[3.16] Dark Pact Totems | The smoothest spell totem skill around, now post-nerf updated

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BlueeGreg wrote:
@ciggaro

edit: oh and taking a closer look at your Agnostic variant. I really like it. If I were to do it, I would change my Anoint to Arcane Swiftness, get boots with Ailment Immunity, so I could keep that. I'll do a closer look later in the league!


Ive been theorycrafting an Agnostic variant as well with max block (Gb), ailment immunity and Indigon for massive dps. Basically a DP version of that tanky fireball totemer from reddit recently.

edit: oh small world, my test gear is based on @ciggaro's char
Last edited by bahamut458 on May 12, 2021, 3:28:27 PM
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BlueeGreg wrote:
@ciggaro

I'll hit Level 100 for sure, just no rush. Real life commitments and winding down POE playtime altogether. I wish my 2nd character, Burning Arrow Elementalist, felt fun to play, because that would give me something else to look forward to. I am open to more build ideas to try!

Jun can give good XP if you rush her missions/maps really quickly, because each encounter and choice gives a good chunk of XP. The safehouses also give really good XP. But everything averages out in the long run, and Jun can be a little bit rippy depending on map mods and general circumstance.

I did test the XP option for Breach on one of the regions, using Zana and Scarabs. That was a letdown!

Canyon with Zana Harbinger felt good for XP, especially since it was T15. It's too bad that the Scarabs are too expensive for general use, because that would also help with XP. And keeping a supply of Canyon is hard too. Using unique watchstones that boost area level should also help with XP, but I haven't tried that and it involves extra trading.

Good luck on your grind to 100, Ciggaro! I recommend taking a break to help reset your mind, play a different game for a week or two. Or at the very least, play a different character to freshen things up. That helped me a lot back in 3.12 Heist.


edit: oh and taking a closer look at your Agnostic variant. I really like it. If I were to do it, I would change my Anoint to Arcane Swiftness, get boots with Ailment Immunity, so I could keep that. I'll do a closer look later in the league!


i still havent decided if i want to commit to 100. it'll be my first time attemping 100 without using 5 emblem runs or pure chayulas. I am, however, definately playing subnautica: below zero first so that'll serve as a good break for me and to decide if i want to hit 100.

In the mean time I'm already fiddling around with a memelord cwc firestorm build cuz i got baited by the celestial MTX firestorm. wish me luck. it sucks balls hard atm.

ty for your analysis on my Agnostic variant. I havent considered the use of Arcane Swiftness. I will definately take a look at it as it will free up a suffix on my boots or gloves. I favour being immune to stun far more than being immune to elemental ailments and getting 100% stun immune has been a bitch for me (sitting at 97% now).
@ciggaro

Hitting Level 100 "ethically" definitely feels like an achievement. It requires a reasonably strong, fast, and tanky/resilient character. It requires generally avoiding a lot of interesting content, like big boss fights and mega juiced maps such as triple Beyond. You also can't do content that is low in XP, so many currency farming strategies are off the table.

It also requires an unreasonable amount of time, lol. There's no shame in paying for a boost to 100, but there's also not much reason to either, since no character needs the power of one more level.

I've only done it twice. For me the Level 100 journey starts at level 98, since that's when the XP penalty truly starts to feel extreme. My first time was in Blight 3.8, with a very robust single-target specialist summoner. I only died twice from 98 to 100, once in Delve to the exploding wetas, and once to Betrayal Elreon from after-death effects. I exclusively grinded Delve, Elder T16 Arcade + City Square, and T15 Beachhead rotas. Beachhead counts as "ethical" because its incredibly slow!!

My second 100 was in Heist 3.12, with this same build. I don't remember the deaths from 98 - 100, but I remember it being very smooth, because of how much XP Heist was giving for re-running the same zone. And the totem build was deceptively fast, when you get your Quicksilver + Phase Run / Withering Step rhythm going! I did a few expensive rotas because of relevant challenges, but everything else was "ethical" :)
Please tell me, can I use the Arn's Anguish belt for dark pact totems ? Will Touch of Cruelty work with it ?
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Elianor_ wrote:
Please tell me, can I use the Arn's Anguish belt for dark pact totems ? Will Touch of Cruelty work with it ?


