Where Does POE 2 Differ From The POE 1 Campaign?
One of the tremendous chunks of content Path of Exile 2 will usher in is a cutting edge 7-act campaign stated to be slightly shorter than and a massive improvement over the current POE 1 campaign.
This additional path to teach and hook new players in POE while leading all Exiles to its fast endgame will enable players to access the set of 19 new ascendancy classes, a host of new gems and start their tale of dark dicey redemption on a remote azomite island off the shores of Wraeclast.
POE 2’s campaign is being built from the ground up as an infinitely repeatable experience for veterans and newbies alike. But how?
We learned most of this information during the initial reveal of POE 2 in November 2019 at ExcileCon and a nice slice more during the POE 2 Act 2 showcase in April 2021. Since then, nothing, though more will come at ExileCon 2023 at the end of July.
We’re building up to it if you are new to Path of Exile or would like a quick recap of the Path of Exile 1 campaign versus what we know about the upcoming Path of Exile 2 campaign. This is the place for you.
The POE 1 Campaign Isn’t Disappearing
The Path of Exile 1 campaign is not going anywhere. It’s not disappearing. It’s not being locked away.
Instead, both Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2’s campaigns will be available concurrently and should lead to the same endgame. Presently, this endgame would involve fragments of the Shaper and Elder, buzzed encounters with the Conquerors of the Atlas and Sirus, the Maven’s playful mind, memory and gambit Games, the Siege of the Atlas by the Eater of Worlds and Searing Exarch and everything else accessible by the current Atlas passive skill tree and map system like Synthesis, Betrayal, Bestiary and Incursion.
When POE 2 releases, the next endgame edition or revamp will probably be mere months around the corner. Surely, the atlas shall experience some form of catastrophe then caused by the cleansing fire, the Tangle, Chaos itself, or let’s hope not more gods. Whatever that disaster will be, it’s not too long off.
The Path Of POE 2’s Campaign Length
POE 2 campaign will be shorter than POE 1’s 10-act campaign. Confirmed by GGG at ExcileCon 2019, they know the current campaign is a bit too long and are actively addressing it with Path of Exile 2.
The goal with this is to quicken the road to POE’s endgame while also improving the pace of the campaign for players new and old. It will still be linear in the sense of progressing from Act 1 to 2 to 3 and so on.
But with its tightening, Grinding Gear Game seeks to spell bind new players in the POE experience and recapture past and present players with a highly variable high quality new campaign. Plus, any qualms you might have with other titles aren’t part of POE. Cinematics are near non-existent. All conversations can be skipped and there’s no backtracking. You’re always moving to the next battle and story step.
Of course, this means folks who desire the optimal trail to endgame will probably always run the POE 2 campaign even though this is GGG’s overall goal. Those who arrive post Path of Exile 2 or are interested in a severe dose of nostalgia can always swap back to the POE 1 campaign, wash up near Lioneye’s Watch, overcome the trials of Dominus and final act boss Kitava in Oriath.
You’ll Need To Play POE 2’s Campaign For New Ascendancies
The 19 new ascendancy classes introduced in Path of Exile 2 will only be available by running through the new 7-act campaign at least initially.
The Lord’s Labyrinth will not be how characters ascend. Instead, a brand new system like the Lab or the Forbidden Sanctum will arrive. As it currently stands, once an account completes the new campaign at least once, all future characters can ascend to POE 2 ascendancies even if they choose to play through the first campaign.
This is also true for the POE 1 ascendancies. Once an account completes the POE 1 campaign at least once as many existing accounts will have already done by the time POE 2 releases, that account will be able to ascend into any POE 1 ascendancy even if they play the second campaign to reach endgame.
How this will work with the Trials of Ascendancy and Offerings to the Goddess in the Atlas and Maps is currently unknown.
Why This POE Campaign Is So Replayable?
Campaign promises extreme replayability and randomization in every aspect, from map and monster design to quest and item drops. No two playthroughs should be too similar.
GGG will achieve this through two facets: consistent forward movement and unpredictable but memorable area randomization. Unlike campaigns and other unnamed ARPG titles, you are always moving forward in Path of Exiles campaigns. Yes, you may get a quest and reward, such as POE Currency, from an NPC in town. But you need not return get a new quest, then run back to an area, then return, then get a new quest, then run back and add infant item. It’s shockingly simple but absent from Diablo 4 that recently released.
Plus, both areas and the world itself will always be different in the campaign, whether it’s the placement of the area itself, something new in POE 2’s campaign. And the actual layout of a map to the contents in the area from league mechanics, monster packs, and exciting random loot and campaign in Path of Exile will remain bizarre and randomly generated, but understandable and predictable to Veterans of the game. Many players may disagree.
But with a campaign like this or even in Path of Exile 1, there’s no need for an Adventure Mode. In a game like Diablo 4, it’s 100% needed.
