Atziri's Contempt
Blood Mage Build

Updated for Path of Exile 2 Early Access

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The Atziri's Contempt is a Unique Spear that attaches Bloodstone Lances to your Enemies with each Hit, which can be detonated by the Shattering Spite Skill, also granted by this Weapon. Each Lance improves the explosion Damage by 20%, up to 30 times, leading to very powerful bursts every few seconds. To stack them up, you will want to use a fast-hitting Spear ability, such as Spearfield or Storm Lance. It pairs perfectly with the Bleed Ailment to deal even more damage over 5 seconds, scaled further by Bleed Magnitude. To apply Bleed with Elemental Damage, you will need the Blood Mage Ascendancy, which also comes with the benefit of automatically Aggravating them to double their Damage. 

During the early progression, you can ignore Critical Strikes and focus on generic Increases to your Damage and Ailment Magnitude, but you will quickly realise the scaling avenues are rather limited. You will eventually want to implement Critical Strikes, as they improve your Damage in two ways: by naturally improving the initial Damage, but also through additional sources of Ailment Magnitude inflicted by Critical Hits found on Jewels and the Passive Tree. The Atziri's Contempt has a rather low base Crit Chance of 5%, making the Critical Weakness Debuff a mandatory addition against stronger foes, as it adds a flat 10% to your base Crit Chance. You can generate Power Charges passively via the Thaumaturgic Generator Anoint to fuel up the Charge Regulation for the massive 25% More Critical Hit Chance Buff. Your Skills skew the generation towards Frenzy Charges, so you will need the Resonance Keystone to turn them into Power Charges instead. 

The Spearfield is your main utility Skill, but at later stages it will deal a considerable amount of Damage by itself as well. You can utilise the split Passive Sets to make it faster and cover a greater area so you can detonate your Lances earlier, but by keeping it simple, it will be strong enough to defeat most weaker Enemies by itself. It will also generate Rage for you and Knockback Enemies to keep you safe. The Entangle is used to apply the Critical Weakness Debuff via Effigy of Cruelty, but it can also activate the Blazing Critical Support for a global Extra Damage Buff and generate Cold Affinity for the Trinity Buff. 

The Elemental Bleed has significant advantages over a regular Physical approach. You can get much higher base Damage by adding all 3 Elemental Damage types to your Attacks, sources of % Extra Damage, and utilising Trinity and Elemental Conflux Skills. Importantly, the Bleed is based on Premitigation Damage, and deals Physical Damage by itself, so you don't need to worry about enemy Resistances. You still need to Curse Enemies to activate the Blood Mage bonuses, so you can use a defensive Curse such as Temporal Chains, or opt for the new Repulsion Curse to automatically cause small explosions around you. 

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1. Gameplay

There are lots of potential Skills you can use to maximise your Damage, but the core gameplay loop is quite simple. Use Spearfield to apply Bloodstone Lances, and detonate them with Shattering Spite. Against Bosses, you can use Entangle to apply Buffs and Debuffs. 

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Bleeding and Critical Strikes are rather ineffective during the early progression. We recommend using the tried-and-true Essence Drain and Contagion Setup, and respec the entire Passive Tree once you reach Maps. Twister is also a good option, especially if you want to keep it closer to the final Spear playstyle. 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

Click on the image to open the Passive Tree preview in a new window, or use the Path of Building (PoB) tool,  or check the poe.ninja planner.

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Sanguimancy
2. Blood Barbs
3. Whispers of the Flesh
4. Grasping Wounds
5. Crimson Power

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Shattering Spite setup Weapon Set 1
	Shattering Spite - a Skill granted by your Weapon; it detonates nearby Bloodstone Lances, dealing significantly more Damage for each Lance, up to a limit. It also Leeches Life from Elemental Damage.
	Pinpoint Critical
	Bleed III
	Deep Cuts II
	Concoct II
	Rageforged II

[Utility] Spearfield setup Weapon Set 1
	Spearfield  - creates multiple Spears that detonate upon contact with an Enemy. Use it to apply Bloodstone Lances quickly.
	Rage III
	Magnified Effect II
	Bleed III
	Rapid Attacks II
	Knockback

