[3.24] fezz's Toxic Rain Champion - Step-by-Step PoE Build Guide for Beginners & Casuals

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fezz8386 wrote:

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Pimpili wrote:

Hey, can you check my build and let me know what Im doing wrong or what would you change. Curently lvl 83 doing tier 4 5 6 maps. Thank you

https://pobb.in/NEfUa0r9iwdG

I'm not gonna lie: It seems like you bareley followed the instructions of the guide. Therefore, it's hard to point out single things. You pretty much need to read all the instructions of the guide (again) and - most importanlty - understand and follow them.

So would you say build is not broken beyond repair? I followed poassive tree and now following atlas. I should focus on getting better gear, crafting, and soceting?

Hi Fezz,

I’ve been playing this build in Necropolis for about a month now and following your guide to the best of my ability, and so I figured I should check in and give my feedback and review. I’ve gotta say I’ve been having more fun gaming these past weeks than I have had for quite a long time. I found Toxic Rain to be quite a fun skill to play, and despite the fact I’ve barely even began working through the late-endgame checklist (I’ve still got so much room for improvement with this character), I’ve learned enough from your guide to have completed my Atlas with ease, dipped my toes into some of the end game content, and already achieved most of the big goals I set for myself with this league.

Although I needed some help from fellow players with a few of the toughest bosses (namely Maven, Uber Elder, Uber Atziri, and Chayula’s breach) I was able to kill Exarch, Eater, Elder, Atziri, Beidat, 4 Breach Lords etc. on my own, and had absolutely no problem blasting through the Atlas and ripping through T16s, even with all the forced Haunted modifiers making random mobs a lot more dangerous this league. I’m proud to say I have already achieved my goal of obtaining the platinum on the PlayStation version of the game too. I’m very aware that there’s still a ton I can do with my bow, gear, gem setup, and more to really get the most out of this build, but even my early endgame budget version of the Toxic Rain Champion feels powerful and is loads of fun to play. Overall I’m very happy with my choice to play this build for my first league ever, and it was a great league starter (especially here on console where everything is 10x more expensive)

My review:

The POE Beginners Guide is a brilliant resource for any brand new player who is interested in trying Path of Exile, but feels overwhelmed at the sheer complexity of the game and the number of choices presented to you. The guide holds your hand through all the important decisions and milestones throughout your progression, but most importantly, it explains how and why these things are important, with the goal of educating the reader on why the build works the way it does. If you’re a new player looking for a gentle hand to guide you throughout the entirety of your first PoE journey, this is the perfect guide and by far the most detailed and comprehensive one out there. Most importantly, the build is a lot of fun to play!

Thanks again Fezz for all your hard work on your guides & for making my first league experience a really memorable one! It won’t be my last.

Cheers.

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Pimpili wrote:

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fezz8386 wrote:

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Pimpili wrote:

Hey, can you check my build and let me know what Im doing wrong or what would you change. Curently lvl 83 doing tier 4 5 6 maps. Thank you

https://pobb.in/NEfUa0r9iwdG

I'm not gonna lie: It seems like you bareley followed the instructions of the guide. Therefore, it's hard to point out single things. You pretty much need to read all the instructions of the guide (again) and - most importanlty - understand and follow them.

So would you say build is not broken beyond repair? I followed poassive tree and now following atlas. I should focus on getting better gear, crafting, and soceting?

There's nothing broken in your build, but you are simply running on like 40% of the potential you could (and should) have at that stage of the game. For example, the guide teaches you how to craft a bow in act 3 (!) and that very bow is better than the one you are currently using for maps. Additionally, your CWDT-Molten-Shell setup ist not correct, making its defensive potential way worse than it could be. Aside from that pretty much any items could be way way better if you would've followed the guide more closely and if you would have paid more attention to the guides explanation - even at the early stages of mapping.

So if you want to do yourself a favor, I recommend going through the campaign-related part of the guide and check if you have done all things recommended (there's even a TL;DR version). After that, check the endgame basics section and understand (!!!) how the build works - it will enahnce your gaming experience by a lot.

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dieselmanchild wrote:

Hi Fezz,

I’ve been playing this build in Necropolis for about a month now and following your guide to the best of my ability, and so I figured I should check in and give my feedback and review. I’ve gotta say I’ve been having more fun gaming these past weeks than I have had for quite a long time. I found Toxic Rain to be quite a fun skill to play, and despite the fact I’ve barely even began working through the late-endgame checklist (I’ve still got so much room for improvement with this character), I’ve learned enough from your guide to have completed my Atlas with ease, dipped my toes into some of the end game content, and already achieved most of the big goals I set for myself with this league.

