Welcome to this comprehensive guide for creating a powerful Lacerate Gladiator build in Path of Exile 3.22! In this guide, we'll cover everything you need to know to create a nearly unkillable character capable of clearing all content. We'll break down the build into several categories: defense and survivability, mapping and clearing speed, bossing and single target damage, cost, and viability as a league starter. Let's dive right into the details.

 

• Build Overview
• Pros & Cons
• Passive Tree and Leveling
• Cluster Jewels
• Bandits
• Ascendancy
• Pantheon
• Gems and Links
• Auras
• Utility and Buffs
• Gearing
• Amulet Anointing
• Rings and Amulet
• Jewels
• Flasks

 

PoB Link: https://pobb.in/g6K4zSKvDT2h

 

↖ Build Overview

The core skill of this Lacerate Gladiator build is Lacerate itself, a melee attack that sends two waves of damage outwards in a cone shape. These waves overlap in the center, hitting enemies in a wide area. This makes Lacerate versatile, serving as both an effective clearing ability and a single-target damage skill without requiring gem swaps.

 

Lacerate has a base 25% chance to inflict bleeding on enemies, and this build significantly boosts bleed damage, making it the primary focus. Bleed is a damage-over-time ailment that deals with physical damage over a period. This build employs the Crimson Dance keystone, which allows up to 8 bleed stacks per enemy but reduces the damage of individual bleeds by 50%. Additional stacks beyond 2 benefit from Crimson Dance's damage bonus, offering up to 200% more damage.

 

To ensure maximum bleed application speed, the build emphasizes attack speed through passives and gear. Bleeds that surpass the 8-stack limit overwrite weaker existing ones, guaranteeing that the strongest bleeds are consistently active on targets. The Ruthless support gem further enhances damage by granting a 132% more damage ruthless blow every 3rd hit.

 

With the build's high attack speed, this mechanic leads to formidable damage output. Defensively, the Lacerate Gladiator is a robust character with 75% chance to block spells and attacks, over 80% physical damage reduction, and multiple layers of damage mitigation through Fortify, endurance charges, and Molten Shell.

 

↖ Pros & Cons

• + Excellent league starter with affordable gearing.
• + High mobility and fast-paced gameplay.
• + Strong defenses and near-immortality in most situations.
• + Efficient clearing speed for large packs.
• + Beginner-friendly with straightforward mechanics.
• - Single-target damage is not top-tier.
• - Limited damage scaling options.
• - Cannot run physical reflect maps.
• - Prolonged boss fights require careful flask management.

 

↖ Passive Tree and Leveling

• Starting as a Duelist: The build starts as a Duelist, and you have two passive tree options: one with cluster jewels and one without. The cluster jewel version offers about 20% more DPS but slightly weaker defenses. Your choice depends on your budget and preferences.
• Priorities: Your top priority is to achieve 100% chance of causing bleeding. Achieve this through passives in the Bloodletting, Red Storm, and Cleaving wheels. These passives also provide additional damage and damage over time multiplier for bleeding.
• Weapon and Shield Choice: Begin with any one-handed weapon type. As you pick up axe-specific passives, switch to axes. Similarly, start dual-wielding, but after acquiring Retaliation or Aggressive Bastion, equip a shield for increased defense.
• Defense Stacking: Stack life through passives like Bravery, Golem's Blood, Bloodless, Juggernaut, and Heart of the Warrior. These passives also provide armor, boosting your physical damage resistance.
• Chance to Block: Obtain a chance to block through nodes like Aggressive Bastion, Defiance, or Solidity for additional defense against attacks.
• Keystone Passives: Three important keystones are Crimson Dance, Call to Arms, and Resolute Technique. Crimson Dance improves bleeding damage, Call to Arms allows instant casting of Enduring Cry for life regen and endurance charges, and Resolute Technique ensures you never miss attacks.
• Leveling: Start with any melee skill like Cleave, Splitting Steel, Double Strike, or Puncture. Transition to Lacerate, obtainable at level 12.

