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Ignite Fireball Elementalist Build Guide (POE Legion 3.7)

Path of Exile Ignite Fireball Elementalist Build

Fireball is one of the more interesting and complex skills in Path of Exile, and that depth is hidden behind what is a relatively simple archetype. One might be fooled into thinking that it’s a simple single-target skill with basic application, but you would be very wrong. Not only do the projectiles proc burning which deals extra Fire damage on top of the initial hit, but these projectiles also explode after hitting their last target, dealing AoE Fire Damage. These fireballs can also chain, fork and pierce different targets without exploding, taking out entire packs. A fireball that hits an enemy without terminating will only cause the AoE damage effect on the last enemy struck. Any enemies hit by a projectile that pierces, forks or chains will take full damage but the projectile will not explode and deal AoE damage.

It’s this multi-layered interaction which we are going to ruthlessly exploit to deal as much Fire damage as we possibly can. Using the Elementalist Ascendancy and gear aimed at prolonging and buffing Burning Damage, we can take our simple little fireballs to insane heights.

Defensively you’re relying on the combination of Life and Energy Shield to act as your primary buffer. But since Life regen and Leech won’t really be a major factor, only a minor influence with the best gear, you should never try to facetank with this build. Path of Exile 3.7 and Legion also handed some pretty heavy nerfs to Elementalist, making it a little harder to push to insane levels Winter Orb hit in 3.6.

You’ll find all you will need to construct this build down below. The guide assumes that you’re going all-out and are maximizing every aspect, but you don’t have to go that far at all to reach a point where the build is enjoyable. Even in the low 90s with less-than-perfect gear, the build runs Maps and Delves just fine. And it’s a great choice as a league starter build for any POE player. If you are a brand new Path of Exile player, feel free to check out our various POE guides for noobs.

Build Pros

  • Great clear speed
  • Easy to play

Build Cons

  • Not the best leveling build
  • Not very tanky

Passive Tree(s)

Here is the Endgame Passive Tree

Final POE Tree

Pantheon

Upgrade all of these.

Major God: Soul of Solaris

Soul of Lunaris offers great defensive options for mapping. If facing some bosses with lots of DoT, opt for an upgraded Arakaali.

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul

Abberath offers decent defensive help as well for fire damage. Shakari is another good option for removing Poison from the equation.

Bandits

Kill All for the bonus Passives, offering a bit more flexibility in terms of offense if placed correctly.

Ascendancy skill points

Elementalist

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

  1. Shaper of Desolation
  2. Beacon of Ruin
  3. Pendulum of Destruction
  4. Mastermind of Discord

Shaper of Desolation and Beacon of Ruin offer respectable damage buffs to Ignite as well as allowing us to proc multiple Elemental Ailments on a target, further improving DPS. Pendulum of Destruction and Mastermind of Discord both offer direct increases to our Fireball damage through Elemental and AoE damage, as well as really kicking our Heralds into overdrive.

 

Enchants

Helmet: (From Best to Worst)
40% increased Fireball Damage
Fireball has +30% chance to Ignite
12% increased Fireball Cast Speed

Boots:
0.6% of Damage Leeched as Life and Mana if you’ve Killed Recently
x% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you’ve Killed Recently

Gloves:
Commandment of Light or Frost.

You could also use these Corruptions on Gear:

Curse Enemies with Level (10–12) Elemental Weakness on Hit (Gloves)
(4–6)% Increased Maximum Life (Belt, Body Armour)
% of Fire Damage Leeched as Life (Amulet)

Leveling General Tips

Fireball can run through most of the early game on just a four link by running with some Elemental Damage from multiple Heralds. Mana Regen might be a bit of a pain in late game, so some stopgap gear that offers bonuses to Mana Regeneration is useful. You can check out our leveling Uniques guide for some recommendations on that. If you manage to snag a Tabula, go straight for the 6-Link setup below, this will carry you through leveling.

That final fight with Kitava will be a little easier as long as you have both Decoy Totem and Ancestral Totem to keep adds of your back.

