Ancestral Warchief

tried it only briefly on an AOE focused GS character (that i consider quite successful)

replaced Ancestral Protector with Ancestral Warchief because WHY NOT (thats the first feedback).. and most probably wont use it (thats the second feedback)

totems are clunky addition to melee - the leash change is good but it does not change the simple fact that for easy content it is better to just kill it oneself and for harder content the totems just die too fast

ofc one can invest into totem passives. but to be honest - isnt that a 'melee bonus' that has just a bit too high cost associated with it? the totem passives arent free

in short

a) it makes ancestral protector reduntant as Warchief does everything better. sure the 'more speed' sounds great but 'more damage' is almost always the same damn thing in the end

b) all issues AP had the AW has


it might be possible to build totem-focused build but it is really quite weird concept: totems to deal damage need good weapons and good melee stats on the player - so why bother with totems at all? one ofc can pick 50/50 melee/totem route but it might be the case of 'overgeneralization being the worst of specializations'

Does anyone know if weapon range influence Ancestral Warchief in anyway?

Kills made by my ancestral warchief don't proc Bane of Legends for my Slayer.

Is this intentional behavior? It is pretty sad for me, because my plan was to use the warchief as my boss killer skill, since shield charge is kind of terrible for that - but doing so would basically make Bane of Legends worthless.

Currently running a Ancestral Warchief Focused Build. Turning out well so far. The fact that the Totems can benefit from Fortify and Endurance Charge generation makes it viable.

Using Warlord's Mark to give it some more tankiness so it can leech and gain charges itself. Otherwise its pretty much like a regular Totem Build. You get used to and adjust accordingly with the way it targets since Spell/Range Totems attack differently easily (IMO) overall a nice buff to the Melee Totem Build.

Using 2H Maces and will upgrade to a Marohi Erqi later on.

I posted a thread here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1687709 about how this skill interacts with dual wielding and whether or not it's behaving as intended. Please check it out if you get a chance.

Thanks

Well this one basically replaces Ancestral Protector so now they need to rework that skill.

The changes made them stronger and all but again i said this with protector.. the fact that they are totems makes them clunky for melee. Making this a primary skill is fine because your investing in totems themselves and buffing it. But these were designed to support melee and they sometimes do that.
Most of the time they die way too fast to be of any use or the monster you need some help with just moves around the area to be in range.

I'll post this in here again but these should have been spirit buffs that surround your character. The spirit lasts for a duration while buffing your characters stats in some way.. while also attacking nearby enemies. This would solve everything and make them great skills. Very disappointed in these skills.

Does totem placement speed increase the 'activation' speed as well? I find myself bottle necked in terms of clear speed because it takes so long for my totem to 'activate'.

So, I have been messing around with an Oro's Sacrifice on an Ancestral Bond Chieftain with the Warchief being my main skill. It works out pretty fine so far, the damage is good, the totems can tank for ages and I place them insanely fast (even though the activation speed seems unaffected by placement speed). Something that irritated me though was that Oro's would not give it's frenzy charge generation over to the totems. This mostly came to a suprise to me as I thought they were treated as using my weapon, is this intentional?