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Tectonic Slam Juggernaut Build Guide (POE Legion 3.7)

Path of Exile Legion

This melee-based build is a great choice for Path of Exile 3.7 and Legion. The game has gotten a huge amount of reworks that focus almost entirely on making the somewhat clunky melee gameplay much more engaging, and with Legion, GGG has succeeded. The patch has completely changed the way both new and old players look at melee builds, so let’s dive back into some good build ideas and see how they handle the challenges of Wraeclast.

This particular build is viable for both Hardcore and Softcore play, offering solid clearspeed for mapping as well as enough tankiness to deal with major bosses like Uber Elder. It does make use of some pretty pricey Uniques though, making the optimal version of the build non-viable for SSF without an unbelievable amount of farming. Despite this weakness,

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 league starter with cheap gear
  • Good clear speed
  • Decent boss killer

Build Cons

  • Very pricey with the best gear

Passive Tree(s)

Here is the Endgame Passive Tree

Final POEPlanner Tree

Pantheon

Upgrade all of these.

Major God: Soul of Solaris

Great offensive choice for some extra DPS. If facing some bosses with lots of DoT, opt for an upgraded Arakaali.

Minor God: Soul of Ralakesh

The blind immunity is really useful for some content. Abberath offers decent defensive help as well for fire damage.

Bandits

Help Alira for the bonuses Resistances

Ascendancy skill points

Juggernaut

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

  1. Unflinching
  2. Undeniable
  3. Unbreakable
  4. Unyielding

Enchants

Helmet:
40% increased Tectonic Slam Damage (Best)
Tectonic Slam has 20% chance to create a Charged Slam

Boots:
0.6% of Damage Leeched as Life and Mana if you’ve Killed Recently
Damage Penetrates x% of Enemy Elemental Resistances if you haven’t Killed Recently
x% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you’ve Killed Recently

Gloves:
Commandment of Commandment of Light or Force.

You could also use these Corruptions on Gloves:

Curse Enemies with Level (10–12) Elemental Weakness on Hit
+1 to Maximum Endurance Charges
(4–6)% increased maximum Life
(8–10)% increased Attack Speed

Leveling Items and General Tips

Leveling Uniques:

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

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. The basic idea is to swap out to your single-target skill before taking on the boss, so keep that in mind.

=== SECONDARY SKILL ===
Ancestral Warchief -> Melee Physical Damage -> Elemental Damage with Attacks -> Combustion

=== MAIN ATTACK ===
Tectonic Slam -> Melee Physical Damage -> Elemental Damage with Attacks -> Fire Penetration -> Added Fire Damage -> Multistrike

=== MOVEMENT ===

Leap Slam -> Faster Attacks -> Blood Magic -> Fortify

=== AURA/UTILITY ===
Herald of Ash

Anger

War Banner

Blood Rage (Once you have decent Life Regeneration)

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).

Depending on your gear choices, you can go for either a lot more DPS at the expense of Life, or go for more defensiveness by sacrificing a portion of DPS. This is your choice. In most cases, I would prefer Life personally, as it’s just a bit more forgiving. If you’re a new player, this may the path for you.

Stat Priorities:

Life is super important for survivability, especially at end-game. 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.

Fire Damage is your primary DPS, get this in any way you can, as long as you don’t compromise defenses.

Resistances until capped.

Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier can help increase your damage a fair bit. This build relies pretty heavily on it.

Attack Speed means that you simply attack faster the higher it is. This stat becomes vital for scaling overall DPS. Attack Speed is great for your movement skill to keep Fortify up.

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Weapons

Oni-Goroshi is one option, as both the high pDPS and added accuracy make this a solid weapon choice, and the inclusion of a six-link by default could save you some currency, depending on the league price of this very rare drop. There is an option to use a 2H Rare instead.

Min. requirements:
300+ Physical DPS
50%+ Increased Physical Damage
+ to Accuracy Rating
Increased Crit Chance
Optional affixes:
Reduced Attribute Requirements

Helmet

A Rare works best here, the enchant is where most of the power of this slot comes from. I would say going for enchants which increase your main skill damage are best. Starkonja’s Head is an OK replacement Unique that’s pretty cheap.

