POEGuy's Siege Ballista Hierophant Build Guide (Poe Secrets of the Atlas 3.26)

Introduction

I’ve been playing Siege Ballista Hierophant for more than five years in a row now; it’s one of my top builds in Path of Exile. I’ve done my best not only to keep the build alive by constantly adapting to all the new patch note changes, but also to create a version that is easy to understand, cheap to make, and not a glass cannon. If I were to sum up this build in a few words, they would be: cheap, T16 map blaster, and fun.
Siege Ballista is also a great league starter – it can take you from nothing to T16 maps quickly and with minimal investment. If you want to learn more, scroll to the bottom of this page.

Over the years, I’ve tried every possible version of Siege Ballista out there (from mirror-tier glass cannons to wacky experimental). What you have here is a casual / new-player-friendly setup: a build that has already been tested by thousands. More than half of my YouTube PoE1 videos are Ballista-related; that’s how much I love this build archetype.

Video build guide and gameplay showcase

This is the most recent build guide:

And here you have gameplay footage with the latest version ( to see clearly how this build shreds T16 maps on different budgets – I’ve showcased the build on League start budget, Low budget, & Normal budget ):

Build Overview

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

Pros

+ Works great on a budget (great league starter too!)
+ Fast T16 mapper (can do all in-atlas content)
+ Lazy Play (ballistas target and kill enemies for you; this is a one-button build)
+ Good defenses (once the build is fully done!)

Cons

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

• If you’re new to Path of Exile 1, know that you don’t need to stress about farming Uber Mode Pinnacle bosses or running purple maps (T17). PoE1 is a complex game, and it will likely take you quite some time to reach that kind of content!

However, if you do decide to go for that type of farming, know that you can later transition from a Siege Ballista Hierophant to a Shrapnel Ballista Hierophant, which is much more powerful and has a similar playstyle. The only major difference is the budget! Siege Ballista is much more cheaper than Shrapnel Ballista, so keep that in mind! You can find the full Shrapnel Ballista Hierophant build guide.

Playstyle

I adapted this build for lazy play; all that you need to do is move around and place your ballistas. Summoning Siege Ballista will also trigger Frostbite, Frost Bomb, Frenzy, Summon Ice Golem. Steelskin is also automated.

Damage Scaling & Defensive Layers

What you need to understand is that we are a Dexterity stacker. The more Dexterity you have, the more damage you will do and the more tanky you will become. The build revolves around the Iron Commander bow that grants +1 extra Siege Ballista totem for each 200 Dexterity you have. Iron Commander also has big synergy with Hierophant’s Ritual of Awakening ascendancy node, granting 5% More Damage, 1% Life Regen, and 0.5% Mana regen per totem!

Once fully done, the build becomes quite tanky! We receive 100% Spell Suppression for free from the Magebane Keystone. We achieve a more than 75% chance to evade attacks, over 60% physical damage reduction, immunity to elemental ailments, and an absurd life regeneration rate (approximately 1200 life regenerated per second). On top of everything, we are a ranged build.

[TIP] If you are playing this build on the Low budget, know that moving around can help you immensely. Moving around is a natural defense, and is especially useful on league start scenarios when people lack items and character levels. A common mistake that new POE players make is to sit in one place.

PoB and Passive Skill Tree

You can find an optimized Path of Building here. Every build I release will use the community fork of Path of Building. You can find PoB’s Fork by LocalIdentity through this link.

Passive Skill Tree, PoB & Gem Links

Gear Summary

This build is very easy to set up because it utilizes many cheap uniques (even at league start). Having a lot of unique items means you can construct the build faster, and it also gives you fewer headaches when it comes to character calibration.
The only items that might cause problems at league start are the amulet and the boots, but we have plenty of cheap alternatives for those! *Again, for the league start scenario item progression, scroll to the bottom of this page.

The setup should look something like this:

Item Slot	Item Name	Rarity	Notes
Head	Fractal Thoughts	Unique
Amulet	Astramentis ( Hyrri's Truth for budget)	Unique	If you are using Hyrri's Truth, do not enable the level 30 Precision Aura!
Chest	Crafted Rare Body Armour ( Briskwrap for budget)	Rare	Check the Crafting Guide to learn how to make and avoid overpaying!
Gloves	Hrimsorrow	Unique
Boots	Garukhan's Flight (Rare Boots with T1 Dexterity, Life and Movement Speed for budget)	Unique
Belt	%Increased Dexterity Synthesised belt ( Stygian Vise with T1 Dexterity, Life, and Resistances for budget)	Rare	Check the Crafting Guide to learn how to make and avoid overpaying!
Rings	2X %Increased Dexterity OR flat Dexterity Synthesised rings (Rare Rings with T1 Dexterity, Life and Resistances for budget)	Rare	Check the Crafting Guide to learn how to make and avoid overpaying!
Weapon	Iron Commander	Unique
Quiver	The Poised Prism	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

