[3.11] (Smite) Fire and Lightning Slayer

Non Vaal Pact:
* 7.5k HP
* 8kk (flasks/Vaal Ancrestral Warchief ON)
* 3.8kk (flasks/Vaal Ancrestral Warchief OFF)
* Tree: http://poeurl.com/cXC
* POB: https://pastebin.com/ya6R0Fyc

Bane of Legends (not tested in game):
* 7.3k HP
* 9kk (flasks/Vaal Ancrestral Warchief ON, Bane of Legends included)
* 4.2kk (flasks/Vaal Ancrestral Warchief OFF, Bane of Legends included)
* Tree: http://poeurl.com/cXG9
* POB: https://pastebin.com/FcgrmuXn

What tree to choose?

Ascendant
* POB: https://pastebin.com/sUe6FCBd
* 7.5k HP
* 8.7kk (flasks/Vaal Ancrestral Warchief ON)

+ Higher overall damage (~10%)
+ More options for min-maxing with expensive gear
- Less overall defense (~10%)
- Peak DPS Depends on rage

Berserker
* POB: https://pastebin.com/sWha8Vy8
* 7.3k HP
* 12kk (flasks/Vaal Ancrestral Warchief ON)

+ Higher overall damage (~50%)
- Less overall defense (~15%), 5% deregen
- 60% of the damage comes from rage
- Need higher level for optimized tree

Smite is all around good skill.
* Good damage
* Good clear speed
* Nice range for a melee skill
* Visual effects do not disturb too much
* Great synergy with Slayer
* Fits for fire and lightning theme

You can effectively use any melee skill that do not rely heavily on physical damage (Ground Slam) or specific element type (Frost Blades).

AOE skills:
* Bladestorm
* Consecrated Path
* Perforate
* Ice Crash
* Cyclone

Strike skills:
* Wild Strike
* Lightning Strike
* Infernal Blow
* Molten Strike
* Static Strike

In my option making build in POE is all about trade-off. For example you can take ring full of damage mods, but then you have to get more elemental resistance and life on other pieces of gear. If you take additional life on gear it means that you can sacrifice some life on tree and take juicy damage cluster.

And the Slayer allows you to minimize trade-offs due to:
* great starting position near the biggest life cluster and melee damage nodes
* easy access to two cluster jewel slots
* strong defensive and offensive ascendancy notables without any noticeable downsides

First of all for flat elemental damage builds dual wielding gives only 10% more attack speed and global mods from second weapon (25% crit multi with paradoxica). Sounds great? Yes, but no so great as it could be.
By using shield we get so much HP and resists that we can trade these on damage modifiers from tree and other gear and get even higher damage.
But dual wielding has better passive clusters, right? Not fully true. While using shield we have access to Command of Elements.

Following things should be enough:
* Alpha's Howl or Anger has 15% reduced Mana Reservation or Wrath has 15% reduced Mana Reservation enchantment
* Non-Channeling Skills have # to Total Mana Cost craft on one jewelry
* Enlighten 4

Other ways to deal with mana reservation:
* Add 1 or 2 more Non-Channeling Skills have # to Total Mana Cost crafts on jewelry and get Conqueror's Efficiency jewel
* Get amulet with Anger has % reduced Mana Reservation or Wrath has % reduced Mana Reservation mod
* Take Champion of Cause on the passive tree
* Anoint Sovereignty

To run this build we need at least 160 int, 212 dex and 100 str. Since we spend all points in str-dex area we are short on int. And this might be a big issue especially while leveling. So what can we do?

