Arc Miner
Shadow/Saboteur
Starter Build

Updated for Patch 3.9

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium

Saboteur became the second most popular Ascendancy class in the Incursion League and Patch 3.3. With the major changes to Passive Skills, Mine related Skill Gems, and significant buffs to Arc Spell - Arc Mines became one of the most cost-effective combination Path of Exile. Mines, on top of being extremely powerful, provide a very budget-friendly and enjoyable gameplay mechanic. Even with the nerfs introduced in Patch 3.4 that slightly lower Mines' damage and actually introduce a downside to dual-wielding Shimmeron Daggers, this still remains one of the best Starter Builds in the game. Patch 3.9 made this the most popular Starter Build in the Metamorph League. Arc has received a significant buff in the radius of its' Chain, making it an amazing tool to farm with. Also, the difficulty level has been significantly increased, so making Saboteur/Miners the best choice for the current content. High burst DPS, solid defense and self-sustain make it one of the best classes to play currently.

You may also want to check our other Path of Exile builds here: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

As a Miner character, you can plant mines, that once detonated, will trigger specific spells. Some Mines use a predefined spell, or as in our case, with the use of the Remote Mine Support Gem, you can use Remote Mines with any skill that can be used with Bows and Wands. In our case, this is Arc, which since the changes in Patch 3.3 deals insane amount of damage and provides amazing clear speed. For the defenses, this build uses moderately high Life and Blind mechanic (from Saboteur Ascendancy passives and Smoke Mines).

0:07 Tier 16 Forge of the Phoenix 0:48 Tier 15 Canyon 1:16 Tier 15 Defiled Cathedral 1:39 Tier 16 Lair of the Hydra 2:24 Tier 17 Shaper This video was recorded on a level 91 Saboteur on Standard League wearing Inpulsa's and random Rares

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling with a Miner Saboteur is very easy. Mines deal very high damage even only with the Passives and Skill Gems, allowing you to focus on defensive rare gear and Movement Speed bonuses. Also, the main DPS setup of this build (Arc Mines) becomes available as soon as you reach level 12, which lets you level up all the required Support Gems. Out of all leveling items, we would suggest prioritizing Praxis rings and Tabula Rasa. Other than that, rest of the gear can be random rares you find during your campaign.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Early level Gems
	Freezing Pulse - decent projectile-based Spell which is available right after you start the game
	Fire Trap - used to deal some extra DoT damage

Arc Mines
	Arc - primary Spell in this build. With the use of Blastchain Mine Support, you can plant Mines that will cast Arc once detonated
	Blastchain Mine Support - allows you to plant Mines that will cast Supported Skills once detonated
	Minefield Support - greatly increases your DPS
	Trap and Mine Damage Support - increases the damage of your Mines
	Added Lightning Damage Support

Utility Gems
	Clarity - increases your Mana Regenerated per second
	Assassin's Mark - recommended Curse for this build
	Flame Golem - increases your damage
	Herald of Ice - will add Cold Damage to your Spells and cause AoE explosions

Bandits:

We recommend helping Alira for the increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier, Mana Regen. and Elemental Resistances

Leveling Skill Trees:

35 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Trickery 2) Saboteur 3) Volatile Mines 4) Clever Construction 5) High Explosives

64 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Blood Drinker 2) Blast Cascade 3) Heart and Soul 4) Cruel Preparation

Recommended leveling items:

Lifesprig - very popular leveling Wand
(8-12)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Spell Gems (20-28)% increased Spell Damage (5-8)% increased Cast Speed +(15-20) to maximum Life +(15-20) to maximum Mana Regenerate (6-8) Life over 1 second when you Cast a Spell

Praxis - during the leveling phase, the biggest issue you can come across is sustaining your Mana. This ring (or two of those) solve it entirely
+(20-25) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana (3-6) Mana Regenerated per second -(8-4) to Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit

Victario's Flight - this pair of Boots provide a nice Mana Recovery mechanic, and greatly increased Movement Speed
+15 to Dexterity +15 to Intelligence (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating 15% increased Movement Speed (5-10)% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit 10% increased Movement Speed for you and nearby Allies

Tabula Rasa - one of the most popular leveling items in Path of Exile. If you have solved the Mana problems, Tabula Rasa will be the best pick for your Arc Mines setup
Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

113 Points Final Skill Tree
113 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Bomb Specialist
2. Pyromaniac
3. Explosives Expert
4. Born in the Shadows

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%, 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Arc Mines
	Arc - the core skill in this build. It is triggered by detonating Mines
	Blastchain Mine Support - allows you to plant Remote Mines that will cast Arc once detonated
	Mine and Trap Damage support
	Added Lightning Damage Support - grants high bonus flat Lightning Damage to your Arc
	Controlled Destruction Support - greatly increases Spell Damage of supported skills
	Lightning Penetration Support - makes supported skills ignore some of the monsters' resistance to Lightning Damage

[UTILITY] Immortal Call and Smoke Mine
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - auto-casts supported skills after a certain amount of damage is taken. Keep this Gem at level 10
	Immortal Call - grants brief immunity to Physical Damage. Keep this Gem at level 12
	Increased Duration Support - increased the duration of Immortal Call and Smoke Mine's effects
	Smoke Mine - used as an escape mechanic. It also creates Smoke Clouds and increases your Movement Speed

