Crackling Lance
Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.25

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Crackling Lance is a simple Spell that deals Lightning Damage in front of the caster. Its unique feature allows you to gain Intesify stacks that greatly improve the Damage you deal, but shrink the large AoE into a narrow beam. You can gain Intensify stacks by simply Casting your Spell continuously, but you will also quickly lose them upon moving or using a Movement Spell. High Cast Speed is very important to ramp up your Damage quickly. 

Golems are helpful Minions that grant minor Buffs to their master. Usually, you can have only one Golem at a time, and the Buff is not very impactful. As an Elementalist, you can Summon up to 4 various Golems, and greatly improve the magnitude of their Buffs for each Golem you summon. You can also make them immune to Elemental Damage, and automatically resummon your fallen companions in case they die. It is quite strong on its own, however, you can easily push it further by equipping multiple Cluster Jewels with the Primordial Bond Notable that boosts the Effect of Golem's Buffs and increases your Damage by 10% per Summoned Golem. With the Primordial Chain Amulet and the new Golem of the Hordes Gem, you can now Summon up to 9 various Golems at once, each with their Buff Effect multiplied up to 7 times. At this point, your Golems will grant you an insane amount of Damage, Cast Speed, Critical Strike Chance, over 700 flat Life Regeneration, and 35% Physical Damage Reduction. On top of that, the Stone Golem of Safeguarding will absorb 100% of the incoming Melee Damage as long as he is alive. 

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

1. Gameplay

Cast Cracking Lance to defeat Enemies. Use Assassin Mark and Righteous Fire to improve your Damage against Bosses. Your Golems will reactivate automatically. For mobility we recommend Frostbink of Wintry Blast which works excellently with your high Cast Speed.  

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can start using Crackling Lance in Act 3 of the Campaign, however without high Cast Speed, it can feel quite lackluster. The Stone and Lightning Golems will greatly help with Damage and survivability in the early game, although you will need to reach Act 4 to unlock those Gems. You can check out our Leveling Guide for PoE using Lightning Spells to see more tips! It features Templar Class, but most information there are applicable to Witch as well.

Bandits:

Kill all Bandits to get an additional Passive Tree Skill Point, or help Alira to gain additional Resistance.

Leveling Skill Trees:
47 Points Passive Tree
During leveling Critical Strikes are unreliable, it is usually better to opt for the Elemental Overload Keystone instead. Other than that you should improve your Lightning Damage, maximum Life, and a bit of Mana. With the Golem Commander and first Ascendency, you will be able to use 3 Golems, and their buffs will be increased by 180%. 

80 Points Passive Tree
Get Spell Suppression, Crit, and Aura Notables. That will allow you to drop the Elemental Overload. With the Primordial Chain Amulet and the second Ascendency, you will be able to summon all 9 Golems with 405% increased Effect of Buffs. The remaining Buff Effect will be acquired via Cluster Jewels. 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

95 Points Final Passive Tree  
119 Points Path of Building (PoB)

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Liege of Primordial
2. Elemancer
3. Mastermind of Discord
4. Heart of Destruction

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 Ralakesh: 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time taken while moving, Moving while Bleeding doesn't cause you to take extra Damage

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Crackling Lance setup
	Cracking Lance - deals Lightning Damage in long beam in front of the caster, creating additional branches. Gains Intensify upon casting, which increases the Damage but lowers AoE.
	Intensify Support - adds Intensify mechanic to any Spell, including the ones that have it by default.
	Spell Echo Support - repeats your Casts with greater speed. Slows down your ramp-up time but greatly increases your Damage once you reach full stacks.
	Empower Support - improves the Gem levels of your Cracking Lance.
	Increased Critical Damage Support - increases your Damage dealt with Critical Strikes.
	Lightning Penetration Support - allows you to penetrate the Lightning Resistance of your Enemies. The Awakened version also grants you a chance to inflict Lightning Exposure on Hit.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Wrath - an offensive Aura that improves your Damage with Lightning Spells.
	Purity of Elements - an Aura that makes you immune to Elemental Ailments and provides plenty of Elemental Resistance. You can also use the Zealotry Aura if you prefer more Damage.
	Petrified Blood - this Skill indirectly grants you 30% More Spell Damage and constant Life Leech. It also slows down incoming Damage by spreading it over 4 seconds.
	Enlighten Support - lowers the Reservation Cost of supported Auras.
	Flesh and Stone - lowers the Damage you take from nearby Enemies. You may also use Tempest Shield for extra Spell Block Chance instead.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Arctic Armour - reduces the Fire and Physical Damage you take while stationary, and leaves a Chilling Ground while moving. You can also use Herald of Ice for additional Cold Damage and explosions.
	Arrogance Support - causes linked Skills to Reserve Life instead of Mana. With the Petrified Blood, you can safely Reserve up to 50% of your maximum Life.

