



Hello everyone! So I'm back with another build guide this time for the inquisitor. This is my second guide for my character in the essence league and I'm hoping this will help someone out there interested in enjoying this character as much as I have this league. This is an Arctic Breath, CI Inquisitor utilizing Vaal Glacial Hammer for shotgunning.



-October 14, 2016 - Posted Guide

-October 17, 2016 - Hrimburn Gloves are amazing.

-October 18, 2016 - Until Proven otherwise, Vaal Glacial Hammer was stealth "fixed" and no longer has collision with your projectiles. Sorry guys ._ . This is still a pretty good Arctic Breath build!



My stream can be found here:

http://www.twitch.tv/apathae



I'm not a dedicated Path of Exile streamer, I play a variety of things but I do enjoy this game and like to partake in new leagues. That being said, you're still more than welcome to stop by if you'd like a chill place to hang out.



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~Links~

-My Essence Character / Profile



Character Profile:

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Apathae/characters



My Current Skill Tree (Level 90):

http://poeplanner.com/AAMAAUhBQU1GQVJRQWRfbmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN5ZjM1bzdncHZ0UE5XbVJVY3kwZXZ1SE55UEdueURFUzBzbkFWQ1FaYXVzOUQxVExQUUgtX3JsNVZTVXoxZmxfUnRHU0wwYkF1VEotLUktVGZYejBteHZvcWhMM19HRVpZSEhwVXU4TlZKVVE1SVhmSXFDM0JTS3dvUkx3TWVIMEdKMDR3Mko2bVAtdERRWDJyclk3VkliV3dQcXlTTHd6b3FPTmxiR3lWTHJ1a0NFVkExdWFjckZyX3I5ZklkbTdXRXhVVi1EbHhxLWxLeU40SGs2LU5Xb3FOUmRJN3BwcGtQeER0OHVNb1FXSy1id3dtNWs2Y0lqMGFib1JocU9WSllCLXdZTEw4VjE0YXVWbVBmaWdLVzBueVNicnhXN1dHY2U2aTVERkk9ABBBQUFDQUFmUUFRSDBBUUFBAAA=



Character Name using this build is CatsCradle currently in Essence League.Character Profile:My Current Skill Tree (Level 90):

-Videos

https://www.twitch.tv/apathae/v/94705542



I also saved a past broadcast with about 6 hours of various gameplay.

https://www.twitch.tv/apathae/v/94887307



Demonstration of using Vaal Glacial Hammer to Shotgun a boss (In this case Lair map Rigwald)I also saved a past broadcast with about 6 hours of various gameplay.

-Ascendancy





Notables are listed in order of importance.



1. Righteous Providence - The 100% crit chance will allow you to get the jump on mobs initially to freeze them; once they're chilled by the chilled ground you get 45% crit multiplier all the time, pretty nice.



2. Inevitable Judgement - Critical strikes ignore enemy elemental resistances. This node as any inquisitor knows is absolutely ridiculous. When you land a critical strike against an enemy, the damage you inflict upon them is "true" as they have 0 resistance to it. This allows a character to focus on scaling other things either through their links or curse selection without having to focus so heavily on resistance penetration. In the off chance that you do not land a critical you get the secondary bonus of having 10% elemental penetration, pretty nifty!



3. Augury of Penitence - This notable says that nearby enemies deal 8% less elemental damage and take 16% increased elemental damage. The range of it is also much more impressive than I thought allowing casters and not just elemental melee builds to utilize this passive. When you're near an enemy a small ring will appear at the enemy's feet indicating it's active. Because it's worded as such the 16% damage taken by the enemy is in fact a multiplier to your own damage making this passive incredibly powerful.



4.Instruments of Virtue - While the least important of the 4 for this build it still adds quite a bit of additional power. The most important nodes we want to utilize from this is the additional spell damage and cast speed. The spell damage will always be up from casting a spell (which is what this build does) but the cast speed will require you to attack to get the benefit. This build does do an attack one of two ways; by either using whirling blades for its mobility in clearing or when using Vaal Glacial Hammer to set up on a boss, it will activate the cast speed bonus as well.



Regarding other ascendancies. You could potentially do this build starting witch, shadow, scion, or even ranger.



Elementalist would help with one of the major issues this character has which is elemental reflect, vaal pact can only counter so much sometimes but it's mostly an issue most characters have to deal with from just doing too much damage.



Ascendant would allow you to grab an additional projectile from deadeye and then take templar start through inquisitor. You'd also have direct access to the other 10% AoE at scion start.



Assassin would send your crit capability through the roof and trickster would give you a lot of extra cast speed and the ability to gain frenzy charges as well.



I even tried leveling this as a ranger, while the projectile and AoE is nice, the +1 chain (or 2 with touch of anguish) is pretty underwhelming as most of this damage comes from the AoE and the overlap. In addition to that, the Far Shot notable is wasted as it only applies to attacks.



