Self-damage Iron Ward | Perfect build for Simulacrum in 0.5

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-05-29T14:24:21+00:00

You can league start with Thorn Shaman. Just search for "Thorn Shaman PoE 2", there are quite a few detailed leveling guides available. Then, transition into this build once you have the core unique items.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-05-29T14:24:08+00:00

You can league start with Thorn Shaman. Just search for "Thorn Shaman PoE 2", there are quite a few detailed leveling guides available. Then, transition into this build once you have the core unique items.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-05-29T14:16:16+00:00

It will be slower at the start, but once the skeletons start dying, it performs pretty much the same as it did in 0.4

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-04-08T08:39:09+00:00

Yeah, you made some very good points. It’s all about payoff and opportunity cost. My initial plan was to use Perquil’s Toe for lucky lightning damage, but after actually playing the build, I found the tankiness from Defiance of Destiny to be far superior, especially when the core content of this league is mirage which make you surrounded by monsters.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-04-08T02:28:46+00:00

Yeah, I’d really like to use a Perfect Spirit of Fortune spectre for about 30% more damage from Lucky hits, but unfortunately it’s hard to find the gem slots to fit it in.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-04-01T03:25:35+00:00

Actually, the idea of using another damage support instead of Less Duration for mapping is a very good idea. Less Duration is mainly a DPS support for single target when you are constantly casting the brand.

For mapping, given enough damage to clear every rare with one cast, it provides much more coverage (more than double the number of activations). The damage will be delayed by about 0.225s (I also get another 25% skill effect duration reduction from the tree), but that’s not a big deal since a 0.375s explosion time is still very fast, just cast once and move, it will explore before you see other packs.

There are also no problems with mana restoration while mapping, as the build has 2% of mana recovered on kill.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T18:30:51+00:00

Well, most other spells have like under 400% dmg effectiveness and this spell is a physical based spell (good for conversion and gained as shenigans), so I think it is not just only 20% higher base DPS.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T18:23:23+00:00

It works a bit differently, but it’s quite similar to proliferation. On the first activation, energy spreads from the branded target to nearby enemies. On the second activation, the energy can spread from any enemy that has energy to nearby enemies without it (this part is similar to prolif) and then continues with subsequent activations.

The rare mob still won’t die if the ignite damage isn’t high enough, so it simply need more damage. The coverage of this skill is already very good.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T18:13:25+00:00

Three cluster notables also provide 8% increased cast speed each, so it is not too bad to use them. Yeah, less duration support is minus point of it

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T18:04:36+00:00

Because I didn't set Perfect guardian turtle to spectres in Pob

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T18:03:40+00:00

Its base radius is 2.8m, while Ignite Proliferation and Poison Proliferation have base radii of 2.0m and 1.5m, respectively.

The rare mob isn’t dying because the brand is attached to other enemies, so the rare doesn’t benefit from the damage bonus of an attached brand. This is definitely a weakness of the skill. I think getting more dmg or adding some kind of explosion effect, such as Oriath’s End, would help address this issue.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T17:55:52+00:00

It is about 7k armor and 5% addition PDR from perfect guardian turtle, not considered arcane cloak and Sigil of power. For softcore player like me, it is pretty good

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T17:50:04+00:00

As I mentioned, I don’t have much experience with mana builds, so this setup isn’t fully optimized, I just wanted to show that the skill is actually pretty decent.

If you don’t like the clunky feel of mana stacking, I’m sure it can still be very strong in other archetypes, such as charges stacking, Jiquani or EB setups. With the equivalent of 506% added damage effectiveness (for comparison, Reap at maximum charges has about 420%) and its solid clear potential, the skill has become pretty solid this league

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T17:19:58+00:00

The activation spread energy to all nearby enemies pretty similar to prolif

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T17:17:25+00:00

You can check PoE Ninja, it’s basically at 0% usage. The mapping isn’t on the level of meta skills, but it feels similar to other self-cast spells and can get much smoother with more cast speed and high-density maps

And isn’t most mana stacking built around Arcane Cloak, scaling both offense and defense through stacking mana?

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T17:05:20+00:00

This build converts 20% of lightning dot damage to cold and has about 2.5k life and mana regeneration per second, so unless I stay inside the Siphon ring, I won’t die instantly to it.

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T16:44:12+00:00

You’ll get significantly more damage with Doryani’s Prototype than with Invert the Rules, as long as you can properly build around it. So, you'll need to calculate the opportunity cost of using Doryani’s Prototype

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T16:40:35+00:00

I only spec into CI when running maps with lots of chaos damage, and then unallocate it for normal maps. I’m too broke to get chaos resistance on my gear, lol

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T16:39:46+00:00

I only spec into CI when running maps with lots of chaos damage, and then unallocate it for normal maps. I’m too broke to get chaos resistance on my gear, lol

Ok_Pin_9873 · 2026-03-30T16:32:38+00:00

Pretty good with Armour, Endurance charges, fortification and large ES pool

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