PoE Occultist Build - Destroy Your Enemies With Curses and Life Leech

PoE Occultist build 2019

Occultist is a hybrid class which mainly uses damage over time and cold/chaos type of damage. She is not only a good damage dealer but also quite tanky because of the high amount of energy shield and quite a good life leech. The class is also awesome at cursing enemies. Such curses can reduce enemies resistances, maim them or even force them to fight each other. Her passives are able to highly increase damage dealt and at the same time make your survivability higher thanks to boosts for your energy shield. Let's start with PoE Occultist build and guide.

Her main weapons are scepters and energy shields. The Occultist class specializes in generating energy shield as much as possible and cursing enemies which greatly increase her survivability and damage. This class quite tanky and deals very good damage what makes it a very good choice for newbie players. Also, the class is not mana dependent like Necromancer or Elementalist but in some ways very similar to them. Additionally, she can generate power charges which make her perfect damage dealer.

I recommend this class if you are looking for easy and enjoyable gameplay and fast money maker. With proper build which is not that expensive, It offers good map clear speed, especially when you reach the end game, nice damage and at the same time able to survive bosses like atziri or uber elder. Her most useful passives are:

Path of Exile Occultist passive skills

Forbidden Power - this passive skill is based on power charges which are generating during fights with groups of enemies. It increases your maximum amount of power charges by one point. Additionally, the passive gives you more spell damage and more AoE damage (5%) per Power charge stack. Also, thanks to this passive you gain one power charge in the situation when you spend 200 Mana when using skills.

Profane Bloom - a passive skill which is based on boosting your curses effectiveness. It makes cursed enemies explode when killed. The enemies have a 25% chance to explode. After an explosion, they deal 1/4 of their maximum health as chaos damage. Perfect passive when you are mapping because you are literally melting groups of mobs. Also, you apply your curses even on hexproof minions. Hexproof is a buff for minions, that makes them immune to curses. This passive bypasses such attribute and makes them viable targets for curses.

Malediction - the second passive skill which is based on boosting the effectiveness of your curses. It gives you 8% of non-chaos damage deal as extra chaos damage for each curse you applied on the enemy. For example, if you had four curses on a particular minion, your chaos damage is increased by 32%. Also, it gives you the possibility to use additional curse and boosts curses effectiveness by 15%.

Void Beacon - this passive skill makes your enemies weaker for particular resistances. It decreases enemies chaos resistance by 20% and cold resistance also by 20%. Additionally, the passive reduces the rate of enemies life regeneration by 100%.

Withering Presence - a passive skill which is in some way damage booster and at the same time it increases your survivability. The passive boosts your chaos damage which does not come from any ailment by 20% and increases your chaos resistance by 60%. Additionally, it inflicts debuff called Withered that increases the chaos damage taken by 100% when fully stacked. Also, withered minions deal 15% less damage to you.

Frigid Wake - this passive is most likely focused on crowd control and boosting your damage. It gives you 20% of dot cold damage. Also, while the passive is active, you cannot be chilled or frozen by enemies. While fighting, such passive freeze the non-unique enemy every 4 seconds and has 33% to also freeze unique enemies. Additionally, every chilled monster deals 10% less damage with hits inflicted on you.

Wicked Ward - a passive skill which the main role is to increase your energy shield and make it unstoppable while recovering. It gives you 100 points to the maximum amount of energy shield you have. Additionally, it makes recharging of energy shield uninterrupted while taking damage.

Vile Bastion - additional passive which boosts your energy shield. Such passive will be very useful when killing groups of minions because it regenerates 1% of your energy shield for each enemy you have near you. You can regenerate up to 30% energy shield per second. Additionally, when you have any amount of energy shield, you are immune to stuns. It also adds 150 points of energy shield to the maximum amount you can have.

Every class is characterized by different passive skills setup and they all give different bonuses. For each build, the player will have to choose different setup of the passive tree. In this part of the guide, I will show the best build for witch Occultist class in Synthesis league, which has the best clear speed and can deal with higher tier bosses and instances. The build I would like to present for you is 3.6 Essence Drain Occultist build. Such build is based damage over time and non-aliment chaos damage. The build is not expensive because you need only one item with 6 linked sockets.

