[1.1.5] Whaitiri's Base Guide for Low Life RF Casters [no update for 1.2]

Hello, welcome to my Low Life RF Caster guide!

Casters have a rough time in the current meta. Not just are our leeching capabilities very limited, but we also have very few ways to buff our damage.
While attack-based builds can scale their damage with four auras, paired with aura effectiveness, attack speed (Blood Rage quality anyone?), crit, and nowadays even buffs that were meant for spellcasters, we are left with only a fraction of that: Pain Attunement, Righteous Fire, Haste and Crit.

With this guide, i try to give a base guideline how to get the most out of your caster using these buffs. The build works with basically any spell, crit and non-crit, and can easily be adjusted for certain spells (AoE nodes etc.). Don't expect "Low Life Crit Dagger ST" like results - nothing can beat that. But let it be said, you can build a Low Life RF caster, incl. a 6l Shav's, for less than the price of the current top dagger.

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1. Passive Tree




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2. Bandit Rewards

Kill All
Kill All
Kill All

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3. Equipment

The main stats for this core build are Energy Shield, Mana and Mana Regeneration. Dexterity is the most important attribute roll, as we barely get any from the tree. Crit rolls are a must if you go for a Crit Caster.

Weapon: Spell Damage and Cast Speed are no-brainers. I also recommend a good Mana Regeneration roll for more mana-intensive spells. The rest is dependant on your spell of choice: Projectile Speed, Spell Crit, Crit Multiplier, Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage %.

Shield: Rise of the Phoenix. This shield enables us to run RF, and comes with some ES and resistances. You may can sustain RF with a legacy Saffell's Frame too, but i generally try to keep legacy items out of my guides.

Chest: Shavronne's Wrappings, the Low Life build enabler. Alternatively Solaris Lorica will work, but you get a huge cut in ES and it's generally harder to roll the right colours for your spell.

Helmet: A rare helmet with high ES and resistances or The Vertex. Both work fine, and the ladder comes with a decent +1 Gem Level for auras (or Arc).

Gloves: High ES rares with resistances and Dexterity if non-crit. For crit builds, Maligaro's Virtuosity, Voidbringer or Atziri's Acuity will work.

Boots: High ES rares with resistances, Movement Speed and Dexterity. Rainbowstrides are an affordable, widely available alternative.

Belt: A good chain belt with resistances or Doryani's Invitation, matching the element of your spell.

Rings: First slot for Dream Fragments. The mana mods make it a great choice for casters, and its "Cannot be Frozen" property is very helpful for Low Life.
Second slot for a rare ring with ES, Mana Regeneration and resistances. Additional useful mods are Cast Speed, Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage%, Dexterity and Mana.

Amulet: Once again, ES and Mana Regeneration are the main goal. The other useful rolls are the same as on ring, plus Spell Damage, Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier.

Flasks: Two Ruby Flasks and a Topaz Flask with Curse Removal, Bleed Removal and Shock Removal. The other slots for Atziri's Promise and Rumi's Concoction.

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4. Links

This is specific to your final spell choice, so i'll just give a basic guideline on which gems you need, and which are helpful.

Auras: Discipline, Clarity, Vitality, Purity of Fire, Haste - those are mandatory. With the non-crit build you can add in one more aura, usually Purity of Lightning/Elements.
Purity of Fire needs to reach Lv23, this can be done with the help of Empower, Corruption and/or a +1 Gem/+2 Fire Gem roll.
Two auras (60%+40% on non-crit build, 40%+40% on crit build) need to be linked to Blood Magic + Reduced Mana to constantly trigger Low Life.

Defense: First layer is Arctic Armour. If you have enough space, you can link it to Enhance/Empower. Second layer is Cast when Damage taken (Lv4) + Enduring Cry (Lv7) + Immortal Call (Lv5), if possible you can link Increased Duration here.

