Most of the fun I have in Path of Exile is in theorycrafting skill and item combinations to find the unicorn build that is simultaneously clever, powerful, and achievable (for a habitual reroller), but somehow undiscovered by the community. After the first week or two, I spend a lot of my "play time" in path of building, testing mechanics in standard, or lurking on poeninja. The builds are always fun to toy around with, even if they don't end up fitting all the criteria, but I've finally had success in combining a bunch of mechanics that I've been chasing for a while so I figured I would share.

TLDR: I'm abusing the fact that Hydrosphere's pulses inherit the damage properties of the most recent cast. Using Plume of Pursuit with Divergent Spell Echo means the pulses always crit, so I can use Marylene's Fallacy and the new The Winds of Fate staff for around 550% crit multi with no further investment. Going Inquisitor for Battlemage doubles Hydrosphere's base damage thanks to the staff's huge numbers. The 1 second cooldown recently added to Hydrosphere makes it tough to apply an ailment with Spell Echo, so I use some ridiculous Wave of Conviction tech which lets only the repeat hit the sphere. I'm using Avatar of Fire and Expedition's End to freeze the sphere and convert all of my damage from physical to cold to fire, granting access to lots of good damage scaling. Finally, I'm using instant cyclone between hydrosphere movements to maintain Fanaticism for improved coverage, mana sustain, and speed. Typical hybrid Inquisitor tools for regen-centric defense round the build out.

Even the TLDR is long because the build is a bit of a science project. It's not particularly fast or smooth. It's not particularly tanky. It would probably struggle on a budget. But it's been a very satisfying to take an original homebrew meme build all the way to endgame. With around 9 million bossing DPS and a safe totem-like playstyle, I was able to clear some content I'd never managed before. Here's a few clips of the build:

• T16 Veritania Map
• 80% The Feared Invitation

The PoB is below, but I wouldn't recommend trying to recreate it, this is more of a showcase than a guide. I've made no attempt to make the build widely accessible or reasonable to level. Check out the forum post linked below for a much more detailed walkthough of the builds mechanics, synergies, and downside-mitigations. It's a long read, but could be interesting for those who enjoy this kind of thing.

• Path of Building: https://pobb.in/53eD-w2rPbIp
• Full Build Explanation: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3343484

If there's enough interest, I'll consider talking through the build mechanics in video format, let me know.