Introduction
Welcome back to another great map blasting build. The Poisonous Concoction Occultist is the premier mapping focused character with its built in explosions from Profane Bloom. This allows chain explosions, which is an extremely satisfying mapping experience when combined with Plague Bearer. Later on in the build, you swap to Bladefall and Blade Blast for more damage and Life recovery from +# Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Spells.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Skills Breakdown
Ascendancy Breakdown
The Occultist is the best choice for Poisonous Concoction as it provides explosions to clear packs, an additional curse and damage to take care of Map Bosses, and an additional Wither application method for even more damage.
- Profane Bloom causes your curses to consume the corpse of your enemies, triggering a cascade of explosions once one has fallen.
- Void Beacon gives nearby enemies -20% to Chaos Resistance and prevents them from regenerating Life.
- Withering Presence applies Wither stacks to nearby enemies, gives you +60% to Chaos Resistance, and makes your Chaos Damage 15% more potent.
- Malediction allows you to inflict an additional Curse on enemies and causes those cursed enemies to have the Malediction debuff. This debuff causes 10% increased Damage Taken and 10% reduced Damage Dealt.
To learn how the Labyrinth works, feel free to consult our Labyrinth Guide!
Playstyle
Level as Poisonous Concoction through the atlas by simply throwing your vials onto your enemies to inflict Poison. After you obtain enough gear, swap to the BF/BB setup. Lay down your blades with Bladefall and explode them with Blade Blast. On both versions, incubate your Poisons with Plague Bearer and unleash them when full.
Mapping
Focus on using your main damaging ability until you're at Maximum Plague Value. Unleash your Plague Bearer and Shield Charge through packs of monsters, letting your Profane Bloom take care of everything until your Plague Value is empty. Simply repeat the process for fast clear.
Bossing
Bosses don't go down easy, so save your Plague Bearer to use on the Map Boss. Put down your Ancestral Protector when playing Poisonous Concoction, and use Focus, giving you Ailment duration. Apply your Curses and unleash your Plague Bearer.
Build Scaling
Poisonous Concoction Occultist is a Chaos Damage over Time Poison Attack build scaling with:
- #% increased Amount Recovered rolled onto a Divine Life Flask. Upgrading your Life Flasks gives you damage, so do it often while leveling!
- #% Increased Chaos Damage
- #% Increased Attack Speed
- Despair and Temporal Chains to increase and extend Poison Damage.
- Accuracy to obtain 100% hit chance.
- #% chance to Poison Enemies on Hit
- #% increased Damage over Time
- #% increased Poison Damage/Duration
- +x% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier
- #% increased Area of Effect causing Multiple Projectile overlaps
Once you make the swap to BF/BB (Bladefall + Blade Blast) you will no longer scale #% Increased Attack Speed or Accuracy, instead you scale #% Increased Cast Speed and Gain #% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage.
The Occultist's lack of good recovery is one of the main reasons to swap to BF/BB (Bladefall + Blade Blast). Your mitigation and avoidance is plenty for mapping.
- Armour from Determination and Granite Flask combined with Molten Shell provides a large shield.
- +18 Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Spells (When playing BF/BB)
- 100% Spell Suppression
- Freeze Immunity
- Reflect Immunity
- 10% reduced Damage taken from Malediction
- 20k Evasion Rating giving 70% Evade Chance.
- 20k Armour giving us a moderate protection against Physical Damage.
- % of Physical damage from Hits taken as Fire damage
- 3 Endurance Charges granting 12% Physical damage reduction total.
These defences preform well in Maps with some Evasion Rating giving enough avoidance against attacks. Your Armour combined with Endurance Charges and Physical damage from Hits taken as Fire mods provide enough Physical Mitigation. .
Leveling Section by tytykiller
Key Leveling Notes
Warning: This build is difficult and slow to level. If you are a beginner player, it is recommended to play the Poisonous Concoction Pathfinder. The Occultist version eventually has better clear due to Profane Bloom, at the cost of leveling slower and coming online later.
This build will level as Holy Flame Totem and Flame Wall, and will do Library in Act 3 to gain access to Poisonous Concoction. You will use this to level until you gain the cast speed in late game necessary to swap to BFBB.
The "Wand Craft" is the easiest way to make any caster leveling better. Selling a magic wand, an Orb of Alteration, and a normal Topaz Ring produces a wand like this: Snapping Driftwood Wand.
If you need a magic wand, purchase a 3-linked wand from Nessa with favorable colors, those being Blue-Blue-Green, Blue-Blue-Blue, or Blue-Green-Red. Then use an Orb of Transmutation on it. If you need a Topaz Ring, you can sell an Iron Ring with any Skill Gem that is colored Green.
Note: Selling rare items identified they will give you Alteration Shards, while selling them unidentified gives Transmutation Shards.
Campaign Step By Step
Beginner players should follow Enki's Campaign Progression guide.
The levels listed below are based on speedrunning. Always be greater or equal to the levels listed.
Step 1: Level 2
- Create a Witch character
- Kill Hillock. Talk to Nessa, click Purchase Items, and paste in the regex: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Paste it in the vendor window in-game and it will highlight four links, movement speed boots, and items with Blue-Blue-Red (BBR), Blue-Blue-Blue (BBB), or Green-Green-Green (GGG) sockets. This is called a regex filter, and is imperative to finding important items quickly! GGG items are important for your swap in Act 3, but are not important right now.
- Talk to Tarkleigh and choose Freezing Pulse as your reward.
- This spell does more damage at point blank range, so don't cast this far away from monsters!
- Talk to Tarkleigh, click Purchase Items, and copy the following line : -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- After this, complete the quests Mercy Mission and Breaking some Eggs.
- Upon killing Hailrake, hit escape and press EXIT TO CHARACTER SELECT (or type /exit in chat). This saves you a Portal Scroll. Selecting a different log out option puts you in a queue on a league start. This "return to town" method is used many times in this guide.
Step 2: Level 4
- Talk to Nessa and grab: Quicksilver Flask and Summon Phantasm Support.
- Purchase Holy Flame Totem from Nessa and paste: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Talk to Tarkleigh and grab: Flame Wall and Frostblink.
