Uncover The Secrets Of The Ball Lightning Of Static Totem Hierophant Build In POE 3.23

Dear Exiles, it's been over half a month since the release of Path of Exile 3.27. Have you found your best build yet? Here, we'd like to share a very interesting new build from Keepers of the Flame League, centered around The Grey Wind, added in 3.27.

Frankly, when we first saw this unique axe, its insane damage multiplier made us feel it was definitely going to be the focus of all builds in this league.

About The Grey Wind

This axe has an affix: When attacking with this weapon, deals an additional 8%-12% of the player's maximum health as fire damage. In other words, it's essentially a life-based version of Ephemeral Edge. The affix descriptions are very similar; the former provides maximum lightning damage based on an energy shield, while this axe provides fire damage based on the player's health.

It's worth noting that the difference between The Grey Wind and Ephemeral Edge is that The Grey Wind provides fixed damage with no area of ​​effect. That is, the damage value remains constant. However, Ephemeral Edge provides maximum lightning damage, so its scalable damage range is very large.

Considering its damage type, this axe is well-suited for Ignite build because it also has another affix: an additional 2% fire damage over time bonus for each Rage stack.

However, here we're not opting for continuous Rage stacking, but rather a hit-based totem setup.

How Does It Work?

But before we discuss the totems, let's talk about the basic principles of this Grey Wind build. There's nothing particularly new here; it mainly revolves around Rathpith Globe and Crown of Eyes. So, we get a large amount of fixed damage from Grey Wind, and then use Rathpith Globe to boost that damage, which provides a 5% spell damage bonus for every 100 points of the player's maximum health.

However, this only applies to spell damage; to convert it into attack damage, this shield is needed. This means the spell damage increase/decrease effect applies to attacks at 150%, resulting in a 7.5% attack damage bonus for every 100 health in this build.

In other words, Rathpith Globe shield provides such a high damage bonus that we essentially don't need to invest in any other damage bonuses anywhere else in the build.

Totems Regarding totem setups, since Ehemeral Edge synergizes well with totems (for example, its affix grants you Lightning Damage based on your Energy Shield still works when used with totems), it's reasonable to assume that Grey Wind will also work well with totems. Excitingly, the effect is indeed quite good.

In the previous Path of Exile league, Trickster build players preferred using totems for damage, but that was before the totem rework. Now, in patch 3.27, the only way to obtain melee totems is through Dawnstrider unique boots.

These boots provide a level 25 Earthbreaker Support effect to socketed gems. This is a support skill that converts your attack skills into a totem, which then performs a slam on your behalf.

Therefore, totems spawn here, and when nearby monsters are present, they will slam at those monsters to quickly stack damage.

Sand Stance & Blood Stance

Here, we need to focus on the changes to Perforate totem under different Stance systems.

In Sand Stance, Perforate slams like Starfish, but you can only hit once, regardless of where the monster is standing. However, when you switch to Blood Stance, the damage multiplier is reduced by 70%. Furthermore, the attack pattern completely changes after switching stances.

In Blood Stance, the attack range is much smaller, and many spikes will emerge from the ground. Their positions are not fixed, and they will fly in different directions, covering different areas. But the key to Blood Stance is that once you enter this stance, your attacks can hit the same target multiple times. So even with the reduced damage multiplier, it actually generates additional spikes to deal more damage.

In this version, we're using Perforate of Duality, meaning you gain 5 spikes in your base stance, and then an additional 10 spikes for 4 seconds after switching stances. So when we switch to Blood Stance, we have 15 spikes.

Theoretically, all 15 spikes could hit the same target, dealing massive damage, but in reality, this is unlikely unless your target is large and stationary. However, if you position yourself correctly, its damage is still significantly higher than Blood Stance.

Equipment

Next, let's quickly look at the equipment needed for The Grey Wind Totems build.

• Weapon: The Grey Wind
• Helmet: Crown of Eyes
• Chestplate: Kaom's Heart
• Shield: Rathpith Globe
• Gloves: Oblivion Grasp
• Boots: Dawnstrider
• Belt: Cataclysm Locket
• Rings: Havoc Grip & Brimstone Coil

Our gear selection criteria are simple: a thin layer of defense to protect our lives, allowing us to absorb damage before we lose health. If hit by a critical strike, we essentially need to buy time to break free of the pre-emptive state.

