Level 97 MoM Explosive Arrow Totem Elementalist^3.23

Notes

WHY GOLEMS?
I played a bunch of EA Ballista Elementalists, and although they felt very strong DPS wise, they felt quite squishy.
When I started considering incorporating Golems in this build, I realized they can provide us with many benefits:
- Attack speed for Explosive Arrow from Lightning Golem
- Accuracy and Crit chance from Ice golem (Crit chance helps abit with maintaining Elemental Overload)
- Life Regeneration for survivability from Stone Golem
- Physical damage reduction from Chaos golem, which lead me to the Synergy with Transcendence.
Elementalist helps us boost all of these nice bonuses, and keep our golems alive.

WHY EXPLOSIVE ARROW?
The main great thing about this skill is that it scales easily just from it's own Gem Levels, and the only gear slots that you need to boost the dmg even further
is a Bow and Quiver, leaving us free to invest the rest of our Gear/Jewels/Skill Tree into defenses. This is what allows us to incorporate the strong combination
of Golems, Transcendence, Eternal Damnation and Loreweave into our build.

BANDITS
Kill All

LEVELING
- Make sure to buy all the leveling uniques listed in the gear tab, it'll make your leveling way easier.
- Quill Rain is a great bow for this build, can start using it at lv.5, it's super cheap, has tons of attack speed, and we can convert the Projectile Speed
to Projectile Damage with the Bow Mastery on the skill tree. I used this bow all the way to red maps, untill I crafted my EndGame bow.
- Karui Ward is a great amulet for this build, it has accuracy,stats,movespeed,damage, and we can convert the Projectile Speed to Projectile Damage
with the Bow Mastery on the skill tree.
- We start with Burning Arrow at lv.1, it's abit rough untill lv.4, but once you get Volley and Elemental Prolification support gems (From the first few quests) it feels quite good.
The good thing about Burning Arrow is that it's the same Type as Explosive Arrow (Bow,Attack,Fire,Damage over time), so we won't need to transition the skill tree once we switch at lv32.
- I suggest you craft the "Used when charges reach full" flask enchantment on your utility flasks while going through the Campaign,
you can do that as early as lv.24 (Costs 5 Glassblower's Baubles and 5 Instilling Orbs).
Start with Quicksilver, then Granite, Silver, Quartz. It will make your leveling experience much faster and smoother.
- Put Steelskin on your Left click mouse button for automated use.
- You can transition to Explosive arrow Ballistas at lv.32 after completing the Library quest at act 3. If you have the currency you can annoint your Karui Ward with Watchtowers.
- After killing Kitava at Act 5 (Should be around lv.45), look for rare/unique Gloves,Boots and Belt with life and resists.
- You can equip Dyadian Dawn at lv.52, our Best in Slot belt for this build.
- If you have the currency, you can buy and equip a 6 link Loreweave at lv.64.

AMULET ANNOINTMENT
We're annointing Watchtowers for an extra totem and movespeed.
If you have the currency you can Annoint your Karui Ward amulet, and have Watchtowers from lv5 (Starts to be useful at lv.32 when we transition to Explosive Arrow ballistas).

ATTRIBUTES
We shouldn't have any issues with attributes, we're touching all parts of the skill tree so we pick up Int,Str and Dex travel nodes.
If you have issues with any attribute, you have a couple options:
- Keep your gem levels low untill you get more attributes from the tree/gear
- Temporarily allocate the +30 attribute notables on the skill tree
- Get attirbutes on your gear

ELEMENTAL EQUILIBRIUM KEYSTONE
This is our source of applying Fire exposure on enemies, it applies 25%, and along with our Mastermind of Discord ascendancy node, it boosts up to 50%!.
It works like this:
Elemental damage of 1 type will inflict exposure to the 2 other types other than itself. Examples:
	- You only have "# to # Added Cold damage to attacks" or "Adds # to # Cold Damage" on your gear - Enemy will have Lightning and Fire Exposure (Good for us).
	- You only have "# to # Added Lightning damage to attacks" or "Adds # to # Lightning Damage" on your gear - Enemy will have Cold and Fire Exposure (Good for us).
	- You have both Cold AND Lightning damage sources - Enemy will only have Fire Exposure (Good for us).
	- You have even "1 to 1 added fire damage to attacks" - Enemy will NEVER have Fire Exposure (BAD for us).
So make sure to have at least 1 source of either "# to # Cold damage to attacks" or "# to # Lightning damage to attacks" in your gear, or both, doesn't matter (As explained above).
*** MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY SOURCE OF "# to # Added Fire Damage to attacks" OR "Adds # to # Fire Damage" ON YOUR GEAR ***
You can hover your mouse over EA in your shortcuts menu and see in the tooltip if the skill has "# to # Fire Damage", if it does, find where it's coming from and remove it.
Do not mistake this for "Explosion will have # to # Added Fire Damage", that is fine, it's the skill's inherent explosion damage, the explosion happens AFTER the exposure was inflicted with EA's basic attacks, so we benefit from it.