Efficient Farm Locations:

Act 1: The Ledge

Act 2: The Fellshrine Ruins

Act 3: The Docks

Act 4: The Dried Lake

Act 5: The Chamber of Innocence

Act 6: The Ridge

Act 7: The Temple of Decay lv1-2

Act 8: The Harbour Bridge

Act 9: The Blood Aqueduct

Act 10: The Ossuary

Avoid these map mods:

* Players cannot Regenerate Life, Mana or Energy Shield

* Elemental Reflect

Be careful of these map mods:

* Monsters have #% increased Critical Strike Chance / +#% to Monster Critical Strike Multiplier
With high evasion, attack should almost never crit you. Spell on the other hand can still hit hard.

* Monsters fire 2 additional Projectiles
Scary mod on some bosses and monster types. Some monsters are still able to spam out too many projectiles to handle.

* Area contains two Unique Bosses
Your goal to survive this mode is a combo of extreme DPS and Life. The faster you can down the bosses, the less threat they pose.

* #% increased Monster Movement Speed / #% increased Monster Attack Speed / #% increased Monster Cast Speed
Some bosses are going to be too fast to hit effectively, meaning you’ll spend more time than you normally should kiting them. This combination with Temporal Chains is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.

* Players are Cursed with Vulnerability
Negated during mapping with a Warding Flask, but not against bosses. Bleeds from bosses can kill you easily.

* Players are Cursed with Temporal Chains
I would personally avoid this on high-tier maps.

Final Skill Gem Setup

You’ll find recommendations for different attack skill setups for this build below. The basic buff and aura setups are down there too.

=== MAIN ATTACK ===
Vaal Fireball -> Ignite Proliferation ->Burning Damage -> Combustion -> Controlled Destruction -> Deadly Ailments

=== SECONDARY ATTACK ===

Scorching Ray -> Multiple Totems -> Spell Totem -> Faster Casting

Storm Brand -> Increased Critical Strikes -> Curse on Hit -> Flammability

Storm Brand is here purely for proccing Elemental Overload reliably

=== MOVEMENT ===

Flame Dash -> Faster Casting

=== AURA/UTILITY ===

Herald of Ash

Anger

Build Uniques / Example Rare Gear

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-quality Rares if you’re replacing Uniques. The Minimum/Optional requirements listed assume you’re using Rares as a replacement for listed Uniques (where possible). As usual, you should use POEAffix to search for the bases and mods that work best for your version of any build.

Stat Priorities:

Life is super important for survivability, especially at endgame. Although be careful not to forsake too many damage mods for it or you won’t be able to kill mobs quick enough for your defenses to handle incoming DPS.

Energy Shield can act as a decent secondary defensive layer. Hybrid Armour/ES base types offer both Life and ES buffs. Evasion Rating can also be a viable option with the right gear choices, although you may lose some DPS options by missing out on Spell Damage affixes.

Fire Damage is your primary DPS, get this in any way you can, as long as you don’t compromise defenses. You can further increase the damage dealt by this build by adding in buffs to Burning Damage or Duration of Ignites.

Resistances until capped.

Cast Speed means that you simply attack faster the higher it is. This stat becomes vital for scaling overall DPS.

Weapons

The best weapon for this build will be a Staff, and since it’s a 2H weapon, your defensive options will be a bit limited. The Searing Touch is a great Unique choice here as it offers both good DPS and plenty of extra defense

Min. requirements:
+ to Level of Socketed Gems
Added Fire Damage
% Increased Spell Damage
% Increased Burning Damage
% Increased Cast Speed
Optional affixes:
% chance to gain a Power, Frenzy or Endurance Charge on Kill (Essence of Horror)
Gain % of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage (Shaper)
% increased Spell Damage per 10 Intelligence (Elder)
Damage Penetrates % Fire Resistance (Scorched Fossil)
% increased Elemental Damage (Prismatic Fossil)

Helmet

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A Rare can work in this slot, although without some rather strong mods, it will be lagging behind a Unique option that’s much easier to obtain. Deicide Mask for and Evasion/ES base, Bone Helmet for Armour/ES base. There’s plenty of flexibility in this slot, although one good Unique option is Crown of the Tyrant. Roll the sockets to all Red and then socket your Strength Auras and a couple things like Decoy Totem or another Red skill gem to gain more added Fire Damage. You can also toss your Scorching Ray setup in here on a good Elder base to make it a rather strong 5-link, possibly even 6-link.

