Bloodmage [EA] - "Sanguine Bonemage" - Phys/Crit Build (+ some Bleed/Break)

4th update! After the 0.1.0e Patch we got more damage scaling on Bonestorm, and some crit on Bonecage. This make Bonestorm even better for bossing, but still leaves us at Detonate Dead for clearing, since neither the Bonestorm Power Charge tech options or the Scattershot/more projectile options can come even close to DD's clear. This was never intended to be a DD build, and DD was just a placeholder for bone skill improvement or new bone skills being added. If you really want to lean into DD, you need to also scale spell area and minion life for use with Sacrifice to push damage even further and allow use during bosses.

We still need a heavy hitter phys spell to be competitive with the top builds, so the next major update to this build will probably come when Reap and/or Exsanguinate are added to the game. The items these skills appear on (Reaping Staff and Offer Wand) seem to be not droppable.

Hi, Exiles!

I had originally planned for a cold-focused Bloodmage for that added layer of defense from slows and freezes. However, once I got into the skill tree, I saw that some of the Crit nodes gave pluses to Physical damage, so I leaned into that and revised my plans.

I then planned to work up to Reap and/or Exsanguinate, which seem perfect for this build at high levels. Unfortunately, those are not in the game yet. I tried as long as I could to avoid this from becoming a Detonate Dead build, but without other skills to clear fodder, DD is your best horde clear option.

This is my updated 0.2 build after a few days of play. I welcome your feedback!
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Table of Contents

1. Build Basics & Thoughts
- Pros & Cons
- Build Name (WIP)
- To WASD or not to WASD?
2. Passive Tree (WIP)
3. Ascendancy
4. League Start (WIP)
5. Skill Gems (WIP)
6. Gear (WIP)

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1. Build Basics & Thoughts
The build focuses on building up Crit chance and Crit magnitude, while supplementing the Life sustaining elements of the Ascendancy for added survivability. Things are rounded out with a smattering of Bleed and Armour Break to increase effectiveness.

Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Maximizes the physical skills we have in the game at release.
- Bonestorm's channeling works great with an emergency dodge roll, launching the spell as-is vs. cancelling.
- Bonestorm is a good bossing skill.
- Detonate Dead makes you have strong map clear, plus the scalling portion of DD is the physical damage you are already focused on.
- Keeps up a fairly consistent Life Overflow (mostly).

Cons:
- Bonestorm's targeting, while great on bosses, can frequently miss on small enemies like Adorned Scarabs and Vile Apparitions.
-Sanguimancy probably needs to be dialed in a bit, but for now takes some management to make sure you aren't killing yourself.
- Not quite as efficient as some Elemental builds I've seen, working to dial that in.

Build Name
In honor of my beloved Diablo II and even more beloved-er (and PoE-inspired) Project Diablo II, with their funny names for Bone Spear/Teeth Necro Builds, I was very tempted to call this the "Lady Boner" build. However, in the name of being more inclusive and ultimately to have a more evocative name, I went with "Sanguine Bonemage" which captures the essence of a Bloodmage focusing on bone skills, even if the skill names don't quite get called out. "Bloody Bonestormer" is more accurate, but still doesn't seem quite right, and I may end up changing the focus skills. Like the build, the name is still a work in progress.

To WASD or Not to WASD
This is a caster build, so being able to strafe and fall back while casting spells with the WASD controls feels great. I did struggle a bit with hitting "Q" and "E" spells sometimes during intense strafing, so I moved those spells over to my 7-button mouse for much smoother control. If you don't have a multi-button mouse, I still would think WASD is a better option. Hopefully, you have more nimble fingers than I and aren't bringing up your map mid boss fight instead of whatever you have assigned to "Q".

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2. Passive Tree (WIP)

https://poe2db.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAABgECgh3oIN91pQxd585beNtizd8Sg0mdBtuj7cfwcz6NzlcSuMsIzn6UPQIVfeFuIaifT9LXLZi4SSF5fM7j2e8M1zCFeBA9wETjRhywgebXQEq1tuNoOufiwWgUwnFR7-uzPfTVtdonk9qLtAg1_wyzVeAojg_boq2rvDcCIn9j1V5lEOgXvygClN_2nG11rYQmNlDFEPpPDBGnNZzwodT5uEDlpTP7DzYJzMO4f-kfGL2oegaoHAjE0zNr6gWZPaa2JKEvK_DZLLIBCnBua4v3A4hvomr87vtS_d9a40cUpOghXYM-DYNf7nKS6NEUf9cyM377DZDdQCie4NPO7VRA1BCV4Ix-AAA=


Edit: Updated the tree to have early life on kill from the Life from Death node.
Edit 2: Massive clean-up of the tree with more efficient pathing, as well as added more life and life recoup. I also added Resonance to take advantage of a more efficient Power Charge loop [killed this, it couldn't keep up].
Edit 3: Gave up on trying to make the Power Charge tech work. Too many trade offs for small explosions. Instead focused on pure damage Bonestorm for bossing, and Detonate Dead for clear. Feels much better and it will have to carry this build until Reap and Exsanguinate are actually in the game!
Edit 4: Added a +block chance version below that I am testing based on Undisputed22's suggestions before I finish the equipment section.