Way Better Bosses In POE 2
From Path of Exile 1 to Path of Exile 2, Grinding Gear Games has learned a ton about boss design. In POE 2’s campaign, every area will have at least a mini boss fight with every battle boasting, meaningful combat, and aesthetically pleasing effects.
Additionally, it’s likely many of these awesome bosses will become fights in POE’s endgame once POE 2 hits, as many area bosses and mini bosses are presently map bosses. If not, the majority of these map bosses are not compelling fights, it is a good chunk. If changed or updated to POE 2 bosses, this will immediately change.
The Grittier Story In POE 2
Finally, we know the story of Path of Exile 2’s campaign will be wildly different from the tale of Exile in the first campaign.
In POE 1, our Exiles Adventure begins as we wash up on the shores of Wraeclast and Exile of Oriath, we trudge across the land and eventually defeat our oppressor Dominus before downing the original master Thaumaturge and slaying Gods like Tukohama, Solaris, Lunaris and Kitava. It’s quite the soaring of power level narratively.
Opposite POE 1 and POE 2, we start the campaign as criminals sentenced to hang at the neck until dead. Luckily, the rope breaks, our character escapes and leaps into a whitewater river and washes up on its shoreline.
The story from there shall remain shrouded in mystery. But Grinding Gear Games would like to lower the narrative power level and keep the story relatively grounded. There will be more hack and slash and low fantasy for the campaign and less God slaying.
The Fight Against Adventure Mode In POE
Numerous Exiles seek an adventure mode of some sort to level past the campaign without needing to do the campaign essentially.
This would be a system that allowed characters to path from level 1 to around level 65 without touching a single campaign quest along the way. There have been a myriad of suggestions for this:
Allow characters to endlessly Delve, let them go to the Rogue Harbor and Heist to endgame, rid of the barrier between the tutorial and endgame entirely and give characters a way to do maps beginning at level 1. Bring back an endless ledge and let us annihilate hordes of goat men for hours until we hit a reasonable endgame level.
I disagree on all fronts, and I am on the side of the developers with this one. Adventure Mode is unnecessary with a campaign like Path of Exile’s. Adventure mode or something like it is obsolete and there’s no way it’s coming with POE 2 or beyond. Adventure Mode is necessary if the campaign is a tremendous slog bogged down with unskippable dialogue, constant back and forth between NPCs with arduous fetch and protect quests when it lacks overall constant action and improvement and it boasts no real choosable rewards.
Additionally, muddying the content at endgame versus the content necessary when a character first starts lessens the sense of progression players feel. Moving from Act 1 to 2 and so on and so forth all the way to Maps, especially at the start of a league, is a great feeling that won’t be captured with something like Endless Delve or mapping from first level.
Path of Exile even with its first campaign and from what we’ve seen with its second campaign achieves highly in each of these spheres, Diablo 3 and now Diablo 4 do not and therefore need something akin to an Adventure Mode.
Recently, a game Diablo 4, which is also an ARPG, is very popular among players. Most players are racing against time to level up to experience more challenging content. If you want to level up quickly, it will be a good choice to prepare a large amount of Diablo 4 Gold in advance. Hope you can have a better experience!
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In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, Expedition remains a highly profitable endgame farming method. Here, I introduce a streamlined speed-farming strategy for Grand Expeditions: instead of aiming to clear the entire map, you quickly scan for Runic Remnants, engage only with high-value rewards, and exit immediately, thereby maximizing profit per unit of time.
This farming method requires a certain level of character power. If you have a build with high movement speed and efficient map-clearing capabilities, consistently generating dozens of Divine Orbs per hour is entirely achievable. However, if your character clears monsters slowly, the time cost will erode the profits gained from repeatedly entering and exiting maps; it is recommended to upgrade your build before attempting this strategy.
Core Mechanic: How do Runic Remnants work in Grand Expeditions?
Grand Expeditions are specialized maps unlocked via Logbooks. Unlike standard map Expeditions, Grand Expeditions feature a large number of Runic Remnants, each with a varying number of Rune Slots.
Placing and detonating explosives on a Runic Remnant spawns enemies affected by specific Runic Modifiers. Defeating these enemies grants the rewards associated with that Remnant. Generally, more Rune Slots mean a greater impact on enemies and a larger scale of rewards, making multi-slot Remnants the primary targets of interest.
This is the heart of the speed-farming strategy: prioritize high-value Runic Remnants rather than clearing the entire Grand Expedition map. Upon entering, quickly scout the area to check the rewards offered by various Remnants; if you find a target worth pursuing (using a value of 1 Divine Orb as a benchmark), place your explosives and complete the encounter. If the map contains no worthwhile rewards, do not waste time - simply detonate one charge and exit immediately.
Expedition Atlas Passive Tree: Two Key Nodes
As of PoE 2 Patch 0.5.4, Expedition has its own dedicated Atlas Passive Skill Tree, comprising 24 nodes in total, 12 of which are Notables. These talent points are earned by defeating bosses in Grand Expedition questline and are completely independent of the standard Atlas Tree points.
