Soulrend/Bane
Chaos DoT Trickster build

Updated for Patch 3.19

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In Patch 3.19 both Soulrend and Trickster saw a massive buff. Base Damage Over Time for Soulrend got increased by approximately 2 Gem Levels worth of DoT, which is a huge bonus for a Skill that's usually scaled via increasing Gem Levels. Soulrend is a projectile skill, that pierces through all enemies, applying DoT effect in an area around enemies. Bane skill not only applies DoT but also all linked the Curses on each cast, dealing much more damage for each Curse applied this way. On top of massive chaos damage, this build has insane Defense, thanks to the Temporal Chains Curse and Energy Shield leech from Soulrend. It's also a great starter build because it doesn't require expensive uniques to start dealing massive damage.

The new 3.19 version of Trickster is packed with defensive options for Evasion and Energy Shield characters. The build uses Chaos Inoculation for a complete Chaos Immunity, and a big amount of Energy Shield to protect our precious 1 Maximum Life. The character is capable of accumulating a lot of Evasion Rating - around 30 to 70k of it, and easily caps 100% Spell Suppression Chance. Use Ghost Dance and Spellbreaker for quick ES Recovery. New Polymath Node is one of the best Ascendancy Passive in the game currently, providing not only Damage but also strong Recovery on Kill, which is very noticeable during general mapping. Soulred itself grants you a lot of ES Leech too. You'll also have a somewhat decent Block Chance against Spells as well as Attacks that can be expanded on. The damage is extremely easy to scale - Soulrend is one of the few Skills that Spell Damage scales with its DoT - a lot of mods will match the build.

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

1. Gameplay

For your general mapping, casting Soulrend in the monsters' general direction is enough to clear whole packs, thanks to Soulrend homing projectiles. For Bosses and other tough opponents, you should cast Bane in order to apply Socketed Curses, and channel Blight socketed in Essence crafted Gloves. Chaos Infusion that you get from channeling for a few seconds increases both Blight and Soulrend Damage. During boss fights deploy Spell Totems - these will apply withered debuff increasing your Chaos Damage. For your movement, you are going to use Flame DashThe Mana Reserving Spells that are best suited for this build are Malevolence, Discipline, and Grace.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

For leveling, we are going to use Blight, before we can switch to Bane/Soulrend setup. Every node on the Passive Skill Tree that we are picking for the final build will boost our leveling Skills as well, so leveling should be very fast and easy. On top of that, we can add Spell Totem that will cast Wither to increase Chaos Damage Taken by enemies. You're forced to start as a Life build, and later transition to ES one after allocating Chaos Inoculation.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Blight setup
	Blight - one of the first available Chaos spells in PoE
	Arcane Surge Support - after spending enough Mana, it grants a buff that increases your Spell Damage damage and Mana Regeneration
	Void Manipulation Support - increases Chaos damage
	Efficacy Support - increases your Spell Damage and Damage over Time

Soulrend setup
	Soulrend - this will be your main skill. Start using it as soon as it's possible to buy it from a vendor
	Swift Affliction Support - insane damage boost to Damage over Time which is our main source of damage
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - additional projectiles are necessary for decent clear speed
	Efficacy Support - just like above, Efficacy applies to both damaging effects of Soulrend

Bane setup
	Bane - this will be our secondary skill. It will apply more DoT and Curses linked to it
	Controlled Destruction Support - insane damage boost to Damage at the meaningless cost of Critical Strike Chance
	Temporal Chains - insane survivability Curse, which lowers enemies' Attack and Movement speed
	Despair - increases Chaos and DoT damage versus cursed enemies

Utility Gems
	Malevolence - a great Aura that increases Damage over Time
	Grace - grants Evasion Rating, don't need to worry about Evasion on gear during leveling thanks to this single aura

Bandits:

We recommend killing all bandits for 2 Passive Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:
We recommend taking some extra Life and Chaos Damage Passives for leveling that you can later refund with quest respec points (there are 20 respec points available from quests)

32 Points Skill Tree
First pick Entropy, Blood siphon, Wasting, and go for Artopy taking up some Life nodes on the way

67 Points Skill Tree
Pick Arcane Sanctuary, Influence, and Leadership to unlock more auras and go for Corruption and Heart of Darkness for DMG and Cruel Preparations for Life

Recommended leveling items:

Goldrim - one of the best leveling helmets in Path of Exile, will fix your Elemental Resistances during leveling
+(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)

Lochtonial Caress - powerful Gloves, which provide Cast Speed and Power/Frenzy/Endurance Charges generation

(10-15)% increased Attack Speed (10-15)% increased Cast Speed +(20-30) to maximum Life (15-10)% reduced maximum Mana 10% chance to gain a Power, Frenzy or Endurance Charge on Kill Conduit

Wanderlust - perfect boots granting a lot of Movement Speed that you can use since level 1

