[3.17] 100% Finished Acts 1-10 Herald of Agony leveling guide, watched Balaar's video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPuDWeKqs6Q&t=134s

And I know he's using some guidance from here.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3019705

Click on the Image to enlarge it read it then use backarrow to return here. Or Right click open in new window so you don't lose this page.

So I am still learning how to write this guide out and my POB is still being updated.

Pay very very careful attention under skills when it comes to socket colors, that was a pain in the ass to figure out step by step and setup to be user friendly. Anytime you see "-" or "=" it means the sockets are connected.

R R / 2 red sockets not connected
R=R / 2 red sockets connected

Skill Tree is also in there done by Act and levels with how far Ballar did it on act. Now it more than likely will be that you are at Act 1 and 5 levels higher which is totally fine that means you just jump to the next Act's leveling tree and follow that one.

On the bottom of this page I went ahead and put up Acts with skill Trees in the order that Balaar took them. If you wanted to you can feel free to experiment or take them in a different order as long as you end up with the same tree if you are a new player. Some numbers may be hard to read but just focus and they are all on there in order.

https://pastebin.com/dzfTT720

-Create Duelist character for Splitting Steel gem after killing Hillock
-Vendor all gems you had from hillock loot just keep chance to bleed gem
He keeps the B-B shoes
-Look for 2H corroded sword with IAS
-Go Nessa buy Rustic Sash with highest % physical damage
-Place in chest life/mana potion with all gear you have

Log out and back into Templar

NEED to look out for these
Start with
R-G – splitting steel and chance to bleed on corroded sword
Then need to find G-R-G combo for onslaught, steel, bleed

2B(R) –preferably on shoes holy relic and frostdash
R-R – ancestral protector and added fire damage
R R– warbanner and leap slam

Try to find a yellow 2H weapon R-R for added fire damage and ancestral protector. Yellow weapon is game changer can bring dps from 116 to 256 so try to put R-R sockets elsewhere if you can unless you have them in new yellow weapon.

-kill hillock loot everything and vendor all
-Go to Nessa buy 1 iron ring next iron ring will be from drop
-took lightning tendril reward keep it for vendor recipe
-equip all the gear you have Splitting STeel and Chance to Bleed / shoes

Make sure to go to Mud Flats first then Tidal Island

-keep an eye out for BBG offhand shield for storing stormbrand in swap weapon slot
-Nessa take Quicksilver flask and Onslaught support
-buy war banner
-sells all items dropped by tidal island boss do NOT id anything yet
-Buy summon holy relic take ancestral protector from hillock
-Take frostblink and put it in blue shoe

-he found a G-R-G put in Onslaught-Bleed-Steel in chest moves ancestral protector over to R in sword

-BBR for his boots
-Go to Nessa when in Lower Prison get added fire damage

He found 2H sword RRG linked magic sold it
He found 3L GGG helmet put it in stash
He found a strength belt and kept it

-takes leap slam as reward from hillock after beating boss and puts it in boots with BBR. Does not use leap slam at all in Act 1
-Go ahead and take storm brand from nessa once you beat fairgraves and keep it in stash

Before Merveil fight

-Ohhh he’s using the iron ring and keeping on the stash side 1 blue gem for making sapphire ring recipe cold resistance ring. He also puts fire resistance on it from bench. The other ring stays as iron ring equipped.

23:38 Merveil is killed take some loot

normal iron ring
+
any blue gem
=
sapphire ring (%cold resistance ring)

A lot of these notes may seem confusing but look at the POB for the gems that you need and keep it simple, I’m just detailing step by step what he did on the screen. Trying to omit what’s not necessary. I also don’t really know the logic or order in which Balaar chooses to do his waypoints here because he is jumping around all the place.

I’m also not g oing to be running these next Acts myself like I said I was above I’m just going to do the best I can in detailing what Balaar did in his run. I only ran Act 1 so far.

