Kinetic Blast
Occultist Build

Updated for Patch 3.18

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This is an occultist build that uses Kinetics Blast with Power Siphon. It is based on stacking as much Intelligence as possible so it has a tendency to get exponentially stronger the more currency has been put in it. Stacking Intelligence provides a damage bonus thanks to Shaper's Prefix that can be found on Wands - Adds 1 to (5–6) Lightning Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 10 Intelligence. Using Atziri's Reflection combined with Occultist's ascendancy Notables revolving around curses gives the player a lot of benefits. With Whispers of Doom, you will be able to apply three curses - Conductivity, Sniper's Mark, and Elemental Weakness. Even more with a specific Body Armour Modifier. Besides this one pricey Unique piece of equipment, the build requires other expensive Rare Items granting you Intelligence and Energy Shield. It is not recommended as League Starter mainly because of its price and the fact it is an expensive Attribute-stacking Chaos Inoculation build.

You will be dealing mostly Lighting Damage, the source of it being your Wand. You can stack Attacks Damage as well as Spell Damage, thanks to Crown of Eyes both types of Damage will apply to both of your Wand Attacks. The build relies solely on Energy Shield to stay alive, and as it uses Chaos Inoculation you're completely immune to Chaos Damage and that includes Poisons, with Purity of Elements you're immune to Freeze, Chill, Shock, Ignite, Sap, Brittle, and Scorch, and the Atziri's Reflection makes you unaffected by Curses - Hexes and Marks. The character is unaffected by Stuns too thanks to Vile Bastion Keystone. You're still lacking Armour, Evasion, and your Block Chance is relatively low, but with around 10k of Energy Shield that won't be much of a problem.

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1. Gameplay

By using range attacks - four-linked Kinetic Blast for clear and six-linked Power Siphon with Barrage Support for single targets this build plays really smoothly. The damage scales with Power Charges so it is important to get all of them not only from a passive skill tree but also by having mods benefiting from Power Charges, such as Increased Damage per Power Charge. As for defense layers, the Curse immunity granted by Atziri's Reflection provides more damage and survivability. Life will be set to 1 and Choas Resistance will equal 100% at all times. Ghost Reaver and Zealot's Oath Keystones are great defensive options if your character doesn't have any Life - it grants Recovery and Leech for ES.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling with a build such as this can be tricky. To reach its full potential it requires level 68 Shaper Mod on a Wand and Atziri Reflection - available at level 70. Not only that, during leveling phase, the character's skill tree will be vastly different from its final form - possibly requiring Orbs Of Regret later in the game to change it. The point at which you switch between the leveling tree and the final tree depends on the gear your character wears and how much ES it has  - picking Increased Maximum Life and maybe Chaos Resistance before allocating Chaos Inoculation is important. Both - Kinetic Blast and Power Siphon skill gems are Projectile Attacks, thus starting at Witch's location may result in lacking damage, allocating Wand Masteries on Skill Tree early on might be useful.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Kinetic Blast setup
	Kinetic Blast - your primary Attack for dealing with packs of enemies that will be used in the endgame build as well
	Damage on Full Life Support - a good choice when having a lot of ES already
	Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support - good for clearing
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - greatly increases damage

Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - great Mobility Skill
	Faster Casting Support - improves your Flame Dash casting speed and movement

Power Siphon setup
	Power Siphon - skill to deal with single targets
	Barrage Support - Your projectiles are fired sequentially
	Damage on Full Life Support - good if you can stay on full Life
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - greatly improves damage

Bandits:

KIlling all Bandits and claiming two additional points is the most favorable option.

Leveling Skill Trees:

33 Points Skill Tree
Get some Spell Damage, Maximum Life, and allocate the two Wand Cluster with Masteries

62 Points Skill Tree
Allocate the Extra Power Charges Notables and Disciple of the Forbidden

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - grants all the important stats - Attributes, Damage, and Resistances. Perfect leveling ring

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - Staple headgear for keeping your Elemental Resistances high

+(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 - Having a 6-linked white socket Body Armour comes with no downsides - other than granting nothing else of course

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

Storm Prison - Requires only level 12 and it's dirt cheap, other bonuses highly benefit you at this stage of the game.

