In Path of Exile, the highest level unique items have a special name called T0 or Tier 0 to indicate their rarity and power. These T0 Uniques have unique properties not found on other items and are the core of various endgame builds. In Path of Exile 3.25, although the balance of the game has changed and new content has been added, such as the increase and remake of skills, the status of these T0 Uniques is still unshakable.
Like many items in the game, T0 Uniques also require you to use a certain strategy to farm them. So this guide will introduce you to which T0 Uniques are in the current league and how to farm them in a targeted manner.
What Are T0 Uniques In The Current League?
The list of T0 Uniques will be updated as new league mechanics are released. For example, some previously lower-level Uniques may be promoted to T0 Uniques, or they may be removed from the list. The following are the current T0 Uniques in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, but because patches are constantly changing, they are for reference only.
Soul Taker
Soul Taker is a One Handed Axe in the game. Its dominant type of damage to the enemy is Physical Damage, which is about 264-308. It is worth noting that the critical hit rate of this One Handed Axe is as high as 5%. Although it is relatively low in T0 Uniques, it can still allow you to achieve a fatal effect in battle.
In addition, Soul Taker can attack 1.80-1.88 times per second, which will cause relatively continuous physical damage to the enemy, and coupled with the 20% increase in attack speed in the new league, you can win the battle very easily.
Although the weapon range of Soul Taker is only 1.1 meters, don’t be discouraged. The 119 Str and 82 Dex you hold can keep you flexible in close combat, and Soul Taker will also increase your Cold Resistance by 25%, allowing you to suffer less damage when facing enemies who initiate freezing control on you.
Essentia Sanguis
Essentia Sanguis is a melee weapon in Settlers of Kalguur League, because it is a Claw weapon, and also a melee weapon. Although it can only cause you 29-76 Physical Damage, Elemental Damage is immeasurable, up to 700!
But don’t think that those Physical Damages are not important, because 2% of Physical Damage can be converted into your health for you, greatly enhancing your character’s survivability, allowing you to pass all stages safely and get the ultimate reward - POE Currency.
If you want to use Essentia Sanguis, you need to make sure that your character has reached level 66 and has 95 Dex and 131 Int. Here is a tip for you. If you hold two Claw weapons in both hands, there is an 8% chance to block some enemy attacks on you, so you can try it when facing some very aggressive enemies.
Speaking of defense, Essentia Sanguis gives you 30-40 Energy Shield, and even when Energy Shield is maxed out, Energy Shield Leech Effects used to attack are not removed. This gives you both high damage and high tankiness.
Lioneye’s Glare
Lioneye’s Glare is one of the few Bow weapons that made it to T0 Uniques with the melee buff. It made this list mainly because of its excellent Physical Damage, which is about 394.8-453, and your Elemental Damage will increase by 20%-24% when you use attack skills to fight enemies.
These high damage levels make Lioneye’s Glare a magnificent weapon, not to mention that it also increases your attack speed by 10%-20%. These attributes, combined with the 5% critical strike rate, will definitely make it very easy for you to face some early and mid-game enemies.
But the major disadvantage of ranged weapons, Lioneye’s Glare also has it. It can not effectively avoid the enemy’s precise attacks, so you need to invest at least 212 in your Dex to ensure that you can use it well.
Voltaxic Rift
Like Lioneye’s Glare, Voltaxic Rift is also a Bow, but its Physical Damage is not very good, only 38-115, but you can also find the reason for its inclusion in this list in Elemental Damage it causes - up to 750.
In addition, it can also cause 600-750 Lightning Damage for you in battle, and can even convert all of it into Chaos Damage. This variety of damage types can help you not have to change weapons too often when facing different types of enemies.
It is worth mentioning that your Chaos Damage can cause Shock effects on enemies, and the maximum Shock effect can be increased to 40%. Coupled with the 10%-15% increase in attack speed for you, you will definitely have a deep interest in this ranged weapon.
Headhunter
After talking about weapons, let’s take a look at some accessories. The first one to introduce is Headhunter, which is a belt you can wear. It increases your maximum health by 25-40 and increases your damage to all rare monsters by 20%-30%.