- The primary purpose of Flame Wall is so any projectile that passes through the wall gains extra damage. Cast Holy Flame Totem followed by Flame Wall. Any monster still alive should be finished off with Freezing Pulse.
- Click Purchase Items from Tarkleigh and paste in the regex: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Complete the quests Dweller of the Deep and The Caged Brute.
- Note: you only have to reach the Waypoint in Lower Prison to acquire a gem from the quest.
Step 3: Level 8
- Reach Lower Prison and use the Waypoint back to town.
- Talk to Nessa and grab: Added Lightning Damage Support.
- Purchase Combustion Support from Nessa.
- Click Purchase Items from Nessa and paste in the regex: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Sell Nessa a magic wand, an Orb of Alteration, and a normal Topaz Ring. This step is incredibly important, and is covered in the Key Leveling Notes found above.
- Talk to Tarkleigh to grab your Passive Skillpoint.
- Click Purchase Items from Tarkleigh and paste in the regex: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Go back to Lower Prison, complete the Trial of Ascendancy, and slay Brutus.
Step 4: Level 10
- After killing Brutus, return to town.
- Click Purchase Items from Nessa, then paste in the regex: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Talk to Tarkleigh and grab Flame Dash. This replaces Frostblink.
- Click Purchase Items from Tarkleigh, then paste in the regex: -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Complete the quest The Marooned Mariner and grab the waypoint in Merveil's Caverns.
Step 5: Level 12
- After killing Fairgraves and reaching the Waypoint in Merveil's Caverns, return to town.
- Talk to Bestel and grab the Passive Skillpoint, then complete The Siren's Cadence.
- Equip a Sapphire Ring for Merveil to nullify her Cold Damage. Kill Merveil and move onto Act 2!
Step 1: Level 12
- After killing Merveil, walk north into The Forest Encampment (Town).
- Talk to Greust, click Sell Items, and sell all items you acquired from Merveil.
- You CAN try to purchase a 3-linked item if you have not found one yet, but it will likely cost an Orb of Transmutation.
- Go to the right of town into The Old Fields and complete The Great White Beast.
Step 2: Level 13
- After completing The Great White Beast, go to the Waypoint at The Crossroads and return to town.
- Talk to Yeena and select the Magic Quicksilver Flask reward.
- At this point, use two Life flasks, one Mana flask, and two Quicksilver Flasks.
- Waypoint back to The Crossroads, and finish the quest Intruders in Black in the Chambers of Sin 2.
- Make sure to complete the Trial of Ascendancy in the Chambers of Sin 2.
Step 3: Level 16
- After killing Fidelitas and getting the Baleful Gem, return to town.
- Talk to Greust and select the gem Herald of Thunder.
- Herald of Thunder is an Aura that gives a slight increase to damage, and will occasionally rain lightning bolts on enemies. This will be replaced later on.
- Talk to Yeena and purchase Summon Skitterbots
- Summon Skitterbots summons two small little minions. They run around and apply Shock and Chill to monsters. Shock increases damage taken, and Chill slows down enemies.
- Go left from the Town to complete the quest Sharp and Cruel in The Weaver's Chambers.
Step 4: Level 18
- Kill The Weaver, pick up Maligaro's Spike, and return to town.
- Talk to Silk and get the gem Controlled Destruction Support.
- Complete the quest Deal with the Bandits.
- Waypoint to the Crossroads, go right to the Broken Bridge, kill Kraityn, and return to town.
- Waypoint to the Riverways, go north to The Wetlands, and kill Oak.
- While in the Western Forest, kill Alira and complete the quest The Way Forward.
- Note that The Way Forward is an Act 1 quest that is only completable in Act 2.
Step 5: Level 18
- Talk to Eramir for two Passive Skillpoints.
- Take the Waypoint back to the Act 1 town Lioneye's Watch. Talk to Bestel for an additional Passive Skillpoint for completing The Way Forward.
- Use the Waypoint to travel to The Wetlands in Act 2. Click the Vaal Ruins to open it if you have not already done so.
- Use a Ruby Ring for this zone, as the monsters casting Explosive Arrow are scary.
- At level 20, return to town. With your other wand, sell a magic wand, an Orb of Alteration, and a rare Topaz Ring. Although this build switches over to Poisonous Concoction in act 3, this wand craft is necessary to help get there.
- Complete the quest Shadow of the Vaal by killing the Act 2 boss, Vaal Oversoul. After this, return to town and complete the Trial of Ascendancy in The Crypt. Once these are done, move onto Act 3!
Step 1: Level 21
- Waypoint to the City of Sarn, kill the Guard Captain, and talk to Clarissa. Complete the quest Lost in Love.
- After completing the Trial of Ascendancy and obtaining Tolman's Bracelet, return to town.
- Talk to Clarissa to obtain the Sewer Keys.
- Talk to Maramoa and choose the gem Despair. Although this gem gives extra chaos damage, it will still help your DPS slightly on bosses for now.
Step 2: Level 24
- Talk to Hargan and select Purchase Items. Paste in the regex -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- The main thing to look for at this point are four-linked items and a g-g-g item to make the swap over to Poisonous Concoction possible.
- Complete the quests Victario's Secrets, The Ribbon Spool and The Gemling Queen. Choose the rare Jade Amulet as a reward.
- Ensure that you complete the Trial of Ascendancy from The Catacombs at some point during this cycle.
Step 4: Level 25
- Rather than kill Piety, go to the Imperial Gardens, then go to the Library and complete the side quest A Fixture of Fate.
- This quest gives access to all gems in the game level 31 and below.
- Gems can level up in any socket, including your off-hand!
- Talk to Siosa and take Blasphemy Support for the quest reward.
- Follow the embed above and purchase the following gems in order:
- Poisonous Concoction, Volley Support, Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support, and Unbound Ailments Support.
- Shield Charge - Faster Attacks Support
- Herald of Agony
- Plague Bearer
- Precision
- Withering Step
- Blood Rage
- Getting all of these gems at once will be too expensive, and you will likely not have enough Orb of Transmutations or Orb of Alterations. This is okay, go back to The Docks and farm gem XP, as swapping right now feels a little weak for an act or two.
Step 3: Level 26
- Complete the quests Sever the Right Hand and Piety's Pets.
