Path of Exile 3.9 is almost here, so it’s time to pick your starter build. Path of Exile MetaMorph League has massively amped up the challenge for bosses, so leveling is a bit more dangerous this patch than it used to be. For this reason, your build choice at day one is even more important. We here at ISKMogul love POE, so we’ve collected together some of the choices we found from within the community for the best league starter builds in Path of Exile 3.9. The guides here are well-written and easy to follow, some of the best in the game.
If you need help picking a build, it’s highly recommended that you take a look at our skills rundown for which skills that got nerfed and buffed in 3.9. For both new and old players, going with the strongest options is always a choice. With the way the new league mechanics work though, it might be advisable to go for a more defensive build for new players. But the choice is always up to you.
Here are our other Path of Exile 3.9 Guides:
- POE MetaMorph Mechanics Guide
- MetaMorph Starter Builds
- Catalysts Guide
- POE New Players Guide
- Vendor Recipes Guide
- MetaMorph Loot Filter Guide
Witch
[3.9] Hercanic’s DPS Summoner – Wash over your enemies with a tide of the undead who can tank a ton of endgame content. Minimal gear requirements make it a strong contender. The buffs to Spectre give us a pretty big leg up on the competition when it comes to Minion builds in 3.9. This Build is HC, SC and SSF viable.
[3.9] Angry_Rolplayer’s SRS Necromancer (2019 Edition) – Being a non-Minion League, 3.9 could be the time to try out a Minion starter. Since 3.9 also tweaked how SRS plays, it could be something to revisit just to see how you like the new system. This particular build remains as strong as it was in Blight without any real nerfs to core mechanics. This Build is SC and HC viable.
[3.9] Navandis Gaming’s Zombiemancer 2.0 – By far the easiest minion build to play, start off as a Witch and summon your undead legion: zombies, spectres, animated guardian, golem, skitterbots, it has them all! Zombies did get nerfed in 3.9, but the uncapping of Spectres kind of makes up for it.
[3.9] Hercanic’s Speaker for the Dead 74 minion Summoner – By stacking tons of Chaos and Spell damage, the Necromancer Ascendancy really comes into its own, and in Blight it’s being massively powered up on offense. And even on a budget, the Life pool for this build is impressive. Prioritizing node and gear choices to your target goal is also possible thanks to how flexible minion builds tend to be. This Build is SC and HC viable.
Shadow
[3.9] Nathan’s ED Trickster – A rather strong build that offers both flexibility for casual players, but plenty of DPS for more aggressive players looking to maximize the potential of the archetype. It can easily run Red maps with slightly better gear than the starter variant.
[3.9] ArtCrusade’s Essence Drain: BEASTMODE – Another ED variant, this time tuned for SSF players. Trickster and Essence Drain seemingly came out of the 3.9 patch notes mostly unscathed, so they’re a solid off-meta combo for those looking for a solid and basic build to gear and play.
[3.9] Durimon’s Ball Lightning Miner – This build is almost perfectly tuned for bossing and low-investment bossing, which is the perfect goal in POE 3.9. A minimum amount of currency investment can scale this into deeper end-game as well.
[3.9] SystemXTV Lightning LL TrapR – Easy build to gear, and the trap archetype is always fun to play for those looking for something different. The only real weakness this build has as a starter is that brand new players might find Energy Shield defenses a bit wonky. In 3.9 Lightning Spire trap has had it’s early power toned down a bit, but in mid/late-game that nerf really won’t matter
[3.9] Beginner Friendly Arc/Ice Spear Mines – Got a big buff in 3.9. Great base for an Arc build with good gear requirements and enough power to scale into the first steps of endgame. Won’t carry all the way to full endgame clears easily though.
[3.9] typicaldemon’s Toxic Rain Shadow – Buffs to the DPS for this build in Metamorph are helpful, get ready to take this sucker to the next level.With 7,000 EHP and plenty of DPS, there’s very little that this starter build cannot do right at the beginning of the league. The bow-heavy meta this league will make maximizing it a bit more expensive deeper into the league though.
[3.9] Remi’s Icicle Miner – Did get a bit nerfed in 3.9. Although even considering that Icicle Mine is still fun to play. Wouldn’t take this too far into endgame. Truest league starter it’s easy to gear before you move on to a better build.
Marauder
[3.9] The Warbringer Ground Slam Serker – Didn’t get too badly hit in the melee nerf in the 3.9 patch. Still very easy to gear, does require some Uniques to really work well though. Cheap as heck otherwise to gear.
