[BSC] [WIP] [2.5] Low Life Essence Drain Trickster

For our weapon we greatly benefit from a so called "decay" wand. Essence of delirium does this and i can tell you that it scales super good with our skill tree & items. I went from consuming dark to a "decay" wand and the single target damage difference was HUGE, it felt like double the damage, it's worth the 45 chaos to use it on a ilvl 84 wand.

For our shield we look for high energy shield and resist, intelligence is also good but energy shield and resist is your main stats to check on for your shield.

Our helmet should be a Heretic's Veil without any doubt this is the item you should pick up first, if it's posible and your currency lets you buy a enchanted one so your curses can get stronger.

Our chest piece is ofcourse going to be a Shavronne's Wrappings so chaos damage doesn't hit life before energy shield, another option if you cant afford it you can run Solaris Lorica, it's not that great but it will help you through maps with more damage but less defense.

Our amulet must be a chayula, if you can get the upgraded version, it gives you more energy shield and chaos resist which is really good. If you don't get a chayula you are going to suffer from stun locks which will potentially kill you, i would not reccomend not using one unless you get stun immunity from any other piece of gear or flask.

One of our rings should be a Doedre's Damning so we can get one more curse, at the moment i run Temporal chains, Enfeeble and from Withfire Brew i get a lvl 21 Vulnerability curse as well as 59% increased damage over time. The other ring you should look for a lot of resist and potentially energy shield and if possible % maximum energy shield.

On your gloves you would want some dexterity if possible otherwise you want high energy shield and resist.

Your boots i would prefer having movement speed, resist and high energy shield and potentially intelligence if you can afford it.

On your belt you want as much energy shield as possible, potentially armour, resist and if you can get it you should have increased flask effect duration, it helps but it's not much, you should focus on getting more resist if possible.

The wands are only for leveling the skills apart from the Rift Bite which is my main wand.

You definately want a witchfire brew flask, it helps with your damage a ton!! The rest is mostly to your own decision on what to use, i would prefer getting bleed, shock and freeze removal.

Chest Piece: 4 Link: Essence Drain > Controlled Destruction > Void manipulation > Rapid Decay
5 Link: Essence Drain > Controlled Destruction > Void manipulation > Rapid Decay > Pierce
6 Link: Essence Drain > Controlled Destruction > Void manipulation > Rapid Decay > Pierce > Slower Projectiles/Empower (lvl 2 or above)

Weapon: Contagion > Increased Area of Effect > Faster Casting

Gloves: Wither > Spell Totem > Faster Casting > Increase Duration

Boots: Cast When Damage Taken > Immortal Call > Increased Duration > Vaal Discipline

Shield: Blood Magic > Discipline > Clarity

Helmet: Flame Dash > Enfeeble > Temporal Chains

For our ascendancy we pick Trickster. From Trickster we get great benefits for damage aswell for defense. Due to picking Swift Killer we can maintain frenzy charges which gives us 4% attack speed, 4% cast speed and 4% more damage for each frenzy charge that we have. The attack speed doesn't benefit us in any way but i currently get 20% cast speed and attack speed and 20% more damage with my 5 frenzy charges (I know i can get 6 if i wouldn't of helped alira, i respecced into this build since i got bored out of barrage).

We get pure damage from our Patient Reaper, the % damage over time is amazing to have also the increased mana regen, it helps a lot.

Ghost dance is not too good but we need to take it to get to the node called "Shade Form". Now this is a node which i would rate as a "must take" node for any energy shield based build, it gives us 250 flat energy shield which is about the same as my Heretic's Veil and i tell you, that is not a tiny bit of energy shield. I gained from ~1000 energy shield from that node which is insane.

Ascendancy pick order: Swift Killer > Patient Reaper > Ghost Dance > Shade Form. I would pick it in this order for the most possible damage and working slowly towards the defense as of the ascendancy tree. If you want more defense you could go with this order: Ghost Dance > Shade Form > Swift Killer > Patient Reaper.

Current skill tree i use: Level 84

For our jewel you put in energy from within at the spot shown in this screenshot
the other jewel is by your choice of what stat it is going to have. I'd prefer something like % maximum energy shield, spell damage or damage over time. There's a lot of mods to search for but those 3 are some good examples

Bandits
Normal: Kill
Cruel: Kill
Merciless: Help kraityn for +1 frenzy charge

This is why i love Essence Drain

T7 Olmec's Sanctum

140 quantity T11 Excavation

T14 Reef

T14 Volcano