My Bonestorm/Reap Blood Mage starter for PoE 2 - THE JOURNEY PAID OFF

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Hyosho#0769 wrote:

Thank you so much for the guide! Just hit 43 and this has got me through faster than any other class or build so far

Can I suggest changing the blue text to a lighter colour? it's near unreadable on the default background

Hello Exile!

I'm really glad to hear that you're having fun with this build! It makes the testing ans "suffering" worth it.

I'll change the colour, in my screen didn't looked that bad (maybe bc I'm using a VA monitor) but yeah, I'll be doing that change.

GLHF Exile!

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firagar#0462 wrote:

Just posting here to thank you for sharing your build and journey.

I've been using this as a reference in building out my own tree since switching out from Ed/cont after struggling against A2 titan boss (now on A3c and absolutely melting with using bonestorm for bossing and DD for clear).

At the time this was posted there was a lot of talk on how Bloodmage was fucked due to the first notable (3% max life ascendancy lol) but this guide really enables the best of the ascendancy from the ground up.

I would also like to ask on the rationale behind pathing to all the max power charges nodes - thought Combat Frenzy would only give 1 charge every few seconds so it doesnt sound like one would cap even with Profusion - am I missing something? Thanks again.

Hello Exile!

Thanks for taking this feedback, feels great to see people enjoying it!

The Power Charge nodes are not that much about the +1, it's more about the first line of text. The Power Within is a flat 20% crit damage bonus for kinda free, and Lust for Power yeah it's kinda a gamble but it's worth it taking it because when it procs it feels insanely good. Instant dopamine hit in the brain.

GLHF Exile!

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Miyuxmiyu#6524 wrote:

I got a lot of Inspiration from your build. Not sure if I overlooked it but why don‘t you use Blood Magic Passive? I don’t have to care about mana anymore.

Hello Exile!

The thing is, Blood Magic is REALLY FUCKING FAR AWAY, it hurts so much going there actually, and there's another issue, the mana cost of the skill also gets converted to Life, so we'll be paying double life cost, and I'm already paying a 116 mana and life per second, and paying 332 life per second would not feel great at all, try Ether Flow, it'll make things a lot easier!

GLHF Exile!

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abbarnes#6999 wrote:

So I actually just now finally ascended lol. It was part being wary of the HP costs for spells, but also I was trying to figure out how to make bonestorm work.

Anyway, I went straight to 4 Blood Mage points. NGL it's slapping pretty hard right now. The leech is great. I'm considering going Vaal Pact for that instant leech.

Hello Exile!

People at first got really anxious about paying life, which is a downside but the blobs heal you for a lot, so yeah, you work around the downside with your own upside, thing is that also people doesn't realize that you HAVE to pick the blobs, it's the whole gimmick of Sanguimancy.

Really happy to see you're having fun.

GLHF Exile!

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Blughuh#2894 wrote:

Hey Drug, love the guide. I started as an Infernalist Summoner and got bored quickly. Finding this guide and trying out Bloodmage instead has been a blast so far. What do you think about my final build variation below? Of note, it improves on the bleed you already take from the top-left and adds in the ascendancy node for 15% bleed chance on crit to break even more armor with Stylebender. I also pick up more cast speed on the way to Blood Magic to stack and utilize the Bonestorm debuff faster.

https://imgur.com/a/Itj8zJu

Hello Exile!

That Tree seems solid, also there's not only one way you can make this build work, this guide is only the result of this equation: idea + expectations -+ results - personal taste. I didn't tried a Tree like that but the Notables seems really solid and good picks overall.

I'm really happy that you decided to take inspiration on this guide, that's why I made it!

GLHF Exile!

For my variant, I've skipped the power charge nodes because we already get 3 power charges per default and can only get 3 max (Power Siphon + Resonance, Combat Frenzy + Profusion on Combat Frenzy). I've tried it with a cap of 5 and it's not feasible imho.

