Updated for Patch 3.20
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes | |||
October 27, 2021 -Build created December 14, 2022 -Updated for Patch 3.20 |
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Build overview | |||
Tags: [CASTER] [ELEMENTAL] [LIFE] [STARTER] | |||
Budget: Defenses: |
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Boss DPS: AoE: |
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Bane Occultist is a great league starter - it's cheap, doesn't require any expensive and specific items, is capable of dealing with the endgame content, and is easy to understand and play. It's a life-based Occultist build that deals mostly Chaos DoT through Bane and Essence Drain - Bane is a highly mana-efficient Spell, it inflicts linked Curses upon the enemy, and for each, the damage is increased by 40%, the Curses itself have their effects magnified. Occultist is an easy choice since you can apply an additional Curse via your Ascendancy, and it synergizes well with Chaos Damage. You can inflict extra Curse by taking Whispers of Doom from the Passive Skill Tree, and if your budget allows for it, the maximum number of Curses can be increased further from your gear. Essence Drain is used for bosses, and combined with Profane Bloom it provides smooth gameplay.
It's a Life build with a noticeable Energy Shield and Evasion Rating, your Chaos Resistance is very high, and due to the weapon you're using - a two-handed Staff, it has a high Block Chance too. Elemental Ailments avoidance and Armour play a small role in your defenses too. to increase your damage look for Chaos Damage and Damage over Time, your Bane linked with Curses will deal enough damage to carry you to the red maps with a mediocre build. Link your Bane with Curses such as Despair, Punishmen, Temporal Chains, or Enfeeble. Single Target Damage is great due to Vaal Blight and Wither Debuff stacking, and the curses themselves obviously help you immensely.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
Use Essence Drain and Bane to kill weaker enemies that come in great numbers, these will die rather easily and explode on death. Use Blight and Bane for more vital opponents - Bane Spell has a very low Mana Cost so you can use it rapidly to deal even more damage. Vaal Blight is a Spell to use on bosses - it slows them down, deals a lot of DoT, and Hinders enemies. For Auras use Malevolence, Clarity, and Arctic Armour. Use Flame Dash as a mobility Skill, and your Guard Spell could be Steelskin.
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PROS |
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CONS |
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Before Act 3 you won't be able to use Bane, until then you should use a substitute Spell, it can be any Spell you're comfortable with, for example - Arc. Your initial Skill Tree won't consist of any specific nodes, just the plain Life, Spell Damage, and other such stats. Around Act 3 when you can choose Bane as a Quest Reward, start investing in Chaos Damage and Damage over Time. Use Essences such as Essence of Envy or an Essence that'd amplify your Elemental Damage. You can also use Vendor Recipes.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Frostbolt setup | |
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Arc - Lightning Spell that chains off of the enemies you hit, great for clearing the first three acts. |
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Arcane Surge Support - It grants you more Spell Damage, Mana Regeneration, and Cast Speed. |
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Added Lightning Damage Support - Adds Lightning Damage to your Hits, a really efficient Support Gem. |
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Inspiration Support - Increases Elemental Damage, Critical Strike Chance, and reduces Mana Cost of Skills. |
Flame Dash | |
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Flame Dash - One of the best Movement Skills for casters. |
Arcanis Brand setup | |
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Herald of Thunder - Increases your Lightning Damage and creates Lightning Storms. |
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Clarity - Use Clarity for faster Mana Regeneration. |
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Vitality - Vitality Regenerates Life each second. |
Bandits:
Killing all three Bandits for two Passive Skill Points is the best option, but consider helping Alira for Mana Regen, Crit Multiplier, and Elemental Resistances
Leveling Skill Trees:
25 Points Skill Tree
Pick up Maximum Life and some Spell Damage
61 Points Skill Tree
look for more Maximum Life, allocate Whispers of Doom, more Chaos Damage, and DoT
Recommended leveling items:
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Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances |
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+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden) |
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Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) |
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+(20-30) to maximum Mana +(5-10) to Intelligence +5% to all Elemental Resistances +5 Mana gained on Kill You can apply an additional Curse |
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(50-80)% increased Armour +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances 50% increased Area of Effect of Hex Skills 20% increased Movement Speed You can apply an additional Curse |
Final Skill Tree:
111 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of the Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds
Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You
[DPS] Bane setup | |
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Bane - Bane is a low-Cost Spell that applies all the linked Curses on opponents dealing increased Damage over Time for each Curse. |
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Despair - A Curse that reduces Chaos Resistance. |
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Punishment - Cursed Enemies take much more Damage when low on Life, and Debilitates them as they Hit. |
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Temporal Chains - Lowers the Action Speed of opponents and increases the Curse Duration. |
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Controlled Destruction Support - Increases Spell Damage at the cost of Crit Chance, DoT can't Crit anyway. |
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Efficacy Support - DoT deals more damage and lasts longer. |
[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup | |
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Flame Dash - Flame Dash is one of the best Mobility Skills, it allows you to quickly relocate. |
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Arcane Surge Support - Keep it at a level no higher than 6 so that you will gain Arcane Surge with a single use of Flame Dash. |
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Steelskin - A Guard Spell that reduces the damage you take for a short while. |
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Second Wind Support - Stores an additional Charge for Flame Dash. |
[UTILITY] Vaal Blight setup | |
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Vaal Blight - Used to Hinder bosses, reduce their Movement Speed, and deal Chaos DoT to them. |
