Ethereal Knives Ignite
Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.28

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Ethereal Knives is one of the simplest Physical Spells; it fires several Knives adjacent to Lingering Blades mechanics that is completely irrelevant for the purposes of this build. This Physical Damage will be converted first to Cold, and then a portion of it to Fire with some Chaos Damage on the side. Aim for more Fire Damage with Hits than Cold, this way you will deal more Ignite Damage from Shaper of Flames Keystone. You can play this build with a Bow and Quiver setup, or a Wand with Shield - in this case, you can start with a cheap Obliteration Wand, but there's no unique weapon better than a good Rare one. Burning Damage is scaled up by increasing the Gem Level, Physical, Cold, Fire, Chaos, Projectile, Ignite, DoT, and Spell Damage. The possible damage you can achieve with this build is nearly limitless because of the multitude of stats that play a role here, but it can be played as a starter, too.

Mastermind of Discord and Heart of Destruction massively increase your Elemental Damage, Shaper of Flames guarantees Ignite with each Hit and further increases Burning Damage. Shaper of Storms is used to Shock foes on Hit for even more Damage. Clear Speed is excellent due to Herald of Ash alone, but it can be improved by items such as Gloomfang or the already mentioned Obliteration. As for the single-target damage, it's restricted by your budget. You're limited to around 20mil DPS. Reaching more will cost a lot. The build has poor defenses - it has a bit of Armour with around 3 to 4k of Maximum Life. The best way to improve durability is with Block Chance and The Svalinn. Spell Suppression is hard to fit. It also uses Eldritch Battery, so ES won't protect Life.

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

1. Gameplay

With Ethereal Knives, you fire tons of Projectiles in a cone, so aiming is not an issue. For a guard Spell, use Molten Shell. Frostblink seems like the best option for a movement skill. The only other abilities to actively use are an Arcanist Brand with Flammability and Flame Surge attached to it. For Mana-reserving Spells, we've selected Hatred with all the Heralds in the game. Also, four re-summoning Golems for their passive bonuses.

Full gameplay video:

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

A compelling leveling guide for this build can be found here: Witch Leveling Guide using Ignite.

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 Items, Unique, or Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

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

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Ethereal Knives setup socketed in Skin of the Lords/Loyal
	Ethereal Knives of the Massacre - A Spell that fires several fast Projectiles dealing Physical Damage, later converted. If your Skin of the Lords/Loyal has sockets with different colors, you can switch some of the Support Gems listed here to  Cruelty,  Efficacy, or  Deadly Ailments.
	Empower Support - Increases the Gem Level of the Spell, which results in more Damage.
	Burning Damage Support - More Burning Damage, the main type of damage here.
	Unbound Ailments Support - Ignite lasts longer and deals more Damage.
	Cold to Fire Support - Half of the Cold Damage is converted to Fire, and you also gain a lot of Cold Damage as Extra Fire Damage.
	Swift Affliction Support - Much more Damage over Time, but less Ignite Duration. It will still last long enough.

[UTILITY] Reservation setup
	Hatred - You deal more Cold Damage and gain Extra Physical Damage as Cold Damage. It is better than Malevolence, which we cannot afford.
	Herald of Ice - It Shatters enemies after Freezing and adds Cold Damage to Spells.
	Herald of Thunder - Adds Lightning Damage to Spells and creates Storms which hit on their own.
	Enlighten Support - Increases the Mana Reservation Efficiency for linked Skills.

[UTILITY] Reservation setup
	Herald of Ash - Massively increases clear speed as killed enemies spread Burn on death, it also grants Extra Physical Damage as Fire Damage.
	Herald of Purity - Use it for simply more Physical Damage.
	Herald of Agony - Fuels Herald of Hive from Lost Unity.

[UTILITY] Herald of Hive
	Herald of Hive - Grants 3% more Damage per Herald and pulsates with damage. It can only be gained from the Lost Unity Ring.

[UTILITY] Brand setup
	Arcanist Brand - The Brand will attach itself to an enemy and activate all linked Spells periodically.
	Flammability - It's a Curse that lowers the Fire Resistance of affected enemies. Try to have it on a Ring to apply automatically with each Hit.
	Flame Surge - Cannot Ignite, but deals a lot of Damage against already Burning enemies, and creates Burning Ground.

[MOBILITY] Frostblink setup
	Frostblink - A movement Spell that Hits enemies, thus Igniting them.
	Combustion Support - Enemies Ignited by any of the Linked Skills have their Fire Resistance lowered.