Ascendancy

For the Ascendancy class, we actually have many interesting options.

For example, Ascendants, because they also grant +1 totem, and you can choose other Ascendancy passives on top of that. You can also choose Juggernaut, which provides additional accuracy.

There's also Gladiator, with its high base block chance. Since our shields only provide about 50% base block chance, this is very beneficial for improving blocking ability. You don't need to invest too many resources in blocking.

Another notable feature is Hierophant, whose totem placement speed is exceptionally fast. Hierophant provides a 100% totem placement speed bonus, which, combined with the 20% from other nodes, results in a total 140% increase in totem placement speed - making it almost indispensable for totem builds.

Furthermore, you also gain a totem duration bonus, which is extremely useful in certain situations. When placing five totems, this provides an additional 25% damage.

In short, The Grey Wind Totems build, with its incredibly high fire damage output and hit rate, is definitely the best choice for quickly clearing areas in Path of Exile 3.27. Give it a try!

Path of Exile 2 is currently in patch 0.3.0, Rise of the Abyssal League, which is now in its third month. The current league will end in a few weeks. After it ends, player characters and items will be migrated to the Standard or Hardcore early access league without any data erasure.

If PoE 2 follows a four-month release schedule, patch 0.4.0 is expected to arrive in early December. An official livestream and the exact release date for this patch will be announced soon. According to leaked information, patch 0.4.0 will include a new class.

Predicted Release Date For Patch 0.4.0

Based on the four-month release cycle of PoE 1 and the fact that Rise of the Abyssal League launched at the end of August, it is speculated that PoE 2 patch 0.4.0 will be released soon. Considering the development team’s Christmas break, they typically don’t release new patches right before the holidays, so patch 0.4.0 should arrive in the first half of December.

The next league’s launch event is usually held the week before the current league ends, and the likely date is December 6th, which also marks the one-year anniversary of PoE 2. The official release of patch 0.4 is expected around December 13th. It’s anticipated that full patch notes for 0.4.0 will be revealed in the last week of November.

Of course, the development team might also announce a delay due to unfinished content, releasing it after Christmas holidays in January 2026.

Possible New Content

ToTA Mechanics

ToTA (Trial of the Ancestors) mechanic was originally planned for patch 0.3.0 but wasn’t completed, so patch 0.4.0 is almost certain to introduce it. It will be a full gameplay mechanic, not a small seasonal feature, and may be tied to Ascendancy Class system.

Delve

Delve is one of Game Director Jonathan’s favorite mechanics. The related content was already present in the patch 0.3.0, which is Isle of Kin.

Since tablets in PoE 2 now function similarly to scarabs in PoE 1, introducing a mechanic like Delve - which consumes PoE 2 currency to enter - is a logical next step. Delve is also a nearly infinite long-term mode that can sustain player engagement, making it an ideal feature for a Christmas season release.

Breach Rework

Breach received a major rework in PoE 3.27, and the outcome was well-received. PoE 1 currently acts somewhat like a beta realm for PoE 2, so the developers may rework systems in PoE 1 to refine them before porting them into PoE 2. Therefore, Breach is very likely to receive a rework in patch 0.4.0.

New Classes

Patch 0.4.0 will likely introduce new classes, as patch 0.3.0 made very few updates to classes and ascendancies. To deliver a strong seasonal update impact during Christmas, the official team is expected to release at least one new class. While nothing is confirmed yet, several possibilities exist.

Druid

Druids were mentioned alongside Huntresses in patch 0.2.0, suggesting that development on the class may already be complete. Therefore, seeing a Druid class in patch 0.4.0 seems logical. However, Druids are inherently complex, with form-shifting mechanics that may conflict with certain design systems, so delays are possible.

Templar

If Delve is added, PoE 2 will need more tank-oriented classes capable of enduring sustained damage. Warrior and its ascendancies alone may not be enough. Therefore, introducing Templar class alongside Delve is a strong possibility.