- Aim for at LEAST level 27 before killing Piety.
- Farm in The Docks if you are behind in XP. You can reset a zone by holding down Ctrl and left clicking on either a zone entrance or Waypoint.
Step 5: Level 27
- Try to get your resists close to 75% Fire, Cold, and Lightning.
- The best craft you can make is with the Crafting Bench in your hideout. Use the 16-20% of a single resist craft, which only costs an Orb of Transmutation.
- Talk to Hargan for a Passive Skillpoint (from the quest Victario's Secrets). Then talk to him again and shop for a four-link by pasting in the regex -[rgb]-.-|g-g-g|b-b-r|b-[br]-b|r-b-b|nne
- Talk to Grigor to get a Passive Skillpoint.
- Complete the Trial of Ascendancy in The Imperial Gardens.
- While fighting Dominus, avoid getting slammed when he says "The Touch of God!". Kill Dominus and move on to Act 4!
Step 1: Level 28
- Complete the quest Breaking the Seal.
- Farm Dried Lake until at least level 30.
- Act 4 is when the game strains your resistances. Playing with below 75% elemental resists is extremely dangerous. Start to over-cap resists in this Act, as we are aiming for at least 105% by the time we kill Act 5 Kitava.
- Keep identifying rare items and keep chugging along with high Life and resists gear.
Step 2: Level 30
- Complete the quest An Indomitable Spirit
- Reach the Waypoint in the Crystal Veins and complete the normal Labryinth.
- Ascend as an Occultist and choose Profane Bloom.
- Profane Bloom makes cursed enemies have a 40% chance to pop on death, which can then clear entire packs for you. Make sure to link Blasphemy Support to Despair at this point.
- This ascendancy point in combination with Plague Bearer will feel amazing. For clearing, build poison stacks by casting Poisonous Concoction. Then cast Plague Bearer -> Withering Step and walk around exploding the screen!
Step 3: Level 32
- Do not progress past Crystal Veins without being at least level 32, farm Dried Lake if you need to catch up.
- Complete the quest The Eternal Nightmare by killing Daresso and Kaom.
Step 4: Level 34
- Kill Piety, then complete the quest Corpus Malachus.
- Talk to Piety again, go kill Malachai, and move on to Act five!
Step 1: Level 35
- Get at least 75% resists in Fire, Cold, and Lightning - but aim for 105%, as you lose 30% from killing Kitava.
- Put every armor and jewelry piece you have into the crafting bench in your hideout to see if it has space for a Fire, Cold, or Lightning resist craft. This is only usable if the item has an Open Suffix (hold Alt on an item to see).
- Complete the quest Return to Oriath and talk to Lani for a ring matching the resists you need the most. Get any of the Two-Stones over the single-resist rings, as they are easier to replace later.
- Complete the quests In Service to Science, The Key to Freedom, and reach the Chamber of Innocence
Step 2: Level 38
- Once you enter the Chamber of Innocence, farm this zone until at least level 40. You can reset a campaign zone by holding down CTRL and clicking on the zone or Waypoint.
- If you are clearing the Chamber of Innocence and are still under level 40, use a Portal Scroll and talk to Lani for a Granite Flask
- Talk to Vilenta for a Passive Skillpoint.
- Complete the quest Death to Purity.
Step 3: Level 40
- Complete the quests The Ravenous God and Kitava's Torments.
- When Kitava closes his fist, he will spawn orbs that close in on your location in an X formation, closing in on the center. Avoid any slams and abilities from the large unique monsters that spawn. Kill Kitava, and move onto Act six.
- After killing Kitava, your resists drop by 30%. This should be easy to overcome, and in softcore your resists should be at least 50% each. Every point of resistance gear from here on out drastically increases your survivability!
Step 1: Level 42
- If you are 42, you don't need to farm any XP past this point until Act 9, just be within 6 levels of the zone.
- Entering this Act without 75% all resists is perfectly fine (in softcore!). The elemental damage you take here depends on which part of the Act you are in. The Mud Flats and the Tukohama fight requires Fire res, the Shavronne fight Lightning res, and the Brine King Cold and Lightning res. Using this, it’s okay if your resists initially look like 75% Fire, 50% Cold, and 50% Lightning (again, in softcore). In hardcore, ensure that all resists equal 75% or more.
- Go to your hideout and throw each piece individually at the crafting bench to see if you can craft a Fire, Cold, or Lightning resist on them for 1 Orb of Transmutation each. Obviously only craft the types of resists you need!
- Go out to The Coast and get the Waypoint, then go to the Mud Flats and complete the quest The Father of War.
- Once at the Ridge Waypoint, take it back to The Coast and complete Bestel's Epic.
- Use a Portal Scroll, complete Fallen From Grace, and return to town.
Step 2
- Talk to Lily Roth for 2x Passive Respec Points.
- Talk to Bestel for either a rare Leather Belt or Citrine Amulet, depending on which slot needs a bigger upgrade.
- Talk to Tarkleigh for a Passive Skillpoint.
- Travel to The Lower Prison and complete the Trial of Ascendancy there.
- Finish the Essence of Umbra by killing Brutus and Shavronne.
Step 3
- Kill Abberath in Prisoner's Gate for The Cloven One.
- Grab the Waypoint in The Riverways, then go north to The Wetlands and kill Ryslatha for The Puppet Mistress.
- You may skip Abberath and Ryslatha until late Act 7 if your character is too weak at this point.
- Return to town, then talk to Bestel for a Passive Skillpoint.
- Talk to Tarkleigh for a Callous Mask and a Passive Skillpoint.
- Complete the remaining questline to defeat The Brine King, then move onto Act 7.
Step 1
- Select the Brine King Pantheon (the Keybind is Y by default)
- Complete the quest The Silver Locket
- Travel to The Crypt for the Trial of Ascendancy and the map for Essence of the Artist.
- Waypoint back to The Crossroads, travel north to the Chamber of Sins, and complete Web of Secrets.
- Do the Trial of Ascendancy while in the Chambers of Sin 2, and complete The Master of a Million Faces.
Step 2
- Optionally, you may travel back to town at this point and talk to Helena for an Amulet reward.
