Speculations On The Mechanics And Theories Of POE 3.23 Affliction Before Its Reveal!

Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 has been out for almost a month now, have you found the perfect build for you yet? If not, then this build guide might be exactly what you need.

The build we're sharing here is Mortar Cannon Warbringer. It's a top-tier and versatile one-button build that boasts massive damage output and excellent survivability. Its affordable gear and maintenance costs, along with its ease of use, make it an excellent build for league newcomers, and its powerful damage scaling capabilities will help you transition smoothly into the endgame.

Here, we'll discuss the build's mechanics, its advantages and disadvantages, and how to optimize the skill tree and gear setup to maximize Mortar Cannon Warbringer's damage potential. Let's take a look!

Ascendancy: Warbringer vs. Tactician

For this build's Ascendancy class, we chose Warbringer, but in 0.3.0, we used Tactician class.

This is because Warbringer Ascendancy in patch 0.4.0 is significantly stronger than before in both offense and defense, especially after the buffs in this league.

Now, Imploding Impacts increases all damage taken by all targets except the player, not just physical damage, when they have Fully Broken Armour effect. Since we deal both physical and elemental damage, this Ascendancy is now even more powerful because it also increases elemental damage taken by enemies. This is especially useful against powerful endgame bosses, allowing us to kill them quickly.

In contrast, Tactician focuses on defense through Pin and Deflection Rating, but it doesn't provide any damage reduction or mitigation.

On the other hand, Warbringer's Wooden Wall effect allows 20% of the damage received to be deducted from the health of the nearest totem first, and coupled with high armor, Warbringer is tankier than Tactician.

In addition, Warbringer's Answered Call allows us to summon an extra totem and grants us a skill that triggers Ancestral Spirits when we summon a totem. We can summon four different Ancestral Spirits, each providing different buffs.

Although Tactician's Cannons, Ready! sounds good, increasing totem skill speed by 30%, it's very clunky to use because totems only consume skills when firing projectiles. Since we can still use Pin, the loss from not choosing Tactician is minimal.

Therefore, overall, Warbringer Ascendancy is the best choice for this build in the 0.4.0 league.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Regarding the advantages of this build, I must say its DPS and map clearing speed are excellent. Best of all, this build is very cost-effective; so far, we've only spent 2 Divine Orbs and 340 Exalted Orbs to complete it.

Furthermore, this build offers a relatively safe playstyle. Because Ancestral Spirits you summon can help distract enemies, block attacks, and absorb some damage, you can simply hide behind them and throw grenades from a distance. In addition, there are 14,000 unbuffed armor points, as well as other forms of damage reduction and mitigation to enhance your survivability.

However, the disadvantages are also obvious. As a ranged build, we can't easily tank, meaning in boss fights, we must manually dodge high-damage attacks.

Another point to note is ground effects; because of poor visual effects, you must carefully observe and adjust your position cautiously.

There's also an off-field factor: yes, this build is quite demanding on hardware. If you have a decent computer, you might want to give it a try.

Equipment & Stats

For this build's equipment, our top choice is the unique armor: The Brass Dome, which is the source of most of our armor value. It's recommended to choose a version with higher armor value, although this may require you to invest more PoE 2 currency.

It's worth noting that the key to gaining increased armor is reducing your maximum elemental resistance. Here, we chose -1% to all Maximum Elemental Resistances to gain 721% increased Armour, which is sufficient because we can mitigate elemental damage through armor. Meanwhile, you should stack as much "Armour applying to Elemental Damage" modifier as possible on your armor pieces, helmets, and boots to help your build create a strong defensive barrier.

Additionally, with Tempered Defences node on the passive skill tree, we can easily achieve at least 100% of armor applying to elemental damage. And as mentioned before, we already have 14000 armor even without any buffs.

Therefore, it's crucial to stack as much armor value as possible on your belt and other armor pieces. It's best to choose gear with hybrid armor and evasion rating, as the key node Iron Reflexes converts all evasion rating into armor.

For weapons, Siege Crossbow is the obvious choice because it allows our Grenade skill to fire an extra projectile. It's recommended to choose a Siege Crossbow with at least 500 physical DPS and +6 to all projectile skill levels; other attributes are a bonus.

