Hi guys,

I've spent most of this league playing Self-Cast Crit CI Occultist Soulrend of Reaping. There's only a handful of people playing this as far as I can tell (screenshot from 2 weeks ago). There's even fewer people now. I had some people ask about my build both in game and after I made a post about crafting a wand for the build. So I figured I'd just make a post here to explain and showcase the build in case others are interested.

##Why dump currency into this?

• Space Cat MTX is the best in the game
• I have a soft spot for conventional mage (Self-Cast) builds/archetypes
• The idea of a hit-based chaos spell that scales crit and cast speed seemed interesting
• I had never played a CI build before
• I got tired of my MF Self-Ignite Chieftain build not being able to kill bosses reliably (lol)

##Is this a good idea?

• If you love the space cats as much as I do, then possibly yes
• If not, you'll get more value in pushing a meta build instead

##Build Summary

• PoB Link: https://pobb.in/be2b38uWhipb
• Guardian/Pinnacle DPS: 33 million DPS
• Defences: 7.7k ES, ES Leech, 76% max res, Grace, Ghost Dance, CI, Softcore 6 portals
• Investment: I didn't track this, but probably about 700-900 divs. With my old wand, probably only 250-400 divs. Take off 150 if you already have a MageBlood.

Can watch how the build looks during mapping in the post link. Might also record some T17 the feared runs if I have time before league ends.

#Notes/Explanations:

###Core Uniques The build relies on Malachi's Loop + Ralekesh's Impatience + Badge of the Brotherhood. Mageblood in theory is not required, but the build will be much harder to put together without it. Nimis makes mapping feel much better, although it's not mandatory. Skin of the Lords is a giant damage boost. For the timeless jewel, see the section below about militant faith.

###Wand The wand I use in this video will cost at least 500-1000 divines to make (Synth Base + Crafting materials + Aislings). Farming was pretty similar with my old wand (Damnation Needle) that I made for maybe 30-50 divs. I've left that wand in the PoB so you can see. Only difference is that monsters like the breach rare that rolled both wisps + spell resistant + crit resistant would take longer to kill. Most mobs still popped. You can also just craft a +2 chaos wand for cheap with the fossil craft that hexblast miners use (plenty of explanations on google). Can also use a void battery depending on their price compared to rare wand costs.

###PoB DPS This is boss DPS which relies on bottled faith to cap our crit when enemy is on consecrated ground. Without this, our Guardian/Pinnacle DPS drops from 33 to 30 mil. Check or uncheck this config depending on what you're fighting. Can also run a wand with T1 spell crit if you are concerned about capping crit no matter what.

###Militant Faith Key things are the reduced mana cost of skills and the inner conviction keystone. There are a few good options for the 2nd jewel mod (def from shield, mana regen, ele res, aura effect) that can be flexed depending on your gear/tree. I didn't mark this as a required unique, but running it gives you damage, survivability, and a lever to incrementally adjust mana costs.

###Mana Sustain I have to use the reduced mana cost flask, reduced mana cost Militant Faith, 10% reduced mana cost mastery, and mana cost watcher's eye to sustain mana.

An old version of this build instead used inspiration and reduced mana cost flask. This version is easier and cheaper to get working. But forces you to drop increased crit dmg support. Next patch will remove mana cost flask craft. You should be able to rely on militant faith + inspiration + mana cost mastery instead. Exact requirements will depend on your cast speed.

Alternative mana sustain options: Elreon ring mod, reduced mana cost per power charge Eater implicit on helmet, and mana regen while stationary small cluster jewel notable.

###Arcane Surge My current setup for mana sustain reduces the mana costs for all of my skills. To maintain arcane surge with flamedash, I had to swap faster casting (110% mana multiplier) for second wind (200% mana multiplier). Without a 3rd support to jack up mana costs, flamedash will cost no mana and thus never proc arcane surge. This isn't a problem if you go the inspiration support route for mana sustain.

###Forbidden Flame/Flesh If you can't get this, I'd probably drop Unholy Authority and Sniper's Mark. Sniper's Mark only procs through Cast When Dmg Taken. This only triggers if you're fighting an enemy that takes longer than 2 seconds to die.

###Projectile Pierce I use my gloves to get +2 pierce. The build felt worse in early testing without pierce. You become too reliant on Profane Bloom (which won't always be enough). +1 is probably playable. +2 is ideal. If you don't want to use gloves, you can use an impossible escape to grab piercing shots (this is what I leveled with). Or you can get a synth wand with +2 pierce (although this will prevent you from using fractures and the +2 chaos wand fossil craft).

###Self-Shock I do occasionally inflict shock on myself while mapping due to Disciple of the Forbidden notable (power charge on kill) + Malachai's loop. I run Soul of Garukhan to reduce shock effect. I don't feel very affected by this since doesn't trigger that often (and never in boss fights). A few of my 393 deaths are probably due to this, but that's why we play softcore, lol. If you really are worried about the shock, you can take the "cannot be shocked at max power charges" mastery or run jewels that counter shock. Or you can just pause more while mapping to let power charges time out.

###Charm Removal: This version of the build uses charms (duh). Besides some damage from charms, I also get 9% mana reservation efficiency and 20% all res. First problem can be fixed by getting mana reservation on helmet or jewel corruptions (currently have 0 from either). The resistance problem will just require better suffixes and maybe getting more res from the tree (e.g. practical application) or jewels (militant faith and/or clusters).

###Replacing Nimis If you don't care as much about clear speed, you can replace Nimis with another ring. I'd recommend another Crusader moonstone ring with evasion so you can run the increased ES if both rings have evasion mastery. This should get you an additional 1k ES. Alternatively, you could ignore the mastery and instead use the rings to reduce mana cost. Remember that mana cost and evasion are both prefixes. With ES and % ES, you have to pick one or the other. Mana cost on rings would definitely free up space on either gear or the tree.

###Trickster? I haven't put much thought into this, but I think a Trickster version that trades some damage/clear for defences is doable. The biggest loss is probably Profane Bloom which makes clearing maps much much faster.