Intro & build description
If you like mage-like playstyle, look no further. Build trivializes maps with very fast clearspeed and strong proliferation coming out of Elementalist Ascendancy. To start with, you don’t need any specific gear, generic rares will carry you till endgame and then with some investment of currency build really starts to shine.
Build Pros
- Very fast clear speed
- High damage
- Good survivability
- Can do all the content in the game
- Elemental Reflect reduction
Build Cons
- None I can think about
Passive tree(s) and Path of Building
Full BuildBandits
Bandits Quest Choice |
Help Alira |
Ascendancy skill points
Labyrinths | Skill point choice |
---|---|
Labyrinth 1 | Shaper of Desolation |
Labyrinth 2 | Beacon of Ruin |
Labyrinth 3 | Liege of the Primordial |
Endgame Labyrinth | Paragon of Calamity |

Skill gem setup
Helm
Orb of Storms
Curse on Hit Support
Assassin's Mark
Power Charge on Critical Support
Body Armor
Frostbolt
Controlled Destruction Support
Cold Penetration Support
Slower Projectiles Support or Greater Multiple Projectiles Support
Increased Critical Strikes Support
Empower (3lvl)
Gloves
Blasphemy
Warlord's Mark
Enlighten
Clarity
Boots
Cast When Damage Taken Support
Immortal Call
Increased Duration Support
Vaal Haste
2h Weapon
None
1h Weapon
Shield Charge
Faster Attacks Support
Fortify Support
Offhand weapon / shield
Summon Ice Golem
Summon Flame Golem
Vaal Lightning Trap
Build uniques / Example rare gear
Tip: Click on the item to view it on PoE Wiki or to view similar rare items in poe.tradeHelmet
The Three DragonsLater on, must have item for the build, makes frostbolt ignite and proliferate damage. Good thing is, it’s very cheap.
Body Armour
Skin of the LoyalSkin of the Loyal offers some nice damage and defence. It is just a guidline, you can use any unique chest or hybrid Vaal Regalia with elemental resistances, life and high energy shield.
Gloves
Sorcerer GlovesEnergy shield, life, resistances and if possible, some attack speed (makes shield charge more responsive).
Boots
Brinerot WhalersUnaffected by shocking ground, decent movement speed and projectile damage. You can use something else for boots if, for example, you find it hard to cap resistances.
Left Ring
Doedre's DamningRing is needed for second curse, if you can afford amulet with extra curse, instead of Doedre’s Damning use something else that suits you.
Amulet
Onyx AmuletLife, resistances, cast speed, critical multiplier, mana regeneration. All good stats on amulet, pick what you can afford/find and what suits you most.
1Hand Weapon
Doryani's CatalystPretty much best in slot to use with shield charge, Void Battery is an option as well if you have money and not having Shield Charge in your setup doesn’t bother you.
Offhand
Rathpith GlobeRathpith Globe or Rare titanium spirit shield with high energy shield, resistances, spell damage or increased critical strike chance for spells. It’s up to you to decide which route you want to go.
Flask
Flask Setup- Seething Divine Life Flask of Staunching
- Chemist’s Diamond Flask of Warding
- Ample Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline
- The Wise Oak
- Experimenter’s Silver Flask of Heat
passive skill tree stoped working :/
Thank you. Passive skill trees were made with poeplanner.com prior to 3.0 launch, sadly it stopped working on launch day. Passives are up to date now, sorry for the inconvenience.
Could I suggest adding Elemental Proliferation Support? It has a 20% chance to freeze, shock, or ignite and any elemental ailments from the supported spell are spread to all enemies in a radius of 10
Passiv Trea isnt working anymore
Just checked, works fine for me. 🙂
I found 3 points to the area effect and damage near the witch’s starting point. Isn’t frostbolt not an area effect?
its projectile so area effect isnt needed here
If you add the Elemental Proliferation Support it makes it and AoE because it spreads any elemental ailments like freeze, shock, or ignite to any enemies within a radius of 10
Maybe you are right but still i dont think its nesssary to use aoe node its look like a waste of points
and passive from ascendancy “Beacon of Ruin” covering status aliment spreading
I have question about cold penetration. Im close to 80 and im struggling rly hard with cold resistent bosses. Im wondering if im doing sth wrong
Seems Like something went wrong with elemental equilibrium.
as far as i can say, you really need to cast orb of storms before every frostbolt to reduce the enemys resistances.
maybe we could get a better answer from te
You should be able to realiably kill the packs of monsters even without casting OoS – it’s meant for bosses / unique mobs / tougher rares.
idk if im not writing again but cant see the before comment in waiting section. Yes it was elemental equlibrium problem i had cold spell damage in my wand what i missed somehow..
Area of affect is meant for curses
Following this build, boss kills are very slow sometimes, but so far so good 🙂 lvl57 now.
But what do you mean with this part:
Helmet:
Cobalt Jewel
Maximum life
Spell damage
Projectile damage
Cold damage
Is this meant to be the 3rd jewel to use in the skill tree? Because the Cobalt Jewel link seems to be linked to this build url, maybe a mistake?
Your rare jewels should be with following stats :
1) Increased maximum life
2) Increased spell damage
3) Increased Projectile damage
For a 5L, until you get a 6L, do you leave off Empower?
Correct.
Hi, I’m using this build and am up to level 85, my question is where does the life leech come from? there seems to be little leech to recover health. My frostbolt witch is better geared then my melee and higher health along with es and still I die way more often on her. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or what.
Life leech comes from Warlord’s Mark curse supported by blasphemy support gem.
Tried this build, sucks to level with solo dps is so suptire and the meta just dont love casters that stand still – clearing is fine but no near game breaking.
It gets better with currency invested.
HI, how elemental equilibrium can work in this build plz?
I apologize if this is a stupid question, I am very new to PoE.
Why Orb of Storm, couldn’t I instead use Arc Totem?
You could, but links would be Spell Totem – arc – curse on hit – assassin’s mark (which is 4link already). Orb of Storms lets you do the same with power charge generation.
I see, thanks!
Hi,
coul you post your current gear for this build?
Also could you suggest other unique armors and maybe explain why you picked Skin of the loyal? It doesn’t seem that good -> 100% increased global defense doesn’t seem to be too useful for this build and with the needed socket colors for this build it’s quite rare and atm priced around 8 exalted.
Other than that I enjoy playing this build, thanks for taking the time to gather the information and posting it.
Cheers
Hello, any unique or rare chest works just fine. Skin of the Loyal is suggested just for mere +1 to Level of Socketed Gems. It is just a guidline, you can use any unique chest or hybrid Vaal Regalia with elemental resistances, life and high energy shield.
Hi I’m new to the game since the release on console. The one question I have is regarding shield charge. Are you using this as an escape skill? As a caster, I would assume you would want to stay at a range, not running into the thick of things. If I’m wrong, could you let me know what your typical rotation should look like. Thanks.
In theory – yes. But mostly it is used to move around the map quickly, hence movement skill. The faster you clear maps/zones – more loot you acquire in shorter time span. Rotation is – shield charge till you see mobs, cast frostbolts and move further with shield charge. So much quicker than simply walking. Hope I answered your question.
Got it. Thanks.
skills are out of date
Yeah, this build hasn’t been updated to 3.1 as you can see in the title.