3.11 Armageddon Chieftain - Ignite everything up to T16 on a 10C budget.

Basic Concept

I wanted to run a build that doesn't need any currency to work, is outside of the current meta and is enjoyable from the get-go.

It's a simple plug and play kind of thing that doesn't require much effort but works well enough in all departments. You won't excel at dps or defense or speed, but you'll have all of your bases covered ensuring a nice and smooth ride through all of the available content.

Pros and Cons

Pros

+ Ultra cheap
+ Plays like a blend of a totem/dot build without any of the downsides
+ Quite tanky and mobile for a caster (you can run headfirst into the packs even at higher tiers)
+ Ignite pools are pretty sweet for the league mechanic
+ You feel special because no one runs AB in 3.8
+ HC viable (which depends on what you mean by it really, you can't really facetank bosses or extremely large packs, but you won't go down from a stray projectile either)


Cons

- Elemental Reflect, while doable is still very annoying and it's better to just reroll it.
- The investment ceiling is pretty low (couple of exalts I think), so for those people enjoying infinitely scaling builds this might be a turn-off.



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Gameplay

Just pop them flasks and brand everything as you go.

QoL is very high due to how brands work (nearly instant cast speed and they keep doing their thing even if you move away, which is great for blight mechanic and general safety) + Chieftains built-in tankiness/regen (65% phys reduction while flasked, 5k life, 500+ regen) allows you to have zero downtime.

There's a more elaborate setup for bossing, with the curse on hit orb of storms to proc EO and EE (if you swing that way, I honestly never bother with equilibrium, it's too clunky to use) and dual scorching ray totems. It' not required by any means, but it boosts your single-target damage considerably and all you have to do is press two extra buttons every now and then, so yeah.

Tree

https://pastebin.com/8R5jDjrh according to it, the overall deeps should be around 500k (multiply ignite dps by 3, because of emberwakes), with shock about 700k (1mil+ on 6 link). So don't expect to oneshot bosses, but they'll melt just fine, while packs explode as it is.

Early it should look something like this, don't feel bad about grabbing mostly life nodes on the way up to templar and witch trees, since Armageddon Brand is only available at 28 you'll be leveling with whatever comes in handy (I think I just ran with a bunch of melee skills from the previous patch, wanted to test em out)

My current setup looks like this, if you really wanna grab barbarism for that sweet 1% max fire res, you'll have to trade some regen and armor for it. I just don't care about min/maxing, especially when it works fine as it is, so I didn't bother.

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/3.11.0/AAAABAEDAQSzBg4Gwwj0CfYNzQ5IES0RlhJpE20UCRZvFxwZLho4HM4dFCAGIbAi9CPmJKolJyaIJy8n7Sf-KhMrUCycLpQw-DNsNPc1kjbpOlg6lDrYOuE8LT0PPmVM303jU41VxlZIWOVZ81orXUlmnmebakNsC20ZcWlxeXGFcg90pXase4x8g3y7ffl_xoKbg1-DzIPbj0aQVZMnl4WboZ9IogClZ6ZXpwismK2Nrv-vp7cwtz65frzqvWDE9sauyvLPGs9-1HzUj9gk2L3ZYdq542rmvuvu76vwH_Fs8kX31_rS_gr-VP6P?accountName=awesoweh&realm=pc&characterName=Burnmeamadeus


Bandits

Early it's better to take Alira, mana regen and resistances are great for leveling.

Switch to +2 points in the late game.

Ascendancy

Ramako -> Hinekora -> Tasalio -> Valako I got the last one very late in the game so it's not really required, still a nice boost to your defensive capabilities and a bit of damage on top of it.

Pantheon

Major - Lunaris
Minor - Gruthkul

Pantheon choices don't matter much, but extra phys reduction is always nice, so here we are.

Leveling

There are a few key levels when big upgrades become available so I'll elaborate on those.

Level 28 - Armageddon Brand becomes available. It doesn't really matter what you wear or use in terms of skills prior to that point, run whatever you want, after getting the brand though, you can start switching to something more appropriate.

