Boneshatter
Juggernaut Build

Updated for Patch 3.20

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Boneshatter is a Melee Strike restricted to Axes, Staves, Maces, and Sceptres. It has very high base damage, but the downside is the attacker is also getting hurt in the process, not as much as the enemy, but the damage received will increase for the parties at both ends of the weapon. This status is called Trauma and it lasts for 6 seconds - as the character you're playing is extremely tanky and can mitigate a lot of Physical Damage, you want to increase this bonus to its limit. Juggernaut is the ascendancy that specializes in Physical Damage mitigation and enhancing the Endurance Charge perks. With the proper setup, the character can reach 7 to 10k of Maximum Life, have an additional reduction in Physical, Elemental, and general Damage it takes, and a huge amount of Resistances. with such defenses, the Boneshatter's damage will have little to no effect on you. You can even reserve your Life to reap the benefits of Bloodthirst, but that requires a lot of Maximum Life.

Builds that stack basic Attributes are usually very expensive to min-max. When it comes to stacking Strenght, a lot of best-in-slot items are Uniques which lowers the overall cost of the build quite significantly - your Gloves, Boots, Amulet, Body Armour, and Weapon can be Unique Items that are cheap and common. Having a lot of Strength is particularly useful for this build not only because of its inherent stats - Maximum Life and Melee Physical Damage but also because of the benefits granted by the weapon Pillar of the Caged God - it increases your Physical Weapon Damage by 16% per 10 Strength, meaning 1600% at 1k Str, that's twice the amount of Fecebreaker at its highest roll. With the Iron Fortress, the inherent Strength bonus for Melee Physical Damage is boosted by one-third, and it grants you an additional, substantial layer of defense. Undeniable Notable from your Ascendancy Tree will cover the need for Accuracy Rating. It's a popular build among players valuing survivability.

As of Patch 3.18, we introduced numerous minor changes - the build now uses an Anomalous version of Boneshatter which reduces the Stun Threshold, making it possible to permanently Stun any opponent in the game. It comes with some changes to the Skill Tree, Gem setups, and additional gear options, but overall the build remains very similar. It's Still a low-life Strength-stacking build.

For patch 3.20, we added a lot of other options to gear up the character, which includes Precise Technique Keystone and Divergent Boneshatter. We also added a version that puts less emphasis on Strength Stacking, it would allow you to have all your Items of Rare quality, which is a good thing in a long run.

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

1. Gameplay

This is the type of Melee build you would normally expect a Juggernaut to be. Kind of slow, but tanky as hell, with tons of Physical Damage mitigation and devastating melee hits. The main idea of this build is to maximize your Physical Damage mitigation so that you can ignore the damage received from Boneshatter's Trauma stacks, which can greatly increase your maximum DPS. In this build, you are also going to play as a Low-Life character with Petrified Blood and Banner/Stance Spells that reserve your Life with Blood Magic notable. Your Life will be capped at around 4,000, but the damage will be greatly reduced by all the buffs and passives, allowing for a very safe playstyle. You are going to cast many of your Spells manually, including Blood Rage, Ancestor Totems, Molten Shell, and AncestralCry, but in most cases, these will be needed only against Bosses. There is also another interesting triggered mechanic. You can use Phantasmal Vengeance linked with Rage Support and Enhance, to generate Rage at a very fast rate, further boosting your damage. In the following setup, the same Vengeance Gem will be used to apply your Curse via Hextouch Support.

This video was recorded on a level 91 Juggernaut on Standard League in Patch 3.17. We had approximately 1.5k Strength, which is quite high (and expensive) but far from the upper limit, this build can reach. We have also aimed at offering better AoE/Clear speed rather than single-target DPS, but it still should allow you to efficiently farm most of the content in this setup. Overall it's a very solid build, but judging the price of all the Items required to reach such a level, it's not for everyone. You are looking to spend at least 100 Exalted Orbs to have enough Strength to deal the kind of damage as in the video. However, it's not exactly the build's fault, but simply Juggernaut's current underperforming state

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can start leveling with any Melee Physical Attack for blunt weapons such as Ground Slam or Sunder for example. it heavily depends on your gear and preferred playstyle when you want to switch to Boneshatter - you need to sustain the Trauma damage, so the setup has to be at least somewhat developed accordingly to this Skill. A lot of Maximum Life and Armor will be needed. To level up you will need basically only these stats mentioned above and Melee Physical Damage, your best option is to already start using 2-handed Staff from the start. Seek Unique Leveling items, use Vendor Recipes, and get some Essences of Contempt or Rage.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Eartshatter setup
	Ground Slam - use a Physical Melee Attack that suits your playstyle the most, Ground Slam is a great option
	Melee Physical Damage Support - the best-in-slot Support Gem to increase your Melee Physical Damage
	Maim Support - it's a low-level Support Gem that can apply Maim debuff on enemies
	Fortify Support - increases your damage and grants you Fortify - one of the best buffs out there