With the introduction of new classes comes a wave of new skill gems, support gems, and possibly new weapon types.

These new skills will not be restricted to the new classes; all classes can use them, which will inevitably impact existing builds and the broader meta. Some balance changes are expected, potentially affecting overperforming builds such as Lightning Arrow Deadeye.

Predicted Content

Atlas Endgame Overhaul

Patch 0.3.0 added more unique maps, further refined Atlas Tree, and removed the requirement to use Towers, completely changing how players cultivate the map.

These changes lower the reward ceiling for top-tier players on maps, but simultaneously raise the reward floor for average players, making farming smoother for less hardcore players.

Patch 0.4.0 is likely to include a major overhaul of the endgame. Since patch 0.3.0 already adjusted towers and tablets, this may be a prelude to even larger changes.

If currency-intensive mechanics like Delve are added, the existing Atlas passive skill tree may require adjustments. Additionally, there are signs that the team favors certain PoE 1 endgame philosophies. They may keep the large otherworldly maps of PoE 2 but rework how they operate, improving tower interactivity to make gameplay more engaging and reduce the current tendency toward mindless grinding.

New Acts

If patch 0.4.0 already includes large systems like Delve and ToTA, the team may not have enough development bandwidth to finish Acts 5 and 6. These may instead be introduced next year in patch 0.5 or 0.6.

Players can remain optimistic about PoE 2 Patch 0.4.0, as Patch 0.3.0, by adjusting the pace between PoE 1 and early PoE 2 versions, has brought significant improvements in player numbers, playtime, and player satisfaction. Therefore, future updates to Path of Exile 2 will continue to move towards hyper blast fun.

Path of Exile 3.27 has been running for over two weeks, and many players have moved beyond the early campaign phase and are focusing on mapping.

At this point, players typically need builds that offer high survivability and fast map-clearing speed to improve farming efficiency. Below are 10 of the strongest builds currently available.

1. Kinetic Blast Wander Build

Kinetic Blast Wander build theoretically boasts over 20 million DPS, making it an extremely powerful build, though it's highly likely to be nerfed in the next patch. This build primarily utilizes Bloodline node, Farewell to Flesh, and the new skill gem Kinetic Blast.

Kinetic Blast is a ranged projectile skill that explodes into multiple additional explosions upon hit, all of which hit a single enemy.

Farewell to Flesh node amplifies the damage of each Herald skill as long as mana is preserved. Combined with Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice, it achieves nearly 90% mana preservation. This build also boasts a permanent 24% shell, elemental immunity, and energy shield over-life drain, making it exceptionally survivable.

Early on, place Herald gem in Honourhome helmet, focusing on stacking power and elemental focus. Use Essence Worm Unset Ring for double scaling. Later, stack Herald effects with Tattoos, Cluster jewels, and Corruptions to ensure the buffs are self-circulating.

2. Earthshatter Berserker Build

Earthshatter Berserker is a classic power-based build, excelling in Hardcore SSF and the trade league. It's fast, brutal, and surprisingly tanky.

During the campaign, you can focus on crafting physical weapons, using PoE currency appropriately to ensure your magical or rare weapons have suitable affixes. During the farming phase, you can acquire an axe through gambling, then stack life, resistances, and movement speed on rare items.

While farming, you need to constantly use Blood Rage to maintain exerted attacks and destroy everything in its path. This build is very easy to gear up, allowing for high damage even on the first day of your league journey.

3. Archmage Hierophant Build

This build requires a transfigured version of Frostbolt, making Frostbolt have no cooldown and heavily reliant on cast speed scaling, and its gameplay is similar to a spell-based Flicker Strike.

By unleashing Frostbolts to fill the screen, you can instantly destroy hordes of monsters, while simultaneously adding overlapping explosions with Vortex of Projection. You no longer need to manually cast Vortex, and it's automatically triggered by the projectiles, allowing you to maintain movement and safety. After acquiring Echoing Shrine, it transforms into a spell-based Gatling gun.

4. Venom Gyre Deadeye Build

Venom Gyre Deadeye build scales damage and defense directly from Dexterity. Each point of Dexterity translates into Speed, Poison Power, and Evasion.

