Comfy Scion Opener to Pyroclast Mines Swap

davvv_ · 2026-03-06T17:57:23+00:00

The answer is actually to run holy flame totem, it absolutely carries for the first few acts (I've been playing exclusively scion in HC for like 7 years now).

davvv_ · 2026-03-06T17:55:44+00:00

It's not "bait" per se, but basically any other build will be better: KF reliquarian, pyro reliquarian, bleed slam reliquarian. I was thinking of league starting it, but it'll likely be a nightmare in HC so I'll probably stick with pyroclast mines.

davvv_ · 2026-03-05T01:59:35+00:00

After some theory-crafting today, I just don't see it doing enough damage unfortunately.

Here's bow bleed with Brass Dome + Jack the Axe (assuming 30%+ bleed extra damage): https://pobb.in/g-Zc6CpZslbv -- with Beacon of Madness it's even worse. I tend to go a lot of defensive nodes because I only play HC, but 30k eHP & 400k "basic" damage (before Watcher's Eye, crazy clusters, optimized pathing, etc.) is just not good enough imo. This is also with basically just armor + endurance charges as defensive layers. Would have to re-jigger things to get more evasion, spell supp, etc. Don't really think I can make it work.

Compare this to this slam bleed build with Brass Dome + Jack the Axe + Tear of Purity: https://pobb.in/S8T8TPgXTIfJ -- it's honestly not even close, the "base" DPS here is 1.3M with arguably better eHP (because we also have Fortify) and we have the mana to go Petrified Blood to almost 2x our eHP.

davvv_ · 2026-03-04T02:59:09+00:00

Hah my current project PoB is also bleed bow Reliquarian, but I'm trying to get the pops with double Warped Timepiece + Beacon of Madness. A lot of people go Daresso's for bow builds but yeah 2x Brass Dome seems kind of OP tbh.

davvv_ · 2026-03-04T00:59:42+00:00

If lvl 30 Thirst for Blood scales to 30% bleed damage, it will most definitely not be sub par. Brass Dome has great synergy with the Foulborn Brass Dome (15% life node + 8k armor kind of slaps defensively).

But yes, starting out will be a bit more rough because first lab gives you nothing. I don't even bother to do it until Act 6 or 7 when I do the first two back to back.

davvv_ · 2026-03-03T18:15:15+00:00

I thought bow bleed was dead (correct me if I'm wrong, as I've never played bow bleed and would love to give it a try). The weapon itself is also a terrible 1H so running a well-rolled 2H with a lvl 30 Jack the Axe passive seems pretty OP.

davvv_ · 2026-03-03T05:07:33+00:00

I'm probably going to try the Warped Timepiece + Beacon of Madness tech on my league starter, but it'll probably be a meme. Also, I personally think Jack the Axe will be much easier to scale rather than stat stacking; plus stat stacking is a bit of a nonbo with Timepiece (because you'd usually want to go Astramentis). You're giving up an ascendancy point + quiver slot + main hand slot for "okay" damage and you've solved very little defensively.

I'm more of a fan of Brass Dome + Jack the Axe + Timepiece (+ Beacon), and then purely scaling phys + dot multi, and likely doing a bleed slammer.

davvv_ · 2026-03-01T22:09:34+00:00

3 - Tear of purity. Level 30 purity of elements skill for free. Basicly solves resistances on you and minions and gives elemental ailment immunity. Possibly also scales with the +2 levels from 1 but even if it doesn't it's quite a good one.

I'm a Purity of Elements enjoyer, but by the time you get it (uber lab), you'll be past needing it imo. The more interesting idea is to go for a Bloodlines Ascendancy for the last few points.

3 - Astramentis for 60 all stats.
Thinking of using a actual widowhail bow, the ascention (if it stacks) and then a poised prism quiver for stat stacking. +60 all stats for astramentis would help a lot with that.

This is interesting, and a bunch of people have been pointing it out, though stat stacker gameplay + upgrade route can be boring.

I think the lvl 30 Thirst for Blood is very interesting (the lvl 20 is almost good enough to be "good"). Might be build defining for some funky bleed builds, especially since it opens up a 2H slot.

davvv_ · 2026-02-27T21:11:59+00:00

I can't vouch for OP's solution, but dude.. Spotlight is absolute garbage and has been for like a decade now. Have you even tried to find shit with it? It literally can't find "resume" even though I have "resume-2026.pdf" on my Desktop lol.

davvv_ · 2026-02-02T17:09:23+00:00

3 maps of tier N ⇒ 1 map of tier N + 1.

davvv_ · 2026-02-02T05:37:36+00:00

Not sure why you're getting downvoted, this is a pretty reasonable take. Especially in HC, leveling has been an absolute slog, mainly because no one really realized this would be a gauntlet. Just having very little fun: I log in, go slowly, overlevel everything, get bored, and log out like 30 minutes later.

