POE 2 ✧ Lahkesis Queen of Chaos ✧ "Essence Drain " Guide releas (Showcase video include)

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Fire42uck#6350 wrote:

Don't really have much to add to ED discussion other than what's been posted here. In general, yes, Hexblast is a better build, and Corpsewade more or less mimicks the ED/C gameplay without requiring any build investment whatsoever. But it's still fun to cover packs in purple and just walk around the map, watching everything die after just two casts.

I really like how this build (coming from POE1) has benefited from the weapon set passives, though. It allows for some pretty cool flexibility. Taking the idea from adavydow's build to spec Event Horizon on just ED weapon swap (so contagion and hexblast don't drain your life/es), I decided to split my passive tree so that weapon set 1 was focused on only chaos damage passives, and set 2 was purely defensive. I was able to stack high ES relatively cheaply this way, since I could then focus my weapons themselves on pure offensive stats or defensive stats.

I took it further after watching video on the block-support Chrono build, so I instead retooled my 2nd set to 75+% block chance with the Merit of Service since I play with friends about half the time. This also let me use a scepter for extra spirit for Grim Feast and Blasphemy, while keeping a +5 wand on set 1 for ED damage.

So I've got 8k tooltip DPS (doesn't calculate the 75% MORE damage from Minion Pact and Drain Ailments) on Essence Drain, while having over 6k ES, 79% block, CI, max resists, etc. Like everyone else, solo clear is great and bosses suck. But playing with friends, I keep my solo strength while also massively boosting my party's damage and survivability.

Gonna echo what adavydow said in that it feels like ED isn't complete yet. We don't have 5 damage increasing supports for it, so the damage on pinnacle bosses is lacking. It's nice to be able to stack my DOTs and run around, focusing on mechanics/dodging--after all, that's why I'm playing this build. It's totally viable, but bosses just take too long to be actually fun. Overall I still love the playstyle though, I'm just glad I have friends with meta builds to actually get through pinnacle content with.