Hello there - Self-Cast Voltaxic Burst on Trickster is a build that I have been iterating on since it's introduction in 3.15. Despite being a relatively new player when it was introduced, I began trying to make my own build with it because I like to improve at the games I play. Up until yesterday, I have not played this build since the third week of the league or so.

The build that I have constructed was able to clear T16s and reach level 95 in SSF this league. A caveat before I post the PoB link: I transferred from SSF to Trade league yesterday in order to acquire an Esh Amulet in order to test Maven-Witnessed Conqueror/Elderslayer kill times before creating this post. At the time of this posting, "TheVoltaxicBurstMeta" can still be found under the SSF Kalandra league on poe.ninja but that will likely change.

Here she is: TheVoltaxicBurstMeta >!(This is not a comprehensive level 1 to Endgame PoB - I did create a prototype of a highly detailed, easily understood one early in the league but I would like to review, revise, and rewrite it before posting it, and I will do so as an update to this post if this one gets significant traction)!<

(Edit: Barely 1M DPS vs Guardian Enemy in PoB on a 5-Link, 1.1k hp after LL, 4.2k ES, 74% evasion, 20% phys reduction from armour, 14% of phys taken as fire, 6% of phys taken as lightning, 73% chaos res)

I recommend looking at the skill tree while going over the Build Mechanics section of this build to explain why I made the pathing decisions that I did. I was fairly conservative with the configuration options and the integer scaling options for Orb of Storms and Lightning Bolt, but please let me know if anything looks funky in those sections.

I created the build in SSF in order to A) push myself as a player to learn more about the game systems and how to min-max them, B) ensure that this build works in SSF environments without trade-worthy gear, and C) figure out what Atlas Passive Tree strategies would be most beneficial to people interested in league starting this build in SSF for 3.20. For example, while my character is currently equipped with an Algor Mortis unique glove, I will not be discussing it as I have acquired 5 of them in SSF and I do not feel it provides more value than a well-crafted rare glove.

Voltaxic Burst and it's "Problems"

I have been of the opinion that this skill gem is not as problematic to use as many others seem to believe. Rather, I am of the opinion that people's perception of this skill gem is where the problem lies: "It has a delay", "You can't fully scale it because of the weird 40% chaos conversion", "You have to use Voltaxic Rift", "You have to be in melee range," etc. Let's address those:

• The Delay - Yes, the delay can be a problem if you do not have sufficient defense as you wait for it explode. So you build for defense. You can lower the delay via a couple clusters on the Passive Tree or a Less Duration Support gem if you want, but I found the pathing to those clusters does not adequately award the investment and the opportunity cost of the support gem is too great to utilize. The primary way to solve this is simple - cast speed. This will be explained in more detail below.
• 40% of Lightning Dmg Converted to Chaos - The biggest scaling issue with the skill. Many people tried to solve this problem with Voltaxic Rift. Which I thought was....fucking stupid. From both a roleplay perspective and an opportunity cost perspective. ~~"~~~~Yes, let me use a bow in order to enhance the magic spell I am casting which results in an explosion around my body without the use of arrows. Also, let me have multiple dead modifiers on two pieces of gear just so I can fully convert the lightning damage to chaos damage."~~ Voltaxic Rift got reworked in 3.19 in order ~~to lessen my frustration at dillusional players~~ to be used primarily with Attack Skills. Therefore, the best way to deal with the conversion is to ignore it, and instead focus on the base lightning damage and use generic damage scaling options - namely added damage and critical damage.
• Pseudo-melee playstyle - This is easily solved with Area of Effect scalers. My experiments with AoE increases were rather lackluster. Experimentation with Elementalist and Occulist provided good sources of increased AoE but the rest of the relevant ascendancy nodes left much to be desired. Additionally, experimentation with investment on the passive tree as Shadow, Witch, and Templar either had too high of an opportunity cost to justify or resulted in poor pathing. The better solution is to invest in this build's defenses as if we were playing a melee build.

Why Trickster?

