Stampede Titan Leveling Build

Build Introduction

Slam Titan is a build that can be played on a league start budget. It is a strong setup from the beginning of the campaign all the way through the endgame. The build clears maps and kills bosses quickly. It is also extremely tanky and fairly easy to play!

In maps, you cast Stampede to stomp through packs of enemies, causing them to explode and burn their remaining allies with Herald of Ash.

Your primary bossing combo is to cast Forge Hammer at the boss, detonate it with Infernal Cry, then use Stampede to deal massive amounts of extra damage with each step! Once you have Heavy Stunned the boss, you can finish them off with Hammer of the Gods!

If you’re looking for the endgame version that uses this league starter, please follow the link below!

---

Strengths and Weaknesses

---

Ascendancy

You can choose your Ascendancy upon completing the Trial of the Sekhemas in Act 2. Warriors have a pretty easy time in Ascendancy Trials, so you should head to them as soon as possible.

Titan

This is a build for the Titan Ascendancy. You can play other ascendancies, but they may not be as good.

Here is how we spend our Ascendancy points from the first three trials:

• Earthbreaker – 25% chance for Slam Skills you use yourself to cause Aftershocks. This is worth roughly 25% more damage. It’s great.
• Colossal Capacity and Hulking Form – 50% increased effect of Small Passive Skills. Upon completing the second trial, spec out of Earthbreaker and spend all four points on Hulking Form. This bonus increases every single small passive bonus on your passive tree by 50%. This is an enormous bonus to damage and tankiness. It is the primary reason Titan is one of the best Ascendancies in the game.
• Earthbreaker (again) – This is still a really good bonus.

---

General Leveling Advice

A good two-handed mace is the most important piece of gear for your damage output. Be sure to maintain your weapon throughout the campaign. Spending your Exalted Orbs and runes on upgrading your mace is good!

Ensure you’re completing all important side quests. It’s very easy to pass up free passive points while running through campaign maps. In case you need a list of all permanent stat boosts during the campaign, you can find those on our guide using this link!

---

Leveling Passive Tree

The Passive Tree below can be followed through to the end of the Interlude and into early maps. Beyond that point, you should swap to an endgame setup. Follow along as you level using the arrows on the left and the right of the progression slider at the top of the Passive Tree.

The initial priority for nodes is to gain access to as much Aftershock chance as possible. Following this, survivability becomes paramount. We fulfill this need by targeting Armour increases and nodes that force our Armour to apply to Elemental Damage. Major nodes are listed below.

• Split the Earth – 10% chance to create an Aftershock.
• Behemoth – 5% chance to create an Aftershock and 3% increased Maximum Life.
• Skullcrusher – 20% more damage against heavy stunned enemies is a massive damage bonus when bosses are at their most vulnerable.
• Prism Guard – Making Armour also apply to Elemental damage is a massive defensive bonus, and Titans can easily get over 200% to all three elements with basic endgame gear.
• Blood Magic – This completely trivializes mana costs, and can easily be offset with Life Leech on rings and Life Gained on Kill on jewels.

Skill Gems

Listed below are all Skill Gems that should be used during the leveling process. There may be a slight variation depending on which Act you’re currently progressing through. Notes for each Act will be listed below the Skill Gem tool.

---

Act I

The first skill you acquire in the game is Rolling Slam, and you will use this throughout the first three acts of the campaign. It causes you to move forward and slam the ground twice. The first hit has extra stun buildup, and the second deals more damage to heavy stunned enemies. For bossing, you can whack the boss with both hits, especially while they are stunned.

Once you get a second skill gem for killing the Miller, you should craft Boneshatter. Casting Boneshatter on enemies that are Primed for Heavy Stun will deal a huge burst of damage. You should craft Impact Shockwave with your first support gem to turn Boneshatter into a consistent source of AoE damage.

You can use the first hit from Rolling Slam to generate stun buildup on enemies, then cast Boneshatter before the second hit to cancel the Rolling Slam animation and deal a huge shockwave of damage that can quickly clear out entire packs! This is your primary combo for killing enemies throughout the Act 1.

You can also use Infernal Cry to help clear out packs of enemies.

Craft Herald of Ash with your first Spirit Gem once you have defeated The King in the Mists in Freythorn.

---

Act 2

Midway through Act 2, you’ll unlock Leap Slam. You can support this with Crater, and it will become an excellent clearing skill that you can use to quickly zoom through zones. It’s also useful on bosses in combination with Rolling Slam. Leap around the boss to drop fissures under them, then trigger the fissures with Rolling Slam. Repeat until the boss is dead.

Once you find a level 9 skill gem, you can craft Forge Hammer. By throwing the Hammer on the ground and detonating it with Infernal Cry, you cover the ground under the boss in fiery fissures. You can repeatedly trigger all of the fissures by chain-casting Rolling Slam. This will deal tons of damage to bosses and build up heavy stun very quickly.

---

Act 3

You can use a level 11 skill gem to craft Stampede. This will replace both Leap Slam as your primary clearing skill and Rolling Slam as your main Forge Hammer trigger. Casting Stampede causes you to stomp on the ground multiple times, then slam the ground at the end for tons of AoE damage.

Learning to aim Stampede can take a bit of effort, but the payoff is worth it! You can move through zones while killing everything along the way. The built-in movement helps with dodging enemies attacks, as well!

Upon unlocking your second Persistent Aura skill, craft Overwhelming Presence to make stun buildup on monsters accumulate much more quickly.

---

Act 4 and Interludes

You will unlock Hammer of the Gods during the interludes. It requires 20 Glory to cast, and you can build up Glory by heavy stunning enemies. Stunning a unique enemy grants 20 Glory, so you can quickly cast Hammer of the Gods to finish off bosses as soon as you have stunned them!

With your final 40 Spirit, craft Scavenged Plating and Precision I to gain a couple of major boosts to your armour and accuracy.

---

Rotation

• Cast Stampede to clear packs of enemies.
• Against bosses, cast Forge Hammer at their feet, then Infernal Cry to detonate it.
• Use Stampede to stomp around in the Forge Hammer fissures to deal tons of damage and build up heavy stun.
• Once the boss is heavy stunned, cast Hammer of the Gods to finish them off.

---

Gearing Progression

You should use a Two-Handed Mace to deal damage with this build, and wear gear that has as much armour as possible.

Offensive Modifiers

• +X to Levels of Melee Skills
• Added or Increased Physical Damage
• Added Fire Damage
• Attack Speed
• Physical Damage Leeched as Health

Defensive Gear

• Maximum Life
• Armour Also Applies to Elemental Damage
• Armour
• Resistances

Runes

• Added Fire Damage (weapon rune, useful in early acts)
• % Increased Physical Damage (weapon rune, better in later acts)
• Resistances (always good defensively)

---

Campaign Character Bonuses

Here are our recommendations for permanent character bonus options throughout the campaign:

• Act 2: 30% Increased Charm Charges
• Act 3: 25% Increased Stun Threshold
• Act 4: 5% to each Elemental Resistance
• Interlude 2: 15% Increased Global Defences

---

Flasks and Charms

While leveling, you will find several flasks and Charms. Upgrade your flasks as you go along, and if you fail to find flask upgrades, check vendors to buy them with gold.

Things to look for on flasks and charms:

• Health and Mana Flasks
  • Prefix: Increased Amount Recovered
  • Suffix: # Charges gained per second
• Charm
  • Thawing Charm
  • Stone Charm