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In Path of Exile (whether the 1 or 2), map rewards are closely tied to how much you invest into a strategy. Some strategies require a significant amount of currency to set up, but they can also generate far greater returns than other methods.

In PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5, Azmeri Spirit Strongbox is one such strategy. It takes a long time to prepare, and sometimes you may even need to abandon an entire map. However, once a Sacred Spirit appears in the map, you can see an enormous burst of loot.

Azmeri Spirit Strongbox Core

Simply put, this strategy starts by having Spirits possess Strongboxes. Every time a possessed Strongbox is opened, Spirits can continue multiplying. However, this chain reaction only occurs when a Sacred Spirit appears.

Azmeri Spirits appear as small floating points of light throughout the map. They are usually yellow, purple, or blue, while rarer orange Spirits can occasionally appear. You only need to look for an orange Spirit. If there is none, simply abandon the map.

There are two types of Sacred Spirits:

• Spirit of the Cunning Fox: Increases monster rarity.
• Spirit of the Spring Hare: Allows possessed monsters to revive after death and further generate Spirit-related effects.

To make Spirits multiply indefinitely, you need the Atlas Keystone Passive Sacred Sap. Its second option causes monsters possessed by a Sacred Spirit to also be possessed by another random Spirit.

Therefore, once a Strongbox is possessed by a Spirit, the monsters that emerge from it will also carry the same Azmeri Spirit while simultaneously gaining additional random Spirits.

Because of Spring Hare's effect, possessed monsters have a 50% chance to revive. Every time they revive, Sacred Sap adds more Spirits to them again. Quickened Flow node then gives you a chance to release Spirits when you kill them.

Cunning Fox increases monster rarity. If you take Hilda's Call of the Spirits Atlas Passive, possessed Rare monsters release Spirits when they die. Therefore, once a Strongbox is possessed by Fox, Rare monsters can become Unique monsters, and killing them releases Spirits, allowing the chain reaction to continue.

Your goal is simply to create as many Strongboxes as possible and have each Strongbox possessed by as many Spirits as possible. When you open these Strongboxes, Divine Orbs will seemingly cover your entire screen.

Tablet Setup

You need to use three Expedition Tablets and one Overseer Tablet, or 4 Overseer Tablets.

The goal when choosing Tablet modifiers is to maximize the number of Strongboxes and Azmeri Spirits. The number of Azmeri Spirits determines the chance of encountering a Sacred Spirit, while the number of Strongboxes determines how much you can earn after hitting a Sacred Spirit.

Required modifiers for Expedition Tablets:

• Expeditions contain 2 buried Strongboxes;
• Map has increased chance to contain Azmeri Spirits.

Required modifiers for Overseer Tablets:

• Map contains 2 additional Azmeri Spirits.

When using three Expedition Tablets, two Expeditions will appear in the map. When using four Tablets in City Biome, the effects of Tablet modifiers are increased by 54%.

In simple terms, this setup gives you two Expeditions in a single map, with around nine Strongboxes from each Expedition, for approximately 18 Strongboxes in total. You will also get a good number of Azmeri Spirits.

Map Selection

For maps, you need to use Tier 15 eight-mod maps and maximize monster rarity as much as possible.

Only Rare and Unique monsters can be possessed by Spirits. Higher monster rarity makes the chain reaction smoother, allowing more monsters to revive, gain additional random Spirits, and generate more loot.

Without sufficiently high monster rarity, the chain reaction may fail to run smoothly even after a Sacred Spirit appears, eventually forcing you to abandon the map. Therefore, try to use maps with close to 100% increased monster rarity.

Ezomyte City

City Biome is chosen to gain stronger Tablet modifier effects and allow the use of four Tablets. Grass Biome is selected because it increases the chance for Azmeri Spirits to become Sacred Spirits by around 50%.

The advantage of Ezomyte City is that it provides the benefits of both City Biome and Grass Biome, which is why this strategy is mainly run there.

Map Enhancements

For map enhancements, you can choose 200% Delirium, or Sacred Bloom Wildwood. Both methods work well. 200% Delirium provides better loot and additional rewards from Delirium, although it is more complicated to run compared with Wildwood.

