Dear exiles, MmoGah here with a PhazePlays's build for the brand new PoE 2 Ascendancy, Disciple of Varashta, Sandscorcher.
Build Ratings
Damage ★★★★★
Defense ★★★★★
Bossing ★★★★★
Mapping ★★★★
Recovery ★★★★
Mobility ★★
This build utilizes the Flame and Sand Djinn in PoE 2 to dish out extreme damage. Gameplay feels similar to a spellcaster, but with free passive damage from minions. It's extremely fun to play. One of the coolest playstyles Path of Exile has ever had. This build should be enjoyable, even for those who don't normally play minion builds. There's a PhazePlays's written guide with more information about the build.
Pros
High Damage
Great Coverage
Fun Playstyle
SSF & Hardcore Viable
Cons
Button-Heavy Bossing
Mediocre Mobility
Disciple of Varashta
Disciple of Varashta is an ascendancy unlike any other. You can choose which Djinns you want to fight alongside you and which skills you want to command them to use. Each of these ascendency nodes grants one command skill. Djinns are invulnerable. Even if your entire minion army dies, you can still clear maps and kill bosses without issue. Damage is scaled through minion damage. The command skill wheel, crit, and support gems. Each Djinn uses the same support gems for all skills under their umbrella. Generic damage supports are great.
Sand Djinn: Kelari
The first Djinn we take is the Sand Djinn, Kelari. Kelari deals physical damage with high base crit and an extra critical multiplier. He also applies many critical weakness stacks. Barya of Kalari grants Kalari's brutality. This throws a volley of knives on the ground at your cursor. Twelve knives then erupt after a short delay. It stores two charges. It's solid damage for both clear and single target. It's ideal to use this before burst combos for the critical weakness debuff. Kelari's deception creates an area blast at your cursor, then leaves behind a clone for a short duration. This skill stores three charges. It does 50% more damage per consecutive use, and each active clone also duplicates a blast. Cast all three charges back-to-back to burst down strong enemies or monster packs. A triple cast usually causes five blasts. This is one of the hardest hitters for the build. It visibly chunks bosses.
Flame Djinn: Ruzhan
The second Djinn we take is the Flame Djinn: Ruzhan. Barya of Ruzhan grants two things. Each time a damaging skill is used, Ruzhan automatically attacks near your cursor, dealing moderate damage and applying basic exposure. It has a 4-second cooldown. This build triggers the attack with frost bomb. Ruzhan's Brand is a skill similar to a living bomb. The Brand attaches to enemies. Up to three brands can be active at once, and they can stack on the same target. These automatically detonate after 3 seconds. Brand is decent, but low priority. It's only recommended for those who enjoy an extremely active playstyle. This can be quickly cast three times during brief moments of downtime to squeeze out some extra damage or clear a dense pack of enemies.
For Ruzhan's trap, he'll throw a sword at your cursor and then spawn eight randomly placed runes on the ground. When an enemy steps on a rune, a stationary fiery tornado erupts for 4 seconds. Tornado damage can overlap, and the radius they spawn in can be tightened up by casting it near walls or in closed areas. Runes provide a comfortable, safe zone. You can even drag enemies through overlapping runes for more damage. Trap is fantastic for clear and solid single-target damage, too. It's usually my first cast during combat.
Mapping
For mapping, trap and brutality do most of the work. Trap should usually be cast on cooldown. Keep moving, and most runes will usually get triggered. When you encounter tanky rares, cast, trap, brutality, then triple cast deception. Keep moving, and your tornadoes will handle the rest. Your minion army will clear up any stragglers behind you. It's a smooth mapper, fun to watch, and it feels good to play.
Bossing
Bossing can be a bit more button-intensive. Maintain elemental weakness and frost bomb exposure. If deception has three charges, triple cast it for huge burst damage. Cast trap and brutality on cooldown. If everything is on cooldown and you want something to press, triple-cast Brand for a bit of extra damage. If you have a lot of spirit, spend excess spirit on Skeletal Reavers and press Enrage occasionally for a big damage boost.
Tips
Additional sockets for each Djinn are unlocked at level 40, 65, and 90. With Splintering Force, Kelari breaks armor very fast on top of all the physical damage minions deal. It's recommended to run the minion area-of-effect wheel for mapping in a weapon set for even greater coverage. The best ways to scale damage are minion damage, minion crit, and crit multiplier, and most importantly, minion levels. Get up to four levels on a scepter, three on an amulet, two on a helmet, and two on a focus from Abyss Desecration. We run one of each minion for muster support. It grants us a support gem with a huge chunk of generic damage scaling. Cast speed, scales, command skill use time, cast speed on rings, or possibly an amulet are fantastic.
