Path of Exile Assassin Build 2019 - "Natural born killer"

what is Path of Exile Assasin

The Assassin is mainly an offense-focused PoE ascendancy class, which utilizes critical strikes and poison damage (damage over time) to kill opponents. While playing, the best weapons to fight with are daggers and magical rods. His attacks and almost every modifier (in game players rather uses the mod phrase) is suited for dagger weapons and critical strikes. The Passive Skills mainly increase the chance to deal critical damage, damage over time, and critical damage multiplier. It means that the Assassin class will be perfect for killing monsters and bosses but slightly weak when it comes to survivability. Very enjoyable class to play when you have full equipment with a good amount of resistance. I do not recommend this class for beginners, because without proper gear and resistance, there is a very high possibility of dying many times. In this build guide, I will explain the whole Path of Exile Assasin build in details.

His most useful passives are:

Toxic Delivery - a skill which reduces 10% of damage taken from Damage over time and converts 20% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage angst Poisoned Enemies. Also, it makes your Poison damage deal 30% more when you hit Critical Hit.

Noxious Strike - passive which has 50% chance to Maim Poisoned enemies while attacking with normal hits. Also, it has a 40% chance to Poison target during the successful hit. Such passive increases Poison Duration by 5% for each enemy which you poisoned recently. Additionally, it adds up to 2% to Critical Strike Chance for each Poisoned enemy.

Opportunistic - very good passive which grants you more survivability against monsters with reflect damage skill. It gives you immunity to reflected damage from your Critical Strikes. Also, it boosts your Damage by 100% whaler there is only one Enemy near you. That means you will deal 100% more Damage to bosses like Elder or Shaper because they do not have guard minions. It completely deletes Extra damage from Critical Strikes and increases Movement Speed by 20% when you kill a minion.

Ambush and Assassinate - this passive grants you more damage to the enemies with full life. It increases Critical Strike Multiplier by 40%, Chance for Critical Strike by 100%, normal Damage from hits by 30% and adds Culling Strike mod to every Critical Strike. It works only when enemies have FULL LIFE. Only your first hit will get all of the bonuses from this passive.

Unstable Infusion - passive which gives you a chance to gain Power Charges (charges boost your intelligence while active) while you deal Damage. It gives you 20% chance to gain charge on a non-critical hit and 10% when you deal Critical Hit.

Deadly Infusion - this passive boosts your Damage when you have Power Charges active. It is a perfect combination with Unstable Infusion passive skill. It boosts your Critical Strike Multiplier per Power Charge by 8%. Additionally, it adds the possibility to have one more Power Charge active and increases your Critical Strike Chance by 2% when you gain the maximum amount of Power Charges.

As you can see, every skill has different specific bonuses and for each build, you will need a different configuration. Now I will show you the most played build for Assassin in Betrayal league. The build I have chosen is 3.5 Blade Vortex build. Such a build is mostly based on the spell and poison type of damage. This build can be also used by Templar if you use proper skill tree and equipment. The build is quite cheap and not as easy to play as you think. The player will have to learn some mechanics first in order to survive on 16t maps on Uber Atziri. Since you are always in close range with enemies, you have to be prepared that sometimes, hits from them may be lethal. Below I will write about the advantages and disadvantages of this build and show proper building path. Enjoy!

BLADE VORTEX BUILD Viable on 3.5 Betrayal League

Advantages

• Quite cheap (the build requires slightly expensive gear so you will be able to enjoy almost full char gameplay in mid-game when you have some game money. Build starts to be very expensive in the late game, but don’t worry! You will have enough currency to afford proper items.)

• Super Damage output - this build has high potential in killing all game content. Uber Elder, Uber Atziri, or Shaper can be easily killed with high-end equipment.

