Winds of Fate Battlemage
Inquisitor Build

Updated for Patch 3.20

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Patch 3.20 introduced some exceptionally unique items, one of which is The Winds of Fate Staff. With this weapon equipped, your Critical Strike Chance is capped at 50%, and non-critical strikes deal no damage at all. In return, it has very solid stats - it can reach over 1100 physical DPS that is then converted. The obvious downside of dealing a lot of damage, but only half the time, makes it an unpredictable and unpleasant weapon. Turns out that it's no better than a 10-c Staff if we leave it at that. To control it, equip the Plume of Pursuit Helmet which makes the final repeat of any Spell always a Critical Strike. To actually benefit from the high DPS of The Winds of Fate when using a Spell, you will need a Battlemage buff, and with the Helmet slot already occupied, it has to come from Inquisitor's Instrument of Virtue Ascendnancy Keystone. You will need to make a Spell repeat - link any eligible Spell with Spell Echo Support, or choose a Spell with built-in repeat mechanics.

The Spell we've selected is Glacial Cascade, but there are a lot more options. The damage here is simply one of the highest in its category. Remember, when choosing a Spell it's only important for it to have base Physical Damage. The built-in Skill Gem Conversions, if there are any, will always take priority over other sources of Conversions - that includes The Winds of Fate. You can control what type of damage you're dealing - with Glacial Cascade it's always Cold Damage. There are additionally powerful modifiers that add Physical Damage as Extra Fire, Cold, Lightning, or Chaos Damage - this type of "added as" damage will be simply added on top of all the other, already converted types, so it's always advantageous, especially given that your weapon is one of the most powerful Physical Staves in terms of DPS in the game. With Inevitable Judgement and Full Elemental Damage conversion from Skills, focus more on Elemental Damage, as Chaos Damage will not be as good.

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

1. Gameplay

Use Glacial Cascade to kill all types of enemies. To deal more Chaos Damage you can deploy a totem with Wither Support. For Auras use Heralds of Purity, Cold, Ash, Hatred, and Determination. Flame Dash and Molten Shell will also be included to play a role of a movement and a guard spell, respectively. For a Curse use, Assassin's Mark to deal more Damage with Critical Strikes, you won't need to penetrate Elemental Resistances.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

For leveling, we are going to use Arc. You should use it, or any other spell you're comfortable with until reaching at least level 64 at which you're eligible to wear Plume of Pursuit, which has the highest level requirement out of all mandatory unique items. We would however recommend using the default spell-caster type build until allocating all four Ascendancy Keystones, that is around yellow maps. Look mostly for Spell Damage, Lightning or Elemental Damage, and Cast Speed. Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances will be of value if you don't want to die.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Arc setup
	Arc - Great Lightning leveling spell, with enough damage from items and passives it has good single-target damage too.
	Added Lightning Damage Support - Adds a lot of Lightning Damage.
	Faster Casting Support - Allows you to cast Arc much more frequently.
	Arcane Surge Support - More Spell Damage and Mana Regeneration Rate.
	Controlled Destruction Support - Lowers your Critical Strike Chance, but it's not a problem early on.
	Spell Echo Support - In the 4th Act you will be able to use one of the most powerful Support Gems that, to put it simply, grants more DPS.

Utility Gems
	Clarity - Grants increased Mana Regeneration allowing you to use your Spells with higher frequency.
	Conductivity - Perfect Curse - it lowers the Lightning Resistance of cursed enemies.
	Herald of Thunder - Very good leveling Herald Spell that will grant additional Lightning Damage and strikes nearby enemies with Lightning Bolts.

Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - Recommended mobility Spell.

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

37 Points Skill Tree
Go for the scattered Elemental Damage nodes, Elemental Damage cluster, and some Maximum Life.

67 Points Skill Tree
Specialize in Lightning Damage and allocate more Maximum Life.

Recommended leveling items:

Goldrim - Wear Goldrim for a lot of bonus 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)

Victario's Flight - Amazing low-level pair of boots that grants high bonus Movement Speed and additional Mana Recovery mechanic.

