I'm writing this guide close to the end of the league to share my take on Armageddon Brand build. I have had a great deal of success and fun clearing the game with my, hopefully, somewhat special take on this crit version of the build. 4M shaper dmg (2x brands attached) and 6.3k life seemed like a pretty good achievement to me. I'm surprised to still see a lot of confusion there, with people that can't reach high enough dmg, try to go ignite, MoM, Ele Overload, 2ndary skills etc.. This confusion is mostly caused by the popular builds shared by Mathil and RaizQ at the beginning of the league, from which I took a lot of ideas myself, but that are by no means optimized to reach full potential as they were born as league starters. I will assume a general understanding of the Brand skills mechanics in the following sections of the guide. Introduction In my opinion there are several options for this char: Life vs Energy Shield: I went for life, and I have to say I haven't had time to explore the ES version. Should still be perfectly viable. Crit vs non Crit: Scaling crit with Armageddon Brand requires a lot of passives and many good life or dmg nodes cannot be reached. The only way to still reach a good life total (I aimed for 6k) is to use Kaom's Heart as chest armor, which in turn means that a Staff has to be used to get the 6l. Going full crit requires squeezing in for gem slots, but gives you in turn much higher dmg. Going non-crit is the easy way to attain 7k+ life (or 6kish without Kaom's Heart) and still decent damage with Elemental Overload, which is why the build has effectively been used as league starter (also by me) with minimal gear requirements. 2h vs Dual wielding: As discussed above Crit->Kaom's Heart->Staff Ignite? Despite the feature of Armageddon Brand 'Deal +1xx% more dmg with Ignite', which seems pretty damn good, going for burning dmg is not a good idea. It simply lacks in dmg, both in the crit and the non crit version of the build. Secondary skill? Once attached, the brands do all the damage without requiring interaction, so it's natural to think about using a secondary damaging skill(scorching ray, firestorm, winter orb etc) in the meantime. This is obviously impossible if you are going crit as you simply don't have enough gems slots, but can be done as non crit with 6l in staff and a 6l chest. You have to lose Armageddon Brand damage by going non-crit, but regain some of it with a secondary skill. Assuming you could gain something like 20% overall more dmg (to be demonstrated, I haven't tried), this would only occur when both skills are in effect. Plus, added complexity, clunkyness, risk. Could be useful for faster mapping or delving maybe, but still does not feels worth it to me. I took up the suggestions of Warlord's Mark and Aspect of the Spider given in Mathil's build Pro/Cons Pro: - Great dmg, AoE and single target - Beginners friendly - Safe playstile - Surely not the best, but still pretty good at mapping - One of the best chars for Elder/Shaper/Uber Elder fights because of how steadily you can deal damage while avoiding attacks. Cons: - Can't run ele reflect, hexproof/no leech maps are annoying (need to manage flask charges very carefully) - Life sustain mechanics not suited for every fight as leech is rather slow and brand has the initial delay before activation. i.e.: Chimera smoke phase is a nightmare. Tree Kill all bandits Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/jZAGzhwr Note that PoB does not show correctly the increased damage coming from 'inc damage taken' and '- fire resistance' Gear Flasks: Various Notes I am using Faster Casting+Inc Area of Effect while mapping/delving and Combustion+Conc Effect for bosses. I only use the swap for special bosses, not regular map ones. I don't really use Brand Recall so much, as the 1st meteor basically one-shots a whole pack of monsters but for sure it can be convenient and used instead of Lightning Golem. Last edited by cane_cane on Mar 3, 2019, 6:41:54 PM | Posted by cane_cane on Feb 27, 2019, 6:28:49 PM |
Hi, this seems like a really good build compared with the streamers one, but would you use it in HC? Maby with MoM? Also how would you level this? | Posted by Türambar on Mar 5, 2019, 8:26:15 PM |