Additionally, the build is easy to play, especially for beginners. The build can be used as a league starter without any problems because it deals a very nice amount of damage, can clear uber lab without any problems and has very good damage against bosses like Atziri or Shaper. The guide will, therefore, focus on the pros and cons of the chosen build. The proper path of building and equipment described in details will be presented. I hope all of you will find something useful and enjoy reading the guide!

Advantages

Very safe to play - the build is quite tanky thanks to three defensive curses. Because of that, your survivability will be very high. Also, with proper equipment, you will have around 12k energy shield which is a lot.

Easy to play - the essence drain build is based on cursing enemies and dealing damage over time. You should focus on these two factors and look for the equipment which will increase them. Thanks to that, you will be able to deal with all of the game content and clear everything including uber atziri, shaper and uber lab.

Very good currency farmer - in the beginning, it is very important to have a character that will farm currency without any problems. The Essence drain build will do so. Good damage and nice survivability are all you need to do fast mapping and killing bosses. Thanks to that you will be able to enhance your gear pretty fast.

Nice survivability - this ascendancy class can make up to 12k energy shield (the build is made of the offensive type of items so having such amount of shield is quite a nice outcome) which makes you hard to kill even for the strongest minions in the game. Additionally, from the passive tree, you gain various bonuses to your life and mana leech. Such factors will help you to survive almost all surprises created by the game developers.  

Cheap gear - the build is created from cheap parts of equipment. You won't spend many days on farming currency in order to enjoy the gameplay. All you need is one item with 6 sockets which is mandatory.

You can clear all map mods without any problems - the build does not care about map modifiers. If you roll the map with reflecting elemental damage there will be no problem to do it because you are mostly based on chaos type of damage.

Disadvantages

Not so fast when killing bosses - the class can have problems with fast killing bosses without proper equipment.

Venerability for damage - unfortunately, the occultist has hard times when fighting in close range and getting the physical type of damage. It is very important to keep the distance from bosses or other enemies.

Damage over time dependent - sometimes the damage output needs time to show full potential because it grows with time. Sometimes you will need to run around bosses and wait for your damage.

Equipment

In this part of PoE Occultist guide, I will show you what kind of equipment you should get while playing Essence drain build. Because of the fact that Path of Exile is the type of grinding gear games, you have to keep in mind that you will frequently replace your gear with a new one. Below I will describe in detail whole equipment for this build, explain why such part of the gear is chosen and give some advice and tips on how to fasten the whole process of leveling your character.

a) Weapon

The main attributes for which you should look in the early game are increased casting speed and increased spell damage. The best weapon which contains them is a wand named Lifesprig Driftwood Wand. You can use such a wand from the beginning when you have the first level of your character. I recommend using two wands of the same type or combine one wand with a spirit shield which will increase your spell damage and elemental resistances. In my opinion, it will be easier for you to wear two lifesprigs. Since the weapon is very cheap, it will be the best possible choice for you.

When you reach level 10, switch your weapon for Axiom Perpetuum Bronze Sceptre. In the early levels, this weapon is amazing, because it adds elemental damage to your spells. Also, it increases your critical chance with spells by 100% and casting speed by 5%. You can use this weapon until level 32. Then you switch for rare scepter which highly increased spell damage (at least 40%). It will boost your damage a lot, especially because you will use hatred skill gem.

At level 50 you should start using Heartbreaker Royal Skean. It is a perfect weapon with a high amount of spell damage. What is more, your attack spells have culling strike on hit. Since you are based on energy shield rather than on hp, it also boosts your es recharge which is a very nice additional attribute of this weapon. I recommend using two of them, but there is also the possibility to use one dagger, combined with an energy shield. Such a combination will be enough until you reach the endgame. In the endgame, you will switch your daggers for Cerberus Limb Blood Sceptre and shield with a high amount of armor. It will give you a boost for your energy shield. Additionally, the scepter gives you, even more, spell damage and casting speed. You can wear Cerberus Limb on 47 levels but I do not recommend doing this because you won't get the most important boosts without endgame shield.

b) Helmet

For a perfect game starter helmet, I recommend buying Goldrim Leather Cap. The helmet is a perfect choice for the early game because it increases all your resistances by 35%. Thanks to that your survivability will be boosted and as a result, minions and bosses will deal less damage to you. This helmet should be enough until you reach the end game. There is also a possibility to buy a simple rare helmet with a good amount of elemental damage and elemental resistances. Anyway, I recommend getting Goldrim because it is cheap and gives you a very nice boost to your stats.

