Alright, gather ’round, you magnificent loot goblins and pixel-punching enthusiasts! Get ready to dive deep into the glorious, chaotic world of Path of Exile, brought to you by Grinding Gear Games, specifically focusing on the builds currently causing the most delightful digital destruction in the Dawn of the Hunt right now. Path of Exile 2 is a beast of a game, constantly shifting and challenging players to find the most potent (and often most ridiculous) ways to dismantle monstrous hordes. Finding that perfect build – the one that makes your brain go ‘YES!’ and your enemies go ‘OUCH!’ – is a core part of the fun, whether you’re leveling your very first new character or are a veteran player. It’s an experience that keeps new players and old coming back.
This guide is here to spill the beans on some of the juiciest, most smile-inducing, and yes, occasionally ridiculously powerful setups currently making waves, highlighting some of the league’s most popular builds. Whether you’re a certified tryhard perpetually chasing those big numbers on the damage meters, or a delightful peanut-brained dad gamer just looking to smash monsters, make things explode, and have a good chuckle along the way, there’s almost certainly a build here with your name (or at least, your preferred playstyle) on it. We’ll start by checking out which character classes and ascendancy classes are currently hogging the spotlight and why, transition into some of the absolute top-tier builds across all archetypes that are making endgame content tremble, and finally, tie it all together in a neat (and hopefully chaotic) bow, encouraging you to find your own flavor of digital destruction.
Remember, the brilliant minds behind these glorious creations have often shared the nitty-gritty details. Links to detailed guides and the creators who brewed them up can typically be found lurking in the description of the video this guide is based on, so make sure to go give them some love and support!
The Popularity Contest: Top 3 Classes Tier List
In the ever-evolving, sometimes dizzying, world of Path of Exile 1, certain character classes and their specific ascendancy classes just seem to find themselves perfectly positioned to take advantage of the current patch mechanics, passive skill tree layouts, and juicy new skill gems. This alignment of cosmic digital forces leads to a surge in their popularity, as players flock to harness their newfound power.
Right now, three archetypes are frequently spotted tearing through maps, dismantling bosses, and generally having a field day: the swift Deadeye (Ranger Ascendancy), the dynamic Amazon (New Huntress Class Ascendancy), and the shadowy Lich (Witch Ascendancy). Let’s dive into why these three are currently sitting near the top of the “Most Played” charts, often considered the Path of Exile best class options for their playstyle, and what makes them so appealing. They are frequently cited as the “best class” choices by top classes of players this league, representing a great choice for many.
Deadeye (Ranger): Lightning Arrow & Projectile Supremacy
Alright, let’s talk about the ever-agile Ranger! Its Deadeye Ascendancy class is absolutely living up to its name by being incredibly popular and effective in Dawn of the Hunt, synonymous with ranged projectile supremacy and leveraging critical strikes. The Deadeye remains a top pick for anyone who loves turning arrows, spells, or other flying bits into deadly instruments of mass destruction.
This patch sees the Deadeye continue its reign, largely due to its inherent bonuses that make virtually any ranged attack skill feel smoother, faster, and more lethal. These include:
- Inherent boosts to projectile speed
- The ability for projectiles to chain or pierce through foes
- General accuracy enhancements that ensure your attacks hit their mark
Two powerful build archetypes currently define the Deadeye’s presence in the meta:
Deadeye Frenzy Charge Stacker (Lightning Spear/Wind Serpent)
One of the most popular and potent approaches focuses on cleverly leveraging Frenzy Charges. The Deadeye Ascendancy class provides crucial, easy-to-access nodes on the passive skill tree that help players accumulate these little packets of pure speed and damage rapidly. Nodes like Acuity can make hitting high numbers of frenzy charges (reaching that sweet spot of seven feels almost automatic for some builds) a breezy endeavor. Furthermore, the Deadeye significantly enhances the value of these charges, particularly when synergizing with skills like Wind Serpent’s Fury (often simply called Wind Serpent in community shorthand – hello, Thrilling Chase!) for massive single-target boosts.
Among the builds that capitalize on this, a top contender is the Dead Eye Frenzy Charge Stacker, often utilizing powerful elemental attack abilities like the Lightning Spear skill. For instance, this build isn’t just strong; it’s a masterclass in both utterly demolishing single targets with eye-watering damage numbers (capable of hitting over 100 million in a single combo when pushed to its limits!) and clearing screens like a hyperactive vacuum cleaner that just drank a gallon of coffee.
What makes it truly exceptional, though, is its phenomenal clearing ability, which feels incredibly fluid and fast. The build sustains an absurdly high count of permanent frenzy charges, providing a consistent, massive increased damage bonus to Lightning Spear and enhancing clear without being forced to rely solely on support gems like Vault for area coverage. For mind-boggling single-target damage, the build frequently utilizes Wind Serpent’s Fury, a new spear skill introduced in this patch that interacts with those stacked frenzy charges to deliver multiple hits. The Ranger’s Deadeye Ascendancy is ideally positioned for this build because its nodes like Acuity allow quick accumulation of those vital frenzy charges (easily reaching seven or more!), while Thrilling Chase can specifically double the value of your frenzy charges when Wind Serpent’s Fury is active, leading to potentially many extra, devastating hits.
