[2.0x] 92% AoE Radius, 25% Knockback Ball Lightning Scion - cheap, MF viable

The build takes advantage of several strong synergistic elements. Radius of Area Skills is maximised on the passive tree and gear to increase both the range of Ball Lightning ‘zaps’ and also the radius of the dual cursing Herald of Thunder, topping out at a 92% increase when the build is finished (with recommended gear equipped).

A decent number of Jewel sockets are taken to utilise chance to Knock Enemies Back On Hit, which results in mobs travelling back with the Ball Lightning projectile and Herald strikes - minimising melee damage to the face. Enfeeble on the curse on hit Herald of Thunder and melee safety via knock back means that true defences on the passive tree can be ignored and we end up producing what looks like a glass cannon DPS build but that is, in fact, pretty safe.

Lightning Damage is maximised on the passive skill tree to increase both Ball Lightning’s zaps and Herald of Lightning’s strikes, along with Shock enhancements and a good enough amount of critical strike chance to make the best use of high base damage and Shock’s extra damage.

The build is also pretty flexible gear and budget wise, with the only ‘must have’ items being 4-5 jewels with 5-6% chance to Knock Enemies Back On Hit. There is no exact amount of knock back you ‘need’, but with my current end game gear, I find 25% knock back ideal, perhaps even a little high.

+ Easy and cheap to gear initially, with great potential to grow with investment;
+ Effective with just 4 linked gear;
+ Auto dual cursing via a curse on hit Herald of Thunder;
+ Safe for magic find gear and maps;
+ Mobile with Lightning Warp;
+ Flexible play style – roll through easy packs, auto cursing or retreat to safety and use Ball Lightning’s huge area of effect radius to zap around corners;
+ 360 degree AoE damage around your character – targets in front of you will take significantly more Ball Lightning damage, but those behind will soak at least one zap and Herald of Thunder strikes;
+ Never stop to break urns, boxes or crates again!

- Burst and single target damage is uninspiring, hence the use of Vaal Storm Call for challenging mobs and packs;
- Knock back is not effective protection against leapers, teleporters or chargers – it does not interrupt those attack animations, but will help get these mobs off your back after they close their range;
- Some map suffixes are a no go – Curse Immune really screws this build, as you lose most of your defence (Enfeeble) and Elemental Reflect is also a bother (although mitigated with a Purity of Lightning);
- Low character screen DPS (!);
- Parties, especially melee party members, may hate you.

Offence

Ball Lightning with Herald of Thunder



Note that my gems aren’t even level 20 yet, let alone 20/20, so there’s plenty of room for the DPS to grow. Ball Lightning has a base 33.60% crit chance here, before Ice Golem, Power Charges and Assassin’s Mark kick in – taking me well over 50% effective, with a 176% multiplier.

In combat (Power Charges stacked)



Decent DPS increase thanks to the extra spell damage and critical hit chance from 6 Power Charges. Note that due to how Ball Lightning works, the clear speed is still good, even with what looks like pitiful DPS!

Defence



Revealing that yes, I basically have no defences whatsoever…

Passive tree wise, we concentrate on picking up increased Radius of Area Skills, lightning damage %, along with Power Charges, Shock related passives and a healthy number of Jewel sockets. The build favours starting as Scion, due to the need to travel to Witch and Templar areas, with a good 3-5 point advantage for the Scion over starting Templar or Witch. We do not opt for heavy investment into increased Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier on the tree, as most of those nodes are over on the Shadow side and it’s just too far to travel. The build still ends up with a healthy 50%+ chance to crit and decent multi however, see below in the Gear section for more information.

Levelling

I’d recommend levelling with a Flame Totem / Fire Trap or whatever strong early skill floats your boat and switching to Ball Lightning at level 28, or as early as possible soon after. I personally prefer levelling this way, as totems bore me senseless and you get more time with your end game skill.

I like to concentrate on picking up life nodes and getting as much travel out of the way as early as possible:

44 points: http://bit.ly/1QndGxv (around end of normal)

74 points: http://bit.ly/1Lww9qc (around end of cruel)

We have most of the elements of the build complete at around level 85, with 5 Jewel Sockets, 6 Power Charges, over 200% increased Lightning damage, all Shock related passives we’ll have access to and 143% increased Maximum Life. There’s also some elemental resistance %, extra curse, acceptable mana regeneration and some minor investment in increased Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier. At this point, we’ll be sporting 52% increased Radius of Area Skills from the tree - to go any higher, we’ll need to grab uniques:

106 skills points: http://bit.ly/1MOjw7L

After the basic tree is complete, there’s freedom on what to prioritise on the road to 100 – more Jewel sockets, Maximum Life and Chaos Resistance from the Purity of Flesh cluster, increased Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier from Arcane Potency and/or Aura Reservation from Sovereignty. All have their selling points, although to really make use of Sovereignty, you may want to consider if you can run a level 3+ Enlighten to use 3 aura’s:

122 skill points: http://bit.ly/1MmU0Gz

Do note that you may need to pick up the Dexterity node on the way to the Storm Weaver cluster to meet requirements for Arctic Armour and Ice Golem at some point, depending on your gear. Adjust the tree as needed, but I’ve included it in the above trees.