+Block Chance Alternate Build Option:



(This section is a WIP I plan to build out with multiple versions of trees to guide you in leveling)


Level 25 (29 Passives):

Level 34 (40 Passives):


Level 60 (XX Passives):



Level 80 (XX Passives):


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3. Ascendancy

1. Sanguimancy: All Blood Mages have to start here. There is no problem on holding off on this until at least you have the Life From Death node and some other reliable source of life gain, or until you get your second Ascendancy. But if you do hold off, be sure to at least take your 3% life ascendancy node.
2. Vitality Siphon: Helps, but since Bonestorm's damage is broken up across the bones, you may lose some of the leech to resistances. Paired with some sub-optimal leveling gear with Life on Hit, this was a big help. Will be even better once we get Reap!
3. Grasping Wounds: A split Tree approach to improve Crit and Life. You could arguably switch this with Gore Spike if you need damage earlier instead.
4. Gore Spike: You are starting to build up tons of Life and Crit at this point on the Passive Tree, so a strong choice. NOTE: This does not show up in the tool tip, and we are not sure it is fully working right now. May be worth speccing elsewhere and respeccing once we get confirmation from GGG. I'd lean towards Open Sores if you are going heavy into Detonate Dead, or Blood Barbs otherwise. Crimson Power is an option if you are doing with the Defensive build option and want to make up some of the penalty. Open Sores does nothing for this build as built.


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4. League Start/Progression (WIP)

Started with a fairly effective skill combo of Bone Blast/Unearth/Contagion:
Curse with Contagion, Bone Blast until dead, revive temp summons with Unearth, repeat.
Bone Blast does good damage early on, but is clunky af. So I was glad once Bonestorm was unlocked!

Bonestorm has good bossing, but clear is iffy. So we also need to add Detonate Dead for clear support.

(I did experiment briefly with Killing Palm as a less awkward alternative to Bonestorm that seemed to work early on. I may explore that more in a second test build of a melee blood mage.)

Currently set up as detailed in Section 5.


(This section is a WIP I plan to build out)
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5. Skill Gems (WIP)

Bonestorm / Splinter + Brutality + Arcane Tempo + Inevitable Critical + Considered Casting (Other Gem Options: Momentum, Lacerate, Amour Explosion, Demolisher, Heft*)
Detonate Dead / Magnified Effect + Spell Echo + Ambush + Minion Pact + Lacerate (or Corpse Conservation)
Unearth / Persistence + Life Thief
Bone Cage / Lockdown + Concentrated Effect
Skeleton Brute / Meat Shield + Last Gasp + Minion Mastery + Elemental Army + Physical Mastery
Skeleton Cleric / ??
Sacrifice / Clarity (if you can afford it)
Life Remnants / Vitality + Cannibalism


You are not a minion build outside of some +minion damage you get alongside your +spell damage. The Skeleton's are just there as fodder to buy you blasting time. May change things out as I continue to get more gems and experiment with alternatives.

I dropped the Frenzy Charge to Power Charge conversion tech for Bonestorm, as that was too high of a cost for the payoff. Also dropped Scattershot to go back to Arcane Tempo once the damage dropped off too much. (In fact, I tried the Power Charge empowered Bonestorm one more time just to be sure I was not missing anything, and I am convinced it drops our DPS in most cases. It seems like enemies can be effected by more than one regular Bonestorm bone, but only one Bonestorm Power Charge explosion. More testing needed to confirm.)

Concentrated Effect is great for Bonecage. The extra damage helps some, but the main boost is a tighter ring that avoids enemies that are too close from seeming to dodge the effects.

*Keeping an eye on the Heft Gem as bugs get fixed. By the text, it would support physical spells, and is a recommended support gem for some bone spells like Bonestorm. But as of right now, it has no effect. Either they will correct the text to specify attacks, or we are in business on a new gem!

(This section is a WIP I plan to build out. I also will be experimenting with Reap and Exsanguinate soon!)
(and by "soon" I mean once they are in the game :( )

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6. Gear (WIP)

Still a mess on gear so far. Been focusing on +Physical Damage, +Life/Regen/Life on Hit, and Energy Shield.

Rolled almost exclusively into Energy Shield, as it seems that Armour is not currently keeping up.

