Corrupting Fever Reap
Champion Build

Updated for Patch 3.21

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Dealing Physical Damage over Time was historically a domain of the Gladiator ascendancy, but as of patch 3.21, it's simply not worth choosing it over a much more tanky Champion. You can still obtain one or two good Keystones via a pair of Forbidden Jewels while keeping all the benefits of Champion's Fortitude, Unstoppable Hero, Inspirational, and First to Strike, Last to Fall. You still want to pick a class that has easy access to the bottom part of the Skill Tree, especially the left part of the outermost ring as there is a lot of Maximum Life, Armour, Physical Damage over Time nodes, and the Resolute Technique Keystone. The type of Physical DoT you'll deal is not Bleeding but Corrupted Blood from Corrupting Fever Skill. You can stack it up to ten times, each stack lasting 6 seconds. The Corrupting Fever on you will refresh with each kill so you won't have to constantly use it. It's a relatively weak build in terms of single-target damage, not really supposed to kill bosses.

To apply the damaging debuff you will need an actual Skill that Hits. There are two - one for bossing and one for clearing. Kinetic Blast is a Wand Attack that shoots multiple Projectiles which explode so it's quite good, definitely the best pick for a Wand. For bossing use Reap - a Physical Spell that deals Hit damage and DoT. Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect, that's why using a Wand with increased Spell Damage and Cast Speed may be a good idea. Due to the Blood Charges it grants on each use, each time you cast it it deals more damage and costs more Life, so it's great against bosses as the damage will quickly ramp up after 5 consecutive Casts. The Vaal Variant deals much more damage and leaves a pool of boiling blood for extra DoT. The build has a lot of Maximum Life, Armour, and Fortify Buff so it's above average when it comes to withstanding blows.

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1. Gameplay

There are two ways in which you can play, depending on the weapon you use. If it's Poet's Pen you will only use Kiectic Blast to Attack, Spells socketed in it will be activated automatically on 0.25-sec Cooldown. If you're using a regular Wand cast Reap Manually against bosses, this way you will rely on Cast Speed too, but it's not a stat worth accumulating much of. All your Skills will be linked to Lifetap so you can reserve all your Mana with Auras like Malevolence, Determination, and Pride. War Banner can be cast off-charge. To dash use Flame Dash. Regenerating Life is a big issue if you don't have any sources of Life on hit, use Enduring Cry to replenish it. For a Guard Spell use Molten Shell. Blood Rage could be implemented if you can withstand the Life drain.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

To level up efficiently, use our guide. It's for a Duealist using Physical Attacks and Impale, which is not exactly your cup of tea, but the build we're presenting here uses three Large Cluster Jewels anyway, and the transitioning to Bleed build from Hit build can be done at any point with little changes done to the Skill Tree or even gear.

Bandits:

Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

33 Points Passive Tree
Allocate Resolute Technique as shown.
 

65 Points Passive Tree
Pick up more Maximum Life, Physical Attack Damage, and one of the clusters for more damage with the weapon you're using - we've picked the Sword cluster. If you rely on Bleeding to deal damage, allocate Savage Wounds, Bloodletting, and Veteran Soldier notables.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

102 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Unstoppable Hero
2. Fortitude
3. Inspirational
4. First to Strike, Last to Fall

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Ryslatha: Life Flasks gain 3 Charges every 3 seconds if you haven't used a Life Flask Recently; 60% increased Life Recovery from Flasks used when on Low Life

5. Final Gems links

[UTILITY] Kinetic Blast setup
	Kinetic Blast - A Wand Attack that's used only to apply Corrupting Fever stacks on multiple enemies quickly.
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - More Projectiles for a better clear speed.
	Lifetap Support - Keep it at level 1.
	Maim Support - Maims enemies so that they'll receive increased Physical Damage. You can replace it with  Life Gain on Hit Support if they're already Maimed.

