Endbringer
Blade Blast Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.10

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Estimated budget: high

This Blade Blast Elementalist build utilizes several interesting new build concepts introduced in Patch 3.10. First of all, we are using Blade Blast Spell as the main source of DPS which detonates Blades left by Blade Vortex, Ethereal Knives, and as in our case - Bladefall. Blade Blast is triggered by Spellslinger Support whenever you attack with your Wand, which is the newest trigger mechanics in Path of Exile, and on the other hand, we use Poet's Pen to also trigger Spells using it with a completely separate internal cooldown, that will cast Bladefall with Spell Cascade to maximize the number of Blades left on the ground with each attack. The last, but not least, we are using all 5 Herald Skills. They will grant high DPS bonuses themselves, but also by using two Large Cluster Jewels, we can get 4 (up to 6 if you were to go Voices) Endbringer Passives, which increase your damage for each Herald Affecting you. You are looking to stack the following Passives:

1. Heraldry - which reduces Mana Reservation Cost of Herald Spells;
2. Endbringer - which increases your damage for each Herald affecting you (125% bonus Damage each);
3. Sadist - found on "Elemental" Large Cluster Jewels. It will grant a 60% increased Elemental Damage as you will be applying all kinds of Elemental Ailments constantly.

All this combined, makes this build offer high DPS, mainly AoE, but also decent single-target but quite lousy defenses for today's standards. Surely you will find better builds in this budget, but if you are truly looking for a Blade Blast build then you might just try it out. 

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

1. Gameplay

This is a fast-paced "Trigger" build which is played purely by progressing through areas and using Frenzy to trigger all core Spells in this build. Attacking with your Wand will proc Bladefall from Poet's Pen and Blade Blast from Spellslinger. By reducing the Mana Reservation Cost of Skills, you can use all 5 Heralds, DPS Aura of Choice, and Spellslinger Blade Blast. The build, however, has quite low defenses based mainly on high Life Pool, some Leech, and Chill/Freeze mechanics.  You will need to master avoiding big Spells and Attacks if you want to take down end-game Bosses with this Elementalist character.

0:08 Tier 16 Underground River 0:29 Tier 14 Alleways 0:55 Tier 14 Strand 1:06 Tier 15 Necropolis 1:24 Tier 15 Primordial Pools This video was recorded on a level 90 Elementalist which managed to get around 80k Damage per explosion. It's an experimental project and has a lot of space for improvements

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling with Poet's Pen and Spellslinger is extremely easy. Both on their own carry you through the campaign and you can use both during the leveling. Also, Elementalist's Passives offer a lot in terms of clear speed by greatly increasing your AoE and Elemental Damage. During leveling, you should primarily focus on increasing your defenses so that you don't die at all, Movement Speed to progress faster, and Attack Speed to trigger your Spells with a satisfactory frequency. Below you will find the basic recommended Gem setup for the leveling phase, but also several very useful Uniques that will help you complete the story mode much faster.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Blade Blast setup
	Blade Blast - the primary Spell used in this build which is triggered by Spellslinger. It will deal AoE damage and detonate nearby lingering Blades for additional explosions
	Spellslinger Support - allows you to trigger supported Spells by attacking with Wands. In order to activate that mechanic, you need to Reserve Mana for Spellslinger
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds high flat Lightning Damage to your Blade Blast Spell
	Physical to Lightning Support - converts 50% of Physical Damage to Lightning and increases Lightning Damage of Supported Skills

Bladefall setup
	Bladefall - used solely to create lingering Blades for Blade Blast detonations. Bladefall has to be socketed in Poet's Pen, or if you don't have it, make sure to also Support it by Spellslinger
	Spell Cascade Support - makes Bladefall repeat itself twice creating more Blades but dealing less damage

Utility Gems
	Clarity - grants increased Mana Regeneration which might be extremely useful on lower levels
	Herald of Ash - the best Herald for this build as it grants damage bonus based on your Skill's base Physical Damage
	Flame Dash - the best mobility skill for this build
	Elemental Weakness - one of the best Curses for this build. If you need extra DPS on lower levels, this is a way to get it

Bandits:
You should kill all the Bandits for two additional Passive Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

36 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Heart and Soul 2) Elemental Overload 3) Basic Jewel Socket - this route assumes you get Thread of Hope on a low level and assign all the Passives in its' radius which you can check in the further part of this guide 4) Light of Divinity 5) Discipline and Training

65~ Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Constitution 2) Large Jewel Socket - where you socket a Large Cluster Jewel and allocate approximately 20 of your next Passives 

Recommended leveling items:

Goldrim - one of the best leveling Helmets in Path of Exile, and extremely useful in this particular setup if you are going for a quick Thread of Hope Jewel
+(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)

Poet's Pen - a mandatory Wand for this build which can also be used during leveling as it has a level 12 requirement
(11-15)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems per 25 Player Levels Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Attack with this Weapon Adds 3 to 5 Physical Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 3 Player Levels (8-12)% increased Attack Speed

