CoC Cyclone Forbidden Rite
Occultist Build

Updated for Patch 3.20

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

The Forbidden Rite is cast via Cast on Critical Strike Supporting Cyclone, it allows for much more frequent casts and better mobility, but requires nearly 100% Hit Chance and Crit. Chance. You won't use Life, just Energy Shield with Chaos Inoculation for a complete Chaos Immunity, this includes the Chaos Damage you're dealing to yourself. In this setup, you should be using a Dagger/Claw with Aegis Aurora which grants you instant ES on Block. Not only that, your Watcher's Eye should get you ES on Hit while affected by Discipline for even better sustain. Just be sure that your Block Chance against Attacks and Spells is capped at 75%, the best way to achieve it is to allocate Glancing Blows. Another Keystone you can use is Inner Conviction from Militant Faith for more Damage. You won't use Frenzy Charges anyway. 

Invest heavily in Armour - for ES recovery on Block, and Crit. Chance - for frequent Forbidden Rite casts. You should be able to reach 6k of Energy Shield, capped Resistances at 75% to 80%, Chaos Immunity, capped Block Chance, close to 100k Armour, and ES Leech. The build is very flexible, the majority of items are Rare, and you can allocate two Large Cluster Jewels with up to four Medium ones. It's overall a very tanky build. You are also heavily encouraged to allocate an extra Keystone on your Ascendancy Tree via Forbidden Flesh and Flame, and if you have enough room for Elemental Resistances, use Melding of the Flesh for the extra Maximum Resistances. It would also likely require you to activate the Purity of Ice Aura.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Use Cyclone to trigger Forbidden Rite while Hitting enemies with Critical Strikes. For Auras use Discipline, Determination, Zealotry, Defiance Banner, Precision, and Tempest Shield. Use Assassin's Mark automatically triggered via Mark on Hit Support, Molten Shell for a Guard Spell, and Flame Dash. You can also use Vengeance to trigger various Spells such as Curse. Withering Step is great to boost your mobility and to cause Withered Debuff during boss fights.

Full gameplay video:

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Don't use Forbidden Rite until you allocated Chaos Inoculation, it requires you to accumulate enough Energy Shield, which you won't be able to do until the end of the Acts or after you started mapping. Use any Spell you're comfortable with leveling, Arc is a great candidate. Be prepared to respec a lot of Skill points as you start as a Life build dealing lightning Damage, later transitioning into a Chaos CI build. You should transition to ES after allocating Chaos Inoculation around levels 60 to 80.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Frostbolt setup
	Arc - Arc is a good Spell to level up quickly, it automatically targets enemies, and with some investment in Lighting Damage it can carry you up to level 80
	Arcane Surge Support - as you spend Mana on Skills it grants you more Spell Damage, Mana Regeneration, and Cast Speed
	Added Lightning Damage Support - use it to deal more Lightning Damage
	Inspiration Support - reduces Mana Cost, increases Elemental Damage, and Critical Strike Chance

Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - one of the most versatile Movement Skills
	Faster Casting Support - increases the Cast Speed of Flame Dash

Arcanis Brand setup
	Zealotry - it's the best Aura to increase Spell's Crit. Chance
	Clarity - Use Clarity for faster Mana Regeneration

Bandits:

Killing all three Bandits for two Passive Skill Points is the best option, but consider helping Alira for Mana Regen, Crit Multiplier, and Elemental Resistances

Leveling Skill Trees:

32 Points Skill Tree
Pick up Spell Damage, Maximum Life and Mana, Critical Strike, and Lightning Damage nodes

68 Points Skill Tree
look for more Maximum Life, allocate the Maximum Power Charges and Disciple of the Forbidden, and prepare for the transition to ES build

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - this Ring grants you damage, Attributes, and Elemental Resistances

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - Goldrim is a standard leveling Helmet - it has a lot of Elemental Resistances

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Tabula Rasa - it has six, white, and already linked sockets

