[3.13] Blade Vortex of Hatred | League-start viable | Off-Screen Explosions | All Content |

Welcome to my Blade Vortex of Hatred guide, here's the guide table of content.

1. Introduction
2. Pros and Cons
3. So how does this build works?
4. How is this build affected in the current league?
5. Budget
6. Videos
7. Path of Building

Build Info

1. Equipment
1.5. Ideal League-starting Equipment
2. Skill Gems
3. Skill Tree
4. Ascendancy
5. Bandits
6. Pantheon
7. Possible Questions
8. League-starter Info


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1. Introduction
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This guide is a build that uses Blade Vortex, with the use of multiple buffs, debuffs, aura effect, crits, conversion, penetration and decrease to enemy resistances, this build gets very deadly as you upgrade.

Alternatively, you can use AOE clusters (instead of DPS clusters, I will cover it in the Cluster Jewels section) which will massively increase the radius of your explosions, with over 200% movement speed and massive explosions, I have to say it is very satisfying to map with this build.

This build can do any content in the game (with the exception of deep delve, however it can get to 800 depth with no real issues, only at around 900 things start to get iffy)

This build has DPS and clearspeed, but it is not a tank, so don't expect to be tanking powerful attack like shaper slam, because of the build nature (not needing to cast all the time, fast movespeed) you can easily avoid powerful boss attacks if you have some experience fighthing them before and know their attack, therefore I will not consider this build a beginnner-friendly build.

In this guide I will be covering the min-maxed version, and any specific rares or uniques for a league-start budget version. please check out my PoB for ideal league-starting loadout (read PoB section).

If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments.

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2. Pros and Cons
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+ Great league starter
+ Extreme DPS
+ Access to life leech
+ zoom zoom
+ Great health pool that can reach over 6k
+ Consistent 10 blades
+ Massive Explosions with clusters
+ Can do Hall of Grandmasters with a single gem swap (Inspiration/Controlled Destruction => Block Chance Reduction support, having a white socket makes it easier)
+ Extremely versatile with equipment, most gear can be swapped for IIQ gear (but DPS/resists/life will suffer, can use bismuth flask with resist suffix and duration as countermeasure to the resist problem), also can use another physical spell like Eternal Knives with Aurabots for encounters like Simulacrums with no gear swap, only jewel and support swaps to compliment EK.
+ Can counter reflect with a ring swap (or 2 for both) and pantheon change (look at "Possible Questions" for more details)


- no base Physical Damage Reduction, read Flasks section for countermeasures
- No Leech and Reduced Recovery map mods can be deadly and should be avoided.
- Not viable for Hardcore
- Slow life regen

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3. So how does this build works?
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Blade Vortex is a physical spell.
It deals more Base physical damage per level of the gem.
Hatred converts that physical damage into extra cold damage, and further increase it (the greater the aura effect the more is converted as extra and furthermore increased)
Furthermore, you covert up to 65% of physical damage to cold damage in this build, which is furthermore increased by hatred
600%+ crit multiplier with over 90% effective crit chance (can reach 100%)
Hit frost bomb for free -25% cold resistance (exposure)
With 2 large clusters, damage penetrates 20% Cold Resistance against chilled enemies
Result: Thats ALOT of damage.
Use Supreme Ego, Hatred is now 50% more effective.
(and to top it all, use Vaal Righteous Fire for even MORE spell damage)

btw explode deals physical damage ;)

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4. How is this build affected in 3.13?
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There are only a few changes to this build in 3.13, nothing build-breaking but these are still all nerfs again :(

1. Reduced Cast Speed (-15%)
2. Reduced Movement Speed (-36%)
3. Damage Taken (changes to the Assassin ascendancy, Mistwalker and Opportunistic)

This can mostly be ignored [cast speed/movement speed] beside the fact that it will be alot harder, maybe not even worth to self cast each blade versus bosses by replacing unleash with another support gem to boost DPS.

Another thing worth noting is that now opportunistic feels like a requirement for the defence it provides (20% reduced damage taken [from 10] while there are atleast 2 rare or unique enemies nearby, this is BIG especially with the current league [ritual and maven]

Third and last note, Mistwalker and Ambush and Assassinate
which are we supposed to choose this league?
Let me explain why, so this league is going to be painful for glass cannon builds, but at the same time I feel like you will be able to burst down both rituals and maven arena, and thats without even considering mapping with the new atlas trees. so which notable is worth it? defensive or offensive?
I'll definitely try both and see what fits more, and I encourage you to do the same and see for yourself which feels better.

