Articles
- Marketplace
-
- Currency
- Items
- Power Leveling
- Accounts
- Builds
A great setup for the Occultist that sacrifices Skeletons to deal insane amounts of Damage with the Dark Pact Spell
Created for Patch 3.22
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes |
October 12, 2023 -Build created |
Build Overview | |||
Tags: [CHAOS] [CASTER] [LIFE] [CRIT] | |||
Budget: Defenses: | Boss DPS: AoE: |
The Dark Pact is an interesting Spell that sacrifices a small portion of your maximum Life and deals Chaos Damage in the Area around you. You can also summon Skeletons and Sacrifice their Life instead, which will greatly enhance the Damage of the Dark Pact by a few percent of their maximum Life, and grant 2 additional Chains. With just a minor investment into Minion Life, you can get very high amounts of added Damage for your Spell, and you can boost it further with the Anomalous Quality of the Dark Pact Gem. It is often more beneficial to increase the Levels of Summon Skeleton Gem instead of Dark Pact to improve your Damage.
The Anomalous Quality creates a somehow unusual situation. If you can obtain both Dialla's Malefaction and Ashes of the Starsyou can boost the Quality of your Gem by 60%, which almost doubles the amount of Sacrificed Minion Life scaling of the regular Gem. It is a superior option, but definitely the most expensive one by a far margin. At lower budgets, it is much better to focus on regular Damage scaling via Spell Damage, Cast Speed, or Critical Strike Damage. Increasing Minion Life is also very important even for the regular Gem without Alternative Quality.
It is also worth mentioning that the popular Path of Building tool doesn't automatically associate your Skeletons with your Dark Pact, you have to input their maximum Life manually into the configuration. Failing to do so may cause errors and frustration with the results when you tinker with your Character.
The abundance of Power Chargeand Critical Strike Notables in the Witch's starting area makes it a pretty obvious choice for how to scale the Damage. The Dark Pact has a rather low base Critical Strike Chance, but it is still fairly easy to reach a 100% Critical Strike Chance against Bosses. On the other hand, it has one of the fastest base Cast Speed from all the Spells in Path of Exile, which is very important for Builds that use a combination of 2 Spells to deal Damage. Stacking lots of increased Cast Speed modifiers will greatly improve your Damage and overall enjoyability of the Build.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over hereOdealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
1. Gameplay
Summon Skeletons near your target and cast Dark Pact. To Curse Enemies you can use a Curse on Hit modifier on your Ring and Gloves, or simply Cast all your Curses with the Arcanist Brand. The Occultists Ascendency applies Withering Stacks on Enemies every second, but you can use Withering Steps to instantly apply 6 of them at the beginning of the fight. Frost Shield and Steelskin allow you to safely use your Spells while under the pressure of Enemy Attacks.
Odealo is a secure tradingplatform for MMO gamers. Here you can buy, sell, and tradePoE Currency for real cash.
2. Build's PROS & CONS
PROS |
|
CONS |
|
3. Leveling tips
You can start using your main setup fairly early into the campaign, although scaling Critical Strikes would be rather hard. Use the Petrified Blood Aura to enable Pain Attunement for a massive Damage boost very early on. Don't forget to pick up Summon Skeletons Gem as soon as possible to keep their Life levels relevant to the content you are running when you get the Dark Pact Gem from the Quest.
