[3.15] ⚛️ Qosmoz's ⚡ LL Ball Lightning Mines Saboteur ⚡ League Start to Maven with Leveling Guide

INTRO
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This is Qosmoz. PoE is my main game since Betrayal League. I play 3 to 5 meta builds every league for farming and/or bossing. I've started streaming and helping other players by the end of Delirium League. All constructive feedbacks and questions are welcome. I try to be active on forum posts. You can expect a fast reply to answer your questions.

Leveling Guide
I've added a detailed Saboteur Leveling Guide and customized it for Eye of Winter spell.

Qosmoz Sabo Miner Leveling Guide - Ball Lightning 👀

STREAM
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I've played Low Life Miners as my league starters in the last 4 leagues with different spells. Originally, this guide was capturing all different spells and showing versatility of the build. However, it was too big to keep it updated and clean. Therefore, I've separated the guide into Glacial Cascade, Ball Lightning and Blazing Salvo miner guides to keep it updated more frequently. Hopefully, this will make the guides to the point and cleaner for the new people.

I stream 4 to 5 days/week from start to the end of the league. If you have any questions about the build, leveling, or just want to check out and chat:

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👀 Qosmoz POE Stream



👀 Qosmoz POE Builds Showcase/Reviews

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CHANGELOG
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This section will be updated for every League after the Patch Notes.

Changelog
This guide is based on 3.15 Expedition League. This section will be updated with patch notes for following leagues.

[3.14] 26.July.21: Updated guide, and added a very detailed leveling guide. Updated all PoB links for Ball Lightning Miner.

[3.14] 24.May.21: Updated guide and PoB links for Ball Lightning Miner.



CONTENT
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1. TL;DR & BUILD RATINGS
2. VIDEOS
3. BUILD NOTES
4. PATH OF BUILDING (LOW AND HIGH BUDGET VERSIONS)
5. GEM SETUPS
6. GEAR, ENCHANTS, FLASKS, JEWELS
7. ASCENDANCY, BANDITS, PANTHEON
8. LEVELING THIS BUILD & LIFE TO LL CONVERSION
9. CURRENT BUILD
10. FAQ

1. TL;DR & BUILD RATINGS
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TL;DR

✅ End Game Bosses Deleting Machine (Sirus)
✅ One of the easiest builds to level through Acts and early maps
✅ You can do any map mod including both physical and elemental reflect maps
✅ Low life version scales great and allows min-maxing for the build
✅ High survival with both Life and Low Life versions
✅ Shock & Ignite immunity is great. You can get Chill/Freeze immunity to completely annul ailment infliction on you
✅ Blinds nearby enemies for extra defensive layer
✅ You can do all league mechanics (Ultimatums, Simulacrum, Invitations etc.)

❌ Mines play style can daunting with Detonation (2 button play). BIG HINT: You can eliminate detonation by left click binding during mapping.
❌ Life to Low Life conversion will require re-speccing many passive points
❌ It can be expensive depending on the league starters meta game

⌛ Start the league with Life version with minimal budget.
⌛ +1 Gem Wands and Shield will carry you until mapping.
⌛ Convert to Low Life when you accumulate enough currency to afford at least 5 linked Shavronne's Wrappings. This will require 40-50 Orb of Regrets to respec your build.
⌛ Next get the Prism Guardian which is typically cheap at league start.
⌛ Build more Energy Shield and more Damage with next upgrades.
⌛ Check the builds for Ball Lightning or Glacial Cascade Miner builds using Path of Building Community Fork (link below).

Build Ratings
These are my own ratings scaling between 1 and 10. Feel free to suggest to refine these metrics. Please also check the notes for detailed breakdown of each category.

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LEAGUE START VIABILITY: 10

Leveling
One of the easiest build to level. Shadow starts with Stormblast Mines, which you can upgrade to Arc at Level 12. Then at Level 28, you can get the final spell until mapping without any drop in damage.
Starting Atlas
After fixing your resistance on your gear, have at least 4 links, ideally 5 links on your main skill. This will carry you until red maps
Shaping the Atlas: Red Maps
This is a point where conversion to Low Life is recommended but not necessary. I do it depending on the currency situation as quickly as possible to get easy time with boss damage


"

END GAME EFFECTIVENESS: 10

End Game Bossing
This is where the build shines. Instantly kill bosses with front loaded damage. There is no other build like this. End game bosses will be melting before they can start doing their attacks.
Delve Viability
Build can push early 400-500 depths with enough Energy Shield. However, do not expect this build can go very deep
League Contents
All content is viable, Simulacrum, 100% Delirious Maps, Synthesis Bosses, etc. are all can be done with the build without any issues.


