[3.19] Poison Blade Vortex Assassin | Early To Endgame

Hello, the trade link for the medium jewels doesn't work properly. It sends you to clusters with Physical damage, damage over time, etc. And we need chaos damage on them ^^ or are we just looking for the notables?

By end game, I tried to minmax a few things and things I might think is better
-Changed faster attacks support to blood rage
-alternate quality gems
-double implicit on asenath's
-might switch to double implicit ashes as well
-blade vortex spell damage enchant on necromancer circlet
-wicked pall + wasting affliction on medium cluster
-max hp to energy shield on armor is really good
-removed wither and totem setup
-anomalous withering + increased duration + enhance
-anomalous plague + enhance + empower + awakened increased aoe

This is my first ever league so I would like to thank you for this wonderful
guide! Made me enjoy POE regardless of the frequent disconnection issues I have lol

"

hackergooby wrote:

3.17 update

Surprisingly received a buff for once

Blade vortex changes

Blade Vortex: Now deals 3 to 5 Physical Damage at gem level 1 (unchanged), up to 128 to 191 at gem level 20 (previously 86 to 129). Now has 30% Effectiveness of Added Damage at all gem levels (previously 20%).

The nerf to Unleash does not affect Blade vortex since it reoccuring simply adds more stacks.

Mostly updated for 3.17, amulet crafting might still need to change and will have to see if new eldritch modifiers are worth replacing any current gear with.

Will try to update more if needed as i play the league.

Changelog

Feb 14 - Updated amulet, flasks and boots section along with few adjustments on pob.

Feb 03 - Mostly updated for 3.17 now, removed Coralito's signature, Blood rage and added more sources of life regen to hopefully have better survivability against tougher encounters. Along with other small tweaks and cleaning up in pob.

jan 28 - Slight update for 3.17, will try to update more as i play the league

Pros
-Fast mapping.
-League start viable.
-Endgame upgrades possible.
-Can do easier bosses with practice.

Cons
-Needs strength from tree or gear as you get closer to endgame.
-Capping resistances is annoying for Headhunter version.
-Struggles with harder/multiple boss encounters.

Gear (Ignore gem links)

Helm

Get one with resistances to make gearing easier.

Allocate the notable "Influence" and Reservation mastery "15% increased mana reservation efficiency of skills" and lvl 3 enlighten as soon as possible after getting The devouring diadem to fit all auras.

Until you can afford it use Goldrim or any rare helm with life and resistances in combination with an enduring mana flask or Eldritch battery from tree (make sure to have enough energy shield from gear if using this).

Body

Triple influence mod sacrifical garb w/ spell crit, additional curse and +1 level of socketed active skill gems. crafting guide in pob notes.

Until you can afford an influence chest use either Tabula rasa or 6 link rare chest with as much life as possible.

Gloves

Explode from Asenath's gentle touch for faster clear speed, make sure to allocate whispers of doom from skill tree or acquire a +1 curse chest to be able to double curse after adding these to the build.

Until you can afford Asenath's gentle touch use either rare gloves with life and res or The embalmer.

Boots

Fill boots with res, life or whatever else you need, evasion base is preferred.

Searing exarch modifier "Drops brittle ground while moving, lasting # seconds" is a flat 5% critical strike chance to anything standing on it and is very easy to make use of as a Blade vortex character.

Lab enchant 80% chance to avoid being stunned if you've killed recently makes a noticeable difference and i recommend getting it once you got a good pair of boots.

Belt

Any belt with as much life and res as possible. stygian would be best base type and getting strength if possible helps with gearing.

Not necessary but headhunter can fit with enough resistances from gear and clusters.

Mageblood could also fit in place of Headhunter but im not sure what to change on tree or gear and i would assume someone who can farm one would be clever enough themselves.

Amulet

Retaliation charm gives a nice boost to damage and is very affordable.

Ashes of the stars is the endgame option giving damage along with other bonuses to every active skill gem, Max reservation efficiency combined with a Enlighten lvl 4 can be used to fit Herald of purity into the build to boost damage further.

