[2.1]Poison Bladefall Hybrid Dual-Curse *Updated* (HC viable)

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYABAcEswW1BnAHHgj0DkgRLxFQEZYV7Ra_GGoi9CaVKwoy0TW5Nj06WDwFPV9FR0WdSVFJsUyzTm1On1JTU1JUvVVLVcZYB1xAXGtd8l9qYeJirGpDaoxsC2yMbRl1_Xgven985X_Gg9uESIRvj0aP-pMnlS6Wi5eVl_Sa4JuhnDKdqqIAotmlxKcIpyusmLDYtMW1SLzqwFTAZsLsw23IFNDQ1ELVudfP62Pr7uwY74jwH_DV9W_31_k3

-3.9k hp and 3.4k ES with the ming's heart
-4 endurance charges with 100% uptime
-perma slow on enemies with temp chains blasphemy
-17k bladefall dps (the hidden dps of poison is not reflected in that number)
-25% chaos resistance, this is HUGE because chaos damage is the biggest downfall of hybrid and this is why I think Ming's is very valuable (and it's also like 3c!)

Keep in mind I'm still using a lvl 19 Ethereal Knives.

With the changes to EB as of 2.0, these boots received a tremendous buff due to their synergy with the new Eldritch Battery and Zealot's Oath + Mind Over Matter.

To explain this interaction very simply, when we have frenzy charges up (and assuming the aforementioned keystones are allocated) we regenerate our ES per second instead of life per second. This removes mana from the equation (because we reserve it all, and use ES as our resource), gives us peace of mind to cast our EK freely and gives us a damage buffer with MOM.

+1 frenzy charge on these is an end-game luxury.

Weapon- Very simple, we want to the most crit available and therefore dagger is the #1 choice. It also gives us the very important ability to use whirling blades, which linked with FA + fortify gives us supreme mobility and some defense. A good crit wand with Proj speed or massive spell damage/crit multi would be okay, but always 2nd fiddle to a dagger.

Helm- Need high ES, at least 220+, high life and double/triple resists.

Shield- You want high life, good ES (at least 200), good resists. Everything else is gravy. Look for hybrid shields as they have nice implicit resists if you are lacking.

Chest- I used a normal tabula until around 82 then upgrade to a +1. I have an obsession with using tabula in HC. My thinking is that sacrificing the stats from a chest for the free 6-link and making up stats on your other gear is perfectly viable. Any 5-link chest, or 6L corrupted is perfectly fine and pretty cheap now on poe.trade because of corrupting tempest.

Gloves- Not much to say, you want hybrid armor/ES so you can get the red sockets. Red sockets are hard to come by on our other gear.

Rings- Start with life + resists rings, doesn't have to be diamond. Once you start getting into maps you can upgrade to diamond rings for the crit chance. You want life, resists and ES. Everything else is gravy that you can upgrade later on.

Amulet- This should be a major DPS piece, we are looking for Crit multi and crit chance with almost no expections. On top of this life is always necessary. Everything else like cast speed, spell dmg, RES and rarity can be upgraded to later on. The best way to buy an amulet is to buy something with an open suffix and craft crit yourself.

Belt- Life, Res, ES.

Arctic Armour- good mitigation when we want to stand our ground and man-fight, the chilled ground is also very nice as you will slow a lot of enemies while repositioning allowing you to quickly distance yourself from sticky situations.

Whirling blades + Fortify- this is the godliest movement speed bar none this patch, especially in tempest league where quick movement to reach/avoid tempests is necessary. It is also my primary way of dodging attacks, kiting bosses/exiles and maneuvering around, I just can't imagine playing without it. Plust it reminds me of the golden days of spectral throw.

Flasks- The catalysed eternal is a life-saver against degen. Hit topaz whenever you see ele reflect. Proper flask usage will ensure you stay alive. If you are fighting a big pack, always hit your granites pre-emptively, you will get full charges back. Roll surgeons as soon as you can, pretty basic stuff.

Mind over Matter- It's a very nice buffer for our HP pool and gives us valuable EHP to deal with high damage. The synergy with Blood Dance and Zealot's Oath means we are always regening our ES as long as we have frenzy charges up. Large hits can still go through our full ES pool but luckily this segways into the next point...


Enduring Cry + CWDT set-up- It's the standard cwdt set-up with room to replace molten shell if you want something else in there (I've been thinking to try Arctic Breath). One important thing I have to say is, when you cast Enduring Cry you get a short burst of ES regen, this can actually be a life-saver when you are in dodgy situations with low ES because you have sustained a lot of damage. [See Gem Links section]


Chaos Golem + Fire Totem, really great utility from having other targets to distract bosses/exiles while you sit back and demolish them from range. I think it's very underrated aspect to have meatshields which can absorb enemy damage, you will feel a lot of relief when your golem gets flicker strike'd 3 times and discharged on instead of you, chaos golem is the perfect tank buddy for this build. A very nice bonus of the flame totem is rarity culling. [Optional]

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwYAAx4EBwSzBUIGIwceDkgRLRGWFm8Wvxo4Gmwc3B0UH0EkqiaVJy8qCyycLR82PTbpOlg62EGWRZ1JUUmxTLNTUlVLVYVVxl3yYeJirGSdZlRo8mpDaoxrF2yMbWxwUnDVfIN_xoIegpuD24UyhXuJ04w2jmSPGo9Gj_qQVZMnlSCVLpo7muCdqp2uoS-iAKKjotmly6cIrrOw2LVItvq5k7zqvorAVMBmwfPIFNAf0PXVptfP2wvhc-Nq5CLr7uv17DjtPO-I7-vwH_DV8h3z6vVv96b3wfk3?accountName=D_nasty&characterName=ThisIsRealLife

You can take the jewel nodes whenever you find/buy a jewel worth using (2 very good stats or 3 decent ones).

28pts- Getting all the life, Skipping Crit, Respec Later

56pts- Taking all the life still, Going to Templar Area, Setting ourselves up to take all the crit later but skipping it for now

73pts- A lot of people ask me when to take EB/ZO, and this is that point. If your gear has enough ES, you can grab EB/ZO with the next 3 points.


110 points- This is my current tree at lvl 89. You can see how I cleaned up the pathing with respec points, went for all the crit nodes, all the jewel nodes, frenzy charge, took every life node etc.

EK 5L Ethereal Knives- Spell Echo- Faster Casting- Faster Proj- Added Fire
EK 6L Phys to Light or Empower lvl 3

Curse on Hit Herald of Ice - Curse on Hit- Assassin's Mark

CWDT 4L CWDT- Inc Duration- Immortal Call- Temporal Chains [Options: Enfeeble, Molten Shell, Arctic Breath- test and see what you like]

Mobility 3L Whirling Blades- Faster Attacks- Fortify

Remaining Necessary Gems Arctic Armor, Enduring Cry
Optional Chaos Golem, Flame Totem, Self-Cast Curse for bosses, Vaal Skill (Vaal Grace/Haste/Discipline etc)

Take a look at my gear to see how I organized my gems, there is a lot of room for you to customize and implement whatever utility gems you prefer.

Normal: Oak

Cruel: Alira/Oak/Skillpoint (I think all are viable, I took alria cast speed on one playthrough and skillpoint on my current character)

Merc: Kraytin (or Alira), I recommend frenzy charge as it has good synergy with our EB/ZO, provides ur with 4% MORE dmg and is much more reliable than power charges)

1.3 (Aug 10/15) - added lvling tree, completed links section, cleaned up
1.2 (Aug 06/15) - added and cleaned up the defense section
1.1 (Aug 02/15) - added bandits, video and new dps pic with charges
1.0 - guide started