Toxic Rain / Herald of Agony
Scion-Ascendant build

Updated for Patch 3.5

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium

Patch 3.4 introduced a completely new gameplay mechanic; the Melee/Summoner class. We have decided to go one step further and use it on a Bow/Ranged class combined with Agony Crawler Minion for additional single-target DPS. Our build revolves around the newly introduced Skill Gem - Toxic Rain, which deals high AoE Damage, and scales with your weapons Physical DPS. On top of that, this build benefits twice from all the Minion Nodes on the Skill Tree, as you also receive all the bonuses to Minion Damage and Minion Attack Speed thanks to the changes introduced in Patch 3.4.

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

1. Gameplay

This build revolves around the newly introduced Toxic Rain skill, which is a very powerful AoE/Projectile attack skill that converts 50% of its' Physical Damage to Chaos. Toxic Rain has three layers of damage; the initial hit, Chaos Damage over Time, and AoE Burst Damage at the end of the duration. This skills single-target Damage would be too low to deal with end-game Bosses, and we have decided to use the Crawler of Agony for that purpose. It's a very powerful Minion that has increased Damage and Attack Speed as you gain Virulence stacks. For the defensive part, it's a Ranged, high Life, Evasion Rating, and Dodge Chance build, which should easily cope with high-level Delves. 

0:06 Tier 11 Spider Forest 0:30 Tier 12 Racecourse 0:52 Tier 12 Shaped Gardens 1:06 Tier 13 Terrace 1:31 Tier 14 Colosseum This video was recorded on a level 87 Scion equipped with Queen of the Forest, Lioneye's Glare, Starkonja's Head, and Maloney's Nightfall

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Since the major Bow Nodes are on the Ranger's side, it's recommended to get Spiritual Command and Spiritual Aid Passives as soon as possible. They will increase the toughness and damage of your Zombies, at the same time, directly increasing the damage you deal with Bow attacks. Split Arrow and Zombies will easily get you to Act 2, and when you get Herald of Agony Skill, the game gets much easier.  You should focus on maximizing your primary attack's Attack Speed to gain Virulence faster. Agony Crawler will be a great addition in Boss fights. Transition to end-game is rather smooth, but until you get access to Ranger's part of the Skill Tree, you may be underperforming without proper Physical DPS gear.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Split Arrow setup
	Split Arrow - a basic Bow Attack skill that works great when leveling
	Faster Attacks Support
	Lesser Poison Support - adds small amount of extra Chaos Damage and 40% Chance to Poison on Hit
	Vicious Projectiles Support - the reworked Physical Projectile Damage Support Gem. Increases your projectile's Damage, and the Damage over Time effects they inflict

Raise Zombie setup
	Raise Zombie - Zombies are used to tank some of the damage
	Minion Life Support
	Minion Speed Support

Herald of Agony setup
	Herald of Agony - the newly introduced in Patch 3.4 Herald Skill which grants increased Chance to Poison on Hit and the Agony Crawler Minion Spell
	Vicious Projectiles Support
	Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support
	Faster Attacks Support

Utility Gems
	Holy Relic - a new Minion that follows you and when you attack it casts a Nova Spell that grants you and your allies increases Life Regeneration
	Projectile Weakness - recommended Curse for this build
	Lightning Golem - grants increased Attack Speed
	Blink Arrow - recommended Movement Skill for this build

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

37 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Spiritual Command 2) Spiritual Aid 3) Gravepact

68 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Devotion 2) Harrier 3) Deadly Draw 4) Heavy Draw; optional: Jewel Sockets

Recommended leveling items:

Blackheart - the best leveling Ring for this build
Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks 5% increased Physical Damage Adds 1 to 3 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(20-30) to maximum Life (2-4) Life Regenerated per second 10% chance to Cause Monsters to Flee

Wurm's Molt - this belt provides extremely important Life and Mana Leech very early
+(25-40) to maximum Life +(20-30) to Strength +(20-30) to Intelligence +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance 0.4% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life 0.4% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Ranger Ascendancy - Raider
2. Path of the Ranger
3. Witch Ascendancy - Necromancer

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali 5% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; 10% chance to Avoid Lightning Damage when Hit

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] Toxic Rain
	Toxic Rain - primary Attack Skill in this build. It has 100% Chance to Poison and high "Hit" efficiency making it a great pick for building up Virulence stacks
	Vicious Projectiles Support
	Withering Touch Support - grants extra Chaos Damage and debuffs enemies with Withered on Hit (increasing Chaos Damage they take)
	Lesser Poison Support
	Added Chaos Damage Support - adds flat Chaos Damage to support skills
	Void Manipulation Support - increases Chaos Damage at the cost of reduced Elemental Damage

[DPS] Herald of Agony setup
	Herald of Agony - one of the two newly added Herald Skills. It grants increased Chance to Poison and the Agony Crawler Minion Spell. You also earn Virulence stacks when you Poison enemies. Each Virulence stack increases Crawler's Damage and Attack Speed
	Vicious Projectiles Support
	Faster Attacks Support
	Culling Strike Support - instantly kills enemies below 10% Life
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - increases the number of Crawler's projectiles
	Summon Phantasm on Kill Support - when Agony Crawler deals a killing blow there is a nearly 70% to summon a Phantasm. Phantasms are Minions which use Projectile-based Spells that benefit from all the other Support Gems in this setup

[MOBILITY] Blink Arrow
	Blink Arrow - movement skill which can be used with Bows

[UTILITY] Golem and Blood Rage
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - auto-casts supported spells when you take a certain amount of damage
	Lightning Golem - Lightning Golem increases your Attack and Cast Speed
	Blood Rage - grants increased Attack Speed, Life Leech and generated Frenzy Charges (you need Frenzy Charges to increase your Chance to Poison to 100%)