Praxis - a great leveling Ring which reduces the Mana Cost of all abilities. It makes leveling much smoother as you will be reserving a lot of your Mana with Spellslinger and Heralds

+(20-25) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana (3-6) Mana Regenerated per second -(8-4) to Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit

Stormcharger - a great pair of Boots which offers up to 100% Elemental Damage conversion on lower levels without the Watcher's Eye Jewel
+(1-50)% to Lightning Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed 50% increased Shock Duration on Enemies 30% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock

Thread of Hope - allows you to pick up a lot of powerful Passives on a lower level, and the reduction to Elemental Resistances is easily negated by Goldrim Helmet (check the list of recommended Passives in the end-game Gear section)
Only affects Passives in a Small Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

113 Points Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
113 Points Path of Building(PoB) link (includes Cluster Jewels)

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Pendulum of Destruction
2. Mastermind of Discord
3. Shaper of Desolation
4. Beacon of Ruin

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Solaris 6% additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Blade Blast
	Blade Blast - your primary DPS Spell. It's triggered by Spellslinger and will deal massive AoE damage of each Element, but mainly Lightning
	Physical to Lightning Damage Support - allows you to convert nearly 100% of Blade Blast's base DPS to Lightning
	Controlled Destruction Support - grants high Spell Damage bonus at the cost of reduced Critical Strike Chance
	Spellslinger Support - mandatory Support Gem which allows you to trigger Blade Blast with Wand attacks
	Elemental Focus Support - grants very high bonus Elemental Damage but renders Blade Blast unable to apply Ailments. You will still Freeze/Chill and Ignite with Frenzy and Bladefall
	Concentrated Effect Support - grants very high bonus AoE Damage but reduces the explosions' radius

[DPS] Bladefall setup (in Poet's Pen)
	Bladefall - creates the most lingering Blades and will be triggered automatically by the Poet's Pen whenever you attack with Frenzy
	Spell Cascade Support
	Concentrated Effect Support

[UTILITY] Frenzy
	Frenzy - Frenzy is the recommended Wand Attack that will trigger your Blade Blast and Bladefall Spells. At the same time, it generates Frenzy Charges, which will increase your DPS output
	Faster Attacks Support - increases the Attack Speed of Frenzy skill
	Curse on Hit Support - will make Frenzy apply your Curse. In this case, we recommend using Elemental Weakness for the highest DPS bonus, but you could also try a defensive Curse like Temporal Chains or Enfeeble
	Elemental Weakness - the best Curse for this build which reduces monsters' Elemental Resistances

[UTILITY] Auras and Heralds part 1 (socketed in your Helmet)
	Wrath - a must-have Aura for this build. It allows up to 40% extra Physical to Lightning Conversion from Watcher's Eye Jewel, and grants very high bonus Lightning Damage
	Herald of Ice - grants extra Cold Damage and causes AoE explosions on killing Frozen enemies
	Herald of Thunder - adds Lightning Damage
	Enlighten Support - reduces the Mana Reservation Cost of linked Spells

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - the recommended Movement Skill for this build. It allows you to progress faster through Maps and gain the Arcane Surge buff for extra Spell Damage and Mana Regen.
	Faster Casting Support - increases Cast Speed which basically makes your Flame Dash faster
	Second Wind Support - increases the Cooldown Recovery Speed and adds an additional charge on Flame Dash

[UTILITY] Herald/Golem (in random empty sockets, these Gems don't require links)
	Herald of Ash - grants extra Fire Damage based on your Physical Damage and causes AoE Explosions around your targets
	Herald of Purity - adds Physical Damage to Spells and Attacks
	Herald of Agony - its bonuses are irrelevant, but we need all Heralds active for Endbringer's DPS buff
	Summon Stone Golem - the recommended Golem for this build. It has to be summoned manually though. Stone Golem grants increased Life Regeneration per second

5. Gear Setup

In this section, you will find the required Items for this build. Because this build is dependant on stacking Enbringer for DPS we will not include various Item choices and alternative solutions. This build should be based on 2 Large Cluster Jewels, and if you end up needing more damage you may want to get Voices as they will offer slightly more Life and Damage. We won't give you exact setups for it though - if you get to that point you should know exactly how to set them up.

We guarantee that our list will:

1. Cap your Elemental Resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully
3. Save you at least a couple of hours!