- Gather the seven fireflies for the quest Lighting the Way, and kill Greust for the quest Queen of Despair while in The Dread Thicket.
- Exit The Dread Thicket and travel to The Causeway for Kishara's Star.
- Get to the Waypoint in the Vaal City and talk to Yeena there, then return to town.
- This also frees your inventory of the fireflies!
Step 3
- Select the Pantheon Ralakesh, Master of a Million Faces.
- Talk to Eramir for two Passive Skillpoints.
- Talk to Weylam Roth to select the Quartz Flask and a Passive Skillpoint.
- Talk to Helena and select the Carnal Boots.
- After this, complete the Cruel Labyrinth and select Void Beacon.
- Void Beacon reduces nearby monsters' chaos resist and life regeneration rate, which helps out with damage tremendously. While this node is good, it is primarily taken in order to reach Withering Presence by Merciless Lab.
Step 4
- Finally, Waypoint back to The Vaal City, travel to Temple of Decay 2, and kill Arakaali. Avoid the cone of poisonous bolts, as well as the purple orbs that spawn far away and travel towards the boss. After this, move onto Act 8!
Step 1
- Kill Doedre for the quest Essence of the Hag, then go to the right towards The Quay.
- Complete the quest Love is Dead, then travel to the Grain Gate to complete The Gemling Legion.
- Continue to the Solaris Temple and get the waypoint in Solaris Temple 1.
- Complete the quest Solar Eclipse and return to town.
Step 2
- Talk to Clarissa for a Passive Skillpoint.
- Talk to Hargan for whichever Two-Stone ring reward you need the most.
- Talk to Maramoa for a Passive Skillpoint.
Step 3: Level 54
- Go back to Solaris Temple 1, travel to the Solaris Concourse, the Harbour Bridge, then Lunaris Concourse.
- Go to the Lunaris Temple 2 and complete Lunar Eclipse.
- Travel to the Lunaris Concourse and kill the Twins - Solaris the Eternal Sun and Lunaris the Eternal Moon. Stand behind Solaris when she throws her Fire Spear, and get move away when Lunaris fires Cold Rain from the sky. After this, continue onwards to Act 9 and the best zone in the campaign for farming - the Blood Aqueducts!
Step 1: Level 54
- Your goal is to farm Blood Aqueducts until character level 62 for both gem levels and currency. While farming Blood Aqueduct you might find Humility cards, which sell for approximately 2 Chaos Orb at the start of a league. Sell these, as a 6 link is not needed until Red maps.
- The final goal we have of Blood Aqueduct is to farm gear that has good resistances. We want our resists to be close to 105% when killing Act 10 Kitava, as we get another penalty to our resistances. Mapping with ~60% resists is fine for softcore, but is a definite no-go in hardcore. Continue farming gear, currency, and xp in Blood Aqueducts until 62, then move on to act 10.
Step 2: Level 62
- Go back to the Lunaris Concourse in Act 8 to get the Trial of Ascendancy in The Bath House and complete Reflection of Terror in the High Gardens.
- Return to town and talk to Hargan for a Passive Skillpoint.
Step 3: Level 62
- Complete the quest The Storm Blade. Return to town, talk to Petarus and Vanja for a Teak Round Shield, Sin for the next quest item, then Petarus and Vanja again. Return back to the Vastiri Desert waypoint and complete the quest Queen of the Sands.
- Return to town and talk to Irasha for a Passive Skillpoint.
Step 4
- Kill The Basilisk in the Boiling Lake
- Complete the quest Fastis Fortuna
- Complete the Trial of Ascendancy in The Tunnel
- Complete the Ruler of Highgate, then return to town and talk to Irasha for a Passive Skillpoint.
Step 5
- Finish the quest Recurring Nightmare by killing Act 9 boss The Depraved Trinity. Avoid the boss' slam, and avoid getting hit by the scorpion ads that spawn. Next, move onto Act 10!
Step 1
- Kill Plaguewing and complete the quest Safe Passage.
- Place a portal in the middle of the Ruined Square, and go to the waypoint in the Control Blocks (left).
- Take the waypoint back to town and talk to Lani in town for a Silver Flask.
- Because this flask gives Onslaught, you can finally replace Onslaught Support with Unbound Ailments Support.
Step 2
- Don't complete the quest Vilenta's Vengeance in the Control Blocks at this time if your character feels weak. Instead, go through your portal that you placed earlier and go to the right this time towards the Ossuary.
- Complete the quest No Love for Old Ghosts and the Trial of Ascendancy in the Ossuary.
- Complete the Merciless Labyrinth and choose Withering Presence.
- Go a bit slower than normal in Merciless Labyrinth, as there is a difficulty spike. Stop for dark shrines, and try to get extra keys if they are along your path. We are looking for currency and gear, and Merciless lab can actually provide a lot of both.
- Withering Presence is amazing, as all three lines are extremely useful. 60% Chaos Resistance tremendously reduces the amount of Chaos Damage you take from hits, and makes it easy to reach a positive value of Chaos Resists. 15% More Chaos Damage is self explanatory, it is a 15% DPS boost. Withered is a mechanic that is primarily applied through Withering Step, but you would never realistically reach the maximum amount. You will continue to use Withering Step, but now you will have a substantial increase to DPS on bosses.
Step 3
- Kill Avarius to complete the quest Death and Rebirth, then return to town.
- Talk to Bannon with the The Staff of Purity in your inventory.
- Talk to Lani for a General's Brigandine.
- Talk to Weylam Roth for 2x Passive Respec Points.
Step 4
- Travel back to the Ravaged Square, talk to Innocence, and complete the quest An End to Hunger.
- Kill Kitava, and move onto the mapping section below - congratulations on completing the campaign!
- Note that killing Kitava reduces your overall resistances by 30%. We prepare for this by obtaining gear with as high resists as possible. Aim for 75% Fire, Cold, and Lightning Resists.
Mapping Preparation
You're done with the Campaign and ready to take on the Path of Exile Endgame. Priority 1 is to ensure your Elemental Resistances are capped (75%) and have sufficient Attributes to continue leveling your Skill Gems. Use Essences you have gathered on any item that is not Magic or Rare already. Items with an open modifier slot should be crafted on. Go to the Crafting Bench and craft Resistances wherever possible according to what you need, and Life wherever else possible.