"

BUILD BUDGET: 8

Starting Budget
Life version can be as cheap as possible. However, converting will require some expense depending on how meta the build is. Look something like 10-20ex range for full conversion
End Game Viable Budget
Life version can do any boss in the game. Low life will have much easier time to do so. Up to 5ex will get you there at the start of the league, up to 20ex will get you Awakener Level 8 Sirus.
Min-Maxing Budget
After base unique items which can be expensive, min-maxing rest of the items are heavily depending on the how meta the build is. Since this build is typically falls of gameplay later on, item prices drop to very affordable levels.


"

FUN: 7

Mapping
Not the fastest map runner, but it's respectable. Especially Glacial Cascade version is much more fun to play. There is no shattering sounds or chain of explosions for the build
Bossing
Build is best at this. Having 50-100 million Shaper DPS front loaded to Sirus makes him instantly go to next phase.
Min-Maxing
After base unique items, min-maxing starts with Awakened Gems, Weapons with +1 Skill Gems, Helmet with Energy Shield and -Nearby Enemies Resistance, Helmet Enchant, Sick Belt with Damage and Energy Shield, Mark of the Shaper ring with Elder Ring, Corrupted +2 Prism Guardian Shield, upgrades are plenty and you'll feel the power increase by each step.


"

OVERALL SCORE: 8.75

Final Notes
This is a great league starter build with very low budget to get into end game. End game is viable with Life based build as well, but Low Life version outshines it in every way. If you haven't tried this build yet, I definitely recommend for one of the upcoming leagues for you.


2. VIDEOS
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3. BUILD NOTES
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What is Low Life?
Low life (LL) is a condition that applies when life falls below 35%. LL builds are enabled by reservation of life below 35% using "Blood Magic" support for any auras like "Zealotry" or any additional skills like "Aspect of the Spider".

LL build allows reserving mana and life together, which means extra auras can be activated. On top, using "Pain Attunement: 30% More Spell Damage when on Low Life" keystone, the builds are scaled to insane DPS potential.

LL builds stack Energy Shield (ES) instead of Life and typically get the "Zealot's Oath: Life Regeneration applied to Energy Shield instead" keystone for ES generation instead of Life.

LL builds can be maximized by 3 key Uniques. These are:

"


Shavronne's Wrappings; provides good ES and lightning damage, but it is used in LL builds mostly to eliminate risk of dying to Chaos damage. Chaos damage in game bypasses ES and directly applies to health (same as you apply chaos damage. For example Essence Drain or Toxic Rain). "CHAOS DAMAGE DOES NOT BYPASS ENERGY SHIELD" unique modifier avoids chaos damage to kill us instantly due to being constantly Low Life.

Presence of Chayula: Stun Immunity and Life to Energy Shield Conversion are the main reasons to use the amulet.

Prism Guardian: Blood Magic support and 25% Reduced Mana Reservation of Auras makes this shield a must have for LL builds.

These 3 unique items synergies so well that most LL builds uses them (e.g. Herald/Aura Stacker). Unfortunately, depending on the early meta during the start of the league, these uniques can be expensive. That's why I recommend to start the league with Life based build and convert to LL later when you have enough currency.
Low Life vs. Life Builds?
Why to choose LL Miner vs. Life based build? First and foremost reason is the damage scaling. The DPS due to auras and Pain Attunement keystone provides so much more damage vs. the life version, but it comes with an expense. Both Life and LL versions of Miners are viable, however for the end game you’ll have an easier time to delete bosses vs. Life version.


4. PATH OF BUILDING (LOW AND HIGH BUDGET OPTIONS)
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Path of Building Community Fork
PoB Community Fork is recommended to check all different versions of the build.

Download PoB Community Fork
LL BL Miner Builds
Budget (10-20Ex): 20M DPS per BL Mine
This is the starting point when you convert from the Life to Low Life version of the build. It should clear all content in the game.

Expected budget beginning of the league: 20-30 Exalted Orbs. Later in the league about 10-20 Exalted Orbs.

Click for Low Budget LL BL Miner Saboteur Build
(or Copy: https://pastebin.com/8cLinN8E)


High Budget Version (50-100Ex): 60M DPS per BL Mine
This is a further min-maxed version for a higher budget. This provides more than triple the damage of the Low Budget version. Given enough budget, this should be possible to achieve throughout the league.

