Storm Brand
Assassin Build

Updated for Patch 3.21

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
 

Assassin is an ascendancy class that specializes mostly in Critical Strikes, it enhances the effect of it, benefits from bonuses such as Elusive Buff, and has some strong synergies with Power Charges. Brands are typically associated with the classes on the upper side of the Passive Skill Tree - namely Hierophant, Elementalist, and Assasin. The Critical Strike mechanic can be really pushed to its limit in this build - your character is stacking Power Charges, up to 10 or maybe even more of them. Take Deadly Infusion and Mistwalker from your Ascendancy Skill Tree for some great Scaling with Charges. You will need two Void Batteries and a Badge of the Brotherhood - it's a trademark of all Power Charge-reliant builds. Now with 10 Frenzy Charges, your Cast Speed and Damage will skyrocket.

Storm Brand is a simple Brand Spell that attaches to an enemy and deals Lightning Damage in fixed intervals to the opponent it is attached to, and the surrounding enemies. It's possible to have up to 5 or 6 Brands, two of them on one opponent at a time, so when fighting with bosses, the best configuration is to have three enemies two or there that can host your Brands and strike the neighbors. It's a Hybrid build - it uses Life and ES to stay alive, you will have to allocate Corrupted Soul with Glorious Vanity for more Energy Shield. Your combined Life pool should reach 4k to 5k, that's not terrible given your constant Elusive buff. The damage of this build is really great, with the Brands automatically attaching to the enemies it has also great clear speed. The downside of this build is its price - it isn't a good league starter - the items are quite expensive so keep that in mind.

Path 3.16 and subsequential have not changed this build much. There is no need to use Transcendent Flesh as there is no preferable socket within your reach. We swapped Herald of Thunder for Hatred to increase the damage. You're no longer able to get the Light Eater Notable from the Thread of Hope so if you don't have any Spell Damage Leech you will have to spend three points instead of one to get it. Your Energy Shield is now more potent, and your Maximum Life is relatively higher.

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

1. Gameplay

There aren't many Active Skills, Storm Brand is obviously the one to be used frequently, do deal with bosses and smaller foes. it's a good idea to link the Hydrosphere with Hextouch, Hydrosphere's Drench and Conductivity will significantly lower the Lightning Resistance of your opponents. Brand Recall can be used to summon all your Brands to your location with an increased attachment range. Use Flame Dash as your Movement Spell. It's a good idea to have your Immortal Call linked with Cast when Damage Taken on the lowest possible level. To increase your damage for a duration use Vaal Righteous Fire.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Assassin on Standard dual-wielding Void Batteries and using random Rare equipment. We had around 1kk DPS per Brand, which may not seem that much, but because of the skill's mechanic, it's more than enough to melt most of the Bosses in the game. And this number can be easily multiplied by more expensive Influenced gear. You should be able to notice, that our gear was nothing extraordinary here

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Start by using Brands right after level 12, before that, you can use any Lightning Spell such as Arc - you will need to increase your Spell, Elemental, or Lightning Damage. These mods are very common and easy to find, even early on. For Critical Strike Chance use Essence of Scorn on your Shield or Weapon, Essence of Torment adds Lightning Damage to Spells, while Essence of Woe increases your Spell Damage. Vendor recipes could be useful early on to craft a magical item with just one mod that suits you. By level 68 you should be able to equip Void Batteries and Badge of the Brotherhood and by that point, your Maximum Power Charges should be 9 or 10. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Storm Brand setup
	Storm Brand - your main DPS skill that will be used through the leveling process into the end game
	Increased Critical Damage Support - increases your Critical Damage which it's important even early in the game
	Power Charge on Critical Support - generates you Power Charges and increases damage based on the number of them
	Inspiration Support - reduces Mana Cost, increases Crit Chance and Elemental Damage

Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - used to dash from one place to another
	Faster Casting Support - increases the cast speed of your Flame Dash

Curses and Auras setup
	Conductivity - a Curse that reduces the Lightning Resistance of our opponents
	Wrath - an Aura that increases Lightning Damage for your Spells
	Herald of Thunder - adds Lightning Damage and hits your enemies with a Storm

