Turmoils HC Flametotem Marauder 1.3

Hello ALL :-)
I wanted to throw together a guide from my own personal learning experience since i started 2 months-ish ago.

Now i do not claim this is the BEST way to build a marauder dual flame totem, But its been a strong and tough character for me.

In my flame totem build i do not build for magic finding although thats all gear dependant as far as i know anyhow.
I do not use Blood magic or any stuff i did not feel was needed.
Table Of Contents
1st post: Intro and skilltree
2nd post: Play mechanics
3rd Post Gems/skills and Gear
4rth Post Note:thoughts, and Misc stuff

I reccomend getting your basics covered for Health , armor, possible mana regen, attributes (dex,int) 1st.
At a later time i will add skilltrees for during leveling process.

PROS"
1.(Survivability) You can avoid alot of damage standing away from some or most of the possible damage while totems and fire traps handle the dirty work (damage) and zombies assist in distractions. and use your lightning warp/Leapslam (depending on choice) to get away from bad situations.
2. This build can do very well even self found playstyle, until you can find or afford better items. and is not difficult to aquire the needed gems.
3. other than micromanaging totems and zombies, ease of play for this build is nice.
you self cast flamability curse to make mobs take more fire damage, and throw down fire traps strategically after your totems are down. zombies last until they die.

CONS:
1. Taking ancestral Bond, your limited to doing damage through indirect dmg skills. Totems, traps, and minions. and mostly its just totems and traps for your damage output.
2. In earlier lvls mid game cruel-merciless, your totems will not be as tough as later in the build, will be destroyed more often, so you will drop them more often than end build,
This is where you have to manage your mana dropping totems strategically. especially once you have your auras up and only leveling clarity enough to allow you to have enough mana to still drop your totems.
3. sometimes getting the right gem slot colors with armor gear can be a pain. like 5 link with pure armor you need to have the vorici crafting artisian bench, so you can choose "at least 2 green sockets" at 25 chromatic orbs a craft. to guaranteed 2 greens, and go for the 2 red-1 blue sockets to proc.
then for your auras/reduced mana setup, blue blue green red.
and another blue blue green red if you want to set up flamability and fire trap with increaed area of effect along with reduced mana.

SKILLTREE:

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAxthYYz38jM_2SF8_7w4UIBo-8i9qOxznah4QzMauPC34k4xGK7b-h3sgtz5ewKBCiFo1kti9_gq18vm9BqBkhD8nSshuqoLkkBGKr_aueGkspw48FHHZfIIH8kHSIUrECfbUfAYOJ-3E9uw4Oth8uySLPQ-Cmxo4kFUnL8AacYVG11cpsULauWP9eubzEWaeWOVaK8MTo_KiAOFz7SDAZgSzRUe4kzLR0f2nlF5d-ehBh1cN2WEZLsQVffX-VA3NK1AczjH7f-O2hpZ0fEspLny442oWb_rSJKo26RynGNdTpQ==

As for skills during leveling.

I have done it 2 ways. my 1st dual flame mara char was a static striker during early leveling.
but 2nd time i chose to go with fireball/lightning tendrils and used a lifesprig wand for leveling. you can also use flameblast in place of one or the other.
I find leveling it with spells was better in my opinion for the available skills and also wasnt much difference for weapon upgrading.

Now onto play mechanics:

Dual Flame totem build is quite easy and allows for safer Gameplay since you do not have to be up into the middle of everything, and you can block doorways or passages with your totems as well.

Your earlier playstyle in this build can be various in your chosen type of skills /weapons etc.
i personally went with spell types mostly. fireball, arc, lightning tendrils, flameblast.
sometimes added physical spells like Molten strike.
if i wanted leap slam i used a scepter so i could still get spell power/ele dmg and use the skill.

or else i would use lightning warp for my movement skill.

Summon Zombie Gem you should get. this adds distraction/tanking to keep mobs off of you.
and later on when you take the Ancestral Bond Passive in the Tree to gain your 2nd totem,
You will no longer be able to do direct damage.

Thus, your only damage other than totems can be with minions and traps.

In my Build, my main damage is from Totems, 2ndary damage from Fire Traps, and a slight bit of damage but mostly tanking/distraction by Raise Zombie.
You can also incorporate raise skeletons or preferably Vaal Raise skelletons for a strong temporary defense.
Note that Vaal Raise skelletons require you to charge it up by killing enemies. the gem absorbs the souls to be able to cast it.

Before ancestral Bond.
Your playing your character in a temporary spec.
Ive mentioned a couple spells already.
another you can use later on, is searing totem, which is a level 24 to start using.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Searing_Bond

I may or may not choose to use this totem depending on what kind of build im using to level with.
It provides a strong amount of damage without support gems during leveling process, and can get you used to moving your character for optimal placement, which later on translates to positioning your character out of habit to avoid damage.