(Helmet) The Devouring Diadem - one of the best Helmets for this build, and at the same time, one of the cheapest Items you can use here. It grants a very high reduction to Mana Reservation Cost making it easier to use all the required Heralds and Aura

+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>

Helmet enchantment: Blade Blast deals 40% increased Damage Bladefall has an additional Volley

(Body Armour) Loreweave - one of the best Armours you can choose for this build. It grants a high bonus DPS and also increases all Maximum Resistances, which is an amazing defensive buff

Has 6 Sockets +(8-24) to all Attributes Adds (4-10) to (14-36) Physical Damage to Attacks (20-60)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(15-50) to maximum Energy Shield +(20-60) to maximum Life +(20-50) to maximum Mana (6-30)% increased Rarity of Items found (15-50)% increased Elemental Damage Your Maximum Resistances are (76-78)%

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - a rare Crafted Armour can give you a lot of extra Life. Also, a chest which causes enemies to explode will greatly increase your clear speed and AoE damage

Recommended affixes: 120 Maximum Life 7% Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Dexterity Enemies you Kill, Explode dealing 3% of the Maximum Life as Physical Damage

(Weapon) Poet's Pen - a must-have a weapon for this build. It will automatically trigger Bladefall whenever you Attack

(11-15)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems per 25 Player Levels Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Attack with this Weapon Adds 3 to 5 Physical Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 3 Player Levels (8-12)% increased Attack Speed

(Shield) Rare Shield - the best in the slot. We need a lot of defensive stats, and it can also give you a high Spell Damage bonus

Recommended affixes: 105 Maximum Life 60% Spell Damage 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity

(Boots) Rare Boots - pick a pair with the highest Life/Resistances combo with at least 25% bonus Movement Speed

Recommended affixes: 70 Maximum Life 25% Increased Movement Speed 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity

Boot Enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently

(Belt) Stygian Vise - the best option for this build

Recommended affixes: 90 Maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Global Physical Damage/Fire Damage

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - the BiS option for this build. You should aim to get one with some Reduced Mana Reserved affix in order to use all the recommended Heralds and Auras. Extra Life and Attributes will also be recommended

Recommended affixes: 50 Maximum Life 50 Dexterity 5% Reduced Mana Reserved Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Spell/Area Damage

Recommended Anointments: Champion of the Cause Charisma Heart of Thunder (only if you somehow manage to get Reduced Mana Reservation elsewhere - for example, local affix on Shield)

(Rings) Mark of the Shaper - grants very high bonus Spell Damage if your other Ring is an Elder Item

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Summon Volatile Anomaly on Kill Adds (13-18) to (50-56) Lightning Damage to Spells (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Spell Damage if your other Ring is an Elder Item Cannot be Stunned by Spells if your other Ring is a Shaper Item

(Rings) Rare Ring - use any bases you want, but if you are going for Mark of the Shaper, make sure it's an Elder base

Recommended affixes: 70 Maximum Life 30 Dexterity 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Spell/Elemental Damage

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - once again aim for high defensive stats. You can also craft Damage Conversion to Lightning so that you don't deal any unnecessary Physical Damage

Recommended affixes: 70 Maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Physical to Lightning Conversion Attributes

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewel - flat Added Physical Damage gives you the highest DPS bonus thanks to Damage Conversion. You may also need to get some extra Resistances here

Recommended affixes: maximum Life Added Physical Damage to Spells Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - getting Watcher's Eye with Physical to Lightning Conversion while affected by Wrath is a must-have

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Required Aura modifier: (25-40)% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage while affected by Wrath

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - get two Cluster Jewels with mandatory Sadist Passive - it offers the highest DPS bonus out of all Passives on the "Elemental Damage" Jewels for this build. Also, Doryani's Lesson is very useful for some extra Life Leech

Min. requirements: 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 2 Added Passive Skill is a Jewel Socket Optional affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - you will need to get four similar Cluster Jewels - preferably all with Heraldry and Endbringer for the best effect. You could possibly replace one Heraldry Passives with Agent of Destruction or Empowered Envoy if you are having a hard time getting it

Min. requirements: 1 Added Passive Skill is Heraldry 1 Added Passive Skill is Endbringer 1 Added Passive Skill is a Jewel Socket

(Jewel) Small Cluster Jewel - any Small Jewels you can get should have the Fettle Passive

Min. requirements: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fettle

(Jewel) Voices - you can replace Large Cluster Jewels with Voices. They will offer much higher DPS bonuses as it will allow you to get two additional Medium Cluster Jewels with Endbringer, however, it's a much more expensive option and you will not get any Leech from Doryani's Lesson

Adds 3 Jewel Socket Passive Skills <Random empty passive skill node mod>

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - this Flask grants insane bonus Damage as we benefit from it greatly thanks to several forms of Damage Conversion

+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

(Flask) Taste of Hate - a great utility Flask for Damage Conversion builds like our Blade Blast Elementalist

+50% to Cold Resistance 20% less Cold Damage taken 20% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Cold Damage during Flask effect Gain (15-20)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage during effect 30% chance to Avoid being Chilled during Flask effect 30% chance to Avoid being Frozen during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (Bleeding Immunity) Experimenter's Basalt Flask of Warding (Curse Immunity) Ample Quicksilver Flask of Heat (Freeze immunity)

If you have any feedback about this build or suggestions for the next one, please let us know in the comments below! We are always glad to make all kinds of build guides, from beginner-friendly and budget builds, meta builds, up to experimental projectiles as this Blade Blast Elementalist Build!

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