' As far as survivabilty goes, like most brands builds, you rely on high life, endurance charges, slowing enemies down with aspect of the spider, and not getting hit. MoM is a good way to increase total life, but does not go well with crit, simply because you would not be able to get enough mana passives to have a decent mana pool. Even when I started off as non crit I ultimately chose not to go for it for this very reason. If I had to go HC I would go for non-crit version and Hierophant or Trickster ascendancies with MoM. The overall DPS would be something like 1/3 of what it is at the moment though. For leveling, as you can see from my gear I'm not investing much into crit chance so it comes quite nicely with the passives. However, crit dmg starts to kick in when you invest enough passives in it, so I would still stay non-crit with Elemental Overload (easy 30% more dmg) until I am high enough in level (I would say 70ish) to grab enough crit nodes. The nice side of it is your gear won't be affected by this change, so you can simply do the migration to crit with 3 respec points. As for the initial levels you can still follow the regular brands leveling guides or videos from streamers: it's really smooth and you can really go a long way through with a 4link and self found gear. | Posted by cane_cane on Mar 5, 2019, 11:47:36 PM |
Mar 29, 2019 Ignite from Armageddon Brand and Vaal Righteous Fire will melt bosses in a matter of seconds. We recommend this build as a League Starter because it's very cheap to start dealing a high amount of damage, but few uniques like Carcass Jack. Dental Milestones Guaranteed – for over 50 years in more than 80 countries. Whether for precise impressions or reliable temporary and permanent restorations: DMG has been helping dentists and dental technicians for more than five decades in their daily work - with innovative branded products 'made in Germany', in which there is real inventiveness. Highest Win% Runes. Gain 4% extra MS. Gain extra AP or AD, adaptive based on your bonus MS. Your first ability hit every 20s burns champions. Gain a free Biscuit every 3 min, until 12 min. Biscuits restore health and mana. Consuming a Biscuit permanently increases your max mana. Gain a free Stopwatch. Stopwatch has a one time use Stasis effect. Strong damage, good Tome support for the team. Countered by strong resistance and cleanses, but thats the same as any condi build. Relatively quick build up of condi's if playing the rotation right for a quick burst. Burn blocks are win as well. This build is a strong option as a 2nd Guard for a DPS slot, bringing additional support with the damage.
Report Forum Post
Powerful build based on one of the newly added Brand spells - the Storm Brand
Updated for Patch 3.6
Generate ssh key github ubuntu. The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Estimated budget: mediocre
Guide notes |
March 13, 2019 -Updated for Patch 3.6 March 14, 2019 -Added gameplay video |
Storm Brand is one of the newest skills added in Patch 3.5 and Betrayal League, bringing around completely new playstyle. Brands are an attachable spell, which every short period of time casts Lightning Projectiles that shoots from attached nearby enemies dealing massive AoE damage and attaching themselves to another nearby enemy after the first one is killed. Brand Recall is another spell, that allows you to summon all summoned Brands to your position, automatically attaching them to nearby monsters. This build is also utilizing Lightning Spire Trap for additional single-target damage, that can help with killing Bosses on red Maps and above. Sign of Purpose Ascendancy Passive increases Damage taken by enemies for 10% per Brand attached, so with a maximum of 5 Brands with this build, it's a terrific DPS boost. Arcane Blessing node provides Elemental Ailments immunity, making us invulnerable to Freeze or Shock so we can invest into offense oriented flask like Vessel of Vinktar or The Wise Oak.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
1. Gameplay
This is probably one of the most satisfying builds for clearing Maps. After casting 5 Brands at the beginning of the Map you are running around recalling them all to you, and Brands will be attached to nearby enemies automatically, shooting Lightning Bolts all over the screen. Lightning Spire Trap is the main single-target DPS skill that we should only be used against tough rare enemies or Bosses, because of 8 seconds cooldown. Try to put them directly on the Boss, because they are casting Lightning Beams in 3 directions, which with Increased Area of Effect should overlap on Bosses, making them receive hits from all three beams at the same time.
