[3.0] The Azure Knight, Scion version (Realistic Flurry Conversion build)

So why this provocative thread title?
I don't have a lot of time to actually play the game (11 hours a day out working/travelling, then family, dog etc.) I never make a lot of currency during leagues or max out my characters. For this reason, I try to make cheap but highly effective builds. At the same time, it strikes me as odd when people post builds that are inefficient for real gameplay or impractical and call them "the only one" or just pump their ego with PoB dps and 450+dps weapons. Seeing threads throwing around how much dps they do when fully buffed and under optimal conditions is asinine, as it always will depend on gear, especially if it is an attack build. Just because someone can afford to throw 300-800 ex on a build and make a Shaper kill gif doesn't make their buils better then the one where author uses only 25 ex worth of gear, so spend your currency wisely and pick the best option, not best advertisement.

If a gif of decimating Shaper on a 300+ex budget OR with hidden life numbers and ~70% life from the tree is your thing, you won't get it here. I don't have a 400-500 dps weapon or 3dps stat Steel/Opal rings that other people can afford.
If you want a build that is better, and you use real numbers/practicallity to compare them, you are in the right spot - you can find all the number comparisons at the bottom of this post.

Why is it more practical then the rest?
With shitloads of currency thrown into a build, you could make Elemental Hit Shaper viable build. Most people who do need to look up a build, are poor players by the standards of those who have dozens of spare exalts lying around. With low investment (5-20ex), you will struggle greatly to reach a fraction of their advertised dps. If it is a new league, you will spend not 1-3 seconds, but 10-25 pounding on a Guardian or Shaper. You won't get life+3 damage mod jewels or 370-500+ dps weapon, you might be stuck with 300 dps or maybe even lower, you won't have BF enchant on your helmet or top rolled rings/amulet etc. You will struggle for resists and life with full on dps gear, and die a lot because of it. Keep this in mind.

So what are the strengths of the build?
- Since Hatred also adds cold damage, and it is best to convert all the damage into single element, I've chosen Hrim gloves and nodes on the tree to achieve 90% conversion. I've already checked (I'm a curious person), and it looks like all the other builds using Moonbender, could also massively benefit from dropping it in favor of Doryani and converting everything like I do. Imo, Physical to Lightning gem or Moonbender conversions aren't as strong dps-wise as converting everything with Hrimburn/Hrimsorrow gloves. But, Hrim Conversion (TM), so maybe that's why they don't do that lol.
- We use Cold Penetration gem to get around nasty map mods increasing elemental resistances, and to improve dps against highly resistant targets in general (some essence monsters/rares, bosses).
- We don't use Damage on Full Life (since it isn't 100% reliable), or clunky Bloodlust bleed cheese.
- Our golems are autocast, same as Frost Bomb and our curse is Blasphemy or from corruption, also automatic.
- We get consistent Frenzy charges and Onslaught, both when bossing AND mapping.
- We get quite a few defensive layers, such as Arctic Armour, Spell Dodge, Dodge, high Evasion and Blind against bosses, to further help our rng defense.
- The tree is optimized not only to get you high dps, but also life!
- Finally, we could drop Perfect Form and go full dps like some other builds with 5.3k life, we could use Bloodlust or Damage on Full Life with Belly of the Beast or Carcass Jack for ultimate dps power, unmatched by other builds. But, other then Path of Building warrioring and Shaper Farming, it isn't practical as there is a lot of other content do kill, like Guardians, which might be even more profitable (maps! item drops! currency drops!) and you will need more defenses there. Shaper is too ez. Buy map, kill guardian, sell fragment for higher price then the map itself and keep all the loot. Doesn't sound bad, eh?

Rant over, proper introduction now (:
This build was first theorycrafted for Occultist, but have been converted since to majority of classes in the game, already gathered a following in Witch, Ranger and Assassin sections.
Here is a link to the main page of the build: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1898845

In the link above, you can find more information about how it works, why certain gear was chosen, alternative gear setups, Frost Blades setup, additional videos, other Ascendancy options, and more.

