[3.1]Shaper Down on budget 4-link –That Poet's Pen(“instant leech”_Glacial Cascade & Firestorm 2in1)

OP is a casual player who doesn't like to farm repetitively and therefore usually doesn't have big budget for gearing. At the same time, OP enjoys end-game boss fights which typically call for strong builds that require some investment. Therefore, OP likes to play with the game mechanisms to theorycraft builds with three criteria in mind:

Budget. Powerful. Fun.

The builds should be budget enough to be affordable for a casual player, yet powerful enough to finish all end-game contents, and most importantly, fun enough to spend time on.

An example of such builds was published here:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1744618

It was a pleasure to see the build got quite some positive feedback from the community. The build was such a fun experience that OP still misses it from time to time. The down side of the build is that OP didn't come up with new builds that were fun and satisfying enough (for OP's personal taste) and therefore has been AFK for a few leagues.

Until OP eventually got this build.

This build is completely opposite to the aforementioned Debuffing Pizza build in terms of the play style. It utilizes multiple new mechanisms introduced in 3.1 and therefore offers a refreshing experience which works out well. In addition, it meets the three criteria. OP used the build as the league starter in the Abyss League, cleared all end-game contents, and had much fun. Therefore OP would like to share it here.

There are two main differences: the offensive mode and the defensive mode.

From the offensive perspective, this build is a dual-main-skill build, which does DPS with TWO main skills, at the same time (Glacial Cascade and Firestorm, which is a perfect fit for the current Ice and Fire theme MTX). On the contrary, in a typical Poet's Pen build there is actually only one main skill. The second Pen is used to support the main skill. For example, Volatile Dead is used in one Pen, while Unearth on the other Pen to provide corpse. In this case, essentially it is still a one-skill build.

There is a "DPS delay", or "setup time" for the "VD + Unearth" combination when mapping. In other words, the instant you click the button is not the instant you kill monsters. This make it feels clunky for OP's taste. In the "VD + Unearth" setup you actually need to cast TWICE for each encounter when mapping. In the first cast only the Unearth is triggered because there is no corpse to detonate yet hence VD is not triggered. In the second cast the VD starts to detonate the corpse produced in the first cast and start to do damage. The delay between the first and second cast is typically 0.25 sec (if you don't have any cool down gears). And if you really try VD by yourself, you will notice that after the VD detonates corpse, there is another delay before it doing damage: you need to wait for the balls to search for monsters, and travel to them and explode. The two delays together make it feel a little clunky for OP's taste. TBH this character was initially theorycrafted as a "VD/Detonate" build. But after trying the skills OP re-designed the build to this current one.

From the defensive perspective, this build is built upon a newly added mechanism in 3.1: (practical) life-gain-on-hit for spells, which is as close to "instant VP" as we can get now IMHO. Other Pen builds either mainly rely on leech (by Warlord's Mark which performs poorly on end-game bosses, or by leech-mod Watcher's Eye which is quite expensive), or rely on hit-and-run (aka "mouse-dodge"). OP has heard a lot of complaints in our guild that Pen's builds are lacking in defense. This build tries to give an answer to those complaints. This build utilizes multiple layers of defense which enables the character to face tank in large packs of monsters. See more details in the Mechanism session.

If you like face-tank style spell caster and and like spamming fancy ice & fire spells at the same time, this can be the build for you. On the other hand, this build has very good group control (60%+ slow even for Shaper/Guardians). You can hit and run all you want if you prefer not to get hit.

Finally, this build does not rely on any Enchantment to work. Everything is designed such that the budget is as low as possible. But no worry, this build scales very well with your investment. If you have the budget, you can get 35% or even more damage than the presented stats.

(Side note: When the Abyss League just got started, the VD had an enchantment that doubles the DPS. It was considered as a bug and has been fixed now. As a result, effectively VD now deals 67% of the DPS it used to do as some VD videos show even if you have the enchantment, which still costs 8 EX now. Without the enchantment the VD DPS will be 25% LESS further.)

Work in progress. Will add feedback here gradually. If you have tried the build and have any tips/suggestions/feedback please kindly share them. :D

Sorry for not being able to include all comments due to the limited space. Thank you very much for your feedback! Your sharing is much appreciated!

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pylsa написал:

Levelled an inq with poet's unearth/volatile, but got bored, searched for a new build to play with poet's and found yours - boy, am I glad I found your build, it's blast(cascade if you will) to play and I'm really it enjoying so far(level 71, while typing)!!!

