Armour Stacking Smiter
Scion Build

Updated for Patch 3.16

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: high

It's an Armour-stacking build that uses Replica Dreamfeather Unique Sword that increased Attack Damage per Armour. You will be using Smite that Converts half of your Physical Damage to Lightning Damage, and the two Call of the Brotherhood Unique Rings to convert Lightning to Cold. Smite also grants you an Aura to increase your Lightning Damage witch is especially beneficial since you're using multiple auras with their effect magnified many times over, this includes Smite's Aura. While Stacking Armour is relatively easy - you seek Armour or Evasion Rating to convert it later with Iron Reflex keystone, fitting all the Auras is a bit more tricky as it requires multiple sources of Mana Reservation Efficiency. To help with that you should use March of the Legion Unique Boots and Support your Auras with the highest cost with the Blessing Skill that this pair of boots provides - you pay the cost of the Skill Reservation once, and the Aura lasts for ten to twenty seconds and then you'll able to cast them one-by-one.

Smite is a short-range Elemental Strike Attack that should have a somewhat high Critical Strike Chance, for that use Precision; if your Crit chance is low, allocate Elemental Overload Keystone. you should also have Wrath and Hatred to boost your Damage. Your Block Chance should be high as you're using Aegis Aurora. You will use CI Keystone that makes you immune to Chaos Damage so you're forced to rely on Energy Shield only, around 3 to 7k depending on your gear. Character's Armour will be obviously very high, over-capping the Physical Damage Reduction easily, use Purity of Lightning, Fire, and Ice for extra Maximum Elemental Resistances, Discipline for more ES, Determination, Grace, and Defiance Banner for more Armour, Vitality for Life Regen, and Clarity for Mana Regen. It's a lot of Auras, some of them won't fit in your Mana Pool at level 20, and some might not even fit at all, but it should be your primary objective to do so. You will be also using as many Small Cluster Jewels with Introspection for increased Aura Effect, Voices are extraordinarily expensive, so use four Large Cluster Jewels with 8 Passive Skills.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

It's a very simple gameplay-wise build, use your Smite to attack enemies, Ancestral Totems to boost your damage, Molten Shell as a Guard Spell, Leap Slam as a Movement Attack, and most importantly - you will have to constantly enable your four Blessed Auras socketed in March of the Legion, the rest of the Auras stays on at all times. Your Curse can be applied by finding a Gloves' Corruped Implicit such as "Curse enemies with Elemental Weakness on Hit". Support your Smite with Ancestral Call Support to have a bearable clear speed.

Full gameplay video: The video was recorded on a level 94 Scion with approximately 400k maximum Armour Rating when fully buffed. This is enough to get this character running and be nearly immortal, but it's just a fraction of what this build can do when you apply more Aura effectiveness on your equipment (and spend several hundred Exalted Orbs more) - top players can reach as much as 2kk Armour Rating with this build, resulting in tens of Millions of realistic DPS

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling Scion build such as this is especially difficult, the late-game Skill Tree focuses mostly on outer Sockets and Aura Clusters, and you can't level like that. Additionally, it's a Chaos Inoculation build, but you have to begin leveling with Life instead of ES, and later transition to Energy Shield. Your best option is to start with Smite Skill and link it with Ancestral Call, then focus on Attack Damage and Maximum Life. After you've allocated around 70 to 90 Passives, switch to CI and Energy Shield by respecing a lot of previously needed Life Passives.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Smite setup
	Smite - you can safely start with Smite, it's a good leveling Skill that's great with Ancestral Call
	Ancestral Call Support - allows you to target more enemies, it significantly speeds up the leveling process
	Melee Physical Damage Support - increases Melee Physical Damage of Smite Skill
	Inspiration Support - more Crit Chance and Elemental Damage while the cost of Skill gets lower

Auras setup
	Wrath - Wrath increases your Lightning Damage you deal with Smite significantly
	Purity of Elements - Grants immunity to Elemental Ailments and tons of Resistances
	Precision - higher Accuracy Rating and Crit Chance, you can keep it at a low level if you don't have high Mana Reservation Efficiency yet