MANA ISSUES - 
Leveling
	Equip 2 Praxis rings at lv.22 or use a Mana Flask, prefferably with the mod "Effect is not removed when unreserved mana filled".
Mapping
	- Minus # cost to non-channeling skills ring veiled mod craft.
	- Reduced Mana cost of Attacks helmet Eldritch implicit.(Searing Exarch Embers)
	- Reduced Mana cost of skills Flask suffix craft, which is unlocked by unveiling Cinderswallow Urn flasks (Expensive).
	- You can replace Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks with Lifetap. Make sure you have at least over.
	  300-400 Life Regen per second first.
	- Militant Faith jewel with "Reduced mana cost of skills per 10 devotion" mod.

AILMENT/DEBUFF IMMUNITIES
Corrupted Blood - Corrupted implicit on Golem unique jewels.
Elemental Ailments - Full immunity from Purity of Elements.
Stun Immunity - Unwavering Stance keystone on the skill tree.
Hinder & Maim - Corrupted implicits on Golem unique jewels.
Bleeding - We will have alot of Physical Damage Reduction and Life Regen, so it shouldn't bother us.
Poison - We will have 78% Chaos Resistance and lots of Life Regen so it shouldn't bother us.

PANTHEONS
Major
- Start off with Soul of the Brine King to avoid Stun Locks untill we get Unwavering Stance on the skill tree.
We only need the first mod of that pantheon, since we have Elemental Ailment immunity with Purity of Elements.
- After you get Unwavering Stance, you can either go Soul of Solaris or Lunaris. I prefer Solaris for Crit mitigation.
Minor
Soul of Gruthkul

SPELL SUPPRESSION
Spell suppression is quite hard to get on this build, our only comfortable source of it on the skill tree is MageBane keystone and Reflexes notable.
In the endgame setup to reach 100% spell suppression we need:
- 14% on Gloves, Boots and Helmet
- 7% on Gloves eldritch implicit (Eater)
- 15% on That Which Was Taken jewel
- at least 57 Dex on gear/cluster jewels (Easiest to obtain on Helmet/Rings and Clusters)
Before endgame, you can sacrifice damage/life on the tree for the 4% spell suppression nodes near Reflexes.

WILDWOOD ASCENDANCY
We pick the Primalist, due to it's access to Charms, which have the Increased buffs granted by your golems mod,
which is huge for our build, and it also helps us gain Mana Reservation Efficiency to fit in another aura.
- You can start the quest chain with the Primalist NPC during the Campaign (Suggested after transitioning to Explosive Arrow Ballistas at lv.32).
- I suggest getting the "Recover 2% of Life,ES,Mana" mod for your first charm, as it will boost your survivability and mana sustain during mapping significantly.
- If you're having trouble finding the King of the Mists boss for the 3rd quest, you can buy an unlock service at the TFT (The Forbidden Trove) poe discord, the cost is up to 1div.

THAT WHICH WAS TAKEN JEWEL
This has quite a bunch of mods that can benefit our build.
The MUST HAVE mods for this build are Spell Suppression (Aim for 15%) and Golem buff effect.
For other usefull mods check the "Wildwood Ascendancy" section of the video guide on youtube.

WHEN TO EQUIP ETERNAL DAMNATION?
You can actually equip it as soon as you wear a Loreweave, but it's prefferable to have at least 50%+ Chaos Resistance on your items to reap the benefits of the amulet.
If you don't know what it does, it adds more defense against Elemental Damage (Fire/Cold/Lightning) in addition to your elemental resistances. It'll make you tankier.