Otherwise, just use the stats below on a crafted Rare.

90 Maximum Life
Attributes (Dexterity, Strength)
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Chaos Resistance
Reduced Attribute Requirements
% Reduced Mana Reserved (Bound Fossil)
+ Maximum Life/% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)
Nearby Enemies have -9% to Fire Resistance (Scorched Fossil)
+2 to Level of Socketed ?? Gems (Corruption)
% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills (Crafted)
Socketed Gems are supported by Level ?? Immolate/% increased Ignite Duration on Enemies (Elder)
Socketed Gems are supported by Level ?? Burning Damage/% increased Burning Damage (Elder)

Body Armor

There are several Unique options for this build, each offering slightly different options. Loreweave offers great DPS and is not too difficult to obtain, although it needs to be very well-rolled. Belly of the Beast offers another tanky option but with the caveat that you’ll want to run a Life Flask to give it the most impact. Tabula Rasa can carry you pretty far as well. Thousand Ribbons offers a solid leveling option.  Kaom’s Heart is one of the best defensive options for this build overall.

A well rolled Rare will likely work really well with this build as well.

There are several ways to further increase the effectiveness of a Rare here, but they will massively increase the currency cost, as a high-end Armour that fits these parameters would be Mirror-service-worthy.

  • A +1/+2 Level to Socketed Gems Corruption is extremely useful if running a Rare.
  • % Increased Effect of Auras on you is good too, that comes from Bound fossils.
  • Getting Reduced Attribute Requirements can really help if you’re struggling with attributes. This can also free up other Affixes as you no longer need to waste them. This would allow you to further increase your DPS. Although getting this mod combination will be extremely hard, and will cost a lot of currency, so bank on just using a crafted affix instead.
  • Getting a high, or possibly Legacy, Increased Life and/or Chaos Resistance roll really helps with survivability.

Min. requirements:
100 maximum Life
Uncapped Resistances
Attributes (Dexterity, Strength)
Optional affixes:
% Increased Maximum Life (Elder, Pristine Fossil)
Recover % of Maximum Life on Kill (Elder)
+ to Level of Socketed Support Gems (Elder)
% Increased Intelligence (Shaper)
% increased Damage (Corruption)

Belt

Abyss Belts with Life and Resistances are a good option for more difficult end-game sections and bosses. Since you’re primarily focusing on Fore Damage, you need several rolls that synergize with that. Elemental Damage is a good start, and by adding in Life and Resistances, pretty much any Rare offers a good stopgap solution.

Some will opt for the very cheap Cyclopean Coil to get all the Attributes they need, while also increasing damage a bit, although for this build it’s definitely not the best option.

Min. requirements:
70 Maximum Life
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Reduced Flask Charges Used
Increased Flask Duration
% Increased Elemental Damage (Prismatic Fossil)
% Increased Fire Damage (Scorched Fossil)
% Increased Cast Speed/Spell Damage during any Flask Effect (Shaper)

Gloves

Check here for some Unique options, most useful while leveling. These are by no means needed for the build to function, just more of a convenience if you’re trying to squeeze every bit of potential out of the optimal version.

For a Rare, opt for Fingerless Silk Gloves for the extra Spell Damage. Gripped Gloves offer a similar buff, but just to our projectiles. Use the following stats as a baseline for a Rare:

Min. requirements:
+ Maximum Life/% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)
Uncapped Resistances
Added Fire Damage to Attacks
% Increased  Energy Shield(Dense Fossil)
Optional affixes:
Chaos Resistance
Reduced Attribute Requirements
Recover % of Maximum Life/ES on Kill (Elder)
% Global Chance to Blind Enemies/Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Blind (Shaper)
Socketed Gems are Supported by Level ?? Faster Casting/% increased Cast Speed (Shaper)
% Increased Intelligence (Shaper) (ES bases)
Socketed Gems are Supported by Level ?? Arcane Surge (Aetheric Fossil) (ES bases)

Boots

Rare boots with max rolled Life, Resists and Movement Speed are great as a generic choice, but you may find yourself a bit more prone to taking hits than you would like. This one is more of a personal judgment call. Here’s the basic requirements for Rare in this slot. Two-Toned Bootes are good here for the extra Resists. An Armour base is best for high Life and Armour.