Getting the build operational isn’t overly prohibitive, allowing many players to experience its core power, but reaching those stratospheric damage numbers capable of instantly deleting endgame bosses will likely require a significant investment. Think less “finding some loose change in the couch cushions,” and more “perhaps dipping into the vacation fund… or maybe the retirement fund?”
Classic Lightning Arrow (with Lightning Rod)
Responding to the burning question echoed by many players about its viability, the classic Lightning Arrow elemental damage skill Deadeye Ranger is indeed still a force to be reckoned with! It’s capable of taking down pinnacle bosses and clearing difficult red maps and still offers arguably one of the best clear speeds in the game, especially when utilizing specific powerful items. While it also saw adjustments this patch, its core strengths remain potent. Clearing maps is still the familiar, satisfying process of simply moving and holding down the Lightning Arrow button, watching your projectiles chain through packs of enemies in satisfying bursts.
However, bossing underwent a key mechanical change: instead of primarily relying on triggers like Cast on Shock with skills like Ball Lightning to deal massive damage, the strategy now often involves using the Lightning Rod skill. When your Lightning Arrow hits a target and subsequently chains, that chaining interaction triggers damage from the Lightning Rod you placed. The core bossing loop is now more active, typically involving these steps:
- Place a Lightning Rod near the boss.
- Use Lightning Arrow to chain off the boss (or other targets nearby).
- Repeat, watching the Rod pulse with damage as your arrows bounce around, dealing increased damage triggered by the chains.
It’s more engaging than some previous fire-and-forget strategies, requiring deliberate button presses to chain effectively and maximize that Lightning Rod’s increased damage. Fun, huh? Yeah, why not indeed!
Choosing a Deadeye often means your character embodies speed and precision; your projectiles aren’t just projectiles; they’re hyper-charged, high-velocity delivery systems for exquisite pain, fluidly clearing screens and melting single targets. It’s a class that just feels fast and efficient, which is incredibly appealing in a game built around repetition and speed.
Amazon (New Huntress Class, Amazon Ascendancy): Jack of All Trades
While some builds are laser-focused on one thing (like evaporating a boss instantly or clearing maps faster than light itself), the Amazon, one of the new Huntress class ascendancy classes introduced in Dawn of the Hunt, stands out as a versatile archetype capable of handling a bit of everything—clear, single-target, movement, and even defense—often all in one electrifying package:
- Clear speed
- Single-target damage
- Movement
- Defense
She truly embodies the concept of a jack of all trades and functions effectively as a hybrid class. The Huntress base class itself is new, focusing on dexterity-based physical damage and elemental damage abilitites, typically favoring spears, bows, or crossbows.
Leveraging the Amazon’s strengths allows for a variety of powerful build approaches. Here are a couple of popular examples:
Flicker Strike Amazon: Controlled Chaos
One of the most iconic examples is the Flicker Strike Amazon. This build is a masterclass in controlled chaos, darting across the battlefield, teleporting from enemy to enemy in a blur of deadly precision using the Flicker Strike skill. With strong synergy from the Amazon’s ascendancy tree and positioning on the passive tree, the build benefits from massive boosts to attack speed, movement, and raw damage. Core skills like Frost Blades can help generate Power Charges, triggering Flicker Strike in rapid chains — and the result is a high-octane mapping and bossing experience.
Galvanic Shards / Shock Burst Rounds Amazon: Crossbow Powerhouse
Equally potent is the Galvanic Shards / Shock Burst Rounds Amazon, a crossbow-based build that blends excellent clear with powerful bossing. Equally potent is the Galvanic Shards / Shock Burst Rounds Amazon, a crossbow-based build that blends excellent clear with powerful bossing. Its key skills include:
- Galvanic Shards (excels at map clearing, especially with Herald of Thunder)
- Shock Burst Rounds (steps in for powerful single-target payloads)
The Amazon ascendancy adds significant bonuses across the board, making this build shine in both progression and endgame. It’s beginner-friendly, scales well, and performs exceptionally without needing ultra-expensive gear, making it a great choice for many players.
In short, the Amazon isn’t just a specialist — she’s a flexible powerhouse on the new Huntress base class that adapts to your style, delivering high-speed chaos or methodical destruction depending on how you build her.
Lich (Witch): Mastering Necrotic Arcane Magic
Finally, we venture into the darker, perhaps slightly more gothic, corners of the character classes selection screen with the Witch. The Lich Ascendancy for the Witch is resonating strongly with players looking for a different kind of power fantasy right now, one less about elemental magic blasts and more about necrotic might, commanding undead minions (or skills themed around them), and leveraging the inherent power found in the skeletal remains of unfortunate monsters you leave in your wake. While other Witch ascendancies might focus on elemental spells or curses, the Lich often finds its strength in necrotic forces and commanding the undead. The Lich tree frequently offers powerful nodes that directly benefit minion-focused strategies (boosting the damage and survival of skeletal or bone minions) or specifically enhance spells with necrotic or bone themes (adding extra layers of damage, unique utility, or even defensive capabilities derived from death and decay).
Within the Lich, two popular build archetypes have emerged in Dawn of the Hunt, each leveraging different aspects of its necrotic power:
Dark Effigy Lich: Master of DoT Projection
Among these, the Dark Effigy Lich is a prime instance of a build leveraging these themes. While it might not boast the highest peak single-target DPS compared to the absolute top dogs, it more than compensates with a mapping experience that’s arguably one of the most satisfyingly brain-dead and effective available, focusing heavily on chaos damage over time. It’s notably easy to set up and clears screens with minimal active effort.