If you think that's all there is to it, you're wrong. It also affects the various attributes your character invests in, such as increasing your Strength by 40-55 and Dexterity by 40-55. These two are very useful in some important builds.
Defiance Of Destiny
Another accessory that has entered the ranks of T0 Uniques is Defiance of Destiny in Amulet category, which also increases your maximum health by 60-80, and also allows you to get about 10%-20% of Missing Unreserved Life before being hit by the enemy.
Compared to the previous accessories, Defiance of Destiny focuses on your defensive capabilities, such as increasing your Fire Resistance, Cold Resistance, and Lightning Resistance by 10%-40%.
You can always equip it in the gear slot to complete the battle safely when facing different types of enemies. However, it should be noted that if your build itself has weak survivability, you can use more POE Currency to upgrade it more.
Specialized Strategy For Farming T0 Uniques
Now that you understand the power of T0 Uniques, you should now consider how to farm them accurately and labor-savingly. Here is the farming strategy I prepared for you.
1. Prepare Your Map Modifier
The right map modifier can make you more efficient and increase the efficiency of farming. In POE 3.25, you can choose the following map modifiers.
Pack Size: You need to set your goal to 50% or higher, which will increase the number of battles you need to fight and the potential chance of loot drops.
Item Rarity: As we all know, higher Item Rarity will also increase the chance of unique items dropping. Currently, the most ideal Item Rarity is about 167%, so if you use a Pack Size of more than 50% and an Item Rarity of about 167% when running a certain map, you will have a greater chance of getting T0 Uniques.
Optimizing Map Quality: Before running a map, or in the early stages, you can use chisels to increase the quality of the entire map a little, around 75%-77%. Alternatively, you can use Alchemical Orbs to make the loot in your map rarer, which is a very beneficial map modifier.
Delirium And Scarabs: You can combine these two to further improve your farming efficiency. But for players who are new to map modifiers, a Delirium Orb is enough.
2. Choose The Equipment And Item Settings In Your Build
In MMO games such as Path of Exile, the most important thing is the build. A good build can allow you to survive and develop safely in some difficult maps, so farming T0 Uniques also requires a good build.
In terms of the choice of key items, your first choice must be Mageblood Belt, because it is very important for the management of flasks in your build and for improving your survivability. In addition, you can try Ventor’s Gamble Ring, which can greatly increase the rarity of its loot when you face a single-target boss.
In terms of defense, you can choose one of Unique Shields, and combined with some modifiers that can provide you with specific damage reduction, your survivability will definitely be taken to a higher level.
3. Adjust Your Strategy In Time
When facing different situations, the strategies used are definitely different. For example, when you are fighting a boss on a certain map, you need to make your build as powerful and survivable as possible. This is also the most important point in the strategy of accurately farming T0 Uniques, because the safety of your character is the key to farming.
The above is some information about T0 Uniques and farming strategies in POE 3.25. I hope you can farm your most desired T0 Unique as soon as possible in this new league. I wish you a happy game!
In Path of Exile Settlers of Kalguur released some time ago, many metas have changed significantly, and many builds have also changed accordingly. So whether you are a player who is used to Solo Self-Found builds or a player who likes Trade Leagues builds, you must make corresponding changes to your builds. In the increasingly fast pace of life, many gamers have begun to explore the content of the game alone. In POE, there is no exception. Many players are used to using Solo Self-Found builds to explore alone in the game.
In this build, you will experience a completely unique experience from the standard game: you don’t have to stick to tedious transactions, and your POE Currency can be better used for crafting. But it also brings a longer exploration time and requires more knowledge reserves, and the most important challenge is greater. In this guide, I will introduce you to several Solo Self-Found builds that are very useful in POE 3.25, so that you can be prepared when you first explore this new way.
Bleed Spectral Shield Throw Gladiator
If you’re new to Solo Self-Found builds, Bleed Spectral Shield Throw Gladiator is a great build to practice with, as it’s great for both clearing and killing, and it requires a relatively low investment, making it a very cost-effective build.
