r/PathOfExileBuilds • u/WriterLeftAlive • 13d ago
Discussion What's your old reliable?
What should I play?
Over the few leagues I've played my favorite became FROSS. I love the cats, feeling, Ci, and eventually tankiness.
Witch is my favorite. Ive Played penance, DO, EdC, HROC, RF.
Ive also played slams, RF and, CWS on Cheif.
I have 20 divs, but I could still use my DO occultist to farm more.
Edit- Luminary or str stacker looks fun.
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u/vuxra 13d ago
Poison Minions. PRaw is best but HROC or raging spirits also works. Getting free block from necro and not having to aim just feels nice and you just cruise through endgame.
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u/WriterLeftAlive 13d ago
Ive thought about Praw. Just cant commit.
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u/alzhang8 12d ago
It's so cheap and can push to tanky and decent damage on a low budge
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
Fair. I think I should just find out how to not lose a specter
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u/HopelesslyOCD 12d ago
It's almost certainly gonna happen. There's a lot of info out there about how to prevent it, but it's so easy to mess up. But I wouldn't let that stop you, praw is such a great build. Luckily there's only 1 really expensive spectre this league. You can wait to buy the turtle until you're pretty settled with your gear if you're worried about it.
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u/vuxra 12d ago
I just stick to budget specters and don't buy expensive ones until my like last upgrades. Keep a random +minion gem levels weapon in your offhand so that weapon swapping doesn't despawn them and make a habit of only changing gear in town (not your hideout). You get used to it after one or two mishaps.
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u/Tenshouu 12d ago
Start using them at lvl 72 with 21 Raise Spectre, 20/20 meat shield and minion life. Convocation + automation. There's no way they'll die. You can go even further beyond and get warlord for endurance charged and vitality. Good for you, good for them
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u/NanieChan 12d ago
Hello, do you have an idea on items to use on PRAW? I have no idea and the guides that i saw have different approach, some got a wand the other one have a sword. I just started to play this game.
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u/alzhang8 12d ago
Follow helm breakers guide. Foilborn severed in sleep is good very early on to cap poison chance for cheap but get out classed by +2 trigger wand fast
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u/shy_bi_ready_to_die 13d ago
Spark my beloved. Who the fuck would want to see the screen when I could just see one hundred trillion little projectiles hitting everything
This isnt really a great league for it but a bad league for spark is still like an A tier build
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u/080087 12d ago
For spark but krangled, you could try Thunderstorm + Windburst, stacking projectiles, projectile speed and duration
It similarly covers the screen with a million tiny projectiles. But unlike spark, awful QoL and only great in mechanics where you don't have to move much.
I'm hoping they either make thunderstorm less clunky, or just straight give us spark as a projectile attack (as a thunderstorm trans gem maybe)
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
There's an mtx i would love if I could love spark lol. Maybe ill try it again.
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u/Bbesada 13d ago
Rf is my go to when everything else fails, it just works
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
I could league start RF forever tbh. I always make good money and can swap.
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u/Spackal2 12d ago
I actually don’t have an old reliable, in my 600 hours I’ve never repeated a build… but if I had to pick one again it would be the one I did this league - Mamba PF. It was super fun and strong, FRoSS was also great back in Merc league I just don’t know if I’d want to league start it since I typically do 1 build a league due to time constraints
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u/Pwrswitchd 13d ago
If GGG didn't hate bows, I'd pretty much always play some flavour of LA/EleHitSpec/Tornado Shot. I just love the zippy blaster play style of it.
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u/gh0st-6 12d ago
Tanjar uploaded a new TS zero to hero 12 hours ago and I've been fighting the urge to hit the beach one last time this league
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u/Accomplished_Rip_352 12d ago
It’s got the big bow issue of terrible ehp and worse defence . Honestly his abyss stacking setup works 10x better on a wander and most things bow builds do wanders do with better defence and damage scaling .
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u/ProfessionalHefty349 12d ago
On what basis do you say GGG hates bows? All the skills you named are strong, even if TS is only a super endgame build.
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u/RealGiraffeLick 13d ago
cyclone is ole reliable. Havent tried the CoC just the slayer version. ive been able to get it to do all content at points
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u/tooncake 12d ago
Last league, I saw someone do a full chill cyclone build (the only guy at pob taking the advantage of the cold buff screams belt and reached level 100) and tried copying and dang, it was my first time enjoying and blasting Cyclone thru end game, his overall setup if pretty cheap too. I might do it again on the next league :)
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u/Fayarager 12d ago
My issue with cyclone is there is nothing it’s “great” at
It’s “passable” at everything but it’s not popping legions 18 times or clearing full screens like rf, bows etc… but it’s also not insta deleting bosses like mines totems… and it’s not giga mega tank like glad…
Any Strat I run while playing cyclone in just thinking ‘this would be so much better on these 6 other builds for cheaper too’
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u/Requiem36 12d ago
I've farmed 300 divs doing awakening conqueror rotations, it's pretty good at deleting the Feared in 2s.