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4. How is this build affected in 3.12?
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This build will receive a DPS nerf because Vengeful Commander and Precise Commander values have been reduced, nothing concerning yet IMO (pls dont break this build in 3.13 pls).
Just kidding. This build will work even without Vengeful Commander which is an insane source of DPS, but you'll need to get aura effect elsewhere and the value will be much lower compared to how you can utilize Vengeful rn.

However, now Mark on hit will only apply to Rare and Unique monsters, and it will have FULL effect against them, while Marks can no longer apply to multiple mobs or white/magic mobs, this change is a buff imo since Assassin's Mark is mostly for single target DPS (the biggest nerf of it is probably that you cant consistently generate charges while mapping from the marks unless you are running a map with rare mobs everywhere like beyond or delirium, you also won't recover mana and life on hit/kill from marks which makes it impossible to to no-regen map without a mana flask)

Another nerf that is shown now in the gem information post is that Assassin's Mark will no longer make marked enemies take increased damage from crits, but instead add critical strike multiplier to hits against them.

50% conversion gloves are supposed to no longer be craftable (patch notes), but it is still possible so I will retain info about both gloves in the guide (ideal and cheaper)

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5. Budget
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Can start with 0 chaos orbs, in other words a league starter, can start doing red maps on 50c budget or perhaps even less (considering half of it is just a tabula).
min/maxed build might not be using alot of uniques, but the budget is extremely high, you should be ready to spend at least a mirror worth. most of the build min/maxed Gear are Endgame uniques, Cluster & Jewels with specific modifiers, Influenced or double-influenced items.


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6. Videos
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Some of these recordings showcase the min/maxed build doing various encounters, as a level 100 ditching defences for MORE. DAMAGE. (this includes shield swapped for second wand, different amulet annoint and less life nodes on tree for timeless jewel)
who needs defences anyways once you are level 100~
This is just me trying to squeeze as much DPS as I can with this build with harvest min/maxed gear, it has nothing to do with the viability of the build (around 30% DPS increase, it wouldnt be this high if it wasnt high in the first place, you can take TTK and increase it by 60% [30% + 30% from the nerf] for a realistic result I guess).

Fractured Promenade T16
Sirus A8
Uber Elder
Kurgal (Depth 834)
Hall of Grandmasters
Shaper
Elder
Random Azurite node (Depth 838)
Maze of the Minotaur
The Constrictor
Crusader


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7. Path of Building
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Please read "Notes" section in PoB to understand how to view league starter / min-maxed versions.
As I said I will not be covering league-starting gear as there's not much to cover in the case of rares, however for uniques it is different, Please read the Ideal League-starting Equipment section for Uniques to look out for, or look at the early league (Pre-Cluster Jewels) gear in PoB.

I also added leveling trees for 3.13 POB, read Notes.

Spoiler
[3.13] https://pastebin.com/QxcYKRRQ

[3.12] https://pastebin.com/uDUU9dtq

[3.11] https://pastebin.com/B8iVKsyE



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Build Info
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1. Equipment
Weapons

This build uses a wand and shield combination, while dual wands can be used for more DPS, I prefer having the flat +100-109 t1 life on shield instead.

Wand: Opal Wand (the best base, giving up to 42% increased spell damage) with the following modifiers:

1. +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems
2. +1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems
3. +(35-38)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
Can multimod with open 2 suffixes and prefix, for the following 2 mods:
1. (4-5)% chance to deal Double Damage [Suffix]
2. (55-66)% increased Spell Damage [Prefix]
Divine it up to a desirable value.

Shield: Fossilised Spirit Shield (the best base since we are life based build, giving up to 20% increased spell damage) with the following modifiers:

1. (65-109)% increased Spell Damage OR (65-109)% increased Cold Damage [Tiers 1-3]
2. +(90-109) to maximum Life [Tiers 1-2]
3. +1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems
4+5. Elemental and Chaos resistances
6. With open suffix, you can craft - (4-5)% chance to deal Double Damage

For example:

Body Armor

Double-influenced Body Armor for explosions and more damage (frenzy charges).