"Inspired by the ~~Shadow's Assassin, Saboteur and~~ Trickster Ascendancy classes, we've created the ~~Ambush, Blade Trap and~~ Voltaxic Burst skill gems." - Expedition Announcement Page

I initially chose Trickster for Voltaxic Burst because the game devs created Voltaxic Burst because of the Trickster and I trusted The Vision. Every underperforming VB Trickster I created since 3.15 was fundamentally stronger on the passive tree compared to VB Inquistors or VB Witches that I created. The biggest obstacles to the builds were my lack of knowledge regarding game mechanics, crafting, itemization, and endgame systems. Once 3.19's Trickster rework information was released, I immediately knew that a strong Voltaxic Burst build existed. The Shadow Tree I created for VB was strong on a fundamental level and the new Trickster, new support gems, and new passive cluster were able to enhance the build at a level that other ascendancies could not do without significant investment.

About The Build

• Leveling - Leveling with VB sucks. I've tried it on multiple characters and while it doable I do not recommend it to anyone trying to reach maps swiftly on league launch. Luckily, I find that it is possible to level using a mindless Elemental Overload Spark build had much better, much faster results. Additionally, you can easily respec into the VB tree using no more than the refund points awarded to you throughout the campaign.
• Build Playstyle
  • My keybinds - LMB: Phase Run / RMB: Voltaxic Burst / Q: Frost Shield / W: Assassin's Mark / E: Frostblink / R: Sigil of Power / M3: Vaal Discipline / M4: Vaal Grace
    • This is an 8 button build, but it is not a button intensive build. Phase Run is automated. I hold down RMB while clicking LMB to stutterstep cast VB. I frequently cast Frostblink for mobility and to reposition. As for Q, W, and R, I use them as necessary. Assassin's Mark is used primarily for map bosses and tanky rares, Frost Shield is for extra defense and offense against tougher packs and single enemies, and Sigil of Power is used primarily for hardhitting tanky rares.
  • Gameplay
    • Rule #1) Keep Moving - It takes at least 2.5 seconds to deal damage. Once you start casting VB, you don't want to stop casting until everything is dead. The stutter-step technique was not something I was employing prior to my very first Breachstone run but once I discovered it, I could not remember how I played prior to it. The only time you don't stutter step is when you are running from insane Lake of Kalandra monsters or equally terrifying packs. Since Evasion is half of our primary defensive layer, not getting hit for 3.33 seconds resets our entropy value which effectively reduces your chance to be hit by an enemy. Click here for more info.
    • Rule #2) Do the boss mechanics - Simple.
    • Rule #3) Stay in the Circle - Frost Shield is a DPS buff and defensive layer so long as you stay in it's circle. Sigil of Power is a DPS buff as long as you stay in the circle and a defensive layer once fully charged if the enemy stays in the circle. Use them as needed.
• Build difficulty
  • Gearing - Gearing is challenging but not overly difficult. This build does rely on Betrayal crafts (Trigger Craft, Phys taken as Fire/Lightning chest, Phys taken as Fire helm) which can be considered somewhat advanced for amateur PoE players, and I would also advise being comfortable creating strong 4 affixes rare gear in an SSF environment (Alt+Aug+Regal+Crafted). Additionally, you are the Intelligence and Dexterity hybrid class and we utilize Pain Attunement, so you are going to prioritize energy shield modifiers over life modifiers which are more difficult to roll. Finally, you want to take full advantage of Escape Artist, and you want to dual wield wands or rune daggers to take advantage of the Mysticism cluster which provides significant mana regen and survivability in the form of cooldown reduction for mobility skills.
  • Playstyle - For regular packs, you're basically casting VB nonstop and Frost Blinking everywhere, with Phase Run thrown in for extra mobility once the enemies are dead. For rare monsters, you're going to be casting VB while stutter stepping around the enemy in a circle and you can cast Frost Shield for additional defense and offensive if needed. For very tough rares and map bosses, you stutter step, apply Assassin's Mark, than cast Frost Shield and Sigil of Power when able.

