POEGuy's Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander Build Guide (Poe Legacy of Phrecia Event)

Introduction

Hello, ma boys, and welcome to my Legacy of Phrecia Ancestral Commander EA Ballista starter! This setup was already tested by hundreds last year, when the event first took place. It’s mega tanky, dirt-cheap to make, easy to set up, and has great clear. It’s especially good for new PoE1 players and casual Path of Exile 1 players. If I were to sum up this build in a few words, they would be: cheap, T16 map blaster, lazy, and ultra tanky.

This is not your typical Explosive Arrow Ballista setup! Unlike most builds that scale damage over time with Explosive Arrow, I focus on direct damage instead. I’ve run variations of this setup in nearly all past GGG events, and it performs exceptionally well. I even used it in SSF environments, such as the “Endless Delve” event.

Latest Build Reminder video here (It includes both endgame and campaign gameplay showcases.)

Build Overview

In this section, I will outline the pros, cons, & general playstyle.

Pros

+ Very cheap to make
+ Fast T16 mapper (can do all in-atlas content)
+ Lazy play (ballistas target and kill enemies for you; this is a one-button build)
+ Strong defenses (the build is close to immortal!)

Cons

– Cannot farm pinnacle bosses on Uber Mode
– This build was not designed for T17 mapping

• In Legacy of Phrecia, most of the best farms can be done in T16 without any problems. Ritual, Ultimatum, and Harbingers with the Phrecia Idols are easy for this build and also very profitable!

Playstyle

I adapted this build for lazy play; all that you need to do is move around and place your ballistas.

Damage Scaling & Defensive Layers

We scale damage drastically by stacking + to Gem Levels and Attack Speed. In addition to that, look for modifiers such as %Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills and % Increased Fire Damage.

In terms of defenses, this build is a beast! On top of the tanky Ancestral Commander ascendancy (totems absorb 20% of the damage that you take, Free Defiance of Destiny like effect, +2 extra Maximum Endurance Charges and doubles the armour values from the Body Armour), we have a lot of life, life regeneration and even Chance to Evade Attacks.

PoB and Passive Skill Tree

You can find an optimized Path of Building for the league-start progression setup here. And a POB for maxing the build for the late endgame here: here

*Every build I release will use the community fork of Path of Building. You can find PoB’s Fork by LocalIdentity, here.
If you’re new to Path of Building, we have a guide available here.

Remember that inside, you have a league-start Skill Tree progression. Start with the one closest to your level and work your way up. The Skill Tree nodes need to be unlocked in the suggested order.

Passive Skill Tree, PoB & Gem Links

Gear Summary

For the league start scenario item progression, scroll to the bottom of this page.

The endgame setup should look something like this:

Item Slot	Item Name	Rarity	Notes
Head	Rare Helmet (budget) or Wilma's Requital (best)	Rare/Unique	Check the Gear Page for details
Amulet	Rare Amulet with +1 to Level of All Fire Skill Gems (budget) or Replica Dragonfang's Flight with +3 to Level of All Explosive Arrow Gem (best)	Rare/Unique
Chest	Rare Body Armour	Rare	Check the Gear Page for details
Gloves	Rare Gloves	Rare	Check the Gear Page for details
Boots	Rare Boots	Rare	Check the Gear Page for details
Belt	Rare Belt or Replica Headhunter or Headhunter	Rare/Unique	Check the Gear Page for details
Rings	Rare Rings	Rare	Check the Gear Page for details
Weapon	Quill Rain	Unique	Try to get one with close to 100% projectile speed. If you buy a foulborn version, make sure it has the “100% attack speed”!
Quiver	Skirmish	Unique

Read the gear page for details on all these items!

Gear, Jewels & Flasks

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheons

The Ascendancy, Bandit, and Pantheon Power page goes into detail about all the choices you need to make in these regards.