Pathfinder is another option as it would make Dying Sun even more ridiculous (assuming you have one).



All in all I feel like for raw power, inquisitor is unrivaled as of this time.



This is an Inquisitor build, so you should pick this one.Notables are listed in order of importance.1. Righteous Providence - The 100% crit chance will allow you to get the jump on mobs initially to freeze them; once they're chilled by the chilled ground you get 45% crit multiplier all the time, pretty nice.2. Inevitable Judgement - Critical strikes ignore enemy elemental resistances. This node as any inquisitor knows is absolutely ridiculous. When you land a critical strike against an enemy, the damage you inflict upon them is "true" as they have 0 resistance to it. This allows a character to focus on scaling other things either through their links or curse selection without having to focus so heavily on resistance penetration. In the off chance that you do not land a critical you get the secondary bonus of having 10% elemental penetration, pretty nifty!3. Augury of Penitence - This notable says that nearby enemies deal 8% less elemental damage and take 16% increased elemental damage. The range of it is also much more impressive than I thought allowing casters and not just elemental melee builds to utilize this passive. When you're near an enemy a small ring will appear at the enemy's feet indicating it's active. Because it's worded as such the 16% damage taken by the enemy is in fact a multiplier to your own damage making this passive incredibly powerful.4.Instruments of Virtue - While the least important of the 4 for this build it still adds quite a bit of additional power. The most important nodes we want to utilize from this is the additional spell damage and cast speed. The spell damage will always be up from casting a spell (which is what this build does) but the cast speed will require you to attack to get the benefit. This build does do an attack one of two ways; by either using whirling blades for its mobility in clearing or when using Vaal Glacial Hammer to set up on a boss, it will activate the cast speed bonus as well.Regarding other ascendancies. You could potentially do this build starting witch, shadow, scion, or even ranger.Elementalist would help with one of the major issues this character has which is elemental reflect, vaal pact can only counter so much sometimes but it's mostly an issue most characters have to deal with from just doing too much damage.Ascendant would allow you to grab an additional projectile from deadeye and then take templar start through inquisitor. You'd also have direct access to the other 10% AoE at scion start.Assassin would send your crit capability through the roof and trickster would give you a lot of extra cast speed and the ability to gain frenzy charges as well.I even tried leveling this as a ranger, while the projectile and AoE is nice, the +1 chain (or 2 with touch of anguish) is pretty underwhelming as most of this damage comes from the AoE and the overlap. In addition to that, the Far Shot notable is wasted as it only applies to attacks.Pathfinder is another option as it would make Dying Sun even more ridiculous (assuming you have one).All in all I feel like for raw power, inquisitor is unrivaled as of this time.

My Current Gear







~Prologue~

-Introduction Allan, please add an intro.





-What is shotgunning? Shotgunning refers to a skill that has area of effect components that can overlap and affect the same target. With regards to Arctic Breath, with enough AoE scaling any target near a wall, an obstacle or in our case confined by Vaal Glacial Hammer, will have every projectile explode and overlap, scaling your damage immensely.





-Vaal Glacial Hammer. Recently, a patch came out to "fix" frost wall to prevent projectile based builds like lightning arrow from stacking walls on an enemy and layering the AoE component of their skill on single targets. This change however has not affected Vaal Glacial Hammer. Any enemy (usually a boss) you confine within the ring of ice will be at the mercy of all of your projectiles exploding and overlapping, taking them down very quickly.



My secret goal for this build is to try this out with a Sire of Shards to see how effective shotgunning 15 total projectiles would be from within the ring of ice.



Is this fair? I think so. As a vaal skill it requires souls to use, and only stores one use. If you're unable to defeat a boss while it's up you then have to go toe to toe normally. You're also putting yourself in danger by confining yourself with the boss, some of which are incredibly dangerous.







~Build Synopsis~

-Gear



For the sceptre, you have a couple options when it comes to uniques. For general elemental scaling, some leech and cast speed, it's hard to beat Doryani's Catalyst.



If you plan to avoid using a dagger at all for clearing, this sceptre is ideal as the damage scaling it provides is unconditional.



For a budget option and might potentially be better (at least for what we're using it for) you may also consider a Singularity



Singularity is great both offensively and defensively as it gives a lot of cast speed, and hinders nearby enemies slowing them down which then grants you additional damage against them. The range is very short and won't be as good as doryani's for clearing but if you only use the sceptre to shotgun bosses, hindering them is a nice bonus in making the process a bit safer. Another cool tidbit is that if you have the lab enchant on gloves that creates a copy of your weapon, singularity copies will have their own aura and will hinder enemies that they fly next to, pretty cool.



Beyond that, any rare sceptre that has caster mods, elemental damage mods, anything beneficial to spells, cast speed etc will suffice.