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Pappas написал:

Just hit 90 and all i have to say that build is so satisfying to play. Being super casual player builds usually bother me around mid 80's. Then I start a new build. But not this one, I want to return and sweep through maps again and again.
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Jarex написал:

Reached level 70 and the survivability against packs is insane - ran into a pack of 15 cannot be damaged mobs ( shrine ) when my mouse disconnected for about 5 secs and my life bar barely moved...

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_Skittles_ написал:

Heya, been playing this build for some days and it's been a total blast. Right amount of chaos, lots of raining fire and works so well in many different map mod pools.
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All in all, this build is incredibly fun to play with the core gear alone, and gets better with putting some currency into it.

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Drvi34 написал:

Great build so far. I think nerf on his way :D This reminded me coc builds so much and i love it...

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JamP написал:

The construction is incredible.
I'm on level 80 now making red maps with some ease.
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Yusheex написал:

Really nice build. I made it to 82 and killed Atziri. I'm steam rolling all the content so far...

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BenKerkhofs написал:

Thanks for the build, I’m destroying everything while leveling :)!
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MajWoody написал:

Levelling was definitely a highlight with this build. I used volatile dead with gc and firestorm and it was so smooth, especially after I got the abyss helmet with the spirit bursts.

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pticouic написал:

As this build inspired mine and I really do like it, I will post my variation.
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Cyrileo написал:

Been playing this, super fun ...

Pros:

1. Unlimit "leech" cap. Your recovery capability scales with the number of monsters you hit, which is psychologically very satisfying when you actually play the build.

2. Play with multiple new mechanisms, which don't even exist before 3.1, in good synergy, in one build. It is a refreshing experience.

3. +40% all elemental resists passively, +8% movement speed, self-sufficient of Str/Dex/Int.
Do not ever underestimate the value of these stats. You need to pay for them, either on your gears, or on your passives, or even by auras in some cases. 40% all resist can literally save you multiple Exalts for gearing. No joke. If you play with a build that is stats/resist hunger, good luck with your budget... Besides, with the newly introduced Elder/Shaper items, many affixes are fun/powerful. With 40% all resist and sell-sufficient stats, you can afford to play with interesting affixes at low cost. (With 5-chaos level gears OP reached ~108% resists, which included an additional -20% resist penalty from an unique ring. If you choose not to use the ring you can easily push for 130%+ resist which is more than enough for Elemental Weakness cap even in red maps.)

4. Get the full usage of Scion's ascendancy classes. In this build, they don't feel like "the cheaper version" of the original ascendancy classes. Instead, they provide valuable features which are unique on their own, and arguably even better than the original ones in some aspects. Other than the apparent DPS boost, they give you automatic generation of Power and Frenzy Charges when mapping; 6% regen and effectively +2% Max Resist (or 8.7% MORE life against elemental damage assuming you sit at 75% max resist.) which are really sweat and convenient.

5. You can reach all the end branches of the tree and sort of "complete" the build at as early as Lvl 81. For the onward levels you just grape more life nodes. This can be a relief for a casual player.

6. 60%+ reduced monster's movement speed (applies to end-game bosses at no discount). Check the Mechanism session for more details.

7. Chain Freeze/Shatter packs of monsters when mapping, which is not only satisfying but also provides extra safety.

8. You can run "no leech", "curse immunity (no Warlord's Mark)", "no regen" maps.

9. The two uniques, Poet's Pen and the Watcher's Eyes, benefit not only this build, but also many other builds as well, especially during the levelling process. Get to Lvl 12 and equip the Pens and it is instant fun and OP. You can equip the Watcher's Eye at Level 24 when you get the Vitality gem. Then you can start using Righteous Fire. You Shield Charge into a pack and get instant recovery for over 100 HP. At that level it is like "10% HP instant recovery on hit". How does that sound? "Make the reroll process fun again." This alone probably can already justify their price. :D

10. Ice & Fire skill build, which is a perfect fit to the current MTX theme.

11. The build and the character fit each other thematically. Scion, poet, pen, ice and fire... Could it get any fancier? :D


Cons:

1. Not a tooltip warrior. The tooltip numbers are so small (even in POB) that by just looking at them you feel like you are scammed lol. But no worry, the real DPS is high enough to clear Shaper/Guardian/Red Elder. Because of the new mechanisms used in this build, even POB cannot show the real DPS directly. You just need to understand the mechanism and do some calculation by yourself.