 

↖ Cluster Jewels

• Large Cluster Jewel: Prioritize the Wound Aggravation passive for a significant DPS boost. Choose two other passives from options like Heavy Hitter, Fuel the Fight, Devastator, Smite the Weak, Martial Prowess, or Feed the Fury.
• Medium Cluster Jewel: Select Wound Aggravation again for increased damage. The second passive can be pure damage (Vivid Hues, Rend, Compound Injury) or a hybrid (Flow of Life, Exposure Therapy, Brewed for Potency).
• Small Cluster Jewel: The best choice is Fettle for additional life. Alternatives include Peak Vigour, Feast of Flesh, or Surging Vitality.

 

↖ Bandits

Choose to kill all bandits to gain two passive points, as their bonuses do not significantly benefit this non-crit build.

 

↖ Ascendancy

• Blood in the Eyes: Start with this passive for improved bleeding chance, maiming enemies, and blinding bleeding foes.
• Gratuitous Violence: After the cruel labyrinth, get this for increased bleed damage and the ability to make killed bleeding enemies explode, aiding in clearing speed.
• Painforged: This hybrid passive boosts your block chance when damaged recently or increases your damage if you haven't taken damage in the last 4 seconds. It provides substantial defense and damage mitigation.
• Versatile Combatant: Finally, take this passive to make your chance to block spells equal to your chance to block attacks, significantly enhancing your spell mitigation.

 

↖ Pantheon

• Major God - Soul of Arakaali: This choice offers defense against damage over time and reduces shock duration and effectiveness, helping you mitigate dangerous ailments.
• Minor God - Soul of Shakari: Opt for this option to further strengthen your defense against damage over time and chaos damage.

 

↖ Gems and Links

• Main Skill: Lacerate
• Lacerate (Level 21, if possible) - For increased base damage.
• Brutality Support - Provides significant extra physical damage and is compatible with bleed.
• Multistrike Support - Repeats the attack and increases attack speed.
• Ruthless Support - Adds massive damage to every third hit.
• Melee Physical Damage Support - Boosts physical and bleed damage.
• Fortify Support - Enhances DPS and reduces damage taken.

 

↖ Auras

• Pride - Increases physical damage taken by enemies inside its radius, including bleed damage.
• Blood and Sand (Blood Stance) - Boosts damage output and Lacerate behavior.
• Flesh and Stone (Blood Stance) - Improves survivability by blinding enemies in Blood Stance.
• War Banner - Increases physical damage taken by nearby enemies.

 

↖ Utility and Buffs

• Enduring Cry - Generates endurance charges, boosts defenses, and provides life regeneration.
• Molten Shell - Creates a damage absorption shield based on armor.
• Blood Rage - Increases attack speed and life leech while applying a self-damaging debuff.
• Leap Slam (linked with Faster Attacks and Culling Strike) - Provides mobility and instantly kills enemies at low health.
• Ancestral Protector - Offers attack speed buff and support in boss fights.
• Cast when Damage Taken Support (Level 3) - Triggers linked skills after taking damage.
• Vulnerability (Level 7) - Casts a curse on enemies.
• Tempest Shield - Provides a chance to block buff.

 

↖ Gearing

Helmet	Basic: 60+ elemental resistances, life, chaos resistance or DEX. Mid-tier: Crown of the Inward Eye for life, armor, and damage. Best-in-slot: Abyssus for massive flat physical damage and armor.
Weapon (One-handed Axe)	Basic: 300+ physical DPS, attack speed, pure physical damage. Mid-tier: 350+ physical DPS, added damage with bleeding or damage over time multiplier. Best-in-slot: 60% chance for bleeding to deal 100% more damage, 300+ physical DPS.
Shield	Basic: 80+ life, 70+ resistances, 500+ armor, 25% chance to block. Mid-tier: Lioneye's Remorse for life and armor. Best-in-slot: The Surrender for life healing, armor, and counter-attack skill.
Body Armour	Basic: 5-links, 70+ life, 70+ resistances, chaos resistance or DEX. Mid-tier: 6-links, Belly of the Beast for increased life. Best-in-slot: 90+ life, 70+ resistances, 1k+ armor, Socketed Attacks have -15 to Total Mana Cost.
Gloves	Basic: Haemophilia for bleed damage and explosions. Mid-tier: Rare gloves with life, flat physical damage, attack speed, and resistance. Best-in-slot: Rare gloves with additional mods like intimidate on hit, damage over time multiplier, or increased damage with bleeding.
Boots	Basic: Redblade Tramplers for movement speed, life, resistances, armor, and flat physical damage. Mid-tier: 25% movement speed, 70+ life, 80+ resistances, armor or hybrid base. Best-in-slot: Same affixes as mid-tier with higher numeric values and 30+ DEX.
Belt	Basic: 90+ life, elemental resistances, chaos resistance, rustic sash base. Mid-tier: Stygian Vise with added jewel socket. Best-in-slot: Ryslatha's Coil for wider damage range and Phys damage bonuses.
Amulet	Basic: Flat added physical damage, life, and elemental resistances. Mid-tier and Best-in-slot: Focus on non-channelling skills have -mana cost and additional mods like flat physical damage, resistances, and DPS multipliers.

