[3.25] 41+ million DPS perma-flask Poisonous Concoction | Pathfinder

Progression PoB's: Trickster

NB: These are using the alternate Trickster version, which I'm league starting. For the Pathfinder version, follow previous league PoBs (though there will need to be some adjustments to cater to the changes). I may switch to Pathfinder later in the league.

Also, remove the Custom "+100% Increased Poison Duration" from the Configuration page. It's no longer required. Just make sure there is a large number in the "# of Poisons applied Recently" field, and PoB will correctly add the 100% - which the build is effectively at permanently on any single target.

Level 87 - 2 million DPS, 22k eHP
Level 90 - 5+ million DPS, 26k eHP
Level 91 - 11 million DPS, 32k eHP
Level 95 - (DoT cap) 37.3 million DPS, 37k eHP
Level 96 - (DoT cap+) 37.5 million DPS, 46k eHP
Level 96 - (DoT cap+) 37.9 million DPS, 56k eHP
Level 97 Trickster - 37.5 million DPS, 134 eHP
Level 98 Trickster - 37.9 Million DPS, 171 eHP
Level 98 Trickster (mapping version) - 34 million DPS, 181 eHP, screen-wide pops
Level 99 Trickster (all in one) - 38 million DPS, 176k eHP

Short Gameplay Video - Big Breach clear


Trickster or Pathfinder?

Up front, I don't know the answer to the question as I'm enjoying the Trickster so much, I'm not sure I will get to the Pathfinder this league. What I can say is that the Trickster version of the build this league may be the most fun, most powerful version yet.

The reason for my enthusiasm is not just the free +2 Frenzy Charges from the Trickster ascendency - as good as that is - but it's the seemingly more effective defense and recovery options built into the class. The one downside is not getting permaflasks. However, with PConc of Bouncing being an on-hit skill and hitting 14 times(!), scaling Projectile damage and Critical Strike Chance allows the build to leverage the "25% Chance to gain a Flask Charge when you deal a Critical Strike" option in Flask Mastery. This gives slow, but reasonable flask charges against bosses - the one downside of losing permaflasks. While mapping, flasks are active as soon as you attack, and stay active until you stop. That includes the usually problematic low duration Dying Sun (which BTW matches the build perfectly). It's beautiful.

The Trickster also is significantly tankier in actual play. I can't explain it with numbers alone, except to say I have died much less this league than almost any previous league, and I'm going to hit 100 without implementing any artificial leveling strategies. That has been impossible with the Pathfinder, as at 98+ the experience loss from regular deaths outpaced experience gain. The only way to get to 100 was via XP groups, 5-Ways (RIP), or targeted scarab strategies and extreme caution.

Finally, utilizing Asenath's Gentle Touch gloves and Unspeakable Gifts mod on a Cluster Jewel, gives absurd clear. I mean that. The pops are glorious, and clear entire screens regularly. Check out this short video of a random Breach clear. That's an 8 mod, fully Scarab and Atlas juiced T16. ES and HP barely move.

The current version of the build is linked in the PoB list above, but I'm still tweaking and making improvements. I'll continue updating as I go.


Neverending Improvements

There's a lot to say about this new version now I'm at the endgame min-maxing stage. I'll do a full post here explaining all the changes and improvements soon. The short version is it's really good.

Let Me Tell You a Story 2.0...

The Trickster version of PConc has a lot of challenges, and a lot of benefits. The biggest challenge is flasks, especially if you're used to Pathfinder. The next is making sense of the all the options.

First, don't believe any hype about the Tanu Ahi gloves, and their application of Adrenaline. I'd love to get Adrenaline reliably. It has massive damage and is AFAIK the largest movespeed buff in the game outside of Quicksilver flasks.

However, no matter what others have said, these gloves are not the answer. The buff they apply is 2 seconds, and requires a very specific set of conditions to trigger. Blood Rage, which some have suggested as a trigger, is not the answer for us. It has to be applied manually, and competes with our high regen which gets in the way of the leech part of the mechanic. On top of that, the buff would only ever be up ~60% of the time as a best case anyway. I tried, and just couldn't make them work, which is unfortunate as they are a much cheaper double corruption option than Snakebite Assassin's Mitts.

So the build versions boasting massive damage due to both Adrenaline and Blood Rage, are pretty much just PoB bait. After much deliberation, testing, and expense, Snakebites remain BiS (Note: this has now changed to be double corrupted Asenath's - see above and the latest PoBs).

I've almost reached what I think is the final form of this Trickster version. It's a combination of our normal Pathfinder build, and a lot of ideas taken from the streamer Jungroan's version. It's not quite as fast as the PF, but it feels significantly tankier due to the ES/Life combination, and the Trickster's high recovery. Bossing, for some reason, feels safer.