Then, at level 39 you will need to change your helmet for Doedre's Scorn Lunaris Circlet. It increases your damage and ailments per curse you put on the enemy. Also, it boosts the duration of your curses by 50%. There is no better helmet which can be used in the mid-game. You should wear this helmet until you reach level 70.

At 70 level you can choose between two helmets. The first option is expensive one Eber's Unification Hubris Circlet. Such a helmet gives you tons of energy shield because of its 180% boost to it. Also, it converts your elemental damage into chaos damage which is a very nice boost. The most important attribute is 10 level void gaze which reduces enemies resistances for each spell you use. The second option is The Vertex Vaal Mask. The helmet adds one level to socketed gems and reduces their mana costs by 50%. Additionally, it significantly boosts your evasion and energy shield. The Vertex is quite cheap and very powerful for this build.

c) Belt

When it comes to choosing a good starting belt, you should think about getting a belt with two mandatory attributes: elemental resistances and boots to your elemental damage. A simple rare belt will do the job. If you have enough currency (if you start playing the game, you will not be able to afford this belt) you can get a very good belt which you can wear from level one which increases your resistances by 45%. The belt is called String of Servitude Heavy Belt. Unfortunately, there is one problem with this belt. The price is very high so it cannot be used as a league starter. It costs around 20 chaos orbs which is a lot for a newbie player.

In the late game, you should look for Apocalypse Clasp Stygian Vise which is responsible for increasing your elemental resistances and allows you to socket abyssal jewel in it. This jewel can be used as typical damage or survivability booster. If you lack of resistances, look for the jewel which will increase them. If your elemental resistances are capped, look for the jewel which will boost your damage output. There is also the possibility to wear Bated Breath Chain Belt. Such a belt can be equipped at level 22, but it won’t give as much as in the late game. The accessory boosts your maximum energy shield by 20% and its regeneration by 50%. In the late game, regeneration can save your life in many situations, especially when fighting with high-end game content.

d) Gloves

As in almost every part of your gear, starter items should contain elemental resistances which boost your survivability and some attributes that will allow you to level your gems or gives you boost to your damage output. There are two possibilities of such gloves. The first possibility is to drop or buy rare gloves with such attributes and upgrading them with your progress in the game. The second possibility is Lochtonial Caress Iron Gauntlets. This gloves will increase your damage output and casting speed, so attributes which are very desirable, especially in the early game. While leveling you should focus on gloves which will increase your casting speed and resistances.

At level 36 you should get Vixen's Entrapment Embroidered Gloves which allows you to cast two more curses when using curse ability. Additionally, it boosts your energy shield and energy shield regeneration. In the late game, switch your gloves for Allelopathy Sorcerer Gloves. Such gloves boost your energy shield and damage over time. That's all you need in the late game. Additionally, gloves give you blight skill which is an additional attack to your combo that deals chaos dot damage to the enemies.

e) Boots

The perfect starting boots should have your main attribute to level up gems, in this case, strength, nice amount of elemental resistances and increased movement speed. This is all you need for the beginning. Thanks to that you will be able to level up your gems and survive even the strongest early bosses. There is also the possibility to wear Wanderlust Wool Shoes. You can wear them on the first level. Perfect boots for this build because it gives you mana regeneration rate and immunity for being frozen.

In the mid game, you should look for boots with more elemental resistances and maximum health. In the late game, there are two options. The first one is in the situation when your resistances are not capped. In such a situation, you should get rare boots with health and high resistances. The second option is Sin Trek Stealth Boots. The boots provide you dexterity and a good amount of energy shield. The dexterity is necessary to level up curse gems, so boots will do the job. Energy shield is your main survivability stat. Remember to choose sin trek boots only when you are sure, that your resistances are enough to do high-end maps.

f) Armor

For a perfect game starter, look for armor with 6 linked sockets. There is a perfect example of armor which does have six linked sockets, and additionally, such sockets are not specified (white sockets in which you can put every color of the gem). The armor is called Tabula Rasa Simple Robe. It does not cost a lot so getting it in the early stage of the game would not be a problem. Thanks to this armor, you will be able to deal good damage with your main attack ability, and also level up the gems straight from the beginning. To wear Tabula Rasa, you don't need to fulfill any requirements. In the late game, you have three variants of armor from which you can choose the best that will fit your playstyle.

