[3.2] Lifting's Lead Sprinkler Berserker - Boss Killer & Fast Mapper!


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Path of Building info

PoB link:https://pastebin.com/EVRWX0DH

PoB alternative "budget" version:https://pastebin.com/WqzkX1Pe

Both PoB links contains various skill-trees and gearing setups for use for either the Berserker or the Chieftain.

By default the PoB link will show the full berserker tree and berserker gear set.

How To Import The Build Into PoB Via Pastebin

How to import the build into PoB:


Swapping Skill-trees in PoB

There are 4 skill-trees for each Ascendancy choice. 3 leveling trees and 1 complete tree.

How to swap trees:


Swapping Gear Setup in PoB

PoB is not able to swap jewels between the different gear sets. Please, take note that the Watcher's Eye Jewel isn't recommended for the Chieftain and that a life flask is required.

- "REQ" = Required - meaning the item is necessary for the build to properly function.

- "CHIEF" = Chieftain - this label indicates items that are used with the chieftain version, but not the berserker.


How to swap between berserker or chieftain (CHIEF) gear:


Skill-gem Setups in PoB

If playing as Berserker = Disable ALL the chieftain gems.

If playing as Chieftain = Disable ALL the berserker gems.

Select the relevant gem setup to the left by the drop down menu.


BUILD OVERVIEW

- This setup can deal with the highest level content the game has to offer.

- This build has incredible single target damage/boss killing potential via Molten Strike and great clear speed via Wild Strike.

- Designed around the Brutus Lead Sprinkler mace.

- Can easily reach 8000+ life.

- Video: https://youtu.be/yoWguH7c4JQ

- Gameplay AND video-guide: https://youtu.be/tXCPCFEdT6M (NEW)

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BERSERKER OR CHIEFTAIN - STRENGTH'S & WEAKNESSES

Berserker = Pick this if you want the most damage, can accept the occasional death and don't mind having to deal with the rage degen mechanic (warning: many people do not enjoy this). Can do all content in the game and absolutely obliterates bosses when properly geared. If going Berserker I recommend you have a decent understanding of the game and know how to properly deal with the downsides of the ascendancy.

Chieftain = Tankier, a great uber lab farmer and in general the safer choice if you just wanna have a good time. While having less damage than the berserker it can still deal with any content in the game, including Shaper. If you consider yourself a "rookie" or is in doubt about which ascendancy to chose then I recommend the chieftain.


Berserker

Strengths:

- Can provide some of the highest single target damage potential this game has to offer. Great boss killer (all of them!).

- Fast mapper, great clear speed.

- High health pool (8000+).

- Easy and fast to level.

- Budget friendly until tier 16+ and endgame bosses.

Weaknesses:

- Requires LOTS of life regen to sustain life with 50 rage and Blood Rage activated.

- Takes 10% increased damage against everything, including traps. You should expect to die every once in a while.

- To maximize potential of this build there are several expensive items that must be obtained.


Chieftain

Strengths:

- Great boss killer.

- Amazing Uber lab farmer for less than 40c

- Does not use Xoph's Blood and Watcher's Eye as it gets similar bonuses via its Ascendancy.
This is a saving of a minimum of 12 exalts!

- High health pool (8000+) and safer/tankier than the Berserker. A much better HC choice.

- Fast and easy to level.

- Can gain up to 1000 strength without too much effort.

Weaknesses:

- Does not have the same damage output, nor is it as fast as the berserker.

- More reliant on endurance charge maintenance.


Budget Requirements

TL:DR

- Required starter items: <5c
- Tier 15 viable: <50c
- Guardians, Red Elder & Shaper: <280c
- Boss melting potential: <10ex
- The gear I currently wear: <30ex
- The Chieftain alternative: <18ex

Gear explanation - you do not need to start out rich:

The above are merely estimations. It really comes down to how efficient a trader you consider yourself.

I have both good news and bad news. The good news is that you can start this build on a budget, only requiring the Brutus Lead Sprinkler mace, 2 Wildfire jewels, Meginord's Vise gloves and 1 Elder ring with 15-20 "life gain on hit" (Required starter gear cost = 5c).
This paired with decent rares (strength, life, resists etc.) can take you all the way from the start of the game to tier 15 maps. This (starter gear + rares for t15) can probably be achieved with less than 30-50c invested, granted you make reasonable trades.

