Home / Build / [3.3] Righteous Fire + Scorching Ray Shadow (Trickster)

[3.3] Righteous Fire + Scorching Ray Shadow (Trickster)

Intro & build description

If you like tanky builds that do tons of damage, this one is definitely for you. Scorching Ray + Righteous Fire builds are usually some of the first ones that kill Shaper at the beginning of new leagues because of their high damage with moderate investment. Since the Rise of The Phoenix was nerfed, it’s harder to balance Righteous fire with life regeneration but it’s definitely doable. With this build, you can farm all the hardest content game has to offer and it will probably have no problems killing Uber Elder as well.

Build Pros

  • Really tanky
  • Reflect is not an issue
  • Extremely high damage
  • Can do all map mods
  • Quick movement using Shield Charge

Build Cons

  • Can be a bit tricky getting all the regen needed to sustain Righteous fire in the first 3-4 days of the league (still doable)
  • Channeling makes you vulnerable

Passive tree(s) and Path of Building

[3.2] Skill tree [117p]
[3.3] Skill Tree

Bandits

Bandits Quest Choice
Kill all bandits

Ascendancy skill points

LabyrinthsSkill point choice
Labyrinth 1Swift Killer
Labyrinth 2Patient Reaper
Labyrinth 3Prolonged Pain
Endgame LabyrinthWeave The Arcane

Skill gem setup

Helm


Orb of Storms

Arcane Surge Support

Increased Duration Support

Increased Critical Strikes Support


Body Armor


Scorching Ray

Burning Damage Support

Swift Affliction Support

Controlled Destruction Support

Efficacy Support

Elemental Focus Support


Gloves


Righteous Fire

Concentrated Effect Support

Elemental Focus Support

Burning Damage Support


Boots



2h Weapon


None


1h Weapon


Shield Charge

Faster Attacks Support

Fortify Support


Offhand weapon / shield


Clarity

Purity of Fire

Summon Stone Golem



Build uniques / Example rare gear


Tip: Click on the item to view it on PoE Wiki or to view similar rare items in poe.trade

Helmet

Rare Armor / Energy shield helmet

Look for armour + energy shield helmet with some life and resistances. If you can afford it, look for helm that also has + to maximum mana but it can get very expensive especially early in the new league.


Body Armour

Belly of The Beast / Kaom's Heart

In the very endgame when you can afford it, look for 6-linked Belly of The Beast.
Before you can get that, cheaper option is to use Kaom’s Heart and Balefire sceptre which will be more damage than 5-linked Scorching Ray setup in Belly.

Another option is Tabula Rasa but you will be much squishier.


Gloves

Rare Armour Gloves

For our gloves, we will have to use Essence of Delirium to craft “Socketed Gems deal 30% more Damage over Time”. Until you have enough currency to buy several of these essences, don’t try to roll anything insane on the gloves – just get one and roll with it, even if the gloves have no life or resistance rolls.


Boots

Kaom's Roots

Great boots for the build – lots of life and stun immunity.


Left Ring

Rare Coral / Two-Stone / Opal Ring

Look for rings with as much life, mana, mana regeneration and resistances as you can find.

If you can get some attributes that you lack on the ring – that’s great as well.


Right Ring

Rare Coral / Two-Stone / Opal Ring

Same as previously mentioned ring.


Amulet

Marble Amulet

Definitely look for uncorrupted Marble Amulet base because we need all the life regen we can get.

Stats to look for – maximum life, mana and some resistances. Attributes you are lacking would be nice bonuses.


Belt

Leather Belt / Stygian Vise

Ideally look for Stygian Vise belt base because you will be able to put abyssal jewel in there for damage and life regeneration.

Leather belt would be decent option as well.


1Hand Weapon

Balefire / Doryani's Catalyst

For your weapon your best bet would be to use Balefire if you can get it, after that – Doryani’s Catalyst.

Another option would be to craft or buy some cheap rare sceptre with spell damage + fire damage on it (good rares are much better than Doryani’s though).


Offhand

Rise of The Phoenix

Mandatory item for the build to sustain Righteous Fire.
Early in the league you can farm Solaris Temple for The Sun divination cards – 7 cards can be exchanged for Rise of The Phoenix.


Jewel

Builds Jewels

On jewels look for following mods:

1.) Increased maximum life
2.) Increased fire damage
3.) Increased burning damage
4.) Increased damage over time
5.) Increased damage
6.) Mana regeneration or attributes you lack

If you have trouble sustaining Righteous Fire, consider multiple Abyss Jewels withΒ 9-12 life regenerated per second.


Flask

Flasks

1.) Hallowed Hybrid Flask with freeze removal
2.) Rumi’s Concoction
3.) Witchfire Brew
4.) Sulphur Flask
5.) Basalt Flask with bleed removal



Feel free to share your thoughts/experiences/tips about the build in comments section below.

