Suggestion: New Keystone & Jewel to Create Soul Eater & Vaal Skill Synergy

Hi GGG,

I'm suggesting new ways to fix the long-standing conflict between Soul Eater and Vaal Skills, turning their current antagonism into powerful, build-defining synergy. These ideas would create fresh and exciting archetypes centred on consuming souls for explosive Vaal power.
The Core Problem

As established, Soul Eater prevents you from gaining Vaal Souls. This makes any interaction between the two mechanics feel "scuffed" and prevents cool build possibilities. My suggestions aim to resolve this by making Soul Eater a direct fuel source for Vaal Skills.

Suggestion 1: The "Soul Devourer" Keystone (Balanced & Cyclical)

This Keystone would offer a major, balanced playstyle shift. I suggest placing it near the Witch or Shadow area of the passive tree.

Proposed Effect:

Gain 1 Soul Eater stack on Hit with Attacks or Spells against Rare or Unique Enemies (Cooldown: 0.5 seconds).
Cannot gain Vaal Souls from slain enemies.
On reaching maximum Soul Eater stacks, instantly grant 70 Vaal Souls to your Vaal Skills, then lose all Soul Eater stacks.

Design Intent:

Build-Defining: It fundamentally changes Vaal skill charging from clearing packs to focused bossing.

Clear Trade-off: The massive 70-soul burst (enough for most skills) is balanced by losing normal soul generation.

Cyclical Playstyle: Creates a satisfying loop of building stacks on a boss and "cashing out" for a powerful Vaal skill volley.

Suggestion 2: The "Heart of Zerphi's Hunger" Jewel (All-In & Glass Cannon)

For a truly "all-in" chase unique, this jewel would enable a high-risk, high-reward aggressive archetype.

Proposed Mods (Unique Jewel):

Gain Soul Eater on Hit against Rare or Unique Enemies (Cooldown: 0.3s).
You cannot Recover or Recharge Energy Shield.
Eaten Souls are granted to your Vaal Skills as Cooldown Recovery.
Lose 5% of your Maximum Life per second. This effect is removed for 4 seconds if you've gained a Soul Eater stack recently.

Design Intent:

Aggressive Downside: The constant Life drain and inability to use Energy Shield forces you to stay in combat. You must continuously hit rare or unique enemies to pause the Life drain, creating a thrilling "kill or die" pressure.

Build Diversity: This downside encourages high Life pool builds, life leech, life on hit, Petrified Blood, or other sustain mechanics that work while attacking. It synergizes well with the Vaal Pact keystone.

True All-In Playstyle: The risk is immense but manageable through skilled, aggressive play. The reward is the potential for incredible Vaal skill uptime through cooldown recovery.

Thematic Fit: It fits the "Hunger" in the name—you must constantly feed on powerful enemies to survive.

Why This Synergy is Great for the Game

Fixes a Known Frustration: It directly addresses a long-noted mechanical conflict.

Enables New Archetypes: Creates dedicated "Vaal Soul Eater" builds as a fresh alternative to existing Vaal enablers like Hateforge.

Thematically Perfect: The flavor of consuming souls for explosive Vaal power is a perfect match for Path of Exile's world.

Thanks for considering these ideas for creating more exciting and synergistic build options.