Bleed Spectral Shield Throw Gladiator build primarily utilizes the new Gladiator nodes added to the new league, such as Jagged Technique, to cause aggravated bleeding, which increases the damage taken by enemies over time, and eventually explodes when the enemy dies.
For defense, you can choose items with prioritizing block, spell block, and lucky block mechanics, as these mechanics keep this build’s effective block rate at 93.75%. This high-damage and high-tank build will get you through the early and middle quickly and safely reach endgame content.
Setup
- Skill Gems: Spectral Shield Throw & Brutality & Vicious Projectiles & Chance to Bleed & Maim & Deadly Ailments
- Ascendancy Nodes: Arena Challenger & Blood in the Eyes & Gratuitous Violence & Painforged
- Defensive Layers: Endurance charges & Spell suppression & High life pool
Explosive Trap Of Shrapnel Trickster
Explosive Trap of Shrapnel Trickster build is a dynamic build that utilizes whirling blades and frost blink to enable you to swiftly traverse the map and promptly reach clusters of enemies. Once there, you can freeze the enemies and subsequently eliminate them with explosive traps.
This one-hit-kill build focuses on increasing crit chance and multiplier. In the best case, when all explosions hit, it can achieve about 16 million hit DPS, which is a very scary number. In addition, it also relies on power, frenzy, endurance, and inspiration charges to have a greater advantage in both offense and defense.
Here I need to remind you that although Explosive Trap of Shrapnel Trickster build performs very well in boss stations and some high-level maps, you still need to pay attention to the mana consumption when using it, because spell damage is the most important source of damage for this build.
Setup
- Skill Gems: Explosive Trap & Cluster Traps & Trap and Mine Damage & Advanced Traps & Increased Critical Strikes & Increased Critical Damage
- Ascendancy Nodes: Swift Killer & Ghost Dance & Escape Artist & Prolonged Pain
- Defensive Layers: Evasion & Spell suppression & Life and energy shield blend
Boneshatter Juggernaut Or Slayer
With the increased melee in POE Settlers of Kalguur league, Boneshatter Juggernaut or Slayer build has become very powerful. It can use the shovel’s huge two-handed weapon to crush enemies in combat, and gain trauma stacks from it to increase its damage. However, the price of this high damage is that you will also take some damage yourself.
But don’t worry, Juggernaut can provide you with strong survivability, and Slayer can provide you with higher damage and better recovery, so no matter which one you choose, you can safely complete some medium-difficulty battles. Thanks to the changes to endurance charges in the new league, this build can also reduce some elemental damage from enemies, so you will be safer to get the final POE Currency reward.
Although the shortcomings of Boneshatter Juggernaut or Slayer build that some players have pointed out before, such as lack of single-target damage and high mana consumption, still exist, you can use some POE Items at this stage to alleviate this problem.
Setup
- Skill Gems: Boneshatter & Multistrike & Melee Physical Damage & Brutality & Fortify & Rage
- Ascendancy Nodes
- Juggernaut: Unflinching, Unstoppable, Unbreakable, Undeniable
- Slayer: Brutal Fervour, Headsman, Bane of Legends, Impact
- Defensive Layers: High armor & Endurance charges & Life leech (Slayer)
Lightning Strike Gladiator
In previous leagues, Lightning Strike Gladiator has been a favorite of many players, and recently, with the increase in Lightning Strike’s damage effectiveness, more and more players who are used to Solo Self-Found builds have begun to try it.
It mainly uses Blood Magic to alleviate the mana consumption problem that players are very concerned about, and with the help of Gladiator’s block nodes, it can achieve a situation where high damage output and excellent survivability coexist.
In addition, Lightning Strike Gladiator build is a combination of melee and projectile strikes, making it one of the most competitive Solo Self-Found builds. If you use Eternal Blessing to enhance the damage output in this build, it will definitely give you a surprise!