For Grand Expedition speed-farming strategy, two nodes are particularly important.
Feeling Lucky?
The first is Feeling Lucky?. Allocating this node causes Farrow to start selling Liquid Verisium. This is a kind of POE 2 currency used on Runic Remnants that allows you to directly reset Runic Inscription on that Remnant - essentially a free reroll.
When you encounter a Runic Remnant with good slot placement but a poor reward list, using Liquid Verisium to reroll it offers a chance to transform it into a high-value target, significantly boosting the expected yield per map.
Extra Remnant
The second node is Extra Remnant. It directly increases the number of Runic Remnants encountered during an Expedition. For speed-farming, a higher number of Remnants means more rewards can be checked within a given timeframe, making it easier to find high-value targets worth using explosives on.
The remaining 22 nodes can be allocated according to personal preference. However, there is one more node to consider: Extreme Archaeology. It alters the explosive mechanics, replacing the standard multiple small-scale placements with a single, large-area blast.
While this significantly simplifies the explosive placement process, it also activates more enemies at once, placing higher demands on your character's clear speed and survivability. Therefore, if your goal is simply to execute a consistent speed-farming strategy, there is no need to rush into allocating this node.
Map and Logbook Selection and Usage
Grand Expedition speed-farming places almost no requirements on the map itself. Whether the map is Normal, Magic, Rare, or Unique, as long as your character can complete it quickly and locate Expedition, it is suitable for use.
Since the primary returns from this strategy come from Runic Remnant rewards rather than the map's inherent drops, there is no need to invest excessive resources into Waystone. For high-speed builds, minimizing the time spent per map is usually more important than maximizing the returns from map modifiers.
Logbooks are crucial resources for accessing the Ocean region and locating Grand Expeditions. Using a Logbook reveals a new exploration zone within the Atlas's Ocean region, featuring standard Expeditions, Grand Expeditions, and other special encounters. Note that a Grand Expedition is not a standalone map launched directly by Logbook; instead, it appears as content within the revealed Ocean exploration zone. Therefore, the basic gameplay loop is quite simple: obtain Logbooks from standard Expeditions found in regular Path of Exile 2 maps, use them to explore oceanic zones, and hunt for Grand Expeditions. Once inside a Grand Expedition, focus on inspecting Runic Remnants and engage only with high-value targets that justify the time investment.
Standard map Expeditions are also a crucial part of this cycle. Runic Monsters have a chance to drop Logbooks, creating a continuous resource loop between standard Expeditions and Grand Expeditions.
Overall, the core strategy for speed-farming Grand Expeditions in Path of Exile 2 is straightforward: use a high-speed build to quickly clear maps, selectively target high-value Runic Remnants, and concentrate your time on objectives that truly offer the best returns. This approach is best suited for players who prioritize efficiency - maximizing profit per unit of time - and whose characters already possess strong mobility and clear speed.
If you regularly farm Abyss content in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, using Heart of the Well to make currency is a strategy well worth trying.
Acquiring them isn't complicated: simply spawn Rogue Exiles on top of Abyss, and they have a chance to drop Heart of the Well diamond. These diamonds are inexpensive, typically costing between 16 and 18 Chaos Orbs.
The goal is straightforward: take this cheap material and use Desecrate to craft it into a high-value jewel, profiting from the price difference. Sounds tempting, doesn't it?
Affix Rules
Before diving in, you need to understand the affix distribution for Heart of the Well.
The first and last Desecrate steps always grant a prefix, while the intermediate steps grant a suffix. This makes the initial prefix crucial; you'll usually want to activate an Omen of Abyssal Echoes to gamble for a beneficial affix.
Among prefixes, Lightning and Cold damage bonuses are the most valuable. Fire bonuses are usable, but Chaos bonuses are the least desirable.
If the first step doesn't yield a beneficial affix, continuing the process is usually not cost-effective; it's best to stop there rather than stubbornly pushing on.
There are plenty of good options for suffixes - such as Rage, Attack Speed, Cast Speed, Mana on Kill, Critical Strike-related mods, Rage on Melee Hit, and Skill Effect Duration - all of which have a market.
Memorize the valuable affixes so you can make quick decisions during the crafting process.
Crafting Process
First, head to The Well of Souls to perform the crafting.
Next, activate Omen of Abyssal Echoes and perform the first Desecrate on the diamond.
If you land a Lightning or Cold bonus, you can happily proceed. A Fire bonus is also worth keeping, but be cautious with Chaos bonuses, as they rarely fetch a high price.
During the intermediate steps, aim for the useful suffixes mentioned earlier; these significantly boost the final sale price.
Finally, use the last Desecrate to gamble for another beneficial prefix, aiming to secure a double-bonus item.
If you end up with a dud, don't rush to throw it away; Reforging Bench in PoE 2 allows you to combine three jewels of the same type to recoup some value - or even turn trash into treasure.
