Energy Blade
"The Jedi Master"
Inquisitor Build

Updated for Patch 3.16

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Estimated budget: high

Energy Blade is the most unusual Skill in Path of Exile. It's one of its' kind ability, that converts around half of your Maximum Energy Shield to create a weapon that has base Lightning damage increased by the amount converted that way (further multiplied by 50% if you are using a two-handed weapon). Your equipped weapon (or weapons) will not grant any other bonuses except for the Lightning Damage generated by Energy Blade, but you can still use Gems socketed in them. With approximately 10,000 Maximum Energy Shield, your weapon will have around added 110-2300 Lightning, and with 1.7 Attacks per Second on your Energy Blade, you end up with around 2k Elemental DPS one-hander. It may seem like a lot, but half of that Energy Shield will be removed, so you will be left with only 5,000, and you will not benefit from any other bonuses your regular weapon would normally provide. In order to fully utilize this mechanic, we are going to use Inquisitor with Battlemage Passive, causing all that damage to be applied to your Spells as well. By stacking Strenght and Intelligence, you can get enough maximum Life, Energy Shield, and Critical Strike Chance bonus from Righteous Providence to make a very powerful Cyclone Cast on Crit. build.

The triggered Spell of choice is Arc, which provides great clear speed, has decent damage effectiveness, and deals additional damage against Bosses when it cannot chain. Thanks to the extra added damage from Energy Blade, and 100% Chance to Crit., you will have enough damage to deal with basically any content in the game. When it comes to defenses, it's not as simple as this build uses a lot of different mechanics that synergize exceptionally well on your character. First of all, since half of your Energy Shield is gone by default, it's best to play a hybrid Life/ES Build. On top of that, you will be using Petrified Blood to mitigate some of the incoming damage and allow you to use additional Life-reserving Auras. You are also going to increase your Armour Rating by Determination Aura and utilize the new Divine Shield Passive, which will quickly regenerate your Energy Shield based on the amount of Physical Damage mitigated. Combined with your Life Regeneration, you end up with a very tanky character, even though half of your Life is reserved on Auras, and half of your Energy Shield is removed by Energy Blade.

Overall, this build can get absurdly expensive, while it's definitely not the best out there. It's still most likely the optimal way to play this skill in Patch 3.16, and if you are really eager to try it out, this is the way it should be done. We can truly recommend it, as something completely new and Unique. Even though the numbers don't make this build look that powerful at all, it's very solid and enjoyable to play.

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

1. Gameplay

This build offers a very straightforward, basically one-button playstyle, even though it does utilize several complex mechanics. You are going to spin with your Cyclone which will trigger Arc to kill enemies all around your screen. You can also cast Flame Dash to avoid big damage spikes. You will be able to use Molten Shell and Vortex as well, which are both Instant cast spells and can be used while you are Channelling Cyclone. Molten Shell further boosts your Armor Rating, and grants a protective Shield, while Vortex is used to instantly kill enemies below 10% Life and occasionally grant Innervate buff. 

This video was recorded on a level 92 Inquisitor with around 5k Life and 10.5k Energy Shield. It resulted in around 130-2400 Added Lightning Damage on Energy Blade and allowed us to easily farm most of the content in the game while offering a very smooth playstyle. Given the budget needed, we wouldn't exactly put it in the highest Tier, but it was a very enjoyable experience.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can start using Arc right from the start but leveling up with Energy Blade is pretty much impossible. This build, like any other Attribute stacking build, will not work at all on lower levels, so simply using a self-cast setup is way better. As Inquisitor, you will easily get enough damage and Resistance Penetration to get you going even with mediocre self-found equipment. The following leveling setup is most likely not optimal/fastest one, but we tried to include as many Skill Gems and Passives that you are going to use later on so that you don't have much respeccing to do, but then again, in most cases, this isn't going to be your first League character, so it's not that important to strictly follow the following guidelines.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Arc setup
	Arc - extremely popular and easy to use Lightning Spell that has high base damage and additional Chain that boosts your clear speed
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds a lot of additional Lightning Damage to linked abilities
	Lightning Penetration Support - makes Arc penetrate Lightning Resistance
	Spell Echo Support - makes linked Spells repeat additional times with greatly increased speed