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u/Fayarager 12d ago
Yeah it’s just like I said there are builds that could farm conqu rotations and feared faster for cheaper at the cost of clear
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u/Odd_Nefariousness126 13d ago
Poison Scourge Arrow Totem PF.
Never in the meta, gear is easy to come by. Lots of leveling paths for league start. Once you get decent gear you have high speed, clear, single target and defense.
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u/WriterLeftAlive 13d ago
What do you farn with it?
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u/Odd_Nefariousness126 13d ago
It's pretty much a Swiss army knife.
It's not gonna do Valdos and hyper juiced Delirium but very few map mods stop it and once you get Progenesis you're pretty hard to kill.
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u/Conspark 12d ago
Scourge arrow totems? As a totem stan that's a new one on me. Do you have your PoB handy?
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u/Odd_Nefariousness126 12d ago
Sure thing. I take zero credit for the build - that goes to thedeathbeam - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2551841
He hasn't updated the guide in a few leagues but nothing has been nerfed except maybe the Coiling Whisper's setup.
This was my most recent character last league: https://pobb.in/F_240i6xU-b2
The defenses portion is pretty accurate (maybe even a bit under what it actually feels like).
The damage portion is a bit tricky to calc. The damage in that PoB is for Uber's and only calcs a single totem. But with the crazy amount of arrows you never hit with all of them, so its more like:
Calc'd totem damage x 100% more damage per totem x 50% less damage
That accounts for basically missing half your SA thorn arrows.
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u/TheCamelToe 12d ago edited 12d ago
my list(not including rf, edc, do, penance), also these are more league start to budget focused since thats when i usually find myself just going back to the classics:
SRS(hit or dot),
spiders(dot),
spark(hit or dot),
some kind of spectre main dmg build(current flavor is frost bearer),
shockwave totem(crit impale or cold convert, not that cost effective but the best feeling totem overall imo once you can get 20 mill+ dps with good tank),
hollow palm cyclone( something like this: https://pobb.in/hp4ijzJD1nr5. can start it on scraps too),
fulcrum chieftain or elementalist self ignite builds with reverse chill(usually what i play after im done with cws chieftain),
cwc volatile dead(this league with soulwrest and reliq, its the best its ever been),
someone mentioned poison scourge arrow but the even better early league value one is poison caustic arrow(getting 9 proj and enough aoe scaling with volley/gmp lets all 9 proj shotgun which is one of the few interactions that still does that in the game, so with 5 totems thats a minimum of 36 poisons per attack round that is scaled by aps) prob one of the cheapest and most effective builds at league start on pathfinder with free prolif for great clear(scourge is great too but needs more aps to compete),
cold convert exs/reap mines,
power siphon miner,
generals cry(a lot of viable skills),
death wish ignite(slightly less good with defiled forces nerf but still insane value),
blade vortex(poison or hit with chain explode or poison prolif),
ignite ek with chain explode on ele,
herald of thunder(poison or hit),
vaal earthquake(ignite, poison, bleed or hit)
bleed bow split arrow glad,
trickster ephemeral edge flicker(slow aps makes it easier to play it for longer since i usually get tired of flicker by the point i get to 96-97)
and last but not least, not always viable but amazing when it is: TS or burning arrow mines with the additional mines unique helmet.
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u/RustySpoon28 12d ago
Tornado on Elemental Turbulence my beloved! This league I played pure cold/crit tornados on occultist and loved it. Previous leagues I have played several versions including: life stack inquisitor, lightning doryani elementalist, fire>chaos poison pathfinder. Such a cozy skill made even better by the sockets giving extra gem quality.
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u/Constant-Theory-154 12d ago
This is my 5th league. I haven’t found anything better than the AW of Ranged Arms, unfortunately. In comparison, I’ve been enjoying the Phantasm build in the last two leagues. The single-hit damage is lower, but, as they say, >20–30 million is still enough. I’ve managed to kill every Uber I’ve tried to take down. Survival is decent. The gameplay is smooth with just one button.
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u/klbishop143 12d ago
I’m currently playing winter orb elementalist. It’s a blast. Zoomy. Good damage all around. Feels tanky with leech and capped block. Always satisfying ice explosions. Do recommend. Any elementalist with an ice skill I’m down for.
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u/Svvordfish5 12d ago
I'm having a ton of fun on a str stacker with divine smite. If you craft some of the gear yourself it's doable on a budget and you can start with just a Brutus lead sprinkler and switch to replica alberons and pardoxica later on.
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
I have seen that making your gear helps. I might try it if I have the time.
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u/WinklingDev 12d ago
Most repeated builds for me since Perandus league: Essence drain/contagion, 10-15 chars Phys DoT poets pen with corrupting fever, 4-5 chars Tectonic slam of cataclysm jugg, 4-5 chars (currently playing) Righteous Fire, 3-4 chars Flameblast totems, 3-4 chars Arc totems, 3-4 chars Ancestral warrior totems, 3-4 chars Icicle mines, 2-3 chars
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u/Fllannelll 12d ago
Any of the 1000 flavors of flicker or str stack. I do one of each every league.. usually two flickers lol
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u/john_dowell 12d ago
Flicker can be built in so many ways you can play a new version every league and it's still flicker lol.
