Elemental Hit
Wander Elementalist build

Updated for Patch 3.8

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium

This is a very unique approach to Elemental Hit, which utilizes all three types of Elemental Damage and the Elementalist Class. This is a semi-summoner build that uses up to 8 Golems for massive bonuses from Liege of Primordial, Elemancer, and Golem Commander Passives. Not only we get Bonuses from all 5 Golem Types, but they are increased by nearly 500%!. We will be also using all three Heralds for massive DPS bonuses and Elemental Damage Penetration. This is also meant to be a Chaos Inoculation/Energy Shield build, as it offers solid Energy Shield Pool, and Energy Shield and Mana Leech. If you would like to see a Life variation, let us know in the comments below.

All credit for this build goes to Mathil - we only made the recommended Items slightly cheaper and more affordable to casual players.

You can also check our other PoE builds right here: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

This is a very fast-paced Wander build which lets you effortlessly farm Maps. It offers very solid damage output without any excessive investments, and it is quite solid on the defensive part as well. We will be playing with Chaos Inoculation, which grants us Chaos Damage immunity. Combined with High Energy Shield Pool, more than sufficient Energy Shield Leech, very high Regeneration, and Physical Damage mitigation bonuses granted Stone and Chaos Golems, you will be able to smoothly run through Maps. The only problem comes with end-game Bosses, as their AoE will kill your Golems quite fast, reducing all your stats by a ton. You either have to resummon them or keep fighting without their bonuses, either way loosing a lot of your DPS.

0:06 Tier 16 The Constrictor 0:45 Tier 16 Forge of the Phoenix 1:11 Tier 16 The Purifier 1:45 Tier 14 Summit 2:09 Tier 15 Moon Temple This video was recorded on a level 89 Elementalist on Standard

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Like pretty much all Energy Shield/CI Builds, you should level up this Elemental Hit Elementalist as a Life or Hybrid Life/ES character. Until you can use Elemental Hit (level 12) simply use Freezing Pulse or any other Spell available. After you start using Elemental Hit, all you need on your gear is to stack defensive stats (Life, Elemental Resistances) and Attack Speed. Elemental Hit has very high base Damage, so it should be easy. You may also want to get some Mana Regeneration to not get disturbed while progressing fast through the campaign. Below you will find the recommended Gem setups for lower-level Witches and several extremely useful Uniques for this build. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Freezing Pulse setup
	Freezing Pulse - the best Spell you can use for the first 12 levels. Simply switch it to Elemental Hit at level 12
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds extra Lightning Damage to Supported Skills
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds extra Cold Damage

Elemental Hit setup
	Elemental Hit - primary Skill used in this build. It's also good for leveling since its damage comes from Skill Gems mainly
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - very high DPS increase
	Inspiration Support - grants very high bonus Elemental  Damage and reduces Elemental Hit's Mana Cost
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - greatly increases clear speed, making it one of the best Support Gems before you get Dying Sun

Utility Gems
	Summon Lightning Golem - the best Golem for the leveling Phase which increases your Attack and Cast Speed
	Assassin's Mark - the recommended Curse for this build
	Herald of Ice - greatly increases your clear speed by causing AoE explosions when you kill Frozen enemies
	Herald of Thunder - adds Lightning Damage to your Attacks

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

28 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Heart and Soul 2) Cruel Preparation 3) Prismweave 4) Wandslinger

66 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Disintegration 2) Coordination 3) Throat Seeker 4) Spiritual Aid

Skill Trees before the transition to Energy Shield/CI:

93 Points Skill Tree (Life/Hybrid - level 70)
Priorities: 1) Melding 2) Blood Drinker 3) Heartseeker

93 Points Skill Tree (Energy Shield/CI - level 70)
Priorities: 1) Chaos Inoculation 2) Unnatural Calm 3) Soul Thief

Recommended leveling items:

Goldrim - one of the best leveling Helmets which covers up all your needs for 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)

Le Heup of All - grants high bonus Attributes and Damage making it a very decent leveling Ring which should work pretty well for at least 20 levels
Adds 1 to 120 Lightning Damage to Attacks (20-60)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(10-20) Life gained on Kill 10% chance to Cause Monsters to Flee 15% increased Movement Speed

Karui Ward - amazing DPS and Movement Speed bonuses makes it one of the best leveling Amulets for Bow builds
+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Strength +100 to Accuracy Rating 30% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Projectile Damage

Briskwrap - grants high bonus Movement Speed and Attack Speed making it a great pick for the leveling phase
10% increased Attack Speed +(120-180) to Evasion Rating +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance 5% increased Movement Speed (20-25)% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks 15% increased Dexterity

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

113 Points Final Skill Tree
113 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Liege of the Primordial
2. Elemancer
3. Pendulum of Destruction
4. Mastermind of Discord

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul    1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Elemental Hit
	Elemental Hit - primary Attack used in this build. It deals a very high Elemental Damage of a randomly chosen Element
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
	Inspiration Support
	Energy Leech Support - grants very high Energy Shield Leech and increases Elemental Hit's Damage while you are Leeching
	Damage on Full Life Support - increases your damage significantly when you are on Full Life - and this permanent in every Chaos Inoculation build
	Hypothermia Support - grants high bonus Damage against Chilled enemies - you can replace it with Greater Multiple Projectiles for better clearing when casually farming

[UTILITY] Heralds and Discipline
	Herald of Ice - grants added Cold Damage and causes AoE Explosions
	Herald of Ash - increases your Fire Damage and causes enemies to burn for overkill Damage
	Discipline - grants high bonus Energy Shield
	Enlighten Support - reduces Mana Reservation cost of Supported Spells

