TbXie's Poison Seismic Trap Saboteur Build Guide (PoE Trial of the Ancestors 3.22)
Disclaimer
Due to the latest balancing changes, we do not recommend playing this build anymore, as it does not meet the high standards we apply to our guides in terms of fun and performance. We are leaving it up as a reference and it might be revived in a later patch.
the build only swap to seismic trap at lvl 55 but you should pick up the gem in act 3 after doing Sever the Right Hand Quest and level it in your weapon swap or another free gem socket to make sure its damage is good enough for the swap
Latest Update
Even though many people think Seismic Trap was nerfed into a state of unplayability it really is still one of the best leaguestarters out there.
Introduction
Seismic Trap has been the strongest build in the game, especially in League Start environments, when it comes to absolutely deleting bosses. Because of its fairly mediocre efficiency of clearing maps, it is paired with an 
Exsanguinate traps which is used to clear packs more efficiently.
The build, even being nerfed multiple times, still rivals with the best of the best in terms of output, survivability and easy to access. Therefore it reamins one of our most preferred picks for new & veteran players alike when they’re focus is to progress a league efficiently.
Mechanics
Because of the way poison works, Seismic is a pretty good (ab)user of the poison mechanic. This is because Seismic applies multiple poisons per wave and has multiple waves per cast. Therefore, it ramps up super fast and is a huge poison enabler. Because the damage of the build is so ridiculous, it gets to run a ton of defensive auras, defensive layers and what not and should be very very tanky to play. Even though people have cleared Uber Bosses on virtually no budget because most of the Damage comes from the tree, you nowadays do actually need somewhat okay gear to tackle the hardest content in the game. However, this makes gearing super easy & non-problematic for any type of players since you don’t need much for any non-uber content you’re going to encounter.
Playstyle-wise the build is fairly simple. You use Exsanguinate traps to clear packs and whenever something poses a challenge, you throw your Seismic Trap to deal with them.
Build Viability in Numbers
This is where I’ll rate the build in numbers. The lower the number the worse I actually think the build is in that compartment.
- Durability : 9/10
- Damage : 10/10
- Playstyle : 7/10
- Gearing : 8/10
- Complexity : 5/10
Passive Skill Tree, PoB, and Gem Links
You can find an optimized Path of Building here. Every build I release will use the community fork of Path of Building. You can find PoB’s Fork, by LocalIdentity, here.
If you are not comfortable with Path of Building, PoePlanner’s website offers you a non-PoB alternative to import the code from the above link. it is highly recommended you install Path of Building to follow builds most optimally.
More information about the Passive Skill Tree, as well as all the Gem Links can be found on our dedicated page.
Passive Skill Tree, PoB, and Gem Links
Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheons
Our Ascendancy, Bandit, and Pantheon Power page goes into detail about all the choices you need to make in these regards.
Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheons
Gear Summary / TL;DR
A lot of this is explained more in depth in the Gear Page, however we will provide you with a basic idea of what gear you’re looking for in this short summary.
Gear Summary / TL;DREarly Game – Leaguestart Environment:
| Item Slot | Item Name |
| Head | Rare Evasion or Armour/Evasion based Helmet with Life/Suppression/Resistances |
| Amulet | Rare Neck with Life, Resistances & Damage over Time Multiplier |
| Chest | Rare Evasion or Armour/Evasion based Body Armour with Life, Resistances & a Life/Mana Craft |
| Gloves | Rare Evasion or Armour/Evasion based Gloves with Life, Resistances |
| Boots |  Atziri's Step |
| Belt | Rare Belt with Life & Resistances |
| Rings | Rare Rings with Life, Resistances & Attributes |
| Weapon |  Cold Iron Point |
| Shield | Rare Evasion/Energy Shield Shield with Life, chance to Suppress Spell Damage and a Physical Damage as Extra Chaos benchcraft |
Endgame – Medium Upgrades:
| Item Slot | Item Name |
| Head |  The Devouring Diadem |
| Amulet |  Agate Amulet with Life, Damage over Time Multiplier and Level of Spell Skill Gems |
| Chest | Rare Evasion or Evasion/Armour Body Armour with Life, Spell Suppression, Resistances & a Life / Mana Craft |
| Gloves | Rare Evasion or Evasion/Armour Gloves with Life, Resistances and Suppression |
| Boots | Rare Evasion or Evasion/Armour Boots with Movement Speed, Suppression, Life & Resistances |
| Belt |  Stygian Vise with Life, Resistances and Trap and Mine Throwing Speed |
| Rings | 1  Unset Ring with Life, Resistances and a  Ming's Heart |
| Weapon | Cold Iron Point |
| Shield | Rare Energy Shield/Evasion shield with Energy Shield & Evasion, Spell Suppression, Resistances and a Phys as Extra Chaos benchcraft |
| Jewels | Increased Maximum Life, Critical Strike Multiplier, Trap & Mine Damage |
Flasks
| 1 |  Granite Flask of the Armadillo |
| 2 |  Jade Flask of the Penguin |
| 3 | Enduring  Divine Mana Flask of Warding |
| 4 |  Quicksilver Flask of the Cheetah |
| 5 | Bubbling  Eternal Life Flask of Staunching |
As for Flasks, you’ll be able to swap out the Enduring Mana Flask for a Silver Flask to amplify your Speed. You can also drop the Penguin affix for an Increased Armour affix whenever you either upgrade your Brine King or craft Cannot be Frozen on boots. Since you’re dropping the Warding affix, you’re taking Yugul as a second pantheon to cap out Curse Immunity
Be sure to check out our Flask Crafting Guide to learn everything you need to know about how to set up your non-Unique flasks.
FAQ
why is 
Herald of Agony not providing Virulence when i use my traps
Herald of Agony says “Grants Virulence when you Poison an Enemy” and since traps poisoning is counted as poison stacks coming from the trap and not you it does not give Virulence
we use it since it provides a chance to poison, 20% for Superior quality and 40% for Divergent. plus 10% more damage with poisons
Questions & Support
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Even though we try to make our guides as complete as possible, obviously it’s possible you still have questions. We have an entire mod-team readily available to support you & your questions on Discord. You can find us on the ARPG Vault Discord. Make sure to open a Guide Help thread so things stay clear in the main channels.
