[1.2] Reinventing Spark: Selfcast piercing crit Spark with EB and Vaal Pact [Beyond]

You like crits? Good. Spark combines high damage crits with shock for even more damage. I am currently level 77 in Beyond playing a selfcast Spark Witch. Feel free to continue reading if you want to know more about the build.

Video added: click here


Why Spark?

Spark got buffed a lot in 1.2, in 4 different ways to be exact.
1) The crit chance was buffed from 4% to 5%
2) The base damage was increased by roughly 20% across all levels
3) The new Piercing Shots cluster to the right of the Shadow allows us to replace Fork with Pierce, so we get rid of a 30% less damage multiplier.
4) The change to shock is another buff to Spark in my opinion.
Why is that? Low life targets die in an instant anyway, so there is no need to shock stack them. Even most rare monsters die so fast that shock stacking wouldn't really change a lot. However, high life targets that are barely shockable are now always shocked for 50% extra damage. Prior to 1.2 a single stack gave 30% extra damage, but it was hard to get to 2 or even 3 shock stacks. This, in my opinion, makes Spark a much more potent spell against high life targets as long as the damage output is high enough to barely shock them.


Gear requirements?

This build doesn't need any uniques to work. Basic rare gear is enough to get to at least low level maps (which is where I am right now), probably even further. I myself play selffound and my gear is mostly based around life + resists. Getting stats like crit on gear is helpful but not neccessary.

General stats:

Eldritch Battery
Vaal Pact
Mind over Matter (if you choose to get it)
50%+ crit chance off a 5% base
167% Life

My current offensive and defensive stats



My current gear



Skill Tree



Gear Links



Bandits



This character is still work in progress. I will update this thread as I progress.
Feel free to comment. If you have any ideas on how to improve this build I would appreciate if you shared them.

I noticed the buffs to spark and am Building a lowlife BM Spark Pierce build in Beyond league as of today.

I don't play on going selfcast though, nor will I be getting Vaal Pact.

Good luck!

I added a gameplay video. Nothing special, just a video of me playing.

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conall88 wrote:

I noticed the buffs to spark and am Building a lowlife BM Spark Pierce build in Beyond league as of today.

I don't play on going selfcast though, nor will I be getting Vaal Pact.

Good luck!

Good luck with your build :)
If it's not selfcast then what? Dual Totem?

Been doing something like this too. But instead of crit i went for high armour and block chance. Clearing 70 maps solo was fast and easy. One thing to self casting spark - beware of corrupting blood, it will wreck you.

love this build i slightly modified it so i can do more chaos dmg and get the dual wield cast speed nodes cuz i will be dual wielding apep's rage dmg will be insane :3

Can you make a video with Merc. Dominus killing pls

I have something similar going on, using ice spear when i feel like the freeze is needed (can freeze most map bosses).
Doin 75 maps just fine (havent found any higher yet).

spark - echo - fcr - crit dmg - pierce (light pen once i 6L) - Links im using


Using cloak of defiance togeather with acrobatics + AA makes me somewhat tanky, the mana regain can be abit tricky to get togeater tho (got enough to sustain aa).

The best part is that well, you can switch spell to any other projectile, and itl still be a decent specc,









The gloves are essential as they make your secondary spell decent even tho its just a 4L, amazing crit + es (mana) + its a rather cheap item

I think Spark is on the right track to being useful again. I like your tree a lot.
Have you considered using Drillneck or Rearguard + Bow?

Bows have the upside of being able to us Split Arrow + Chain + LGoH, and...



Using that on my Arc build, and while it's hard to get self-found, it seems like a great bow for Spark, as well. I'd add Drillneck or Rearguard (both add damage and some form of defence), as well as take the Piercing nodes on the tree.

With this bow, no reflect, no resist, and thus no need to use Life Leech gem (usually), or Light Pen.

My guide for it is here, btw - http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1086367

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Also, have you considered getting Acrobatics in later levels? It's fairly close-by.
Another thing to consider is dropping the Pierce gem and using Light Pen?

Any major changes to this guide for 1.3?