Introduction
This is one of the best “set it and forget it” Path of Exile builds. Just drop your totems and keep moving while they soak damage and kill mobs. Makes clearing Abyss Chests and Breaches trivial. Most of this build relies on fairly cheap and easy to obtain uniques, and the defenses are very good for mapping and most bosses. Getting to four totems is essential for the optimal play style. The build is so much easier to work with running four totems over two.
And with Path of Exile patch 3.3 on the way, some aspects of this build are likely to get buffed. With the skill changes, we could see a lot more totem-builds in the future.
Build Pros
- Very Tanky with high ES and high Evade Chance
- Budget-friendly even at end-game mapping
- Highly mobile play style makes for good clear speed
Build Cons
- Can’t run Elemental Reflect or Hall of the Grandmasters
- Flask management skills are a must
- Uber Elder is a real pain, needs GG end-game gear to even be possible.
Passive Tree(s)
PoB Hierophant: https://pastebin.com/YjnAb1JJ
Pantheon
Major God: Soul of the Brine King for reducing stunning, because this build needs mobility
Minor God: Soul of Abberath for burning ground immunity is handy for reducing damage
Bandits
Bandits Quest Choice |
Kill all for two passives |
Ascendancy skill points
Heirophant Choices
Pursuit of Faith – Divine Guidance – Sanctuary Of Thought – Ritual Of Awakening
Leveling Items and General Tips
Chest – Zahndethus Cassock Lvl 37 – Geofri’s Sanctuary lvl 64 – Atziri’s Splendour lvl 75
Weapon – Hand of Thought and Motion lvl 22 – Hand of Wisdom and Action lvl 68
Helm – Doedre’s Scorn lvl 39 – Vertex lvl 62
Gloves – Lochtonial Caress lvl 1 – Asenath’s Gentle Touch lvl 25 – Shaper’s Touch lvl 66
Boots – Shavronne’s Pace lvl 32 – Sin Trek lvl 62
Belt – Bated Breath lvl 22 – Cyclopean Coil lvl 68
Shield – Crest of Perandus lvl 8 – Atziri’s Mirror lvl 54
Ring – Timeclasp lvl 22 – Perandus Signet lvl 1
Amulet – Astramentis lvl 20
The skill gem setup is quite tricky for this build and needs some specific passive nodes and Ascendancy nodes before you can run the full aura setup. You need the nodes; Elementalist, Faith and Steel and Nullification in the tree. The build also needs a single jewel with +% ele resistances to hit the 75% cap.
Also, you cannot run Purity of Elements, Discipline and Wrath until you have Sanctuary of Thought ascendancy. The build also requires the +1 to level of socketed gems for enlighten to function.
Only switch to Chaos Inoculation once you’re comfortably high on ES since CI drops life to 1. This means if you’re getting hit, you should be able to avoid dipping into your life pool at all before you switch your tree to it. Before then, aim for Life/ES nodes and respec out of them later. Mind Over Matter can also be helpful while leveling.
For help with Elemental Weakness maps, just run a bismuth or removes curse flask instead of screwing up your tree trying to cap resistances.
When trying to get Labyrinth enchants, aim for anything that buffs your totems as a high-end choice. Curse buffs are also a good option.
Skill gem setup
Italicized gem names are linked together. Assume lvl 20 gems unless otherwise noted.
Main Skill
Ancestral Warchief
Elemental Damage With Attacks
Damage on Full Life (lvl 19)
Elemental Focus
Ruthless (lvl 19)
Concentrated Effect
Backup Attacks
(Mobility/Attack skill)
Shield Charge
Fortify
Faster Attacks
(Use this to inflict blind and other ailments on bosses)
Blade Flurry (lvl 1)
Blind Support (lvl 19)
Faster Attacks (lvl 19)
Increased Critical Strikes (lvl 19)
Auras
Slotted into Helm
Enlighten (lvl 3)
Discipline
Wrath
Purity of Elements
Utility
Cast When Damage Taken
Enfeeble
Lightning Golem
Tempest Shield (lvl 15)
These are entirely optional, slot them into the claw since it’s a free slot.
Vaal Summon Skeletons
Increased Duration
Vaal Discipline
Build Uniques / Example Rare Gear
Tip: Click on the item to view it on PoE Wiki or to view similar rare items in poe.trade.
In this section you will find all the suggested items for this build. We always try to include optional gear in our listing, or try your own assuming you get similar stat rolls. Aim for high-quaity Rares if you’re replacing Uniques.
The goal is stacking your defenses and stats. So Energy Shield should ultimately be your target for end-game. Life and Resistances is OK for leveling if you want to be a little less squishy.
Helmet
Vertex is your BIS for this build. Save up until you can buy a perfectly rolled one, although a decent, but imperfectly rolled Vertex is an OK start.
Body Armor
Atziri’s Splendour with an ES roll on it is just perfect for this build. The added survivability and defenses is a nice bonus too.
Belt
Cyclopean Coil is a great high-end choice, and it’s very easy to find. 15% increased all stats gives more DPS and ES than similar options plus the 5% increased damage for lowest stat is wonderful for this build since its lowest stat is around 250-300. Aim for high Int of course.
Gloves
Shaper’s Touch is BIS, and is really a must-have for this build to be perfect. There’s not really a comparable replacement, but the leveling uniques listed above can help you. Although you should upgrade to Shaper’s Touch ASAP.
Boots
Sin Trek for the survivability and defenses is a great choice. Check the leveling items section for an OK alternative. Rares with comparable stat rolls are OK too.
Amulet
Astramentis is your default early on due to the added stats scaling your defenses. If you want to experiment with shaped items in this slot, feel free.
Rings
Perandus Signet for the scaling of Int, mostly because of the ES conversion eating mana. The amount of Intelligence, and thus Mana and ES, you can gain from this setup is pretty shocking.
If the above rings are too expensive, opt for Timeclasp as a replacement until you can afford Perandus Signets.
Claw
Hand of Wisdom and Action is the basis of this build, you have to have it for the setup to function. Remember that this scales damage off of Intelligence. This item is a great place to socket in Vaal skill gems.
Off-Hand
Atziri’s Mirror is best in slot due to its Int and resistances. If you can grab one with a good roll on Block Chances and Evade, that’s even better.
Flasks
Wise Oak – make sure your resistances are balanced so this grants defense across the board.
Atziri’s Promise – Chaos Res plug
Sulphur
Jade
Silver – Ideally aim for a high Reduced Charges Used roll so you get at least two uses on bosses
Make sure that you have a removes bleed and freeze flask. Removes curse is also nice to have unless you have the Atziri’s Reflection upgrade which grants curse immunity and makes it redundant.