Regarding daggers, I switch to a Divinarius while clearing maps.



This dagger gives you spell damage, spell crit, global crit and on top of all that an additional 10% area of effect, all of that is useful for this build.



For a budget option pick up a Heartbreaker



I cannot promote this dagger enough, for what it does and the fact that you can get one every league for as low as 1 alteration. This thing has spell damage, mana, es, and gives your spells culling strike. For something that simply enables you to use whirling blades, this thing is incredible for its price and is very much useful for the lifespan of any character.



As for a rare dagger, same rules as the sceptre, spell damage, spell crit, etc. Local mods on the dagger don't really matter unless you want to get attack speed too to speed up your mobility. Mana regeration also adds quite a bit of quality of life.





-Armor



If you don't mind taking a hit in your ES pool, an item that adds quite a lot of damage to this build you may consider is Hrimburn.



For the wealthy, this build can easily be converted to low life to take advantage of the Pain Attunement keystone and additional auras. This would require Shavronne's Wrappings to prevent chaos damage from bypassing energy shield. With the points saved from CI you'll definitely want to invest more on ES in the tree to make up for losing out on Infused Shield behind the CI keystone. In addition to that, chaos damage is now an immediate concern and because you have no life regeneration you have to be very careful. I do not have the items necessary to try this iteration of the build so your mileage may vary.



For the extremely wealthy, I do want to try this build out with Skyforth boots



These boots could potentally allow you to replace Assassin's Mark with enfeeble as well as potentially replace Eye of Chayula with any other more useful rare amulet or possibly even Star of Wraeclast.



In regards to armor, the current iteration of this character utilizes Chaos Inoculation. That being said, you want to prioritize energy shield based rare items with mods that cover all the necessary defenses. When it comes to energy shield gear you want it try to get as much ES as possible while still making sure your resistances are capped. After that, if you can get these mods with intelligence rolls on them as well, your intelligence stat will further scale the amount of energy shield you have. If possible it's also nice to try to include move speed on your boots as well.If you don't mind taking a hit in your ES pool, an item that adds quite a lot of damage to this build you may consider is Hrimburn. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Hrimburn These gloves are the fated version of the Hrimsorrow gloves that have the additional property that will allow your cold damage to ignite while still retaining all the defensive benefits of freezing and shattering that a cold build provides. I was able to pick these gloves up for 1 chaos orb and the offensive difference is incredible.For the wealthy, this build can easily be converted to low life to take advantage of the Pain Attunement keystone and additional auras. This would require Shavronne's Wrappings to prevent chaos damage from bypassing energy shield. With the points saved from CI you'll definitely want to invest more on ES in the tree to make up for losing out on Infused Shield behind the CI keystone. In addition to that, chaos damage is now an immediate concern and because you have no life regeneration you have to be very careful. I do not have the items necessary to try this iteration of the build so your mileage may vary.For the extremely wealthy, I do want to try this build out with Skyforth boots http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Skyforth These boots could potentally allow you to replace Assassin's Mark with enfeeble as well as potentially replace Eye of Chayula with any other more useful rare amulet or possibly even Star of Wraeclast.

-Labyrinth Enchants I don't have a recommendation for gloves, I use fingerless silk gloves which have a spell damage implicit, without this I suppose the "of War" is ok if you're using a Singularity as their aura will hinder nearby enemies.



For your helm, Arctic Breath Radius of course, can get 8% in merciless lab or 12% in uber lab.



For boots, % leech if you've killed recently is the most valuable, otherwise attack/cast speed if you've killed recently is ok.



-Jewelry and Belts



After that while not required, they will amp your damage potiental up with this build, I currently use two Snakepit rings



These rings give cold damage, cast speed, and an additional spell projectile which is insane!



If you opt to avoid these rings you have some options, you can use rares (possibly the new opal ring base type) that gives an elemental damage implicit. You could also use a Pyre if you're interested in converting this into a fire build having a bit more options for scaling including the double dipping you get from the "Snowforged" passives on the skill tree. Bear in mind that "elemental" damage nodes do not double dip with Pyre, a single modifier can only apply once, the reason Snowforged double dips is because it lists two separate increases for fire damage and cold damage.



You also have the option to use Doedre's Damning to enable your second curse, freeing up 6 skill points on the tree to be used elsewhere.



The best setup if I could get ahold of it myself would be a corrupted +1 curse Eye of Chayula amulet with two Snakepit rings.



[Belt]

Any belt with ES and resistances, you may also try to get a strength stat on it as well as this build takes a 30 strength node to be able to have enough to equip a sceptre, potentially saving a passive point. The new crystal belt base type that was introduced is absolutely insane for any energy shield based build giving well over 100 flat energy shield with the right rolls on it.



