[2.2] (BER/OCC) Ethereal Knives MF Build. 8.4k ES, >200k DPS, 230+ IIR, 43 IIQ, Triple Blasphemy

The idea of this build is to utilize a spell which scales well without massive gear investment, hence allowing us to stack large amounts of IIR and IIQ while maintaining decent DPS and map viability.

I currently have no problems running maps up to tier 14 (have not tried tier 15 ones yet) and Atziri, however a few map mods cannot be run or require minor gem adaptions (see the corresponding section below). Most map bosses can be done as well.

As the title suggests, the main skill of this build is Ethereal Knives (from now on EK). This is a projectile spell which scales with

-Physical damage
-Spell damage
-Projectile damage
-Cast speed

These are the main damage nodes one can pick up from the passive tree. From my experience, going crit requires too much gear and passive investment and is not recommended. This holds even more so due to the awesome "Controlled Destruction" support gem.

I further push the character by going low-life (Pain Attunement keystone for 30% more spell damage), employing three auras (Hatred for damage; Discipline and Clarity to boost the ES-pool and mana regeneration), and auto-cursing enemies with three curses (Enfeeble and Temporal Chains for survivability, Projectile Weakness for offense - all linked to Blasphemy). Moreover, in the ideal setup, Projectile Weakness and Temporal Chains are augmented by a lvl 4 Enhance, which reduces monster speed by 75% (!) and greatly pushes damage.

Before 2.2, I used to play a very similar variant of this build on a Witch (see https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1136535). However, Scion has the huge advantage of enabling the Berserker subclass, which gives free 1.5% Life Leech (allowing to drop the Life Leech support) and(!) a 10% more damage modifier. On top of that, one gets +40 strength, which this build is in dire need.

As a second subclass, I chose Occultist for its nice bonuses (+20% ES, 40 Int, conditional extra damage, etc.).

DISCLAIMER: If you think that you will not be able to get your hands on a +1 Curse Eye of Chayula amulet eventually (although this should easily be affordable when you follow this build for a while), choosing Witch/Occultist might be the better option for you. But this definitely comes with a major damage penalty, since one Support Gem has to be replaced for Life Leech.

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAABAADBAx4HHghnCdkNHw18DkgPqxBiES8RUBGWFr8W8xcvGDwYVhhqGYoajxslHNwdFB1PHaofQSSLJLAmPCj6KjgrCi0fLagvby-dMTU0CjW5PChBh0ZxSVFLrkyzTm1V1lfJWAdca1yKXfJfamJaZOdtGXC7df14L3vXfOV_xoCkgseDCYRIhFOEb4TFjxqPRo_6kyeTOpUglS6XBpuhm7WcMpy-oS-io6XEpwinK7GQtAy1SLiTvSe-gL6KwfPDOsNtxKLKRsrT0B_Q0NRC2RPZW9-K35jhiOKt6QLquutj6-7sGO_r7_3w1fba99f56PrS-wn-SQ==?accountName=habkor&characterName=Kineray

In order to survive maps, you will require

* 4L+ Solaris Lorica (in order to sustain Chaos damage)
* A high 350+ ES shield
* A high 200+ ES helmet
* Eye of Chayula amulet for stun immunity
* High level EK gem (lvl 20 would be good)
* Spell Echo, Controlled Destruction and Pierce as support gems
* Cast When Damage Taken + Immortal Call in order to mitigate physical damage spikes
* At least Enfeeble as permanent curse. Preferably also Temporal Chains and/or Projectile Weakness
* One level 3+ Enlighten support + one high level Blood Magic support to run the auras/Blasphemy curses
* Recommended: Lightning Golem, Decoy Totem and Vaal Discipline. Lightning Warp linked to Less Duration for mobility
* Other gear such that you can cap your resists

Also recommended for non-wealthy players is to use a Redbeak unique 1h-sword to massively boost damage (since this is a low-life build). Only amazing wands in the multiple Exalteds range can surpass this 1 Chaos unique.
A very nice (though more expensive) option is to use a corrupted Redbeak with Culling Strike. Since the corrupted mod applies globally, this pushes the effective damage by around 11%. Redbeak with Culling Strike is also the best-in-slot item if you want to use Whirling Blades for mobility. I currently have Whirling Blades linked to Faster Attacks and Fortify on my gear swap.