On league start, Heisting and doing the Chaos Orb recipe is a great and easy way to obtain currency. From this point on, grind your Atlas out by progressing and completing Maps.
IMPORTANT! Upgrade your flasks to Divine Life Flask when you hit maps and roll them for #% increased Amount Recovered as this is your "Weapon" when using Poisonous Concoction.
Map Modifiers
Take note of the below modifiers, as they should be avoided if they appear on your maps:
- Less Armour reduces your main defences.
- Reduced Effect Of Auras eliminate our defences.
- Cannot Leech removes how we regain our Mana.
- -X% maximum Player Resistances causes you to take extra Elemental damage.
Recommended Farming Content
First step is to progress through the Atlas following our Atlas Progression Guide. As a mapping focused character, you should focus on gearing your character with strong pieces to prepare yourself to farm Red Map content. If you're struggling in higher tier content, go back and farm up more Currency and Gear. The endgame section below will take you to detailed Farming Guides based around maximizing your profits.
Mid Game
Pantheon
For information about the Pantheon and how it works, consult our Pantheon Guide!
For Major Pantheon, select Brine King to gain Immunity to Freeze and Reduction of Chill Effects. This bonus is not available at first. It’s acquired with Divine Vessel.
For Minor Pantheon, select Garukhan and upgrade it. This grants reduced Effect of Shock, preventing large damage spikes, and Cannot be Blinded (to prevent a loss of Accuracy).
Skill Gems
Gems are a fundamental part of your build. Getting the correct link setups before entering Maps and leveling those Gems as you progress through the Atlas is one of your main goals.
If you don't have enough Sockets, simply remove the Lifetap Support and Increased Area of Effect Support from the Withering Step/Plague Bearer setup. If you need to remove more, drop the Lifetap Support from your Shield Charge as well. Keep in mind, removing Shield Charge will make your Mana strained. So try to re-add these when you get enough sockets!
Poisonous Concoction Setup
Poisonous Concoction is your main ability until the BF/BB swap. This skill gem can hit multiple targets with its overlapping AOE projectiles, so link Greater Multiple Projectiles Support and Greater Volley Support. Void Manipulation Support provides raw damage, with Unbound Ailments Support providing additional damage and duration of ailments. The last link will be Lifetap Support to ease our early Mana issues by not being forced into a Mana flask.
Movement
Your primary movement ability will be Shield Charge linked to Faster Attacks Support. Use Flame Dash to traverse over gaps and make sure to link Lifetap Support to this entire setup to ease your Mana pressure.
Ancestral Totem
Ancestral Protector is put down for tough enemies. Use this before starting a boss fight, as it provides more Attack Speed. Once you swap to BF/BB, don't use this anymore.
Auras
Use Determination to mitigate Physical Damage. Use Grace to obtain Evasion Rating, giving you Chance to Evade Attacks. When you have enough Vaal Orbs, corrupt your Grace into a Vaal Grace. Use it right before engaging with a boss for a huge boost in Chance to Evade Attacks. After the BF/BB swap, use Defiance Banner to boost both Evasion Rating and Armour.
Plague Bearer + Withering Step
Link Plague Bearer and Withering Step to Increased Area of Effect Support to make them affect a greater amount of monsters. Plague Bearer should be treated as your main clear ability that you load up and release onto monsters. Withering Step is how you apply the Wither debuff, causing enemies to take 6% increased Chaos Damage per Wither.
Blasphemy Temporal Chains
Blasphemy Support linked with Temporal Chains makes your Curse into and Area of effect Aura. This allows you to easily Curse enemies who come within that area. This pairs very well with Profane Bloom giving you easy explosions. Temporal Chains is chosen because it makes effects on enemies expire slower. This means our Poison does the same amount of damage per second, but does more damage in total. It also causes enemies to become slower, which stops enemies from hitting you and helps you recover damage taken in between enemy attacks.
Cast when Damage Taken
Cast when Damage Taken Support should be linked to Molten Shell to trigger a protective shield that scales off Armour and absorbs damage for a duration. If you can't use Determination to scale your Armour yet, then replace it with Steelskin.
Bladefall Blade Blast (BF/BB)
Once you obtain everything needed to preform the BF/BB swap, change your main ability to Blade Blast and Bladefall. This one-two combo will provide you with some much needed Life Recovery and some additional damage. Link Blade Blast to Chance to Poison Support for flat Chaos Damage and Chance to Poison, Increased Area of Effect Support to increase the explosion radius to cause overlaps and then Void Manipulation Support, Unbound Ailments Support and Deadly Ailments Support for pure damage.
For your Bladefall, link a Level 1 Unleash Support to cause repeats of this ability, leaving the maximum amount of lingering blades on the ground. Use a Level 1 Spell Cascade Support to cause a repeat of this ability in front and behind where you targeted, helping leave even more lingering blades. Lastly, Link Concentrated Effect Support to cause your lingering blades to fall within a concentrated area, allowing more overlapping explosions from Blade Blast.
NEW BOSSING SETUP
For Pinnacle Bosses, you should replace Unleash Support with Arcanist Brand, and follow the recommended passive tree in the End Game POB. This will have you take Runebinder which allows you to have 2 Brands attached to enemies. Then you simply spam Blade Blast after your Brands cast Bladefall.
Skill Tree Progression
Bladefall Blade Blast (BF/BB) Swap
Swap to BF/BB after leveling with Poisonous Concoction to level 88. You are swapping at this point because BF/BB does more damage and has a better recovery method through the use of +# Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Spells. The stat you need on your gear to make a comfortable swap is increased Cast Speed on your Wand, Ring, Amulet, and Gloves. This may sound intimidating, but with Harvest Reforge Caster, it becomes trivial. You will need an 8 passive Large Physical Cluster, a 5 passive Chaos Damage over Time Medium Cluster, a 5 passive Critical Strike Chance Medium Cluster, a 2 passive Enduring Composure Armour Small Cluster, and a 2 passive Mana reservation efficiency Small Cluster. These bases are all easy to purchase or craft. They are also covered at the end of the Early Game Milestones.
Character Progression
Early Game Goal
Your first goal will be capping Elemental Resistances and obtaining a Despair oh Hit Ring.
