[2.5 Video Guide] Assassin Blade Vortex End-Game Build & Uber Farmer! [HC/SC]

Video Guide: Path of Exile 2.5: Blade Vortex Assassin Build Guide - MORE DAMAGE! [HC/SC]

Watch this short build video. It will show you how the build performs in high tier maps and explain the core mechanics of the build!

If you have any questions about the build come to my twitch stream and I will do my best to answer them:

Lifting's Twitch Live Stream Channel

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Strengths and Weaknesses of the build


Strengths:

- Good league starter!

- Cheap to get going, but with several opportunities to add expensive and powerful unique items further down the road.

- Effective, safe and fast in even the hardest content the game can provide, including tier 15+ maps, Uber Lab, Guardians, Shaper and Uber Atziri!

- Viable for both hardcore and softcore gameplay.

- Tons of fun! Blade Vortex is my favourite skill and has been since it was originally released. This is of course, a subjective opinion however.

Weaknesses:

- Due to the popularity of Blade Vortex and CI, The high-end recommended (but not required) unique items for this build are fairly expensive.
- Transitioning into CI can be confusing and requires general knowledge about energy shield gear and how to use it properly.
- Lightning thorns is incredibly dangerous. Avoid it!
- Can't do Hexproof maps.


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Build mechanic introduction:

Defences:

- The final build has about 350% increased maximum energy shield and 15% "more" energy shield from the skill-tree.
- Huge energy shield pool will prevent one-shots.
- Immune to chaos damage.
- Instant life leech, meaning you are typically able to out-leech incoming damage, even from most bosses.
- 5 utility flasks all granting anything from curse, freeze, and stun immunity, while also allowing you to blind nearby enemies and greatly reduce incoming physical damage.

Reflect Damage

Single reflect mobs and elemental reflect maps are safe. I'd advice to stay away from physical reflect maps. It can be done, but it is sketchy.

Why the Assassin?

- Access to all the basic skill-gems required, making the leveling experience much smoother.
- Free power charge generation via Unstable Infusion.
- Deadly Infusion grants tons of crit chance and multiplier, making it much cheaper and easier to gear compared to other ascendancy classes.
- Free culling strike on crits!
- For MOAR DAMAGE

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Skill-gems and setups:

Damage setup:

- Blade Vortex, Spell Echo, Controlled Destruction, Inc. Area of Effect, Increased Critical Hit Damage (5-link) & Added Fire Damage/Life Leech (depending on preference in your 6-link) <-- This is the link priority.

Note: For bosses add in Concentrated Effect instead of Inc. AoE. |

Defensive Utility Setup 1:

- Cast When Damage Taken (lvl 9), Immortal Call (lvl 11), Summon Lightning Golem (lvl 11), & Increased Duration (max level)

Defensive Utility Setup 2:

- Cast When Damage Taken (lvl 3), Arctic Breath (lvl 6), Vortex (lvl 6) & Greater Multiple Projectiles (max level)

Mobility & Utility:

- Flame Dash, Decoy Totem, Faster Casting & Minion and Totem Elemental Resistances.

Auras & Curse:

- Blasphemy, Warlords Mark & Discipline.
- Hatred in the Essence Worm ring.

Vaal Skills:

Vaal Discipline, Vaal Discipline & Increased Duration.

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Skill-trees & Ascendancy classes:

Ascendancy Class: The Assassin



Note 1: If you get the 20% reduced discipline mana reservation enchantment, you should spec out of Charisma, spend 1 of the 4 points on the 4% reduced mana reservation node below CI and then spend the remaining 3 on whatever you prefer.

Note 2: That if you at any point need strength or dexterity, simply pick up the 30+ notables in the skill-tree and spec out of them later when you are able to cover these requirements via gear.
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Leveling Tips:

In the video linked below, I explain how to effectively level using the right skill-gems, how to spend your passive points in the right order and when to transition into Chaos Innoculation. Please watch this, to get a better understanding on how to progress your character.

Link: Path of Exile: Blade Vortex Build Progression & Leveling!

Bandit Quest Rewards:

- Normal : Kill them all for 1 extra skill point.
- Cruel : Kill them all for 1 extra skill point.
- Merciless: Help Alira for +1 to maximum power charges.

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Gearing and stat priorities:

Defensive affixes, in priority:

1. Energy Shield
2. Elemental Resistances (75% on Merciless)

Note: Try to get at least 250 ES on your chest, shield and helmet.