[DPS] Corrupting Fever setup
	Corrupting Fever - A buff that costs a lot of Life but luckily you only need to activate it once per map. It imbues your Spells and Attacks with the power to apply Corrupting Blood damaging debuff on Hit (NOT Bleeding). Use the Anomalous version to lower the cost.
	Brutality Support - Grants much more Physical Damage, but also an inability to deal any other type of damage, which is not an issue.
	Efficacy Support - Increased Skill Effect Duration and more DoT. Use the Divergent version to lower Mana and Life Cost of Skills.
	Swift Affliction Support - Much more Damage over Time, but less Skill Effect Duration.
	Empower Support - Increases Gem Level of Linked Skills so that they'll deal more Damage (and Cost more Life).
	Lifetap Support - Use Level 20 Lifetap for more damage. Replace it with  Reap Skill if you don't want to use Poet's Pen.

[UTILITY] Poet's Pen setup socketed in Poet's Pen
	Reap - In this optional setup Reap will be used automatically each time you Attack. It's a Spell that deals Physical Damage and DoT. It won't deal much damage here as it's not linked to anything making it a setup suited more for clearing. Use the Vaal version.
	Exsanguinate - Exsanguinate much like Reap costs no Mana, only Life, and deals Physical Hit and DoT Damage that scales up with Spell Damage.
	Brutality Support

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Pride - Enemies near you receive more Physical Damage, this effect is doubled after 4 seconds of continuous exposure.
	Malevolence - Grants more DoT and increases Skill Effect Duration.
	Determination - More and increased Armour.
	Enlighten Support - Increases Mana Reservation Efficiency for all linked Spells.

[UTILITY] Various Skills
	Molten Shell - Guard Spell to mitigate incoming Physical Damage. It can absorb more of it the more Armour you have.
	Enduring Cry - A Warcry that regenerates your Life and grants Endurance Charges.
	Flame Dash - A simple Dash to quickly teleport from place to place.
	Lifetap Support - Keep it at level 1

[UTILITY] War Banner
	War Banner - You can use one Banner for free. War Banner makes nearby enemies receive more Physical Damage making it the best one.

[UTILITY] Blood Rage
	Blood Rage - An optional Skill to generate Frenzy Charges and give you some Life Leech. It drains your Life quickly so be sure you can recover it.

[UTILITY] Herald of Purity
	Herald of Purity - If you still have some unreserved Mana, use Herald of Purity for more Physical Damage.

[UTILITY] Vulnerability
	Vulnerability - The Curse that makes enemies receive increased Physical Damage. It can be applied automatically via Corrupted Gloves Implicit or Ring Affix.

6. Gear Setup

No Uniques are mandatory, you can play this build with rare gear only. Getting Maximum Life is usually a priority, but here it is more so as you need a lot of it to activate Corrupting Fever - the higher level of this Skill Gem, the more Life it costs. If you've played any DoT Spell build before you know what to prioritize - Skill Gem Level of the main damaging ability (it's two abilities here - Corrupting Fever and Reap), Damage over Time, and DoT Multiplier. You already have tons of Armour and Maximum Life, so the next best defensive layers are Chaos Resistance, Maximum Elemental Resistances, and Spell Suppression Chance. Intelligence and Dexterity should also be taken care of. You don't need any Accuracy or Attack Speed. Cast Speed is good if you don't use Poet's Pen but don't prioritize it. Remember - you're not dealing almost any meaningful Bleeding Damage.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - There are no good exotic modifiers, just get the most basic ones like Maximum Life and Resistances. If you're using a base with Evasion or ES you may also find Dexterity and Intelligence.

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life +60% Total Elemental Resistances Nearby Enemies take 9% increased Physical Damage Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Armour increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills Spell Suppression Chance Attributes

Helmet enchantments: Corrupting Fever enchantment mods Reap enchantment mods

(Weapon) Rare Wand - The Wand should increase your Gem Levels of relevant Skills by one or even two, and have some mods for Physical Damage over Time. Attack Speed, Spell Damage, and Cast Speed are not that important.

Min. requirements: Physical Damage over Time Multiplier +1 to Level of all Physical Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: increased Physical Damage over Time increased Damage over Time +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems increased Spell Damage

(Weapon) The Poet's Pen - It will be extremely hard to reach even 1mil DPS with this weapon, but it's still a good option due to increased clear speed. If you're tanky you will be able to do all the bosses in the game anyway, except maybe for Uber bosses.

