Heartbound Loop Autobomber
Scion Build

Updated for Patch 3.17

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It's a very unique Autobomber build with presumably the highest possible DPS for this type of build. It's based on infinite Cast when Damage Taken loop based on summoning Skeletons with greatly reduced duration, that die expire/die nearly instantly. You then take damage from Heartbound Loop and trigger Summon Skeletons again, a process that will be repeated for as long as you keep your Olroth's Resolve Flask up. In order for it all to work you need a very specific set of Equipment and Gems, and on top of that you need to do some math before setting up your character which makes it quite challenging for a casual PoE player, but at the same time, very intriguing and rewarding. The primary stats you need to take into consideration are:

1. The duration of your Skeletons must match the corresponding Cast when Damage Taken Gem cooldown. This is something that will be quite hard to do without Path of Building's exact calculations, but we will explain it on our current build/example. The base duration of the Skeletons is 20 seconds, it gets reduced by 98% thanks to three To Dust Jewels with a total of 58% Reduced Skeleton Duration and quality 20 Anomalous Minion Speed Support, and then it gets multiplied by another 50% via Less Duration Gem with lvl.1 and Quality 20%. Which returns: 20s x (1 - 0.98) x 0.5 = 0.2s = 200ms. While the base cooldown of Cast when Damage Taken at 0.25s (250m), and our character had 21% Cooldown Recovery Rate, which results in 250ms / 1.21 = 206ms. 
   Both the values get rounded up to closest server ticks at 198ms, 231ms, and 264 ms. Both the stats ended up at 231ms in our case
2. The damage you take from Heartbound Loop and Forbidden Rite must exceed the damage threeshold on Cast when Damage Taken Gem linked to your Skeletons. We used a level 16 Summon Skeleton Gems to summon 3 Skeletons, whic results in 3x 420 Physical Damage Taken. Forbidden Rite deals 40% of Max Health as Chaos multiplieed by our negative 50% Chaos Resistance, which results in 2800 x 0.4 x 1.5 = 1680 Damage Taken. We take 2940 Damage in total, so the Cast When Damage Taken Gem should have a lower damage threshold than that. 

To start the rotation, you need two Essence-crafted weapons with Spectral Spirits. You are going to use Olroth's Flask and then use weapon swap twice to have those Minions summoned and killed instantly. This will trigger the loop. You can stay in your hideout to try out if it will actually work with you given equipemnt, as you will not die. 

You should be able to constantly take enough Damage to feed the maximum level Cast when Damage Taken Gem at its highest Cast rate without taking any real damage. Your Body Armour and two-handed weapon will be a nest for the actual DPS setups, where you can socket any Spells you want. Go for the Annihilating Light Unique Staff - it triples your Elemental Damage. Combine it with Crystallised Omniscience, which transforms your Attributes into Omniscience making you Penetrate Elemental Resistances. It also grants you a lot of Elemental Resistances. Use Divergent Ice Spears (or at least Aerodynamics on a Medium Cluster Jewel) Freezing Pulse to deal Cold Damage. Your 3k of Maximum Life and permanent Ward are not only able to sustain the damage you deal to yourself, but any damage really - it's a very tanky build that's only vulnerable to one-shots. Without any Armour and Choas Resistance, you're obviously more prone to getting instantly killed. The Recoup mechanics is the one you should make use of - you're constantly taking a lot of damage that will be replenished back to you over 4 seconds. Have the Damage you take be Recouped as Mana for rapid Mana Regeneration, and Life so that you will instantly regenerate missing health. The build is expensive and requires some very specific items, some of which you can make yourself - like the Gems, and some of which have to have a lot of Attributes and Ward making the very pricey and hard to obtain.

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

1. Gameplay

It's an Autobomber build so you don't really have to do anything, except pop your Flask and start the Loop by using weapon swap twice. Your only active Skills are Flame Dash, Phase Run, and Vaal Righteous Fire. All your Cold Spells will be triggered automatically by level 20/21 Cast when Damage Taken Setups and are great at dealing with any kind of opponent. This build however can be technically used with any Spells you like, but the ones listed are simply the optimal/best choice. You don't have any free sockets for any more active Skills making it's very easy to play as a reward for the painfully complex process of gearing up.