About gems

Always tries to keep up with the game, its ever-changing mechanisms and explain them in understandable manner.

57 comments

  1. please make a Trickster phys/ele BV conversion guide πŸ™‚

    • We are thinking about it. The chaos dmg ascendancy looks insanely strong, if it won’t get nerfed on the launch we will definitely make a build.

      • thought the patch notes came up last night i really love a guide i on this not sure where to start it should be very good πŸ™‚

  2. Can you guys make a GC Miner build for the new league

  3. Where do you get Frenzy charges from? I see you take the Frenetic node for +1 Frenzy Charges.

  4. What is Elemental Equilbrium taken for? How do you activate it without giving +50% resistance to fire to enemies?

    • Elemental Equilibrium is only applied from hits – Scorching Ray and Righteous Fire are not hits but damage over time skills. Ele Equilibrium helps with bosses tremendously, since your Orb of Storms makes boss resistant to lightning and less resistant to fire.

  5. Gloves Gem’s colors are wrong Righteous Fire, Concentrated Effect Support, Elemental Focus Support are blue

  6. I understand a lot of this is for starters but would it not be more ideal to roll Delirium on elder helmet to have level 16-20 burning damage as well as the 30% allowing you to put in an efficacy support gem instead?

    • Yeah, that would probably be the best case scenario but pretty expensive. Good option to push the build to the next level.

  7. hiiiii how is the new ascendancy order?

  8. Thoughts on herald of ash after 3.20 patch?

    • It’s good, but I don’t know if it would be worth for this build. Since we are running MoM, more unreserved mana means more damage mitigation and I wouldn’t drop defense for some more damage because the build doesn’t lack the firepower.

  9. How do you sustain yourself when you’re not killing things? Because I always seem to be at a life and mana deficit when I’m just sitting in my hideout or when I can’t kill things on some bosses?

  10. How about using Vitality? I used it in a previous RF Build and it worked well. Is there a good way to fit it in this build, or is it worth it?

    • It might work, but depending on how much mana you have, it might reserve your whole pool… Since this is MoM build, stacking some more life regeneration + mana regeneration gear would be the best option.

      • Oh, you have a great point there. My last RF build was a Maruader/Beserker build, which stacked a lot of life and didn’t use MoM, so using your Mana Pool for vitality wasn’t an issue.

  11. Oh, and another question: You stated to kill all the Bandits. However, wouldn’t it be better to help Oak, since he gives you 1% life generation/second? What are your thoughts on going with Oak with this build vs killing all the bandits?

    • In this particular case, Oak might be a good option if you cannot balance out the regenerations, but I almost always pick 2 skill points unless the build I’m playing benefits from all 3 mods of a reward.

      • DANGIT!!! Once and again, you make a GREAT point. Something I’m going to have to think about when I make this build. I reckon once you pick a bandit to help, and other to kill, or if you kill them all, you can’t redo the choice, right?

  12. Coming at this from only watching someone else play RF previously, but I have a concern. Does the RF self burn apply to ES before HP? Therefor, since ES requires downtime to regenerate, any ES is wasted?

    • Yes, it applies burn on ES before life. Trickster gives us 2% ES recovered on kill, which helps if you are having larger ES pool but wouldn’t outregenerate RF. When having some extra ES on top of your life, you have an option to turn off RF and use Scorching Ray only to make you tankier if you need that for certain encounters.

  13. You’ve been awesome with your answers, gems. I have another question: How about using Screaming Essense of Anger to craft Opal Rings with Additional Elemental Damage? That worked on my last RF Build, would that be viable with your build, or does the life mana, and mana regeneration matter more? (resistances goes w/o question).

  14. I’m having trouble sustaining RF at lvl 84 I’m new to the game and think I must be short on life regen per second? Is that usually the biggest problem? I have 5.4k life and 500 mama after auras

    • Hello, do you have Rise of the Phoenix unique shield? Is your fire resistance capped? How much life regen do you have?

      • Buckdodgers1906

        Dangit!!! I forgot to mention something else. If you wind up having to make some, or most of the changes me and prime suggested, be prepared to open your Wallet. It’s going to cost a LOT of chaos/ At lvl 84, you’re going to need to look at max level gear. In particular, the gems I suggested you find can get pricey. If you have the budget, it’s simply a matter of time finding what you need on poe.trade (I’m assuming you’re not playing SFF). However, if you don’t have the money, you’re going to need to get farming. Once again, good luck to you.