* Get rare amulet and rings with high int (2 x 40+) and dex (40+)
* Astramentis is great for leveling but might cost a lot depending on league stage
* Temporary spec into 30 attribute nodes that fortunately lies on our path (Proficiency, Hard Knocks, Wisdom of the Glade)

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.11.0/AAAABAQBAC_MXzmbLXfjhmBGWTbovqeE2cGCZU06Urkdae8ILHRlxIJHfrCrvTaK8AHcWK-pbg==

Best generic starter gear (expensive at league start): Tabula, Goldrim, Redbeak, Wanderlust, Meginord's Girdle, Praxis

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.11.0/AAAABAQBABiRL8xfOZstd-OGYEZZxVO8nzbovqeBOoTZwYL473Kv8lrXfhDwZU1GDhuqwQc6UvVhYxe5HQ48FHFhUgU8ae8ILHRlxILcMkh4pTVHfrCrvTaK8AHcWK-pbg==

Weapon: Any sword with good phys DPS
Gear: Belt of the Deceiver

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.11.0/AAAABAQBAAHcBTwILAxwDjwQ8BIwFE0UcRR1GJEZtBs3G6ovzDboOlI7tkYORllHfkh4Sn1M_03PTipWyVb6WK9br185YVJjF2VNZ6Bp72qTcq90ZXfXd-OBOoTZhmCHdorwj2CbLaU1qW6wq7kdvJ-9Nr6nwQfBgsSCxVPXftm_3DLjn-na8lr1Yfjv_Es=

Weapon: Any sword with good phys DPS

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.11.0/AAAABAQBAFuvFHX8S9RSGJG18i_Mj2BfOZstd-NOKoZgTc_h70ZZxVO8nzboVskj9r6ngTqTDxm06dqE2WegEjDBgvjvcq9_K4jtbzvyWtd-JP0GopcIEPBlTVb6Rg4UTcAadKAbqo19NZLBBzpS9WHnVE2S2L1jFwYgDjwUcTu2vTap-uOfMHxqk2FSh3YFPGnvCCx0ZUp9UUfEgtwyF9zZv_DESHhM_6U1eA3_3nfXGzdHfrCrDHCVJIrwAdxR2livqW4=

Weapon: Scaeva or rare sword with good phys DPS and crit
Gear: Lioneye's Remorse

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/3.11.0/AAAABAQBAFb6W68UdRRNwBp0oPxL1FIYkeOftfIvzDWSBiBfOZstWK8nC3RllSROKoZgOlJNz12wvTbh74rwYVLnVMVTtbdNkvNvvJ_YvUnVVsmwqyP2uR2HdqluO7a-pykkhtFR2kd-AdyDtjB8kw8Juxm06dqE2WegGzdqk0ZZEjDBggU8pTUILEh48MTZv38riO2PYG873DLEglFHF9xM_2nveA0k_fDid9ep-vVhBqI26P_eDHCXCI19d-NKfWVN

Weapon: Any rare sword with high attack speed (1.8+) and crit chance (6.5+). Optionally with crit multi and global damage increases
Gear: Astramentis, Alpha's Howl, Praxis

Hands down best weapon for elemental stacking, but not mandatory.
10c alternative with ~30 DPS less in total.

+ % to Level of Socketed Aura Gems and + % to Level of Socketed Aoe Gems mods adds a lot of damage for this build. +1 lvl to either Wrath or Anger is approximately 2.5% damage boost. So if you will be able to get +4 to Aoe/Aura on helmet it will be at least 20% more damage.


One of best helmet for the build even without +2 aura corruption. It provides significant damage boost for both Anger/Wrath and helps to deal with mana reservation issues.


Rare helmet with +2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems and +1 to Level of Socketed AoE Gems.
Less damage but better defense. You can either buy helmet with delve mod or craft one with Essence Of Delirium.

Fine crafted rare helmet with Anger has 15% reduced Mana Reservation or Wrath has 15% reduced Mana Reservation enchantment beats even corrupted Alpha's Howl. The only downside is losing freeze immunity.

Build enabling jewel and the only reason why this build works. In total we can stack up to 120% aura effect increase for both Anger and Wrath from Vengeful Commander. And that a lot of flat fire/lighting damage. It is pretty hard to roll both notables.
Cheap alternative that you can easily roll by yourself.
To make passive tree optimal it's better to get medium jewel with "Adds 4-5 Passive Skills" implicit.

Vengeful Commander - this is the build. Mandatory notable.
Precise Commander - second best notable on medium aura jewel for this build. Be aware this is very rare mod.
First Among equals - budget option. Easy to roll on a jewel, but not so strong. Quite good for leveling since duration mod also affects Vaal Haste gem.


