We’re finally here for the next Challenge League in Path of Exile: Ultimatum. PoE 3.14 is a much smaller patch compared to the last one, not making major changes to the Atlas, but it does include some nerfs; there are a lot of nerfs actually. This patch was pretty heavy-handed, and a lot of players are going to be upset. Some of the most powerful builds in Ritual are not as viable anymore, but they can be made to work. With that in mind, let’s go over some of the Path of Exile 3.14 league starter builds I would recommend.
So first, let’s talk about what has changed. We’re looking at a much smaller update to mechanics and builds this time around. This PoE expansion did include a ton of nerfs to some OP skills, but much of the same choices remain mostly viable in terms of a Path of Exile 3.14 league starter. Being that there has been no Atlas reshuffle, mapping strategies have only been slightly tweaked from last League. With these PoE 3.14 starter builds, you will be able to map pretty effectively through the first few weeks of the league.
The bossing mechanics are still there, so rushing to the Atlas Passives remains a viable way to approach the endgame. And since builds have shuffled around a bit, there’s some considerations to be made about where to focus on. You could go for purely mapping, focusing on clear speed. And with the mechanics for the league being similar to Ritual, that’s a viable option. Delirium farming is a bit tougher to exploit in 3.14, but remains a viable way to make currency. So what build do you want to pick?
Which Ascendancy to choose?
For Ascendancy choices, some heavy nerfs were handed out to Bleed DoT builds, so things like Gladiator took a pretty noticeable DPS hit this league. Multiple nerfs to melee builds with nerfs to Elder weapons, Fortify uptime as well as Vitality regen, also hit pretty hard on melee Ascendancies. Duelist made it through with no direct nerfs, although some builds feel the pain of combined nerfs.
If you’re a more experienced player and want to focus on making your own build, here are some solid options to pick from that should be strong when paired with a good Ascendancy. The basic playstyles are largely informed by the build, so Ascendancy choice is a matter of looking at the stats (use the patch notes to look for nerfs) and figuring out what works best for your build.
Other Path of Exile 3.14 Guides:
- Path of Exile 3.14 Ultimatum League, All Reworked Skills
- Path of Exile 3.14 Loot Filter Guide
- Atlas Passive Trees Explained
- Making Currency in Path of Exile
- Vendor Recipes Guide
Witch
[3.14] Enki’s Arc Witch – Arc got by without any direct nerfs in 3.14. There have been some Ascendancy and passive changes that impact it though. All told, it’s sill a very solid choice for anyone looking to get in on the fun with a good build for clearing.
[3.14] ShakCentral’s Vortex For Everyone – A solid build with a nice amount of DPS for bossing and clear in early maps. Nerfs to Frost Bomb and a few key areas do make gearing a bit harder, but this is still a very solid build. For a Path of Exile 3.14 league starter, it remains a solid map clearing build that can pretty easily build up currency.
[3.14] Weo_’s SRS Bomber – A summoning build that offers plenty of fun to be had for a very simple playstyle. Thanks to the ease of playing minion builds like this, they can easily do all content in the game with the right gear. And you don’t need the super-powerful crafted items to get this build into the high realms of both damage and survivability. This Summon Raging Spirits build also has plenty of Life and good single-target damage for bossing.
[3.14] Clydehart’s Coldslinger Vortex – Cold DoT builds will be very strong as a Path of Exile 3.14 league starter. There’s very little to be seen that says they’ll be anything other than very strong this patch. The Vortex skill got by without any direct hits on nerfs as well. The Spellslinger Nerf shouldn’t majorly affect this build. A good build to choose for those looking for easy DPS and mildly complex mechanics.
[3.14] ThanatoZGaming’s Cold Animate Weapon – Necromancer got nerfed again, giving less Mana sustain, still an OK build for those looking for something other than Carrion Golem this league. Summon a chilly weapon and go to town on a mob pack, very easy gameplay overall.
[3.14] iLL3aT’s Cold Skeleton Warriors/Archers – For a bit of a shakeup this patch, here’s a summoning build that’s still pretty fun to play without relying on just Golems or zombies. The skills got some minor nerfs, but no major changes so this build should be pretty good for those wanting that playstyle.
[3.14] POE Builds’ Skeleton Summoner – This Necromancer Witch has all the same bonuses and power it did from last patch. There’s very little to worry about this league, as minions look really strong. If you want a bunch of spooky bois to blast bosses and mob packs to bit with, this cheap build can be run with a bit of investment into a few Uniques. It offers a great amount of DPS and clear speed, and the playstyle allows for some good defensiveness.
Shadow
[3.14] f1rstborn’s Purifying Flames Miner – This build got by without any changes in 3.14, making it a great choice for those looking for the Trap and Mine playstyle. The amount of Phasing and defensive layers make this a great bosser and mapper, so it’s awesome for this League. Gear won’t scale well past a certain point.
[3.14] Fyregrass’ Comprehensive Storm Brand Assassin – A Storm Brand build that remains strong in this nerf-heavy patch. It’s an incredible currency farmer and a build that can carry well into Red Maps if you work at it. Crafting for powerful gear through leveling is very easy, especially with the changes to Essences. There’s tons of reward to be had here, you just need to take it.
[3.14] oestergreen’s BattleTrapper 2021 – Another trapper build that can scale well on very little currency investment. Trap builds remain a good choice for new players thanks to simple mechanics as well. It’s a very easy thing to boss with thanks to a lot of defensive layers too. ES-based with lots of block chance make it pretty solid for tanking and mapping through large packs. That alone makes it a good choice this leage especially.