With the Crusader influence, you can get the mod "Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 3% of their Life as Physical Damage"

With the Redeemer influence you can get the mod "10% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit"

combined with an awakener orb, look for life modifiers and resistance modifiers (and dont forget they can also be crafted), Recover % Energy shield on kill can also be helpful with laggy HH gameplay. or you can also buy one that already have them.

For example:

Gloves

[These gloves are supposed to no longer be craftable, but it is still possible if your conqueror exalt slam hit the conversion mod while you already got the rest (fill suffixes for better chance)]

Crusader influenced Fingerless Silk Gloves, with the influenced modifier "22-25% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage" and the incrusion modifier "25% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage, Adds (5-7) to (10-12) Cold Damage to Attacks", these 2 mods stack for up to 50% of physical damage being converted to cold damage, making about ~22% of our total DPS.

If possible, look for one that also have life prefix, or open prefix to craft life, and Chaos or/and Elemental resistances suffixes.

For example:

Gloves (cheaper)

Fingerless Silk Gloves, with the Incrusion Suffix modifier "+(46–48)% to Cold Resistance
(30–50)% increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies", and the crafting bench Prefix "25% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage"

If possible, look for one that also have life prefix, and Chaos or/and Elemental resistances suffixes.

For example:

Boots

Hunter influenced Two-Toned boots are the best for boots-slot. these boots will give us up to 24% to total elemental resistances just because of their implict modifiers.

With the Hunter influence, you can get the mod "You have tailwind if you dealt a critical strike recently" increasing our action speed by 10%.

If you can craft a prefix, craft + to maximum life, or movement speed if you don't already have them on your item, and if you can craft a suffix instead, use it to cap elemental and chaos resistances.

For example:

Helmet

Double-Influenced Helmet will massively increase our DPS, it is on par on using a +4 corrupted implicts chest swap for bosses prior to obtaining that helmet.

Harvest Crafting

Follow these steps to create a helmet:

Step 1: Get a base helmet (ilvl 82+, shaper+elder influenced)
Use "Essence of Horror" until you hit Concentrated Effect prefix mod, and if you have at least 1 open suffix and 1 open prefix proceed to the next step.

Step 2: craft +1 to socketed AOE gems prefix from the crafting bench.
If there is still an open prefix at this point, augment something, preferably life to fill the last prefix slot (at this point the 3 prefixes will be: 1. Conc Effect, 2. Augmented modifier, 3. Crafted modifier)

Step 3: at this point you'll have 3 prefixes and at least 1 suffix, now you need to augment cold to add a cold suffix modifier. there is ~23% chance that it will hit Hypothermia, if not it will hit cold resistence.
If you hit Hypothermia, the helmet is done, if you hit cold resistence, use remove/add cold until you hit Hypothermia.

EXTRA: If you reached the end and you have an open suffix, you can aug crit for flat #% crit chance for spells, remove/add is possible until T1 which equals 3% flat crit chance for spells, this is mostly for min/maxing so you can reduce crit chance for more offence/defence.


First make sure to use an equippable base that is either Shaper or Elder influence, and has 1 of the following Helmet Enchantments with decending preference:

1. Blade Vortex has +3% to Critical Strike Multiplier for each blade
2. 40% increased Blade Vortex Spell Damage

After you have your base, you will need to use an awakener's orb to turn it into both Shaper and Elder influence, and spam Essence of Horror until you nail the following 3 modifiers (otherwise you can buy one from another player, but it will not have a lab enchant):

1. Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 16-20 Concentrated Effect
2. Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Hypothermia
3. Socketed Spells deal 30% More Elemental Damage (this is the essence modifier)

Another good modifier to look for, but it is not required is - Socketed Spells have +3% to Critical Strike Chance

Look for life prefix modifier, and use the following bench craft: +1 to Level of Socketed AoE Gems, (8-10)% increased Area of Effect

For example:

Amulet
Double influenced Citrine Amulet.

With the Hunter influence, you can get the modifier "+1 to Level of all Dexterity Skill Gems"
With the Warlod influence, you can get the modifier "+1 to Level of all Physical Skill Gems", greatly increasing our DPS.

other then that, look for the following modifiers on your Amulet:
1. +# to Maximum Life
2. #% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
3+4. Chaos and/or Elemental resistances modifiers.

