Poison Blade Vortex Assassin Necropolis 3.24 Guide

Build Overview

The Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build in Path of Exile's Necropolis 3.24 expansion brings an optimal balance of clear speed, boss damage, and survivability. Once a dominating force within PoE, Blade Vortex has settled into a more balanced state, offering excellent clear speed and survivability without being overwhelmingly powerful. This balance makes the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build a compelling choice for players looking for an efficient and effective way to navigate through the game.

This build leverages the inherent rapid-hit nature of Blade Vortex to apply poison stacks swiftly and reliably, scaling damage through the accumulation of poison on enemies. The Assassin's ascendancy enhances movement speed and provides potent conditional effects, contributing to the build's overall quality of life and performance.

Build Summary

The allure of the Poison Blade Vortex build lies in its gameplay dynamics, where players weave through enemies, leaving them to succumb to potent poison effects. A key aspect of this build's strategy is the management of poison duration and stack count on targets. With no cap on the number of poison stacks, extending their duration significantly boosts single-target damage, particularly against bosses.

Central to achieving high poison stack counts is the Assassin's Noxious Strike, which prolongs poison effects, allowing for the accumulation of 40+ stacks on enemies. This necessitates staying in close proximity to foes, emphasizing the importance of robust defenses to withstand incoming damage during this period.

The build guide presented by WowCarry.com outlines a version of the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin that excels in tankiness, boasting approximately 4000 Life and a suite of defensive mechanisms, including substantial spell block and damage reduction capabilities. This setup ensures that the character remains resilient, effectively mitigating the risks associated with close-quarters combat.

A notable advantage of this build is its affordability. Despite its potency, most of the required gear is readily available at reasonable prices in the market, with a few exceptions. This cost-effectiveness makes the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin an attractive option for players seeking high performance without a hefty investment.

Pros and Cons

This table succinctly outlines the strengths and limitations of the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build in Path of Exile's Necropolis 3.24 guide. While the build excels in accessibility, power for investment, versatility, and speed, it is important for players to consider the delayed damage effect and potential familiarity with the Blade Vortex skill before committing to this path. Despite these considerations, the build's pros significantly outweigh its cons, offering a compelling gameplay experience for a wide range of players.

Build Main Mechanics

The Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build leverages a nuanced playstyle, incorporating key mechanics and strengths that contribute to its effectiveness in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion. A significant change to Blade Vortex's mechanics came with the introduction of the Unleash Support, drastically reducing the mana requirements for maintaining blades. This adaptation allows for more freedom in mana management, as players no longer need to constantly cast to achieve the optimal number of blades. The focus shifts primarily to boss encounters where maintaining 9-10 blades becomes essential, though this quickly becomes intuitive with practice. Additionally, entering boss fights with pre-charged Vaal Blade Vortex stacks ensures a rapid deployment of damage, enhancing killing speed and convenience.

Beyond Blade Vortex's mechanics, this build offers a robust defense system, starting with the Assassin's Mistwalker ability that grants the Elusive buff. Elusive provides a chance to dodge all damage from hits and boosts movement speed, although it gradually decays. Coupled with an impressive 150+% movement speed increase, this build prioritizes evasion and mobility to mitigate incoming damage.

Even in situations where dodging is not possible, the build's high life pool and defensive gear, including Kintsugi for damage reduction, provide a safety net against one-shot kills. The addition of Replica Mistwall further enhances survivability by alternating between spell and physical damage avoidance, ensuring a comprehensive defense strategy.

It's important to note, however, that no build can compensate for reckless gameplay. Staying mobile and making tactical decisions are crucial to leveraging the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin's strengths fully. While the build is forgiving, understanding and actively engaging with its mechanics will maximize its potential, offering an engaging and rewarding experience for players in PoE's Necropolis 3.24 guide.

PoB, Passives and Gem Links

An optimized Path of Building (PoB) for the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion can be found linked within this guide. The PoB provides a detailed roadmap for leveling and optimizing your character, emphasizing the importance of gem levels and passive skill choices for scaling poison damage and maintaining tankiness.

Progression Advice

Given that poison damage scales significantly with gem levels and passive points, including Ascendancy choices, this build allows for strong performance even at lower levels. The provided Path of Building includes step-by-step guidance for effective leveling, ensuring a smooth progression curve.

