[1.3 HC] Righteous Fire - Iron Will - Discharge / Flame Surge

There are many different damage sources in this build, despite it looking quite bland from the tree alone.

1) Discharge itself scales extremely well with gem level. This means you have a very good starting point for scaling damage from and each gem level is a huge bonus to overall damage. A level 18 Discharge does 165-248 Fire Damage per Endurance Charge. We'll be rocking 7 of those, so that's a potential 1155 - 1736 base damage to start scaling from.

2) Iron Will / Strength provides us with Spell Damage where it would normally give just Melee damage. With just 650 strength you'll be receiving a huge 130% spell damage bonus from the Iron Will gem.

3) Any Fire damage on gear on on the passive tree applies to both the initial Discharge and the ignite damage.

4) Area Damage / Effect - Because we apply this damage with an area skill (Discharge), it is essentially increased Spell Damage, so applies only to the initial hit. This build takes the Templar Area node and can wear a Carcass Jack for 20% Area Damage.

A 20% Discharge provides an additional 20% AOE, and in a 6 link the Increased Area of Effect gem is used to increase the AOE to 95% at max quality.

5) Doon Cuebiyari - 1% increased Damage per 8 Strength when in Main Hand. With 650 Strength, the Doon gives us 81% increased damage, which not only applies to the initial Discharge hit, but also the ignite damage. The sceptre itself also has an implicit 10% Elemental Damage which also applies to both.

6) Righteous Fire - At level 18, this gem gives us 57% MORE spell damage. This applies after all the previous additive damage stats. Because it's spell damage though, it does not double dip on the ignite damage, and only boosts the initial hit.

Also by scaling strength/life, fire damage and burning damage, the Righteous Fire buff itself does substantial damage to enemies near to us.

7) Burning Damage gem / nodes. Increases the ignite damage after the initial hit ignite is calculated.

8) Cursing Flammability gives -39% Fire resist at level 20 and provides an additional 14% Ignite Chance. Quality gives burn duration which boosts DPS much higher than any tool-tip might show.

9) Fire Penetration - not strictly scaling, but penetrating up to 35% fire resist on a hit also greatly benefits this build, effecting both initial hit and ignite damage. You can read more on Penetration mechanics on the wiki - http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Penetration

As you can see, there are many ways we increase the damage of the main skill, Discharge. This synergy of different mechanics is one of the things that drew me to the build in the first place. Also big explosions.

The build itself does rely on a few key Uniques to function fully at end game, but you can definitely get going with only a couple of them.


Doedre's Damning - Adds 1 Additional Curse

This unique ring allows us to cast Flammability and Warlords Mark, both essential for the full screen burning experience.

Warlords Mark gives us the Mana Leech needed to cast Discharge, and gives valuable Life Leech. It also grants Endurance Charges on kill, which works with the build concept.

Flammability not only greatly lowers the Fire resit of mobs, but gives additional chance to ignite, and ignite duration with gem quality, which greatly increase the potency of the burns.

We apply both Curses in one hit using a Level 1 Ice Nova linked to Curse on Hit. A high quality Ice Nova is needed as it gives increased AOE.

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The Dark Seer / Doon Cuebiyari

The Dark Seer is a fantastic leveling item for this build. The 50% Increased Damage applies to all our damage, and the Mana on Kill per Level leaves us with no mana issues. The Blind only makes things safer.

At level 64 you switch to Doon Cuebiyari which is going to play many rolls, and we utilize almost every stat on it.

The 50-70 Strength gives us more Spell Dmg, and a little extra life.

15-18% Cast Speed is very high for a one-hander, and makes casting Enduring Cry and Ice Nova very smooth, and gives great mobility.

The Maximum mana is very useful on a build relying on a small mana pool.

Level 30 Iron Will is what lets us use Flame Surge as a very powerful single target skill to beat down bosses and tough resistant enemies.

1% increased Damage per 8 Strength when in Main Hand gives a lot of what is essentially Fire Damage and get stronger the more you stack.


