[0.10.0] Build of the Week submissions

SealOfFire - Templar

Named for the magic card. That magic card made me realize how much layers of depth a very simple design can have. And Path of Exile gives me that same feeling. I will be naming all my future characters after favorite Magic cards.

SealOfFire is currently sitting at level 53 at the time of writing. Since its the first time I'm trying this build, I started out in default, but I'm sure this build can work in hardcore. My deaths have been few, and all my fault not the build.

The idea of the build is to make an extremely tanky character, with as few as possible skillpoints spent on damage, while not slowing down the killing. This is achieved through Elemental Equilibrium and elemental weakness curse.

The main attack is Fireball supported by Lesser Multiple Projectiles and Iron Will. The character's tankiness allows him to get close and cast fireballs at melee range, resulting in all three balls striking the target, greatly increasing damage. Iron Will adds no mana cost, and is essentially a free 30% spell damage increase with the characters' STR sitting at 150. Stacking more STR will hopefully provide me with some lategame scaling.
The second piece of the Elemental Equilibrium puzzle is Spark sitting on a Spell Totem with Fork. This rapidly fills the screen with lighting damage and happily resets the Elemental Equilibrium back into the Fireball's favour.
Then naturally I add Elemental Weakness on top of that, theoretically giving my unfortunate targets -90% fire resistance when combined with Elemental Equilibrium.

The rest of the skills are all about mobility, tanking and mana.
I use a Crystal Scepter for the elemental damage and also because it lets me use Leap Slam which is the ability that takes care of my mobility.
Molten Shell, Enduring cry and Tempest Shield takes care of the tanking.
Clarity takes care of the mana.

The core of my progress through the passive tree was about picking up Elemental equilibrium and lots of HP and the very nice armour/energy shield nodes. Once that core was completed, I started grabbing any and all block chance passives I could find, incidentally also anything that gives elemental resistance. The 2 shield passives that each give 15% all resist as long as I'm wearing a shield was a godsend to my build.

Block chance brings me to another key aspect of this build. I have acquired Stone of Lazhwar. I'm not wearing it yet, as I feel my block chance is not ready yet. But soon. Soon I will have 50+ block chance, which should give me a tidy 25% spell block chance thanks to the Stone of Lazhwar. All blocks also punishes offenders with lightning damage thanks to Tempest Shield.

An example of an average fight, after encountering a large pack.
I cast my Spork Totem and Enduring cry, followed by casting Elemental weakness in a spot that will hit most enemies. I switch on Molten Shell and Leap Slam in. From there I proceed with extreme prejudice casting fireballs. Elemental weakness is recast as needed, as well as the Spork Totem. Molten Shell as well if I have time. As long as the monsters are taking lighting damage from spork, they are very weak to my fireball attacks. Tempest shield also has the added benefit of resetting Elemental Equilibrium in my favour if I block an attack.



edit: Just great! I added mine after Kripp added his. No chance mine will get done now.

Background:

I love summoners, I loved the necro/ summoner build in D2 and played a hardcore character until 85ish and really enjoyed the playstyle........then i got 2 shot....lolz

- "your deeds of valor will be remembered".....yea great..

So after playing hardcore closed beta for a good few weeks, tested a few builds and really enjoyed the summoner build.

However, most that i have seen, that i have read about are very heavily invested in minion nodes and just use firestorm for some meagre dps....not very exciting.

I wanted to still take this concept in Open beta with my new character but with a spin.

I started leveling a hardcore witch summoner while using pretty standard Arc and firestorm.

But i wasn't satisfied.

During sort of level 40's ish i decided to drop those offensive skills and go for an EK/ bear trap summoner "mash up".
- Credit to devilsdan for talking some sense into me!

I invested in summoner life nodes only so far, the damage nodes maybe i can pick up later, but for now i just need HP nodes and minion life nodes.

I am working my way into the templar tree and will eventually have 212% extra hp.

Body and soul gives extra boost to ES (which boost my mana) and to armour/ resists.

I picked up the 2 big dex nodes along the way as i will need them to level up bear trap/ hatred/ EK

I picked up minion stability at lvl 40, pretty late but thats when the build really starts to pick up.

