Play Low Life without Shav/Solaris, play as you want.

Pros:

-You are independent of Shavronne's or Solaris for play Low Life.

-Really funny for people interested in make their own builds.

-Play with forgotten unique items with low life mods.

-Not only auras works with mana reserved, we got Heralds, Blasphemy curses, Arctic Armour and the wand Midnight Bargain. Definitively worth to play Low Life.

-You will be the nerd-builder of your guild, an improved version of the common player, and the others must deal with it because they just can copy the Mathil build or follow the typical metabuild of the league.


Cons:

-The possibility of death against chaos is there if you play like a dumb. Is not a lazy build, sorry.

-Is complex if you want to do something by yourself without experience, a deep theorycraft after begin will be needed.

GEARS

The Broken Crown is maybe the most awesome item for this kind of builds because can reach an INSANE 61% chaos resistance. The ES can reach 280+ and adds an increased damage mod.



The Vertex is a top ES (and EVA) helmet with a lot of great mods like +1 gems or Reduced Mana in gems linked.



Ming's Heart got a ES and Life penalty, the prices are pretty low (about 1 chaos) and can reach 65% chaos resistance (yes, 2 of them -> 130% -> 55% chaos resistance in merciless). Adds a very good mod of gained damage.



Death Rush can add more than 35% chaos resistance, but is a league exclusive only unique item. Includes life, leech, accuracy and Onslaught on kill and accuracy for attack based builds.



Presence of Chayula is a dumb item, too strong, but limited. Was made for this method.



Depending on our gears we will need 1 or 5 items for reach the cap. Here we got some examples:



I dont want to recommend this because is risky but here we got a temporary solution for cap the chaos resists, just for activate against chaos damage: desecrated ground, poison boxes, etc, but could be a decent option if our character got a great life pool and can run high maps with 55-60% chaos resitance. Anyway, is not what I will recommend:



Saffell's Frame will give us +4% max resistances, including maximum Chaos Resistance (legacy version +5%) -> ill only recomend this item if you got a high ES chest because Saffell's got a very low quantity of ES.



JEWELS

Jewels are great for stack chaos resistance, ES, life and other resistances.



FLASKS

I'll suggest only 1 or 2 life flasks: 1 for instarecovery and 1 for slow recovery. Commonly I'm using only 1.



Coruscating Flask is a perfect defensive flask for this method.



An then 1 GREAT mod for flasks: immune to poison during effect/remove poison.



CHAOS RESISTANCE CLUSTERS

In some builds will be impossible to reach the cap with items, in that case we got some nodes in tree.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Purity_of_Flesh
Purity of Flesh cluster: chaos res (20%), maximum life and strength. Near Templar/Witch.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Method_to_the_Madness
MotM cluster: the 3 little nodes near this one grants 17% chaos res. Near Shadow/Ranger.

Lets talk about posibilities with the unique body armours in Low Life, of course will works with rare chests, but in this guide we will talk only about uniques for take advantaje of their special mods in low life. All are ordered by level required, but remember: in PoE the level requirement in uniques is not a limitation for endgame, you can find great builds with items like Cloak of Flame or Redbeak, because leveling item =/= low level requirement item.

I'll link all the pure or hybrid ES unique chests ingame except Demigod's Dominance (luxury, legacy and IMO overrated) and Geofri's Sanctuary because includes Zealot's Oath KS. Is possible to play LL without ES chests, of course, I did it in Perandus and was safe and awesome (Lioneye's Vision with projectile spell) but you will need a lot of ES in the rest of gears. Let's begin:


-Thousand Ribbons. Level zero, very low ES and very low resistances... but includes the enabler gem ''Elemental Proliferation Support'' so it's a 7L.

-Cloak of Flame. Low level/ES and a damage conversion, maybe the best build for Flameblast prolif and permaignite builds.

-Voll's Protector. Power Charges on crit, the best discharger chest.

-Zahndethus' Cassock. Lightning DMG buff and high chaos res + block = Consecrated.

-Icetomb. Good AR, the best for permaChill builds (no crit/low freeze).

-Ambu's Charge. Low Life regen will fix any low/mid chaos damage taken.

-Lightbane Raiment. 10% phys to chaos conversor and block = desecrated.

-The Covenant. Good ES, BM (without multiplier cost) and Added Chaos Damage lvl15 inside.

-Soul Mantle. 3 totems or 2 totems + selfdamage, just take a dispel curse flask. Epic.