Don't spend too much on your Helmet, one of your Rings and a 5-linked Body Armor, as they will be upgraded later.
Milestone 1 - Syndicate Unveils
While doing Syndicate Missions find Elreon and Gravicius, or remove other members from the Syndicate until they show up. Unveil the following gear slots for these crafts specifically and all other unveils afterwards:
- Unveil Boots for the 20% increased Movement Speed Cannot be Chilled Boot modifier
- Unveil Elreon's Veiled Rings for Non-Channeling Skills have -(x-x) to Total Mana Cost
- Unveil It That Fled Veiled Gear for x% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage
- Unveil Gravicius's Veiled Body Armours for x% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire and Lightning Damage
Purchase from a Vendor a Weapon and Shield that has 3 Green Sockets. Buy 6 Blade Blasts and put them in your Weapon Swap. Then swap back to your normal Shield and Unarmed set.
Milestone 2 - Flasks
Flasks are significant defensive upgrades and are our next pickup. The Flask bases are:
- Quicksilver Flask
- Granite Flask
- Jade Flask
- Basalt Flask
- Divine Life Flask
To craft your Flasks, use an Orb of Transmutation on White Flasks and then alternate between using Orb of Alteration and Orb of Augmentation until you hit the following mods on your Granite Flask and Basalt Flask
- Increased Attack Speed during Flask effect.
- Increased Armour during Flask effect.
- Reduced Effect of Curses on you during Flask effect.
- Increased Evasion Rating during Flask effect.
Roll for the following modifier on your Divine Life Flask. Once you have this modifier, make sure to have captured at least 4 Yellow Beasts. Visit the Menagerie and craft the Sealing mod to give Corrupted Blood and Bleed Removal to your Life Flask.
- 70% increased Amount Recovered / 33% reduced Recovery rate
- IMPORTANT - This modifier makes your Flask, which is your Weapon, deal more Chaos Damage.
Milestone 3 - Accuracy gear
You need to obtain enough Accuracy to hit 100% chance to Hit. This requires 3 Rares with 300+ Accuracy on them AND a Level 7 Precision linked to Arrogance Support. Harvest Reforge Attack on your Gloves, Rings and Shield until you obtain Accuracy and 2 or more of the following modifiers:
- 50+ to Maximum Life
- 35%+ to Fire/Lightning/Cold Resistance.
- x% chance to Suppress Spell Damage
If you get 2 of these mods, craft the last one. If you get all 3 mods, then craft a Resistance or Damage mod.
Milestone 4 - 5-Link Body Armour
Obtain a 5-Linked Evasion/Energy Shield Body Armour if you have enough currency. Use a Screaming Essence of Greed on your Body Armour until you hit a Resistance. If you have a Prefix open, craft the Gravicius's Veiled mod x% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire and Lightning Damage.
Milestone 5 - Boots, Amulet and Belt
For your Boots you want Evasion/Energy Shield hybrid bases to make coloring Sockets easier. Obtain or purchase a Stygian Vise Belt to craft on, or grab a Leather Belt and craft on that. The Stygian allows for an extra Abyss Jewel for damage/Stats/Resistance. Use an Amber Amulet base to help with Strength.
Make sure there is an open Prefix on your boots after crafting, to craft the "Onslaught on Kill + Movement Speed" Unveiled mod on your Boots. Get the following mods to fill your build out with as much Life and Resistances as possible through Harvest Reforging or Essence spamming.
- 50+ to Maximum Life
- 35%+ to Fire/Lightning/Cold Resistance.
- x% chance to Suppress Spell Damage
- 30+ to Strength (You need 155 to use a level 20 Determination)
IMPORTANT - Get enough Resistances and stats on these few pieces so that you can use The Gull. You need to buy a 6-link Body Armour base later on, so don't rely on this slot for resistances for too long.
LAST IMPORTANT MESSAGE - If you obtain any gear with bad tiers of Accuracy, Maximum Life and Resistances you can use a Harvest Reforge More Likely.
Milestone 6 - The Gull
The Gull is a Helmet that spawns Lesser Shrines on kill. Shrines are temporary buffs. Combine this Helmet with an Atlas Passive Tree that obtains additional Shrine Buff Effect and Duration to increase your speed, damage and survivability.
If The Gull is too expensive, purchase a Helmet with Resistances and an open Suffix to craft x% increased Duration of Ailments you inflict while Focused.
Milestone 7 - Amulet Craft
- Purchase an Amulet with +x% to Damage over Time Multiplier or +1 to Level of all Chaos Skill Gems and some Elemental Resistances/Strength depending on which you'll need.
- When you get an Amulet that has one of these mods, craft Life and anoint Toxic Strikes:
- Amber Oil
- Clear Oil
- Crimson Oil
Milestone 8 - 6-Linked Body Armour
Obtain a 6-Linked Evasion/Energy Shield Body Armour if you have enough currency. Use a Screaming Essence of Greed on your Body Armour just like before, crafting the Gravicius's Veiled mod again x% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire and Lightning Damage.
Milestone 9 - Despair on hit Ring
A Despair On Hit Ring allows your Profane Bloom to also apply this curse, giving you an enormous amount of additional explosion clear. This also removes the need to self cast your curse, removing a button from your build. To obtain this Ring, purchase a Hunter Influenced Two-Stone Ring and use Harvest Reforge Caster until you obtain the Curse Enemies with Despair on Hit, with x% increased Effect. Land a Resistance with an open Prefix to craft Life, or Life and an open Suffix to craft Resistance.
Milestone 10 - BF/BB Swap Clusters
To swap comfortably you'll need to purchase and craft the following Clusters:
- Purchase an 8 Passive Large Physical Cluster item level 50+.
- Use Jagged Fossils until you obtain 3 notable passives. The best to obtain are Battle-Hardened, Furious Assault and Master the Fundamentals.
- Purchase a 5 Passive Medium Chaos Damage over Time item level 50+.
- Use Aberrant Fossils until you obtain Septic Spells. The best 2nd notable is Eternal Suffering.
- Purchase a 5 passive Medium Critical Strike Chance item level 68+
- Orb of Alteration spam until you obtain Overwhelming Malice. Then Orb of Augmentation and Regal Orb for anything else. This should take 100 Orb of Alterations.
