POE 3.20 Expansion League Start Build for Bossing: Caustic Arrow Ballista Trickster

Players, since the significant adjustments to Assassin in Path of Exile, this class is no longer as niche as it once was. Today, we're introducing a Cast on Critical Strike Assassin build that not only enables one-click Lancing Steel, but also automatic tilting of Bladefall and Blade Blast, and the new Patch 3.29.2 released on August 5th did not weaken this build in any way!

Mechanism of Operation

Having chosen Assassin as the core of the build, we'll construct the spell loop around Cast on Critical Strike support gem.

The attack skill chosen is Lancing Steel, which triggers Blade Blast and Bladefall spell combo through its high-frequency projectile hits.

Compared to channeling skills like Cyclone, Lancing Steel's projectile mechanism, combined with server refresh rate and critical hit detection, means that the ratio of attack speed to Cooldown Recovery Rate doesn't need to be extremely precise. The operation only requires pressing the attack button to maintain spell tilt, significantly lowering the performance barrier.

Equipment Affix Priorities

Weapons

For weapon bases, Battered Foil and Burnished Foil are the best choices, with affixes that increase critical strike chance and attack speed being the primary focus.

Later in PoE 3.29.2, players can further add critical strike damage bonuses or spell damage prefixes using Harvest Crafting or PoE currency.

Helmet & Armor

For helmets and armor, prioritize maximum life as the primary defensive affix, followed by a composite base of Evasion Rating and Energy Shield, and upgrade with Essences of Loathing.

Shield

The shield base for this CoC Bladefall Blade Blast Assassin build must have Spell Suppression affix, and it's best to also pair it with Life and Defense.

If resistances are sufficient, suffixes can be used to gain double damage chance through crafting as a damage boost for this build.

Amulet

For amulets, choose Focused Amulet and proceed with high-level crafting like the weapon. However, players should note that Imprints in the current Path of Exile cannot affect already split items. These limitations increase the difficulty of crafting equipment involving splitting.

Rings

For rings, prioritize Ming's Heart. If you have a high-level version, the +1 Power Charge affix is ​​ideal.

Body Armour

A rare version of Body Armour uses Skin of the Lords with Mind Over Matter keystone passive skill.

An alternative is Cloak of Defiance with a +1 to all skill levels, combined with an Empower support gem, achieving a similar effect.

Belt

Regarding belt selection, players should be particularly careful, as Headhunter's Guaranteed Critical Hit affix conflicts with the Bifurcate mechanic provided by Assassin Ascendancy Passive Mystical Infusion.

This mechanism requires two separate rolls for critical hits. If an attack is forcibly judged as a critical hit, a second roll cannot be performed, resulting in a loss of approximately 80% of the damage bonus.

Therefore, while Headhunter provides a significant defensive boost in PoE 3.29.2, it is essentially a damage-boosting item with negative returns. The optimal solution is still Mageblood, or using a regular rare belt with Cooldown Recovery Rate suffix to increase Assassin's skill trigger frequency.

Passive Skill Tree

As mentioned above, we should select Mind Over Matter early in the core path of Passive Skill Tree. However, if our body armor is equipped with Cloak of Defiance, we can cancel this skill and insert an additional set of Large Cluster Jewels to increase Assassin's damage.

Key passives for Cluster Jewels include Overwhelming Malice, Pressure Points, and Basics of Pain. For Medium Cluster Jewels, Grim Oath and Unwavering Evil combination is preferred.

It's worth mentioning that the newly released Path of Exile 3.29.2 fixes the bug where Cluster Jewel attribute affixes could not be rerolled. This means you can more easily optimize your ideal affix combinations on Large Cluster Jewels, further reducing the cost of building this Assassin build.

Another essential keystone passive skill is Eldritch Battery, as it plays a crucial role in the survival of CoC Bladefall Blade Blast Assassin.

Core Jewels

First, all jewels used in this build must contain life-related affixes as a foundation for survival.

For The Light of Meaning, choose Chaos Damage or a physical damage variant, but the former has a relatively lower PoE currency cost.

The combination of Forbidden Flame and Forbidden Flesh can initially be chosen from Assassin Notable Ascendancy passives such as Mystical Infusion, Deathmarked, or Mistwalker.