WHEN TO TRANSITION TO TRANSCENDENCE?
First of all, this Keystone is not really mandatory for this build, it's just extra defense, since we already have high DPS.
Without it we still have 90% physical damage reduction and 78% to all resistances, with a boost of Elemental Damage mitigation from Eternal Damnation.
Transcendence just makes you way more beefy against elemental damage hits, which is the most common damage type of endgame bosses.
If you feel comfortable with your defenses without it, you can replace it with a Lethal Pride timeless jewel (Doesn't matter under who's command the jewel is)
slotted in the jewel socket under "Bravery", look for mods like:
- Ignites you inflict deal damage faster
- Increased fire damage
- Increased maximum life
Back to our case, you transition only after you get sufficient Physical Damage Reduction, because once you allocate Transcendence, your Armour
no longer defends against Physical Damage, but against Elemental Damage, leaving you weak to Physical Damage.
Our main sources of Physical Damage Reduction are our Chaos Golem (Scaled by Golem Buff Effect) and Endurance Charges.
For more sources, check out the "Defence" Section of the youtube video build guide.

WHEN TO REPLACE PRECISION WITH VITALITY?
You will need to take care of your accuracy first.
We get %Increased accuracy from our Ice golem, so getting all sources of
Golem Buff Effect is a must (Ascendancy/"Golem Commander" on skill tree/Primordial Eminence jewels/Charms).
We also replace regular Flame Golem for Flame Golem of Hordes, for 2 extra golems, which grant us 50% increased buff effect
of our other golems (Thanks to Elemancer ascendancy node). We have plenty of DPS so losing the "Incresed Damage" buff from Flame Golem isn't a huge deal.
We will also need Flat accuracy, which we can get on our Helmet/Quiver/Ring, we'll need around 600-700 for 100% hit chance.
I only got 480 on my ring, had 100% chance to hit, and 93% chance to hit evasive monsters (Shows as 96% in the PoB), it's barely noticable while playing.

HOW ARE WE GETTING ENDURANCE AND FRENZY CHARGES?
Frenzy - Blood Rage skill gem while mapping, and Frenzy skill gem for single target.
Endurance - "Enduring Composure" notable on a small armour cluster jewel.

DAMAGE FROM HITS TAKEN FROM TOTEM'S LIFE BEFORE YOU
This is a nice defensive layer, acts like a mini Fortify, we can get 5% from the Totem Mastery on the skill tree, and 3% more on a That Which was Taken jewel.

TOTEM/GOLEM SURVIVABILITY
For golems we have the "Elemancer" ascendancy node which makes them immune to Elemental Damage, Life increase from the
"Golem Commander" cluster on the skill tree, and Meat Shield support gem, which makes them take 29% less damage.
Totems inherently take 80% less damage from enemies, they gain more life with gem levels, and we take the "Ironwood" notable for some more survivability.
In addition to all of that, our auras affect all our nearby allies (Totems and Golems are considered allies), so Determination gives them a bunch of armour to survive physical damage,
and our Purity of Elements gives them Elemental resistances and immunity to elemental ailments, making our totems immune to attack speed 
slows from chills. They can still be affected by Temporal Chains and other debuffs/affects that reduce action speed.
If you feel good about your own survivability, you can replace the current Totem Mastery with "Totem action speed cannot be dropped to below base value" to counter the above.

PLAYSTYLE
-- Mapping --
	- Activate Blood Rage
	- Drop totems while running around
	- Use Arcanist Brand for tough rares/enemies
	- Profit

-- Single Target / Bosses --
	- Drop totems
	- Put Arcanist Brand on target
	- Frenzy couple times for charges
	- Watch it burn

======================================= CRAFTING SECTION =======================================

MidGame Bow
- Find an ilv.82+ Crude/Grove/Thicket bow base with Fractured 20%+ "To Damage Over Time Multiplier" mod. Preferably Crude/Grove since they have lower Dex requirement and Easier to get Off Colors on (Blue/Red).
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/kmyn2YKu5
- Spam Shrieking Essences of Dread (+2 to level of socketed bow gems) untill 14%+ Increased attack speed and 1 empty suffix
- Benchcraft "To fire damage over time multiplier".
Make sure the bow doesn't have "Adds # to # Fire Damage", it will brick your Elemental Equilibrium.