Add intrinsic catalysts if you need more dex/str, or add fertile catalysts instead.

Annoint your amulet with “Discipline and Training”.

For example:

Rings


1. Mark of the Shaper is an Opal ring that provides up to 10% increased maximum life, and up to 80% increased spell damage if your other ring is an elder item, and both these modifiers can be increased with the use of catalysts. With our other ring being both Shaper and Elder influenced, we will be immune to stuns from spells which is a great survivability improvement.

2. Double-influenced Opal ring will give us access to a powerful curse, and massively increase our DPS.

With the Shaper influence, we can get the mod "Curse enemies with level 12 Assassins mark on hit" increasing our critical strike chance against cursed enemies and making cursed enemies take increased damage from critical strikes, in 3.12 this curse got a nerf and a buff, the nerf being that only 1 enemy can be marked at any given time, and the buff being that this mark will not have reduced effectiveness. This mod on our ring will now only mark Rare or Unique monsters.

With the Elder influence, you can get the mod "+% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier"

Both modifiers are suffixes, and can be further crafted with "Suffixes cannot be changed" exalt crafting if you wish to maximize the DPS your ring provides.

For example:

Belt


Headhunter because why not, it will fix the build DEX and STR issues to save passives on the tree.
Otherwise look for a stygian that provides similar attributes modifiers (to save passives on the tree) and life, with access to an abyssal jewel to grant even more life and DPS.

Flasks

Assuming you have Corrupted Blood immunity, go for the following flasks:

1. Divine Life Flask with the modifiers "50% reduced Amount Recovered, 135% increased Recovery rate, 50% of Recovery applied Instantly" and "Immunity to Freeze and Chill during Flask effect, Removes Freeze and Chill on use"
2. Quicksilver Flask with the modifiers: "(30-40)% increased Duration" and "(20-30)% increased Movement Speed during Flask effect"
3. Diamond Flask with the following modifiers: "(30-40)% increased Duration" and "Immune to Curses during Flask effect, Removes Curses on use"
4. Taste of Hate (Unique Sapphire Flask)
5. Rumi's Concoction (Unique Granite Flask)
Replace Rumi's with Bottled Faith for boss DPS.


Since the build has no Base Physical Damage Reduction, you have to use something to counter this or you'll get random 1-shots while mapping, using Rumi's and Taste of Hate is a great combination to address this issue if you have a jewel with corrupted blood immunity, otherwise you can use Rumi's with a magic Basalt flask.

Abyssal Jewel

If you are using Stygian, look for the following 3 modifiers: + to maximum life, + to global critical strike multiplier and chance to gain onslaught on kill.

Normal Jewels

A Watcher's eye jewel with the following dual Hatred modifiers: "(25-40)% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage while affected by Hatred" and "Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Cold Resistance while affected by Hatred" will increase our DPS by a massive amount.

8 Rare jewels with the modifier 5–7% increased maximum Life, and at least 3 of the 4 following modifiers:

1. +(9–12)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
2. +(12–15)% to Critical Strike Multiplier for Spells
3. (14-16)% increased Global Physical Damage
4. (14-16)% increased Spell Damage while holding a Shield

Have one of the jewels contain the corrupted implict "Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you" even if it means not having the 4 desirable mods. (easier compared to watchers or clusters.. but you get the idea)

For example:

Cluster Jewels

2 Large Cluster jewels with the following modifiers:

Adds 8 Passive Skills
2 Added Passive Skills are Jewel Sockets
Added Small Passive Skills grant: 12% increased Cold Damage
1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow
1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson
1 Added Passive Skill is Vengeful Commander

Adds 8 Passive Skills
2 Added Passive Skills are Jewel Sockets
Added Small Passive Skills grant: 12% increased Cold Damage
1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow
1 Added Passive Skill is (any notable, will not be allocated)
1 Added Passive Skill is Vengeful Commander

8 Medium Cluster jewels (4 DPS, 4 AOE, switch between them as you see fit) with the following modifiers:

Medium Cluster jewel #1-4 (DPS):