- Purchase a 2 passive Enduring Composure item level 68+
- Or Harvest Reforge Defence until you obtain Enduring Composure.
- Purchase a 2 passive Mana reservation efficiency
- Orb of Alteration spam until you obtain Uncompromising.
Milestone 11 - BF/BB Swap Gear
To swap comfortably you'll need to purchase and craft the following Gear:
- Shaper Influenced Item level: 75+ Gloves that have Evasion Rating.
- Harvest Reforge Caster or use Aetheric Fossils until you obtain Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 18 Faster Casting. Land a Resistance with an open Prefix to craft Life, or Life and an open Suffix to craft Resistance.
- A Shaper Influenced Item level: 75+ Ring.
- Harvest Reforge Caster or use Aetheric Fossils until you obtain +# Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Spells and increased Cast Speed. If you land +# Mana gained for each Enemy hit by your Spells as well, you hit the jackpot and won't need an Eternal Mana Flask.
- Obtain a Heathen Wand item level 72+ or 83+ if not too expensive.
- Harvest Reforge Caster or use Aetheric Fossils to obtain increased Cast speed. Finish it with the Unveiled craft (46-50)% increased Chaos Damage + Chaos Skills have (11-12)% increased Skill Effect Duration.
- Purchase an Amulet with 20+% increased Cast Speed and +x% to Damage over Time Multiplier
After crafting all of the gear and clusters you're ready to move on to the next section.
Mid Game Goal
This is where you swap BF/BB. Once you complete this Milestone you can farm Red Maps, Alters and 60% delirium (if you play correctly and roll rippy maps). Make sure you've crafted everything needed in the last 2 Milestones of Early Game.
Milestone 1 - The Swap
Make sure to have crafted EVERYTHING from the last 2 Milestones in Early Game. Once completed you are ready to make the swap to BF/BB. This means you should have a level 88 character, otherwise keep farming maps until you do. When you're ready to make the swap put your gear on without any gems/sockets. Make sure your resistances are capped and that you have enough Strength to use Determination. Purchase all your Gems from the Act vendors if possible, because then they will be leveled up. If your purchase them from Lily, they will all be level 1. Then swap your passive skill tree to the BF/BB Swap, and make sure to use an Eternal Mana Flask instead of your Basalt Flask to solve your heavy Mana issues. Unveil Cinderswallow Urn, or ask your friends if they have the 20% reduced Mana Cost of Skills during Flask Effect craft. Use this on your Mana flask to further ease Mana pressure.
If at any moment you feel you're taking too much damage over time, replace Defiance Banner with Vitality and take the Life Mastery for Reservation Efficiency on Herbalism.
Milestone 2 - Cap your Suppression Chance
Once you've made the swap, make sure to cap your Spell Suppression chance or at least getting it to 95%. The easiest way to do this is to obtain a Supreme Spiked Shield and to use Harvest Reforge Life until you've obtained 17%+ Chance to Suppress Spell Damage, and 70+ to maximum Life. Then finish your Shield by crafting Gain (7-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage.
Milestone 3 - 6-Linked Body Armour
Purchase a 6-Linked, NOT Corrupted, Item Level 77+ hybrid Evasion/Armour, Full Dragonscale being the best, Body Armour off the trade site. Harvest Reforge Physical until you land 6-7% additional Physical Damage Reduction and open craft for Life or Life and some Resistances. This is an easy spot to scoop some Resistances, as we've made sure to not need too much Elemental Resistance here so far. To color your chest, use ~250 Chromatic Orbs.
Milestone 4 - REAL Flask setup
Flasks are an extremely important part of our build's avoidance and mitigation, so properly invest into them. You need these 3 mods on 3 Flasks.
- %increased Evasion rating during Flask Effect
- %increased Armor during Flask Effect
- %increased Cast Speed during Flask Effect
Use the Flasks below, fitting the above mods onto 3 of them where available. Buy or roll Flasks for the mod x% increased Charge Recovery. Grab item level 70+ Utility Flask bases, rolling x% increased Charge Recovery should take about 30 Orb of Alteration each Flask, for 90 in total. Either Orb of Augmentation into those, or buy those mods on at least one if you have to.
- Granite Flask
- Jade Flask
- Quicksilver Flask
Go to your crafting bench and craft Used when Charges reach full on your 3 Utility Flasks to automate their use. This will cost you 5 Instilling Orb and Glassblower's Bauble each.
Milestone 5 - Stygian Vise
This Milestone is going to have you craft a better belt. If you have a belt with T3+ Life, and 2+ Resistances/Strength then skip this step AFTER crafting Regenerate 150 Energy Shield per second while a Rare or Unique Enemy is Nearby (Unveiled from Belts). Grab an item level 82 Stygian Vise. Harvest Reforge Life or Shrieking Essence of Rage until you obtain T3+ Life, and 40+ Strength with a Resistance. Finish it by crafting Regenerate 150 Energy Shield per second while a Rare or Unique Enemy is Nearby in your Prefixes.
For your Abyss Jewel, grab one that has x% chance to gain Phasing for 4 seconds on Kill and one of the following modifiers:
- +x to Strength
- +x to maximum Life
- Resistances
- increased Global Physical Damage
- 6% increased Cast Speed if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently
Milestone 5 - Helmet Enchant
Grab a Helmet Enchant if they're not expensive (2+ Divine Orb) from this trade link. You can de-select Enchants based on what you feel you need. Example: I want more damage, so I'll grab Blade Blast AOE or Withering Step 3 additional debufs.
Milestone 6 - Finalizing Amulet
At this point your Amulet should have at least T2 +x% to Damage over Time Multiplier and x% increased Cast Speed. If not then Purchase or Craft one that does and Anoint the following:
- 2x Black Oil
- Crimson Oil
Milestone 7 - Watcher's Eye
Your first Watcher's Eye mod should have one of the following:
- % additional Physical Damage Reduction while affected by Determination
- to Armour while affected by Determination
- +x% chance to Evade Attack Hits while affected by Grace
Milestone 8 - Eldritch Influence
Now you're going to be "finalizing" your gear. At this point your gear should have T3+ to maximum Life, your Strength should be OK without points on the tree and your Chance to Suppress Spell damage should be capped (or 95%+). For bosses, you can purchase a Helmet to swap on. You may need Cold Resistance because that was provided by The Gull. Make sure to craft 50% increased Duration of Ailments you inflict while Focused, and to purchase and craft on a Helmet that has the enchant: Blade Blast has 24% increased Area of Effect.