Aura and Banner setup
	Pride - The best option for an Aura as it increases your Physical Damage
	War Banner - Banner that grants Accuracy Rating and Physical Damage
	Blood and Sand - increase your Area of Effect or Area Damage - depending on your Stance

Warcry and Ancestral Totems setup
	Enduring Cry - Warcry is used to quickly recover a portion of your Maximum Life
	Ancestral Warchief - a Totem that increases your Attack Speed as it stays active
	Ancestral Protector - a Totem that increases your Melee Damage as it stays active
	Multiple Totems Support - with this Support Gem you will be able to have both Ancestral Totems active at the same time

Mobility setup
	Lifetap Support - before allocating Blood Magic use Lifetap to save Mana
	Faster Attacks Support - increases the Attack Speed of your Leap Slam, making you move faster
	Leap Slam - great mobility Skill that can be used to move around and jump over ledges

Bandits:

you should kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

32 Points Skill Tree
pick all the Life notables in your close proximity and then some nodes for more damage

69 Points Skill Tree
make a path to the Tribal Fury, pick some more maximum Life, and 2-hand nodes

Recommended leveling items:

Meginord's Vise - these require you only to have Level 35, but might as well be used in your final setup

+100 to Strength 10% increased Global Physical Damage (40-60)% increased Armour Regenerate 2% of Life per second with at least 400 Strength

Alberon's Warpath - the main reason to equip these is the bonus to Strength, otherwise, they're rather poor in stats

Adds 1 to 80 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(180-220) to Armour +(9-12)% to Chaos Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed +1 to maximum number of Skeletons (15-18)% increased Strength

Goldrim - a Helmet that offers a lot of Elemental Resistances

+(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 - use Tabula for a far smoother leveling experience

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:

116 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster nor Timeless Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Undeniable
2. Unbreakable
3. Untiring
4. Unstoppable - for Mobility, or Unflinching - for Survavibality

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] Boneshatter setup
	Anomalous Boneshatter - It's the only DPS skill here, the variety in which you can assemble the Support Gems setup is huge, you can even create two different setups and swap a weapon mid-fight. Use the Anomalous version to reduce the enemy Stun Threshold or Divergent Version for more Damage.
	Brutality Support - With no focus on added Elemental damage and with no conversion it remains the best Support Gem for such builds.
	Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Support - It's used to gain more Damage per Endurance Charge, generate Endurance Charges, which will be needed at their maximum all the time, reduce Stun Threshold, and increase Stun Duration. If you don't use Endurance Charges (you haven't picked Unflinching), take  Close Combat Support instead.
	Ruthless Support - Every third Attack is much more powerful, and your base Stun Duration is set at 0.8 seconds, which is good.
	Melee Physical Damage Support - Increases Melee Physical Damage, but reduces Attack Speed. It's still one of the best Gems.
	Fortify Support - Melee Hits Fortify and you gain more Damage. If you already have a different Fortify source, use Bloodthirst Support as it adds tons of Flat Physical Damage if you're Low on Life (only if you have half your Life Reserved).

[MOBILITY] Leap Slam setup
	Leap Slam - This allows you to jump over obstacles and move around much faster.
	Faster Attacks Support - Increases your mobility when linked with Leap Slam.

[UTILITY] Life Reservation setup
	Herald of Purity - It adds extra Physical Damage and creates Minions.
	War Banner - increases your Accuracy, Physical Damage, and when placed - AoE and Adrenaline.
	Arrogance Support - With the two linked Mana-Reserving Skills listed above and the Mastery with Increased Life Reservation Efficiency your life should be always slightly below 50%. If you don't plan to Reserve Life and use Bloodthirst, don't link it.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Pride - Pride increases the Physical Damage your enemies are receiving.
	Determination - Adds and increases your Armour for better Physical Damage mitigation.
	Precision - Adds Accuracy and increases Critical Strike Chance, both are good in most cases.
	Enlighten Support - Increases Mana Reservation Efficiency for linked Skills.

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - your Guard Spell that's heavily based on your Armour which you should have a lot of
	Cast when Damage Taken - We've used Ancestral Cry as a movement key, so it's good to have Molten Shell cast automatically if that's the case.

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Warlord's Mark - Mark that reduces Stun Threshold, and grants Endurance Charges, Rage, Mana, and Life Leech. It's good if you can stun bosses with Anomalous Boneshatter, but if you can't, and if you're using Divergent Boneshatter,  Vulnerability Hex is better (you can get it as a Rare Ring Suffix).
	Mark on Hit Support - Applies Warlord's Mark on Hit against Rare and Unique enemies.

[UTILITY] Ancestral Cry
	Ancestral Cry - A Warcry which specializes in increasing Strike Attacks, making them more powerful, able to target two additional enemies, and have increased range. It's optional.

[UTILITY] Petrified Blood
	Petrified Blood - Reserves your Life and makes some portion of received Hit Damage deal DoT instead. It's optional.