-He already has a shield with BBG on it linked on off hand he put storm brand in it
-Started using leapslam and switched out physical % belt for strength one keep old belt it will be used for recipe, his was yellow
-Buys highest DEX amulet from Yeena
-1st Get crossroads waypoint then go left to Chamber of Sins do trial on level 2
-Bought herald of ash from yeena and took herald of purity from quest
-2nd head to riverways take waypoint then head to western forest

-Replaced added fire damage with herald of purity and took frostblink out of socket and threw it on ground
-heads over to weaver’s chambers kill he weaver/take faster casting from silk and put it on second weapon swap with storm brand

-bought RRG sword (rustic sash yellow lv8 + 2H RRG sword grey +1 blacksmith stone) vendor recipe = 64% increased physical damage

he’s going to do the vendor recipe again at end of act with a new upgraded RRG sword so make sure you keep an eye out for that while leveling-(white sword+blacksmith stone+yellow physical belt)

-place herald of purity and ancestral support with new sword
-buy faster attacks from yeena and add move herald of ash to gear slots
-head back to crossroads waypoint head north to broken bridge kill Kraitin

-took off herald of purity from weapon to replace with warbanner on boots and then put warbanner on the gloves leaving weapon only with RRG and ancestral protector
-R-R-B moved herald of purity and holy relic and added fire damage into glove
-warbanner and herald of ash put into other slots
-he puts herald of ash into weapon

-goes back to The Riverways looks for Wetlands door find and kill Oak find waypoint
-Port back to Western Forest find Alira and HELP her do NOT kill then go south and kill the Blackguards then open seal
-once you hit lv18 you can put faster attacks with leap slam G-R
-Port back to crossroads and head east to Fellshire ruins follow road and enter Crypt 1 take waypoint do 3rd trial
-finds topaz ring and replaces iron ring with it
-at 37:26 his warbanner does not seem to be turned on not sure
-Now travel to Lioneye’s Watch for skill point then port to hideout and take the grey topaz ring and add fire resistance to it

So this is interesting the rest of the Act 2 do not go back to town once you enter the northern forest you just keep going until you get to boss.

-now port to The Wetlands enter vaal ruins find way to northern forest
- he did not go back to town he just kept going, then enter The Caverns and find waypoint and keep on going to boss, do not stop or go to town
-defeats boss then opens portal to forest encampment
-buys magic bone spirit shield for recipe, magic bone shield+small life flask+ orb transmutation makes a small life flask of the novice for minion life
-after all this he ports to City of Sarn act 3 starter waypoint
-45:23

rare rustic sash
+
blacksmith stone
+
2H RRG normal sword
=
2H RRG sword with increased % physical damage. Depends on belt.

magic bone shield
+
small life flask
+
orb of transmutation
=
Small Life Flask of the Novice

We are just going to store this flask in our stash it will be used for Act 3 crafting.

So far the biggest pain in the ass Act to actually finish. Make sure you are following my POB gem links on there because this act is a beast where entire gear sets are changed with gems but I document every single move and every single gem and where it belongs.

-rescue clarrisa enter sarn encampment take right and go straight to slums do not talk to town people yet
-enter crematorium take waypoint and finish 4th trial
-he changes out swords and just replaces gems in them
-take bracelet to clarissa head back to slums find sewer grating
-find 3 platinum disks in there and take waypoint then make exit to marketplace
-find waypoint and enter catacombs do trial then port back to sarn encampment take reward
-port to marketplace enter battlefront find waypoint take ribbon spool then enter docks on left side
-find thaumetic sulphite then port to sarn, he didn’t even find the waypoint here

-goes to vendor buys chest linked G-G-R-B and just places onslaught/steel/bleed in there and puts it on, if you have essence use it on chest
-ports to Lion Eye’s watch and buys added lightning damage support and adds it to chest gems
-moved summon holy relic from gloves to faster attacks and leapslam not sure if faster attacks works with holy relic
-buys phantasms and puts them with added fire damage and herald of purity

