TL;DR
- Uses Impending Doom to detonate curses for massive chaos AoE explosions
- Combines Spell Cascade with Vixen’s Entrapment for multi-curse chain reactions
- Features exceptional clear speed with minimal cast time requirements
- Requires specific unique items for optimal performance and scaling
- Provides strong defensive layers through curse application and corpse destruction
Fellow exiles, today we’re exploring SideFX’s innovative build that specializes in curse detonation mechanics. This Impending Doom Occultist utilizes curse explosions to create devastating chain reactions that clear entire screens efficiently. Welcome to this week’s featured build analysis.

Performance Advantages
+ Lightning-fast map clearing capabilities under 2 minutes per map
+ Massive area coverage with overlapping explosion patterns
+ Smooth leveling progression using Orb of Storms and Spark until level 38
+ Engaging playstyle with visual and mechanical satisfaction
+ Innovative approach to curse mechanics with high damage potential
Budget and Accessibility Factors
– Significant currency investment required for optimal performance
– Dependency on specific unique items for smooth operation
– Potential price inflation as build popularity increases
Pro Tip: Start accumulating currency early and monitor market prices for key uniques like Vixen’s Entrapment and Dialla’s Malefaction.
Build Foundation and Progression
This build demonstrates exceptional leveling efficiency from the start. Begin with Orb of Storms combined with Spark until reaching level 38, then transition into the main curse explosion setup. The core concept involves applying curses to enemies and then triggering their detonation through specialized mechanics. Through carefully timed reapplications, the build effectively bypasses traditional cast time limitations while significantly increasing trigger frequency.
Impending Doom Mechanics
Two fundamental systems drive this build’s performance: curse detonation and curse propagation. The centerpiece skill is Impending Doom, a support gem that activates the Doom Blast ability. This secondary skill inflicts chaos damage in an area whenever a supported curse reaches its expiration. Crucially, targets remain affected by the curse’s debuff at the moment the explosion occurs, maximizing damage effectiveness.

SideFX employs Despair as the primary supported curse, which specifically reduces enemy chaos resistance. This strategic choice ensures that when Doom Blast’s chaos explosion triggers, the target already has diminished chaos resistance, amplifying the damage significantly.
To accelerate the detonation cycle, the build incorporates Anomalous Impending Doom, an alternate quality version that shortens the duration of linked curses.
The defensive strategy integrates Dialla’s Malefaction – by maximizing skill gem quality through this unique chest piece, curse duration is reduced by approximately 100% total.
Passive Skill Optimization
Observant players will notice Doom Blast striking resilient enemies multiple times. This multi-hit capability stems from Spell Cascade support, which generates overlapping duplicates of the spell. In this configuration, it supports Despair, producing the distinctive multiple purple circles visible during combat. These duplicates are strategically timed so the Despair curse expires sequentially between each instance, enabling multiple Doom Blast activations against single targets.

The sequence operates as follows: Despair is cast and expires, Doom Blast triggers, Despair is reapplied through Spell Cascade mechanics, repeating the cycle continuously.
The build further enhances this mechanism with Awakened Spell Cascade, generating additional overlapping copies for increased explosion frequency.
Chain Reaction Engineering
While the foundation is solid, what if we desire expanded coverage and intensified explosions? The solution lies in Profane Bloom, the Occultist Ascendancy passive that causes cursed enemies to detonate upon death. This addition enables proper chain reaction sequences. The advantage of these detonations is their independence from cast speed and cooldown requirements, freeing investment opportunities for damage and defensive enhancements.
To maximize chain reaction potential, we need to curse additional enemies efficiently. For this purpose, SideFX employs Vixen’s Entrapment unique gloves. These specialized items allow triggering multiple curses simultaneously with a single cast of any other curse. In our setup, casting our primary curse, Despair, activates the entire sequence.
The glove sockets contain three supplementary curses alongside the support gem Hex Bloom, which propagates the supported curses when affected monsters perish.
Through strategic passive tree investments and gear optimization, we can apply up to four distinct curses on individual enemies. Therefore, by casting Despair, we simultaneously activate all curses socketed in our gloves, spreading them across Wraeclast’s landscapes, weakening adversaries and priming them for sequential explosions.
Common Mistake: Many players underestimate the importance of curse limit increases and fail to maximize their chain reaction potential.
Curse-Based Protection Systems
Fortunately, our offensive capabilities double as defensive measures. Curses provide ideal tools for damage mitigation. Within our glove setup, we utilize Enfeeble, which diminishes monster damage output and accuracy. Temporal Chains slows enemy movement and action speed, while Assassin’s Mark provides life and mana restoration on kill. Since these curses propagate via Hex Bloom, we maintain consistent coverage and uptime. We’ve also acquired masteries enabling our curses to Hinder and Blind enemies, making them slower and less precise.
This build maintains exceptional battlefield cleanliness: we leave no corpses behind. This is achieved through Last Rites, the passive that guarantees cursed enemies are completely destroyed upon death.
Profane Bloom additionally eliminates the corpses of enemies it affects. This comprehensive disintegration protects us from dangerous monster death effects encountered during rapid mapping sessions.
For personal protection, SideFX allocates points into life, evasion, and employs Mind Over Matter to redirect portion of incoming damage to mana reserves. Combined with multiple defensive aura optimizations, this provides substantial survivability against any debuffed monsters that approach closely.
Advanced Tip: Experienced players can further optimize defense by timing curse applications to counter specific enemy attack patterns.
Build Performance Summary
SideFX has engineered a build that balances simplicity of understanding with formidable power and distinctive mechanics. It demonstrates excellence in map clearing efficiency, accomplishing this safely within cascading violet detonations. This build represents an excellent choice for players seeking both effectiveness and mechanical satisfaction in their gameplay experience.
The Impending Doom Occultist stands as a testament to creative build design within Path of Exile’s extensive customization systems.
Action Checklist
- Level using Orb of Storms + Spark until level 38, then transition to main setup
- Acquire core unique items: Vixen’s Entrapment, Dialla’s Malefaction
- Set up main skill links with Impending Doom support
- Configure glove curses with Enfeeble, Temporal Chains, and Assassin’s Mark
- Optimize passive tree for curse limit and duration reduction
- Practice curse application timing for maximum chain reaction efficiency
No reproduction without permission:GameCDjnh » PoE Builds 3.20: Impending Doom Occultist Build Master the explosive curse mechanics of Impending Doom Occultist for devastating chain reactions and efficient mapping