Master of the Atlas

For Master of the Atlas, both Doryani and Hilda can work. However, if your build is particularly powerful, Hilda is the better fit. If you are more concerned about surviving, choose Doryani.

If you choose Doryani, Spring Hare will be more useful because the map becomes Irradiated, granting higher monster rarity and other modifiers while making monster effects stronger. However, encountering Cunning Fox may force you to abandon the map.

If you choose Hilda, both Spirits are worth running because Fox chain reaction depends on Hilda's Call of the Spirits node.

Preparation

Since each map can drop a large amount of PoE2 currency, the game may become extremely laggy if your hardware is not particularly strong. You will also need a strict Loot Filter to hide lower-value currency items, such as Exalted Orbs, otherwise your inventory will fill up very quickly.

You also need to use currency to roll Strongboxes yourself and prepare Cryptic Keys and Omens of the Hunt. Cryptic Keys allow you to open a Strongbox one additional time, while Omens of the Hunt are used to release Spirits when opening Strongboxes.

This strategy offers extremely high returns and can even cause severe performance issues. However, if you can run it successfully in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5, each map can potentially generate dozens or even hundreds of Divine Orbs.

In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, Ancestral Warrior Totem Shaman is a popular choice that combines tankiness with the ability to complete all content.

This totem build, centered around Sunder as its core damage dealer, has an extremely low skill ceiling. Simply place totems and keep moving to easily handle most combat scenarios, making it suitable for challenging Grand Expedition, high Delirium maps, Pinnacle bosses, and various endgame content such as Simulacrum.

Starting Budget and Hard Gear Requirements

This build requires approximately 100 Divine Orbs to start. It's not recommended to force this transition before you have sufficient resources. The core reason lies in the mandatory requirement for two function-bound pieces of equipment:

Redflare Conduit Anchorite Garb

Must carry Corruption affix: Gain a Power Charge every second if you haven't lost Power Charges recently. This chest piece is the starting point for the entire build's energy recharge cycle; without this corruption affix, the entire cycle cannot be initiated.

Flush Crucible Diamond

must include a variant of Resonance keystone passive skill. This keystone passive converts gained Power Charge into Endurance Charge, a necessary resource for Ancestral Warrior Totem to function.

Besides the two bound pieces of equipment mentioned above, weapon quality is equally crucial. This build's damage primarily comes from gem level and the weapon's base physical damage; therefore, it is recommended to prioritize high physical DPS two-handed hammer weapons.

Furthermore, unique attributes such as Rite of Passage, The Fall of the Axe, and Kalandra's Touch can further enhance overall strength, but are not absolutely necessary; players can gradually acquire them based on their own circumstances.

If your own resources are insufficient but wish to experience the full gameplay of this build as soon as possible, you can buy PoE 2 currency to quickly replenish resources to obtain equipment with specific attributes that meet the build's requirements, thereby completing the core configuration faster.

Core Mechanics Analysis

Power Charge - Endurance Charge Loop

The core operating logic of this build is a stable Charge conversion chain. Redflare Conduit Anchorite Garb continuously generates Power Charge through Corruption affix, while the Resonance Keystone converts the acquired Power Charge into Endurance Charge.

Ancestral Warrior Totem relies on Endurance Charge to be summoned. This loop ensures a continuous supply of totem summoning resources and is the foundation of the build.

Totem Summoning and Health Regeneration

Another important survival mechanism for this build is the health regeneration provided by Totem summoning. Each Totem summon restores a significant amount of health to the character. Therefore, in environments where continuous damage is taken, frequent Totem summoning not only maintains damage output but also serves as an important means of healing.

Rage Stacking

Shaman Ascendancy provides the necessary Rage acquisition and utilization capabilities for this build.

Through the Mana Regeneration → Rage Generation conversion mechanism provided by Ascendancy, characters can continuously acquire Rage using Mana Regeneration, thus reducing their reliance on Eternal Rage buff.

A large amount of Rage not only increases damage output but also synergize with other defensive mechanisms, allowing Rage to serve both offensive and defensive purposes.

Defense System

Ancestral Warrior Totem Shaman, through high-armor shields and stacking the "increased defenses from equipped shield" affix, can easily achieve nearly 90% physical damage reduction. Shaman Ascendancy also provides additional defensive stacks, combined with the life regeneration from Totem summons, giving the character extremely high survivability in high-intensity combat.