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

Storm Prison - has a great Synergy with Power Charges

(11-15)% increased Spell Damage (40-60)% increased Physical Damage Adds 1 to (35-45) Lightning Damage (15-25)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +1 to Maximum Power Charges (25-35)% chance to gain a Power Charge on Kill

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

97 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster nor Unique Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Void Beacon
2. Withering Presence
3. Forbidden Power
4. Unholy Authority

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Forbidden Rite setup
	Forbidden Rite - It launches a lot of Projectiles that deal Chaos Damage and take a percentage of your Life and ES which you are immune to. Fires extra projectiles aimed at enemies standing nearby.
	Cyclone - an Attack that is used to trigger the linked Spell, it has a very high Attack Speed to trigger it frequently
	Cast on Critical Strike Support - Forbidden Rite will be triggered upon landing a Critical Strike with Cyclone
	Void Manipulation Support - you deal more Chaos Damage, but no Elemental Damage
	Power Charge on Critical Support - you deal more damage per Power Charge, and your Critical Strike Chance is increased
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - Cyclone and Forbidden Rite have a higher chance for a Critical Strike. If it's already 100%, you can replace it with  Empower Support.

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - Flame Dash is one of the best Mobility Skills, it allows you to quickly dash leaving a line of Burning Ground
	Arcane Surge Support - keep it at a level no higher than 5 so that you will gain Arcane Surge with a single use of Flame Dash
	Second Wind Support - you can use Flame Dash an additional time before running out of charges

[UTILITY] Mark setup
	Mark on Hit Support - linked Mark will be applied to any opponent you Hit with an Attack
	Assassin's Mark - use it to gain Life and Mana on kill, and to increase your Critical Strike Chance and damage. It's good if you can't get the necessary 100% critical strike chance, but the  Sniper's Mark can be equally good - it makes the enemy receive increased damage from projectiles.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Discipline - use it to gain more Energy Shield
	Zealotry - Zealotry is an Aura that increases your Critical Strike Chance for Spells, Spell Damage, and creates Consecrated Ground
	Determination - adds more Amour, and then increases it
	Enlighten Support - lowers the cost of all linked Mana-reserving Skills

[UTILITY] second Aura setup
	Defiance Banner - increases your Evasion Rating and Armour while reducing enemies' chance to critically strike you. If you struggle with Mana sustain - swap it for  Clarity
	Precision - increases your Critical Strike Chance and Accuracy Rating, you should be able to level it all the way up to level 20
	Tempest Shield - Shock immunity and Spell Block Chance, great with Aegis Aurora.
	Purity of Ice - You can replace only of these spells with Purity of Ice, that with the additional modifiers to gem level and aura effectiveness will massively increase your maximum cold res, which is good with Melding of the Flesh.
	Enlighten Support

[UTILITY] Vengeance setup
	Vengeance - has a 55% chance of being triggered on Hit, attacking all the enemies around you
	Divergent Purifying Flame - Divergent Purifying Flame is used to create Consecrated Ground, enemies standing on it will receive 5% increased damage.
	Cast on Critical Strike Support
	Culling Strike Support - Linked Skills will instantly kill any enemy below 10% of their Maximum Life.
	Despair - Cursed enemies have reduced Chaos Resistance. You can use it here with  Hextouch Support, but the better way to apply it would be via Gloves corruption or a Ring modifier.

[UTILITY] Withering Step
	Withering Step - Withering Step grants you the Elusive Buff, Phasing, and it applies 7 stacks of the Withered Debuff on nearby enemies.