There's still a lot to do, and to fiddle with, and this is unlikely to be what I settle on exactly. But for those who are interested, here is the current (almost finished) build:

Trickster Level 97 - 37.5 million DPS, 134 eHP

First Thoughts

I can say that the Trickster has some benefits, and some drawbacks. The obvious benefit is the +2 Frenzy charges from our ascendency. The main drawback is all the flask and poison synergy we lose from Pathfinder. It's too early to tell which is better.

This league our boots are the killer expensive item, and I don't have a pair yet. They are really the key component of the build, so until I get them I won't know how good or bad things are going to be endgame. Our belt and boots work together, so there's no point running the belt without them - to do so is actually a significant DPS, defense, and movespeed loss because the belt effectively blocks any benefit from Frenzy Charges (as it turns them into Affliction Charges). In concert with the boots, though, it will double our DPS.

The league itself is tougher and currency is harder to come by. I haven't engaged heavily with the Town mechanic yet though, as it's not really the kind of gameplay I want with an ARPG. Once the community has minmaxed it, and posted howto's describing the best way to farm it efficiently, I will revisit it.

Quick Upate

I'm playing Trickster, and it's quite tough early game. I've just hit low maps and am struggling already. We'll see if it improves.

Pre-Launch Thoughts

There are some big changes in 3.25 that are going to affect the build. We know that we lose our beloved Aspect of the Slaughter Forbidden jewels due to the complete deletion of the Raider ascendency, and the node's replacement in Deadeye I don't think will make up for it. It's a big loss, not gonna lie.

There are other changes as well, including a reduction in the efficacy of Determination, a simultaneous decrease in the effect of the Versatile Combatant notable (making it require much more block investment to give value), and a slight buff to the flat chaos damage of Poisonous Concoction. On top of that, Endurance Charges no longer grant 4% Elemental Resistance each, so we have to find a way to make up for the lost resistances - this may very well be the most difficult change to fix of all.

When Path of Building is updated with the changes we will know more, but I suspect the build might actually have to change classes to get the most from the new structure.

Update: The change to Versatile Combatant seems to really hurt our defense. The node has been moved, which doesn't affect us, but the increase in threshold from -25% to -10% means we may not be able to get enough Attack Block to push over the Block limit (up from 50 to 65) to get to the Spell Block benefit.



I'm not sure at this stage how to accommodate for this loss. There is an outside chance that if we can get enough Block, we potentially end up with 15% more of both.

UPDATE: This is all from the old pre-3.24 version of the build, though it is still representative of the build. New videos with the updated build will be added soon.

These are non-curated videos, and represent the average gameplay experience. I'm not mechanically focused, and rely on a build to do most of the work - it's an ARPG after all. Videos are Ultrawide unless otherwise specified (I am slowly creating 16:9 versions for mobile viewing).

3.20 T16 Alch and Go Grotto Ultrawide (16:9)

3.19 T16 Waste Pool

Drox, Baran, Veritania, Al-Hezmin

Sirus, Elder, Shaper, Uber Elder Ultrawide (16:9)

Delve

No-Video Kills

Uber Atziri down deathless. Pretty trivial as we don't have to worry about reflect.

Uber Sirus down - just. It took to the last portal and I almost died to degen after he died. Degen is a weakness of this build, and so this is a pretty tough fight. First phases are trivial, but the last phase is nasty. No loot (which should never happen IMO).

Uber Shaper not down. This fight is particularly difficult for the build due to all the ground and other types of degen, and the accurate movement required. Our high movespeed actually works against us a bit due to this. The first attempt he was at <5% health. The second attempt was a total wash out. It's a very doable encounter for the build for those who enjoy busy mechanical fights, though.

Uber Elder down pretty easily, despite forgetting to untick Maven witnessing - who kept healing both Shaper and Elder - and activate record (hence no video). It turns out that running around in a panic throwing potions randomly with 36 million DPS destroys everything in the arena.

Maven down also pretty easily. Only the last phase gave me any issue. Died once after messing up the final memory game due to the beams. No loot. Also no video, but will drop one here eventually.

Eater of Worlds is ludicrously easy. Video eventually.
Searing Exarch I will never know, because I don't enjoy the fight.

Ubers I will likely never do them all as they are just not fun fights for me. Pretty sure they wouldn't be an issue for someone who enjoys them, though.

Items:
These are almost best case, and serve as an example only. You won't need things to be this good to play the build.



Jewels:


Cluster Jewels:


Flasks:

3.25 converted PoB, no fixes

This leveling guide goes up to the non-Frenzy version, and can be played for its own sake, or used as a fast, durable league starter. It can then be transitioned to the Frenzy version of the build, or another build altogether.