Setup
- Skill Gems: Lightning Strike & Trinity & Nightblade & Multistrike & Added Cold Damage & Elemental Damage
- Ascendancy Nodes: Versatile Combatant & Gladiator’s Perseverance
- Defensive Layers: Block and spell block & High life pool & Instant leech from weapon main node
The above is some of the best Solo Self-Found builds in the new POE league. I hope you can better complete exploring the new league alone with their help, and wish you a happy game!
In Path of Exile, Scarab modifies the map for you, adding extra challenges and rewards, making it one of the most important items in the game. It is also very popular in the game because of its boosting properties.
In the new Settlers of Kalguur League, Scarab’s overall role has not changed much, but because of the significant increase in loot in the new league map, it has become an indispensable part of running the map efficiently. This guide will introduce you to Scarab from its drop rate and some farming strategies. If you have a little difficulty in farming Scarab, you can follow the tips in this guide step by step.
Scarab Drop Rates In Rarity Tiers
Whether you explore Settlers of Kalguur League alone or with your trade league players, it is important to understand the drop rate and rarity of Scarab. First, it will lower your expectations for Scarab, because it is not so easy to get, and second, you can formulate relevant strategies based on its drop rate. In the current league, Scarab has 5 rarity tiers. The specific information is as follows:
Common Scarabs: It is the most common Scarabs in the entire game and the most commonly used by players, with a drop rate of about 30%.
Uncommon Scarabs: It is slightly rarer than Common Scarabs, with a drop rate of about 20%.
Rare Scarabs: As the name suggests, it is a little rarer than the first two Scarabs, with a drop rate of about 10%. And it is more practical on the map than the first three, which means it is more valuable.
Mythic Scarabs: This is a very rare Scarabs, with a drop rate of only 1%. But once you get it, it can provide a very significant enhancement to the loot provided by your map, the most obvious of which is the amount of POE Currency you get after running the map.
Extreme Scarabs: These are the rarest tiers in Path of Exile, like Horned Scarab of Preservation, which are very rare and valuable.
The above drop rates may vary depending on the unique modifiers you have, such as remarkable relics, so if you want to encounter some higher rarity Scarabs, you can try to carry more unique modifiers to increase the probability.
How Do Scarab Drop Rates Affect Solo Self-Found And Trade Leagues?
As mentioned earlier, understanding the drop rate is to better make targeted strategies, and here are the effects in two different situations: Solo Self-Found and Trade Leagues.
Solo Self-Found: Knowing the rarity of a Scarab can help you decide whether to build around it. Normally, if Scarab is extremely rare, it is not a good choice to rely on it unless you have wonderful luck or another strong enough strategy.
Trade Leagues: In trade leagues, the rarity of Scarabs directly affects its market value. For example, some rare Scarabs are in great demand in the current market, so POE Currency required will increase accordingly, and your investment opportunities will also increase.
Best Strategy
Before you can farm Scarab effectively, it is important to understand that choosing the right Atlas tree strategy is key. Here I will introduce you to 3 strategies for farming Scarab to cope with various play styles and goals in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League.
1. Low Investment Scarab Farming In T17 Maps
In this strategy, you don’t have to manipulate too many settings, and your focus should be on maximizing Scarab drops through specific Atlas tree configurations. For map selection, you can choose Fortress map, because there are fewer bosses and monsters you need to fight, but the loot quality will be high.
In terms of the type of Scarabs you want to farm, you can prioritize Nemesis and Divinity Scarabs, or Radiant Storms Scarab. They can all increase the challenge and rewards in the map you are currently running.
For Atlas Setup, you can choose Prioritize Scarab nodes, pack size, and Beyond nodes, because they perform better in increasing the level and quality of encounters.
2. Domination Scarab Evolution Strategy
This strategy mainly utilizes the new Domination Scarab in Path of Exile 3.25, which can increase the chance of the monsters you encounter upgrading. You can use Shrine in this strategy, because activating Shrine increases the chance of it upgrading again after killing the current monster, which will increase the drop rate of Scarab.
When you are choosing a map, you can give priority to maps with tall monster density, for example Sanctuary, which can also maximize the effect of Shrine. For Atlas Setup, you need to focus on Scarab nodes and nodes that can maximize the use of Shrine.
