How the engine works
You are poison bombing. Scourge, Toxic Skin and Withering Fist put Poisoning on a pack, and then every Stinger you cast hits your target plus every poisoned enemy around it through Potent Sting. The damage that matters is the direct hit, not the Poisoning. You spam Stinger until Vigor runs out, refill and go again. Once Rod of Kepeleke and Ring of the Midnight Sun are both on, Stinger becomes free, every hit is a guaranteed critical strike and the ring pays the Vigor back, so you stop refilling and simply keep casting.
Who it's for
The budget pick. It asks for nothing at level 70, its starter setup carries you to around Torment 9, and if you levelled with Stinger you already know how to play it. Finished, it clears everything in the game, with a lightning gear swap for the highest pushing and for bosses.
- Rating
- S-Tier
- Difficulty
- Moderate — constant button presses
- Key stat
- Critical Strike Chance, then Maximum Resource
- Must have
- Nothing — works without uniques
The bar
This is the finished bar. At a fresh 70 two slots are different: Withering Fist sits where Armored Hide is, to refill Vigor and spread Poisoning, and The Devourer is your ultimate instead of The Protector. Withering Fist leaves when the Rod and Ring of the Midnight Sun are both on. Refresh every buff the moment its cooldown ends, without waiting for the effect to run out.
Your damage. Upgrades are Potent Sting and Damage Bonus. If you need healing, swap Damage Bonus for Healing and Vulnerable. Rank 15.
Hold — constantlyThe ultimate from mid-gearing on. Barrier, Resolve and Unstoppable, and with Hesha e Kesungi it drags enemies in. Through the Multitude charm set it also gives your skills a fourth Spirit tag. One rank.
Press — on cooldownPoisons and Weakens the pack before you start casting Stinger. Swap to its Vulnerable upgrade for bosses. One rank.
Keep it upSkuttle Bug upgrade for extra Armour while it's active. It also keeps you Unhindered, which cancels the movement penalty on the Splinter of Pain. Rank 15.
Keep it upFlurry of Claws variant for Cooldown Rate, which grows with ranks. Rank 15.
Keep it upA defensive cooldown for Block Chance and Resolve. For bosses take its Ferocious Meal upgrade for Ferocity. One rank.
Keep it upStarter bar only. Your basic skill: use it as needed to refill Vigor, and it spreads Poisoning while you do. You stop needing it once the Rod and the ring are on.
When Vigor is lowPassives
Put one point each into Vortex and Concussive Stomp, because your runes cast them. In the finished build, also put one point each into Counterattack and Rushing Claw off the bar. One thing to avoid: don't pair the Strength of the Forest passive with Ravager's Ferocity Maximum upgrade or with its Vigor-generating one. That combination is bugged.
Spirit Hall
Start with Eagle in both halls: the Eagle primary hall is where your Vulnerable comes from. From mid-gearing on, keep Eagle as primary and move the secondary to Jaguar for Ferocity. For bosses and for the lightning pushing setup, flip them: Jaguar primary and Eagle secondary. This is different from the levelling setup, which ran Centipede as primary, so change it when you reach 70.
| Pick | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| Eagle + Eagle (fresh 70) | Makes enemies Vulnerable, with 20% increased Vulnerable damage and +5% Critical Strike Chance from the secondary slot. |
| Eagle primary, Jaguar secondary (finished build) | Keeps the Vulnerable, and Jaguar adds +1 maximum Ferocity plus 1 Ferocity whenever you kill an enemy or damage a boss. |
| Jaguar primary, Eagle secondary (bosses and pushing) | The single-target arrangement. Swap back to Eagle primary for speed farming. |
What to wear
Nothing here is required to start. The list below is the order to add things in, and only one rule is strict: the Rod and the Ring of the Midnight Sun go on together or not at all.