Suggested leveling Gemsetups:
Dark Pact setup | |
![]() | Dark Pact- your main Damaging ability, it creates a Chaos AoE that consumes a portion of your or your Skeletons' Life to deal more Damage. When used on your Skeletons, it also Chains between them. |
![]() | Arcane Surge Support- spending Mana grants you a bonus to your Spell Damage and Cast Speed. |
![]() | Faster Casting Support- improves your Cast Speed. You can replace it with the Spell Echo Support in Act 4. |
![]() | Controlled Destruction Support- grants you a lot of Spell Damage bonus but significantly reduces your Critical Strike Chance, which is quite low at the start anyway. |
![]() | Intensify Support- grants you a lot of AoE and allows you to gain Intensify Stacks. Those reduce your AoE but grant Damage instead. |
![]() | Void Manipulation Support- improves your Chaos Damage. |
Aura setup | |
![]() | Petrified Blood - you can use this Aura to reduce the initial Damage you take from Hits and allow you to benefit from the Low Life status all the time. |
![]() | Clarity - provides you with plenty of Mana Regeneration. |
![]() | Vitality - it is a very useful defensive Aura that grants you Life Regeneration, which will be your main form of Life Recovery at that level. |
Utility setup | |
![]() | Flame Dash- it is a useful Mobility Spell used to travel across the terrain. |
![]() | Despair - lowers the Chaos Resistance of your Enemies. |
![]() | Steelskin - grants you plenty of protection during its Duration and removes Bleeding effects. |
Bandits:
Kill all Bandits to get an additional 2 Passive Tree Skill Points.
Leveling Skill Trees:
36 Points Passive Tree
1) Annihilation 2)Assassination 3) Coordination 4) Disciple of the Forbidden 5)Instability
70 Points Passive Tree
Allocate:1) Pain Attunement2) Purity of Flesh 3) Sovereignty 4) Heart of Darkness 5) Corruption 6) Arcane Potency 7) Redemption
Recommended leveling items:
![]() | |
+(30-60) to maximum Mana Regenerate (3-6) Mana per second -(8-4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken Recouped as Mana | |
![]() | |
+(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances | |
![]() | |
Recommended modifiers: +1 to the level of All Chaos Spell Skills +50% increased Spell Damage | |
Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) | |
+(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) | |
![]() | |
+(20-50) to Intelligence 100% increased Spell Damage (25-15)% reduced Cast Speed | |
![]() | |
50% increased Movement Speed Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden) |
4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon
Final Skill Tree:
105 Points Final Passive Tree(doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
120 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in this order:
- Void Beacon
- Withering Presence
- Profane Proxy
- Unholy Authority
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of the Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds; 30% increased Stun and Block Recovery
Minor God: Soul of Shakari:50% less Duration of Poisons on You;You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you
5. Final Gems links
[DPS]Dark Pact setup | |
![]() | Dark Pact- Sacrifices a portion of your Skeletons' Life to deal Chaos Damage in the Area around them. It also Chains to nearby Skeletons, dealing the Damage again. You can use it on yourself, but the Damage will be lower. The Anomalous Quality improves the amount of Minion's Life added as Chaos. |
![]() | Spell Echo Support- makes you repeat your Spells at a significantly higher rate. |
![]() | Void Manipulation Support- improves your Chaos Damage and disables Elemental Damage. The Awakened version improves your Damage further, but the Divergent Quality grants you Chaos Leech. |
![]() | Intensify Support- improves your AoE or Damage depending on the situation. |
![]() | Increased Critical Damage Support- grants tons of Critical Stike Multiplier to improve your Damage. |
![]() | Increased Critical Strikes Support- help to cap your Critical Stike Chance. If that's not the problem anymore, use the Awakened Chain Support. |
[Utility]Summon Skeletons setup | |
