Trinity Spectral Helix
Deadeye build

Updated for Patch 3.17

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Spectral Helix is an Attack Skill Gem that uses your weapon as a ranged Projectile spiraling outwards from its initial attack position. With Trinity Support you will need to keep track of what type of damage you're dealing, it should be Cold and Lightning, as Lighting Damage has typically extremely wide values on its lowest and highest damage with Hits. Another part of the build that makes it stand out is the usage of a Unique Amulet added in patch 3.17 - Crystallised Omniscience. The Amulet completely changes how your Attributes work; normally Strength grants you Maximum Life with increased Melee Physical Damage, Dexterity provides you with increased Evasion and added Accuracy, and Intelligence - Maximum Mana and increased ES. Now you gain instead Elemental Resistances and Elemental Resistances Penetration. The Attributes requirements on your Skill Gems and Gear are applied to Omniscience - the one single Attribute that is a result of all of your original three Attributes from Modifiers combined.

You're still able to have Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence from your base Character statistics, but the quantity of it is negligible. You can now stack any type of Attribute - preferably Dexterity as it's the closest to your starting location and the Utmost Swiftness bonus grants you more of it. You won't have to worry about Elemental Resistances, these should be capped easily by Attributes. It is an attribute-stacking build, but you won't need to focus entirely on these - remember that your Elemental Resistances are soft-capped ad 75%, and Negative Elemental Resistances is capped ad -200%. You will now have to source Evasion Rating, Accuracy, and Maximum Life from your Gear and Skills.

Pick Deadeye Ascendancy - it's great with Projectiles, especially with Spectral Helix as you can take Far Shot. With Focal Point, Mark the Prey, Marked for Death, and Mark Masteries, your Assassin's Mark is very effective. It's the source of almost half of your total DPS. Use a Claw - you have easy access to great Claw clusters on your side of the Skill Tree. Claws also provide you with Mana and Life on Hit. Your Defences are quite good - despite no inherent bonuses from Dexterity you will still have a lot of Evasion Rating - 10 to 20k, some Armour, Wind Ward with Gale Force, Ghost Dance, Block Chance, Spell Suppression Chance, Tailwind, Elusiveness, and 4 to 6k of Maximum Life.

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

1. Gameplay

The only Attack that the build uses to deal with opponents is Spectral Helix. It's clunky to use for map-clearing, but it can be supplemented with Tornado and Hydrosphere cast automatically. Use Whirling Blades as a movement Skill and Steelskin as your Guard Spell. For Passive Skills use an Aura for Added Elemental Damage to Attacks such as Wrath, Grace for Evasion, Precision for Crit. Chance and Accuracy, Defiance Banner for Armour and Evasion, Determination for Armour, or Herald of Ice for more damage and better clear speed. During boss fights, it is recommended to have Ancestral Protector. The best Mark you can use is Assassin's Mark linked with Mark on Hit Support.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Deadeye with around 770 Omniscience - this number can be easily pushed to over 1.4k and 140% Elemental Damage penetration

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Use Spectral Throw and at level 12 switch to Spectral Helix. You can pick any Projectile Attack that can be used with Claws, but Spectral Helix seems to have the highest damage. Initially focus only on Cold Damage as it's very easy to get for a Ranger, you can later implement Trinity. Try to get more added Physical or Cold Damage, you should convert a portion or the entirety of your Physical Damage to Cold with Mastery and Aura Skills or Items. Crystallised Omniscience can be equipped after you have enough Accuracy with Precision.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Spectral Helix setup
	Spectral Helix - the Skill Gem to use after level 12
	Nightblade Support - as you should be using Claws, Nightbalde Support is your best pick for a  Support Gem
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - increases your Critical Strike Chance
	Added Cold Damage Support - use for added Cold Damage to your Attacks

Whirling Blades setup
	Whirling Blades - one of the best movement Attacks for Claw users
	Lifetap Support - makes your Whirling Blades cost Life instead of Mana

Utility Gems
	Frost Bomb - applies Cold Exposure and reduces Life Regeneration for your enemies
	Herald of Ice - adds more Cold Damage for your Attacks, and increases your Clear Speed - Frozen enemies explode
	Precision - increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance
	Frostbite - the Curse that lowers Cold Resistance of  afflicted Opponents

Bandits:

You should kill all the Bandits and take two more Passive Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

35 Points Skill Tree
Go for the Claw Cluster and take the Cold Mastery for Damage conversion

62 Points Skill Tree
Get Elemental Focus, more Maximum Life, and Longshot

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - increased Damage, added Attributes, and more Elemental Resistances

