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PoE Build

[3.28] Holy Absolution Guardian Build - Step by Step Guide - League Starter Leveling to Ubers

Starter

End Game

Speed Leveling

Templar

Guardian

Verified

Featured

3.28 Mirage

By Ronarray

Updated on Mar 2, 2026

Mar 2, 2026

Path of Building Code

Build Overview

Comprehensive Guide for Vaal Absolution Guardian League Starter for Path of Exile 3.28

Ask me on Stream if you need help - https://www.twitch.tv/ronarray

This guide will hand hold you through the whole leveling progression from lvl 10 to League Starter up to the Uber Endgame version.

❗Both Absolution AND Guardian Ascendency for Templar got BUFFED in 3.28 and now it looks like a VERY STRONG League starter build.

About the Build

Absolution been a very popular as a leveling skill before and after a big set of buffs in 3.28 it finally makes a proper comeback.

Now Absolution Guardian Build is pretty easy to play and setup and it works very good while leveling. Build can also scale to endgame very good since Doryani's Prototype provides A LOT of DPS.

As defenses, you will have a endurance Charges, High block and 90% Resistances in the Doryanis Version.

We can also use Corruption Embrace chaos ascendency to have almost 100% uptime of additional Vaal Absolution minion to improve the DPS even further.

Eldritch Battery will fix all mana issues too and will allow us worry free casts.

It’s a chill League starter build that’s easy to play and not very expensive to setup.

Build Variants:

For Leveling / League Start Variation of the Build, click on the BUILD VARIANTS BELOW.

You can also find the section with frequently asked questions there as well.

❗ALL Comments and tips you can find down there in the MAIN BUILD VARIANT and in the dedicated video

Additional Materials:

Separate POB

▸Guide POB Separately - https://pobb.in/rrxB-tGgPdA9

Useful Links

▸ What you can farm Early Link

▸ My Genesis tree Link

Vendor Regex for Leveling: -\w-.-|b-b-|-b-b|b-.-b|r-r-b|r-b-r|b-r-r|Runn|rint|derha|Litho

Strengths and Weaknesses

Buffed in 3.28
Can be played from Lvl 12
Range Minions are comfy to play
GREAT for Leveling
Relatively Tanky
Not a KB

Minions can feel strange
Swap to Doryanis
Not a KB

Build Variants

Lvl 96+ (Endgame Doryani)

Lvl 10 Magma

Lvl 14 Absol Swap

Lvl 22 Vaal

Lvl 33 Ascendancy

Lvl 40 Malachai

Lvl 45 Kitava

Lvl 70+ (Early Maps)

Lvl 90+ (T16 / Watcstones)

Lvl 98+ (UBER Expensive)

Use other build versions to see detailed leveling progress.

❗Go for 90+ T16 Version before you can afford most stuff in this one.

98+ version is VERY expensive so the version you are looking at is meant to be played most of the time.

Equipment

Lvl 96+ (Endgame Doryani)

Lvl 10 Magma

Lvl 14 Absol Swap

Lvl 22 Vaal

Lvl 33 Ascendancy

Lvl 40 Malachai

Lvl 45 Kitava

Lvl 70+ (Early Maps)

Lvl 90+ (T16 / Watcstones)

Lvl 98+ (UBER Expensive)

Glorious Vanity [820; 37; Minion Instability]

❗GUIDE IS BEING UPDATED NOW - STAY TUNED

▸Important Item Stats

Amulet

Early on you can just use a Rare Amulet with +1 To Lightning Skill Gems or Physical Skill Gems.

Some Life also will be a bonus. Later on Replica Dragon Flight Amulet with +3 levels for absolution will be a great choice if you have the budget.

Wand

Aim to get the +1to all spell or Lightning or Physical skills at your wand.
The rest of the bonuses should be for minion damage. Crit and Speed is higher priority.
❗Make sure that you have an open Suffix to craft Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Use a Skill at the bench.

Armour Items

Focus on getting high Armour on your armour items, at least a few of those also should have hybrid ES so you can use Eldritch Battery to cast your Absolution. So hybrid Armour / ES is perfect.
Get life where you can.
Doryani's Prototype will be great later on, look for more info about when to swap to it down below.

Rings

Before Doryani's Prototype swap you will need minion rings with some resistances and life.
After the swap, aim for the rings with - Lightning resistance to rech -200% Lightning
Rest of the stats should be Life, resistances or Minion damage if your budget is high.

▸Bandits

Get rid of all or Help Alira early on. Will need to swap it later in that case.

▸Defences

Block

A key defensive layer for Absolution Guardian build.

Invest into Sanctuary and Safeguard when you can.

Endurance charges

To improve survivability it is very important to add Small Cluster Jewel with Enduring Composure ASAP. It will provide Endurance charges in maps. try to get it between lvl 70 and 90 if you can.

Later on, when you will have higher Budget - it is possible to sue Impossible Escape jewel to Blood Magic and allocate Inexorable instead. Such approach can be expensive but it can also boost block since you can get As The Mountain as well.

Flesh and Stone

Flesh and Stone is a great defensive aura for Absolution Build - so always keep it in SAND Stance.

▸ How to cap Chaos?

Since we are using Divine Flesh after the Doryanis swap, it will be pretty important to cap chaos resistance.

Roll chaos res on most of the items and use The Light of Meaning (Chaos Resistance) if you need it as well.

