Lightning Bladefall
Quad Totem Hierophant
Patch 3.2 Build

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium (5-20 Exalted Orbs)

Hierophant is the class that was severely buffed in Patch 3.2 and will be now number 1 pick for pretty much any Totem Build. This build revolves around the Bladefall skill, which is a powerful area spell. It is one of the few spells that deal physical damage, and in this build, we are aiming for nearly 100% Lighting Damage conversion. With certain uniques listed below the damage output of this build simply skyrockets, while Bladefall itself provides amazing AoE.

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

1. Gameplay

Bladefall is an area spell that makes ethereal blades fall from the sky. They deal physical damage in 5 consecutive waves, each wider than the previous one. This spell provides amazing AoE and damage since damage dealt with Bladefall by each of your Totems can stack. The new Hierophant Class allows you to summon up to 4 Totems each dealing its' full damage which makes it the most suitable class for all the Totem builds. This build DPS is based on nearly 100% Lightning Damage conversion and high Lightning penetration. It also provides very good defenses, thanks to high Life, MoM passive, and good Endurance Charge generation.

0:06 Tier 6 Underground Sea Map 0:35 Tier 9 Arachnid Tomb Map 0:53 Tier 11 Spider Forest Map This video was recorded on a level 85 Hierophant, with only 5-linked Inpulsa's Broken Heart and 3 Labyrinths completed

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling with this Totem build is very easy. All you need is a decent spell damage wand, few links in your main setup, and a habit of upgrading your magic/rare equipment to improve your defenses. Your Tree focuses on Life and Elemental/Spell Damage nodes which are perfect for the leveling phase. You can use Flame Totem until you can start using Bladefall Spell Totem, and level up your end-game Gems at the same time.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Flame Totem setup
	Flame Totem - spawns a Totem, that shoots a beam of fire towards you and your other Totems. It deals very high damage per second to monsters that stay in the beam
	Faster Casting Support - makes your Flame Totem cast spells at a faster rate
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - grants you increased AoE. It is very helpful during leveling
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds extra Lightning Damage to your Flame Totem's projectiles

Bladefall Spell Totem setup
	Spell Totem Support -  will allow you to summon a Totem that will cast the supported spell
	Bladefall- your main DPS spell. It makes ethereal blades fall from the sky and deal physical damage in the targeted area
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds extra Lightning Damage to your Flame Totem's projectiles
	Physical to Lightning Support - converts 50% of the supported skills to Lightning Damage, and also adds additional Lightning Damage

Utility Gems
	Herald of Thunder - adds flat Lighting Damage to your spells
	Clarity - increases your Mana Regeneration rate
	Shield Charge - one of the best mobility skills in PoE

Bandits:

Kill all bandits for additional 2 passive points.

Leveling Skill Trees:

36 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Elementalist 2) Ancestral Bond 3) Quick Recovery 4) Mind over Matter 5) Occultist's Dominion

63 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Amplify 2) Deep Wisdom 3) Blast Radius 4) Devotion 5) Totemic Mastery

Recommended leveling items:

Lifesprig - great leveling wand available from level 1
(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

Praxis - provide amazing mana regeneration. It shines as soon as you get the Mind over Matter passive
+(20-25) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana (3-6) Mana Regenerated per second -(8-4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit

Goldrim - pretty much the best leveling helmet in Path of Exile. It will provide enough resistance to around level 50+
+(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)

Wanderlust - a nice pair of leveling boots that provide increased movement speed and mana regeneration rate
+5 to Dexterity (20-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(10-20) to maximum Energy Shield 20% increased Movement Speed Cannot be Frozen

Lavianga's Wisdom - a fine leveling mace. It's useful after you switch to using Bladefall Spell Totems
10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold +(10-20) to maximum Life +(10-20) to maximum Mana (130-160)% increased Physical Damage 5% reduced Movement Speed 10% increased Area of Effect (10-15)% increased Area Damage

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

115 Points Final Skill Tree
115 Points Path of Building link

Ascendancy points:

