Storm Brand
Shocking Inquisitor Build

Updated for Patch 3.20

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Storm Brand is one of the skills added in Patch 3.5 and Betrayal League, which brought around a completely new playstyle. Brands are attachable Spells, which damages nearby enemies at a very high frequency by firing from enemies they are attached to. Brands deal massive AoE damage and attach themselves to another closest foe after the first one is killed. Brand Recall is another core Spell for this playstyle, that allows you to summon all summoned Brands to your position, automatically attaching them to nearby monsters. Storm Brand, which you'll be using, uses a chaining beam to Hit up to three enemies + the one it is attached to. This build is based on Brands, Hierophant is one of the Ascendancy Classes with a specific Keystone dedicated just for this type of Spells, but we've decided to use Inquisitor - it's overall much better with Elemental Damage and Critical Strikes. You should be able to reach 100% Crit. Chance with over 500% Crit. Multiplier. There are three Brand-specific Clusters on the Skill Tree you can take and additionally two Medium Cluster Jewels dedicated to upgrading your Brands even further. It's a Life build with Life Leech and Life Regeneration, you should also have a fairly high Spell Block Chance with Willclash. This build does not use Badge of the Brotherhood, but it can be easily implemented with little to no tinkering. If you're interested in such a build you can check the other versions of it, which we also conveniently covered before. Assassin is often picked for its synergies with Critical Strikes, you can find the guide for it here: Storm Brand Assassin Build.

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

1. Gameplay

This is probably one of the most satisfying builds for clearing Maps. Storm Brand shoots Lightning Bolts all over the screen killing enemies nearly instantly. You also get one of the most potent Guard Spells - Immortal Call linked with CwDM, which grants a very strong defense bonus. To increase your Crit. Chance use Ice Golem or Lightning Golem for more Cast Speed, also linked to a Cast when Damage Taken Gem alongside Wave of Conviction to apply Exposure. Wrath and Zealotry are your damage-increasing Auras, while Assassin's Mark is the Curse you can apply manually or via Ring Affix. The only skills you should use are the Brand itself, Brand Recall, Sigil of Power, Vaal Righteous Fire, and Flame Dash.

Full gameplay video:

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

For leveling, we are going to use Arc before we acquire all nodes on the Passive Skill Tree that let us use at least three Storm Brands at once. All Supported Gems that will be linked to Arc are also being used in the endgame version of the build. You should buy Storm Brand at level 12 and socket it in a free slot in your gear, so it will be ready to use at 33 skill points invested into the Skill Tree.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Arc setup
	Arc - Great Lightning leveling spell, recommended until you can switch to 3+ Brands setup.
	Added Lightning Damage Support - Adds a lot of Lightning Damage.
	Faster Casting Support - Allows you to cast Arc much more frequently.
	Arcane Surge Support - More Spell Damage and Mana Regeneration Rate.

Lightning Spire Trap setup
	Lightning Spire Trap - It's your single target skill, that will be also used in the endgame build with all linked gems. Get it as soon as you hit level 28.
	Faster Casting Support - Definitely the best gem for Trap. While it might not be noticeable in Path of Building or tooltip DPS, it is the highest Damage boost, because it increases Lightning Strikes frequency.
	Trap and Mine Damage Support - Increases Trap Damage by a lot.

Utility Gems
	Clarity - Grants increased Mana Regeneration allowing you to spam your Spells on lower levels.
	Conductivity - Perfect Curse for our build because it lowers the Lightning Resistance of cursed enemies.
	Herald of Thunder - Very good leveling Aura, that will grant additional Lightning Damage and strikes nearby enemies with Lightning Bolts.

Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - Recommended mobility Spell.

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

34 Points Skill Tree
Go for the Runebinder and Runesmith first, then some more Life and Elemental Damage

70 Points Skill Tree
Allocate two more Brand Clusters and the big Lightning Cluster at the top of the Skill Tree; you can then get more Maximum Life

Recommended leveling items:

Malachai's Simula - A great leveling Helmet for Lightning Builds. If you wear it then you should not use any Aura for leveling.