Throughout the process, constantly evaluate whether the base item is worth continuing with; avoid wasting time on jewels that lack potential.
When crafting in bulk, try focusing on the first prefix roll across all items first. Discard any that don't yield the desired bonus before processing the rest; this approach is significantly more efficient.
Also, patience is key during crafting. Not every Heart of the Well will roll a great combination of modifiers, but when you do hit a good one, the payoff is often substantial.
Comparing Market Prices
Keep in mind that the price variance for finished jewels in Path of Exile 2 is huge, so always check the market before selling.
A near-perfect Heart of the Well can fetch around 65 PoE 2 Divine Orbs - a single sale that could recoup the majority of your total crafting costs.
A Heart of the Well with both Fire and Lightning bonuses goes for about 14 Divines; adding a Critical Spell Damage bonus pushes the price to 20 Divines, and including Critical Hit Chance can bring it close to 50 Divines (listing it at 49 Divines often makes it easier to sell).
Similarly, Cold and Lightning bonus combination is highly sought-after in PoE 2; adding Critical Hit Chance allows for a price of around 24 Divines, while adding Mana Regeneration can push it to 34 Divines.
However, as mentioned earlier, combinations like Fire and Chaos bonuses are cheaper; a pure Chaos bonus version might only sell for 1 Divine Orb.
Unless, of course, you also roll Spell Damage bonus or Mana on Kill, which could raise the price to 5 or 6 Divines.
Heart of the Well, featuring other useful modifiers - such as Movement Speed or Attack Speed - can also command prices ranging from 18 to 35 Divine Orbs.
Finally, when setting your price, it is best to check what other players are asking for similar Heart of the Well.
Listing yours slightly lower usually helps it sell faster without sacrificing too much profit. If a jewel sits unsold for a long time, you can lower the price appropriately, but avoid dropping it too far below your cost.
Returns and Risks
The cost of this strategy - profiting from the price spread of Heart of the Well jewels - is around 75 Divine Orbs. Since there is potential to nearly double your investment, the profit margins are indeed attractive.
Of course, not every Heart of the Well you craft will yield a profit; producing duds is inevitable. You will need to rely on Reforging Bench and smart pricing strategies to minimize losses.
However, you must approach this with the right mindset: view it as a steady, long-term jewel-trading business rather than a gamble for an overnight fortune.
You must strictly adhere to the rules for filtering modifiers during every craft: abandon the item immediately if the initial roll lacks beneficial stats, or stop if the suffix rolls are subpar. Only by maintaining this discipline can you ensure consistent profitability.
This type of jewel has performed strongly across multiple leagues in PoE 2, and it remains a powerful option in the current Patch 0.5.5. Consequently, if you regularly farm Abyss content, this strategy will generate a reliable stream of extra income.
Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 has been live for two weeks. Although this is merely an interim mini-league without a massive amount of new content, players have fully immersed themselves in it, discovering new gameplay mechanics and build possibilities.
Compared to the ongoing Patch 0.5.0, 0.5.5 Forbidden Rites League introduces several commendable changes to PoE 2, though there are still areas that fall short of perfection.
With the full 1.0 launch of PoE 2 approaching after 0.5.5, we are highlighting the shortcomings revealed by this patch. We hope the development team can address these issues promptly to ensure a superior experience for the final release.
Review of new gameplay in 0.5.5
Forbidden Rites League replaces the campaign's Remnants mechanic with Rituals. This allows you to encounter Exiles early on and earn extra PoE 2 currency, or valuable gear to boost your build's power, through these encounters.
While the difficulty spikes sharply as you progress, making it easy to die if your build isn't fully optimized, the mechanic offers a fresh experience and additional ways to generate rewards beyond what was available in 0.5.0.
However, once you reach the endgame, the relevance and profitability of Ritual mechanic begin to wane, eventually becoming lackluster. Unless you specifically tailor your tactics to it, the mechanic tends to fade into the background of your daily farming routine.
Another addition in Patch 0.5.5 is the optimization of Trial of Chaos. By reducing the number of gimmicky room types, more levels now focus on pure combat; simultaneously, the boss arenas have been downsized to create a tighter, more intense combat experience.
Additionally, in the new Trial of Chaos, you can earn top-tier loot by challenging Trialmaster or simply collect Soul Cores. These can be used to enhance your gear setup or sold for currency.
Issues with Atlas system
As the core of Path of Exile 2, Atlas defines the endgame experience, while its associated passive tree determines your character's ultimate potential.
Although the current Atlas system has improved compared to earlier versions, there are still design elements that hinder the overall flow of gameplay.
While acquiring passive points is faster now than before, the issue remains that you must endure a lengthy grind before you can truly begin efficient mapping.
Even if you have allocated the nodes for the main passive tree and those related to Vaal Temple, theoretically enabling you to farm the temple, you won't achieve a truly reliable farming experience without also investing in other areas and Masters of Atlas nodes.
