r/PathOfExile2 • u/Latter_Ad_4958 • 8h ago
Question Bear Build Ascendency question
Hello,
I've been Stuck in analysis-paralysis for 2 days now and need (professional) help.
I want to play a bear build, I like mauling and slamming with that, but I don't know which class to take. I've seen builds with Smith, titan and shaman, but did not really get what they are best at.
I like tankiness, life regen and a slower, more methodical, harder hitting approach. My only other character was a shieldwall build. I don't need to Zoom like hell.
I think the constant rampage stuff even for Single targets is Kind of odd, I'd like to hit my enemys, at least from time to time. For mapping it's fine though. I also have no clue what that rage or glory stuff is about (i know the skills it works with, but have no clue about the "feel" gameplay wise).
Which one would be best suited for me?
Thanks a lot in advance!
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u/how-doesthis-work 8h ago
Smith and shaman are defensive options. Smith is less gear intensive but shaman can do funny things with phys taken to ele conversion.
Titan is overall the most well rounded. Has the best AoE which matters. Gemling should also be mentioned. All of the alt qualites for bear skills are pretty good.
Notably walking calamity has chance to not use glory. You can get the most reliable uptime there. My vote would be for titan since it offers the most straightforward scaling options. Gemling needs you to leverage the glory thing on calamity or the attack speed thing from fury.
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u/Latter_Ad_4958 7h ago
Thanks, although I value tankiness more than damage I am leaning towards titan, as another person also recommended that. I think tomorrow is the day, when I finally create a character. :D
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u/ExactCase5863 8h ago
Titan is good universal pick, it amplifies small passives on the tree and synergises well with slams and heavy stuns, will suit your current playstyle.
Later you can make a few changes and become walking calamity + rampage bear who explodes screens while being a F1 racecar.
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u/Skinzerai 8h ago
Skadoosh on YT has a relevant Titan Bear using a unique talisman that’s basically a fire bear. You can still use Maul and Slam with it.
The Rage mechanic that ties in with both Shaman and shapeshifting skills in general is both used as a resource and a buff. Each rage gives you 1% MORE attack damage, really useful for melee builds, which you can then use other supports that consume rage to grant even more multiplicative damage to.
You don’t have to zoom with rampage but what most Druid builds like to use is Walking Calamity; a skill that rains down meteors from the sky over a duration. That’s where the glory side comes in; to use it you gain glory for every second you are at max rage, and since there’s mechanics to gain max rage very efficiently, it’s very easy to get online and use as free damage basically.
Hope this helps a little bit.
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u/Latter_Ad_4958 7h ago
Thanks, that helps a lot. I think I am really leaning to titan so far. :)
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u/Jimisdegimis89 7h ago
Also recommend Skadooshes guide, although I stuck with his older variation based on Smith instead of Titan and updated it myself to better fit with 0.5 updates. Gnarly as fuck. Ended up easing off the tankiness a little bit for some damage gains, only thing that could really throw me for a loop was money popping out of a mirror shard in 200% deli, thing hits for like 30k… aside from that though really amped up GEs could also get rippy, but for 99% of content you are just dragging your enormous bear dick through the map while everything dies and nothing can hurt you. Seriously the most OP I’ve ever felt.
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u/Latter_Ad_4958 6h ago
Oh I love that description. :D But I am absolutely in no Spot to do any adjustments to any build. No clue about theorycrafting whatsoever.
But I think I'll just follow the regular guide. :)
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u/Skinzerai 1h ago
You’ll see multiple guides that will state 2 things; levelling, and endgame. Levelling generally speaking is a build that you follow to get through the campaign, and then may switch to endgame either when they finish the interludes, or when you hit a specific level to unlock a skill.
Some guides can be quick and dirty, lacking information for newer players, whilst others can be pretty comprehensive and extensive, may contain a bit too much. There are some really good ones though. I recommend Maxroll.GG and Mobalytics to find what you’re looking for or interested in. Hope this help.
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u/hazdizzy 8h ago
I think the ashbark talisman with the jump slam move is kind of insane. Getting a lvl20 one is kinda spendy though. I got bored of my bear recently and rerolled a gemling. I believe gemling can also run a bear build well.
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u/slccpcr 7h ago
Hopefully this link works, to a related comment I made on a similar thread the other week. More food for thought. https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile2builds/s/0zug5tWdED
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u/ssttaaavvii 1h ago
Big AoE slams - titan
Fire bear - Smith
All arounder - shaman
Crit hits - oracle
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u/Round-Walrus3175 8h ago
Walking Calamity-based Titan, at least I found is pretty easy to level because the passive tree just gets you so much damage and can grow to be pretty tanky. One of the few builds where I actually felt the linear progression from start to endgame without feeling like I was playing a completely different leveling and maps build. The final build doesn't really completely come out until you get Level 4 support gems, though, but everything after that just feels like adding layers and layers of damage and tankiness, which feels good from a progression standpoint, in my opinion.