Although I needed some help from fellow players with a few of the toughest bosses (namely Maven, Uber Elder, Uber Atziri, and Chayula’s breach) I was able to kill Exarch, Eater, Elder, Atziri, Beidat, 4 Breach Lords etc. on my own, and had absolutely no problem blasting through the Atlas and ripping through T16s, even with all the forced Haunted modifiers making random mobs a lot more dangerous this league. I’m proud to say I have already achieved my goal of obtaining the platinum on the PlayStation version of the game too. I’m very aware that there’s still a ton I can do with my bow, gear, gem setup, and more to really get the most out of this build, but even my early endgame budget version of the Toxic Rain Champion feels powerful and is loads of fun to play. Overall I’m very happy with my choice to play this build for my first league ever, and it was a great league starter (especially here on console where everything is 10x more expensive)

My review:

The POE Beginners Guide is a brilliant resource for any brand new player who is interested in trying Path of Exile, but feels overwhelmed at the sheer complexity of the game and the number of choices presented to you. The guide holds your hand through all the important decisions and milestones throughout your progression, but most importantly, it explains how and why these things are important, with the goal of educating the reader on why the build works the way it does. If you’re a new player looking for a gentle hand to guide you throughout the entirety of your first PoE journey, this is the perfect guide and by far the most detailed and comprehensive one out there. Most importantly, the build is a lot of fun to play!

Thanks again Fezz for all your hard work on your guides & for making my first league experience a really memorable one! It won’t be my last.

Cheers.

Thanks a lot for this very detailed feedback, I reaaly appreciate it!

Hi Fezz!

Thank you for the effort you put into this guide! It's fun to play even if map bosses are a little hard to kill. I enjoy doing heists and delve this league, the amount of phasing this build provides is fantastic!

2 questions:
1) Your "Late Endgame" setup features banner + increased duration. Does it mean I should plant it from time to time? I've been carrying it on my back everywhere I go, never parting ways.

2) I am having trouble looking for a ring that curses enemies with despair on hit, with increased effect. Was it removed from the game, like toxic rain helmet enchant?

Thanks!

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Sscary wrote:

1) Your "Late Endgame" setup features banner + increased duration. Does it mean I should plant it from time to time? I've been carrying it on my back everywhere I go, never parting ways.

It can be helpful to actively use it in dangerous situations (e.g. during boss fights), but the passive effect is beneficial at any time.

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Sscary wrote:

2) I am having trouble looking for a ring that curses enemies with despair on hit, with increased effect. Was it removed from the game, like toxic rain helmet enchant?

That's on me. Didn't update it. You just need "Curse Enemies with Despair on Hit".

Hi Fezz,

I would like to thank you for this absolutely amazing and incredibly useful guide! It’s like a step-by-step tutorial that GGG should have released to show how to play their game :) It’s my first Path of Exile experience, and it was incredibly pleasant and fluid thanks to your guide!

So far, I have managed to obtain all 4 voidstones and some favorite slots, and I reached level 100 without using any external services or help, despite having zero prior knowledge of ARPGs in general or PoE in particular. Now, I am looking into various bosses I still haven't seen. So once again, to a large degree, this is thanks to you :)

My PoB: https://pobb.in/rY-rhk5nMziD. Any comments are more than welcome. I did not use Grace, and it seems I’m fine without it so far. As for the corrupted blood, the 16 seconds of immunity from my life flask is sufficient (if I time its usage right when my health starts to fall).

I have several additional notes for the "Damage focus" section in addition to your guide:
1. When you propose replacing the Despair gem with a “Despair on hit” ring, actually, the “on hit” hex corresponds to a level 1 and 0 quality Despair gem. This causes the build to lose about 20% of DPS. Certainly, it’s easier and more convenient to use just one button than to manually put Despair on your targets and then DPS them (2 buttons), but for boss fights or single-target damage, I find it easier to manually use Despair (it lasts more than enough - 12 seconds). So I would say the “Despair on hit” ring is for mapping or things like Breaches/Legion/Abyss, while the gem is better for single-target fights.