3. Targeted Scarab Farming In SSF Using T17 Maps
Although it is said in the above that some rare Scarabs are not recommended for Solo Self-Found players to farm, there is still a way. You can maximize the loot provided by the map by carefully selecting and scrolling the map. Additionally, you can also use some mods that can appropriately increase the drop rate of Scarabs, so as not to compromise the survivability of your current build overly. For example, Nico and Domination Scarabs can increase your energy and provide you with some buffs.
The above are some strategies on how to farm Scarabs in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League effectively. I hope you can use these strategies in the game to get very rich rewards. I wish you a propitious time in the new league!
In Path of Exile, Smite of Divine Judgement is a very powerful melee skill that relies on divine fury to knock down enemies. With the buffs to melee in Settlers of Kalguur league, this skill has become even more powerful. This means that you can build a very good build around Smite of Divine Judgement so that you can use this skill to its maximum effect. This guide will show you how to build Smite of Divine Judgement build.
Key Features
Before building a build, we need to understand the key features of Smite of Divine Judgement so that we can maximize its advantages and reduce its weaknesses. First, Smite of Divine Judgement currently has a maximum level of 20 and includes several types of Lightning, Attack, AOE, Melee and Strike.
In terms of mana consumption, each use of Smite of Divine Judgement costs 12 mana, which is not too much. In addition, the attack speed of Smite of Divine Judgement is slightly worse than the base speed, with only 85% of the base. But the attack damage is 369% of the base damage. In addition, Effectiveness of Added Damage is also 3.69 times. Most importantly, the quality of Smite of Divine Judgement is increased by 20% compared to the base.
As the person who uses Smite of Divine Judgement skill, your character needs to reach at least Level 70 and have 98 Strength and 68 Intelligence to use it. So, in the allocation of attributes, you may need to focus on Strength and Intelligence.
Now let’s take a look at the new mechanism of Smite of Divine Judgement skill in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur. First, it can convert 50% of Physical Damage into Lightning Damage, which is great for facing some enemies that are resistant to Physical Damage. And there will be a wider Area Damage, about a 38% increase, and the base radius has been increased to 2.1 meters. Its Lightning Strikes have also been enhanced and can now hit 3 targets within a range of 7 meters, which is very helpful when you are facing some groups of enemies.
Required Items
Weapons
For Smite of Divine Judgement build, you can choose some weapons with high Physical Damage, such as swords, axes, maces, scepters, or staves with high base physical damage. In this way, under the skill mechanism, you can both deal with high physical damage and maximize your lightning damage.
Passive Skill
For Passive Skill, you can pay attention to three aspects. The first is to focus on nodes that can increase lightning damage and physical to lightning conversion.
Secondly, you can also focus on those nodes that can increase your attack speed and range of effect, so that the disadvantage of Smite of Divine Judgement’s low attack speed is solved, and Smite’s coverage and frequency can be enhanced.
The last node you need to pay attention to is the one that can increase critical strike chance and multiplier, so that your total damage and output can be maximized.
Ascendancy
In terms of Ascendancy selection, you can choose in Inquisitor category. The following are Ascendancy you can choose and their effects.
- Sanctuary: Attacking enemies increases elemental resistance and causes holy ground to appear.
- Pious Path: Grants life and mana restoration while on consecrated ground.
- Righteous Providence: Increases chance of critical strike based on Strength and Intelligence.
- Inevitable Judgement: Ignores elemental resistance during critical attacks and greatly increases damage.
Gems
In the selection of Support Gems, we also adhere to a point of view to enhance Lightning Damage and Elemental Damage, and maximize the area of effect and Lightning Penetration.
Based on this point of view, you can first choose Leap Slam, because it can enhance the mobility of the entire build. Or you can choose Ancestral Protector, which can make up for the shortcomings of Smite of Divine Judgement’s insufficient attack speed.
Among them, the most worth mentioning is Herald of Thunder, because its Aura can greatly increase your lightning damage to the enemy, and can also apply additional impact, which will make it easier for you to get the final POE Currency reward in battle.
