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PoE 2 Build

Woolie's Armor Break Warbringer UPDATED FOR LEVELING

Warrior

Warbringer

Creator

Starter

By Woolie

Updated on Dec 12, 2024

Dec 12, 2024

Build Overview

VERY IMPORTANT INFO

do NOT take Giant's Blood EARLY ON!

you'll have to use weapons like 2 or 3 tiers under what you should be using (due to the nerf to TRIPLE attribute reqs instead of double lmfao) and it's probably not even more damage at that point. I spec'd into Giant's Blood at level 76 after spending ~20ex on upgrades.

// SKILL ROTATION //

1) Use Mace Strike for general clearing (Armour Explosion +Herald of Ash will do heavy work)

2) find tanky enemy: Mace Strike until armor is "Fully Broken" then Infernal Cry + Sunder. if they are still alive:

3) Infernal Cry -> Hammer of the Gods (FULLY BREAK ENEMY ARMOR FIRST due to Exploit Weakness)

repeat step 2 if the enemy is SOMEHOW still not dead lol

on bosses, obviously open with Hammer of the Gods and not Sunder

// EARLY GAME //

-- SKILLS --

literally link your DEFAULT ATTACK LMFAO Mace Strike

no, I am not trolling. I wish I was.

Earthquake for some extra single target damage, especially on bosses that have low damage-uptime (due to big AoE + bleed.) use Infernal Cry BEFORE Earthquake to boost its damage significantly.

Herald of Ash for AoE clear.

Act 1 links should be:

Mace Strike + Brutality + Martial Tempo

Earthquake + Lacerate + Fist of War

Infernal Cry

Herald of Ash

More info in the Skill Gems section.

-- PASSIVES --

Path towards Singular Purpose then Split the Earth (plus the small node behind it for extra 8% aftershock!)

then make your way into the Mercenary area - be sure to grab all three of the "Gain 1 Rage on Melee Hit" small passives leading into Prolonged Fury but NOT Prolonged Fury itself!)

In Merc area, take Cruel Methods (will synergize when you Ascend and grab Anvil's Weight), Blurred Motion and Bloodletting (can also go for Overwhelm but only if you REALLY need more damage)

More pathing info in the Passive Tree section.

// IMPROVING CLEAR SPEED //

once you get your first t2 skill gem, drop Earthquake for Sunder (Fist of War, Concentrated Effect)

and once you get first t2 support gem + A DECENT WEAPON, change ALL of your Mace Strike links over to (Fire Infusion + Armour Explosion)(+ Splinter if you have the slot)

More info in the Skill Gems section.

Equipment

Set 1

Set 2

DO NOT BOTHER WITH WEAPON SETS UNTIL YOU ALLOCATE Giant's Blood (which likely won't be until well into endgame)

// STATS TO LOOK FOR //

--Weapons--

Prefixes: +phys, %phys, %phys/acc ("hybrid")

**PREFIXES ARE, BY FAR, THE MOST IMPORTANT STATS TO HAVE IN ORDER TO DEAL DAMAGE**

Suffixes: +lvl melee skills, %inc attack speed (PRIORITIZE HIGHEST FLAT DMG POSSIBLE - attack speed is just "icing on the cake"), %phys leech

--Armor--

Prefixes: +life, +spirit (body), +/%armor, %movespeed (boots)

Suffixes: %resistances, +str, +lvl melee skills (gloves), %attack speed (gloves), %reduced chill duration (boots)

--Jewelry--

Prefixes: +life, %life (amulet), +spirit (amulet)

Suffixes: %resistances, +charm slots (belt), +lvl melee skills (amulet), %dmg recouped life/mana (amulet), +attributes

--Charms--

probably shock immune > freeze immune > bleed / poison immune

Skill Gems

Mace Strike

Item

Hammer of the Gods

Sunder

Infernal Cry

Ancestral Warrior Totem

Herald of Ash

Time of Need

Scavenged Plating

Berserk

--LEVELING--

Support gems are listed in priority order.

Act 1

Mace Strike + Brutality + Martial Tempo

Earthquake + Lacerate + Fist of War

Infernal Cry

Herald of Ash

Act 2

Mace Strike + Brutality + Martial Tempo

Earthquake + Lacerate + Fist of War

Infernal Cry + Premeditation

Herald of Ash

Leap Slam

Act 3

ASCEND AND GRAB Anvil's Weight

keep your Mace Strike links the same as Act 2 until you drop your first t2 support gem AND have a decent 2H mace!

ONLY THEN should you swap to Armour Explosion + Fire Infusion

Mace Strike + Armour Explosion + Fire Infusion + Splinter*

*ignore Splinter for now - you will automatically get a third Mace Strike socket after your level up enough

Sunder + Concentrated Effect + Fist of War

you should only use Sunder for tanky enemies - NOT for clearing purposes - due to its long animation leaving you vulnerable to stuns.

