Poet's Pen
Volatile Dead/Unearth
Inquisitor Templar build

Updated for Patch 3.5

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: low

This is one of the most enjoyable builds in Path of Exile. We have previously made a Berserker build based on the Poet's Pens wands, but since patch 3.2 and the redesign of Berserker Ascendancy class it is no longer efficient. This led us to make this Templar Inquisitor guide, which provides the highest end-game DPS out of all Ascendancy classes in this setup. This build utilizes the newly added Gems in Patch 3.1 - Volatile Dead, Unearth, and Bodyswap which complement each other in a fascinating way.

You can also find the full list of our other Path of Exile Builds right here: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Poet's Pen Inquisitor is a ranged build, which relies on high Attack Speed of your Frenzy Attack Skill. Frenzy will trigger spells socketed in your Poet's Pens wands and generate Frenzy Charges for even higher Attack Speed. Volatile Dead, which is your core spell will provide amazing DPS and instantly clear entire screens. This makes it one of the most enjoyable and visually appealing builds out there.

0:06 Tier 14 Colosseum 0:34 Tier 16 Marshes 0:54 Tier 15 Dig This video was recorded on a level 83 Inquisitor. At that time Anger was used, which is not removed in order to maintain high Mana for Mind over Matter and grant much better defenses

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

It’s one of the easiest and fastest characters to level up. You can use your endgame wands (Poet's Pen) starting at level 12 so you don’t have to worry about changing equipment every few levels. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Frost Blades setup
	Frost Blades - one of the first attack skills you can get after killing Hillock. You will switch it to Frenzy at level 16 for triggering Poet’s Pen skills
	Added Cold Damage Support - great buff to your Frost Blades DPS
	Onslaught Support - grants a chance to gain Onslaught buff on a kill

Volatile Dead setup (1st Poet's Pen)
	Volatile Dead  - it’s our main DPS skill, it will explode corpses and send Fireballs towards enemies
	Elemental Focus Support– increases elemental damage by a lot (can be used from level 18)
	Concentrated Effect Support

Unearth setup (2nd Poet's Pen)
	Unearth - it will fire projectiles and summon bone archers on impact. It also provides additional corpses for Volatile Dead
	Lesser Missiles Projectiles Support - it will send 2 additional Unearth’s projectiles. Replace with Greater Missiles Projectiles at level 38
	Power Charge on Critical Strike Support - it will grant Power Charges which increases your Critical Strike Chance (can be used since level 18)

Frenzy setup
	Frenzy - our main single target skill, triggering skills socketed into Poet’s Pens and grants frenzy charges, that increases Attack, Movement, and Cast Speed, on top of that increases physical damage per Frenzy Charge
	Lesser Missiles Projectiles Support
	Faster Attacks - increases Attack Speed of your Frenzy skill, which results in the faster triggering of Poet’s Pet socketed spells
	Life Gain on Hit Support

Utility Gems
	Stone Golem - provides additional life regeneration
	Assassin's Mark - the recommended curse option for this build, increases critical strike chance versus cursed enemies
	Anger - adds additional Fire damage to spells and attacks

Bandits:

We suggest killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

34 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Sanctity 2) Retribution 3) Heart and Soul 4) Amplify 5) Annihilation 6) Blast Radius

62 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Cruel Preparation 2) Coordination 3) Arcane Potency 4) Throatseeker 

Recommended leveling items:

Praxis –great leveling ring, which reduces the mana cost of skills by a lot
+(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

Doedre’s Tenure - extremely powerful gloves, that grant a lot of spell damage for our Volatile Dead/Unearth. Reduced cast speed doesn’t affect our build because spells are triggered based on your Attack Speed
(50-60)% increased Spell Damage +20 to Intelligence 15% reduced Cast Speed +32 to maximum Energy Shield

Karui Ward - amazing DPS and movement speed bonuses granted by this amulet, make it the best in slot leveling item for our projectile focused build
+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Strength +100 to Accuracy Rating 30% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Projectile Damage