Next, you can stack flat physical damage on your gloves and jewelry. If you prefer a rare amulet, look for one that provides at least +3 to all projectile skill levels, which will give you the highest damage increase.

Gem Setup

The first support gem I use is Infernal Legion III. This support gem causes summoned minions to take 30% of their maximum life as fire damage per second and ignite nearby enemies, dealing 25% of the minion's maximum life as base fire damage.

More importantly, this gem synergizes well with Exposed Wounds node, causing all your attacks to reduce the armor of targets affected by ailments by 30%, meaning you can quickly reduce enemy armor to 0, completely breaking their defenses.

The only downside of this support gem is that Ancestral Spirits will die quickly. However, we can support them with Elemental Army to give them 30% extra elemental resistance.

Another way to prevent them from dying too quickly is to replace Infernal Legion III with Infernal Legion I. This way, the summoned minions will still burn nearby enemies, but will only deal 20% of their maximum life as fire damage per second.

For other gem setups, you can choose whatever you prefer. Here, we've chosen Cluster Grenade and Payload, which will increase our main grenade attack damage to 299-490% at gem levels 13-20, and gives a 50% chance to trigger another grenade attack.

Another reason we use so many grenades is that we've activated the passive skill - Demolitionist. This grants us 4% extra fire damage for each different grenade launched, based on the number of grenades launched in the past 8 seconds. This means that in boss fights, by continuously launching these grenades, we can easily gain 16% extra fire damage.

So if you want to add another support gem, Heft is also a good option, as it grants 30% extra maximum physical hit damage to supported skills. While not the best, it provides a decent damage boost and is affordable.

Skill Tree

Now, let's talk about the last part - the skill tree setup for Mortar Cannon Warbringer.

In the early game, when you don't have Mortar Cannon yet, it's best to only upgrade Grenade. Honestly, we tried Siege Ballista and Artillery Ballista before, but because of patch 0.4.0 changing their damage calculation, they became very weak. So, in the early stages, we only need to focus on projectile damage nodes and grenade nodes.

After that, quickly unlock the totem-related nodes to reduce the mana cost of summoning totems; and all AOE-related nodes, as AOE skills are very helpful for clearing mobs and fighting bosses. Here, we've activated Gem Enthusiast and Crystallised Immunities.

Gem Enthusiast grants you 5% maximum life, maximum mana, and movement speed bonus if you have at least 10 support gems socketed. Crystallised Immunities make you immune to one Elemental Ailment, namely Chill, Ignite, or Shock. However, you can adjust the support gems according to your current needs.

But note that this build has a relatively low intelligence stat. So, if you want to socket more blue gems to be immune to Chill effect, you need to increase intelligence on the passive tree. 

In summary, in Path of Exile 2 patch 0.4.0, Mortar Cannon Warbringer build is a popular choice due to its excellent survivability, powerful damage output, and overall ease of use. It's a powerful and versatile build, especially suitable for the life-based Warrior class, and is both strong and satisfying to play. So, give it a try!

Do you always feel like you don't have enough currency in Path of Exile 2? That's probably because you're wasting it. Patch 0.4.0 introduces some great farming techniques, which, combined with currency-saving tips, can help you quickly accumulate wealth.

Below are three advanced tips for the endgame. These tips can not only save you a lot of currency, but in some cases, even generate income.

Build Your Own High-Tier Maps

High-tier maps, especially Tier 16 maps, are a major source of income for players in the endgame. They are very valuable. and a finished Tier 16 map can sell for around 60 Exalted Orbs. Instead of directly seeking maps from other players on the market, a more economical and efficient approach is to build your own using your currency.

First, you need to choose a base map. It's recommended to start training with a relatively low Tier map, such as a Tier 14 or Tier 15 map.

First, use Exalted Orb directly on the map to add affixes, then use a Vaal Orb to corrupt it. Corruption has a chance to upgrade the map to Tier 16 or give it high-value affixes. and such maps can be sold on the auction house for profit.