- Helmet: 8% increased Cast Speed with Lesser Eldritch Ember and 6% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire Damage with Lesser Eldritch Ichor.
- Body Armour: (13–14)% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills Lesser Eldritch Ember and Determination has 21% increased Aura Effect with Lesser Eldritch Ichor.
- Boots: Gain 4% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage with Lesser Eldritch Ember and 4% increased Action Speed with Lesser Eldritch Ichor.
Congratulations, you've completed the Medium Budget Milestones. Your character is more than capable of blasting any Mapping content below 80% delirium maps, and rake in TONS of with our Currency guides.
End Game Goal
The End Game gear set is good enough to farm all mapping content this game has to offer. You can even complete the non-Uber bosses, all with one build. This set has extra recovery, damage and mitigation, but requires many crafted pieces so get if you need additional currency check out our farming guides.
End Game Goal
Most of these Milestones should be completed nearly the same time, because some will lose you Resistances and some will gain you Resistances/Stats to free up other gear. If you've gotten this far, you should have no issues understanding what your specific gear needs are.
IMPORTANT: Most gear in this section is easier to craft if you obtain a Fractured base. This base 'locks' the mod in, so you can use Essences and other crafting methods to obtain a good item.
Milestone 1 - Awakened Gems
The easiest upgrade you can make is going to be Awakened Gems and Alternate Qualities. Purchase the following Awakened Gems:
- Awakened Unbound Ailments Support
- Awakened Deadly Ailments Support
- Awakened Increased Area of Effect Support
- Awakened Unleash Support - Put in Gloves
- Awakened Spell Cascade Support - Put in Gloves
Purchase the following Alternate Quality Gems:
- Anomalous Concentrated Effect Support - Put in Gloves
- Anomalous Withering Step
- Divergent Plague Bearer
- Divergent Increased Area of Effect Support
Milestone 2 - Glove Swap
This Milestone has you create a new pair of Gloves. I 100% just yoinked these gloves after watching ds_lily's BF/BB video, because they allow you to cap poison chance without Chance to Poison Support and allows you to instead use Awakened Void Manipulation Support to obtain many millions of additional damage in the end.
Ds_lily Gloves
Milestone 3 - Stygian Vise
The Stygian Vise is a great slot to pick up a TON of Life, Resistances and Strength + Intelligence.
Milestone 4 - Extra Recovery
Now you're going to get the Shaper +# Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Spells on both Rings, without giving up Curse Enemies with Despair on Hit, with 32% increased Effect. This means you're crafting Ring 1, which has Despair on Hit AND the Life gained. Then you're crafting Ring 2, which has the Life gained AND Mana gained on hit. This allows you to drop your Mana flask, and doubles up on the Life recovery.
Despair Ring (1)
Recovery Ring (2)
Milestone 5 - Bottled Faith
Purchase and replace your Mana Flask with a Bottled Faith now that you have a Mana on spell hit Ring. Use this Flask to obtain some damage (get a 10% increased Damage roll) and extra Life regeneration.
Milestone 6 - Shield
Purchase an Armour/Evasion Shield with T1 chance to Suppress Spell Damage and You take #% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes. Otherwise obtain a Strength/Dex base and use a Deft Fossil and craft chance to Suppress Spell damage. Then use Harvest Reforge more likely until you obtain T2+ from both. Then craft Suffixes Cannot be changed and Harvest Reforge Life until you land T3+ to maximum Life and 2 Open Prefixes. You can settle on a lower tier of Life to save money. Once you have Life and 2 open Prefixes, craft Gain (7-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage, purchase a Hunter's Exalted Orb and Slam it on your shield for x% increased maximum Life.
Milestone 6 - Wand Crafting
This Milestone has you purchase a wand base, or create one from scratch. If you can, purchase a Wand with T1/2 +x% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier and x% increased Cast Speed with an open Suffix. Skip to step 3 below.
Wand Crafting
Milestone 7 - Amulet and Boots
Your Amulet and Boots are the two Gear slots you can just purchase. For your Boots, focus on the Suffixes first purchasing:
- 3x T2+ Resistance rolls
- 2x T2+ Resistances AND 40+ to Strength.
Once you have 3 great Suffixes, use Eldritch Chaos Orb or Eldritch Exalted Orb AND Eldritch Orb of Annulment to get a good Life roll, making sure there's an open Prefix to craft (18-20)% increased Movement Speed + Cannot be Chilled.
For your Amulet, obtain T2+ +x% to Damage over Time Multiplier AND x% increased Cast Speed with a good Life roll. If you don't need and resistances or stats here, this is your only slot to use the new Lake of Kalandra Jewelry crafting station. This mirrors your Ring doubling 50% of the mods and going negative on the other 50%. Fill your Amulet with Exalted Orbs to have a good chance of doubling your Life, Cast Speed and DoT Multi.
Milestone 8 - Body Armour
In this Milestone you are creating a better Body Armour to further increase your Physical Mitigation.
Body Armour
Video Guide
Path of Building
IMPORTANT! The POB's have multiple Trees, Gear and Gem sets. Make sure to swap ALL.
You NEED the community fork of POB for these to work! https://pathofbuilding.community/
Leveling + Early Game - https://pobb.in/2lpa7uWKn_gH
Mid Game - https://pobb.in/McNK1_-iArXl
End Game - https://pobb.in/iBQu0Qkavv38
Summary
The Blade Blast Occultist is one of the best mappers for a League Start. Charge around, explode packs, and have a blast. The gearing is simple and easier than ever with full crafting instructions. Simply use Plague Bearer, and let your Profane Bloom take care of it all.
If you have any questions, come ask them on my livestream Twitch.tv/TriPolarBear
If you're looking for what to farm for more Currency, check out our META section!
Credits
Written by Tripolarbear.
Reviewed by Raxxanterax.