Bandits

Normal – help Oak (+40 base life)
Cruel – kill all (1 passive skill point)
Merciless – help Alira (+1 max Power Charge)

Jewels

As I mentioned above, the only truly vital pieces of gear are 4-5 Jewels with 5-6% chance to Knock Enemies Back On Hit. I’d recommend aiming for 20-25% chance in total, although your mileage will vary and probably depend on play style and how high your increased Radius of Area Skills and Cast Speed is at the time. Jewels are also where we look to bolster our increased Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier – there’s a wide selection of great modifiers available to roll on rare Jewels, roughly in order of (my) preference, we’re looking for:

5-6% chance to Knock Enemies Back on hit
16-18% increased Critical Strike Chance with Lightning Skills
12-14% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells
10-12% increased Critical Strike Multiplier with Lightning Skills
8-10% increased Critical Strike Multiplier for Spells
14-16% increased Lightning Damage
10-12% increased Spell Damage
5% increased Cast Speed with Lightning Skills

Due to the desired suffixes leaning towards spells, you want to favour Cobalt Jewels if possible, although the ‘Lightning skills’ mods can roll on any colour, along with chance to Knock Enemies Back on hit.

What stats on gear should I prioritise?

As I mentioned in the summary, other than the Jewels, this build is really not dependant on specific gear otherwise, making it extremely flexible for those on a budget or wanting to pile on the Item Rarity / Quantity. Other than the obvious life and resistance I would aim for as much Increased Critical Strike Chance, Increased Lightning Damage, Added Lightning Damage to Spells, Increased Critical Multiplier, Increased Spell Damage, Increased Cast Speed and Increased Projectile Speed, more or less in that order.

Increased Cast Speed does not perhaps help this build perhaps as much as other caster builds – Ball Lightning zaps each target once every 200 milliseconds (which is not modifiable), so although cast speed will help in getting your Balls out there, it will not cause each one to zap mobs more often, so I do rate it a little lower in priority. Increased Projectile Speed is also a bit of both a blessing and a curse – while more projectile speed will cause your Balls to travel further off screen, helpful for challenging mobs, it will also mean that the Balls travel faster. Possibly resulting in less zaps per target and potentially a loss in damage.

These day’s, I’ve picked up a few upgrades and switched focus to magic find and am now sporting the following items:



Although you are free to use any gear you can equip and the defensive properties don’t really matter, I would tend to favour Energy Shield based (or hybrid) gear, simply due to that it’s easier to roll blue sockets on.

Uniques

There are a few really useful uniques that, while not vital, do benefit this build immensely – Carcass Jack (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Carcass_Jack) for the 20% increased Radius of Area Skills is a game changer, taking the radius increase to 72%. Do note that due to Ball Lightning’s and Herald of Thunder’s somewhat odd interactions with their keywords (they are not true Area of Effect), Carcass Jacks increased Area Damage does not benefit the build. Sadly.

The second helpful unique is a lightning variant Doryani's Invitation (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Doryani%27s_Invitation). The extra Lightning damage, leech and resistances are just too good to pass up if the belt is accessible.

The icing on the cake is a pair of Divinarius (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Divinarius), taking your Radius of Area Skills to 92% with two of the daggers at 10% each. The spell damage, critical strike and life / mana on kill are all also more than welcome. This extra radius means that Herald of Thunder extends off the screen vertically and covers almost the whole screen horizontality, with Ball Lightning now covering half the screen. This is huge, both in terms of auto cursing and the sheer damage that the build can kick out.

Other possible uniques worth looking at – but that I haven’t tested – include Void Battery (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Void_Battery) for the interaction with Power Charges, Rathpith Globe (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rathpith_Globe) for just being an all-round fantastic caster shield and possibly Valako's Sign (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Valako%27s_Sign) from Bloodlines for the interactions with Shock. I’m sure there’s some potential for interesting things to happen with Call of the Brotherhood (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Call_of_the_Brotherhood) as well, but I’ll need to buy one to investigate more – and I’m not entirely sure if splitting our damage 50/50 between Lightning and Cold will enable consistent shocks via either damage type.