The magic lies in the skill Dark Effigy, which shoots out a projectile for every distinct chaos damage over time debuff currently on your enemies. The strategy is delightfully simple: apply lots of different chaos DoT debuffs to everything around you. Skills like Contagion, Essence Drain, and various Poison applications all count towards this debuff total (each type of debuff adding to the projectile count), and these debuffs are notorious for spreading rapidly through enemy packs.
The core gameplay loop for mapping is wonderfully straightforward: cast Contagion and Essence Drain (which applies debuffs that spread), maybe add other chaos DoTs, then cast Dark Effigy, and watch as the debuffs spread like wildfire and Dark Effigy unleashes a torrent of homing projectiles, causing everything around you to simply melt and evaporate. This often allows for a surprisingly relaxed playstyle, even in busy maps, making it particularly appealing for solo players. Bossing follows a similar pattern, perhaps incorporating a few extra debuff-applying skills to maximize the count, but the core mechanic remains simple and effective.
Bone Lich: Minions and Bone Skills
Another popular variant, often nicknamed the Bone Lich, focuses on bone-themed minion skills like Bonestorm and Bone Cage. This archetype leverages the Lich’s nodes that benefit skeletal or bone minions and spells with necrotic/bone themes, offering a different take on the Ascendancy centered around physical damage explosions and defensive bone constructs.
Choosing the Lich often means embracing a darker aesthetic and playstyle on the Witch base class; you’re tapping into specialized enhancements that turn bone, decay, and the forces of death into formidable offensive tools, leveraging intelligence skills and dark arcane magic, offering a power fantasy and gameplay experience that’s both potent and distinct from other spell casting or summoner archetypes in the game. The appeal lies in the macabre theme and the solid performance it offers this patch, striking a good balance of unique flavor and effective power.
Beyond the Most Played: Powerful & Fun Top Tier Builds
Okay, so we’ve peeked into why those three archetypes – the Deadeye Ranger, the Amazon Huntress, and the Lich Witch – are currently the darlings of the player base, frequently seen dominating the endgame scene in Dawn of the Hunt. Their popularity is undeniably fueled by powerful builds that leverage their unique strengths to great effect. But here’s the good news: hanging out with the cool kids and playing the most popular builds isn’t the only way to dominate the game or have an absolute blast! There are incredible builds scattered across all other classes and weapon types in Path of Exile, offering unique takes on power, speed, and sheer, unadulterated fun.
So, grab your favorite beverage (perhaps something that glows, or smells faintly of decay, depending on your preference!) and prepare to explore some of the most potent and genuinely entertaining ways to cause absolute havoc in Path of Exile’s right now, stepping outside the most-played spotlight to see what else is shining!
The Dashing Ritualist: Spin to Win!
If the Amazon is your adrenaline-fueled favorite for elegant chaos, there’s another contender worth your attention on the new Huntress class — a build archetype using the Ritualist Ascendancy that ditches traditional archetypes in favor of pure dexterity-fueled momentum. Often casually called the “Ritualist-style” spear build, this setup is all about unrelenting speed, gorgeous movement loops, and slick Dexterity stacking.
At the heart of it is Whirling Slash, a mobility-focused melee physical damage skill that can be configured for damage, buffs, or both — depending on how spicy you want your clear speed to feel. By stacking Dexterity, this build unlocks freakish levels of attack speed and increased damage, especially when paired with unique items like Hand of Wisdom and Action or synergy nodes that convert Accuracy into even more juice.
The result? A high-agility blur that dashes through packs with smooth, continuous motion, clearing entire maps in a swirling ballet of sharp metal and responsive input. It’s the kind of build where you blink and half the screen is already dead — and it feels great.
While both ascendancies on the Huntress enjoy movement and physical/elemental damage, the Ritualist offers a different flavor focused on momentum. It’s less about teleporting chaos and more about fluid, momentum-based carving. And although it may lack the mega-boss-busting power of the Lightning Spear builds or Flicker-trigger madness, it makes up for it with elegance, control, and sheer satisfaction.
You can absolutely start it on a budget, making it viable for a new character, and with smart investments into Dexterity scaling, the performance curve only grows sharper. If you’re the kind of player who enjoys being in near-constant motion — cutting through content like a spinning top of doom — this might be your new favorite way to farm, zoom, and look stylish doing it.
Bleed Blood Mage (Marauder Ascendancy): Single Target Slayer
On the other side of the top-tier spectrum is the Bleed Blood Mage, typically played as a Marauder with the Blood Mage Ascendancy. If the Ranger Deadeye is a dual-threat ninja of death, the Bleed Blood Mage is the undisputed heavyweight champion of single-target damage right now. This build has been observed doing truly ridiculous things, reportedly one-tapping T4 bosses even in a six-man party with unsettling ease, proving its capability in challenging red maps and boss encounters. While its mapping clear might not match the dizzying speed of the projectile builds, its immense bossing prowess makes it the go-to choice for tackling the most challenging encounters or posting those satisfyingly quick boss kill clips.
Mapping Approach
For mapping, it functions much like a standard Lightning Spear build, but with the added, crucial benefit of consistently inflicting bleed on enemies.