Curses and Leap Slam setup
	Assassin's Mark - killing cursed enemies restore Life and mana on Kill, your Crit Chance, and Multiplier against them is increased, and it grants Power Charges
	Leap Slam - your main mobility Skill that you will use through the rest of the game

Bandits:

Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

34 Points Passive Tree
Get some Maximum Life and Physical Damage nodes
 

67 Points Passive Tree
Start allocating Mana Efficiency on Aura Clusters, get more Maximum Life, and Damage

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - more Damage, Attributes, and Elemental Resistances

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - it grants a lot of Resistances which are important at all stages of the game

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Tabula Rasa - The best leveling item in the game, allows you to link any 6 gems

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

Meginord's Girdle - it's cheap and you can equip it very early on, it boosts your Attacks and Life

+(25-35) to Strength +25 to Strength Adds 5 to 15 Physical Damage to Attacks 10% increased maximum Life +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance 25% increased Flask Life Recovery rate

Terminus Est - One of the best two-handed Swords for Leveling, all its stats are great for nearly any Attack builds

+360 to Accuracy Rating (180-220)% increased Physical Damage 20% increased Attack Speed (50-75)% increased Critical Strike Chance +10 Mana gained on Kill 10% increased Movement Speed Gain a Frenzy Charge on Critical Strike

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

78 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels nor Thread of Hope)
128 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Champion
2. Necromancer
3. Path of the Duelist

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of The Brine King: 1% You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Smite setup
	Smite - With this Strike, you Hit twice - once with an Attack and then with lightning to strike that deals area damage near the target's location, but one enemy can't be hit by both unless you can target more than one opponent to double-dip. Use one with Phantasmal Quality for more Attack Speed.
	Cold Penetration Support - use it to penetrate Cold Resistance for your opponents
	Ancestral Call Support - Strike skills target additional enemies, heavily recommended even for boss fights since you can strike them with the lightning component of the Attack for more damage
	Multistrike Support - you repeat the attack with increased Attack Speed and deal more damage as the result
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - Attack Skills deal more Elemental Damage
	increased Critical Damage Support - increases you Critical Strike Damage,  Damage on Full Life Support is a great alternative if your Critical Strike Chance is low

[UTILITY] Blessed temporary Auras setup socketed in March of the Legion
	Wrath - adds additional Lightning Damage to your Attacks
	Hatred - you gain Extra Cold Damage from your Physical Damage, and your Cold Damage is increased
	Determination - increases and adds more Armour which is very important
	Grace - grants you Evasion Rating which is converted into Armour

[UTILITY] Aura setup preferably socketed in an item with +2 Level of socketed Aura Gems
	Purity of Ice - increases your Cold Resistance, try to reach gem level 23 for extra Maximum Cold Resistance
	Purity of Fire - increases your Fire Resistance, try to reach gem level 23 for extra Maximum Fire Resistance
	Purity of Lightning - increases your Lightning Resistance, try to reach gem level 23 for extra Maximum Lightning Resistance
	Discipline - you gain more Energy Shield and increased ES recharge rate

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Vitality - Vitality regenerates your Life, with Zealot's Oath it regenerates your ES
	Clarity - it's the least important Aura so keep it at a low level, it helps to regenerate Mana faster
	Precision - prioritize the gem level of Precision in this setup to increase your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance
	Tempest Shield - enabling it grants you more immunity to Shock and Chance to Block Spell Damage, it's great when combined with Aegis Aurora

[UTILITY] various Gems
	Defiance Banner - It increases your Armour and Evasion Rating while reducing enemies' Critical Strike Chance
	Ancestral Protector - it grants you more Attacks Speed for as long as it stays active
	Vaal Ancestral Warchief - it grants you more Melee Damage for as long as it stays active

[UTILITY] Guard Spell
	Molten Shell - a Guard Spell that's more effective the more Armour you have which is especially good for this Armour-stacking build