If players have sufficient computer performance, they can choose Perfect Crime node, which allows the triggered spell to cast twice, thus doubling the effective life regeneration in conjunction with the hit-based life regeneration and other mechanics in this build.

Survival System

CoC Bladefall Blade Blast Assassin can use Eldritch Battery to make Energy Shield a priority resource, protecting mana and enabling sustained combat in conjunction with the hit-based life regeneration and shield mechanics. During the boss's vulnerable phases, we can maintain Assassin's health using Chaos Damage leech and the cumulative healing from multiple hits.

PoE 3.29.2 also fixed an issue where From Below could cause skills that continuously drain mana to break abnormally when mana was 0. For this build that relies on Eldritch Battery for resource management, this means that skill rotation and survivability have been given additional stability.

However, the biggest threat comes from the boss's invulnerability transition animations or single instances of extremely high physical damage. In these situations, we need to manually activate Vaal Grace (vaal aura) or Steelskin to avoid damage.

Spell Suppression and Evasion Rating we've stacked, combined with the extra evasion chance provided by the Grace aura, significantly reduce the probability of Cast on Crit Bladefall Blade Blast Assassin being hit, further increasing the build's survivability.

Overall, this build has a very complete health system, more than enough to survive in any high-difficulty content in the game.

In short, the latest Patch 3.29.2 not only did not weaken Cast on Crit Bladefall Blade Blast Assassin, but also indirectly improved the smoothness of the game experience by fixing some bugs!

In Path of Exile 2 economy, crafting has always been one of the most captivating and challenging aspects of gameplay, demanding the player's judgment. Unlike traditional dungeon crawling, advanced crafting often relies on a player's understanding of market demand, affix value, and probability mechanics to transform low-value materials into high-value equipment.

In patch 0.5.0, a crafting method often overlooked by players is quietly generating astonishing wealth - Loreweave crafting. This article will detail the entire process of this crafting, including preparation, material selection, and affix assessment.

What makes Loreweave crafting valuable?

Loreweave is a unique Ornate Ringmail armor. It cannot be obtained through regular drops or crafted using Orb of Chance. The only way to acquire it is by submitting 60 unique rings to NPC Dannig in Kingsmarch after completing a specific quest.

Loreweave's core value stems from its affix mechanic. It boasts several fixed affixes, including a powerful core effect in combat: Your Maximum Resistances are 75-80%. This effect overrides all modifiers related to Maximum Resistance, meaning that regardless of the amount of debuffs reducing Maximum Resistance you receive, your maximum resistance remains consistently between 75-80%.

However, what truly determines Loreweave's crafting value is its three random legendary ring affixes. Specifically, it randomly selects three affixes from all unique rings in PoE 2 and adds them to your character. This not only means you can enjoy the effects of three extra unique rings without freeing up equipment slots, but more importantly, the combinations of these affixes are incredibly diverse. With a bit of luck, this combination can even produce an effect similar to Mirror of Kalandra.

High-Value Affixes

Preferred Affix: Projectiles from Spells Chain Additional Time

This is currently the most valuable single affix. It allows projectiles launched by spells to jump to another target after hitting one. With this affix alone and 7% Quality of all Skills, a Loreweave can sell for at least 400 Divine Orb.

Other High-Value Affixes:

• Onslaught: Provides 20% Skill Speed ​​and 10% Movement Speed, a favorite attribute for many high-speed farming builds in PoE 2.
• Fork: Projectiles split into two upon first hit, greatly boosting projectile builds.
• Extra Damage as Chaos: Grants the character additional Chaos Damage, a favorite damage-boosting affix for damage conversion and Chaos Scaling builds.
• Spell Damage with Critical Hits is Lucky: An essential affix for high spell critical strike builds.
• Lightning Skills Chain Additional Time: Increases the number of chain hits for Lightning skill, enhancing its area-of-effect coverage.

Core Recipe of 60 Rings

After extensive testing, the most profitable ring recipes are as follows:

• 35 Ventor's Gamble rings: Triggers a wider area of ​​effect, expanding the range of affix values.
• 15 Snakepit Pearl rings: Provides Fork and Chain-related affixes.
• 5 Ming's Heart rings: Provides the additional Chaos Damage affix.
• 5 Death Rush rings: Provides Onslaught affix.