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

Goldrim - it gives you a lot of Elemental Resistances

+(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)

Tabula Rasa - it's a great leveling tool, you can six-link the main setup from the start

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

Prismweave - after you start using Trinity, consider this Belt as it adds all the typed of Elemental damage to your Attacks

(12-24)% increased Global Physical Damage Adds (7-8) to (15-16) Fire Damage to Attacks Adds (5-6) to (12-14) Cold Damage to Attacks Adds 1 to (30-34) Lightning Damage to Attacks +(6-8)% to all Elemental Resistances 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills during any Flask Effect 10% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

Hrimburn - use these if you want to convert your Physical Damage to Cold, and for additional damage with other minor stats

+(20-30) to Strength Adds (5-7) to (13-15) Cold Damage to Spells and Attacks +(40-50) to Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage Reflects 10 Cold Damage to Melee Attackers Your Cold Damage can Ignite

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

102 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
115 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Gathering Winds
2. Wind Ward
3. Focal Point
4. Far Shot

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Spectral Helix setup
	Spectral Helix - It's the only damaging ability - a Projectile with deals your Weapon's Damage in a spiraling fashion
	Nightblade Support - It's a really good Support Gem for the Claws Attacks which increases Critical Strike Chance and grants you Elusive Buff with increased effect
	Trinity Support - as you have a general Elemental Resistance Penetration for all types of damage thanks to Omniscience, use Trinity Support for increased damage via Resonance
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - it simply increases your Elemental Damage with Attacks
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds Lightning Damage to your Attack, it's a better option than Added Cold or Fire Damage, as Lightning Damage has a small chance to deal relatively a lot of it creating Resonances with ease
	Inspiration Support - increased Critical Strike Chance, ELemental Damage, and reduced Cost of linked Skills

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Wrath - adds Lightning Damage to your Attacks, if you have enough Lightning Damage you can swap it for  Herald of Ice
	Precision - increases your Critical Strike Chance and Accuracy Rating
	Grace - additional and increased Evasion Rating- one of your main defensive layers
	Enlighten Support - lowers the Cost of mana-reserving linked Skills

[UTILITY] Auto-cast setup activated via Focus or a weapon affix every 8 seconds
	Tornado - creates a slowly-moving Tornado that can absorb your damage to later deal it to nearby enemies as a Reflected Damage, it helps you with Clearing maps
	Hydrosphere - similarly to Tornado, it deals damage to nearby enemies and applies Exposure for Cold and Lightning Damage
	Power Charge on Critical Support - Critical Strikes have a chance to grant you Power Charges
	Increased Area of Effect Support - increases AoE for linked Spells which is good for their intended purpose

[MOBILITY] Whirling Blades setup
	Whirling Blades - Whirling Blades will be the best movement skill for you as you use Claws and have a decent amount of Atack Speed
	Faster Attacks Support - you can use Whirling Blades more frequently
	Lifetap Support - as you will use Whirling Blades a lot, use Lifetap to spend Life instead of Mana on it

[UTILITY] Steelskinand Ancestral Protector setup
	Steelskin - a Guard Spell you can use to mitigate Damage from hits. If you have over 15k Armour, it's recommended to use  Molten Shell instead.
	Ancestral Protector - it increases your Attack Speed as long as it stays active
	Lifetap Support

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - The effect of this Mark will be increased significantly grating you tons of Crit. Chance, Crit. Multiplier, Power Charges on Kill, and Flask Charges. You should use the Anomalous variant.
	Mark on Hit Support - as you Hit with any Attack, linked or not, this Mark will be applied to an enemy
	Enhance Support -increases Quality of linked Skills

[UTILITY] Defiance Banner
	Defiance Banner - Banner granting you increased Armour, Evasion, and reducing Critical Strike Chance for nearby enemies

5. Gear Setup

Crystallised Omniscience is the core element of the build and there are no other Uniques you should seek. The obvious stats to look for are Attributes, especially Dexterity - these grants you Elemental Resistances and Elemental Damage Penetration. You should obviously get a 100% Hit Chance with enough Accuracy and capped Elemental Resistances, with Assassin's Mark your Critical Strike Chance should be 100% as well. The Critical Strike Multiplier is very high too - it's 700% or so. The majority of it comes from Mark, so on your gear you should focus more on added and increased Elemental Attack Damage for Projectiles. Remember to balance your Elemental Damage with at least two different types of it - Lighting and Cold are obvious choices. Suffixes on your gear - which are normally used for Resistances can now be used for other purposes given that you have a lot of Omniscience.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - use it for more Maximum Life and other various defensive stats such as Armour, Evasion, Spell Suppression, and Resistances