+15 to Dexterity +15 to Intelligence (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating 15% increased Movement Speed (5-10)% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit 10% increased Movement Speed for you and nearby Allies

Atziri's Foible - A lot of Mana and Mana Regeneration, it will be useful if you have a six-link already, that drains a lot of Mana.
(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +100 to maximum Mana (16-24)% increased maximum Mana (80-100)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Items and Gems have 25% reduced Attribute Requirements

Le Heup of All - Perfect choice for the whole leveling process, it's recommended to use it on both ring slots for more Resistances and Attributes.

(10-30)% increased Damage +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Axiom Perpetuum - Best leveling weapon in the game for spellcasters. A lot of Additional Damage to Spells and an insane amount of Critical Strike Chance for them.
(4-6)% increased Cast Speed (100-140)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Fire Damage to Spells Adds (2-3) to (5-6) Cold Damage to Spells Adds 1 to (10-12) Lightning Damage to Spells
Lifesprig - Simple level-1 Wand with decent stats for more Damage and some utilities.
(8-12)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Spell Gems (20-28)% increased Spell Damage (5-8)% increased Cast Speed +(15-20) to maximum Life +(15-20) to maximum Mana Regenerate (6-8) Life over 1 second when you Cast a Spell

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

97 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link 
 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Sanctuary
2. Pious Path
3. Righteous Providence
4. Inevitable Judgement
5. Instrument of Virtue (this or any other Keystone shall be acquired via a pair of Forbidden Jewels)

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 Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Ethereal Knives setup
	Glacial Cascade - A Spell that converts all of its Physical Damage to Cold. It's quite thin, you can use the Divergent version for more AoE.
	Hypothermia Support - You deal more Damage to Chilled enemies, which they always are. It increases Chill duration too.
	Controlled Destruction Support - The downside of less Critical Strike Chance has no effect on this build. It grants you much more Spell Damage in return.
	Divergent Spell Echo Support - Divergent version of Spell Echo repeats linked Spell and grants more Damage so that the second repeat can be a Critical Strike by using Plume of Pursuit.
	Empower Support - Increases the Gem Level of active Skills which results in more Damage.
	Added Fire Damage Support - Grants almost half of the Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage, and an extra Gem Level if it's the awakened version.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Herald of Purity - Grants more Physical Damage. The Minions are not particularly valuable.
	Herald of Ash - Increases and grants more Fire Damage, Grants 15% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage, and burns enemies around the one that dies.
	Herald of Ice - Adds and increases Cold Damage. Frozen enemies will explode on death dealing area damage.
	Hatred - Grants 25% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage, and more Cold Damage.
	Clarity - It's very difficult to keep up with the Mana costs, use Clarity to regenerate it faster.
	Enlighten Support - Increases Mana Reservation Efficiency for all the linked Spells.

[UTILITY] Tornado setup
	Tornado - Level 1 Tornado will only be used to make use of the linked Support Gems. It will automatically chase after enemies Hitting them.
	Culling Strike Support - Torando will slay enemies below 10% of their Maximum Life.
	Cast when Damage Taken - Keep this gem at level 1 as well, it will trigger Tornado with higher frequency.
	Onslaught Support - Hits with the linked Skill will apply Onslaught buff for more Cast and Movement Speed.

[UTILITY] Flame Dash/Molten Shell setup
	Flame Dash - A basic movement Skill you can use to teleport over a short distance.
	Molten Shell - A Guard Spell that mitigates a portion of incoming Hit Damage for some time. It's able to absorb more damage the more Armour you have. If you don't have that much Armour, use  Steelskin instead.
	Increased Duration Support - Increases Duration of the Guard Spell and Arcane Surge.
	Arcane Surge Support - Keep Arcane Surge at a low level so that it will apply with a singular use of one of its linked Skills. It grants more Spell Damage and increases the Mana Regeneration rate.

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark
	Assassin's Mark - Curse Enemies with Assassin's Mark to make them receive more damage from Critical Strikes.

[UTILITY] Vaal Haste
	Vaal Haste - Use Vaal Haste for a temporary bonus to your Attack, Cast, and Movement Speed.

[UTILITY] Vaal Righteous Fire
	Vaal Righteous Fire - Vaal RF removes a big chunk of your Life and ES but provides you with more Spell Damage for the next 4 seconds.

