Due to changes to EB, AA & auras, the introduction of Ice Bite/Hypothermia/etc, the removal of Inner Force, shotgunning, and CWDT, this build will not be updated for 2.0.





This build uses Freezing Pulse in conjunction with Cold to Fire, Avatar of Fire and Three Dragons to shock enemies reliably as well as mitigate reflect via Arctic Armour. Consistently shocking enemies also allows for good Herald of Thunder uptime and hence reliable Assassin's Mark cursing. I am currently playing in Torment but the build is definitely HC viable as you end up running an overlevelled AA with just over 5.5k effective life and very little reflect danger.



I made this build with the intention of breaking the damage levels of any build I've done in the past and achieve top clear speed without making my character a glass cannon. You achieve crazy damage by shocking any enemy you crit (inclduing Palace Dominus, for example) to further multiply the already good damage you put out. I've been able to breeze past supposedly difficult maps (I've done every unique map with this character, Oba's, Death and Taxes, Poorjoy's, Olmec's, etc).



Atziri kill:

Gorge run:

10 second Twinned Necro Merveil:





Pros and cons Pros:

-Great damage, even in groups

-Great clear speed

-Can be done relatively cheaply but scales well as you invest more currency and level up

-Very little/no micromanagement



Cons:

-Best damage comes at melee range

-Sometimes difficult to hit things in doorways if even a little desynced

-Not critting on several consecutive casts can feel pretty annoying





Conversion and 3 Dragons mechanics In short, increased damage of both cold and fire damage stack and elemental does not double dip. Three Dragons lets you shock with fire damage.

Example:

If I convert 100% of 100 Cold damage to fire damage, I have 100% fire damage. If I then have 10% increased cold damage, I have 110 fire damage. If I then add 10% increased fire damage, you have 120 fire damage. If you then add 10% increased elemental damage you have 130 fire damage. You cannot convert more than 100% of damage (by using Pyre + Avatar of Fire + Cold to Fire, for example).





Three Dragons mean the length of shocks will be based on fire damage instead of lightning. Luckily, all of our damage is fire, so shocks will be very potent.





Stats

Obviously, results will vary depending on gear/level/gem levels.

Defensive stats

Nromal mapping setup:

I have 1025 unreserved mana.





Reflect map setup:

789 unreserved mana.



Nromal mapping setup:I have 1025 unreserved mana.Reflect map setup:789 unreserved mana.



Offensive stats

No power charges, normal mapping setup (in hideout):





With power charges, normal mapping setup:





Reflect map, no power charges:





Reflect map, power charges:



No power charges, normal mapping setup (in hideout):With power charges, normal mapping setup:Reflect map, no power charges:Reflect map, power charges:

Obviously, results will vary depending on gear/level/



Minimum Requirements

This makes the build and scales your effective damage way beyond the tooltip.



Obviously a 6link is nice, but the build is definitely capable of doing maps (although probably not 78s) with a 4link. 5link should carry you to end game just fine. 6 link is fun. If you only have a 4-link your setup should be FreezePulse-GMP-FirePen-ColdToFire, 5th link is Echo, 6th is Faster Casting.





10% quality Freezing Pulse gem. You might be able to make do with an unqualitied one but your clear speed will suffer. 20% means you reach the end of the screen. Obviously, the more quality the better.



You want mana regen on gear as Inner Force (buff effect nodes) also increase the mana degen from Arctic Armour and we're not running Discipline.

This makes the build and scales your effective damage way beyond the tooltip.Obviously a 6link is nice, but the build is definitely capable of doing maps (although probably not 78s) with a 4link. 5link should carry you to end game just fine. 6 link is fun. If you only have a 4-link your setup should be FreezePulse-GMP-FirePen-ColdToFire, 5th link is Echo, 6th is Faster Casting.10% quality Freezing Pulse gem. You might be able to make do with an unqualitied one but your clear speed will suffer. 20% means you reach the end of the screen. Obviously, the more quality the better.You want mana regen on gear as Inner Force (buff effect nodes) also increase the mana degen from Arctic Armour and we're not running Discipline.