However, doing so forces you to clear a multitude of worthless, throwaway maps just to unlock the necessary pathing nodes, significantly disrupting the momentum of executing your specific mapping strategy.
Another issue is that the feedback and rewards for defeating the boss, Arbiter of Divinity, lack clarity; this not only risks discouraging players but also confuses newcomers unfamiliar with the encounter.
The current mechanics require you to collect fragments and defeat Arbiter of Divinity a second time to fully claim the available points. Faced with such a tedious and unengaging system, you might prefer simply trading for the fragments on the exchange.
We suggest that PoE 2 development team enhance the rewards and sense of accomplishment associated with the first defeat of Arbiter of Divinity, while also allowing players to gradually unlock the remaining Atlas points through open-world gameplay or standard mapping.
Suggestions for QoL improvements
Beyond core gameplay, ensuring a strong launch for Path of Exile 2 version 1.0 requires the development team to prioritize further QoL optimizations.
First, regarding item storage, the game could adopt a feature from the original title: a dedicated mini-stash located near the map interface for storing temporarily acquired maps and currency used for rerolling map modifiers, thereby preventing them from cluttering the main inventory.
Additionally, when encountering Strongboxes or rare enemies within a map, the system should allow players to access currency directly from their main stash or provide a dedicated storage space, eliminating the need to constantly carry around a multitude of miscellaneous orbs.
Furthermore, Tablet configuration system should allow players to preset and instantly switch between different tablet combinations to adapt to varying terrain or strategies, reducing the tedium of frequent manual swapping.
Ideally, the development team should also resolve the issue where tablets remain locked in a character's inventory when switching to a different character. In fact, the most efficient solution would be to make tablets shared across all characters on the same account.
It is worth noting that in the current trading market, some unscrupulous players sell used Tablets, which have very few remaining uses, as if they were fresh, fully-charged items.
To mitigate this issue, it would be best to either prohibit the sale of used Tablets entirely or mandate the display of their remaining usage count.
Regarding game balance and mechanics, PoE 2 currently relies too heavily on Hit Damage, making it difficult for DoT and Chaos-based builds to scale effectively in the endgame.
We also recommend that Path of Exile 2 implement a death replay feature. This would allow players to review the source of fatal damage and real-time combat logs, helping them understand exactly why they died and enabling more efficient build optimization. Such a feature would also assist in identifying hidden bugs.
While PoE 2 version 0.5.5 has certainly made strides in campaign innovation and core gameplay improvements, further refinements to the finer details are needed to ensure the final 1.0 release is truly polished. We sincerely hope the development team delivers an official launch in December that satisfies the player base.
Exiles, do you want to experience the thrill of commanding an army of archers and blanketing the entire screen in a rain of arrows in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5? Tactician build we are introducing here is designed exactly for that kind of spectacle.
Centered on Archon of Undead and high-frequency Command skills, Tactician can rapidly clear screens while maintaining a solid defensive position through crowd control, letting your minions handle the suppressive fire!
Core Damage Output
First, Tactician's primary damage comes from Supporting Fire and Command: Death From Above. These skills carry the Minion tag and unleash a massive volley of arrows from your army positioned in the rear.
The damage of a single arrow is already substantial, and the shotgun effect allows multiple arrows to strike the same target; this damage stacking becomes even more devastating against large-sized enemies.
Next, we incorporate Pin II support gem and Tactician's Right Where We Want Them skill. Enemies affected by Pin are immobilized, providing screen-wide crowd control while keeping foes stationary to absorb the full brunt of the arrow barrage.
This combination gives the Tactician screen-clearing and single-target damage capabilities that far exceed expectations.
Rotation Mechanics
Command: Death From Above normally has a cooldown of around 10 seconds, but Archon of Undead provides damage bonuses and accelerates Command skill cooldown recovery. This compresses the cooldown to nearly one second, while the effect lasts for approximately six seconds.
Additionally, any Command skill has a 50% chance to trigger Archon of Undead. We can exploit this by frequently using Command: Explosive Demise from Skeletal Arsonist minion (it is recommended to carry two Skeletal Arsonists to ensure uptime in case one dies unexpectedly).
While Dominion passive reduces the effectiveness of Archon buffs by 50%, it also removes the recovery period, allowing for a continuous uptime window; overall, it remains a worthwhile choice.
Meanwhile, using Command skills generates Puppet Master stacks (up to a maximum of 11). These stacks boost Tactician's skill speed, reduce the movement speed penalty associated with Command skills, and increase minion movement speed.
By frequently using Command skills in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, you can achieve an Archon of Undead uptime of nearly 95%.
Defense and Control
As previously mentioned, Tactician can pin enemies using support gems; this serves as a crucial form of crowd control for the build.
Pinned enemies are immobilized, which not only reduces the damage Tactician takes but also keeps foes within the area of effect of your arrow barrages, ensuring more consistent damage output.
Regarding basic survivability, mechanics such as armor, deflection, resistances, and the armor also applies to elemental damage stat all play a role in Path of Exile 2.
