[2.1] QoQ CoC (Quill on Quill Cast on Crit)

This build uses the framework of a classic Quill Rain CoC build - that is, to say a Quill Rain and a Thief's Torment.



The idea behind this being that you use Quill Rain's insane APS (attacks per second) to make up for it's low base crit and therefore lower CPS (crits per second). With enough APS, you can get out enough CPS for cast on crit to "smooth out" and not have large amounts of downtime where no spells are proccing. The ring is then used as an easy & cheap solution to the mana cost of attacking so fast.

This was always a fun way to CoC - especially with projectile spells that function well with its 100% increased projectile speed - but it always seemed to pale in comparison to other, more popular CoC builds.

So what's new in 2.1?

Well, it was some interesting new changes in 2.1 that brought me back to this build.

Mainly Rigwald's Quills:



This item pairly so naturally with Quill Rain - it's even in the name! The projectile speed loss is more than made up for by Quill Rain, the life on hit is massive on a 3.0 APS base, but it is the built in fork + projectile damage that really make it shine in this build.

Let's look at Barrage now; a CoC attack of choice for bows and wands. More specifically, it's new threshold jewel:



That turns a 4 projectile barrage into 8 projectiles with just *one* jewel. A second is twelve. Now add in the "projctiles fork" from the quiver and you have up to 36 potentiol projectiles from each attack. No LMP, no GMP, no chain, no pierce, no fork linked to barrage. That is just a one socket, no links barrage.

Finally, Quill Rain CoC's other big downside was a lack of projectile spells that worked well in a CoC set-up without needing a ton of support gems (such as GMP). It used to heavily rely on multiple copies of EK in the same CoC set-up when that was a thing you could do.

Well, thanks to Spark getting some massive buffs, it now has a total of seven base projectiles at level 17 (plus a hefty damage boost). It is now the perfect spell to pair with EK in our barrage set-up.

So now with just Barrage + Cast on Crit + Spark + EK (& Rigwald's Quills "Fork" & Volly Fire's "psuedo!GMP") we have what you could call a 6L on a 4L. Pretty impressive, and it leaves room for two more supports!

…

And that's the basics of the build! :)

110 Point Tree:

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAAOyjylwOWm11uPaiaYEO-gFpSe8ODCUrIb55uqspK8bOcpLXyX7BLV4cTNZKbtcDjdwf-j9i9wzqExU3j_goZiiSLIuqmV_JFlwb7CQ-r6NY64cSi9toWv-sUBbWhIrvjGo8mlcLsGo2Nv_T4_rph4rTFKltbJlFH1COiQH11VUsM8mKs2-eCXn_7Ps831OdUMHwwcQHR036MNqXLbIxsCL3m7T8k_Y19fyvdqK_rAF6J052q8Yr_3iP2OdRLeBmOcFJNkm_yOkLtgyoLoJ8ILl3y3vikeMHVMfp29w==

Some things of note:

* 148% life
* Acro/Phase Acro
* Six Jewel Sockets
* Two Extra Frenzy Charges
* 125% Projectile Damage
* 55% Attack Speed
* 337% (Bow+Global) Crit Chance

(If you want to skip explanations and just see the gear I'm using currently, check the "My Gear" section at the bottom of the post - it's not in here)

Uniques

Quill Rain



Only 5% crit chance, but a base of 3.0 APS. The motto of this bow is "Crit Less, But Hit More". Try and get a perfect 100% projectile speed roll if possible - your spells will thank you for it.

Rigwald's Quills



Two small downsides for two huge upsides. You lose a tiny bit or fire res (almost a laughable amount, though) and some projectile speed (well-rolled Quill Rain trumps that) but fork with no "less" multiplier or gem socket and a whopping up to 50% projectile damage? Yea, this thing is good.

Theif's Torment



This one has some bigger downsides to tackle. You lose any stats you would get from two rare rings - including two life rolls. But this thing shouldn't be underestimated. A perfect LGOH roll paired with Rigwald's Quills is a total of 37 - that's almost a level 17 Life Gain on Hit jewel worth! With enough APS and projectiles, it acts like vaal pact + a ton of leech (but works on "no regen" maps!). In a similar fashion, the 15 MGOH solves any and ALL mana issues (again, on "no regen" maps!). The reduced curse effect shouldn't be overlooked, either. The item quantity and resist just helps ease the blow of losing your other ring.

Volly Fire



Projectile damage buffs your CoC spells and the extra projectiles help you get more spells off (and more LGOH!). I run two; you could also just run one.

Rares

Body

• Evasion base is preferable.
• A 6L is more important than good rolls. A white 6L can be alched and chaos spammed + master crafted.
• Just aim for decent life & resists.
• An Int roll can help you reach that 155 goal for your gems.

Helmet

• Evasion base is preferable.
• Accuracy is super important. Aim for 200+ if possible.
• High life + dual resist. Extra EV/ES/AR is a nice bonus.

Gloves

• Evasion base is preferable.
• Accuracy and Attack Speed are super important. Aim for both if possible.
• Remember: Haku can craft up to 12% AS on gloves!
• High life + one resist. Extra EV/ES/AR is a nice bonus.

