[3.10 HC] Apep's Darkpact Totems are BACK (original build 3.1-3.3)

Re insta death of totems:

This sounds likely to be one of two things:

1. Underleveled spell totem-if you switched into the build and your spell totem is not leveled appropriately, it won't have the durability necessary.

2. Uncapped totem ele resistance-you should have 26% totem ele res on the tree and 9% more in one of your jewel slots.

Check both of these and let us know. If it's neither, I'm temporarily at a loss. More info may be required.

-O

First off thanks for the amazing build. It is definitely one of the most fun ones I ever played. Just starting mapping (~unlocked up to tier8 atm or so), progress has been very quick and smooth so far.

Couple of questions:

1) Stone golem / regen nodes really worth it in the end game? With the high hp pool and 2x life flasks it feels a bit insignificant (nice in laby though - but laby is already easy enough for this build).
I grouped up the low level cwdt-s into a 4 link making room for a high level cwdt for the stone golem. Any reason to keep it on self cast?

2) I strayed from the suggested passive tree as well, since i am playing SC.
This is my current tree:
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUCAAOaBAcEUQSzBqAHHgj0C2EQzBEtEZYWbxo4Gmwi9CSqJy8qEysmLJwy0TWSNuk6FjpYOuE8BTwtPV9DyEVHRZ1JT0lRSshMs03jTwRSU1NSVcZY5VnzWitboFxAXl1fKmSEZp5oWmjyakNsC20ZbqpyD3WeeyB8DnyDf8aDX4PMg9uFMoaCh8uP-pBVkyeVLpctl5WX9JrgogCj8qZXp1WnlKebr2y1BLXytz68qrzqwGbGrs8V0B_R_dWm2L3jauQi6-Tr7u987-vwH_DV8kX4k_m9-tL-Cv6H_o8=?accountName=Artagas&characterName=Artagas_V

Am I making a mistake here walking all the way over to the right to grab Atrophy+Written in blood (also possibly melding/nimbleness later on)?

3) Anyone tried going crit with this? I did quite a bit of experimenting in path of building with it. There is plenty of crit nodes around (doom cast, annihilation, assasination, throatseeker), but it seems like we have to give up a LOT for those, and still not have enough points to get +power charges. Also i dont have a good idea for fitting a power charge generator for boss fights into this build (and for trash it so doesnt matter - damage is plenty already).
Also weirdly enough no matter what gear/passives i tested with it efficacy always comes out on top of increased crit (assuming covenant "7-link").
My general feeling is that the crit path is not worth unless you have some sick jewelry for it and amazing amounts of +life all around on the gear to compensate for the lost defensive nodes. Any other opinions?

4) I never played a totem build before, so I could use some advice on picking high tier maps to unlock (planning to unlock everything to 12 and being selective above that). Mainly planning to farm tier 15/guardians with the build.
Or is the build so all-around awesome that going 126/126 is the most reasonable thing to do?

Re is extra regen worth it?:

Short answer is I believe so based on how the build felt at various levels of regen. Longer answer is this is really a matter of taste. Try it with a lightning golem instead of a stone golem. If you like it better that way, do that instead. Try it with fewer regen nodes/more damage nodes. If you like it that way keep it. I don't feel there is an inherently correct answer here.

Re high lvl stone golem self cast: Nope. This drove me nuts when I got to endgame. Better to just link to high lvl cwdt.


Re Atrophy and points East:

My feeling is that this pathing is not the most efficient in a return of value to the build per node. However if you really want to sacrifice that amount of tankiness for the increased damage on the right side of the tree, go for it! This may be a repeating theme in my posts, but I don't feel there is always one right answer (though some things seem clearer than others). Try it out and if you find you prefer the EHP/damage balance of the pathing you have chosen, stay with it. If not, that's why the ancients made regret orbs . . . .

Re crit: No one has come back with a convincing crit variation yet, and the non-crit performance of the build suggests it really isn't necessary. My instinct is the same as yours, that for crit to work you would have to be heavily invested in it both in gear and on the tree. Even then, you will likely need to give up so much tankiness for the increased damage that I feel it is unlikely to be worth it, particularly given that the build as is seems able to complete almost all content (with sufficient practice).

Re picking maps: Personally, I did everything available on the atlas. There doesn't appear to be anything the build isn't capable of doing. :> (There is one notable exception to this boast--the build as is will never be able to complete the hall of grandmasters, as there are enemies in that map that are completely immune to chaos damage due to CI. A relatively minor concession, but a real one.)

Re Totem insta death, one more thought: Depending on the enemy you are facing, there will be times where you do need to chain summon 3-4 damaging totems so that some of them can continually inflict damage while the others die. Do still check the other issues I flagged, as I feel they are more likely the problem based on your description. But then try this.

-O

Re Dream Fragments:

Wanted to comment on this and forgot in earlier posts. This unique is potentially excellent, though it will need to be balanced with very high flat life on other gear pieces in order to show its true power. That said, all by itself, this ring may be worth as much as 200-400 EHP and should not be underestimated. Good idea!

-O

Hitting 80 as we speak...



Good fun ..even though i had a couple of OMG moment when flame dashing into some stuff i should not.

I got some essence and i thought id share this here. Pretty obvious but im thinking we could crank the dmg up further more by using these

I've respecced my frostbolt character into this build and it is pretty nice. Currently I'm using dual Essence Worm rings so I can have Clarity and Vitality running, whilst keeping the bonus from Clear Mind.

I looked at your tree but it seems to be incomplete.

Have you thought about taking Ironwood all the way in the botom left?
Or is that too much points wasted getting there

Re Ironwood:

Yes, and yes.


Re Essence worm:

Think of all the flat life and mana you are missing on those rings and decide if those auras are really worth it. No idea what you mean about incomplete tree--lvl 76 and 90+ versions posted in the guide now (90+ is in the FAQ)

Re Envy crafting:

Awesome if it works, but likely to be very expensive to get something equippable. Not trying to dissuade you--the idea is a good one.

-O

Ahh, finally saw the link to the high level tree, thanks :)

Since I have max res (except only 24 chaos) without rings there's room for much experimenting with different rings.

Thanks again for an awesome build :)

Check my gear and tree (Mostly the same). I have 900 life regen, 450 mana regen, 6.4k life and 3.6k mana.

The chest piece I use is important as it ups my clear and boss killing because I can switch in and out conc effect and inc aoe, so essentially I am on a 7 link. The downside is that because my totems cost life, my energy shield isn't a reliable defense as it doesn't recharge when casting my totems. I've been trying to think of ways to go EB MOM so I can run a dual curse setup but I don't think it would be worth the changes to the build as I pretty much have 10k EHP or more, and amazing regen.



The helmet enchant is important as it is a huge boost to life regen. You can find white bases with this enchant for a decent price and craft them yourself like I did mine.