Special Note Regarding Ventor's Gamble:

At least one Ventor's Gamble ring must be included in the recipe for Loreweave to trigger a wider area of ​​effect. This means that the range of all affix values ​​will expand to more extreme ranges - potentially rolling higher upper limits but also potentially lower lower limits. This is why we need 35 Ventor's Gamble rings; they significantly increase the probability of obtaining the 7% Quality of all Skills.

Additionally, the ring can be corrupted or unidentified. As long as the ring name is correct, its condition does not affect the recipe's effect.

Practical Steps: From Zero to Finished Rings

Step 1: Bulk Purchase of Rings

It is recommended to purchase enough rings to craft 10-15 Loreweave rings at once. Bulk purchasing saves a lot of trading time and makes it easier to negotiate a good price. It is also advisable to reserve sufficient PoE 2 currency. Besides purchasing crafting materials, subsequent optimizations using Divine Orb (7% Quality of all Skills and 80% Maximum Resistance) also require investment, so preparing a budget in advance will make the entire crafting process smoother.

Step 2: Head to Kingsmarch

Enter Kingsmarch through the map device and find Dannig. Talk to him and select A Garment of Rings option.

Step 3: Submit the Rings

Submit 60 rings according to the recipe ratio: 35 Ventor's Gamble + 15 Snakepit + 5 Monk's Heart + 5 Death Rush. After submission, Dannig will return one Loreweave.

Step 4: Identification and Evaluation

Inspect the obtained Loreweave:

Check the quality: Does it reach 7% Quality of all Skills? This is the first hurdle to achieving a high selling price.

Check the affixes: Does it contain high-value affixes such as Chain, Onslaught, and Fork?

Check the resistance roll value: Is the Maximum Resistances close to 80%?

Step 5: Optimize with Divine Orb

If the quality or resistance roll value is not ideal, you can use a Divine Orb to reset it, aiming to achieve at least 7% quality and 80% maximum resistances.

Step 6: Pricing and Selling

The price of Loreweave is primarily determined by the combination of affixes:

Loreweave crafting is a proven path to wealth in Path of Exile 2 0.5.0. Its core logic is simple: using a specific unique ring recipe, gamble on obtaining a top-tier Loreweave with Chain + Onslaught + 7% Quality of all Skills. While essentially gambling, compared to purely relying on luck, this method at least provides a repeatable and predictable operational framework

Path of Exile 3.29 has buffed numerous existing skills and items, leading to a surge of new builds crafted around them, or updates to older ones, during the current league. Ethereal Knives Chieftain build is one such example.

Based on the changes PoE 3.29 brings to Ethereal Knives (EK), we will introduce new crafting and utilization strategies for this build in the current Curse of the Allflame league.

Ethereal Knives Changes

If you haven't used Ethereal Knives before, don't let the name mislead you into thinking it's a weapon. As a spell, EK launches multiple flying knives in an arc in front of you, dealing physical damage to enemies.

These knives do not hit the same target, and their launch angle and trajectory are fixed; they do not change based on your own positioning.

Path of Exile 3.29 has comprehensively optimized this skill. Specific improvements include an increased projectile cap and higher critical strike chance, as well as boosted added damage and physical damage at maximum skill level.

Additionally, the bonus previously granted for increasing Ethereal Knives level, which used to increase the number of projectiles, has been changed to increase projectile speed by 0-20%.

Impact on Chieftain in 3.29

Among the changes to Ethereal Knives, the base critical strike chance has increased from 6% to 10%. This makes the skill highly viable for Ascendancy classes that possess strong spellcasting capabilities but lack critical strike chance, such as Chieftain.

Furthermore, in previous leagues, the 10-mana-per-second cost for casting skills as a Chieftain was a significant nuisance. However, the new Reclaimed Malignance jewel introduced in 3.29 allows you to offset this cost.

The importance of Ethereal Knives

Beyond the critical strike boost for Chieftain, Ethereal Knives can now be paired with Nemesis to handle single targets, effectively doubling your single-target damage output.