[UTILITY] Offering setup
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - auto-cats support spells. Remember to socket Desecrate first and Flesh Offering after (the Gems should work in such succession). Keep this Gem at level 12
	Desecrate - creates additional Corpses for your Flesh Offering. Keep it at level 15
	Flesh Offering - increases Attack, Cast, and Movement Speed both for your Minions and yourself. Keep it at level 15
	Immortal Call - grants brief immunity to Physical Damage. Do not upgrade it above level 14

[CURSE] Orb of Storms setup
	Orb of Storms - Spell used to apply your Curse
	Curse on Hit Support - makes Orb of Storms apply the supported Curse
	Projectile Weakness - recommended Curse for this build as all yours and your Minions' Attacks are projectile-based

[UTILITY] Holy Relic
	Holy Relic - grants Life Regeneration to you and your Minions

5. Gear Setup

Our Toxic Rain Herald of Agony build does not require any specific unique items. It is fully viable with only Rare items, but certain items listed below grant much better bonuses.  At the same time, this build is not very expensive, the only issue lies in the necessity to run with two 5-6 Linked items (Bow and Body Armour) to fully utilize the build's potential. Below you will find our gear recommendations.

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Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Starkonja's Head - one of the best, and at the same time, budget-friendly Helmet for this build

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) Rare Life/Res. helmet - preferably Evasion-based

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: High Evasion Rating

Helmet enchantment: increased Toxic Rain Damage

(Body Armour) Belly of the Beast - always a solid pick for defensive purposes. Belly of the Beast is always one of the best Body Armours for all Life build

Armour: (685 to 812) (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) Rare Body Armour - with high Evasion Rating

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 2000 Evasion Rating 20% Fire Resistance 20% Lightning Resistance 20% Cold Resistance

(Weapon) Lioneye's Glare  - high Physical DPS and making your Attacks never miss, is what makes this weapon extremely viable for this build

(20-24)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills (150-175)% increased Physical Damage Adds (6-12) to (20-32) Physical Damage (10-20)% increased Attack Speed +(80-100) to maximum Mana Hits can't be Evaded Far Shot

(Weapon) Maloney's Nightfall  - very good quiver for this build, which also grants very efficient defensive layer

(25-35)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies 10% increased Attack Speed +(50-70) to maximum Life +(12-16)% to Chaos Resistance Adds (8-10) to (14-16) Physical Damage to Bow Attacks 25% chance to create a Smoke Cloud when Hit (40-60)% increased Damage with Hits and Ailments against Blinded Enemies

(Boots) Atziri's Step - one of the best pair of Boots for this build. They grant amazing defensive stats and Movement Speed bonus

180% increased Evasion Rating +(55-75) to maximum Life 30% increased Movement Speed (14-16)% chance to Dodge Spell Hits

(Boots) Rare Boots - with high defensive stats, Life, and Movement Speed bonus

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 20% Fire Resistance 20% Lightning Resistance 20% Cold Resistance 25% increased Movement Speed

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

(Belt) Rare Belt

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 18% increased Physical Damage 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance

(Amulet) Sidhebreath - the best in the slot. Grants amazing bonuses for your Minions and Mana Leech which is extremely important

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +25% to Cold Resistance 0.2% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana Minions have (10-15)% increased maximum Life Minions have (10-15)% increased Movement Speed (15-10)% reduced Mana Cost of Minion Skills Minions deal (10-15)% increased Damage

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - also a good option. It will not provide the DPS bonuses that Sidhebreath does but may grant much better defensive utility

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life added min. 9 Physical Damage to Attacks 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes Evasion Rating

(Ring) Rare Rings

Min. requirements: Adds min. 7 Physical Damage to Attacks 50 maximum Life 20% Fire Resistance 20% Cold Resistance 20% Lightning Resistance min. 0.3% Damage Leeched as Mana Optional affixes: Essence Crafted Minion Speed

(Gloves) Snakebite - mandatory Gloves for this build, unless you manage to find an alternative way to increases your Chance to Poison

(150-180)% increased Evasion Rating +(60-70) to maximum Life 2% increased Attack Speed per Frenzy Charge 6% increased Accuracy Rating per Frenzy Charge 10% reduced Frenzy Charge Duration per Frenzy Charge Attacks have 60% chance to Poison while at maximum Frenzy Charges

Glove enchantment: Commandment of Force Commandment of Frost

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

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Physical/Minion Damage Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed increased Attack Speed with Bows

(Jewels) Abyss Jewels - if you can get one or two Abyss Jewels with appropriate stats and a Chance to Blind on Hit, it greatly completes the build

Recommended affixes: maximum Life added Physical Damage to Attacks/Bow Attacks Optional affixes: chance to Blind on Hit

(Jewels) Lioneye's Fall - has to be put near Shadow's Claw nodes to benefit from them when using Bows. If you can't afford the Jewel, skip those Nodes entirely

Melee and Melee Weapon Type modifiers in Radius are Transformed to Bow Modifiers

(Flask) Sin's Rebirth - grant Unholy Might buff which adds additional Chaos Damage based on your weapons Physical DPS

100% increased Evasion Rating Creates a Smoke Cloud on Use Gain Unholy Might during Flask Effect Immunity to Ignite during Flask effect Removes Burning on use

(Flask) Dying Sun - increases the number of your Projectiles and Area of Effect (works extremely well with Toxic Rain)

+50% to Fire Resistance +6% to maximum Fire Resistance (-10-10)% increased Charges used (15-25)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (immunity to Bleeding) Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Heat (immunity to Chill and Freeze) Ample Quicksilver Flask of Reflexes (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.