If you want to do tier 16+ maps and endgame bosses then there are a few unique items that I highly recommend you get, including the Lycosidae shield, a 5- or 6-link Belly of the Beast armor, the Wise Oak flask and of course decent rare gear in the remaining slots. This should be possible (and possibly pretty good) with less than 280c invested, including the starter gear.

If you want to get the damage and life you see me having in the videos then things start to become somewhat expensive. You need all the aforementioned, but instead of a 5-link you now need a 6-linked Molten Strike Belly of the Beast armor, the Xoph's Blood amulet, an anger/vitality Watcher's Eye, The Dying Sun Flask, a 3+ MS Projectiles enchanted helmet and decent/good rare items. This amounts to something like 30ex or 23ex if you get a rare 6-link instead and skip the Dying Sun, as it is the least impactful of all the upgrades (still pretty good though). This includes the 280c invested for the previously obtained gear.

Some of these uniques are very expensive, and not really that necessary. You can realistically get some crazy good damage with just the starter items plus the Lyco shield, a 6-link, a 3+ MS projectile enchant, the Wise Oak and good rare items for <10ex

Even with the amount of currency I have invested I still have a lot of rare items that could be further optimized - it just isn't necessary.
This is in part one of the reasons I have enjoyed playing this build for as long as I have - the character progression feels great with lots of items to look forward to "unlocking" even 2 weeks into the game.

This is the type of build that can be started on a budget (this was my league starter), allowing you to farm up and eventually get a hold of some of those expensive unique items to eventually find yourself with some of the best single target damage achievable in the game.
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SKILL GEMS

Berserker

Single Target:

- Molten Strike, Multistrike, Concentrated Effect, Elemental Focus, Elemental Damage with Attacks (5-link) & Fire Penetration (6-link).

Area Clear:

- Wild Strike, Ancestral Call, Multistrike & Elemental Damage with Attacks.

Mobility:

- Shield Charge, Faster Attacks, Fortify & Culling Strike.

Note: A quality 20% Culling Strike grants an additional extra 10% inc. attack speed for faster shield charging.

Utility 1:

- Enduring Cry, Blood Rage & Increased Duration.

Auras & Utility:

- Anger, Vitality & Ancestral Protector.

Note: I suggest using Blasphemy + Poacher's Mark instead of Vitality until you get yourself a LGoH Watcher's Eye.

CWDT Setup:

- CWDT (lvl 9), Flammability (lvl 12), Immortal Call (lvl 11) & Summon Stone Golem (lvl 11).

Note: For this setup, it is important that your gems are exactly the level as posted above, otherwise it won't work. If you accidentally over-level a gem you can sell it to the vendor together with an orb of scouring to de-level it by 1 level. Or sell it together with an orb of regret to return it to level 1.

[spoiler="Chieftain:"]
Single Target:

- Molten Strike, Multistrike, Concentrated Effect, Elemental Damage with Attacks, Immolate (5-link) & Fire Penetration (6-link).

Note: Depending on how reliable you find yourself igniting the enemies, you may want to use Chance to Ignite instead of Immolate early on.

Area Clear:

- Wild Strike, Ancestral Call, Multistrike & Elemental Damage with Attacks.

Note: For late game try to get some Elder gloves with implicit faster attacks for your WS setup.

Mobility:

- Shield Charge, Faster Attacks, Fortify & Culling Strike.

Note: A quality 20% Culling Strike grants an additional extra 10% inc. attack speed for faster shield charging.

Utility 1:

- Enduring Cry, Blood Rage & Increased Duration.

Auras & Utility:

- Anger, Herald of Ash & Ancestral Protector.

Note: Consider using Blasphemy + Poacher's Mark instead of Herald of Ash for life gain on hit.

CWDT Setup:

- CWDT (lvl 9), Flammability (lvl 12), Immortal Call (lvl 11) & Summon Lightning Golem (lvl 11).

Note: For this setup, it is important that your gems are exactly the level as posted above, otherwise it won't work. If you accidentally over-level a gem you can sell it to the vendor together with an orb of scouring to de-level it by 1 level. Or sell it together with an orb of regret to return it to level 1.[/spoiler]
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PASSIVES, ASCENDANCYS & PANTHEONS

Berserker

Ascendancy Points:

- Aspect of Carnage--> War Bringer --> Crave the Slaughter --> Rite of Ruin.