0:06 Tier 16 Lair of the Hydra 0:41 Tier 14 Double Boss Palace 1:10 Tier 15 Lava Lake 1:48 Tier 16 Forge of the Phoenix 2:13 Tier 16 Elder Underground Sea This video was recorded on a level 90 Hierophant. I was dual-wielding Rare Spell Daggers and the maximum Life was slightly over 4,000 (with a small upgrade here would easily deal with Shaper/Uber Elder) |
Odealo is a secure trading platform for MMO gamers. Here you can buy, sell, and trade PoE Currency for real cash. |
2. Build's PROS & CONS
PROS |
|
CONS |
|
3. Leveling tips
For leveling, we are going to use Arc before we acquire all nodes on the Passive Skill Tree that let us use at least three Storm Brands at once. All supported gems that will be linked to Arc are also being used in endgame version of the build. You should buy Storm Brand at level 12 and socket in a free slot in your gear, so it will be ready to use at 33 skill points invested into the skill tree.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Arc setup | |
Arc - great Lightning leveling spell, recommended until you can switch to 3+ Brands setup | |
Added Lightning Damage Support - adds a lot of Lightning Damage | |
Faster Casting Support - allows you to cast Arc much more frequently |
Lightning Spire Trap setup | |
Lightning Spire Trap - it's your single target skill, that will be also used in endgame build with all linked gems. Get it as soon as you hit level 28 | |
Faster Casting Support - definitely the best gem for Trap. While it might not be noticeable in Path of Building or tooltip DPS, it is highest Damage boost, because it increases Lightning Strikes frequency | |
Trap and Mine Damage Support - increases Trap Damage by a lot |
Utility Gems | |
Summon Ice Golem - the recommended Golem for this build which increases your Critical Strike Chance | |
Conductivity - perfect Curse for our build because it lowers Lightning Resistance of cursed enemies | |
Herald of Thunder - very good leveling Aura, that will grant additional Lightning Damage and strikes nearby enemies with Lightning Bolts |
Flame Dash setup | |
Flame Dash - recommended mobility skill | |
Faster Casting - increased casting and movement speed of Flame Dash |
We recommend helping Alira for increased Critical Strike Multiplier and Elemental Resistances
Leveling Skill Trees:
33 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Runebinder 2) Light of Divinity 3) Explosive Runes 4) Amplify
Priorities: 1) Runebinder 2) Light of Divinity 3) Explosive Runes 4) Amplify
64 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Inspiration 2) Quick Recovery 3) Heart and Soul 4) Cruel Preparation 5) Blast Radius 6) Heart of Thunder
Priorities: 1) Inspiration 2) Quick Recovery 3) Heart and Soul 4) Cruel Preparation 5) Blast Radius 6) Heart of Thunder
Recommended leveling items:
Malachai's Simula - great leveling Helmet for Lightning Builds. If you wear it then you should not use any Aura for leveling | |
(15-30)% increased Spell Damage +20 to Strength (20-30)% increased Lightning Damage +10% to Lightning Resistance Blood Magic |
Maligaro's Virtuosity - powerful gloves, will make our Critical Strikes hit a lot stronger | |
+(20-30) to Dexterity 5% increased Attack Speed 50% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-30)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier (60-80)% increased Evasion Rating |
Stone of Lazhwar - grants a lot of Chance to Block Spell Damage and Cast Speed, which increases both Arc and Lightning Spire Trap Damage | |
(12-15)% Chance to Block Spell Damage (10-15)% increased Cast Speed +(30-50) to maximum Mana |
Le Heup of All - perfect choice for the whole leveling process, it's recommended to use it on both ring slots | |
(10-30)% increased Damage +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances |
Axiom Perpetuum - best leveling weapon in the game for spellcasters. A lot of Additional Damage to Spells and an insane amount of Critical Strike Chance for them. It's recommended to dual-wield them | |
(4-6)% increased Cast Speed (100-140)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Fire Damage to Spells Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Cold Damage to Spells Adds 1 to (10-12) Lightning Damage to Spells |
4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon
Final Skill Tree:
![Dmg Dmg](/uploads/1/3/4/3/134353695/125890334.png)