EndGame Bow
- Find an ilv.82+ Crude/Grove/Thicket bow base with Fractured 26% "To Damage Over Time Multiplier" mod. Preferably Crude/Grove since they have lower Dex requirement and Easier to get Off Colors on (Blue/Red).
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/3oqWZz5T5
- Use Perfect fossils on it to get it to over 24% quality (Important for our Harvest implicit craft later).
Alternatively, buy a Hillock Weapon Syndicate benchcraft of 24%+ on TFT discord.
- Spam Shrieking Essences of Dread on it (+2 to level of socketed bow gems) untill you hit 63%+ "Increased elemental damage with attacks" mod.
- We need 1 empty prefix and 1 empty suffix on it, if one or both are full, use Orb of Annulment to attempt to free them up, if annuled the socketed gems or Inc. ele dmg, repeat previous step.
- If there is 1 empty suffix, craft "Cannot roll attack mods" and slam an Exalted orb, guaranteeing "+1 to level of socketed gems" prefix.
If there are 2 empty suffixes, craft "Can have up to 2 crafted modifiers" and "Cannot roll Attack Mods", and slam Exalted orb. Now our prefixes are done.
- craft "Prefixes cannot be changed" and either use a Veiled Chaos orb (Can potentially give you a crappy extra suffix), or Aisling Syndicate benchcraft (TFT Discord) slam to be safe (Expensive - around 5divs).
- Block any "Increased damage per frenzy/power/endurance charge" mod, and unveil. We're looking for any form of "Increased Attack Speed". it can be one of the following:
	- # To Dex and Int + #%Increased attack speed
	- Chance to trigger lv.1 blood rage + #%Increased attack speed
	- #%Increased attack speed while a rare or unique enemy is nearby
If fail to get any of these, repeat previous step.
*If you're not that rich, unveiling "To fire damage over time multiplier" is also ok, then benchcraft either regular #%Increased attack speed or "Increased attack speed while a rare or unique enemy is nearby".
- Craft "To fire damage over time multiplier" suffix benchcraft.
- Finish with an "Increased attack speed per 8% quality" harvest implicit.

Midgame Quiver
- Find an ilv.85 Broadhead Arrow Quiver with fractured 15%+ "To damage over time multiplier with attacks" mod.
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/V25WV7afp
- Spam Shrieking essences of Woe (Increased damage with bow skills) untill you hit 80+ max life.
(If you luckily hit 10%+ Increased attack speed and an empty prefix, craft either +55 max life or "32% Increased elemental damage with attacks")
	- Empty suffix - benchcraft attack speed
	- Empty prefix - benchcraft "Increased elemental damage with attacks" or flat cold/lightning dmg if you need it for Elemental Equilibrium.
Make sure the quiver doesn't end up with an "Adds # to # Fire Damage to attacks" mod, it will brick our Elemental Equilibrium.

Endgame Quiver
- Find an ilv.85 Broadhead Arrow Quiver with fractured 26% "To damage over time multiplier with attacks" mod.
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/yDpZwjqhR
- Spam Shrieking (Deafening if rich) essences of Woe (Increased damage with bow skills) untill you hit 90+ max life and 51+ dex/481+ accuracy/11%+ attack speed
(Choice depends on whether you already have high dex/accuracy on your Helmet/Ring)
	- If you got Dex/Accuracy and have an empty suffix, benchcraft Attack speed and you're done.
	If you don't have an empty suffix, you can attempt to annul a useless suffix, if it removes a useless suffix craft attack speed, if not, repeat previous step.
	Another option is if your suffixes are full and you have an empty prefix, craft "32% Increased elemental damage with attacks".
	- If you got Attack Speed:
		- Empty suffix - Craft Accuracy/Chaos res/Attributes (Whatever you need)
		- Empty prefix - "32% Increased elemental damage with attack" or Flat cold/lightning dmg if you need it for Elemental Equilibrium.
	- If you got Dex/Accuracy/Attack speed and have 1 empty prefix and 2 empty suffixes, craft "Can have up to 2 crafted mods"
	  and craft "Increased ele dmg with attacks" or flat cold/lightning for prefix, and Attack speed/Accuracy/Chaos res/Attribute (Depending on what you need) for suffix.
Make sure the quiver doesn't end up with an "Adds # to # Fire Damage to attacks" mod, it will brick our Elemental Equilibrium.