The daggers thrown by this skill do not all return in the same way. Some will fly past you and continue moving backward, while others stop just in front of you; however, a single hit from a returning dagger on a target is all it takes.

This is because the skill inherently features random fluctuations in base projectile speed, meaning the speed varies. This is precisely why Ethereal Knives Chieftain build requires stacking a significant amount of projectile speed.

Which pieces of gear are essential?

Chieftain-exclusive notable passive, Valako, Storm's Embrace, allows you to max out your Fire, Cold, or Lightning resistances. With the introduction of Skin of the Lords in PoE 3.29, stacking these resistances has become much easier.

While the item itself grants a random Keystone passive from the skill tree, the more important aspect is consuming PoE currency to reroll its modifiers to obtain increased Elemental and Chaos resistances.

To make it work in tandem with Valako, Storm's Embrace, you first need to push your Fire resistance to 200% above the cap. Since the resistance bonuses from Skin of the Lords are additive, this provides a significant advantage when dealing with mechanics that lower fire resistance.

This mechanic is crucial for PoE 3.29 Ethereal Knives Chieftain build because, historically, Skin of the Lords did not allow for socket color modification, making it nearly impossible to roll the correct color combination.

However, following the launch of Curse of the Allflame league, socket color restrictions were removed. This means you now have much greater freedom to use Skin of the Lords, or any other gear requiring specific mechanical interactions, in your build.

Another indispensable piece of gear for this build is Subsume the Source helmet. It allows you to socket up to four Abyss Jewels, all with significantly enhanced effects.

This enables you to drastically boost your fire resistance using just one or two slots, while dedicating the remaining slots to jewels that increase cast speed, such as those granting increased cast speed if you haven't dealt a critical strike recently.

Note, however, that once these jewels are socketed, they cannot be changed. Furthermore, you don't need to rely on RNG to gamble for the right modifiers on this helmet; you can simply use an Orb of Annulment to reroll it until only the specific modifier you want remains.

As a weapon, Nebulis Void Sceptre grants an 8% bonus to Fire, Cold, and Lightning damage for every 1% you exceed the maximum resistance cap. This is particularly effective when playing as a Chieftain.

Since this build uses Chieftain ascendancy, handling maximum physical damage hits can be an issue, meaning the build's overall tankiness isn't exceptionally high. However, equipping Defiance of Destiny amulet can help you mitigate smaller physical damage hits.

If you have a Headhunter, you can gain Soul Eater effect; if you have a Mageblood, you can utilize a Silver Flask, either option will significantly elevate the build's performance.

More buffs from potential synergies

Beyond the basic skill and gear interactions, Path of Exile 3.29 Ethereal Knives Chieftain build features reliable synergy with Pinpoint and Overload Intensity supports.

Simply put, Pinpoint provides Intensify effect. As Intensify stacks increase, the number of projectiles decreases, but you gain a more damage multiplier; combined with Cast Mastery, this can stack up to four times.

Thanks to Overload Intensity, Ethereal Knives has become more reliable in 3.29 league. Each stack of Overload Intensity grants +2.1% base critical strike chance, stacking up to three times.

In fact, this optimized Ethereal Knives Chieftain build is just one possibility; given the skill changes in PoE 3.29, you can also craft other related builds and experiment with different playstyles!

The official Path of Exile 2 developer video recently released, showcasing performance optimizations and how they addressed major performance issues and improved overall stability. However, players quickly noticed several gameplay clips that seemed to reveal unreleased new content, sparking heated discussions within the community.

These clips didn't resemble typical development or debugging footage; they looked like completed future features that had turned up in the public video. While the official Path of Exile 2 team hasn't commented, these details have led many players to speculate whether they are related to Patch 1.0.

Of course, all of this remains speculation, and the official team hasn't confirmed any new features or classes. However, considering POE 2's past practice of subtly hinting at future updates in their development logs, and with ExileCon and Patch 1.0 approaching, these hidden details might be a prelude to a future update.

Death Summary

One of the most anticipated features is the brief Show Death Summary option that flashes on the death screen. In the current Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5, players typically only have the option to return to a checkpoint after death, without knowing the exact mechanic that killed them.

The community has long hoped that Path of Exile 2 would include a death log or damage analysis feature, allowing players to clearly understand the cause of their death instead of relying solely on guesswork to replay the battle.