Yes you can use the Arn's Anguish belt, for a decent chunk of DPS. It's a solid belt that has Life, Ele Res, and ofc converts your 4 Endurance Charges into DPS.

I don't recommend it because the Endurance Charges are quite decent already. They give 16% Ele Res and 16% physical damage reduction, which is a super nice and rare stat to have.

https://pathofexile.fandom.com/wiki/Arn%27s_Anguish

'Touch of Cruelty', a notable found on Large Cluster jewels, should work with Dark Pact totems, though I haven't tested it. It's not my favorite notable, because it's largely redundant with the Hinder from our Wither debuff that we apply, either with self-cast Wither or with a Withering Touch drive-by. The damage increase is also additive with the Wither debuff, making it not as big as it appears to be.
thanks for the build i'm preparing gears for this build change from MoM strom brand
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Dassort wrote:
thanks for the build i'm preparing gears for this build change from MoM strom brand


Just looked at your current Hierophant, and he is fricken stacked! I hope you like the build and playstyle :)
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BlueeGreg wrote:
@ciggaro

Hitting Level 100 "ethically" definitely feels like an achievement. It requires a reasonably strong, fast, and tanky/resilient character. It requires generally avoiding a lot of interesting content, like big boss fights and mega juiced maps such as triple Beyond. You also can't do content that is low in XP, so many currency farming strategies are off the table.

It also requires an unreasonable amount of time, lol. There's no shame in paying for a boost to 100, but there's also not much reason to either, since no character needs the power of one more level.

I've only done it twice. For me the Level 100 journey starts at level 98, since that's when the XP penalty truly starts to feel extreme. My first time was in Blight 3.8, with a very robust single-target specialist summoner. I only died twice from 98 to 100, once in Delve to the exploding wetas, and once to Betrayal Elreon from after-death effects. I exclusively grinded Delve, Elder T16 Arcade + City Square, and T15 Beachhead rotas. Beachhead counts as "ethical" because its incredibly slow!!

My second 100 was in Heist 3.12, with this same build. I don't remember the deaths from 98 - 100, but I remember it being very smooth, because of how much XP Heist was giving for re-running the same zone. And the totem build was deceptively fast, when you get your Quicksilver + Phase Run / Withering Step rhythm going! I did a few expensive rotas because of relevant challenges, but everything else was "ethical" :)


i do think this build checks all the boxes for "ethical" 100. i have to play quite carelessly to die, but its like you said.. it takes an unreasonable amount of time to get to 100.

So far ive done all big boss fights consistantly deathless and have been doing juiced harbinger+nemesis+jun valdos rest maps and masterminds and hovering around 12mil exp/hour. i suppose juiced harbingers with 1xdelirium is still less deadly than triple beyond tho im not too sure. also, is 12mil exp/hr good or shitty for lvl99?

my 2 deaths from lvl 98 to lvl 99.5 came from really stupid shit.. 1 death to afk in what i thought was a safe corner and another death to standing literally inside a king harbinger pack and looting while everything was still spawning.
@ciggaro

12 mil/hr at level 99 is low. I like to use Delve as my barometer, though Delve is barely worth running in the current state of the game. You can get ~18 million/hr XP by power running Delve, and that's constant uptime until you run out of sulphite.

If a strategy is above that number, then it's 'good'. If it's below that, then it's less good :) 15 mil/hr is what I would shoot for as the minimum, if its the type of content you enjoy. And remember that things like Harvest are incredibly inefficient and they tank your number.

Yes, never AFK in a map, not worth the risk!! Even afking as you portal in for the first time isn't worth it, because I've died like that and I don't know how. Oh and those King Harbys, yes you need to respect them! They summon all these invuln dudes on the sides who stay alive for the entire fight it seems. They can deal a good amount of damage if you're unlucky. Our totems are really good at handling King Harby, you just have to maintain distance and wait it out.

Good luck! I'm currently using my alt char for the Sirus fight, who is terrible at bossing. *grumble grumble Burning Arrow*. I want to convert that char into overpriced meme Frost Bomb, but I don't want to lose a technically viable bosser in the meantime.
Already build and i have a lot of fun with this build thank you again for the build i got something like 2.5mil per totems and that is too much to do all content here is a clip that i did A9 sirus deathless if any of you want to see this build in 3.14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ulq2OFaxW5s&t=5s
Last edited by Dassort on May 18, 2021, 8:46:59 AM

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