[3.28] PhazePlays Bleed Slams Slayer — REVAMPED — Ground Slam of Earthshaking

PhazePlays' 3.28 Bleed Slams Slayer

This build is a fantastic mapper with screen-wide coverage. It's a blast to play, has enormous damage, huge overleech life recovery, and unmatched damage uptime — and it's even better this league!

Build Changes this League:

• Now running Two separate 6-Links:
• • Ground Slam of Earthshaking — 7-Link, or 8-Link with the new Bitter Lash bloodline notable
  • Vaal Ground Slam — now usable much earlier as it's very easy to get, this makes map progression even smoother

Bleed Slams Progression:

• Campaign: Sunder
• Earlygame to Midgame: Sunder + Vaal Ground Slam
• Midgame to Lategame: Ground Slam of Earthshaking + Vaal Ground Slam

Loot Filter (Mapping-Only)

• Follow: 3.28_BleedSlamsMaps_PZ on my PoE Profile
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Loot Filter (Campaign)

• Recommend GucciPradas gpAttackSlams filter: HERE
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The Slams

Sunder

• Long and narrow, gets wider as it travels
• Up to 5 enemies hit within each wave send out shockwaves which shreds dense monster packs
• The shockwaves can aggravate bleeds
• Only one Sunder can be activate at a time (though all Sunders travel for at least 2 waves)
• Excels at long and narrow maps (such as Silo), Uber Bosses where extra range is valuable (Uber Sirus, Uber Exarch), or content with tightly-packed dense monsters (Blight, Expedition, Harvest, Hive Fortress)

Sunder + Hydrosphere tech

• Battlemage's Cry + Hydrosphere + Sunder = 1 extra hit on single target for an extra 60% dmg and also grants another chance to aggravate bleed
• Static Strike becomes droppable while running this setup
• 79 intelligence is required for level 1 Hydrosphere
• Minus mana cost rings are required otherwise mana will quickly run out even while leap slamming
• • -Mana ring craft is found in Tier 14 Wasteland Map (top left of the atlas)
• Need enough sockets for this (usually 6 socket weapon and chest)
• Once you swap to Ground Slam of Earthshaking, both Hydrosphere and Battlemage's Cry are no longer beneficial, drop them

Vaal Ground Slam

• Huge omni-directional AoE slam that's basically spammable. This skill feels great!
• 4 charges, 15 souls per use, 1 second soul gain prevention
• Can be Exerted (Seismic Cry) unlike every other Vaal Slam

Ground Slam of Earthshaking

• Wide frontal cone slam with Huge Aoe and a higher chance to stun
• The bread and butter for mapping
• High damage effectiveness, fantastic for both clear and single target

Perforate of Bloodshed

• Alternative Bossing skill, does require being in melee range
• The damage numbers aren't impressive on paper, but in practice this skill is quite good as it provides multiple life leech instances, can quickly aggravate bleeds, and is more forgiving of lackluster Static Strike usage

Bleed Mechanics

• Bleed deals physical damage over time
• There can be infinite bleeds on an enemy, but only the biggest bleed deals damage at any given moment
• For this build, Bleed lasts for ~4 seconds in the Early and Midgame, and ~6.5 seconds Lategame

Aggravate

• While a bleeding enemy is moving they take triple bleed damage
• A stationary enemy can be forced to be considered moving by aggravating an existing bleed
• Sources of Aggravate on this build:
• • 25% from the "25% chance to Aggravate Bleeding on targets you hit with Exerted Attacks" Bleed Mastery
  • 10% from Vulnerability quality
  • 10% from Bloodletting if you have it
• Static Strike hits rapidly to help aggravate bleeds
• Alternatively, Hydrosphere paired with Sunder grants an extra hit on each attack for a better chance at aggravating

Mapping

• Maintain Blood Rage
• The main mapping goal is to alternate back and forth between your primary slam and Vaal Ground Slam, the placement and timing of the slams is important to avoid running out of Vaal Ground Slam charges

Bossing

Bossing Opener / Priority List:

1. Vulnerability
2. Static Strike
3. Rallying Cry
4. Tincture
5. Slam!

Turn off the Tincture after ~5 seconds to avoid running out of mana

As our attacks can have a huge damage range variance with Ryslatha's Coil and Volatility Support, the more times you hit the better. Each hit gives you an opportunity to roll a higher bleed, aggravate an existing bleed, and add an additional 10-second Slayer life overleech instance

Ascendancy Order

1. Bane of Legends
2. Headsman
3. Brutal Fervour

For the 4th Ascendancy, there are a few options:

• Impact 60% increased Area of Effect while mapping and a bit of extra hit-damage
• Endless Hunger 20% attack speed, stun immunity, and bleed immunity — also frees up 2 passive points: the bleed moving mastery, and Unwavering Stance
• That didn't happen! from the Delirious Bloodline is a lategame option that grants a large defensive boost at the cost of a bit of damage. This is unlocked by completing Simulacrum which can be surprisingly difficult if you aren't prepared

Early on, Impact and Endless Hunger are mostly interchangeable, use whichever you prefer. I usually run Impact just because big slams are more fun

Bitter Lash

Bitter Lash is from the new Saresh Bloodline Ascendancy (Mirage Boss): "Skills from your Main Hand Weapon are supported by level 1 Cruelty Support"

• This is essentially permanently 40% more bleed damage for everything except for Uber Bosses where it'll sit around 30% more. Be aware that this would not benefit Vaal Ground Slam in a double 6-Link setup
• For this, Ground Slam of Earthshaking goes in the 2H axe. Endgame, this is an 8-Link skill and Cruelty has a 1.40 mana multiplier, so mana costs have to be accounted for!
• Mana Option 1: Lifetap Support — Slayer's overleech can easily handle this, though the cost is quite high and it'll eat into recovery a bit. Lifetap also isn't the greatest damage multiplier
• Mana Option 2: A combination mana cost reductions. Accessible sources include:
• • Cannibalistic Rite
  • The Life Mastery "Skills Cost Life instead of 15% of Mana Cost"
  • The attack mastery at Brinkmanship: "Attack Skills Cost Life instead of 20% of Mana Cost"
  • Two -mana ring crafts

Skill Gems

Support Gem Priority: Two 6-Links

Ground Slam of Earthshaking / Sunder

1. Fist of War Support
2. Fortify Support
3. Brutality Support
4. Melee Physical Damage Support
5. Varies:
6. 1. Cruelty Support (mapping)
   2. Damage on Full Life Support (mapping with Bitter Lash, or a Cruelty imbued gem)
   3. Volatility Support (bossing)

Vaal Ground Slam

1. Brutality Support
2. Melee Physical Damage Support
3. Cruelty Support
4. Damage on Full Life Support
5. Maim Support (if no Maim-imbued Static Strike) / Volatility Support / Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Support

Support Gem Priority: Single 6-Link

For anyone that would prefer to run a single 6-Link, here's what gems would look like for Vaal Ground Slam of Earthshaking:

1. Fortify Support
2. Brutality Support
3. Melee Physical Damage Support
4. Fist of War Support
5. Varies:
6. 1. Cruelty Support (mapping)
   2. Damage on Full Life Support (mapping with Bitter Lash, or a Cruelty imbued gem)
   3. Volatility Support (bossing)

Keep in mind that Fist of War Support does not work for Vaal Ground Slam so some value is lost here. Mirage Imbued gems also can't be used with a single-6L setup

Changes to make with the gained sockets:

• Static Strike — Maim Support, More Duration Support, Ancestral Call Support
• Leap Slam — add Momentum Support
• Rallying Cry — add Urgent Orders Support

Enlighten Support is also a solid addition for auras

Vaal Temptation

New Vaal Temptation Support: Using Supported Vaal Skills inflicts Vaal Temptation on you dealing 1500 Physical Damage per Second, instead of applying Soul Gain Prevention

• With this, Vaal Ground Slam will become 100% spammable while mapping
• Vaal Ground Slam has a 1 second soul gain prevention, which means each time it's pressed you'll take ~1500 physical damage over 1 second — this stacks
• It only costs 15 souls per use, and every use will give you back more than 15 souls as long as it isn't being pressed blindly
• Slayer's overleech can leech through this — take Hematophagy and the "25% increased Maximum total Life, Mana and Energy Shield Recovery per second from Leech" mastery
• • The bigger your life pool, the more life you can leech per second
• Ways to mitigate the physical damage over time:
• • 20% less — 5 endurance charges
  • 8% less — Physical Damage Reduction (PDR) from Body Armour Suffix
  • 10% less —Damage over Time mastery at Dirty Techniques
  • 10% reduced — Optional, Soul of Arakaali pantheon (chill immunity solved elsewhere)
  • 10% reduced — Optional, Fortify mastery

Imbued Gem Tiers

Rough value of each Imbued gem for your Sunder or Ground Slam of Earthshaking

• HIGH Tier
• • Cruelty Support, Fortify Support, Lifetap Support, Ruthless Support, Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Support
• MEDIUM Tier
• • Maim Support, Brutality Support, Melee Physical Damage Support, Damage on Full Life Support
• LOW Tier
• • Volatility Support, Chance to Bleed Support, Fist of War Support