-Victario's Influence. Auramancer's best chest, great for summoner too.

-Cloak of Defiance. An improved MoM, mana regen and extra mana.

-Cloak of Tawm'r Isley. Maybe the best chest for Animate Weapon summoner because magic weapons are id'd.

-Vis Mortis. Maybe best summoner chest and a must for spectrers.

-Kingsguard. Really interesting for dischargers or builds for consume endurance charges.

-Carcass' Jack. Best AoE chest, good EVA/or armor with Iron Reflexes.

-Infernal Mantle. GREAT ES, underrated item, the best generic fire builds chest.

-The Beast Fur Shawl. A BEAST, tons of ES and extra radius, perfect even with dual wield or 2 handed weapons.

-Incandescent Heart. The Elem to Chaos damage conversor works as a multiplier so we can use it only if we got 76% or more chaos resistance.

-The Restless Ward. More life regen per Endurance and great buff on charge duration.

-Atziri's Splendour. HUGE ES in the pure version, resists and 100 Life/Mana gained on kill for sustain, JUST OP. The hybrid versions are good too.

First, we will see the pros and cons of all 5 recommended characters for this method:

-Templar can be really tanky because is near a lot of life, life regen, strengh and armour points. Keystones and notables: Is not far of BM/US and Juggernaut, PA and Melding but are not really far (about 16-20 points), GR and VP are a bit far. Mana Reserved: is close to Sovereignty, not far of Leadership, a bit far of Infulence and too far of Charisma. Ascendancy: all 3 are good. An important node in his area is Ancestral Bond, he is close to A LOT of elemental and melee nodes (sceptres, staves/maces), got area nodes and Purity of Flesh chaos resistance cluster in in his area too. Highly recommended for play this method in HC.

-Scion, in the middle of everything. Keystones and notables: as far of BM/US/Juggernaut as she is of GR or VP. Close to Melding and PA. Mana Reserved: Can take all, but Sovereignty and Charisma are a bit far. Ascendancy: 2 good defensive options and she can ''born'' in other point of the tree. Is not far of all the Mana Reserved nodes. Important nodes in her area are tons of jewell sockets, and then she is in the middle of everything: spell, life, attack speed, etc etc. Another good point is the possibility of take another route to BM/US: the duelist left side area. Recommended for play this method in HC.

-Witch, the top in ES nodes but got zero regen nodes in her area. Don't worry, can reach some in each part and got some life nodes. Keystones and notables: is really far of BM/US and she don't need Juggernaut, but is pretty close to PA/GR/VP and Melding. Mana Reserved: is close to Influence and Leadership and can reach Sovereignty and Charisma. Ascendancy: Occultist is awesome for stack a lot of ES, and Necromancer got a 6% Chaos Res mininode and a 15% Chaos Res node. Important nodes in her area are all the wand and summoner nodes, tons of spell damage, area damage, crit and elemental damage (top area).

-Shadow, a bit squishy because got a bit of everything (ES, regen, life...) but not too much. Keystones and notables: too far of BM/US/Juggernaut and not really close to Templar area, is close to PA/GR/VP and Melding. Mana Reserved: Sovereignty is too far for him, but is the closest to Charisma and the other MR nodes. Ascendancy: Trickster is GREAT for this method, but is the only one for Shadow. Important nodes in his area are daggers, claws, A LOT of crit nodes and the physical/chaos and Damage over Time for spells. The Method of Madness chaos resistance cluster is in his area.

-Marauder, the top in Life nodes. Marauder borns near a lot of life and regeneration nodes, and got Juggernaut and other life nodes for convert in ES thanks to Energy From Within (24%). Keystones and notables: borns near Blood Magic, Unwavering Stance is nearly mandatory because you got it with 3 points. PA and Melding are far and GR/VP are just in the opposite side. Mana Reserved: with Marauder we will introduce Champion of the Cause because the Witch/Shadow are is really far, is possible to reach those nodes, but you will sacrifice a lot of ES and damage. Sovereignty can be easy to take and, maybe, Leadership. Ascendancy: this guy got a lot of life regeneration in 2 ascendancies. Important nodes in his area are physical damage, strengh for Iron Will, Iron Grip, resistances, armour and two handed weapons.


Now we know what all them offers, but remember: a build is everything, not only the tree and the ascendancies.

ESSENTIAL KEYSTONES

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Ghost_Reaver
Ghost Reaver*: we are playing an ES based build, flasks are useless in ES and regen will be for life.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Blood_Magic
Blood Magic**: We need to stack chaos res, life res, etc so forget the mana regen with this node (+Mortal Conviction for stack auras).