Offensive affixes, in priority:

1. Spell Damage%
2. Inc. Cast Speed%
3. Inc. Critical Strike Chance%

My Current Gear:


Jewels:

- Inc. Maximum Energy Shield%
- Inc. Crit. Multiplier%
- Inc. Physical/Spell Damage%
- Inc. Area Damage%
- Inc. Elemental Resistances & Attributes if you have a hard time getting it on your gear.

Flasks:

- 1x Surgeon's Stibnite Flask of Staunching.
- 1x Taste of Hate.
- 1x Surgeon's Basalt Flask of Heat.
- 1x Kiara's Determination.
- 1x Surgeon's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline.

Note: Until you can afford a Taste of Hate I'd recommend using a Surgeon's Granite Flask of Iron Skin.

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Recommended unique items, in priority:

Flask: Kiara's Determination (to prevent stuns and curses)



Ring: Essence Worm



Jewel: 2x Energy From Within



Chest: Beast Fur Shawl



Flask: Taste of Hate



Wand: Void Battery



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Outro:

Make sure to watch the video guide to see some actual gameplay of how the build performs as well as to get a better explanation of how it works!

Video Guide: Path of Exile 2.5: Blade Vortex Assassin Build Guide - MORE DAMAGE! [HC/SC]

Check out my other build guides for 2.4

- 2.5 Tanky Cyclone Champion/Juggernaut [HC/SC]

- 2.5 Ultimate Beginner's Flame Totem Chieftain [HC/SC]

- 2.5 Earthquake Champion/Juggernaut/Slayer [HC/SC]

Stay safe!

#DoYouEvenNerd
Lifting

Reserved!

Just as i was wondering what to play next, the bro posts another amazing build guide :). Its good that it can be done on budget since im completely unable to trade (im a dumb dumb, i know nothing of pricing and such), so ill be starting from the bottom (i have like 10-15 chaos stored right now, which i guess is something). So thanks LiftingNerdBro, loved Ancestral Warchief Champion, i bet i will love this one too :). Just one question, how will this perform in a party of two people? Will the dmg become, unnoticable?

Thank you very much LiftingNerdBro!

I played your life version of BV in 2.2 and i rocked with 50k dps, but i had some issues with surviving in t12+ maps. This build is now perfect for me, cuz getting Skyforth+6l Shavs is impossible.

TY

Awesome, been waiting for this. Some general questions of a noob:

* Doesnt Contolled Destruction like not synergize at all, considering the 100% reduction on crit chance?

* How does it work with having Energy Shield only? When it comes to physical damage. Isnt there literally no reduction, except if you use flasks? How exactly does that work?

"

cryion wrote:

* Doesnt Contolled Destruction like not synergize at all, considering the 100% reduction on crit chance?

The reduced crit chance is not really an issue. Since it is "reduced" it simply substracts the 100% from all the increased crit chance you get on the passive tree and gear, from the tree alone you get >350% increased crit chance.
I'm doing basically the same build and for me blade vortex crit chance goes from 31% (without Controlled destruction) to 25% in town. With full power charges it goes from 83% to 73%. And for that small decrease of crit chance you get a 44% multiplier for all of your damage.

"

cryion wrote:

Awesome, been waiting for this. Some general questions of a noob:

* How does it work with having Energy Shield only? When it comes to physical damage. Isnt there literally no reduction, except if you use flasks? How exactly does that work?

We have:
- A LOT of ES,
- end. charges always up
- CWDT + IC + ID
- flasks
- and most important for me Vaal Pact for instant leech

Hello LiftingNerdBro,

What do you think about specking out from: Ambush and Assassinate into Noxious Strike and Toxic Delivery?

How would you scale the bleeding and poison damage from those 2 ascendancy's ?

Thanks in advance.

Awesome guide! Just a quick question: Does the unarmed physical damage from the facebreaker also apply to the blade vortex?

Lifting, what would be your opinion on swapping your chilling CWDT setup with something that grants you Fortify instead? (Maybe cwdt - bv - fortify, etc.)

My thought is either directly mitigate damage all the time, but don't reduce frequency of incoming hits.
Or indirectly mitigate damage by reducing the frequency of incoming hits because they are chilled.


It's either that or keep your cwdt chilling setup and run a dagger for the usual whirling blades - faster attacks - fortify setup.



Which do you think provides more value/safety for playing in EHC?