[1.2] EE Surge Ball Crit Shadow with Herlad of Ice and Three Dragons - 44k DPS

Flame Surge deals 50% increased damage to ignited targets but cannot itself ignite. It's an Area of Effect spell and requires insane amounts of cast speed to shine. The build gets +70% increased AoE from the passive tree and gear. The Increased AoE support on Flame surge takes that up to +104%.
If, like me, you manage to get a 6l Carcass Jack I would recommend using it for the main skill and adding the Power Charge on Crit gem and then either Increased Critical Strike Chance or Increased Critical Damage. Alternatively an extra Faster Casting gem could be used to make this build faster.



Ball Lightning very efficiently and effectively works as a "carrier" in this build. It is a fast moving projectiles which constantly fires shock bolts at targets within AoE range. The Faster Projectile support skill increases the range further. Linking it to a spell totem means I don't have to cast it myself which has made this build instantly more survivable. The Ball Lightning AoE is also 70% enhanced which makes the effective radius insane!



The recently introduced Herald of Ice aura skill is a bit of a lynchpin in this build as it adds cold damage to spells which, due to the Three Dragons helmet ignites targets. Clarity is used in this build to complement the mana regeneration required to run skills, though with the addition of the spell totem I'm currently questioning if that much mana regeneration is necessary. With a levelled and qualitied Reduced Mana gem it should be possible to run Discipline for extra energy shield.



Lightning Warp is pretty standard as a utility setup.



Likewise the Cast when Damage Taken set up with Enduring Cry and Immortal Call and increased Duration is pretty standard these days. I was running this as a 3l with Molten Shell instead of Immortal Call but I reckon I can get more survivability out of Enduring Cry coupled with Increased Duration



The Assassin's Mark curse (Critical Weakness, pre 1.2) is a very effective replacement for the PCoC gem if you haven't got a 5l or 6l early on. It grants additional crit chance, increased critical damage, life and mana in addition to the chance to gain a power charge on kill. At higher levels though the only thing benefiting this notably though is the chance to gain a power charge on kill as amounts of life and mana are pretty negligible at this point.

I was considering boosting the Ball Lightning totem with my 6l, but it's actually powerful enough as is. Running it on a 6l would also increase the mana costs into the unaffordable.

I'm currently considering adding an Arctic Armour + Reduced Mana combo to this build since I have two sockets to spare. However in its current state the mana consumption of this build is already very high. There are a couple of Mana regeneration nodes I can still pick up but I will have to see whether that's enough for AA.

Normal -- Kill all (or Oak for +40 HP)
Cruel -- Help Alira for +4% Cast Speed
Merciless -- Help Alira for +1 to Maximum Power Charges

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYARXyXlxXn8Gtzs4w2pLFVS-WOYeKdY13yDkhjQxGWf8YHHhzclS6TJw2N8NXviLQMbAuP-klR-TeycOq6IvTr9dfPYpUNfG0ZZJ1JsSpTV8nZW5f0CPQRUPIdKPobJVJTwFQ1uevu2jqYrUuul5U9X2pDpyua4LiT1YGBr-kCTLNFnTLRhW240N-KUDAEB66zU1JFRyTYsQXr5IPbQZa1BF8qVcYFQtD1XcbkIjpYLJzd80bXKU8abKyYSbIQWGBthX0Wb_FsAuOHZZ2AJKo22AelgzjdBTbpSRuCEBRN73zjaiqN37AEs6IAPAXsVZ_f

(need to update this tonight)

Keystone skills:
Elemental Equilibrium

Base Stats:
+54 Strength
+53 Dexterity
+323 Inteligence

Spell Stats:
48% Increased Cast Speed
44% Increased Spell Damage
155% Increased Mana Regeneration Rate
94% Increased maximum Mana
40% Increased Radius of Area Skills
20% Increased Area Damage
16% Increased Elemental Damage with Spells
10% reduced Mana Cost of Skills

