Blight of Contagion
Trickster Build

Created for Patch 3.24

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Within the Chaos DoT Archetype, there is one very interesting and unique Spell interaction. The Contagion can be used to spread other specific Chaos DoT Spells to all nearby Enemies when your main target dies. It can be used with the regular Essence Drain Spell or the Transfigured Blight of Contagion Spell. In this Guide, we will focus on the latter one. 

The Blight of Contagion is a Channeling Spell that can apply up to 5 layers of damaging Chaos Debuff on the Enemy. It has a very fast Cast Time and each layer lasts for at least 5 seconds, so you will ramp up to maximum potency in under a second. Compared to regular Blight it deals less Damage, but doesn't require any investments into Mana Sustain, Cast Speed, or additional Duration, which are all necessary for the original variant; not to mention the obviously insanely better Clear Speed due to Contagion spreading. On the other hand, it deals significantly more Damage than the Essence Drain and applies it faster. 

The Blight deals Spell Damage, and it is not an Ailment, thus you can improve its DPS via Pain Attunement Keystone and Spell-related bonuses such as Zealotry Aura or modifiers on your Weapon. It doesn't have a Hit component, so it can't inflict Poisons or Leech Life for you, but it also can't be blocked by Proximity Shields. 

The Trickster Ascendency offers amazing sustain and superb defensive capabilities. You will have high amounts of Life and Energy Shield, a very high chance to Evade Attacks, easily Capped Spell Suppression and Elemental Ailment Immunity, and quickly recover your resources thanks to Life Recoup and Ghost Dance Keystone. 

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Cast Contagion, followed by Channeling the Blight of Contagion. Use Despair and Withering Step to debuff Enemies. Cast Divine Blessing to activate temporary Aura to further boost your Damage. For mobility, you can use Flame Dash or Frostblink Spells. 

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The leveling is very easy, you can start using the Blight of Contagion right from the start. As a Shadow, you will have many useful Damage Notables in close proximity, you should grab them to make your leveling even faster and replace them with Cluster Jewels later on. It is a Spell Skill, so it scales insanely well with sources of additional Gem Levels. You can check out our Leveling Guide using Cold DoTs for more tips and replace Cold modifiers with Chaos modifiers instead. 

Bandits:

Killing all Bandits for 2 bonus Skill Points is the best option, none of the Bandit offers is particularly useful here.

Leveling Skill Trees:
39 Points Passive Tree

Pick up all nearby Chaos Damage Notables, as well as some maximum Life and Mana bonuses for sustain. 

73 Points Passive Tree
Use Petrified Blood to enable the Pain Attunement Keystone. Pick up Aura, Spell Suppression, and maximum Life modifiers. 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

89 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
119 Points Path of Building(PoB) link 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in the order:

1. Polymath
2. One Step Ahead
3. Escape Artist
4. Spellbreaker

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; +40% Chaos Resistance against Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Ryslatha: 60% increased Life Recovery from Flasks used when on Low Life; Enemies you've Hit Recently have 50% reduced Life Regeneration rate

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Blight of Contagion setup
	Blight of Contagion - a Channeling Spell that applies 5 layers of Damaging Chaos Debuff on Enemies. The Debuff can be spread via Contagion.
	Void Manipulation Support - improves your Chaos Damage, the Awakened version also raises your Gem Level by 1.
	Swift Affliction Support - increases your Chaos Damage but slightly lowers the Duration of your Debuff layers.
	Controlled Destruction Support - empowers your Spell Damage at the cost of lowering the Critical Strike Chance, which doesn't affect the DoT effects anyway.
	Infused Channeling Support - after a short moment of Channeling you will gain a Buff that vastly improves your Chaos Damage.
	Empower Support - improves the Gem Levels of your Blight.

[Utility] Contagion setup
	Contagion - applies an AoE Debuff that deals Chaos Damage and spreads to other Enemies when the main target dies, carrying over the Blight Debuff too.
	Increased Area of Effect Support - improves the Area of Effect of Contagion.
	Intensify Support - also improves the AoE of Contagion, additional spreading doesn't incur Intensify stacks.
	Enhance Support - additional Quality of Contagion increases its base radius.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Zealotry - improves your Spell Damage. You can also use the Purity of Elements to greatly ease your gearing process.
	Grace - a defensive Aura that greatly improves your Evasion Rating.
	Petrified Blood - splits a portion of the incoming Hit Damage into DoT effect.
	Enlighten Support - lowers the Reservation Cost of linked Auras.

