Updated for Patch 3.14
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Estimated budget: medium
Guide notes |
September 20, 2020 -Updated for Patch 3.12 Major changes: -None, this still remains one of the best Assassin builds (both as a Starter, and a regular one) October 14, 2020 -Updated gameplay video January 21, 2021 -Updated for Patch 3.13 April 17, 2021 -Updated for Patch 3.14 |
Blade Vortex is a Physical Spell that creates multiple ethereal blades that orbit around your character dealing massive damage based on the number of blades spawned. This build offers Millions of Poison DPS thanks to massive Poison damage scaling and numerous stacks applied by 10 Blades flying around you damaging enemies with a greatly increased Hit rate. At the same time, this build offers very solid defenses based on Dodge, Mistwalker, and a reasonable Life pool. This is one of the most powerful Assassin builds in the current Patch 3.10, and supposedly the most cost-effective one. You don't need to spend tons of Exalted Orbs on extremely expensive Cluster Jewels and specific Uniques to make it work.
You can also check our other PoE builds right here: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
This is a very swift Spell Caster build based on the Blade Vortex Spell which deals purely Physical and Chaos Damage in this build as you aim to get the highest effective Poison DoT. You are going to use Unleash Support that helps you build up 10 stacks faster, and when you got it simply rush through Maps recasting Blade Vortex once in a while. You can also use Plague Bearer for some additional DPS against Bosses on tougher Rares - the damage reduction won't really affect your clear speed as you are overkilling the majority of the content with your Poison, and when popping it against Bosses it will help you melt them faster. It's just a single socket too. For the defenses you will be reliant on Dodge and Elusive, you can also pick up Withering Step to get you some extra temporary bonuses (sadly, it shares its' cooldown with Flame Dash so you won't be able to use it efficiently on regular Maps)
This video was recorded on a level 93 Assassin dual-wielding Cold Iron Point Daggers in Patch 3.12. Our character had 4,500 Maximum Life and approximately 5,700,000 DPS at 10 Blades if you included maximum possible Poison stacks |
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PROS |
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CONS |
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You can level up this character easily with Blade Vortex. As an Assassin, you will need to add up some Mana Regeneration mechanics on lower levels, but DPS-wise you will be more than good to take down all the Bosses in campaign mode. You can also help yourself with Agony Crawler from the Herald of Agony. You may have trouble with Mana and Attribute requirements of Malevolence, so you can add a few Support gems to Herald of Agony, which will get you a deadly Minion, and with Blade Vortex and 100% Chance to Poison, you will build up Virulence stacks pretty easily.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Blade Vortex setup | |
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Blade Vortex - primary Spell used in this build. It has solid base DPS and it should carry you through early levels just with its' based damage, and you will still Poison enemies with it |
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Faster Casting Support - on lower levels makes casting Blade Vortex much faster. Later on, you can replace it with Unleash Support which will summon few Blades with each Cast |
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Poison Support - grants high chance to Poison enemies, which combined with a few Passives and Herald of Agony will easily reach 100% Chance to Poison |
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Vile Toxins Support - grants high bonus DPS both to direct Hits and Poison DoT |
Herald of Agony setup | |
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Herald of Agony - this is a must-have Herald Spell for this build, which also happens to be a great leveling weapon with Blade Vortex. Just add up a few Support Gems to it and it will melt enemies |
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Minion Damage Support - increased Agony Crawler's DPS |
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Pierce Support - grants Pierce to your Agony Crawler's projectiles greatly increasing your clear speed |
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Vicious Projectiles Support - increases the Physical Damage of your Agony Crawler's projectile attacks |
Utility Gems | |
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Flame Dash - the recommended mobility Skill for this build |
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Despair - the best Curse for Poison builds which greatly increases your damage |
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Plague Bearer - if you have enough damage against normal enemies, but lack DPS against Bosses this is a great one socket addition to this build. It will reduce your DPS overall, but you will get an extra burst against Bosses on tougher enemies |
Bandits:
We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points
Leveling Skill Trees:
35 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Trickery 2) Fangs of the Viper 3) Fatal Toxins 4) Herbalism
61 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Swift Venoms 2) Growth and Decay 3) Atrophy 4) Will of Blades
Recommended leveling items:
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(8-12)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Spell Gems (20-28)% increased Spell Damage (5-8)% increased Cast Speed +(15-20) to maximum Life +(15-20) to maximum Mana Regenerate (6-8) Life over 1 second when you Cast a Spell |
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(15-19)% increased Spell Damage+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 1 Increased Area of Effect Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 1 Spell Echo Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 1 Controlled Destruction +(10-30) to Intelligence |
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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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+15 to Dexterity +15 to Intelligence (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating 5% increased Movement Speed (5-10)% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit 10% increased Movement Speed 10% increased Movement Speed for you and nearby Allies |
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+(20-30) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana Regenerate (3-6) Mana per second -(8-4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit |
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Final Skill Tree:
116 Points Final Skill Tree - the recommended setup with 2 Large Cluster Jewels, 3 Medium, and 3 Small ones used. The Skill Tree doesn't include Passives allocated via Thread of Hope and Cluster Jewels - please refer to the Path of Building link for such details
116 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 Garukhan +5% chance to Evade Attack Hits if you've taken a Savage Hit Recently
[DPS] Vaal Blade Vortex | |
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Vaal Blade Vortex - the primary DPS Spell used in this build. It deals massive over 10 Mil Shaper DPS when you are fully buffed and you have 10 Blades flying around you |
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Unleash Support - allows you to create up to four Blades with a single-cast greatly increasing the smoothness and speed of this build |
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Vile Toxins Support - increases your Hit Damage based on the number of Poisons on the enemy and Poison Damage as well |
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Deadly Ailments Support - increases your Damage over Time from Ailments significantly |
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Poison Support - grants 60% Chance to Poison, and increases the damage you deal with Poison |
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Unbound Ailments Support - increases the Damage and duration of your Ailments |
[UTILITY] Wither | |
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Wither - Wither reduces the monster's Resistance to Chaos Damage. By casting it via Multiple Totems, you can easily build the maximum 15 stacks without losing your own DPS |
