Updated for Patch 3.20
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes |
March 21, 2022 -Build created February 20, 2022 -Updated for Patch 3.20 |
Build overview | |||
Tags: [TRAP] [ELEMENTAL] [LIFE] [STARTER] | |||
Budget: Defenses: |
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Boss DPS: AoE: |
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Explosive Trap is one of the most basic Traps you can get - it's a Trap that explodes upon activating, causing a number of smaller explosions right after the initial one. It deals Physical Spell Damage, but half of it is converted to Fire - arguably the hardest part of setting up the build is to convert the other half to Fire too. The Ascendancy you want to pick is of course Saboteur due to the abundance of Trap-related Keystones for offense as well as defense. There are no specific synergies between items or Skills, it's a very simple build that can be geared up in many ways - that's why it's heavily recommended for new players. It's an excellent league starter that also has a high potential later in the game, the build can exceed 10mil DPS with expensive items, but the ability to build it from a scratch qualifies it as an SSF candidate as you don't really need any unique or rare items to start dealing good-enough damage.
It's a Life build with high Life Regeneration Rate thanks to Pyromaniac, and Evasion which is great when combined with Born in the Shadows. In the version presented in the gameplay footage, we've created an Evasion-oriented Saboteur with Ghost Dance, but you can also invest in Armour as your main defensive layer. Just pick Chain Reaction instead of Born in the Shadows, equip The Brass Dome, and alter some of the nodes on your Passive Skill Tree. For a weapon, you can use a Dagger, Mace, or a Wand with Shield or a Staff - The Annihilating Light is a good candidate for any non-specific build dealing Elemental Damage. Feel free to experiment and alter the build to make it more sturdy or DPS-oriented, whichever suits your playstyle.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
You will be placing Traps ahead of you which should explode instantly killing any foe before it has a chance to spot you. Against bosses you want to apply a Curse and Fire Exposure on them - it can be done with just Arcanist Brand linked to a Flammability and Wave of Conviction. Bear Trap will immobilize, and make your opponent more vulnerable to Trap Damage. For a Guard Spell use Steelskin or Molten Shell, and as a Mobility Skill, it's good to have Dash, Flame Dash, or Frost Blink. You can use any Golem - Stone or Chaos Golem are the defensive ones. Ice and Flame Golems increase your DPS. For Auras use Herald of Ash, Skitterbots, Anger, Clarity, and Grace or Determination.
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PROS |
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CONS |
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Start with Explosive Trap, you can pick up the Skill Gem right from the start. Leveling with this Skill as Saboteur should be fast and simple, just pick up the Spell Damage, Fire or Physical Damage, and Trap Damage nodes. For Defences go for Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, especially after killing Kitava. Find a nearby Fire Cluster with Fire Mastery for a 40% Conversion - that's the easiest way to get it. You can also use Crafting Bench to Craft Fire Conversion on a part of Gloves. Use Essence of Hysteria on a Ring or Blet to get more Fire Damage.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Rolling Magma setup | |
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Explosive Trap - It's a good leveling Trap, you can safely use it throughout your leveling process |
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Swift Assembly Support - increased Trap Damage, and a chance to throw more than one Trap |
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Trap and Mine Damage Support - Traps deal more Damage |
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Added Fire Damage Support - adds Fire Damage based on Physical Damage of the Skill, it's great with Skills that Converts Physical Damage to Fire |
Utility skills | |
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Flammability - a Curse that lowers Fire Resistance |
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Flame Dash - movement Spell that use can use to dash |
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Clarity - makes you Regenerate Mana at a faster rate |
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Herald of Ash - it's the most important passive Spell in the build as it grants you a lot of damage and improves the clear speed |
Bandits:
Two Additional Passive Skill Points seem like the best option for this build
Leveling Skill Trees:
31 Points Skill Tree
Pick up the big Trap Cluster with some Maximum Life
67 Points Skill Tree
Continue getting more Life, Trap Damage, and Mana Reservation Efficiency
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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Socketed Gems are now Supported by level 15 Trap (160-200)% increased Evasion Rating 15% increased Movement Speed (14-18)% increased Trap Throwing Speed 15% increased Movement Speed for 9 seconds on Throwing a Trap |
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+(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) |
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Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) |
Final Skill Tree:
110 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
118 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 Shakari: for You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you; 50% less Duration of Poisons on You and additional Chaos Damage mitigation