Endgame Helmet
- Find an Armour/Evasion base helmet with fractured "14% Chance to suppress spell damage" mod. (Pig-faced Bascinet with 80%+ Base Percentile if you're rich)
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/bMGrmYzTL
- Use Perfect fossils untill high quality % (preferably 26%+).
- Spam Shrieking Essences of Loathing (8% Mana Reservation Efficiency) untill you hit T1 Dex or Accuracy. (Use Deafening essences if rich)
The choice between Dex or Accuracy depends on whether you have those on your Ring/Quiver. If you already have both of these on ring/quiver you can look for:
	-18%+Increased Life Regeneration
	- Regenerate 100+ life per second
	- 31%+ Chaos resistance
	(Choose depending on what you need most/missing in your build)
- Use 1 Lesser Eldritch Ember, doesnt matter the result.
- Use Eldritch Chaos Orbs (Make sure you only have 1 Searing Exarch implicit before that) untill you hit 70+ max life and an empty prefix.
- Benchcraft 8% of physical damage from hits taken as fire damage". 
- Use Embers for "Reduced mana cost of attacks" implicit and Ichors for "Increased mana reservation efficiency of skills".
Use higher tiers of Embers/Ichors depending on your budget. (Lesser is fine to start with, can always upgrade later)

Endgame Gloves
- Find an Armour/Evasion base pair of gloves with fractured "14% Chance to suppress spell damage" mod. (Dragonscale guantlets with 80%+ Base Percentile if rich)
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/vpYZO6DHE
(If too expensive, get one with 13% and allocate a 4% suppress chance node near "Reflexes" on the skill tree instead)
- Use Perfect fossils untill high quality % (preferably 26%+).
- Spam Shrieking Essences of Zeal (14-16% attack speed) untill you hit 31%+ Chaos Resistance. (Use Deafening essences if rich)
- Use 1 Lesser Eldritch Ember, doesnt matter the result.
- Use Eldritch Chaos Orbs (Make sure you only have 1 Searing Exarch implicit before that) untill you hit 70+ max life and an empty prefix.
- Benchcraft one of the following:
	- "+1 to level of socketed AoE Gems" (And place your aura gems inside the gloves)
	- "28% Increased damage during any flask effect"
- Use Embers for "To fire damage over time multiplier" imlicit, and Ichors for "Chance to suppress spell damage".
Grand Eldritch Ichors for 7% are necessery to cap our spell suppression chance.

Endgame Boots
- Find an Armour/Evasion base pair of boots with fractured "14% Chance to suppress spell damage" mod. (Dragonscale boots with 80%+ Base Percentile if rich)
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/nMraJLMT0
- Use Perfect fossils untill high quality % (preferably 26%+).
- Spam Harvest Reforge Chaos untill 31%+ Chaos res and 30%+ any other Ele res.
- Make sure you have an empty prefix, if not, use 1 Lesser Eldritch Ember and use 1 Eldritch Orb of Annulment to remove 1 prefix.
- Buy a Wild Bristle Matron beast from trade (costs around 1.5div), and use it on the boots in the Menagerie for a guaranteed "Suffixes cannot be changed" metamod.
- Use a veiled chaos orb (or aisling if rich).
- Benchcraft block "to maximum mana".
- Unveil any mod with Movement Speed.
- Benchcraft Max Life.
- Use Embers for "Increased effect granted by your Chaos Golems" and Ichors for "Ignites you inflict deal damage faster".

Endgame Ring
- Find an ilv.82+ Amethyst Ring base with fractured 30%+ "Increased elemental damage with attack skills" mod.
Link to search: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Affliction/qM9yG0dug
- Scour to make it magic and use 10 x Prismatic Catalysts on it to boost resistances.
- Regal it to make it rare
- Spam Harvest Reforge Chaos untill you hit 31%+ Chaos Res, T1 Dex/Accuracy and 30%+ any ele res. (Hold ALT while checking stats of resistances to see real rolls, since we used catalysts on the ring)
Choice between Dex/Accuracy depends on whether you already have 1 of those on your Helmet/Quiver.
If you already have both Dex and Accuracy on your helm and quiver, i'd personally look for more accuracy (Can go for 200+, doesn't have to be T1) just to have that 100% hit chance, or choose between the following:
	- Attack speed
	- Strength (Extra max life)
	- Damage recouped as life
	- Life regen
	- Mana regen
- Make sure you have an empty prefix, if not, attempt to annul a prefix. If annuled 1 of the suffixes, repeat previous step.
- Buy a Wild Bristle Matron beast on the trade site (~1.5divs) and use it on the ring in the Menagerie for a guaranteed "Suffixes cannot be changed" metamod.
- Benchcraft block "Max mana".
- Unveil Max life (If no choices for max life, repeat the wild bristle matron step)
- Benchcraft -7 Mana cost to non-channeling skills.