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

Le Heup of All - they provide everything - Attributes, Damage, and Resistances. Perfect choices for the whole leveling process

(10-30)% increased Damage +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Lifesprig - great leveling wand, that adds a lot of Spell Damage and Cast Speed. It's recommended to dual-wield them

+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

Allelopathy - in Path 3.19 those gloves got their required level reduced and should carry you through the campaign with ease

Grants Level 22 Blight Skill (100-120)% increased Energy Shield 10% increased Area of Effect Blight has (20-30)% increased Hinder Duration You cannot be Hindered

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

109 Points Skill Tree before going for Chaos Inoculation (Life-based and no Cluster Jewels)
98 Points Final Skill Tree (Ready for CI and Cluster Jewels)
118 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Polymath
2. One Step Ahead
3. Escape Artist
4. Spell Breaker

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] Soulrend
	Soulrend - your primary source of DPS, it's a Projectile that deals Choas Damage over Time and prices through all enemies. Most Supports have their Awakened version for even bigger Damage increase
	Swift Affliction Support- insane damage boost to Damage over Time which is our main source of damage
	Void Manipulation Support - makes you deal much more Chaos Damage - it's highly recommended to use the Awakened version for an additional Gem Level
	Controlled Destruction Support - high Spell Damage boost at exchange of reduced Critical Strike Chance, which doesn't affect our build
	Pinpoint Support - this is our Support for significantly faster map clear. It increases your number of projectiles while progressing, and limits it, increasing the DPS when fighting Bosses
	Arcane Surge Support - it's the best option to increase your Damage, it's even better after allocating Arcane Heroism
Optional gem options
	Empower -  Increases level of Soulrend, which scales really well, but require high investments to truly shine

[UTILITY] Bane setup
	Bane - this will be our secondary skill. It will apply more DoT and Curses linked to it
	Controlled Destruction Support - insane damage boost to Damage over Time with no true downside
	Temporal Chains - insane defensive Curse, which slows enemies' Attack and Movement speed and increases the duration of Debuffs
	Despair - increases DoT damage versus cursed enemies and lowers their Chaos Resistances

[UTILITY] Blight setup
	Blight - this is used mainly in single target situations. It's also useful for Chaos Infusion Buff which increases all your Damage
	Efficacy Support - increases Damage Over Time but also Skill Effect duration
	Void Manipulation - increases Chaos Damage of Supported Skill, but reduces Elemental Damage that we don't deal anyway
	Infused Channeling- increases DoT damage, and after casting for 0,6 seconds you get a Buff that increases Chaos Damage dealt
Optional Gem when using Allelopathy
	Controlled Destruction Support - again, it is the best Support gem we can use for most of our skills

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Malevolence - a great Aura that increases Damage over Time and increases Skills Duration
	Discipline - grants additional  Energy Shield and increased Recharge Rate
	Grace - grants additional and increased Evasion Rating
	Enlighten - reduces mana reservation allowing more Auras to fit in

[UTILITY] Wither setup
	Wither - it can be stacked up to 15 times, affected opponents take increased Chaos Damage
	Spell Totem Support - Wither is cast by Totems so you don't have to
	Multiple Totems Support - additional Totems are used to apply the 15 stack of Wither even faster

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - one of the best Movement Skills you can use

[UTILITY] Immortal Call setup
	Immortal Call - grants brief Physical Damage immunity. Keep this Gem at level 3
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast supported spells after a certain amount of damage is taken by the player. Do not upgrade it above level 1

5. Gear Setup

Unfortunately, Cluster Jewels are far more efficient at scaling Chaos DoTs than regular passive tree nodes.  With upcoming in Patch 3.19 changes to Harvest, we hope acquiring one is going to be far easier than before. They are not required for the build to actually work. Regular passives are just not optimal, but still, provide enough bonuses for this build to map smoothly. Because we are using Chaos Inoculation Keystone, solid Energy Shield and Evasion items are necessary. For the League start scenario, we recommend staying as Hybrid Life and Energy Shield for some time before you commit fully to Energy Shield character.  Trickster's Escape Artist Passive grants additional Energy Shield based on Evasion from Body Armour, so try to look for one with high Evasion and Energy Shield on top of it, or try to craft it on Sadist Garb base Armour since it has the highest base Evasion Rating and Energy Shield yourself. For the rest of the gear, try to get as much Energy Shield as possible, while still capping your Elemental Resistances and Chance to Suppress Spell Hits. For Damage, Soulrend scales best with additional Chaos Gem Levels and Damage Over Time Multipliers available on weapons and amulets. 

If you are looking for cheap PoE Currency, we would love to invite you to visit our PoE Market section which can be accessed via the menu bar at top of the page.