Gem Quality Priority Order

Sunder, Seismic Cry, Vulnerability, Ground Slam of Earthshaking, Blood Rage, Pride, Rallying Cry, Autoexertion, Static Strike, Frostblink

Frequently Asked Questions

Mana

Mana will definitely be harder to manage this patch with 7 or 8 link skills

Ways to fix mana:

• Get two -mana crafts on rings (highly recommended)
• Helmet Implicit: % reduced Mana Cost of Attacks (Exarch)
• Life Mastery: Skills cost Life instead of 15% of mana cost
• Attack Mastery: Attack Skills cost Life instead of 20% of mana cost at Brinkmanship
• Mana Flask with the Enduring modifier (Effect is not removed when Unreserved Mana is Filled)
• Lifetap Support or get Lifetap on an imbued Ground Slam of Earthshaking
• Later on, Runegraft of Treachery (appears to be somewhat target by shipping to Pondium) and a Destructive Aspect small cluster will ease up mana reservation

Defenses in Maps

• Get a big Life pool, 4.5k minimum to comfortably farm T16 maps. Not only does it make you tankier, the more health you have, the faster you can leech life
• Overcap your resistances by at least 20 (80 max fire res? have 100+ fire res on the character sheet)
• • Curse can lower your resistances by 30+, causing damage intake to spike massively.
  • Optional: Take the "Your Elemental Resistances cannot be lowered by Curses" protection mastery
  • Exposure can also lower resistances by 25
• Get a high armour chest (aim for 2k+ armour early maps, 4k+ armour midgame) ideally with a Physical Damage Reduction (PDR) suffix 6%+
• "% of physical damage taken as fire/cold/lightning" Eater influence implicits on Body/Helm
• Slayer mitigation is highly reliant on maintaining leech, fortify, and endurance charges. If these fall off, you might die
• Triple resistance flasks (Topaz Flask, Ruby Flask, Sapphire Flask — used when full) are huge defensively while mapping

Farmable Content

This build can farm anything in the game comfortably, except Legion simply because there are better builds for it

• Expedition: Great (consider the Attack Mastery: Monsters Cannot Block Your Attacks).
• • Sunder is also strong here, I think they're unable to block the shockwaves but uncertain
• Blight: Good, consider Sunder for difficult blights or blighted maps
• Harvest: Great, try out Sunder
• Breach: Great
• Ritual: Ground Slam of Earthshaking
• Delve: Should be comfortable farming around up to 500-600 depth
• Others: Betrayal, Delirium, Ultimatum, Abyss, and so on are all smooth

How Many Buttons is This?

• Mapping: Two buttons, usually Ground Slam of Earthshaking and Vaal Ground Slam alternating back and forth
• Bossing: Maintain Vulnerability, occasionally (Static Strike / Rallying Cry / Tincture), Slam

Tips

• For serious bossing, consider swapping out Vaal Ground Slam for more Static Strike supports: Maim Support, More Duration Support, Ancestral Call Support
• The "Non-Vaal Strike Skills target 1 additional nearby Enemy" mastery on Brinkmanship can be solid if you use Static Strike often and prefer easier usage
• Exarch influenced maps are typically better than Eater influence on this build due to the Eater mob spawn delay

Useful Uniques

• Ryslatha's Coil — this is huge damage, and is the only unique that's required later on
• • The most important roll is a high "more Maximum Attack Damage"
  • Quality it with Abrasive Catalysts (Attack)
  • It's generally not a great idea to run both Ryslatha's Coil and Volatility Support together as sometimes you'll low roll damage while mapping and an enemy will take very little damage. The combo is great for bossing however!
  • It's a Tier 1 Unique, so fairly rare but farmable. Easiest way to self-farm it this league will probably be targeting unique belts at the Breach Genesis Tree. The Divination Cards (The Offspring, 9/9) can also be farmed but it'll probably take until level 99 or so to farm a full set
• The Writhing Jar — alternative to a life flask, maintains your leech damage reduction and fortify when there's nothing around you to hit.
• • Also recovers mana which is really nice with tincture. Great for Bossing!
• The Light of Meaning (Physical Damage) — Maurauder jewel socket, huge damage jewel!
• Redblade Banner — Offhand this eventually
• • Put Enduring Cry in an offhand socket for instant maximum endurance charges
• Death Rush — fantastic early-midgame unique for speed-mapping

Twink Leveling Uniques

• Seven-League Step / Wanderlust
• Thrillsteel
• Death Rush
• Le Heup of All
• Meginord's Girdle
• Always try to have a strong weapon throughout the campaign