Astramentis

We need a lot of raw stats for this build. Mainly strength yes, but we also need enough Intelligence and Dexterity to use all the gems and wear the gear and being a Marauder there's not great access to these attributes.


Rise of The Phoenix - +8% to maximum Fire Resistance

The shield that, combined with Purity of Fire and a lot of life regen, allows us to run Righteous Fire. You can play without Righteous Fire if you don't have access to the shield, but the damage it provides is worth the investment.


Carcass Jack - Increased Area Damage / Effect

It's up for debate whether you want to go for Carcass Jack, or stick with a nice Armour Chest, but for me the decision is simple - getting the 4 blue / 2 red is much easier on an Evasion /Energy Shield piece than a pure Armour or Armour / Evasion one. Any decent chest with life + resists can be used as long as you can roll the colours.

That leaves us with Helmet, Boots, Gloves, Belt and one Ring to cap resists. From there you can gradually improve each piece of gear, getting more life and strength on each piece.



Cost in Beyond league:
Doedre's Damning - 20 chaos
Rise of The Phoenix - 2 exalt
Astramentis - 3.5 exalt (perfect roll)
Doon Cuebeyari - 1 exalt (perfect roll)
Carcass Jack - 10-20 chaos / 3-4 exalt (5linK) / 15-20 exalt (6link)

Total: 5 exalt - 25 exalt (6link chest)

1.3 Trees:

1-32 points: http://poeurl.com/zbrGwJT

Pick up Endurance Charges as and when you want to start using Discharge. The difference between 3 and 5 charges for clearing is very noticeable.

32-49 points: http://poeurl.com/zbrG6Wx

Go into Templar tree for the AOE, life and regen there.

50-67 points: http://poeurl.com/zbrHlEG

Pick up Unwavering Stance and head to Duelist for the Endurance charge and the regen/life there.

68-78 points: http://poeurl.com/zbrHAHP

Get the remaining regen you need to run Righteous Fire. You can remove regen as your PoF and Vitality level up.

78-94 points: http://poeurl.com/zbrJu6b

Efficient Life nodes, Shield nodes and Cast Speed in Templar area.

FINAL BUILD: 95-115 points: http://poeurl.com/zbrI53m

Filling up the rest of the life nodes, getting Celestial Judgement and other 20 Strength nodes nearby.

Normal - Help Oak - +40 Maximum Life

Cruel - Kill All - +1 Skill Point

Merciless - Help Oak - +1 Maximum Endurance Charge

Weapon (Doon Cuebiyari)- BBB

Flame Surge + Spell Echo + Concentrated Effect (+lvl 30 Iron Will)


Flame surge is our single target skill. It greatly benefits from all the links shown here, and can melt even the toughest foes quickly. Spell Echo alleviates the mana problems we have, combined with Warlords Mark. Flame Surge is tagged as an AOE gem, so benefits from the 69% more damage Concentrated Effect gives. The lvl 30 Iron Will built into the weapon gives Flame Surge a huge spell damage boost, as well as an additional cast speed bonus.

Shield (Rise of The Phoenix) - RRR

Reduced Mana - Purity of Fire - Vitality (Determination)


We have our auras here but could also go in the boots if you only wanted a 3 link Righteous Fire setup. Purity of Fire and Vitality are essential for starting off with Righteous Fire, but when Purity of Fire reaches level 20, you should be able to drop the Vitality aura for Determination, giving a large boost to armour.

Helmet (Rare) - BRRG / BBRR

Spell Echo - Enduring Cry
Leap Slam - Faster Attacks (Lightning Warp - Reduced Duration)



Here we have two separate gem setups which fortunately do not interact negatively with each other. Spell Echo was a huge buff to this build, allowing you to generate double the amount of Endurance charges with Enduring Cry than before.

The other two sockets are dedicated to our movement skill. I'm currently using Leap Slam + Faster Attacks because it costs a lot less mana, and the colours were substantially easier to get.