1. Pursuit of Faith
2. Conviction of Power
3. Illuminated Devotion
4. Ritual of Awakening

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of 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 Gruthkul - 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Bladefall Spell Totem
	Bladefall - your main DPS spell. It is an area spell which causes ethereal knives to fall from the skies dealing Physical Damage. In this build, the damage is nearly entirely converted to physical and amplified to a very high extent by Passive Skills and items
	Spell Totem Support - will spawn up to 4 Totem that cast the Bladefall spell
	Physical to Lightning Support - a mandatory Gem for this build. It converts Bladefall's Physical Damage to Lightning
	Faster Casting Support - increases the Bladefall's casting speed by your Totems
	Lightning Penetration - makes your Lightning Damage penetrate enemy resistance to Lightning
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds extra lightning damage to your Flame Totem's projectiles

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash/Arcane Surge setup
	Flame Dash - your main mobility skill
	Faster Casting Support - increases the "movement" speed with your FD skill
	Arcane Surge Support - mandatory support Gem for this build(arcane surge provides insane spell damage and increases the area of effect bonuses with Hierophant's Ascendancy passive) It is crucial that Arcane Surge procs with every cast of Flame Dash and you need to adjust its' level accordingly
	Increased Duration Support - increases the duration of AS buffs

[AURAS] Herald of Thunder + Wrath
	Herald of Thunder - adds flat Lightning Damage to your Spells
	Wrath - same as above, but grants a higher bonus for a higher cost
	Enlighten - reduces mana reservation

[UTILITY/DEF] Clarity and Immortal Call
	[1L]Clarity - grants increased mana regen.
	[2L]Cast when Damage Taken Support - auto-casts your supported spells after you take a certain amount of damage. Best to be kept at level 1
	[2L]Immortal Call - grants brief immortality. This Gem's level should not exceed this of CwDT Support Gem

[CURSE] Orb of Storms CoH setup
	Orb of Storms - this spell will apply your curse and generate Power Charges (it is extremely important to gain the Shimmeron's powers)
	Curse on Hit Support - will make Ball Lightning apply your supported curse
	Power Charge on Critical Support - generated Power Charges which greatly increases your Spell Damage and Critical Strike Chance with Shimmeron equipped
	Temporal Chains - the recommended defensive curse option
	(optional)Conductivity - the DPS-oriented curse which lowers further enemy resistance to Lightning Damage

[DEFENSIVE] CwDT Tempest Shield setup
	[3L]Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast the Tempest Shield. It's best to be kept at level 1
	[3L]Tempest Shield - grants increased Block Chance and has a chance to blind enemies on hit
	[3L]Blind Support - will grant your Tempest Shield a chance to Blind nearby enemies
	Stone Golem - recommended pick for this build. Will increase your Life Regeneration per second

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find all the recommended gear for the Bladefall Lighting Conversion Totem Hierophant. This is a rather budget-friendly, and a good League starter build because of very high damage. We have included the cheaper rare alternative gear. It should be more than enough for you to start mapping and collect currency for the end-game uniques. 

If you would like to get the gear right away but lack currency, we would like to invite you to visit our PoE marketplace where you can buy cheap PoE Currency and Items.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances
2. Grant sufficient Life for mapping
3. Give you more than enough damage to enjoy the game
4. Save you at least a couple of hours on planning your build

(Helmet) Rare Life/Res. helmet - simply go for the highest life/res combination you can afford

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance Optional: increased Bladefall Damage increased Bladefall Critical Strike Chance

(Weapon) Rare Wand - simply aim for high Spell Damage, Crit. Chance and added Lightning Damage to Spells

Min. requirements: 60% increased Spell Damage 50% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Added min. 50 Lightning Damage to Spells Optional affixes: Attributes increased Cast Speed

(Weapon) Shimmeron - the best in slot weapon for this build. Also, several unique items have been chosen to mitigate the Lightning Damage dealt by this weapon

(35-39)% increased Spell Damage (30-40)% increased Spell Damage Adds (26-35) to (95-105) Lightning Damage to Spells +(6-10)% to Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge +0.3% Critical Strike Chance per Power Charge 2% additional Chance to Block Spells per Power Charge Adds 3 to 9 Lightning Damage to Spells per Power Charge 400 Lightning Damage taken per second per Power Charge if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently

(Weapon) Void Battery - another decent option. It can be dual-wielded, put in the off-hand slot with Shimmeron or just used as your main hand weapon

