[3.25] The Dancing Mistress - Chaos/Poison Dancing Dervish Necro

Hi, my name is Baumi and this is my build.

More specifically, I released my first official version back in 3.4.0 Delve League and kept it updated throughout up until and including 3.8.0 Blight League, where the Impale version was my go-to Uber Elder carry at the time.

This is a revised build of that, using the reworked Dancing Dervish, formerly known as Dancing Duo, respectively, but this time centered around Chaos Damage and Poison instead of Impale.

3.25 Showcase Video: click
3.25 Uber Elder: click
Playlist of 3.8 Dancing Duo Scion: click

3.25 Path of Building: https://pobb.in/th7DtGHwFNNB
(This is my template and not the actual PoB of my character. You can check my character "VENOMOUS_BEYBLADE" on my profile.)

Previously, Dancing Duo's monster version of Cyclone could be supported by Multistrike, which is no longer the case since the rework. Back then, movement speed and attack speed would go hand in hand for DPS, meaning that Minion movement speed was much more important then.

The Cyclone the Dervishes used would make them travel a fixed, short distance back and forth, applying an AoE attack at a rate based on their attack speed, and that travel time was scaled by both attack and movement speed. Nowadays, they channel Cyclone and no longer quickly spin back and forth but stay on top of the target. Hence why movement speed is no longer a measurable DPS modifier and thus far less important now. On the plus side, the minions now have a much larger AoE.

Here's an old GIF I have left over from that time that roughly shows this:



And here's another one that shows the impact Phasing can have:



Phasing in particular is imo a very underrated mechanic that doesn't get talked about enough. It's very useful, and especially so when you can move very fast. It allows you to just run right through enemies, so you'll never be trapped by enemy packs blocking a doorway, or obstructed by something like Frost Walls. But there's a little more magic to it once you start factoring in enemy projectile trajectory and what I would describe as "turn rate". Just think back to when you fought Hillock on the beach and how you strafed around him, making him miss attacks due to his low attack speed. This is where Phasing really shines when all you do is play defensively, as in this case.

I use Bladestorm of Uncertainty to start the first Rampage kill streak to summon the swords. I prefer that melee skill because I can pop a storm and run away, or I trigger the sand version and keep my distance that way. Spiritual Command is really nice here because all the additional Minion Attack Speed now also affects us and thus also our Bladestorm's attack rate.

I keep my Frostblink of Wintry Blast at level 1 in order to not kill myself to Ele Reflect. You still have to roll over Phys Reflect, though, or else you will just obliterate yourself with Bladestorm because this character doesn't have any direct mitigation. Its main defense is running around. However, you can somewhat bypass this problem if you just time your flask uses right and let the Minions kill the worms often enough to get a Rampage kill streak. If you get the timing wrong, you will run out of flask charges just before the Rampage timer resets. You can add a third, fourth or even 5th worm flask for such a map, if you want. But beware: this method with 2 flasks only works at the start of a map. If you lose them later in the middle of a boss fight, you are likely fucked. Best to just roll over Phys Reflect. It's not worth all the extra hoops just to run that 1 map mod.

Why I'm not using Awakened Unbound Ailments, even though this build is scaling Poison Damage:

Feel free to correct me on this, but my napkin math and anecdotal testing suggests that, in essence, it takes Unbound Ailments ~29% longer to reach the same DPS you can have with Added Chaos Damage.

This behavior can be observed during gameplay. Unbound Ailments has more DPS as the fight progresses, but only after a period of >3.5 seconds. Usually, regular map bosses are dead before full Poison stacks are reached with Unbound Ailments, or basically shortly after. Nice on paper, not so much in practice. With this kind of DPS, you will phase endgame bosses before the Poison stacks even reach maximum. Another good reason is that monsters near you will die much quicker with Added Chaos Damage due to the higher hit damage. PoB numbers are not everything.

I use Meat Shield in combination with Predator for two reasons:

1.) Meat Shield stops the Dervishes from trailing off all the time (and leaving you vulnerable) and keeps them close to you (and it provides additional movement speed), and 2.) Signal Prey can be used to counteract the passive behavior induced by Meat Shield, and Predator is also a really good damage support gem. Keeping the swords close to you also feels better to play overall, and they will more reliably stay in range of your auras.

On a sidenote, I absolutely detest that gem when in combination with this build. The swords disable the weapon slot when summoned, which also disables any gems socketed there and thus removes Signal Prey from your skill bar. That means you need to sacrifice another socket just so you can have access to Signal Prey. Very, very annoying when you are already socket-starved, but it's also far too good not to use.

I previously used Rallying Cry, but I stopped using it in favor of Awakened Unbound Ailments for my Summon Skitterbots. While the potential DPS is lower in this case, the higher Chill adds safety for you and your Minions, especially when combined with Temporal Chains from your gloves, and your character is no longer forced to halt for a moment when the Warcry is off cooldown. I didn't find the brief stopping to be a particular problem, but it sometimes was annoying when I was trying to get away from something quickly and then being locked in the animation.