[UTILITY] Golems
	Summon Stone Golem - Increases Defences and grants Life Regeneration.
	Summon Flame Golem - Increases Damage and Area of Effect.
	Summon Chaos Golem - Adds Damage over Time Multiplier and Chaos Resistance.
	Summon Lightning Golem - Regenerates Mana and increases Cast and Attack Speed.

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - A Guard Spell that absorbs the portion of incoming damage for some time.
	Automation - Casts Molten Shell for you whenever it's off-cooldown.

6. Gear Setup

It's a Burning Damage build with tons of Damage Conversion layers. The most important will be, of course, Burning and Ignite Damage, Gem Level of Ethereal Knives, then Damage over Time, Physical, or Cold Damage. You don't need to Convert any of your damage. Look for % added damage from existing damage on items such as Gloomfang, Obliteration, or Atziri's Promise. The build needs no Uniques, but we recommend starting with a cheap Obliteration Wand. Polaric Devastation, Gloomfang, and Skin of the Lords are the optimal gear pieces for a finished build. For defenses, seek Maximum Life, Spell Suppression, Energy Shield, Armour, and Evasion if you're using Grace. 155 Strength and Dexterity will be needed; you can get a lot of them from items, not so much from the Skill Tree.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - The Helmet should provide Maximum Life, Resistances, and increased Mana Reservation Efficiency for Skills, which can also be gained via Eldritch Blue Orbs.

Min. requirements: +80% to Elemental Resistances +90 to maximum Life 10% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency Optional affixes: Spell Suppression Chance Chaos Resistance Dexterity Nearby Enemies have -#% to Fire Resistance

(Weapon) Rare Wand/Dagger/Sceptre - A weapon that would increase your EK level by two (Spell and Physical Spell), with some Burning Damage would be an amazing addition. You could even dual-wield these.

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems 100% increased Spell/Fire/Burning Damage Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems Damage over Time Multiplier Fire Damage over Time Multiplier increased Fire Damage increased Burning Damage

(Weapon) Obliteration - It's a great Wand to start with, and it makes enemies explode on death, but that becomes irrelevant with Herald of Ash. It can be replaced with well-rolled Grace of the Goddess, which is pretty much the same for our purposes.

(31-35)% increased Spell Damage Gain (30-40)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage Enemies you Kill have a 20% chance to Explode, dealing a quarter of their maximum Life as Chaos Damage

(Off-hand) Rare Shield - Maximum Life, Attributes, Resistances, and Spell Suppression are the most valuable modifiers on a Shield. If it's an Intelligence Shield, you can seek the Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances +1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: Attributes Chance to Suppress Spell Damage Block Chance Maximum Elemental Resistances

(Off-hand) Svalinn - Svalinn has the very powerful Lucky Block, making it the best shield defensive-wise. We won't delve into how to cap your Resistances here, but it's possible.

+(10-20) to maximum Life (10-15)% Chance to Block Spell Damage +(100-150) to Ward -10% to maximum Chance to Block Attack Damage -10% to maximum Chance to Block Spell Damage Chance to Block is Lucky Trigger a Socketed Elemental Spell on Block, with a 0.25 second Cooldown

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - Skin of the Lord increases the Level of Socketed Gems by two and Global Defences like Armour, Evasion, and Energy Shield. It might be expensive, but it's the best option. You can use Skin of the Loyal too, it's quite similar but not as good.

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>

(Body Armour) Servant of Decay - Adds lots of Chaos Damage, which will improve the Ignite's DPS. It's even better with high Block Chance.

Trigger Level 20 Summon Void Spawn every 4 seconds (150-200)% increased Energy Shield +(23-37)% to Chaos Resistance (4-6)% of Damage from Hits is taken from Void Spawns' Life before you per Void Spawn Gain (4-6)% of Non-Chaos Damage as Extra Chaos Damage per Summoned Void Spawn

(Body Armour) Foulborn The Coming Calamity - Look for the variant that increases the effect of Herald Buffs on you; since you have 5 of them, it can be great.

+2 to Level of Socketed Herald Gems (80-100)% increased Energy Shield 35% chance to avoid being Stunned for each Herald Buff affecting you (80-100)% increased Effect of Herald Buffs on you

(Boots) Rare Boots - Seek Maximum Life, Movement Speed, Resistances, Attributes, Onslaught, and Spell Suppression Chance. You might want to craft an anti-Freeze Prefix as well.

Min. requirements: +40% to Elemental Resistances +90 to Maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Spell Suppression Chance Attributes Chance to gain Onslaught on Kill Cannot be Frozen

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Rare Gloves have the basic Resistances and Attributes on them, nothing exotic. For the Eldritch mdos, you can get Fire Exposure on Hit (if you don't have it already from Master of Fire), and either Ignite proliferation or Fire DoT Multiplier.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes increased Damage over Time Spell Suppression Chance Ignites you inflict deal Damage (5–10)% faster

(Belt) Rare Belt - On a Belt, there's nothing but Strength, Maximum Life, and Resistances - try to get as much of it as you can. We highly recommend Headhunter instead.

