[3.16] ShakCentral's (Pre-3.16 Skill Tree) Leveling Guides

hi is orb of storm still good for leveleing and tier 1 maps?

Hey, I have seen both Storm brand + brand recall and Orb of storms for leveling, what is the main difference between these two leveling builds? Super new player to Poe so would love some enlightenment :)

Edit: For Vortex endgame btw. And is one leveing build much stronger/faster than the other or is it just a difference in taste?

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Loftig wrote:

Hey, I have seen both Storm brand + brand recall and Orb of storms for leveling, what is the main difference between these two leveling builds? Super new player to Poe so would love some enlightenment :)

Edit: For Vortex endgame btw. And is one leveing build much stronger/faster than the other or is it just a difference in taste?

For the past year-ish since the Storm Brand nerf, OOS has just been faster. It may be much closer now due to the nerfs, but several skills that you would use alongside either skill, like Lightning Spire Trap and Onslaught, are nerfed, so the difference may be negligible.

I'd say to use whatever makes you most comfortable, as it's just a vehicle to get through the Acts.

Thank you for clarifying ShakCentral.

So what in your opinion would be the best leveling build/skills for getting through the acts and transitioning into Occultist Vortex and eventually CI, with the recent nerfs in mind?

Is Would the current OoS build still be the best choice, some other supports and secondary skills, or some other build entierly?

I really appreciate the help from the experienced players/builders since I still have much to learn.

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Loftig wrote:

Thank you for clarifying ShakCentral.

So what in your opinion would be the best leveling build/skills for getting through the acts and transitioning into Occultist Vortex and eventually CI, with the recent nerfs in mind?

Is Would the current OoS build still be the best choice, some other supports and secondary skills, or some other build entierly?

I really appreciate the help from the experienced players/builders since I still have much to learn.

I still believe the setup outlined in the build guide with OOS/Stormblast/WaveofConviction/LSTrap will still be the best leveling setup.

In addition, I now highly recommend grabbing an early Holy Flame Totem after Hailrake, and will be updating the guide ot suggest it. It does good damage that will cover the loss from OOS and Stormblast, and the Consecrated Ground will be incredibly nice if enemies are indeed harder now.

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ShakCentral wrote:

I still believe the setup outlined in the build guide with OOS/Stormblast/WaveofConviction/LSTrap will still be the best leveling setup.

In addition, I now highly recommend grabbing an early Holy Flame Totem after Hailrake, and will be updating the guide ot suggest it. It does good damage that will cover the loss from OOS and Stormblast, and the Consecrated Ground will be incredibly nice if enemies are indeed harder now.

Thank you! Much appreciated

Thanks for such a great leveling guide my man <3
I'm going for your Vortex build tomorow,this is such a great help.
Btw I pretty sure Arcane Surge do not support mine (Stormblast Mine).

Hey, I just wanted to give an early appreciation message to this well thought-out guide. I plan on using this for 3.9, and am really excited to give it a try. I see you've already updated Act I with a 3.9 change, and thought that was really awesome. So thank you for keeping this guide updated, and for all the time you've put into it so far!

Great guides, did the Vortex, now doing TS. One thing to note. In the Vortex guide you're pretty good about mentioning what gems to swap when you can. On TS around the lvl28 gems (Fork specifically) you don't mention what to swap in for it. I'm assuming it's an add to the main attack if you have a 4L (same for chain in the next act?). A mention of whether to stick with Toxic Rain or to switch I think would be good too. I think you make mention early in the guide but a reminded here would be good.

This is a really useful guide. One suggestion I have would be to add a semi-final gem layout in the act 6 sections. With access to all gems there, it's a good spot to pull together everything needed going forward. I'm following the vortex guide, and I feel like I lost the gem-swapping thread somewhere.