[UTILITY] Arrogance setup
	Vitality - a defensive Aura that improves your Life Regeneration.
	Clarity - it improves your Mana Regeneration, which is very important for your Sustain.
	Defiance Banner - improves your Evasion Rating and lowers the Critical Strike Chance of nearby Enemies.
	Arrogance Support - causes linked Auras to Reserve Life instead of Mana. Thanks to Petrified Blood you can safely Reserve the upper half of your Life.

[UTILITY] Divine Blessing setup socket in the Vertex
	Malevolence - an offensive Aura that greatly improves your Damage. You can swap it with the Zealotry for a lesser burst but higher comfort.
	Divine Blessing Support - turns your permanent Aura into a temporary Buff with a high upfront Mana Cost, and greatly increases its effectiveness.
	Inspiration Support - lowers the upfront Mana Cost of your Divine Blessing.

[UTILITY] Mobility setup
	Frostblink - an instantaneous teleport that leaves Chilling ground in both locations. You can also use the Flame Dash instead.

[UTILITY] Other Utility Gems
	Despair - a Curse that greatly lowers the Chaos Resistance of affected Enemies.
	Withering Step - your only source of Wither Debuff, which increases Chaos Damage taken by Enemies. You can link it with the Enhance Support to apply more Stacks, or Increased Duration Support to make them last longer.

5. Gear Setup

To improve your Damage you shall seek bonuses to Gem Levels, Chaos Spell Damage, and Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier. For Defenses, you will need bonuses to maximum Life and Energy Shield, cover Resistances, and shift some of the Physical Damage to be taken as Elemental. You won't need any Spell Suppression on your Gear, but all your Bases should have Evasion Rating to enable Mastery. There are no mandatory Unique Items for the functionality, but some are very useful to have.  

(Helmet) The Vertex - thanks to the Mana Reduction from this Helmet you will be able to cast your Divine Blessing almost for free. It also grants you plenty of Evasion, Energy Shield, and Chaos Resistance.

+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems have 50% reduced Mana Cost (245-280)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(30-40) to maximum Energy Shield +(24-30)% to Chaos Resistance Enemies Cannot Leech Mana From you

(Weapon) Cane of Kulemak - this Staff can grant you tons of Damage, but getting the correct one can be very problematic due to its randomized nature.

(60-90)% increased Unveiled Modifier magnitudes Recommended modifiers:  (90-109)% increased Spell/Chaos Damage +(44-48)% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier +2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems

(Weapon) Rare Staff - look for bonuses to Spell Damage, Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier, and extra Gem Levels for your Chaos Spells. You can use Staff or dual-wield Wands.

Min. requirements: 100% increased Spell Damage +40% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier +3 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: +#% to Damage over Time Multiplier +# to Level of all Spell Skill Gems +# to Level of Socketed Support Gems

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - due to the Escape Artist from the Trickster Ascendency you should aim to get tons of Evasion and Energy Shield here. It should also grant you other usual defensive modifiers such as Resistance or Physical Damage mitigation.

Min. requirements: 1000+ Evasion Rating 300+ Energy Shield +40% to Elemental Resistance 10% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Elemental Damage Optional affixes: % increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills % increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills Gain a Frenzy Charge every 15 seconds Flasks gain a Charge every 3 seconds

(Amulet) Replica Dragonfang's Flight - improves the Gem Levels of your Blight Spell, and grants you plenty of Reservation Efficiency. It also provides a bit of Elemental Resistance and lowers your Attribute Requirements.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +3 to Level of all <Random Skill> Gems +(5-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (5-10)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills Items and Gems have (10-5)% reduced Attribute Requirements

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - a purely defensive slot, but you can still get plenty of Damage via Eldritch Implicits. Remember to use Evasion Base to get a bonus Spell Suppression from your Mastery.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life +100 to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance % increased Area of Effect % to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier Withered you Inflict expires #% slower

(Belt) Replica Soul Tether - grants you the Corrupted Soul Keystone, which provides you with an Extra Energy Shield based on your maximum Life. It also splits incoming Damage into ES and Life, so you can recover both resources at once.