0.5.5 Patch Key Updates

Patch 0.5.5 brings two significant improvements to this build, further enhancing its strength.

Jiquani's Soul Core of Quaking

This is a new Soul Core added in PoE 2 0.5.5, providing +1 level to all Slam Skill Gems.

Since our core damage skill, Sunder, is a Slam skill, and this build benefits greatly from skill gems, Jiquani's Soul Core of Quaking directly boosts Sunder's damage output.

It is recommended to socket it together with Perfect Iron Rune. Together, they form a crucial enhancement combination for this build's weapon slots; Jiquani's Soul Core of Quaking provides the gem level, while Perfect Iron Rune further enhances the weapon's base stats and damage output.

Atziri's Soul Core of Vitality

This Soul Core provides a 1% increased Maximum Life for each Corrupted Item Equipped. This means that when the character equips as many corrupted items as possible, they not only benefit from the corruption affix itself but also gain a significant maximum life bonus.

For gear that has already incurred significant investment and for which you don't want to directly use Vaal Orbs and risk random outcomes, consider using Vaal Infusers for corruption. These infusers don't cause corruption on the first use, but subsequent uses have a high probability of inflicting corruption, and they don't interfere with existing affixes on the gear, making them a relatively controllable corruption method.

Skill Gem Configuration

Main DPS

Ancestral Warrior Totem is the core gem of this build, paired with Sunder as the primary slam skill, handling the majority of the damage output.

For secondary gems, adjustments can be made based on the final gear and skill gem levels. Common configurations include Urgent Totems III, Heft, Heavy Swing, and Rigwald's Ferocity, primarily focusing on increasing the totem's attack speed, single-hit damage, and overall DPS.

Secondary DPS

Shockwave Totem is mainly used in boss fights, responsible for applying additional AoE and DoT, and providing some supplementary single-target damage. When facing a single boss, generally placing Shockwave Totem in advance is sufficient to apply damage; there's no need to continuously summon large numbers of Totem like a main DPS build.

Defense and Buffs

Magma Barrier is primarily used to provide additional block chance, further enhancing the character's defensive capabilities. Use Time of Need when clearing maps to provide health regeneration and manage curses.

In scenarios requiring higher DPS, such as Pinnacle boss fights and Trials of Sekhemas, Berserk can be used for stronger burst damage.

Overall, Ancestral Warrior Totem Shaman build in Path of Exile 2 0.5.5 is more suitable for players who already have sufficient resources and want to experience a high-survivability totem playstyle. Its advantages lie in its relatively simple operation, flexible output methods, and good adaptability to various endgame content.

However, the high start-up cost and core gear requirements also mean it's not suitable as a low-budget progression build. After completing the core equipment and mechanics setup, you can gradually upgrade your weapons, equipment, and gem levels according to your budget to achieve a more stable endgame experience.

As the initial excitement surrounding 0.5.5 league update begins to fade, Path of Exile 2 players are shifting their focus from the new content to the game's unresolved core issues.

With the official 1.0 launch just around the corner, roughly two months away, the community is eager for the development team to address fundamental flaws before the full release, ensuring the game makes a compelling debut.

Among these issues, the state of melee builds and the overall combat experience have remained central topics of discussion within the community.

Since the launch of Early Access, melee gameplay in PoE 2 has certainly seen improvements regarding defensive mechanics and damage output; however, compared to ranged playstyles, such as spells, bows, and grenades, melee combat still faces significant limitations.

In this article, we analyze the current predicament facing PoE 2 melee builds, examining the pain points regarding defense and damage output, and look ahead to potential future adjustments for melee playstyles.

Melee currently lags behind ranged in PoE 2

If you have consumed time playing Path of Exile 2 and are familiar with both melee and ranged playstyles, you have likely noticed a stark contrast in the experience they offer.

This disparity lies not merely in the mechanics of play, but in the ultimate results achieved. Overall, spellcasters and other ranged builds hold a dominant advantage in terms of both map-clearing efficiency and survivability.

For instance, ranged builds centered on Spark skill allow players to unleash massive damage over a wide area while moving at high speed, instantly wiping out enemies before they can even get close.