(15-30)% increased Spell Damage +20 to Strength (20-30)% increased Lightning Damage +10% to Lightning Resistance Blood Magic

Victario's Flight - Amazing low-level pair of boots that grants high bonus Movement Speed and additional Mana Recovery mechanic.

+15 to Dexterity +15 to Intelligence (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating 15% increased Movement Speed (5-10)% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit 10% increased Movement Speed for you and nearby Allies

Stone of Lazhwar - Grants a lot of Chance to Block Spell Damage and Cast Speed, which increases both Arc and Lightning Spire Trap Damage.
(12-15)% Chance to Block Spell Damage (10-15)% increased Cast Speed +(30-50) to maximum Mana

Le Heup of All - Perfect choice for the whole leveling process, it's recommended to use it on both ring slots.

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

Axiom Perpetuum - Best leveling weapon in the game for spellcasters. A lot of Additional Damage to Spells and an insane amount of Critical Strike Chance for them. It's recommended to dual-wield them.
(4-6)% increased Cast Speed (100-140)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells 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. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

104 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Sanctuary
2. Pious Path
3. Righteous Providence
4. Inevitable Judgement

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] Storm Brand setup
	Storm Brand - Your main skill for clearing Maps and dealing AoE damage. It works best against bigger packs, but also offers high sustained single-target damage.
	Inspiration Support - Lower Mana Cost, increased Elemental Damage, and Critical Strike Chance. You may use  Awakened Elemental Focus in the later stages of the game, but be careful with it, its downside is significant.
	Swiftbrand Support - Brands have a shorter Duration, but much higher Activation Frequency, which is Cast Speed.
	Increased Critical Damage Support - Your Critical Strikes deal increased Damage.
	Concentrated Effect Support - More Damage, but less Area of Effect.
	Hypothermia Support - Hits against Chilled enemies deal more Damage, so it's great with Call of the Brotherhood Ring.

[UTILITY] Brand Recall/Flame Dash setup
	Brand Recall - Allows you to recall your Brands to your location and make them reattach to close-by enemies. It has a maximum level of 6  so supporting it with Empower yields great results.
	Flame Dash - The recommended mobility Skill used in this build.
	Arcane Surge Support - Grants more SPell Damage and Mana Regeneration Rate, but keep it at a low level.
	Second Wind Support - Allows you to carry additional use of Brand Recall and reduces its' Cooldown Recovery Speed

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark/Vaal RF setup
	Assassin's Mark - It's the recommended Curse as it grants you more Critical Strike Chance and increased Crit. Multiplier, Life, and Mana on Kill.
	Vaal Righteous Fire - Increases your Spell Damage for a short duration. Use the Divergent version.
	Enhance Support - Increases Quality of linked gems.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Wrath - Grants more Lightning Damage. Socket it only in Essence Worm if you have it.
	Zealotry - You have more Spell Damage, increased Crit. Chance, and chance to create a Consecrated Ground during boss fights.
	Purity of Elements - Grants more Elemental Resistances and immunity to all Elemental Ailments. You will definitely use it with The Annihilating Light. If you have enough Resistances already, use  Determination instead.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Life-Reserving Auras
	Vitality - Use for life regeneration.
	Clarity - Use for mana regeneration.
	Precision - Use for an increased critical strike chance.
	Arrogance Support - Use it if you want to reserve half of your Life pool and reap the benefits of Pain Attunement Keystone.

[UTILITY] Petrified Blood
	Petrified Blood - You may want to use Petrified Blood as a defensive layer, to mitigate Hit damage. It's good if you're on Low Life at all times.

[UTILITY] Wave of Conviction/Immortal Call setup
	Wave of Conviction - Applies your linked Curse and Lightning Exposure on Hit - reducing monsters' Lightning Resistance. Keep it at level 1. Excessive if you have 100% Crit. Chance with Inevitable Judgement.
	Immortal Call - Having the Guard Spells being cast automatically is a big advantage, Immortal Call is the best one to fill this role. Keep it at level 3.
	Cast when Damage Taken - Keep it at level 1 for more frequent casts
	Lifetap Support - Linked Spells cost Life instead of Mana.