Build Mechanics

• Defensive Mechanics
  • Mandatory Masteries: (Evasion) Grace has 25% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency / (Evasion and Energy Shield) 30% of Chaos Danage taken does not bypass Energy Shield / (Life) Vitality has 100% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency >![helps combat chaos/poison that hits our pitiful life pool]!< / (Resistance and Ailment Protection) Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you / (Energy Shield) Discipline has 25% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency
  • Ghost Dance: We use evasion and energy shield, we use Ghost Dance.
  • Wicked Ward: We use Wicked Ward to help combat ground degen effects and to synergize with one of our ascendancy nodes, Spellbreaker, which has a 50% chance for ES Recharge to start when you suppress spell damage.
  • Spellbreaker node: chance for ES recharge to start when you suppress spell damage, prevents +10% of suppressed spell damage while on full Energy Shield, and a hefty +20% chance to suppress spell damage
  • Soul Drinker node: Energy Shield Leech effects are not removed when Energy Shield is filled - helps keep us at full ES and to mitigate damage over time.
  • Escape Artist node: Big Evasion Gains, Big Energy Shield Gains if utilized properly.
  • Spell Suppression: All of my Spell Suppression comes from the Passive Skill Tree and the Trickster node. I initially wanted to farm Atziri's Step but at the time the kills were taking too long so I just spent the time leveling for passive skill points, which in turn turned into the spell suppression I was looking for.
  • Punishment: Enemies who hit you are debilitated for 2 seconds. The defensive property of this curse is questionable considering we utilize Evasion, and thus the odds of us getting hit by the same enemy twice in a 2 second window is relatively low.
  • CWDT+Steelskin: Triggers at 1980 damage at lvl 14 CWDT. Extra hitpoints is good for us.
  • Vaal Grace+Vaal Discipline: Vaal Grace for terrifying monster packs that won't die quickly, Vaal Discipline for terrifying DoT debuffs that rapidly eat large amounts of your energy shield.
  • Frost Shield: 20% of damage dealt to you from enemies inside Frost Shield's radius is taken from Frost Shield's life. 60% of damage dealt to you from enemies outside Frost Shield's radius is taken from Frost Shield's life.
  • Sigil of Power: Enemies in Area deal 20% less Damage while at maximum Stages.
  • Auras: Arctic Armour, Vitality, Grace, Discipline. Defiance Banner is currently being used simply because I am still on a 5-link
• Offensive Mechanics
  • Mandatory Masteries: (Spell Suppression) Critical Strike Chance is increased by chance to Suppress Spell Damage / (Mana) Regenerate 5 Mana per second while you have Arcane Surge >![so we don't go OOM] !</ (Critical) 50% increased Effect of non-damaging Ailments you inflict wit Critical Strikes
  • Pain Attunment: 30% more damage while we are on low life.
  • Soul Drinker node: Energy shield overleech allows us to take full advantage of the powerful Energy Shield Leech support gem
  • Polymath node: 3% more damage per different type of Mastery. I actually didn't use this until I was desperate to add more damage to my build.
  • High Voltage: The addition of this notable to the passive tree was perfect for the build. Because the build is highly mobile, I was always tempted to take the Mysticism cluster directly across from it for the "increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Movement Skills"
  • Punishment: "Enemies take 78% increased damage while on low life." At one point, I compared Punishment to Conductivity and the former beat out Conductivity. However, after acquiring an Esh Amulet and after finally fighting Maven witnessed Elder/Shaper/Sirus Guardians and hearing Maven yelling "Vitality!!" multiple times, I reexamined the results and found that Conductivity wins out over Punishment finally. However, until that point Punishment beats out Conductivity. Punishment is still in the PoB at the time of this writing.
  • Orb of Storms + Overcharge Support: A godsend. Slap this on a trigger weapon, invest one skill point into the Critical Mastery noted above, and easily get a 31% Shock against a T16 Shaper Guardian. Prior to obtaining the trigger craft I was running Arcanist Brand plus WoC and possibly one more link.
  • Assassin's Mark: Additional base Crit Chance and Crit Multi, and consistent Power Charge generator versus bosses.
  • Frost Shield: Additional base Crit Chance per stage. Did I mention VB has a base crit chance of 6.5%?
  • Sigil of Power: Added Lightning damage per stage. Did I mention VB has 230% effectiveness of Added Damage?
  • Choir of The Storm: This amulet is The SSF chase item. I purchased this on trade yesterday and it increased my DPS by 200k. It likely increases it more, as I imagine it procs at least twice a second.

At the current level, I believe the build is close to the peak of what it can achieve at this current stage, which I would call Tier 2. I want to reiterate that I only acquired the Esh Amulet yesterday but already it has made bossing significantly easier and that opens up a whole new level of farmable content. I do believe this build has good boss killing potential but that involves acquiring the right clusters jewels, possibly a timeless jewel, an Energy From Within, a league specific reward and than a significant revision of the passive tree to lean more into the Energy Shield defenses.

-DRF-