PoE Dread Banner Build 3.25 – Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur

The Dread Banner build in Path of Exile focuses on enhancing your character’s defensive capabilities while providing powerful aura effects to you and your allies. By leveraging the unique mechanics of Dread Banner, you can boost your block chance and life recovery, making you a formidable tank and a valuable support to your party. This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of how to optimize a Dread Banner build in the 3.25 patch, ensuring you maximize your defensive strength, support capabilities, and overall survivability.

Key Features of Dread Banner

Dread Banner (Level 20):

• AoE, Spell, Duration, Aura: Dread Banner is a skill that places a banner with an aura, enhancing your defenses and providing beneficial effects to you and your allies.
• Mana Cost: 19 mana.
• Cooldown Time: 1.00 second.
• Cast Time: Instant.
• Quality: +20%.
• Requirements: Requires Level 70, 155 Strength.
• Valour Mechanic: Gain Valour from melee combat to use this skill. Consumes all Valour to place a banner.
• Duration: Base duration of 12.00 seconds.
• Radius: Base radius of 2.4 metres.
• Area of Effect and Aura Effect: 10% more area of effect and 10% more aura effect per Valour consumed.
• Aura Effects:
  • Grants +4% chance to block attack damage to you and allies.
  • Causes you and allies to recover 34 life when blocking.

Building Around Dread Banner

1. Weapon Choice:

• High Block Chance Weapons: Prioritize weapons and shields with high block chance and defensive attributes to maximize the effectiveness of the Dread Banner aura.

2. Passive Skill Tree:

• Focus on nodes that enhance block chance, life, and defensive capabilities. Specific clusters to prioritize include those near the Marauder, Duelist, and Templar start areas.
• Consider pathing to nodes that increase aura effect, life regeneration, and elemental resistances.

Ascendancy Choices

1. Guardian:

• Radiant Crusade: Provides increased damage and defense when you have at least five allies.
• Unwavering Crusade: Increases the effects of auras from your skills.
• Bastion of Hope: Grants a block chance when you or your allies are critically struck.
• Time of Need: Provides life regeneration and removes ailments every few seconds.

2. Champion:

• Unstoppable Hero: Grants increased attack speed, damage, and immunity to stuns while you have fortify.
• Fortitude: Grants fortify, providing damage reduction and increased defenses.
• First to Strike, Last to Fall: Provides Adrenaline, increasing damage and survivability when on low life.
• Inspirational: Enhances the effects of your banners and provides increased damage and defense.

Support Gems

1. Main Skill Setup:

• Dread Banner: Primary support skill.
• Support Gems: Generosity (to increase aura effect on allies), Increased Duration, Enhance (for increased quality), Empower (for increased levels), and Enlighten (to reduce mana reservation).

2. Secondary Skill Setup:

• Leap Slam / Shield Charge: For mobility.
• Support Gems: Faster Attacks, Fortify, and Endurance Charge on Melee Stun (if using Shield Charge).

3. Utility Skills:

• Steelskin / Immortal Call: For defense.
• Blood and Sand: To switch between Blood and Sand stances.
• War Banner: Additional banner to provide various bonuses.
• Determination: For additional armor.

Armor and Accessories

1. Armor:

• Body Armor: Prioritize armor with high life, resistances, and physical damage reduction. Consider options like Loreweave for increased resistances and overall survivability.
• Helmet, Gloves, and Boots: Look for items that boost block chance, life, and resistances. Consider using items with increased block recovery and defensive attributes.

2. Accessories:

• Amulet and Rings: Focus on items that enhance block chance, life, resistances, and critical strike chance. Look for mods that increase defensive attributes and mana reservation efficiency.
• Belt: A Stygian Vise with life, resistances, and increased block chance is ideal.

Flask Setup

1. Life Flask:

• Instant Recovery: For emergency healing.

2. Utility Flasks:

• Granite Flask: For increased armor.
• Basalt Flask: For physical damage reduction.
• Jade Flask: For increased evasion.
• Quicksilver Flask: For increased movement speed.

Combat Strategy

1. Engaging Enemies:

• Use your melee attacks to generate Valour and place the Dread Banner to provide powerful aura effects to you and your allies. Maintain high Valour levels to maximize the banner’s effectiveness.

2. Utilizing Ascendancy Passives:

• Leverage the Guardian or Champion passives to enhance your defenses and support capabilities. Use Guardian for increased aura effects and defensive support, and Champion for fortify bonuses and enhanced banner effects.

3. Managing Buffs and Debuffs:

• Maintain high uptime on Blood and Sand stances and leverage the increased damage and control provided by each stance.
• Use your flasks to boost damage, resistances, and survivability during combat.

Example Builds

1. Guardian Dread Banner Build:

• Focus on aura effects and defensive support.
• Utilize Radiant Crusade and Unwavering Crusade to maximize aura effects.
• Use support gems that enhance aura effects and duration.

2. Champion Dread Banner Build:

• Focus on fortify and banner effects.
• Utilize Unstoppable Hero and Inspirational to increase damage and defense.
• Use support gems that enhance banner effects and fortify bonuses.

Conclusion

The Dread Banner build for Path of Exile 3.25 offers a powerful and supportive playstyle for players who enjoy combining melee combat with strong defensive auras. By focusing on maximizing aura effects, attack speed, and physical damage mitigation, players can effectively support both themselves and their allies in combat. Proper gear selection, passive skill tree planning, and strategic use of ascendancy passives will ensure that you unleash the full potential of this powerful support skill. Equip your weapons, prepare your flasks, and rally your allies with the formidable power of Dread Banner.