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Arcane_Vision
Arcane Vision: Mandatory.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Pain_Attunement
Pain Attunement: 30% MORE damage in low life (for spellcasters).

*Except for summoners, totemers and other builds based in no-leech.

**Not mandatory, but very recomended for some Templar/Scion builds.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED KEYSTONES

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Unwavering_Stance
Unwavering Stance: because the stun is one of our biggest menaces in Low Life (and CI), but is far of the north area.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Mind_Over_Matter
Mind over Matter: helps a lot against chaos hits because the damage is shared between life and mana.

ONLY FOR PLAYERS WITH EXPERIENCE WITH THIS METHOD

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vaal_Pact
Vaal Pact: instaleech/godmode, but very dangerous, will make you dependant of Coruscating+Life flask and your life pool must be notable.

List of ascendancies with increased ES, life, life regen and Chaos Resistance. Of course you can run other ascendancies, but those fits perfectly with the method and are great for invest less defensive points in tree and add offensive nodes.


Templar:

-Inquisitor, 2 mininodes with 0'5 life regen each.

-Hierophant, gain 25% of max mana as ES.

-Guardian, a lot of mininodes of 6% ES each, 1 node of 0'5 life regen, increased ES depending on Mana Reserved and life regeneration per aura. There it's another one perfect for Blood Magic, 30% life regen for 1 second every 5 seconds.


Scion:

-Occultist, 20% inc max ES

-Hierophant, gain 10% of max mana as ES


Witch:

-Occultist, a lot of mininodes of 8% ES, some of ES recharge and 100 flat maximum ES.

-Necromancer, a mininode of 6% chaos res and a node with 15% chaos res.


Shadow:

-Trickster, 250 flat maximum ES, faster recharge and 2 mininodes of 8% ES.


Marauder:

-Juggernaut, a mininode of 0'5 life regen and, 1'5 life regen in Fortify.

-Chieftain, tons of mininodes of 0'5 life regen and a 0'5 life regen per endurance node.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Energy_From_Within
Energy from Within: Clusters like Melding or Juggernaut can be transformed into pure ES nodes.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Fragile_Bloom
Fragile Bloom: This jewel can be a substitute for the Vitality aura just for a little penalty.

http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Clear_Mind
Clear Mind*: If we have not mana reserved = free spell damage.

*Only for spellcasters or Crown of Eyes.

I will not recommend Ranger and Duelist for play this method.

Both can be played in Low Life mode but only with Shavronne (even Solaris Lorica is a very bad option for Ranger and Duelist), because they born in areas without ES and they cannot use early nodes like Juggernaut's Marauder for convert all the area in ES. That's why Marauder can, but they cannot without Shavronne's Wrappings. Even Solaris will not be good here due to the lack of ES.

-Play endgame with lowES or nonES chests (like Voll's) is possible and safe, but requieres very high ES pieces and, the worst part, will limit our freedom by creating the build because we must stack lots of ES. If we play our build based in 400ES+ chests will be enough with some good ES gears, even without shield.

-If your build is too dependant of unique items without ES, very low ES or without Chaos resistance, you will make a character unbalanced and easy to kill.

-The Umbilicus immortalis belt of summoner will apply the flasks on your zombies and spectres, and we will need at least a life flask for us.

-The Broken Crown got a Cast on Death gem implicit, but we can link heralds or auras.

-Blood Rage degen is now chaos damage, in life will be mitigated with our regeneration but in ES can be a problem.

-Now you can pick a node for add 0'2% life regen for each active Endurance Charge (the location is in the way to Mortal Conviction/Blood Magic).

-Playing Blood Magic your skills will consume life, so remember: take care with the support gems/multipliers or your life regen will not be enough.

-We are in low life so Stun and Freeze are a problem. We can solve this with Unwavering Stance, Chayula, L. Paws, Skyforth, Valyrium, Cast when Stunned for stun, Dream Fragments, antiFreeze Flasks, Auxium, etc.

-There its not a ''generic tree'' for this method, it will depends totally of your own build


ATTACK BASED BUILDS WITH THIS METHOD

Perfectly viable. The ''ES gained on hit'' mod is awesome here for this method.


METHODS OF SUSTAIN

LIFE: Life gain on kill, Life gain on hit and Life regeneration.

ES: ES gained on hit, ES recharge, ES regeneration and ES leech.