[3.10] The highest DPS miner - 1.5 shapers per second

For anyone else who is struggling to stay alive, there are a couple things which helped me in early maps.

1. get cwdt on steelskin or immortal call
2. switch out minefield for charged mines, or swift assembly (your choice)
3. get an instant divine flask
4. get phase run as a panic button to run out of delirium if it gets too hectic

I'm still dying quite a bit because of delirium, but so are most other builds right now. I don't have any updates for you guys right now since I am quite busy with my toddler and still new to the league just like you guys.

Use my hardcore variant for this league, not the softcore one.

List of some some strong new jewel nodes
Menders wellspring
Burden projection
Storm drinker
Thunderstruck
Supercharge
Expert sabotage
Expendability
Guerilla tactics
Surprise sabotage
Peak vigour
Fettle

My version of this popular build uses tremor rod and malachai's ring
as well as Kaoms heart chest. The interaction between high-impact mines and demolitions specialist is extremely powerful and underrated. Ball lightning is actually linked to both high-impact mines and blastchain mine (level 10 from tremor rod). This way we can benefit both from a long detonation chain (from blastchain mine) as well as chance to deal double damage (from high-impact mines).

I run with 8.5k+ life and level 1 immortal call on cwdt, in total we have 20% reduced damage taken from various passives on the tree. 30% attack dodge 15% chance to block attacks. Shock/ignite and freeze immunity, good mobility and speed. This is my first character to reach level 100 and also 40/40 in a challenge league. I've been playing since Torment so it says a lot.

this build is unique because ball lightning is linked to both blast chain and high impact. We have to be very strategic with our play style. To get maximum damage, you must place mines near the enemy to get the aura benefit from high impact, and you also must only detonate once to ensure that you get the longest possible chain to maximize damage from blast chain. After hitting detonate to set off the chain, count to two seconds, then start throwing again (without hitting detonate). This will extend the chain and make your dps skyrocket.

Skill rotation: Usually I lay down armageddon brand, throw all 23 mines, flame dash to proc arcane surge, then once boss is out I hit detonate, cast wave of conviction to proc lightning exposure, hit all damage flasks, then go start tossing down more mines to extend the chain.

Watch this video on detonating mines example https://youtu.be/SN2dZcpOY3U

**Don't forget to cast armageddon brand on bosses to apply EE and also let wave of conviction apply exposure correctly.

**If you don't want carpal tunnel, bind your run/walk to Space bar and hold it down to move - this is how I avoid clicking too much with my mouse hand. It takes a while to get used to, but it is waaaaaay less clicking.

For general clearing, I throw once and detonate once to clear each pack. Flame dash past packs when you see a pack of monsters and phase run between each pack for increased speed and safety.

*NEW*Flaskless, 3-link Uber Elderhttps://youtu.be/dK-ugx5tqag
*NEW* flaskless, 2-link Sirus 8 https://youtu.be/4zq5uc_oqDo
*NEW* Ghosted uber elder insta phase https://youtu.be/Xpr2kdBkc_I

Compliation of one shots/instakills (check description for timestamps) https://youtu.be/FvsmFBfB7B4
mapping T16 double beyond with headhunter https://youtu.be/WgvdlvkPHbY
2 player HP Sirus 8 (last phase) https://youtu.be/Za7F0rgkwuU
EZ T16 Hall of Grandmaster farming https://youtu.be/BzLpIbrMK-8

watch the video below of my kill to see tips in action. Spam mines to get 10% regen from saboteur ascendancy. Stay close to Sirus at all times except when he goes into 4 clone mode which spawns an explosion at the center. When he yells "die!" that means you need to get behind him as fast as possible, his beam does not move until the last phase where he can turn and chase you with the beam. Use a catalyzed life flask instead of instant. I've found arakaali to be the best major pantheon for this fight since I almost never get hit except by the degens. Rhyslatha is a must if you only have 1 life flask.

play with the sound effects and dialogue ON. This will give you a lot of cues about which attacks are coming your way. Stay in the middle of the arena to keep some distance from shaper when he flame dashes around the 4 corners. If you stay in the corners for too long he will eventually teleport near to you and instakill you with his 3 chain balls. Keep spamming mines during invulnerability phases to keep up your regen. Use instant life flask+ ryslatha, and brine king for this one, you don't want to get stunned by shapers balls. When elder starts hovering and chanelling his tentacles that come out of the ground and slam down on you, hit quicksilver and run around in circles. Shapers balls are always aimed directly at you, so you need to bait him especially when elder is chanelling his circles that you have to stay inside. Try to pop the shaper bubbles away from the middle of the arena.

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/bhwung/characters
Character: AREyoulighTningMine
Warning: I've optimized my character to play with Headhunter so don't follow this profile unless you have one too. It's fun to play and can still kill bosses well but won't be as tanky as having an elder heavy belt which can push you to 9k life and life recovery rate with the right gear.

Tanky hardcore level 96+ version (requires excellent gear, jewels, and gem levels to keep the same damage as before)POB: https://pastebin.com/HgRJxh0g (8.5k life)

Tree for level 90-95 or softcore league https://pastebin.com/CCdKiUqj

1-25-2020 update - Headhunter finished build



Update 1-14-2020 with some gear changes and tree changes we are at 8.6k life and keeping the same damage s before. This is the tankiest version of the build as I may want to push to 100 if I have the time and will.



Enduring mana flask of warding is for no regen maps and I switch out the diamond flask. It may be useful to get a cannot be corrupted jewel for the Sirus fight however it's never been a problem for me.

Weapon swap

Using heartbreaker on swap lets you cull Sirus at 10% life, all you have to do is tag him once with armageddon brand. Makes phase 4 much easier.