Ideally, your shield should feature Spirit of the Ox or Spirit of the Bear. Spirit of the Ox is generally the priority, as it grants immunity to slows and ailments while providing additional armor and damage reduction.
Additionally, Tactician can utilize defensive items like Romira's Requital (to transfer 10% of damage taken to minions) and Amanamu's Tithe (to gain an Abyssal Monster modifier upon a minion's death).
Minion Setup
Regarding minion selection, Skeletal Arsonist will be commanded frequently; therefore, its skill level should not be too high, or the mana cost of Command: Explosive Demise will become unmanageable.
Meanwhile, Skeletal Brute can be linked with Muster to amplify minion damage, Armour Demolisher II to accelerate Armour Break, and Lightning Attunement to add lightning damage and facilitate Shock application.
Thunderstorm allows Tactician to apply more reliable Shock effects during boss encounters in PoE 2, further stabilizing overall damage output.
Equipment Configuration
Scepter
Choose a scepter base that increases the maximum stacks of Puppet Master, boosts Spirit, and raises the level of summoning skills; mana regeneration affixes are also highly beneficial.
A Shining Scepter base provides free Purity of Fire and Purity of Lightning auras, whereas a Stoic Scepter focuses more on supplementing Energy Shield.
Gloves
Players should select armor-based gloves with high armor values; using Leather Bound Gauntlets allows your armor to simultaneously provide an equal amount of Evasion.
Body Armor
For body armor, a Death Mail or similar defensive chest piece - supplemented with movement speed and resistances - will greatly benefit Tactician.
Rings
Prioritize finding rings with Cooldown Recovery Rate and Minion Damage modifiers for Tactician; critical strike modifiers are only valuable if you choose to use Omen Scepter (introduced in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5).
Amulet
Ideally, your amulet should provide +4 to Summoning Skill Levels and resistances, and have Dominion passive allocated.
Additionally, if you need to address resistance issues, a Mageblood paired with Legacy of Bismuth can simultaneously solve your resistance problems while significantly boosting Tactician's movement speed and overall power.
PoE 2 currency for sale can help you quickly acquire this key gear, making Tactician build process much smoother.
Further Upgrades
Once you achieve high uptime for Archon of Undead, the movement speed, resistances, and immunities provided by the associated passives will alleviate the build's resistance requirements.
For further progression, you can focus on upgrades like a two-socket scepter and a higher Puppet Master proc rate to build a more robust defensive system for your minions.
In short, the core strategy for Tactician build in PoE 2 is to maintain stacks of Archon of Undead and Puppet Master while cycling your Command skills frequently!
As a classic melee Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2, Warbringer dominated the game early in Patch 0.5.0 with a build centered on Sadist's Mercy mace. With the launch of Patch 0.5.5, a few configuration tweaks allow this build to remain highly effective!
If you are looking to try a new melee build, or have been playing Warbringer but want to make a breakthrough in Forbidden Rites league, give this Brutus Strength-Stacking Warbringer build a try!
What are the pros of this build?
Specifically, the new PoE 2 0.5.5 Warbringer build switches to Brutus' Lead Sprinkler Morning Star mace to create a melee build based on strength-stacking.
By leveraging synergies between Warbringer passives, shield mechanics, and Turtle Charm, this build can easily stack block chance to 94% in actual combat.
This means that, aside from a few lethal Red Slams that require manual dodging, you can parry the vast majority of physical and elemental attacks from standard monsters and bosses.
Furthermore, combining this with Iron Reflexes allows you to convert all evasion rating into armor.
By supplementing Strength stats via gloves and boots, and utilizing modifiers that apply Armour to elemental damage, you can effectively mitigate elemental damage, resulting in superior survivability.
Most importantly, unlike other popular builds that require top-tier gear, the cost of acquiring and crafting the gear for this build is relatively low in terms of currency. It offers a high return on investment, making it an excellent choice when resources are scarce.
Core mechanic breakdown
To properly craft and utilize this build, it is essential to understand the specific sources of its damage and survivability.
As the absolute core of the build, Brutus' Lead Sprinkler mace not only provides a massive base health bonus but also directly converts your high Strength attribute into substantial added fire damage.
Compared to Lightning or traditional Critical Strike builds, fire damage offers multiple avenues to achieve 100% resistance penetration, reducing enemy resistances to zero or even negative values, giving it significantly higher potential value than other elemental types.
Meanwhile, Brutus Strength-Stacking Warbringer build centers on the aftershock mechanic of Earthshatter. By combining the Branching Fissure support gem with Splitting Ground passive skill, you drastically increase the number of spikes generated by a single attack.
Each subsequent Aftershock explosion not only deals massive mixed Physical and Fire damage but also reliably triggers Molten Shower skill inherent to Brutus' Lead Sprinkler, dealing widespread, multi-hit damage via a dense barrage of falling fire projectiles.