Because this build utilizes Chaos Inoculation, I learned the hard lesson that stun immunity is invaluable so Eye of Chayula is a necessity. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Eye_of_Chayula After that while not required, they will amp your damage potiental up with this build, I currently use two Snakepit rings http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Snakepit These rings give cold damage, cast speed, and an additional spell projectile which is insane!If you opt to avoid these rings you have some options, you can use rares (possibly the new opal ring base type) that gives an elemental damage implicit. You could also use a Pyre if you're interested in converting this into a fire build having a bit more options for scaling including the double dipping you get from the "Snowforged" passives on the skill tree. Bear in mind that "elemental" damage nodes do not double dip with Pyre, a single modifier can only apply once, the reason Snowforged double dips is because it lists two separate increases for fire damage and cold damage.You also have the option to use Doedre's Damning to enable your second curse, freeing up 6 skill points on the tree to be used elsewhere.The best setup if I could get ahold of it myself would be a corrupted +1 curse Eye of Chayula amulet with two Snakepit rings.[Belt]Any belt with ES and resistances, you may also try to get a strength stat on it as well as this build takes a 30 strength node to be able to have enough to equip a sceptre, potentially saving a passive point. The new crystal belt base type that was introduced is absolutely insane for any energy shield based build giving well over 100 flat energy shield with the right rolls on it.

-Jewels For jewels, anything that covers any shortcomings you have should come first, whether it be to fix a res, fix a stat, etc. After that you should try to get anything that scales your damage or your cast speed, if you can pair that with % increased energy shield, even better. In order of importance:



- Resistance / Stat (if short on them)

- %Energy Shield

- Cast Speed

- Cold Damage / Area Damage / Projectile Damage / Spell Damage etc



There is a trick when searching for jewels to buy, the more specific the modifiers on them generally the cheaper they are to trade for. One way to do this is I would search for mods like "Cast speed with cold skills" paired with "Cast speed while holding a shield" finding incredible jewels with other useful mods for as little as 1 fusing or 1 chaos orb. The more general the mods the more useful they are to other builds making the demand for them higher; raising their price.



This build also uses an "Energy From Within" jewel to convert the life in the melding wheel to energy shield; this is very popular to do for any ES based build and as of this league the price of these jewels has gone up quite a bit.





-Flasks



That flask is Dying Sun



Dying Sun is the new ruby flask that drops from the Shaper, during flask effect it gives you 2 additional projectiles and 30% increased area of effect by default. With the Alchemist passives that actually increases to 39% AoE. If you were a pathfinder with over 50% flask effect, you could even up it to 3 projectiles which is kind of ridiculous. This flask isn't required in the build by any means but it supplements it so well that it wouldn't make sense for me to not recommend it.



After that, I recommend a Sapphire Flask to help with reflect and a mana flask to make sure you don't get mana starved due to downtimes with leech. After that it's up to you, you could use Atziri's flask for some extra damage, Rumi's flask for some extra block or just any other useful utility flask that fits your playstyle.



Be sure to have staunching (anti bleed) and heat (anti freeze) mods on any of these flasks



So the Atlas of Worlds patch introduced a rather magical flask that if you can get a hold of one puts this build absolutely over the top. It took me a long time to save up for one of these but when you get one...That flask is Dying Sun http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Dying_Sun Dying Sun is the new ruby flask that drops from the Shaper, during flask effect it gives you 2 additional projectiles and 30% increased area of effect by default. With the Alchemist passives that actually increases to 39% AoE. If you were a pathfinder with over 50% flask effect, you could even up it to 3 projectiles which is kind of ridiculous. This flask isn't required in the build by any means but it supplements it so well that it wouldn't make sense for me to not recommend it.After that, I recommend a Sapphire Flask to help with reflect and a mana flask to make sure you don't get mana starved due to downtimes with leech. After that it's up to you, you could use Atziri's flask for some extra damage, Rumi's flask for some extra block or just any other useful utility flask that fits your playstyle.Be sure to have staunching (anti bleed) and heat (anti freeze) mods on any of these flasks