Early on, you can use Cobra Lash for a smooth upgrade path, switching to Venom Gyre later in the game. This build blends melee and projectile gameplay, excelling in content like Legion, Breach, Blight, and Strongboxes thanks to its high-resolution map speed and mobility.

5. Energy Blade Inquisitor Build

Energy Blade is a hybrid build that converts the energy shield into pure lightning damage, and it can enhance almost any spell. Initially, you only need a small number of Divine Orbs. Later, their powerful AOE capabilities provide substantial rewards, and you can use them as a base to develop various playstyles.

6. Penance Brand Of Dissipation Build

This build primarily involves placing brands to attach to enemies, accumulating energy, and then exploding them into pulse waves.

Mind Over Matter and Eldritch Battery can absorb damage using mana. The energy shield is used as mana, making this build incredibly tanky when fully charged.

In boss fights, timing and control are crucial. The explosion deals the most damage when the brand reaches maximum energy.

7. Cyclone Hollow Palm Gladiator Build

This build utilizes the signature Cyclone skill, but forgoes weapons. Every drop of its damage and defense comes from Dexterity, which simultaneously increases damage, attack speed, and evasion.

You can pair it with Devoto's Devotion helmet for increased attack speed, and Purity of Elements for elemental resistance, making your character almost impossible to hit. Gladiator Ascendancy also provides block and damage reduction, which, combined with potion effects and Ralakesh's Impatience boots, allows for even faster attack speed, making it one of the fastest map-clearing builds in the game.

8. Animate Weapon Of Ranged Arms Necromance Build

This classic summoner build is reborn with the new support ability Bladefall of Trarthus. The new ability eliminates the need to manually cast it every few seconds to generate weapons; it now continuously generates blades, perfectly maintaining the duration of Animate Weapon.

This build is more powerful, more resilient, and more flexible. It's viable in hardcore mode, capable of pinnacle bosses, and requires only simple gem switching between farming and boss fights. The primary damage comes from Animate Weapon itself, supplemented by Spectres, Animate Guardian, and Despair.

9. Poisonous Concoction Of Bouncing Build

This is the most beginner-friendly build and performs exceptionally well in the current version. It's fast, deadly, and has extremely low gear requirements, making it virtually immune to bad luck. Because its damage relies entirely on the character's health, potions, and skill gem levels, players don't even need a weapon. Simply stack health, resistances, and dodge on your gear to achieve this. Pathfinder provides permanent flask effects, a huge amount of movement speed, and powerful poison sustain.

10. Flicker Strike Frost Blades Champion Build

Flicker Strike is undoubtedly one of the most iconic and chaotic skills in Path of Exile, and in version 3.27, it returns faster, stronger, and more insane.

The fun of this build lies in its extreme speed and chaos. You can teleport infinitely between enemies, sometimes even your screen can't keep up with your movements. The rework of Champion Ascendancy further enhances this.

That concludes these PoE build recommendations. Hopefully, this will help you find a more fun and easier build.

It's been almost two weeks since Path of Exile 3.27, but most players should already have a general understanding of the league. The official event is Keepers of the Flame Uber Boss Kill event.

The event challenges players to defeat Uber Incarnation of Dread in designated matches, rewarding the first to succeed with prizes including a gaming laptop.

Date

The event lasts for one week, starting this Thursday:

• Start Time: November 13, 2025, 1 PM PST or November 13, 2025, 3 PM CST.
• End Time: November 20, 2025, 1 PM PST or November 20, 2025, 3 PM CST.

How To Participate?

To participate in this event, several conditions must be met:

• Your character must be on HC SSF. This is to prevent you from receiving help from other players (console players can participate through Softcore Self-Founded Server).
• Account sharing or similar activities are prohibited; otherwise, you will be disqualified.
• Players who participated in Alpha test server, as well as former and current employees of the official team, are not eligible for rewards.

This event is open to all players. The event panel will appear on the character selection screen 30 minutes before the event starts. Click Join to participate. Your character cannot move before the event starts. The official team also stated that if the event encounters technical issues, such as server instability, the team will launch a new league and restart the event.

Console players may not be able to receive the first-place physical prize, which is only available to PC players. However, console players can still claim other virtual item rewards.