You can also use Atlas skill tree to increase the drop rate of Waystones on the map, ensuring a supply of modification materials. Also, don't forget the classic crafting recipe: putting three maps of the same tier into Reforging Bench will create a higher-tier map. and this is also a low-cost way to obtain higher-tier maps.

By modifying maps yourself, you have a chance to gamble for high-value results to sell. Even if you don't, you've only consumed currency and obtained a usable map, which is more cost-effective than directly trading finished Waystones to other players.

Additionally, you need to ensure your build can farm maps without stress. If your character isn't strong enough and dies on Tier 16 maps, then the map is completely wasted.

Double Corruption Skill Gems

With the introduction of Temple mechanic, players now have the opportunity to double-corrupt skill gems, obtaining exceptional gems that surpass normal limits.

The normal limit for a skill gem is level 20 and 20% quality. Through corruption, it can become level 21 or 23% quality. Double Corruption, however, allows you to simultaneously reach the ultimate form of level 21 and 23 quality, resulting in a massive damage boost.

You can directly search for level 21 and 23 quality corrupted gems for your core skill on the auction house. These are usually very valuable and may require several Divine Orbs, but this is the most direct way to upgrade.

A more economical method is to attempt corruption yourself. This process involves risk, but the rewards are also very high if successful.

You will first need a level 20, 20 quality normal skill gem, as well as Perfect Fossil and Jeweller's Orb to ensure it is 5-linked. Remember not to use your equipped core skill gem. and use a spare one until you successfully acquire the skill gem you need.

Then, use a Vaal Orb for your first corruption. If you successfully upgrade the skill gem's quality to 23% or its level to 21%, you can choose not to continue corrupting and sell it directly, thus still making a profit.

If you intend to continue corrupting, you need to use Crystallized Corruption in Corruption Chamber of Temple. This operation will unpredictably alter the corrupted skill gem again. If you successfully obtain a level 21, 23% quality gem, you will make a fortune, but it may also destroy it.

Before proceeding, carefully consider its market value and calculate the consumption of acquiring a finished gem, acquiring a regular gem for self-corruption, and a semi-finished skill gem. Based on the current exchange rate between Exalted Orb and Divine Orb, choose the most cost-effective option.

Obtaining Idols through Orb of Extraction

Patch 0.4.0 introduced a new PoE 2 currency, Orb of Extraction, which can destroy items and return the socketed items within them.

Patch 0.2.0 introduced Idols, which are socketed items that can be placed into equipment. These items can be socketed into Idol Sockets to provide powerful bonuses, enhancing equipment like affixes. Some high-demand Idols might be worth hundreds of Exalted Orbs.

Orb of Extraction isn't very valuable. and it might only take a few Exalted Orbs to obtain. Destroying equipment with socketed Idols is a better option than directly trading Idols with other players.

Don't search for Idols directly. Instead, search the auction house for socketed equipment, especially equipment with socketed Idols, and search for Idols attribute you want.

You'll often find that a piece of junk equipment with socketed Idols has a total value far lower than the value of Idol itself. You can save a significant amount of money by simply trading the equipment and then using Orb of Extraction to extract Idol. You can usually obtain your desired Idols for half the consumption or even less.

These methods only help you save on currency consumption. and the fastest way to earn currency is still to farm. Remember to check their market value before using any of these methods.

Temple mechanic in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 initially caused player dissatisfaction due to its cumbersome mechanics and low rewards. Subsequent patches improved the mechanic significantly, and some players exploited a bug to farm large amounts of currency using this mechanic, even causing inflation.

However, since Temples do not produce Omens, farming Omens remains highly valuable even in an inflationary environment. If you don't want to study the seasonal mechanics but still want to farm currency, this strategy is much simpler.

Waystones

• Minimum requirements: Six affixes, corrupted T15 Maps.

Adding affixes to maps can significantly increase rewards, but using only T15 Maps from Orb of Alchemy is far from enough; you must use at least two Exalted Orbs to add affixes.

Vaal Orb is also recommended because it offers two good results: either corrupting the map to T16 while retaining all six affixes, or adding 1-2 additional affixes, resulting in up to 8 Modified Maps.