The Poet’s Pen - our build defining weapon, we can use it since level 12, mandatory to wear 2 of them, both with 3-linked sockets
(11-15)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems per 25 Player Levels Adds 3 to 5 Physical Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 3 Player Levels (8-12)% increased Attack Speed Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Attack

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

115 Points Final Skill Tree
115 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Righteous Providence
2. Inevitable Judgement
3. Instruments of Virtue
4. Augury of Penitence

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

5. Final Gems links

[DPS/TRIGGER] Frenzy setup (preferable in Elder Gloves)
	Frenzy - main attack skill. It is used to trigger the Poet's Pen socketed spells and generate additional Frenzy Charges
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - increases the number of Frenzy's projectiles by 4. Hence greatly increasing the number of Frenzy's hits
	Curse on Hit Support - will make Frenzy apply your supported curse
	Assassin's Mark - recommended Curse for this build. It increases the chance for cursed enemies to be critically hit

[UTILITY] Herald of Ash
	Herald of Ash - grants additional Fire Damage and causes AoE Explosions. Since it reserves only 25% of your Mana it's the best pick for this build

[UTILITY] Curse/Immortal Call setup
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast supported skills after a certain amount of damage is taken. It is recommended to keep this Gem at level 5
	Immortal Call - grants brief immunity to physical damage. Keep it at level 7
	Temporal Chains - will slow down nearby enemies reducing the chance of you dying. Keep it at level 8

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - mobility Spell. It will proc the Instruments of Virtue buff so you have to use it once in a while
	Faster Casting Support - grant faster movement speed with Flame Dash

[UTILITY] Golem
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast your Golem Spell
	Summon Lightning Golem - grants increased Attack Speed. If you have at least 4 attacks per second without it, you may as well use Ice or Stone Golem

[DPS] Volatile Dead setup (1st Poet's Pen)
	Volatile Dead - your main DPS. Will cause corps toes explode and send Fireballs on nearby enemies
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - increases the Critical Strike Chance of your Volatile Dead spell. It is a mandatory Gem in this setup since Crits ignore monster's Elemental Resistance
	Concentrated Area Effect Support - increases area damage of explosions by a lot, at the cost of reduced area of effect

[DPS] Unearth setup (2nd Poet's Pen)
	Bodyswap - makes your body explode dealing Fire area damage. Also, "teleports" you to the targeted corpse
	Unearth - provides additional corpses for Volatile Dead explosions, as well as deals moderate physical/projectile damage
	Greater Missiles Projectiles Support - increases the number of Unearth projectiles

5. Gear Setup

Poet's Pen Inquisitor is budget and beginner-friendly build. It does not require anything above 4 links and the core items shouldn't cost more than few Exalted Orbs. Your main weapons have only 3 sockets, and all the other gear is used for utility and defenses. This allows most of the items to be standard Life/Res rares, making the gear very easy to obtain. At the same time, the build scales very well with end-game high Spell Damage gear.

If you would like to try out this build but lack PoE Currency, we are delighted to invite you to our POE Market section where you can buy cheap Orbs and Unique Items.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully
3. Save you at least a couple of hours, as it's already all planned out for you!

(Helmet) Rat's Nest - the best in the slot item for this build. It is also very cheap and easily accessible even early in the League

15% increased Attack Speed (60-75)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance 150% increased Evasion Rating (20-25)% increased Rarity of Items found 10% increased Movement Speed 10% reduced Character Size

(Helmet) Starkonja’s Head - another great helmet option for this build. Provides slightly more defensive utility compared to Rat's Nest but will lack the extra crit

50% reduced Damage when on Low Life +(50-70) to Dexterity 10% increased Attack Speed 25% increased Global Critical Strike Chance (100-130)% increased Evasion Rating +(80-100) to maximum Life 150% increased Global Evasion Rating when on Low Life

Helmet enchantment: 40% increased Volatile Dead Damage Volatile Dead destroys up to 1 additional Corpse

