Need a league starter build for Path of Exile 3.8? We’ve got you covered, with both on-meta and non-meta choices for the POE players in your life. After all, with all the changes and new mechanics, POE 3.8 builds aren’t an easy thing to pick.
If you’re just hearing about Blight, it’s an interesting mix of tower defense and POE that’s rather alien to many players. To that end, GGG has handed buffs to a wide array of certain play styles, with a heavy focus on Minions, Traps, Mines and a rebalance of physical attack builds. Look below for the Blight skill changes guide for more details on that.
And if you’re a true beginner, make sure to stop over and check out our other Blight coverage to be certain you’re prepared to take down the insidious Blight. Other Path of Exile 3.8 Guides:
- Blight Patch Notes Rundown
- Blight Skill Changes
- Map and Atlas Guide
- What Maps to Shape in Blight
- POE Blight Oils Guide
- Vendor Recipes Guide
Blight League being a huge league for minions and traps means that these build types are going to be much more expensive to run, but will offer much better power overall. And while it’s hard to say that any particular build will reach the proliferation and power of Cyclone in Legion, there are definitely some major contenders. So without further ado, let’s dig in to Blight league and the best league starters for POE 3.8.
Expect more builds over the next couple of days, this is just the start.
Witch
[3.8] Hercanic’s DPS Summoner – Wash over your enemies with a tide of the undead who can tank a ton of endgame content. With only a single gear requirement for scaling Chaos damage, this is an excellent choice for a league starter in Blight that’s not stuck in the melee archetype. This Build is HC, SC and SSF viable.
[3.8] Qlidascope’s STR Stack Zombiemancer – This Blight build is literally the perfect version of a pure DPS build in Path of Exile. The only real downside of this build is that it will no doubt spike in price in the 3.8 Summoner-heavy meta-game. It’s very easy to play though, just let your small tide of undead flesh wash over anything that moves. And with tons of different defensive layers, it sports more than 7,000 EHP, making it a rather tanky build on its own. This POE build can even handle Shaper with a respectable amount of DPS.
[3.8] Kayella’s Big DPS Spectre Summoner – Another strong Summoner build with a shocking amount of DPS. With the Wand changes this league, this build got even more versatile as well. Crafting a good spellcaster set should be even easier in Blight. This Build is SC and HC viable.
[3.8] Mika2salo’s Flame Golem Necromancer/Elementalist – An incredibly flexible build that can use pretty much any Witch Ascendancy. With the inclusion of Spectres, this is also surprisingly defensive. And despite losing some DPS in Blight, it can still deal with most content through maps.
[3.8] Angry_Rolplayer’s SRS Necromancer (2019 Edition) – With a huge DPS potential on a budget, this may well be the best build for POE 3.8. Hands down, SRS may well be huge this league, so get in early. SRS also offers a really speedy leveling process thanks to the new prioritization of targets added in 3.8. If you’re looking for a good POE build that does the summoner playstyle in a way that most people miss, this is for you. This Build is SC and HC viable.
[3.8] 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
[3.8] Laverd’s Hybrid Wave of Conviction Trickster – With the flexibility of this build, many previously inaccessible map mods are now possible to run. A huge amount of defensive layers also offers a surprising amount of survivability.
[3.8] g00fy_goober’s WinterIsComing Trickster – An excellent mapper with plenty of room for improvement. If you’re the type of player who wants a relatively easy-to-play build that can carry you through a league on casual play, this is likely for you.
[3.8] 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.
[3.8] soulssofblack93’s Fire&Flamethrower Traps Saboteur – This build focuses on using both fire traps and flamethrower traps, and with the buffs to Traps and the chosen Ascendancy, things are about to heat up a fair bit. It’s even tough enough to handle Uber Elder, with good gear of course, but that’s not usually something you see in a league starter, so good choice overall here.
