The Trickster ascendancy has always been a comfortable home for damage-over-time builds, but with the recent 40% buff to Blight of Contagion, now might be the best time in years to try it. This is a build that channels Blight to apply heavy chaos damage, then uses Contagion to spread that devastation across entire packs POE currency.
If you've played Essence Drain + Contagion in Path of Exile 2, the gameplay loop will feel familiar. It's a two-skill setup where one ability applies a spreading debuff while the other does the heavy lifting in damage. While it may sound clunky on paper-especially since Blight requires standing still-the reality is far smoother. For mapping, a single Blight cast combined with Contagion will wipe packs, and you'll only be channeling for extended periods during boss fights.
Leveling-From Zero to Endgame
For leveling, the build starts with Blight and Essence Drain because the base Blight gem doesn't naturally spread with Contagion. Once you acquire the transfigured version of Blight, Essence Drain can be dropped entirely.
The early game strategy was completely from scratch-zero currency, full self-farm. The long-term goal from the start? Farm a Mageblood. Prices tend to fall about a month into a league, so targeting it mid-season makes it much more realistic.
Leveling was straightforward but occasionally tedious. Running three separate damage-over-time skills at once worked fine mechanically, but mentally it got repetitive. That said, reaching maps was smooth, and once Essence Drain was gone, the build's identity started to shine.
Core Gear Upgrades
After clearing the campaign and building up some early currency, the first major upgrades went in:
Cane of Unravelling-A cheap but incredibly effective weapon for chaos DoT builds. Strong enough to carry well into red maps.
+1 Amulet with Damage Over Time Multiplier-Boosts main skill levels and scaling.
Six-Link Body Armour-The first big jump in raw damage output.
Resistance-Fixing Ring-Because nothing kills a mapping session like uncapped resists.
This was also the point where Bane was added. It's a natural fit: Bane applies both Despair and Punishment curses instantly, and with Hex Bloom, those curses spread effortlessly. Combined with Contagion, map clearing became noticeably smoother.
Atlas Setup & Early Farming Strategy
For the first stretch of endgame mapping, the focus was on:
Map Drop Chance Nodes-To sustain mapping without heavy investment.
Kiraak Missions-For free map variety and completion.
Shrines-Speed and size buffs are huge for a DoT build.
Legion Farming-While Legion is hyper-profitable in the first weeks of a league, most players abandon it mid-league. The result? Expensive emblems and low competition.
Why Legion? Legion emblems are always in demand by leveling carries. With fewer farmers running the mechanic, prices climb steadily.
Cluster Jewels-The Damage Backbone
Chaos DoT builds have a common problem: the passive tree has limited direct damage scaling. The solution is cluster jewels. The first crafted jewel came early and was “good enough” to start, but further currency was funneled into buying better ones with premium notables for both raw DPS and area of effect.
After noticing that Legion packs weren't being fully cleared due to limited AoE, more large clusters with AoE scaling were added. This instantly improved Legion performance and map pacing.
First Legion Runs & Scaling Up
The first set of Legion runs proved the potential of the build-but also showed clear weaknesses. Packs at the edges of the monolith often survived because they were just out of range. Fixing this with cluster jewel investment made a big difference.
The early Atlas tree for Legion farming skipped scarabs initially to save currency. Instead, the built-in Legion crafting option was used to guarantee encounters. Running and selling the drops funded the next wave of upgrades.
Major Gear Breakpoints
After the first profitable farming cycle, big-ticket items were added:
+3 Blight Amulet-A massive gem level boost for the main skill.
Light of Meaning Wand-Solid chaos scaling and utility.
+1 Spell Damage Shield-With resistances for easy gear balancing.
High ES Helmet-With intelligence and resistances.
Chaos Resistance Rings-To hit chaos cap, also with life rolls.
With these upgrades, the build was ready to tackle 8-mod Legion maps with scarabs for bigger rewards.Legion Map Economics
One key choice: avoid Tier 17 and Originator maps for Legion farming. The map costs plus rolling expenses don't justify the return for this strategy, since Legion profit comes mainly from:
Chests
Rare Monster Rewards
Emblems
Stacked Decks
Fortress Maps
Chance drops like fractured items and high-quality gear
With 12 maps tested, the results were strong-over 20 Divines/hour when accounting for emblem pricing correctly. That was enough to buy the single best Legion farming belt in the game: Headhunter.
Headhunter-The Clear Speed Multiplier
Once equipped, Headhunter transformed the mapping experience. Kill chains became blisteringly fast, and Legion packs melted almost instantly. New clusters with three ideal notables were added for even more power.
A Legion-specific scarab that forces enemies to revive multiple times was tested next. While it noticeably increased loot drops, it also made each map take significantly longer. In this build's case, faster runs without the revive scarab proved more profitable overall.
Clear speed occasionally pushed the game to its limits-sometimes even causing crashes. After one such crash, an unfamiliar icon appeared on the map, adding a little mystery to the session.
Loot Highlights & Profit Flow
Legion farming with this build didn't yield constant raw Divine drops like Alva or Abyss farming, but the loot was high-value and liquid:
Emblems (often sold as splinters for higher margins)
Incubators
High-Quality Gear
Unique Drops
Fortress Map Rewards
The sheer pace of clearing-often blasting entire Legions in under 2 seconds-made it a joy to run even without tracking hourly profits obsessively.
Final Goal Achieved-Mageblood
After enough cycles of farming and selling, the final milestone was reached: Mageblood. Amusingly, an extra 100 Divines had been farmed because Mageblood's price dropped significantly during the process. The belt replaced Headhunter for certain scenarios, but both are now available depending on the mapping strategy.
Notably, this entire progression was done without leaning on meta-farming methods like Alva or Abyss. It's proof that with the right approach, you can hit massive gear goals purely through mid-league mechanics like Legion.
Playstyle Summary
The Blight of Contagion Trickster is built for a hybrid playstyle:
Mapping: One Blight cast spreads via Contagion, often wiping multiple screens.
Bossing: Stand still and channel Blight for sustained chaos DoT.
Curses: Applied instantly with Bane and spread via Hex Bloom.
Defense: Primarily mobility, ES pool, and Headhunter buffs. Mageblood offers flask-based consistency when needed.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
Strong clear speed once AoE scaling is in place.
Smooth Legion farming with top-tier profit potential.
Flexible gearing path with multiple viable endgame belts.
Extremely fun playstyle for DoT fans who like big chain clears.
No reliance on ultra-meta strats to reach top-tier gear.
Cons:
Standing still for bosses can be risky.
AoE investment is mandatory for optimal Legion performance.
Initial setup requires multiple gear pieces to feel strong.
Defensive layers are limited without Mageblood or Headhunter buffs.
Final Thoughts
This Blight of Contagion Trickster experiment was both profitable and fun. From zero currency to Headhunter to Mageblood, the build proved that a mid-league, off-meta skill can absolutely compete with the big earners-especially when paired with a smart farming target like Legion POE orbs site.
While the setup is far from min-maxed and Headhunter served as the main defensive crutch, the build never felt underpowered for mapping once core gear was in place. If you enjoy chaos DoT playstyles and want a refreshing alternative to the season's meta, this might be your next project.
