PoE 3.25 Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder Build

The Ranger class in Path of Exile is linked to builds that focus on elemental or chaos damage depending on the chosen ascendancy. However, it is not normally associated with spells since this class is typically seen wielding a bow and arrow.

We are going to quash that notion by telling you about a particular build that has the power to deal insane amounts of chaos damage. If you are looking to spend the Divine Orbs you have left in the Settlers of Kalguur League, then we encourage you to try this one.

The PoE build we are referring to in this build guide is the Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder. Let’s look at how it works and why we think this is worth your time and investment.

Why Choose the Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder?

As with all of our other PoE build guides, we will discuss the primary skill first so that you understand why it is great. The Soulrend of the Spiral is the transfigured version of the Soulrend PoE Skill. When cast, projectiles are fired from your character and move in a spiral, one after another.

The projectiles can pierce through enemies and deal direct damage. On top of that, monsters that are near the projectiles will suffer from deadly poisons, causing them to take chaos damage over time.

Despite their trajectory, the projectiles can strike enemies more than once, especially if you influence their movement and force them to return to you. That is why utilizing Returning Projectiles Support or Nimis can essentially double your damage output.

If you look at the skill’s properties, you will see that it has a terribly slow cast time of 0.90 seconds, which is an eternity in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur. Even though you can move while casting, you cannot use the skill again after that time has elapsed. Luckily, there are ways to circumvent this.

Some people would use support gems like Cast While Channeling or High-Impact Mine. While there is nothing wrong with that, utilizing these gems usually comes with complicated mechanics.

Our version of the PoE Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder build is much simpler. Instead of using complex setups, you just invest in several items that can roll cast speed. When you’re able to cast spells fast enough, Soulrend of the Spiral can be used quite often as a result. It will feel as though there is no downtime whatsoever!

In Path of Exile, there are two ascendancy classes that are often associated with builds that deal chaos damage. These are the Occultist and the Pathfinder. What does the latter have that the former doesn’t? The answer to that is a major quality of life!

You see, the Pathfinder grants the ability to make your foes suffer from heavy poison damage due to Nature’s Reprisal and Master Toxicist. Nature’s Adrenaline allows you to get flask charges constantly for near-permanent uptime of your flasks. And yes, there’s the ever-popular Master Surgeon ascendancy node, which ensures that Master Toxicist’s huge poison damage bonus is always active.

Curious to find out what the ideal order of notable ascendancy passive skills you should take for this Soulrend build PoE 3.25? Here it is:

1. Master Toxicist
2. Nature’s Reprisal
3. Nature’s Adrenaline
4. Master Surgeon

The PoE Soulrend of the Spiral’s damage over time effect can be enhanced by increasing spell damage. And, in case you are unaware, spell skill gems in this game become more powerful the higher their levels are. This means that the build can benefit from mods that increase the level of chaos skill gems.

That said, here is a rundown of the modifiers to look for when gearing up this build in PoE 3.25:

• Increased Spell Damage
• Increased Cast Speed
• Increased Chaos Damage
• Increased Poison Damage
• + to Damage Over Time Multiplier
• + to Chaos Damage Over Time Multiplier
• + to Level of All Spell Skill Gems
• + to Level of All Chaos Spell Skill Gems

Playstyle

This particular Soulrend of the Spiral build is a self-cast version, which means that the said chaos damage spell should be used manually.

In situations where you need a boost in damage, activate Approaching Flames, as well as Vaal Haste. Additionally, use Arcanist Brand to apply Despair — a curse that reduces the enemy’s resistance to chaos damage.

Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder Gear Recommendations

In our Soulrend Pathfinder guide, we are only going to cover the best items for the build. Having said that, this is one that requires a relatively high budget because of the crafted gear. Although you could find someone who sells the weapons you need in PoE Trade, they are most likely going to cost you so many Divine Orbs.

Thankfully, you can breathe a sigh of relief because, apart from the crafted wands and certain unique items, the rest of the gear is actually affordable.

Weapons

To self-cast Soulrend of the Spiral, you should have enough cast speed to make it feel a lot smoother to use. This is the reason why you craft a couple of Pagan Wands for their cast speed implicit mod.

