[2.6] Self-cast Bladefall or Blade Vortex - Farm Shaper, All Content

- Availability of double-dipping Talisman amulets provides more options in build - no longer need to rely on the Hidden Potential gem.
- You can now purchase gems that you previously had to trade for from Siosa after completing the Fixture of Fate quest (~lvl 33) in Act 3. This includes Bladefall.
- Pledge of Hands is buffed from 12% to 18% block.
- More evasion via the Revenge of the Hunted node (instead of Blood Drinker)
- Blade Vortex received a buff (!) for 2.6 radius so using it in place of Bladefall should be manageable even for general pack clearing with the Increased Area of Effect gem used in place of concentrated effect.
- Area of Effect changes will have very little impact on the build. Blasphemy curse option has less radius, but we never strayed that far from packs/boss in the first place.

- Effectively an 8-Link Self-cast Berserker Bladefall (or Blade Vortex) poison build utilizing Lvl 30 Spell Echo via Pledge of Hands Staff and free Poison from Cospri's Will. This build is an equally strong pack clear & boss killer. Feels very fast and fluid with spell echo & faster casting.

- NO mana issues due to high base mana/leech

- 73% base movement speed

Test yourself - importing Atlassound_BV_BFall

Lvl 21 Bladefall with 1 wither Stack: 1.56M DPS (not including flasks)

Lvl 20 Blade Vortex (20 stacks) with 1 wither Stack swapped i: ~4M DPS (not including flasks)

Obviously, the Blade Vortex damage is ridiculous but is overkill (and a pain in the arse to use). However, I finally succumbed and used it primarily for the Shaper fight.

Shaper Kill - Deathless - 5148 HP
https://youtu.be/VB8sAcS5xvI

Another Shaper Deathless Run - including Mini-boss fights - 5148 HP
https://youtu.be/7Tiw_fkRhEw

Shaper Kill - 1 silly death - Dying Sun Ruby Drop
https://youtu.be/Jm-ZWP1aH6k

Shaper - Another Dying Sun Ruby Drop - Speed Run - all BV (no bladefall)
https://youtu.be/vHz5m9a36cY

Chayula Kill
https://youtu.be/h4dLc1pQ2jE

Minotaur Guardian Kill
https://youtu.be/Yt3pMQKZIVQ

Hydra Guardian (Poison-Immune)
Despite being poison immune, it's a pretty easy & relatively quick kill.
https://youtu.be/cIJ_rOnBNHU

Chimera Guardian Kill
Despite being poison immune, you can mow it down with Blade Vortex. The following flasks help when Chimera disappears into the clouds.



https://youtu.be/gwGX9kMTivk

Note my character name for this build is AtlasSound_BV_BFall.

Effectively an 8 Link Bladefall/Blade Vortex build utilizing the Level 30% Spell Echo from the Pledge of Hands Staff, and free Poison on Hit capability provided by the Cospri's Will Chest.

3 Curses (Enfeeble, Temporal Chains, Vulnerability) are used requiring an item with +1 curse to be equipped.

The build in its endgame state requires the following uniques:

- Cospri's Will Chest (4L) for the free Poison, Curse.
- Pledge of Hands Staff (5L is fine, 6L even better) which grants up to 160% increased spell damage, 12% block, tons of mana and a free 30% spell echo.
- Witchfire's Brew for Lvl 21 Vulnerability Curse & damage over time.

The following helmet enchantment is critical: +30% Temporal Chains effect to scale the Poison DOT.

Luxury items (better to have these for the Shaper fight)
- Sin's Rebirth flask
- +Vulnerability on Hit Gloves to have 100% vulnerability uptime

If you value movement speed & chaos resist & more options for helmet enchantments (see Enchantments section):



If you want +life and a lot of fun shrine effects (including a huge +resist shrine buff)

If you want to farm shaper, a +1 vulnerability gloves (ideally with +life, +resist) is recommended to ensure 100% vulnerability uptime.

This vulnerability of hit gloves is amazing for this build:

You can go many different ways with the amulet.

Pure damage (if you can get your +1 curse & life/resists elsewehere)



Or a +1 curse amulet with life and/or resists.


For mapping / MF - this amulet is amazing:

If you are using the Hidden Potential Jewel, then you'll want two magic rings, each with +50 life and +70 total resist.