Min. requirements:
+ Maximum Life/% Increased Maximum Life (Pristine Fossil)
30% increased Movement Speed
Any Uncapped Resistances (>25%)
% Increased Armour
Optional affixes:
% Increased Physical Damage with Attack Skills (Crafted)
% chance to gain an Endurance Charge on Kill (Elder)
Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Spell Totem/% increased Totem Damage (Shaper) (Useful for Scorching Ray)
Attributes (Dexterity/Intelligence)

Once you’ve gotten decently into end-game, you may want to switch to a Unique that’s more tailored for the playstyle of the build.

Voidwalker – Since Fireball gains a bit of DPS application from Pierce, this is a great Unique option.

Amulet

A Rare can work great here, but the best Rare is one which offers some Elemental Damage scaling and Shaper mods, and it will not be cheap. Stone of Lazhwar and Atziri’s Foible are both solid leveling options here. Aul’s Uprising with the right Aura buff can offer some great defensive potential at the loss of some DPS.

A decent Rare with some of the following stats is of course another option.

Min. requirements:
50 Maximum Life
Adds Fire Damage/ % Increased Fire Damage
% Increased Spell Damage
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Attributes
Chance to gain a Power, Frenzy or Endurance Charge on Kill (Shaper)
% Increased Damage per 15 Intelligence (Shaper)
Damage Penetrates % Elemental Resistances (Shaper)
% Increased Attributes (Shaper)
Increased Aura Effect (Corruption)

Rings

Rare rings will likely work best here, Opal Ring bases still offer tons of potential for Elemental Damage, so give those a shot.

There are a ton Fossil and Shaper/Elder mods which can be useful here, check out this list. And if you’d like to search for a specific Fossil mod to find out what Fossil it comes from, go here.

Le Heup of All and Berek’s Respite also offer competitive Unique options for the a Unique if you want that. Although a high-end Elder base will get a lot more mileage for this build with the right rolls.

Min. requirements:
50 Maximum Life
% Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills
Adds Fire Damage
Uncapped Resistances
% Increased Cast Speed
Optional affixes:
% Increased Fire Damage
Grants Level ?? Herald of Ash Skill (Elder)
Grants Level ?? Herald of Ice/Thunder Skill (Shaper)
% Increased Elemental Damage (Prismatic Fossil)
% Increased Damage with Ailments (Corroded Fossil)
Attributes
Increased Aura Effect (Corruption)

Flasks

The Wise Oak – Great flask for DPS buffs by offer more Fire Penetration.

Other Flasks:

  1. Catalysed Divine Life Flask of Staunching
  2. Experimenter’s Sulphur Flask of Adrenaline or Alchemist’s Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline
  3. Chemist’s Basalt Flask of Heat
  4. Chemist’s Jade Flask of Warding

You can swap these mods around if needed due to RNG.

Jewels

Jewels can and will offer great DPS increases for this particular POE build. Since we’re using dual-wield Axes, it also opens up the mod pool for Jewels a bit to make a great Jewel for our build easier to obtain.

Abyss Jewels that have a chance to gain Onslaught can also be used in a slot for a damage increase. Watcher’s Eye with buffs to Herald of Ash or any other Auras you use can be really powerful. Rare Jewels will work just as well though in most cases, and be much cheaper.

Rare Jewels can run with the following stats:

Recommended affixes:

  1. % Increased Maximum Life
  2. % Increased Spell Damage
  3. % Increased Attack Speed and Cast Speed
  4. % Increased Burning Damage
  5. % Increased Spell Damage while wielding a Staff
  6. % Increased Damage Over Time
  7. % Increased Fire Damage
  8. % Increased Ignite Duration/ % Chance to Ignite
  9. % Increased Damage

Optional affixes:
Attributes (Dexterity/Intelligence)
Adds # to # Fire Damage to Spells
Damage Penetrates % Fire Resistance

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