5. Gear Setup

With Inevitable Judgement, you certainly want to focus more on Elemental Damage as this type of Damage will penetrate all Resistances. If that's the case use Glacial Cascade (or other such Spell) to ensure 100% Conversion to Cold (or another type of Elemental Damage), as we did. Keep your Spell Damage, Gem Level, and Physical or Elemental Damage high. Critical Strike Chance has no value, but Critical Strike Multiplier is extremely good as all your Hits are Critical. For defenses, seek mostly Maximum Life and Resistances of all kinds. With Pious Path and Sanctuary, it is heavily encouraged to invest more in Energy Shield and make it a hybrid build. Cast Speed will increase your clear speed.

If you are looking for cheap PoE Currency, we would love to invite you to visit our PoE Market section that can be accessed via the menu bar on top of the page.

The recommended items from our list will:

1. Help you cap your Elemental Resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Plume of Pursuit - One of the core items, it guarantees a Critical Strike on the second repeat of a Spell, no matter how low your Critical Strike Chance is. The initial Spell casts will deal no damage at all.

(30-20)% reduced Cast Speed (80-130)% increased Energy Shield Non-critical strikes deal 80% less Damage Spell Skills always deal Critical Strikes on final Repeat Spell Skills cannot deal Critical Strikes except on final Repeat

Helmet enchantments: Glacial Cascade gains 10% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage

(Weapon) The Winds of Fate - A staff with enormous amounts of base Physical Damage and built-in global Damage Conversion. It introduces a Crit Chance Cap and inability to deal damage with Non-Critical Strikes, but with Plume of Pursuit, it has no effect.

+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (700-800)% increased Physical Damage +100% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier 75% of Physical Damage converted to a random Element 25% of Physical Damage Converted to Chaos Damage Maximum Critical Strike Chance is 50% Non-Critical Strikes deal no Damage

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - Increases the Level of socketed Gems, which is often the most efficient way to gain more Damage. It increases Armour, Evasion, and Energy Shield.

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>

(Body Armour) Incandescent Heart - Incandescent Heart grants more Life and up to 20% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage, which is powerful to some degree. To wear it, it's recommended to have good Chaos Resistance and somewhat high ES.

(220-240)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(80-90) to maximum Life (0.8-1)% of Attack Damage Leeched as Life Gain (10-20)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage 25% of Elemental Damage from Hits taken as Chaos Damage (20-30)% increased Light Radius Light Radius is based on Energy Shield instead of Life

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Rare Body Armour is another good option - it's capable of high Life and Resistance bonuses, extra Gem Level for Active Skills, extra Curse, and Mana Cost reduction.

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems Socketed Attacks have -15 to Total Mana Cost You can apply an additional Curse increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Marylene's Fallacy - The single-best Amulet that specializes in single-target damage. It magnifies your Crit Multiplier by over 200% and grants Culling Strike.

+(20-30) to Intelligence +(80-120) to Accuracy Rating +(210-240)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier +(80-100) to Evasion Rating (10-15)% increased Light Radius 40% less Critical Strike Chance Critical Strikes have Culling Strike

Recommended Anointments: Dreamer Whispers of Doom Snowforged Charisma

(Ring) Rare Ring - You should use at least one Rare Ring as it's a great source of Attributes, Resistances, and other rare mods like Curse-on-Hit or reduced Mana Cost of Skills.

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 75% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Adds # Lightning Damage against Shocked Enemies Curse Enemies with Elemental Weakness on Hit Curse Enemies with Despair on Hit Non-Channelling Skills have -8 to Total Mana Cost Gain 10% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage (Essence) Attributes

(Ring) Ming's Heart - Ming's Heart could be one of the strongest items for this build. It reduces your Life and ES by a lot, but if you're willing to sacrifice these defensive stats, you will be rewarded with up to 60% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage.

+(17-23)% to Chaos Resistance 25% reduced maximum Energy Shield 25% reduced maximum Life +(40-50)% to Chaos Resistance Gain (40-60)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage

(Ring) Mark of the Shaper - If your other Ring is influenced by Elder, use this Ring for increased Spell Damage, Maximum Life, and Energy Shield.