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Armour Chance to Suppress Spell Damage Nearby Enemies take #% increased Elemental Damage Global Critical Strike Multiplier Attributes

Helmet enchantments: Spectral Helix enchantment

(Weapon) Rare Claw - Claw is a very important part of the build as it's the main source of your Damage - you should look for the Added Damage of various types, preferably all of them with a high affix Tier

Min. requirements: Adds 70 to 120 Fire Damage Adds 70 to 120 Cold Damage Adds 10 to 220 Lightning Damage Optional affixes: Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed increased Accuracy Rating Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate #% Elemental Resistances Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Use a Skill, with a 8 second Cooldown

(Weapon) Rare Shield - Look for defensive stats such as was the case with the Helmet. Increased Reservation Efficiency for Socketed Spells is also great if you plan to use more Auras.

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 40% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Evasion Rating Socketed Gems have 30% increased Reservation Efficiency Attributes increased Attack Damage with Elemental Skills Chance to Block Accuracy Rating

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - As you will use Ghost Dance, it's great to have some Energy Shield - the Crafted Affix to source it from your Maximum Life is one you should have

Min. requirements: 100 maximum Life 50% Total Elemental Resistances Gain 10% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield Optional affixes: increased Armour, Evasion and Energy Shield chance to Suppress Spell Damage Attacks have +#% to Critical Strike Chance Evasion Rating Chaos Resistance

(Boots) Rare Boots - Movement Speed, Maximum Life, Attributes are important to have here, you can later look for more expensive mods

Min. requirements: 25% Movement Speed 70 maximum Life 60 Attributes Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Armour Evasion Rating Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves are important as there are tons of useful mods you can find here - the Added Damage of each Element is available on regular non-influenced ones and you should definitely get as much of it as you can afford.

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Added Fire, Lightning, or Cold Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Evasion Rating Dexterity Life or Mana Leech increased Attack Speed

(Belt) Rare Belt - Maximum Life, Resistances, increased Elemental Damage with Attack, and Strength are the mods to strive for

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 30% Total Elemental Resistances 40% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills 40 Strength Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance maximum Life %

(Amulet) Crystallised Omniscience - It's the core element of the build granting you tons of Resistances and Elemental Resistances Penetration

+(10-16) to all Attributes Modifiers to Attributes instead apply to Omniscience +1% to all Elemental Resistances per 10 Omniscience Penetrate 1% Elemental Resistances per 10 Omniscience Attribute Requirements can be satisfied by (15-25)% of Omniscience

Recommended Anointments: Charisma Utmost Intellect Utmost Might Divine Judgement

(Ring) Rare Ring - as always - focus on Maximum Life and Resistances, but there are tons of other mods available on a Ring - added Elemental Damage to Attacks is especially good

Min. requirements: 50 to Maximum Life 50 Attributes Added Fire, Lightning, or Cold Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills Elemental Resistances Attributes Accuracy Rating Chaos Resistance Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted)

(Ring) Mark of the Elder - the Ring used for the abundance of added Cold Damage to Attacks, increased Attack Damage, and Maximum Life. If you meet a condition of having Shaper or Elder Ring in your other Ring slot you're rewarded with more useful mods.

Adds (3-4) to (10-14) Physical Damage to Attacks 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Tentacle Whip on Kill Adds (26-32) to (42-48) Cold Damage to Attacks (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Attack Damage if your other Ring is a Shaper Item Cannot be Stunned by Attacks if your other Ring is an Elder Item

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - increased Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, Attributes, and almost any other stat you need can be found on these Jewels

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Elemental Resistances increased Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage with Attacks/Claws Attributes increased Evasion Rating

(Jewel) Intuitive Leap - you can put it next to Fervour and allocate said Notable with up to five additional ones

Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - your Auras can vary depending on your gear, but if you look for a decent offensive one look for the Precision mods - Precision is one of these Auras that you should always use no matter your items

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

(Flask) Bottled Faith - Expensive Flask that increases your Damage and Critical Strike Chance via Consecrated Ground

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (20-40)% increased 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

Other suggested Flasks: Experimenter's Jade Flask of Staunching for Bleed removal Bubbling Divine Life Flask with Immunity to Poison during Flask Effect Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline Diamond Flask with random ailment removal

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

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