Bandits:

We recommend killing all three Bandits for two Passive Skill Points or helping Alira for Mana Regen, Crit Multiplier, and Elemental Resistances

Leveling Skill Trees:

33 Points Skill Tree
increase your Critical Strike Chance, get Runebiner, and some Maximum Life

61 Points Skill Tree
allocate all the additional Maximum Power Charges, Critical nodes for Spells, Runesmith, and more Maximum Life

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - this Ring provided a lot of Elemental Resistances, increases your Damage, and Attributes

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 - The best option for a Helmet if you lack 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 - Grants you a 6-link with all-white sockets, and it's available at level 1

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

Storm Prison - it has some great synergies with Power Charge builds, one of the best Uniques to level with

(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:

103 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels nor Thread of Hope)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Unstable Infusion
2. Deadly Infusion
3. Mistwalker
4. Opportunistic

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Solaris: 6% additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Ryslatha: Life Flasks gain 3 Charges every 3 seconds if you haven't used a Life Flask Recently

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Storm Brand setup
	Storm Brand - Creates a Brand that attaches to an enemy and constantly deals Lightning Damage to the target it's attached to and the surrounding targets. Your Cast Speed affects the strike frequency.
	Power Charge on Critical Support - increases the Damage of the brand based on how many Power Charges you have, it grants you more Crit Chance and generates Power Charges as you Crit
	Inspiration Support - lowers the Mana Cost of the Skill, increases your Critical Strike Chance, and Elemental Damage
	Swiftbrand Support - Brands' duration is much shorter but with a much higher activation frequency
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds flat Lightning Damage to your Brand. It can be swapped for   Concentrated Effect Support if you don't have the awakened version.
	Lightning Penetration Support - it penetrates the Lightning Resistance of your opponents, you can alternatively use  Hypothermia Support - it's actually obligatory if your damage is converted to Cold.

[UTILITY] Hydrosphere setup
	Hydrosphere - creates a sphere of water that can be Hit to deal Lightning Damage, it's used to Drench enemies lowering their Cold and Lightning Resistance
	Hextouch Support -  allows you Hydrosphere to curse enemies on Hit
	Frostbite - the Curse that lowers the Cold Resistance of your opponents. Mandatory Curse if you are going to convert your damage via Call of the Brotherhood Rings. Otherwise, just use Conductivity

[UTILITY] Immortal Call setup
	Immortal Call - a Guard Spell that lowers the Damage you take for a brief amount of time, keep it at level 3
	Cast when Damage Taken - with this Gem at level 1 your Immortal Call will be activated more frequently
	Increased Duration Support - if you have enough Strength, you can increase the duration of the Immortal Call buff via this Gem

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash and Brand Recall setup
	Flame Dash - one of the best Movement Skills you can use, it's nearly instantaneous.
	Brand Recall - use it to recall all your brands to your location, upgrading their Attachment Range
	Arcane Surge Support - keep it at a low level, so that a singular Brand Recall or Flame Dash will grant you a bonus of Spell Damage and increased Mana Regeneration
	Second Wind Support - stores an extra charge for your Brand Recall and Flame Dash

[UTILITY] Mana Reservation setup
	Wrath - an Aura that grants you more Spell Lightning Damage.
	Hatred - use Hatred to deal more Cold Damage, or swap it for Determination if you don't have enough Armour, which you probably don't.
	Enlighten Support - lowers Mana Reservation for linked Spells
	Zealotry - increases Critical Strike Chance for Spells, increases your Critical Strike Multiplier, your Damage, and creates Consecrated Ground

[UTILITY] Vaal RF setup
	Vaal Righteous Fire - grants you more Spell Damage, use the Divergent version to increase this effect even further. It also removes a huge portion of your Life Pool on cast
	Increased Duration Support - Vaal Righteous Fire can last much longer
	Enhance Support - if you have Divergent Vaal Righteous Fire, use Enhance Support

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark
	Assassin's Mark - If you're able to apply two Curses on a single enemy, use Assassin's Mark as your second one. It grants increased Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier. Apply it manually.