Uniques
| Item | What it does | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Insight | Polearm, a runeword unique you craft at the Cube: Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol on a white polearm with no affixes. Get one by gambling Obols and stripping it at the Cube. The first thing to make, although a legendary polearm with all the right affixes is technically stronger. | Recommended Crafted |
| Harmony of Ebewaka | Helm. Your skills gain your secondary hall's Spirit type and you deal 25 to 30% increased damage per Spirit type. An instant damage increase. Drops from Bartuc. | Core |
| Rod of Kepeleke | Quarterstaff. Core skills become Basic skills and cost nothing. At maximum Vigor a cast consumes all of it, comes out at its largest size (200% for Stinger) and is a guaranteed critical strike, with 1.00 to 1.20% Critical Strike Damage per point of Vigor spent. This is the item to craft as your Mythic. Drops from Astaroth. | Core |
| Ring of the Midnight Sun | Ring. When you crit you regain up to 50% of the Vigor you spent in the last 2 seconds, and it grants Counterattack's passive. It is the other half of the Rod: don't use one without the other. Drops from Astaroth. | Core |
| Tibault's Will | Pants. It helps you keep Vigor up and adds damage. It isn't on any boss's loot table, so make it at the Cube. | Recommended |
| Hesha e Kesungi | Gloves. Works with The Protector to pull enemies in and raise your damage. Drops from The Butcher. | Recommended |
| Ring of Starless Skies | Ring. Damage plus Resource Cost Reduction, and the cost reduction makes the Rod count more Vigor as spent than you actually had. Craft it from Jeweler and Blacksmith caches. | Mythic |
| Sepazontec | A late unique charm for the three-charm seal. It adds damage, though its triple hit doesn't trigger in this build. | Charm |
Before they drop
The fresh 70 setup has no uniques at all: a legendary polearm with Fleet Wings, a legendary helm with Debilitating Toxins, pants with Disobedience and gloves with Insatiable. That takes you to around Torment 9. Before the Rod, you need 100% Critical Strike Chance of your own, so Critical Strike Chance on gloves matters, and Reaper's stays on the amulet until you get there. Play the Withering Fist bar until the Rod and the Ring of the Midnight Sun have both dropped.
Legendary aspects
| Aspect | What it does for you |
|---|---|
| Fleet Wings | Weapon first. Eagle skills deal extra damage equal to 25 to 35% of your Movement Speed, and this build can reach 300% Movement Speed. Move it to the amulet once you no longer need Reaper's there. |
| Reaper's | Amulet. Keep it there until you hold 100% Critical Strike Chance without the amulet's bonus. Then Fleet Wings takes the slot. |
| Supremacy | Ring at first. Kills during an Ultimate grant stacks of 6 to 9% damage, and you gain 5 more when the Ultimate ends. In the finished build it shares the amulet with Exploiter's as a transfigured second aspect. |
| Neurotoxic | Ring. 40 to 60% increased non-Physical damage to enemies that are Hindered or Weakened. Scourge Weakens everything, so it's always on. |
| Rallying Reversal | Boots. This is how you reach maximum Ferocity, and it gives damage reduction as well. It's also the aspect to add if you need to be tougher. |
| Debilitating Toxins | Helm. 20 to 30% damage reduction, and Poisoned enemies deal 15% less damage to you. |
| Adaptability | A ring, only if Vigor is a constant problem and you don't have Tibault's Will yet. |
| Ghostwalker | Optional. More Movement Speed, and it keeps you Unhindered between packs when Toxic Skin has dropped. |
The Rod without enough Resource Generation does no damage
Ring of the Midnight Sun only refunds part of what you spend, and Resource Generation has to make up the rest. A ring rolled at 50% needs 100% Resource Generation for a full refund, 49% needs about 104%, 48% about 108% and 47% about 113%. Fall short and you never get back to maximum Vigor, so the Rod's empowered cast never happens. If you swing and miss with the Rod you lose all your Vigor too. Move to the next pack and keep casting so Prodigy's Tempo brings your cooldowns back.