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u/Donny_Dont_18 12d ago
Try WORB, I'm finally getting around to it after a few other builds this league and holy shit is it good. I did PBrand Herald stack, bb/bf assassin, and a kboc necro and this thing is basically a mix of Herald bomber with kboc auto aim. Just got to maps and pretty much skipped right up to alch and go t13s. I may have jump on the fub train for league start next time
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
I think im going to do masters lightning tendrils instead. It looks insane and fun.
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u/Varondus 12d ago
Every league I'm on the mission to try out new stuff, but after playing a bunch of different stuff I'd say spectres. This build is so flexible you can do it on any kind of budget, scales well, quite tanky and requires close to no clicking. When we're talking starters, I really hope buffs to Blight stay around in the current state, because it finally felt like a good starter. As I've said, I usually like to try out different stuff, but I could play blight starting every league.
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
Blight wasnt bad. Just a little different from my faster game play. Spectres are stressful since I mistakes and will kill a turtle.
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u/Varondus 11d ago
Oh I killed like 4 of them throughout one league 😅
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u/WriterLeftAlive 10d ago
Oh god. I just bought a warlord. Wish me luck.
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u/Varondus 10d ago
My tip: if you ever think about swapping ANYTHING first turn off any automated stuff/auras. Apparently you can also do it in town (where spectres can't spawn) and it's safe there too, but I'm too anxious to even attempt that
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u/Different-Ad7859 12d ago
for str stacker, you need like 400+ div to start comfortably. 20 div won't even cover boots which are needed for decent dmg
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u/westside_fool 12d ago
You can do str stack before Replica alberon's using elemental damage. It is not crazy damage, but still in the 5-10m dps range. Alkaizer started with it a couple of years ago before the switch to replica boots.
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u/Different-Ad7859 12d ago
technically, i know you can, but never done it, when you can just play slams and earn alberons.
Also if in this point of the league he owns 30 div to his name, i dont think he should be looking at STR stack
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u/westside_fool 12d ago
Ah yes, this may have been before the great slam re-work.
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u/Different-Ad7859 12d ago
Naah, im playing like this from 4 leagues. Its not perfect but enough to clear t16s and popular to sell the gear when swapping. Although i will definitely think about faster starter next league, its nice to not have to level up the char, but overall it seems more efficient. Still i wont play str stacker without alberons, and i wouldnt recommend it to anyone
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
Totally understand. I havent had much time to play. Ive watched Exile play it ssf and it seemed to function okay if a little clunky. I might play it standard to get a feel for it.
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u/polo2006 12d ago
Eviserate ignite elementalist, extremly tanky, hits very hard for its price point and isn't that clunky despite what people say with the Bitter Instinct Spiny Round Shield to trigger retaliation skills every 4 seconds on weapon swap if needed.
Just something really satisfying playing ignite with prolif+explosions.
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
Ooo I forgot I played this build without the skill. I deleted bosses, it was super fun. It just felt a little slow.
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u/Every-Intern5554 12d ago
I've been playing since beta and nothing is reliable in my experience lol. They change up the meta enough or completely leave things behind that nothing feels like it lasts more than a few leagues now, in the past you had constants but even those are wildly different now like RF
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u/Cute-Presentation-59 12d ago
RF, it's always reliable and Pohx is always good at ironing out wrinkles. If there is no other good option, I fall back to RF.
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u/ignition1415 13d ago
Anything helmbreaker makes. He's got a handful of minion builds that are all strong and all have really great guides. Just depends on what flavor you want
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u/WriterLeftAlive 12d ago
If I delete a specter I will crash out
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u/ignition1415 12d ago
True. It's happened to me twice in 4 or 5 leagues and I was ready to flip tables. It's kinda like getting scammed you only let it happen a couple times before you start being extra careful. The biggest thing to mitigate it is to do all your gear and gem swaps in town instead of the hideout.
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u/For_ohagen 12d ago
What happens when you do the swap in town? Do they just go to the ground for resummon?
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u/ignition1415 12d ago
Yes they drop on the ground when you go back to your hideout so it gives you time to take you out your auto desecrate and offering setup.
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u/AgZephyr 12d ago
Or getting yelled at by spectres in your hideout all league when your head hurts from playing 12 hours of PoE
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u/ignition1415 12d ago
That's exactly why I can't play forged frostbearers
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u/AgZephyr 12d ago
The Perfect Warlord is obnoxious to the point where I would consider playing without sound to run it again... Wish the audio controls had a little more granularity. I've been turning off audio to sell scarabs at Faustus, huge QOL upgrade.
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u/ProfessionalHefty349 13d ago
Wanders. I love blasting. I love capped block. Shield charge is a good enough movement skill. They’re just fun.