It contains full leveling trees with matching itemization and skill sets from actual gameplay. Don't forget to check the notes:

https://pobb.in/sVwLs6Nc_oVL

If you have specific questions about the build, or just want to shoot the breeze on all things Poisonous Concoction, there's a Discord server here:

Flask Blasters

I'm not always on Discord, but I'll answer if I am. I'll also post updated build links here as I level.

UPDATE! These details are out of date as of 3.24. I will update them with relevant details on the new build soon. In the meantime, treat the information below as only partially relevant.

Special Note:: Get the "#% Increased Duration of Ailments you inflict while Focused" mod on the helmet. There are several other possible mods, so ensure you search for this particular one.

1. You need 21 AoE radius, or preferably 22 (52%) to make certain all flasks hit single targets. You can read more about that here.

However, it's difficult to determine what is happening with flask overlap and AoE with PConc, because we are utilizing both GVS (which throws 4 + 1 flasks in parallel), and GMP (which throws 4 or 5 + 1 flasks in a fan configuration). From my own testing it seems that 10 flasks with ~22+ AoE is a sweet spot, and the closer your target is the better.

2. You also need to get some added Frenzy charge duration because of the reduced duration on the gloves and boots. The formula for how much you need to prevent the charges ever dropping is:

60% + (10 x #Frenzy Charges)%

That means you need 130% for 7 Frenzy charges (more for each additional charge), which is covered by +100% from Charge Mastery and 1 minor increased Frenzy duration node in the tree, plus at least one 10%+ increased Frenzy duration implicit on the rings. There are several other +20% duration minor nodes easily accessible if required. You may need to select at least one more until you can run an Unnatural Instinct jewel, which picks up a node for free, and freeing up a skill point.

2a. If you use corrupted Darkray Vector Dragonscale Boots with the +1 Endurance Charge corruption (recommended), you will need to carefully balance Increased Frenzy Charge Duration nodes to counteract the big Reduced Frenzy Charge Duration the boots have.

Bear in mind that Increased Skill Effect Duration on the Malevolence gem and some tree nodes (Damage Over Time Mastery for example) will increase the duration of the Aspect of the Cat cycle on your Farrul's Fur. The effect of that is to require more Frenzy Charge Duration to prevent the charges dropping. It took me ages to figure out what was happening with this. Benefit from my pain. You're welcome.

3. I'm double stacking Wither via the Alt Poisonous Concoction gem as well as Withering Step, because it's such a massive multiplier to our DPS and the more stacks on mobs the better. Using a totem setup is tedious (as well as consuming 3 sockets, for which the build is starved as we lack one full 6 link due to not wielding a weapon). Of course, a totem setup is always possible if you prefer.

4. Don't forget Herald of Agony (a huge damage boost). Despair on Hit on a ring is now not nearly as good as Temporal Chains on gloves - even despite recent nerfs.

5. Dash + Second Wind may seem a bit strange, as the cooldown conflicts with Withering Step. In practice (and you will get used to the timing), it is possible to use Dash toward the end of the cooldown. The build is fast enough on its own, but it's much better to have it than not. Shield Charge is too clunky for me, and feels horrible most of the time. However, it can replace Dash if preferred.

This is my suggested loadout, but anything that works for you will be fine (the auras you see loaded here are the Vaal versions).

Note that we can no longer bind a skill to LMB so Withering Step is no longer there, replaced by "Move Only":

Note: this is an end-of-build technique that requires you have enough skill points to take the relevant nodes, and have acquired most of the endgame gear.

1. Swap at least one Medium Cluster Jewel for one with the following Passive Skills:



2. Select the Increased Flask Effect Duration and Increased Flask Charges Gained nodes shown in the green circles:



3. Change all flask enchants to be Reused at the End of This Flask's Effect (except on Overflowing Chalice which remains Used When Charges Reach Full).

4. You must activate all flasks when entering a new area to begin the loop. If everything is as it should be, your flasks will never drop. If they ever do (due to map mods etc.) you may have to restart them.

Further Notes:

It can be tricky balancing Chaos resistance when making these changes, but it's still possible to get to max resist with well rolled rings.

There are also a lot of other Increased Flask Effect Duration nodes on the tree than the ones we use, but pathing to them immediately brings a big price in lost DPS. If you choose to go that route, it's worth considering investing enough in duration to run a Dying Sun flask, and picking up 3 more projectiles and accompanying AoE to compensate. Bear in mind you will need to find 50% total "Flasks applied to you have #% Increased Effect" in order to activate the flask's third extra projectile, which is not easy. It also further reduces your DPS, and necessitates a complete restructuring of the passive tree.

Majordans' build linked below has done both, though if you go that way you will probably have to also choose his itemization to make it all work.