I wasn't joking. - ESSENCE DRAIN CONTAGION Trickster League Starter

==================================================================================================================== GENERAL TIPS ==================================================================================================================== Bandits: Kill All The items in this guide are are a GUIDELINE, listed with the main core stats you're looking for. More/higher stats (resists, attributes, etc) are always better! They are mostly kept reasonable and obtainable through self-crafting methods post-Harvest nerfs On trade leagues you can search for "Empty Suffixes" or "Empty Prefixes" with a value of 1 for items with open crafting slots Upgrade your Pantheons Get an Instant (Seething/Bubbling) Life flask as soon as you can USE A JADE FLASK ON TRICKSTER! You ideally want to transition to CI/Chaos Innoculation (Full Energy Shield build) on this character. If this is new/uncomfortable to you, it might be time you gave it a shot :) Cast Speed starting nodes are for smoother mapping with ED + Contagion Combo. If you don't like it, then take the Physical/Chaos damage nodes! Ultimatum league is "Mediumcore". If you die in the encounter, you will lose the reward. A combination of strong defence and offence is your friend! Use the appropriate gear set with the appropriate tree! ==================================================================================================================== 3.14 NERF ==================================================================================================================== There were no nerfs to ED this league, and last league's nerfs were easily compensated for by grabbing some AoE nodes in the tree. ==================================================================================================================== SKILL GEM LOCATIONS ==================================================================================================================== ---------- Leveling ED/C ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Blight - Act 1 - Nessa - Enemy at the Gates Contagion - Act 1 - Nessa - Breaking Some Eggs Void Manipulation - Act 1 - Nessa - The Caged Brute Efficacy - Act 1 - Nessa - The Caged Brute Essence Drain - Act 1 - Nessa - The Siren's Cadence Infused Channeling - Act 1 - Nessa - Mercy Mission Bane - Act 3 - Clarissa - Lost in Love Despair - Act 3 - Clarissa - Lost in Love Swift Affliction - Act 3 - Clarissa - A Fixture of Fate (aka the Library quest) Controlled Destruction - Act 2 - Yeena - Sharp and Cruel ---------- Leveling Caustic ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Caustic Arrow - Act 1 - Nessa - Enemy at the Gates Pierce - Act 1 - Nessa - Mercy Mission Onslaught - Act 1 - Nessa - Mercy Mission Void Manipulation - Act 1 - Nessa - The Caged Brute ---------- Leveling Auras ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Malevolence - Act 3 - Clarissa - Lost in Love ---------- Endgame setups ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Energy Leech - Act 3 - Clarissa - A Fixture of Fate (aka the Library quest) Empower - Can only be acquired through drops or div cards, trade for it if you're not on SSF Increased Area of Effect - Act 4 - Petarus & Vanja - The Eternal Nightmare Intensify - Act 3 - Clarissa - A Fixture of Fate (aka the Library quest) Arcane Surge - Act 1 - Nessa - Mercy Mission Vaal Blight - Cannot be bought, you can trade for it if you're not on SSF, try to drop it in Vaal side areas, use Vaal orbs on regular Blight skill gems until you hit it, or try to get it through div cards Flame Dash - Act 1 - Nessa - The Caged Brute Withering Step - Act 1 - Nessa - The Caged Brute Shield Charge - Siosa - A Fixture of Fate (aka the Library quest) Faster Attacks - Yeena - Sharp and Cruel Fortify - Act 3 - Clarissa - A Fixture of Fate (aka the Library quest) ---------- CI setup ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Discipline - Act 3 - Clarissa - Lost in Love Cold Snap - Act 2 - Yeena - The Root of the Problem Tempest Shield - Act 2 - Yeena - The Root of the Problem ==================================================================================================================== MAPPING GEM LINKS ==================================================================================================================== 6L: Essence Drain - Controlled Destruction - Efficacy - Void Manipulation - Swift Afflication - Energy Leech (Empower 3+ when you get it) 4L: Vaal Blight - Infused Channeling - Controlled Destruction - Efficacy (Placed in your 30% More DoT Delirium Gloves) 4L: Contagion - Increased Area of Effect - Intensify - Arcane Surge 4L: Malevolence | Vaal Discipline (FLESH AND STONE IF YOU'RE NOT CI) | Flame Dash | Withering Step 3L: Shield Charge - Faster Attacks - Fortify 3L: (Trigger Weapon) Cold Snap | Tempest Shield | Despair Until trigger craft, you can use Bane - Despair - Efficacy to curse with Despair/a little extra damage. Don't worry about Tempest Shield/Cold Snap. If you do not like using Shield Charge as your movement skill, you can use Smoke Mine or Flame Dash + Second Wind. End game for bossing, you can swap your ED and Blight 4l and 6l for more single-target damage. Be aware of the mana cost increase 6L Vaal Blight - Infused Channeling - Controlled Destruction - Void Manipulation - Efficacy - Swift Affliction 4l Essence Drain - Controlled Destruction - Efficacy - Void Manipulation (In 30% More DoT Delirium Gloves with +1 Projectile Gems Crafted) Clearing: Cast Contagion on pack, cast Essence Drain, move onto next pack. Channel Blight on big rares that don't die to Essence Drain You can also press Withering Step on tanky mobs while channeling Blight Bossing: Cast Essence Drain, channel Blight for additional damage/Infusion uptime (boosts your ED Damage), press Withering Step/Vaal Blight for DPS boost ==================================================================================================================== AURAS ==================================================================================================================== Early Game (Life Setup): Malevolence Flesh and Stone or Summon Skitterbots CI Auras: Malevolence Discipline (Vaal) You can add Enlighten 3+ and try to fit in Aspect of the Crab or Spider as well late game ==================================================================================================================== FLASKS ==================================================================================================================== Early Game: Seething Divine Life Flask of Staunching Jade Flask (IMPORTANT) of Heat/Grounding Quartz Flask of Warding Chemist's Silver Flask of Heat/Grounding (Can run Stibnite or another flask once you get onslaught jewel) Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline CI without Elemental Ailment Immunity: Stibnite Flask of Staunching Jade Flask of Heat/Grounding Quartz Flask of Warding Chemist's Silver Flask of Heat/Grounding (Can run Granite/Basalt or another flask once you get onslaught jewel) Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline CI with Elemental Ailment Immunity: Rumi's Concoction Quartz Flask of Warding Stibnite Flask of Staunching Jade Flask of Reflexes Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline Flask Prefixes aren't terribly important on most (all 2 uses without Chemist's besides Silver/Basalt that need 23% Chemist's), but try to get a useful one (Chemist's, Experimenter's, Perpetual, Ample) Quicksilver can be Adrenaline (if you can keep it up reliably) or anything useful like Chemist's/ Experimenter's/Ample/ ==================================================================================================================== MANA PROBLEMS ==================================================================================================================== You shouldn't really have mana problems early on, and you'll be using a mana flask while levelling. Your 4l Blight might give you some mana issues once you get into maps. You can take Arcane Will on the tree to help, and make sure you have Mystic Bulwark (gets better the more spell block nodes you have). If it's still bad, you can spend two points for Deep Thoughts as a temporary solution. Once you get a cluster setup with 1 or 2x Eldritch Inspiration, you shouldn't have mana issues at all with sustaining Blight's cost ==================================================================================================================== KEEP DYING :( ==================================================================================================================== Make sure you have your Warding and Staunching flasks, Heat/Grounding if you do not have Elemental Ailment Immunity yet Make sure your resistances are capped Keep your flasks up! Pop Vaal Discipline in dangerous situations/if you are ignited ==================================================================================================================== Anointment ==================================================================================================================== Early game - Freedom of Movement (Clear Sepia Violet) Mid Game - Prodigal Perfection (Clear Azure Azure) Late Game - Prodigal Perfection (Damage) Deflection (Sepia Teal Opalescent) (Defence) Tranquility (Golden Golden Azure) - Most optimal, but rather expensive ==================================================================================================================== ELEMENTAL AILMENT IMMUNITY ==================================================================================================================== ONCE YOU GO CI AND HAVE DECENT GEAR: You want to reach 100% Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments. This makes you immune to Chill, Freeze, Ignite, Shock, Scorch (you lose resistances), Brittle (enemies have higher crit towards you), and Sap (you deal less damage). It can be annoying to achieve, but it is VERY worth it. You get this through Arcane Swiftness Notable (20%) Helmet Craft- 25% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments (Helmet SUFFIX) - from Bazaar Map Gloves Craft - 25% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments (Gloves SUFFIX) - from Bazaar Map (These two roll from 20-25%, you might have to recraft several times @ 2c a try) 30% Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments (Body Armour PREFIX) - from Unveiling, so run your betrayal missions(!) or ask a reputable player who provides a crafting service (This rolls from 20% to 30%, even worse than the other two. 6 alchs a try) This can take a lot of currency if unlucky, so you want to do it on gear you will keep for a long time. DO NOT DIVINE THESE ROLLS, just recraft it! Until you land the perfect crafts, you can spend 2 points on Elemental Focus on the tree to get 10% Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments. This is a TEMPORARY solution. SUPER Late Game: A min-maxed setup can use ilvl 81+ Shaper Sorcerer Boots with the Shaper "Avoid Elemental Ailments" mod to replace the chest craft, allowing you to craft Quality or another suffix on your chest. ==================================================================================================================== Optional Passive Nodes ==================================================================================================================== No Witnesses - Elusive nodes grant a lot of speed and defense while mapping. It is not helpful for bossing. You can drop these after atlas progression if you are looking to min-max for bossing, but it synergizes very well with this build while mapping. Arcane Will - Can help with mana sustain issues while also granting a nice chunk of energy