So, I swap between two weapons for this build a dagger and a sceptre, while it doesn't require a unique, there are a few that supplement what you're doing quite well so I will add them as recommendations.For the sceptre, you have a couple options when it comes to uniques. For general elemental scaling, some leech and cast speed, it's hard to beat Doryani's Catalyst. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Doryani%27s_Catalyst If you plan to avoid using a dagger at all for clearing, this sceptre is ideal as the damage scaling it provides is unconditional.For a budget option and might potentially be better (at least for what we're using it for) you may also consider a Singularity http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Singularity Singularity is great both offensively and defensively as it gives a lot of cast speed, and hinders nearby enemies slowing them down which then grants you additional damage against them. The range is very short and won't be as good as doryani's for clearing but if you only use the sceptre to shotgun bosses, hindering them is a nice bonus in making the process a bit safer. Another cool tidbit is that if you have the lab enchant on gloves that creates a copy of your weapon, singularity copies will have their own aura and will hinder enemies that they fly next to, pretty cool.Beyond that, any rare sceptre that has caster mods, elemental damage mods, anything beneficial to spells, cast speed etc will suffice.Regarding daggers, I switch to a Divinarius while clearing maps. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Divinarius This dagger gives you spell damage, spell crit, global crit and on top of all that an additional 10% area of effect, all of that is useful for this build.For a budget option pick up a Heartbreaker http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Heartbreaker I cannot promote this dagger enough, for what it does and the fact that you can get one every league for as low as 1 alteration. This thing has spell damage, mana, es, and gives your spells culling strike. For something that simply enables you to use whirling blades, this thing is incredible for its price and is very much useful for the lifespan of any character.As for a rare dagger, same rules as the sceptre, spell damage, spell crit, etc. Local mods on the dagger don't really matter unless you want to get attack speed too to speed up your mobility. Mana regeration also adds quite a bit of quality of life.

-Bandits Normal - Skill Point

Cruel - 5% Cast Speed or Skill Point

Merciless - +1 Power Charge





-Skill Trees - Now includes progressive leveling guide!

Because I'm a reckless scrubcore player, I tend to skimp out on defenses while leveling and just accepting the occasional death for the sake of just blitzing through the content. That being said I'll try to provide leveling trees that pick up a bit of defense that will later need to be respecced.



-10 Points http://poeplanner.com/AAMAACRBQU1GQVFBQUN2bmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN3RXM2SUEACEFBQUFBUUFBAAA=

-30 Points http://poeplanner.com/AAMAAFxBQU1GQVFBQUh2bmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN3RXM2SUFuOS1hTzRLYjdUelZwa1ZITXRIcjdoemNqeHA4Z3hFdExKeW5DTmdrVmtnRlFrR1dyclBROVE9PQAQQUFBQ0FBZlFBUUgwQVFBQQAA

-50 Points http://poeplanner.com/AAMAAJBBQU1GQVFBQU12bmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN3RXM2SUFuOS1hTzRLYjdUelZwa1ZITXRIcjdoemNqeHA4Z3hFdExKeW5DTmdrVmtnRlFrR1dyclBROVV5ejBCX3Y2NWVWVWxNOVg1ZjBiUmtJOU1CVWFrTWk5R3dMa3lmdmlQazMxODlKc2I2S29TOD0AEEFBQUNBQWZRQVFIMEFRQUEAAA==

-70 Points http://poeplanner.com/AAMAAMRBQU1GQVFBQVJ2bmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN3RXM2SUFuOS1hTzRLYjdUelZwa1ZITXRIcjdoemNqeHA4Z3hFdExKeW5DTmdrVmtnRlFrR1dyclBROVV5ejBCX3Y2NWVWVWxNOVg1ZjBiUmtJOU1CVWFrTWk5R3dMa3lmdmlQazMxODlKc2I2S29TOV94bjVaRVpZSEhwVXU4TlZKVVE1SVhmSXFDM0JTS3dvUkx3TWVIMEdKMDR3MlZVdGg0aWVwABBBQUFDQUFmUUFRSDBBUUFBAAA=

-90 Points (Converting to Chaos Inoculation) http://poeplanner.com/AAMAAPxBQU1GQVFBQVd2bmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN5ZjM1bzdncHZ0UE5XbVJVY3kwZXZ1SE55UEdueURFUzBzbktjSUJVSkJscTZ6MFBWTXM5QWY3LXVYbFZKVFBWLVg5RzBaSXZSc0M1TW43NGo1TjlmUFNiRy1pcUV2ZjhZUmxnY2VsUzd3MVVsUkRraGQ4aW9MY0ZJckNoRXZBeDRmUVluVGpEWW5xWV82ME5CZmF1dGp0VWh0YkEtckpJdkRPaW80N0Jnc3Z4WFhocTVXWTlsYkd5VkxydWtDRVZBMXVhY3JGcl9yOVdTZDhoMmJ0WVRGajBhYm9RPT0AEEFBQUNBQWZRQVFIMEFRQUEAAA==

