Storm Call
CoC Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.23

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It's a CoC Cyclone build that uses Storm Call. The main reason to do so is to benefit from the Awakened Spell Cascade which causes you to repeat Storm Call near your targeted location, which in the case of a Triggered Spell, is directly on your enemy. With enough Area of Effect modifiers, the Area of such additional Storms which were called will overlap with each other in the centre resulting in a shotgun-like effect. The most well-known example of a build that takes advantage of this mechanic is a Reap Spell used mainly by Inquisitors, which is a bit clunky compared to this one, as you don't need to aim with your Cast on Critical setup, so it's harder to miss the target with your small area of overlapping damage, impossible even if it stands still. The Spell we have used is Storm Call as it has inherently large AoE and Damage, mostly to balance out its only major downside, which is a delay that occurs between the Cast and Hit. This base Duration of 1.5 seconds can be reduced to slightly over 1 second, so it's not that bad.

The build requires a lot of expensive items, and as with all CoC builds, reaching 100% Critical Strike Chance for Spells as well as Attacks is mandatory. It also suffers from Mana-related issues that need to be addressed. These are high Mana Reservation and high Mana Cost of Skills. The Cyclone playstyle is also not for everyone, as to deal any damage you have to stay somewhat close to your target. This Attack also slows you down making it not the best one that there is for clearing maps. It is however a build with extremely high DPS, especially against pinnacle bosses. We have selected the Elementalist that specializes in Elemental Damage with its Shaper of Stroms, Mastermind of Discord, and Heart of Destruction passives. It causes you to penetrate a big chunk of enemies' Resistance, increases your Area of Effect, and lets you apply an especially powerful Shock. The Bastion of Elements is a defensive measure that causes you to take less Elemental Damage. Combined with high Armour for Physical Damage mitigation, Block Chance, and Maximum Energy Shield with rapid ES Recovery it can be classified as one of the most durable CoC builds we have tested so far.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Spin around with Cyclone to trigger Storm Call. Occasionally cast Frostblink to move around and to apply Conductivity Curse on Hit. Your second Curse - Assassin's Mark is also triggered automatically with Cyclone. Immortal Call and Shock Nova are triggered after enough damage is taken. All your other skills are passive - these are Determination, Discipline, Zealotry, Wrath, Tempest Shield, and possibly Clarity at a low Gem Level.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Start as a basic Lightning Damage Spell Caster, as assembling all the necessary items to make this build work is a headache. We recommend following your Arc Elementalist Starter guide. After you've reached a high enough level, around 93 or so, start gathering items that would enable the CoC build - go to section 6 of this guide for more info on this.

Bandits:

you should kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

93 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Shaper of Storms
2. Mastermind of Discord
3. Heart of Destruction
4. Bastion of Elements

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

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Strom Call setup
	Storm Call - Places a marker on the ground which, alongside all the other markers, gets detonated after the Duration expires. It deals Lightning Damage.
	Cast on Critical Strike Support - Storm Call is triggered on Critical Strike with Cyclone. Use the Awakened version.
	Cyclone - A rapidly-hitting Channelling Attack that you will use to Cast a Storm Call on Crit.
	Empower Support - Adds extra Levels to Storm Call Spell, which increases its damage.
	Awakened Spell Cascade Support - It's very important to have an Awakened version of this gem. It summons more Storm Calls the area of which overlaps in the middle.
	Power Charge on Critical Support - More damage per Power Charge, and a high chance to gain one on Critical Strike.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Determination - Adds and Increases Armour to reduce Physical Hit Damage. It's especially good with Aegis Aurora.
	Tempest Shield - Adds Spell Block Chance and Hits enemies on Block. It's also good with Aegis Aurora.
	Clarity - Keep it at a low level - it Regenerates a bit of Mana over Time, and unlocks a great modifier you can get on a Watcher's Eye.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Zealotry - Grants more Spell Damage and increases Critical Strike Chance for Spells. It also creates Consecrated Ground on Hit against Rare or Unique enemies.
	Discipline - Adds extra Energy Shield and increases its Recharge Rate.
	Wrath - Use it for more Spell Lightning Damage.
	Enlighten Support

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - Marked enemy is more likely to receive Critical Strike, and takes more damage from Critical Strikes.
	Enhance Support - Improves the Quality of Assassin's Mark.
	Inspiration Support - Assassin's Mark costs a lot of Mana, you can reduce this cost with Inspiration.
	Mark on Hit Support - Mark is applied on Hit against Rare and Unique enemies.