2. In this league, we have tattoos, so if one wants to focus on damage, I used several “Tattoo of the Ramako Shaman” to trade excess Dexterity for Spell Suppression. This allowed me to gain another skill point by eliminating the Magebane keystone. Another positive outcome of this tradeoff is that Dexterity now provides an evasion bonus, increasing evasion by 4%. I am not sure if tattoos will be available next league, but using this method, it could save a skill point.

3. Continuing the “focus on damage” point: with the skill point saved from Magebane, when the build reaches level 100, you have enough skill points to go all the way to “Deadly Draw,” sacrificing only a small point of flask regen (Flask mastery with 1 charge per 3 seconds).

4. Another tattoos adjustment is that I used was “Tattoo of the Tawhoa Warrior”. I traded some smaller Intelligence passives to get “5% increased Chaos Damage”.

5. In the “milestones” section, you could add a section about leveling, which seems to be more or less standard – Atlas with Domination, Niko + Delirium (1) + Breach, and a Scarab of Teaching. I progressed from 99 to 100 in 4 days, leveling only casually for 2-3 hours each evening.


So thanks again! I know it’s a huge, hard and long job to put this guide together, sometimes even ungrateful. Just wanted to let you know it’s very useful, and your work was not in vain! :)

Hi Fezz, hi everyone.

Thank you so much for the awesome detail guide and an amazing build. I have been playing your build this league for a few weeks. I am having a great time enjoying the build and the guide. For the first time, I am able to clear almost all the game content. My next goal is to reach lvl 100, and then go to t17 maps. Can this build do t17 maps? I am running t16 8 mods maps, kind of comfortably. But I heard t17 is much harder.

This is my character right now. Can you give me some recommendations about my character for t17 maps?
https://pobb.in/N1tho3OpVdim
I know there are still room for improvement like skill gems, jewels, better gears. I am working on it.

I am taking advices from the above reply of @pj101. Getting some tattoos to get 5% chaos damage. Using Despair to get much more DPS. And unskilled Magebane keystone to get more evasion rating. Thank you.

Again, thank you very much.

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pj101 wrote:

Hi Fezz,

I would like to thank you for this absolutely amazing and incredibly useful guide! It’s like a step-by-step tutorial that GGG should have released to show how to play their game :) It’s my first Path of Exile experience, and it was incredibly pleasant and fluid thanks to your guide!

Hey there, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

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pj101 wrote:

My PoB: https://pobb.in/rY-rhk5nMziD. Any comments are more than welcome. I did not use Grace, and it seems I’m fine without it so far. As for the corrupted blood, the 16 seconds of immunity from my life flask is sufficient (if I time its usage right when my health starts to fall).

- Regarding the Corrupted Blood: It's not really about the sufficiency of the life flask but about the fact that you a) don't have to keep track of it b) you don't need to have it available and c) you can get another affix on your flask (which ADDS something to the build, e.g. burning immunity).

- Your Determination is only level 17. You want to have a level 21 (quality doesnt matter).

- Your Malevolence is only level 20. You want to have a level 21 (quality doesnt matter).

- You can use an Exalted Orb on your amulet and belt to get an additional affix.

- You an craft another affix on one of your your rings.

- Try to get a better amulet (e.g. one with Chaos DoT or +1 all chaos skill gems).

- The rest looks super decent, good job!

"

pj101 wrote:

I have several additional notes for the "Damage focus" section in addition to your guide:
1. When you propose replacing the Despair gem with a “Despair on hit” ring, actually, the “on hit” hex corresponds to a level 1 and 0 quality Despair gem. This causes the build to lose about 20% of DPS. Certainly, it’s easier and more convenient to use just one button than to manually put Despair on your targets and then DPS them (2 buttons), but for boss fights or single-target damage, I find it easier to manually use Despair (it lasts more than enough - 12 seconds). So I would say the “Despair on hit” ring is for mapping or things like Breaches/Legion/Abyss, while the gem is better for single-target fights.

2. In this league, we have tattoos, so if one wants to focus on damage, I used several “Tattoo of the Ramako Shaman” to trade excess Dexterity for Spell Suppression. This allowed me to gain another skill point by eliminating the Magebane keystone. Another positive outcome of this tradeoff is that Dexterity now provides an evasion bonus, increasing evasion by 4%. I am not sure if tattoos will be available next league, but using this method, it could save a skill point.

3. Continuing the “focus on damage” point: with the skill point saved from Magebane, when the build reaches level 100, you have enough skill points to go all the way to “Deadly Draw,” sacrificing only a small point of flask regen (Flask mastery with 1 charge per 3 seconds).