-110 Points http://poeplanner.com/AAMAAURBQU1GQVJRQWR2bmRpNHpBbWdtcTJmekFaandGNzN5ZjM1bzdncHZ0UE5XbVJVY3kwZXZ1SE55UEdueURFUzBzbktjSUJVSkJscTZ6MFBWTXM5QWY3LXVYbFZKVFBWLVg5RzBaSXZSc0M1TW43NGo1TjlmUFNiRy1pcUV2ZjhZUmxnY2VsUzd3MVVsUkRraGQ4aW9MY0ZJckNoRXZBeDRmUVluVGpEWW5xWV82ME5CZmF1dGp0VWh0YkEtckpJdkRPaW80N0Jnc3Z4WFhocTVXWTlsYkd5VkxydWtDRVZBMXVhY3JGcl9yOVdTZDhoMmJ0WVRGajBhYm9SaHFPVkpZQjBWLURseHEtdC1LVXJJM2dlVHI0MWFpbzFGMGp1bW1tUV9FTzN5NHlpQnVVREFDbHRKOGttNjhWdTFobkh1b3VReFMAEEFBQUNBQWZRQVFIMEFRQUEAAA==

-121 Points (Level 100 Option A) - More Offense! http://poeplanner.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

-121 Points (Level 100 Option B) - More Defense! http://poeplanner.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

-121 Points (Level 100 Option C) - Offensive with +1 Curse Chayula http://poeplanner.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



Because I'm a reckless scrubcore player, I tend to skimp out on defenses while leveling and just accepting the occasional death for the sake of just blitzing through the content. That being said I'll try to provide leveling trees that pick up a bit of defense that will later need to be respecced.

-Gems and Links



In my chest armor I have my Arctic Breath setup, the links are as follows:



-4-Link (Colors: B,B,B,G)

Arctic Breath + Spell Echo + Increased Area of Effect + Greater Multiple Projectiles



-5-Link (Colors: B,B,B,G,G)

Add Hypothermia



-6-Link (Colors: B,B,B,B,G,G

Add Increased Critical Strikes



I should note that I've played around with a lot of variations, like if you get enough AoE scaling through the tree, the radius lab enchant or have a Dying Sun flask you may replace Increased Area of Effect with Faster Casting. I do not recommend using Concentrated Effect with this, while the mutliplier is very high (and not reflected on Arctic Breath's tooltip), the loss of AoE slows clearing and makes shotgunning much more difficult to do.



I've also tested with LMP, GMP for the hilarity of having 11 projectiles and in the future want to test shotgunning a boss by using vaal glacial hammer with a sire of shards and fire 15 total projectiles from within the ring of ice to see how effective it is.



---



For my first four link (currently in my boots) I have Decoy Totem linked to Increased Duration, Vaal Lightning Trap, and Vaal Discipline.

The links are as follows:



-4-Link (Colors: R,R,B,B)

This is mostly for utility and enemy control, Decoy Totem will distract or help lure bosses near walls or obstacles allowing you to shotgun them. It also reduces their damage by taunting them which is awesome. Vaal Lightning Trap creates shocked ground, greatly increasing your damage against bosses, and Vaal Discpline acts like a healing potion for energy shield builds. Increased duration simply prolongs the effect of these skills.



---



My second four link (currently in my gloves) is what I use to manually curse things (if needed) I have Orb of Storms + Curse on Hit + Assassin's Mark + Warlord's Mark



-4-Link (Colors: B,B,B,R)

Simply place an orb that applies these two curses to enemies caught within it. Assassin's Mark improves our crit chance while Warlord's provides additional leech we need due to running Vaal Pact.



---



For my last four link (currently in my helm) I have a second cursing set up linked to Herald of Ice. Herald of Ice + Curse on Hit + Assassin's Mark + Warlord's Mark.



-4-Link (Colors: B,B,G,R)

Why two curse setups? Herald of Ice adds some additional cold damage, and defeating frozen enemies causes a nova that will apply the curse automatically to nearby enemies. This greatly improves map clear speed as this build is very capable of off screen clearing. So the Orb of Storms setup is mostly for solitary targets or bosses that herald of ice doesn't already take care of while flying through maps.



---



For my first weapon three link it will change depending on which weapon you have equipped, I carry my other weapon in my inventory and swap accordingly so I'll list the links for each weapon. In my sceptre I have Vaal Glacial Hammer + Increased Duration + Concentrated Effect for a bit more safety you could possibly replace increased duration with Fortify.



-3-Link (Colors: R,R,B)

When you gather enough souls this will allow you to drop a ring of ice on any solitary target and shotgun them, I generally will fill the gem with souls at the start of a map and swap to my dagger until the boss swapping back to be able to trap them.



In my dagger I have the token mobility setup, Whirling Blades + Fortify + Faster Attacks.



-3-Link (Colors: G,R,G)

This lets you zip around, proc your ascendancy buff for extra cast speed and grants you fortify when you hit a target. Standard stuff.



---



For my last three link (currently in my shield) I have my Discipline Aura, Flame Dash, and Summon Lightning Golem.



-3-Link (Colors: B,B,B)

Discipline gives you a lot of extra energy shield, Flame Dash is to have a gap clearing teleport skill, and Lightning Golem is there to provide additional cast speed (if it stays alive that is).