    • Buckdodgers1906

      Good observation Prime. I would also ask, are you using Purity of Fire (Hopefully) and what level is it? At lvl 84, I would pay the Chaos and Spring for a Max Level Purity of Fire, which will give you 4% Additional Maximum Fire Resistance. You have 5.4k life and only 500 mana after auras, that 500 k seems low. YOU need high mana with this build, and high mana regen to match. Your rings are the BIGGEST place to get high mana regen. Remember, when you get hit, it will grab 30 percent from your mana pool. You need good regen to recover your mana after taking hits. Also, make sure to find/craft jewels that have 7 percent life and the highest mana regen you can find. Back to life really quickly, make sure you have as many equipment pieces that have life regen as you can find. You might want to get a Darkness Enthroned Sygian Device and get two abyssal jewels that have good life regen and whatever resistances you need. I was using the Shaper’s Seed Amulet (A great leveling Amulet) until I was able to buy a Good Marble Amulet that had good res and mana regen rate. I am also using Volls Vision, a Unique Helmet that gives you a good max life buff (11%) and 100 life/second if you don’t have any corrupted items equipped (Doesn’t count corrupted skill gems FYI) That might help you as well. Also, don’t forget your Stone Golem Buddy. He adds a LOT of Life Regen to you. Make sure you get that Stone Golem gem built up or buy a max level one. I would also ask have you complete all of your Labs. The Ascendancy Nodes suggested in the build give you a LOT of max mana and mana regen buffs as well as reducing the damage you take from RF over time, which are must-haves. Another thing you can do is Take the Arakaali Pantheon God, which also reduces the amount of RF damage you take over time.

      One more thing before I go: I deviated from the build guide and helped Oak for the 1% life regen. If you followed the guild and killed all the bandits, you may want to consider getting that do-over book and picking the Oak Buff for the 1% life regen. Not sure what you’ve have/haven’t done in terms of what I’ve stated/suggested, just trying to help where I can ^-^. I hope something me and prime said will help you.

      • Hi guys thanks for the reply’s! Im trying to figure out everything here, ill try and link my profile. if it doesn’t work my characters name is : Pringlechipss
        I think my biggest issue is mana, my friend tried helping me and he got me Clarity and Vitality. Im thinking these are too much of a hindrance on my mana pool. I cant kill any bosses past map level 8 without getting absolutely destroyed.

          • @ Prime Yes i have capped rss. lvl 20 Purity of fire. life regen is 642.5. Mana regen is 136.7. As im looking all my resistances are way over
            fire: 168%
            cold: 112%
            lighting: 102%
            I know they cap at 75 asides from my fire. But im just having trouble on which items to get next unfortunally.

          • First thing I see is that jewel in your belt could use an upgrade. You should also look for a replacement for the Coral Ring, you can find some decent options for cheap http://poe.trade/search/amatanorasiwod which is better than the one you currently have. You could also consider Watcher’s Eye with increased mana recovery when affected by Clarity.

          • Thank you so much for the help! i’ve upgraded my ring and quit using Vitality for the extra mana and i am much more tanky now! still a little bit of trouble with unique bosses but i can manage. 2 things. Could u reccomend a high end gem for my belt? and also Any other high end gear i could upgrade? thanks so much i really appreciate everything. I was very clueless before your guide.

  15. I can’t view the passive tree it only loads a small section and I can’t move the screen I have tried on different devices is there some where else I can find it I’m building this character right now and I’m not sure where I need to go with my passives

  16. Why armor gloves and not fingerless?

  17. Thanks for the guide. I have a question about the passive skill tree. Once I get to MoM, which direction should I go from there? Left toward Templar tree for more mana regen? Up for more burning damage? Down towards the health wheel? Thanks in advance.

    • I think it’s up to a preference really – if you feel you could use more damage, go for damage, same for health. However, regen is really important for the build so I’d grab that first.

  18. Hello, Thanks alot for the guide! Planning to run this trying RF and Scorching ray for the first time, What pantheons do you prefer to use? I didnt see it mentioned, but i might be blind, so my bad if you have. Thanks!

  19. what gems get swapped out if you run kaom’s heart and boots? do you just get rid of scorch completely or another set of skills?

  20. Hey! Tjx for the guide, it’s really fun to play. I have two questions for you πŸ™‚
    1. I’m actually lvl 81 and still have some problmes in sustaining RF. While I kill mobs its ok, as soon as I stop, my mana and life get drained. This is the link to my char

    https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/aleberc/characters?characterName=OttoCorde

    do you have any suggestions?

    2. I recently changed from Balfire to a 6l scorch ray setup and despite the tooltip say that the burning dmg is doubled, I have the feeling that I kill mobs slowly. How could it be?

    Thx a lot!

    • 1.) You should try to get some more mana regeneration on gear as well, not only life regen.
      2.) I don’t know what to suggest about this, you could try importing your build in Path of Building and check out the damage calculations with each setup separately.

  21. noob question, why aa 6 link ray if Balefire as it ?

  22. How do you proc Elemental Overload if scorching ray n Righteous fire doesnt crit? :S

  23. Hi I am new to POE and I really like this build, would you recomend this build for new player? Can you give me any advise for leveling, since righteous fire damages you?

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