If you are wondering why you should pick this one over the Prophecy Wand, especially given that the latter has a 14% increased cast speed, it is because the Pagan Wand only needs 118 Intelligence to wield. For those who are curious, the Prophecy Wand has a 237 INT requirement, which could make gearing unnecessarily hard.

Anyway, invest some Divine Orbs to purchase an ilvl 82 Pagan Wand with a fractured “+1 to Level of All Spell Skill Gems.” Make sure that the item level does not go beyond 82 so that it is easier for you to get the desired modifiers.

When you have it in your possession, spam the Deafening Essence of Misery (Cast Speed) until you get the Tier 1 damage over time multiplier. Now, here comes the risky part: use Orb of Annulment so that only cast speed and DoT are left (the +1 mod is safe because it’s fractured). If any of these mods are removed, spam the essence again.

If things went according to plan, put “Suffixes Cannot Be Changed” and use Harvest Augment Chaos. Doing that will have several possible outcomes, including:

1. Chaos Resistance
2. Chaos Damage Over Time Multiplier
3. +1 to Level of All Chaos Spell Skill Gems
4. Adds # to # Chaos Damage

The ideal result is to acquire the Chaos DoT mod, preferably at Tier 1. When you are fine with the outcome, go for another Harvest Augment Chaos to get +1 to chaos spell skills. After that, simply bench-craft spell damage or chaos damage, and that’s it!

Crafting this wand is risky but it’s definitely worth it considering that this is essentially your endgame weapon. Now, all of the steps mentioned above rely heavily on RNG, so if you do not want to get stressed because of the uncertainty, head to our PoE Store to get this wand without all the hassle!

Body Armor

We have talked so much about the damage potential of this PoE Pathfinder build that we haven’t touched on the topic of defense. Fortunately, this build is no slouch when it comes to survivability, and you have the Doppelganger Guise to thank for that.

This body armor has a unique effect that makes you take significantly less physical and chaos damage simply by wearing it. You do not even have to activate Unhinge (granted by the item) because you are only utilizing the body armor for its defensive capabilities.

Helmet

A crafted helmet allows you to have another cast speed modifier as one of its implicits. Pick an ilvl 85+ Torturer's Mask and use whatever essence you like. Some suggestions include the Essence of Envy (Chaos Resistance) or the Essence of Spite (Intelligence).

Once your explicit mods are done, spam the helmet with Eldritch Ichors until you get physical damage from hits taken as chaos damage. For the cast speed mod, use Grand Eldritch Embers for a flat 10% increase.

Gloves

Getting stunned in Path of Exile sucks because not only will you stay in place, but it also prevents you from casting spells for a short period. The good news is that you can craft a pair of gloves using the Essence of Scorn to force “Chance to Avoid Being Stunned” to appear, along with other modifiers.

The gloves can also be your source of mods that address any problems that you still have with the build. For example, if you need more INT, grab a pair of evasion/energy shield-based gloves so that you can roll Intelligence and spell suppression as well. Don’t forget to use the PoE Orbs, Eldritch Ichors and Eldritch Embers, to roll a chance to poison on hit and chaos damage over time multiplier, respectively.

Boots

Earlier, we mentioned that you activate “Approaching Flames” whenever you need more damage. Well, that skill is granted by a unique item called Annihilation’s Approach.

Utilizing Approaching Flames allows you to reap the benefits of a buff that increases your cast speed and movement speed by 25%. Besides that, the skill grants 100% increased damage, as well as 10% additional physical damage reduction.

The huge upsides that this unique item provides do come with some disadvantages, though. When the skill is active, you take considerable amounts of fire damage per second. The good news is that your amplified Life Flask addresses that, so long as you keep on using it whenever your HP dips to dangerous levels.

Amulet

You can craft two amazing amulets for this Path of Exile Soulrend build. For the first amulet, grab an Agate Amulet (STR/INT) or Onyx Amulet (Attributes) with a fractured “+1 to Level of All Skill Gems” mod. Spam it with the Deafening Essence of Zeal (Cast Speed) until you get damage over time multiplier.

Make sure that you have an open prefix so that you can lock your suffixes. If you don’t have one, use an Orb of Annulment. Anyway, once the suffixes are locked, use Harvest Augment Chaos to get another +1 mod.