![]() | Summon Skeletons- summons Minions which Life you can Sacrifice to deal more Damage. They deal very small Damage and follow your Enemies so you can focus on casting Dark Pact. |
![]() | Minion Life Support- improve your Minion's Life, which means more Damage for your Dark Pact. |
![]() | Empower Support- it also increases the Life of your Skeletons. You can Socket this setup in an Item that grants you additional Levels for Supported Gems by 2 Levels, which will boost the Summon Skeletons as a result. |
[UTILITY]Aura setup socket in your Helmet | |
![]() | Petrified Blood- spreads out incoming Damage and allows you to Reserve half of your Life without any downside. It enables the Pain Attunement Keystone for a massive Damage boost. |
![]() | Zealotry- grants you Spell Damage and Critical Stike Chance. You can also benefit from powerful Watcher's Eye modifiers while affected by this Aura. |
![]() | Grace- grants you a lot of Evasion Rating and scales it further. You can also use the Determination Aura instead, but without lots of Armour on your Rare Gear it won't be as effective. |
![]() | Tempest Shield- grants you a decent amount of Spell Block Chance and makes you immune to Shock Ailment. |
[UTILITY]Arrogance setup socket in your Helmet | |
![]() | Vitality- it is a very helpful Aura that grants you a lot of Life Regeneration. The Life Leech and Regeneration is your main way of Life Recovery. |
![]() | Precision- Spells obviously don't need Accuracy Rating, but the additional Critical Strike Chance from this Aura is very useful. |
![]() | Arrogance Support- linked Auras will Reserve your Life instead of Mana. |
[UTILITY]Curse setup | |
![]() | Despair- this Curse lowers the Chaos Resistance of affected Foe. You can also get it via the Curse on Hit modifier on your Gear, which grants only half of the effect, but makes it automatic. |
![]() | Assassin's Mark- grants you a lot of Critical Strike Chance and Damage against Marked Enemies. Only one target can be Marketed at the same time. It also generates Power Charges for you. |
![]() | Enfeeble- a defensive Curse that lowers Enemy Damage and Accuracy Rating. You can also use the Punishment if you prefer more Damage. |
![]() | Arcanist Brand- casting that many Curses manually would be troublesome, but you can automate it with the Arcanist Brand. |
[UTILITY]Other Utility setups | |
![]() | Flame Dash- performs a quick dash in a specific direction, leaving a burning ground on the way. It can store up to 3 charges. |
![]() | Withering Step- grants you an Elusive Buff and applied Withering Stacks to nearby Enemies. Shares Cooldown with other Movement Spells. |
![]() | Frost Shield- creates an icy barrier that drains a portion of your Energy Shield to power up. It reduces the Damage you take while you stand inside of it. |
[UTILITY] Guard setup | |
![]() | Steelskin- absorbs big portions of the incoming Damage and removes Bleeding Ailments on you. Replace it with the Bone Skin from the Forbidden Flesh & Flame Jewels later on. |
On Odealo dozens of sellers compete for your attention. Buying PoE Currency here guarantees the best prices, prompt delivery, and the best quality of service.
6. Gear Setup
There is a plethora of powerfulmodifiers that work very well for this Build to scale the Damage, and since they rarely are used together, the prices of such items are usually lower. You should look for increases to Spell, Chaos, and Minion Damage, levels of Chaos or Minion Spell Gem Levels, Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier, Cast Speed, or increased Minion Life. Both Dark Pact and Summon Skeletons are Minion Skills, so try to avoid just the Chaos Spell Skill modifiers. You can benefit from the Minion Damage modifiers thanks to the Spiritual Aid Notable picked up on the Passive Tree. Stacking Quality on your Dark Pact via Ashes of the Stars and Dialla's Malefaction is better than a regular setup, but all your other Items also have to be good and well-rolled to make it worth it.Defensively you should focus on getting enough Resistances and maximum Life. Additional Life Regeneration is also useful to have. You should use bases with Evasion and Energy Shield. Try to obtain modifiers that make a portion of the Physical Damage to be taken as Elemental, as you severely lack Physical Mitigation.