Ascendancy, Bandit & Pantheon Power Page

Common Mistakes

• Having Pierce effects! Pierce will drastically reduce your damage because the explosives can no longer stack on enemies. (The most common mistake is using a Penetrating Arrow Quiver base.)
• Not unlocking the labs.
• Not taking the “Point Blank” & “Elemental Overload” Keystones / not using a “Sleepless Sentries” Medium Cluster Jewel.
   Tip: Buy one with 4 or 5 passives – it will save you 1 skill point!
• Not taking the Fire Mastery that gives us 100% Increased Damage for free // Not taking the Bow Mastery that converts the Projectile Speed from Quill Rain into % increased damage.
• Taking a Foulborn Quill Rain without 100% Attack Speed or without Projectile Speed.
• Not using the right flasks / Not using the bow setup correctly (to summon the Golem, get Blood Rage and curse with Flammability).
• Not having elemental resistances capped during the mapping phase.

Leveling

If you’re completely new to Path of Exile 1 and know little about the game, I highly encourage you to check out our Beginners Guide to Path of Exile.

League Start scenario

You can find an optimized Path of Building for the league-start progression setup here. And a POB for maxing the build for the late endgame here: here

*Every build I release will use the community fork of Path of Building. You can find PoB’s Fork by LocalIdentity, here.
If you’re new to Path of Building, we have a guide available here.

Remember that inside, you have a league-start Skill Tree progression. Start with the one closest to your level and work your way up. The Skill Tree nodes need to be unlocked in the suggested order.

This is a great league starter; it can take you from nothing to T16 maps quickly with minimal currency investment.
In the early acts, we will use Ground Slam and Sunder. Later, in Act 4, immediately after completing the first Ascendancy Lab (around level 35), we will transition into Explosive Arrow Ballista, which is our main build.

Here you have a video guide on how to league start with my event build (video has timestamps for each transition phase!):

[TIP] Do not stress too much regarding your items in the campaign. I’ve adapted this starter to be as simple and easy as possible.
Check the following notes and make sure to watch the league start guide once!

Act 1 ( Skill Tree: Use Act 1 LEVELING [GROUND SLAM] )

Since we are LEAGUE STARTING with a Marauder, we need to do the first Acts with melee skills.

Always use a two-handed weapon! Always upgrade your weapon as you progress through the acts! You can gamble for one with gold, buy from the town vendor, or buy with currency from the trade website from other players.

—- GEM SETUPS —-

Ground Slam ( Swap Ground Slam with Sunder once you unlock it ) + Chance to Bleed Support + Ruthless Support
Decoy Totem
Blood and Sand ( stay in Blood Stance )
Leap Slam

Precision
Clarity

Sockets are more important than stats early on (look for items with a lot of sockets; especially RED)

*If you are new to Path Of Exile 1 watch the video guide!

Acts 2 – 4 ( Skill Tree: Use Acts 2-4 LEVELING [ SUNDER ] )

BANDIT QUEST: Kill all Bandits!

—- GEM SETUPS —-

Sunder + Melee Physical Damage Support + Lifetap Support
Decoy Totem + Leap Slam + Lifetap Support
Blood and Sand ( stay in Blood Stance )
Herald of Ash
Vulnerability + Lifetap Support
Blood Rage ( Optional )

Precision
Vitality ( Optional )

The weapon that you have is very important. Always look for weapon upgrades
You can check with the town vendors, apply blacksmith weighstones too ( they grant a lot of quality early )
If your body armor does not have life modifiers, you will allocate that LIFE MASTERY that grants you 15% increased maximum life

Acts 4 – 10 ( Skill Tree: Use Acts 4-5 LEVELING [ EA BALLISTA ] and Acts 6-10 LEVELING [ EA BALLISTA ] )

While playing, always look for a 4-link with this color combination: Red – Red – Green – Green ( we will need it for our EA Ballista setup )
1) Around level 35, you will go and unlock the first LABYRINTH TRIAL. (Allocate the “Forrest of Ancestors” Node!)
2) Go to the Library
Once you reach the Library, find Siosa and do his quest. Buy the mentioned gems to transition to Explosive Arrow Ballista (equip a random bow and quiver for now)
You will need to level up your gems after you buy them -> Go to “The Docks” and kill some monsters there

Main Setup:

- Explosive Arrow
- Ballista Totem Support
- Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
- Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support (When you find a 4-link item, this gem helps a lot with monster clears.)

