Totems Warbringer Leveling Build

Build Introduction

This is a concise guide on how to league-start with a Warrior and transition into my Totem Master build in Patch 0.4.0 – The Last of the Druids. Just like before, we will transition into totems during the campaign phase.

If you’re looking for the endgame version of this build, you can find that by following the link below.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

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Video Guide

Here is the league-start progression video guide for Patch 0.4.0, The Last of the Druids:

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Ascendancy

You will be able to select your Ascendancy after completing the Trial of Sekhemas during Act 2. This leveling build was made specifically for Warbringer; if you wish to use another Ascendancy, Path of Exile 2 now allows you to respec, and it can be done at any point after completing the initial Trial during the campaign.

The two major nodes for Warbringer we’ll be taking are:

• Answered Call – This node is very important. It will give us +1 extra Totem and summon minions for us. Take your first Ascendancy around level 25 in Act 2.
• Wooden Wall – Will also provide us with some extra damage mitigation. Complete the Trial of Chaos towards the end of Act 3.

For the third and fourth Ascendancy points, you don’t need to worry. You can complete the campaign easily without them.

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General Leveling Advice

For Warrior, the most important thing in the campaign is to consistently upgrade your gear as you progress through the Acts, especially your weapon! Remember, since Patch 0.3.0, our damage will depend heavily on the physical damage of your weapon.

In the first Act, we will use a two-handed mace. Later, after our first Ascendancy, we can also swap to a one-handed mace and a shield. This is entirely personal player preference.

In addition to your weapon, look for rings and gloves with added physical damage whenever possible. For the other items, focus on Life and Elemental Resistances.

Always upgrade your flasks as you progress.

Do not skip the essential side-quests that grant Skill Points, Maximum Life, and Resistances. Make sure that you do not have negative elemental resistances.

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Leveling Passive Tree

Leveling Skill Tree (1-52):

You can cycle through the points to see the order in which you need to allocate the Skill Nodes!

Leveling Skill Tree – Mortar Grenade swap (52+):

At Level 52, we will swap into the actual build. Buy a random crossbow from trade with a lot of physical damage and, if possible, an additional grenade implicit (Grenade Skills Fire an additional Projectile). This crossbow will be very cheap at league start! Once you’ve allocated all the skill tree notables, you can continue following the skill tree from the main build guide. Remember to upgrade your crossbow every 10 levels or so. Also remember to upgrade the gem levels of your Mortar Cannon and Cluster Grenade as well!

Skill Gems

Listed below are all the Skill Gems you should be using during the leveling process.

Act 1-2 (Levels 1-22) Skill Rotation & Notes

[READ!] In Acts 1 and 2 you’ll want to use a two-handed weapon with high physical damage. Make sure to upgrade your weapon every 7–12 levels, and remember that you can buy powerful weapons cheaply from the trade website, market exchange or gambling from the town vendors!

Enter the town, and you will receive an Uncut Skill Gem as a quest reward. You will pick Boneshatter. You will want to use a two-handed weapon for this Act. Use Rolling Slam until enemies get highlighted, then use Boneshatter to trigger an AoE explosion.

Once you reach Level 6, you will want to pick Shockwave Totem. The main purpose of this totem in the early acts is to attract and distract monsters (not for damage).

Single Target Skill Rotation should be Shockwave Totem , followed up by Mace Strike (Rage + Rapid Attacks I).

Map Clearing Rotation should be Shockwave Totem , followed up by Rolling Slam. Use Boneshatter once the enemies get highlighted.

Upon getting your first Spirit Gem, unlock Herald of Ash. This helps with monster pack clears. You can also add to the mix Earthquake (Rage + Rapid Attacks I). This will give us Jagged Ground that will greatly boost the damage of our Shockwave Totem. Jagged Ground is a great addition for harder monsters like Rares and Bosses, just make sure one of your totems is near the Jagged Ground.

Since Fire Penetration II Support ignores enemy Fire Resistance, we won’t allocate any Fire Penetration nodes in the Skill Tree.

Remember to upgrade the gem levels of your main skills!

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Acts 2-4 (Levels 22-52) Skill Rotation & Notes

• Drop Shockwave Totem.
• Spam Volcanic Fissure.

For hard bosses, you can add Earthquake . This skill will spawn Jagged Grounds that will get detonated by your Shockwave Totem for serious extra damage.

Drop Herald of Ash and use Magma Barrier instead to boost your defenses. Make sure to upgrade your one-handed mace every 7 levels or so, and remember that on league-start you can buy powerful weapons cheaply from the trade website, market exchange or gambling from the town vendors!

Around Level 25 you should complete your first Ascendancy. Answered Call is very important node that will give you a lot of extra damage. (It will give us +1 extra Totem and summon minions for us). Do not engage the Zalmarath Colossus boss (Titan Grotto area) or Iktab & Ekbab (Bone Pits area) without the Warbringer ascendancy unlocked!