Go to the Crafting Bench and add whatever modifier you need. Do you lack fire or cold resistance? You can bench-craft that and more! If you need guidance, especially when it comes to the different crafting terminologies, you can go to our ultimate crafting guide to learn more.

Do you have enough PoE Currency? If so, you could replace the aforementioned amulet with the Focused Amulet that has a couple of “+ to Level” modifiers.

While there are plenty of useful passive skills that you can anoint your chosen amulet with, we highly recommend Force of Darkness because of that 15% chaos damage penetration. Keep in mind that it requires a Prismatic Oil, as well as a couple of Opalescent Oils, so keep a stock of Divine Orbs at the ready just in case you need to purchase them.

Rings

When it comes to projectile builds in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur, the Nimis offers a ton of value. This is because it works similarly to the Returning Projectiles Support, albeit without the huge reduction in damage on the comeback. The spiraling movement of the projectiles unleashed by your primary skill seems to fit well with the “downside” of the Nimis.

The Circle of Nostalgia looks like a unique item that was specially made for the Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder. This ring can come with various effects, but obtain one specifically with the following modifiers:

• % Increased Chaos Damage While Affected by Herald of Agony
• Herald of Agony has % Increased Buff Effect

Belt

The Nature’s Adrenaline node from the Pathfinder ascendancy already gives you a steady amount of flask charges even without doing anything. But, why not improve upon that by adding a similar effect?

We believe that the Tides of Time is overpowered because it contains modifiers that are just too incredible to be contained in a single item. Wear this so that you gain up to three flask charges every few seconds.

Moreover, flasks that are applied to you have their effects enhanced by 25%. This upside goes for unique flasks too!

Flasks

• Eternal/Divine Life Flask
• Silver Flask
• Taste of Hate
  • Mainly for fire/lightning damage from hits taken as cold damage
• Replica Sorrow of the Divine
  • Grants Eldritch Battery when used
  • This is to give you ample mana to continually cast Soulrend of the Spiral
  • The life recovery effect from your flask, which is amplified by the Tides of Time, makes it so that you have some energy shield that almost never runs out
• Progenesis
  • Another defensive flask that works a lot like Petrified Blood

Flask Mods

• 66% Increased Amount Recovered (“Saturated” mod, prefix)
• 65% Reduced Effect of Curses on You (of the Owl)
• Used When Charges Are Full (Bench-craft, for unique flasks)

Jewels

Among the Ranger builds in Path of Exile, only those that use the Pathfinder as the ascendancy class are immortal. That said, the Glorious Vanity (Xibaqua) plays a huge role defensively because it gives you access to the “Divine Flesh” keystone passive.

Divine Flesh converts half of the elemental damage you receive and takes that as chaos damage. When you factor in Progenesis, Taste of Hate, and Doppelganger Guise, you will receive significantly less damage in return!

We also recommend that you purchase the Impossible Escape (Chaos Inoculation). This allows you to get Whispers of Doom, Atrophy, Serpentine Spellslinger, and Influence without spending a ton of skill points.

Now, there are only so many chaos damage nodes that you can allocate on the passive tree, so it is wise to invest in cluster jewels, especially if you want to take this build to a whole new level. Get an ilvl 84+ 12-passive Large Cluster Jewel (Chaos Damage) so that you can roll “35% Increased Effect” and T1 attributes.

Still not satisfied? Invest in two different Medium Cluster Jewels. On one of the medium clusters (Flask Duration), use Harvest Reforge Life to get Brewed for Potency and Special Reserve. Do the same for the other jewel (Damage Over Time) to acquire Brewed for Potency again, as well as Circling Oblivion.

If you can stretch your budget, the Light of Meaning is an incredible addition. Insert it in the jewel socket right above “Charisma” so that the surrounding nodes you have allocated will provide 6% increased damage each.