Movement: Lightning Warp + Faster Casting + Reduced Duration. Certainly not mandatory, but good to have.

Other Stuff: Righteous Fire is mandatory. Since it's not our main damage source, no need to link anything to it. Level and quality are important for our Spell Damage buff, you could maximize it with Empower and Enhance.
A curse is always good to have, in most cases this will be Elemental Weakness or Critical Weakness. Last but not least Blood Rage for 15% increased Cast Speed from Frenzy Charges.

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5. Leveling

Leveling can be a bit tedious, as it's a high end build which needs a high level to even work. I personally respecced into it around Lv90, and tested many spells with Low Life RF since then.

If you want to level with this build, do the following: Ignore ES nodes and take Life nodes instead. Aim for Mana, Aura, Life Regen and Max Res nodes. At level 65 you can equip Shav's and RotP and should be able to sustain Low Life RF. Spec out of all life nodes and take ES, Pain Attunement and Ghost Reaver.

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6. Example: Low Life RF Arc

I've posted this in Item Showcase a while ago.





http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAuMHpQx9DjwQfxGWFHEXLxmKGmwajxzcHRQdqiSLJLAo-ilPLJwtHy9vNAo62DvhPI5Co0NjRKtGcUcGSbJN2FWuVbVV1lYtVw1XyVj1WfNcil8_X2pk52aeah5tGW-ecLtxTXKpdgh713y7fll_xoCkghCCm4LHgwmG0Yt6jHaPRo-mj_qRzpMnms-btZ2uncSezZ_LoqOnCKcrpzCoGKx_rKq0DLcxuJO77cAawQTBxcHzwzrDbcaeykrSIdkT2t3b59-w4Yji9-Qi6rrr7uwY7DjyL_Pd9tr3MvfB-ej60vsJ

Apex of Sacrifice full run: http://www.twitch.tv/enki91poe/c/4635181

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7. Different Spell Results

Here's a little collection of what DPS players have achieved following this build.
If you want yours added, please post a screenshot of your DPS in the char sheet with the following information: Spell, Gem Setup, Buffs used (Haste, Vaal Haste, Atziri's Promise)



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Thanks for reading my guide, hope you enjoyed it! Don't hesitate to comment if you have questions, suggestions or anything else to get off your chest!

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Hi Enki,

look forward to seeing how this build works. But how do you ignite with RF ??

"

plasticeyes wrote:

Hi Enki,

look forward to seeing how this build works. But how do you ignite with RF ??

Enemies burn while in your RF radius, and it counts to receive the 50% more multiplier on Flame Surge. :)

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Enki91 wrote:

"

plasticeyes wrote:

Hi Enki,

look forward to seeing how this build works. But how do you ignite with RF ??

Enemies burn while in your RF radius, and it counts to receive the 50% more multiplier on Flame Surge. :)

oh that is sneaky. i keep getting "burn" and "ignite" confused. i figured that since the attack wasn't "igniting" that the flame surge didn't get buffed.

now I'm _really_ interested in this build :-)

Switched to the crit version today, it was really tough making it work but.. finally got it!
Now time to do some fine tuning, would appreciate some feedback.

Btw. streaming some test runs at twitch.tv/enki91poe :)

Completely fleshed out the guide. Others seem to have more tankable Flame Surge builds in the making, so i decided to go all out on DPS this time. Hope you enjoy it! :)

Have run several maps up to 77, it works pretty well. Will record some videos and stream more once i got myself a Shavs.

Finally got myself a Shavs, will now level gems and try to record a few more videos within the next days. :D

Edit: Have switched LL with FC, works really well and clearing speed got up significantly.

so sad. too expensive a build for me :-(

looks like so much fun. love crit builds, and RF-based too !

thanks for putting together the guide.

You could make it work with Solaris Lorica, just need some good ES on other pieces and play bit careful.

Have updated my gear, finally got myself a 6L Shavs. Now its time to level gems bit more and try Atziri :D