[DPS] Explosive Trap setup | |
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Explosive Trap - It's a Trap that Explodes a few times dealing Fire Spell Damage, converted from Physical Damage |
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Inspiration Support - Skill costs less Mana, it has increased Elemental Damage and Critical Strike Chance |
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Fire Penetration Support - Fire Damage Penetrates additional Fire Resistance for more damage |
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Added Fire Damage Support - adds Fire Damage that's sourced from Physical Damage before it gets Converted, replace it with ![]() |
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Trap and Mine Damage Support - Traps deal more Damage, have reduced Mana Cost, and Throw Speed |
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Swift Assembly Support - increased Trap Throwing Speed, and a chance to Throw an additional one to three Traps at once |
[DPS] Auras setup can be socketed in The Devouring Diadem Helmet |
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Herald of Ash - It's the most valuable Mana-reserving Skill as it adds a lot of Fire Damage to your Skills, and makes enemies deal AoE Burning Damage on death |
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Zealotry - increases Spell Critical Strike Chance and grants more Spell Damage. With devouring diadem you will have enough "mana" to make it a temporary Aura with a Divine Blessing Support attached to it, but it may not be needed. |
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Summon Skitterbots - Skitterbots can Chill and Shock enemies, which is extremely valuable with Secrets of Suffering. You have also more Trap Damage |
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Clarity - rapid Mana Regeneration so that you won't run out of it, but it's pointless with The Devouring Diadem |
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Grace - It grants you an additional and increased Evasion Rating. If you prefer to use Armour instead, go for ![]() |
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Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana |
[UTILITY] Golem setup | |
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Summon Ice Golem - Ice Golem can be used for increased Critical Strike Chance, but you can also use Stone, Chaos, or Flame Golem for other various utilities |
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Lifetap Support - linked Golem cost Life instead of Mana to summon |
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Cast when Damage Taken Support - it should be kept at a maximum level so that Golem can be leveled all the way up as well |
[UTILITY] Steelskin | |
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Steelskin - Guard Spell that reduces the damage you take from Hits for some time. Use Molten Shell instead if your Armour is high. It can be activated with CwDT too if you plan to use the Withering Step as the movement key. |
[UTILITY] Vaal Righteous Fire | |
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Vaal Righteous Fire - Vaal Righteous Fire will grant you much more Spell Damage for the next four seconds, you can activate it during boss fights but be careful, it will remove a big chunk of your Life and Energy Shield. |
[UTILITY] Flame Dash, Bear Trap, and Phase Run setup | |
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Flame Dash - Dash-type Spell used to relocate |
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Arcane Surge Support - Keep it at a level low enough so that a single cast of Flame Dash will activate it. It grants you Spell Damage and mana Regeneration Rate. |
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Phase Run - grants you increased Stealth, and Phasing, and makes you faster for much better mobility. It lasts longer the more frenzy charges it has consumed. |
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Bear Trap - immobilizes an enemy and makes it receive increased Damage from all Traps, it's useful during boss fights |
[UTILITY] Brand setup | |
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Flammability - a Curse that reduces Fire Resistance which should be the only type of damage you deal |
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Wave of Conviction - applies Fire Exposure on enemies, reducing their Fire Resistance |
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Arcanist Brand - all linked Spells are activated every second as the Brand is attached to the opponent |
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Combustion Support - If you manage to Ignite an enemy with one of the linked Spells, its Fire Resistance gets reduced by an additional 10% thanks to the combustion support, but be careful, you may not be able to ignite. If you can apply the second curse, put the elemental weakness here instead of combustion. |
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It's a Life build, so obviously increasing your Maximum Life is a priority if you want a more durable build. For more Damage look for Spell, Fire, or Physical Damage with Traps. There is no strict formula for the build to work, as it's very general - it doesn't require any Unique Items making it great as a league starter or for an SSF league. The recommended Unique Items are all cheap and there should be no problem with their acquisition. The most important part of the build are Gloves. Gloves can provide you with a Fire Damage conversion as a Crusader's Prefix, otherwise, you would have to resort to a Fire Mastery, which requires spending some Skill Points.