By allocating Roaring Cries passive, you can consistently generate Rage when using a Warcry, even without enemies nearby. Combining Enraged Warcry with Raging Cry allows you to consume Rage to completely bypass the inherent cooldowns of your Warcry skills.
Further incorporating Infernal Cry grants up to 57% additional Fire damage. At the maximum stack of 48 Rage, you gain an additional 48% bonus, resulting in a massive boost to your damage output.
Additional passive skills
Beyond the passives mentioned above, successfully crafting this build during Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 requires allocating all passives that enhance shield block chance and block effectiveness.
For instance, the node that restores life upon blocking provides exceptional survivability through frequent blocks.
Meanwhile, the passive node granting 30% block chance when enemies are nearby is crucial for pushing your block chance to its absolute limit.
Regarding offensive nodes, unlocking Jack of All Trades allows you to leverage the all-attribute bonuses provided by your gear for substantial overall gains; Lay Siege capitalizes on the mechanic where every 1% of block chance grants a 1% damage boost.
More gear options
Undoubtedly, Brutus' Lead Sprinkler mace is the core of this PoE 2 build, but selecting optimal items for other slots will further enhance combat efficiency.
For instance, equipping Constructing Command Viper Cap in the helmet slot, paired with Defy support gem, allows you to bypass mana costs and cast high-level skills more smoothly.
As previously mentioned, Turtle Charm works with Ascendancy passives to provide additional block bonuses. For rings, Vendor's Gamble is recommended to benefit from high health, Spirit, and bonuses to all three elemental resistances.
If you wish to further improve survivability while using Brutus' Lead Sprinkler, pair it with Svalinn Girded Tower Shield for exceptionally high block chance and cast speed.
If you are aiming for maximum damage output, you could opt for a damage-oriented unique shield, though this will reduce your block chance; proceed according to your build's needs and limitations.
When selecting or crafting boots, prioritize modifiers such as movement speed, Strength, base health, resistances, and armor that applies to elemental damage. For gloves, focus more on attack speed and added physical or fire damage.
Practical gameplay
Once you have assembled the basic Brutus Strength-Stacking Warbringer build in PoE 2 0.5.5 using the details above, you are ready for action, provided you execute the skills in the correct order.
Start with your primary damage skill, Earthshatter. Enhance it with Faster Attacks support gem to speed up execution, Branching Fissures to generate more spikes, and Fire Penetration to shred enemy fire resistance and maximize damage.
Simultaneously, utilize Warcry system: Infernal Cry provides extra fire damage, while Enraged Warcry / Raging Cry generates Rage based on the strength of nearby enemies or your own roar, allowing you to chain-cast Warcries by consuming that Rage.
Compared to Path of Exile 2 caster builds, where a barrage of special effects often obscures the player's view, this build features relatively clear attack trajectories, ensuring that visual effects do not excessively hide ground-based danger zones.
Furthermore, even when you are deep within a dense crowd of enemies, mechanics such as a high block rate combined with health recovery on block allow you to easily stabilize your health.
This creates a virtuous cycle where the more enemies there are, the higher your damage output, and the safer you become.
That covers everything for this build. If you're interested, why not craft it right away and use it to progress through version 0.5.5? Best of luck!
After completing the campaign of Path of Exile 2 Forbidden Rites and the subsequent Interlude, you will reach the endgame. The core of the endgame system is Atlas passive skill tree. It boosts item rarity and the number of rare monsters within maps, while also increasing Waystone drop rates - ensuring a steady supply of map resources as you progress from Tier 1 to Tier 15.
Patch 0.5.5 introduced a crucial change to Atlas progression flow. Previously, unlocking all Atlas passive points required defeating the Arbiter of Divinity five times; in Forbidden Rites, this requirement has been reduced to just two kills, significantly shortening the time needed to fully develop your Atlas setup.
Once you have completed the initial Atlas unlocks, you can shift your focus from map progression to maximizing profits much sooner. Let's look at how to efficiently plan your Atlas to boost your endgame returns.
Phase 1: Quickly Unlocking Atlas Passive Points
Starting Strategy: Don't Start at Tier 1
Upon entering the endgame, Doryani gives you a Tier 1 Waystone. However, if your build is already combat-ready, there is no need to slowly climb up from Tier 1. The game's experience penalty mechanics allow a level 64 character to kill level 71 enemies without losing out on experience gains, so you can absolutely start progressing using higher-tier Waystones right away.
Core Principle: Speed-Run Bosses, Skip Mechanics
While you are still working to unlock all your Atlas points, there is only one priority: complete maps as quickly as possible to unlock those points.
This means rushing straight to the boss upon entering a map, rather than clearing out every single monster. Also, remember not to use Tablet infusion mechanics, upgrade maps with Orbs of Alchemy or Regal Orbs, or spend time on league mechanics like Rituals or Breaches.
