Drippa's Bleed Totems Warbringer - Guide Updated!

We are using Shockwave Totem for this build. It's a great overall totem that attacks fast and hard which specifically will be nice to pair with bleed (or ailments in general). I do not think that Artillery Ballista will be worth using but have not tested it yet so this guide will be using Shockwave Totem for the foreseeable future.

Bleed damage in POE2 scales off the damage of the hit that inflicts it. This means that, the bigger the hit, the bigger the bleed, which means we need to stack damage on our totems as much as possible. Bleeds also can become "Aggravated" which means the bleed will do double damage as the target moves which compliments this build nicely since mobs walk towards you as you're sitting behind a shield. It's also extra good with Shockwave Totem because it creates jagged ground which slows enemies as well creating some pretty good bleed synergy.

The gameplay of this build is super simple:

1) Place totems
2) Infernal Cry for Raging Cry buff/empower EQ/explosions
3) Earthquake for armor break/rage
4) Raise Shield until everything dies

That's it! It may not seem like a very engaging playstyle, but I can assure you that it is very safe which is perfect for how unforgiving POE2 can be for melee builds.

The ascendancy we will be going is Warbringer since it is currently the only ascendancy that supports totem builds.



The order of passives you would take here would be 4-5-1-2. I think Anvil's Weight is gonna be busted with this build and we don't necessarily need the block chance stuff, at least not yet.

Warrior is close to most if not all of the totem and bleed nodes on the tree, so the passive tree compliments this build very nicely and it's fairly easy to get everything that we want passive-wise.

My Current Passive Tree (Lvl 65): https://maxroll.gg/poe2/passive-tree/r98zi0h8

Will break it down by level in the leveling section once I flesh it out more.

Currently at Lvl 53 this is what I'm using so far for skills. Keep in mind that the support links will vary on shockwave totem depending on what level you are and what nodes you have on the passive tree. Just make sure you're pushing shockwave totem to get as much sheet dps as possible and you should be fine.

1) Shockwave Totem w/ Lacerate, Concentrated Effect, and Brutality (can also use heavy swing and/or martial tempo if needed)
2) Ancestral Spirits w/ Rupture, Ele Army, ,Meat Shield, Culling Strike
3) Infernal Cry w/ Ingenuity, Magnified Effect, Raging Cry (also can use Corrupting Cry early/mid game but it falls off around late Cruel)
4) Earthquake w/ Rage, Demolisher, Splinter
5) Berserk w/ Cannibalism, Vitality
6) Leap Slam w/ Martial Tempo, Holy Descent and Stomping Ground
7) Time of Need w/ Persistence
8) Overwhelming Presence

The main defensive layers of this build are:
1) Armor
2) Life
3) 20% hit damage is taken by totems w/ Wooden Wall ascendancy node
4) Resistances
5) Block/Block chance
6) Totem life/resistances
7) Totems/Spirits bodyblock a lot of mobs/bosses for you making most fights very safe

The main offensive layers of this build are going to be:
1) Totem/attack damage
2) Totem/attack/skill speed
3) Totem limit increase
4) Attack area increase
4) Bleed hit chance
5) Bleed magnitude/aggravation
6) Rage
7) Armor Break
8) Stuns

1H Mace/Shield is mandatory. You lose too much defense with 2H in this build and you'll be a sitting duck while you wait for totems to deal damage.

1H Mace = You'll want +1 melee or all gems on mace with also some flat attack mods (for example "adds 5-10 fire damage to attacks"). It HAS to say "to attacks" at the end, if it doesn't it does NOT affect totem damage. Flat attack damage buffs totems but % increase to physical damage does NOT as well.

Shield = You want as much block chance and armor as possible as well as any life/resistances/% armor you can find. You will be getting a lot of your defensive stats from your shield.

Gloves = Again, you'll want +1 level to melee gems on these as well as any flat attack dmg/life/armor/resistances you can get.

Everything else just try to get as much Life/Armor/Resistances/Strength as possible.

Rings/Amulet still TBD on which ones will be the best but I am liking ones with flat attack dmg increase and resistances on them plus some mana regen. +all ele resist is BiS.

Will update more in depth once I see more of the new implicits/mods in the endgame.

WIP - I am planning on writing an extensive step-by-step leveling guide for those interested in this build once I have a good grasp of it. You can get Shockwave Totem pretty early on but it was very slow for me and I don't think it's worth it. I have to do more testing early-game to see what the fastest leveling route would be to get this build online, but this is what I did my first run through and here's what tips I have for early game so far:

1) Lvls 1-3 pick up rolling slam/boneshatter/EQ and boneshatter your way through maps. Use any weapon you find that's better, but 2h is better at this point for slam damage/stun.

2) After killing the Rust King replace rolling slam w/ shockwave totem. Put overabundance and lacerate supports on it.

3) Pick up infernal cry when you can but DON'T LEVEL IT UP. Leveling up IC does not benefit this build as it does not empower our totems for whatever reason (may be bugged) and ends up costing too much mana. Use corrupting cry and magnified effect supports.

4) Depending on your gear so far, you may need to swap to 1H Mace/Shield around Lachlann. Shield makes most of the content super easy, just summon totems, keep IC on cooldown, and hold down Raise Shield while dodging unblockables. You can use EQ for extra damage when you have time to do so.

5) ALWAYS UPGRADE SHOCKWAVE TOTEM FIRST WHEN YOU CAN - IT'S OUR MOST IMPORTANT ATTACK AND LEVELS INCREASE ITS DAMAGE GREATLY.

6) Once you get the Carved Earth node on the tree you can swap out Lacerate for Martial Tempo for an extra damage pulse on our totems which will help A LOT with mana issues and damage. We will add Lacerate back later.

7) After you kill King in the Mists take magma barrier as your spirit buff. Magma barrier is VERY strong, simply applies to your Raise Shield out the gate, and we will use it later on to break armor and do extra damage.

More coming soon (tm)

WIP