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Spell Totem Support - this Support Gem will allow you to create Totems that will automatically cast Wither |
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Multiple Totems Support - allows you to summon more Wither Totems to build up stacks faster |
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Faster Casting Support |
[UTILITY] Auras (in Devouring Diadem) |
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Malevolence - the best Aura for DoT builds which increases your Damage over Time and offers various bonuses via Watcher's Eye Jewel |
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Summon Skitterbots - this Aura type Spell summons two Minions which will Chill and Shock enemies for you |
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Despair - the best Curse for this build which you will be using as an Aura in this build |
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Blasphemy Support - allows you to use Despair as an Aura around you, and thanks to Impresence, it will not reserve any Mana |
[UTILITY] Immortal Call | |
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Cast when Damage Taken Support - will trigger Immortal Call automatically after you take enough damage. Keep this Gem at level 1 |
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Immortal Call - grants a strong defensive buff for a short duration. Keep this Gem at level 1 so that it matches CwDT Support Gem's level |
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Increased Duration Support |
[UTILITY] Herald of Agony | |
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Herald of Agony - grants increased Chance to Poison and Poison Damage |
[UTILITY] Flame Dash | |
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Flame Dash - Movement Spell which is used to increase your mobility in this build, and helps you avoid big Spell and Attacks quickly |
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Faster Casting Support |
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Second Wind Support - allows you to have more charges for Flame Dash which greatly increases your mobility |
[UTILITY] Plague Bearer/Withering Step | |
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Plague Bearer - it's a very unusual Spell which reduces your Poison Damage but lets you accumulate a portion of it and store it. When you use Plague Bearer, the damage accumulated will be dealt with in an area around you, which offers a great extra burst against Bosses and tougher enemies (for example you accumulate it against adds during Bosses immunity phases, and then unleash for extra damage) |
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Withering Step - grants an improved Elusive buff and Withers nearby enemies |
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Increased Area of Effect |
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Below you will find the recommended gear for our Blade Vortex Poison Assassin build. This build uses several unique but most of them are optional, and this build will work just fine with random Rares. The only Item that we would recommend not skipping is the Devouring Diadem as it allows you to Reserve 100% of your Mana and fixes all the issues related to Mana-management.
Stat priorities on items:
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+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems have 20% reduced Mana Reservation Trigger Level 15 Feast of Flesh every 5 seconds (180-220)% increased Energy Shield 10% chance for Energy Shield Recharge to start when you use a Skill Eldritch Battery <One Veiled Mod> |
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Helmet enchantment: 30% increased Blade Vortex Duration 40% increased Blade Vortex Spell Damage |
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30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +3 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems Deal no Elemental Damage |
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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: 60 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances You can apply an additional Curse Optional affixes: Enemies you kill Explode, dealing 3% of their Maximum Life as Physical Damage |
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Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 30% increased Movement Speed 70% Total Elemental Resistances 45 Strength Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance |
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Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently |
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Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 100% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Damage/Global Physical Damage Chaos Resistance |
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+(10-16) to all Attributes (30-40)% increased Damage over Time Adds (17-19) to (23-29) Chaos Damage +(50-70) to maximum Life +(17-23)% to Chaos Resistance Despair has 100% reduced Mana Reservation Gain Maddening Presence for 10 seconds when you Kill a Rare or Unique Enemy |
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Recommended Anointments:
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Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 120% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes |
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+(9-13)% to Chaos Resistance <One to three random Synthesis implicit modifiers> +(10-20) to all Attributes Adds (15-20) to (21-30) Chaos Damage +(17-23)% to Chaos Resistance <Two Random Herald of Agony modifiers> Recommended modifiers: (40-60)% increased Chaos Damage while affected by Herald of Agony Herald of Agony has (70-100)% increased Buff Effect |
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+(20-30) to Intelligence +(60-80) to maximum Life +(60-80) to maximum Mana Curse Enemies with Level 10 Temporal Chains on Hit Non-Aura Curses you inflict are not removed from Dying Enemies Enemies near corpses affected by your Curses are Blinded Enemies Killed near corpses affected by your Curses explode, dealing 3% of their Life as Physical Damage |
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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> Recommended modifiers: +(18-22)% to Damage over Time Multiplier while affected by Malevolence Damaging Ailments you inflict deal Damage (10-15)% faster while affected by Malevolence |
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Only affects Passives in a Very Large Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances Passives to take: Revenge of the Hunted + adjacent Life Heart of Oak Swift Venoms |
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Recommended affixes: maximum Life added Physical Damage to Spells Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances |
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Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances |
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Recommended Passives: 1 Added Passive Skill is Grim Oath 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil 1 Added Passive Skill is Overwhelming Malice 1 Added Passive Skill is Touch of Cruelty 1 Added Passive Skill is Unholy Grace |
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Min. requirements: 1 Added Passive Skill is Exposure Therapy 1 Added Passive Skill is Low Tolerance 1 Added Passive Skill is Brush with Death |
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Min. requirements: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fettle |
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+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (15-20)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (10-15)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect |
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Your Critical Strike Chance is Lucky Take 30 Chaos Damage per Second during Flask effect 25% chance to Poison on Hit during Flask effect Your Critical Strikes do not deal extra Damage during Flask effect (50-75)% increased Duration of Poisons you inflict during Flask effect Grants Perfect Agony during Flask effect |
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Suggested Flasks:
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If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.