(Weapon) The Poet’s Pen - you have to dual wield these Wands. This is the mandatory item for this build. You will be triggering spells socketed in Poet's Pen with your attack skills (Frenzy)

(11-15)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems per 25 Player Levels Adds 3 to 5 Physical Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 3 Player Levels (8-12)% increased Attack Speed Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Attack

(Body Armour) Belly of the Beast - always a good choice for a Life build. But since anything above 4 links in your Frenzy setup is considered a luxury, Kaom's Heart provides higher Life and DPS bonuses and approximately same price

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) (150-200)% increased Armour (30-40)% increased maximum Life +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances 50% increased Flask Life Recovery rate Extra gore

(Body Armour) Kaom's Heart - the BiS armour for the build. Grants amazing defensive bonuses as well as extra Fire Damage

Has no Sockets +500 to maximum Life (20-40)% increased Fire Damage

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - until you can afford the Kaom's Heart, you can use any rare Body Armour with Life and Elemental Resistances. It doesn’t need any sockets because 4-link in helm for our frenzy setup is enough, but can always host a CwDT+Immortal Call setup

5% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) 30% reduced Chance to Block Attacks and Spells (600-650)% increased Armour 10% reduced Movement Speed 50% increased Shock Duration on You Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

(Boots) Rare Boots - simply aim for the highest affordable defensive stats

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Reduced cooldown recovery speed (Shaper affix)

(Boots) Darkray Vectors - a very nice pair of boots. They provide additional Movement Speed, Dodge Chance per Frenzy Charge and 1 additional maximum Frenzy Charge

(40-70)% increased Armour and Evasion +(20-40)% to Lightning Resistance 5% increased Movement Speed per Frenzy Charge +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges 40% reduced Frenzy Charge Duration 25% reduced Light Radius 2% chance to Dodge Attacks per Frenzy Charge

Boot enchantment: 0.6% of Damage Leeched as Life and Mana if you've Killed Recently 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently

(Belt) Rare Belt - again, we try to grab one with the highest Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances bonuses

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life 35 Strength 35% Fire Resistance 35% Lightning Resistance 35% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Reduced cooldown recovery speed (Shaper affix)

(Belt) Rare Stygian Vise - pretty much the best in slot item for this build. Grants amazing boost with the extra Abyss jewel, but a Stygian Vise will be much more expensive than a similar Leather Belt without the socket

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 35% Fire Resistance 35% Lightning Resistance 35% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Reduced cooldown recovery speed (Shaper affix)

(Amulet) Rare Amulet

Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 50 Dexterity 10% All Elemental Resistances 30% increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes maximum Mana

(Ring) Rare Rings - with Opal Rings being the best for this build

Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 45 maximum Life 80% mixed Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Fire/Elemental Damage Attributes

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - preferably Elder gloves with Faster Attacks and Faster Projectiles affixes

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life Socketed Gems are Supported by level # Faster Attacks Socketed Gems are Supported by level # Faster Projectiles Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances

(Gloves) Atziri's Acuity - potent gloves for this build. They are best used with Life and Mana Leech Boot enchantment

+(60-80) to Intelligence +(60-75) to maximum Life (200-220)% increased Armour (25-35)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance You have Vaal Pact if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently

(Jewels) Abyss Jewels - Abyss Jewel that grants a chance to gain Onslaught on kill is recommended

Recommended affixes: maximum Life a chance to grant Onslaught on Kill for 4 seconds Optional affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier maximum Mana

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - they should provide extra Life and damage bonuses

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Area/Spell/Fire Damage Critical Strike Multiplier (Global or with Elemental/Fire Skills)

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - provides additional damage and Life Leech

+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: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (immunity to Bleeding) Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Warding (immunity to Curses) Experimenter’s Diamond Flask of Reflexes (more Critical Strike Chance and Evasion) Experimenter’s Quicksilver Flask of Heat (increased Movement Speed and Freeze/Chill immunity)

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

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