(15-25)% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(20-40) to Strength Gain (4-6)% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield Corrupted Soul

(Boots) Rare Boots - seek maximum Life, high Movement Speed, Resistance, and Elemental Ailment Avoidance. Thanks to the One Step Ahead Notable you will have at least 108% Action Speed, so you don't need such modifiers here.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life +100 to Elemental Resistance +50% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Spell Suppression Onslaught on Kill

(Ring) Rare Ring - on your Ring you can get tons of Life, and lacking Attributes or Resistances. To boost your Damage try to get Chaos Damage, DoT Multiplier, or minimum Frenzy Charges. You can also opt for the Life Recoup to improve your sustain.

Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life +60 to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance % increased Chaos Damage % to Damage over Time Multiplier +1 to minimum Frenzy Charge Channelling Skills have -3 to Total Mana Cost Attributes

(Jewel) Ancestral Vision - grants you tons of Elemental Ailment Avoidance. If you can't get enough of it on your Boots, you can overcap your Spell Suppression instead.

+(5-10) to Dexterity Modifiers to Chance to Suppress Spell Damage also apply to Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments at 50% of their Value

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - on your Jewels look for maximum Life and Energy Shield, Damage over time Multiplier, Spell Damage, and cover lacking Resistances and Attributes.

Recommended affixes: % to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier % increased maximum Energy Shield % increased Spell Damage % increased maximum Life Elemental Resistances Attributes

(Jewel) Corrupted Magic Jewels - the maximum Life and Chaos DoT Multiplier is significantly more valuable than any other modifier on a Rare Jewel. You can use the Adorned Jewel to bolster those two specific modifiers even more.

Recommended affixes: % to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier % increased maximum Life Corrupted

(Jewel) The Adorned - doubling the effect of two modifiers is more powerful than getting 4 regular modifiers, but the difference is not that groundbreaking. Specific rolls are quite valuable, you can start low and upgrade them over time.

(50-150)% increased Effect of Jewel Socket Passive Skills containing Corrupted Magic Jewels

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - there is only one offensive modifier applicable here, and it can be quite expensive. However, there are plenty of useful and powerful defensive modifiers available for you.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended modifiers:  +(18-22)% to Damage over Time Multiplier while affected by Malevolence +(5-8)% chance to Evade Attack Hits while affected by Grace +(12-15)% chance to Suppress Spell Damage while affected by Grace Unaffected by Enfeeble while affected by Grace

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - it doesn't offer any meaningful Damage bonuses, but can greatly improve your Clear Speed by improving your Flask Sustain or generating Frenzy Charges and Onslaught Buff on Kill.

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of (Asenath-Balbala-Nasima) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - there are only 3 good modifiers available here. You can also use the Unspeakable Gifts Notable for additional Explosions, but it tends to ruin your Contagion chaining, so it is not always worth it.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Unholy Grace 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - there are many useful Notables on Chaos-related Jewels. The Flow of Life is recommended as it boosts both your Damage and survivability, but you can opt for pure Damage instead. You can also use one Channeling Jewel to generate Endurance Charges.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Flow of Life 1 Added Passive Skill is Vile Reinvigoration 1 Added Passive Skill is Enduring Focus 1 Added Passive Skill is Rapid Infusion 1 Added Passive Skill is Student of Decay 1 Added Passive Skill is Unwaveringly Evil 1 Added Passive Skill is Wicked Pall

(Flask) Witchfire Brew - you can use this Flask to automatically apply Despair Curse to all nearby Enemies. It will boost your Clear Speed, but you will still need to manually use Despair against Bosses.

Creates a Smoke Cloud on Use (-10-10)% increased Charges per use Grants Level 21 Despair Curse Aura during Effect

(Flask) Taste of Hate - it is a defensive Flask that grants you the very needed Physical Damage mitigation by shifting part of it to be taken as Cold Damage instead.

(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

(Flask) Replica Rumi's Concoction - thanks to the Trickster Ascendency you are immune to the Petrified effect, making it a very strong defensive Flask. You can use the Enkindling Orb to negate the Duration penalty.

Gain 1 Endurance Charge on use +(35-50)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Effect +(20-30)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Effect Petrified during Effect 90% reduced Duration Recommended enchant:  (80-100)% increased Duration

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding Removal Quartz Flask with Evasion Rating bonus Quicksilver Flask with Movement Speed bonus

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.