Adds 4-5 Passive Skills
1 Added Passive Skill is a Jewel Socket
Added Small Passive Skills grant: 6% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills
1 Added Passive Skill is Precise Commander
1 Added Passive Skill is Vengeful Commander

Medium Cluster jewel #5-8 (AOE):

Adds 4-5 Passive Skills
1 Added Passive Skill is a Jewel Socket
Added Small Passive Skills grant: 10% increased Area Damage
1 Added Passive Skill is Assert Dominance
1 Added Passive Skill is Vast Power

For example:



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1.5. Ideal League-starting Equipment
Spoiler
Aside from resistances and life rare gear, there are a few uniques and specific rare mods you should be looking for early on(common) / ASAP(uncommon):

Common Uniques:
1. Tabula Rasa
2. Hrimsorrow
3. Perandus Blazon (IIQ + fire resistance)
4. Thief's Torment (IIQ + elemental resistances)
5. Atziri's Promise

Uncommon Uniques:
1. The Pandemonius
2. any 6-link chest swap for boss-DPS with +2 AOE +2 Duration (or a tabula with 1 of these implicts will be alot cheaper)
3. Any good helmet (Can be rare, but it will be easier to find a decent unique) with the corrupt implict: "+1 to Maximum Power Charges"
3. Taste of Hate / Rumi's Concotions
4. Mark of the Shaper
5. Watcher's Eye with cold conversion mod

Common Rare modifiers to look for:
1. Wands with the following modifiers:
#% increased Spell Damage OR #% increased Cold Damage
+1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems
+#% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
Open suffix for - #% chance to deal Double Damage (Veiled)
If you can get the same mods on a shield, with +# to maximum life, that would be great (shields can't roll crit multi, use suffixes to help cap resists)

Rare Jewels (Cobalt for access to caster mods) with the following modifiers:
#% increased maximum Life
Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you (corrupted implict, only need 1 jewel with this implict)
for the rest just look for global crit multi, or crit multi to spells.

Uncommon Rare modifiers to look for:
1. Body Armor with the mod: "Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 3% of their Life as Physical Damage"
2. Rare Shaper-influenced(+Elder double-influence if using Mark of the Shaper) Ring with the mod: "Curse Enemies with Level 12 Assassin's Mark on Hit"



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2. Skill Gems

Spoiler
Here are the following skill gem links

Body Armor - Frost Bomb => Empower => Enhance => Phase Run => Awakened Hextouch => Elemental Weakness
Weapon - Smoke Mine => Awakened Cold Penetration => Vaal Righteous Fire
Weapon 2 - Flame Dash => Second Wind => Arcane Surge Lv.7
Gloves - Herald of Ice => Hatred
Boots - Vaal Grace => Empower
Boots - CWDT => Steelskin
Helmet - Vaal Blade Vortex => Awakened Controlled Destruction => Inspiration => Awakened Unleash

Replace between Awakened Cold Penetration and Unleash for boss DPS (use vorici to get a white socket instead of one of the blue sockets, can do the same on wand so you dont have to move the gem to your inventory, otherwise you can also use Power Charge on Crit)


These are the quality version of the non-awakened gems I believe to be the best:


Assassin's Mark - Cursed enemies take 4% increased Damage

Elemental Weakness - Cursed enemies have -5% to Elemental Resistances

Phase Run - Buff grants 10% increased Movement Speed

Smoke Mine - 20% increased Skill Effect Duration

Hatred - You and nearby Allies have 20% increased Movement Speed while on Chilled Ground

Grace - could take the "You and nearby Allies have 4% chance to Avoid Chaos Damage from Hits" but its nothing impactful (I wouldn't make the upgrade if it costs alot unless there isn't much left to upgrade).