[UTILITY] Golems
	Stone Golem -  grants Life Regeneration. In the base version of the Build, this Buff will be 5 times as strong. With Cluster Jewels, you can raise it to 700% Effectiveness. It applies to every Golem on the list.
	Stone Golem of Safeguarding - absorbs 15% of the incoming Melee Damage, which can lead to total protection against Melee Attacks. This Golem has the lowest amount of maximum Life.
	Stone Golem of Hordes - this version doesn't provide any Buff by itself but allows you to summon 2 extra Golems for free, which will boost other Golem's Buffs.
	Chaos Golem - this Golem grants you a flat 5% Physical Damage Reduction.
	Lightning Golem - improves your Cast Speed by 10% and occasionally triggers an Aura that grants you flat Lightning Damage.
	Ice Golem - it offers you a 30% increased Critical Strike Chance. The Accuracy Rating is irrelevant for Spells.
	Flame Golem -  this Golem simply increases your Damage by 20%.

[UTILITY] Movement setup
	Frostblink of Wintry Blast - you will have tons of Cast Speed, making this Movement Skill very effective.
	Faster Casting Support - makes your Frostblink even faster.

[UTILITY] Other Utility Skills
	Assassin's Mark - greatly improves your Critical Strike Chance and allows you to generate Power Charges.
	Righteous Fire - a self-damaging Buff that grants you 40% More Damage while active. With the Petrified Blood, your Leech lasts for the full duration of 4 seconds, so Righteous Fire is not that hard to sustain.

6. Gear Setup

The Build uses quite typical Items for a Caster. You will need bonuses to Spell Damage, Gem Levels, Cast Speed, and Critical Strike Multiplier. The defensive side is very strained. You will need the usual maximum Life, Resistance, and a hefty amount of Strength and Dexterity. For the Endgame you will also need Chaos Resistance, Spell Suppression, and Life Regeneration Rate to sustain Righteous Fire. Spell Suppression can only appear on bases with Evasion, while the Life Recovery Rate requires Armour. The more defensive Suffixes you will have on your other gear pieces, the more damage you will be able to fit on your Rings. To Buff your Golems, you will need the Primordial Bond Notable, which appears only on the Large Cluster Jewels, or the Unique Megalomaniac Jewel. This Jewel will bring a lot of customization into your Build, which can be overwhelming, but also very rewarding. The Life Leech can be sourced from Doryani's Lesson Notable on the Cluster Jewel, Eldritch Implicit on Gloves, or Corrupted Implicit on Amulet.

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - outside of the usual modifiers you will need a bit of Mana Reservation Efficiency, which can be acquired via Essence of Loathing, or as an Eldritch Implicit.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 40% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes  % increased Mana Reservation Efficiency  % increased Life Regeneration rate % chance to Suppress Spell Damage Chaos Resistance Cast Speed

(Weapon) Divinarius - a great Dagger with tons of Spell Damage and Critical Strike Multiplier. The Life Recovery and Area of Effect are very useful during Clearing Maps.

30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance (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

(Weapon) Rare Weapon - try to get a proper Wand with bonuses to your Gem Levels, Cast Speed, and Critical Strikes. The Cast Speed is especially important, as it also affects your mobility.

Min. requirements: 60% increased Spell Damage 25% increased Cast Speed +1 to Level of All Lightning Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: % to Global Critical Strike Multiplier % increased Spell Critical Strike Chance % chance to deal Double Damage

(Ring) Rare Ring - Cast Speed and Critical Strike Multipliers are very valuable for this Build, but you will have to get enough defensive Suffixes on your other Items. The easiest way for such Ring is to use Essence of Scorn on a Ring with a Fractured Cast Speed and add a minimum Frenzy Charge via Crafting Bench.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life Optional affixes: +1 to Minimum Frenzy Charges % to Global Critical Strike Multiplier % increased Cast Speed Curse Enemies with Conductivity on Hit Resistance Attribute

(Body Armour) Doppelgänger Guise - a defensive Armour that grants tons of Physical and Chaos Damage mitigation. The Life Recovery after getting Hit is also very helpful to counter the Petrified Blood and Righteous Fire degen.