-head back to battlefront find solaris temple he didn’t even bother taking waypoint inside get to level 2 of solaris temple
-finds R-R-B-B boots puts phantasms/added fire damage/herald of purity in them and just puts war banner back into open R socket on glove
-keep going take waypoint before Dalia take dex necklace and item
-port to sewers open blockade then enter ebony barracks take waypoint then head to Imperial Gardens far right side

-find waypoint and do 6th trial found on northwest area then go lower west and find library take waypoint inside and port back to sarn
-he bought G=G=G=G hood from hagan then goes to aspirants plaza takes way point and then heads to his hideout and used an orb of chrome to make his hood G=R=G=G he then adds cold resistance to necklace and ports back to library
-he goes passed by siosa without taking quest and just goes to loose candle to open door and finds 4 golden pages

-after he finds them he ports back to sarn and does a new recipe, he takes minion small life flask of the novice from earlier + orb alteration + the GGRG hood he found(magic leather hood of stone skin)= Reanimator’s Leather Hood which has +1 level of socketed minion gems then he puts the hood back in his stash

-ports back to library takes Feeding Frenzy support from siosa as reward
-goes to siosa and buys pierce support and chance to poison and herald of agony and damage on full life support and another faster attacks support
-he puts herald of agony in weapon swap shield G=B=B
-he puts chance to poison on main hand

-port back to Ebony Barracks go west skip Gravicious not needed enter Lunaris Temple Lv 1 find waypoint then go to Lv 2
-kill piety take key then port to sarn he then took full damage on life and put it in with war banner
-buys normal R=G=B wand uses orb of transmutation on it then buys normal topaz ring uses essence on it making it rare
-vendors (rare topaz ring + magic wand + orb of alteration) = magic crackling spiraled wand 19% spell damage/adds 1-47 lightning damage and he puts this in the weapon swap with shield
-takes punishment from maramona reward
-heads back to go and do 1st Trial he enchants his gloves at end and does Guardian Ascendancy and he takes Radiant Crusade 1:12:59

Make sure you do 1st Trial before you move on.

-exits and ports to library buys shield charge from siosa then ports to Imperial Gardens
-places shield charge on weapon swap wand in red slot and faster attacks on green slot then enters scepter of God
-finds waypoint ports back to sarn
-takes out G=G=G=R +1 minion helmet from stash and puts pierce support on it
-now he switches weapon set and puts herald of agony in helmet slot and takes damage on full life off of gloves and puts it in helm as well and then removes faster attacks off of wand and puts it on helm
-removes 2H sword into inventory and puts chance to poison from sword to shield
-puts herald of ash into gloves and vendors sword
- he unsockets herald of ash and sells it along with ancestral support and leap slam
-puts Wand with Shield Charge/faster attacks/ holy relic

-enters scepter he’s now using shield charge with storm brand setup
-he removes splitting steel and throws on ground same with onslaught
-he moves added fire damage to gloves and takes off chance to bleed to stash and replaces it with Punishment curse
-defeats boss and moves to Aqueduct does not talk to npc 1:20:06

small life flask of the novice (made this at end of Act 2)
+
orb of alteration
+
magic leather hood of stone skin (hood you made go GGRG with chrome)
=
Reanimator's Leather Hood / +1 Level of socketed minion gems

rare topaz ring
+
magic wand
+
orb of alteration
=
magic crackling spiraled wand/ 19% spell damage/adds 1-47 lightning damage

So something I just noticed, it looks like he doesn’t always have warbanner on maybe due to mana issues. So if you need to turn it off no problem just go ahead and do so. I did notice he’s taking the reservation mana nodes on tree so far so it will probably make it so that banner is back on with no problem at all.