[UTILITY] Frostblink and Conductivity setup
	Frostblink - Allows you to teleport a short distance. Can be used while Channelling Cyclone without interrupting it.
	Conductivity - A Hex Curse that lowers the Lightning Resistance of your enemies.
	Hextouch Support - Conductivity is applied on Hit with Frostblink. Be sure to use Frostblink against bosses.

[UTILITY] CwDT setup
	Cast when Damage Taken - Activates both Spells in this setup after you take enough damage.
	Immortal Call - Reduces Physical and Elemental Damage taken for a short while.
	Shock Nova - Shock Nova deals a bit of damage that kills the weakest of enemies around it, and with Thunderstruck notable, it Knocks Back all the other opponents, keeping your character safe.

6. Gear Setup

The build has a lot of moving parts, each of which has to be accounted for to get the optimal result. Cap your Elemental Resistances, Cap your Critical Strike Chance for Spells and Attacks at 100%, get enough Strength and Dexterity for Gems and Items, fix your Hit Chance at 100%, reduce the Mana Cost of Skills so that you won't run out of Mana, get enough Mana Reservation Efficiency to fit in all the Auras, Increase your Area of Effect to make your Storms overlap in the middle, and acquire some additional Cooldown Recovery Rate with high enough Attack Speed to Trigger Storm Call 10 times a second. After that's settled, seek Maximum Power Charges, increase your Gem Level of Storm Call, improve your Lightning Penetration, and get more Critical Strike Multiplier with Spell Lightning Damage. For more durability, seek Energy Shield, Armour, and Block Chance. You will also need ES Leech, ES on Hit, and of course more Movement Speed - the build doesn't use The Stampede Boots. It does implement other Uniques, most notable of which are the Amulet, Skin of the Lords Body Armour, and Aegis Aurora. All your other Items should probably be of Rare Quality.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - A Helmet should have plenty of Energy Shield (there's an Energy Shield mastery for 100% increased Helmet's ES that you may be interested in), increased Area of Effect (look for Helmets with open Prefix), and a lot of Mana Reservation Efficiency, which can be Essence-crafted.

Min. requirements: 250 Energy Shield +40% Total Elemental Resistances 10% increased Area of Effect (crafted) 20% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills (Essence and Eldritch Implicit) Optional affixes: Attributes Energy Shield Armour

(Weapon) Rare Imperial Skean Dagger - Aim for the Imperial Skean, due to its high base Attack Speed with Crit Chance, with mods similar to these present on most CoC Cyclone builds. Gem Level to Lightning Spells is not particularly important, you should be able to reach Storm Call Level 30 without it.

Min. requirements: Hits can't be Evaded (crafted) 30% increased Critical Strike Chance 60% increased Spell/Lightning Damage 25% increased Attack Speed increased Area of Effect per Quality (crafted) Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Lightning Spell Skill Gems Global Critical Strike Multiplier

(Off-hand) Aegis Aurora - Aegis is the best Shield for this build as it provides you with a lot of additional ES Recovery which is important in CI builds. It's great if you have a lot of Armour and high Block Chance, which you do.

(300-400)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +10% to all Elemental Resistances +5% to maximum Cold Resistance +6% Chance to Block Recover Energy Shield equal to 2% of Armour when you Block (10-20)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - This one is your best option no doubt about it. You will immensely benefit from the additional Gem Levels, 100% increased Armour with ES, and a random Keystone, preferably Unwavering Stance.

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) <Random Keystone> Corrupted

(Body Armour) Dialla's Malefaction - It's the budget option that also increases the Gem Level by two via its Red Sockets. The sockets for Support Gems and Cyclone (excluding Empower) shall stay Green.

Gems can be Socketed in this Item ignoring Socket Colour Gems Socketed in Red Sockets have +2 to Level Gems Socketed in Green Sockets have +30% to Quality Gems Socketed in Blue Sockets gain 100% increased Experience Has no Attribute Requirements

(Boots) Rare Boots - Shaper's or Crusader's Boots may increase your Cooldown Recovery Rate if you can't get it on a Belt. Movement Speed is very important, and to boost it further, look for a Hunter's Tailwind on Crit modifier.

Min. requirements: +40% Total Elemental Resistances 100 Energy Shield 30% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently Dexterity or Strength increased Cooldown Recovery Rate

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Look mainly for ES, Resistances, and Attack Speed. Use Eldritch Orbs to cause Unnerve and Exposure on Hit.