***Body***

EK - Spell Echo - Controlled Destruction - Pierce - Empower lvl 4 / Added Fire Damage - IIQ / Added Fire Damage

or

EK - Spell Echo - Controlled Destruction - Pierce - Empower lvl 4 / Added Fire Damage - IIR / Faster Casting (e.g. in leagues).

Drop IIQ/IIR if you only have a 5L/4L.

I'm currently more than mana-stable with the first setup.

***Auras on Life***

Ideally (this either requires lvl 4 Enlighten, or lvl 3 Enlighten in a +1 Gems corrupted item):

Hatred (max level) - Discipline (max level) - Blood Magic (max level) - Enlighten lvl 3/4.

If this is not a feasible option, swap out Discipline for Clarity (as high level as possible).

***Aura on Mana***

Ideally (if you can run Hatred + Discipline on Life): Clarity (max level)

***Curses on Mana #1*** (requires 4l)

Blasphemy - Projectile Weakness - Temporal Chains - Enhance lvl 3+

***Curse on Mana #2***

Blasphemy - Enfeeble

The above gem setup leaves 7 free gem slots, which are recommended to use for

***Defense***

CWDT (lvl 1) - Immortal Call (lvl 3) | Vaal Discipline | Decoy Totem

***Golem***

Lightning Golem

***Mobility***

Lightning Warp - Less Duration

Cobalt Jewels are by far the most useful and easiest to roll.

For maximal damage, I recommend the following:

[Prefix]

Two of those: Spell Damage While Holding a Shield (up to 16%), Cast Speed While Holding a Shield (up to 5%), Physical Damage (up to 16%)

[Suffix]

Two of those: Projectile Damage (up to 12%), Spell Damage (up to 12%), Cast Speed (up to 4%), Attack and Cast Speed (up to 4%), Increased Damage (up to 10%).


Other useful (non-offensive) stats are

[Prefix]

Mana Regeneration Rate (up to 15%), Increased Mana (up to 8%), Energy Shield (up to 8%)

[Suffix]

Reduced Mana Cost of Skills (up to 5%), Projectile Speed (up to 8%), various resistance mods, various +stats mods.

I transitioned to low life around lvl 70 or so, although this can certainly be done a few levels earlier. I'll try to sketch a point progression in the near future.

Normal: Skill Point (preferred) or Resistances. Mana is really helpful early on, but becomes redundant at high levels. Resistances can be helpful with unoptimized gear. When in doubt, take the skill point, or mana for convenience (and respec in late game).

Cruel: Physical Damage, Cast Speed, or Skill Point. No option strictly dominates the others. I took Physical Damage for a slightly lower mana drain than Cast Speed.

Merciless: Skill Point for sure.

Corrupted 21/20 Ethereal Knives gem.
Helmet: As high ES as possible, IIR+IIQ, resistances, mana, intelligence.
Chest: 6L legacy Shavs. A +1 gems Shavs would be crazy good, especially when using Empower.
Shield: As high ES as possible, very high spell damage, resistances, master-crafted cast speed, intelligence.
Weapon: Wand with high (100%+) spell damage, flat mana, mana regeneration, projectile speed, cast speed.
Amulet: Eye of Chayula with +1 Curse.
Belt: Either a well-rolled physical Doryani's Invitation, or (better) a 24% physical damage Rustic Sash with resistances and energy shield. Or the mirrored Golden Obi with 30% IIR, if you can get your hands on it :)
Gloves: Very high ES, IIR+IIQ, resistances, missing dex/str.
Boots: Corrupted Wondertrap with +1 Gems.
Rings: High mana regeneration rate, IIR/IIQ, flat ES, master-crafted ES%, Intelligence, missing resistances.

This build is quite strong for an MF-variant and can tackle most difficult maps.

The following map mods cannot be run (or are simply not worth it):
Blood Magic, Physical Reflect

The following map mods can be run with minor gem adaptions:

(1) Reduced life/mana regeneration rate (up to 60%). Simply replace IIQ with a leveled "Reduced Mana" support gem. They are basically for free now.

(2) No regeneration. Deactivate Clarity and replace Pierce for Mana Leech.

(3) Monsters are immune to curses. Can be done as is, but better to switch out the curses for Haste, Arctic Armor (instead of Projectile Weakness and Temporal Chains), and e.g. Herald of Thunder (instead of Enfeeble).

(4) Elemental reflect. Swap out Hatred for Haste.