The only thing you must consider when playing this character is getting Flask Charges quickly enough. Usually, this means you will have to progress fast on high-density Areas and teleport back to town quickly after Boss. You could also remove your 4th (or even 3rd) Flask to boost the effect of The Traitor Passive, but I wouldn't personally recommend it - just accept the fact that you will die quite often without proper practice. 

Full gameplay video:   This video was recorded on a level 96 Ascendant with level 21 Ice Spear, level 20 Freezing Pulse, and the 0.231s "breakpoint". You could quickly boost the damage by simply swapping Quicksilver Flask with Bottled Faith, but we preferred to have more mobility for the videos (the DPS is more than fine regardless)

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

There is no way to play it as it is intended until level 90 (more or lless) it requires a lot of Ward, Specific Uniques, and Attributes. The best way to level up quickly is to pick the fastest way and respec points later. We recommend using a Projectile Attack - Splitting Steel to deal Physical Damage and make use of the Impale and Bleed Mechanics. Splitting Still can be used since level 1. Pick the Deadeye Ascendancy first for more Projectile Damage and permanent Tailwind. Switch to the Automomber only after acquiring all the necessary build components.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Summon Skeletons setup
	Splitting Steel - an Attack that Fires Projectiles that Splits and Explodes dealing AoE damage
	Chance to Bleed Support - Attack have added, increased Damage, and a chance to cause Bleed on Hit
	Brutality Support - you're dealing more Physical Damage, but no other type of damage
	Faster Attacks Support - allows you to Attack much faster
	Impale Support - You have an increased chance to Impale and increased Impale effectiveness
	Vicious Projectiles Support - more Physical Projectile Damage, but less Projectile Attack Speed

Auras
	Dread Banner - It's the Imaple Banner for more Impale Chance and Imaple Effectiveness, nearby enemies have reduced Accuracy Rating
	Pride - increases the Physical Damage nearby enemies are receiving

Totem setup
	Ancestral Protector - use this Totem for a Buff - more Attack Speed
	Maim Support - Totem Maims on Hit, reducing movement Speed and making Maimed enemies take more Physical Damage
	Culling Strike Support - your Totems will be able to instantly kill enemies below 10% Life

Utility Gems
	Vulnerability - Cursed enemies receive more Physical Damage and have an increased Chance to Bleed when Hit
	Summon Lightning Golem - grants you increased Attack Speed

Bandits:

Kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

31 Points Skill Tree
Pick Constitution for Maximum Life and go for the Impale and Bleeding Clusters with Crimson Dance

76 Points Skill Tree
As you notice the decrease in your Accuracy Rating, go for the Resolute Technique. Pick Defiance, Master of the Arena, Art of the Gladiator, and Fury Bolts. Then allocate more Maximum Life and Sword Clusters for a massive DPS boost.

Recommended leveling items:

Tabula Rasa - it can be used to socket a six-link setup from the start

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

Goldrim - used for its Elemental Resistances

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers

Wanderlust - immunity to being Frozen, decent Movement Speed, and Mana Regeneration Rate

+5 to Dexterity +(10-20) to maximum Energy Shield (20-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 20% increased Movement Speed Cannot be Frozen

Karui Ward - Strength, Dexterity, Accuracy Rating, and a lot of Projectile Damage

+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Strength +100 to Accuracy Rating 30% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Projectile Damage

Redbeak - It is the best one-handed Sword to level up with. Later swap it for a Rare Sword with decent stats

40% increased Global Accuracy Rating 100% increased Damage when on Low Life 50% increased Physical Damage Adds 2 to 6 Physical Damage 10% increased Attack Speed +(20-30) to maximum Life +2 Life gained for each Enemy hit by Attacks

Lycosidae - Use it so that your Attacks won't be Evaded. It's useful before you've allocated Resolute Technique.