There are two types of armors: offensive and defensive. The choice will be based on the rest equipment you have. If the rest have enough defensive attributes, you can afford offensive armor. If you are dying a lot, you should focus on a defensive one. The defensive option of armor is Shavronne's Wrappings Occultist's Vestment. Such armor increases your energy shield by 120% which is a huge boost. It perfectly works with helmet and belt. The bigger is your energy shield the better gameplay you have. Additionally, it hastens your energy shield recharge which is a very important factor, especially when fighting with bosses. I recommend corrupting this armor for additional bonuses. Also, remember to get such armor with additional spell damage on it.

The second, a more offensive option is Death's Oath Astral Plate. This armor is not an only defensive option but it also gives you very nice damage over time from death aura skill. Also, the armor gives you 15% of elemental resistances and even 50 points to all attributes. Finding it six linked with proper sockets is not an easy task but worth it. There is also the possibility to wear Queen of the Forest Destiny Leather. This armor is perfect when you want to make up resistance caps. Additionally, it increases your movement speed and maximum life by a certain amount. Perfect armor for mapping. Also, it is very cheap, even if you will try to buy 6 linked sockets in it.

g) Amulet

The best starter amulet should contain a good amount of life and increased elemental resistances. Also, focus on increasing your main attributes which will allow you to level up your gems socketed in tabula rasa. You should get an amulet which increases strength, dexterity, and intelligence. In the late game, you have to focus on elemental resistances. If you capped them from helmet, gloves, and boots you can think about more offensive rare amulets. The first option of the mixed defensive and offensive amulet is Presence of Chayula Onyx Amulet. Such amulet gives you immunity for stuns which is very important, especially when t16 mapping. Additionally, it boosts your energy shield by converting 20% of your maximum life into it. Also boost for all attributes is really nice for this build. The second option is Aul's Uprising Onyx Amulet. This amulet can delete mana reservation of one skill. Look for the one you need the most. Also, it gives a chance to increase 50% of Critical Strike from hits. It is a huge boost for your damage if used properly.

h) Rings

For a perfect game starter, choose rings which will increase your elemental damage and elemental resistances. Also, it is very important to look for rings which will increase all kind of attributes in this case strength, intelligence, and dexterity. There is also the possibility to focus only on dexterity attribute because you will need it the most. Thanks to that, you will be able to level up your gems setup which will boost your damage and effectiveness of your main ability. In the late game, you can make up your resistances or invest in unique rings.

Examples of such rings are: Oblivion Grasp Two-Stone Ring. If your elemental resistances are fine you can get Lori's Lantern Prismatic Ring. It boosts your resistances up to 20% and increases movement speed. The most important attribute this ring has is „enemies are unlucky”. To make it simpler. When the damage roll is unlucky, the game will roll the damage calculation twice and the worse outcome will be chosen as the damage dealt with you. You can read more about this here click. All I can say is that such attribute saved my life many times.

I) Shield

In this build, you will also need a shield with a high amount of armor. It will cooperate with Cerberus limb and increase not only your armor but also energy shield. The first option is Magna Eclipsis Pinnacle Tower Shield. It gives you tons of armor and elemental aegis skill when equipped. This skill gives you a buff which absorbs 1000 elemental damage from minions and bosses. The second option is Aegis Aurora Champion Kite Shield. This kind of shield gives you even more energy shield and armor. Additionally, it boosts your elemental resistances and elemental damage from skills. I recommend Aegis Aurora when you reach hard endgame and you have rest elements of the build. Without proper equipment, such shield will not show full potential.

i) Potions

Potions are very important parts of equipment which can make your character deal more damage, boost survivability, increase life and mana leech or simply regenerate your life. There are situations in which potions have a bigger impact on the gameplay than whole equipment. The potion build contains slightly cheap flasks which are mainly focused on increasing your spell damage and elemental resistances. You can modify potion set if you need. I recommend potions which are, in my opinion, the best for this build. The best option to get such potions early is buying them on the Path of Exile market.