The Single Target Powerhouse Mechanics
The real magic and complexity happen in single-target fights, leveraging the Marauder’s Blood Mage ascendancy to its fullest. Nodes like Gore Spike are straightforward (more life equals big damage!), but Blood Barbs is where things get fascinating and incredibly potent. This node transforms gathered elemental spell damage (think lightning damage from Lightning Spear!) into bleed damage. Combined with gear pieces like Crown of Eyes, which allows stats like “Increased Spell Damage” to apply to attacks, this build can double-dip: stack elemental damage and spell damage, have it boost your Lightning Spear attack damage (via Crown of Eyes/similar), and then have that elemental damage also convert into monumental, soul-crushing bleeds via Blood Barbs.
Bossing Strategy
The strategy often involves applying those potent bleeds with skills like Rake, applying various buffs through clever skill interactions, and then “culminating” or consuming those massive bleeds with the Blood Hunt skill for colossal, fight-ending bursts of increased damage.
Why it’s Potent
The unique bleed transformation and potent life-scaling nodes within the Blood Mage ascendancy are the core enablers of this build’s incredible, perhaps even slightly unfair, single-target potential.
Shockwave Totem (Templar Hierophant, etc.): Explosive Simplicity
The Shockwave Totem build is an absolute map-clearing beast (often utilizing a hefty two-handed weapon or staff), commonly played on a Templar with the Hierophant Ascendancy, though other variations exist. It doesn’t just clear maps; it dominates them with screen-wide, often PC-stuttering chain reactions of glorious explosions triggered by the Shockwave Totem skill. It’s immensely satisfying to simply plant your totems and watch entire packs of monsters simply cease to exist in a cascade of destruction. A recent adjustment reportedly saw its totems attack twice as fast, significantly amplifying its strength and the sheer fun factor of watching everything pop.
For single target, it smartly switches gears to use Ancestral Warrior Totem paired with Rolling Slam, offering robust boss damage that, while perhaps not hitting Bleed Mage numbers, is more than capable of taking down endgame bosses. Gameplay for mapping is delightfully, blessedly simple, striking a good balance between minimal effort and explosive results: place Shockwave Totem (perhaps using Jagged Ground for significant damage!), and watch things explode. Mobility like Leap Slam or Shield Charge can be used for getting around faster but isn’t strictly required for the core loop. There are no complex rotations or intricate interactions to manage; it’s built for pure, explosive simplicity. It’s even reported to be quite playable while leveling once the core skills are acquired, making it welcoming for new players. Bossing involves summoning your totem friends, applying Armor Break and Mace Strike (often used to generate rage and debuff the boss), and then simply letting your empowered totems do the work. It’s surprisingly uncomplicated for the power it provides, making it a great choice for those who prefer simpler rotations.
Flicker Strike Monk (Shadow/Ranger, etc.): Unadulterated Zoom
Next up, perhaps the most energetic entry, a build often affectionately called the “Flicker Strike Monk” by the community, typically played on Shadow or Ranger base classes using various ascendancies that support fast attacks or leech. This build might be the most fun build to simply traverse maps with in the entire game right now, and is a great choice for solo players who love speed. It’s not just movement; it’s a blur of teleporting, screen-crossing chaos, zipping through packs with incredible clear speed and packing a surprisingly substantial single-target punch.
The core mechanic revolves around Flicker Strike, a skill that requires Power Charges to use. This build cleverly generates those charges via a specific trigger loop:
- Sources of cold damage (like Herald of Thunder or Stormwave) consistently Freeze enemies.
- The Freeze triggers the Cast on Freeze support gem.
- Cast on Freeze casts the Profane Ritual skill on the frozen target.
- Profane Ritual grants Power Charges, refueling Flicker Strike.
Relevant ascendancies or passive tree nodes often provide disgustingly potent leech – think massive life and mana recovery – offering fantastic sustain for mana and energy shield, keeping your character topped off even through relentless attack barrages. This typically requires at least one mana leech roll on your rings to fully utilize the generous leech available, but this combination offers huge quality of life. The build can reportedly get operational with relatively moderate investment, making it potentially accessible for a new character or new players looking for high-speed gameplay (potentially around a Divine Orb), especially when focusing on obtaining mana leech and some cold damage rolls on otherwise cheap items. While struggles can occur in content where enemies don’t die or freeze easily (like certain incredibly tanky Simulacrum waves), for general mapping and most bossing, it’s a rapid, visually engaging, and often surprisingly accessible build that feels like pure, unadulterated zoom-zoom.
Arcane Magic & Elemental Damage Builds
Under the banner of Arcane Magic and Elemental Damage Skills, we explore builds leveraging the raw power of spells and elemental magic.
Reliable Ranged Spell Casting from a Safe Distance
Even though spell casting saw some adjustments in Dawn of the Hunt, the classic power of Cast on Critical Strikes (CoC) remains substantial, striking a good balance between retained power and updated mechanics, particularly when combined with elemental magic skills like Chain and Spark. This archetype, commonly played on classes like the Witch (Elementalist/Occultist) or Templar (Inquisitor), remains a solid, reliable choice capable of handling significant challenges, including tougher red maps.
