[2.2 Video Guide] Beginner's Build: Dual Flame Totem, Blood Magic Chieftain [Atziri & HC/SC Viable]

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kingarthy wrote:

hi, currently playing this build in the new talisman league.
one question, what is the best 4L setup with controlled destruction?

Add Faster casting and Fire Penetration gems.

The passive-skill tree is for Marauder, not witch ;-)

If it's possible to correct these.

This is the finished tree he had in the OP

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMB37CCEAelAuNJsiycES18g6eUXl3R_evuMtFFR8BmBLOiAOFzmjuCm-w4OtgnL5BVGjhZ83IPZp5Y5cMTWiuj8vAfaPKvbAthxq7E9iftGS7ZYVcN0iHyQYIH2XwUcQ4837_xrCkufLgaPl8_LKdKxHhp9q4QzCu2jEb4kzwtg8y3Pv4K2L01krXybqpkhAag-b1KyNtP4MMlvO081aZxhXrmY_1G19q5sUIUIO8OrY3PfgYO1HwJ9hBYh2Wa4EWdU1KvtzI0HwIEB4PbVcY6WKyY8Ww22EkbKo3sVVBHg18=

hmm, I went ahead and checked out my Flame Totem Build after the patch in which I followed this build completely and I'm trying to figure out why my DPS dropped from 12Kish to 9kish?? I haven't changed a thing, just logged in....

I was expecting my DPS to actually be higher because Flame Totem got a buff at higher levels and I'm at a higher level. I'm at 86....I'm stumped as why my DPS took a dive? :(...

Is HoT really better than running hatred?

Regarding the Flame Totem DPS drop, I posted about that earlier in this thread:

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DarkRogue_3 wrote:

I tested it briefly earlier doing a couple quick runs in Dried Lake before I went off to make a new character in Talisman. I was trying to figure out what exactly happened to the DPS values, since the patch notes seemed to indicate that by about level 21 there should have been no difference in DPS, but I noticed that my listed DPS went down about 2k, from 13k down to around 11k.

Not too sure why, but I think the 0.2s -> 0.25s base cast rate affected the DPS drop more than I expected. Even going with the average base damage values of a single projectile multiplied by the old speed of 5 casts per second exceeded the new speed of 4 casts per second with the new higher base damage values up through level 21-22.

I'm not certain how they calculated it when they stated on the patch notes that it was an effective 0% difference at level 21, because for me, [damage] * [casts per second] did not give me equal values before and after at level 21.

I also don't think Hatred would do anything at all with this build, because Hatred adds extra Cold damage based on your Physical damage, and a Flame Totem's physical damage output is exactly zero. The only one that might work is Anger, but it'd reserve twice as much as the Herald would.

Flame Totem also has a 25% damage effectiveness, so at level 20, Anger would add ~22.4 Fire damage at the cost of 25% Life or 50% Mana, while Herald of Thunder would add ~11.9 Lightning damage at the cost of 12.5% Life or 25% Mana. Whether or not that's worth it, I don't know.

Back to PoE after two years and been really liking this build. I guess it can't go much more safer but I have tried to remove Herald of Thunder aspect from my build and just put in another defensive mechanism but I don't know if that is plain wrong?

I have been thinking adding another low level (2-5) cwdt-gem and Enfeeble but it's not optimal since it's not goal of this build to get close combat. Running that atm tho. Maybe just another cwdt-immortal call combination?

More interesting test was today when I tried Blasphemy and different curses. I felt blasphemy is just great but still this build might not be tanky enought to upkeep even small life loss. I intend to come back that after I have managed to get huge lifepool. Generally I think it's not worth running any buff that takes off your health on HC.

Also. I am running extra Searing totem with Flame totems so I can have three totems up. Has been amazing at least on lower levels and I wonder why that is not included in the build!? I can pull out amazing killing zones sometimes when situation is more predictable.

Anyone running extra minions with build? I got that flame guy ofc :)

What do you think about alternative ways to build character more tanky and mistake-tolerant?

Hi! I'm enjoing playing flame totem, thanks for the guide.

I'm playing this build with 100% fire damaged converted to chaos thanks to this unique mix:

I though it was a good piece to level with, what about endgame ?

After the update I've seen dps go really down,so I bougt a cheap clear mind (51% spell bonus).
But in truth I've got like under 20% dps boost.
I really don't understand how the math works here, is it the damage conversion?
Can anybody explain how it works?

Thanks, bye

The damage won't rise 51% because the Jewel is not a 'more' modifier, it's an 'increased' modifier, which means it stacks additively with all other 'increased' modifiers. Keep in mind Iron Will also provides an 'increased' modifier, so you already have a large amount of spell damage increases. This means added the 51% from Clear Mind won't bring as large a difference -- it still helps, but going from like 400% to 450% is relatively lower than going from 0% to 50%, though they still provide the same actual bonus.

I've thought about doing the full conversion to Chaos as well, but I didn't feel like it offered all that much -- you free up Fire Penetration, but lose the ability to curse enemies to make them weaker against Chaos Damage, although I wonder how well Wither would work as a replacement 'curse' here. Reflect wasn't an issue to begin with, so that point of Chaos Damage doesn't mean too much. My plan if I did the full Chaos Conversion though was to slot in both Controlled Destruction and Void Manipulation to stack their 'more' modifiers.

I do hope that you understand your Added Chaos Damage gem in your Infernal Mantle doesn't do anything since it's not linked to Flame Totem, though. It's okay if you just wanted to level it alongside everything else, but it doesn't add anything to the FT.

@Possu81
I think the OP mentioned earlier in this thread (maybe 3 pages back) that Searing Bond wasn't worth the sockets in this build, although it was good for a dedicated build.

I personally run Zombies and Vaal Summon Skeletons alongside the Flame Golem with this character. I run this build on my MF character, so her entire play style involves throwing as many things between her and the enemies as possible for distraction. The Zombies aren't all that effective since we don't have any minion nodes, but they serve their purpose as disposable, easily-replaced distractions. (I have them linked to Minion Life and Elemental Resistances.)

Vaal Summon Skeletons is great those times you get overwhelmed by numbers (such as opening a Strongbox) or against those Exiles/bosses that chase you in melee. They are awful against area damage spellcasters, though -- they die pretty much instantly.

So I was the told that the reason my DPS went from 12k down to about 9k after the patch is because of one of the gems. I think it was either a faster casting gem which got nerfed or something that has to do with casting....I guess that explains it.