If you like what you see, post a comment. If it is a general question, you might find an anwser in the main build thread, but always ask here if you want a Scion specific advise.

Why do I include Scion version this late? There simply wasn't demand for it before, however, there was one plea I couldn't dismiss:

Cuz boobz :D

Zabosnu's build, according to his pastebin:
- Uses self cast Frost Bomb, which is impractical since you won't have the time when dodging and dpsing down a boss. My build uses automatic, CwDT Frost Bomb.
- Not only that, it uses not 1, but 2 golems that you have to self cast, as he run out of available space due to use of Kaom's boots. My golems can easily be made autocast with CwDT.
- Uses Damage on Full Life gem, which means his 6 link is going to 5 links when facing any type of degen (desecrated ground, burning, degen attacks, poison, just to name a few) or if he has been hit by anything at all.
- Doesn't use Blood Rage for the above reason, meaning that during mapping he will have trouble generating Frenzy charges with just the Ascendancy alone, and will also struggle to get Onslaught buff. My build has no problem running with Blood Rage on.
- Uses Punishment curse (also self cast), which doesn't work against Hydra, Atziri or might not work against Shaper if he doesn't decide to melee you. It does almost nothing during mapping, since most damage you will take will be projectile based, as BF will quickly kill melee-based trash close to you. My build uses Elemental Weakness, Blasphemy or corruption.
- With the curse, Frost Bomb, totem and 2 Golems, he has a total of 5 self cast supporting skills to get his dps going (6 with Vaal Haste).
- With top life rolls on all equipment and life on all jewels, it struggles to get 5.35k life at level 90 with his 162% life from the tree. My build has around 195-200% from tree alone.
- That, coupled with lack of defensive options, means his build is very squishy. My build gets Arctic Armour, high evasion, Blind, Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics.
- Has low penetration (especially without Frost Bomb, which he needs to cast manually), meaning that map mod increasing Elemental Resistances will cut his dps a lot more. My build uses Penetration gem.

Lawyne's build, according to his pastebins:
- Just like Zabosnu's, it lacks penetration against map mods.
- Uses Damage on Full Life which isn't guaranteed to work all the time.
- Uses Bloodlust support for bossing, together with Ancestral Protector to proc Bleed. Since AP is single target, compared to Ancestral Warchief, your totem might decide to attack not Minotaur, but one of his Golems, for example - same can apply to other bosses. While easily fixed with single recast, it might cost you a portal, since your biggest dps gem might just decide to become inactive due to totem placement or its death. On extreme budget or start of the league, every portal counts.
- Is affected not only by Elemental Resists map mod, but also Physical Resistance mod. My build, while affected by Elemental Resistance, uses Penetration gem to get around it.
- It cannot do Physical Reflect maps, while at the same time, Elemental Reflect will reduce his actual leech by a large amount. My build cannot do Elemental Reflect (could be done with Sibyl's ring), but can fly through Physical Reflect. Reflect in other words: No go/Gimp vs Go/No go.
- Also struggles to get 5.2k+ life at level 90 (budget version), altough his budget pastebin life rolls could be improved to 5.4k with tier 1 life on his pieces and life% on his full dps jewel.
- In order to get rid of Bloodseeker claw which is dragging dps down, you need to buy gloves costing over 35 exalted. In other words, gimped dps unless you can straight up spend over 35 ex, before you even think about other upgrades. Not practical at all.
- His finished build utilizes a unique that costs over 100 exalted in Harbinger (at the time of writing), and is very hard to get. Rigwald's Savagery isn't therefore very practical at all.
- Once you get this unique, you have to sell your claw, buy a sword, change any jewel that works for claws to one that works for swords, and change your passive tree. Because it's very practical...