[UTILITY] Entangle setup Weapon Set 2
	Entangle - this Spell hits extremely quickly, making it an ideal choice to apply Critical Weakness. It is only needed against Bosses.
	Pinpoint Critical
	Prolonged Duration II
	Unleash
	Branching Fissures II
	Blazing Critical

[UTILITY] Herald of Blood setup
	Herald of Blood - Enemies damaged by Bleed will explode upon death. The Herald's explosion can not apply Bleed, but it can Break Enemy Armour, which triggers Armour Explosion.
	Armour Explosion
	Armour Break III
	Bleed III
	Magnified Effect II
	Uruk's Smelting

[UTILITY] Repulsion setup
	Repulsion - a special Curse that triggers a small explosion upon Hitting a Cursed Enemy. It will be automated by the Living Lightning Minions.
	Blasphemy - applies a linked Curse to nearby Enemies, activating the Blood Mage bonuses passively.
	Living Lightning II
	Bleed III
	Deep Cuts II
	Pinpoint Critical

[UTILITY] Life Remnants setup
	Life Remnants - a Skill granted by your Ascendancy, it restores and Overflows your maximum Life.
	Mana Remnants - if you redirect a portion of the incoming Damage to Mana, this Skill will help you restore and overflow it for extra defense.
	Remnant Potency III
	Harmonic Remnants II

[UTILITY] Purity of Fire setup
	Purity of Fire - a Skill granted by your Sceptre, it grants a lot of Fire Resistance and allows you to use several useful Buffs for free.
	Precision II
	Vitality II
	Cannibalism II
	Warm Blooded
	Cool Headed

[UTILITY] Other Utility Skills
	Charge Regulation - you can use this Skill in combination with the Thaumaturgic Generator to get a massive boost to your Critical Hit Chance.
	Trinity - improves your Elemental Damage based on the Affinity, which you gain by dealing varied Damage types. Make sure it is active for both Weapon Sets.
	Elemental Conflux - randomly boosts one of your Elemental Damage types.

6. Gear Setup

The Atziri's Contempt is Build-defining Unique, but there are plenty of other Unique Items you will need. The Sacred Flame adds a huge amount of Extra Damage, while the Maligaro's Virtuosity allows for an efficient scaling option. The Alpha's Howl grants a lot of Spirit, but the Presence Area is also very useful for Shattering Spite range. The Fireflower is the only source of Skill Levels you can get for this Build. To improve your Damage further, you will need Rare Rings with added Damage for your Attacks, and Jewels that boost your Ailment Magnitude. The remaining effort should be put towards improving your defense via maximum Life, a bit of Mana, and capping Resistances and Attribute requirements, or boosting up your Item Rarity. A proper Life Flask is also important due to Concoct Support. 

(Weapon) Atziri's Contempt - this high-level unique can be obtained from Atziri only. You can use a Perfect Jeweller Orb and Flux to upgrade the Skill granted by Items. You can also use a Vaal Cultivation Orb to replace Attack Speed or Presence Area modifiers with a significant boost to your Damage, but it tends to be very expensive.

Grants Skill: Level (17-20) Shattering Spite (100-120)% increased Physical Damage Adds (83-97) to (123-153) Fire Damage Adds 1 to (193-207) Lightning Damage (10-16)% increased Attack Speed (60-80)% increased Presence Area of Effect Spear Skills inflict a Bloodstone Lance on Hit, up to a maximum of 30 on each target Vaal Cultivation modifier:  (100-150)% increased Elemental Damage with Attacks +(3-5)% to Critical Hit Chance

(Weapon) Sacred Flame - this Sceptre grants a massive amount of Extra Fire Damage. The Resistance effect is not very useful, since the Bleeding is based on Premitigation Damage.

Grants Skill: Level (18-20) Purity of Fire Gain (40-60)% of Damage as Extra Fire Damage Allies in your Presence Gain (20-30)% of Damage as Extra Fire Damage Allies in your Presence Regenerate (2-3)% of their Maximum Life per second Enemies in your Presence Resist Elemental Damage based on their Lowest Resistance

(Weapon) Rare Wand - to Cast Entangle you will want a Wand with bonus Crit Chance and Cast Speed, but also Extra Cold Damage to help with balancing Trinity.