Additionally, crossbow builds benefit from exceptional critical hit scaling, while grenade builds leverage powerful skill synergies and high base damage to create devastating damage output chains.

In contrast, traditional melee classes or builds relying on maces or two-handed weapons often feel clunky and fragile during combat; because they must engage enemies head-on, they are forced to absorb the full brunt of direct physical and elemental attacks.

While Path of Exile 2 currently features some effective melee playstyles, such as Monk, many of their skills possess semi-ranged characteristics and extended strike ranges; furthermore, the class boasts high mobility and the ability to rapidly close the gap to enemies.

In other words, the reason these standout melee classes or builds feel so good to play is essentially because their gameplay incorporates ranged or mid-range combat elements, rather than relying on the inherent advantages of true melee combat.

Imbalance within melee builds

The fact that the overall experience pales in comparison to ranged playstyles is only one reason for the decline of melee builds in PoE 2; in reality, there is also significant imbalance within the melee category itself.

Within the classification of melee skills in Path of Exile 2, there is a stark disparity in gameplay experience between single-target striking skills and AoE / slam strike skills.

Although single-target skills are often designed with superior damage scaling and a higher damage ceiling against individual targets, they struggle in actual combat due to a lack of AoE damage, making it impossible to effectively clear out swarms of enemies.

Moreover, many enemy types in PoE 2 move extremely fast. Since single-target skills lack mechanisms for instantly dashing into close range, players often find themselves in the frustrating position of desperately chasing enemies without being able to land a hit.

Consequently, almost all melee players gravitate toward area/slam strike skills. These skills leverage wide hit zones and crowd-control effects to efficiently clear trash mobs or stun bosses, thereby boosting the efficiency of farming PoE 2 currency.

Over-reliance on skill gem levels

Another systemic issue facing melee builds in Path of Exile 2 is that damage output relies too heavily on skill gem levels, which in turn leads players to neglect weapon crafting.

More specifically, in most current melee gear setups, the damage boost provided by skill gem levels far outweighs that of other attributes. As a result, when selecting gear, players are compelled to prioritize items that feature modifiers increasing melee skill levels.

This creates a trade-off: if you want to maximize damage scaling from skill levels, you might have to sacrifice other crucial utility stats like resistances, health, or attack speed, and for melee builds, efficient enemy elimination is essential for survival.

This dynamic also diminishes the value of high-base-damage weapons for melee builds; even a mace with near-perfect base stats might ultimately underperform compared to a standard weapon that grants +3 to melee skill levels.

Issues with skill control feel

While yield is one factor in a build's overall value, the feel of the skill during actual combat is another critical consideration. This is evident across various melee skills and mechanics in PoE 2.

Take Earthquake for example. When paired with the right support gems and gear, the skill boasts incredible damage scaling in the endgame. However, the issue lies in the time and delay between initiating the attack and the subsequent aftershock explosion.

This means that if you use Earthquake in high-tier maps or boss fights requiring frequent movement, the delay could leave you vulnerable to being swarmed by enemies.

In fact, similar issues affect skills like Rolling Slam; its fixed attack duration makes it difficult to integrate smoothly into fast-paced combat.

That said, if you have played Gemling Legionnaire, you might have noticed that its mechanics can significantly boost attack speed, effectively compressing the delay associated with certain melee skills.

However, we believe this shouldn't be the primary solution for addressing melee skill delays, nor should Gemling Legionnaire be nerfed as a result. Instead, the baseline fluidity of melee skills themselves should be improved.

Potential optimization strategies

Duelist has already been confirmed as the first class to be added to PoE 2 in version 1.0, and it brings distinct melee characteristics. This signals the arrival of a host of new melee mechanics, skills, and weapons, which will help break the mold of currently restricted melee playstyles.

On the other hand, it would be best for the development team to optimize melee builds before the 1.0 launch, specifically addressing the issue where they are easily interrupted or knocked down while dashing to close the distance, so that melee players can exert greater control over the pace of combat.

Undoubtedly, there are still many hurdles to overcome to ensure Path of Exile 2 is absolutely perfect at launch, but the issues surrounding the melee playstyle should be prioritized; after all, if ranged builds dominate from the outset, the long-term outlook for the full release does not look promising.