[UTILITY] Herald of Thunder/Precision
	Herald of Thunder - grants extra Lightning Damage. We need to support it with Brutality so it does trigger Elemental Equilibrium since Lightning is our strongest Element
	Brutality Support - makes Herald of Thunder deal no Lightning Damage and proc Elemental Equilibrium
	Precision - increases our Accuracy Rating and Crit. Chance. Use it on a low level and upgrade as long as you have no issues with Mana Management

[UTILITY] Golems part 1
	Summon Ice Golem - increases your Accuracy Rating and Crit. Chance
	Summon Lightning Golem -  increases your Attack and Cast Speed
	Summon Flame Golem - increases your Damage
	Elemental Army Support - increases your Golems' Elemental Resistances, and causes their damage to reduce monster's Resistance to them (with three Golem types we reduce all the Resistances)

[UTILITY] Golems part 2
	Summon Stone Golem - increases your Life Regeneration which applies to Energy Shield thanks to the Zealot's Oath Passive
	Summon Chaos Golem - grants extra Physical Damage mitigation
	Culling Strike Support - will make your Golems instantly kill enemies below 10% Health. It's optional but since we have an empty socket, why not use it?

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - recommended Movement Spell for this build. It will grant Arcane Surge also with each Cast
	Faster Casting Support
	Arcane Surge Support - grants increased Spell Damage, Mana Regeneration Rate, and Cast Speed. Use it on level 5-7 depending on the Mana Cost of your Flame Dash, so that it's procced with each cast
	Increased Duration Support

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find the recommended gear for our Elemental Hit Wander Elementalist build. The following items are chosen for the base Energy Shield/Chaos Inoculation variant, which offers the best results. If you would like to see an alternative option based on Life, please let us know in the comments below.

The recommended items from our list will:

1. Help you cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully
3. You will save at least a couple of hours since all the item requirements are listed

(Helmet) Crown of Eyes - a must-have Helmet for the Energy Shield variation of this build. It makes Spell Damage apply to Attacks as well, giving us insane bonuses, as well as, extra Leech

+(300-350) to Accuracy Rating (120-150)% increased Energy Shield -30% to Fire Resistance (0.4-0.8)% of Attack Damage Leeched as Life (0.2-0.4)% of Attack Damage Leeched as Mana Increases and Reductions to Spell Damage also apply to Attacks

Helmet enchantment: 15% increased Elemental Hit Attack Speed

(Weapon) Rare Wand - aim for the highest possible Spell Damage and Attacks per second

Min. requirements: 90% Spell Damage 1.6 Attacks per second Optional affixes: Critical Strike Multiplier Chance to Deal Double Damage Elemental Damage with Attacks

(Shield) Rare Shield - with the highest possible base Energy Shield

Min. requirements: 220 Maximum Energy Shield 50% Spell Damage Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Intelligence base with the highest possible Energy Shield will be the BiS option, but it will be extremely hard to get the right socket colors. I have personally used a Carnal Armour with around 400 Energy Shield and extra Evasion, which didn't cost much and worked just fine

Min. requirements: 400 Maximum Energy Shield 1000 Evasion Rating Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Socketed Attacks have +#% Critical Strike Chance

(Boots) Rare Boots - again with high Energy Shield and Resistances. Obviously we also need Movement Speed bonus here

Min. requirements: 120 maximum Energy Shield 30% increased Movement Speed 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strength (Two-Toned Boots with lower ES Only)

Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently

(Belt) Rare Belt - any base will work. Crystal Belt preferably since this setup offers a medium size ES Pool

Min. requirements: 30 Strength 100 maximum Energy Shield 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Damage increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Amulet) Primordial Chain - this is a mandatory item for this build since it allows us to summon more Golems which provide the highest bonuses in this build

Regenerate (2-4) Life per second +3 to maximum number of Golems You cannot have non-Golem Minions 25% reduced Golem Size Golems Deal (45-35)% less Damage Golems have (45-35)% less Life Golems have (80-100)% increased Movement Speed Primordial

(Ring) Rare Rings

Min. requirements: 40 maximum Energy Shield 75% All Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills Accuracy Rating Attributes

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - just aim for high defensive stats

Min. requirements: 120 maximum Energy Shield 35% Fire resistance 35% Lightning resistance 35% Cold resistance Optional affixes: Spell Damage (Fingerless Silk Gloves) Increased Damage while Leeching (Crafting Bench)

(Jewels) Anima Stone - allows us to summon an additional Golem

+1 to maximum number of Golems +1 to maximum number of Summoned Golems if you have 3 Primordial Items Socketed or Equipped

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - this should provide extra Energy Shield and Crit. Multiplier

Recommended affixes: maximum Energy Shield Damage with Wands/Projectile Damage Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes

(Flask) Dying Sun - increases the number of your Projectiles, greatly increasing DPS and clear speed

+50% to Fire Resistance +6% to maximum Fire Resistance (-10-10)% increased Charges used (15-25)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect

(Flask) Bottled Faith - increases your Damage and creates Consecrated Ground on use which increases your Critical Strike Chance significantly

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-50)% increased Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius +(1-2)% to Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies

(Flask) Cinderswallow Urn - grants solid Energy Shield Recovery mechanic and extra Veiled bonus - preferably Crit. Chance, Movement Speed, or Life Regen

Recharges 1 Charge when you Consume an Ignited corpse Enemies Ignited by you during Flask Effect take 10% increased Damage Recover (1-3)% of Life when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect Recover (1-3)% of Mana when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect Recover (1-3)% of Energy Shield when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect <One Veiled Mod>

Suggested Flasks: Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Warding (Curse Immunity) Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Staunching (Bleeding Immunity)

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

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