My current gear with explanation and prices



Would much rather have cast speed over fire damage for a suffix, and higher tier rolls, but for 100c this greatly out-performs a Catalyst (despite slightly lower tooltip) because of the Proj Speed for very little extra investment (or less investment if you play HC).

Catalyst



Very good weapon, not mandatory but it gives us leech (very nice), spell damage, cast speed and crit chance. You could use a rare wand with master crafted leech - the benefits of this are the possibility of getting crit multi/mana regen/proj speed on the wand. A perfect rare wand is best in slot, but Doryani's Catalyst isn't far away. Cost me 2ex.

Very good weapon, not mandatory but it gives us leech (very nice), spell damage, cast speedcrit chance. You could use a rare wand with master crafted leech - the benefits of this are the possibility of getting crit multi/mana regen/proj speed on the wand. A perfect rare wand is best in slot, but Doryani's Catalyst isn't far away. Cost me 2ex.



Super cheap, incredible damage scaling, free resistances. Do not run all 3 auras/buffs at the same time. During normal mapping you'll have Clarity, Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder up. During reflect maps you take off HoI and turn on PoF to help deal with double reflect.



Good life, ES (increases unres mana by almost 300), mana regen, resistances and some damage scaling on top of it. You could definitely get better ES on a shield and better damage scaling (multi, spell damage, cast speed), but this one has a nice combination of what you look for in a shield. Self found.



Not ideal, actually. Generally it would make life easier for you to get dex on the amulet, but I had it sorted on rings. Mana regen and life are a must, any damage scaling from there is a nicety.



Mana regen and grants like 1k effective life? BiS. Saves you 13 nodes that travelling to MoM would take. Anywhere between 10c-25ex depending on league/links.



No mana regen isn't great but gives us dex on gear which means we don't need to use a level on getting a 30dex node. Res and Life. 10c, I ran out of Blesseds :(



Mana regen (must have on at least 1 ring unless you get an insane shield), life, some damage scaling. Awesome fun, 1ex - not even half that if not on a Diamond Ring.



Dex and great damage. Voidbringers make mana sustain more trouble than it's worth which means that you lose survivability even though you end up with more unreserved mana (so effective HP). Again, prices vary a lot depending on rolls/league.



Belt is a great place to get your resistances sorted as gearing jewellery and shield is a pretty specific task on this character. I didn't go for Doryani's Invitation because of the immense loss of life and generally because I felt 1% leech is perfectly fine. Self found.



Unfortunately, you want an armour or armour/ES base so you can put your CWDT setup in there.



Instant flasks, everyone loves them.

Very important for boosting mana after a big hit.

Fast life regen and saves you from the pain of corrupting blood (you hit mobs up to 10 times per cast due to echo, this is necessary).

Gotta go fast.

Curse immunity is very important. You can get almost 100% uptime during fights on your 5th flask spot. I typically swap between sapphire/topaz/granite/ruby as necessary.

Would much rather have cast speed over fire damage for a suffix, and higher tier rolls, but for 100c this greatly out-performs a Catalyst (despite slightly lower tooltip) because of the Proj Speed for very little extra investment (or less investment if you play HC).Super cheap, incredible damage scaling, free resistances.run all 3 auras/buffs at the same time. During normal mapping you'll have Clarity, Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder up. During reflect maps you take off HoI and turn on PoF to help deal with double reflect.Good life, ES (increases unres mana by almost 300), mana regen, resistances and some damage scaling on top of it. You could definitely get better ES on a shield and better damage scaling (multi, spell damage, cast speed), but this one has a nice combination of what you look for in a shield. Self found.Not ideal, actually. Generally it would make life easier for you to get dex on the amulet, but I had it sorted on rings. Mana regen and life are a must, any damage scaling from there is a nicety.Mana regengrants like 1k effective life? BiS. Saves you 13 nodes that travelling to MoM would take. Anywhere between 10c-25ex depending on league/links.No mana regen isn't great but gives us dex on gear which means we don't need to use a level on getting a 30dex node. Res and Life. 10c, I ran out of Blesseds :(Mana regen (must have on at least 1 ring unless you get an insane shield), life, some damage scaling. Awesome fun, 1ex - not even half that if not on a Diamond Ring.Dex and great damage. Voidbringers make mana sustain more trouble than it's worth which means that you lose survivability even though you end up with more unreserved mana (so effective HP). Again, prices vary a lot depending on rolls/league.Belt is a great place to get your resistances sorted as gearing jewellery and shield is a pretty specific task on this character. I didn't go for Doryani's Invitation because of the immense loss of life and generally because I felt 1% leech is perfectly fine. Self found.Unfortunately, you want an armour or armour/ES base so you can put your CWDT setup in there.Instant flasks, everyone loves them.Very important for boosting mana after a big hit.Fast life regen and saves you from the pain of corrupting blood (you hit mobs up to 10 times per cast due to echo, this is necessary).Gotta go fast.Curse immunity is very important. You can get almost 100% uptime during fights on your 5th flask spot. I typically swap between sapphire/topaz/granite/ruby as necessary.



