Updated for Patch 3.20
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes | |||
February 14, 2022 -Build created July 04, 2022 -Updated for Patch 3.18 December 17, 2022 -Updated for Patch 3.20 |
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Build overview | |||
Tags: [CASTER] [ELEMENTAL] [HYBRID] [STARTER] | |||
Budget: Defenses: |
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Boss DPS: AoE: |
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It's a very simple build, it doesn't require Unique Items and it's a good starter. Spark is one of the oldest skills in the game, it fires Projectiles dealing Lightning Damage which moves fast and in an unpredictable and random fashion. With high Cast Speed and Projectile Speed, you can easily cover the entire screen in sparks. The recommended Ascendancy is Inquisitor with Pious Path and Inevitable Judgement. Pious Path regenerates your ES alongside Life when you stay on Consecrated Ground, which you can create by just standing or using a Spell once every four seconds. Righteous Providence and Inevitable Judgements increase your Critical Strike Chance and allow your Critical Strike to completely ignore enemies' Elemental Resistances. It's a Hybrid Lightning Spell Caster with 100% Crit Chance, the Spark Skill can be replaced with any other Lightning Projectile as the build is very general.
Achieving 100% Crit Chance is not a problem as your Skill Tree and Aura will provide almost the entirety of it. Lightning Damage Penetration will not be an issue too, as you will always ignore it. To increase your damage you should focus mostly on Spell Damage, Cast Speed, Skill Effect Duration, Projectile Speed, and Crit. Multiplier. Sparks have a base duration of 2 seconds and will be absorbed by the first enemy encountered, enhance your Projectile with Pierce, it can be easily achieved by linking it with a Support Gem, Anointing the Amulet, or from Items. It's a Hybrid build with Pious Path, so you should certainly allocate Corrupted Soul Keystone via Glorious Vanity Jewel or Replica Soul Tether Belt. Your Life and ES combined should provide you with around 6 to 7k of total life pool, with rapid Life and ES regen and tons of Armour it's a quite tanky build.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
Spark is the only Skill you use to deal damage, use it between Flame Dashing to cover the entire screen in Projectiles. A secondary Spell you can use to get Onslaught and to Kill bosses with Culling Strike is Orb of Storms. Assassin's Mark and Lightning Golem should be cast automatically via Cast when Damage Taken. During Boss Fights it is a good idea to use Sigil of Power, it adds Lightning Damage to your Spells. Have Determination, Wrath, and Zealotry active at all times.
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PROS |
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CONS |
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You can start with Spark or Arc. Spark becomes better as your build is more specialized for it, but you can level up with Arc until you reach maps or so. At first, you should prioritize getting more Maximum Life, Spell, and Lightning Damage, then Life with Energy Shield, Cast Speed, and Critical Strike Chance with its Multiplier. You can use some of the Essences or vendor recipes early on to quickly craft a weapon. Leveling is straightforward, you don't need to respec any of the allocated points, and there are no sudden increases in power as you reach a certain threshold, it's a gradual process.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Arc setup | |
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Arc - a simple Chaining Spell used here for leveling, it's quick and easy to use |
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Inspiration Support - the cost of linked Skills is lower while Elemental Damage and Crit. Chance gets increased |
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Arcane Surge Support - grants you a Buff to increase the Spell Damage and mana Regeneration Rate |
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Added Lightning Damage Support - adds Lightning Damage to your Spell to increase its damage |
various Gems | |
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Molten Shell - a Guard Spell that negates some of the damage you take from Hits |
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Conductivity - lowers the Lightning Resistance of cursed enemies |
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Flame Dash - used for a better mobility |
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Wrath - increases your Lightning Damage and Spell Critical Strike Chance |
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Clarity - it regenerates your Mana |
Bandits:
KIlling all Bandits for two additional Passive Points is the best option
Leveling Skill Trees:
32 Points Skill Tree
Get the Maximum Life, Lightning, and Spell Damage nodes
73 Points Skill Tree
Allocate even more Maximum Life, Lightning, and Spell Damage with Cast Speed
Recommended leveling items:
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+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 20% increased maximum Mana 50% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance Cannot be Chilled Cannot be Frozen |
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+(20-30) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana Regenerate (3-6) Mana per second -(8-4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit |
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(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +100 to maximum Mana (16-24)% increased maximum Mana (80-100)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Items and Gems have 25% reduced Attribute Requirements |
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12% increased Elemental Damage Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Fire Damage to Spells Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Cold Damage to Spells Adds 1 to (10-12) Lightning Damage to Spells (4-6)% increased Cast Speed (100-140)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells |
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+(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) |
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Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) |
Final Skill Tree:
122 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
122 Points Path of Building(PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of Solaris: 6% additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits
Minor God: Soul of Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you, Cannot be Blinded, You cannot be Maimed
[DPS] Spark setup | |
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Spark - It fires a lot of fast-moving Lightning Projectiles, making it excellent at clearing maps. |
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Inspiration Support - Lowered Mana Cost of Skills, increased Critical Strike Chance, and Elemental Damage. |
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Increased Critical Strikes Support - Your chance to cause a Critical Strike is higher, if' it's already high enough, use ![]() |
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Spell Echo Support - You repeat the previous Spell Cast with greater Cast Speed. |
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Increased Critical Damage Support - Critical Strikes deal more Damage. |
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Added Lightning Damage Support - Adds Lightning Damage to your Spells increasing DPS. |
[UTILITY] Orb of Storms setup | |
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Orb of Storms - A static Orb that hits enemies in its range dealing Lightning Damage. |
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Power Charge on Critical Support - It will generate Power Charges with each Hit. |
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Culling Strike Support - Linked Spell Kills enemies that are below 10% of their Maximum Life. |
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Onslaught Support - Spell grants you Onslaught on Hit. |
[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup | |
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Flame Dash - A mobility Skill that teleports you over a short distance. |
