I’ve tried a new build in Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League, and it is a lot more powerful than I was expecting. This build is all centered around 2 transfigured gems that I’ve picked up: Arc of Oscillation and Storm Brand of Indecision.
Storm Brand Of Indecision
First, let’s talk about Storm Brand of Indecision. It has a significantly faster cast time than the regular Storm Brand, does more damage, and has a better added damage multiplier. The drawback is that it only hits one enemy at a time instead of 3, and you lose the more damage to branded enemy multiplier.
However, the base damage is so much higher that it doesn’t matter. The really strange thing on Storm Brand of Indecision is that every time it activates, the brand moves to a different enemy.
I assumed this meant that the pack clearing was going to be bad, and I’d have to use something else to do that. My idea for a build was to create a cast speed stacker that gets most of its damage from a hyper-speed Storm Brand and then uses Arc of Oscillation to clear. Storm Brand of Indecision hits hard enough and activates so fast that for most of the second half of the campaign, I was only using Arc against bosses.
In the gameplay, as I’m just getting started, my Storm Brand of Indecision is activating just shy of 9 times per second. I would say that it’s death by a thousand lightning cuts, but this thing cuts pretty hard and rips right through enemy life bars. And I only have my skill gem up to Level 17. So, in order for you to have a better experience of this build, please prepare enough POE Currency.
Arc Of Oscillation
Arc of Oscillation is another gem in this build. The phrasing of Arc of Oscillation is a little confusing, so I’ll just tell you all the differences straight up. Normal Arc cannot hit the same enemy more than once in a single cast. But this Arc of Oscillation can. Because of this sort of pseudo shotgunning, Arc of Oscillation is stellar at taking down tough rares and bosses that spawn ads.
It specifically punishes monsters for being near other monsters. I have run every single Abyss crack that I found throughout the campaign because those normally scary, tough, rare Abyss monsters have never felt so easy.
One thing that has really surprised me is how tanky the build is. I’m using Valako’s Sign, which gives me 1% leech because everything is almost always shocked. Combining that with the extra tankiness from souped-up Chaos and Stone Golem buffs makes it an incredibly tanky high regen character. I’m pretty sure at this point that I should just push and take Zealot’s Oath because the leech from Valako’s Sign is more than enough.
Auras
Another big question I have regards my auras. I’m only using Herald of Thunder and Clarity right now, but I very easily could swap out Herald for Wrath instead. I could also change up the build a bit, take the Sovereignty cluster, and then toss in an extra aura.
