Ephemeral Edge Blade Trap Saboteur^3.22

Notes

FAQ:

Is this build hardcore viable?
This build, in its end state is absolutely hardcore viable, but I would probably not leaguestart it in hardcore due to having too many moving parts to assemble defensively imo. Relying on flask sustain to prevent chaos damage
from killing you can also be somewhat risky due to the 'Tormented Thief' spirit which causes possessed enemies to remove your flask effects when they hit you. Taking the 'Speaker of The Dead' atlas keystone will prevent Spirits
from being able to possess monsters and thus protect you from their effects. Reduced flask charges gained map mods can also be sketchy if you miss them and don't re-roll the mod when running the map. Despite this being a
pretty mediocre clearspeed character built for tankiness, if I were to play Hardcore I would run either a CI version without Ghostwrithe and Presence of Chayula, *or* instead simply use Esh's Visage and not reserve your life pool to
a low-life state.

Is this build SSF viable?
I would say most likely not, at least not as a first character. If you get very lucky with drops and stumble upon most of the required/best uniques it's probably possible as a second character.

Trickster vs. Saboteur?
Both versions have comparable eHP and max hits, although Trickster has solidly more damage. Saboteur however has *much* more AoE for Blade Trap, and thus much better clear, and also damage consistency against bosses
that move slightly. I have put an emphasis on better clear for both versions however, and have thus scaled AoE in their endgame versions more than previous versions of the build I have played.  Sab also relies on normal ES recharge
(i.e not getting hit for 2 seconds) for its top end ES recovery rather than Trickster's rather consistent Spellbreaker recharge. Both versions have around 2k passive ES regen. You can optionally run Spellbreaker 
Forbidden Jewels rather than Heartstopper Forbidden jewels on Sab to gain back that recovery, but to the detriment of a solid chunk of mitigation from Heartstopper.

Total eHP: Trickster = Saboteur
Max hits: Trickster = Saboteur
Damage: Trickster > Saboteur 
Clear: Trickster <<< Saboteur
Recovery: Trickster >> Saboteur (Equal if using Spellbreaker Forbidden Jewels for Sab)


How do I start leveling this build?
We will be starting as a physical/chaos attack character utilizing Cobra Lash for clear and bossing + Puncture for some extra Single Target aid. 

When do I switch to Blade Trap?
As soon as you hit level 12 you should be ready to swap to Blade Trap. In just a 3L with weapons bought from the vendor (preferably %phys vendor recipe weapons), it will deal very good DPS on bosses like Merveil,
Fidelitas, the Bandits, and the Vaal Oversoul. Remember to use Bear Trap and Withering Step to increase your damage dealt. You can optionally clear with Cobra Lash still, just make sure both your weapons are daggers or claws.

When do I switch to Lightning-based Blade Trap?
Your absolute #1 priority early on is getting your hands on a Crown of Thorns helmet, preferably well-rolled. This helmet has a massive amount of ES for not having a level requirement, and combos incredibly well with tthe Energy Shield
Mastery for 100% increased ES from your equipped helmet. I suggest setting up a live-search for the helmet pretty much at the beginning of league-start and buying one as soon as you possibly can afford it. This helmet plus the ES 
mastery will allow you to equip any 2 melee weapons and use the Energy Blade skill (level 24 req) to cut your ES in half, but transform your weapons into very high lightning damage swords based on your max ES. Try to scale your life
as normal, but pick up efficient Energy Shield gear as shown in the different leveling item sets. Use life as your primary HP while leveling, but remember that ES equals both extra eHP and also damage. If you are not able to get your 
hands on a Crown of Thorns early, simply continue on as chaos/poison based Blade Trap until you get can get one. 

What do I do with my first chaos orb?
If you were able to get Crown of Thorns for alchemy orbs and have a chaos orb, buy Ephemeral Edge whenever you can, and keep it in your stash for when you switch to pure ES and drop Energy Blade.

What other Uniques should I consider while leveling?
At level 25, you can optionally purchase a Foxshade body armour. This will grant tons of evasion, movement speed, and some additional defense (unlucky damage taken) while on full life. When you have ES you should be on
full life except against chaos damage. At level 37 you can swap to a Zahndethus' Cassock which grants a lot of Energy Shield, and in turn damage. Along the way also try to pick up Bated Breath and Doedre's Damning
if you have extra currency. At level 59 (once again depending on your currency situation), you can also swap over to a Vis Mortis for a lot of Energy Shield before you get to maps and swap to The Restless Ward.

When can I switch to mostly Energy Shield?
I would say you can switch to mostly Energy Shield when you are around level 50-55, and have Ephemeral Edge. At this point you can spec out of life nodes on the tree. I would suggest trying to also pick up a Kongming's Strategem if you can,
as it will help your ES and defense greatly until maps. You should likely have around 2.5k-3k ES and around 1k life when you transition near the end of Act 7 or start of Act 8. Make sure to take the Energy Shield mastery for 30% of Chaos Damage
doesn't bypass ES. Once you start using Ephemeral Edge, make sure you are using a shield instead of a 2nd weapon, preferably Kongming's Strategem.

When do I switch to Chaos Inoculation?
This is unfortunately mostly a personal choice that may have to be done by feel rather than any concrete point in your character progression. I would say I would switch when your ES pool gets around 5x your life pool, and you also have
consistent recovery, i.e Saboteur's Pyromaniac, or high evasion + solid spell suppression chance with Spellbreaker for Trickster. 

When do I switch *out* of Chaos Inoculation?
You should switch out of CI when you manage to get a 'The Traitor' (Balbala) Brutal Restraint Timeless Jewel with at least 30% Flask Charges gained on allocated passives (use the Timeless Jewel tool in PoB), and a Coruscating Elixir flask.
You should also get either the 2 other elemental flasks (Sapphire and Topaz), or 1 elemental flask (depending on resistances) and a Quicksilver, both with as high rolls of 'Increased Charge Recovery' as possible (cap is 50%). These can
be manually alteration rolled or purchased on trade. If buying them on trade make sure to not get a flask with the Increased Charge Recovery/Reduced Effect hybrid mod though. You can remove these from your trade search by adding a 
stat group for 'not' and adding 'increased effect' as a mod there. You preferably want flasks with open suffixes so they can have Veiled crafts crafted on to them. If you get unlucky with alts or buying, you can always 50/50 an annul and
hope to not remove the charge recovery prefix. For bossing, it is suggested to run 3 elemental flasks (with Coruscating Elixir being the Ruby), but as said previously, you can run a quicksilver in the slot of the Sapphire or Topaz if you 
are resistance capped without the flask being in effect.