(36-40)% increased Spell Damage 80% reduced Spell Damage (10-20)% increased Cast Speed (50-65)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(40-50) to maximum Mana +1 to Maximum Power Charges 25% increased Spell Damage per Power Charge

(Shield) Saffel's Frame - this shield provides a good balance between offence and defence. It is best played in combination with Shimmeron to lower its' self-damage and provide increased chance to block spells

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) +4% to all Elemental Resistances (70-80)% of Block Chance applied to Spells (20-30)% increased Spell Damage +10% to all Elemental Resistances +4% to all maximum Resistances Cannot Block Attacks

(Body Armour) Rare Life/Res. body armour - the budget friendly option until you can afford Soul Mantle. You should have at least 5 sockets there to farm maps effectively

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 15% Fire Resistance 15% Lightning Resistance 15% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes

(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - the best in slot armour for this build. It provides amazing damage buffs and increases the effect of shock

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) +(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (25-40)% increased Effect of Shock Unaffected by Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing (5-10)% of their Maximum Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock

(Body Armour) Carcass Jack - another decent option that provides good defence bonuses and greatly increases Area Damage and Area of Effect of Area Skills

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) (120-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(50-70) to maximum Life +(9-12)% to all Elemental Resistances 20% increased Area of Effect of Area Skills (40-50)% increased Area Damage Extra gore

(Belt) Rare Life/Res. belt - high defensive stats should be your priority

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance

(Boots) Stormcharger - mandatory item for this build. It allows additional 30% damage conversion. Since this is a low level and cheap unique it shouldn't be replaced with anything else

+(1-50)% to Lightning Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed 50% increased Shock Duration on Enemies 30% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock

(Gloves) Rare Life/Res. gloves -  again, high Life/res combination (and low price) is what we are looking for

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes Mana

(Amulet) Rare Life/Crit./Res. amulet

Min. requirements: 75 maximum Life 30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance 10% increased Lightning Spell Damage Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Attributes Mana

(Amulet) Choir of the Storm - the best in slot amulet for this build. Provides insane additional damage, increased Crit Chance and casts Lightning Bolts

+(20-30) to Intelligence (10-20)% increased maximum Mana Critical Strike Chance is increased by Lightning Resistance 50% increased Lightning Damage Trigger Level 20 Lightning Bolt when you deal a Critical Strike

(Rings) 2x Rare Life/Res. Rings - just aim for high defensive stats. Opal Rings with increased Elemental Damage will be the best in slot options

Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 15% Fire Resistance 15% Cold Resistance 15% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: increased Elemental/Lightning Damage increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Attributes Mana

(Jewels) Fluid Motion - mandatory unique jewel for this build. Has to be socketed right above Totemic Mastery in order to match the Dexterity requirement of Bladefall. Rest of the Dex can come from gear (rings, belt) or you can use a second Fluid Motion jewel and socket it right above Devotion node

+(16-24) to Dexterity Strength from Passives in Radius is Transformed to Dexterity

(Jewels) Rare Life/Damage jewels - aim for high defensive stats. Increases to damage should be adjusted to your current budget

Recommended affixes: % increased maximum Life % increased Totem/Elemental/Lightning/Area Damage Optional affixes: % increased Maximum Mana Attributes

(Flask) Vessel of Vinktar - provides the highest DPS bonus out of all available Flasks in Path of Exile. You need to use a shock Immunity Flask if you are not wearing Inpulsa's Broken Heart

0% to Lightning Resistance +6% to maximum Lightning Resistance (80-100)% increased Charges used Shocks nearby Enemies during Flask effect, causing 10% increased Damage taken You are Shocked during Flask effect, causing 50% increased Damage taken Adds (15-25) to (70-90) Lightning Damage to Spells during Flask effect 20% of Lightning Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - another great Flask that provides both defensive and offensive utility

+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (15-20)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (10-15)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

Other suggested Flasks: Cautious Divine Life Flask of Heat (immunity to freeze and chill effects) Cautious Divine Life Flask of Staunching (immunity to bleeding) Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Warding (increased Crit Chance and curse immunity)

We are looking forward to your feedback and suggestions for our next build.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.