I went eldritch battery sort of in the 30's - i can do without the ES as a defensive measure as i have a pretty sizable healthpool and ok armour.

My gear is armour/ ES based mainly.

As a result, EB gives me a huge mana pool - which enables me to run a few auras.

Let me explain the synergy of my skills/ auras/ minions
- i run:

reduced mana/ clarity/ purity/ hatred
- allows me to run purity (40%) and hatred (30%)

EK/ added fire/ life leech/ faster projectiles
- need some leech for those pesky physical reflect mobs

summon skeletons/ spell totem/ faster casting
- this really pumps out skeles at a rate which literally is like a zerg swarm (those of you who have played starcraft)

zombie/ spectre/ minion life/ minion dmg

Other skills unlinked - vulnerability, discipline, frost wall

In my weapon swap i have a weapon and shield which are leveling:
- x2 bear traps/ added fire/ determination/ enduring cry
- i am still looking for good 3L gloves so i can use my bear traps
- i need a nice jade amulet with added dex to meet the dex to level bear trap fully
- i am planning to swap in determination later when my mana allows (or when reduced mana is higher level)
- if physical reflect mobs turn out to be a big hassle end game, i will end up swapping in enduring cry

Playstyle:
- EK for AOE
- bear trap for single target dps
- skele totem to start a fight - my skeles have like 2k life and are summoned very quickly and set off loads of explosions - good supplemental dps to my EK while providing nice meatshields
- zombies - very good meatshields - i think they have 4.5-5k life atm

- hatred increases my EK dps + adds extra cold dmg to my minions' physical melee attacks
- even my kiwi at times has joined in with the dps

- i use vulnerability - this increase the amount of physical dmg mobs take

- so mobs get debuffed, my minions swarm them (while doing more dmg due to curse and hatred), i EK or bear trap, then everything is dead
- rinse repeat
- also drop a skele totem as required

- NB - you may notice i have frost wall in there
- this is used mainly for big groups of charging mobs (i.e act 3 barracks or rhoas)
- it blocks them off for a few seconds, gives me time to drop a skele totem and proceed from there

Overall:
- so in its playstyle there are always things to consider and options
- it is effective and also very fun! (which is the point)
- it is not simply a matter of pressing left click for single target dps, and right click for your AOE attack

- you have an army to command, you are a general!! :)

Here's my skills tree as it stands projected to lvl 82
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAnEEswdjCPQMfRB_EJcUTRVQFm8ZhRo4HNwdFCQ8JKonqSj6KpgxiDbpOtg74UNjRARGcUjnSVFNuU3YVcZXK1j1Wm1gbWaea9ttGXFNc1N5A30Yfll_xoFvgh6DOIt6jHaPRpBVkyeVIJrPm6GdgJ3EnjyiAKKjpwinK6dcp4S0DLcxuJO8n7-XwBrAVMHzxp7JPcy8z2XQ0NQZ2Qva3dsL4vfjauOf6-7sOPAf8XbyHvfX-oD60g==

Im currently lvl 62, act 2 merciless, hardcore.


Above all else,

Stay alive and have fun.

Cheers.

Dave.

Apologies, the skill tree i linked only has 92 skill points which is like lvl 71-72.

From there i plan to pick up faster casting nodes - at beginning of witch tree on the left + underneath the big dex node to the right.

Cheers.

Dave

DiedOnVacuumBoss - Shadow.

Level 49, hardcore.

I kill everything w/ Firetrap.

I have 5 firetrap gems I use to kill mobs, Clarity for mana regen, and a summon skeletons totem.

SuckMyTotem -- Level 72 HC Double Arc Proliferation Totem/Fire Trap Templar

Passive tree at lvl 73


End-game passive tree


I wanted to make a character that'd be very useful in groups and would have decent soloing ability as well, so I came up with this build. It utilises the combo of Arc+Spell Totem+Elemental Proliferation to spread shock stacks amongst groups extremely quickly, much quicker and consistent than a spork totem would and at a greater range, albeit with a little less damage output from it. Ideally I'd have it in my chest as a 5-6 link, with those gems in order of importance: Arc+Spell Totem+Elemental Proliferation+Faster Casting+Lightning Penetration+Chain. As an additional debuff, I also use Elemental Weakness on the enemies to lower all of their elemental resistances to increase the damage of both me and my party members.