Herald of Ice (if you use it at some point) - Buff grants 15% increased Cold Damage

Frost Bomb - doesn't really matters

Righteous Fire - Buff Grants 20% increased Spell Damage (this is gonna cost alot probably)

Cast when Damage Taken Support - Supported Skills have 20% increased Skill Effect Duration

Steelskin - Steelskin Buff can take 10% increased amount of Damage

Blade Vortex - 0.4% of Damage Leeched as Life (that clears 2 passives since you don't need to allocate Doryani's Lesson)

Inspiration Support - Supported Skills have 20% increased Critical Strike Chance

Second Wind Support - Supported Skills have 5% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate

Flame Dash - 10% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate


Arcane Surge Support - This is a weird thing because I believe they made a mistake here, it looks like this:

Default - Supported Skills deal 10% increased Spell Damage

Alternate Quality 1 - Arcane Surge grants 0% more Spell Damage
Arcane Surge grants 0% increased Cast Speed
Arcane Surge grants 0.2% of Mana Regenerated per second

Alternate Quality 2 - Arcane Surge lasts 2 seconds


If alternate quality 1 makes it give more spell damage, go for it, and if it DOESN'T and alternate quality 2 DOES increase the duration of the buff, then go for it, they need to fix this to clear it up or we have to wait and see it in league.



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3. Skill Tree

Spoiler


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4. Ascendancy

Spoiler
Go for the following notables with decending preference:

1. Unstable Infusion
2. Deadly Infusion
3. Opportunistic
4. Mistwalker

Mistwalker defensive bonuses are great, but I dont think it matters much while leveling, Uberlab isnt very hard and I can't see any reason for anyone to not have access/complete Ulab before reaching red maps, and thats why it's the last notable in my allocating order for anyone wondering.


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5. Bandits

Spoiler
Help Alira


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6. Pantheon

Spoiler
+ Soul of Abberath
+ Soul of Lunaris.

Dont forget to fully upgrade them.


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7. Premade Possible Questions / Q&A
Spoiler

What mod should I buy on a Watcher's eye if I can't buy both?

If you can't buy the jewel with both mods, buy the jewel with cold conversion.


When do I use my Vaal Skills?

When you fight bosses, or could use Vaal BV mid map if you dont have explode yet and the mobs around you are too scattered.


How can I counter Physical and Elemental Reflect?

By using Sibyl's Lament Coral Ring, and replacing the minor god Pantheon to Yugul, you will take 105% reduced reflected physical or elemental damage, this basically means you won't take reflected physical/elemental damage as long as you are not taking increased physical/elemental damage (which counts toward reflected as well, for example: Vulnerability curse, Sextant mod)
Replace it with Mark of the Shaper or both rings if both reflects mods active, otherwise make sure it is used in the correct ring slot.


How do I use Herald of Ice and Hatred with Supreme Ego?

When you use Supreme Ego, the aura you use is Hatred only and nothing else.


My build has X and Y and I have 2ex in my stash, what do I upgrade next?

You should upgrade the least valuable item you are currently using.



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8. League-starter info

Spoiler
This section a gathering of information to help you understand the early progression in a new league
I wrote down all this information as I progressed a character through SSF, all the way to red maps. While it wasn't bad, I still prefer using mines until I can atleast get a tabula (6-link) because its a stronger league-starter and faster.


Gems you need to buy and their required level:

Levels 1-38:

Stormblast Mine [1] (first quest reward)
Arcane Surge [1] (dont level this gem)
Pierce [1]
Swift Assembly [4] x2
Pierce
FrostBlink [4]
Orb of Storms [4]
Frost Bomb [4]
Added Lightning Damage [8]
Flame Dash [8]
Smoke Mine [8]
Icicle Mine [12]
Blade Vortex [12]
Herald of Thunder [16]
Herald of Ice [16]
Summon Skitterbots [16]
Trap and Mine Damage [18]
Concentrated Effect [18]
Hatred [24]
Assassin's Mark [24]
Pryoclast Mine [28]
Second Wind [31]
Charged Mines [31]
Summon Ice Golem [34]
Phase Run [34]
Curse on Hit [38]




After reaching level 38:

Controlled Destruction [18]
Power Charge on Crit [18]
Hypothermia [31]
Inspiration [31]
Cold Penetration [31]
Unleash [38]





Buy from other players if can't obtain on your own:

Vaal Blade Vortex
Vaal Righteous Fire
Vaal Grace
Enhance





Gem links and remove by order Add/Remove/Replace [level] (action order) COLOR:

Add [1-18] (1) BGBG: Stormblast Mine => Swift Assembly => Added Lightning Damage => Trap and Mine Damage
Add [4] (2) BBB: FrostBlink => Orb of Storms => Frost Bomb
Remove [8] (3) B: FrostBlink
Add [8-31] (4) BBG: Flame Dash => Arcane Surge Lv.1 => Second Wind
Add [8] (5) G: Smoke Mine
Add [12-31]] (6) BGGB: Icicle Mine => Swift Assembly => Pierce => Charged Mines
Add [12] (7) GBGBRG: Blade Vortex/Vaal Blade Vortex => Power Charge on Crit => Hypothermia => Unleash => Inspiration => Cold Penetration (Note: add to empty socket or use weapon set 2, this is only to level the gems as much as possible until we start using them at level 38, same with all the supports even if you dont have access to a 6-link which is a likely situation in leaguestart, preparing them to when you do get it.)
Add [16] (8) BB: Herald of Thunder => Summon Skitterbots
Add [16] (9) G: Herald of Ice (note: add to empty socket or use weapon set 2, this is only to level the gem as much as possible until we start using it at level 38, remove this gem once you allocate Supreme Ego)
Add [24] (10) G: Hatred (note: add to empty socket or use weapon set 2, this is only to level the gem as much as possible until we start using it at level 38.)
Replace [28] (11) B>B: Pyroclaster Mine > Stormblast Mine
Add [34] (12) G: Summon Ice Golem (note: not required and can be removed in maps, however while doing acts the crit chance buff is very helpful.) => Phase Run => Enhance
Remove [38] (13) BGBG: Stormblast Mine entire link.
Replace [38] (14) BB>B: Curse on Hit => Assassin's Mark > Orb of Storms
Replace [38] (15) BGGB > GBGB: Icicle Mine link > Blade Vortex Link
Replace [38] (16) GG > BB: Hatred => Herald of Ice > Summon Skitterbots => Herald of Thunder
Add [whenever possible] (17) BG: Vaal Righteous Fire => Vaal Grace
Replace [after 2nd lab] (18) B>B: Controlled Destruction > Power Charge on Crit

Final gem links after act 10/ maps:

Vaal Blade Vortex => Controlled Destruction => Hypothermia => Unleash => Inspiration => Cold Penetration [Last 2 gems if using tabula or any other 6-link]
Flame Dash => Arcane Surge Lv.7 => Second Wind
Frost Bomb => Assassin's Mark (for boss DPS)
Phase Run => Enhance [Enhance might not be a high priority but im just putting it here as a reminder, perhaps buy level 1 early on for cheap and keep it linked as you're mapping]
Hatred
Smoke Mine
Vaal Righteous Fire
Vaal Grace
CWDT Lv.14 => Steelskin Lv.18

Note: There is a support gem listed to buy but not showing up on the list of actions, that gem is Concentrated Effect and it has a single purpose: increasing DPS versus the stronger bosses (conquerors, guardians etc. you probably will not be able to use it early on because you will need mana regen on tree and mana regen lab enchant on boots or you'll not be able to have 10 blades consistently), replace with Unleash before triggering the fight, and keep it in an empty socket or secondary weapon loadout so it levels up.






Flasks you need to highlight and the reason:

Divine Life Flask: Your main life flask.

Quicksilver Flask: 1 is needed for duration+movespeed mods, ilevel 20+, the rest for vendor recipe. (see required vendor recipes)

Diamond: This flask allows us to reliabely crit. Can be obtained as a quest reward in act 7 (silver locket)

Granite Flask: Much needed physical damage reduction. (Alternatively, Rumi's Concoction unique flask)

Basalt Flask: Much needed physical damage reduction, dont take this matter lightly or you might get randomally 1-shotted while mapping.

This build doesnt require any unique flasks, but there are 2 flasks that can be used as an alternative to Basalt.

1. Atziri's Promise: Chaos resistance and access to life leech per-clusters, while also benefitting DPS.

2. Taste of Hate: causes you to take less cold damage and 20% of physical damage taken as cold damage, further reducing some of the physical damage taken. Also gives DPS (physical damage as extra cold damage)

I don't recommend using multiple uniques flasks at the same time, only at most 1 unless you have corrupted blood immunity on a jewel, in that case 2 can be used.