As for my Spectres, I went oldschool with classic Carnage Chieftains to generate Frenzy Charges for my Minions. I'm not up-to-date with the current Spectre meta, so pick something else you prefer if these are not up your alley.

Bone Barrier vs Plaguebringer: I previously used Bone Barrier until I revised my tree and setup to make my Minions more tanky (cuz they kept dying in endgame). I do kind of miss it because the Leech was really nice for enemy DoTs, and Plaguebringer has some anti-synergy with Bubonic Trail and Devouring Diadem removing corpses, but the extra AoE is nice and the reduced Damage dealt for enemies is additive with Fenumus' Shroud, so you can expect 20% reduced damage dealt for enemies, as long as you stay within range and keep the corpses up, which is kind of a done deal while clearing, but you still have to cast Desecrate every now and then to counteract the constant corpse removal. I really wish Bone Barrier wasn't an Ascendancy node but maybe a keystone passive, but it is what it is.

Why am I using Summon Phantasm Support instead of something... better?

I actually have very good reasoning for this. You can have up to 11 of them summoned (with a lvl 21 gem) and they use a projectile based spell that deals Physical Damage with decent base damage. What that means is that we have a ranged support squad that constantly triggers Feeding Frenzy while also not having bad DPS on their own. On top of that, since they are using a spell, they are not affected by our lack of Minion Accuracy Rating and thus require no further investment. They will also stay alive much longer once you got the ball rolling with Minion passives and auras. And the final reason: Unnatural Might. More Minions means more reliable stacks of Withered, which in turn means more DPS for us.

You definitely need 4x jewels with "Minions have 15% chance to Poison Enemies on Hit", or else you are wasting a ton of potential DPS.

The Forbidden jewels with Void Beacon are optional, but really good to have. The reduced enemy regen effect is just so good on its own, and the Chaos RR is just the cherry on top. Still, you can also just use more Abyss Jewels instead, if that's more your thing.

You will also need 2x Large Cluster Jewel and 2x Small Cluster Jewel. The former is needed to get a lot of Minion Attack Speed and other important character stats such as Dexterity. The small ones need Frantic Aspect and Mortifying Aspect, so that our Haste and Malevolence auras gain 50% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency, respectively.

A corrupted Dervish with the Resolute Technique implicit is absolutely required. You will have to run a Precision aura and get some Minion Accuracy Rating until you do. But once that is done, you can invest all of that effort elsewhere.

Devouring Diadem is kind of mandatory for Eldritch Battery and increased Mana Reservation Efficiency for our auras. I use Mind over Matter for a little extra eHP we get with Eldritch Battery this way.

Impossible Escape is sort of necessary for efficient pathing to pick up Charisma and Repleneshing Remedies. A workaround, in case you cannot aquire a Supreme Ego variant, is to anoint Charisma and then get an Impossible Escape with Magebane rolled on it. That allows you to spec into Profane Chemistry and Arcane Chemistry. Both these passives do what Repleneshing Remedies does, which is to provide our Writhing Jars with much needed passive flask charge generation. This is an efficient way of making this work with just two flasks and otherwise minimal investment.

Bubonic Trail is more or less mandatory for the jewel sockets and Mana Reservation Efficiency in combination with Amanamu's Gaze. You can spec into Deep Thoughts and grab the Mana Mastery for the 12% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency as a temporary workaround. You will likely have to drop Aspect of the Spider for the time being (if you have access to that already).

The body armour slot is super flexible. I even used Cloak of Flame before switching to Fenumus' Shroud. That's because I was going for a bit more defensive version with three Purity auras that ultimately didn't convince me, so I dropped that idea and switched to the current setup.

As for the gloves, another solid option is Asenath's Gentle Touch:

This is actually top tier for corpse removal against porcupines and let's you pop enemy packs. Only reason I switched away from them is because I found that exact property to entice me too much to play more aggressively, which would get me killed more often. However, this gear slot is otherwise also very flexible, but I do recommend gloves with Temporal Chains on hit because you can apply it with Frostblink and it lasts quite a long time (and extends the duration of applied Poisons).

I highly recommend a corrupted ring with lvl 23 Despair. Doesn't cost a socket and gives a higher level Curse. Doedre's Damning is perfect for this because it's a really common and thus super cheap unique, and it also comes with an inherent +1 Curse mod. In case you get Asenath's Gentle Touch with Despair on hit (which is nice for clearing), you can use the Curse from the ring to override the weaker Despair since only the strongest applied Curse will take effect.

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Bandits: Kill All

Pantheon: Your choice, but I do recommend Soul of Lunaris for maps with extra Chain, and Soul of Arakaali + Soul of Ralakesh for Lab runs (makes the traps rather trivial).