Tattoos

• Tattoo of the Ramako Shaman
  • +2% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage
• Tattoo of the Tawhoa Naturalist
  • 8% Increased Life Recovery from Flasks
• Tattoo of the Tawhoa Shaman
  • +5% Chance to Poison on Hit
• Tattoo of the Ramako Sniper
  • 5% Increased Projectile Speed
• Tattoo of the Tasalio Tideshifter
  • 10% Chance to Avoid Being Stunned

Skill Gems Setup

Body Armor

• Soulrend of the Spiral
• Awakened Deadly Ailments
• Awakened Spell Echo
• Awakened Unbound Ailments
• Awakened Void Manipulation
• Cruelty

Helmet

• Guardian’s Blessing
• Malevolence
• Summon Chaos Golem
• Herald of Agony (not linked with the other three)

Boots

• Purity of Elements
• Petrified Blood
• Vaal Haste
• Enlighten Support (lvl 4)

Gloves

• Cast When Damage Taken
• Frost Shield
• Frostblink of Wintry Blast
• Faster Casting Support

Weapon

• Steelskin
• More Duration Support
• Automation

Offhand Weapon

• Despair
• Arcanist Brand
• Temporal Chains OR Punishment

Pantheons

• Major God: Soul of Lunaris
• Minor God: Soul of Abberath (for Searching Exarch altars) OR Soul of Gruthkul (for Eater of Worlds altars)

Passive Tree

Prioritize getting passive skills that increase chaos damage, poison damage, or damage over time. If you get lucky with your particular Glorious Vanity jewel, certain nodes on the passive tree may provide you with additional chaos damage.

For Masteries on the Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder, you can take the following:

• Chaos Mastery
  • +1 to Level of All Chaos Skill Gems, Lose 10% of Life and Energy Shield When You Use a Chaos Skill
• Poison Mastery
  • Enemies Poisoned by You Cannot Deal Critical Strikes
  • Poisons You Inflict Deal Damage 20% Faster
  • Poisons You Inflict Deal 300% Increased Damage
• Reservation Mastery
  • Auras from Your Skills Have a 10% Increased Effect on You
• Mana Mastery
  • 12% Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills

Tips and Strategies

• Try Adding More Projectiles: By default, Soulrend of the Spiral only fires five projectiles in a circular manner. If you add more projectiles, you could potentially hit a single target multiple times. One way to add more projectiles is by getting the “Endless Munitions” ascendancy node from the Deadeye via Forbidden Jewels.
• Have Enough Energy Shield as Possible: Energy shield on this build is primarily used for casting your skills via Eldritch Battery. If you feel that your ES is struggling to keep up, go for Evasion + Energy Shield-based gear.
• What to Do Without Nimis? If you cannot afford a Nimis, replace Cruelty with Returning Projectiles Support. This can reduce your damage considerably, which is why it is imperative that you invest in a Nimis ASAP.
• Always Use Life Flask: Your Life Flask does more than just recover the HP you have lost. It is also utilized to keep the damage bonus from Master Toxicist active. Although it is a bit cumbersome, use your Life Flask at least every four seconds.
• Get Cluster Jewels: The cluster jewels mentioned earlier in this PoE Pathfinder guide give a ton of value to the build. This is because there are only so many chaos damage nodes on the right side of the passive tree. Even a single 12-passive Large Cluster Jewel is enough for your damage to soar through the roof.

POB

Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder

Final Thoughts

PoE builds that focus entirely on heavy poison damage are a bit rare in the Settlers of Kalguur League. However, the Soulrend of the Spiral Pathfinder stands out as one of the best in terms of damage and overall survivability.

This Soulrend build has plenty of variations, but the self-cast version is arguably the better choice, especially because it does not rely on complicated mechanics to pull off. The skills and the gear that you use make you an immortal mapper capable of completing even the toughest in the game without fear.

While this is not one that you can accomplish on a budget, the Soulrend of the Pathfinder is worthy of your investment because of the fun gameplay it provides. If you need any assistance with your gear, our PoE Store is happy to help!

Try this build out and share your experiences with it in the comments section below. Also, don’t forget to check our other Path of Exile build guides!

PROS

• + Superb mapper which can kill enemies with deadly poisons
• + Tanky enough to survive on T17 maps even those with less-than-favorable mods
• + Immortal character due to improved flask effect and gear

CONS

• - This build needs a relatively high investment
• - Self-cast version requires two crafted wands with high cast speed
• - Damage over time mechanics may not be to your liking