[MOBILITY] Movement setup
	Leap Slam - use it to jump over obstacles and to increase your mobility
	Faster Attacks Support - you can use Leap Slam more often making you even faster

6. Gear Setup

Build Requires specific Unique items, and it additionally heavily relies on Flasks to increase your Damage and Surviavbilty - use Evasion and Armour Flasks and aim for at least half a million Armour while these are active. To never run out of Flask Charges have a way to constantly gain these Charges back with items or Flask mods. Cluster Jewels are crucial as you can get increased Aura Effect, and Mana Reservation Efficiency on just one well-rolled Small Cluster Jewel, multiply it by eight and it adds up to an 80% increased Aura Effect and 48% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency just from these, additional sources are found on Skill Tree and gear. Look for Armour, and Evasion Rating that is transformed into Armour after allocating Iron Reflex. You won't need as much Resistance as normally since the Purity of Fire, Ice, and Lightning should provide 132% of Total Elemental Resistances. The more significant portion of your Armour won't actually come from gear but from Auras. Seek Elemental or Cold Damage with Attacks, Critical Strike Chance, and Attack Speed for more Damage, and Energy Shield for a bigger "Life" Pool. Grace requires you to get 155 Dexterity which you will need to look for, Strenght and Intelligence should be easily covered by your Skill Tree.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - use Rare Helmet with increased Mana Reservation Efficiency and Energy Shield, additionally seek Armour, Evasion Rating, and Elemental Resistances

Min. requirements: 10% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills +40 to maximum Energy Shield Optional affixes: Armour Nearby Enemies have -9% to Cold Resistance Evasion Rating Global Critical Strike Multiplier Elemental Resistances increased level of socketed AoE Gems

(Helmet) Mask of the Tribunal - The Synthesised implicit mods you want are the increased Effect of Auras or +2 to Level of Socketed Gems. It's a good option for when you have high Dexterity and Strength.

<One to three random Synthesis implicit modifiers> +(25-30) to all Attributes (150-200)% increased Armour and Energy Shield Nearby Allies have (4-6)% increased Defences per 100 Strength you have Nearby Allies have +(6-8)% to Critical Strike Multiplier per 100 Dexterity you have Nearby Allies have (2-4)% increased Cast Speed per 100 Intelligence you have 2% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills per 250 total Attributes

(Helmet) Alpha's Howl - a budget option that's still useful since it synergizes good with Auras and offers some defences

+2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems (80-100)% increased Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 25% chance to Avoid being Chilled Cannot be Frozen 16% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills

Helmet enchantments: Smite enchantment mods

(Weapon) Replica Dreamfeather - obligatory item, it's the core of the build as it increases your Damage with Armour allowing you to reach very high DPS

+475 to Accuracy Rating Adds (40-65) to (70-100) Physical Damage (5-10)% increased Attack Speed +(180-200) to Armour 3% reduced Movement Speed +(280-300) to Accuracy Rating 1% increased Attack Damage per 450 Armour

(Weapon) Aegis Aurora - it's a very important item for survivability, as you block it Replenishes 2% of Armour as ES, at 500 000 Armour it's 10 000 ES on Block - more than you will ever have; Replenish means instant recovery

(300-400)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +10% to all Elemental Resistances +5% to maximum Cold Resistance +6% Chance to Block Replenishes Energy Shield by 2% of Armour when you Block (10-20)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - try to obtain a copy with high Energy Shield, increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skill, and additional Crit Chance

Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Energy Shield 20% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skill Attacks have +1% to Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Attributes increased Energy Shield

(Boots) March of the Legion - mandatory Unique, it allows you to have more Auras than you can actually afford by making them temporary, socket your Auras with the highest reservation cost here

+2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 25 Blessing (250-300)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(12-18)% to all Elemental Resistances (20-30)% increased Movement Speed

(Gloves) Shaper's Touch - your goal is not to stack the attributes, but your Intelligence is going to be high anyway, increasing your Evasion which increases your Armour, it's also a great source of Energy Shield and Damage

