[2.4] The Master of Agony - CI / ZO + Tri-Curse Essence Drain / Contagion Trickster

Thanks for this awesome build-guide! =)

Really helped me out building my Trickster, who currently sits at lvl ~66.
At 68 I'm going to use the new Unique Chest "The Beast"for sure"" :D to push the regen even higher.
First I was planning to use 6 frenzy charges & Blood Dance, but the 30% lightning res on Brinerot are just to good .___.* ...

Anyone has experience with the new mace/sceptre? http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Breath_of_the_Council
It looks to good :D
Maybe with LeapSlam Fortify?

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Slashsummer wrote:

Thanks for this awesome build-guide! =)

Really helped me out building my Trickster, who currently sits at lvl ~66.
At 68 I'm going to use the new Unique Chest "The Beast"for sure"" :D to push the regen even higher.
First I was planning to use 6 frenzy charges & Blood Dance, but the 30% lightning res on Brinerot are just to good .___.* ...

Anyone has experience with the new mace/sceptre? http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Breath_of_the_Council
It looks to good :D
Maybe with LeapSlam Fortify?

The beast fur shawl has very good regen and decent spell damage, it lacks ES (best roll is about 380 less base ES when compared to a rare one) and resistances btw. You're going to need a very good jewelry to cap (and overcap for ele weakness maps) without a rare regalia.

Brinerot are extremely underrated. They provide decent ES, they have up to 40% proj damage (which double dips with poison), plus they have lightning resistance and make you immune to shocking ground. They're too good to pass, imho.

I don't like the new sceptre for multiple reasons:

1. The chaos damage bonus is not super high when compared to a Consuming dark (80% chaos dmg vs 60% spell dmg)
2. No poison (= you lose a ton of single target damage)
3. No whirling blades

Leap slam can be a decent alternative.

The worst thing, btw, when talking about the new mace, is the loss of poison.

Thanks for a detailed and great guide! I am currently level 70 and about to transition to CI.

I was wondering how you are sustaining ES without much reg and especially without the Witch Wicked Ward ascendancy?

In your completed tree you have about 3% reg. With 10k es thats 300 es / sec. Add the Stone Golem and all you have is 400 ES / sec.

So that means I have to have godlike DPS to survive? I have about 12k dps (5link) and 0,5% of that is a mere 60 es / sec. Even if I had your level of DPS (40k) I would just get an extra 200 ES / sec.

I'm worried how I'm going to sustain my ES. How are you going to recover enough ES without Vaal Discipline (that can't be up all the time)? Or is it something I'm overlooking?

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mahaad wrote:

Thanks for a detailed and great guide! I am currently level 70 and about to transition to CI.

I was wondering how you are sustaining ES without much reg and especially without the Witch Wicked Ward ascendancy?

In your completed tree you have about 3% reg. With 10k es thats 300 es / sec. Add the Stone Golem and all you have is 400 ES / sec.

So that means I have to have godlike DPS to survive? I have about 12k dps (5link) and 0,5% of that is a mere 60 es / sec. Even if I had your level of DPS (40k) I would just get an extra 200 ES / sec.

I'm worried how I'm going to sustain my ES. How are you going to recover enough ES without Vaal Discipline (that can't be up all the time)? Or is it something I'm overlooking?

There're not many ES builds out there that can actually facetank mobs.
But since ED plays alot like Poison (Caustic - I like Poison more :D) Arrow, where you have to keep moving, cause you lack lifesteal, ED with the +regen is even better.
Combine that with Whirling Blades & you shouldn't get hit too much :D

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djnat wrote:

The beast fur shawl has very good regen and decent spell damage, it lacks ES (best roll is about 380 less base ES when compared to a rare one) and resistances btw. You're going to need a very good jewelry to cap (and overcap for ele weakness maps) without a rare regalia.