Passive Tree/bandits explanation + link







Bandits: Oak, Alira/kill, Alira. I personally went Alira on cruel but you're close to both Mental Rapidity and Nimbleness, both effectively 4% nodes so it's really down to personal preference.



Avatar of Fire - this ensures we also deal no lightning damage from HoT as even that little bit would be dangerous on reflect (from experience without AoF when I was just running Pyre for 100% conversion)



Inner Force - amazing cluster, buffing both AA, Clarity and the flat damage added to spells via your heralds. It's significant DPS as well as survivability.





Can it be done with Witch? - Yes, just start on the spell damage side and take the spell damage nodes instead of Ele damage on Shadow, but I prefer cast speed (Shadow 4% vs Witch 3%), even at the cost of the 25% mana regen node as you can make up for that on gear. You could also start Templar.



How I levelled

I levelled with Pyre + 3 Dragons (both have really nice resistances, too, so levelling becomes easier). I like to get any nodes with resistances before end game so I can min-max gear properly. Basically traverse the tree as you see it, getting Throatseeker only at the end.



31 points



40 points



50 points



71 points







At this point I'd go for AoF, drop Pyre for a good rings with life/dex (if needed)/manaregen, get the Devotion cluster and Inner Force (assuming you can still sustain AA), get the last life/mana node, the last power charge, go for the Scion 14% life node, then get Heart of Flame. You'll be in your high 80s at this point, get Throatseeker if you have a level 2 empower and all buff effect nodes (to not die to reflect) then just fill out the Scion life wheel.

I levelled with Pyre + 3 Dragons (both have really nice resistances, too, so levelling becomes easier). I like to get any nodes with resistances before end game so I can min-max gear properly. Basically traverse the tree as you see it, getting Throatseeker only at the end. 80 points (I had to rush mana regen to sustain)At this point I'd go for AoF, drop Pyre for a good rings with life/dex (if needed)/manaregen, get the Devotion cluster and Inner Force (assuming you can still sustain AA), get the last life/mana node, the last power charge, go for the Scion 14% life node, then get Heart of Flame. You'll be in your high 80s at this point, get Throatseeker if you have a level 2 empower and all buff effect nodes (to not die to reflect) then just fill out the Scion life wheel.



Level 91 - if you level beyond here just fill out life/mana and life nodes or get Soul Siphon (unreserved mana bonus is significant and even comparable to 2 5% life nodes, depending on gear).Bandits: Oak, Alira/kill, Alira. I personally went Alira on cruel but you're close to both Mental Rapidity and Nimbleness, both effectively 4% nodes so it's really down to personal preference.Avatar of Fire - this ensures we also deal no lightning damage from HoT as even that little bit would be dangerous on reflect (from experience without AoF when I was just running Pyre for 100% conversion)Inner Force - amazing cluster, buffing both AA, Clarity and the flat damage added to spells via your heralds. It's significant DPS as well as survivability.Can it be done with Witch? - Yes, just start on the spell damage side and take the spell damage nodes instead of Ele damage on Shadow, but I prefer cast speed (Shadow 4% vs Witch 3%), even at the cost of the 25% mana regen node as you can make up for that on gear. You could also start Templar.