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - one of the best Movements Skills that can be used with Wands. It also will grant Arcane Surge buff
	Faster Casting Support
	Arcane Surge Support - grants increased Spell Damage and Mana Regen. after you spend a certain amount of Mana on supported skills. Keep it at level 7 to gain the buff after each Dash

[UTILITY] Orb of Storms Curse setup
	Orb of Storms - which is used to apply your Curse
	Curse on Hit Support - makes your Orb of Storms apply your Supported Curse
	Conductivity - the recommended Curse for this build which reduces Lightning Resistance of affected enemies
	Precision - use a low-level Aura to not Reserve too much Mana. It doesn't have to be linked to anything in this setup

[UTILITY] Aura and Skitterbots
	Wrath - increases your Lightning Spell Damage by a lot. The best DPS Aura for this build
	Summon Skitterbots - Skitterbots are used to Shock and Chill enemies, as well as help you detonate your Mines. They also directly increase your Mine DPS
	Enlighten Support - reduces the amount of Mana Reserved by Supported Spells

[UTILITY] Golems
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - for the Golem setup, use CwDT at maximum level
	Summon Ice Golem - increases your chance to Critically Strike
	Summon Stone Golem - increases your Life Regenerated per second. You can also use Chaos Golem for more Physical Damage Mitigation, or Flame Golem for some extra DPS
	Minion Life Support

5. Gear Setup

Now onto the most interesting part - gear selection. Below you will find all the required and recommended equipment for this Arc Miner build. Since we have decided to make a Starter build, mostly rare gear will be included, and harder to obtain unique items will be listed as optional. 

Also, if you are looking for cheap PoE Currency we would like to invite you to visit our Path of Exile marketplace section. You can access it by links on top of the page.

We can guarantee that the items listed by us will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - with the highest defensive stats possible

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 40 maximum Mana 29% Fire Resistance 29% Cold Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance

Helmet enchantment: 40% increased Arc Damage

(Body Armour) Tabula Rasa - should be more than enough for this build. Getting a corrupted piece which will increase the level of socketed Gems shouldn't be a problem either even with a low budget

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) Corrupted implicit modifiers: +2 to Level of Socketed Trap or Mine Gems +1 to Level of Socketed Gems

(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - the recommended end-game Body Armour for this build. It grants very high bonus DPS and also causes AoE Explosions increasing your clear speed

+(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Maximum Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock Unaffected by Shock

(Weapons) Rare Crit./Spell Damage wand - depending on your budget just stack more of the recommended stats

Min. requirements: 60% increased Lightning Spell Damage 80% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells 20 added Lightning Damage to Spells Optional affixes: increased Cast Speed

(Weapon) Divinarius - is a good budget option for early mapping and leveling phases

30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance (50-70)% increased Spell Damage (80-100)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells +10 Life gained on Kill +5 Mana gained on Kill 10% increased Area of Effect

(Boots) Rare Boots - again, aim for high Movement Speed and defensive stats

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 29% Fire Resistance 29% Cold Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance 25% increased Movement Speed

Boot enchantment: 18% reduced Mana Cost of Skills if you've been Hit Recently

(Belt) Rare Stygian Vise  - with decent Life and Elemental Resistances. It's a good piece to get some extra Strength Attribute as well

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 60% Total Elemental Resistances 30 Strength Optional affixes: Chaos Resistances Increased Damage

(Amulet) Rare Amulet

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 40 maximum Mana 40% Mana Regeneration rate 20% increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: All Elemental Resistances

(Ring) Rare Rings

Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 60% Total Elemental Resistances Attributes Optional affixes: maximum Mana increased Mana Regeneration Rate Lightning/Elemental Damage

(Gloves) Rare Life/Res. Gloves - will be the optimal choice if you are missing some Elemental Resistances and maximum Life

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances maximum Mana Spell Damage

(Jewels) Intuitive Leap - this is pretty much a must-have if you want to get into high Tier Maps with this build. It allows you to pick up Golem Commander, Mysticism, and Prodigal Perfection Passives without expanding too many Passives on them. It has to be socketed right above Witch's starting point

Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree

(Jewels) Abyss Jewel - one Abyss Jewel with a chance to Hinder on Spell Hit is recommended

Recommended affixes: maximum Life added Lightning Damage to Spells chance to Hinder on Spell Hit Optional affixes: increased Critical Strike Multiplier with Lightning Skills

(Jewels) Abyss jewel - other jewels can focus on additional DPS affixes

Recommended affixes: maximum Life added Lightning Damage to Spells increased Critical Strike Multiplier with Lightning Skills Optional affixes: increased Critical Strike Multiplier if you have killed recently

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - increased Life

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Elemental/Spell/Lightning Damage increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - grants a lot of additional DPS

+35% to Chaos Resistance 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (15-20)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (10-15)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

(Flask) Vessel of Vinktar - grants very high bonus Damage to Spells. We are also always immune to Shock, so there is no downside to using this Flask

(80-100)% increased Charges used Shocks nearby Enemies during Flask effect, causing 10% increased Damage taken You are Shocked during Flask effect, causing 50% increased Damage taken Adds (15-25) to (70-90) Lightning Damage to Spells during Flask effect 20% of Lightning Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (Bleeding immunity) Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Heat (Freeze Immunity) Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Warding (Curse Immunity)

We hope that you have enjoyed this kind of guide, and we are looking forward to your feedback. We would love to hear your suggestions about which build should we work on next. Let us know in the comments below. 

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.