Orb of Storms setup
	Orb of Storms - adds extra Lightning Damage that's kind of passive, and greatly helps against Bosses
	Added Lightning Damage Support
	Lightning Penetration Support
	Arcane Surge Support - if you match this Gem's threshold with Orb of Storms total Mana Cast, you will get the Arcane Surge buff with each cast for extra Spell Damage, Cast Speed, and Mana Regen

Utility Gems
	Summon Flame Golem - the best defensive Golem that boosts your Life Regeneration. It's also the Golem you are recommended to use on higher levels
	Zealotry - one of the best Auras for this build. You can also replace it with Wrath if you prefer, or if the mods on your Watcher's Eye Jewel simply call for it
	Clarity - this Aura boosts your Mana Regeneration Rate, making leveling much easier and smoother
	Flame Dash - the recommended mobility Skill for this build
	Wave of Conviction - until you get Inevitable Judgement, it's good to apply Lightning Exposure to enemies, to reduce their Resistance to the main type of damage you are going to deal

Bandits:

KIlling all Bandits for two additional Passive Points is the best option

Leveling Skill Trees:

36 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Light of Divinity 2) Holy Dominion 3) Divine Judgement 4) Lightning Walker

62 Points Skill Tree

Priorities: 1) iron Will 2) Constitution 3) Throatseeker 4) Melding

After this point, just pick Lightning Spell Damage, Spell Crit, Cast Speed, and Life nodes until you decide you are (or your equipment is) for the respec. Some good examples are: Annihilation, Arcane Potency, Heart of Thunder, Breath of Lightning, Cruel Preparation, Blood Siphon, Assassination

Recommended leveling items:

Dream Fragments - grants very high bonus Mana and Mana Regeneration, which should fix your Mana management issues on lower levels. The Freeze immunity is also very useful

+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 20% increased maximum Mana 50% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance Cannot be Chilled Cannot be Frozen

Praxis - another Ring that will help you endlessly spam your Skills without having to worry about Mana

+(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

Axiom Perpetuum - one of the best leveling Caster weapons with a lot of flat added Elemental Damage to Spells

12% increased Elemental Damage Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Fire Damage to Spells Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Cold Damage to Spells Adds 1 to (10-12) Lightning Damage to Spells (4-6)% increased Cast Speed (100-140)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells

Goldrim - one of the best low-level helmets that's good for leveling most of the builds, this build is no exception

+(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)

Tabula Rasa - really good in this particular situation, you can ramp up your Mana Cost or Arc by linking it with five other Support Gems

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

115 Points Final Skill Tree
115 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. RIghteous Providence
2. Inevitable Judgement
3. Augury of Penitence
4. Instruments of Virtue

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

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Arc/Cyclone setup
	Arc - your core source of DPS which will have its' DPS increases by your Energy Blade and Battlemage Passive. It also has a built-in Chain and deals extra Damage against Bosses (when it can't Chain)
	Cyclone - Melee/AoE attack that is used to trigger your Arc via Cast on Crit Support Gem. Cyclone offers the best on-hit frequency out of all available attacks
	Cast on Critical Strike Support - causes Critical Hits from your Cyclone to trigger Arc automatically
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - grants increased Chance to Crit. making it a mandatory Gem for this setup
	Inspiration Support - increases Elemental Damage, Critical Strike Chance and reduces the Mana Cost of linked Skills
	Increased Critical Damage Support - increases the damage you deal with Critical Strikes, and with nearly 100% Chance to Crit. this is one of the best Gems you can use

[UTILITY] Vortex
	Vortex - an instant-cast AoE Spell that is used to grant Arcane Surge buff and instantly kill enemies below 10% Life
	Arcane Surge Support - grants increased Spell Damage, Cast Speed and Mana Regen. Use a level 7 Gem here so that you gain the buff with each cast
	Culling Strike Support - hits with Vortex will instantly kill enemies below 10% Life
	Innervate Support - killing enemies with Vortex will grant you Innervation buff that adds extra Lightning Damage to your Skills