The recommended items from our list will:

1. Help you cap your Elemental Resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Energy Shield to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - the basic Energy Shield and Evasion Rating with a bit of Spell Suppression Chance is a good enough option

Min. requirements: 100 Energy Shield +50% Total Elemental Resistances Nearby Enemies have -#% to Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Evasion Rating Chance to Suppress Spell Damage increased Energy Shield

(Helmet) Crown of the Inward Eye - The Life and Armour aspects grants you nothing, but it's still one of the best Helmet - it provides you with a lot of ES and Evasion Rating

333% increased Armour and Energy Shield (9-21)% increased maximum Life, Mana and Global Energy Shield Transfiguration of Soul Transfiguration of Body Transfiguration of Mind

Helmet enchantment: Soulrend deals 40% increased Damage

(Weapon) Rare Spell Dagger or Wand - it can be expensive if you aim for two global Gem Level modifiers, but that's the best way to increase your Damage

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier increased Chaos Damage

(Shield) Rare Shield - try to achieve as much Energy Shield and Evasion Rating as you can, on top of that you should get more Elemental Resistances and Chance to Suppress Spell Damage here. you can also get an additional Chaos Skill Gem Level here

Min. requirements: 30% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage +50% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skill Gems Evasion Rating Energy Shield increased chance to Block

(Body Armour)Rare Armour - to fully utilize Trickster Ascendancy you need high Evasion and some Energy Shield here. Also, it is the biggest source of Spell Suppression Chance

Min. requirements: 1000 Evasion Rating 250 Energy Shield  20% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage +50% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skill Gems Evasion Rating Energy Shield increased chance to Block

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - the reasons for it being the best Armour are increased Global Defences - ES and Evasion, and +2 to Level of Socketed Gems - it includes Empower Support. You need the rest of your gear to be good to make use of Global Defences

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 Boots - seek Energy Shield, Evasion Rating, Movement Speed, and Elemental Resistances

Min. requirements: +60% Total Elemental Resistances 100 Energy Shield 25% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Evasion Rating chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill

(Gloves)Allelopathy - until you get solid pair of Rare Gloves you can use this Unique as a cheap and solid replacement

Grants Level 22 Blight Skill (100-120)% increased Energy Shield 10% increased Area of Effect Blight has (20-30)% increased Hinder Duration You cannot be Hindered

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - by using Essence of Delirium you can obtain a special modifier that serves as the 5th link for Blight for your single target damage.

Min. requirements: +50% Total Elemental Resistances 100 Energy Shield Socketed Gems deal 30% more Damage over Time Optional affixes: increased Evasion and Energy Shield increased Spell Damage Evasion Rating

(Belt) Bated Breath - Bated Breath is a cheap Belt for more Energy Shield

+(15-25) to Intelligence 10% increased Damage +(20-30) to maximum Energy Shield 20% increased maximum Energy Shield 50% increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate

(Belt) Rare Belt - It's a great opportunity to get more Strength. Get more Energy Shield and Elemental Resistances too.

Min. requirements: +30 to Strength +40 to maximum Energy Shield +70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Damage 15% increased maximum Energy Shield (Crusader's)

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - amulet provides many strong DPS options, while also boosting your energy Shield significantly

Min. requirements: 20% increased maximum Energy Shield +70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: +20% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier +20% to Damage over Time Multiplier +1 to Level of all Chaos Skill Gems Attributes +40 to Maximum Energy Shield

Recommended Annointments: Acrimony Disciple of Slaughter

(Ring) Rare Ring - It is the best pick. Should grant added Energy Shield and cap your Elemental Resistances. Iolite Rings are good as they grant you increased Chaos Damage.

Min. requirements: +35 to maximum Energy Shield +70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Strength increased Chaos Damage +140 Evasion Rating

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - with 3 Large Cluster Jewels you will have a lot of Jewels Sockets, use them mostly for Rare Jewels

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Energy Shield increased Spell Damage/Spell Damage while holding a Shield increased Chaos Damage increased Damage over Time

(Jewels) Watcher's Eye - it can enhance your Auras, the additional Damage over Time Multiplier with Malevelonece being the strongest DPS option

(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 - these can get you a lot of Chaos Damage increases, and Arcane Heroism which is great for its Arcane Surge modifiers

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall 1 Added Passive Skill is Unholy Grace 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil 1 Added Passive Skill is Arcane Heroism 1 Added Passive Skill is Sap Psyche 1 Added Passive Skill is Conjured Wall

(Flask) Witchfire Brew - a great boost to Damage over Time - it grants Despair Curse Aura without needing to apply it manually

20% more Evasion Rating Creates a Smoke Cloud on Use 50% increased Charges per use Grants Level 21 Despair Curse Aura during Flask Effect

Suggested Flasks: Jade Flask of Impala for increased Evasion Rating Sulphur Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Quartz Flask with random Ailmet Removal Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline for increased Movement Speed

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.