Infernal Cry + Premeditation

Herald of Ash + Vitality (if you have extra Spirit)

Time of Need + Fast Forward (this is a free link)

Leap Slam + Martial Tempo

CRUEL Act 1

same as Act 3

remember to add Splinter to Mace Strike as soon as you get 3 sockets.

once you feel powerful enough, you can also Ascend again to grab Imploding Impacts

CRUEL Act 2

you will get your first t3 skill gem around this time forHammer of the Gods

Mace Strike + Armour Explosion + Fire Infusion + Splinter

Sunder + Concentrated Effect + Fist of War

Infernal Cry + Premeditation

Herald of Ash + Vitality (if you have extra Spirit)

Time of Need + Fast Forward

Scavenged Plating

Leap Slam + Martial Tempo

Hammer of the Gods + Lacerate + Exploit Weakness

CRUEL Act 3

as you get more t3 supports and Lesser Jewelers Orbs, add them in this order:

Rageforged to Hammer of the Gods

Enraged Warcry to Infernal Cry

Supercritical to Sunder

you can also add in Ancestral Warrior Totem at this point but, honestly... it kinda sucks so it doesn't really matter lmao

ENDGAME

refer to the final skill gem list at the top of this section

--HOW TO GET HUGE CLEAR SPEED--

once Mace Strike has 3 support sockets (based on your character's level) AND you have a decent 2H mace:

change ALL of Mace Strike supports to: Armour Explosion + Fire Infusion + Splinter

this will increase your overall clear speed IMMENSELY and works because the initial hit (that breaks the armor) ALSO GAINS THE BENEFITS FROM THE ARMOR BREAK ITSELF (aka procs like Armour Explosion)

ensure you have allocated Cruel Methods and Ascended (to grab Anvil's Weight) as the goal is to fully break enemy armor on the first hit.

also, consider grabbing Reverberating Impact at this point to help your clear even further.

you can also test switching Splinter for Magnified Effect - you are looking to see if, after dropping Splinter, you still have enough damage to FULLY BREAK ARMOR ON THE INITIAL HIT (and proc Armour Explosion)

if you do NOT proc Armour Explosion on the first hit against 90% of enemies then keep Splinter socketed!

--AURAS--

you will not have enough Spirit to run all auras immediately - look for "+Spirit" mods on chest piece and amulet basetype (I dropped one in Cruel Act 2)

aura priority:

Herald of Ash > Time of Need > Scavenged Plating > Berserk

you do not need Precision or Vitality right away - only slot them when you have leftover Spirit, HOWEVER, Fast Forward linked to Time of Need is free and does actually increases its activation rate. dunno if this is intended or not but, hey... we take those!

Passive Tree

main:

122

set 1:

set 2:

**THIS PASSIVE TREE IS EXTREMELY WORK-IN-PROGRESS**

I would not run Giant's Blood until you reach endgame. The stat requirements are just way too high.

This means that I also wouldn't bother with Weapon Set points until you allocate Giant's Blood. Just stick to the basic outline of the tree.

// PATHING ORDER //

1) Singular Purpose

2) Split the Earth (plus the small node behind it for extra 8% aftershock!)

3) all three of the "Gain 1 Rage on Melee Hit" small passives leading into Prolonged Fury (but NOT Prolonged Fury itself!)

4) Cruel Methods (will synergize when you Ascend and grab Anvil's Weight)

5) Blurred Motion

6) Bloodletting

7) Pile On (+ both "20% dmg vs broken armor" nodes behind it)

--Around here, Ascend for the second time for Imploding Impacts--

8) Revenge (+ "2 rage when hit by an enemy small node next to it)

9) Internal Bleeding (for Hammer of the Gods big bleed)

10) Unbreaking (we hate stuns)

11) Battle Fever

12) Overwhelm + Curved Weapon

13) Breakage

14) Crushing Verdict

15) Beef

16) Reverberating Impact

17) In Your Face

18) Primal Growth

19) Brute Strength

At this point, consider finally taking Giant's Blood but you will likely need QUITE a bit of Strength from your gear and, therefore, need to purchase some upgrades. Meginord's Girdle is an awesome choice to plan your other upgrades around due its extremely high strength.

WILL UPDATE MORE AS I PLAY

How it Plays

1) break armor

2) shout

3) slam

How it Works

// HOW ARMOR BREAKING WORKS //

**VERY IMPORTANT INFO**

I have done testing with Imploding Impacts and it seems to provide too small of an overall damage increase relative to what it should.

Here is my video detailing the potential issue (hyperlink doesn't work sry):
youtu.be/BQX-47SUw48?si=gqkUB1u2MDZXW2Nz

Basically, Armor is LESS effective against larger hits - a target needs EXPONENTIALLY more armor than the incoming hit to mitigate a "decent" amount.

This is all fine and good, however, given the testing I've done (refer to the vid above), I believe the damage increase from inverting armor via Imploding Impacts is smaller than it should be.

I will update this section once I come to a definitive conclusion but, otherwise, know that the build STILL PERFORMS WELL.

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we use Mace Strike (NOT Armour Breaker) because it costs NO MANA and breaks plenty of armor (especially with Splinter support) and we just hit dudes until their armor is "Fully Broken" and (preferably) inversed from its original value (only after you Ascend twice and grab Imploding Impacts)

then, once their armor is broken, we Infernal Cry and either toss a quick Sunder in OR, if it's a boss or an especially tanky rare, slap down a nice good 'ol Hammer of the Gods for its insane damage% plus the chance for a nice big bleed on top of it.

otherwise, literally just Mace Strike everything to death (the clearspeed gets CRAZY with Armour Explosion + Magnified Effect) and toss inSunder when you find a tanky foe (remember to break their armor first for a guaranteed crit!)

Ancestral Warrior Totem is for more armor break on tanky / hard-to-reach (aka "scary") enemies, plus hp and rage regen due to Font of Blood and Font of Rage.

that's all there is to it!

break armor -> shout -> slam -> repeat

Changelog

12/7 - added "early game" section (inside of "Build Overview")

12/8 - changed around some skills (dropped Supercharged Slam after its nerf RIP) and updated all sections to be clearer

12/9 - overhauled skills & passive tree. don't bother with weapon set points, for the time being

12/10 - added a full explanation of the "armor break" mechanic (and how it works with Warbringer's Imploding Impacts) and updated gem links for Mace Strike (for MUCH better clearspeed) and Sunder (for better QoL)

12/11 - swapped around more support gems AND changed Ascendancy nodes to Turtle Charm bc totem ones suck balls xdd