[3.7] SC/HC - ED/Blight Trickster - Up to 10k eHP, Layered Defense, 3m DPS

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Kastanj wrote:

Presence of Chayula is definitely going to get even more expensive though, now that Zana Breach is a thing of the past.

There are still breach divination cards btw. We don't actually know their rarity, so we can't know how much the price of breach items will rise.

Presence of Chayula is unbeatable for a lowlife ED / Blight build. Max possible ES on an amulet slot (on my lowlife Occultist if I import an hypotetic BiS neck with 22% increased ES, 55 int plus max attributes and max flat ES I still lose about 400 ES), 60% chaos res and 30 rarity are huge bonuses, stun immunity on it allows to ignore Vile Bastion to take Malediction which is an enormous DPS boost for an ED Occultist (20% extra curse effectiveness, 1 additional curse and about 10% more damage done / 10% reduced damage taken).

The good thing is that now you can go for Vile Bastion and enjoy the nice flat ES + stun immunity until you can afford a Presence of Chayula, then you can switch to Malediction and enjoy the DPS + survivability boost (especially in boss fights). This is a fantastic approach especially in a league starting scenario.

So Vile Bloom, Void Beacon, Wicked Ward and Vile Bastion, then swap out Vile Bastion for Malediction when you move from CI to low life+Chayula?

Is Void Beacon that important, or is getting both Malediction and Vile Bastion possible to just start off with?

Void Beacon is a huge DPS boost because it works at full potential even on endgame bosses. -20% chaos resistance is awesome, especially if you consider that curse effectiveness is 80% LESS at Shaper / Elder / Guardians fights and 60% LESS in other boss fights.

So yes, I'd go for Void beacon / Profane Bloom / Wicked Ward / Vile Bastion and then respec Bastion for Malediction.

Added an update after the 3.2 patch notes. Will play ED as a league starter, so hopefully we will see how it performs against the new content and uber elder soon.

awesome, looking forward to some advice new-items wise and with the new crafting system. also if you could recommend some changes for duo play. ty

Kinda random, but how would you rate Scorching ray trickster vs your build? Would you say this can compare? Thinking mostly damage and survivability wise.

Hello, I saw your early 3.2 update but then saw your latest response saying you already updated it. Does tat count ascendancy path?

@exguerrero, I have only updated the comment at the start of the guide. I usually end up updating the rest of the guide a week or two into the league. There is always some new and interesting items, and I don't want to rewrite entire sections only to have to redo it later. The ascendancy path is pretty much the same as before, but we also take Prolonged Pain (since two of our other nodes were merged together).

@coldhandslol, I am basing the following completely around this build:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2011665
He has between 800-900k Shaper DPS and around 9.3k effective HP.
At level 98, my ED char has 600k DPS and 8k effective HP.

With scorching ray, you simply stand still and swipe the entire screen and stuff dies. With ED you kill complete clusters of enemies. Sometimes ED chains over 4 screens for the best feeling ever. sometimes you have to kill two or three small packs "next" to each other which can get annoying. Both pros and cons here.

With our two builds specifically, there is a lot of difference when it comes to mitigation. In my build, I have up towards 60% spell dodge, some block and around 7-9k evasion as a baseline. He has next to nothing (some armour). In both builds you are free to pick whatever flasks fits you, so not really making that part of the equation.

The price of the builds seem pretty equal. They can both scale from self found to mid tier expensive. Hope this helps when it comes to choosing. I personally don't like SR at all and feel ED is a much more flexible play style. (that might be why I maintain an ED guide. Very biased!)



@sindolor, no DoT or chaos builds are very group friendly. If you really want to play ED in a group setting, I would try to fit Abyssal Cry. This makes you more useful against those pesky high HP blue enemies.

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Nedieth wrote:

The ascendancy path is pretty much the same as before, but we also take Prolonged Pain (since two of our other nodes were merged together).

Are you dropping Ghost Dance or Swift Killer for Prolonged Pain?

How big a deal are Swift Killer (damage and cast speed while clearing maps) and Weave the Arcane (effective HP, more IAS/ICS) against the defensive and EHP boosts of Ghost Dance/Escape Artist, especially with your preference for The Perfect Form?