118 Points Final Skill Tree
118 Points Path of Building(PoB) link
118 Points Path of Building(PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order: Browning rifle serial number.
- Sign of Purpose
- Illuminated Devotion
- Arcane Blessing
- Divine Guidance
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of Lunaris1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%
Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%
5. Final Gems links
Brand Lol Guide
[DPS] Storm Brand setup | |
Storm Brand - your main skill for clearing Maps and dealing AoE Damage. It's perfect to use on Bosses | |
Added Lightning Damage Support - adds a lot of Lightning Damage | |
Faster Casting - will increase your Brands attachment and cast frequency | |
Concentrated Effect Support - increase Area Damage of your Brands by a huge amount, at the expense of slightly decreased AoE | |
Lightning Penetration Support - your enemies have lower Resistances versus Storm Brand | |
Controlled Destruction Support - huge DPS increase that comes at the cost of slightly reduced Critical Strike Chance |
[DPS] Lightning Spire Trap setup (Gloves Only) | |
Lightning Spire Trap - it's your primary single-target DPS skill. Use it against Bosses and tough Rare Enemies. Try to cast all the Traps directly on the enemy for highest DPS | |
Added Lightning Damage Support | |
Faster Casting | |
Trap and Mine Damage Support - replace it with Increased Area of Effect if you have required Support affix on Gloves | |
Optional gem options (these are only used if you are wearing recommended Shaper's Gloves): | |
Increased Area of Effect Support - increases Lightning Beams AoE, making them overlap each other, striking Bosses with all 3 of them at the same time | |
Controlled Destruction Support |
[CURSE/DEFENSE] Conductivity and Immortal Call setup | |
Conductivity - main Curse, which reduces enemies' Lightning Resistance. Will be cast automatically thanks to Cast when Damage Taken Gem. Keep it at level 5 | |
Cast when Damage Taken Support - will automatically cast Immortal Call and Conductivity after receiving enough damage | |
Immortal Call - grants Physical Damage immunity for a short period of time | |
Increased Duration Support - increases the duration of Immortal Call buff and your Curse |
[AURA] Wrath (Socketed in Essence Worm only) | |
Wrath - increases Lightning Damage. Socket it only in Essence Worm if you have it |
[UTILITY] Lightning Golem | |
Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast your Golem | |
Summon Lightning Golem - increases your Attack and Cast Speed |
[UTILITY] Ball Lightning Power Charge Generation setup | |
Baal Lightning - it will be cast automatically thanks to Cast when Damage Taken. Keep it at level 4 | |
Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast supported spells after a certain amount of damage is taken by your character. Do not upgrade it above level 1 | |
Power Charge on Critical Support - it will generate Power Charges when you Critically Strike with Ball Lightning | |
Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - will increase the number of Ball Lightning projectiles |
[MOVEMENT/UTILITY] Flame Dash setup | |
Flame Dash - recommended mobility skill | |
Faster Casting - increased casting and movement speed of Flame Dash | |
Brand Recall - after casting it will resummon all attached Brands to your position and inflict them to nearby enemies |
Odealo supports player-to-player trading for Path of Exile Currency, Orbs, and Unique items. Buying from regular players on Odealo guarantees the best prices and highest security of every transaction. |
5. Gear Setup
Build Brand Mid S8
This Storm Brand is one of the cheaper builds, with no required uniques. If you are using Choir of the Storm or The Wise Oak invest the most into Lightning Resistance for higher DPS. Below you will find all the recommended gear. If you would like to have the end-game items also added here please let us know in the comments below.
If you are looking for cheap PoE Currency, we would love to invite you to visit our PoE Market section that can be accessed via the menu bar on top of the page.
The recommended items from our list will:
- Help you cap your Elemental Resistances
- Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully
Stat priorities on items:
|
(Helmet) Rare Helmet- this is our best choice for fixing both Elemental Resistances and Dexterity requirements | |
Min. requirements: 30 to Dexterity 70 to maximum Life 30% to Fire Resistance 35% to Lightning Resistance | |
Helmet enchantments: Lightning Spire Trap strikes and additional area Storm Brand has an 18% chance to Chain additional time Storm Brand Damage Penetrated 12% of Branded Enemy's Lightning Resistance | |
(Weapon) Void Battery - a great alternative to a high-end wand. Grants a lot of Cast Speed, Spell Damage and Critical Strike Chance. It's recommended to dual-wield it | |
80% reduced Spell Damage (10-20)% increased Cast Speed (50-65)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(40-50) to maximum Mana +1 to Maximum Power Charges 25% increased Spell Damage per Power Charge | |
(Weapon) Rare Wand - definitely the best in the slot for this build. If you want maximum DPS, feel free to dual-wield them. Otherwise, use it in your main hand only | |
Min. requirements: 80% increased Spell Damage Adds 6 to 90 Lightning Damage to Spells 80% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Optional affixes: increased Cast Speed Global Critical Strike Multiplier increased Lightning Damage | |