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Arcane Surge Support - Keep it at a low enough level so that a single cast of Flame Dash will activate it, it grants you Spell Damage and Mana Regeneration Rate. |
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Second Wind Support - stores an additional charge for your Flame Dash. |
[UTILITY] Auras setup | |
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Wrath - An additional and increased Lighting Damage for your Spells, you will probably need to replace it with ![]() |
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Determination - Adds and increases Armour which reduced Physical Damage taken. |
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Zealotry - Increased Spell Damage and Critical Strike Chance for Spells. |
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Enlighten Support - Lowers the Reservation Cost of all linked Spells. |
[UTILITY] Lightning Golem | |
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Summon Lightning Golem - Lightning Golem gives you more Cast Speed, it can be linked to a ![]() |
[UTILITY] Molten Shell | |
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Molten Shell - Guard Spell that scales well with Armour to absorb more Damage. |
[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark | |
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Assassin's Mark - Assassin's Mark increases your Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier against Cursed Targets, grats you Mana and Life on Kill alongside a small chance for a Power Charge. |
[UTILITY] Sigil of Power | |
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Sigil of Power - Creates an area - you have to spend Mana while inside of it to get increasingly more added Lightning Damage to Spells. Enemies inside the area deal less damage to you. |
[UTILITY] Lightning Golem | |
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Vaal Righteous Fire - Use Vaal RF occasionally to get more Spell Damage, but be careful, it will cost you some of your Life and ES. |
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It's a simple one to assemble, all you need is to increase your Lightning Spell Damage and Critical Strike Multiplier, but to some extent Projectile Speed and additional Piercing will be required for smooth gameplay. Maximum Life is the single most important defensive statistic, ES is sourced from it via Corrupted Soul, but you can still look for some affixes to increase it. You don't need Penetration or Exposure as you ignore all the Elemental Resistances by default, from your Ascendancy Keystone. It's a very general build so you might implement the Melding of the Flesh and Aegis Aurora Combo for high Maximum Elemental Resistances and allocate Searing Purity for Chaos Resistance. Remember that you don't need to apply Exposure or reduce Elemental Resistances - you can easily gain extra Elemental Damage sourced or Converted from another type of Elemental Damage with no repercussions.
Our recommended items will:
Stat priorities on items:
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Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes Chaos Resistance |
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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 |
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(80-100)% increased Evasion Rating 60% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(20-30)% to Fire Resistance +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance Gain 1% of Cold Damage as Extra Fire Damage per 1% Chill Effect on Enemy Gain 100% of Cold Damage as Extra Fire Damage against Frozen Enemies |
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Helmet enchantments: Spark Enhancements |
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Min. requirements: 100% Increased Lightning Damage +28% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Lightning Skill Gems Elemental Damage increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Adds Lightning Damage to Spells |
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+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (70-60)% reduced Elemental Resistances Deal Triple Damage with Elemental Skills |
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+(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock Unaffected by Shock |
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Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances +1% to Spell Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Attributes Energy Shield increased maximum Life |
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Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Armour You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently Cannot be Frozen (crafted) |
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+(30-50) to Dexterity (140-180)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield 30% increased Movement Speed 20% chance to Avoid Projectiles while Phasing You have Phasing if you've Killed Recently Projectiles Pierce 5 additional Targets while you have Phasing Celestial Footprints |
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Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance Dexterity increased Cast Speed |
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Can be modified while Corrupted Can have up to 5 Implicit Modifiers while Item has this Modifier (150-200)% increased Armour and Energy Shield (7-12)% increased maximum Life +(20-30)% to Fire and Lightning Resistances |
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Min. requirements: +70 to Maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Maximum Energy Shield Strength increased Damage increased Maximum Life |
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(15-25)% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(20-40) to Strength Gain (4-6)% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield Corrupted Soul |
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Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Intelligence Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Lightning Skill Gems increased Global Critical Strike Chance Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted) |
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Recommended Anointments: Piercing Shots Heartseeker |
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Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance Non-channeling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Added Lightning Damage to Spells increased Spell Damage |
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+(12-16)% to Cold and Lightning Resistances +(15-25) to Intelligence (15-25)% increased Lightning Damage (30-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 40% of Lightning Damage Converted to Cold Damage Your spells have 100% chance to Shock against Frozen Enemies |
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+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance All Damage with Hits can Chill All Damage Taken from Hits can Chill you Enemies Chilled by your Hits can be Shattered as though Frozen Enemies Chilled by your Hits lessen their Damage dealt by half of Chill Effect |
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Recommended affixes: |
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Only affects Passives in Medium Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances |
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Bathed in the blood of (100-8000) sacrificed in the name of Doryani Passives in radius are Conquered by the Vaal Historic |
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(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> |
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Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Snowstorm 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display |
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1 Added Passive Skill is Repeater 1 Added Passive Skill is Streamlined |
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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 |
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Other suggested Flasks:
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If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.
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