Rewards

The first player to kill Uber Incarnation of Dread will receive a grand prize, while the top five players will each receive a microtransaction bundle. All players who participate in this event and reach level 50 during the event period will receive a Third Edict Mystery Box. Final rankings will be determined by the official team.

First Place Reward

The first place winner will receive an official Alienware 16X Aurora Gaming Laptop, with the following specifications:

• Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 275HX, 24 cores
• Windows 11 Home
• NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5070
• 64 GB DDR5
• 2 TB SSD
• 16” Non-Touch QHD+

Top Five Rewards

Each of the top five players will receive one of the following microtransaction bundles:

• Celestial Warlord Armour Pack
• Celestial Warlord Back Attachment
• Divergence Weapon Effect
• Celestial Emperor Finisher Effect
• Breach Hedron Portal
• Midnight Pact Character Effect
• Harmony Footprints Effect
• Tumbling Exalted Orb Pet

Level 50 Reward

Players who reach level 50 will receive a Third Edict Mystery Box, with a chance to obtain the following item:

• Charge Skin Variations (3 variations)
• Dodge Roll Effect Variations (2 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Helmet Variations (2 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Body Armour Variations (2 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Gloves Variations (2 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Boots Variations (2 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Alternate Helmet Variations (2 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Back Attachment Variations (2 variations)
• Fracturing Character Effect Variations (3 variations)
• Fractured Dreamer Weapon Skin Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Helmet Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Body Armour Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Gloves Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Boots Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Back Attachment Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Weapon Skin Variations (2 variations)
• Goblin Shaman Skin Variations (2 variations)
• Giant Sphynx Pet Variations (5 variations)
• Shifting Portal Effect Variations (2 variations)
• The Forgemaster's Map Device
• Molten Portal Effect
• Explosion Level-up Effect Variations (3 variations)
• Rhoa Mount Variations (2 variations)
• Well Hideout Decoration Variations (2 variations)
• Doryani's Rare Finisher Effect Variations (4 variations)

How Can Regular Players Obtain Rewards?

Although this event will last for 7 days, the prizes are clearly designed for players with time and skill, such as Ben, Alex, Jung, Exil, etc. However, Third Edict Mystery Box rewards are also quite good for regular players. The question is how to safely and quickly level up to 50 in HC SSF.

In Hardcore SSF,  you cannot buy PoE Currency or trade items with other , and your character is deleted upon death. Therefore, to reach level 50, survivability is paramount, followed by damage and leveling. Ideal builds maintain sufficient damage output while also possessing some AoE capabilities, allowing for quick monster clearing.

Melee Slam Builds

These builds utilize Slam-type skills for wide-area, high-damage attacks. Juggernaut is highly recommended due to its extremely high defensive capabilities, making it suitable for Hardcore Fighting (HCSF) progression.

It enhances survivability through Endurance Charge and additional elemental and physical damage reduction. You can complete all content and Tier 17 maps with only 5-link gear.

Alternatively, you can choose Slayer or Berserker, but their defense is not as high as Juggernaut's.

Wand Builds

Wand builds utilize Wands for attacks, primarily launching Projectiles. The wands in PoE 3.27 are incredibly powerful, especially with the new skill Somatic Shell and developer demos focusing on projectile attacks and wands. Three new wands have also been added this league. The damage and upgrade speed of wand builds are undeniable.

Kinetic Blast of Clustering Hierophant and Kinetic Rain Elementalist or Hierophant are also very powerful wand builds, but their survivability is lower than melee Slam builds, requiring a certain level of skill.

Mines builds

Mines builds can use mines to trigger abilities, creating large-area AOE explosions. In the current league, it's recommended to pair them with Exsanguinate and Reap. This proved effective in the previous league and doesn't have high gear requirements.

As for Ascendancy class, you can choose Trickster and Elementalist, although Trickster has been nerfed in this league.

If you're unsure which specific build to play, you can first check the performance of HCSSF ladder builds from the previous league to confirm their viability before choosing trap builds.

That concludes the overview of POE 3.27 Uber Boss Kill Event. We hope you achieve your desired ranking and win the grand prize.