Otherwise, the following rings are options depending upon your curse set-up.

Magic Find works pretty well for this character - especially with Legacy Uniques.

Divination Distillate is optional - the way to use it is to temporarily turn off a curse (e.g. Enfeeble) right before activating the flask.

I'd recommend a set-up such as the following for farming breaches/Shaped Strands (lvl 11 or below).

- 5L Pledge of Hands should be a top priority. The added chaos and void manipulation not only apply to the initial hit but also in scaling the poison the damage.

- Pledge of Hands link priority (without Cospri's Will)
- 5L: Bladefall (or Blade Vortex), Poison, Controlled Destruction, Added Chaos, Concentrated Effect,
- 6L: Void Manipulation

- Pledge of Hands link priority (without Cospri's Will)
- 5L: Bladefall (or Blade Vortex), Controlled Destruction, Added Chaos, Concentrated Effect, Void Manipulation
- 6L: Faster Casting

4-link
- Blasphemy (lvl 20), Enhance (lvl 3/4), Temp Chains, Enfeeble

2-link
- see Utility Links

Wither Totem set-up to augment chaos & poison damage.

- Wither, Faster Casting, Spell Totem, Increased Duration (optional)

CWDT set-up

- CWDT (lvl 20), Immortal Call (lvl 20), Increased Duration (optional), Flame Golem (optional)

Vaal Lightning Trap
- Huge damage multiplier - doesn't need to be linked

Movement
- Flame Dash (lvl 20), Faster Casting (optional)

Enduring Cry
- Phys damage reduction - doesnt need to be inked

Phase Run paired with increased duration nodes is awesome
- CWDT (lvl 2), Phase Run (lvl 4), Flame Golem (lvl 4) (optinal)

Vaal Grace (huge defense buff)
- Vaal Grace

Vaal Haste (movement speed & DPS buff)
- Vaal Haste

- Massive damage, lots of build flexibility including MF
- Physical reflect is not a problem with the Dyadian Belt equipped.
- Self-cast Bladefall build! The community thinks this isn't viable.
- Can level to 90 with less than 1 EX investment (see leveling guide)
- Option to use Blade Vortex for extra DPS / boss-killing (e.g. Shaper)
- Can level to near 90 on the budget using just two cheap wands (one wand of which is the unique Obliteration Demon's Horn).
- Reasonably Fast movement (73%) for clear speed and defense
- Equally strong single-target and pack-clearer
- If lazy, can get away with face-tanking most bosses except for Guardians/Shaper

- May require 20-30 min ex total investment to get to end state but can start with much less
- Can't do no Life/Mana leech maps.
- Not a lot of life - between 5000 - 6000 depending upon your equip/passives nodes. You need to be aware and sensible in our playstyle.
- Poison / Double-dipping will be nerfed in 3.0

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAECAADuA-4EBwSzCPQNHw5cD6sRLREvFCAWvxbpHNwdvh_HIZAi6iQ3JIsmlSj6KjgqTSt4LJws6S2LMgEy0TOHNZI6WDwFPCg8LT1fPfw_J0GHRUdFfkWdSshMs1BHUUxSU1NSVUtVxlhjWW1fP1-YX7Bf0GHiakNqjGr6bRluqm87doJ4DXloe8N8g31bgseDX4PMg9uExYaziq-Mz48akBGXlZf0mFea4Ju1nL6iAKLZqW6sR7DYshm00bVItfK3PriTvwjAGsBUwGbBBMM6xtjIDMgUykrPMs960B_YveoQ62Pr7u8O73zv6_Af8kX1b_ZI-F_56P4K_o8= (lvl 95)

1. Pain Reaver (for much needed leech)
2. Crave the Slaughter (kind of useless, just get this later when you are ready for merciless lab)
3. Aspect of Carnage (40% more damage) - THE BUILD ENABLER - as the 40% more damage is multiplicative & double-dipping.
4. Cloaked in Savagery - This is a nice to have, but not essential to the build. I didn't bother getting this until Lvl 92.