Armor And Accessories
Since armor and accessories are both equipment in Path of Exile 3.25, they are introduced together. For the armor you need, it must have high health and high resistance, and it would be best if it can also increase lightning damage. The only armor that meets the above conditions is Loreweave, so it is the best choice.
When choosing Helmet, Gloves, and Boots, you also need to consider health and resistance, followed by attack speed and whether it can increase lightning damage. There are too many items that meet the requirements in Settlers of Kalguur league, so I won’t list them.
For Amulet and Rings, contrary to the above equipment, you need to focus on whether it can increase lightning damage and attack speed, because the problems of health and resistance have been solved by POE items such as armor.
The same is true for Belt, but here I can recommend you the best choice - Stygian Vise.
Flask
In Path of Exile, Flask is also very important for a build because it can protect your character from the threat of death in time. The same is true for Smite of Divine Judgement build. Here, you can choose from two categories: Life Flask and Utility Flasks.
In Life Flask, you can directly choose Instant Recovery because it is the most useful for emergency treatment. You can make a few more in your free time to prepare for emergencies.
In Utility Flasks, you can choose Granite Flask, Basalt Flask, Quicksilver Flask, Sulphur Flask or Silver Flask. They can enhance different types of damage in this build. You can decide the specific choice according to your play style or usage habits.
For example, if you need very thick armor to ensure the safety of your character, you can choose Granite Flask; if you want to increase more damage, you can choose Basalt Flask or Sulphur Flask.
The above are some features and build methods of Smite of Divine Judgement build in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur. I hope you can use this powerful melee build to win more battles in this melee-enhanced league!
In POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, released last month, both defensive and offensive metas have changed significantly, making some melee and stacking builds stronger and weakening defensive mechanics and loot generation strategies that were very powerful in previous leagues.
In a month of game experience, have you found a strong build of your own in this new league? This guide will give you a summary of several of the strongest builds in Settlers of Kalguur in terms of build performance and special advantages. Whether you want to control endgame content or want to explore leisurely, you can find the most suitable build for you in this guide.
Here we need to remind you that new players and players who have not played POE for a long time can start with some safer and more fault-tolerant builds, such as Righteous Fire. For experienced players, you can challenge some more complex and high-reward builds. Without further ado, get your POE Currency ready and let’s get started!
1. Elemental Hit Of The Spectrum Deadeye / Warden (Level As LA / ROA)
This build mainly utilizes Elemental Hit skill, which can cause multiple types of elemental damage to enemies, and Deadeye or Warden ascendancy can provide you with excellent damage and clearing speed.
When transitioning to Elemental Hit, you can effectively upgrade it by using Lightning Arrow (LA) or Rain of Arrows (ROA). In addition, this build also focuses on stacking elemental damage, crit chance/multi, and projectile damage, so it is the well-deserved first-best build!
2. Hexblast Mines (Trickster)
In many player communities, many players have started using Hexblast Mines build because its Trickster ascendancy can provide it with unpredictable damage and tank-like survivability.
This build focuses on using curses with Hexblast and detonating the mines to cause tremendous damage. So when you use Hexblast Mines build, all you need to do is use various resources to expand chaos damage, curse effect, and mine damage.
3. Archmage DD Of Chaining / BL Of Orbiting / Frostbolt Ice Nova
This build mainly relies on Archmage support to expand its skill damage, such as Detonate Dead (DD), Ball Lightning (BL), or the combination of Frostbolt and Ice Nova.
In addition, this build focuses on Stacking Mana, Mana Regen, and Cast Speed, so that Archmage damage can be maximized. Chaining or orbiting projectiles can also provide a faster clearing speed for this build.
4. Lightning Strike Warden / Slayer
These two builds may be very familiar to veteran players. They mainly use Lightning Strike skill to launch a series of lightning projectiles that can cause heavy damage to the enemy.