5. Gear Setup

Two Void Batteries and Badge of the Brotherhood are obligatory uniques. The Amulet is moderately expensive. The price of other uniques should be low - Asenath's Gentle Touch or six-linked Inpulsa's Broken Heart are situational items, their cost is valued at around a few Exalted Orbs. The Rare Helmet is required to have a mod for +1 to Maximum Power Charges. There should be no problem with Attributes, the required Intelligence is easily obtained, Strength might be a problem if you want to level up Gems like Increased Duration Support. Generally, you should seek Critical Strike Multiplier and Chance, then Lightning Damage and Cast Speed. For Defences, you will need Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, Maximum Energy Shield is also used, but it shouldn't be prioritized over Maximum Life. Find a way to generate Frenzy Charges - it can be done via Body Armour or Forbidden Jewels.

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 - Focus on Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances. You will need to have +1 to max Power Charges on it later in the game.

Min. requirements: 60 Maximum Life 60% Total Elemental Resistances +1 to Maximum Power Charges Optional affixes: Nearby Enemies have -#% to Lightning Resistance Maximum Energy Shield Chaos Resistance

Helmet enchantments: Storm Brand enchantments

(Weapon) Void Battery - two Void Batteries are necessary, they exceed your Limit for Power Charges and grant you a lot of Damage that scales with Power Charges, not to mention the Crit Strike Chance and Multiplier

(36-40)% increased Spell Damage 80% reduced Spell Damage (10-20)% increased Cast Speed (50-65)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(40-50) to maximum Mana +1 to Maximum Power Charges 25% increased Spell Damage per Power Charge

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - with the mod that provides you with a chance to gain Frenzy Charge on kill, a Rare Body Armour with decent stats is your best option

Min. requirements: 70% Elemental Resistances 90 Maximum Life 10% chance to gain Frenzy Charge on Hit (when not using Forbidden Jewels) Optional affixes: Enemies you Kill have a #% chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their Maximum +#% to Spell Critical Strike Chance Gain #% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield

(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - if you have other means to generate Frenzy Charges you should probably go for Inpulsa's, it has some great stats and really improves your clear speed

+(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock Unaffected by Shock

(Boots) Rare Boots - It's one of the best sources of Elemental Resistances, you don't need any overly expensive mods, and the usual defenses and Movement Speed are enough

Min. requirements: 70% Elemental Resistances 70 Maximum Life 25% Increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill

(Boots) Inya's Epiphany - it grants you a moderately high Damage that scales with Power Charges, Maximum Life, decent Movement Speed, and Intelligence but provides no Elemental Resistances

+(50-70) to maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed (5-8)% increased Intelligence 5% increased Damage per Power Charge 25% chance that if you would gain Power Charges, you instead gain up to your maximum number of Power Charges

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - on Rare Gloves, you should focus primarily on Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, but there also are some offensive mods that you can chase such as added damage

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Spell Damage Increased Damage with Hits against Chilled enemies Adds # to # Lightning Damage if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently

(Gloves) Asenath's Gentle Touch - Be sure that you can apply more than one Curse on the enemy before putting this pair of gloves on. They are great when it comes to improving your clear speed, but if you have Inpulsa's Broken Heart, it might be overkill. These Gloves provide no Elemental Resistances

+(20-30) to Intelligence +(60-80) to maximum Life +(60-80) to maximum Mana Curse Enemies with Temporal Chains on Hit, with 40% increased Effect Non-Aura Curses you inflict are not removed from Dying Enemies Enemies near corpses affected by your Curses are Blinded Enemies Killed near corpses affected by your Curses explode, dealing 3% of their Life as Physical Damage

(Belt) Rare Belt - This is where a bulk of your Maximum Life and Elemental Resistance should lie, additionally Stygian Vise offers an Abyss Jewel Socket which is almost always better than a regular Implicit Mod.

