Overview
Dreamcore’s Gas Grenade Pathfinder is a chaos poison build that throws grenades, detonates them instantly with Explosive Shot, and lets the lingering poison cloud do the killing. The 0.5.5 revision is less a rework than a set of targeted fixes to two problems the 0.4 and 0.5 patches created: energy-shield recovery got worse when Ghost Dance stopped granting instant recovery, and the old single-target package was quietly doing almost nothing.
Recovery is now solved with Enduring Elixir on the ascendancy paired with Chavon’s Satchel, a belt that routes life-flask recovery into energy shield as well. Because Enduring Elixir lets the life flask run permanently, the build gets constant dual recovery instead of waiting on Ghost Shroud stacks. The trade-off is real and worth stating plainly: that belt slot can no longer hold Headhunter, Mageblood, or a breach-modified rare.
The single-target rebuild is the other half. Dark Effigy and Toxic Domain are gone entirely, replaced by Entangle supported for critical scaling. Entangle has to be aimed, but it hits far faster, reaches full critical-weakness stacks in a fraction of the time, and — because you cast it yourself rather than a totem — it can drive Blazing Critical for extra fire damage that feeds the poison through Plaguefinger.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Poison cloud scaling is enormous — the gas grenade cloud hits for roughly 1,289% compared to the ~450% the dropped Poison Spore package offered
- Recovery problem genuinely fixed; the build feels markedly tankier on a heavy-evasion chassis
- Entangle reaches critical weakness cap far faster than the old Dark Effigy setup
- Dodge-roll cancelling grenades gives it a fast, mobile rhythm
- The creator tested both wand options on camera rather than asserting one
Cons
- Chavon’s Satchel locks the belt slot, closing off the strongest currency upgrades in the game
- Losing Running Assault means you can be heavy-stunned while sprinting
- Entangle has to be aimed, which is a real skill-floor increase over a drop-and-forget totem
- Crafting is expensive — the creator burned a pile of Omen of Light and Omen of Abyssal Echoes chasing base crit on the wand without hitting it
- Not a build in a finished state; the creator calls this an update ahead of a full rewritten guide
Key Skills
- Gas Grenade — all of the damage, via the poison cloud rather than the hit
- Explosive Shot — detonates the grenade immediately; reloaded by dodge rolling
- Entangle — applies critical weakness and drives Blazing Critical on the weapon swap
- Withering Presence — stacks wither over longer fights
- Despair — curse on the swap setup, scaled with heightened curse efficiency
Gear & Anointments
Wand-and-focus on the weapon swap, with the main hand carrying flat elemental damage and ideally base critical chance; +5 projectile gem levels is a luxury, and an Essence of Battle +3 to attack skills is called out as entirely sufficient. The Wicked Quill is preferred over a Curse Carver for front-loaded wither application, though the creator concedes the argument runs the other way on long fights.
Plaguefinger is mandatory — it is why elemental damage contributes to poison and why Elemental Focus is free of downside. Chavon’s Satchel for the recovery combo, Rambler Jacket body armour for the chaos resistance implicit, evasion boots, and rarity squeezed wherever the affix budget allows. Sekhema’s Rune of the Sky and Idol of Thrana are socketed for extra elemental damage and an extra poison stack.
Endgame Notes
The build is on an evasion plus energy-shield chassis with Ghost Dance, Wind Dancer and Blind, rather than armour, so the recovery fix matters more than raw effective HP. Stone charm handles chain stuns and Anent Hope covers freeze removal.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Dreamcore. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: HUGE IMPROVEMENTS! Gas Grenade Pathfinder 0.5.5 Final Build Update.