Stat priorities on items:
- Maximum Life
- Resistances
- Minion's Life
- Gem Levels
- Cast Speed
- Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier
- IncreasedDamage
- Physical Damage Taken as Elemental
- Life Regeneration
![]() | |
(150-200)% increased Spell Damage Gain (100-200) Life per Enemy Killed Gain (50-100) Mana per Enemy Killed 30% increased Area of Effect (200-250)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells if you've Killed Recently +(60-100)% to Critical Strike Multiplier for Spells if you haven't Killed Recently | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +70% increased Spell/Minion/Chaos Damage +1 to Level of all Minion Spell Skill Gems +70% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Optional affixes: % increased Cast Speed +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems +30%to Critical Strike Multiplier for Spells | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: Minions have 30% increased maximum Life +60 to maximum Life +1 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Optional affixes: +2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems Life Regeneration Spell Damage Resistances | |
![]() | |
+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems have 25% increased Reservation Efficiency Trigger Level 15 Feast of Flesh every 5 seconds (180-220)% increased Energy Shield 10% chance for Energy Shield Recharge to start when you use a Skill Eldritch Battery | |
| |
Min. requirements: +90 to maximum Life % of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire Damage +2 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems Optional affixes: Elemental Resistance Chaos Resistance Nearby Enemies have -9% to Chaos Resistance | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +#% to Spell Critical Strike Chance % of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Elemental Damage Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistance 10% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit % additional Physical Damage Reduction | |
![]() | |
Gems can be Socketed in this Item ignoring Socket Colour Gems Socketed in Red Sockets have +2 to Level Gems Socketed in Green Sockets have +30% to Quality Gems Socketed in Blue Sockets gain 100% increased Experience Has no Attribute Requirements | |
![]() | |
+(10-16) to all Attributes +3 to Level of all Summon Skeletons Gems +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances (10-15)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills Items and Gems have (15-10)% reduced Attribute Requirements | |
Recommended anointment: Doom Cast | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +50% total Elemental Resistance +1 to Level of all Skill Gems Optional affixes: +15% increased Cast Speed +30%to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Attributes +1 to Level of all Chaos Skill Gems % increased Damage while Leeching | |
![]() | |
+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10-20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 30% increased Movement Speed +60% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: 100% chance to Avoid being Frozen 25% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments Action Speed Attributes | |
| |
Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes % increased Minion Damage % increased Damage while Leeching % increased Damage during any Flask Effect % chance to Unnerve Enemies for 4 seconds on Hit % of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: % increased Life Attributes Chaos Resistance Flask Charges gained/used | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +30 to maximum Life Minions have 10% increased maximum Life Recommended affixes: Resistances Attributes % increased Cast Speed if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you | |
![]() | |
+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield +(30-40) to Intelligence (10-15)% increased Cast Speed (10-20)% chance to gain a Power Charge when you Cast a Curse Spell Your Curse Limit is equal to your maximum Power Charges | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes % increased Chaos Damage Curse Enemies with Despair on Hit % increased Cast Speed #% to Critical Strike Multiplier | |
![]() | |
Min. requirements: increased maximum Life Recommended affixes: % to Critical Strike Multiplier for Spell Damage % to GlobalCritical Strike Multiplier Elemental Resistances Minions have #% increased maximum Life | |
![]() | |
Recommended modifiers: 1 Added Passive Skill is Unholy Grace 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall | |
![]() | |
Recommended modifiers: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blessed Rebirth 1 Added Passive Skill is Hulking Corpses 1 Added Passive Skill is Pressure Points 1 Added Passive Skill is Quick Getaway 1 Added Passive Skill is Basics of Pain | |
![]() | |
(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura mods: (10-15)% increased Cast Speed while affected by Zealotry (0.8-1.2)% of Damage leeched as Life while affected by Vitality +(20-30)% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision | |
![]() ![]() | |
Allocates Bone Barrier if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame Allocates Bone Barrierif you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh | |
![]() | |
(30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect | |
![]() | |
(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 Flasks:
| |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Odealo is one of the biggest Path of Exile marketplaces. It allows regular players to buy, sell, and trade PoE Currency with the use of real cash
If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.
Like this:
Share this:
- All articles
- Albion Online
- Animal Crossing
- ArcheAge
- Borderlands 3
- Crowfall
- Diablo 2 Resurrected
- Diablo 3
- Dual Universe
- EVE Online
- Elder Scrolls Online
- Escape from Tarkov
- Fallout 76
- Final Fantasy XIV
- GTA V
- Guild Wars 2
- Last Epoch
- Lost Ark
- Minecraft
- New World
- PSO2
- Path of Exile
- Project Diablo 2
- Rocket League
- RuneScape
- Temtem
- Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
- Trove
- V4 Online
- Valheim
- Warframe
- WoW Classic
- Wolcen
- World of Tanks
- World of Warcraft
- Other articles
- Diablo 4
- Torchlight Infinite
- UNDECEMBER
RELATED PAGES