I got lucky and dropped a almost perfect roll in ES, like 600ish.
That's 180ES lower than your Chest. Might be 1k ES in total. To make up for that I'm using MoM :3

And Heretics is just to expensive atm, so I can wear a rare Helmet & an additional Ring.
All in all I'm capped in resists, planning on getting a ES shield with maybe all res, to help against Ele weak maps.

Oh and btw, I'm using Winds of Change for even more dmg & proj speed.
WIll drop them for a rare pair when I'm able to get myself a Heretics =)

The ES sustain is extremely good when mapping, it becomes more crucial when fighting hard bosses (Uber Atziri / Core Malachai / Vaal Temple Trio).

In those fights, you have to avoid things or you will die. If you don't get out of Atziri's flameblasts, Malachai's tentacle portals / traps or similar attacks which can two or three-shot you in a short timeframe, there is no chance to survive with any kind of build / leech / mitigation.

The Essence Drainer playstyle has the great advantage of being able to move while doing damage. You dot (and stack poison) when it's safe to, then you move and try to dodge all the shit mobs throw at you when it isn't. Eventually, they die. How fast they die is determined by your DPS and skill (if you know how monsters attack, you can anticipate their moves and multi-dot/poison them in the appropriate moments).

You can rely on both ES regeneration and recharge to refill your ES pool. Dodging as must as possible is the key.

Vaal Discipline is only a sort of last resource, and it's not always available (example: Izaro! During his fights, no Vaal skill can be used).

Remember that with an "insane" gear you can have 14k+ ES. That's a lot and gives you more room for some errors during combat.

My gear, as you can see, is nothing really special. I don't own mirrored items but I have got all the key uniques in the right gear slots. I agree that this league Heretic's Veil has become really expensive, due to the increased rarity of "strong" uniques. The beast fur shawl is a very good option to have until you get a 800-850+ regalia with resistances on it, then it's a matter of personal taste, and even a thing you can play around... during some bosses, having a stronger ES recharge can help more than having a bigger ES pool.

@Slashsummer: what's your current ES value? I imagine that using TBFS and WoC it can't be too high, unless you have got an insane rare hubris or spirit shield.

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So that means I have to have godlike DPS to survive? I have about 12k dps (5link) and 0,5% of that is a mere 60 es / sec. Even if I had your level of DPS (40k) I would just get an extra 200 ES / sec.

Remember that we have various layers of defense.

Big ES pool, high mobility, Enfeeble, Temporal chains, regen, Fortify, Wither totem, Stone Golem's tankiness, evasion, dodge, spell dodge, block and even flasks (which enable spell block / more evasion / physical mitigation due to extra armor and basalt) or vaal discipline when required.

If you know how to handle fights, you never die with this character, unless you make some mistakes (it happens sometimes, we are not robots!) or your internet connection is really crap.

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@Slashsummer: what's your current ES value? I imagine that using TBFS and WoC it can't be too high, unless you have got an insane rare hubris or spirit shield.

Atm I'm sitting on 8,5k ES at lvl 75 - without Discipline.
Got a highlvl CWDT -Stone golem running which grants me more reliable regen (around 350es/s)
still have to spend 6 points into chaos dmg/proj dmg. Afterwards I'm going to take another 80%ish ES.

Gear:

The Shield is quiet nice, no Spell dmg, but some mana reg to sustain MoM even better.
Helmet is nothing special compared to "godlike" 600ES ones I've seen :D



Edit: I just did Merc Lab and didn't even dropped under 3/4 ES...

So it seems uber lab wanted to mock me lol.

Please tell me this somehow stacks with Essence Drain haha... :'(

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FATKMZ wrote:

Please tell me this somehow stacks with Essence Drain haha... :'(

Sure, it does :D but you wont see a difference :'D
I'm sorry for you, man =(

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Slashsummer wrote:

Edit: I just did Merc Lab and didn't even dropped under 3/4 ES...

You feel it yeah? Lab farming is AMAZING with this character.