A notable weakness of the double totem keystone, Ancestral Bond, is, of course, the inability to do damage with skills yourself. However, traps and mines could still do damage, so I decided to take advantage of that. With the burn damage nodes available quite early on and with the shock stacks heavily supporting it, Fire Trap was an obvious choice for me. The drawback of using a trap skill, however, would be a pretty hefty cooldown. To bypass that a little bit, I decided to use several Fire Trap gems, since they each have a separate cooldown, so I can throw a Fire Trap at almost any time. I've also decided to use the Searing Touch unique staff for this build because of it's +2 level to fire gems, which buffs fire trap greatly, as well as the increased burn damage. Right now it has a combo of Fire Trap+Fire Trap+Increased AoE+Chance to Ignite in it, but when I get more linked sockets eventually, I plan on adding in another Fire Trap and Fire Penetration gems.

Of course, Fire Traps sometimes run out, so to counter me just doing nothing in that situation I decided to use the combo of Freezing Pulse+Remote Mine+Faster Projectiles+Greater Multiple Projectiles, which you can put down 5 of on the ground and launch a huge wave of freezing pulses on an enemy. So far it's been a pretty good skill to fall back on in time of need. I've replaced my helmet which had it recently, so I'm not running it at this moment.

I needed Eldritch Battery to support my auras and because of the huge mana cost of some skills in the build. My auras of choice are: Discipline to give me more mana since ES is converted to Mana with EB, Clarity for more mana regen and Haste for additional cast speed, as most of the spells used by this build have a pretty long cast time.

I'm leveling a Bear Trap now to try it out as well, as with a combo of Bear Trap+Added Fire Damage+Iron Will+Culling Strike it would have very good DPS and immobilize tough moving targets, allowing the Fire Trap's burn get to them. Also, PvP. It's pretty effective right now, but it should get much better as it levels.

Last but not least, the use of abilities with which you don't do damage yourself allows to stack a ridiculous amount of crit chance and crit multiplier since there's no risk of getting killed by a reflect pack. Also, not only does the crit multiplier improve crits, but it also makes the shock from the Arc totem proc last longer, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

This build has been very fun to play and is probably the most enjoyable one I had the chance to play so far. Having heavy debuffing totem-turrets + elemental weakness curse + insanely satisfying traps and mines just make a delightful combination.

Current Gear


Bandit Rewards
Normal - HP
Ruthless - Cast Speed
Merciless - Passive Point

Edit: I've made a more sort of guide-ish post about this build on the templar forums where I go over it a bit more detail. You can find it here.

Gender - Level 71 2H Sword Flash Ranger.

Passive Tree (71)


Future Tree



This build was inspired by the item Terminus Est,which make it so each crit grant you a frenzy charge.

This Build use the following ability:

Main Attack :20% quality Double Strike/Faster Attack/15% Quality Additional Accurcy/Mana Leech
Aoe : 20% Quality Lightning Strike/Pierce/Less Multiple Projectile/Blood Magic
Curse : 9% Quality Temporal Chain / Increased Duration
Mobility : Leap Slam/Faster Attack - Flicker Strike.
Aura : Hatred - Haste - Grace

The main thinking is to engage with a sustained blood magic Lightning strike to soften magic and rare monster while killing normal,then you can either engage with multiple flicker strike if you gathered some frenzy charge or leap in.

The sustained mana leech double strike with high speed should keep you up while dealing damage but if a damage treshold occur over what your current life regain setting allow this build use 2 to 3 instantaneous potion to keep one self near full life.

Flask : 2 to 3 Instant flask of either dispel burning or chilled/frozen coupled with either 2 quick silver/1 quick silver 1 granite/2 granite flask.

Modifier on Quicksilver and granite can vary on prefference but extra defence on granite and extra speed on quicksilver is recommended.