**Very important to get knockback on at least 1 jewel. It boosts your effective DPS by quite a lot in conjunction with Blast Waves node, it keeps the enemy in the ball lightning for a long time.
Look for maximum life, crit multiplier, and knock back.

**flasks: I usually switch out wise oak for a silver flask of heat for mapping so I don't get randomly frozen. Wise oak is just for extra burst damage against Sirus. It is very important to get a Catalysed life flask for Sirus instead of the seething flask, since seething restores too little and is only useful for instant healing during mapping.


Timeless jewel: Militant faith - buy one with Dominus, other rolls don't matter, all we need is the inner conviction. If you find that Destructive Apparatus is being affected by the timeless jewel you will have to get another one or divine your current one. Another option is going for Serpent Stance anointment for more damage, and it is out of the radius of the timeless jewel. If you want to min max you can go for % elemental damage per 10 devotion and increased aura effect per 10 devotion, but these are not needed.


Thread of hope: radius must be "small" in order for us to allocate silent steps, blast waves, and phase acrobatics. This saves us points so that we can grab Counterweight on the left side of the tree. We get about 15% more damage with this and more tankiness+EHP.

What to look for in other jewels:increased maximum life, spell damage, lightning damage, projectile damage, global crit multi, crit multi with lightning skills, crit multi for spells, +to all elemental resists.

Watcher's eye: this should be one of last and most expensive upgrades in your build. My preference is for effects of Consecrated Ground lingers for 2seconds and 10% increased damage taken while ok consecrated ground. A lot of targets like Hydra, Sirus, metamorphs are constantly moving around so it's hard to keep them on consecrated ground while you DPS them down. We lose a huge amount of DPS if we cannot keep them under influence of Consecrated Ground.

Boots: If you are struggling against bosses the best enchant is 10% damage penetration if you haven't killed recently. Once you have enough DPS to nuke bosses down we need to focus on survivability, for this I recommend 2% life regen if hit recently. For clearing, the best ones are the inc chance to crit or the 10% movement speed enchant.

Helmet and gloves: Doesn't matter.

**AVOID any of the added damage ones, they will screw up your elemental equilibrium (except added fire, but it's useless in our build)

My preference is for damage while leveling and mapping so I would go 1. Demolitions specialist 2. Pyromaniac 3. Born in shadows. Explosives expert is good if you need more damage.

It is also fine to go 1. Pyromaniac 2. Demolitions specialist 3. Born in the Shadows.

Brine King for Mapping and arakaali for Sirus, Rhyslatha for Sirus or Garhukhan for maps

Alira, or 2 skill pts

(In tremor rod) 5L: Ball lightning, High impact mines, Slower projectiles, Minefield,trap and mine damage - in order of importance
6th link: lightning penetration if you are not using malachai's artifice for EE and wave of conviction for lightning exposure. Elemental Focus is better damage otherwise. You can use any awakened gems you can get your hands on as well.

Armageddon brand in Malachai's artifice
Arcane surge-inc duration-flame dash-phase run
Enlighten-Zealotry-Skitterbots-Bonechill
CWDT -steelskin
Wave of conviction-inc duration (for longer exposure)


**wave of conviction: we use this after using armageddon brand to proc elemental equilibrium to ensure that the target receives lightning exposure for a total of -75% lightning resistance.

Amulet gives extra aura for free, solid crit chance and some life. Gloves are best in slot with culling strike and unnerve which gives 10% increased damage taken to enemies. Boots With cannot be frozen are fine, but chill immunity is needed for end game bossing (specifically uber elder and aul). Helmet is also best in slot with crit multi and minus res to nearby enemies,if you can get one with extra power charge it may be better.
6l body armor is the big one, it gives you ability to slot in awakened curse on hit for extra curse, linked to enhance and empower, applied by wave of conviction. Chance to spell crit gives us a big boost in dps.

item level 85 elder heavy belt is my choice since we need str for wearing kaoms. Go with pristine+aetheric if you have fossils to burn, if not, just spam pristine by itself until you hit increase % maximum life and added maximum life, preferably with some resists. You can also craft mine throwing speed for qol.


Item level 86 two toned (fire and cold res) regular boots are my choice for good resists, I used pristine and shuddering until I hit the 35%move speed and life regen plus life. For enchant I prefer the damage penetration. You can also go with movement speed or regen if hit. DO NOT use the added lightning damage one because it will negate your elemental equilibrium with Armageddon brand.

POB: https://pastebin.com/3bp7XMcP (look at the leveling trees)

I started this build with a mind over matter variant which allowed me to have 7.2k EHP to survive higher tier maps.
You will need a cloak of defiance chest (links don't matter unless you want to run an arc setup in there) Try to grab as much life and mana on all jewelry and rares. Rush to high explosives and volatile mines, then i usually go to acrobatics. I tend to go all DPS to clear faster through the acts. The rest is really up to you whether you want DPS or survivability.

5L Tremor rod will carry you all the way to T16 maps in terms of damage. Substitute Kaom's with a high life (120+) chest, links do not matter.

Replace bottled faith Atziri's promise or Wise oak, the DPS is similar among all 3, bottled faith is slightly higher, while atziri provides much needed chaos res, wise oak is great for mapping.

Once you have enough currency for Kaoms chest, switch to the tree under the pastebin section above to go full life in order to be able to reserve mana with zealotry and skitterbots

Gem progression from Windz miner guide: "lvl 1-12 - stormblast mines

lvl 12+ - Arc + blastchain mine

4link: Arc + Blastchain + Swift Assembly + Added Cold/Light

Use the sapphire/topaz ring + 1 alt + 1 magic wand recipe to craft flat damage to your wand."

At level 28 switch to ball lightning+blastchain mine+swift assembly+added cold