Stats, gems and paragon
Roll and masterwork toward these, in this order.
| # | Stat | Where you roll it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Critical Strike Chance | Gloves, until the Rod is on. After that every hit crits anyway. |
| 2 | Maximum Resource (your Vigor) | Helm, chest and amulet once you have the Rod. The Greater Affix to chase on all three. |
| 3 | Resource Cost Reduction | Helm and weapon, plus a temper on both rings. Useful up to a 75% cap. |
| 4 | Critical Strike Damage | The weapon first (the Greater Affix on the Rod), then rings and amulet. |
| 5 | Vulnerable Damage | Gloves, rings and amulet. |
| 6 | All Damage rather than Poison Damage | Gloves and amulet in the finished build. It costs about 5% damage on poison but keeps its value when you swap Stinger to lightning for bosses. |
| 7 | Vigor per second and Resource Generation | Helm, chest and boots in the starter setup. |
| 8 | Dexterity, Maximum Life, Armour or All Resistance | All armour. +All Skills on the amulet. |
Hard targets
Before the Rod: 100% Critical Strike Chance. With the Rod: Resource Cost Reduction counts towards Vigor "spent" up to a 75% cap, at which point 1 Vigor counts as 4. Resource Generation must match your Midnight Sun roll: 100% at a 50% roll, rising to about 113% at a 47% roll. The lightning pushing setup wants 98% or more increased Attack Speed to keep six Spirit Storms active at once. Movement Speed can reach 300%, and Fleet Wings turns it into damage.
Tempering & masterworking
Starter tempers: Armour on helm and chest, Maximum Life on pants, Movement Speed on boots, Critical Strike Damage on weapon and gloves, and Lucky Hit: restore resource on both rings and the amulet. In the finished build the ring tempers become Resource Cost Reduction. Chase Greater Affixes and masterwork hits on Maximum Resource (helm, chest, amulet), Critical Strike Damage (the Rod) and Vulnerable Damage (gloves, rings, amulet).
Gems, runewords & Splinters
- Emeralds in the weapon, helm and pants, and a Diamond in the amulet to start with.
- Poc + Tzic. Tzic casts Concussive Stomp for damage reduction, Barrier and Resolve. It no longer gives bonus damage, and it's still worth the slot.
- Cir + Kry as the second pair at the start. Kry casts Vortex to pull the pack together. Once you have the Viscous Shield legendary node, swap Kry for Que to get more Barrier.
- Soul Splinters: Hellfire is the best one as soon as the Rod is on, because guaranteed crits cancel its downside. Pain is fine because Toxic Skin keeps you Unhindered. Avoid Anguish and Sin: both actively hurt this build.
- Talisman: early on, any seal and charms with +Ranks. Aim for a seal with an extra slot, the five-piece Multitude set and one unique charm, in this order of preference: Protean Heart, Harmony of Ebewaka, Ring of the Midnight Sun, Rod of Kepeleke, Temerity, Endurant Faith. Protean Heart doubles your main stats, worth roughly 70 to 80% more damage.
- Finished talisman: Seal of the Golden Epiphany, which holds three unique charms, with three Multitude pieces. Use the Cube to reroll set charms and to combine three into one.
Paragon
Five boards: the Starter board, Prodigy's Tempo, Viscous Shield, Convergence and In-Fighter. At around 35 Paragon points, go straight for the Prodigy's Tempo legendary node, because it handles your cooldowns. Slot Jagged Plume in the Starter board as soon as you own it, and move Talon to In-Fighter when you do. Glyph priority: Jagged Plume, Spirit, Canny, Talon, Colossal, Fulminate. Take glyphs to 25, then 51, 70, 100 and finally 150. When you can't decide between a damage node and a Life node, take the Life. The lightning pushing setup rebuilds around the Swarm of Storms board with Spirit, Canny, Talon, Colossal and Fulminate.
| Glyph | Where and why |
|---|---|
| Jagged Plume | Starter board in the finished build. Talon sits here until you own it. Level it first. |
| Canny | Prodigy's Tempo board. |
| Spirit | Viscous Shield board. Second to level. |
| Colossal | Convergence board. |
| Talon | In-Fighter board in the finished build. Fulminate holds this socket at the start. |
Mercenary
Hire Subo. He marks the next pack on your map, Opening Fire adds damage and Ready At Hand adds Movement Speed. Varyana is the alternative if you want Attack Speed and healing instead. For reinforcement, start with Raheir and set Bastion to trigger when you are crowd controlled, which gets you out of trouble for free. In the finished build switch the reinforcement to Aldkin with Field of Languish for damage reduction, and go back to Raheir for the lightning pushing setup.