(11-15)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems per 25 Player Levels Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Attack with this Weapon, with a 0.25 second Cooldown Adds 3 to 5 Physical Damage to Attacks with this Weapon per 3 Player Levels (8-12)% increased Attack Speed

(Off-hand) Rare Shield - Get tons of Maximum Life, Resistances, and Maximum Elemental Resistances here. Attributes, Chaos Resistance, Armour, Block Chance, Spell Suppression Chance, and Reservation Efficiency are good too.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Socketed Gems have 30% increased Reservation Efficiency Chance to Block Maximum Elemental Resistances Armour increased Global Physical Damage Spell Suppression Chance

(Off-hand) Saffell's Frame - It gets you the Maximum Elemental Resistances which bottlenecks your survivability. Spell Block Chance is good too.

+4% to all Elemental Resistances (20-30)% Chance to Block Spell Damage (20-30)% increased Spell Damage +(20-30)% to all Elemental Resistances +4% to all maximum Resistances Cannot Block Attacks

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Regular Body Armour with as much Maximum Life as you can afford is the best option. Get here some Armour, Resistances, and maybe Spell Suppression.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +100% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes increased Maximum Life Armour Spell Suppression Chance

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - The DPS option. It grants no Life, which is really bad for your character, but increases the Gem Level of its setup, which is really good for your character's damage.

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 lot of Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and increased Movement Speed. Attributes and Spell Suppression are welcome.

Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +50% Total Elemental Resistances 30% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: increased Armour Attributes Spell Suppression Chance

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Apothecary Gloves are probably the best base. Here you can look for Damage over Time modifiers or other basic defensive additions.

Min. requirements: +50 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances +15% to Physical Damage over Time Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes Armour Spell Suppression Chance Chaos Resistance

(Gloves) Haemophilia - Increases Damage over Time and makes Bleeding enemies explode. Your chance to cause Bleeding is high due to these Gloves and Vulnerability Curse - it's 50% with these alone. You can also easily find a Corrupted pair with this Curse applied with each Hit.

+(20-30) to Strength 25% increased Damage over Time Attacks have 25% chance to cause Bleeding (25-40)% increased Attack Damage against Bleeding Enemies Bleeding Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Maximum Life as Physical Damage 25% reduced Bleeding Duration

(Belt) Rare Belt - On a Belt, there's just Maximum Life that's the most important. "increased Global Physical Damage" is an Elder's Prefix.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances 20% increased Global Physical Damage Optional affixes: increased Maximum Life increased Damage Strength

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - An Amulet could increase your Gem Level of relevant Skills by one and maybe even two. Maximum Life, Attributes, and DoT Multiplier are your other priorities.

Min. requirements: +1 to Level of all Strength/Physical Skill Gems Maximum Life Optional affixes: Physical Damage over Time Multiplier +1 to Level of all Strength/Physical Skill Gems Attributes Resistances

Recommended Anointments: Acrimony Charisma Discipline and Training

(Ring) Rare Ring - A Ring with increased Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, Attributes, and maybe the Vulnerability Curse on Hit will meet all your needs. We recommend a Vermillion Ring.

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life +80% Total Elemental Resistances Attributes Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Damage over Time Multiplier Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Proper Jewels can make a big difference. Look for one Life Prefix and three other mods for more Damage, preferably.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Dexterity/Intelligence Elemental Resistances increased Damage over Time increased Global Physical Damage Physical Damage over Time Multiplier

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Your Auras are Pride, Determination, and Malevolence. Get the Malevolence mod for an increased DoT Multiplier.

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

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Get Gratuitous Violence as it simply grants you 20% more Damage and makes enemies you kill explode. Headsman is good too.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - We've used three Physical Damage Cluster Jewels with notables as shown. It's the most efficient setup for more damage.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Battle-Hardened 1 Added Passive Skill is Furious Assault 1 Added Passive Skill is Master the Fundamentals

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Granite Flask with increased Armour Basalt Flask with increased Attack/Cast Speed Silver Flask with reduced Curse Effect or Freeze Immunity Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed

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.