Passive Tree Progression


General Starter Tips until Level 31:

- Save early currency to trade for "Reverberation Rod/"Amplification Rod" and/or Hidden Potential Jewel. The Hidden Potential gem + magic equipment makes a major difference in leveling quality of life.
- Craft a +1 to level of socketed fire gems Sceptre as soon as possible. Craft formula for +1 fire = Magic scepter + ruby ring + orb of alteration
- Try and find +int on equipment as you'll need int for early reliance on fire-based spells
- Spend 3 points to get the +30 intelligence passive point node - you can respec these later.
- Utilize Rallying Cry gem and Herald of Thunder as they become available.
- Keep life & mana flasks up to date. Buy from vendor if required.

​Helpful Leveling Uniques (not required)
- Lifesprig
- Aberoth's Horn
- Ashcaller​
​- Reverberation Rod (lvl 24)
- Amplification Rod (lvl 36 - via power magnified prophecy)​
- Obliteration Demon's Horn


Level 1 to 3​5 (Flame Totem & Firestorm)​

(note if you find a good 2h staff or high phys role sceptres, you can use sunder + fire trap + flame totem)

Fire Trap upfront
~Lvl 6: Flame Totem & Fire Trap
Lvl 12: Get Firestorm now use Firestorm & Flame Totem
Lvl 18: Add Faster Casting to Firestorm & Flame Totem if you want to trade for it (optional)
Lvl 18: Add Iron Will to Firestorm & Flame Totem (Quest Reward) (optional)



~Level 35 (Transition to Bladefall)

New to 2.6, you can find Siosa and complete the Fixture of Fate quest to get access to the following gems (or trade for them)

Bladefall*4 (level extra bladefall in alternate weapon slots)
Faster Casting*2
Controlled Destruction
Concentrated Effect

Optional to get now or later:
Blasphemy
Temporal Chains
Vulnerability (also available as a quest reward from Clarissa)
Wither
Poison
Spell Totem
Herald of Ash

Now switch to Bladefall and make sure that you have the added phys+added chaos nodes near the start of the Shadow tree. Also go get the Exceptional Performance and Entropy nodes to help augment poison.

Bladefall -> Concentrated Effect -> Controlled Destruction -> Poison (or Iron Will)

Swap out Herald of Thunder for Herald of Ash

​​~Level 38 ​(Add Spell Echo to Bladefall and get Poison/Added Chaos)​​

Get Spell Echo after killing Malachai.
Trade for Posion/Added Chaos.

Bladefall links should now be: Bladefall -> Spell Echo -> Concentrated Effect -> Poison (+ added chaos if you were lucky enough to find a 5L)

​Be on the lookout for the Hidden Potential Jewel (acquire via trade if you have currency).  Once you have this - you'll rely on Magic equipment for as many slots as possible to capitalize on the massive damage boost (including double-dipping poison/chaos) provided for each magic item equipped.

~Level 56

- Try to get the Hidden Potential Jewel. Buy or craft Life & a Resist on Magic items (amulet, rings, belt, glove) while maintaining +75 resistance in Merciless. You should try and obtain +cast speed, and +spell damage magic wands.
- Another option if you can't acquire the Hidden Potential Jewel, is to to wield dual Obliteration wands.
- Complete the 1st two Ascendancy Labs (Normal) to get Pain Reaver / Leech


~Level 68 and above

My gear at Level 73:



- First priority is to get a 5L Pledge of Hands either via Trade or combination of The Pact Div Card / Jeweler's Touch prophecy.
- Get your hands on a Atziri's Promise Flask (if you haven't already)
- Then grind for currency until you can get a 4L Cospri's Will chestpiece.

~Level 75-80​
​
- Complete Cruel/Merciless Labs.

My gear at Level 83: (Still farming currency without any end game equipment equipped)



My gear at Level 90: (<1 ex total investment, no Cospri's Will or Pledge of Hands yet)


- Ensure that all Jewels slots (have at least two of the following (the 3 damages attributes are double-dipping)
        - Area Damage
        - Maximum Life
        - Increased Damage
        - Increased Chaos Damage
- Cast Speed

- Oak
- Passive
- Passive

- 40% increased bladefall damage or 30% increased Temporal Chains effect

30% increased Temporal Chains effect massively boosts DPS vs 40% increased bladefall damage for all content save for Guardians/Shaper. If fighting Guardians/Shaper - then they are about equal.