[UTILITY] Energy Blade
	Energy Blade - a build-defining skill that reduces your Maximum Energy Shield by half, but that Energy is used to create an extremely powerful weapon that you are going to use instead of your equipped one. With Battlemage Support, all that damage will be applied to your Spells as well

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - the best Guard Spell for this build which increases your Armour Rating but also grants a protective Shield based on that attribute

[UTILITY] Auras setup 1 (Socketed in Prism Guardian)
	Zealotry - one of the best DPS Auras for this build which increases your Spell Damage and Spell Crit. Chance. You can replace it with Wrath if you have a Watcher's Eye with better mods for it
	Determination - another very important Aura that boosts your Armour Rating, which is one of the core defensive mechanics used in this build
	Enlighten Support - will help you keep your Max Life as close to 50% as possible

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - Flame Dash is the best movement skill for this build which helps you avoid big damage spikes and travel faster

[UTILITY] Auras 2  (no links required)
	Petrified Blood - a very interesting defensive skill that mitigates a lot of incoming damage while you are on Low-Life (and you are going to be at all times) by applying only part of the damage from hits instantly, and rest over the duration. With high Life Regeneration, this is a very potent skill
	Precision - a must-have Aura that boosts your Critical Strike Chance and Accuracy Rating, effectively increasing your Arc trigger rate
	Defiance Banner - a Banner skill that boots your Armour Rating and reduces your chances of getting Critically Hit for just a few % of your Max Mana
	Vitality - increases your Life Regenerated per second, which synergizes exceptionally well with Petrified Blood
	Discipline - this Aura increases your Maximum Energy Shield which is a must-have for all Energy Blade builds

[UTILITY] Golem Setup
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will cast linked Spells automatically after you take a certain amount of damage. Keep it at maximum level
	Summon Stone Golem - grants increased Life Regenerated per second making it a great addition to this build
	Phase Run - another triggered Skill that is used to grant Phasing. You can skip it if you have Phasing from other sources like Abyss Jewel for example

6. Gear Setup

Below you will find the recommended equipment for our Energy Blade Inquisitor Build. Generally, it's an attribute stacking build that requires you to get as much Strength and Intelligence as possible, so the gear will be rather expensive and will leave little to no space for experimentation. Overall, it's a NOT cost-effective build, but one that is definitely worth trying out because of various interesting mechanics and the most unique skill used. At the same time, it provides a very enjoyable playstyle, as most CoC/Cyclone builds do. 

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Crown of the Inward Eye - one of the best Helmets for this build as it fits perfectly to pretty much all Hybrid builds in Path of Exile. It not only boots your Life, Energy Shield, and Mana, but also increases your damage based on those three stats

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

Helmet enchantments: 40% increased Arc Damage Arc deals 12% increased Damage for each time it has Chained Arc Chains an additional time

(Weapon) Energy Blade - you are going to equip any three socketed one-handed Weapon, where, its' stats are irrelevant. It's going to be converted to Energy Blade anyway, and its' stats are going to be replaced with the Added Lightning Damage from this skill

Energy Blades have minimum Lightning Damage equal to 2% of Energy Shield, plus (2–12) Energy Blades have maximum Lightning Damage equal to 40% of Energy Shield, plus (40–235)

(Shield) Prism Guardian - allows you to use additional Auras and maintain the Low-Life status permanently to benefit from Pain Attunement and Petrified Blood mitigation at all times. A must-have in this setup

+12% to all Elemental Resistances +2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems Cost and Reserve Life instead of Mana Socketed Gems have 25% reduced Reservation +(20-30) to Dexterity +25% to all Elemental Resistances

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - you should look for high Energy Shield with bonuses to Attributes (most likely Intelligence in this case). You can also try getting a base with high Evasion, which will be greatly boosted by Shaper's Touch Gloves and your high Int Attribute