The reason for this is that, without the bonuses provided by Atlas passive points, the returns from these mechanics are extremely low. Take Ritual mechanic as an example: without specific Ritual passive points, the Favor you earn is insufficient to purchase rare items. You are forced to rely on Defer function - saving desired rewards for future Ritual encounters - meaning the actual return on investment is quite limited.
Second Kill of Arbiter of Divinity: Claiming All Remaining Atlas Points at Once
Another significant change in version 0.5.5 concerns the use of Origin Core.
After completing Precursor Fortress main questline, you must clear Patriarch Halls and Matriarch Halls to obtain Origin Spark and Origin Cradle, respectively. You then combine these two items to create an Origin Core and defeat Arbiter of Divinity.
There is a crucial mechanic here: defeating the boss for the first time using the quest-rewarded Origin Core does not immediately grant you all the remaining Atlas points. However, if you defeat Arbiter of Divinity a second time using a non-quest version of Origin Core, you can instantly complete the entire Precursor Fortress and claim all remaining Atlas passive points in one go.
Therefore, the primary goal of the second kill isn't simply to fight the boss again, but to secure the remaining Atlas points in a single step.
If you prefer not to traverse the world map again to hunt for Origin Spark and Cradle, you can simply use PoE 2 currency to acquire a finished Origin Core. This allows you to skip the material-gathering phase, proceed directly to the second Arbiter kill, and quickly max out your remaining Atlas points.
Phase 2: Mid-Game Mapping - Expedition and Delirium
Expedition: A Reliable Source of Divine Orbs and Perfect Jeweller's Orbs
Once you have maxed out your Atlas points, your mapping strategy should shift from speed-running to maximizing profit. The first mechanic worth prioritizing is Expedition.
You can unlock Expedition content at Ruins of Kingsmarch, located in the southeast section of Atlas. Completing the associated quests grants you access to Grand Expeditions.
Grand Expeditions have a critical Tier requirement: you must use Tier 14 maps or higher to ensure Vaal Monolith rolls the maximum possible modifier values. Using maps below Tier 14 results in significantly reduced rewards from Remnants.
In Tier 15 Grand Expeditions, Remnants can drop high-value items such as Divine Orbs, Perfect Jeweller's Orbs, and Masterwork Runes. Completing Expedition storyline also unlocks specific Expedition Atlas points, further enhancing the quality of rewards from Remnants.
Delirium: 200% Delirium and Liquid Emotions Returns
Once Expedition farming is stabilized, the next mechanic worth investing in is Delirium. Starting from Hilda's Campsite, head to Withered Willow to complete the Delirium encounter chain and unlock the corresponding Atlas passive points; then, challenge Simulacrum and Raven.
Running 200% Delirium is a highly efficient mapping strategy in PoE 2 version 0.5.5. Notably, city maps allow for the placement of four Tablets - one more than standard maps - making them key to maximizing returns. A common approach is to use a Grand Mirror to trigger the Delirium fog, gradually raise Delirium level to 200% using surrounding maps, and then farm this high-intensity map repeatedly.
Key rewards include Simulacrum Splinters, complete Simulacrums, high-value currency drops from extra monsters, and Delirium-exclusive Liquid Emotions. The latter often provides a significant source of additional income.
Additionally, you can combine Delirium Tablets with Expedition mechanics to reap rewards from both systems in a single map, balancing experience gains with extra loot.
Phase 3: Unlocking and Utilizing Masters of the Atlas
The endgame of PoE 2 version 0.5.5 features three Masters of the Atlas - Hilda, Doryani, and Jado - each offering 12 passive points. These points directly influence the types of loot you receive and the map's difficulty; proper configuration determines whether you are buried in mediocre spoils or consistently acquire high-value items.
Hilda
Unlocking Hilda is the most straightforward process: she awaits you at Hilda's Campsite, southwest of Ziggurat Refuge. She will mark the location of a Great Beast for you; simply travel there and defeat it to earn Hilda's Master passive points. Her passive tree focuses on enhancing rewards from bosses and powerful enemies, making it ideal for players who rely on boss farming as their primary income source.
Doryani
To unlock Doryani, you must complete Corrupted Nexus map. Doryani focuses more on enhancing Atlas itself and map control - such as boosting Waystone modifier effects, altering map zones, and improving map progression capabilities - making it ideal for players looking to optimize mapping efficiency and command over the Atlas.
Jado
Unlocking Jado requires clearing Anomaly Maps. Jado's passive nodes primarily enhance Strongboxes, map layouts, and Anomaly Maps, with some nodes also boosting the acquisition rate of high-value items like Uniques. If your goal is farming Strongboxes, Uniques, or Anomaly content, Jado is an excellent choice.
Overall, endgame progression in PoE 2 version 0.5.5 follows a clear trajectory: the early stage centers on speed-running maps to quickly unlock Atlas points; the mid-stage shifts toward high-yield mechanics like Expedition and Delirium; and once Atlas setup is established, you configure your Masters of the Atlas passives based on your specific farming objectives.