Optional affixes: Gain #% of Damage as Extra Cold Damage #% increased Critical Hit Chance for Spells #% increased Cast Speed

(Weapon) Effigy of Cruelty - an insanely effective yet cheap Focus for your offhand Setup, it grants up to 10% Base Critical Hit Chance for your main Skill if you incorporate Entangle into your Skill Rotation.

+(20-30) to maximum Energy Shield (40-50)% increased Spell Damage +10 to Intelligence +(7-13)% to Chaos Resistance Critical Hits with Spells apply (1-3) Stacks of Critical Weakness

(Amulet) Fireflower - the Shattering Spite has a very narrow list of Tags, making it hard to improve its Skill Levels. Fortunately, it is a Fire Skill, so you can use this cheap Amulet to significantly improve your Damage. You can instil the Thaumaturgic Generator to gain Power Charges passively.

+(10-15) to Spirit (10-15)% increased Rarity of Items found (30-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Take 100 Fire Damage when you Ignite an Enemy +(1-4) to Level of all Fire Skills

(Ring) Rare Ring - on your rings, you should aim for the highest amount of Added Damage possible within your budget. Ideally, it should be an Unset Ring to get an additional Skill Slot. A bit of Resistance or Item Rarity is also recommended.

Min. requirements: Adds 50 Elemental Damage to Attacks Grants 1 additional Skill Slot Optional affixes: % total Elemental and Chaos Resistance  +# to maximum Life % increased Rarity of Items found +# to Attributes

(Ring) Kalandra's Touch - a proper Rare Ring can be very expensive. In such case, use the Kalandra's Touch to copy its properties for a lower price.

Reflects opposite Ring

(Belt) Rare Belt - your Belt is rather simple, you only need a high amount of Life, Strength, and Resistances. A bit of maximum Mana can also be useful to have, but it is not very impactful.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +80% total Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: +# to maximum Mana +# Charm slots +# to Strength

(Helmet) Alpha's Howl - to use all your Skills, you will need tons of Spirit, which this Helmet can provide for cheap. It also boosts your Presence Radius, which can be somewhat useful for exploding Blood Lances.

(80—100)% increased Evasion Rating +100 to Spirit +(50—75)% to Cold Resistance Presence Radius is doubled

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - your Body Armour is the biggest source of Life due to the Crimson Power Notable. You should also look for special Implicit and Rune that redirect a portion of incoming Damage to be taken by Mana.

Min. requirements: +300 to Energy Shield +150 to maximum Life +40% total Elemental and Chaos Resistance  Optional affixes: % of Damage is taken from Mana before Life +# to Spirit +# to Attributes

(Gloves) Maligaro's Virtuosity - those Gloves set your Crit Damage Bonus to a unchangable 250% value, allowing you to greatly boost your Crit Chance very efficiently. Try to get an additional Socket via Corruption.

(60–80)% increased Evasion Rating (20–30)% increased Critical Hit Chance 5% increased Attack Speed +(10–20) to Dexterity Your Critical Damage Bonus is 250%

(Boots) Rare Boots - your Boots are all about Movement Speed and basic defense. They can also lower the Slowing Effects on you, or reduce the Duration of dangerous Ailments on you.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +30% increased Movement Speed +40% total Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: % increased Rarity of Items found +# to maximum Mana +# to Attributes

(Jewel) Rare Jewel - your biggest source of Ailment Magnitude, especially if you get increased Effect of Prefix Modifiers via Potent Liquid Ferocity. It should also grant you Recovery of Life and Mana on Kill, speed up your Ailments, or boost your Crit Chance. You can also use Time-lost Jewel with similar effects.

Min. requirements: 10% increased Magnitude of Ailments you inflict 15% increased Magnitude of Damaging Ailments you inflict with Critical Hits Optional affixes: % increased Critical Hit Chance for Attacks Damaging Ailments deal damage #% faster Recover #% of maximum Life on Kill Recover #% of maximum Mana on Kill % increased Effect of Prefix Modifiers

(Jewel) Heart of the Well - try to get a double Extra Damage modifier here; it is very effective for this Setup. It can also grant other useful modifiers on top of that, but it tends to be very expensive.

Recommended modifiers:  Gain #% of Damage as Extra Cold/Lightning/Fire Damage Recover #% of maximum Life/Mana on Kill Damaging Ailments deal damage #% faster

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