Min. requirements:
90 Maximum Life
Maximum Mana
Attributes (Dexterity, Strength)
Optional affixes:
Chaos Resistance
Reduced Attribute Requirements

Body Armor

Kaom’s Heart is the absolute best choice here. The added Fire Damage and insane amount of extra Life is just pure bliss for this build.

A high-end Rare can do really well with this build in a pinch though. Aim for a Life base. If going the Rare route, prepare to get needed attributes on the chest in order to get more DPS from your Jewels and other Affixes.

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 Level to Socketed Gems Corruption is extremely useful if running a Rare.
  • Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 1 Maim from Serrated Fossils is good too.
  • 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
Increased Maximum Life Elder mod
Optional affixes:
Chaos Resistance
Reduced Attribute Requirements

Belt

Abyss Belts with Life and Resistances are a good option for more difficult end-game sections and bosses. Other Rares might do in a pinch, but not having good rolls can make you a lot more squishy than is tolerable. Abyss Jewels are also a great source for damage buffs as well. Buffing your damage and Life is the best bet here with Jewels.

Elder/Shaper variants are good too, assuming you can get a good combo of Life and Resists on them.

Another good bet is a Cyclopean Coil. Although this will be really expensive as it’s pretty high-demand. The added life and Attributes are extremely useful, so this is a good option if you want to avoid wasting other affixes on attributes in favor of more DPS, assuming you can afford it.

Min. requirements:
70 Maximum Life
Increased Flask Duration
Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks
Optional affixes:
Reduced Flask Charges Used
Attributes (Dexterity, Strength)
Uncapped Resistances

Gloves

Gloves can be one of the more flexible gear slots while leveling, pick any Unique Gloves which focus on buffing needed Attributes or damage types and you’ll be fine for leveling. Once you hit end-game, opt for a high-end Rare ASAP. A Rare set of Spiked Gloves is great for boosting pDPS. If you need help choosing Unique Gloves, refer to the leveling items section above, or go to this list.

Rare Gloves with buffs to main damage types are great.

Min. requirements:
70 Maximum Life
Attributes (Dexterity, Strength)
Increased Physical Damage
Optional affixes:
Chaos Resistance
Reduced Attribute Requirements

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.

Min. requirements:
70 maximum Life
30% increased Movement Speed
Any Uncapped Resistances (>25%)

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.

Kaom’s Roots – This is the best Unique pair of Boots for this build, and will provide decent defensive stun immunity, just be sure you don’t compromise your resists or other defenses using these.

Amulet

If using a Rare, Get a Shaper/Elder and stack as much Life as you can on your Amulet to prevent feeling too squishy. Extra flat added damage of multiple types is good here too. Gain x% Physical as Elemental or Elemental Penetration work great in this slot as well. Stack multiple mods for Physical and Elemental Damage for optimal setup.

Min. requirements:
50 maximum Life
Added Physical Damage as Extra Elemental Damage
10% All Elemental Resistances
Crit Buffs
Optional affixes:
Attributes (Dexterity/Intelligence)

Rings

If you’re using the other Uniques, you absolutely must use Kaom’s Way rings here. If using a Rare Ring while you grind to afford the Kaom’s, use the following start priorities to help guide your selection.

Min. requirements:
60 Maximum Life
x% Elemental Damage with Attacks
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Added Fire Damage to Attacks

Flasks

Atziri’s Promise – A great defensive layer with Chaos Damage scaling the helps keep you alive.
Taste of Hate – Another great defensive option for certain situations.
Lion’s Roar – Offers both good DPS boosting potential and a little defensive breathing room.
The Wise Oak –  Offers Fire Penetration scaling, increasing DPS. Keep in mind that you’re Fire resistance needs to either the highest or equal to the highest resistance to gain penetration. The lowest resist gains a defensive buff.

Other Flasks:

  1. Diamond Flask of Curing (Removes Poison – useful if using a different Pantheon)

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

Jewels

Abyss Jewels that have a chance to gain Onslaught can also be used in a slot for a damage increase.

Rare Jewels can run with the following stats:

Recommended affixes:

  1. % Increased Maximum Life
  2. % Increased Attack Speed with Swords
  3. % Increased Physical Damage with Swords
  4. % Increased Damage
  5. % Increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier
  6. % Increased Area Damage
  7. % Increased Melee Damage

Optional affixes:
Attributes (Dexterity/Intelligence)

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