Min. requirements: 300 Energy Shield and 1000 Evasion or 500 Energy Shield (depending on Base) #% Increased Strength or Intelligence Gain 10% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield (crafted) Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Maximum Life

(Boots) Rare Boots - a rare pair again, with high Life/Energy Shield and possibly once again some bonus to maximum Attributes

Min. requirements: 150 Energy Shield or 70 Maximum Life (or mixed) #% Increased Strength or Intelligence 25% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike Chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on kill

(Gloves) Shaper's Touch - the BiS pair and the only one that you should even consider for this Attribute stacking build. It grants so many stats based on your Attributes that its' nearly impossible to replace it with anything else. Also, try getting one with Enfeeble Curse implicit mod

(80-120)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +4 Accuracy Rating per 2 Intelligence +1 Life per 4 Dexterity +1 Mana per 4 Strength 1% increased Energy Shield per 10 Strength 2% increased Evasion Rating per 10 Intelligence 2% increased Melee Physical Damage per 10 Dexterity

(Belt) Rare Belt - Belts can give you tons of Attributes, and this is what you are going to prioritize here. The best ones will be either Studded Belt for the Strength implicit or Stygian Vise for extra Abyss Socket

Min. requirements: 12+% Increased Strength/Intelligence/Attributes 70 Strength or 40 Intelligence 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Maximum Life Maximum Energy Shield

(Belt) Cyclopean's Coil - the best Unique Belt for attribute stacking builds. Grants a lot of bonus to All Attributes, solid Life and ailment immunities depending on your total Attributes

+(25-40) to maximum Life +(60-80) to maximum Life (5-15)% increased Attributes Cannot be Frozen if Dexterity is higher than Intelligence Cannot be Ignited if Strength is higher than Dexterity Cannot be Shocked if Intelligence is higher than Strength 1% increased Damage per 5 of your lowest Attribute

(Amulet) Astramentis - the BiS Amulet which grants a lot of All Attributes (sadly nothing else really). Make sure to use Catalysts on it to improve those bonuses

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

Recommended Anointments: Utmost Might

(Ring) Rare Ring - once again, mainly for Attributes and possible extra Resistances. Picking up higher Intelligence is more beneficial generally, but you can't lower your Strenght too much or you may lack some Crit. Chance if it's much lower, so you need to try to even it out

Min. requirements: 50 Maximum Life 70 Strength/Intelligence or combined 6% Increased Strength or Intelligence 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Maximum Mana #% Damage taken recouped as Mana (saves you a Flask slot)

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - most likely you will need a couple of Jewels to get all the missing Resistances in your build. Other than that, you can get extra Crit. Multiplier, Attributes (obviously), and Life/ES bonus

Recommended affixes: Elemental Resistances Maximum Life/Energy Shield Attributes Optional affixes: Critical Strike Multiplier Lightning Spell Damage

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - look for similar stats as on the Rare Jewels. Flat added Damage to Spells is much less relevant here

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life/Energy Shield Elemental Resistances Attributes Optional affixes: Increased Damage if you've Killed Recently Chance to Hinder enemies on Spell Hits Chance to gain Phasing for 4 seconds on Kill

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - one of the best Jewels in the game which can grant powerful Wrath Aura modifiers to boost your damage. It also grants extra Life, Mana, and Energy Shield which all boost your damage if you are using the Crown of the Inward Eye

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: Enemies take increased Damage or Crit Chance while affected by Zealotry Lightning Damage or Crit Chance while affected by Wrath

(Flask) Bottled Faith - the best Utility Flask in Path of Exile which boots you Critical Strike Chance and damage against enemies on Consecrated Ground

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (20-40)% increased 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 Flask effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - one of the best defensive flasks that boots your Armour Rating and Chance to Block

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

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask with bleed removal/immunity Enduring Mana Flask of Persistence for stun immunity (replace with Diamond of Silver Flask if you have no Mana-related Issues) Quicksilver Flask with random ailment immunity/removal

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.