Map modifiers & Eater of Worlds altars

The following script is the Siege Ballista REGEX filter: “!gen|tal d|s rec”
(No Regen, Low Recovery Rate & Elemental Reflect)

[TIP] The build can do all map modifiers if you do the following:

1) For No Regen swap Inspiration Support with Lifetap Support gem. This will allow you to summon totems by spending Life instead of Mana. When Life gets lower (as you summon totems) you will use your Life Flask to bring it back up.

2) For Low Recovery swap Inspiration Support with Lifetap Support gem. Just know that if you take too many “map explicit modifier” Atlas nodes, your less recovery rate can exceed 100, and you will not regen at all. Life Flasks will no longer heal you!

3) For Elemental Reflect know that Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks Support support gem (at Level 5 or higher) allows your totems to become immune to Elemental Reflect. However, you are not! Your Manaforged Arrows Support setup will trigger Frenzy and you will instantly get 1-shot! The quick fix is to remove Manaforged Arrows Support from the bow setup for that particular map, and you will be fine. Also know that this build can do Elemental Reflect maps even without the Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks Support support gem. Just keep resummoning your totems as they die!

For the Eater of Worlds altars you will need to avoid “% less recovery rate for each Endurance Charge” modifier. This is because we have 4x Endurance Charges up at all times, and that’s pretty bad! A quick fix is to swap the Inspiration Support with Lifetap Support gem. You can do this if you have a valuable altar (Like a Divine Orb altar)!

Common Mistakes

• Not taking Dexterity on rare items (most common problem).
• Not having 20% quality on the Siege Ballista skill gem (this is a significant DPS loss!).
• Using a low-level Siege Ballista skill gem.
   If you use a low-level gem, you deal Low DPS, and your totems die fast.
• Not unlocking the labs.
   You should not enter the mapping phase without completing the first three labs.
   There’s a big reason we picked Hierophant for this build concept!
• Not taking the “Point Blank” Keystone / not using a “Sleepless Sentries” Medium Cluster Jewel.
   Tip: Buy one with 4 or 5 passives – it will save you 1 skill point!
• Not using the right flasks / Not using the bow setup correctly (to summon the Golem and curse with Frostbite).
• 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 this out our Beginners Guide to Path Of Exile.

League Start scenario

You can find an optimized Path of Building for the League-Start progression here. Every build I release will use the community fork of Path of Building. You can find PoB’s Fork by LocalIdentity through this link.

If you’re new to Path of Building, we have a guide available here.

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This is a great league starter – it can take you from nothing to T16 maps quickly with minimal currency investment. I’ve been league starting with this build for more than five years in a row!

Here is the latest guide on “How to start a league with Siege Ballista”:

Here you can see me leveling a Templar from scratch. Acts 1–3 are the most problematic, but once you switch to EA Ballista, everything becomes easy!

For league-starting with Siege Ballista, we’ll go through three simple transition phases (If you’re new to the game, I highly encourage you to watch the video guide. This is because it visually walks you through the entire process for each phase).

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

Acts 1 – 3 ( Skill Tree: Use Act 1 – 3 LEVELING [HF TOTEM] )

First Town: Buy Purifying Flame (Complete the quest “Breaking Some Eggs,” then go back to town.)

Buy Holy Flame Totem. This will be your main skill until you reach Act 3 (Library), at which point you’ll transition to Explosive Arrow Ballista.

Main setup:
- Purifying Flame (Drop this skill gem once you get the “Ancestral Bond” keystone. Refer to the “Tree” and “Skills” sections in the PoB.)
- Holy Flame Totem + Combustion Support + Elemental Focus Support
- Flame Wall (When projectiles pass through these walls, they gain added fire damage. You can summon up to 3 walls at a time!)

Utility:
- Frostblink
- Flammability (Curse enemies with Flammability to deal more damage.)

Auras:
- Clarity
- Herald of Ash

TIPS:
It’s okay to have low-quality items in the early Acts!
In Acts I–III, items with multiple links and sockets are more valuable than raw stats.
When picking up gear in Acts I–III, look for stats that boost your damage, such as:
- % increased spell damage
- % increased fire damage
- +# to Level of all Fire Skill Gems
- Adds # to # Fire Damage to Spells

Lastly, know that you can use two wands if you like.