-puts feeding frenzy into boots
-keep going until you hit Highgate once in go straight left to Dried Lake and kill boss don’t talk to npcs take the banner from boss port back to town
-unlock Mines Lv 1 and enter then go to Lv 2 mines pick up sulphite as you go
-find deshrit’s spirit in lv 2 mines then find crystal veins entrance
-take crafting recipe then waypoint then head to Daresso’s Dream right side
-he takes off holy relic from wand then enters Grand Arena take waypoint
-make it all the way to Ring of Blades and fight boss take eye of desire
-port to town sell loot again take skill book from tasuni
-he moved punishment from armor onto gloves

-talk to Oyun take carrion golem reward
-ports back to crystal veins enters left side Kaom’s Dreams
- puts carrion golem into wand
-enter Kaom’s Stronghold and take waypoint
-enter Caldera of the King and beat boss take eye of fury
-port to town then back to crystal veins talk to dialia enter belly of the beast
-get to lv 2 then enter bowels of the beast beat piety take crafting recipe
-enter harvest he removed added lightning damage from chest
-find waypoint port to library in act 3

-he moved carrion golem from wand to chest
-buys Maim from siosa and culling strike and faster attacks and sockets them all in chest with carrion golem then resummon golem
-ports back to harvest does Maligaro’s arena, shavronne’s arena, Doedre’s arena kill all 3 take organs back to Piety and enter black core
-beat Malachai enter black heart beat him again 1:39:10
-make way to Ascent act 5

So after reviewing the act there were zero gear changes made or gem changes made the entire act because he was already resilience capped prior to entering. Make sure you are using essence with resistances on the white gear you get like boots and gloves to help out.

-make way down ascent and take crafting recipe before narrow bridge
-enter slave pens take waypoint
-kill overseer enter overseer’s tower
-head straight left to control blocks find miasmeter
-kill justicar take eye of zeal make exit to oriath square take waypoint
-head northeast until you find door to templar courts take waypoint
-when inside look for chamber of innocence entrance go in take waypoint
-go left in a huge circle until you find sanctum of innocence there is also a recipe in here that Balaar forgot to pick up due to speed run
-kills high templar avarius then exit to chamber of innocence and goes back to torched courts entrance talks to no npcs

-make your way back to ruined square through torched courts
-find waypoint then head into ossuary
-take sign of purity and recipe then port to town then port back to ruined square head southwest then go southeast into Reliquary
-take waypoint inside and find all three torments then port back to tower
-took skill point book and cold resistance ring and granite flask rewards
-he was already res capped before any of these
-replaces quicksilver flask with granite flask then ports back to ruined square
-keep going southwest all the way then huge the wall to the left side and you will eventually hit the cathedral rooftop entrance
-just keep going until you hit cathedral apex and kill kitava
-1:56:30 kitava dies talk to Lilly sail to wraeclast

He did not run the first quest that requires you to go on left side I recommend you go ahead and run it because it opens up an additional gem vendor for you. I think you might have to run it in order to access end game gems but I might be wrong about that.

I’ve noticed there is a lot of skipping on speaking to NPC’s that can add up to lots of minutes of just waiting for t hem for absolutely no reason. Balaar just skips them except for what I wrote above I think it’s fine.

-Enter wraeclast then he ported to hideout to fix his resistance issues he put cold on wand and some resistance on shield, just make sure you are res capped as much as possible before you start act 6
-Once you are done port back to act 6 Lioneye’s watch head straight to the coast take waypoint then enter Mudflats
-kill boss towards northwest get eye of conquest open karui fortress door
-go right and then go left halfway into Tukoham’s fortress beat boss take recipe
-exit left from boss head northwest to The Ridge
-take waypoint then he ports to hideout adds dex to his helmet ports back to ridge
-make way to lower prison

