Path of Exile 2 is setting a new standard in the ARPG genre by introducing exciting changes and reworks while retaining the core mechanics that fans love. Among the numerous enhancements, melee totems, particularly the Ancestral Warrior Totem, have captured the attention of many players. This rework offers a fresh experience for melee build enthusiasts and players interested in creating impactful totem builds.

If you’re eager to explore the thrilling mechanics of the Ancestral Warrior Totem and optimize your build for maximum efficiency, this guide will walk you through the key aspects, including offense, defense, gear selection, and passive skill tree optimization.

Understanding the Ancestral Warrior Totem in Path of Exile 2

The Ancestral Warrior Totem is a versatile skill that can be linked to various Mace-based abilities, such as Stampede Totem and Sunder Totem. This totem allows players to deal massive damage by converting everything to fire damage using the Avatar of Fire keystone. Fire scaling is both cost-effective and straightforward, making it an excellent choice for beginners and seasoned players alike.

Key Features of the Ancestral Warrior Totem:

Skill Synergy: Compatible with Mace-based abilities, such as Volcanic Fissure, Earthshatter, and Shockwave Totem.

Fire Conversion: Simplifies damage scaling by converting all damage to fire using Avatar of Fire.

Ease of Optimization: Positioned in the lower-left section of the passive skill tree, allowing easy access to critical nodes while minimizing currency investment.

Mana Efficiency: With the addition of Gemling Legionnaire, players can manage mana costs efficiently and further enhance gem levels for improved performance.

By leveraging these features, the Ancestral Warrior Totem build becomes an excellent choice for players seeking both power and accessibility.

Building Around the Ancestral Warrior Totem

Offensive Strategies

To maximize the damage potential of your totems, you’ll need to focus on increasing gem levels and global damage. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown:

Increase Gem Levels: Achieving higher gem levels is crucial for boosting the performance of your Ancestral Warrior Totem. You can increase gem levels through:

One-Handed Mace: Grants up to +5 levels.

Two-Handed Mace: Provides up to +7 levels.

Gloves and Amulets: Adds +2 and +3 levels, respectively.

Ascendancy: Offers an additional +1 level.

Vaal Orb Corruption: Risky but can yield even higher gem levels.

Convert Damage to Fire:

Utilize the Avatar of Fire keystone to convert all damage to fire.

Equip weapons with the "Increased Elemental Damage with Attack" prefix for a global damage boost.

Consider using the Soul Core of Citaqualotl to increase flat damage from gear pieces, such as gloves and rings.

Passive Skill Tree Focus:

Invest in nodes that enhance Totem Damage, Attack Speed, Area of Effect, and Attack Area Damage.

Prioritize jewel sockets for modifiers like Totem Damage and Fire Damage.

Boss Strategies:

Against bosses, employ Solar Orb and cast Flammability under the target to amplify damage.

Use Incinerate to supplement totem damage and reduce the boss’s fire resistance.

Adapt your support skills based on the boss’s movement patterns, such as adding Cursed Ground Support for stationary encounters.

Defensive Strategies

Building a solid defense is vital for surviving Path of Exile’s challenging content. This build emphasizes evasion, armor, and elemental resistance to ensure durability.

Armor and Evasion:

Equip hybrid armor to gain both evasion and armor benefits.

Allocate the Iron Reflexes keystone to convert all evasion into armor, providing substantial mitigation against physical damage.

Elemental Resistance:

Invest in passive nodes that increase maximum elemental resistance, particularly fire resistance.

Combine with gems that enhance maximum resistance to reach up to 90% elemental resistance for fire damage.

Defensive Skills:

Use Scavenged Plating in conjunction with Resonating Shield to boost armor by over 80%.

Equip the Crest of Ardura Shield to benefit from improved cooldown recovery and mana regeneration.

Mobility and Recovery:

Leverage Crest of Ardura’s movement skill enhancements to quickly reposition in dangerous situations.

Use mana flasks with modifiers that reduce mana cost to maintain skill usage even on mana-reduced maps.

Gear Selection for the Ancestral Warrior Totem Build

This build is beginner-friendly in terms of gear requirements. While there are no mandatory uniques, optimizing your equipment can significantly improve your performance.

Key Equipment Considerations

Weapons:

Offensive Set: Use two-handed maces with +7 melee skill levels and "Increased Elemental Damage with Attack" prefixes. Aim for level 64 or lower weapons to reduce attribute conversion requirements.

Defensive Set: Equip a one-handed mace or scepter for additional Spirit and defensive stats. Pair with the Crest of Ardura Shield for enhanced survivability.

Armor:

Look for helmets, body armor, gloves, and boots with mixed Strength and Dexterity for balanced evasion and armor.

Prioritize gloves with +2 melee skill levels and amulets with +3 melee skill levels.

Accessories:

Rings: Focus on fire damage, elemental damage, and resistances.

Amulets: Enhance melee skill levels and provide additional fire damage.

Budget Options:

Starting items can be acquired for under 20 Exalted Orbs each, making this build accessible to players with limited currency.

Participate in community giveaways on platforms like MMOEXP Discord to acquire essential gear.

Passive Skill Tree and Ascendancy Choices

Positioned in the lower-left section of the passive skill tree, this build focuses on maximizing totem damage, fire scaling, and survivability.

Core Nodes to Prioritize:

Avatar of Fire: Converts all damage to fire.

Totem Damage: Increases the overall effectiveness of your totems.

Attack Speed and Area of Effect: Boosts clear speed and damage output.

Iron Reflexes: Converts evasion to armor for improved defense.

Maximum Elemental Resistance: Enhances survivability against elemental damage.

Ascendancy:

Choose an ascendancy that complements totem gameplay, such as:

Chieftain: Offers fire damage bonuses and totem-specific benefits.

Hierophant: Provides additional totem placement and mana regeneration.

Final Thoughts

The Ancestral Warrior Totem build in Path of Exile 2 is a powerful and flexible option for players seeking high DPS, speed, and survivability. By focusing on fire conversion, maximizing gem levels, and balancing offense and defense, this build can handle most of the game’s content, including challenging bosses and dense mob packs.

Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the Path of Exile series, this build offers an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Dive into the world of totems, experiment with different setups, and enjoy the thrill of blasting through enemies with your Ancestral Warrior Totem! Remember to stay tuned to MMOexp.com for all the latest news! and buy POE 2 Currency service, check out MMOexp