Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant Build Guide in PoE 3.25

Have you played the Hammerdin in D2R before and would like to play something similar in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur? If that is the case, there is actually a build that you can try out right now.

In this article, we will cover a build that deals lightning damage so powerful that it can obliterate enemies with ease. Are you interested? If so, read further! This is our build guide for the Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant in PoE 3.25!

Why Choose Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant?

The Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant is a spellcasting build in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur that has the potential to destroy anything. It utilizes a Transfigured Gem that launches a spiraling projectile, allowing you to hit multiple enemies in one cast.

Although Ball Lightning of Orbiting deals slightly less damage than its base counterpart, what makes it incredible is that you can influence the speed of the projectile. By using the aptly named Slower Projectiles Support, the spiraling lightning ball will take a bit longer to move outside of the screen. This is great for clearing maps without heavy investment in gear.

A huge chunk of your damage comes from Archmage Support. This particular support gem grants added lightning damage equal to 19% of your unreserved mana. As you can tell, the Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant is essentially a mana stacker, gaining more power the higher its maximum mana is.

For improved Ball Lightning DPS scaling, look for the following modifiers on your gear:

• Increased Maximum Mana
• Increased Cast Speed
• Increased Spell Damage
• Added Lightning Damage
• Chance to Deal Double Damage
• Chance to Deal Double Damage While Focused
• Lightning/Elemental Damage Penetration

Since you will be up close and personal with the enemy, you need to sort your defenses to survive. Thankfully, this build has more than enough defensive layers to keep you from dying on the battlefield. These include capped resistances, 100% spell suppression, and the Mind Over Matter keystone passive.

As for the ascendancy class, the Hierophant is the best when it comes to mana-stacking builds. This is due to the notable passives available to this ascendancy class, particularly Divine Guidance, which serves both as an offensive and defensive node.

Sanctuary of Thought is amazing because it provides you with extra energy shield based on a sizable portion of your maximum mana. Basically, the more mana you have, the tankier you will be!

Both Arcane Blessing and Conviction of Power are complementary ascendancy nodes for the build. The former empowers Arcane Surge to give you 20% more spell damage, while the latter raises your Maximum Endurance and Power Charges by one.

Here is the ideal order of notable ascendancy passive skills to take:

1. Divine Guidance
2. Sanctuary of Thought
3. Arcane Blessing
4. Conviction of Power

Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant Gear Recommendations

Weapon

The best weapon for this build is a crafted one using an ilvl 85+ Profane Wand as the crafting base. This is because of its increased cast speed implicit modifier, which will allow you to unleash lightning projectiles in quick succession.

Grab a couple of Profane Wands and use Essence of Misery (Cast Speed) until you get spell damage and maximum mana. If you have the PoE Currency, aim for Tier 1 mods for maximum benefit!

In Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur, you can place your crafted wands on the Runesmithing table in Kingsmarch and put the “Haunted by Tormented Spirits” modifier on them. This mod enhances damage, cast speed, and movement speed by 35%!

Body Armor

You have a couple of amazing options to choose from. The first is the Cloak of Defiance — a unique item that grants Mind Over Matter. This keystone passive reduces damage taken from your life by allocating a portion of it to your mana.

With the Cloak of Defiance, you have one free passive skill point because you no longer have to manually allocate the keystone. You can use that on any other node on the passive tree that grants increased maximum mana for more damage.

The second option is a crafted body armor, preferably the Sadist Garb for hybrid evasion and energy shield. This enables you to obtain spell suppression, mitigating spell damage by at least 50% for improved survivability. Spam an ilvl 86+ Sadist Garb with Essence of Envy (Chaos Resistance) until you get T1 spell suppression and attributes.

If you want to take things further, you could lock your suffixes and use a Veiled Orb for a chance to get 10% maximum life and mana. Refer to our ultimate crafting guide for the full instructions.

Helmet

Unlike the Ice Nova of Frostbolts build, the Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant does not need Kitava’s Thirst to work. This gives you the freedom to use a crafted helmet that has maximum mana, spell suppression, and chaos resistance.

The beauty of crafted gear is that you can use Eldritch Currencies to guarantee certain implicit modifiers. For this build, you can go for increased mana regen per Power Charge and increased cast speed.

Gloves

This Path of Exile Hierophant build can utilize a pair of evasion/energy shield-based gloves with life, mana, chaos/elemental resistance, and chance to suppress spell damage. This is also the gear piece that can roll your only source of life leech, so use Grand Eldritch Ichors to get T4 lightning damage leeched as life.

We recommend utilizing Orbs of Conflict to improve that modifier to Tier 1 or Tier 2. If you want plenty of Orbs of Conflict for a cheap price, visit our PoE store today!

Boots

One of the best ways to survive in PoE 3.25 is to ensure that you are immune to elemental ailments. To achieve that on the Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant, craft a pair of boots utilizing the Deafening Essence of Loathing. Additionally, spam the boots with Grand Eldritch Ichors to guarantee 21-23% elemental avoidance.

Having an insanely high cast speed won't hurt, so why not craft a pair of Onslaught Boots? If you are interested in knowing how to create these awesome boots, you can read our ultimate crafting guide for more details.

Amulet

Atziri’s Foible is a staple for mana-stacking builds, especially in PoE 3.25. This is a cost-effective way to achieve a high amount of mana without breaking the bank.

The amulet slot is also a good source of attributes and resistances, so use this slot to address any issues you may have with your build. You can use Lucent Fossils to guarantee mana modifiers on the amulet of your choosing.