-take waypoint solve trial take recipe then head to shavronne’s tower
-going up 3 levels to prison rooftop beat boss then go down to warden chambers
-take recipe enter prisoner’s gate and keep going to the side until you see a long extended piece of land and enter Valley of the Fire Drinker
-defeat abberath then port to lioneye’s watch then port back to prisoner’s gate
-this time just follow the road normal until you reach western forest
-take waypoint halfway then enter riverways
-take waypoint go between two small pillars and enter the wetlands
-enter the spawning ground and beat boss
-port to lioneye’s watch talk to bestel and tarkleigh for skill point books(3) he skipped helmet option

-ports back to sarn encampment act 3 goes to clarissa types “conv” buys convocation gem then ports back to riverways act 6 from before boss
-he added convocation to gloves
-keep following road to the Southern Forest and once in there keep going until you find waypoint and entrance to cavern of anger
-take the black flag enter passage make way to beacon take waypoint
-puts two-stone rare ring he found on to replace old ring, just be res capped, ring also had dex which helps build
-take crafting recipe when going up stairs
-refuel both beacons hit lever then light torch go down stairs talk to Weylam sail to King’s Reef take waypoint there

-keep looking around until you find entrance The Brine King’s Throne enter kill boss
-he’s trying to upgrade his wand but is struggling hitting G=R mod on it he used 4 chromes so far no luck
-he used a orb of scouring on wand and used an essence that gave it minion damage but he still has R=B socket he needs to get G=R socket to equip it and minions will deal 39% more damage for him
-ports to lioneye’s watch after boss and sells loot he finds
-then he ports to Act 7 2:19:20

-enter to broken bridge and then enter the crossroads

Only do the following if you need to upgrade gloves or find super good ones otherwise don’t bother

-took off gloves and took off gems and changed glove colors with chrome to G=R=R then took shield charge and fastr attacks off wand and put them on gloves and equipped new minion wand he had made earlier B=R he places convocation and punishment in there then he places war banner back on gloves
-I just noticed he has convocation setup to his left mouse skill when walking
-take waypoint in crossroads he proceeds to port to hideout to add fire and cold resistance to wand, you don’t have to do this if you are capped already

-ports back to crossroads
-heads south to Fellshire Ruins keep following road and enters crypt
-take waypoint and solve trial of ascendancy take recipe then find stairs
-take maligaro’s map port to town then crossroads
-follow road northwest and enter chamber of sins 1
-head to center and take recipe and waypoint
-put map in device and run it head northeast when inside to find Maligaro’s workshop
-take blackvenom and just port out
-talk to guy take key head to chamber of sins lv 2
-do trial of ascendency in there take recipe head to secret passage open it and enter Den

-take waypoint then find exit to ashen fields
-takes waypoint then removes gloves and gems and uses orb of scouring and then an essence to try and upgrade them
-just head left and enter fortress encampment and beat boss
-take exit to northern forest
-he opened a portal in front of dread thicket and kept on going, DO NOT MISS THIS PART

-keep going enter causeway
-make your way to the end take waypoint and recipe and kishara’s star and enter vaal city
-head towards mid find waypoint and port to city then take portal you put in front of dread thicket if you did not run it yet
-when inside go to den of despair kill boss and then go back out looking for more fireflies, take recipe
-port back to bridge encampment talk to yeena and other npcs for skill books
-ports to hideout adds life to chest
-heads to aspirants plaza to do 2rd trial at end enchants boots he took Unwavering Crusade for ascendancy
-exits and ports back to vaal city
-talk to yeena enter temple of decay1 then go to lv 2 just keep going up and take recipe halfway eventually you hit door to boss Arakaali’s Web
-2:45:48 exit to sarn ramparts Act 8

-just follow along building and take stairs then follow path and enter The Sarn Encampement
-when in town he heads straight left to Toxic Conduits talks to no npcs
-make way to Doedre’s Cesspool and enter the Cauldron
-beat boss go to sewer outlet take recipe and go northeast of waypoint to The Quay
-when in Quay hug bottom side until you find chest with Ankh of Eternity then keep going until you find Resurrection Site
-enter kill tolman then when done exit and head back northeast and look for entrance to The Grain Gate