Dealing with Ailments

• Shock: 60% reduction from Garukhan Minor Pantheon
• • Earlygame: 40% Shock reduction from a flask suffix
  • Lategame: "40% reduced Effect of Chill and Shock on you" boot craft
• Freeze: Brine King Pantheon with your first Divine Vessel
• Chill: 50% reduction from Bring King Pantheon
• • Earlygame: 40% Chill reduction from a flask suffix
  • Lategame: "40% reduced Effect of Chill and Shock on you" boot craft
• Ignite: Leech through it at all stages of the game, because Slayer. If your recovery can't handle it, spec in to Hematophagy or Vitality Void, and possibly take the "25% increased ... Recovery per second from Leech" leech mastery if desired. Getting a bigger life pool also helps your leech rate
• Bleed: "Moving while Bleeding doesn't cause you to take extra Damage" Bleed mastery
• Corrupted Blood, multiple options:
• • Run a Life Flask with bleed removal
  • "Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you" Protection Mastery
  • Jewel corruption Implicit with Corrupted Blood immunity
  • Leech through the stacks like a man

Stances

• In campaign with Blood and Sand, always stay in Blood Stance
• Once you drop Blood and Sand, the "30% increased damage while in Blood Stance Axe" mastery still works
• In maps with Flesh and Stone, alway stay in Sand Stance

Bandit

• Alira (15 all resist) on leaguestart, swap to Eramir lategame (20x Regret, 1x Onyx Amulet)
• Eramir (+1 passive point) otherwise

Map Rolling Regex

• Tier 16 Maps:
• • "!s rec|er,|tip|on,|o al|hered|eche|uct|tal d|tiles$"

If you're in softcore with good gear, consider creating your own regex as this is mostly intended for early-mid league with lower-end gear or in hardcore

• The mods that should 100% be avoided on this build:
• • Monsters cannot be Leeched from
  • Monsters have a (20-50)% chance to avoid Poison, Impale, and Bleeding
  • Players have (20-60)% less Recovery Rate of Life and Energy Shield

Annoints

• Hatchet Master (Verdant, Teal, Crimson) is the perfect early-midgame annoint. Drop the Onslaught flask when you get this
• Inveterate (Black, Black, Gold) lategame if going for Suppresson cap
• Martial Experience, Relentless, Cloth and Chain, Sentinel, Quickstep are some usable cheap first annoints

Endgame Crafting

• 2H Axe: Sundering Axe early-midgame, Vaal Axe lategame
• • Earlygame: Betrayal and hope for veiled %phys, or try gambling
  • Midgame: Recombinate T1 Flat Phys with T1-T3 HybridPhys, craft Prefixes Cannot be Changed, Veiled Chaos, hope for prefix unveil. If it lands and you unveil % Phys, wipe suffixes, multimod, craft attack speed and physical damage over time multiplier
  • Lategame: Endgame 2H Axe Recombination guide
• Body / Gloves / Boots / Helm: Likely crafted using Fractured bases from the Breach Genesis Tree
• • Body can also be crafted using Dense Fossils but they'll likely be very expensive. If so, Harvest Reforge Defense may be the way to go
• Rings — 2 Options:
• • Genesis Tree from Breach (reduced attack, reduced defense, more resists, more chaos)
  • Harvest reforge Chaos until good suffixes, use a Wild Bristle Matron (cheaper) or craft Suffixes Cannot be Changed, reforge Life, repeat until satisfied
• Amulet — Recombinate attributes, life, damage over time multiplier
• Jewels — Harvest reforge Life until %life and good damage mods or maximum resistance
• Medium Clusters — 4 or 5 Passive Physical Damage over Time, i68+. Craft with Harvest Reforge Physical
• • Rend(mandatory), Wound Aggravation, Flow of Life, Circling Oblivion, Wasting Affliction
• Large Clusters — 8 passive Axe/Sword — i50-67 cheaper to roll, i68+ works fine otherwise
• • Harvest Reforge Attack or Speed, or possibly Chaos Orb, until Fuel the Fight, Feed the Fury, and either Martial Prowess or Heavy Hitter for the 3rd. Exalt and Annul can also be useful here
• Small Cluster — 3 passive Suppression cluster
• • Chaos Orb, or any elemental Harvest Reforge (fire/cold/lightning) until Aerialist, Untouchable, Elegant Form

• March 5: Added Annoints, Farmable Content, Number of Buttons, Dealing with Ailments, T16 Map Regex
• March 6: Added Vaal Temptation Support info for spammable Vaal Ground Slam while mapping along with a loadout
• March 7: Added a "Midgame - Sunder Hydrosphere" loadout for Sunder Hydrosphere, Battlemage's Cry which is 1 extra hit on single target and will aggravate bleeds quicker. ~20% more damage total. Only works with Sunder. Static Strike droppable while running this setup
• March 8: Added a Defenses in Maps section