physical Damage. Also known as explody chest. Another option are Hunter based chest and modifiers with either/and or, %increased maximum life, You can apply an additional curse, and Spells have % to Critical Strike Chance. ______________________________________________________________________________ Gloves
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Asenath’s Gentle Touch is the go to for this build. We add Temporal Chains which adds damage as well as defense by reducing the action speed of enemies. It provides additional benefits by blinding enemies near slain corpses as well as providing a better map clear with exploding enemies. This item is one of the expensive items in this build, however it is not required for this build to be successful.
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Fenumus’ Weave Carnal Mitts offer an easy way to obtain Aspect of the Spider. Aspect of the spider provides a damage boost as well as a defensive layer with its hinder effect. Usually not too expensive.
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Blasphemer’s Grasp Assassin Mitts are a budget alternative choice. They offer decent defense with evasion,energy shield and some life. They also add some damage over time which is nice.
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The Embalmer Carnal Mitts is another good choice. If for whatever reason you’re struggling to get a 5 or 6 link you can use these gloves to make an easy 5link for your Vaal Blade Vortex.
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Rare Gloves offer us a good place to add any attribute requirements we may be lacking, as well as life, evasion and energy shield.
Hunter influenced gloves can provide us with Chaos Damage Over time Modifier, while Warlord influence based gloves provide us with increased Damage over Time as well as increased Spell Damage. ______________________________________________________________________________ Boots
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For boots, a Rare pair will be recommended. You’ll be wanting to look for life, movement speed as well as any resistance.
For higher budgets, Hunter Influenced boots with Tailwind is recommended. Tailwind increases our action speed.
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Atziri’s Step boots are a great alternative. They provide life, evasion, 30% movement speed, as well as a chance to dodge spells. Great pair of boots with a low cost.
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Impressence Onyx Amulet (Chaos) will be our go to amulet. It gives us + to all attributes, increased damage over time, added chaos damage, life and gives us 100% reduced mana reservation for despair, which is huge! It also gives us a small bonus defensive layer upon killing a rare/unique enemy with Maddening Presence, which slows enemies and reduces their damage by 10%.
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Solstice Vigil Onyx Amulet is another great choice. It’s usually on the budget side, and I strongly recommend this if you’re not using/able to afford Asenath’s Gentle Touch Silk Gloves and Impressence Onyx Amulet (chaos). It provides a small to all stats increase, life, flat damage, as well as 100% reduced mana reservation for Temporal Chains.
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Rare Amulets are good for adding any extra attributes we may need, as well as life and resistances.
Hunter Influenced Amulets with to Chaos damage Over Time Multiplier are also a good choice. ______________________________________________________________________________ Rings
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Rare rings will be our best choice. What we want to look for is life, resist, and any attributes we may need. If we aren’t using Fenumus’ Weave Carnal Mitts, we can craft Aspect of the Spider on our rings. (assuming we have enough mana reserve for it).
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Circle of Nostalgia Synthesised Amethyst Ring is an option for rings as well. It is a really great unique that adds a massive amount of damage, but a drawback can be a cost.
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Rare belts are going to be one of the best choices. Any rare belt with life and resistances are going to be good.
For higher cost builds, getting a stygian vise along with Increased Chaos Damage modifier is recommended.
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Doryani’s Invitation (Physical) is a unique option for belts. It provides flat physical damage, and will always roll 30-35 resistances on all 3 types. Very useful item if you are on a budget. The downside is it provides no life.
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Seething Eternal Life Flask of Staunching (Bleed Immunity)
Sin’s Rebirth Stibnite Flask (higher cost, can replace with regular Stibnite Flask) Coralito’s Signature Diamond Flask (scales our poison, HIGHLY recommended) Atziri’s Promise Amethyst Flask (used in almost every build, low cost) Avenger’s Quicksilver Flask (Curse Immunity) If not using any of the flasks listed above look for modifiers for immunities to ailments such as bleed, freeze, curse etc. ______________________________________________________________________________ Jewels
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The Golden Rule Viridian Jewel is one unique I highly recommend but only if you have Maw of Conquest Steel Circlet or Watcher’s Eye Prismatic Jewel(with poison immunity). The reason being is because this Jewel reflects poisons back to you, but with a special effect. Each poison Reflected adds 1% to Chaos Resistance, and because we apply stacks very fast with Vaal Blade Vortex, and Immunity thanks to Maw of Conquest/Watcher’s eye. This will leave us with Chaos resistance cap which is usually one of the harder resistances to cap, thus adding more survivability.
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Watcher’s Eye Prismatic Jewel is another recommended (but not needed) jewel for this build. It provides increased % Energy Shield, Life and Mana, but the real reason we want this is because this Jewel can roll Unaffected by Poison while affected by Malevolence. Which offers the option to use another helmet aside from Maw of Conquest Steel Circlet if we want to. The other Malevolence modifiers are great to add as well, but way more expensive.
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For Rare Jewels we want viridian jewels with the modifiers, increased damage with poison, to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier, increased Chaos Damage and increased maximum life.
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For Abyss Jewel we will be looking for Rare Hypnotic Jewels. Modifiers we want would be to maximum life, Chaos damage to spells while dual wielding/holding a shield, and added chaos damage to spells.
IMPORTANT:By default we are only allowed 1 curse at a time, so if we are to use both despair and temporal chains at the same time we have two options. Either anoint Whispers of Doom (3 golden oils) on your amulet. Or buy/craft a Hunter Influenced chest with the modifier Can Apply an Additional Curse. ______________________________________________________________________________ Anointments Whispers of Doom if we are running double curse (3 golden oils) Dirty Techniques (two amber and 1 silver) Last edited by ElPapaSmurf on Aug 3, 2020, 4:13:32 PM Last bumped on Aug 3, 2020, 6:05:52 AM
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