-take waypoint find and kill Gemling Legionnaires then take exit to Imperial Fields
-find waypoint near road then head northwest to Solaris Temple lv 1 when you reach the door to Solaris Concourse put portal down then find waypoint and port back to town (if you find waypoint before concourse door don’t portal out)
-when in town take portal to Concourse you opened enter
-head southwest enter harbor bridge
-keep going all the way left until you hit Lunaris Concourse door
-take waypoint and head northwest to Lunaris Temple lv 1
-take waypoint enter to lv 2

-make way down to portal kill boss take moon orb and recipe
-port to town port back to lunaris concourse then head southwest to the bath house
-in the northeast corner you will find trial to complete take recipe
-after trial head northwest to High Gardens entrance
-keep following the path until you hit the Pools of Terror door
-enter defeat boss port to town and then talk to all the NPCs and take skill books(4?)
-port to solaris temple find your way to lv 2
-enter portal beat boss take sun orb
-port to town then lunaris concourse then head east
-enter harbor bridge keep going east enter Sky Shrine
-beat boss exit to blood aqueduct 3:06:44

-keep going down blood aqueduct enter Highgate
-talk to no npcs go right and enter The Descent
-keep going enter Supply Hoist then keep going enter Vastiri Desert
-make your way over to Storm-Weathered Chest and defeat mummies
-pick up storm blade find way point take recipe and look for side entrance with locked door
-port to town talk to Petarus and Sin take vial to open door port back with opened portal enter The Oasis
-find shakari then make your way down the lane and enter Swallowing Sands beat boss
-port back to town then take waypoint to vastiri desert and head northwest to The Foothills
-find waypoint then head left to The Tunnel when inside do trial of ascendency
-find waypoint then enter The Quarry
-find waypoint then take recipe head left enter Shrine of The Winds
-beat boss exit then head east to enter The Refinery
-keep exploring until you find General Adus, kill him then take Trarthan Powder
-port to town talk to Irasha take skill books then port to The Foothills waypoint
-head northeast enter The Boiling Lake head northeast take recipe kill The Basilisk take Acid drop
-port to town then port to the quarry talk to sin enter Belly of the Beast
-keep going until you enter Rotting Core
-enter the Black core and do all 3 portals separately beat all 3 bosses
-then enter The Black Heart beat boss port to town port to Oriath Docks
-enter Act 10 3:24:50

-once there go straight north to Cathedral Rooftop
-go left to cathedral Apex rescue guy then exit then keep going straight east until you hit Ravaged Square
-he goes down a few steps and pops a portal open then finds waypoint towards north west
-then he goes east to enter Torched Courts makes a big circle towards right enters Desecrated Chambers
-takes waypoint heads left until he enters Sanctum of Innocence, beats boss
-takes staff of purity then right exit to desecrated chambers then uses waypoint to port to Oriath Docks talk to NPCs turn in stuff then make sure TO TAKE the portal you opened up earlier to Ravaged Square

-head southwest and enter Control Blocks, take waypoint enter Arena kill boss
-port back to town talk to Lani get skillbook
-port to Ravaged Square go northwest to Ossuary
-solve trial inside port to town head to aspirants plaza
-do Merciless Trial enchant helmet he took Harmony of Purpose
-port back to town talk to innocence port to Ravaged Square head northeast open Canals passage go through them enter Feeding Trough beat Kitava, before Kitava pick up recipe and quest
-so I went ahead and changed the last 4 skill points to make them my own method instead of Balaar’s. It will be useful for mapping and resistances.

It may be a little hard to see but #4 says +50 to maximum life

Part 1

Part 2

I made a mistake #8 is supposed to be on the next row to the right not down that row. Not sure if he respeced it out or what but I missed it. Look at next tree.

When it comes to future points to take look at All Stars link above since we will be switching 100% to that. For now keep on mapping and earning currency, you should be able to do all white maps with no problems at all then switch.