PoE Heavy Strike Build 3.25 – Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur

The Heavy Strike build in Path of Exile is a powerful melee setup focused on delivering devastating single-target blows with a high chance to stun enemies. This build leverages the unique mechanics of Heavy Strike to maximize physical damage, stun chance, and double damage potential, making it highly effective for both bosses and regular enemies. This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of how to optimize a Heavy Strike build in the 3.25 patch, ensuring you maximize your damage output and efficiency.

Key Features of Heavy Strike

Heavy Strike (Level 20):

• Attack, Melee, Strike: Heavy Strike is a melee attack that hits enemies with a forceful blow, capable of stunning and dealing double damage.
• Mana Cost: 12 mana.
• Attack Speed: 85% of base.
• Attack Damage: 552.5% of base.
• Effectiveness of Added Damage: 552%.
• Quality: +20%.
• Requirements: Requires Level 70, 155 Strength.
• Heavy Strike Mechanics:
  • 25% reduced enemy stun threshold.
  • 59% chance to deal double damage.

Building Around Heavy Strike

1. Weapon Choice:

• High Physical Damage Maces, Sceptres, Axes, Swords, or Staves: Prioritize weapons with high base physical damage to maximize the effectiveness of Heavy Strike. Look for weapons with increased attack speed, critical strike chance, and added physical damage.

2. Passive Skill Tree:

• Focus on nodes that enhance physical damage, melee damage, attack speed, critical strike chance, critical strike multiplier, and stun chance. Specific clusters to prioritize include those near the Marauder, Templar, and Duelist start areas.
• Consider pathing to nodes that increase life, resistances, and defensive attributes to maintain survivability.

Ascendancy Choices

1. Juggernaut:

• Unflinching: Grants Endurance Charge generation and reduces physical damage taken.
• Unstoppable: Grants immunity to stuns and movement impairments.
• Unbreakable: Increases armor and grants life recovery based on physical damage prevention.
• Unyielding: Enhances fortify and provides damage reduction.

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.
• Inspirational: Increases the effect of non-curse auras from your skills.
• First to Strike, Last to Fall: Provides increased damage and survivability.

Support Gems

1. Main Skill Setup:

• Heavy Strike: Primary melee attack skill.
• Support Gems: Melee Physical Damage, Ruthless, Multistrike, Brutality, and Pulverise.

2. Secondary Skill Setup:

• Ancestral Warchief: Totem skill to enhance melee damage.
• Support Gems: Multiple Totems, Melee Physical Damage, and Elemental Damage with Attacks.

3. Utility Skills:

• War Banner: For increased accuracy and physical damage.
• Steelskin / Immortal Call: For defense.
• Leap Slam / Shield Charge: For mobility.
• Pride: For increased physical damage to enemies.

Armor and Accessories

1. Armor:

• Body Armor: Prioritize armor with high life, resistances, and increased physical damage. Consider options like Belly of the Beast for increased life and resistances.
• Helmet, Gloves, and Boots: Look for items that boost life, resistances, attack speed, and physical damage. Consider using items with increased armor and defensive mods.

2. Accessories:

• Amulet and Rings: Focus on items that enhance physical damage, melee damage, life, and resistances. Look for mods that increase attack speed and critical strike chance.
• Belt: A Stygian Vise with life, resistances, and increased physical damage 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.
• Quicksilver Flask: For increased movement speed.
• Diamond Flask: For increased critical strike chance.
• Silver Flask: For increased movement and attack speed.

Combat Strategy

1. Engaging Enemies:

• Use Heavy Strike to deal significant single-target damage and stun enemies, maintaining high uptime on your attacks to maximize damage and crowd control. Utilize Leap Slam or Shield Charge for mobility and positioning.

2. Utilizing Ascendancy Passives:

• Leverage the Juggernaut or Champion passives to enhance your defenses and damage output. Use Juggernaut for increased endurance charges and physical damage mitigation, and Champion for fortify and increased attack speed.

3. Managing Buffs and Debuffs:

• Maintain high uptime on War Banner and Pride to boost your physical damage and accuracy. Use your flasks to enhance your damage, resistances, and survivability during combat.

Example Builds

1. Juggernaut Heavy Strike Build:

• Focus on endurance charge generation and physical damage mitigation.
• Utilize Unflinching and Unyielding to maximize survivability and damage reduction.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and critical strike effectiveness.

2. Champion Heavy Strike Build:

• Focus on fortify and increased attack speed.
• Utilize Unstoppable Hero and Fortitude to maximize survivability and damage output.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and Warcry effectiveness.

Conclusion

The Heavy Strike build for Path of Exile 3.25 offers a powerful and straightforward playstyle for melee enthusiasts who enjoy delivering massive single-target damage and stunning enemies. By focusing on maximizing physical damage, stun chance, and critical strike potential, players can effectively dominate both bosses and regular encounters. Proper gear selection, passive skill tree planning, and strategic use of ascendancy passives will ensure that you unleash the full potential of this powerful skill. Equip your weapons, prepare your flasks, and strike with the overwhelming force of Heavy Strike to crush your enemies with devastating blows.