+(10-20) to maximum Life +(120-160) to Armour +(30-40) to maximum Life Your hits can't be Evaded +(3-5)% Chance to Block Adds 250 to 300 Cold Damage to Counterattacks

Lord of Steel - there are three variants of this Jewel, you can use them since level 1. We recommend the one which boosts  the Use Speed and Reflected Damage

Impale Damage dealt to Enemies Impaled by you Overwhelms 10% Physical Damage Reduction Call of Steel has (80-100)% increased Use Speed Call of Steel causes (20-25)% increased Reflected Damage

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

109 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
124 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Pathfinder/Deadeye (depending what you want to allocate via Forbidden Jewels)
2. Elementalist
3. Path of The Ranger

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Yugul: 50% chance to Reflect Hexes; You and your Minions take 50% reduced Reflected Damage

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] CwDT Spells
	Ice Spear - one of the deadliest Spell in the game, which deals simply massive DPS via multiple projectiles fired. You should use Anomalous version or at least Aerodynamics Passive for Pierce
	Empower Support - increases the Level of Active Skill Gems, it's great when socketed in Skin of the Lords as it also affects the level of your Empower Gem
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - linked Spells fire more Projectiles which is one of th best ways to scalle Ice Spear DPS
	Elemental Focus Support - linked Ice Spear won't Chill, but it grows considerably in damage
	Increased Critical Damage Support - increases Critical Strike Damage, but if your Chance to deal Critical Strikes is low, use  Cold Penetration Support instead
	Cast when Damage Taken - keep it at level 18-19, with the bonus +2 from Skin of the Lords it should match the level of your base Ice Spear Gem

[DPS] CwDT Spells
	Freezing Pulse - fires a Projectile that is stronger at the start, it has a high chance to Freeze and pierces all enemies
	Bonechill Support - increases the Chill effect, and makes you deal more Cold Damage to enemies affectd by that Chilll
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds Cold Damage to your Spells resulting in a huge DPS increase
	Increased Critical Damage Support
	Arcane Surge Support - Arcane Surge is a buff that grants you more Spell Damage and increases Mana Regeneration Rate
	Cast when Damage Taken - again, use a Gem matching the base level of your Freezing Pulse (presumably 20 or 21)

[UTILITY] Skeletons setup
	Anomalous Summon Skeletons - Skeletons die at the end of their Duration. Anomalous Quality of Summon Skeletons Gem makes the Minions immune to any damage shortly after being summoned so that they won't randomly die during the first 0.2 seconds breaking the rotation. We used a level 16 Gem here for 3 Skeletons summoned
	Anomalous Minion Speed Support - reduces the Minion Duration by 40% at 20% of Anomalous Quality which is necessary for the entire build to work
	Cast when Damage Taken - you need to calculatee the damage taken from your Skeletons dying and Forbidden Rite as explained in the first section, then match this Gem's level to have a lower damage threshold than that. Our Gem was level 17
	Less Duration Support - we used a level 2 and Quality 20 Gem here to lower the duration of Skeletons to match the CwDT cooldown

[UTILITY] Forbidden Rite setup
	Forbidden Rite - takes 40% of your maximum Life as Chaos Damage per Cast. With 2800 of Maximum Life and -60% Chaos Resistance that's 1792 damage which should be included in your calculations as decribed at the beginning
	Cast When Damage Taken - we used a level 9 Gem here

[UTILITY] Sniper's Mark
	Sniper's Mark - If you're using Projectiles, then this is the best Mark to use as it makes them deal more damage
	Cast When Damage Taken - we used a level 20 here so that it can be used with a max level Mark

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - a movement Spell you can use to move faster and dodge attacks

[UTILITY] Vaal Righteous Fire
	Vaal Righteous Fire - for a brief moment it increases your Spell Damage, use during boss fights. Do not link it to any CwDT that would trigger it.

[MOBILITY] Phase Run
	Phase Run - increases your Movement Speed, grants you Stealth, and Phasing. Just allocate it under your left mouse button so you don't even feel like you are casting it while progressing faster

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Hatred - grants you more Cold Damage, it can be exchanged for  Zealotry if you struggle with Critical Strike Chance but in most cases Hatred will be a betteer option
	Eternal Blessing Support - Hatred Reserves no Mana, but you can't have any other Aura or Blessing at the same time, which is fine since you need all your Mana Pool to be unreserved