Additional useful gems to consider leveling -Clarity-

Clarity is useful while leveling and possibly on some map mods, it takes the edge off of your mana issues in the early game when your leech isn't quite as useful or you have low level mana flasks.



-Enfeeble-

Enfeeble is one of the most overpowered things in the game as far as defense is concerned, if I somehow gain a means of generating power charges (probably through Skyforth) I will not hesitate to replace assassin's mark with this curse.



-Vaal Haste-

This would be the offensive option for a Vaal skill, granting additional cast speed for a duration but as the build already uses 3 other vaal skills, the soul requirement would be pretty stringent.



-Extra Spell Gems-

A backup Arctic Breath or two, if you level them all the way, a lucky +1 level corruption would add a lot of damage. Otherwise any other gem you'd like to level to corrupt favorably, increased crit strikes is another good option as level 21 raises the base crit from 1.9 to 2.0.



At max level you can sell a gem to a vendor with one Gemcutter's Prism to receive the same gem back at level 1 but with 20% quality. Due to the rarity of GCPs, this is usually the option most players use to max the quality of their gems. Because spells get their damage from their level, a level 1 spell may force you to start doing low level maps for awhile. A backup would allow you to avoid that until your quality gem catches back up a bit.







For this section I'll give a run down of how I currently have my links set up, however things can definitely be moved around or adjusted to suit your needs.In my chest armor I have my Arctic Breath setup, the links are as follows:-4-Link (Colors: B,B,B,G)Arctic Breath + Spell Echo + Increased Area of Effect + Greater Multiple Projectiles-5-Link (Colors: B,B,B,G,G)Add Hypothermia-6-Link (Colors: B,B,B,B,G,GAdd Increased Critical StrikesI should note that I've played around with a lot of variations, like if you get enough AoE scaling through the tree, the radius lab enchant or have a Dying Sun flask you may replace Increased Area of Effect with Faster Casting. I do not recommend using Concentrated Effect with this, while the mutliplier is very high (and not reflected on Arctic Breath's tooltip), the loss of AoE slows clearing and makes shotgunning much more difficult to do.I've also tested with LMP, GMP for the hilarity of having 11 projectiles and in the future want to test shotgunning a boss by using vaal glacial hammer with a sire of shards and fire 15 total projectiles from within the ring of ice to see how effective it is.---For my first four link (currently in my boots) I have Decoy Totem linked to Increased Duration, Vaal Lightning Trap, and Vaal Discipline.The links are as follows:-4-Link (Colors: R,R,B,B)This is mostly for utility and enemy control, Decoy Totem will distract or help lure bosses near walls or obstacles allowing you to shotgun them. It also reduces their damage by taunting them which is awesome. Vaal Lightning Trap creates shocked ground, greatly increasing your damage against bosses, and Vaal Discpline acts like a healing potion for energy shield builds. Increased duration simply prolongs the effect of these skills.---My second four link (currently in my gloves) is what I use to manually curse things (if needed) I have Orb of Storms + Curse on Hit + Assassin's Mark + Warlord's Mark-4-Link (Colors: B,B,B,R)Simply place an orb that applies these two curses to enemies caught within it. Assassin's Mark improves our crit chance while Warlord's provides additional leech we need due to running Vaal Pact.---For my last four link (currently in my helm) I have a second cursing set up linked to Herald of Ice. Herald of Ice + Curse on Hit + Assassin's Mark + Warlord's Mark.-4-Link (Colors: B,B,G,R)Why two curse setups? Herald of Ice adds some additional cold damage, and defeating frozen enemies causes a nova that will apply the curse automatically to nearby enemies. This greatly improves map clear speed as this build is very capable of off screen clearing. So the Orb of Storms setup is mostly for solitary targets or bosses that herald of ice doesn't already take care of while flying through maps.---For my first weapon three link it will change depending on which weapon you have equipped, I carry my other weapon in my inventory and swap accordingly so I'll list the links for each weapon. In my sceptre I have Vaal Glacial Hammer + Increased Duration + Concentrated Effect for a bit more safety you could possibly replace increased duration with Fortify.-3-Link (Colors: R,R,B)When you gather enough souls this will allow you to drop a ring of ice on any solitary target and shotgun them, I generally will fill the gem with souls at the start of a map and swap to my dagger until the boss swapping back to be able to trap them.In my dagger I have the token mobility setup, Whirling Blades + Fortify + Faster Attacks.-3-Link (Colors: G,R,G)This lets you zip around, proc your ascendancy buff for extra cast speed and grants you fortify when you hit a target. Standard stuff.---For my last three link (currently in my shield) I have my Discipline Aura, Flame Dash, and Summon Lightning Golem.-3-Link (Colors: B,B,B)Discipline gives you a lot of extra energy shield, Flame Dash is to have a gap clearing teleport skill, and Lightning Golem is there to provide additional cast speed (if it stays alive that is).