This spell casting build typically revolves around Spark as a main source of damage and screen clearing, unleashing bouncing projectiles that fill the screen. Orb of Storms can often be used to apply shock and lightning exposure to enemies. Arc often provides additional damage, usually triggered automatically by the Cast on Crit support gem linked to a rapidly attacking skill (like a triggered spell from a weapon or another skill). The core loop involves a fast-attacking trigger skill (often from gear or a setup like Cyclone) that critically strikes, which then casts linked spells like Spark and Arc via the CoC support. While bossing and dealing with more difficult content might feel a bit more challenging compared to its previous iterations due to class adjustments and potentially lower inherent defenses, following a dedicated build guide can help players navigate these nuances and continue to enjoy this established Spark playstyle successfully. It provides a comfortable, relatively safe ranged playstyle with satisfying screen coverage.
To help summarize, here’s a quick overview of the builds discussed:
| Build Name/Archetype | Primary Class/Ascendancy(ies) | Main Damage Type(s) | Playstyle Focus(es) | Key Strengths | Key Weaknesses | Investment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deadeye Frenzy Stacker (Lightning Spear) | Ranger Deadeye | Lightning | Ranged Attack, High Speed Clear/Boss | Extreme Single Target, Fast Clear | High Gear Investment Needed | High |
| Classic Lightning Arrow | Ranger Deadeye | Lightning | Ranged Attack, Fast Clear | Excellent Clear, Good Bossing | Bossing Mechanics (Rod) | Moderate+ |
| Amazon Flicker Strike | Huntress Amazon | Physical/Elemental | Melee Movement, High Speed Mapping | Fast Mapping, Visually Cool | Can feel chaotic, Specific gear | Moderate |
| Amazon Galvanic Shards/Shock Burst | Huntress Amazon | Elemental (Lightning) | Ranged Attack, Clear + Single Target | Versatile, Beginner Friendly | Less top-end than pure bossers | Low-Moderate |
| Lich Dark Effigy | Witch Lich | Chaos Damage over Time | Spellcaster, DoT Projection | Brain-dead Mapping, Safe Range | Lower Peak Single Target | Low-Moderate |
| Bone Lich (Variant) | Witch Lich | Physical (Minions) | Minion/Summoner, Spellcaster | Minion Power, Bone Theme | May require specific gear | Moderate |
| Ritualist Whirling Slash (Dex Stacker) | Huntress Ritualist | Physical | Melee Movement, Fast Mapping | Extremely Fluid & Fast Mapping | Less Boss DPS | Moderate |
| Bleed Blood Mage | Marauder Blood Mage | Bleed (Physical/Elemental) | Melee Attack, Single Target Burst | Extreme Single Target DPS | Mapping less efficient | Moderate-High |
| Shockwave Totem | Templar Hierophant (or others) | Physical (Totems) | Totem Spellcaster, Stationary | Explosive Clear, Simple Gameplay | Stationary, PC Performance | Low-Moderate |
| Flicker Strike Monk | Shadow/Ranger (various Asc.) | Cold/Physical | Melee Movement, High Speed Mapping | Unadulterated Speed & Fun | Specific trigger needs, Tanky foes | Moderate |
| Spark Cast on Crit (CoC) | Witch/Templar (various Asc.) | Lightning | Spell Trigger, Ranged Spellcasting | Reliable Ranged Damage, Good Clear | Can be gear dependent | Moderate+ |
Final Thoughts and Build Wrap-Up
So there you have it, Exiles! A whirlwind tour through some of the character classes and ascendancy classes currently enjoying the most playtime in Path of Exile: Dawn of the Hunt – the zippy, projectile-slinging Deadeye Ranger, the dynamic, hard-hitting Amazon Huntress, and the shadowy, necromantic Lich Witch. And we haven’t stopped there; we’ve also explored a diverse and exciting range of builds spanning different archetypes, from the undisputed Lightning Spear royalty making enemies weep, to explosive Shockwave Totem titans turning maps into crater fields, Flicker Strike Monks zipping across the screen, Dark Effigy chaos slingers making everything melt, speed-demon Ritualist spearmen creating whirlwinds of destruction, synergistic crossbow wielders delivering shocking payloads, and reliable Spark CoC spell casters harnessing chain lightning.
Whether you’re drawn to the sheer, unadulterated power of the builds currently sitting atop the damage charts or the unique flavor and satisfying mechanics of the more fun-focused options, the Dawn of the Hunt patch offers a fantastic variety of ways to experience the game and achieve success. The “best” class or build ultimately boils down to your personal preference, the playstyle that clicks with you, and what feels most satisfying as you carve your path through Wraeclast, slay horrifying monsters, and chase that glorious, glorious loot in Path of Exile.
Don’t feel pressured to play only what’s popular; dive in, experiment with different skills and ascendancies, check out those detailed community guides (remember, links are probably down there!), and find the build that makes you want to log in and unleash chaos!
Happy mapping, Exiles! May your drops be divine, your builds glorious, and your adventures terrifyingly fun in Dawn of the Hunt!
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What specific version of Path of Exile is this guide discussing builds for?
This guide is dedicated to exploring and highlighting the builds that are currently experiencing significant popularity and proving to be highly effective within the live gaming environment of Path of Exile 1, specifically focusing on the content and meta introduced during the Dawn of the Hunt league, which corresponds to Patch 3.23. It’s important to clarify upfront that while a separate game titled Path of Exile 2 is under development by Grinding Gear Games, the information, build examples, class mechanics, and skill interactions discussed here are entirely based on the current state of PoE 1 as it exists in this particular patch cycle. The guide aims to provide insights into the dynamic world of PoE 1’s builds during this specific league.