[3.9] TorsteinTheFallen’s Dragon Breath Chieftain Incinerate – The build that has surprisingly high Life and other defenses, but also solid DPS, is a great league starter in this generation of POE. The 3.9 crafting reworks made gearing this a bit harder to scale though. The nerf to multimodding, made pretty much all builds a little weaker until the market catches up.
[3.9] bashtart’s Ice CRASH IT ALL Juggernaut / Berserker – This build has been around for a while, and has consistently dealt solid DPS. The gearing process is a bit awkward to scale into end-game, although it’s very easy to get through leveling with this build.
[3.9] SaintCabal’s Fists of Fire Cyclone – POE 3.9 hit this build with a bit of a nerf, but we recommended it during Blight, and it’s coming back again this patch because with some minor reworks it’s still solid. The new version of the build uses Lightning Damage now, rather than Fire, although the author offers options for different archetypes as well.
[3.9] guggelhupf’s Facebreaker Ancestral Warchief – If you enjoy playing with Totems you’re in luck because Ancestral Warchief builds are a very popular choice for new players. This POE build is fairly simple to gear too.
Templar
[3.9] thi3n’s Storm Brand Inquisitor – An ultra-powerful build with relatively affordable gear. Much more expensive than some builds, but scales incredibly well into end-game. No real buffs or nerfs to this skill in 3.9, should be as good as ever.
[3.9] systemplayerlost’s Cyclone Summoner with Heralds – Herald of Agony in particular is a strong choice in 3.9. It got some small numerical minion nerfs, but build is still buffed higher than before 3.8. The minion play style is pretty fun too.
[3.9] VisorX’s Freezing Pulse Totem Hierophant – A more focused take on the Totem build archetype that take Cold damage and buffs it to the moon. And with only the minor need for a couple of threshold jewels to effectively scale DPS, it’s a wonderfully easy build to gear. And with the still stable Mind Over Matter, the defensive layers of this build can pretty well carry it into Red maps. Unchanged in 3.9 too, so all gravy here.
[3.9] Havock5700’s Arc Totems – With great mapping speed and plenty of defenses, this particular Hierophant build is a wonderful choice in Blight. While it does require a few different Unique items. More of a beginner build than a pure starter, but with the 3.9 buffs to Arc, it’s all good as it’s even easier to play.
Duelist
[3.9] CaptainWARLORD’s Cleave Champion – With a reworked focus on defensive mechanics, this build is still surprisingly strong in Blight. And with such a pure and focused build, even the newest POE player can comfortably play this build through to endgame. The guide author even put out a great video guide.
[3.9] Aias_o_Telamonios’ Physical ST Slayer – Though the build idea here got nerfed a bit in earlier leagues, it’s come back a fair bit. The changes this league making this a much more viable setup. It’s very easy to gear this build to get through Yellow maps. A bit more investment of Currency can even carry this POE build into Red maps comfortably if you so wish. This Build is SC and SSF viable.
[3.9] LiftingNerdBro’s Uber Lab Warchief Totem Champion – A perennial standard of league starter builds. With the changes to melee this league, it will be very off-meta, thus cheaper to gear, in theory. Sure it’s a bit harder to master thanks to the changes, but any decent player can handle it. If you want an early start on end-game farming for Lab enchants, here you go.
Ranger
[3.9]g00fy_goober’s Ultimate EleBuzzsaw Raider – This one has gone a bit off-meta this league, which actually helps it make the cut this time around. It’s a fast build that easy enough to gear for somewhat experienced players who know what to look for. Scaling this to endgame gear will be a bit tricky though.
[3.9] thedeathbeam’s Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder – A little less of a heavy hitter in Metamorph than it was in Blight, still viable though if you’re willing to put the time in. Still very easy to level with thanks to changes to ranged in this patch.
[3.9] Angry_Roleplayer’s TOXIC RAIN + HERALD OF AGONY Pathfinder – DoTs and Bows, DoTs and Bows,I gotta have me and them DoTs and Bows. Since being introduced in Delve, this skill combo has remained surprisingly strong. and with the Bow meta this league, it will be very easy to gear through leveling with plenty of powerful options.
[3.9] Angry_Roleplayer’s Lightning Arrow/Barrage Deadeye – Another great ranged choice for 3.9, and when combined with the overall changes to LA this patch, it actually becomes pretty easy to scale this skill setup into Red maps. No complex mechanics involved either, just simple skill rotation and flask management to take you all the way into endgame content.
If you’ve found this list of the Best Path of Exile 3.9 Beginner Builds helpful, make sure to share it with your friends!
