Alright, let me walk you through exactly how I took the Touch of Death build for a spin while leveling up this season. Didn’t follow a guide blindly, just grabbed the basics and learned as I went.
Setting the Stage & Getting the Core Stuff
First things first, you gotta unlock the Touch of Death aspect. Period. Without it, the whole build name is a lie. I was lucky early on – snagged it from a random Helltide chest just farting around, felt like a win. Slapped that sucker onto my best one-handed weapon right away. Damage boost went poof – huge! If RNG hates you though, focus hard on gambling Obols for Focuses or doing Grim Favors for Whispering Caches. It’s the must-have anchor.
Leveling Phase: Smashing Faces Before Paragon
Right out the gate, I leaned hard into skills that let me spread Touch of Death’s poison everywhere like cheap jam:
- Twisting Blades: My bread and butter hitter. Darted in, stabbed, dashed out. Each stab poisoned multiple suckers thanks to Touch of Death attaching itself to anything it touched.
- Poison Imbuement: Slapped this on too. Poured points here whenever I could. Synergized like peanut butter and jelly with Touch of Death, turning my blades into toxic waste dispensers.
- Dash & Shadow Step: These saved my bacon constantly. Zooming between packs, escaping messy fights, repositioning to slap elites from behind. Essential for staying alive and keeping the damage flowing.
- Puncture: Basic skill? Yeah, but reliable for filling that energy pot when I ran dry mid-fight.
Honestly, the play rhythm felt chaotic but fun. Dive into a mob pack, spam Blades, poison everyone, Imbue for extra toxin, Dash out before the hammer falls. Repeat. Stuff died fast, the poison kept ticking, felt good man. Survivability was rough though – paper thin early on until better gear came.
Gear Choices & That Aspect Hunt
Early gear was… mostly trash. Just took whatever dropped with +Dex, +Crit, or +Poison Damage. Saw pants with good defensive stats? Wore ‘em. Found boots with move speed? Insta-equip.
The real hunt was for other useful Aspects to complement Touch of Death. Things that made my poison spread faster than butter on hot toast or hit harder. I kept my eyes peeled for:
- Burdening Aspect: More toxin weight.
- Bladedancer’s Aspect: For longer Twisting Blade dances.
- Edgemaster’s Aspect: Power boost when Energy was full.
- Protective Aspect: Finally found this later – felt like finally getting armor against all the slapstick damage I was taking.
Ran hella many Dungeons purely for Aspects early. Codex is your friend if luck ain’t dropping.
Hitting the World Tiers & Finding Flow
Breezed through WT1, felt strong. Hit WT3 and… oof. Brick wall. Pack density went nuts. My flimsy defenses got chewed up. Had to slam on the brakes and actively hunt better defensive gear – life, armor, resists – stuff I’d ignored. Also farmed better Aspects aggressively. Felt sluggish till about level 50 when things finally clicked again.
By then, the synergy truly kicked in: Puncture > Poison Imbue > Twisting Blades > Dash/Create distance > Watch everything melt from poison. Watching entire screens of enemies just… dissolve in green goo? Yeah, that was the magic moment. Fast clearing became the norm.
Final Thoughts – Why It’s a Great Leveler
This build solves the single-target vs. AOE nightmare early game. Touch of Death spreads your poison effortlessly. No fancy cooldowns either, just consistent face-melting once you nail the rotation. Super fast, feels fluid when you get it.
Downsides? You’re squishy. Positioning matters. Bosses with immunity phases test your patience. Farming for key Aspects can slow you down. But overall? A rock-solid leveling pick that transitions well. Learned it live, died plenty, but the speed payoff was legit.