Click for High Budget LL GC Miner Saboteur Build
(or Copy: https://pastebin.com/uMUAw5vD)

5. GEM SETUPS
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Read First!
Unless it is stated (e.g. Level 3), all gems must be as high level as possible with maximum quality.

+ Linked gems
/ Not necessary to link
Gem Setup & Links
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BALL LIGHTNING


Main Skill:
Ball Lightning + High-Impact Mine Support + Trap and Mine Damage Support + Slower Projectiles Support + Elemental Focus Support + Added Lightning Damage Support

Other Support Gems
Inspiration Support:
This gem gives the most DPS until you can level Awakened Added Lightning Gem to Level 3. I suggest using this until that point, and swap to final support gems recommended here.
Charged Mines Support: This helps on map clears, since it gives also Frenzy charges.
Minefield Support: This support gem helps throwing multiple mines at a time. If you like the playstyle more, swap this gem with Added Lightning Support.

Auras:

Wrath / Zealotry / Discipline / Summon Skitterbots / Precision
Clarity / Herald of Thunder

Read Me
Main auras should be used in Prism Guardian to reserve them using Life instead of Mana: Wrath / Zealotry / Discipline

Damage Mitigation:

Cast When Damage Taken (Level 1) + Immortal Call (Level 3)

Movement Skill:

Flame Dash or Dash + Arcane Surge Support (Level 6) + Second Wind Support

Read Me
You can link Sigil of Power with Arcane Surge Support (Level 6) to activate it together with Flame Dash or Dash. Also Second Wind Support is supporting the skill to have 2 counters for cooldown.

Curse & Utility Gems:

Wave of Conviction + Sigil of Power + Conductivity

Extra Damage Boost:

Vaal Righteous Fire

Links Suggestion

Body Armor 6L: Ball Lightning + High-Impact Mine Support + Trap and Mine Damage Support + Slower Projectiles Support + (Awakened) Elemental Focus Support + (Awakened) Added Lightning Damage Support

Helmet 4L: Cast When Damage Taken (Level 1) + Immortal Call (Level 3) / Vaal Righteous Fire / Herald of Thunder

Gloves 4L: Wave of Conviction + Hextouch Support + Culling Strike / Conductivity

Boots 4L: Flame Dash + Arcane Surge + Second Wind Supoort (Quality 20%) + Sigil of Power

Weapon 3L: Clarity / Summon Skitterbots / Precision

Shield 3L: Wrath / Zealotry / Discipline


6. GEAR, ENCHANTS, FLASKS, JEWELS
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Helmet
Hubris Circlet (Item Level 85+) with Crusader Influence (for -9% Lightning Resistance to Nearby Enemies) is the best option. Fill the rest with required Resistances to cap your resistances.

Crown of the Inward Eye is the budget option. I recommend to get one these and forget until last upgrades to get the Hubris Circlet.

Enchant
Ball Lightning: 40% increased Ball Lightning Damage is the best DPS option per ball. However, Ball Lightning fires an additional Projectile is very good as it does make clearing the map content much better with all the balls firing in all directions.

Body Armor
Only one option here.

Shavronne's Wrappings enables the Low Life builds. Get this as soon as you are ready to convert from Life version to LL version.
Gloves
Fingerless Silk Gloves are the best base. Fill the mods with good amount of Energy Shield mods (ideally 150+ ES) and some resistances. Warlord Spell Damage mod will be huge DPS boost.

Enchant
Anything you like the best would be ok here. There is no clear best.
Boots
Similar to Gloves, here you can have Sorceress Boots as the best base. You can craft good amount of ES on it with ideally 35% Movement Speed. "Cannot be chilled" and "Cannot be Frozen" are the best mods for us to eliminate being frozen to Sirus or Uber Elder fights.

Sin Trek boots are the best budget option which will carry you to end game.

Enchant
Ball Lightning: Adds 1 to 160 Lightning Damage if you haven't Killed Recently is the best damage option. This is 100% uptime due to damage being done by mines instead of us. Alternative option is Damage Penetrates 10% of Enemy Elemental Resistances if you haven't Killed Recently which is very comparable damage to the flat lightning damage.
Weapon
Weapon can be one of the most expensive option to min-max for this build.
Spell Damage Wand with 100%+ Critical Strike Chance for Spells and +1 Level of Spells Gems (+1 to Lightning Skill Gems) are the best mods.

Another DPS boost mod is to have Gain % of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage.

Any elemental resistance penetration or Aura boost (Wrath or Zealotry) mods are very good.

See what you can afford, and upgrade over time.
Shield
Prism Guardian is the only option here.