6. Gear Setup

The most important aspect of the build is to have enough Ward as to not take any significant Damage from your Forbidden Rite and Heartbound Loop. Ideally, that would be 1900, but given the fact that your life is rapidly recouping, it can be as low as 1400. You should equip Rare Runic base types as your Helmet, Gloves, and Boots. These grants you Ward, so be sure to have them with a lot of Quality. You need to have at least 2800 Maximum Life, preferably no more than -50% Chaos Resistance, and 0 Physical Damage mitigation to properly activate your Cast when Damage Taken Gems. With Crystallised Omniscience you should stack a lot of Attributes - Strenght, Dexterity, and Intelligence. Your Mana Source is any item with an Affix "Damage Recouped as Mana", and Mana Mastery with the same effect. Be sure that your Olroth's Resolve Flask stays up at all times - without it, your character dies instantly as you take 18k Damage every second. The 0.25 seconds Cooldown of CwDT can be slightly reduced by "increased Cooldown Recovery Rate" affixes and eldritch Implicits, but it can't be lower than around 0.2s - that's a 20% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate in total. It's very important to have this 20% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate. Keep your Gem Levels at bay - with a too high level they might not be triggered when you take damage. Cast when Damage Taken requires you to take 3580 Damage (at Gem Level 21) to activate, with this setup you should take this amount of damage every 0.2 seconds. It's hard and expensive to gear up the character, remember to test the setup in the Hideout and make sure that all the parts of it are in order.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Runic Crown - use the Runic type of Helmet with high Quality and squeeze as much Ward out of it as you can. The Helmet can offer the most Ward out of any other type of Runic equipment.

Min. requirements: +70 to Ward 80% increased Ward Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Maximum Life

Helmet enchantments: Freezing Pulse or Ice Spear enchantments

(Weapon) The Annihilating Light - it triples your Damage and allows you for an additional six-link setup, there's no better Staff to use in this build. The missing Resistances can be easily acquired on your Rare Gear and via Omniscience

+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (60-70)% reduced Elemental Resistances Elemental Skills deal Triple Damage

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - It increases your Defenses by 100%, this includes Ward. The Maximum Level of Socketed Gems is also great. The random Keystone has no use really, just pick someething that doesn't ruin the build - like Crimson Dance for example

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>

(Boots) Rare Runic Sabatons - besides Ward, look for increased Movement Speed, and increased 8% Cooldown Recovery Rate - it can be done by using Eldritch Ichor (the blue one)

Min. requirements: +70 to Ward 80% increased Ward 20% increased Movement Speed 5 to 10% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate (Eldritch Implicit) Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Maximum Life

(Gloves) Rare Runic Gauntlets - look for more Ward, Attributes, Life, and Elemental Resistances

Min. requirements: +70 to Ward 80% increased Ward Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Maximum Life

(Belt) Rare Belt - Seek the "reduced flask charges used" and "increased Flask Effect Duration" mods. You can also find Cooldown Reduction here if you aim to get to the faster server tick and cast Spells more frequently (check explanation in the Build's overview)

Min. requirements: 17% reduced Flask Charges used 30% increased Flask Effect Duration 80 Maximum Life Attributees Optional affixes: Increased Cooldown Recovery Rate increased Flask Charges gained Elemental Resistances

(Amulet) Crystallised Omniscience - it transforms your Attributes to grant you more Elemental Resistances, and to make your Damage Penetrate Elemental Resistances

+(10-16) to all Attributes Modifiers to Attributes instead apply to Omniscience +1% to all Elemental Resistances per 10 Omniscience Penetrate 1% Elemental Resistances per 10 Omniscience Attribute Requirements can be satisfied by (15-25)% of Omniscience

Recommended Anointments: Counterweight

(Ring) Heartbound Loop - It makes you take 420 Physical Damage (with 20% Quality from Noxious Catalysts) on Minion Death. Each batch spawns 3 Skeletons (or 4 at Summon Skeletons Gem Level 21), making you take 1260 Damage every loop which is just enough to trigger Forbidden Rite to take more damage and keep the loop up

+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield Regenerate (10-15) Life per second (20-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Minions have 15% increased maximum Life Minions have 10% increased Area of Effect 350 Physical Damage taken on Minion Death

(Ring) Rare Ring - Attributes and Damage recouped as Mana are the most important stats on a Ring. If you are looking to use all the recommended Skills, it should be the Unset base, or you will have to remove Righteous Fire or Phase Run

Min. requirements: 150 Attributes 6% of Damage taken Recouped as Mana (crafted) Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Damage taken Recouped as Life Maximum Life

