If you want a build that starts cheap, levels ridiculously well and can comfortably cruise into endgame, Disciple of Varashta is very hard to beat in 0.5.5.

The build really wakes up at around level 20, once you complete your first Ascendancy and gain access to the core Varashta setup. From that point, the campaign becomes extremely smooth. Your minions (but its more like a spellcaster ) do most of the heavy lifting, rares disappear quickly, bosses get deleted and you don't need expensive gear to make any of it work.

The best part is that this is not one of those builds where the "league starter" version falls apart the moment you enter maps.

My current character is level 93, running CI and Energy Shield, and is already comfortable in T15 8-mod corrupted and juiced maps despite several pieces of gear still basically being campaign garbage. There is a lot of room left to improve the character.

The floor is extremely low. The ceiling is much, much higher.

Mapping Playstyle

This is deliberately simple.

Your companion moves around and creates Chilled Ground.

You move through the map and use:

Kelari + Navira

Bossing Playstyle

Bossing is even simpler.

Navira and the Trail of Ice mapping package are not essential.

Your main focus becomes:

Kelari
Pain Offering when needed

This also means that if you're struggling with Spirit while progressing the character, you don't need to force the entire endgame mapping package immediately.

Get the core build strong first.

Add luxury/QoL afterwards.

Quick FAQ

When does the build come online?

Around level 20–21, after your first Varashta Ascendancy.

Is it expensive to start?

No. That's one of the main reasons for playing it. You can level with whatever gear you find and improve +Minion Skill Levels later.

Is Navira mandatory?

No.

Navira's Fracturing is primarily for better mapping.

Do I need the Trail of Ice companion?

Only if you want the automated Chilled Ground setup for Navira.

Why so many different minions?

Muster.

Each different minion type improves the damage scaling of the supported main skills.

Do all my skeletons need perfect supports?

No.

Most are utility minions and Muster fuel. Tho you can experiment with added damage/supports in all minion slots (in my case they are just dying too fast in juicy maps)

What do I use against bosses?

Kelari is the main tool.

Add Pain Offering for additional boss damage.

What defensive setup are we using?

CI + Energy Shield, in this case we are immune to any chaos damage, including the bleeding, which is huge QOL

What should I prioritize on gear?

Minion Skill Levels, ES, Resistances and enough Spirit to fit your setup. Take a note that some of minions takes less reservation once you level up the gems. So the more +levels to minion skills you have, the less reservation they take. Also dont forget to make to add 20quality to tamed beast plague harvester for reduced spirit reservation

How far can the build scale?

The version in the video is nowhere near finished. Better ES gear, Minion Skill Levels and jewels leave plenty of room to push it further.

How to find plague of harvester for navira fracture automation?

To get our Plague Harvester with Trail of Ice, head to The Khari Crossing and look for the Travelling Merchant event. From the Khari Bazaar side, head north until you find the ruined caravan area and its checkpoint.

There will be two rare Plague Harvesters next to the caravan. Make sure you don’t kill or damage them before activating the checkpoint.

Once you have the checkpoint, simply choose Respawn from Checkpoint. The two Plague Harvesters will respawn with a new set of rare modifiers every time.

Keep resetting until one of them has the Trail of Ice modifier. Once you find it, use Tame Beast on that Plague Harvester and then kill it to capture it.

This can take quite a few resets since Trail of Ice is completely RNG, but once the checkpoint is set up, each attempt only takes a few seconds.