5. Gear Setup

This Storm Brand is one of the cheaper builds to start with, but the price of it grows later. All Uniques listed can be replaced with random Rares, but some items are highly recommended. Try to reach 100% Crit Chance and then invest heavily in Elemental Spell Damage and Critical Strike Multiplier. Items synergizing with Power Charges are especially desirable. There should be no problem with getting enough of each Attribute as the level of Second Wind or Lifetap Support is not that important. Below you will find the recommended equipment for our Storm Brand Inquisitor build, with all the desired stats listed.

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

The recommended items from our list will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Rare Helmet is the best choice for fixing both Elemental Resistances and Dexterity requirements. Blizzard Crown would be especially good as it adds a lot of extra damage.

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity Adds Elemental Damage to Spells +1 to Maximum Power Charges embedded support gems for storm brand (optional)

(Helmet) Willclash - Your Power Charge generation could be insanely fast, so the only downside of the Willclash Helmet is the lack of Life and Resistances. It grants you a lot of Spell Block Chance, Evasion, Energy Shield, and Damage.

(350-400)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +5% Chance to Block Spell Damage per Power Charge (3-5)% increased Elemental Damage per Power charge Gain a Power Charge every Second if you haven't lost Power Charges Recently Lose all Power Charges when you Block

(Helmet) Heatshiver - Heatshiver could be good after investing more into Cold ailments to freeze bosses, so two Call of the Brotherhood Rings is a must-have.

(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

Helmet enchantments: Storm Brand has an 18% chance to Chain additional time Storm Brand Damage Penetrated 12% of Branded Enemy's Lightning Resistance

(Weapon) Rare Wand - Rare Wand is good for a start, look for regular Spell damage-increasing mods and Gem Level for Storm Brand. One of these wands can increase your gem level of storm brand by up to two, and that would be extremely good.

Min. requirements: 60% increased Lightning/Spell Damage Adds min. 45 Lightning Damage to Spells increased Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: increased Cast Speed +1 to Level of all Lightning Spell Skill Gems Mana Regeneration Rate

(Shield) Rare Shield - A shield will provide a lot of Maximum Life and additional Cast Speed and Spell Damage, but you can go for two Wands too.

Min. requirements: 50% increased Spell Damage +80 maximum Life Optional affixes: increased Cast Speed Elemental Resistances Attributes

(Weapon) Void Battery - Every build using more than 6 Power Charges to deal Spell Damage can use two Void Batteries. These might get expensive but you can use Rare Wands until you can afford them.

(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

(Weapon) The Annihilating Light - The annihilating light is an extremely powerful weapon for any elemental damage spell build but requires much more elemental resistances, thus more expensive gear.

+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (70-60)% reduced Elemental Resistances Deal Triple Damage with Elemental Skills

(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - The best Unique Armour if you lack clear speed, Life, and Damage. It makes you unaffected by Shock.

+(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

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Basically any Armour will do, just try to get with the highest Life, Elemental Resistances, and Crit Chance for Spells.

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life +1% to Spell Critical Strike Chance 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Dexterity increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - There are undoubtedly some powerful mods on Crusader-influenced Amulets. Critical Strikes, reduced mana cost, extra gem level to storm brand, and reservation efficiency are the best ones.

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 25% increased Global Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Attributes increased Spell Damage increased Damage per Power Charge Mana Reservation efficiency Elemental Resistances +1 to Level of all Lightning Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Skill Gems

(Amulet) The Ephemeral Bond - The Ephemeral Bond is the best Amulet in terms of Damage, it also grants you some Elemental Resistances. the downside of Less Power Charge duration can be an issue if you can't generate them efficiently enough.