~Gameplay~

-How to Play So the process is as follows:



1. Enter Area

2. Make sure your auras are running.

3. Gather Souls for Vaal Glacial Hammer

4. Swap to your dagger.

5. Use Whirling Blades to zoom around and cast Arctic Breath to shatter all of your enemies.

6. Be wary of elemental reflect rare enemies, Vaal Pact won't always save you if you're being reckless.



For bosses/single target.



1. Switch back to your sceptre.

2. Walk up to boss and drop a decoy totem so they have something to play with.

3. Place your Orb of Storms to curse them.

4. Throw a lightning trap at them to shock them.

5. If boss is still busy with the totem, use Vaal Glacial Hammer to trap them in the ring of ice.

6. Pop Dying Sun or any other flasks you may want to use.

7. Start casting spells like mad like a ghetto discharger.

8. Collect treasure.



*If for whatever reason you weren't able to defeat the boss or it has forced phases or something, you're up for a slightly more fair fight (at least for them). Try to use the decoy totem to lure them next to a wall and then cast spells at the wall next to them.



In regards to Izaro in the labyrinth, because he is in his own room, you will not have any souls for vaal skills and the wall method will be required. Or better yet, the corner of the room.





-Leveling So for leveling at the start, as embarassing as it is to say, I actually used that quest reward dexterity gem in the first jewel socket and leveled with Blade Vortex. Alternatively if you want to stick with elemental magic, Firestorm is very strong.





-Mapping

Elemental Reflect This mod will murder you, please try to avoid it.





I've run a lot of other mods and they're definitely still doable with some adjustments.



-Hexproof

I'd honestly try to avoid this mod too if you can it's still doable if you have the leech enchant from the labyrinth on your boots but it's still pretty dangerous.



-Reduced Regeneration

You'll either have to use flasks more often, or possibly run clarity.



-Vulnerability/Extra Damage

If you're confident in your potential, you can make no change and try to play carefully. If you're too concerned, replace Assassin's Mark with Enfeeble as your second curse.



-Elemental Weakness

You may want to avoid this one unless your resistances are overcapped and it doesn't affect you at all.



-Temporal Chains

I swear 80% of my maps roll Temporal Chains, it's annoying at best. The maps will go a little slower, but with Whirling Blades and your high cast speed it isn't too bad.



-Minus Max Resistances

This one can be pretty dangerous, play with extreme caution.



-Blood Magic

-Avoid this one too.



-Beyond

Depending on how much you spawn this can get a little scary. Watch out for Bameth.



-Two Additional Exiles

Two additional trash mobs.



-Elemental Equilibrium

A mild inconvenience but if you crit you ignore resistance anyway.



I've run a lot of other mods and they're definitely still doable with some adjustments.-HexproofI'd honestly try to avoid this mod too if you can it's still doable if you have the leech enchant from the labyrinth on your boots but it's still pretty dangerous.-Reduced RegenerationYou'll either have to use flasks more often, or possibly run clarity.-Vulnerability/Extra DamageIf you're confident in your potential, you can make no change and try to play carefully. If you're too concerned, replace Assassin's Mark with Enfeeble as your second curse.-Elemental WeaknessYou may want to avoid this one unless your resistances are overcapped and it doesn't affect you at all.-Temporal ChainsI swear 80% of my maps roll Temporal Chains, it's annoying at best. The maps will go a little slower, but with Whirling Blades and your high cast speed it isn't too bad.-Minus Max ResistancesThis one can be pretty dangerous, play with extreme caution.-Blood Magic-Avoid this one too.-BeyondDepending on how much you spawn this can get a little scary. Watch out for Bameth.-Two Additional ExilesTwo additional trash mobs.-Elemental EquilibriumA mild inconvenience but if you crit you ignore resistance anyway.

----- Hello everyone! So I'm back with another build guide this time for the inquisitor. This is my second guide for my character in the essence league and I'm hoping this will help someone out there interested in enjoying this character as much as I have this league. This is an Arctic Breath, CI Inquisitor utilizing Vaal Glacial Hammer for shotgunning.-October 14, 2016 - Posted Guide-October 17, 2016 - Hrimburn Gloves are amazing.-October 18, 2016 - Until Proven otherwise, Vaal Glacial Hammer was stealth "fixed" and no longer has collision with your projectiles. Sorry guys ._ . This is still a pretty good Arctic Breath build!My stream can be found here:I'm not a dedicated Path of Exile streamer, I play a variety of things but I do enjoy this game and like to partake in new leagues. That being said, you're still more than welcome to stop by if you'd like a chill place to hang out.-----~Links~~Prologue~~Build Synopsis~~Gameplay~----- Last edited by Apathae on Oct 18, 2016, 9:56:05 PM Last bumped on Oct 27, 2016, 3:03:46 PM