Your playstyle will depend on the type of build your temporarily using until you have switched to flame totem.

At Level 31, you can start using Flame Totem or just have it placed in your gear for leveling.

If you chose to start using flame totem now, then i would suggest support gems depending on your ability to obtain gear.

3 link - Flame Totem - lesser/greater Multiple Projectiles- faster Projectiles.

4 link - Flame Totem - lesser/greater Multiple Projectiles- faster Projectiles- faster casting.

5 Link - Flame Totem - lesser/greater Multiple Projectiles- faster Projectiles- faster casting - Fire Penetration

6 link - you can add chaos damage, cold dmg, Or If magic finding i guess Item Rarity.
You could add effect gems like knockback, blind, or Life leech to make totems self heal more. This is up to you. i personally want more damage since i built for survivabilty.
(since i have only had a 5 link chest i put life leech on one of my weapons through crafting from one of the master tables)

AFTER Ancestral Bond:
you will now have The ability to drop 2 totems, which means double the dmg output as before of your flame totem. BUT you can now no longer damage with direct dmg skills.

You now can only damage with your totems, Traps, and Minions.
Since this is a fire dmg build, we choose fire trap.
This does damage on initial explosion AND adds a burning ground area of effect igniting enemies damaging over time until they leave the ground effect area.

You then will be placing your totems to optimally deal damage , and will benefit from totems also being a distraction / tank as well as your zombies.
as zombies or totems expire or are killed, you simply replace.
Priority on totems over zombies of course if you have to manage your mana.

Also you can use your totems defensively as well as offensively, When they damage mobs, they will pull attention from you on many mobs.
You can use them to block enemies as well, especially doorways or small pathways.
Try to keep totems between you and the enemeies when able, you can also run around your totems avoiding damage and keeping any mobs chasing you in totems line of fire.

Fire traps you can throw into the same area of mobs for more damage, or to cover areas your totems may not hit while they are hitting nearest enemies.
you can also kite enemies around making them stay in that burning ground effect.

Gems, Skills, And Gearing:

My approach to Gearing with this build was armor gear. maybe a piece or 2 of armor/evasion gear if it helps you with socket colors.

Having your resist capped is important, But a physical hit will still knock you on your Hind Quarters if you dont have armor.
besides balancing your resists between your armor items, or jewelry.
You want to attempt to get Health.

helpful but not mandatory attributes on gear will be Mana regeneration, + to mana , + to armor, + to energy shield. and + to dex or intel-(for gem leveling purposes)

There are a couple uniques which are helpful for damage as well if you get them.

Doriyani belt fire dmg version. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Doryani%27s_Invitation
has armor, fire dmg% , chance to ignite, 1% fire dmg leeched as life (heals totems)

Gang's Momentum Boots. http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Gang%27s_Momentum
High fire resist, increased armor/shield %, movespeed, chance to ignite, and 15% increased dmg to ignited enemies.

And weapons, the Vaal Doriyani Septres- http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Doryani%27s_Catalyst (i have not gotten one much less dual yet)
these septres have very high ele dmg, and leech for ele dmg which would heal totems as well.

GEMS:
mandatory gems:
are your fire totem setup. Listed in above post "play mechanics"
Fire Trap - 2ndary dmg source
Raise Zombies - (you COULD play without this, but it adds to survivabilty)
flamability - to boost both main sources of dmg.
and at least one of the mobility skills "Lightning Warp" or "LeapSlam"
and survivability combo of 4 gems:
"Cast When Damage Taken" - "Enduring Cry" - "Immortal Call" - "Increased Duration"
(you can try Molten Shell instead of Increased duration, but i prefere to increase the duration)

Preferable Gems:
Increased Area Of Effect if you link with flamability and fire trap.
reduced mana if you need for fire traps and flamability linked with inc area gem.
Minion life and minion/totem elemental resists to make zombies more tankier.
depending on mobility gems,
(for lightning warp) faster casting - reduced duration *makes for faster getaway*
(for leapslam) faster attacks - reduced duration, (same reason)
Herald of ice and herald of thunder (more damage output)
clarity (mana regen)
Reduced mana linked up with heralds and clarity to reduce your mana being reserved.

Below is the gear etc on my character after it was killed on Bloodlines at end of league when i carelessly yolo'ed a Strongbox with detonate dead in box mods. Lots of bodies were around the box already and plus many added as they spawned and were melted by totems then a huge KABOOM lol.
Normally i would have raised zombie to clear bodies from around the box 1st.


Below is the gear my character had when i just ripped with it at lvl 78
The Jewelry i have is mediocre. the ammy was half decent but rings were just what i had on. i was still in process of finding ones i wanted.

Im including this gear in the guide for now so it can be examined for the type of gearing stats i was going for. I wanted a better chest and possibly change boots to a better rare pair for survivability. It was still a character being improved upon gear-wise.