Look for corrupted one when you can afford similar to below. This will boost your aura gems.
Jewellery
Amulet:

Presence of Chayula is the best option here to have Stun Immunity as well as Life to ES conversion. This is the 3rd core item to enable the build.

Rings:

Mark of the Shaper coupled with Elder Ring are the best options for pure damage boost to our spells. Fill the Elder Influenced Ring with flat Energy Shield, missing Attributes (especially Strength will be difficult to attain) and rest with as much as resistances as needed. Fire Damage to Spells and Attacks are one of the best mod to burn enemies to get extra Crit Multiplier from Saboteur Ascendancy.

Belt: Crystal Belt with Crusader Influence base is the best alternative. Fill the belt with Energy Shield rolls and missing resistances and attributes.

Enchants

Amulet:

Anointment
There are 2 options here:

1) Annoint "Tranquility" Azure + Golden + Golden Oils if you are using Rare Helm other than Crown of the Inward Eye

Read Me
Tranquility is a notable passive skill that grants increased maximum energy shield and Transfiguration of Soul.

Transfiguration of Soul applies increases and reductions to Maximum Energy Shield to also affect Spell Damage at 30% of their value.

2) Anoint "Charisma" Opalescent + Golden + Golden Oils if you are using Crown of the Inward Eye

Read Me
Charisma is a notable passive skill that grants reduced mana reservation for skills. It also grants increased effect magnitude for auras cast by the character.
Catalysts
Presence of Chayula: Use Tempering Catalyst to boost Defenses (ES)

Rings:
Catalysts
Mark of the Shaper: Use Imbued Catalyst to boost Elemental & Spell Damage (Caster).

Elder Influenced Rare Ring can be enchanted based on the resistances, attributes or defenses need.

Belt:
Catalysts
Rare Crystal Belt or Stygian Vise can be enchanted based on the resistances, attributes or defenses need.

Jewels
There are no mandatory jewels to make this build work. Jewels can boost your survival or damage. A few recommended ones are:

Energy from Within can boost your Energy Shield using the jewels socket near "Melding" Notable Passive.

Watcher's Eye can be very good but very expensive. Mods to look for:
1) Gain (6-10)% of Maximum Mana as Extra Maximum Energy Shield while affected by Clarity
2) All damage booster critical mods from Wrath or Elemental penetrations are huge damage addition to the build.

There is no Cluster Jewel setup in this build.

Flasks
Recommended Flask Setup:



Bottled Faith is big damage boost, but very expensive. This is an endgame chase item.


7. ASCENDANCY, BANDITS, PANTHEON
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Ascendancy
Ascend with this order for easier leveling and damage boost:

1) Pyromaniac



2) Born in the Shadows



3) Bomb Specialist



4) Explosives Expert

Bandits
Help Alira for:

5 Mana Regenerated per second
+20% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
+15% to all Elemental Resistances
Pantheon
Mapping
Major God: Soul of Lunaris
1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%
1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%
10% chance to avoid Projectiles
5% chance to Dodge Attack and Spell Hits if you've been Hit Recently
Avoid Projectiles that have Chained


Minor God - Shakari
5% reduced chaos damage taken
25% reduced chaos damage over time taken while in a caustic cloud

Bossing
Sirus
Major God: Soul of Arakaali
Minor God: Soul of Shakari


Uber Elder
Major God: Soul of the Brine King (if you don't have the "Cannot be Frozen" mod
Minor God: Soul of Garukhan


Rest of the Bosses
Major God: Soul of Solaris
Minor God: Situtational depending on the damage type



8. LEVELING THIS BUILD & LIFE TO LL CONVERSION
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Leveling Guide
I've added a detailed Saboteur Leveling Guide and customized it for Ball Lightning spell.

Qosmoz Sabo Miner Leveling Guide - Ball Lightning 👀

Life to LL Conversion Guide
Level 80 is ideal level to start converting from Life to Low Life version of the build. Please read the section "What's Low Life" to understand what items you need to make the build work. You can follow the PoB for the Passive Tree:

Click for Life to Low Life Converted (Level 80) Ball Lightning Mines Saboteur Build
(or Copy: https://pastebin.com/wA1p3CDk)


9. CURRENT BUILD
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Current Build & PoB
I post my current gear and passive tree in this section.

For 3.15 I am playing Sabo Miner as my league starter with various skills to try. Please check the stream for most up to date build.

10. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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FAQ
This section is to be filled with frequently asked questions.