But at the same time, Warden or slayer ascendancy can provide very good survivability for this build, so it can both protect itself well in combat and deal a lot of damage. In this build, positioning is very important to maximize the skill’s double-hit mechanic.
5. Slams (Ground Slam Or Earthshatter Or Others, Level As Sunder)
In POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, Slam skills, such as Ground Slam or Earthshatter, are very powerful melee skills that can cause huge area damage in combat.
The entire build will gradually upgrade from Sunder and then transition to Slam skills just mentioned. So Juggernaut or Chieftain has become the most frequently chosen ascendancy choices by players. In this build, the key aspects you need to focus on are how to amplify physical damage, attack speed, and area-of-effect.
6. Power Siphon Mines
In Power Siphon Mines build, you can see that Power Siphon skill can be cleverly combined with remote mines, and the mine explosions will cause a lot of damage. So in this build, the most important thing for you is to increase mine damage, followed by wand damage and projectile damage.
This build may undergo some changes in subsequent patches, and there is hope that there will be a certain chance to cooperate with some more powerful enchants.
7. Poisonous Concoction Of Bouncing
As we all know, Poisonous build in POE mainly uses Poisonous skill, but the difference in Poisonous Concoction build is that it can launch a projectile that bounces and applies poison. This makes the poison damage more powerful.
In addition, this build will also scale poison damage, chaos damage, and projectile mechanics. Although this build is only ranked seventh, it is also a favorite of many players. In this build, Pathfinder or Occultist are the most common ascendancy choices.
8. Righteous Fire Chieftain
As the name implies, Righteous Fire Chieftain build is centered on Righteous Fire skill, which calculates your current damage based on your maximum health. Chieftain ascendancy works well with Righteous Fire through life regeneration and fire damage scaling.
In Righteous Fire Chieftain build, you need to focus on stacking life, fire damage, and fire resistance. Since you don’t need to worry about damage, you only need to worry about defense.
9. SRS Guardian (Generic Minion Cuck)
This build uses Summon Raging Spirits (SRS) skill to summon aggressive spirit minions to attack the enemy. For this build, the health and damage of spirit minions are more important than your own.
So you can use Guardian ascendancy to provide powerful defense for spirit minions. In SRS Guardian build, make sure SRS minions are always alive.
10. Frostblades / Cat-abasis / Flicker
Both builds are built around melee skills, such as Frostblades, Frost Blades, or Flicker Strike. In POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur, the melee builds and skills are enhanced. They all provide very good clearing speed and single target damage in this league.
There are many Ascendancy choices here, such as Raider, Berserker, or Slayer. But it should be noted that the equipment in this build may cost a lot of POE Currency, so new players or players with limited budgets should not consider this build.
The above are the top ten builds in POE 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur based on the feedback from many players in the player community. There will be more and better builds in the future, and we will continue to follow up. I wish you an easier exploration in the new league after using the above builds!
Path of Exile 3.25 brings a number of changes that completely change the defense meta. This doesn’t just affect the popular Archetypes in Settlers of Kalguur League, but more specifically how they are built and which mechanics are favored over others, which can largely be attributed to the overhaul of a melee in POE 3.25 and the resurgence of players choosing these builds again.
Regardless of where the build is in Passive Skill Tree and which Archetype it belongs to, it has been affected by the changes made to the core defense composition in POE 3.25.
Because ever since POE 3.16 introduced Spell Suppression and completely revised Evasion and Armour formula, while also making massive buffs to Grace and Determination, these Auras have been frequently used in many builds at the time.
Since then, the game has slowly but surely become balanced around the presence of Spell Suppression, and many builds use either Grace or Determination, or even both Auras to bolster their defenses.
But that all changes in a big way in POE 3.25. In this guide, let’s take a look at those changes and how they affect the defense meta.
Changes & Impact Of Aura
First, let’s talk about those Aura changes in Settlers of Kalguur, namely that both Grace and Determination were nerfed. But their nerfs were the result of another change that introduced numerous new Armor Base Types with fairly high Base Defenses.