[3.8] SanguineLaw’s Ice Trap Sabo – This flexible trap-based build can take on the strongest bosses in Path of Exile. Requires a bit of in-game knowledge to gear properly with elemental damage, so it’s meant more for experienced players. This Build is HC, SC and SSF viable.
[3.8] Brittleknee’s Scourge Arrow Trickster – A wonderfully stable base for a ranged build in Legion. The ability to quickly get through basic Atlas progression with this build is incredible. And with only a handful of Uniques required, all of which should remain pretty cheap this league, it’s a solid starter. This Build is SC and SSF viable.
[3.8] typicaldemon’s Toxic Rain Shadow – Even though Blight nerfed a few key nodes, like Alchemist for the sake of the Flask usage, this build remains strong in 3.8. The Trickster Ascendancy also lost a bit of potency, so don’t expect face-melting DPS that kills Shaper in seconds, but this build can still carry into Red maps and beyond. 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, great option overall if you want to avoid the Minion-heavy meta.
Marauder
[3.8] fireflykk’s Gen Chief Berserker – Another Physical attack build that offers an off-meta choice with decent tankiness. Though Slayer did get nerfed in Blight, it still holds some decent mobility and defensive power, making it a good choice for those who prefer a melee play style.
[3.8] SaintCabal’s Fists of Fire Cyclone – In terms of Blight changes, with added flat phys nearly halved and overall radius buffed, it’s hard to not consider 3.8 a heavy nerf to Cyclone. But if you’re really committed to playing this archetype in Blight and 3.8, you can definitely find a strong build here. It’s also a pretty unique twist on the idea using Facebreakers rather than the normal 2H/1H dichotomy.
[3.8] 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 build is extremely easy to gear and just as easy to play. And even experienced POE fans will get some mileage out of this POE build. Ancestral Warchief is the perfect choice if you’re looking for a melee build in Blight with both good offensive and defensive potential.
Templar
[3.8] thi3n’s Storm Brand Inquisitor – An ultra-powerful build with relatively affordable gear. While not the most incredibly affordable build in POE history, it makes up for the increased effort at getting proper gear with tons of DPS potential. The changes to Daggers and other crafting elements in Blight can make crafting more interesting too.
[3.8] VisorX’s Freezing Pulse Totem Hierophant – A more focused take on the Totam 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.
[3.8] 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, I will still include it here as a great beginner build, rather than a pure league starter.
Duelist
[3.8] Astarift’s Bladestorm Champion – A powerful Crit-based build for those still looking for a League starter that offers a hybrid melee play style. And since Impale wasn’t directly nerfed in Blight, it’s still a good option. This Build is SC and HC viable.
[3.8] Szynima’s 1H-Impale Cyclone Champion – A really spinny boi. The amount of movespeed this build has is actually nuts. If you want to run the purest of mapping speed melee builds, look no further. The mechanics are pretty simple, just apply your buffs and start smacking enemies in the face. And once it gets going, it’s hard to stop. With a literal ton of DPS and so much ability to evade attacks, this is a a solid mapper and boss-running build in almost any situation. The gear is reasonably easy to obtain too. This Build is SC and HC viable.
[3.8] 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.
Aias_o_Telamonios’ Physical ST Slayer – Though the build idea here got nerfed a bit in 3.6, Legion League completely refocused Slayer, 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.
Ranger
[3.8] FunRoom’s Crit Herald of Agony PF/Ascendant – This got hit pretty hard in the POE 3.7 nerfs, it’s still viable with some skill alterations. It does require some time invested, or great game knowledge to gear though with these changes. This Build is SC viable.
[3.8] thedeathbeam’s Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder – While not the most tanky of builds, this Poison machine stacks so much DPS thanks to Blight buffs that it’s very appealing for ranged players in 3.8. Having really good clear speed is actually surprisingly easy with this build, making it a great early mapper.
[3.8] Angry_Roleplayer’s Lightning Arrow/Barrage Deadeye – Another great ranged choice for 3.8, and when combined with the overall buffs 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.
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