Acts 3 – 10 + Early mapping (white and yellow maps) ( Skill Tree: Use Act 3 – 10 LEVELING [EA BALLISTA] )

Once you reach the Library, you should buy this setup for the next Acts and early mapping until you reach approximately level 78.
You will need to level up your gems after buying 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
- Steelskin + Automation
- Flammability (Curse enemies with Flammability to deal more damage.)
- Frenzy + Manaforged Arrows Support (Optional Setup)

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).

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!

Buy a Siege Ballista skill gem and socket it in your weapon setup (Setup 2) so it levels up for the transition to the Siege Ballista build (minimum level 15).

Apply quality to the Siege Ballista gem using the Lab’s Forges!

Complete all three Labyrinths before mapping:

• First Lab — Start of Act 5 or end of Act 4 (allocate Pursuit of Faith)
• Second Lab — Start of Act 8 (allocate Ritual of Awakening)
• Third Lab — Before killing Kitava in Act 10 (allocate Convocation of Power)

Your main stats to prioritize:

Dexterity, Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances

For rare items (during the Explosive Arrow Ballista phase), look for:

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

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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!

Siege Ballista Transition

(Open the PoB from the Siege Ballista build guide and continue from there!)
👉 The Siege Ballista PoB is HERE
*You will transition at level 78 minimum (or higher), when you have all the mandatory items prepared and a Siege Ballista skill gem that is at least level 15 with 20% quality.
**When you transition, pay close attention to the skill tree, as we will be unallocating certain nodes at the top.
*** Do not rush the Siege Ballista transition! You should have minimum 1000 Dexterity upon the early Siege Ballista transition! (If you have lower, please re-check your items, the POB, or the “Common Mistakes” section)

If you’re new, the league start guide includes a timestamp that clearly shows, step by step, how to transition from Explosive Arrow Ballista to Siege Ballista. Good luck!

REMINDERS FOR THE SIEGE BALLISTA TRANSITION! The next 5 items are mandatory.

Helmet: Fractal Thoughts
Bow: Iron Commander
Chest: Briskwrap (5-linked!)
( Siege Ballista = Faster Attacks Support = Added Cold Damage Support = Inspiration Support = Elemental Damage with Attacks Support)
Quiver: The Poised Prism
Gloves: Hrimsorrow
———-
For the other items:
Amulet: For budget purposes, we will be using Hyrri's Truth (Do not enable the Level 30 Precision aura provided by this amulet, as it will disable one of your core auras.)
Boots: Rare Boots with T1 Dexterity, some Life and Movement Speed
Rings: Rare Rings with T1 Dexterity, some Life, and Resistances
Belt: Stygian Vise with T1 Dexterity ( Roll with one Deafening Essence of Sorrow )

Make sure to follow the skill tree exactly as it’s shown in the PoB!

Skill Gems for the Early Siege Ballista Transition

Main Setup (Chest):
Siege Ballista (must have 20% quality)
Inspiration Support
Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
Added Cold Damage Support
Faster Attacks Support

You will need a level 15+ Siege Ballista skill gem with 20% quality. You can naturally reach 20% quality while completing your Ascendancy Labs.

Utility Skills:
Dash + Second Wind Support
Frenzy + Manaforged Arrows Support
Frostbite (Cast manually for now)
Steelskin + Automation
Blood Rage

Auras:

Purity of Elements
Grace

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If you’re still curious about how well this build performs in league start scenario conditions, you can check out my “Zero to Hero” progressions. At league start, I always fully unlock my Atlas by day 3. This is the main reason I always league start with this build. In these “Zero to Hero” playlists, I provide daily summaries of my character’s progression, along with tips, reminders for the players following along, and a PoB. Towards the end, you have gameplay footage for that specific day.

• You can see my “Zero to Hero” for Settlers of Kalguur league HERE
• You can see my “Zero to Hero” for Necropolis league HERE
• You can see my “Zero to Hero” for Affliction league HERE
• You can see my “Zero to Hero” for Trial of the Ancestors league HERE

Twink Leveling

If you already have some currency and want to level up a Templar very quickly, I highly encourage you to use my universal power-leveling method. You’ll finish the campaign fast while having fun and playing in a relaxed way. There’s just one transition at level 20 (Act 2), which will carry you all the way to Act 10. So you won’t need to stress about constantly changing items and gems as you progress through the acts!

Here is the latest guide on my Universal Power-leveling method:

Good luck! This will become your best build. It’s Fun, Cheap, and Very Effective!