Storm Burst Elementalist League Starter - 3.26 - Path of Exile Secrets of the Atlas

Very little difference between map/endgame trees, as there this version of the build hasn't actually been played yet, and not much endgame optimization has been done (it's a little dishonest to do so without experience). Several potential Brutal Restraints were thrown in just to show them off, the ideal has likely not been found however. A big part of this is just not really knowing what exactly would be best. Several additional buffs to the character are in the Configurations tab. Most of these are due to changes to Arcane Surge, the base Storm Burst gem, Golem minions (their buffs), and the Elementalist Ascendancy. Things are simmed with Convergence currently inactive. While active, our DPS jumps SIGNIFICANTLY. We take some minion survivability nodes. Our golems need to be alive to help us, but also our Safeguarding golem needs extra support to make us melee-resistant. This should not be ignored, as it's a big part of what will make it feel okay to stand still and cast for extended periods of time. Infused Channeling currently has 60% quality to simulate the buff to the less damage taken portion of the support that's incoming. "When do I release?" - Generally speaking, when a rare is nearly dead and you know it will finish it off. Otherwise, the bonus damage you get on the release is really there as a sort of 'cover' for the fact that we have to spin up again. It's really nice to have, but not something you're playing around, unless you're building Decay. Expected Weaknesses: A lot of our recovery is inactive while we aren't casting. Lightning Exposure won't be readily available without Awakened Lightning Penetration, so Wave of Conviction is another button to press in bossing situations. No Spell Suppression/Significant Max Res Investment. Safeguarding Golem covers this in spades when it comes to melee damage, and some block helps, but this build is not meant to deal with massive hits. Long term, Endurance Charge invesment through Ralakesh boots (these will probably still be insanely expensive, mind you) will help mitigate this a fair amount. Mediocre clear. Normally clear would even arguably be worse than mediocre, but the massive benefits to AoE Elementalist now gets means sweeping our spell over the screen does a much better job cleaning things up than in prior versions of the build. Inpulsa's could give the build much better, or even arguably fantastic clear, but I'm not sure how to path that way yet efficiently. We need to get at least one of the increased duration wheels from the tree, and the Shadow section of the tree is the furthest point from both. Getting Crusader-Influenced rings. This one isn't /really/ a weakness, as you can gamble rings from Gwennen even early on to hunt for good bases even for SSF. It IS necessary for the build to function well though, especially as incoming damage ramps up. Very early on, using life fossils or reforging life through harvest can be a good way to 'force' the mod while trying to get it on a serviceable ring. Ailment Immunity hasn't really been looked into. We probably want Lunaris pantheon for anti-chain, but will have to solve freeze/chill before that. In the meanwhile, avoid that map mod. Expected Strengths: Incoming melee damage is laughable thanks to Safeguard golem. Some investment in minion defense + good defensive supports means golems should be up most/all of the time. You could even potentially consider Spectres/Animate Guardian, although this would need to be tested. Good Single-Target damage. Good melee defense. Arguably decent defense overall, in the sense that things you aren't 'supposed' to get hit by shouldn't ever 1-shot you outside of maybe aspirational content. Low Socket Pressure (currently) High Duration Investment - Duration scales our damage, so we get a fair amount of it. This means things like curses stay up for a long time, and can potentially benefit other points of investment as we find them. The build currently has had very little in-depth theorycrafting done. Things like hunting sources of duration, mixing in other auras, optimizing more for jewels/cluster jewels, and how forbidden flesh/flame might open up new methods of scaling defenses/damage.