Min. requirements: 100 Maximum Life 100% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: #% increased maximum Life Strength increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies

(Amulet) Badge of the Brotherhood - it's the obligatory item, it has great scaling with Frenzy and Power Charges, just be sure you have a way to generate Frenzy Charges

+(16-24) to Dexterity and Intelligence (7-10)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Travel Skills per Frenzy Charge (7-10)% increased Effect of Elusive on you per Power Charge (20-25)% chance to lose a Frenzy Charge when you use a Travel Skill (20-25)% chance to lose a Power Charge when you gain Elusive Your Maximum Frenzy Charges is equal to your Maximum Power Charges

Recommended Anointments: Infused Disciple of the Slaughter Explosive Runes Arcane Potency

(Ring) Rare Ring - It is the default option due to the flexibility it offers, as usual, your focus is on Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances. Don't forget that there are many offensive mods to choose from, many of them are rare or expensive.

Min. requirements: 60 Maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: (3–4)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill (veiled) Added Cold Damage per Frenzy Charge Chaos Resistances Attributes Critical Strike Chance/Multiplier

(Ring) Call of the Brotherhood - It provides you with a moderate amount of Cold and Lightning Resistances, Intelligence, Lightning Damage, and Mana Regeneration. It converts your Lightning Damage to Cold Damage - be sure not to invest in Lightning Penetration if you decide to wear one or two of these Rings

+(12-16)% to Cold and Lightning Resistances +(15-25) to Intelligence (15-25)% increased Lightning Damage (30-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 40% of Lightning Damage Converted to Cold Damage Your spells have 100% chance to Shock against Frozen Enemies

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - you can put one in your Stygian Vise if you're using such Belt, get some Maximum Life and offensive mods

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Optional affixes: chance to gain Phasing on Kill Critical Strike Multiplier added Spell/Elemental/Cold Damage while Dual Wielding added Spell/Elemental/Cold Damage

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Get one with a  high roll for Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances are also good. There are a lot of offensive mods to choose from, be sure to have one or two.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Optional affixes: Critical Strike Multiplier Elemental Resistances Increased Spell/Elemental/Cold Damage while Dual Wielding increased Spell/Elemental/Cold Damage

(Jewel) Glorious Vanity - Look for the Doryani variant and transform your Pain Attunement Keystone into Corrupted Soul - since you're relying on both - Maximum Life and Energy Shield it's a great keystone to have.

Bathed in the blood of (100-8000) sacrificed in the name of Doryani Passives in radius are Conquered by the Vaal Historic

(Jewel) Thread of Hope - place it next to Instability and look for a version with a Large Ring so that you can allocate 3 or more extremely useful Notables

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) Forbidden Flame & Forbidden Flesh - Trickster's Swift Killer is definitely the best Keystone. It generates Charges and increases damage per Power and Frenzy Charge resulting in increasing your total DPS by a quarter.

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) Watcher's Eye - There are a few Aura mods to choose from, especially the ones mentioned here as recommended. It's an expensive item and completely optional.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: Critical Strikes Penetrate (8-10)% of Enemy Elemental Resistances while affected by Zealotry (70-100)% increased Critical Strike Chance while affected by Wrath Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Lightning Resistance while affected by Wrath

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - The usual Elemental Damage Large Cluster Jewels with suitable Notables are fine, the role of this Jewel is also to allow for more space for Medium Cluster Jewels, which are usually more potent.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Snowstorm 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewels - Vast Power Notable scales Area of effect with Power Charges so it's a great choice. The Medium Cluster Jewels can also provide bonuses directly enhancing your Brands, seeks these as well.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Brand Loyalty 1 Added Passive Skill is Grand Design 1 Added Passive Skill is Holy Conquest 1 Added Passive Skill is Vast Power 1 Added Passive Skill is Pressure Points 1 Added Passive Skill is Quick Gateway

(Flask) Bottled Faith - increases Damage, Critical Strike Chance, and creates Consecrated Ground which is good when combined with Zealotry

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) Atziri's Promise - You should use Aztiri's Promise, the extra Chaos Resistance, Damage, and Life Leech will make a huge difference.

+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (5-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (5-8)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding Immunity Enduring Mana Flask in case of Mana-related issues Diamond Flask with increased Crit Chance Silver Flask with increased Cast 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.