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life +110% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strength increased Maximum Life Life Regeneration

(Amulet) Gloomfang  - Gloomfang is cheap. It makes your Projectiles Chain, increases Projectile Speed, and grants extra Chaos Damage sourced from all the Non-Chaos damage types.

(48-56)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 0.5% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life Lose (15-10) Life per Enemy Hit with Spells Lose (25-20) Life per Enemy Hit with Attacks Skills Chain +1 times (30-40)% increased Projectile Speed Projectiles that have Chained gain (20-35)% of Non-Chaos Damage as extra Chaos Damage

(Amulet) Replica Dragonfang's Flight  - It's always a decent option for Skills that heavily rely on Gem Level for one particular Gem.

+(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

Recommended Anointments: Charisma Dirty Techniques As the Mountain

(Ring) Replica Emberwake - This Ring reduces Ignite Duration (which is not as bad as it seems - it's Reduced, not Less) and increases the Ignite speed, resulting in a massive boost to your Damage. Ignites will now last around 2 seconds. Unbound Ailments Support Gem in your EK setup would be mandatory here.

+(20-30)% to Fire Resistance (30-40)% increased Fire Damage (5-10)% increased Cast Speed 90% reduced Ignite Duration on Enemies 10% chance to Ignite Ignites you inflict deal Damage (35-45)% faster

(Ring) Polaric Devastation - Put it in your right ring slot to cover enemies in Ash; it reduces movement speed and increases Fire Damage Taken. It also grants a lot of Cold and Fire Resistance and some Elemental Damage.

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage (15-25)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance (10-20)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies Left Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds when you Ignite them Right Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Frost for 5 seconds when you Freeze them

(Ring) Lost Unity - Lots of Chaos and Elemental Resistances with a unique Herald Skill for three times six = 18% more damage.

(5-7)% increased Global Defences Grants Level 30 Herald of the Hive Skill +(10-20)% to all Elemental Resistances +(23-37)% to Chaos Resistance

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - There are a lot of modifiers to increase your Fire Damage, Burning Damage, and Damage over Time. Mana Reservation Efficiency, Block Chance, and Maximum Life are valuable too.

Recommended affixes: Elemental or Chaos Resistances Damaging Ailments deal damage faster increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills Burning, Fire Damage, DoT Multiplier Attributes Maximum Life Block Chance

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - It's used only for the extra Dexterity, but there might be a chance to gain a minor bonus from an upgraded Notable in its radius. The best place for it is near Instability.

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of Nasima Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) The Light of Meaning - Use it to increase your Fire Damage. This version should be very cheap.

Passive Skills in Radius also grant 6% increased Fire Damage

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Hatred's mod to convert Physical Damage to Cold is the most useful one, and almost all of the other mods for this Aura are good. Determination, Discipline, and Grace offer some defensive additions.

(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 - Sadist is the best Notable, Prismatic Heart or Widespread Destruction can be found on the same Jewel type. We've used two Large Cluster Jewels, you can then fit in four Medium ones.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Inspired Oppression

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - One Master of Fire for Fire Exposure is good, but not necessary. Wasting Affliction and Blowback increase the speed at which Ignite deals damage, which is excellent. Fan the Flames Spread Ignite for a better clear speed. There are also other DoT, Burning, and Herald Notables you can get.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Master of Fire 1 Added Passive Skill is Wasting Affliction 1 Added Passive Skill is Blowback 1 Added Passive Skill is Circling Oblivion 1 Added Passive Skill is Burning Bright 1 Added Passive Skill is Fan the Flames 1 Added Passive Skill is Empowered Envoy 1 Added Passive Skill is Purposeful Harbinger

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - Grants a lot of Extra Chaos Damage sourced from all the other types of Damage, Chaos Resistance, and a bit of Life Leech.

+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Effect Gain (5-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (5-8)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

(Flask) Cinderswallow Urn - Damage increase, Onslaught, and a resource on Kill, preferably Life or ES for the Battery.

Onslaught +(10-20) to Maximum Charges Recharges 5 Charges when you Consume an Ignited corpse Enemies Ignited by you during Effect take (7-10)% increased Damage Catarina's Veiled (prefix) <Random recovery on kill modifier>

Other suggested Flasks: Quicksilver Flask with an increased Movement Speed Granite Flask with increased Armour Rating Life Flask with Bleeding/Freeze 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.