Flasks

This build really benefits from Surgeons flasks. With the high number of Ball Lightning zaps hitting - and critting, you can generate significant amounts of flask charges. This is particularly useful for your mana and bleed removal flask – since we only have moderate mana regeneration on the tree, relying more on mana on kill from Assassins Mark (and Divinarius), our mana pool is not bottomless. Get used to keeping the blue bottle running against bosses and tough single targets on occasion, especially on low / no regeneration maps! Due to our high number of hits per second, Corrupting Blood WILL stack up very quickly as well. I’d thoroughly recommend running flasks like:

The build is perfectly viable with all 4 linked items – any links available for Ball Lightning beyond that will obviously increase its damage and utility / item rarity, but I haven’t taken it to a 6 link yet. Working on it though…

Ball Lightning in a 4-6 linked chest

Core 4 link:
Ball Lightning (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Ball_Lightning)
Spell Echo (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Spell_Echo)
Added Lightning Damage (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Added_Lightning_Damage)
Lightning Penetration (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Lightning_Penetration)

Any further links should probably be:
Power Charge on Critical (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Power_Charge_On_Critical) (to deal with single targets, when the Herald isn’t cursing)
Innervate (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Innervate)
Increased Critical Damage (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Increased_Critical_Damage)
Increased Critical Strikes (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Increased_Critical_Strikes)
Item Rarity (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Item_Rarity) for magic find.

I would recommend quality on these gems, with the bonus’s as follows:
Ball Lightning: +1% increased Lightning Damage
Added Lightning Damage: +0.5% increased Lightning Damage
Lightning Penetration: +0.5% increased Lightning Damage
Power Charge on Critical: +1% Increased Critical Strike Chance
Spell Echo: +0.5% increased Spell Damage

I’ve tried the build with a fifth green socket for Slower Projectile’s as well – the more damage (both from the increased projectile damage and the more zaps due to a slower travel speed) is really enticing, but the play style was just too slow for my personal liking, and you lose significant range due to the projectiles expiring while still on the screen.

I do want to test Empower when I end up back in standard and I’ll update when possible.

Vaal Storm Call in a 4 linked item

Vaal Storm Call (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vaal_Storm_Call) linked with Spell Echo, Added Lightning Damage and Lightning Penetration for use as single target / tough pack cooldown. It packs a hell of a punch, if you can get your target to sit still for long enough – which is where the Ball Lightning knock back comes in handy, you can ‘herd’ tough packs into the desired spot for nuking.

Herald of Thunder in a 4 linked item – 4 blue sockets

Herald of Thunder (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Herald_of_Thunder) linked with:
Curse on Hit (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Curse_on_Hit)
Enfeeble (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Enfeeble)
Assassin’s Mark (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Assassin%27s_Mark).

With a large area of effect radius, the Herald will be both auto cursing and nuking over the majority of the screen and beyond. As we opted for increased Lightning damage in the passive tree over generic spell damage, the triggered strike from the Herald also hits like a truck. Due to the consistent amounts of lighting damage flying around, along with long shocks, keeping the Herald running constantly is never an issue when you need it when piling through packs of mobs.

There is, of course, flexibility on which curses to run. I would consider Enfeeble vital – this build has no conventional defence at all and you may want to consider adding Temporal Chains as well if you’re feeling squishy. Alternatively, if you’re running Power Charge on Critical, you could perhaps swap Assassin’s Mark out for Conductivity for higher damage or Warlords Mark for more consistent leech and endurance charges – although you would lose a good 9% extra chance to crit.

Aura’s in a 4 linked item – 1 green, 3 blue sockets

There’s three good options here and I’m not quite at the point where I’ve been able to evaluate all of them at their fullest potential.

I would recommend, if possible, linking:
Enlighten (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Enlighten) (at a high level)
Arctic Armour (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Arctic_Armour)
Wrath (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Wrath)
Purity of Lightning (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Purity_of_Lightning)

Currently I run with Herald of Lightning and Arctic Armour active together at all times, resulting in a 50% mana reservation, along with the Purity on elemental reflect maps when needed. I am hopeful that when I drop back to standard, with Enlighten and the Sovereignty cluster, I may be able to run the Herald, Arctic Armour and Wrath all together at the same time. This needs more testing, perhaps with Clarity involved as well. I would recommend keeping all three aura’s levelled however and swapping as needed.