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Withering Step - Used mainly to apply Wither debuff on use. |
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Increased Area of Effect Support -Increases Area of Effect for Blight. |
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Void Manipulation Support -Linked Spells deal more Chaos Damage, but no Elemental Damage. |
[UTILITY] Essence Drain setup | |
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Essence Drain - A Projectile that deals Chaos Damage over Time and regenerates your Life based on the Damage you dealt. |
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Empower Support - Increases the Level of Essence Drain to deal even more damage. |
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Controlled Destruction Support |
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Efficacy Support |
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Swift Affliction Support - Less Duration for DoT, but the damage is increased. |
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Void Manipulation Support |
[UTILITY] Auras setup | |
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Clarity - Clarity regenerates your Mana at a faster rate. |
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Malevolence - With Malevolence you can deal more Damage over Time with increased Skill Effect Duration. |
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Grace - Pick Grace for more and increased Evasion Rating. |
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Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana. You can alternatively use ![]() |
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For a weapon use Cane of Unraveling or Cane of Kulemak with better stats. The latter is obviously harder to find thus more expensive Staff, but it has a higher potential of being a direct upgrade compared to the former. On your Rare gear look for Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and to increase your Damage - Chaos Damage and Damage over Time. You can craft some affixes to lower your Mana Cost of non-channeling Skills if Essence Drain gets too expensive. You will need to find some Strength if you want to have Steelskin at the highest level.
Our recommended items will:
Stat priorities on items:
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Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life +60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Nearby Enemies have -#% to Chaos Resistance Evasion Rating Spell Suppression Chance Strength |
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333% increased Armour and Energy Shield (9-21)% increased maximum Life, Mana and Global Energy Shield Transfiguration of Soul Transfiguration of Body Transfiguration of Mind |
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Helmet enchantments: Bane or Essence Drain enchantments |
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+20% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff +(40-55)% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier (20-30)% increased Chaos Damage 2% increased Cast Speed per Power Charge +2 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skill Gems Gain a Power Charge after Spending a total of 200 Mana Regenerate 2 Mana per Second per Power Charge |
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![]() increased Chaos Damage, Chaos Skills have increased Skill Effect Duration, increased Spell Damage, Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier, Damage over Time Multiplier. |
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+20% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (60–90)% increased Unveiled Modifier magnitudes Veiled Catarina's Prefix Veiled Suffix Veiled Prefix |
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Min. requirements: 110 Maximum Life +60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Energy Shield Spell Suppression Chance You can apply an additional Curse Strength Armour increased Maximum Life and mana |
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(120-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(50-70) to maximum Life +(9-12)% to all Elemental Resistances (40-50)% increased Area of Effect (40-50)% increased Area Damage Extra gore |
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Min. requirements: +70% Total Elemental Resistances 60 Maximum Life 25% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Evasion Rating Spell Suppression Chance chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Strength |
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Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life +80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity increased Spell Damage Spell Suppression Chance Socketed Gems Deal more Damage over Time |
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Min. requirements: 100 Maximum Life +100% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strength increased Damage Maximum Mana |
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Min. requirements: 60 Maximum Life +70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strength +1 to Level of All Chaos / Intelligence Skill Gems Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier increased Chaos Damage |
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+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10-20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems |
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Recommended Anointments: Heart of Darkness Acrimony |
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Min. requirements: 50 Maximum Life +70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance increased Spell Damage Attributes Evasion Rating Energy Shield |
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Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Life Strength Chaos Damage Damage over Time Chaos Damage over Time Spell Damage Elemental Resistances |
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(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> |
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-1 Intelligence per 1 Intelligence on Allocated Passives in Radius +3% to Damage over Time Multiplier per 10 Intelligence on Unallocated Passives in Radius 3% increased Mana Recovery Rate per 10 Intelligence on Allocated Passives in Radius 2% reduced Mana Recovery Rate per 10 Intelligence on Unallocated Passives in Radius |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall 1 Added Passive Skill is Touch of Cruelty 1 Added Passive Skill is Unholy Grace 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Brush with Death 1 Added Passive Skill is Exposure Therapy |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Misery Everlasting |
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+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect |
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Phasing +10% chance to Suppress Spell Damage Recover (75-100)% of Life on use 25% of Maximum Life taken as Chaos Damage per second |
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Other suggested Flasks:
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If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.
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