However, the developers have consistently stated that they will not include a death replay or summary system for POE 2. They believe that character deaths are often influenced by a combination of factors, including numerous damage sources, damage reduction calculations, damage over time, and server-side computations.

Furthermore, a complete death analysis function might expose game bugs, thus hindering the development of this feature.

However, the developers' recent stance seems to have changed. To investigate issues causing game crashes, the development team appears to have created an internal replay system for POE 2. This tool allows them to replay gameplay and more quickly identify the causes of crashes.

The current replay system is primarily used for diagnosing performance issues. Its overall interface is geared towards technical debugging and remains quite rudimentary, even displaying some development-related computational data, making it unsuitable for direct user access. However, the content revealed this time is significantly different.

In the video, a brand-new Show Death Summary button appears for the first time on Path of Exile 2 death screen, positioned right next to the respawn option. From a UI design perspective, it resembles a fully designed and ready-to-be-released feature.

While PoE 2 hasn't proclaimed plans for Death Summary, considering the revealed UI and the already completed replay system, this feature is likely already in development. However, this doesn't mean it will be released in Patch 0.5; I believe Patch 1.0 would be the most reasonable release date.

For an ARPG, this is a highly innovative feature. It would be incredibly cool if we could have a complete replay system like those in Age of Mythology, Age of Empires, or Dota 2 in the future.

Unrevealed Weapons

Besides the changes to POE 2 death screen, another detail that has sparked even more discussion is the appearance of new weapons currently unavailable in the video. In the official gameplay footage, several pieces of equipment with complete attributes appeared on the ground.

These items are not simple test models, but possess full data including real names, physical damage, critical hit chance, and attack speed. They include two two-handed swords and one dagger, which are not currently part of the regular weapon types available in Path of Exile 2.

I don't know how POE 2 developers will design these weapons to differentiate them from existing weapons; making all melee weapons unique is undoubtedly a daunting task.

It's worth noting that these equipment names contain DNT symbol. We are currently unsure what this label represents; it could stand for Do Not Trade, or it could simply be an internal testing marker used during development.

POE 2 developers haven't explained this, so its true meaning remains unknown. However, the very existence of these weapons is enough to generate a great deal of speculation among players.

New Class Speculation

Why are the appearances of swords and daggers so important? The key point is that these classes may have a direct connection to those not yet available in Path of Exile 2. According to currently available information, POE2 is ultimately planned to have 12 classes. Patch 0.5 has already released 8 classes, with the remaining four being Marauder, Templar, Duelist, and Shadow.

Among these unreleased classes, the connection between Duelist and swords is very clear. They typically represent high-speed melee combat, precise attacks, and two-handed weapon playstyles. Therefore, when two-handed swords appeared in official videos, many players immediately associated them with Duelist.

Meanwhile, Shadow is another class attracting much attention. As a typical agility-based class, Shadow was known in Path of Exile 1 for its daggers, poisons, Chaos damage, and high-speed movement attacks.

In fact, the official POE 2 team has previously confirmed that Duelist and swords will be added to POE 2 in the future. Meanwhile, the development team has stated that they hope Patch 1.0 will significantly exceed the content scale of Patch 0.5. The current Patch 0.5 already brought substantial updates to the game, especially in terms of significantly expanding endgame gameplay. 

Therefore, if they want to deliver content beyond player expectations in Patch 1.0, adding sword-type weapons and Shadow-related daggers, traps, and other mechanics could be important directions. With the addition of these new items, we will see more build options, continuously crafting new core gear using Path of Exile 2 Currency.

However, the currently revealed content does not guarantee that these new classes will be immediately released in Patch 1.0. No specific release date for any new classes has been proclaimed, so players need to remain cautious. Undeniably, the hidden information in the official video has become a recent focus of discussion within POE 2 community.

While it's not official confirmation, it at least indicates that the developers are continuing to push forward with development. POE2 has indeed experienced a relatively low period recently, with some player attention declining, and they have been addressing some core issues in the game.

However, with more content under development, the community expects PoE 2 to see recent changes. Currently, many players speculate that Gamescom at the end of the month may bring more news, including Patch 1.0 and more development information before and after ExileCon.