• High survivability ( with proper equipment you are able to have around 9k health and all resistance caps. It will cost some exalted orbs, but it is totally worth)

• Can make all maps ( when using such build you are immune for reflect damage, and since you do not deal elemental damage, you can do almost all map mods)

Disadvantages

• Evasion dependent ( if you let minions get close to you and you will be forced to fight in close range, your evasion is the main stat to survive. If you have low evasion, you would not be able to dodge attacks and as a result, you will be one-shotted by monsters)
• Melee range is very lethal (you have to fight with monsters in their melee range. This can make you mad because without proper gear you will die a lot. If you get a good cap of resistances, there will be no problem to survive even the strongest minions and bosses)

Path of Exile Assasin Equipment

At this point, I will focus on what equipment you should buy during your adventure with Blade Vortex build. Since PoE is one of grinding gear games, you will need to change you EQ very often. In this part of the guide, I present the best path to build your char, links to proper items and some tips to speed up the building process.

a) Weapon

For the first weapon, you should choose a wand called Lifesprig Driftwood Wand. You can wear it straight from the beginning because it requires level one to equip. Such wand is a top weapon if you want to speed up your leveling process. It is perfect for a start because it boosts your socketed spell gems with one level. Additionally, it increases your Cast Speed by 8% and your Spell Damage up to 40%. It is a huge boost in the beginning. As an additional advantage of this item. It is very cheap when we compare the price to the stats it gives. You will use this Wand till level 50. At level 50 you will be able to equip Heartbreaker Royal Skean. Such weapon insanely boosts your damage by adding Culling Strike to your spells. Spells with Culling Strike buff will instantly kill minions with 10% health left. Also, it increases Spell Damage by 60%. The Heartbreaker will be your main weapon until you will find SHAPED dagger or Void Battery Prophecy Wand. I recommend the Void Battery Wand since it is easier to get, do not require crafting skills to create it and won't deal lower damage.

b) Helmet

Until you reach level 60 you should get a helmet with high elemental resistances and evasion. At level 60 you will be able to equip Starkonja’s Head. The helmet attributes increase your damage as well as survivability. Reduced damage by 50%, while you are on Low Life, is a very strong boost for you, because you won’t die so much. It also increases Attack Speed by 10% and Global Critical Strike Chance by 25%. When the late game comes you should replace Starakonja’s with Lightpoacher Great Crown. The Lightpoacher gives you additional burst damage with 20 level of Spirit Burst ability in it. Additionally, it boosts your survivability by adding 15% of all Elemental Resistances and recovers 5% of your HP when you lose one a Spirit Charge. Also, the fact that is has 2 abyssal sockets makes it even more attractive. By adding proper Abyss Jewels you can highly boost your HP and damage which is a very nice service for you.

c) Belt

For this build, you should consider a rare belt with high elemental resistances and also with added elemental damage with attacks. In the beginning, simple rare leather belt with 20% of each resistance is requested. In the late game, you have to start looking for a belt called Phoenix Clasp Stygian Vise. It is expensive but it gives you an enormous boost to dps and survivability. By wearing such a belt you can increase your Elemental Damage and Elemental Resistances up to 50%. In this build, you can also equip Headhunter Leather Belt which will make you killing everything very fast. It is expensive but worth spending any currency. It boosts your damage against rare monsters by 30%. In addition, the belt gives you all the modifiers of the killed monster. With such a top belt, you are literally unstoppable.

d) Gloves

When it comes to choosing gloves, in the beginning, you should get simple rare gloves with 20% elemental resistances and evasion. It will highly boost your survivability. In the late game, you should start looking for gloves with casting speed, even higher elemental resistances and critical strike chance. Also, you can use Command of the Pit Riveted Gloves. These gloves have everything you need. Additionally, gloves have 2 abyssal sockets so you can boost your HP and damage by adding proper Abyssal Jewels. I recommend rare gloves since Command of the Pit are too expensive and block you to add 2 necessary gems.

e) Boots

In the beginning, you should focus on boots with at least 20% of Elemental Resistances and Evasion. It will boost your dodge chance and at the same time survivability. Boots like Dragon Tread Shagreen Boots will be perfect as a game starter. They are cheap and fulfill the requirements. In the late game, you have to search for better boots with higher stats. Main stats you should have in boots are at least 30% of Elemental Resistances and 30% of Movement Speed. In this build, boots are the cheapest element of gear. You can also think about Atziri's Step Slink Boots if you do not have enough budget to afford good rare boots. On this account, such boots will boost your survivability and help you to clear t16 maps.