Required vendor recipes:

Wand (added x cold/lightning/fire damage to spells): 3 Items
1. Magic rarity wand.
2. Normal/Magic/Rare rarity Sapphire/Topaz/Ruby ring. (Normal = T8, Magic = T7, Rare = T6 & Sapphire = Cold, Topaz = Lightning, Ruby = Fire)
3. Orb of Alternation

Create boots with 10% Movement Speed mod: 3 Items
1. Normal rarity boots
2. Quicksilver Flask (any rarity)
3. Orb of Augmentation

Increase the tier of a Movespeed mod on your boots by 1 (until 30%, T2): 3 Items
1. Boots with movespeed mod
2. Quicksilver Flask
3. Orb of Augmentation





Skill tree pathing:

Plan to reach Thunderous Salvos and Potency of Will by level 38 or around that, otherwise just follow the regular pathing.


Ascendancy pathing:

1. Unstable Infusion
2. Deadly Infusion
3. Opportunistic
4. Mistwalker


All skillgem buffs/debuffs:

Frost Bomb (-25% to Cold Resistance)
Vaal Righteous Fire (15-30% More Spell Damage)
Arcane Surge (13% More Spell Damage, 0.6% Mana Regen, 13% Increased Cast Speed)
Vaal Grace (24-35% Chance to Dodge Spell and Attack Hits, 50% more with Supreme Ego)





Common uniques worth buying ASAP:

Hrimsorrow
Tabula Rasa
Perandus Blazon
Thief's Torment
Last edited by BigBlackCookie on Jan 18, 2021, 2:57:04 PM
Last bumped on Mar 22, 2021, 6:49:13 PM
damn this is poggers

ill def try this out in Heist :)
This seems insane and I'm definitely trying it next league, but FYI exposure doesn't stack, so you don't need both Frost Bomb and Wave of Conviction.

So that frees up some space to try playing with some other mechanic.
Please,can you linked leveling items on image-trades. And on pastebin leveling stages. After another labirint. Thx. Its hard understand.
Last edited by andrewMeiker on Sep 16, 2020, 6:51:00 PM
"
Apos91 wrote:
This seems insane and I'm definitely trying it next league, but FYI exposure doesn't stack, so you don't need both Frost Bomb and Wave of Conviction.

So that frees up some space to try playing with some other mechanic.

I see, PoB shows otherwise but wiki clears this up, I'll fix it asap
Last edited by BigBlackCookie on Sep 16, 2020, 7:56:40 PM
"
andrewMeiker wrote:
Please,can you linked leveling items on image-trades. And on pastebin leveling stages. After another labirint. Thx. Its hard understand.

There arent really any leveling items for this build and for the tree just follow regular pathing beside allocating Potency of Will and Thunderous Salvos first.
In Heist patch notes:
Crusader-influenced items can no longer roll a Physical Damage conversion modifier if the item already has one.

Will the 50% phy to cold gloves still be craftable?
"
DanielQ wrote:
In Heist patch notes:
Crusader-influenced items can no longer roll a Physical Damage conversion modifier if the item already has one.

Will the 50% phy to cold gloves still be craftable?

It will not be craftable anymore.
I believe it was a bug to be able to craft it in the first place, since you couldn't bench craft it while it had either of the mods (incrusion or influenced)
It's a bit of a DPS loss but there is a good alternative that covers most of it and also is less RNG, and thats using the suffix incrusion mod that gives t1 cold resistance and damage against chilled enemies, that way you can bench craft 25% conversion and still get extra damage out of it (a bit less compared to 50% conversion)
I should have one of these gloves in my stash from early league if I didnt sell it, ill update my build soon.

Another thing to note is Assassin's Mark not making enemies take increased damage from critical strikes, however it adds critical strike multipler instead.
The crit chance from the mark is also around 80% higher if comparing it to before versus enemies that had -66% curse effectiveness.
but despite that, this is also a DPS loss for this build, but the mark is still powerful enough (even stronger on this part) to make us reliable crit versus bosses despite not having crit chance on gear.
Last edited by BigBlackCookie on Sep 17, 2020, 12:41:52 PM
Havent tried BV for a while.
How is it compare to poison BV version after patch-notes?
I have question about explosions. Are Herald of Ice shatter explosions enough to clear maps? Or explode chest is must have?
Because if explode chest is needed, then i will stick with poison BV with Obliteration wand or legendary gloves (can't remember name)
Otherwise i like your build, looks very good...

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