2. Could be flashy, depending on player's taste. This could be a concern if you play in a party.

3. The price of Poet's Pen and the Watcher's Eye may not be as budget friendly as they used to be. You can run the build without the Watcher's Eye though, but you are recommended to get one.

4. You can still die.
Mostly if you die, you die to oneshot in T15+. It doesn't happen often though; and if you play less recklessly you can avoid most of them. To be fair, with instant VP being gone and 6.2k+ HP (can be pushed to 7k), most builds can die to oneshot as well. Heck, even the most experienced Hardcore veteran players die to oneshot on their 8k+ HP characters. The oneshot mechanism is an intended design and it has been part of the game since its release. So no hard feelings. It can be frustrating though. One millisecond ago you swim in monsters and then one millisecond later you die to bullshit oneshot (e.g. Detonate Dead totem and Rogue Exile corpse). It can be particularly frustrating considering how invincible your character normally be in this build. Besides, you need time to "ramp up" the full recovery capability against single target. During that time you can be more vulnerable than you normally be. So be cautious.

OP wants to point these out because OP doesn't like false advertisement and doesn't want to picture this build as an "immortal" one and hide the bullshit. OP just presents the full picture and let you decide whether you want to play it or not. That's it.

Solution: You can use Belly of Beast then you are sitting at ~6.5k HP. Since you only need 4-link on the chest, the price is more attainable (around 10c now). Besides, don't face tank everything. This character is very agile. With the 60%+ slow, chill, freeze, you can hit and run like a boss. And again, don't be pissed by oneshot bullshit. It is part of the game lol.

This build was used as the league starter for the Abyss League. OP built it up from scratch with zero budget. It requires two unique items (Poet's Pen and Watcher's Eye) to complete the build, with the Pen being mandatory. Both items were very affordable back then (~25c (or 0.5ex) for the Pen and ~30c for the Watcher'e Eye). The price may go up now though, but still attainable. (The Pen was around 35c which was even cheaper considering the exchange rate, and the Eye was around 1-1.5ex upon the release of this guide. ) If you are really tight on budget, you can skip Watcher's Eye and still do fine. There is a certain way to get around it. More details in the Gear session.

One good thing about the two required uniques is that, they are versatile items which also benefits many other builds. And they are for sure very fun to use for leveling up your other reroll characters. "Make the reroll process fun again." This alone probably can already justify their price. :D

Other than the unique items, most of the rest Rare items, if not all, were bought for under 5 chaos at the early stage of the league. They are pretty mediocre and can be even cheaper now. As said before, OP is a casual player who doesn't have big budget. Therefore, the build presented is not based on crazy min-max gears. All stats shown are easily attainable. You can get higher status by simply upgrading gears here and there.

Side note:

When you check a build to figure out its budget, kindly be reminded to check the Accessory gears, namely, the Jewels, Amulet, Rings, and Belt. These accessories can boost a build quite substantially. In some cases they are even the bread and butter of a build. And they can cost A LOT (like more than 10 Exalts per Jewel.) You may only achieve a small portion of the DPS/Life/ES if you replace these slots with budget alternatives, which make you feel like playing a different build. So be cautious.

Caution: Small numbers count. In this build you will find many small numbers that are easily overlooked. However the implicit power of the numbers are remarkable.

Overview:


How powerful the Poet's Pen really is and how to get the most out of it:


Layer of defence:
OP has heard a lot of complaints about how Pen's builds are lacking in defense. This build tries to give an answer to those complaints. It may feel "meh" when you simply look at each mechanism individually. But if you really try the build and see how they come together you will be amazed.

Bandit:
Help Alira for "20% Crit Multi + 15% All Resist + 5 Mana Regen"

Lvl 90 Tree:


For leveling:

For Pantheon:

Explanation:

About Gears:


About Gem links:

The Poet's Pen and the Life-Gain-On-Hit jew/ring provides such refreshing experience to OP. It's worth trying if you like spell builds and face tank play style. Since the passives are focused on generic DPS nodes such as crit. / elemental damage, you can mess with different spell setup and derive your own play style.

Hope you find something fun and different in the build. Feel free to ask questions and/or share any tips/suggestions/videos.

Good luck farming and have fun!