(11-15)% increased Spell Damage (40-60)% increased Physical Damage Adds 1 to (35-45) Lightning Damage (15-25)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +1 to Maximum Power Charges (25-35)% chance to gain a Power Charge on Kill

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Vile Bastion
2. Malediction
3. Forbidden Power
4. Profane Bloom

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 Ralakesh: Moving while Bleeding doesn't cause you to take extra Damage; 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time Damage taken while moving

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Kinetic Blast setup (in Elder or Shaper Gloves)
	Kinetic Blast - Ranged Attack with excellent clear that can be used as a quasi-six link in Elder or Shaper Gloves and offer much better damage
	Damage on Full Life Support - with Chaos Inoculation you will be always on Full Life, but you can also use  Elemental Damage with Attacks, its bonus to your DPS is almost the same
	Inspiration Support - besides giving some damage, it reduces the Mana cost of skills by a lot
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - drastically enhances clear speed
Gems provided by Gloves:
	Faster Projectiles Support - increase your Kinetic Blast's Projectile Speed
	Faster Attacks Support - grants increased Attack Speed

[DPS] Power Siphon setup
	Power Siphon - Excellent scaling with Power Charges and Culling Strike makes this Attack the best single target skill. It won't offer good clear speed because of the Barrage Support
	Lightning Penetration Support -  you deal more Elemental Damage by reducing the Lightning Resistance of your enemies
	Barrage Support - our projectiles are fired sequentially, focusing at one enemy
	Damage on Full Life Support - reaps the benefits of staying at 1 Life at all times
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - Best-in-slot when it comes to increasing your damage
	Added Lightning Damage Support - Additional Lightning Damage is added to reach Attack, if your Critical Strike Chance is high, use  Increased Critical Damage Support instead.

[UTILITY] Wave of Conviction setup
	Wave of Conviction - you are going to use this skill with Hextouch so that it can apply the Conductivity Curse as well as the inherent for this skill Exposure
	Conductivity - Curses enemies making them more vulnerable to the type of damage you are dealing, but in the best case it can be applied on-hit via Ring Affix.
	Hextouch - Curses enemies with Conductivity after getting hit by Wave of Conviction
	Precision - grants Accuracy and Critical Strike Chance

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash and Guard Spell setup
	Flame Dash - main Mobility Skill which allows you to travel faster and avoid incoming damage
	Immortal Call - it will keep you safe by preventing a huge portion of damage from hits from reaching you, keep it at level 3
	Cast when Damage Taken - it should automatically trigger Immortal Call at level 1

[UTILITY] Arcanist Brand setup
	Arcanist Brand - Brand that triggers linked to it Spells - Curses in this case
	Elemental Weakness - Curse lowering all Elemental Resistances of the enemies, it can be applied via Ring Affix
	Sniper's Mark - Curse that makes attacking Cursed enemies with Projectiles more effective, use it against bosses

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Wrath - Adds Lightning Damage to Attacks making it the best Aura in terms of DPS for this build
	Purity of Elements - use for additional Elemental Resistances and complete immunity to Elemental Ailments such as Freeze or Ignite
	Enlighten Support - Lowers the Reserved Mana cost of Aura Skills
	Discipline - additional Energy Shield - over 1.5k in the later stages of the game

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find all the gear you need to run this build. It requires fairly expensive items so you should be prepared to spend a bunch of Exalted Orbs to reach this build's maximum potential. You can still replace plenty of Items with cheaper rares, but this build will offer substantially less DPS. Focus on gathering Energy Shield, Intelligence, and added or increased Lighting or Elemental Damage with Spells or Attacks. Block Chance or any other way to Dodge or Avoid Hits might be desirable stat - these are one of your most exploitable weaknesses. You won't need ES recharge Rate as you have Ghost Reaver Keystone. Keep in mind the relatively high requirements for Dexterity and Strength.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Crown of Eyes - Spell Damage now applies to Attacks, meaning your Power Siphon and Kinetic Blast will have vastly increased Damage, this item is mandatory.

+(300-350) to Accuracy Rating (120-150)% increased Energy Shield -30% to Fire Resistance (0.4-0.8)% of Attack Damage Leeched as Life (0.2-0.4)% of Attack Damage Leeched as Mana Increases and Reductions to Spell Damage also apply to Attacks at 150% of their value

Helmet enchantments: Enchantment Power Siphon Additional Projectiles 2

(Weapon) Rare Wand - Rare Wand With Shaper's Prefix - Adds 1 to (5–6) Lightning Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 10 Intelligence is absolutely necessary. Have it ready as soon as you're able to wield it.

Min. requirements: Adds 1 to 6 Lightning Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 10 Intelligence # to Intelligence Optional affixes: +#% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier #% increased Spell Damage Adds # to # Lightning Damage

(Shield) Atziri's Reflection - Hex Refelcion and Immunity to Curses makes this one of the best items. In Addition to that, it also grants Intelligence, a huge amount of ES, Evasion, and Elemental Resistances. It's worth its price.

6% increased Movement Speed +(40-60) to Intelligence (180-200)% increased Evasion Rating +(180-200) to maximum Energy Shield +(20-30)% to all Elemental Resistances Hex Reflection Unaffected by Curses (15-20)% increased Effect of your Curses

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - Definitely our go-to armor. Aim for the highest Energy Shield and Intelligence mods, typically found on Shaper's Body Armour.