Utility:

- Frostblink ( or Dash if you don’t have blue sockets )
- Flammability (Curse enemies with Flammability to deal more damage.)
- Frenzy + Manaforged Arrows Support (Optional Setup for more damage)
- Steelskin + Automation (Optional Setup for more defenses)

Auras:

- Clarity
- Precision (After completing the campaign, swap Precision for Purity of Elements!)

TIPS:
Check vendors for a 4-link item with 2 green and 2 red sockets. If you can’t find one, go to a trade website and buy an item with these links (should be cheap).
You can also gamble Armour/Evasion body armours with gold. They are inclined to give you a 4 link with the colors that we need.

Avoid using a Penetrating Arrow Quiver since it grants pierce. This quiver is a very common drop during the campaign. You don’t want any pierce effects!

For rare items in the campaign, look for:

Attack Speed, Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks, Increased Fire Damage

The last thing that you need to know for this phase is that the best-in-slot weapon you can use is this unique bow: Quill Rain.

Make sure to take the mastery that converts % Projectile Speed into % increased Damage once you reach it. This cheap bow alone will carry you on easy mode to yellow maps / early red maps. This is a pretty common, unique bow!

Another great, unique item you can use during the Explosive Arrow Ballista phase is the Skirmish quiver. It grants you one additional totem and helps with Intelligence, mana regeneration, and accuracy. Plus, it’s a very cheap quiver!

———-

If you’re curious about how well this build performed last year in the Phrecia event, know that I’ve made daily summaries of my progress. In these materials, I provide daily summaries of my character’s progression, along with tips and reminders for players following along, and a PoB. Towards the end, you have gameplay footage for that specific day.

On Day 1 -> I start by explaining all the COMMON MISTAKES that some players made with this setup (and how to correct them). Then, I remind players of the three mandatory uniques they need (QUILL RAIN, SKIRMISH, WILMA’S REQUITAL) and their special interactions within the Skill Tree. After explaining all the ESSENTIAL damage-boosting nodes from the Skill Tree, I go over the amulet (which needs +1 to fire gems and the correct ANOINT) and how to buy it cheaply. I also explain how to get a temporary 6-link body armor for cheap, as well as the medium and small cluster jewels.

On Day 2 -> I explained several powerful and fairly cheap upgrades that players can use to get more damage! I start by showing the rings you’ll want for red maps and how to use catalysts to boost damage even further. Then, I talked about fire exposure and how to obtain it, followed by fire tattoos and how to get them cheaper. After that, I discussed the importance of gem quality and which gem you should prioritize.
I also showed how to self-craft a great body armor for cheap (here’s the PoEWiki link again: https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Body_armour) and how to properly craft your magic utility flasks on a budget.
In the second part of the video, I showcased Day 2 gameplay for the build in Tier 16 maps.

On Day 3 -> I’ve talked about Timeless Jewels and how to get a cheap and effective one for our build ( league start searching method ). I also discussed the Light of Meaning jewel and provided a cheap alternative. Additionally, I reminded players about the importance of gem levels and how to get a 21/20 Explosive Arrow Ballista gem for cheaper. I also showed new players how to fully unlock their Pantheon without stress.
In the second part of the video, I showcased Day 3 gameplay for the build in Tier 16 maps.

On Day 4 -> I talked about most of THE FINAL UPGRADES! I started by explaining my belt, gloves, and boots. Then, I discussed body armor and how to find one with high gem levels to boost our Explosive Arrow gem. I also covered Empower Level 4, Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks support, and the Replica Dragonfang with +3 Explosive Arrow. Additionally, I talked about rare amulets with +2 gems (and how to search for them properly), along with some final reminders. Mentioned ( +Showcased ) the Replica Headhunter belt too

On Day 5 -> I defeated all the major pinnacle bosses from Path of Exile 1. Not only did I showcase the build, but I also explained the fight mechanics for new players for most bosses. This is a pure gameplay video with LIVE commentary.

Good luck! I hope that this will become your best build in Legacy of Phrecia. It’s Fun, cheap, and very effective!