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Summon Volatile Anomaly on Kill Adds (13-18) to (50-56) Lightning Damage to Spells (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Spell Damage if your other Ring is an Elder Item Cannot be Stunned by Spells if your other Ring is a Shaper Item

(Boots) Rare Boots - Movement Speed, Maximum Life, and Elemental Resistances are basic modifiers that can be found on most of the boots. Elusive and Tailwind mods will be of use too.

Min. requirements: 50 maximum Life 50% Total Elemental Resistances 30% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently Attributes Spell Suppression Chance

(Belt) Rare Belt - Look only for the basic Life and Resistances. Strength is easy to get and it may be needed too.

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Strength Optional affixes: Damage/Elemental Damage Chaos Resistance increased Maximum Life

(Belt) Replica Soul Tether - Corrupted Soul grants you more Energy Shield sourced from Maximum Life in a similar way to the other modifier on this Belt, but thrice as powerful. It's extremely good for a Hybrid build with Pious Path.

(15-25)% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(20-40) to Strength Gain (4-6)% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield Corrupted Soul

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Basic mods for Life and Resistances are enough. Chance to Unnerve Enemies for 4 seconds on Hit can be introduced as Exarch's Implicit.

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 75% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Spell Damage Adds # Lightning Damage if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently increased Cast Speed Attributes

(Gloves) Hands of the High Templar - On this item, seek mods such as: Curse Enemies with Despair or Elemental Weakness on Hit, increased Cast Speed, increased maximum Life, and increased maximum Energy Shield.

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

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Inspired Oppression and Sadist are the most valuable notables to be found here. We've used two of such Jewels.

Recommended Passives: 1 Added Passive Skill is Inspired Oppression 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Snowstorm 1 Added Passive Skill is Cold to the Core 1 Added Passive Skill is Stormrider

(Jewel) Small Cluster Jewel - If you need an increased Mana Reservation Efficiency for Hatred or Determination, pick a Small Cluster Jewel with one of the listed Notables.

Recommended Passives: 1 Added Passive Skill is Uncompromising 1 Added Passive Skill is Spiteful Presence

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - Use this Jewel mainly for more Dexterity, socket in near Endurance or Instability Notables.

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of (Asenath-Balbala-Nasima) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) Glorious Vanity - If you haven't equipped Replica Soul Tether, use Glorious Vanity, the Doryani variant, and transform one of your Keystones into Corrupted Soul.

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

(Jewel) The Balance of Terror - "Gain (30-40)% of Physical Damage as a Random Element if you've cast Elemental Weakness in the past 10 seconds" is the most powerful addition to this build you can gain from a Jewel.

+(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances <2-3 random curse modifiers>

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Instrument of Virtue, Inevitable Judgement, or Pious Path will be essential. Two of these keystones sit at the ends of the branches so you can pick them up, but go for the cheapest one.

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) Rare Jewels - Use Jewels for an increased Maximum Life, Attributes, Resistances, and more DPS. Cast Speed or increased Spell Damage are examples of the offensive modifiers you can get.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Optional affixes: Spell Damage Attributes Elemental Resistances Cast Speed

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - Use it for more Chaos Damage, sourced from all the other types of Damage, which you are capable of dealing. It's also a source of Life Leech and extra Chaos Resistance.

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

(Flask) Sin's Rebirth - Unholy Might grants 30% of Physical Damage as extra Chaos Damage. It removes Burning and provides you with more Evasion Rating.

20% more Evasion Rating Creates a Smoke Cloud on Use Unholy Might during Effect Grants Immunity to Ignite for 4 seconds if used while Ignited Removes all Burning when used

(Flask) Taste of Hate - Grants up to 15% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage, and reduces Cold Damage taken.

+50% to Cold Resistance 20% less Cold Damage taken (10-15)% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Cold Damage during Effect Gain (10-15)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage during effect 30% chance to Avoid being Chilled during Effect 30% chance to Avoid being Frozen during Effect

Suggested Rare Flasks: Quicksilver Flask with increased Cast Speed Granite Flask with increased Armour Life Flask with Bleed removal

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

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