The first potion which I recommend is mostly focused on regenerating your life. Additionally, such potion should have two very important attributes: increased recovery of your health, immunity for bleeding, and the ability to remove bleeding. In the late game, this potion will save you many times because many minions inflict bleed on their attacks. If one potion will be not enough, invest in two the same potions. Probably, two potions will be mandatory when you start mapping and fighting with stronger game content like Atziri, shaper or when making uber lab.

In the second flask slot, you should consider having Stibnite Flask of Reflexes. This potion is mainly used because of the blind source for your opponents. Additionally, it boosts your survivability by increasing your evasion rating. Very useful attribute when fighting bosses with high damage output like Atziri or shaper.

In the third potion slot, you should have a flask which is called Quicksilver Flask. Thanks to this potion your movement speed can be increased even by around 60%. Also, it is important to look for potion attribute which will regenerate flask charge after successful critical strike inflicted on you by minions or bosses. This potion will make your mapping more efficient and sometimes it can save you from sudden death thanks to the fact that you will be fast enough to run from minions damage. The potion I recommend buying is Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline. This potion is mandatory and you should no replace it with other flasks.

For the fourth potion, you should consider getting The Wise Oak Bismuth Flask. The potion boosts all of your elemental resistances by 35% when used. Such potion should be bought if you are not able to make up your resistance caps from equipment. You will also need this flask to be sure that your survivability will be boosted in critical situations.

The last potion which is worth having is Atziri's Promise Amethyst Flask. Since the build is based on life leech and chaos damage over time, this potion will fit perfectly. It gives you life leech based on your chaos damage and a huge boost for your chaos damage. This potion is really good for this build and its statistics will boost your damage and survivability in every critical situation.

j) list of gems

armor gems

Armor - 6 linked sockets ( 3 blue sockets, 2 green sockets, and one red)

Essence Drain - your main ability gem. It shoots orb with projectiles which hit enemies and applies debuff which deals damage over time. Additionally, it sucks the life from the enemy and because of that, regenerates a certain amount of your health. When the target dies, the debut will be spread among nearby enemies.

Controlled Destruction Support - this gem supports attacks skills with more damage. It increases up to 44% of spell damage. A very useful gem for Essence drain skill which significantly boosts its damage.

Efficacy Support - support gem which increases spell damage and damage over time of supported attack gems. Also, it increases the duration of the skill effect. A perfect gem to boost your essence drain impact on enemies.

Void Manipulation Support - support gem, strictly used for essence drain skill damage boost purpose. It boosts your chaos damage by 40% but at the same time reduces elemental damage by 25%. Since the build is not based on elemental damage, you don’t have to worry about gem reduction.

Swift Affliction Support - next support gem which increases essence drain damage over time. Unfortunately, the gem reduces the duration of the debuff it inflicts. The damage over time from the gem is increased by 45% on the maximum level.

Empower Support - when the gem is on maximum level, it increases supported active skill gems by 2 levels. Very important gem, especially for essence drain which damage is mainly based on the gem level. By adding two levels to it, you will get a very nice boost to your damage output.

weapon gems

Weapon ( main hand -3 linked sockets - two red sockets and one green socket)

Shield Charge - attack skill which is mainly used to move faster when mapping. The Player uses his shield to charge an enemy and deal physical damage. When using, your movement speed is increased by 94%. One of the skills „must have” if you want to make maps really fast.

Fortify Support - support buff gem which grants a chance to give the player Fortify buff. The buff reduces incoming damage by 20%. Additionally, the gem gives 45% increased melee physical damage and makes your fortify buff last longer.

Faster Attacks Support - support gem which increases the attack speed of linked attack gems

Shield ( off hand - 3 linked sockets - three red sockets)

Immortal Call (remember to keep it at level 3) - uses all endurance charge you have and makes you immune for physical damage even for 4 seconds (if you had maximum endurance charges)

Cast When Damage Taken Support (remember to keep it at level 1) - a skill which makes linked spell triggered when the player loses a certain amount of health. It is a perfect combo with Immortal Call because in many situations it will save your life.

Increased Duration Support - a support gem which increases the duration of linked skill gems by 64%.