Which classes and ascendancies are highlighted as the most played in the Dawn of the Hunt league?
Based on observed player trends and effectiveness in navigating the challenges of the current league (Patch 3.23), the guide identifies three primary archetypes that are frequently seen dominating the endgame scene and sitting near the top of the “Most Played” charts. These archetypes represent what are often considered the top classes or most popular choices among players right now. They include the notably swift and agile Deadeye, which is an Ascendancy Class available to the Ranger base character class, the dynamic and versatile Amazon, a new Ascendancy Class introduced specifically for the new Huntress base character class, and the shadowy and necromantically-themed Lich, an Ascendancy Class tied to the Witch base character class. Their popularity stems from their strong synergy with recent patch mechanics and powerful skills.
What makes the Deadeye Ascendancy Class so popular and effective for ranged builds?
The Deadeye Ascendancy Class has a long-standing reputation in Path of Exile for its ranged projectile supremacy, and this remains true and highly effective in Patch 3.23. Its popularity and power are largely attributed to inherent bonuses that significantly enhance the performance of almost any ranged attack skill, contributing to smoother, faster, and more lethal gameplay. These key inherent advantages include built-in boosts to projectile speed, the valuable ability for projectiles to chain or pierce through foes (greatly improving clear speed), and general accuracy enhancements ensuring hits reliably connect. A major factor boosting the Deadeye Ascendancy Class’s effectiveness in this patch is its exceptional synergy with Frenzy Charges. Easily accessible nodes on its passive skill tree, such as Acuity and Thrilling Chase, allow for rapid accumulation of these charges, providing significant boosts to both attack speed and increased damage, making it a premier choice for leveraging ranged attack skills and critical strikes.
How does the classic Lightning Arrow build now handle bossing?
In Patch 3.23, the bossing strategy for the classic Lightning Arrow build on the Deadeye has become more mechanically involved compared to previous iterations that might have relied on simpler trigger setups (like Cast on Shock with skills such as Ball Lightning). The current effective approach heavily utilizes the Lightning Rod skill. The core bossing loop is an active process: players typically begin by placing a Lightning Rod near the boss target. Then, they fire Lightning Arrow, and crucially, the chaining interaction of the Lightning Arrow hitting the boss (or other nearby enemies) is what triggers additional damage pulses from the placed Lightning Rod. This requires deliberate positioning and consistent firing of Lightning Arrow to maximize the triggered increased damage from the Rod as your arrows bounce around the target, offering a more engaging boss combat experience.
Can you describe the Deadeye Frenzy Charge Stacker build mentioned in the guide?
The Deadeye Frenzy Charge Stacker is presented as a top-tier, incredibly powerful build archetype within the Deadeye Ascendancy Class for Patch 3.23. This build’s core strategy revolves around maximizing and maintaining a very high, often permanent, count of Frenzy Charges, leveraging Deadeye nodes like Acuity for easy accumulation and Thrilling Chase for significant value multiplication (doubling value for certain skills). This results in a massive source of both attack speed and increased damage. It commonly utilizes the Lightning Spear skill, a powerful elemental damage skill, for phenomenally fluid and rapid screen clearing, allowing the player to clear maps like a “hyperactive vacuum cleaner.” For bossing, it transitions to or incorporates Wind Serpent’s Fury, a new spear skill that interacts specifically and powerfully with the stacked Frenzy Charges to deliver multiple hits, capable of achieving truly “eye-watering damage numbers” and reaching over 100 million in optimal combos, allowing the build to instantly delete endgame bosses. The Ranger’s Deadeye positioning on the passive skill tree and specific ascendancy nodes are key enablers for quickly reaching and benefiting from high frenzy charge counts.
What does it mean that the Amazon (Huntress) is a “Jack of All Trades”?
The Amazon, one of the new ascendancy classes available to the Huntress base character class introduced in Dawn of the Hunt, is characterized as a “Jack of All Trades” because she represents a highly versatile archetype. Instead of being narrowly specialized in just one area like pure single-target damage or exclusively fast mapping, the Amazon is capable of handling a wide range of content effectively within a single build. She provides a good balance across multiple crucial aspects of gameplay, including respectable clear speed for packs, solid single-target damage for bosses, excellent movement capabilities, and even viable defensive options. This allows her to function effectively as a true hybrid class, adapting well to different challenges encountered in the game without requiring extreme compromises in any single area.
What are some popular build examples mentioned for the Amazon Huntress?
To illustrate the Amazon’s versatility as a hybrid class and “Jack of All Trades,” the guide highlights a couple of distinct and popular builds for this ascendancy class. One iconic example is the Flicker Strike Amazon, known for its uniquely high-octane and chaotic, yet controlled, gameplay involving rapid, teleporting movement across the battlefield using the Flicker Strike skill, often generating the necessary Power Charges with skills like Frost Blades. Another example is the Galvanic Shards / Shock Burst Rounds Amazon, a great choice crossbow-based build that offers a strong synergy of effective map clear using Galvanic Shards (especially when amplified by Herald of Thunder for AoE) and potent single-target damage for bossing delivered through hard-hitting Shock Burst Rounds payloads. Both demonstrate how the Amazon can achieve a desirable good balance of performance across different content types.