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - you probably won't use more than one of it, use it to get more Attributes, fix Resistances, or increase Damage

Min. requirements: increased Maximum Life increased Projectile Damage Elemental Resistances Attributes Critical Strike Multiplier

(Jewel) To Dust - It can reduce the Skeletons' duration by 10% to 20% each. You want three of them to reduce the duration by 58% in total. Combined with Anomalous Minion Speed Support (20% Quality), and Less Duration Support (level 2) it should reduce Skeletons duration by 99% (to 0.2 seconds)

(20-10)% reduced Skeleton Duration Minions deal (8-12)% increased Damage (7-10)% increased Skeleton Attack Speed (7-10)% increased Skeleton Cast Speed (3-5)% increased Skeleton Movement Speed

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - The Traitor Keystone grants 4 Flask Charges every 5 seconds per empty Flask Slot. Ideally, you want just one empty Flask Slot, but you can have two if it's too hard to gain enough Flask Charges. One of this Jewel can grant two of those Passive for more consistent recovery

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

(Jewel) Clear Mind - you don't want to reserve Mana, as the level of it will wildly fluctuate because of the Recouping, so it's just a lot of Spell Damage

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate (40-60)% increased Spell Damage while no Mana is Reserved

(Jewel) Unnatural Instinct - you can put it right from the Scion's starting point for extra Spell Damage, Movement Speed and other useful stats

Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius

(Jewel) Survival Secrets - the Unique Flask which makes your Ward not break also reduces it by 70%. You can reduce this number by reducing Flask Effect via this Jewel

Flasks applied to you have 20% reduced Effect Flasks gain 3 Charges every 3 seconds while they are inactive Survival

(Jewel) Replica Pure Talent - after you connect your Skill Tree to the starting location of Ranger and Scion, it grants you increased Flask Charges gain, and damage

While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Marauder's starting location, you gain: 1% of Life Regenerated per second While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Duelist's starting location, you gain: +2 to Melee Strike Range While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Ranger's starting location, you gain: 20% increased Flask Charges gained While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Shadow's starting location, you gain: 12% increased Attack and Cast Speed While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Witch's starting location, you gain: 20% increased Skill Effect Duration While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Templar's starting location, you gain: +4% Chance to Block Attack and Spell Damage While your Passive Skill Tree connects to the Scion's starting location, you gain: 30% increased Damage

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - it's highly optional, as you're only using Hatred, it can increase your Critical Strike Chance, add Cold Damage, or Cold Damage Penetration

(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 Jewels - It's mainly used to provide more space for Medium Cluster Jewels, but some of the Notables can be very useful

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Stormrider 1 Added Passive Skill is Corrosive Elements 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewels - you should have at least one Flask-related Medium Cluster Jewel with Distilled Perfection, Fasting, and increased effect of the small passives. You can also use a Projectile Jewel for Pierce if you want to save some money on Ice Spear alterate quality Gem

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Distilled Perfection (Flask Effect Duration) 1 Added Passive Skill is Fasting (Flask Charges Gained) 1 Added Passive Skill is Aerodynamics (Pierce)

(Flask) Olroth's Resolve - It has to stay active at all times, you will take a lot of damage but in small quantities, so the Ward won't break. You should be able to get a permanent Flask Effect by investing in a good Rare Belt and one or two Medium Cluster Jewels

Consumes (56-60) of 60 Charges on use +200 to Ward Restores Ward on use (40–50)% increased Charges used Ward does not Break during Flask effect 70% less Ward during Flask Effect

(Flask) Dying Sun - the main purpose of this Flask is to grant you two additional Projectiles and extra Fire Resistance

+50% to Fire Resistance 20% less Fire Damage taken (125-150)% increased Charges per use (60-40)% less Duration (10-20)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect

(Flask) Bottled Faith - it grants a lot of Damage and Critical Strike Chance

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 Flask effect

(Flask) Kiara's Determination - can be used for Onslaught and Immunity for various effects and Ailments

Onslaught Immune to Freeze, Chill, Curses and Stuns during Flask Effect (80-60)% reduced Duration

Other suggested Flasks: Quicksilver Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance One or two empty Flask Slot

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.