Marauder
[3.14] The Warbringer Ground Slam Serker – 3.14 gave this build a minor DPS buff with changes to Vaal skills. The patch did nerf a few minor elements, requiring some reshuffle in a few areas. Very good still for both maps and boss kills, very strong build again this league.
[3.14] AngryRoleplayer’s Earthshatter Jugg – Remains a very strong build, pending the reworks for the Blood Magic and other changes. The Marauder remains a powerful offensive build and this version of it is a great little tank. Armor, Health and damage reduction from Endurance Charges can offer plenty of time to DPS down enemies. This can both clear maps and bossing with a little planning.
[3.14] HeroEvermore’s Ice Crash Jugg – Ice Crash got away with no direct nerfs, leaving this in a good place. With the amount of ice shards flying, this is a great bossing build if you can keep the DPS up. This build basically remains the same, we will just need to run Enlighten for our buffs (due to mana reservation increase of flesh and stone) and then we can play pretty much as intended.
Templar
[3.14] Wallach’s Hierophant Freezing Pulse Totems – A mild DPS nerf means a bit of a passive tree shuffle is in order for 3.14. This build is basically in the same place it was in terms of survivability compared to 3.13, so that’s good. Overall, a great Totems build for this league. If you like Cold damage and the Totem playstyle of telling the minions who to blast in the face, this is for you.
[3.14] thi3n’s Storm Brand Inquisitor – Still remains a viable, although weaker, option in Ultimatum. This league saw a variety of nerfs that affected a bunch of builds. This particular example saw hits to Mana sustain as well as DPS in a few areas. 3.14 means that this build plays very much the same. There will be some alterations to Gem links, but other than that, gear is pretty much focused on the same areas.
[3.14] Angryroleplayer’s Siege Ballista Hierophant – The gearing is a bit harder to achieve thanks to Mana nerfs in this league, but there’s a lot of power left on the table. Can make it through most of the basic content, although with low life pool, it will struggle in the really challenging stuff, as well as Hardcore.
[3.14] Vei’s Elemental Hit Ballista Totem – A totem build with plenty of strength this league, even after the crafting nerfs that make it much harder to sustain Mana. This is still a strong option provided you account for Mana sustain with a Flask or other solution. Having this in mind does mean you lose a fair amount of DPS though, so it’s a weaker build compared to 3.13.
[3.14] ]Moosseolini’s Holy Relics Guardian – A nice high-Life build with plenty of DPS potential. It’s very easy to play, so it’s very beginner-friendly. There’s so much potential here. If you’re fond of the Totem or Minion playstyle, give this a shot. Very minor nerfs to this build in Ultimatum meant that survivability is a bit lower, although the new skills and interactions shake things up in a good way.
Duelist
[3.14] Velyna’s Ground Slam – A solid choice again in Ultimatum, did get some minor nerfs in gearing and a bit of a loss to survivability. The overall tenor seems to be that the build is very much in the same place in terms of DPS compared to last league. For that reason this remains a good choice for a simple and effective melee build.
[3.14] Poisom’s BlockMAN Duelist – Gladiator got some minor nerfs again this league. Still a very strong build with very easy defenses. if you’re a player that wants to facetank bosses with ease, this is for you.
[3.14] ergerbrush’s Impale Cyclone Champion – Can still handle most content in the game as league starter build. The nerfs to the various melee playstyles do hurt this build, but not too badly. Gearing remains pretty simple for basic progress into Yellow maps, perfect for a pure starter to easily build some currency.
[3.14] Blazer780’s Glad Flicker/Cyclone God – One of the tankiest starter builds in the game right now. Purely zip around the map with Flicker and start making enemies in the face. You can easily waltz your way to Red Maps with the budget gear here. There’s some complexity involved in knowing the limits though. Still a very complex mechanical build aimed at advanced players, and some nerfs to certain skills make it harder to survive.
[3.14] igorkugan’s Bleed Earthquake – Bleed and other focused melee nerfs hit this build pretty hard in PoE 3.14. There’s no getting around it, Bleed is a much weaker choice and much harder to scale into the endgame. This is still a nice build if you want something easy to play, just don’t expect it to steamroll content without major gear investment.
Ranger
[3.14] AsmodeusPOE’ Toxic Rain/CA Pathfinder – It’s a very fast build that’s wonderful for mapping. It has enough DPS to handle bossing pretty well too. There’s plenty of potential here with even mediocre gear. Remains as strong as it was in Ritual, for DPS at least. Some nerfs to both Vitality and Flesh and Stone make it harder to survive bossing in terms of HP.
[3.14] Delphinol’s Viper Strike Poison Pathfinder – No changes to Viper Strike or Pathfinder Ascendancy in the patch notes except that Master Surgeon now removes Corrupted Blood. So overall, not many changes to the build that make it any stronger or weaker. The build offers plenty of DPS on decent gear, so it’s a bit challenging to scale into the really challenging endgame. Overall, a good mid-tier build.
[3.14] Velyna’s Hollow Palm Ice Crash – Scales really well into mid-game in Ultimatum, just as it did in Ritual. It’s a very simple build to play, so the biggest noobs are fine with this build. Some Fortify scaling might affect survivability a bit, but this remains a very strong choice for those looking to breeze through their first build and the leveling process.
[3.14] DankawSL’s Caustic Arrow Raider – A very cheap build to gear with tons of movement speed and plenty of survivability as long as you pay attention. This is not something to facetank with, and lower-end gear may have a hard time getting past the basic Red Maps. Very strong for the new Ultimatum content it would seem, thanks to the awesome cleer speed.
If you’ve found this list of the Best Path of Exile 3.14 League Starter Builds helpful, make sure to share it with your friends!
