Home / Build / [3.6] Storm Brand Witch (Elementalist)

[3.6] Storm Brand Witch (Elementalist)

Intro & build description

Storm Brand is a lightning skill that was introduced in 3.5 Patch which was Betrayal League. It, together with the Armageddon Brand skill, is part of the new skill archetype and allows you to choose a little different playstyle than the traditional spellcaster. Once you cast the brands, you can reposition them by using Brand Recall skill and bouncing them from a pack to pack and quickly clearing maps. Storm Brand has quite a similar playstyle to the summoner, but it feels way better.

Build Pros

  • Great as a starter build
  • Scales well with currency invested - potential to reach millions of dps
  • Pretty tanky - more than 7k effective life
  • Fast clear with relaxing gameplay

Build Cons

  • Ring setup can be quite expensive early on in the league

Passive tree(s) and Path of Building

[3.6] Skill Tree

Bandits

Bandits Quest Choice
Kill all bandits

Ascendancy skill points

LabyrinthsSkill point choice
Labyrinth 1Pendulum of Destruction
Labyrinth 2Mastermind of Discord
Labyrinth 3Shaper of Desolation
Endgame LabyrinthBeacon of Ruin

Skill gem setup

Helm


Lightning Spire Trap

Concentrated Effect Support

Added Lightning Damage Support

Controlled Destruction Support


Body Armor


Storm Brand

Controlled Destruction Support

Lightning Penetration Support

Concentrated Effect Support

Hypothermia Support

Added Cold Damage Support


Gloves


Herald of Ice

Onslaught Support

Ice Bite Support

Innervate Support


Boots


Herald of Thunder

Curse on Hit Support

Elemental Weakness

Empower Support (Ideally LVL 4)


2h Weapon


None


1h Weapon


Summon Lightning Golem

Flame Dash

Arcane Surge Support (Level 6)


Offhand weapon / shield


Brand Recall

Empower Support (Ideally LVL 4)

Enhance Support (Ideally LVL 4)



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

Energy Shield Helm

On helm look for high life and resistances. Extra energy shield is a great boost to our survivability.

Ideal helm would be crafted with Essence of Horror and would have “Socketed Gems deal 30% more Elemental Damage” mod on top of life and resistances, but that can be an expensive craft.


Body Armour

Inpulsa's Broken Heart

Inpulsa’s is an excellent option for the build – not only it helps your clear speed a lot, it also gives extra damage and life.

Another great option would be Loreweave or Carcass Jack.

A more defense-oriented option could be Vaal Regalia with high energy shield and life.


Gloves

Fingerless Silk Gloves

Ideally look for Fingerless Silk gloves with high life and resistances.

A great mod to craft on your gloves would be
“% increased Area of Effect

# to Level of Socketed AoE Gems”, since it would give and extra level to Herald of Ice.

Boots

Two-Toned Boots

Look for Two-Toned boots with 30% movement speed, high life and a resistance.


Left Ring

Mark of The Shaper

An excellent ring for the build, since it gives a lot of damage and decent defense as well.


Right Ring

Elder Warlord's Mark Ring

Ideally look for an elder ring with “curse enemies with level x Warlord’s Mark on Hit” and multimod it once you can afford it.

If you cannot afford it and already have Mark of The Shaper ring, just get a regular elder ring with life and resistances but without Warlord’s Mark mod.


Amulet

Rare Amulet

Look for a rare amulet with “You can apply an additional Curse” mod. Some life or spell damage on top of that would be ideal, but not required.


Belt

Stygian Vise

Look for rare Stygian Vise with life and resistances. You could also mastercraft increased damage on the belt.

A great unique alternative would be Bisco’s Leash, since it gives you Rampage and increases the clear speed of the build even more.


1Hand Weapon

Shaper's Rare Sceptre

Look for a rare Shaper Sceptre with lightning damage to spells and x% of elemental damage as extra chaos damage shaper mod.

Using crafting bench, craft spell damage +  non-chaos damage as extra chaos damage mod if possible.


Offhand

Shield

This build uses Magna Eclipsis as a shield of choice because it gives +2 to Level of Socketed gems.

To be comfortable with Storm Brand, we need Brand recall as high level as possible for lower cooldown.

If you have more currency, you could try corrupting the shield and hope for +1 to socketed gems corruption, or just buy shield like that.


Jewel

Jewel Setup

Look for Abyss Jewels (Hypnotic eye) with following mods:

1.) +To Maximum life
2.) Lightning / Cold damage to spells
3.) Lightning / Cold damage to spells while holding a Shield
4.) +To maximum energy shield
5.) Increased damage if you have killed recently
6.) Resistances / Attributes if you need any


Flask

Flask Setup

1.) Divine life flask with instant recovery and freeze removal
2.) Quicksilver flask of Adrenaline
3.) Diamond Flask with bleed removal
4.) Atziri’s Promise
5.) Basalt Flask / Cinderswallow Urn (best if you have decent energy shield pool).



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.

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