Min. requirements: # to Intelligence #% increased Intelligence # to maximum Energy Shield #% Increased Energy Shield Optional affixes: You can apply an additional Curse #% increased damage per Power Charge #% increased Elemental Resistances #% increased Attributes

(Boots) Rare Boots - try to get more Elemental Resistances. Get with the highest ES, Resistances, and Movement Speed

Min. requirements: # to Intelligence 25% increased Movement Speed Pick mods granting Elemental Resistances and Energy Shield mods that fit your budget. Optional affixes: You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently #% increased Effect of Tailwind on you Cannot be Frozen Chance to gain Onslaught on Kill

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

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Elder mods with build-in Support Gems that upgrades your Projectiles or Attacks skill are valuable, and later on absolutely required to have

Min. requirements: # to Intelligence Pick mods granting Elemental Resistances and Energy Shield mods that fit your budget. Optional affixes: #% increased Projectile Speed Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 25 Faster Projectiles #% increased Projectile Damage Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 25 Slower Projectiles #% increased Attack Speed Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Faster Attacks

(Belt) Rare Belt - most likely a Stygian Vise for extra Abyss Socket. Synyhesised Belt with #% Increased Intelligence on its Affix is the best choice.

Min. requirements: # to Intelligence Pick mods granting Elemental Resistances and Energy Shield mods that fit your budget. Optional affixes: #% Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - Good Amulet is a gamechanger, it can give a huge amount of Intelligence and increased Damage per Intelligence

Min. requirements: #% Increased Damage per 15 Intelligence # to Intelligence #% Increased Intelligence Optional affixes: #% Increased Damage per Power Charge #% Increased Elemental Resistances

Recommended Anointments: Tranquility

(Ring) Rare Ring - You can try to get Conductivity or Elemental Weakness Curse on Hit but be mindful not to exceed your Curse Limit - two, three with Whispers of Doom, and four with Hunter's Prefix on Body Armour for Extra Curse, and of course try to gain more Intelligence.

Min. requirements: # to Intelligence Pick mods granting Elemental Resistances and Energy Shield mods that fit your budget Optional affixes: Curse Enemies with Conductivity on Hit, with #% increased Effect Curse Enemies with Elemental Weakness on Hit, with #% increased Effect increased Intelligence increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Maximum Energy Shield

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - To be put in a belt, it grants similar stats to regular Jewels, but in a flat numerical value instead of increasing the existing ones.

Recommended affixes: Adds # to # Lightning Damage to Attacks # to Maximum Energy Shield

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - they should provide extra ES, Damage, and intelligence. There will be a lot of them in the build, you will have 7 or more Sockets to fill.

Recommended affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: maximum resistance increased Cast Speed increased Attack Speed with Wands increased Lightning Damage # to Intelligence

(Jewel) Emperor's Wit - increases your Crit Chance by 30% and Intelligence by up to 6%, it's an expensive one

30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance 3% increased Character Size (4-6)% increased Intelligence

(Jewel) Split Personality - you should strive for increased Intelligence with these, put them as far from your starting location as possible, and aim for Intelligence and Energy Shield

This Jewel's Socket has 25% increased effect per Allocated Passive Skill between it and your Class' starting location <Two random modifiers>

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - You're using Precision, Wrath, Discipline, and Purity of Elements. Wrath's Lightning Penetration or Presicion's Attack Speed are some of the best mods.

(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 - you are going to use two Large Cluster Jewels, preferably with no Notable Passives, but only high Tier Intelligence/Energy Shield bonuses on the small ones and preferably 12 Added Passives on them

Recommended affixes: Added Small Passive Skills also grant: #% increased Damage Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +# to Intelligence Added Small Passive Skills also grant: +# to Maximum Energy Shield Added Small Passive Skills have 35% increased Effect

(Flask) Bottled Faith - Expensive flask increasing Damage and Critical Strike Chance against enemies on Consecrated Ground

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) Vessel of Vinktar - it Shocks nearby enemies increasing your Damage and grants you Life Leech, while the Shock that would normally affect you is not applied thanks to Purity of Elements

(125-150)% increased Charges per use Shocks nearby Enemies during Flask effect, causing 10% increased Damage taken You are Shocked during Flask effect, causing 50% increased Damage taken 20% of Lightning Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect one of the following: Damage Penetrates 6% Lightning Resistance during Flask effect Adds (10-15) to (55-65) Lightning Damage to Spells during Flask effect Adds (10-15) to (55-65) Lightning Damage to Attacks during Flask effect

(Flask) Dying Sun - Dying Sun is an excellent Flask due to the increased number of Fired Projectiles during its effect. Less Fire Damage is also a positive.

+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

Other suggested Flasks: Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Staunching for immunity to Bleeding Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline for increased Movement Speed Granite Flask with a random Ailment 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.