(80-120)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +4 Accuracy Rating per 2 Intelligence +1 Life per 4 Dexterity +1 Mana per 4 Strength 1% increased Energy Shield per 10 Strength 2% increased Evasion Rating per 10 Intelligence 2% increased Melee Physical Damage per 10 Dexterity

(Belt) Rare Belt - Rare Crystal belt offers a lot of Energy Shield, but a Stygian Vise is a great option too, focus on Energy Shield and missing stats

Min. requirements: +40 to maximum Energy Shield 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills 20% increased Energy Shield from Body Armour Optional affixes: Attributes Armour Elemental Resistances

(Belt) String of Servitude - one of the most popular choices, this belt can increase Aura Effect, and then Triple this effect - look for "Grace has increased Aura Effect", all the other mods are mediocre at best

< 1 to 2 Random corrupted implicit modifiers> Implicit Modifier magnitudes are tripled Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

(Belt) Mageblood - it's one of the most useful-for-all-purposes Belts and one of the most expensive Unique items in the game, but it's especially good for this build as you rely on your Flasks heavily - if you run out of charges you're doomed

+(25-35) to Strength +(30-50) to Dexterity +(15-25)% to Fire Resistance +(15-25)% to Cold Resistance Magic Utility Flasks cannot be Used Leftmost (2-4) Magic Utility Flasks constantly apply their Flask Effects to you Magic Utility Flask Effects cannot be removed

(Amulet) Aul's Uprising - It allows you to have one of your Auras up for free, go for one of the expensive ones, but not Auras you have socketed in your March of the Legion, Discipline or Purities are good choices, it also grants you increased Flask Charges gain and other good stats

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(20-30) to Dexterity, Strength or Intelligence (15-20)% increased Evasion Rating +(50-70) to maximum Life Nearby Enemies grant 25% increased Flask Charges Monster gives 25% increased Flask Charges on death (Hidden) <Random Dexterity, Strength or Intelligence aura> Reserves no Mana

Recommended Anointments: Charisma

(Ring) Call of the Brotherhood - You want to convert your Lighting Damage to Cold Damage, with two of these augmented with Turbulent Catalysts at 20% you can convert 96% of Lightning Damage which should cover it

+(12-16)% to Cold and Lightning Resistances +(15-25) to Intelligence (15-25)% increased Lightning Damage (30-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 40% of Lightning Damage Converted to Cold Damage Your spells have 100% chance to Shock against Frozen Enemies

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - get some Jewels with increased Energy Shield and fix your missing Attributes and Resistances, for damage go for Cold Penetration and Critical Strikes

Recommended affixes: 7% increased maximum Energy Shield Dexterity Cold Penetration Critical Strike Chance

(Jewel) Thread of Hope - you can use one with a Large Ring and socket in between Overcharge and Endurance, this way you can allocate Glancing Blows, and Sovereignty with one Reservation Efficnecy next to it

Only affects Passives in Large Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Conqueror's Potency - increased Flasks Effect and Auras Effect are highly desirable stats

4% increased Effect of your Curses Flasks applied to you have 8% increased Effect 3% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Multiplier are some of the best mods, you can find them as Precision, Wrath and Hatred mods. You're using a lot of Auras so it will be easy to find even a remotely useful Jewel

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - Blanketed Snow and Snowstorm are best Notables here, it's more important to get a low number of Passive Skills than to look for useful third Notable. You will need four of these.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow 1 Added Passive Skill is Snowstorm 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Thunderstruck 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display

(Jewel) Small Cluster Jewels - Eight Small Cluster Jewels with Introspection and a low number of passive Skill Point are what you're looking for

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Introspection

(Jewel) Voices - it's very hard to afford Voices with few empty passive nodes, but as a luxury upgrade it will serve you well

Adds 3 Jewel Socket Passive Skills <Random empty passive skill node mod>

Suggested Flasks: Alchemist's Jade Flask of Impala for Evasion Rating Basalt Flask of Armadillo for Armour Silver Flask of the Dove for Attack Speed Granite Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Diamond Flask with random ailment removal

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

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