Gem Links

The main 6-link setup for Blade Vortex focuses on maximizing ailment damage, with Awakened support gems offering substantial upgrades. Initially, non-Awakened versions can be used, but prioritizing these upgrades will greatly enhance your build's damage output:

• Vaal Blade Vortex
• Awakened Unleash Support
• Awakened Deadly Ailments Support
• Awakened Unbound Ailments Support
• Awakened Void Manipulation Support
• Efficacy Support

Auras

With The Devouring Diadem, the build can sustain several powerful auras. If this item has not yet been acquired, it's recommended to temporarily forego Flesh and Stone:

• Grace
• Malevolence
• Flesh and Stone (optional until Diadem is acquired)
• Herald of Agony

Withering

To counterbalance the nerfs to other wither mechanics, a totem setup is recommended to maximize damage output, especially in boss encounters:

• Wither
• Multiple Totems Support
• Spell Totem Support
• Faster Casting Support

Plague Bearer

Plague Bearer serves as a significant source of additional damage and clear speed. Maximizing its effect through the following supports enhances its utility:

• Plague Bearer
• Enhance Support (Level 4)
• Awakened Increased Area of Effect Support

Optional Movement Skill

For mobility, Dash or Shield Charge supported by Faster Attacks offers swift movement through maps, aiding in both offense and defense:

• Dash / Shield Charge
• Faster Attacks Support

This gem and aura setup, detailed in the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build guide for PoE's Necropolis 3.24, is designed to optimize damage output while ensuring mobility and survivability, making it a formidable choice for players navigating the challenging landscapes of Wraeclast.

Ascendancy, Pantheons and Deal with the Bandits

The Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build, a formidable choice for Path of Exile players in the Necropolis expansion, strategically combines specific Ascendancy nodes, Pantheon powers, and a decision on the Bandits to optimize performance.

Ascendancy (Shadow – Assassin)

• Noxious Strike: Essential for enabling a potent Poison build, this is the first Ascendancy node to be acquired. It significantly enhances poison damage and chance, serving as the foundation for the build's mechanics.
• Toxic Delivery: Simplified in PoE's 3.13 Ritual League, Toxic Delivery now focuses on augmenting critical strike chance with active poisons and provides a crucial 50% more damage multiplier, making it an indispensable node for scaling damage.
• Mistwalker: Offering critical strike immunity and substantial dodge benefits, Mistwalker also grants considerable movement speed, enhancing both survivability and mobility.
• Opportunistic: Selected for its versatility, Opportunistic boosts damage in single-target scenarios and offers damage reduction when facing multiple enemies, rounding out the Ascendancy choices with a focus on efficiency and safety.

Deal with the Bandits

The unanimous choice for this build is to eliminate all three Bandits in favor of receiving additional skill points from Eramir, aligning with the build's need for a refined passive skill setup.

Pantheons

• Major Gods: Soul of Arakali stands out as the optimal selection, especially when upgraded using a Divine Vessel in the map device, enhancing the build's defensive capabilities.
• Minor Gods: Yugul is recommended for maximizing curse resistance, while Abberath can be an alternative to mitigate the impact of burning ground, offering flexibility based on encounter specifics.

Upgrading your Pantheons involves capturing the souls of specific bosses using Divine Vessels in the map device, a process that not only strengthens your character but also delves deeper into the game's lore.

By carefully selecting Ascendancy nodes, dealing strategically with the Bandits, and utilizing the Pantheon system, players can significantly enhance the effectiveness of the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build in PoE's Necropolis 3.24, making it a formidable and versatile choice for navigating the challenges of Wraeclast.

Gear

The gear selection for the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion plays a crucial role in maximizing the build's effectiveness. Here is a summary of the recommended gear to aim for:

Each item has been chosen to synergize with the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin's mechanics, focusing on enhancing damage, survivability, and mobility. The Devouring Diadem and Kintsugi provide essential defensive capabilities, while Asenath's Gentle Touch and the Cold Iron Point dagger significantly boost the build's damage output. Ming's Heart rings and a carefully selected belt contribute to resistance and attribute balancing, ensuring the character can withstand the rigors of high-level content. Lastly, the unique Replica Mistwall offers unparalleled defensive utility, making the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin a formidable force in the Necropolis 3.24 PoE Build.

Summary

That wraps up our guide on the Poison Blade Vortex Assassin build for Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion. We've walked through the basics, from gearing up to mastering the mechanics, ensuring you're well-equipped to take on whatever Wraeclast throws your way. Remember, the key to mastering this build is balancing your poison stacks, keeping up your defenses, and zooming through maps with incredible speed. And hey, if any part of this guide has you scratching your head or if you're just looking to boost your gameplay, we at WowCarry got your back. We offer services related to this build, so you can focus on enjoying the game without the grind. Whether you need help with a specific part of the build or you're looking for a full setup, we're here to help you succeed in Necropolis 3.24. Happy hunting, Exiles!