e) Armor

In the beginning, just focus on armor with Elemental Resistances and proper Sockets. I recommend you to get Tabula Rasa because of 6 linked sockets without specified type. Such armor is cheap so you will be able to get it in the early stage of the game. In the late game, you will have two paths between which you can choose. The first path is Carcass Jack Varnished Coat, an amazing armor which works perfectly with Blade Vortex skill. It increases AoE and normal Damage by 40% if you find a good one. With this armor, you will deal insane damage, but you can find it hard to make up your resistances cap since it gives only 10% of each Elemental Res. The second option is rare armor with high resistances and also it should increase your Armor and Evasion. Such armor, instead of dps, will boost your survivability a lot. In 3.5 I recommend Carcass because it will make you killer machine with amazing dps from Blade Vortex.

f) Shield/Weapon

In this build, you have to choose what will fit you the most. You can play with two Void Battery Prophecy Wand or Spirit Shield. I prefer to play with a shield because it is easier to find proper sockets for gems and it offers you additional Elemental Resistances. Weapons only boost your damage, shields are more all-purpose items. In shields you should look for spell damage, all elemental resistances and the most important stat Critical Strike Chance for Spells. Since Blade Vortex is spell attack skill, you will crit with almost every hit. While dual-wielding with 2 weapons you will boost your damage even more, but you will take a lot more damage. I recommend shields because of the fact that you are always fighting in close range, so resistances will be a key factor in surviving fights with elders and bosses.

g) Rings

In the beginning, you will need rings with high Elemental Resistances and Elemental Damage. You should also focus on attributes which you need to level your gems. If you lack strength you should buy the ring with such an attribute. When you start using Hatred Skill Gem you will need Essence Worm Unset Ring with a green socket. This ring is mandatory for this build otherwise, you will have problems with your mana on higher levels. Blade Vortex eats mana like crazy, so you really need to have Essence Worm because it completely reduces mana reservation of socketed gem. The second ring should be a rare ring that provides damage and high amount of resistances. Additionally, you will need Strength to level your gems, so it would be nice to have at least 40 of such attribute in your secondary ring.resistance

h) Amulet

In the beginning, you will need amulet with high Elemental Resistances and Normal Damage (Ice The amulet which increases your all attributes is a very good choice. In the late game, you should look for Spell Damage, high Resistances and increased AoE Damage in amulets. It will be hard to buy it, but you can easily craft such amulet. Also, you should consider having increased all Attributes in order to level your gems. It is not mandatory. There is no reason to look for Unique amulet in this build. Sometimes I use Ventor's Gamble Gold Ring because of resistances and possibility to find better items on the map. When I start boss fighting I swap amulets for a more offensive one.

i) Potions

Potions are pretty important when it comes to fighting with monsters. In many situations, potions can save you from sudden death or give you a huge boost to your dmg. In this version of build, you will need very simple potions which are able to be dropped during your journey with the main plot of the game.

First two potions are typical life regenerators. It is very important to find potions with mods like Instant Recovery and Immunity for Bleeding. Such potions will save you in some particular circumstances like fighting with Shaper or on t16 maps. Since you are always fighting in close range, minions will hit you hard, so having two potions is MUST HAVE.

The third mandatory potion is Quicksilver Flask. It increases your movement speed by ~60% and when you deal Critical Hit it recovers flask charge. It will help you when mapping and sometimes it will save you when minions get too close. I recommend buying potion like this: Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Adrenaline.

Fourth very good option for builds like this is Dying Sun Ruby Flask. It scales the number of projectiles that are around you during Blade Vortex and AoE damage. In this build, it will significantly boost your damage by adding two additional projectiles. It costs min 80 chaos but it is worth of trading.