(This section is a WIP I plan to build out)

Hi

I am using your build and it works well. I read in another post that using scattershot support for bonestorm speeds up channeling. I checked it out and it really works. Here is the comment

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Nekrofancy#7289 wrote:

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, supporting Bonestorm with Scattershot makes it charge almost 3 times as fast. This is because the 2 additional projectiles make it so that it prepares 3 projectiles per charge stage. It feels a lot smoother to use at that speed, even with the damage reduction the support gives.

I'm curious to see if the %chance for additional projectiles on the tree affect the skill the same way, where while channeling each stage has a % chance to prepare additional projectiles leading to faster play.

Also for clearing with bonestorm, getting power charges feels vital. If you put Profane ritual with unleash you can easily sustain 3 power charges as you go, with the occasional detonate dead.

Just my thoughts playing with it so far!

Do you think you can add projectile generation? Or which part of the skill tree is less important that I can change it to projectile generation?

Wow, thanks for the heads up. I hadn't heard this. Need to test this morning.

This tree trades out a small amount of cast speed and 10% increased crit chance for a 20% chance of additional two projectiles by adding some nodes in the Psychic Fragmentation cluster:
https://poe2db.tw/us/passive-skill-tree/AAAABgECgh3oIN91pefOW3jN372nZw8Sg0mdBtuj7cfwucNzPo3OVxK4ywjOPDB-lD0CFX3hbiGon0_S1y2YuEkheZ84VRPfdHzOs9KgRePZ7wzXMDRrAnY6bkSMhXiB5tdASrW242g65-LBaD4Ng19x3O5ykujg087tMjN--4gYBZk9pnoGvaioHB8Yw7h_6bhACczU-bM95aUz-w827-v01bXaJ5Pai7QINf8Ms1XgKI6irau8GVo3AiJ_6CFdg-77Uv3fWuNHFKQIxNMza-q2JKEvK_DZLLIBCnBua4v3A4hvomr8DZDdQCie0cEL4emTJ6xxFlYdd_A0wUT3TaGO-kghZOPXyZbWAAA=

I'll look some more, because there are two more nodes in that cluster that would increase it to a 32% chance for extra projectiles, but any further node tradeoffs are going to be big cuts to crit chance or energy shield.

I was already looking into how to trade out some nodes to get into the Power Within cluster as well for Power Charge duration and added charges.

Yeah, Scattershot makes Bonestorm feel a lot smoother. Much more likely to be dropping a full volley (which I have been wondering if that impacts the listed DPS?). You do notice the damage drop off, but more shots seem like a fair tradeoff for some damage in a crit focused build.

I think I may need to make a second Witch for some A/B testing of various build aspects since respeccing is costly. Silly work getting in the way of science!

I will wait for the updates. I've read all the BM physical skill builds. I found most of the ideas here My Bonestorm/Reap Blood Mage starter for PoE 2 - A DAY TO DAY JOURNEY TO MAKE BLOOD MAGE GREAT, but there is something odd about the passive tree, so I prefer yours. If I find something interesting I'll comment.

Can anyone confirm how sunder the flesh works because as far as I can tell it sets all spells to a base 15% critical hit chance, bonestorm is 15%. This doesn't bump it up to 30% again as far as I can tell. If someone can confirm it does then sunder is pretty much mandatory. If not I would stop at gore spike and take progenesis... I mean grasping wounds. Btw I like your tree, very different from mine. I've stacked as much recoup as possible and power charge nodes along with a massive detour into life leech.

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Justcametomind#3158 wrote:

Can anyone confirm how sunder the flesh works ....

I've seen and read people claiming it works either way. When I started this build, I thought it was a stacking crit bonus, but in the last day of testing and discussing with people, I've come to believe it is much more likely to work as you described. It brings all spell crit chance to at least 15%.

This seems great for elemental or hex builds, but not great for Physical builds, as those spells tend to have a crit chance that is already at or near 15%.

I'm doing some retooling and will start another witch for better testing of alternatives. Big, if true. But yeah, I agree with your split tree approach if so, that's how I'd go rather than fully into Crimson Power.

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Kagokito#1717 wrote:

I will wait for the updates. I've read all the BM physical skill builds. I found most of the ideas here My Bonestorm/Reap Blood Mage starter for PoE 2 - A DAY TO DAY JOURNEY TO MAKE BLOOD MAGE GREAT, but there is something odd about the passive tree, so I prefer yours. If I find something interesting I'll comment.

Thanks for link! I've skimmed and will read in detail. It seems like my build leads to more impactful crits as I skipped the damage reduction nodes, but I do really like their Day 4 update on converting Frenzy Charges to Power Charges with Resonance. Makes for more consistent power charges to improve clear at the cost of some bossing due to the support gem switches. More to test!

What would you take as a 4th and 5th support Gem for the Main Bonestorm skill?

Between this and the other thread its been really helpful.