Leveling skill-tree 1:


Leveling skill-tree 2:


Leveling skill-tree 3:


Finished skill-tree at level 93 and 116 points:


Note: If you at any point need more intelligence to level your gems then simply pick up the 30+ notables in the skill-tree and/or search the vendors for a Lapis Amulet as a temporary fix.

Pantheon Powers:

- Major Pantheon choice: Soul of Arakaali

Explanation: The "reduced damage taken from damage over time" does not influence the Rage degen effect as it is not considered "damage". However once you get the tier 2 bonus "50% inc. recovery of life... if you've stopped taken damage over time recently" actually helps us mitigate the degen. When our CWDT + IC setup procs, it temporarily stops the damage over time effect Blood Rage applies and thus grants us the life recovery bonus - which directly helps mitigate the degen from Rage.

- Minor Pantheon choice: Soul of Shakari

Explanation: Primarily for the "Immune to Poison" which completely nullifies the "monsters poison on hit" map mod and it works amazingly in uber lab against certain traps.

Chieftain

Ascendancy Points:

- Ngamahu, Flame's Advance--> Hinekora Death's Fury --> Tawhoa, Forest's Strength --> Ramako Sun's Light.

Leveling skill-tree 1:


Leveling skill-tree 2:


Leveling skill-tree 3:


Finished skill-tree at level 92 and 115 points:


Note: If you at any point need more intelligence to level your gems then simply pick up the 30+ notables in the skill-tree and/or search the vendors for a Lapis Amulet as a temporary fix.

Pantheon Powers:

- Major Pantheon choice: Soul of Solaris

- Minor Pantheon choice: Soul of Shakari

Explanation: Primarily for the "Immune to Poison" which completely nullifies the "monsters poison on hit" map mod and it works amazingly in uber lab against certain traps.

Why not Jugg!?

It seems like there is a lot of debating whether or not the jugg can be a viable alternative. Let me try and explain why I don't think it is the optimal choice based on the goal of this character, which is to get as much damage and clear speed possible.

The reason I didn't pick the jugg is because I find it inefficient. Sure it is tankier (much so in fact) than the berserker, but it also provides significantly less damage, not to mention the increased area of effect via Unyielding is detrimental to the overall single target damage. However even if you were to spend those 2 points differently I still don't consider it very efficient.

If we compare the two same setups with the same gear except that the Jugg is dual wielding the Lead Sprinkler then the jugg ends up around 415k dps per magma ball and a 93% hit chance at level 93. Compared to the berserker who ends up around 676k DPS this is a 261k DPS LOSS and with about 1 APS less.

Now to be fair you would probably try and get a bit more flat accuracy on the Jugg to scale more attack speed. The problem is that with this type of build you already trying to get life, strength, res, ele. damage, attack speed etc. meaning that if we were to realistically get some good accuracy rolls it would come at the cost of some already useful damage rolls.
And to be honest, even if you were to get a bit more accuracy, then it still wouldn't come close to the damage of the berserker.

Also, dual wielding the Lead Sprinkler for what effectively only grants you 15% inc. attack speed (dual wielding bonus, the fire damage is local and doesn't stack) is in no way worth it in my opinion. Your best choice is to stick to the Lyco shield (which once again detracts from the value of the Jugg) or get a great rare shield - but lets be honest, how much do you really benefit then?

Dual wielding Lead Sprinklers is also going to prevent you from using Shield charge. Whirling Blades doesn't work either as you are using maces, not swords, daggers or claws. This would result in huge clear speed loss, not to mention the ability to apply fortify reliably.

It is true that the Jugg is tankier and it will still provide enough DPS for effectively killing Shaper etc, not to mention it would be a great uber lab farmer and if that is what you prefer then go for it, but in that case I find the chieftain to be just as good of an alternative, if not better.

Also please note that I am not trying to say that if you play as Jugg you are doing it wrong, I am merely stating why I personally don't find it to be the best choice.

I hope that helps answer the question as to why I don't believe the jugg is optimal for this setup.

Why not Champion!?