Neuroy's build, according to his pastebin:
- Reflect is a big issue and only 5.4k life at level 90 (170-175%~ vs ~200% life).
- Uses not 1, but 2 totems. Any time your totems die or are out of range, your dps goes down by a lot. Anytime your totems die or expire, you have to summon not 1, but 2 of them, drastically increasing the chances of your death.
- Golem has to be manually recast, also cutting into your dps if it dies or risking your death while you don't leech but recast it.
- Also uses Damage on Full life, which isn't guaranteed to work all the time.
- No Blood Rage means slower clearspeed and much less reliable Frenzy charges/Onslaught during mapping.

3.0 Raider version:
Shaper run. Performed by Azashke.
Shaper run. Performed by Phertux.

3.0 Assassin version, with some 2.6 gear:
Abyss run. Performed by TheGrammaton.

3.0 Occultist version:
Phoenix run.
Chimera run.

2.6 Occultist version:
Shaper run.
Hydra run.
Chimera run.
Minotaur run.
Uber Atziri run.
Chayula run.

Bandits:
Alira, but if your gear is really good (easily capped resistances without compromising life/damage) then 2 additional points are better.

Ascendancy:
- Raider: Great dps increase thanks to Frenzy charge generation vs bosses + small defensive bonus.
- Ranger start: This will let you start respecing some of the less efficient pathing nodes we take as we level.

- Berserker: 10% more damage, and big boost to attack speed anytime you are hit (everything in the end game hits hard enough to proc it). 5% increased damage taken is barely noticeable.
or
- Elementalist: Elemental reflect protection, but you have to include Lightning Golem somewhere to try to close the gap between Elementalist and Berserker dps, so linking gear might be tricky if you don't want to self cast your golems.

Example tree level 90
I will add leveling tree's at some point.

Major:
- Soul of Lunaris is a great pick, synergizes very good with our defenses. Best mapping choice imo, also increases your spell dodge chance to 35% with Perfect Form, and gives you a chance to avoid projectiles.
- Soul of Solaris is also decent, but not as good as Lunaris, even if Solaris bonus can be better in some rare cases.

Minor:
- Gruthkul is great, as being close ranged character we are getting hit constantly. Additional slow also helps with survivability.

Ignore gem links and levels, as items are taken from different setup (Witch version).

Abyssus best dps increase from any non-weapon gear slot, at the cost of survivability.

Starkonja is a lower dps, high survivability option, probably more popular nowadays with 3.0 Abyssus nerfs.

The Perfect Form gives us free 30% spell dodge chance, free Arctic Armour and Evasion matching that of other top tier Unique armours. A corrupted rare 6 link might be better due to a price, until you can afford your own 5-6L Perfect Form.

You could use Belly of the Beast if you don't like relying on rng defenses, you'll lose AA and spell dodge but gain roughly 400 life and resistances.
Carcass Jack is also a good dps/clearspeed choice, same cons as Belly.
(Note: with these 2 options, you can use Damage on Full Life instead of Cold Penetration or Bloodlust support with your totem linked to Chance to Bleed. Is it less practical, since Damage on Full life means no Blood Rage and slower clearspeed, and Bloodlust is a bit clunky against bosses.
However, you will be able to reach higher values in Path of Building, if that is your thing.)

Rare boots/belt should come with a lot of life and resists on them. Movement speed is unnecessary, it's more of a QoL.

Hrimburn/Hrimsorrow convert the remainder of our damage into cold.

Rare rings/amulet follow the same pattern as boots/belt - you want life and resists. If you can squeeze any offensive stats, accuracy/physical damage/crit multiplier are great to have.

Doryani's Catalyst is BiS offhand, greatly increasing your dps, however that is not included in your tooltip. Other, cheaper offhands include Doon Cuebiyari and Singularity.