Body Armour (Rare/Caracass Jack) - BBBRRB / BBBRRR

3link
Discharge - Chance to Ignite - Elemental Proliferation


4link
Discharge - Chance to Ignite - Elemental Proliferation - Iron Will


5link
Discharge - Chance to Ignite - Elemental Proliferation - Iron Will - Fire Penetration


6link
Discharge - Chance to Ignite - Elemental Proliferation - Iron Will - Fire Penetration - Area of Effect/Empower (Concentrated Effect)


You can start using Discharge as soon as you get your Mana sorted and a 3 link, but usually best to wait for a 4link and your Curse on hit set up to be in full swing. You can get this as early as 24, but ideally 32 when you can equip the Dark Seer unique sceptre.

5th link should be Fire Penetration. Doesn't give a tool-tip increase, but substantially increases the amount of damage taken by enemies, more so those resistant to fire.

6th link can be AOE for fast map clearing, Empower for another level on Discharge, or Concentrated Effect for bosses, although I just prefer to use Flame Surge for most.

Boots (Rare) - BBBR

Righteous Fire - Increased Area of Effect - Increased Burning Damage - Item Rarity (Concentrated Effect)


I have my RF setup in my boots because I like the 4link with Rarity, lots of mobs die in your Righteous Fire so it's a nice little boost, but you can just use a 3 link or use Concentrated Effect as a 4th link for more damage over time.

Gloves (Rare) - BBBR

Ice Nova - Curse on Hit - Warlords Mark - Flammability


The essential Curse on Hit setup. A very efficient way for us to spread double curse. It costs only 8 mana for both curses, and the Curse on Hit gem itself increases the effect of linked Curses. To cast them manually would cost over 50 mana each, and with our mana restrictions that just wouldn't work.

Flasks on this build are very important. Each time you Discharge you should be popping a Ruby Flask, unless you want to die to a critical hit on a hidden reflect auras pack.

You need at least two Perpetual Ruby Flasks, one with Curse Immunity. You should aim for as high Charge Recovery as possible as they will fill up much more often.



I would highly recommend a Seething Flask of Staunching for removing nasty Punctures or Corrupted Blood when spamming Flame Surge. Whether you choose to use a Hallowed or Divine Flask is up to you.



A Granite Flask is very useful in Beyond for the Tornado Shot and Sword Beyonders as they can hit extremely hard.



A Quicksilver in the last slot is recommended, but you can use another Ruby Flask there if you want, or even a Topaz Flask.

No Regen and Blood Magic are a no-no.

Elemental Reflect, Vulnerability, Half Regen are sketchy and require careful play.

Immune to Curses is not possible with the normal set up, but if you swap your weapon to the Dark Seer again, you can make it through using the Mana on Kill per level. You will lose some clear speed and damage compared to a normal map, but you can run them.

Probably. It's a Righteous Fire build, and they were one the first to do Atziri in the previous leagues, so I would assume this build will also be able to. I haven't tried myself yet as I'm not great with the mechanics of the fight and don't want to rip this guy yet. I would advise looking at previous Righteous Fire Atziri killer builds and take hints from those.

Ditching Discharge completely seems the best for boss fights, and going with a 6link Flame Surge setup. This would free up some sockets for Immortal Call or a Spell Totem + Curse. Again this all speculation at this point.

Beyond League: lvl 73 Dark Forest, Elemental Reflect - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_v3k5bAMS8&list=UUnIveGCKfFnxvSz5t4zkPnQ

Beyond League: lvl 75 Tropical Island, Fracturing Sea Witches (Zana quest) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o-ccr_bXQ0&list=UUnIveGCKfFnxvSz5t4zkPnQ

More to come!

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAAdwB5wUtBg4J9gxfEmkS4RQgFm8XHBkuGj4aVRpsG8gcpySqJy8n1SftKPopLjboNuk8BTwtPfxBh0WdRmlHfkz_U1JTpVcNWGNboF8_YSFko2h0aPJxeXTtdqx673wOfLiCB4KbgseE2YTvjM-QVZHOlKCYrZo7muCdrp7Nn8uiAKcIpzCnVa2Nr2y3PriTu-29NsQVxFjE9sauxtjPftIh1HzYvdlh2XzaYuFz4urjauvu7DjvDu988B_xrPJB9kj56P4K