(Shield) Rare Shield - shield will provide a lot of Life and additional Cast Speed and Spell Damage | |
Min. requirements: 50% increased Spell Damage 80 to maximum Life 12% to all Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Cast Speed increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells | |
(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - all-around best Armour for this build. Increases clear speed thanks to explosions, Damage for all our Spells and effect of Shock which scales your damage up | |
+(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (25-40)% increased Effect of Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Maximum Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock Unaffected by Shock | |
(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - basically any armour will do, just try to get with the highest Life and Elemental Resistances | |
Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 29% Fire Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance 40% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Dexterity | |
(Amulet) Rare Amulet - with the stats listed, it will be a great boost for your DPS | |
Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 20% increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier 15% increased Spell Damage 20 All Attributes Optional affixes: Increased Global Critical Strike Chance Attributes | |
(Amulet) Choir of the Storm - insane amulet for this build. It will immensely increase your DPS and with very high Critical Strike Chance it will shot Lightning Bolts all the time | |
(10-20)% increased maximum Mana Critical Strike Chance is increased by Lightning Resistance 50% increased Lightning Damage Trigger Level 20 Lightning Bolt when you deal a Critical Strike | |
(Ring) Essence Worm - perfect Ring to socket Warth Aura | |
Has 1 Socket +2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems Reserve No Mana 40% increased Mana Reserved | |
(Ring) Rare Opal Rings - it will fix your Elemental Resistances and increase maximum Life | |
Min. requirements: 40 to maximum Life 15% to all Elemental Resistances 40% to Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: increased Lightning Damage maximum Mana | |
(Boots) Rare Boots - get the highest maximum Life and Movement Speed bonuses you can afford | |
Min. requirements: 70 to maximum Life 25% to Fire Resistance 25% to Cold Resistance 40% to Lightning Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed | |
Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently Damage Penetrated 10% of Enemy Elemental Resistances if you haven't Killed Recently | |
(Belt) Rare Belt | |
Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 29% Fire Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance 29% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: Strength | |
(Belt) Rare Stygian Vise - with the same stat as the regular belt. Will grant Abyss socket and allow you to use one more Abyss Jewel | |
Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 29% Fire Resistance 29% Cold Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: Strength or Dexterity for meeting attributes requirements | |
(Gloves) Rare Shaper Gloves - this is your highest single target Damage boost. Socket Lightning Spire Trap setup into them | |
Min. requirements: Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 16 Trap And Mine Damage Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 16 Faster Casting 20% increased Trap Damage 10% increased Cast Speed 30 Dexterity Optional affixes: Maximum Life Elemental Resistances | |
(Gloves) Voidbringer - a cheaper alternative for Shaper Gloves, that will increase your Critical Strike Chance by a lot | |
+1 to Level of Socketed Elemental Gems (125-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells (180-250)% increased Energy Shield (80-40)% increased Mana Cost of Skills +(15-20) Energy Shield gained on Kill | |
(Jewels) Rare Jewels - if you prefer to change Skill Tree for Jewel sockets these affixes are recommended | |
Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Life increased Spell Damage/Lightning Damage increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: increased Cast Speed increased Global Critical Strike Chance | |
(Jewels) Abyss Jewels - main priority is maximum Life and flat damage to Spells | |
Recommended affixes: maximum Life added Elemental Damage to Spells Optional affixes: increased Spell Damage increased Cast Speed | |
(Flask) The Wise Oak - a great boost for your Lightning Penetration and additional Elemental Resistances | |
During Flask Effect, 10% reduced Damage taken of each Element for which your Uncapped Elemental Resistance is lowest During Flask Effect, Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Resistance of each Element for which your Uncapped Elemental Resistance is highest | |
(Flask) Vessel of Vinktar - insane Flask. It provides Life Leech, Lightning Penetration and increased Shock Effect on enemies | |
(80-100)% increased Charges used Shocks nearby Enemies during Flask effect, causing 10% increased Damage taken You are Shocked during Flask effect, causing 50% increased Damage taken Damage Penetrates 10% Lightning Resistance during Flask effect 20% of Lightning Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect | |
Suggested Flasks (we are immune to Freeze/Ignite/Shock so we can focus on different effects):
|
Buying PoE Currency with real money is a hassle-free way to get all the items you need for your character. |
If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.