If we only look at this change in isolation and compare characters using these Auras in POE 3.24 and POE 3.25, the end result is actually not that important. Because the source of Base Defense is simply shifted, and the actual defense gained is only a minor change.
You get more Base Defenses from gear, and less from Auras, but the total amount you actually have is somewhat similar to previous patches. However, this change is more significant because of the enormous shift in the number of characters actually using Grace and Determination Auras.
According to statistics, in POE 3.24 Necropolis, 45% of players used Grace and 41% used Determination, with 16% of players using both Auras.
Fast forward to POE 3.24 Settlers of Kalguur, and Grace usage has dropped significantly, with only 27% of characters using it, and Determination has seen a similar trend, with only 24% of characters using it. But the biggest drop is in the percentage of players using both Auras, from 16% to 4%.
The reason for this drop is that the opportunity cost of using these Defensive Auras has increased significantly, while the benefits of using them with the average build are much less.
Conversely, the amount of Base Defense gained from gear alone is now significant enough that you can build your Passive Skill Tree in a slightly different way to incorporate more Defensive Wheels for Evasion and Armour scaling, ultimately gaining the same amount of defensive stats.
Endurance Charges
There is another really big change related to this meta change, and that is the change to Endurance Charges. In previous patches, most players who used Grace and Determination or both saw this change, and they used them primarily to defend against monsters’ physical attacks. After all, that’s one of the most dangerous things you encounter when you first arrive on a map.
Most monsters have basic physical attacks, some of which deal a lot of damage, which is the cause of a lot of death in early character development. Therefore, adding these Defensive Auras to many builds helps protect your character from these hits.
But in POE 3.25, a lot of players no longer choose to use Defensive Auras, and instead turn to Endurance Charges, and invest a lot of POE Currency in them. This is because Endurance Charges have changed in Settlers of Kalguur.
Now, instead of providing Elemental Resistance, they provide Elemental Damage Reduction. They still provide PDR, though, so each charge now provides 4% additional Physical Damage Reduction and 4% Elemental Damage Reduction. As a result, many builds are looking for ways to incorporate Endurance Charges into their setups.
Block
Another big change to defense in POE 3.25 is Block.
But this change is a bit biased because of Gladiator rework and Svalinn Unique Shield. Because in both cases, investing in Block is mostly a foregone conclusion. But regardless, investing in Block is also achievable because of some major changes the developers made to Block node on Passive Skill Tree.
For Gladiator, the changes to Versatile Combatant are huge, and its Block can be achieved by skill combinations such as Flicker Strike, Lightning Strike, Splitting Steel that use Ephemeral Edge, and utilize Block as one of the core defenses of these builds.
Maximum Resistances
Another big change is the introduction of Maximum Resistances to Regular Duel Modifiers, making these stats more accessible than ever before.
You can now get up to 2% Maximum Elemental Resistances on a single Jewel Modifier, and these actually stack on a single Jewel. So you can get 2% Maximum Resistances of both Elemental types on a single Jewel, for a maximum of 4%.
When we first saw this change, we immediately thought about how powerful this would be if Melding of the Flesh was used as this Jewel Modifier! This would make your Maximum Elemental Resistance equal to the highest one, allowing you to scale a single stat.
Physical Damage Taken As
Finally, we’ll talk about Damage Taken As, as access to Physical Damage Taken As Other Damage Types was nerfed significantly in POE 3.25.
Many modifiers on crafted gear were removed or replaced, and you’re pretty much limited to getting Eldritch Implicit on non-unique gear. It’s interesting that this is the approach they took to balance items, rather than nerfing items like Lightning Coil or Cloak of Flame.
This is probably the right thing to do, though. These items need to remain as powerful as they were before. After all, they are now competing with newer armors that are stronger and have higher Base Defenses.
Outro
Overall, the plethora of changes in Path of Exile 3.25 have drastically changed the defense meta in POB. It gives you more freedom to use your mana in a better way, and even things like Blood Magic become viable since you’re no longer forced to use a specific subset of Reservations.
What do you think of the changes to the defense meta in this League update? Do you think it’s a buff or a nerf to your build? See you in-game!