Gloves - 4 linked sockets (four blue sockets)

Contagion - your second attack skill gem. It makes a cloud of contagion around enemies which deals chaos damage over time to all enemies in the cloud area. The skill itself is more likely a curse because when an enemy dies, it spreads to another opponent.

Increased Area of Effect Support - a support gem which increases contagion radius of the area on which the skill will deal the damage. Additionally, if you increase the quality of the gem, the damage will be increased by 10% on the maximum level.

Faster Casting Support - a support gem which increases socketed gems casting speed. It can increase even 39% of cast speed.

Arcane Surge Support - a buff gem which gives you Arcane surge buff when you spend a certain amount of mana. The buff increases your casting speed by 19%, spell damage by 20%, and regeneration of your maximum mana by 1%. You will need this support gem especially when you are going to make delve depth.

Boots 4 linked sockets (three blue sockets and one red socket)

Blood Magic Support - the interesting gem which makes supported skills spend health instead of mana. Very useful gem, especially when it comes to using righteous fire skill.

Righteous Fire - a spell gem which gives the player buff which burns nearby enemies with fire damage. The damage of righteous fire is based on your maximum energy shield and a maximum amount of health. The gem deals dot damage over time.  Additionally, it increases your spell damage by 39%.

Clarity - an aura buff gem which increases mana regeneration. The buff affects you and your allies. It regenerates up to 5 mana per second.

Discipline - the second aura gem which increases your and your allies energy shield. You can gain up to 217 energy shield from this aura. Also, it increases the energy shield recharge rate by 30%.

Helmet 4 linked sockets ( three blue sockets and one green socket)

Temporal Chains - a spell gem which causes curse on nearby opponents. The curse slows enemies action speed by 29% and makes other temporary effects expire more slowly. Perfect curse when fighting with bosses. If the curse lands on the opponent, you can be sure that killing him will be much easier.

Blasphemy Support - a support gem which converts all supported curses into auras. Thanks to that, the effects of supported curse gems will apply to all nearby enemies. You can simply walk near them and apply curses. Additionally, it increases the area on which your auras apply curse skill by 76%.

Enfeeble - next curse skill gem. The gem gives you typical debuff spell which will be cast as aura thanks to blasphemy. Such aura itself will reduce enemies damage by 30%, critical strike chance by 25% and accuracy rating by 20%. One of the best curses in this build which significantly boosts your survivability.

Enlighten Support - the gem is mainly used to decrease the amount of mana reservation of linked support gems. Thanks to this gem, you will not spend tons of mana for using curses and you will be able to invest for damage flask.

k) Skill Tree (also viable in Synthesis league)

Skill tree for  Essence Drain Occultist with Ascendancy

l) Bandits

You should consider helping Alira in order to increase your damage and health regeneration. Alira buff also gives you some resistances, so helping her will be the best choice.

m) Pantheon    

There are two viable options for a major god, you should make your choice based on personal preference.                         

major God - Soul of Lunaris - this god blessing boosts your survivability by reducing physical damage taken for each enemy near your character. Additionally, your movement speed is increased making this blessing the best choice for this buil

major God - Soul of Arakaali - the Arakaali blessing buffs your survivability by reducing damage taken from minions and at the same time boosts your sustain. What is more, it buffs your chaos damage resistance and ability to regenerate your life faster.

minor God - Soul of Garukhan - the Garukhan blessing is perfect for mapping. It increases your movement speed and gives you a chance to evade attacks from minions if you recently have taken a savage strike.

n) Jewels

There are two mandatory unique jewels you should get in the late game:

Watcher's Eye Prismatic Jewel - this jewel increases your maximum energy shield, life, and mana what is most important for this build. Additionally, you should look for „faster regeneration of your energy shield while affected with discipline”.

Energy From Within Cobalt Jewel - this jewel highly increases your energy shield. It converts all increases and reductions to health into increases and reductions to energy shield.

In order to maximize your character stats, in normal jewels focus on getting such attributes:

increased mana regeneration

increased energy shield

increased chaos damage

increased spell damage

increased damage over time

increased maximum life

increased resistances if you need to make up caps

In abyssal jewel (you socket it in your belt called stygian Vyse) you should focus on getting such attributes:

increased maximum life

increased energy shield

increased chaos damage

increased spell damage

increased damage over time

increased resistances if you need to make up caps