What primary playstyle themes does the Lich (Witch Ascendancy) offer players in Dawn of the Hunt?
The Lich Ascendancy Class for the Witch in Patch 3.23 provides a distinct and darker power fantasy compared to the Witch’s other ascendancy options that focus on traditional elemental magic or curses. The Lich leans heavily into themes of necrotic power and chaos damage, often involving commanding undead minions or utilizing skills conceptually linked to death and decay, drawing power from the remains of fallen foes. The Lich’s passive skill tree is designed to empower these themes, offering powerful nodes that specifically benefit minion-focused strategies (boosting damage and survival of skeletal or bone minions) or enhance spell casting abilities with necrotic or bone associations, adding layers of chaos damage, unique utility, or even defensive capabilities derived from death. It allows players to leverage intelligence skills and dark arcane magic in a unique way.
How does the Dark Effigy Lich build make mapping easy and effective?
The Dark Effigy Lich build is presented as an exceptionally easy and effective method for clearing maps, notably described as “brain-dead and effective” due to its minimal active effort requirement during gameplay, making it a prime instance of a relaxing build appealing to solo players. The core of its power lies in the Dark Effigy skill, which fires a homing projectile for each distinct chaos damage over time (DoT) debuff currently applied to enemies. The mapping strategy is wonderfully straightforward: players apply a variety of different chaos damage over time debuffs using skills such as Contagion, Essence Drain, and various Poison effects. These debuffs spread rapidly through enemy packs. Casting Dark Effigy then unleashes a torrent of auto-targeting projectiles that cause enemies covered by the spreading DoTs to simply “melt and evaporate” with minimal need for manual targeting or complex skill sequences.
What is the difference between the Dark Effigy Lich and the Bone Lich variants?
While both fall under the banner of the Lich Ascendancy Class, the Dark Effigy Lich and the Bone Lich represent two distinct build archetypes with different focuses. The Dark Effigy Lich, as detailed in the guide, is primarily concerned with applying and maximizing the number of unique chaos damage over time debuffs on enemies to amplify the projectile output of the Dark Effigy skill itself, making it a DoT projection build. The Bone Lich, on the other hand, is a community-recognized nickname for a different Lich variant that specifically focuses on bone-themed minion skills, such as Bonestorm and Bone Cage. This archetype leverages the Lich’s nodes that benefit summoned undead minions and spells with necrotic/bone themes, offering a playstyle centered around minion power, physical damage explosions from bone abilities, and defensive utility provided by bone constructs, providing a different take on the Lich Ascendancy Class compared to the pure DoT projection style.
Does this guide cover powerful and fun builds other than those based on the top 3 most played classes?
Yes, this guide makes a deliberate effort to move “Beyond the Most Played” top classes and popular builds to showcase that there are many powerful and genuinely fun build options available to other classes and ascendancy classes throughout Path of Exile in Patch 3.23. The guide details several diverse alternatives spanning different archetypes, aiming to show that an enjoyable and effective endgame experience is not limited to just the current meta darlings. These include a high-speed, Dexterity-stacking melee build on the Ritualist, the extreme single-target damage champion known as the Bleed Blood Mage (Marauder Ascendancy), the satisfyingly simple yet explosive Shockwave Totem build (often Templar Hierophant), the incredibly fast and visually chaotic Flicker Strike Monk, and the reliable ranged spell casting power of the Spark Cast on Critical Strike (CoC) build. Any of these can be a great choice depending on player preference.
Can you describe the “Ritualist-style” Whirling Slash build?
The “Ritualist-style” Whirling Slash build, typically based on the new Huntress character class utilizing the Ritualist Ascendancy, stands out as a highly effective and visually impressive melee archetype. Its core strength comes from intense Dexterity stacking, which provides “freakish levels of attack speed” and contributes significantly to its physical damage. The signature skill is Whirling Slash, which functions both as a source of damage and a primary mobility tool. This results in a playstyle defined by “unrelenting speed, gorgeous movement loops, and slick Dexterity stacking,” allowing the player to dash through maps with “smooth, continuous motion,” clearing packs with remarkable fluidity. While it excels at high-speed mapping and is noted as potentially viable for a new character starting on a budget, it generally offers less raw boss damage compared to builds purely focused on single-target encounters.
Which build in this guide is highlighted as the top for single-target boss damage?
Within the specific builds discussed in the guide for Path of Exile’s Patch 3.23, the Bleed Blood Mage, typically played as a Marauder using the Blood Mage Ascendancy Class, is explicitly called out as the “undisputed heavyweight champion of single-target damage.” Its capability to perform “truly ridiculous things,” such as reportedly “one-tapping T4 bosses even in a six-man party” and excelling in challenging red maps and boss encounters, underscores its immense bossing prowess. While the guide acknowledges its mapping speed might not match the fastest projectile builds, its overwhelming single-target damage makes it the premier option presented for players prioritized the rapid defeat of the game’s toughest bosses and posting quick kill clips, achieving potentially “incredible, perhaps even slightly unfair” single-target potential.
How does the Bleed Blood Mage achieve its massive single-target damage?