Anoint Toxic strikes to cap chance to poison.

Rings

First ring should be a rare ring with "+# life gained for each enemy hit by your spells" and as much resistances and life as possible. If you cannot afford this yet get one without life on spell hit but it makes a huge difference.

For the second ring you want one with "Curse enemies with despair on hit, with #% increased effect, along with anything else you might need life, attributes etc.

Weapons

Two Cold iron points for most damage. damage over time is the best corrupt.

Use Bino's kitchen knife in place of one Cold iron point if you don't have Asenath's gentle touch for poison spread.

Weapon swap

Sinvicta's Mettle allows you to gain free rampage by weapon swapping to the axe and killing one enemy then swapping back to your cold iron points.

Shield

Mistwall or Replica Mistwall mainly used where damage doesn't matter as much (heist) or if you feel the need to be tankier.

Flasks

Main setup. Instilling and enkindling are both fine, i prefer mine automated.

Another alternative to bottled faith or atziri's promise if you are struggling against certain ailments

Clusters

Get as much resistances on these as possible if you plan on using Headhunter at some point.

Large

Overwhelming malice is first priority. Second would be grim oath and for the third one touch of cruelty, Wicked pall also works as a last resort if there is nothing else. Two notable clusters are okay to begin with and are cheaper.

Large cluster should also not have more than 8 passive skills since you will end up wasting skill points on any with more than that.

Medium

For mediums get Circling oblivion and flow of life.

For passive skills no more than 4 or 5 so no skill points are wasted.

Small

Get two with surging vitality for regen.

These should have no less than 3 passive skills.

Jewels

"#% to Damage over Time Multiplier while affected by Malevolence" adds lots of damage. "Damaging Ailments you inflict deal Damage #% faster while affected by Malevolence" is a cheaper option. Any other malevolence, grace, determination or precision modifiers on top of that is also good but gets way more expensive.

Forbidden flesh and flame allocating either prolonged pain or swift killer can get pricy but add a nice chunk of damage.

If using stygian vise get Phasing on kill, life, res and/or damage on abyss jewel.

Gem links

Helm

Determination - Malevolence - Vaal Grace - Enlighten lvl 3

Body

quality on Blade Vortex does not matter since it doesn't give enough to increase radius unless you are using Ashes of the stars.

Cheap

Blade vortex - Unleash - Deadly ailments - Void manipulation - Efficacy - Unbound ailments

Endgame

Vaal Blade vortex - Awakened unleash - Awakened deadly ailments - Awakened void manipulation - Efficacy - Awakened unbound ailments

Anywhere they fit

Wither - Spell totem - Multiple totems

Withering step - Plague bearer - Enhance lvl 4 - Increased area of effect.

Whirling blades - Faster attacks

Defiance banner

Enduring cry

Immortal call lvl 3 - Cast when damage taken lvl 1

Leave Cast when damage taken at lvl 1 and Immortal call at lvl 3 or so that it triggers when around 25% of your health is lost.

Weapon swap

Dash - Second wind For bosses or getting over ledges.
Portal

Map modifiers to look out for

Reroll map

- -#% maximum Player Resistances
- Players are Cursed with Elemental Weakness
- Monsters fire 2 additional Projectiles
- Monsters reflect #% of physical damage (if you have high enough crit chance you can run these maps due to opportunistic)


Won't brick the map but slows you down

- Monsters have a #% chance to avoid Poison, Blind, and Bleeding
- Monsters are Hexproof
- +#% Monster Chaos Resistance


Can clear entire map but might stuggle with boss/tough targets
(as long as you have the devouring diadem and life gained on hit ring)

- Players have #% less Recovery Rate of Life and Energy Shield
- Players cannot Regenerate Life, Mana or Energy Shield


No need to worry about

- Monsters have #% increased Critical Strike Chance
+#% to Monster Critical Strike Multiplier
(with mistwalker you take no extra damage from crits as long as you are elusive which we always have up)

Pantheons / Bandits / Ascendancy

Bandits : kill all or help Alira for early game regen/resistances.