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - you take much less damage from Hits during its effect, it can prevent more Damage the more Armour you have

5. Gear Setup

Aegis Aurora is a great tool of ES Recovery, you should definitely get one as soon as you can, the rest of the gear provides mostly enough Accuracy for a 100% Hit Chance with Cyclone, a 100% Critical Strike Chance for Cyclone, Getting 155 Strength and 120 Dexterity, and capping your Elemental Resistances. After that's settled, seek more Chaos Damage, Crit. Multiplier, Attack Speed, Block Chance, Armour, and of Course Energy Shield. Try to get some rare or craftable affixes for additional Power Charges and reduced Mana cost of Skills. You won't need extra Mana Reservation Efficiency if you have at least one Enlighten Support Gem at level 3.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS, Life, and ES to start mapping

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - A Rare Helmet is a valid option, but getting a good enough one might be a bit expensive. Look for the "Maximum Power Charges" and "Nearby Enemies have -#% to Chaos Resistance" mods

Min. requirements: 80 Energy Shield +50% Total Elemental Resistances +1 to Maximum Power Charges Nearby Enemies have -#% to Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Strength Dexterity increased Energy Shield

(Helmet) Crown of the Inward Eye - It grants a lot of Armour, Spell Damage, and Energy Shield

333% increased Armour and Energy Shield (9-21)% increased maximum Life, Mana and Global Energy Shield Transfiguration of Soul Transfiguration of Body Transfiguration of Mind

Helmet enchantments: Forbidden Rite enchantments

(Weapon) Rare Claw or Dagger - a Claw or Dagger with increased Spell Damage and Crit. Chance should be fine. You can also Craft the "Hits can't be Evaded" affix so that you won't need any Accuracy Rating. Cyclone requires a melee weapon.

Min. requirements: 60% increased Spell Damage 30% increased Critical Strike Chance +30% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier +1 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed Hits can't be Evaded (crafted)

(Shield) Aegis Aurora - it instantly grants you a lot of ES on block, be sure that you have a lot of Armour and a high Block Chance for both - Attacks and Spells

(300-400)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +10% to all Elemental Resistances +5% to maximum Cold Resistance +6% Chance to Block Replenishes Energy Shield by 2% of Armour when you Block (10-20)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Body Armour) Rare Grasping Mail - upon selling 60 Breach Rings to a Vendor you have a small chance to get a Body Armour with increased Global Defences Prefix, it will get you a lot of Armour and Energy Shield

Min. requirements: 50% increased Global Defences 1000 Armour 90% increased Armour Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Strength Dexterity Energy Shield

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - It increases your Defences by 100% - that's Energy Shield and Armour, both of which are important. The +2 to all Socketed Skill Gems is definitely a nice thing to have, but besides that, it doesn't offer much more.

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) <Random Keystone>

(Boots) Rare Boots - A pair of Boots with high Elemental Resistances, Energy Shield, and Movement Speed should be enough. the mods for Elusive, Onslaught, and Tailwind are especially powerful here, but Onslaught can be gained by other means. elusive too - by Withering Step for example.

Min. requirements: +70% Total Elemental Resistances 100 Energy Shield 30% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently Dexterity or Strength chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - your options to increase your DPS are limited when it comes to Rare Gloves, focus mostly on Energy Shield and Elemental Resistances

Min. requirements: +70% Total Elemental Resistances 100 Energy Shield Optional affixes: Dexterity Accuracy increased Spell Damage increased Attack Speed

(Gloves) Hands of the High Templar - these are much better than Rare Gloves, you can corrupt them to get the Implicit you want - that is Despair or Temporal Chains Curse on Hit (or both), increased Level of Socketed Gems, and Crit. Chance

Can be modified while Corrupted Can have up to 5 Implicit Modifiers while Item has this Modifier (150-200)% increased Armour and Energy Shield (7-12)% increased maximum Life +(20-30)% to Fire and Lightning Resistances

(Belt) Rare Belt - A Crystal Belt or a Stygian Vise should be a great source of ES, Strength, Armour, and Resistances

Min. requirements: +40 to Strength +40 to maximum Energy Shield +70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Damage Armour

(Amulet) Ashes of the Stars - it's an Amulet suitable for most of the builds that don't require any other specific mods, it increases the Level and Quality of all Skill Gems

+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10-20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - There are no overly-complex mods on an amulet, just the regular affixes to increase your E.S, Critical Strike mods, Attributes, and increased level of Forbidden Rite

Min. requirements: +30% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier +50 to maximum Energy Shield 20% increased maximum Energy Shield +1 to Level of all Chaos Skill Gems Optional affixes: Strength Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Dexterity +1 to Level of all Skill Gems

Recommended Anointments: Tranquility Champion of the Cause Charisma

(Ring) Rare Ring - Rings should provide Attributes, Energy Shield, Strength, and Dexterity. If your Skills cost too much mana, you can also craft a mod to reduce the Mana Cost of Skills.