The Bleed Blood Mage achieves its extraordinary single-target power through intricate synergy, primarily within the Marauder’s Blood Mage Ascendancy. While it uses attacks like Lightning Spear, the key mechanism is transforming damage types. The Blood Barbs node is critical, converting gathered elemental spell damage into bleed damage. When combined with gear like Crown of Eyes that allows “Increased Spell Damage” stats to apply to attacks, the build creates a potent “double-dip”: scaling elemental and spell damage simultaneously boosts the base attack damage AND is converted into monumental, soul-crushing bleeds via Blood Barbs. This massive bleed damage, applied with skills such as Rake, is then often instantly “culminated” or consumed using the Blood Hunt skill for colossal, fight-ending bursts of increased damage. Life-scaling nodes like Gore Spike further amplify its damage output based on the character’s life total.
How does the Shockwave Totem build play for mapping and bossing?
The Shockwave Totem build, commonly played on a Templar with the Hierophant Ascendancy (though other variations exist), is characterized by its highly effective and simple gameplay loop based on totem spell casting. For mapping, it offers “explosive simplicity,” where players simply place Shockwave Totems (often augmented with Jagged Ground for significant increased damage) and watch as they unleash “screen-wide, often PC-stuttering chain reactions of glorious explosions” that quickly dismantle entire packs of monsters. For bossing, the build efficiently switches to using dedicated single-target totems like Ancestral Warrior Totem paired with Rolling Slam, often supported by utility skills like Armor Break and Mace Strike. The overall playstyle is surprisingly uncomplicated for the significant power it provides, making it a great choice for players who prefer a straightforward approach.
Is the Shockwave Totem build recommended for new players?
Yes, the guide explicitly notes that the Shockwave Totem build is quite welcoming and stands out as a great choice for new players. It achieves a good balance between its ease of play and the significant power it delivers. The gameplay is described as “surprisingly uncomplicated,” lacking complex rotations or intricate skill interactions, and it is reported to be quite playable and effective even during the leveling process once the core skills are acquired. This accessibility, combined with its satisfyingly explosive mapping clear, makes it a recommended option for new players seeking a powerful yet simple-to-manage build in Path of Exile.
What makes the Flicker Strike Monk build so fast and fun for mapping?
The build, affectionately nicknamed the Flicker Strike Monk by the community and typically based on Shadow or Ranger character classes using various speed-oriented ascendancy classes, is highlighted as potentially the “most fun build to simply traverse maps with” due to its extreme speed and visually chaotic, yet effective, playstyle. It revolves around the Flicker Strike skill, which allows instant teleportation to a random enemy to attack. This creates a constant “blur of teleporting, screen-crossing chaos,” allowing the player to zip through packs with incredible clear speed. The core of its speed is a reliable mechanism to generate and sustain the Power Charges required by Flicker Strike, enabling this relentless, “unadulterated zoom-zoom” movement across maps while still maintaining a surprisingly substantial single-target punch, making it a great choice for solo players who enjoy a fast-paced and visually dynamic gameplay experience.
How does the Flicker Strike Monk build generate the Power Charges needed for Flicker Strike?
To ensure a constant supply of Power Charges for continuous use of Flicker Strike, the Flicker Strike Monk build employs a clever triggering mechanism. This often involves linking the Profane Ritual skill to the Cast on Freeze support gem. The process relies on consistently applying cold damage to enemies (sourced from skills like Herald of Thunder or Stormwave, which also contribute to clear). When an enemy is frozen by this cold damage, it triggers the Cast on Freeze support gem. Cast on Freeze then casts the linked Profane Ritual skill (often consuming a corpse) on the frozen target. Crucially, Profane Ritual then grants the player Power Charges, replenishing the cost of Flicker Strike and allowing the high-speed teleportation cycle to continue uninterrupted across the map.
What is the Spark Cast on Critical Strike (CoC) build and is it still a viable option?
The Spark Cast on Critical Strike (CoC) is a classic spell casting archetype that remains a solid and reliable build option in Path of Exile’s Patch 3.23. It functions by linking the Cast on Critical Strike support gem to a rapidly attacking skill (like a fast attack or a triggered attack skill). Whenever this attack critically strikes, the linked spells are automatically triggered. The build primarily uses Spark as its main damage spell, unleashing bouncing projectiles that effectively fill the screen for clearing. Other elemental magic skills like Arc are often triggered for additional damage, while utilities like Orb of Storms help apply shock and lightning exposure. Despite recent adjustments to spell casting, CoC Spark maintains substantial power, striking a good balance between retained strength and updated mechanics. It remains capable of handling significant challenges, including tougher red maps, and provides a comfortable, relatively safe ranged playstyle from a safe distance, making it a popular option for solo players and group play alike due to its reliability and satisfying screen coverage.
According to the guide, what ultimately determines the “best” class or build in Path of Exile?
The guide emphasizes that the notion of the “best class” or build in Path of Exile is ultimately subjective and rooted in individual player preference, rather than being solely dictated by theoretical power numbers or the popularity of top classes and popular builds on a simple tier list in a given league. While raw performance is important, the guide suggests that the true “best” build is the one that resonates most deeply with the player’s preferred playstyle, the mechanics they find most engaging and fun to interact with, and what feels most satisfying as they develop and master that specific character class or build throughout their journey in the game. It encourages players to look beyond just what’s popular and find the build that serves as their own great choice, highlighting that the process of finding and perfecting a build is a core and rewarding part of the Path of Exile experience itself. Of course, the meta does shift, but personal enjoyment is paramount.