Scepters with %elemental damage increases and flat elemental damage for spells are your best bet, wands and staves will do too. It's still early days and game is very easy, don't worry about upgrading everything too much and just keep playing.

Level 41 - Nycta's Lantern becomes available and it costs like 1 fusing


Pair it with a rare scepter or a shield if you feel squishy and it will carry you through the remaining acts.

Level 46 - Belly of the Beast become available and remains one of the best defensive options for the build till the very late game



It'll run you for about 6c, if you won't have enough currency at lvl 46 - don't worry, just pick it up later. Though in all likelihood you'll have enough alchemy orbs just from drops and you can trade em for chaos at 2:1 ratio.

Level 62 - Searing touch becomes available and it's probably the biggest boost to DPS you gonna get.

Most of them are in 1-3c range, look for the highest fire dot multiplier and fire damage stats.



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Midgame

Around the time you get Searing touch start looking for a helmet with a Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Burning Damage mod and some Life/resist.

It will serve as your pseudo five-link (or six-link if you are lucky) for the brand.

I got this bad boy for 1 chaos. Less duration is just a cherry on top and entirely optional, it gives you a bump in terms of damage, but cuts the QoL quite a bit, since you'll have to reapply Brands more often.



Emberwakes are available as early as 16 level, but there's no real rush in getting them prior to maps, they are a huge dps boost to your ignites so grabbing at least one by the time you start mapping is highly recommended. Look for the lowest ignited enemies burn X faster modifier (50 is the lowest it can get afaik).



They are about 1C per.

As for the rest of your gear just fill the gaps in your resistances and get as much life as you can.

All of the required gear sits neatly in a combined 10C range, as you start running maps and get more currency you can invest more in your life/resist rares and start saving up for the next wave of optional (but nice) upgrades.

Don't forget to shell out for 21 lvl or 20+ quantity (or both if you are that rich) armag brand and its supports. Another optional but nice damage upgrade.

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Endgame

If you are still around and enjoying the build, there's no reason not to invest a little bit into it, BUT if you like living frugal, then by all means keep at it. I did my first T16 with 1 emberwake and a self-found life-res amulet.

Anyway, this should be in your sights as far as the next upgrades are concerned:



They start at 20c and above, it's still dirt cheap all things considering, but I actually got mine at lvl 90.

If you have the means look for Watcher's Eye with Anger related mods



Kaom's and Cinderswallow are also good upgrades come late game.


Flasks



This is likely the most flexible part of the build and you can tailor your defensive options according to your sensibilities. I don't really like RNG and I enjoy moving at a steady pace, so getting phys reduction flasks and phasing + quicksilver was the only viable choice for me.

All of them are available from doing quests and plenty drop during the campaign, so you should be set by the time you reach maps. The mods you can roll yourself with the alt orbs you find during leveling. Bleed/Freeze/Curse immunity are mandatory for a smooth ride, the rest is up to you.

Armageddon Brand Setup



It's the basic 4-link setup that can you get really early in the game, it' not really gonna change come late game due to our utilization of super cheap and common pseudo 5/6-link helmets

Cast When Damage Taken Setup



You can change the golem and guard skills for any of their counterparts. I like shell because it fits thematically, and the stone golem is there just because I was testing out stuff with RF. The difference between the options for this setup is minuscule, so just do what you feel like doing with it.

Orb of Storms Setup (for Bossing and such)



Crit increase is there to proc Elemental Overload consistently, the rest is a pretty typical curse on hit setup

Auras

Again, nothing out of ordinary, just a nice deeps buff. Malevolence is supposedly better, but meh, we are all about fire baby, gotta keep it within the theme. Speaking of themes, unless you are really all about that A E S T H E T I C, you are much better off trading Herald of Ash for Skitterbots as they provide more utility and damage, and kinda work like a budget version of Yoke

Scorching Ray Totem Setup



Just something a little extra to push that single target damage

This is my first time making one of them guides, typos and such will likely happen, englandski is not my first language etc. so be gentle.

Other Builds: Got only one so far - Oro's Flicker Jugg https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2719731