OUTRO ____________________________________________________________________________________________

Hopefully, you'll try his build, and enjoy it as much as I do. Check out my stream for questions, or leave a note/question here. I will try my best to answer any question you have. Always happy to help for anything you need. Cheers, Qosmoz.
Last edited by QosmozGaming#4631 on Jul 31, 2021, 1:23:00 PM
Last bumped on Nov 2, 2021, 11:43:47 AM
Hi Qosmoz, appreciate your great work on the guide!

I had a little question on the BL build that I meant to post in the previous combined guide, but just noticed you split to 3 versions yesterday, so posting here.

Your PoB has chill, shock and burning effects enabled on enemy in Configuration. While chill and shock come from skitterbots, I don't understand how burning is applied. It provides a bonus of 40% crit multi from Exposives Expert.

Since you have Elemental Focus linked with BL, mines can't apply burning to enemies, right?

Thanks.
"
sky_quaker wrote:
Hi Qosmoz, appreciate your great work on the guide!

I had a little question on the BL build that I meant to post in the previous combined guide, but just noticed you split to 3 versions yesterday, so posting here.

Your PoB has chill, shock and burning effects enabled on enemy in Configuration. While chill and shock come from skitterbots, I don't understand how burning is applied. It provides a bonus of 40% crit multi from Exposives Expert.

Since you have Elemental Focus linked with BL, mines can't apply burning to enemies, right?

Thanks.


Hey Sky. There are two ways to activate it. Add fire damage to attack and spells mod on the elder based ring or you can have it on your weapon. Other alternative which cost more mana to link skitterbots with burning damage support. In my opinion is to best get it on the ring.
Still need a bit of fine tuning. Please let me know if you see mistakes in the guide.
"

Hey Sky. There are two ways to activate it. Add fire damage to attack and spells mod on the elder based ring or you can have it on your weapon. Other alternative which cost more mana to link skitterbots with burning damage support. In my opinion is to best get it on the ring.


Yeah, I had it on a ring with my past miner builds. However, I thought it would only work if there was no Elemental Focus support linked, as it prevents the BL ticks to apply elemental ailments (including ignite/burning). Am I missing something?

Re. the burning damage, did you mean the Infernal Legion support? I don't think the Burning Damage support alone enables burning DoT from skitterbots, although I haven't tried myself.

UPD: I suppose, Vaal RF could be another source of burning DoT when activated against a boss?
Last edited by sky_quaker#6891 on May 25, 2021, 11:43:45 AM
"
sky_quaker wrote:
"

Hey Sky. There are two ways to activate it. Add fire damage to attack and spells mod on the elder based ring or you can have it on your weapon. Other alternative which cost more mana to link skitterbots with burning damage support. In my opinion is to best get it on the ring.


Yeah, I had it on a ring with my past miner builds. However, I thought it would only work if there was no Elemental Focus support linked, as it prevents the BL ticks to apply elemental ailments (including ignite/burning). Am I missing something?

Re. the burning damage, did you mean the Infernal Legion support? I don't think the Burning Damage support alone enables burning DoT from skitterbots, although I haven't tried myself.

UPD: I suppose, Vaal RF could be another source of burning DoT when activated against a boss?


hey Sky, also I use either Wave of conviction or Storm Brand to curse enemies (both are spells which can add additional flat fire damage to burn enemies).
"

hey Sky, also I use either Wave of conviction or Storm Brand to curse enemies (both are spells which can add additional flat fire damage to burn enemies).

Good point. When I tried manual Wave of Conviction it felt horrible (slow cast speed), but Storm Brand sounds like a great option for awakened hex touch setup, and burning.

Thanks!
"
sky_quaker wrote:
"

hey Sky, also I use either Wave of conviction or Storm Brand to curse enemies (both are spells which can add additional flat fire damage to burn enemies).

Good point. When I tried manual Wave of Conviction it felt horrible (slow cast speed), but Storm Brand sounds like a great option for awakened hex touch setup, and burning.

Thanks!


this league best spell to add curse, wave of conviction etc. is the Arcanist Brand. That should also work as intended.
This has been a fun build so far (level 72), but I have a question about the gameplay aspect. How are you triggering Light Eater. since the mines won't leech ES to you? Are you just using Wave of Conviction for that? Also, when do you trigger Vaal RF? Just seems crazy dangerous most of the time. Thanks, in advance!
This is still one of the best league starter out there. Maybe the best now after all the other nerfs to raider, etc. I will try this build with cold conversion to maximize damage. It will be fun. I am going to update by Friday and almost done with full miner leveling guide.

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