The simple answer here is that the champion doesn't really provide anything we can't get elsewhere, except that it allows us to not rely on the Lycosidae shield (100% hit chance). The benefit of that is that you save some currency and potentially get a great rare shield instead, but that is about it.

Even with Adrenaline, taunt and intimidate multipliers active the champion still deals significantly less damage than the berserker or ascendant. The last time I checked it was around 200k less or so than the berserker.

Wild Strike and Molten Strike both alternate hands when attacking if dual wielding. This means a stat stick, which normally is very powerful, is useless for this setup as all the damage of our build comes locally from the added fire damage the Lead Sprinkler provides.

The champion could possibly work great as an uber lab cheap/budget alternative though and there is no denying that it is safer than the berserker for instance.
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LEVELING ADVICE

1. Level 1-12: Use Cleave, linked with Chance to Bleed & Maim.

Note: Make sure to equip the various required skill-gems (eg. Ancestral Call) as soon as you can so they can start gaining experience for later. You can socket the gems into your secondary weapon setup and they will still gain experience - even if you don't use those weapons.

2. Level 12-27: Dual wield/2-handed Sunder setup linked with Chance to Bleed, Maim and potentially Melee Physical Damage. Make sure to dedicate another 3-link to Molten Strike linked with Melee Physical damage and Elemental Damage with Attacks.

3. Level 28: Equip your Brutus Lead Sprinkler and a shield, do not dual wield. and start using Wild Strike with Ancestral Call and Elemental Damage with Attacks for clear. Use Molten Strike, Faster Attacks and Elemental Damage with Attacks for bosses. Equip your Wildfire jewels if you haven't already.

Note: If you prefer you can keep using Sunder as clear skill until level 50+.

4. Level 31+: HIGHLY recommended either get a Thief's Torment ring and/or set up Blasphemy with Poacher's Mark for some great life gained on hit early on. Swap those once you get the Watcher's Eye and elder rings setup.

5. Level 38: Once you have completed "The Eternal Nightmare" quest choose Multistrike as quest reward and purchase an extra one from Petarus and Vanja. Add 1 Multistrike gem to the Molten Strike setup and 1 Multistrike gem to the Wild Strike setup. This of course requires you to have a 4-link for each setup. If you don't then check the vendors for one, or simply progress a bit further until you find one.

6. Level 50-60+: try to get yourself a cheap 5-linked armor for your Molten Strike setup. Re-evaluate your gems - add in the ones you can from the guide and throw away old gems that are no longer needed.

Note: By completing Lily's quest in Act 6 she can give you access to all skill-gems (with few exceptions) the game has to offer. Simply browse her "store" to find them.

7. Level 75+ get an Elder ring with 15-20 "Life Gained For Each Enemy Hit By your Attacks"

Bandit Quest:

- Kill them all for +2 skill-points.

Optional Unique Leveling Items:




I highly recommend the Blasphemy + Poachers Mark and/or the Thief's torment until you get at least 1 elder ring and 1 vitality Watcher's Eye for a total of 38 life gained on by those 2 items alone. Until then this gem setup and/or ring is going to make a big difference.

Note: These items will be expensive during the very start of the league and will then rapidly drop in price a few days in. It is completely fine to just stick to rare items during the leveling process.
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CHARACTER PROGRESSION GUIDELINES

Kitava, Act 5:

- 900+ Life.
- 35%+ to all elemental resistances
- Normal lab complete.

Arakali, Act 7:

- 1900+ Life.
- 40%+ to all elemental resistances.
- 4-linked Wild Strike and Molten Strike.

Kitava & Maps, Act 10:

- 3500+ Life.
- 75%+ to all elemental resistances.
- Cruel and Merciless lab complete.
- 5-linked+ Molten Strike.

Uber Lab (for the points, not for farming purposes):
- Level 78+
- 5000-6000+ Life.
- 75%+ to all elemental resistances.
- 5-linked+ Molten Strike.
- Make sure to disable Essences, Conduits, Gargoyles and Charge Disrupter buffs.

The Shaper/Red Elder:

- 7000+ Life.
- 75%+ to all elemental resistances
- All 8 Ascendancy points.
- 5-link Molten Strike, but preferably a 6-link.
- A total of 38+ "Life gained on on hit fear enemy hit by your attacks"
- The Shaper/Red Elder fights are very mechanical fights. Don't expect to kill him in your first try. It takes practice.