Our recommended items will:
Stat priorities on items:
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Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life 40% Total Elemental Resistances Nearby enemies take 9% increased Fire Damage Optional affixes: Adds Damage to Spells Spell Suppression Chance Global Critical Strike Multiplier Mana Reservation Efficiency Attributes |
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+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems have 25% increased Reservation Efficiency 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 Veiled Suffix |
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Helmet enchantments: Increased Explosive Trap Damage Increased Reservation Efficiency for Grace/Determination |
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Min. requirements: 50% increased Fire Spell Damage 60% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Optional affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Fire Spell Skill Gems |
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Min. requirements: +60% to Elemental Resistances +80 to maximum Life Optional affixes: Attributes Socketed Gems have #% increased Reservation Efficiency Spell Suppression Chance Spell Damage Level to all Physical/Fire Spell Skill Gems |
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+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (60-70)% reduced Elemental Resistances Elemental Skills deal Triple Damage |
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Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life Elemental Resistances 20% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage Optional affixes: +#% to Spell Critical Strike Chance +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems increased maximum Life High Evasion Rating |
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(140-170)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(60-90) to maximum Life (10-15)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate for throwing Traps 15% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge when your Trap is triggered by an Enemy 30% chance to gain Phasing for 4 seconds when your Trap is triggered by an Enemy Recover 100 Life when your Trap is triggered by an Enemy Recover 50 Energy Shield when your Trap is triggered by an Enemy |
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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> |
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(350-400)% increased Armour +(1-5)% to all maximum Elemental Resistances Strength provides no bonus to Maximum Life Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes |
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Min. requirements: 25% Movement Speed +60 to Maximum Life 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Attributes Spell Suppression Chance |
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180% increased Evasion Rating +(55-75) to maximum Life 30% increased Movement Speed +(20-26)% chance to Suppress Spell Damage |
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Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage Optional affixes: Attributes increased Trap Throwing Speed Chance to Suppress Spell Damage |
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Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Maximum Life Attributes 12% increased Trap Throwing Speed (crafted) |
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Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life 30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance Attributes Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Dexterity Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems Global Critical Strike Multiplier Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted) |
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+(10-16) to all Attributes +(-3-3)% to maximum Fire Resistance +(-3-3)% to maximum Cold Resistance +(-3-3)% to maximum Lightning Resistance You have Scorching Conflux, Brittle Conflux and Sapping Conflux while your two highest Attributes are equal Cannot Ignite, Chill, Freeze or Shock |
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+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10-20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems |
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Recommended Anointments: Sovereignty Divine Judgement Heartseeker Written in Blood |
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Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Non-channeling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance Attributes |
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<One to three random Synthesis implicit modifiers> +(20-30) to Strength Adds (20-25) to (26-35) Fire Damage +(20-30)% to Fire Resistance <Two Random Herald of Ash modifier> |
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Recommended affixes: |
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Adds Secrets of Suffering | |
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Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius |
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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> |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Smoking Remains 1 Added Passive Skill is Corrosive Elements 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Battle-Hardened 1 Added Passive Skill is Force Multiplier 1 Added Passive Skill is Iron Breaker |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Basics of Pain 1 Added Passive Skill is Pressure Points 1 Added Passive Skill is Quick Gateway 1 Added Passive Skill is Arcane Pyrotechnics 1 Added Passive Skill is Guerilla Tactics 1 Added Passive Skill is Set and Forget 1 Added Passive Skill is Surprise Sabotage |
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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 |
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+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask 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 |
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Other suggested Flasks:
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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.