Moon's Caustic Arrow Occultist Pantheon, Ascendancies & Bandits (PoE Necropolis)

Act 2’s Quest: “Deal with the Bandits”

In Act 2, you’ll receive the quest “Deal with the Bandits”. While you have the option to ally yourself to one of the bandit lords to receive a permanent bonus, none of the options they provide are worthwhile. Instead, we opt to slay them all and receive 2 passive skill points from Eramir in the Forest Encampment.

Should you find yourself having chosen wrongly, the choice of reward can be changed with a Book of Reform, crafted by offering 20 Orb of Regret and an Onyx Amulet to an NPC vendor.

Ascendancy

The Occultist Ascendancy is chosen for its powerful synergy with chaos damage and ability to compensate for comparatively low damage with Profane Bloom explosions. Additionally, it provides strong defensive bonuses such as Stun Immunity and Energy Shield sustain for Eldritch Battery. Unlike other some Ascendancy classes, it provides a strong effect with every single notable you allocate, so Labyrinths should be completed soon after becoming available to you. If you find the Labyrinth to be challenging, slow your pace down and observe the patterns of traps and ground effects – every mechanic in the area is doable without taking damage after you work it out.

Below is the preferred order of allocation of your Occultist Ascendancy passives.

Void Beacon

This is a direct boost to your damage through lowering enemy resistances and regeneration.

Withering Presence

A second huge boost to Damage and a great chunk of Chaos Resistance that nullifies Act 10’s resistance penalty by itself.

Profane Bloom

Profane Bloom is the most iconic Occultist feature, with its distinctive purple explosions. We grab this before we head into maps, to boost Caustic Arrow’s clear potential massively. Explosions help clear packs and soften up tough monsters.

Vile Bastion

Finally, a large boost to Energy Shield sustenance and virtually permanent Stun Immunity. This is an important notable when running Mind Over Matter versions of the build.

Pantheon

Major God

Soul of the Brine King is the most desirable major god, preventing chain-stunning from the moment it can be enabled in Act 6 until you get your last Occultist Ascendancy notable, Vile Bastion. Later, when upgraded with a Divine Vessel, it will also make you immune to the frozen status, which can be incredibly deadly. In Advanced progression stages of this build, when using Stormshroud, it should be swapped for a fully upgraded Soul of Solaris for a large boost in survivability.

Minor God

An upgraded Soul of Abberath is the most useful minor god for this build, immunizing you against the deadliest and most common ground effect in the game – burning ground.