Once you allocate the “Blood Magic” Keystone all your mana problems will be over! To solve early mana problems, make sure to always upgrade your Mana Flask, and look some for Mana Regeneration and Maximum Mana modifiers on your early items.

The more totems you have and the faster they attack, the more damage you will deal. Make sure to always level up your gems as you progress through the campaign!

Remember to upgrade the gem levels of your main skills!

[TIP] At the start of act 3, in the Sandswept March area there is a hidden chest that is guaranteed to drop a LESSER JEWELLER’S ORB. Find more about the exact location here

[TIP] You can reduce the extra visual effects from Volcanic Fissure by enabling Dynamic Culling under Options → Graphics → Advanced Settings. This will improve visual clarity.

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Acts 4-Interlude (Level 52+) Skill Rotation & Notes

The skill rotation is pretty straight-forward. You place the Mortar Cannon totems and run in circles until everything dies. For harder bosses, you’ll also want to shoot an Oil Grenade to apply Fire Exposure.

At Level 52, we will swap into the actual build. Buy a random crossbow from trade with a lot of physical damage (check around 300; such a crossbow is very cheap on league-start). Check the image below if you are new to the game. For the “Level” requirement field, enter whatever level you currently have.

If possible, look for a Bombard Crossbow base (which has the Grenade Skills Fire an Additional Projectile implicit). Make sure it has around 250+ physical damage; otherwise, it’s not worth it! In addition to physical damage, having + to gem levels on the crossbow will also boost your damage drastically!

To make it easier for new players, you can see the Grenade Ballista transition here.

Once you’ve defeated Lythara, the Wayward Spear (Interlude Acts) and gained the +40 maximum Spirit, you can replace Vitality I with Vitality II + Herbalism I.

Once you’ve allocated all the Skill Tree notables, you can continue following the skill tree from the main build guide.

Remember to upgrade your crossbow every 10 levels or so. Also remember to upgrade the gem levels of your Mortar Cannon and Cluster Grenade as well! A common mistake new players make is forgetting to level up the Cluster Grenade gem.

For general mapping, try to spread out the totems. Avoid summoning them in the same spot, as this improves clear speed and helps them survive.

Always stay on the move while your totems attack. Moving around is a natural defense. This is a good practice that can help with maps that have very deadly modifiers.

For fast map clearing, try dropping a totem every half second while moving. This makes a big difference in clearing monsters quickly! We’ll be placing them rapidly anyway, thanks to the high totem placement speed from the Skill Tree.

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Gearing Progression

The most important thing in the early campaign is to consistently upgrade your gear as you progress through the acts, especially your weapon! Remember, in Patch 0.4.0, totem damage scales heavily with the physical damage of your weapon.

In addition to your weapon, look for rings and gloves with added physical damage whenever possible. For the other items, focus on Life and Elemental Resistances.

Try to get a Rise of the Phoenix unique shield (very cheap). It gives a lot of life regeneration! Idol of Uldurn is another great unique item that will grant you one additional totem and one extra Ancestral Spirit. After level 52, you might want to consider the Fireflower amulet too for the + to Gem Levels). These uniques are not mandatory, but are great if you can get them

At Level 52, we will swap into the actual build. Buy a random crossbow from trade with a lot of physical damage and, if possible, an additional grenade implicit of Grenade Skills Fire an additional Projectile. This crossbow will be very cheap at league start! In addition to physical damage, having + to Gem Levels on the crossbow will also boost your damage drastically!

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.

• Health Flask
  • Prefix: Increased Amount Recovered
  • Suffix: # Charges gained per second
• Charms
  • Thawing Charm
  • Grounding Charm

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Campaign Buffs

During the acts, there are some quests that activate additional bonuses for your character:

• Valley of the Titans (Act 2)
  • 30% Increased Charm Charges Gained.
• Venom Draught (Act 3)
  • Stun Threshold. Since Time of Need helps us with the Elemental Ailment removal and because we don’t use mana in our build, for the first Vial Quest, our best pick will be 25% increased Stun Threshold.
• Tattoos (Act 4)
  • All Blank Tattoos should be elemental resistance.
• Qimah Pillars (Interlude)
  • Your choice, these can be changed whenever.

For more details, check the guide on Campaign Difficulties and Permanent Stat Bonuses.

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Changelog

• December 6th, 2025: Added more useful notes, changed some support gems, and you can now transition into Mortar Grenades at Level 52 (during the campaign).
• August 30th, 2025: Added 0.3 Skill Tree & Swapped out Earthquake for Volcanic Fissure with Shockwave Totem.
• August 28th, 2025: Guide created for Patch 0.3.0, The Third Edict.