 

↖ Amulet Anointing

Amulets in Path of Exile can be enhanced using oils dropped from Blight encounters. This enhancement adds a notable passive to your amulet, granting unique benefits without altering the item's other attributes. For your build, the top recommendation is the Command of Steel notable passive. This notable provides increased damage in proportion to your chance to block. It is cost-effective, making it the optimal choice for your amulet anointing. In cases where acquiring the necessary oils is challenging, consider the Harvester of Foes notable as a more affordable alternative.

 

↖ Rings and Amulet

When choosing rings and amulets, prioritize maximizing your DPS while ensuring you have enough affixes to cap your resistances. Aim to acquire a total of two prefixes that grant non-channelling skills have -mana cost for both your rings and amulet. Additionally, look for the following attributes based on the tier of the item:

• Basic: Seek out 40+ maximum life, sufficient resistances to reach the resistance cap, and some flat physical damage.
• Mid-tier and Best-in-slot: These items should feature similar affixes as the basic ones but with higher numeric values. Consider adding extra attack speed, chaos resistance, or DEX for improved performance.

Given the increasing prevalence of chaos damage, prioritize obtaining some chaos resistance to mitigate its effects and bolster your defenses.

 

 

↖ Jewels

Jewels can significantly enhance your build by providing DPS, life, and utility. Regular jewels offer opportunities to add maximum or flat life, flat physical damage, attack speed, % increased Damage with Bleeding, or % to Physical Damage over Time Multiplier. Specific damage mods vary based on weapon type and equipment setup. Unique jewels can have a substantial impact on your DPS, such as the Watcher's Eye with the % chance to deal double damage while using Pride affix. While costly, it can elevate your damage output significantly.

 

For cluster jewels, refer to the passive tree section of this guide to determine the desired passives. Focus on the following structure for different cluster jewel sizes:

• Large Cluster Jewel: Up to 9 passives, including 3 significant passives, 2 jewel sockets, and 3 or 4 minor passives.
• Medium Cluster Jewel: Up to 5 passives, including 2 significant passives, 1 jewel socket, and 1 or 2 minor passives.
• Small Cluster Jewel: 2 or 3 passives, with one mandatory significant passive. Avoid excessive passives to optimize skill point allocation.

 

↖ Flasks

Flasks play a crucial role in enhancing both damage and defenses. Consider the following flask setup:

• Seething Divine Life Flask of Staunching: Instant healing and bleeding removal for survival.
• Experimenter's Quartz Flask of Heat: Additional chance to dodge spells and attacks, with chill and freeze immunity.
• Chemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline: Boosts movement speed for improved efficiency and currency generation.
• Lion's Roar Unique Flask: Provides substantial extra physical damage and a significant armor bonus.
• Enduring Eternal Mana Flask (or Chemist's Sulphur Flask): Ensure mana sustainability or gain damage and life regen bonuses.

 

For sustained mana regeneration, the Enduring Eternal Mana Flask is recommended. Alternatively, if Lacerate's mana cost is minimal, the Chemist's Sulphur Flask can be used for extra bonuses. Ensure your chosen flask has the of Warding suffix to grant curse immunity, mitigating negative effects from curses.

 

Conclusion:

Congratulations! You've now gained a comprehensive understanding of Amulet Anointing and its impact on your build in Path of Exile. By following the recommendations provided in this guide, you'll be well-equipped to enhance your gear, optimize your passives, and maximize your character's potential. Remember that your choices should align with your playstyle and objectives. May your journey through Wraeclast be filled with success and excitement!