Path of Exile 2 - Warrior Build Guide
The Warrior is characterized by their tremendous strength, which they use to deliver devastating blows. Their ability to stun and control the battlefield with area-of-effect (AoE) attacks makes them a force to be reckoned with. However, their main drawback is their slowness. Therefore, strategic planning of each attack is crucial to ensure maximum impact.
Path of Exile 2, like the Diablo saga, focuses on experimentation. There are countless possible configurations, combining skills, equipment, and ascendancies (subclasses) to create unique playstyles. While there are various ways to develop a Warrior throughout the campaign, certain combinations stand out when reaching the endgame.
This guide focuses on one of the best endgame configurations, combining key elements to optimize the Warrior's performance. Below are the fundamental aspects you should consider:
- Strength as the main attribute: Maximizing strength is essential, as it directly scales the Warrior's physical damage.
- AoE skills: Prioritize skills that affect multiple enemies simultaneously for effective battlefield control. This compensates for their slowness by quickly eliminating groups of enemies.
- Stun capability: Invest in skills and passives that increase the probability and duration of stuns. This provides additional control and opens windows for delivering critical hits.
- Survivability: Although the Warrior focuses on damage, it's important to consider defensive options to withstand the most challenging endgame encounters. This can include armor, elemental resistance, or damage mitigation skills.
Equipment
Weapons
For your Warrior in Path of Exile 2, seek a high-level unique mace that enhances their key attributes: strength, stun, maximum life, or damage. Ideally, this weapon should complement the class's natural talents.
If you prefer using a one-handed mace, Olrovasara's Torment Mace stands out for its bonuses to lightning damage and attack speed, significantly increasing DPS. Combine it with the Wulfsbane Painted Tower Shield for significant improvements to strength and maximum life, in addition to the useful ability to permanently intimidate enemies on the first hit. This combination offers a balance between offensive and defensive capabilities, improving survivability and battlefield control.
Armour
Armor is a fundamental pillar for the Warrior in Path of Exile 2, specializing in heavy protection such as plate armor and chainmail. This specialization grants high defense, even in damage-oriented builds. However, the key to maximizing the Warrior's potential lies in finding a balance between defense and offense.
Therefore, when choosing your equipment, look for pieces that not only offer solid protection but also enhance strength and attack damage. These attributes are crucial for amplifying the Warrior's destructive capacity in melee combat.
A prime example is the Byden's Horns Rusted Greathelm. This piece not only increases the Warrior's strength but also boosts rage generation when receiving melee attacks. Rage is an important resource for many Warrior skills, so this increase translates to a higher frequency of using powerful abilities. Furthermore, this helmet offers a bonus to the chance of finding rare items, which facilitates obtaining better equipment pieces to complete your inventory and further optimize your build. In summary, prioritizing equipment that combines defense with bonuses to strength and damage, such as the Byden's Helm, is essential for an effective Warrior in Path of Exile 2.
Passive Skills
The passive skill tree offers a vast network of options to customize your character. For a Warrior, passive selection should prioritize attributes that complement their playstyle.
Smash: This passive is practically mandatory for any Warrior. Smash increases attack damage by 20% to 40% against enemies with a high stun threshold. This makes it a perfect synergy with skills and other passives that focus on stunning opponents, maximizing damage inflicted when they are most vulnerable.
Brutal: If your main focus is a stun-based build, the Brutal passive is essential. Brutal increases stun accumulation, overall melee damage, and strength. These three benefits work together to improve the Warrior's ability to stun enemies more frequently and inflict more damage with each hit.
Skullcrusher: Complementing the stun strategy, Skullcrusher increases the damage inflicted on enemies that are already heavily stunned. By combining it with Smash and Brutal, a powerful combination is created that maximizes damage against stunned targets, making them easy prey. Together, these three passives form a solid core for a Warrior build focused on stun and burst damage.
Skills Gems
In Path of Exile 2, skills are primarily obtained by "cutting" skill gems. For a Warrior focused on the endgame, certain gems stand out for their utility and power. Below is a summary of some of the best options:
Hammer of the Gods: This level 13 skill is one of the most powerful for the Warrior. It summons a giant hammer that impacts the battlefield, inflicting massive area damage. Due to its cast time, it's crucial to combine it with crowd control abilities and have good positioning. It's an excellent option for dealing explosive damage to groups of enemies or bosses.
Rolling Slam: Available from level 1, Rolling Slam is fundamental for stunning enemies quickly and efficiently. It consists of two strikes: the first increases the target's stun and pushes them back, which facilitates aligning skills like Hammer of the Gods. This skill provides control and setup for devastating combos.
Seismic Cry: "Cries" are unique Warrior skills that grant various bonuses. Seismic Cry, available from level 11, emits a damaging shockwave. If it hits a stunned enemy, it enhances the damage of the Warrior's next attack. This synergy with stun abilities like Rolling Slam maximizes damage potential.
Shield Wall: If your Warrior uses a one-handed mace and shield, Shield Wall (level 7) is a crucial defensive skill. It summons a wall of rocks that protects the Warrior from enemy damage. Each destroyed section of the wall detonates, inflicting damage to nearby enemies. This skill provides a respite in intense combat, allowing the Warrior to heal or strategically reposition.
Ascendancies
Ascendancies in Path of Exile 2 offer advanced specializations for each class. For the Warrior, the Titan Ascendancy stands out for its offensive and defensive focus.
Titan
Titan focuses on bolstering the Warrior's survivability by increasing armor and maximum HP. Stone Skin increases body armor by 50%, while Mysterious Lineage grants an additional 15% maximum HP, providing a solid foundation to withstand large amounts of damage.
On the offensive side, Titan enhances Strike attacks and stun. Surprising Strength grants 40% additional damage against enemies with a high stun threshold, synergizing with builds focused on this effect. Crushing Impact ensures that strikes heavily stun enemies that exceed said threshold. Earthshatter adds the possibility of generating aftershocks with Strike skills, increasing area damage. Ancestral Empowerment increases the damage of other Strike attacks, diversifying offensive options.
An additional utility is Colossal Capacity, which provides 20 extra inventory slots, improving item management. Due to its balance between survivability, damage, and utility, the Titan Ascendancy is an excellent option for Warriors in the endgame.