Aura/buff selection HoT - Grants power charges as well as decent flat damage on FP. Also, free barrel destruction :D

HoI - Damage, both flat and % when qualitied. Not fundamental for the build but nice to have.

Clarity - must have for mana regen, higher level the better.

PoF - only on for Atziri/reflect maps to help with double reflect. Synergistic with 26% buff effect on tree as it means you gain 5% max res at gem level 20.

No Discpline - lowers unreserved mana for mana regen that's possible to get on gear. Not worth it for us.









Reflect mobs/maps When doing a reflect map I generally turned off my Herald of Ice and turn on Purity of Fire. This helps deal with double reflect, but you still have to lower your own damage by attacking further end of your Freeze Pulse when dealing with double reflect. I turn off HoI to not lower my effective life pool too much due to the extra aura.



Reflect mobs on their own aren't a problem, but large creatures (devourers, golems, the things that spit bugs out) can sometimes take the damage from different projectiles at the same time if you attack from very close, meaning you take reflect at the same time, therefore making AA mitigate a much smaller percentage. This can be dangerous, you can avoid this by standing even a short distance away from these monsters. I found that this really only occurs when you're pretty much on the creature.





Atziri



I personally decided to stick to my normal mapping setup (aura-wise) when doing Atziri. Take out CoH for the Atziri fight (avoiding curse reflection). Topaz + Quicksilver for Vaals, Granite + Quicksilver for Trio (Rain->Cycloner->FireThons, but Cyclone and Thorns order is down to preference/chaos res/AA level), Granite + Ruby for Atziri.



Video of boss fights -



Old strategy

For the Vaal fights you want a Topaz flask just in case, but ideally you'll never use it. Take out Curse on Hit and manually curse the Vaal on right. Kill him before the other Vaal spawns then do the same for the second one.



Trio also isn't very difficult, grab a granite and a quicksilver. Kill the rain boss first, then the other 2 in whatever order depending on your chaos res. It really shouldn't take long to kill them.



Atziri fight gets annoying. Turn off HoT and turn on PoF. Grab a Topaz and a Ruby and have avoid death. The only real problem under normal circumstances is stuns from the spear, but they can really make the split phase a bit sketchy if you don't crit for a few consecutive casts as you can run out of flask charges if not careful. Proper flask management and movement will make the actual Atziri easy, but from personal experience with an unstable internet connection the fight is extremely unforgiving for this build.



I wouldn't recommend it on as an Atziri farming build as it's not the forte but it's certainly possible.I personally decided to stick to my normal mapping setup (aura-wise) when doing Atziri. Take out CoH for the Atziri fight (avoiding curse reflection). Topaz + Quicksilver for Vaals, Granite + Quicksilver for Trio (Rain->Cycloner->FireThons, but Cyclone and Thorns order is down to preference/chaos res/AA level), Granite + Ruby for Atziri.Video of boss fights - https://youtu.be/zV4y1ZOr8Bs This build uses Freezing Pulse in conjunction with Cold to Fire, Avatar of Fire and Three Dragons to shock enemies reliably as well as mitigate reflect via Arctic Armour. Consistently shocking enemies also allows for good Herald of Thunder uptime and hence reliable Assassin's Mark cursing. I am currently playing in Torment but the build is definitely HC viable as you end up running an overlevelled AA with just over 5.5k effective life and very little reflect danger.I made this build with the intention of breaking the damage levels of any build I've done in the past and achieve top clear speed without making my character a glass cannon. You achieve crazy damage by shocking any enemy you crit (inclduing Palace Dominus, for example) to further multiply the already good damage you put out. I've been able to breeze past supposedly difficult maps (I've done every unique map with this character, Oba's, Death and Taxes, Poorjoy's, Olmec's, etc).Atziri kill: https://youtu.be/zV4y1ZOr8Bs Gorge run: https://youtu.be/bXhbodRXTV4 10 second Twinned Necro Merveil: http://youtu.be/0Ff8CHR0CbM My builds: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1641740

My 6link collection: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1656425 Last edited by AvocadoCake on Jul 5, 2015, 6:24:18 PM