I've also taken "Mind over Matter" (all damage is taken from Mana before life) and "Eldritch Battery" (converts all energy shield to mana). Very good on paper, but once you get hit (which you will), you're really struggling with mana.
Trying to fix this problem, in the end I solved it by using this belt:



Which gives me a great bit of mana reg on hit and I've also skilled "Aspiring Genius" (20% Mana Reg + 10% chance to gain Arcane Surge on crit which itself gives +10% cast speed and additional 20% mana reg for 4 seconds. Very easy to trigger with bonestorms projectiles).
This was pretty good but to make it all feel really comfortable, I picked up "Ether Flow" (25% reduced Mana regen when stationary and +50% Mana regen when moving - nice synergy because we want to move anyway because of Bonestorm's slotted support gem "Momentum").
Right next to that note I grabbed "Arcane Intensity" which synergizes perfectly with the whole focus on Mana, effectively giving me + a whopping +48% spell damage.
Lastly, I've changed my wand from a power siphon one (I always disliked the cull mechanic, interrupting my flow) and now use a Mana Siphon one which effectively lets me "lifesteal" a whole lot while holding down left click (94 Mana/"HP").

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Griide#2127 wrote:

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Long story short, bind left and right click to bonerstorm

Hold Left Click down
Tap Right Click
Move as needed
Release Left click

and it will do it every time.

Don’t get too attached to it, it’s 100% a bug and will be fixed eventually


I’m just finished A1 cruel on this build, it’s a blast
How a couple questions for you folks:

Have any one have a proof that Momentum is working on us? Coz I don’t see any change in tooltip while I moving while channeling… The same is about Inevitable Critical, are we sure it works for all projectiles and not just for first few until one of them crits? “Sustained” tag on Bonestorm suggests that it calculates crit independently for each projectile

Also what defense layers are you using on maps? Anyone tested recoup investment or Atziris Acuity?

Hello Exile!

Please I'd like to think about it as a feature, so don't alert the devs about it! If that gets patched I'll be screaming my fucking lungs off.

Really happy to see so many people enjoying this build. It was a real challenge to make it work!

Inevitable Critical is, in a really short way, a +20% crit chance 90% of the time, if you don't take it you'll be having around 40-50% crit chance, with Inev Crit you have around 60-70%

My defensive layers are Damage, Life which also traduces to damage and that's it, I've been testing Cloak of Flame, feels really good. Also there's still room open to experimentation so everyone should still be trying new things!

GLHF Exile!

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TreeFucker#3147 wrote:

If they nerf the cast thing (which is most definitely a bug) this build will feel so bad and weak , the whole thing in endgame is that mobs hit really hard and if you can cast walk then they cant catch up to you and you can dodge everything.

Hello Exile!

Exactly, so please don't say it's a bug, treat it as a feature, if it gets patched I'll be screaming my lungs off. It was a real challenge to make this work and without that FEATURE this build will be unplayable.


GLHF Exile!

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DrugaddictMenemist#6176 wrote:

Please I'd like to think about it as a feature, so don't alert the devs about it! If that gets patched I'll be screaming my fucking lungs off.

It's definitely not a feature. :p How you trigger it is so random that it cannot be anything than a bug. But I don't think it will be fixed anytime soon as it doesn't really "break the game" and they have more thing to fix first. But yeah, I will someday not be available.

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Inevitable Critical is, in a really short way, a +20% crit chance 90% of the time, if you don't take it you'll be having around 40-50% crit chance, with Inev Crit you have around 60-70%

Yeah, I know what it does on paper, but the gem says that bonus lasts until first crit, so if Bonestorm projectiles crit independently (which is suggested by its Sustained tag), then the bonus would affect only the first couple of projectiles and does nothing for another 18 projectiles making gem practically useless… maybe there is a way to test it by hitting some stationary boss with open tooltip and looking when crit drop happens during the flight or only when the last projectile hits