Totems kind of suck

I really liked playing totems back in the days when glass cannon was still viable and the need for defences was not as huge as in todays gameplay. The problem is not many totem builds can scale those kind of defences and still have decent dps and totems die way too ez without investing heavily into totem defences meaning u will sacrifice ur own defences.
In my opinion there are just too many downsides to playing totems nowadays except for a few attack based variants and spell totems are pretty much unplayable in endgame maps unless u plan on making use of all 6 portals.
What was once a relaxing dad gamer build is now an incredibly stressful, punishing playstyle with way too many skill points wasted to compensate for all the downsides while having none of the benefits of self casting like life leech, mana leech, life gain on hit etc. and way less skillpoints to use on character defences + a lot of support gems doesnt work for totems
To be honest, the engame requirements for defensive layers kept getting higher and higher in the later years while totems just dont have the necessary tools available to meet these requirements. In fact not much have changed for totem itemization or skillpoint investments since back in the days while the requirements kept ramping up

Try out a shaper-shield ES on block or Aeigis Aurora, the Divine Shield notable, ES/Armour Mastery Nodes and Zealot's Oath Notable combined with a surging vitality cluster jewel.

These melded with a few of the block nodes around the tree will give you a great deal of staying power.

Once you get some real currency built, look at a Blue/Red Nightmare with Tattoos around it. (Red being the superior option for a Templar, Blue for a Witch). That will net you a really tanky character.

Upgrade the shield to +1 totems eventually.

Totem classes are still fun to play, you just have to invest more heavily into them than you used to. Much like a necromancer in modern PoE, it's no longer a "clear everything" on 40 div build anymore.

Hope this helps you some. Currently playing my Firestorm of Meteors Totem Heirophant and loving it.

Also, look into Nameless rings + Purity of elements. This makes Soul mantle a really nice option and makes curses in maps pretty much just free quantity.

Thanks for all the suggestions :) i did however know most of them and ill look into getting a red nightmare soon. Currently leveling and just about to hit lvl 75, allready got some currency from playing my holy relic necro (on its way to lvl 97) and completed entire atlas including invitations. Bought a +2 aoe gems soul mantle with 50% less damage taken from critical strikes implicits and linked it with tainted currency and nameless rings are definitely the way to go and i added a self-flagelation jew for the free damage bonus from getting cursed.
All this being said i still think totems are way worse than playing self cast/attack and way too many mechanics and gems just dont work unless u cast/attack urself and u have way less skillpoints available for personal defences compared to self cast/attack. I love the playstyle but i do think totems still needs a bit of love compared to just playing a meta build and i do know it will never be as tanky as my necro

I can highly recommend you to try out a Hierophant Iron Commander Siege Ballista Totem build (with Dex stacking), with at least like 14+ totems around endgame.

The most smooth playstyle in my experience so far, feel free to take a look at my characters, and check out that youtuber POEGuy for build/leveling guides etc.

To be honest, as league starter it is a bit tricky and takes some time to get all the important items to switch to iron commander.


I once tried out some Chieftain melee totems few years ago, it was just painful to play. I dont understand why melee totems have this "wind up" phase which takes an eternity already before they actually start attacking. And on top, their activation range... they get inactive if you move away like half a screen or something, what the hell is this..

I also tried spell totems/soul mantle builds etc, but it was kinda painful too.

Since I discovered the Iron Commander build, I just can't play any other totem build anymore hehe. And it is great for both, mapping and bossing <3

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DerPestmann#0723 wrote:

I can highly recommend you to try out a Hierophant Iron Commander Siege Ballista Totem build (with Dex stacking), with at least like 14+ totems around endgame.

The most smooth playstyle in my experience so far, feel free to take a look at my characters, and check out that youtuber POEGuy for build/leveling guides etc.

To be honest, as league starter it is a bit tricky and takes some time to get all the important items to switch to iron commander.


I once tried out some Chieftain melee totems few years ago, it was just painful to play. I dont understand why melee totems have this "wind up" phase which takes an eternity already before they actually start attacking. And on top, their activation range... they get inactive if you move away like half a screen or something, what the hell is this..

I also tried spell totems/soul mantle builds etc, but it was kinda painful too.

Since I discovered the Iron Commander build, I just can't play any other totem build anymore hehe. And it is great for both, mapping and bossing <3

Yeah i know that build pretty well :) thats why i didnt say all totem builds suck but unfortunately there are not too many totem builds out there that can scale the necessary defensive layers without being close to Z dps. Spell totems definitely needs some love to be honest and its been this way for years. Noone really plays spell totems anymore outside of sanctum or Zhp bossing, its just way too punishing with so many downsides compared to self cast.
I also tried the replica iron commander version of the build with shrapnel ballista and replica alberon warpath which does even more damage but to be honest i prefer the siege ballista build for mapping :) but if u want to do uber bosses all day the shrapnel version definitely does more dps