[PoE 3.22] Explosive Concoction Pathfinder - FULL GUIDE (and my sleeper pick league starter)

BANDITS & PANTHEON: The priority is passive skills and improving defenses. Bandits: Kill all Major God: Soul of the Bring King Minor God: Soul of Ralakesh LEVELING: Follow the early leveling trees and use the Skills and Items section under 'Explosive Concoction LEVELING' to gain an idea of how best to outfit your character as you progress through the campaign and into maps. This includes a mix of rare items and extremely cheap uniques (uniques for early leveling isn't necessary). Leveling in the campaign is pretty straightforward. After killing Hillock, choose between with Galvanic Arrow or Caustic Arrow as your primary damage ability. Use this until you unlock Poisonous Concoction at the end of Act 1. Use Poisonous Concoction until unlocking Explosive Concoction at the middle of Act 3, at which point you'll pick up the keystones Precise Technique and Point Blank. Attempt to match the links up to the guide's recommendation. The primary skill link is the only really important one. As of patch 3.21, the Pathfinder Ascendancy suffers a loss of 30% increased AoE from its Ascendancy and now endures rising flask charges cost per projectile per attack. Both of these nerfs are circumvented by capping our projectile count on the build to 6, and by taking on a Overflowing Chalice (as well as other flask quality of life bonuses). If at any point you find yourself shy on attribute requirements, you can always sacrifice a point or two for the +30 strength/intelligence nodes nearby. When you have Precise Technique allocated, be sure to never let your total accuracy fall below your total maximum life, else you'll severely nerf your damage. UPGRADING: Here are some strong but expensive upgrades to consider that go beyond the budget of this league start build guide (in no particular order of importance). 1) Reaching maximum quality on all gems that provide some benefit from it 2) Acquiring perfect or near-perfect rolls on all flasks 3) Leveling and corrupting cheaper gems for a chance at a level 21 gem (priority Explosive Concoction, Grace, Wrath) 4) Swapping damage support gems for their Awakened gem counterparts 6) Divergent Vaal Haste for increased projectile speed 7) Anomalous Herald of Agony for slightly increased Withered stack application 8) Obtain one of the helmet enchants for Explosive Concoction (take your pick) 9) Squeezing in an Enlighten support and adding an additional aura 10) Pairing the corrupted implicit on amulet "You can apply an additional curse" (or Whispers of Doom anoint) with "Elemental Weakness" on gloves 11) Socketing a massive wheel Thread of Hope near the Ranger starting area for more powerful passive skill point allocation opportunities 12) Adding an Inspired Learning or Brutal Restraint to the Ranger side for more character power 13) Swapping the rare belt for Headhunter or Mageblood PRICING: Prices of uniques are subject to fluctuate wildly on account of builds gaining unforseen levels of popularity. In the case of this build, Inpulsa is a T1 unique and is subject to a sudden price hike early on. For reference, these are the approximate price points by Day 3 of the Crucible league on softcore trade, courtesy of poe.ninja. Prices will generally be much higher for perfect or near perfect rolls. Mutewind Pennant: 2c Inpulsa: 20c (not 6-linked) Tanu Ahi: 5c Yoke of Suffering: 10c The Taming: 30c The Overflowing Chalice: 2c Vessel of Vinktar: 10c The Wise Oak: 2c