4. Another tattoos adjustment is that I used was “Tattoo of the Tawhoa Warrior”. I traded some smaller Intelligence passives to get “5% increased Chaos Damage”.

5. In the “milestones” section, you could add a section about leveling, which seems to be more or less standard – Atlas with Domination, Niko + Delirium (1) + Breach, and a Scarab of Teaching. I progressed from 99 to 100 in 4 days, leveling only casually for 2-3 hours each evening.

These are absolutely valid comments, but the mentioned adjustments are also very league- and progress-specific, some of them even rely on each other. Including this would - at least in my opinion - add quite some complexity and I want to keep it as simple as possible (which is already pretty hard given that Path of Exile is ... Path of Exile ;D)

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fezz8386 wrote:

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pj101 wrote:

Hi Fezz,

"

pj101 wrote:

... Any comments are more than welcome. I did not use Grace, and it seems I’m fine without it so far. As for the corrupted blood, the 16 seconds of immunity from my life flask is sufficient (if I time its usage right when my health starts to fall).

- Regarding the Corrupted Blood: It's not really about the sufficiency of the life flask but about the fact that you a) don't have to keep track of it b) you don't need to have it available and c) you can get another affix on your flask (which ADDS something to the build, e.g. burning immunity).


You are absolutely right, in order to prepare for Sirus i have bought a viridian jewel with corrupted blood immunity, and finally it was so life-changing even for general mob fights in maps that i kept it. It is really more comfortable. As for the flask, it is still useful - it also gives immunity to bleeding, which i still seem to experience from time to time even with Corrupted Blood immunity via jewel.
I still use manual Despair hex however.




- Your Determination is only level 17. You want to have a level 21 (quality doesnt matter).

- Your Malevolence is only level 20. You want to have a level 21 (quality doesnt matter).

- You can use an Exalted Orb on your amulet and belt to get an additional affix.

- You an craft another affix on one of your your rings.

- Try to get a better amulet (e.g. one with Chaos DoT or +1 all chaos skill gems).

- The rest looks super decent, good job!


Indeed, i kept the gem levels low when i was missing some attributes (strength etc). I also crafted affixes and/or exalted the missing ones, thank you for these advises ! The DoT/+1 gems amulet will be my next goal, thx!

"

pj101 wrote:

I have several additional notes for the "Damage focus" section in addition to your guide:
1. When you propose replacing the Despair gem with a “Despair on hit” ring, actually, the “on hit” hex corresponds to a level 1 and 0 quality Despair gem. This causes the build to lose about 20% of DPS. Certainly, it’s easier and more convenient to use just one button than to manually put Despair on your targets and then DPS them (2 buttons), but for boss fights or single-target damage, I find it easier to manually use Despair (it lasts more than enough - 12 seconds). So I would say the “Despair on hit” ring is for mapping or things like Breaches/Legion/Abyss, while the gem is better for single-target fights.

2. In this league, we have tattoos, so if one wants to focus on damage, I used several “Tattoo of the Ramako Shaman” to trade excess Dexterity for Spell Suppression. This allowed me to gain another skill point by eliminating the Magebane keystone. Another positive outcome of this tradeoff is that Dexterity now provides an evasion bonus, increasing evasion by 4%. I am not sure if tattoos will be available next league, but using this method, it could save a skill point.

3. Continuing the “focus on damage” point: with the skill point saved from Magebane, when the build reaches level 100, you have enough skill points to go all the way to “Deadly Draw,” sacrificing only a small point of flask regen (Flask mastery with 1 charge per 3 seconds).

4. Another tattoos adjustment is that I used was “Tattoo of the Tawhoa Warrior”. I traded some smaller Intelligence passives to get “5% increased Chaos Damage”.

5. In the “milestones” section, you could add a section about leveling, which seems to be more or less standard – Atlas with Domination, Niko + Delirium (1) + Breach, and a Scarab of Teaching. I progressed from 99 to 100 in 4 days, leveling only casually for 2-3 hours each evening.

These are absolutely valid comments, but the mentioned adjustments are also very league- and progress-specific, some of them even rely on each other. Including this would - at least in my opinion - add quite some complexity and I want to keep it as simple as possible (which is already pretty hard given that Path of Exile is ... Path of Exile ;D)

You are right, some things like small tattoo adjustments are league-specific. Updating your guide each league is already not simple thing i guess.:)