Min. requirements: +35 to maximum Energy Shield +70% Total Elemental Resistances Strength and Dexterity Optional affixes: Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost (crafted) +1 to Maximum Power Charges (synthesized implicit) Accuracy Rating Global Critical Strike Multiplier

(Ring) Mageblood - We usually don't mention the Mageblood as it's too expensive for a regular player and obviously good in any build, but it's especially great in the builds that use Cyclone to cast an expensive Spell as is the case here. It makes you fast, and your skills cheap.

+(25-35) to Strength +(30-50) to Dexterity +(15-25)% to Fire Resistance +(15-25)% to Cold Resistance Magic Utility Flasks cannot be Used Leftmost (2-4) Magic Utility Flasks constantly apply their Flask Effects to you Magic Utility Flask Effects cannot be removed

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Look for Increased Maximum ES and the stats you lack - Attributes, Accuracy, or Resistances. If you need damage look for Spell or Chaos Damage, and Critical Strike mods.

Recommended affixes: increased Energy Shield increased Mana Reservation Efficiency Critical Strike Multiplier for Spells Critical Strike Chance Elemental Resistances increased Spell/Chaos Damage Strength or Dexterity

(Jewel) Thread of Hope - you can use it to allocate Glancing Blows and Light of Divinity

Only affects Passives in Large Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - a mod that instantly grants you Energy Shield when you Hit an Enemy when affected by Discipline is the best mod you can get

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Militant Faith - Look for a Dominus version that would grant you Inner Conviction, it will grant you more Spell Damage per Power Charge

Carved to glorify (2000-10000) new faithful converted by High Templar Dominus Passives in radius are Conquered by the Templars Historic <two random mods of devotion>

(Jewel) Melding of the Flesh - Melding of the Flesh can make you much more durable against elemental damage when combined with Aegis Aurora, Purity of Ice, and some other modifiers for extra max cold resistance, some of them can be found on medium or small cluster jewels.

-(80-70)% to all Elemental Resistances Elemental Resistances are capped by your highest Maximum Elemental Resistance instead -(6-4)% to all maximum Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - you should have two of these, the Notables that are available can get you ES Leech, Arcane Surge on Kill, and Chaos Damage

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall 1 Added Passive Skill is Touch of Cruelty 1 Added Passive Skill is Unholy Grace 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil 1 Added Passive Skill is Arcane Heroism 1 Added Passive Skill is Practiced Caster 1 Added Passive Skill is Thaumophage

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewels - Repeater and Eye to Eye can get you increased Projectile Damage, Quick Gateway and Pressure Point are for Critical Strikes.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Repeater 1 Added Passive Skill is Eye to Eye 1 Added Passive Skill is Pressure Point 1 Added Passive Skill is Basics of Pain 1 Added Passive Skill is Quick Gateway

(Flask) Bottled Faith - it grants more Damage, Critical Strike Chance, and Consecrated Ground on use

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (20-40)% increased Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Flask effect

(Flask) Dying Sun - your Skills fire two additional Projectiles during the Flask's effect

+50% to Fire Resistance 20% less Fire Damage taken (125-150)% increased Charges used (40-60)% reduced Duration (10-20)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - if you lack Block Chance, use this Flask for extra defensive bonuses

+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Basalt Flask of Staunching for Bleeding Immunity Quicksilver Flask with increased movement speed Silver Flask with increased crit chance Experimenter's Diamond Flask with reduced mana cost of skills

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.