In conclusion Ill throw in a few tips or side info here, and also Like to ask, if anyone has positive input into this build or suggestions, feel free to leave them and i will read and possibly add it to the guide as well with credit to those who suggested it.

My guide is meant to help the newer players for this type of build in the manner that i would have like to have read a guide on this build.

More Tips

On Gear:
Once you have a piece of gear you plan on keeping or will use for a while, If you have Armor scraps to spend. quality up your gear. it adds more to your armor rating, shield rating, evasion rating that is already on the gear = more mitigation.

Searching for a better gear piece but it isnt dropping and you cannot afford one from POE.Trade

Try Crafting one.
look for a white item of base type you want.

Say i needed a pair of gloves and want to get 4 red sockets.

pick up armor only white gloves.

Use Orb Of Alcemy on them (hopefully get stats you want)

Depending on how well off you are on currency. chaos orbs can reroll the random stats. But for the beginner. hope for the best with random stats on alc use.

now if you need more gem slots, not at max of 4 yet?

Use Jewlers orbs to randomly get 1-4 gem slots. going after 4.

need the slots linked? Use Orb of Fusing. (randomly links gem slots)

This applies to any gear item.

You CAN use an Orb of chance on gear items as well, but this will randomly choose what rarity the item becomes.
most likely will become a magic (blue) item
Can become a raer (yellow) item
and depending on if a unique (orange) item has that base type of the item your crafting on.
There is a very small chance of it becoming a Unique (to some from other games you might think of it as a legendary item)

Flasks:
You want to use orb of transmutation to make a flask magic quality if it isnt already
then Orb Of Alteration to change the magic qualities to gain desired mods.
normally most people will have 3 life flasks, 1 mana flask, and 1 quicksilver (run speed)
depending on playstyle, some might not need a mana pot and use an extra life,quicksilver, or granite (armor) flask.
these can save your self from an untimely death.
Flask Of Staunching - stop and prevent bleeds during flask effect
Flask of Heat - remove and prevent chill or frozen effect on you for flask duration.
Flask of Iron Skin - Armor increased %
Flask Of Warding - removal and prevent curses during flask duration.
Flask of Resistance - % elemental resistance buff during flask effect.
Flasks can have up to 2 mods, so aside from these listed, you can have various helpful mods,
like
increased recovery speed - health/mana regen is gained in much shorter duration.
Reduced recovery speed - makes you regain health/mana slower from flask , but for a longer period of time. usually i like that on mana regen pots.
increased movement speed
increased life recovered
and a few other effects
Master Crafting

The NPC's you come across that are always saying "Hey exile, over here" Or "talamoana warrior" etc etc

These side quest guys, are Masters. doing quests for them raises experience/levels of these masters.
Once you reach level 3 for them. you can "Create a hideout" (i will explain this later)

Once in your hideout at level 3 or above, a master will have an item for you that you can add qualities to your gear items with.

once you get a 2nd master to lvl 3 you can "Invite to hideout"
and also gain a master crafting item from them.

Each master has its own design layout of a hideout if you create it through one.

Elreon for example makes a library hideout,

the others if you create through tem have different locations.

I chose Elreon, so i have the library, and invited 2 other masters into my hideout.

as you level the masters further beyond level 3, their hideout area can be increased in size at certain lvls. and another master invited to the hideout at certain lvls.


Frequent questions for new players

Q: How do i get a different or specific skill/support gem?

A: Each character class gets a pre determined skill on the 1st quest and has a set table of rewards through quest rewards. and these can also drop from enemies after killing them.
You mihgt also gain them from fellow players who found them or are selling them.

Q: How do i get currency

A: Simply playing the game.
monsters drop items which can be vendored. and you can gain scroll fragments, shards or orbs depending on rarity/quality of items.

1 vendor in each act will also have other forms of currency for sale for lesser currency at a set exchange rate.

You could take tons of wisdom scrolls, vendoring them for Portal scrolls, vendoring portal scrolls for the next currency item, etc etc.

And once you learn the game well enough. a good item found can be sold for currency.

joining trade chat to sale your items, and or learn by watching how some things are being advertised for price.
google Poe.trade to be able to search for items.
eventually you might use a 3rd party software called Procurement, which assists in advertising your items for sale.

Q: How do i use a support Gem?

A: Skill gems and support gems have Keywords on them.
Like "spell" "projectile" or "melee"

If a skill gem and a support gem both have one of the same keywords listed on it at the top.
It supports and causes that effect to the skill used.


I Will add useful links below at a later time. Its late and I need to get to bed for now

Thanks to anyone who contributes and Hope this helps others :-)

no comments yet *pouts*

Thx for the guide turmoil, I levelled up using Searing Bond and am looking to transition into FT. Cheers!

Greate build, so far at lv85 with lv 14 FT got like 2,6k dps and getting higher, also i didnt take these resistance passive tree nodes, as i have all res over 230% without em.