Grants Level 20 Unhinge Skill (40-60)% more Critical Strike Chance while Insane Enemies Killed by your Hits are destroyed while Insane (40-30)% less Physical and Chaos Damage Taken while Sane Regenerate 10% Life over one second when Hit while Sane

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - the most offensive option, it effectively raises your main Skill Gem Level by 4, as it also affects the Empower Support. Getting the correct Socket Colors can be expensive.

Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item <Random Keystone>

(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - the best choice for Clear Speed. You will explode whole packs of Enemies with a single Cast of your Spell. It works best if you allocate Shock proliferation in your Lightning Mastery.

+(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock Unaffected by Shock

(Belt) Rare Belt - a purely defensive option, it should provide maximum Life, Strength, and Resistance. With the Hunter's Influence, you can boost your maximum Life further.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +40 to Strength +60% total Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance #% increased maximum Life

(Boots) Rare Boots - you will move around using Frostblink of Wintry Blast, but a bit of Movement Speed can be useful too, especially if you combine it with a modifier that grants you Onlsuaght on Kill. You can increase the Effect of Non-Damaging Ailments to make your Shocks more reliable against Pinnacle Bosses.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +25% increased Movement Speed +80% total Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Attributes % increased Life Regeneration rate #% chance to gain Onslaught on Kill #% chance to Suppress Spell Damage % increased Effect of Non-Damaging Ailments

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - the Gloves feature mostly defensive modifiers, but you can slightly improve your Damage and AoE too. The most important modifiers here are the Eldritch Implicits, which grant you a chance to Unnerve Enemies and a choice for Lightning Leech or Lightning Exposure on Hit.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +80% total Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes % increased Life Regeneration rate % increased Area of Effect #% chance to Suppress Spell Damage Chaos Resistance

(Ring) The Primordial Chain - a mandatory Amulet that allows you to Summon 3 additional Golems, but makes them weaker. You should try to get one with useful Corrupted Implicit, such as Extra Curse, Lightning Leech, or Elemental Resistance.

+3 to maximum number of Summoned Golems You cannot have non-Golem Minions 25% reduced Golem Size Golems Deal (45-35)% less Damage Golems have (45-35)% less Life Golems have (80-100)% increased Movement Speed Primordial

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewels - the Abyss Jewel can grant you a bit of Cast Speed or Crit Multiplier, but getting lacking Attributes or Resistances is also useful. Try to get a Corrupter Blood Immunity as an Implicit.

Min. requirements: +30 to maximum Life Recommended affixes: 7% increased Cast Speed if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently % global Critical Strike Multiplier Resistances Attributes % increased Reservation Efficiency of Skill  Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - the Primordial Bond increases your Damage by 90% and improves the Effect of your Golem's Buffs by 40%. It can only appear on Large Cluster Jewels for Minions, so other Notables on this Jewel will be wasted. If you can't get Leech elsewhere, you will need one Cluster focused on Lightning Damage that grants you the Doryani's Lesson Notable.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Primordial Bond 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Storm Drinker

(Jewel) Megalomaniac - this Jewel grants 3 random Notables from all types of Cluster Jewels, which allows you to pick up 4 extra Primordial Bond Notables. It introduces a lot of customization to the Build, as the other Notables can grant you Suppression, Block, Resistances, Reservation for Auras, or just a bit of Damage.

Adds 4 Passive Skills Added Small Passive Skills grant Nothing <3 Random notable mods> Mandatory Notable:  1 Added Passive Skill is Primordial Bond

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - with this Jewel you will enhance nearby Notables with new modifiers. It can improve your Cast Speed, Crit Chance, maximum Life, or Flask sustain. It also grants a lot of Dexterity.

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

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - grants extra bonuses depending on your Auras. We recommend a mix of offensive and defensive bonuses for Wrath and Purity of Elements.

(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: Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Lightning Resistance while affected by Wrath +(30-50)% to Chaos Resistance while affected by Purity of Elements (50-40)% reduced Reflected Elemental Damage taken while affected by Purity of Elements

(Flask) Bottled Faith - this Flask grants you an enormous amount of Damage by increasing your Critical Strike Chance and making your Enemies more vulnerable to Damage. The Regeneration from the Consecrated Ground also helps with the Righteous Fire and heals your Golems.

(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

(Flask) Oriath's End - it greatly improves your Clear Speed by creating Explosions when you Kill an Enemy. Thanks to the global scaling from your Golems the explosions will easily obliterate all Enemies in range.

(20-40)% increased Charge Recovery Enemies you Kill during Effect have a (20-30)% chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their maximum Life as Damage of a Random Element

Suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding Removal Diamond Flask with extra Critical Strike Chance   Jade Flask with Evasion Rating 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.