If Call of the Brotherhood is a viable addition gear wise, it may be worth looking at running Herald of Ice as well. Again, with a few more levels and 20/20 gems, I want to test this out.

Ice Golem in a 3 linked item – 1 green, 2 blue sockets

Ice Golem (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Ice_Golem) linked with:
Minion Life (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Minion_Life)
Minion and Totem Elemental Resistance (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Minion_and_Totem_Elemental_Resistance).

This little guy is used primarily for the increased chance to critical strike, but also performs really well as a fairly tanky distraction, reducing the amount of damage you take. To that end, I made him as beefy as possible with these supports – but he still needs some re-summoning against hard hitting mobs and ground effects will ruin the poor chap.

You could consider swapping in a Cast When Damage Taken setup here, perhaps with the Ice Golem and something defensive, like Frost Wall (through which your Ball Lightning’s will be able to travel, which is quite fun!).

Lightning Warp in a 3 linked item – 2 blue, 1 red sockets

Lightning Warp (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Lightning_Warp) linked with:
Faster Casting (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Faster_Casting)
Less Duration (http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Less_Duration).

Mobility and movement skill – it’s an oldie, but a goodie. Vital for popping strongboxes safely, running away (!) and repositioning.

Do note that none of my gems are level 20, let alone 20/20 in these video’s and I’m running them in item rarity gear – there’s still some way for the character to grow damage wise and the gear focus would be entirely different if I was running for speed. I'm also not uh, taking particular care in these - so excuse the few obvious examples of bad play!

1 Month Flashback Catacombs (all mods weekend) clear: https://youtu.be/ks_f2zqZWWc

I’ve tended to stick to ‘inside’ maps on all mods weekends, where this build can really shine by using doorways and pinch points to control beyonders with onslaught etc. With the amount of dangerous mobs around, more open maps are decidedly riskier – but the build still does ok, all things considered.

1 Month Flashback Gorge (Torment, Tempest and Invasion active): https://youtu.be/D4eyOPvA6vc

Not the fastest clear ever, but a good demonstration of how the build works on a more open map.

Why Lightning Damage over Spell Damage?

Lightning Damage on the skill tree ‘generally’ gives a higher return point for point over Spell Damage – and what’s more, it applies to more of our damage. Herald of Thunder’s on hit and on kill effects are increased by Lightning Damage (and Elemental Damage), but not Spell Damage. Since the build is dealing entirely Lightning Damage, it’s just more effective.

Why not go for more crit?

We’d need to travel over to the Shadow side of the tree to reach really impressive levels of critical strike. On balance, the increased base damage, shock interactions, increased Radius of Area Skills and extra life / resistance in the Templar area is more beneficial for this build. With decent gear, a close to complete skill tree and Power Charges stacked up, you’ll likely still be running an effective critical strike chance of around 50-70% and multiplier of 200%+.

Don’t you only need 20% increased radius for an extra Ball Lightning hit?

I’ve seen this mentioned a few times on reddit and I’m not sure where it’s come from – it may very well be true, but is redundant for this build, due to the interaction of Ball Lightning strikes and the knock back. As you’re pushing mobs back away from your character, they’re travelling back with the Ball Lightning, resulting in more zaps per ball.

How2Knockback or try not to fire Ball Lightning into walls…

Stating the obvious, but the Ball Lightning projectile doesn’t travel through walls. This means that you generally want to fire *along* a wall, instead of at it when you’re rolling through mobs. You lose significant amounts of damage should you end up cornering mobs and losing zaps. The Ball Lightning Projectile needs to travel straight through mobs to maximise the amount of zaps per Ball.

There is a strong interaction between the chance to knock back and how many times / from what angle your Ball Lightning projectile is hitting mobs and keeping them off the character. You may want to be careful to not take your chance to knock back too high however – you really want to be ‘juggling’ packs at a safe distance from your character, while within range of Herald of Thunder and not right off the screen entirely!

Is the build Atziri / Uber viable?

Probably normal viable at least. I haven’t had the time to check yet in Flashback, but it’s something I’ll drop by before the end of league or when I drop back to standard. Knock back not being effective against the Cycloner isn’t a huge help and care would need to be taken to not corner the trio, losing Ball Lightning zaps, but Lightning Warp mobility is an advantage. The sheer radius of area of effect may become an issue with reflect on Atziri’s split, but since normal is more a technical challenge than anything, the build does have the damage to succeed. Do note that Atziri is immune to Shock and keeping the Herald striking outside of add phases won’t be possible and auto cursing may become an issue at times, so there will be some damage loss and challenge. In the grand scheme of things, there are better builds for her.