Rare claw/Touch of Anquish/Wasp Nest are also BiS for this build. Even though ToA has only around 270 dps, it beats most rare claws with 300 dps or even higher, thanks to cold damage increase and high critical strike chance. Wasp Nest also provides 95% dps of ToA for 5% of the price, so it is superior choice until Frost Blades meta dies off.

Please check in the main Witch thread for all flask and jewel breakdown.
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1898845

Attack:
Blade Flurry / Melee Physical Damage / Weapon Elemental Damage / Elemental Focus / Increased AoE or Concentrated Effect / Cold Penetration

Auras:
Hatred
Blasphemy+Elemental Weakness (unless you have gloves corruption, then use Herald of Ash)
Arctic Armour

Utility:
Cast when Damage Taken / Ice Golem / Blind / Ancestral Warchief / Lightning Golem (Elementalist version)
- there are multiple ways of fitting all these gems, one of them requires you to recast LG but provides Blind for IG, other one reserves Blind only for the totem but puts both Golems on CwDT.

Buffs:
Enduring Cry / Blood Rage / Vaal Lightning Trap / Vaal Haste
- EC helps mitigate increased damage taken from Abyssus, or just boosts it in general otherwise.
- Blood Rage increases dps through Frenzy charges.
- Lightning Trap increases dps against bosses - less important in 3.0, you could use Vaal Haste instead.
You don't have to include all of these buffs in your setup, personally I would only use either Haste of Trap, as the only place where you can cast all your prebuffs is Shaper, who is easier then Guardians anyway.

Debuffs:
Cast when Damage Taken / Frost Bomb / Vortex / Inc. AoE
- chills nearby enemies and applies -20% cold resistance debuff.
- you can also use Immortal Call instead of Inc. AoE, with Enduring Cry you don't need Increased Duration.
- you might need to drop Vortex or AoE if using Elementalist, as you will need extra gem space.

Movement:
Whirling Blades / Faster Attacks / Fortify

Please note that this is the first Scion version. Thanks to unique Ascendant mechanic (alternative start), the tree is still subject to change.

Pastebin 1, realistic, but high budget gear.
https://pastebin.com/9eWKhMir - 370 dps claw, 4 stat jewels, 3 dps stat rings, dmg enchants etc.
Lvl 93, Kill all bandits: 5811 life, 5.8 million dps vs Shaper with Jaws of Agony prebuff, but if you select Shock like 90% of builds out there, you will reach 8.7 million dps to Shaper.
Or, like other builds, you can try Bleed/Damage on Full life shenanigans: https://pastebin.com/DauHtPrw
5885 life, 6.91 million dps to Shaper, 10.3 with Shock.
Why such small amount of life? To give you better comparison with other builds getting 5.4-5.8k life.

Pastebin 2, realistic, medium budget gear.
https://pastebin.com/Ku2wkbZD - 320 dps claw, imperfect flasks etc.
LvL 93, Kill all bandits: 6182 life, 3.4 million dps vs Shaper with Jaws of Agony prebuff, 5.11 million with Shock.

Pastebin 3, extreme budget edition (100-200c).
https://pastebin.com/aefiTc3T - Wasp Nest, Singularity, corrupted 6L, low roll equip, 3 stat jewels etc.
Lvl 87, Alira reward: 5678 life, 1.5 million dps vs Shaper with Jaws of Agony prebuff, select Shock for 2.25 million dps.

You can also find all the other pastebins right at the bottom of the thread in comparison to other builds, including no Abyssus 7+million dps version and so on.

Occultist can run 2 curses, Elemental Weakness and Enfeeble. Thanks to that, Occultist is a much easier build to play, being safer as it takes less damage and is much less likely to be critically hit. However, Scion can easily achieve much more dps then Occultist, vastly outperforming Witch in dps department.
However, Occultist's Profane Bloom does amazing job improving the clearspeed and sometimes killing reflect monsters on its own.

Now, how does my build compares to other builds in this section? I'm going to use their creators public pastebins for this experiment.