Since these maps are quite difficult, dying midway through renders the entire map useless. Therefore, it's recommended to use Regal Orb and Orb of Scouring to modify the difficulty affixes. You can filter out Waystones containing affixes that reduce maximum resistance and Penetration.

Table

Since the core of the entire farming strategy is to generate as many pits as possible on the map, it's absolutely essential to ensure your Table has Abyss affix.

Affixes like adding Abyss to the map, having a chance to add extra Abysses, and each closed pit increasing difficulty and reward are all highly desirable.

However, note that when using multiple Abyss Tablets, their inherent affix "Adds Abysses to a Map" effect does not stack. The only way to increase Abyss Pit is by including Additional Abyss chance affix, or the waystone affix "Map contains an additional Abyss guaranteed."

You don't always have to use three Abyss tablets. You can choose to enhance the map boss. Common non-Abyss affixes include "Monsters have increased Effectiveness," "Increased Rarity of Items found in your Map," or maps with Delirium affix, but using Abyss Tablets is probably the best and least expensive option.

Atlas Passive Tree

Abyss Atlas Passive Tree

Abyss Atlas Passive Tree at the bottom of the map is the node you should focus on most. You have 8 assignable nodes; it's recommended to assign them in the following order.

1. Balance of Power (From Out of the Pit)
2. Depths Chance
3. Unholy Influence
4. Depths Chance
5. Sprawling Ruptured
6. Depths Chance
7. Depths Chance
8. Stir the Swarm

From Out of the Pit option in the upper right corner of Balance of Power is mandatory. It provides a "25% increased effectiveness of Abyssal monsters," increasing item quantity and thus the chance of Omens dropping.

Stir the Swarm node provides the "nearby maps are overrun by Abyssal" modifier. Although it only has a 5% chance, it means that once this map appears, there will definitely be a lot of Abyssal pits.

General Talent Tree

The general Atlas Passive Tree doesn't have any particularly noteworthy nodes. This talent tree mainly greatly increases Tablet Effect, while selecting some Shrines nodes can reduce the challenge pressure of high-difficulty maps.

It's recommended to read the node descriptions before running your Atlas Passive Tree and leave all Swamp and Water Biomes maps for last.

You can also replace some less important nodes like "2% Quantity" or "2-3% Rarity" with Local Knowledge node. This provides a 40% increase to the base currency drop rate for Swamp and Water Biomes maps, making it a very good choice.

How to Farm Omen?

If you're only aiming for Omen of Light and Omen of Abyssal Echoes, map type doesn't matter much. If you also want to harvest Divine Orbs, Cleansed Areas biomes are the best choice.

These map provide additional monster groups that tend to drop POE 2 currency and may have the +1 to monster level affix. Combined with T16 Maps, you'll obtain a large number of high-level Valuable Bases.

How to Obtain Omens?

Omen of Light and Omen of Abyssal Echoes are high-demand consumables used in top-tier crafting, and their demand typically increases with the season.

Abyss spawns specific Abyssal Rares, which may have special affixes. You need to look for monsters with the affix "Amanamu's Void." These monsters are easily identifiable by the large black cloud that spawns beneath their feet.

As long as the monster is within its own cloud, it is immune to damage unless you are also standing in the same cloud.

You must lure the monster out of the cloud and kill it as it emerges. If you kill the monster while it is still inside the cloud, it will drop the lowest-value Omens.

Waiting for it to emerge requires patience; you may need to kite the monster for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Using a build with Freeze or other controllable abilities will be more stable.

Using a loot filter that highlights different Omens is crucial. It provides instant feedback on whether your actions were correct. If you kill a monster but no Omens are highlighted on the ground, you'll know you made a mistake.

To run this strategy, you only need to prepare Atlas Passive Tree and Tables beforehand, and then you can focus on farming monsters. This might require some investment, but overall you'll profit.

Path of Exile 2's economic market is complex and a source of enjoyment for players, but this enjoyment is being destroyed by inflation. A bug allowed some players to amass large amounts of Divine Orbs, causing an abnormally high value for items in the market.

This has had a negative impact on ordinary players, but it's not so severe as to make the game unplayable. Let's see how you should deal with this.

What Happened?