Attack jewels with leech nodes are best for overleech. You do not need the perfect one to make is useful, but keep in mind that it's a bit hard to craft attack jewel with 3 notables nowadays. Consider to craft it with Serrated Fossil.
Feed the fury - best notable due to absurdly strong bonuses for overleech.
Fuel the Fight, Martial Prowess - both are great, first one help to cap accuracy, second one provides mana leech.


Elemental jewels are best if you play without overleech. Also easy to craft.
Vengeful Commander - same as on medium jewel
Prismatic Heart - best second elemental notable, good damage and 30 resistance in total

The same as for medium jewels: get large jewels with "Adds 8 Passive Skills" implicit for endgame.

Any Elder jewel with Wrath+Anger mods is strongly recommended.
Mods to look for:
* Damage Penetrates #% Fire Resistance while affected by Anger
* Damage Penetrates #% Lightning Resistance while affected by Wrath
* #% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Anger
* #% increased Critical Strike Chance while affected by Wrath

Any jewel with life, crit multi and attack speed.


Abyss jewel with +200 to Accuracy will help to max out hit chance. Consider to get one with good Stygian belt at some point.

Amulet:
Due to low int and dex from passive tree we have to get these attributes from gear. And the best way to get it is an amulet with high base int, some dex and 20% attribute quality.
Spare prefix is great for % increased Damage while Leeching craft.
Mana reservations mods Anger has % reduced Mana Reservation and Wrath has % reduced Mana Reservation also extremely useful.

Astramentis is a great option for the start, since it allows you to completely forget about any issues with attributes. Although it definitely worse than good rare amulet.

Rings:

Any rare rings that will help you to top resistance/damage/hp/attributes.
Curse Enemies with Level % Assassin's Mark on Hit whould be the best damage mod that you can get from ring slot.
Vermillion Ring with Fertile Catalyst - best ring base.

Base with high flat and (7-10)% increased maximum Life mod.

+2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems - also might be useful if you use helmet without "+ level of gems" mods


Cheap alternatives

Since we are using strike skill, hunter gloves with Strike Skills target 1 additional nearby Enemy mod will be a great choice. Consider to get one with spare mod so you craft % increased Damage while Leeching or % increased Attack Speed.


Tombfist always a good choice for attack build. Lot of life and damage with good jewels, easy way to max accuracy (see jewel section).
1 socket version useful as budget option.


Good option for any Slayer with overleech. Negates downsides of Vaal Pact, a lot of int(!), saves one passive point (allow us to take additional jewel passive node).

Boots:

Boots with You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently are essentially best for any attack build.
If you use Alpha's Howl it's better to find boots with spare movement speed prefix in order to Crafted % increased Movement Speed, Cannot be Chilled mod.

Belt:

Any belt with HP and Resists.
Belt with good base elemental resists and 20% quality usually the best way to max our elemental resistance in end game.
Highly recommended Stygian base.

Body:

Any body armour with HP and Resists.
Attacks have #% to Critical Strike Chance - best signature mod for chest.
Wite Socket can be quite useful to optimize gem setup for mapping.

Panicked Divine flask is the best you can get for life flask slot. Since we have immunity to bleed from Slayer notable for second flask mod is would be good to have of Curing or of Dousing or of Grounding.


BIS utility flasks


Best minor utility flasks.


Expensive utility flasks. You can replace one minor utility flask, or even two if you have Freeze/Chill immunity from gear.
note: Elemental Focus gem prevents you from igniting target on hit.

For AOE skills you would want to use Pulverise instead of Ancestral Call. That means you do not need to make a gem swap and should consider to remove from gem setup either Close Combat or Elemental Focus

Awakened Ancestral Call - First Awakened gem that you should get. Noticeably improves clear speed.
Awakened Elemental Focus and Awakened Elemental Damage With Attacks - Minor DPS improvement, both gems have same value.
Awakened Multistrike - If you have huge budget.