Min. requirements: 150 Energy Shield 40% Total Elemental Resistances 12% increased Attack Speed Optional affixes: Dexterity Increased Global Critical Strike Chance (crafted) increased Area of Effect (crafted)

(Belt) Rare Belt - It's a great opportunity to get more Strength and even Cooldown Recovery Rate if the Belt is Shaper or Crusader-influenced. Other than that, seek ES, Armour, and Resistances.

Min. requirements: +40 to Strength +40 to maximum Energy Shield +80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage Armour increased Cooldown Recovery Rate

(Amulet) Replica Dragonfang's Flight  - A major boost to Storm Call Skill Gem Level and Reservation Efficiency is what sells this Amulet.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +3 to Level of all <Random Skill> Gems +(5-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (5-10)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills Items and Gems have (10-5)% reduced Attribute Requirements

(Amulet) Uul-Netol's Vow  - If you're able to reach Level 30 of your Storm Call Gem, use this Amulet for an additional Support Gem, such as Less Duration Support.

Has 1 Socket Socketed Support Gems can also Support Skills from Equipped Body Armour +(-30-30)% to Fire Resistance +(-30-30)% to Cold Resistance +(-30-30)% to Lightning Resistance +(-23-23)% to Chaos Resistance

Recommended Anointments: Charisma

(Ring) Precursor's Emblem - If you have a good Precursor's Emblem for Maximum Power Charges with other Power Charge bonuses, it will definitely be a suitable pick.

+(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance +20 to Intelligence 5% increased maximum Energy Shield 5% increased maximum Life <Three Power Charge mods>

(Ring) Rare Ring - Your Rings must have a crafted Prefix that reduces the Mana Cost of Skills, combined with Strength, Dexterity, and Resistances. Other modifiers, such as those for increased Attack Speed are of lesser importance.

Min. requirements: +40% Total Elemental Resistances Strength and Dexterity Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Optional affixes: +1 to Maximum Power Charges (synthesized implicit) Maximum Energy Shield Global Critical Strike Multiplier Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana increased Attack Speed

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Here you can gather the remaining Crit Chance, Attributes, Resistances, and Reservation Efficiency. After that's done, get Critical Strike Multiplier and Energy Shield.

Recommended affixes: Attributes Resistances increased Maximum Energy Shield Critical Strike modifiers Mana Reservation Efficiency

(Jewel) Militant Faith - The Dominus' variant of Militant Faith shall provide you with Inner Conviction for more Spell Damage per Power Charge. The secondary Devotion mod should reduce your Mana Cost of Skills.

Carved to glorify (2000-10000) new faithful converted by High Templar Dominus Passives in radius are Conquered by the Templars Historic <two random mods of devotion>

(Jewel) Impossible Escape - Passives surrounding Magebane will reduce your Skill effect Duration, which in turn results in more DPS. Allocate them.

Passive in Radius of <Keystone> can be Allocated without being connected to your tree Corrupted

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - The set granting Forbidden Power is what you're looking for. It's very important as it grants AoE, Maximum Power Charge, and Damage.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Your Auras are Determination, Discipline, Zealotry, Wrath, and maybe Clarity. Critical Strike modifiers for Crit Chance or Crit Damage, with Lightning or Elemental Damage Penetration, are the most valuable in terms of DPS. For durability, get ES on Hit from Discipline. Clarity may reduce the Mana Cost of your Skills.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - We recommend using two of these Jewels. On both of them, you want to get the Widespread Destruction. You will also need one Storm Drinker for ES Leech and one Thunderstruck to Knock enemies Back and for extra Crit Chance.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Overshock 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Storm Drinker 1 Added Passive Skill is Thunderstruck

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Basics of Pain with Pressure Points will increase your Crit Chance. Magnifier and Vast Power increase your Area of Effect. We recommend getting two of each, that's 4 Medium Cluster Jewels in total.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Basics of Pain 1 Added Passive Skill is Pressure Points 1 Added Passive Skill is Magnifier 1 Added Passive Skill is Vast Power

(Flask) Bottled Faith - A Sulphur Flask that increases your Crit Chance and Damage, as long as you and your enemy stand on the Consecrated Ground.

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - Adds extra Armour with a lot of Block Chance, both of which are major defensive layers in this build.

+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance Silver Flask with increased Cast Speed Quicksilver Flask with Reduced Mana Cost of Skills (crafted) Granite Flask with increased Armour

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.