Ascendancy : Noxius strikes > Toxic delivery > Mist walker > Opportunistic.

Pantheons : Lunaris for mapping, Solaris for bossing.

Lesser pantheon : Gruthkul for mapping. Ryslatha for bossing.

Path of building (leveling/crafting included in pob notes)

Path of building : https://pastebin.com/XQCZyXtE

Make sure you are using the community fork of path of building for it to work.

Gameplay

3.16

T16 Underground sea

3.15 (outdated)

A8 Sirus
100% Delirium T16
Greater forces Tropical Deli Without HH
Nemesis Currency
Regular T16

extra low lvl alt

Low gear T11 lvl 80
Same character with bit of investment T16 lvl 81

Trade links

Clusters info

Make sure the clusters are chaos damage or damage over time before buying.

Boots
Belt
Large cluster
Medium cluster
Small cluster
Life on hit ring
Despair on hit ring
Watcher's eye

I appreciate any feedback and will try to help out if i can

Hey Man! Been following your poison bv for a couple seasons now, I got despair on hit on asenaths, and replaced ring with circle of nostalgia, taking herald of agony instead of purity, and changing amulet allocation can rlly boost poison dps if u have some extra currency!

I'm nearly finished with my character, this is my current gear for triple beyond winged scarabs 100% delirious conqueror maps:


The idea
Stand behind and spam Vaal Blade Vortex on range with No Vaal Soul Gain Prevention Sextant (very cheap Sextant) and only go in for bosses and apply 15 Stacks of Wither with Anomalous Withering Step.
I'm currently sitting at 23 Million Shaper DPS Blade Vortex.
With Vaal Blade Vortex I'm at 6 Million Shaper DPS per Vaal Blade Vortex, and I'm having about 6 Vaal Blade Vortex out at all times and with life gain on hit I'm instant regening myself back up. The only thing that really can kill me is the delirious degen ground effects.
At 100% Delirious I'm still sitting at 750k DPS per Vaal Blade Vortex and 3 Million DPS with normal Blade Vortex, which is more than enough to go through there like butter.

Some additional notes:
- The Wither belt enchant is a 5% DPS increase.
- Granite Flask of the Armadillo is the best flask for EHP and really felt the difference after switching to it. It's +38% EHP, which is a lot.
- I tested Headhunter, but I'm not a fan of it. I have to sacrifice ailment immunity and a lot of my initial damage before the HH goes off with only a slight improvement in clear speed. But I'm mostly locked at the speed I'm looting and the teleport buff from mobs is also extremely annoying and killed me many times.
- Mageblood on the other hand is a definitive mayor improvement to the build, freeing up gear choices, raising the surviability and DPS by a lot. But yeah, it's a lot of currency.
- Divergent Plague Bearer is very important and a 15% DPS increase.
- The best helmet enchant is either Plague Bearer +20% DoT Multiplier for Damage (+7% DPS) or Defiance Banner +40% increased effect for defensive (+10% EHP).
- There is room to get Curse Immunity via Flask (+65%) + Ring mod on the Life gain on Spell hit (+40%). The Life gain on Spell hit would be the ideal choice, because it's a Shaper/Crusader mod, like Life gain on Spell hit.
- Poison immunity when affected by Malevolence on Watcher's Eye is also nice to have.
- Anomalous Withering Step is a must have, 15 stacks of Wither by just walking by is huge, even without getting the +1 it's 14 stacks of Wither.
- My last upgrades would be 21/20 Divergent Determination, 21/20 Anomalous Defiance Banner, Enlighten 4 Support, but these are all at least 25ex, for really minor improvements overall (totalling to +10% EHP increase). Also a better belt with increased HP Hunter Mod and a better ring, with more life and more increased Damage/Duration with poison.
- Anomalous Enduring Cry is a huge Quality of Life improvement, it's like an instant cast with Ashes of the Stars.
- Wither totem is now obsolete for me because of Anomalous Withering Step 15 Stacks, I'm still thinking of good replacements for the Sockets. I probably will go with Blood Rage, Increased Duration + Golem in my CwDT/IC Setup