Defense Stats:
143% increased maximum Life
150% increased maximum Energy Shield
10% increased Evasion Rating

Elemental Damage:
108% increased Elemental Damage
117% increased Fire Damage
5% Chance to Ignite

Critical Strikes:
20% increased Critical Strike Chance
215% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells

Note that this is at 120 points, level 100.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAuMEBwVCBx4HpQ18DY0OSBBYEZYUTRXnFm8W8xpsGyUc3CL0JNgmPCj6Ko0snC-dNtg6WD1fQZZFfEWdRtdJG0lRSbFJskuuTLNSU1NSVcZXyV3GXfJfKmBtYpVknWwLbRlzs3RVf8aCEIM4g9uFbYdljDaP-pMnlS6XlZeXl_SYrZrgnWOdgJ2uogCksacIrJius7JwtAy1BLiT0PXVgdfP2VvdBd3z34rkIuWO6QLquuvu6_XsVe9874jwa_DV8WzyHfk3

Shocked targets receive 50% increased damage (as of 1.2.0 shock status ailment no longer stacks). Ignited targets receive 50% increased damage from Flame Surge.

With EE targets gain +25% resistance to lightning and cold damage from the Ball Lightning & Herald of Ice attack but -50% resistance to fire damage. from the Flame Surge & Herlad of Ice attack resistances switch to -50% lightning resistance and +25% cold and fire resistance. Because Ball Lightning fires bolts at a very fast rate I practically don't have to time my flame surge attacks.

Because Status Ailments such as shock and ignite proc on critical strikes this build utilises the Doom Cast and Assassination clusters in the Shadow area and the Annihilation cluster in the Witch area of the tree (investing the three points into the Assassination cluster adds a higher increase in critical strike chance than the Arcane Potency cluster in the Templar area). In end game the build benefits from uniques such as Maligaro's Virtuosity and Divinarius for even more Critical Strike Chance.

The Flame Surge and Ball Lightning skills further benefit from passives that modify the Area of Effect such as the Blast Radius cluster in the Witch area and the Amplify cluster in the Templar area of the tree as well as uniques such as the Carcass Jack armour.

Two uniques introduced with 1.2 supplement the build quite nicely because they increase the chance to ignite.

By skilling into the Mana Regeneration nodes Soul Siphon (Shadow), Deep Thought (Witch), the Dreamer and Quick Recovery cluster on the way to the Scion area this build manages to cope well with the mana consumption of both the Flame Surge and Ball Lightning totem skills. I have also picked up the Energy Shield and Mana Regeneration nodes in the Witch area to boost mana regen and survivability.

The build greatly benefits from a Doryani's Invitation belt with extra fire damage and life leech on fire damage. By adding the Ball Lightning totem for the secondary skill the attention of attackers is diverted away from the player increasing survivability at this stage.

My current gear provides +91STR, which eanbles me to fully level my Reduced Duration and Reduced Mana gems without having to skill into the +30STR nodes Might and Physique. To meet the DEX requirements for Herald of Ice passive nodes such as Agility or Alacrity (or both) are necessary. My gear provides +72DEX which saves me a point into either of those nodes.

As mentioned above, I am considering adding Arctic Armour to this build as it would greatly increase my survivability especially against Elemental Reflect mobs. I will have to see how I can cope with the mana drain.

I hope to switch from Maligaro's Virtuosity to Voidbringer gloves some time soon. This would not only increase my Critical Strike Chance, but also boost survivability through increased flat Energy Shield.

The following calculations can be made from this:

Starting with the 17'497dps (19'871dps) we know that shocked targets post 1.2 take 50% increased damage and we know that Flame Surge deals 50% increased damage to ignited targets. This brings the dps on shocked and ignited targets up to 34'994dps (39'742dps). Now the Gang's Momentum boots which you can check out above give us an additional 15% increased damage against ignited targets. This takes the total damage so far up to 37'618dps (44'709dps). That's before we start calculating the damage to shocked and ignited mobs while they receive -50% Fire Resistance from EE.