Boots

• Evasion base is preferable.
• Movespeed is basically required. Aim for 20%+ (the higher the better).
• This is a good place for an Int roll if you need it to reach that 155 goal.
• High life + dual/tri resist (Int vs. no Int). Extra EV/ES/AR is a nice bonus.

Belt

• Lether base is preferable.
• This is where you can make up a lot of resists. Aim for 30%+ on each!
• High life + tri resist. A movespeed master craft is a nice bonus.

Amulet

• Talisman bases are preferable.
• Mandible (attack/cast speed, Tier 1) and Hexclaw (global crit chance, Tier 2) are great, but there are other useful ones, too.
• For regular amulets, a Lapis amulet can help with your 155 int goal.
• Global Crit is a great stat to have here. Spell Damage is also a nice roll to look out for.
• High life + resist(s). If you go for a higher tier Talisman, take what you can get.

Jewels

These are the stats I look out for on my jewels:

• Attack Speed with Bows / Attack Speed / Attack and Cast Speed
• Increased Projectile Damage / Increased Spell Damage / Increased Damage
• Global Critical Chance / Accuracy / Evasion
• % Maximum Life / Resists / Intelligence

(Gems marked with an * indicate a gem that I suggest getting quality on)

5/6L: Barrage > Cast on Crit* > Spark* > EK* > Increased Critical Chance* > Added Chaos Damage/Controlled Destruction

• My CoC set-up. The first four gems are self-explanitory. Increased Crits is to help stabalize the amount of crits and make everything go smoother - it double dips with the 6% base crit spells as well. I'm currently using Added Chaos as my last socket, but I may swap to Controlled Destruction when I get all my projectile damage on the tree - it does not lower Barrage's crit and the more multiplier is hefty for my spells.

5/6L: Frenzy > Curse on Hit* > Assassin's Mark* > GMP > LMP > Faster Attacks*/Blind

• My charge generator. Once I get going, all it takes is one shot of this into each pack to keep me topped off with six frenzy and three power charges. GMP+LMP to get as many forking projectiles as possible to curse things. Currently not using a 6L, as it does not add much - FA would make getting your frenzy charges from zero to six faster, blind would help with your evasion.

4L: Grace > Herald of Thunder > Herald of Ice > Blink Arrow

• My mana reservation & mobility. Grace can be swapped for Haste. Heralds can be swapped out for another 50% aura. Personal prefrenace and all.

4L: CWDT (lvl 18) > Enfeeble* > Detonate Mines > Ice Golem*

• My CWDT set-up. I use a higher level one to keep up a high level golem up without self-casting and an emergency smoke mine to bring me to safety right as I take a large chunk of damage. Enfeeble is for extra sequrity.

4L: Increased Duration* > Smoke Mine > Vaal Grace > Portal*

• My extras. Smoke mine - as mentioned - is a fail-safe. Vaal Grace is another emergency button. Portal is just there to fill a slot and save me scrolls.

• Normal: Life
• Cruel: Attack Speed
• Merciless: Frenzy Charge

I would not take a point on any of the bandits, as each of them gives something important for the build.

As far as maps go, this build can run quite a large variety of them. Here are some of the more common ones that other builds often struggle with:

Reflect

These are simple to run, but require a bit of planning. Personally, I have an Arc gem and a Bladefall gem in my weapon swap to keep on hand. For Phys Reflect, use Spark + Arc. For Ele Reflect, use EK + Bladefall.

Curses

These are quite a lot easier to run with this build due to Thief's Torment. It reduces their effect on you by 50%. This isn't completely getting rid of them, so still be aware of what the curse is doing to you, but it makes them much less of a hassle.

Regen

Because all your life and mana sustain comes from "on hit" and flasks, you are completely fine to run less/no regen maps. You won't even notice a difference!

I chose to level with a Night's Hold (as shown in LiftingNerd's video here) along with self-cast Spark. This was very effective and got me all the way to Cruel Dried Lake.

At Cruel Dried Lake I farmed to level 56 and then switched over to Cast on Crit once I could equip my Rigwald's Quills. It was a little touch-and-go at this point since my crit still wasn't very high.

If you want to switch at Cruel Dried Lake, here are some tips:

• Plan out your passive tree to get as much of the crit by level 56 as possible while still having enough of other things (life, int, etc.) to get by.
• Level up your gems ASAP! Cast on Crit, Increased Critical Chance and Assassin's Mark especially.
• Get a Tabula to run a full 6L set-up when you swap. Use a quality Added Accuracy gem in your 6th slot as a temporary solution to smoothing out your crits.
• Make sure you are cursing with Assassin's Mark - either CoH or self-cast.
• Continue to drop your Flame Totem on larger packs to help soften/kill targets.

Hopefully by the time you are further into Merciless you find that things start to stabilize and then the build really begins to shine.

Current level: 86

*** These numbers are with Ice Golem + 6 Frenzy and 3 Power charges up ***

Offense

• Crit Chance: 41.10%
• Attack Time: 0.15
• Chance to Hit: 91%

Defense

• Life: 4,141
• Evasion: 41%
• Change to Dodge Attacks: 40%
• Chance to Dodge Spells: 30%

Here is a short sample video of the build in a Canyon map:

https://youtu.be/RaCsI_hTsRI

Longer build overview video coming soon!