[2.2] [Video Guide] Varunastra Earthquaker - Clear maps with ease | 1hit then done - [HC Viable

The first week of Perandus I was playing with a friend who only plays in leagues so its the only time we really get to play together so i thought it would be a cool idea to buy a Manor map for us to run, during the map we got Varunastra drop which looked like a weapon with a lot of potential so I decided to make a build using it

Hi, this is my Varunastra earthquake Duelist with the Champion ascension build for Perandus league. I'm currently using Varunastra along with The Tempestuous steel which gives me a surprisingly large amount of ele damage not many good choices for my off-hand slot so for me and what I have gone over for other options this on is the best for me, since Varunastra counts as all 1h weapon types the few multi weapon type damage nodes on the tree make this build EXTREMELY effective at clearing even the higher tier: 14,15 maps. The use of whirling blades allows me to traverse the map with ease, this along with the amount of burst from Earthquake my survivability is no problem with a Lightning coil while also using granite/basalt flasks (Taste of hate is a good addition if you can afford it) on these higher maps but good gear can make it much easier. (6l coil or a nice armor chest) dive into packs with flasks up and spam your earthquake a few times then get out and let the aftershock finish them off. do this to most of the packs and you should see no problems with this build!

I am currently running this build without the coil since I am unable to 6l it for now. and ive put 4 ex in the other gear, so I think 2ex will get you going and pushing maps with this build

Why Duelist instead of slayer??

I prefer fortitude over the extra damage from slayer but its really just preference the safety I get from fortitude is a nice secrurity when doing higher maps

Why varunastra instead of a high dps 1 hander?

Because you can grab a Varunastra very cheap (8-10 c) while buying a rare 1 hander that would be good enough to make this build viable in higher maps would cost 2-3ex, plus I get to pick up the few OP nodes that give damage to multiple types of weapons allowing me to double dip for huge profit as far as damage goes

Why phys to lightning instead of increased AOE?

Strictly preference here, I prefer the hybrid damage it allows me to do phys reflect without instantly one shotting myself and since my off-hand converts some of my damage to ele it allows me to eat through both highly armored and high ele res mobs with ease

Weapons: Both are mandatory for this build otherwise its just another Earthquake build

Helm: I tried to come up with better options here and I couldnt come up with a good choice here so I decided to go with a high armour rare helm with res, pretty standard choice though if you wanted to I can see abyssus working well with this build if you wanted to drop some damage nodes for more endurance charge, armor nodes

Body: Tabula is working for me at least until I link my Lightning Coil at which point I will swap it out for that

Belly of the Beast: this is another good choice if you are looking to get a little more out of earthquake

Rare chest: another simple but still very good option is a nice rolled armor chest if you decide you would like to go that route

Boots: Im currently using a pair of rare boots with tri res, move speed and life. they give me all the stats I want but I would have to say this slot is also preference.

Darkray Vectors: they will give you a bit more damage along with some mobility for maps that may not allow you to whirling blades freely. the lightning res will help you if you decide to use Coil . either way I think these are a good alternative

Gloves: Rare gloves with res, attack speed, damage on hit is what you want on this slot. not many good gloves to use with resolute techniques so this is what I went with. you may be able to pick up a pair of unique gloves cheaper than a nice pair of rares though.

Surgebinders: overall more damage output but you lose res/life

Wyrmsign: RAMPAGE!

Belt: currently using a rare phys belt with high defense. as you can probably tell by now I value defense stats pretty highly. though there are a few alternatives for this slot

The Retch: in my opinion an under used belt, gives alright defense stats while offering an amazing amount of utility stats along with the leech make this belt a really great item that I think will be used a lot more in future leagues. though its pretty costly at around 1.5ex

Soulthirst: nice defenses on a bad base but soul eater can turn you into a monster if you can manage it well enough, another good option in my opinion

Immortal flesh: even though it doesn't give any res I think the additional stats on this item make it a valid contender. its extremely cheap while offering many valuable stats. if you can look passed the -5% max res then this belt inst so good. not saying that this is by any means the best belt but if you were to use it I wouldn't judge you for it :D

Rings: rings with phys damage, attack speed, res, life. any combination of those stats are fine. you want to be sure you are tanky enough to dive into mobs because trust me when I say that you will be diving into mobs.

Le Heup of all: a lot of damage stats but you lose the life you would get on a different ring

The Taming: not sure about this one, I got a chance to freeze/shock/ignite enchant on my boots from labyrinth so with this that would put me at 13% chance to f/s/i. I'm not sure how good this would be but ill get around to testing it at some point

Amulet: Rare amulet with damage/res/%armor/life is a good fit here. no unique amulets are good enough to take its place

The basalt and granite flasks give me way too much defense to give up though I will be replacing my sulpher flask because I almost never use it.

166% max life w/ 80% increased armor https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAQDAAHcBLMFLQhJC2EMXxHVE0wUIBXsF-EcpySbJvgoKiyULlMwdzWSOuE7OzwFPC09_EF0QzFHfkz_TeNOKk4yUEdR5lOlVuhXl1hjWf5aGluvXz9gQWIXY3BkUmVNZ5toZWjybztyqXTtdqx3U3fjeA15aHvUfNl99YNfhJSE2YlxivCLT4zPj2CRzpd5nsWf36IAplepbq2Nrj6vbLLctfK5HbvtvTa-p8AawGbBBMGjwzPE9sauypDPftNv1ljYvdrB3Q3gleJh5FHpRuoY7FzvDu988B_yRfPd9kj3MvdN-Ov-jw==?accountName=SmallSon&characterName=championMeta

any jewels with %life and damage to 1h weapon types. look around for the cheapeast and just grab what offers the best stats for your money. Varunastra will benefit from all 1 handed weapon types so finding jewels is very easy

I went with champion for fortitude giving me a bit more tank stats and also freeing up a gem slot from my 6l. slayer will also work with this build but will be less tanky

6L B-R-R-R-R Less duration, WED, Added fire, Earthquake, Phys to lightning, MPD

4L #1 R-R-G-G Leap slam, faster attacks, whirling blades, blood magic

4L #2 R-R-B-G Increased duration, Faster Casting, Summon stone golem, Vaal haste

3L #1 R-R-R CWDT, Increased duration, immortal call

3L #2 R-R-R CWDT, Warlords mark (can swap out for enfeeble), Enduring cry

2L with 4 socket Blood rage, increased duration(linked), herald of ashe, hatred


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6L is our earthquake setup, this will be on our body armor

4L #1 is our movement setup, any of the 3 4L pieces will work with this

4L #2 is our left over setup which we use mostly for Vaal haste but put stone golem in there just to fill a slot

3L #1 is our immortal call setup which will be on one of our weapons.

3L #2 is our curse when damage taken setup along with an enduring cry put in there for extra measure. though you will be manually casting it most of the time

2L its recommended to have blood rage with increased duration, then the last 2 sockets are needed for both auras you will be running

Damage in hideout with auras up 35k DPS http://imgur.com/BeOTRaj


Damage with blood rage/frenzy 50k DPShttp://imgur.com/BeOTRaj


Damage with Vaal Haste/onslaught 61.5K DPShttp://imgur.com/BeOTRaj


Defense without flasks 3500 armorhttp://imgur.com/BeOTRaj


Defense with flasks up 15.6k armor 81% reductionhttp://imgur.com/BeOTRaj

Oak-Kraityn-Kraityn