Bandit Reward are flexible but here what i choose :

Normal : 40 HP
Cruel : +1 Skill
Merciless :Extra Frenzy

This build build pro/con :

Pro :
High single target/aoe DPS.
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High Mobility.
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Good for pvp coupled with anti freeze and anti shock item.
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Doesn't require much mana to function.
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Only use 5 Active combat skill so the build is farly simple to use.
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High resist from skill tree along with high HP.
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High atk spd letting you quickly change action in combat.
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Doesn't fear any type of reflect damage. (Edit : Except Lightning Thorn,that thing hurt.)
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Utilise 2 out of the 3 element on aoe allowing you to chill/freeze and shock enemy to soften them up.
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+10 Style point for use of a unique weapon.


Con :
This build is weak early on merciless until you reach a good ammount of stable armor,recommend group play.
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This build obviously,require the unqiue sword Terminus Est as it is the main build focus.
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This build highly depend on Atk spd modifier on glove/ring,Elemental dmg also help alot but is only optional.
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Low ammount of lifesteal % and not acquirable trougth weapon which put the burden on realy good other item to compensate of lack of other weapon modifier.
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It a meele build not utilising Dual wield block chance,shield or staves block chance or mace stun duration making you much less tanky agaisnt extremely high dps boss such as brutus.
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Doesn't use Resolute Technique thus require accuracy from skilltree or items.

Current Equipment :
(PS : I am sorry for my bad english.)

wtb Hellboars build!

Eagle Scout Fire Witch
Default League Level 64

This is not a "do everything" build.

Rather, it's a take on finding an optimal non-spammer build based on gear (2 links only) and gems that commonly drop for a witch (I think, at least for me).

This does not rely on multiple auras, critical strike nor does it utilize very special potion affixes.

High survivability on merciless Act 3 (without party) and so far not yet defeated in PvP (Sorry I have to brag this one!!! But maybe I haven't fought the really good ones).

Basic Stats
Life - 2000 + no regen
Shield - 900
Mana - 900 + 30 regen/sec

Fire Res - 70%
Cold Res - 40%
Lightning Res - 40%
Physical Res (with Molten Shell) - 15%
Evasion - 20%

Movement Speed + 25%


Skills

Attack Spell - 3x Fireball + Fast Cast Speed

Defense Spell - Molten Shell (1.2k damage limit) + Increased Duration + Increased AoE Radius

Trap - Fire Trap + Fire Res Penetration (30%)

Curse - Flamability (40%) + Temporal Chains (32%) + Hex Master (Passive, Curses do not expire) + Whisper of Doom (Passive, 2nd curse allowed)

Aura - Additional Fire Damage (on zombie attack)

Summon - 4 Zombies + 2x Minion Damage

Totem - 3x Ice Spear + Increased Freeze Duration (Passive)


NOTE: There is total of -70% Fire Res penetration for Fire Trap, and -40% for rest of skill.
Resistance is futile ;)

Passives


Potions

2x 900-Health Potions
1x 900-Health Potion + Remove Curse
1x 40% movement speed
1x 700-Mana Potion


Mob Strategy

(1) Temporal Chains Curse + Flamability Curse
(2) 3x Fire Trap directly in front of mob (2k fixed damage per trap + 200 damage/sec per trap)
(3) Ice Spear Totem (Freeze)
(4) 3x Fire Ball Attack (500 damage per fire ball) + Continue to lay traps

(5) Summon Zombies (+Fire Damage) in between attacks
(6) Molten Shell (3k burst damage + AoE increase) in between attacks


PVP Strategy

Preparation
(1) Lay Fire Trap at choke points
(2) Ice Spear (3x) Totem at map center
(3) Look for enemy and set 2x curses
(4) Run back behind pillars + cast Molten Shell
(5) Summon zombies as distraction, and as shield against totems
(6) Attack with 3x fireball

In battle
(7) Run at a choke point and lay mines
(8) Cast Ice Spear totem at a distance from choke point
(9) Attack with 3x fireball behind choke point
(10) Cast Molten Shell in between attacks, Repeat (7)

In low life, or when freezed
(11) Health Potion + 40% Speed Potion
(12) Run as far back as possible (Hold Left Click)
(13) Molten Shell, Repeat (7)