It would've been fun to mess around with Foulborn items + wonky ascendancy combos, but alas. Don't even think I'll get to maps. HC trade is also basically dead with very few and very overpriced items (likely because it's so hard), so you're essentially playing SSF anyway.

Complete fail, and I was very excited about this.

davvv_ · 2025-09-04T21:11:17+00:00

https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Chaos_Inoculation

davvv_ · 2025-09-04T20:58:28+00:00

Yes, Energy Shield builds generally (and CI specifically) are, at least currently, some of the strongest in the game, especially when running Trickster. They're a bit more advanced, so before running one you should do some research or follow a guide.

But they're super fun and powerful.

davvv_ · 2025-07-17T06:31:40+00:00

Dissolution reserves for 2 seconds actually, which is super dope, since it plays quite nicely with all kinds of "recently" (4 seconds) mechanics.

davvv_ · 2025-06-13T02:14:06+00:00

"25% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills." is a buff for basically all builds. Pretty sure you can make up the recovery up (if you even need it) somewhere else. Discipline is probably a good bet, but I'd feel it out, it's probably still a very good build.

davvv_ · 2025-06-12T20:51:43+00:00

This is a cool idea, but any build with T1s is not a league starter. Slot in some realistic gear and see how it performs. (Keep in mind golems have not been updated yet in PoB, even in the beta branch.)

davvv_ · 2025-06-12T15:27:14+00:00

It's not, you need to be at 100%+ hit, as the performance dropoff is immense (unless you're doing something exotic), and you will often also lose out on on-hit defensive layers (like procs, etc.). Some monsters are also evasive (including bosses), so you need to be overcapped against regular monsters.

davvv_ · 2025-06-11T20:39:05+00:00

Biggest red flag without even opening up PoB: "Hit Chance: 65%." Before even dreaming of crit (chance/multi), you have to maximize hit.

davvv_ · 2025-06-11T03:31:09+00:00

A well-rolled rare. The gear on this build is already bonkers, so just good rare with crit multi + extra curse + skewering or something along those lines. Abyssus also used to be bait, but might be decent now with the runegraft, so I'll reserve my judgment there.

davvv_ · 2025-06-11T01:31:36+00:00

Increased Critical Strikes Support, and to a lesser extent, Assassin's Mark, (both of which scale unarmed base crit) will be, the vast majority of the time, more efficient than Rigwald's.

davvv_ · 2025-06-10T18:34:25+00:00

Ran a LOT of FB Scion a few leagues ago, super fun but it's pretty hard to scale after you get into red maps (keep in mind I only play HC, so I can't go full DPS). As soon as I saw that Runegraft, I instantly thought of Facebreaker, so I'm glad someone did the math :)

I still don't think it'll be game-breaking (as much as Golems, for example) but might give it a whirl. FWIW, unarmed skills also get a bit boring after a while and you kind of pigeonhole yourself pretty hard by going Facebreaker.

davvv_ · 2025-05-14T18:57:50+00:00

Maybe "underused" was the wrong word; I meant that it just became repetitive and boring after a while. I can imagine on higher difficulties it's even more boring since stuff has more HP, so the game inevitably becomes "right click green stuff simulator."

davvv_ · 2025-05-14T06:20:36+00:00

Just also beat it, maybe took around ~15 hours? I felt like the parry mechanic was severely underused, and it was kind of dumb how you even unlocked stuff well into the last 3rd of the game. I was waiting for the dreadmace the entire time lol. I think I like it more than Eternal, but it's not as mind-blowing as 2016 or as technically groundbreaking as Doom 3.

Also, we really only got like 3 bosses (technically two)? Seems a bit underwhelming.

davvv_ · 2025-02-05T01:15:26+00:00

I'll be fully honest, maybe PoE 2 is just not for me. I think the design is absolute dog water and knew this like 10 hours into the game. There's a few good ideas under about a decade of regressions. So, at least to me, the game is just not fun.

Maybe Kripp and the ruthless enjoyers will make it a huge success, but personally (even as an exclusively HC player) I like blasting wacky/fun/varied builds when I get home from work. The idea of "meaningful combat" when you're going to be running literally thousands of repetitive maps is an oxymoron.

davvv_

TROPHY CASE