▸ Anoints

Use Whispers of Doom to curse enemies with Elemental Weakness + Conductivity BEFORE Doryani's Prototype swap.

AFTER the swap, use Assassin's Mark + Punishment instead.

Passive Tree

Lvl 96+ (Endgame Doryani)

Lvl 10 Magma

Lvl 14 Absol Swap

Lvl 22 Vaal

Lvl 33 Ascendancy

Lvl 40 Malachai

Lvl 45 Kitava

Lvl 70+ (Early Maps)

Lvl 90+ (T16 / Watcstones)

Lvl 98+ (UBER Expensive)

main:

123

ascendancy:

Keystones

Hex Master

Your Hexes have infinite Duration 20% less Effect of your Curses

Eldritch Battery

Spend Energy Shield before Mana for Skill Mana Costs Energy Shield protects Mana instead of Life 50% less Energy Shield Recharge Rate

Masteries

Minion Offence Mastery (3)

Minions have 20% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate

Minions have 30% increased Area of Effect

20% increased effect of Offerings

Block Mastery (1)

+1% Chance to Block Spell Damage per 5% Chance to Block Attack Damage

Life Mastery (1)

+30 to maximum Life

❗When to swap to Doryani's Prototype and HOW to do that:

So when you will swap to Doryani's Prototype your lightning resistances will be negative. To make sure that Lightning damage is not killing you, you will need to have the following:

1. Glorious Vanity (Xibaqua Divine Flesh) that provides Divine Flesh keystone passive. You will place it in the top socket so it will replace Hex Master.

If it will have passive for Chaos Resistance / Max Chaos resistance it will be even better.

❗Watch this video with timestamp to see how to search for the jewel - https://youtu.be/Z4tVWAIqOkE?si=OnR5F1vfp5ijMzZR&t=870

2. Dawnbreaker shield with at least 18-20% of Lightning as Fire and 18-20% of Cold as Fire.

If you can afford it try to get all Dawnbreaker rolls as close to 20% as possible.

3. Watcher's Eye Jewel with - Cold and Lightning Damage taken as Fire while affected by Purity of Fire.

You will also need to use Purity of Fire itself.

If you have Glorious Vanity + Shield but don't have Watcher's you can still swap but try to get Watcher's ASAP. You will also need to get rid of Lighting resistance from all items and get Rings with -Lightning resistance from trade.

Look into Ring Section above for more recommendations.

Skills

Lvl 96+ (Endgame Doryani)

Lvl 10 Magma

Lvl 14 Absol Swap

Lvl 22 Vaal

Lvl 33 Ascendancy

Lvl 40 Malachai

Lvl 45 Kitava

Lvl 70+ (Early Maps)

Lvl 90+ (T16 / Watcstones)

Lvl 98+ (UBER Expensive)

Doryani's Prototype

Saint's Hauberk

Vaal Absolution

Minion Damage

Physical to Lightning

Spell Echo

Increased Critical Damage

Increased Critical Strikes

New Item

Paladin Gloves

Raise Spectre

Feeding Frenzy

Minion Life

Meat Shield

Summon Stone Golem

New Item

Eternal Burgonet

Determination

Purity of Fire

Enlighten

Zealotry

New Item

Paladin Boots

Convocation

Molten Shell

Automation

Shield Charge

Dawnbreaker

Colossal Tower Shield

Frostblink

Flesh and Stone

Punishment

Wrath Goad

Convoking Wand

Desecrate

Spirit Offering

Assassin's Mark

WHY GLOVES HAVE 5 GEMS (Spectres OR Golem):

In the gloves we have a supportive setup with additional minions.

It can be Spectres OR Golem so you will need to choose one, drop the gem that you decided not to take out of the gloves.

❗If you are not familiar with Spectres, unsure what spectres to use or just a beginner, just use the golem instead.

You can also replace Meat Shield and use BOTH Spectres and Golem if you want as well.

What if you don't have enough Mana:

Since we are using energy shield to cast with Eldritch Battery, you will need only 1 mana to play.

However, if for any reason you don't have enough - dropping Tempest Shield or Flesh and Stone is a valid option, so feel free to do that.

What Curse to use:

Before Doryani's Prototype you will need to use Elemental Weakness + Conductivity to improve the damage of your Absolution minions and your Guardian of Radiance.

After you will acquire Doryani's Prototype and your Lightning res will be negative, Assassin's Mark and Punishment will work much better instead.

Video Guide

Stats

Stats are displayed for the "Lvl 96+ (Endgame Doryani)" Variant only

Character

Attributes

151 /

65 /

219

Movement Speed

167%

Pantheon Major

TheBrineKing

Pantheon Minor

Gruthkul

Charges

Endurance Charges

Frenzy Charges

Power Charges

Defensive

Life

4,305

Energy Shield

1,297

Mana

836

Armour

48,448

Evasion Rating

Block

62%

Resistances

88% /

76% /

-200% /

82%

Simulated

Effective Health Pool

159K

Max Hit

25K /

75K /

70K /

69K /

64K

Skill DPS Estimation

Vaal Absolution

1. Path of Building Code 2. Build Overview About the Build Build Variants: Additional Materials:3. Strengths and Weaknesses 4. Build Variants 5. Equipment 6. Passive Tree 7. Skills

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