+(20-30) to Intelligence (25-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(15-25)% to all Elemental Resistances +(30-40)% to Critical Strike Multiplier if you've gained a Power Charge Recently (1-2) to (36-40) Lightning Damage per Power Charge 90% less Power Charge Duration

Recommended Anointments: Infused Doom Cast Heartseeker Constitution Whispers of Doom

(Ring) Rare Ring - Rings will fix your Elemental Resistances, Attributes, and increase maximum Life and Crit Chance. Additionally, you could get extra cast speed or reduced mana cost of skills here.

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life Critical Strike modifiers 75% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Lightning Damage # Lightning Damage per Power Charge Adds # Lightning Damage against Shocked Enemies Attributes

(Ring) Call of the Brotherhood - Call of the Brotherhood is a very popular choice that implements Cold Damage into the build, it's great for the Inquisitor as now you will be able to Chill and Shock.

+(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

(Boots) Rare Boots - Get the highest Maximum Life, Resistances, and Movement Speed bonuses you can afford.

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 50% Total Elemental Resistances 25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently

(Boots) Replica Inya's Epiphany - Boots that increase your Movement Speed, Damage, and Life Regen per Power Charge with additional bonuses to Maximum Life and Intelligence.

+(50-70) to maximum Life Regenerate 0.5% of Life per second per Power Charge (5-8)% increased Intelligence 5% increased Damage per Power Charge 5% increased Movement Speed per Power Charge

(Belt) Rare Belt - The regular defensive stats in huge quantities should be enough.

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Damage/Elemental Damage increased Maximum Life

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Mainly for defensive stats and then some damage on top of that.

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 75% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Spell Damage Adds # Lightning Damage if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently increased Global Critical Strike Chance Attributes

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Large Cluster Jewels have some great notables - Inspired Oppression, Sadist, Prismatic Heart, Doryani's Lesson, Snowstorm, Cold to the Core, and Stormrider. You can find these on Elemental or Cold Clusters.

Recommended Passives: 1 Added Passive Skill is Inspired Oppression 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Snowstorm 1 Added Passive Skill is Cold to the Core 1 Added Passive Skill is Stormrider 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread destruction

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - You can potentially use a Medium Cluster Jewel with extra Brand utility bonuses.

Recommended Passives: 1 Added Passive Skill is Brand Loyalty 1 Added Passive Skill is Holy Conquest 1 Added Passive Skill is Seeker Runes

(Jewel) Militant Faith - Get the Dominus version of Militant Faith to transform the Mind Over Matter into Inner Conviction, the additional Devotion bonuses in the best case can increase your Brand and Elemental Damage.

Carved to glorify (2000-10000) new faithful converted by High Templar Dominus Passives in radius are Conquered by the Templars Historic <two random mods of devotion>

(Jewel) Glorious Vanity - Glorious Vanity, the Doryani's variant, could get you the Corrupted Soul for more Energy Shield, and if you're not using Militant Faith, definitely go for this Jewel instead.

Bathed in the blood of (100-8000) sacrificed in the name of Doryani Passives in radius are Conquered by the Vaal Historic

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - On your Forbidden Jewels, you can get Sign of Purpose, Harmony of Purpose to generate all kinds of Charges, or Conviction of Power for 4 Power and Endurance Charges.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - On Jewels get the increased Maximum Life and increased Critical Strike Chance, Resistances, or Attributes.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Optional affixes: Spell Damage/Lightning Damage Attributes Elemental Resistances Cast Speed

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - The best Aura modifiers to look for on a Watcher's Eye are the ones increasing your Crit Chance or Lighting Damage from Zealotry and Wrath.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - Atziri's promise is extremely cheap and adds a decent portion of chaos damage, chaos resistance, and life leech.

+35% to Chaos Resistance Gain (5-8)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Effect Gain (5-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

(Flask) Bottled Faith - The best Flask for build such as this one, it's expensive but completely optional.

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

Suggested Rare Flasks: Quicksilver Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Life Flask with random ailment removal Diamond Flask with an increased Critical Strike Chance

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.