shield Deep Thoughts - Another mana sustain node, but you really should not need this ==================================================================================================================== Crafting Guides ==================================================================================================================== Crafting Good ES Gear ==================================================================================================================== A lot of your endgame gear can all be crafted with Harvest Reforge Defence/Defence More Likely and Dense Fossils (Hubris Circlet, Sorcerer Boots, Sadist Garb, Shaper Titanium Spirit Shield, potentially Crusader Influence Rings) Always keep ilvl 84+ bases around in your stash to use your Defence Harvest crafts on. (ilvl 86 for Sadist Garb, ideally 86 for Shaper Titanium Shield but most likely expensive) Buffed Deafening Essence of Woe in 3.14 could also be a strong option. ==================================================================================================================== Crafting Late Game Wand ==================================================================================================================== Method 1 (Slower, Cheaper): Base: ilvl 64 Opal/Imbued Wand The only two Chaos prefix mods you can hit are Chaos Dot Multi and +1 Chaos Spells (Phys as Chaos is added at ilvl 66) Harvest Chaos Reforge More Likely until +1 Chaos Spells and T2/T3 (24-28, 29-33) Chaos Dot Multi Annul if there's a third prefix, and/or annul a suffix off so you can Prefixes can't be changed + Scour Can Have 3 Crafted Mods + Trigger + Chaos Damage(46-50)/Skill Effect Duration Craftofexile: https://pastebin.com/Ezdaxb50 Method 2 (Faster, more expensive, barely better ): Base: ilvl 64 Opal/Imbued Wand The only two Chaos prefix mods you can hit are Chaos Dot Multi and +1 Chaos Spells (Phys as Chaos is added at ilvl 66) Crafting: Deafening Essence of Woe + Annul for 2 open prefixes and an open suffix. Craft random suffix to fill third suffix Aug Chaos x2 (These may be expensive, check method 1 for a cheaper wand that is more or less the same) Replace craft with trigger, if you want you can Prefixes can't be changed + Scour and Can Have 3 Crafted Mods + Cast Speed + Trigger Craftofexile: https://pastebin.com/QKRUDL5S ==================================================================================================================== Cluster Jewels ==================================================================================================================== 1 Large Cluster setup is very strong/balanced endgame Large Cluster Options: Spell Large Cluter (8 Points) You want Conjured Wall and Mage Hunter. Ideally, you want 3 notables on your Large Cluster Jewel for good pathing. Crafting your own: Acquire 8 passive spell large cluster jewel (at least ilvl 68). Harvest reforge caster/more likely caster until Mage Hunter + Conjured Wall + a third notable. If you hit Mage Hunter + Conjured Wall prefixes and a random suffix, you can augment caster or non-caster to caster for a decent (~71% if jewel is below ilvl 84) chance to hit a 3rd notable. 8 Point Chaos Large Cluster Jewel is also an option, but not recommended. Chaos Large Cluster (8 Points) Good notables to look out for are at least two of Touch of Cruelty, Wicked Pall, and Unholy Grace. Ideally, you want 3 notables on your Large Cluster Jewel for good pathing Crafting your own: Acquire 8 passive chaos large cluster jewel (preferably ilvl 50-67 if cheap, helps with crafting but not necessary), reroll with Harvest more likely chaos or abberant fossils until 3 notables Medium Cluster Options: Chaos Damage Over Time Multiplier (4 or 5 points): Brush With Death and Eldritch Inspiration is your ideal notable combo. 1/2 Medium Clusters with Eldritch Inspiration will make channeling Blight very comfortable/allow you to drop Arcane Will on tree if you have it allocated. You can settle for Exposure Therapy over Brush With Death, as Brush With Death is rather low weight (= hard to get) compared to the other notables. Crafting your own: Purchase 4 or 5 passive Chaos Damage Over Time Multiplier Cluster Jewel (at least ilvl 68). Harvest reforge chaos/more likely chaos or aberrant fossils until two desirable notables. Small Cluster Options: Normal 3/4 Stat jewels % Increased Energy Shield (2 points) Energy From Naught - + 100 Maximum Energy Shield % Chance to Dodge Attack Hits (2 Points) Elegant Form - 30% Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments (Not Recommended, temporary solution for 100% ailment immune) ==================================================================================================================== Very Defensive Setup - Glancing Blows ==================================================================================================================== Glancing Blows is a Hardcore-oriented late game setup, as Trickster already has a high amount of evasion/recovery and moderate block without it. It might be more considerable in Softcore in 3.14 for more tankiness in Ultimatums Glancing Blows doubles your block/spell block while making you take 65% of damage from all blocked hits. This may look bad on paper, but it is incredibly strong when paired with the shaper shield mod "Recover 5% of Energy Shield when you Block". Having high block/spell block also gets you more value out of "Arcane Swiftness" and "Mystic Bulwark" You will drop Rumi's with this setup, as you will be block capped without it This is not necessary at all, but the setup is just included because it is something you will come across There are various ways you can cut points on the tree to fit in Glancing Blows + Thread of Hope. Two trees are included to give you some ideas! ====================================================================================================================