Note: these are all per definition "guidelines" try and aim for these numbers, but don't get discouraged if you are a bit off.
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GEARING

What to look for on your rare items:

Main priority stats:

- Life
- Strength
- Elemental Resistances
- "Life gained for each enemy hit by your attacks" (Elder rings and/or Vitality Watcher's Eye. THIS IS IMPORTANT if you want to say alive.

Note: Once you reach 75% too all elemental resistances post A10 Kitava there is no point in trying to get more.

Secondary priority stats:
- %increased elemental damage with attack skills
- %increased attack speed
- adds ## fire damage to attacks
- %increased fire damage

Note these affixes are only found on belts, rings, amulets or gloves.

Rare jewel stats:

- %increased Maximum life
- %increased Fire Damage
- Adds ## fire damage to attacks/maces
- %increased Attack Speed (with shields/one handed/maces etc)
- Strength

Flasks:

- 1x Seething Divine Life Flasks of Staunching
- 1x The Wise Oak
- 1x Chemist's Basalt Flask of Heat
- 1x Chemist's Silver Flask of Warding
- 1x Chemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline

Note: If you get a Dying Sun flask and play as the berserker I suggest removing your health flask as your warcry heal is more efficient anyway for late game.

My Current Berserker Gear:

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- Twitch.tv/Lifting_
- YouTube.com/LiftingNerdBro

Best
Lifting
Weekly build guides: Youtube.com/LiftingNerdBro
Daily live streams: Twitch.tv/LiftingNerdBro
Friendly PoE community: Discord.gg/Lifting
Last edited by LiftingNerdBro on Mar 31, 2018, 6:15:05 PM
Last bumped on Apr 17, 2020, 1:51:28 PM
Reserved for potential future use.

Also I really should go to bed. It is now 6.30 in the morning. I started writing this guide about 13 hours ago. RIP sleep schedule... Once again :D

EDIT: also if anyone notices some awful typos etc, please let me know. I wrote this late in the morning so I am not expecting it to be flawless.
Weekly build guides: Youtube.com/LiftingNerdBro
Daily live streams: Twitch.tv/LiftingNerdBro
Friendly PoE community: Discord.gg/Lifting
Last edited by LiftingNerdBro on Mar 22, 2018, 1:57:50 AM
Loving the build, merc lab completed at 56 and uber lab fully buffed (Essence and Fonts) at 68. Once i hit lvl 30 i used the Thief's Torment ring this helped greatly with leech until i got to the leech nodes on the tree.

I look forward to do the content on this build.
nice build i will try it for sure :D
Nice, been waiting for this expecting to see it on YouTube, but this is great. I currently have like 18-20ex in currency, and can easily get it to 30+ if I sell some of my current gear (i.e. Atziri's axe). In my current build I was already able to pretty easily kill 3 of the 4 guardians, but hadn't tried Shaper or Red Elder yet. Two maps wasted on Chimera and could not get past the snakes - how does this build do on Chimera?

Also, I cannot find a Watcher's Eye with Anger and Vitality like you have. How necessary is it to have both, and would it be worth it to just use two Watcher's Eyes (I have a feeling that if one with both mods goes up, it's gonna be worth a fortune now).
Last edited by Drexl27 on Mar 22, 2018, 2:43:28 PM
In your guide you mention two silver flasks,one of it should be basalt i guess xd. Thx a lot for your guide,will see how its going. One question: what about using Rumi's flask?
Last edited by knehtq on Mar 22, 2018, 1:49:21 PM
So when would you suggest pathing to RT for people who don't have lyco? Also, without xoph, do we need to path to avatar of fire?
Ill get back to everyone later tonight. I am currently working on finishing the video guide and that takes priority as I want it done by tomorrow or late tonight =)
Weekly build guides: Youtube.com/LiftingNerdBro
Daily live streams: Twitch.tv/LiftingNerdBro
Friendly PoE community: Discord.gg/Lifting
Also, if I was unable to afford the xoph ammy, watchers eye, and shield would chieftain be the better option or would both function ok on a budget. thanks
This is my next build! been waiting for this guide :)

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