Abyss

Inflation isn't unique to this League. In Patch 0.3.0, players discovered that rare monsters in Abyss could drop Divine Orbs. This bug, caused by Sprawling Rapture Atlas passive, allowed many players to easily earn hundreds of Divine Orbs, but the developers didn't address this, leading to severe inflation in the market.

This bug was fixed in Patch 0.4.0, but this fix only affected ordinary players. Teams with top-tier gear can still utilize Unforeseen Consequences Abyss Precursor Tablet to massively produce Divine Orbs.

Temple

Another exploit revolves around Atziri's Temple, a key mechanic of this league. Players need to collect Crystals on the map to build rooms in Temple. Completing these rooms in a snake pattern and unlocking them one by one yields substantial rewards.

This exploit allows you to reset the zone, re-enter the map, and repeatedly cultivate Crystals on the same map to unlock the temple. With a sufficiently powerful build, you can complete a temple in one minute. Players using this method can earn approximately 50 Divine Orbs per hour, a feat impossible for regular players.

Impact of Inflation

Before the exploit was patched, players using this method became extremely wealthy, while those who didn't do so fell into an inflationary trap. The relative value of their PoE 2 currency earned during playtime drastically decreased.

Previously, you could obtain Exalted Orbs by farming dungeons, and approximately one hour's worth of Exalted Orbs could be exchanged for one Divine Orb. Now, due to the increased value of Divine Orbs, players need to farm for much longer to obtain even one.

Wealthy players, holding large quantities of Divine Orbs, have snapped up high-quality gear on the market, driving up their values.

A belt with good stats, crucial for a build, might have previously been worth 100 Exalted Orbs, but now it might only be worth 25. A truly exceptional belt could fetch as much as 25 Divine Orbs, and many essential base items for a build have also increased in value to dozens of Divine Orbs. This is unattainable for ordinary players.

Even if these bugs are fixed, wealthy players already possess top-tier builds, making their dungeon farming extremely efficient. Ordinary players with mid-tier builds will need 3 to 5 minutes per dungeon with lower rewards. The efficiency difference in acquiring Divine Orbs between the two is enormous, making it difficult for average players to close the gap.

Impact on Average Players

While the aforementioned cleanup sounds terrible, its actual impact on most average players is limited. In a normal league, there's already a significant gap between dedicated players who invest a lot of time and casual players who invest less.

Even under normal circumstances, most players struggle to break through this middle barrier. This inflation simply makes average players poorer, but it doesn't change the fact that you'll almost never reach the top tier of wealth.

Furthermore, all endgame content in the game doesn't require S-tier or unique items. You can use techniques like dodging, timing your attacks, and proper build construction to complete the game, but it certainly won't be as easy as it is for top-tier players.

This will also force average players to stop blindly copying top-tier builds and instead start researching equipment affixes, defensive mechanics, and how to adjust their builds to their own situation. This improves game understanding, allowing you to complete campaigns faster and more smoothly in the next league.

While Exalted Orbs have depreciated in value relative to Divine Orbs, many other crafting currencies and materials have also depreciated relative to Divine Orbs. This means you can trade for more crafting materials with fewer Divine Orbs, making it potentially more cost-effective for average players to craft their own gear in patch 0.4.0.

What Should You Do Now?

Don't forget that Path of Exile 2 is still in Early Access. This event exposed some mechanics issues, which will help the developers fix them in the next League.

If you don't have a Temporalis build, it's best not to choose the current best currency farming strategy, as this will actually reduce your farming efficiency.

You can analyze what content top-tier players are playing, what materials they need, and then supply those materials. Because they focus on a specific, efficient way to farm money, they can't play other content simultaneously.

On the other hand, you need to change your goals. Instead of focusing on how many Divine Orbs you can farm each day, use your developed build to defeat a Pinnacle Boss. This will also improve your overall strength.

While this economic collapse was triggered by bugs, diminishing the sense of reward for ordinary players grinding through levels, fundamentally, the strength of your build still depends on your time investment. If you haven't yet experienced all the content of this league, it's recommended that you adjust your mindset, change your strategy, and focus on learning and progressing within the game itself.