When it comes to talking about the last potion, you have to choose on your own. You can pick Taste of Hate Sapphire Flask or Avenger's Jade Flask of Heat. It depends mostly on your point of view. The first potion will greatly increase your Damage, when the second one will increase your evasion and because of that, also your survivability. I always use the flask with evasion because the build is focused on avoiding attacks. In order to avoid attack, you need a high amount of evasion, so this pot will be very useful.

j) List of Gems

First weapon – 3 linked sockets – 3 blue sockets

• Flame Dash (teleport player to the target location and additionally deals fire damage)

• Faster Casting Support (increases casting speed of linked gems)

• Arcane Surge Support (a passive skill which increases your spell damage up to 20% casting speed up 19% and maximum mana regeneration when total mana spent on skill reaches a threshold. To make it simpler, it buffs you by using linked skills)

Second weapon or Shield - 3 linked sockets - one blue, one red and one green

• Arctic Breath (a projectile spell which fires a frozen skull that deals damage in a targeted area or when hits an enemy)

• Great Multiple Projectiles Support ( makes any supported projectile skill shots four more projectiles. If Blade Vortex launches 7 projectiles, with this gem you will be able to have 11 projectiles)

• Cast When Damage taken ( activates linked buffs when you receive damage)

Helmet – 4 linked sockets are mandatory for this build – two green sockets and two blue

• Summon Lightning Golem (summons ice golem that boosts your attack and casting speed while active)

• Enlighten ( used to decrease mana reservation from Herald of Ice skill)

• Herald of Ice (increases Cold Damage output, it reserves 25% of total mana)

• Onslaught ( when you kill a minion, it grants u an Onslaught buff)

In late game

• Ice Bite Support (grants you a chance to get frenzy charge when killing frozen enemies)

• Hatred ( support skill that provides bonus freeze damage for you and your allies)

• Herald of ice (increases Cold Damage output, it reserves 25% of total mana)

• Enlighten ( used to decrease mana reservation from Hatred and Herald of Ice)

Gloves - in early game browse for 4 linked sockets are recommended, three blue sockets and one red

• Blasphemy Support ( linked curses gems are converted into auras)

• Lighting Trap ( when activated, you throw a trap that deals damage to the enemy which will activate it and enemies nearby)

• Enlighten ( used to decrease mana reservation from Warlord’s Mark)

• Warlord’s Mark ( curses enemies and boosts your life and mana leech while hitting)

Boots - 4 lined sockets are mandatory for this build - 3 red sockets and one green

• Immortal Call (makes you invulnerable for Phys. attacks when activated) keep it on the 3rd level

• Cast when Damage Taken ( activates linked buffs when you receive damage) keep it on 1st level

• Increased Duration Support (increases time of activated buffs)

• Vaal Grace (increases Evasion for you and your allies)

Body Armor - 6 linked sockets are mandatory for this build 5 blue sockets and one green

• Blade Vortex - (a spell which deals physical damage to the enemies by hitting with eternal blades that spin around the user)

• Controlled Destruction Support (reduces critical strike chance of linked spells but increases their damage)

• Efficacy Support ( increases DoT damage, spell damage and duration of linked skills)

• Increased Area of Effect ( such support gem makes your AoE spells have increased radius)

• Power Charge on Critical Strike (grants up to 54% chance to gain Power Charge when you land a Critical Strike on the enemy)

• Increased Critical Damage (increases your Critical Damage dealt by Critical Strikes)

k) Skill Tree

Skill tree for Blade Vortex Shadow Assassin build

l) Bandits

You have to help Alira in order to maximize your stats and damage.

m) Pantheon                           

• Soul of Lunaris - Great choice because it boosts your survivability and movement speed for each nearby enemy.
• Soul of Garukhan - chance to evade hits and additional movement speed

n) Jewels

Also, we will need the Watcher's Eye with Flat Cold Damage. It will scale perfectly with Hatred skill.

To fill rest sockets in skill tree you should search for abyss jewels with:

• Cold Damage

• Casting speed

• Spell Damage

• AoE Damage.

Let us know what do you think about our Path of Exile Assassin Build. Can it cheat the odds? Or is it just another more-than-average thought setup? Leave the comment below and share this guide in social media!