From fresh 70 to finished
You can play this the minute you hit 70. Each step below is an upgrade, not a requirement.
Stinger, Withering Fist, Scourge, Toxic Skin, Ravager and The Devourer, Eagle in both halls, legendary gear only. Get to 100% Critical Strike Chance. This carries you to around Torment 9.
Gamble Obols for a polearm, strip it to white at the Cube and craft Insight with Ral + Tir + Tal + Sol. Keep your legendary polearm instead if its affixes are all right.
Farm Bartuc. More Spirit tags means more damage straight away. Move your secondary hall to Jaguar around now.
Both drop from Astaroth, and they go on together. Every hit now crits, Stinger is free, and Withering Fist leaves the bar. Switch your stats from crit chance to Maximum Resource and Resource Cost Reduction, and socket the Splinter of Hellfire.
Make the pants at the Cube and farm The Butcher for the gloves. From here The Protector takes over as your ultimate, and the Multitude charm set gives it a fourth Spirit tag to share.
Craft the Rod as your Mythic, add Ring of Starless Skies from Jeweler and Blacksmith caches, then farm the Seal of the Golden Epiphany.
The rotation
The Protector (The Devourer on the starter bar), Toxic Skin, Scourge, Ravager and Armored Hide. Refresh each one the moment its cooldown ends.
Scourge and Toxic Skin do most of it, and Withering Fist helps on the starter bar. Stinger hits far harder on enemies that are already Poisoned.
Keep casting until you're out of Vigor. Every cast hits your target and every poisoned enemy near it.
On the starter bar, Withering Fist brings Vigor back and spreads more Poisoning. With the Rod and the ring, the crit refund does this for you and you never stop casting.
Two casts give 100% Dodge Chance. Some attacks can't be dodged, so keep moving anyway.
On bosses
Bosses are where you change the most. Swap Stinger to its Nimbostratal Strike upgrade so it deals Lightning damage, flip the halls to Jaguar primary and Eagle secondary, take Scourge's Vulnerable upgrade, put Recalling Feathers on your boots and take Ferocious Meal on Armored Hide to keep Ferocity up. The lightning version is several times stronger on a single target than the poison one, which is why All Damage beats Poison Damage on your gloves and amulet.
Strengths, weaknesses, mistakes
What it's good at
- Needs nothing to start: a level 70 character and legendary gear.
- Great area damage. One cast hits every poisoned enemy around your target.
- Can reach 300% Movement Speed, and Fleet Wings turns that into damage.
- Carries straight on from the Stinger levelling build: same main button, so only the supporting skills and the Spirit Hall change at 70.
Where it struggles
- A piano build: you are pressing buttons constantly.
- The highest pushing and the best boss damage need a gear swap to the lightning setup.
- Before the Rod and the ring you have to manage Vigor by hand.
- The Rod punishes a miss by draining all your Vigor.
Mistakes that ruin it
- Wearing the Rod without Ring of the Midnight Sun, or the ring without the Rod. They are one item in two slots. Wait until you have both.
- Too little Resource Generation for your ring's roll. If the refund doesn't get you back to full Vigor, the Rod's big cast never happens and you do no damage.
- Casting Stinger before anything is Poisoned. Poison first, then Stinger. That order is the whole build.
- Socketing the Splinter of Anguish or the Splinter of Sin. Both hurt this build. Use Hellfire once you have the Rod, and Pain if you need to be tougher.
- Standing still after missing with the Rod. You've lost your Vigor. Move to the next pack and keep pressing Stinger so Prodigy's Tempo brings your cooldowns back.
- Pairing Strength of the Forest with Ravager's Ferocity Maximum upgrade or its Vigor-generating one. The combination is bugged.
Not for you? The other Spiritborn builds: Pestilent Swarm · Quill Volley.