"

Zhenniao wrote:

By end game, I tried to minmax a few things and things I might think is better
-Changed faster attacks support to blood rage
-alternate quality gems
-double implicit on asenath's
-might switch to double implicit ashes as well
-blade vortex spell damage enchant on necromancer circlet
-wicked pall + wasting affliction on medium cluster
-max hp to energy shield on armor is really good
-removed wither and totem setup
-anomalous withering + increased duration + enhance
-anomalous plague + enhance + empower + awakened increased aoe

This is my first ever league so I would like to thank you for this wonderful
guide! Made me enjoy POE regardless of the frequent disconnection issues I have lol

Nice inputs, things I will adapt on my end:
-) I will test Blood rage, should be a 10% DPS increase, but I don't know if it's worth to have the degen.
-) Don't know about the double implicit ashes one. There are only 3 Corruptions which would help me, +1% All Res (+4% eff. max. hit taken), +15% Malevolence Effect (+3% DPS increase), +1 curse (could fit in Assassin's Mark for bosses for a 5% DPS inc) and struggling a lot with strength.
-) Thanks to you I got reminded that my wither does literally nothing currently.

Things I think you can improve:
-) Wicked Pall and Wasting Affliction are not better on Medium Cluster Jewel. Circling Oblivion is the strongest mod. Flow of Life is comparable to the damage of Wicked Pall/Wasting Affliction and gives additional 4% inc life. At least that's what I get in my PoB.
-) Max HP to Energy Shield on Armour does nothing when you have the Eldritch Battery Noteable
-) Blade Vortex Spell Damage Enchant does nothing, it doesn't scale the Poison Damage. If you want to go for damage, you should go for Plague Bearer +20% DoT Multiplier while infecting
-) Divergent Plague Bearer is a 15% DPS increase to Blade Vortex, I wouldn't go for anything else.

"

CuriousRogue wrote:

Hey Man! Been following your poison bv for a couple seasons now, I got despair on hit on asenaths, and replaced ring with circle of nostalgia, taking herald of agony instead of purity, and changing amulet allocation can rlly boost poison dps if u have some extra currency!

That's also a very good input. Herald of Agony + Corruption is netting me a 3% DPS increase, nice. But compare to circle of nostalgia in PoB. At least for me it's a huge DPS loss.

Edit: I switched to it and didn't realize that I have to sacrifice the taunt from Anomalous Herald of Purity, which means I get 10% more damage. That's not a tradeoff I want to take.

So, I've replaced Wither Totems. I'm running the following:



I'm running Anomalous Summon Flame Golem in my CwDT Setup for additional Damage.

I switched from Herald of Purity to Herald of Agony and changed the Amulet Annoint to Corruption.

Also I've added Anomalous Precision (and another Enlighten), for a tiny DPS boost.

Edit:
The Flame Golem dies instantly in delirious maps. I'm switching to Increased Duration, 3,4s Uptime and 2s Cooldown is really nice for such a huge buff.

Switched back to Herald of Purity, because the taunt of Anomalous Herald of Purity is too good. Taunt means I get 10% less damage from all taunted mobs, which is huge.

I have these for rings and have a lot of physical damage so I think wicked pall gives a lot of dps? Also want the increased poison ticks. Tempted as well to go for dirty allocation for faster dps if not for the 100% chance to poison of Toxic strikes

in POB it gives me 31.5m combined dps on shaper

edit: circling oblivion does give more dps but i think i dont need the increase duration much because i'm just mapping and mobs die in a second. I'm just trying to max out my "effective" dps over POB dps

PS: Trying to corrupt a skin of the loyal simple robe with +2 aoe and +2 duration gems I think it would be a lot of boost to dps

Thanks for the guide!

I have my enlighten support gem lvl 4 but I can't reserve mana for Malevolence, Determination, Grace, Defiance Banner and Herald of Purity/Agony at the same time. Am I missing something?

ashes of the stars needs 20% efficiency