In the endgame, you would want an amulet from the Temple of Atzoatl with the modifier: “+ to Maximum Mana, % Increased Maximum Mana.” Use a Fracturing Orb to fracture the mod, allowing you to use Essence of Insanity afterward to guarantee “12% Chance to Recover 10% of Mana When You Use a Skill.”

For the anointment, go for Mind Drinker (Verdant Oil, Teal Oil x2) for increased mana and mana on kill. Alternatively, you could opt for Battle Rouse (Sepia Oil, Verdant Oil, Azure Oil) to boost your mana and provide mana recoup.

Rings

Obtain an ilvl 85+ Cerulean Ring and spam it with Essence of Zeal to guarantee increased cast speed. Do this until you acquire mana and mana regeneration. It's wise to invest in a ring you get from Delve, which contains the "% Increased Maximum Mana" modifier for better results.

Belt

If you don't have a lot of PoE Currency, you can craft a Stygian Vise using Essence of Spite to improve your INT stat. Spam this belt using the essence until you acquire other useful modifiers like resistances, life, and mana.

Ultimately, we recommend you purchase the Mageblood as soon as you can. This Tier 0 unique item provides unmatched quality of life. If the in-game cost is too steep, don’t worry! Our PoE Store sells Mageblood at an affordable price!

Flasks

• Jade Flask
• Quartz Flask
• Silver Flask (w/o Onslaught Boots) OR Quicksilver Flask (w/ Onslaught Boots)
• Sulphur Flask (Damage) OR Bismuth Flask (Elemental Resistance)
• Divine Life Flask

Flask Mods

• 0.8% Spell Damage Leeched as Energy Shield (of Draining)
• 60% Increased Evasion Rating (of the Impala)
• 20% Additional Elemental Resistances (of the Rainbow)
• 55% Chance to Avoid Being Stunned (of Tenaciousness)
• Corrupted Blood Immunity (Life Flask)

Jewels

The Watcher's Eye is a common unique jewel used by players as it provides benefits that make any PoE build shine. Obtain one with increased lightning damage or lightning penetration. If budget is not an issue, you can have a Watcher's Eye with both mods on it!

As mentioned earlier, achieving 100% chance to avoid elemental ailments is crucial for your survival in PoE 3.25. Hence, you will need to invest in Ancestral Vision to gain 50% elemental avoidance, assuming you have capped spell suppression. The other 50% comes from your boots.

The Militant Faith (High Templar Dominus) is another jewel worth investing in. This converts the nearest keystone passive into Inner Conviction, granting more spell damage per Power Charge. Get one with both elemental damage and reduced mana cost of skills.

Since you will use Wrath as your only aura on the Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant, getting the Sublime Vision makes sense. This unique item increases the effect of Wrath considerably, making it a nice addition to the build.

Other jewels you can use include:

• Grand Spectrum Jewels (life and/or elemental damage)
• The Light of Meaning (lightning damage)
• 8-passive Large Cluster Jewel (Lightning Damage) w/ Scintillating Idea for increased maximum mana

Skill Gems Setup

Body Armor

• Ball Lightning of Orbiting
• Archmage Support
• Awakened Spell Echo
• Awakened Lightning Penetration
• Arcane Surge
• Slower Projectiles Support

Helmet

• Sigil of Power
• Frost Shield
• Enhance Support
• More Duration Support

Gloves

• Frostblink of Wintry Blast
• Archmage Support
• Faster Casting Support
• Culling Strike Support

Boots

• Arcane Cloak
• Automation
• Enhance Support
• More Duration Support

Weapon

• Wrath
• Empower Support (lvl 4)
• Eternal Blessing Support

Off-hand Weapon

• Conductivity
• Hex Bloom Support
• Empower Support (preferably lvl 4)

Passive Skill Tree

It should go without saying that you allocate skill points to improve your maximum mana, wherever possible. When it comes to Masteries, here are the ones we recommend:

• Mana Mastery
  • 10% Reduced Mana Cost of Skills
  • 10% Chance to Recover 10% of Mana When You Use a Skill
• Elemental Mastery
  • Hits have a 25% Chance to Treat Enemy Monster Elemental Resistance Values as Inverted
• Leech Mastery
  • 10% of Leech is Instant
• Lightning Mastery
  • Increased and Reductions to Maximum Mana also Apply to Shock Effect at 30% of Their Value

Tips and Strategies

• Mind Over Matter is a Must: Unlike other spell-based builds, the Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant needs to be in melee range. To avoid dying, allocating Mind Over Matter is mandatory for this build.
• Get Elemental Overload: This keystone grants 40% more elemental damage as long as you deal a critical strike. The slow-moving lightning projectile you create should take care of this.
• Always Wear Evasion/Energy Shield Gear: Spell suppression and energy shield are great defensive layers for this build. The former can only roll on gear with evasion, so hybrid evasion/energy shield gear is perfect.
• Map Modifiers to Avoid:
  • Monsters Cannot Be Leeched
  • Players Cannot Regenerate Life or Mana
  • Reduced Life/Mana Recovery
  • Reflect Elemental Damage

POB

Ball Lightning of Orbiting Hierophant

Final Thoughts

Among the many spellcasting builds in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur, the insane damage output and survivability of the Ball Lightning Hierophant make it quite an appealing choice for many. It's one of the best Templar builds in PoE 3.25.

Mana-stacking builds require gear that could cost an arm or a leg. Luckily, we have a wide assortment of Path of Exile items that are sold at a reasonable price. Visit our PoE Store and go shopping!