[UTILITY] Totems setup
	Ancestral Warchief - Increases your Melee Damage.
	Ancestral Protector - Increases your Attack Speed.
	Multiple Totems Support - Allows you to summon both Ancestral Totems.
	Maim Support - Maims enemies, reducing their Movement Speed, and making them take more Physical Damage.

[UTILITY] Blood Rage
	Blood Rage - Dreatly increases your Attack Speed, Life Leech, and generates Frenzy Charges for you while draining your Life.

[UTILITY] Berserk
	Berserk - Rage accumulated from Vengeance can be spent to increase your Damage, Attack Speed, Movement Speed, and to reduce the damage taken. Rage can be also generated by an Eldritch Implicit.

6. Gear Setup

If you're using Pillar of the Caged God, then the build focuses on accumulating as much Strength as possible - to do so several Unique gear pieces are heavily recommended or straight-up mandatory. Your Belt, Helmet, and Rings should be Rare - you can find some very useful mods there, especially when the items are Synthesised. The build follows the usual drill - Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances will be the two main stats to keep your character alive so you should seek these. If you're using a Rare Weapon, you will still want to have some Strength due to the Undeniable Keystone, but don't go out of your way to get it. If you plan to go for the Precise Technique, be sure to have a lot of Accuracy (which is again, sourced from Strength).

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - A good helmet alone would have a price of a few cheap builds - there are 2 Affixes from 2 separate influences that could elevate your build to a high tier, but just one should be enough.

Min. requirements: Gain Accuracy Rating equal to your Strength Nearby Enemies take 9% increased Physical Damage (Elder Suffix) + 70 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Strength Armour Chaos Resistance 1% increased Critical Strike Chance per 10 Strength (Elevated Wardlord Suffix)

(Helmet) Abyssus - It's an option worth considering since the increased Physical Damage taken won't affect you that much, the build is quite resistant to Physical Damage.

+(20-25) to all Attributes Adds 40 to 60 Physical Damage to Attacks +(100-125)% to Melee Critical Strike Multiplier (100-120)% increased Armour (40-50)% increased Physical Damage taken

Helmet enchantments: Boneshatter enchantment

(Weapon) Pillar of the Caged God - The build-defining item. With the Strength you've accumulated, it can increase your Damage as no other Weapon would. Remember to upgrade its Quality on Hillock's Workbench.

+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff 1% increased Area of Effect per 20 Intelligence 1% increased Attack Speed per 10 Dexterity 16% increased Physical Weapon Damage per 10 Strength

(Weapon) Rare Two-handed Weapon - A two-handed Axe offers the most damage, but a Piledriver Mace could further reduce enemies' Stun Threshold. Aim for simply as much Physical DPS as you can afford.

Min. requirements: At least 700 Physical DPS added/increased Physical Attack Damage increased Attack Speed Optional affixes: Chance to Impale Reduced enemy Stun Threshold

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Rare Body Armour is superior to any other in terms of flexibility - you can score a lot of Life, Elemental Resistances, and Strength on this slot.

Min. requirements: +120 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Strength Increased Strength Optional affixes: enemies you Kill have a #% chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their maximum Life as Physical Damage Maximum Life % You Can Apply Additional Curse

(Body Armour) The Iron Fortress - It grants a decent amount of Strength and Chance to Block Attack Damage, but no Elemental Resistances nor Maximum Life. It's optional, it will probably increase your overall damage, but compared to a Rare Body Armour it's a more offensive option.

+1% Chance to Block Attack Damage per 50 Strength Chance to Block Spell Damage is Unlucky +(60-120) to Strength (80-100)% increased Armour 10% reduced Movement Speed Strength's Damage Bonus instead grants 3% increased Melee Physical Damage per 10 Strength

(Body Armour) The Brass Dome - It has simply tons of Armour and extra Maximum Elemental Resistances, but it lowers your Life by denying you the Strength's bonus to it, so if you're stacking Strength, don't take it.

(350-400)% increased Armour +(1-5)% to all maximum Elemental Resistances Strength provides no bonus to Maximum Life Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

(Boots) Alberon's Warpath - An 18% increase in Strenght is the reason to incorporate this pair of boots into your final build, the added Chaos Damage will have no effect with Brutality Support Gem.

Adds 1 to 80 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(180-220) to Armour +(9-12)% to Chaos Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed +1 to maximum number of Skeletons (15-18)% increased Strength

(Boots) Rare Boots - If you don't stack Strength, pick a pair of Boots with simple Resistances, Maximum Life, and movement Speed.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances 25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Attributes Armour Chaos Resistance

(Gloves) Meginord's Vise - These grant you a lot of Strength, Global Physical Damage, Armour, and Life Regen, clearly the best choice.

+100 to Strength 10% increased Global Physical Damage (40-60)% increased Armour Regenerate 2% of Life per second with at least 400 Strength

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - If you don't stack Strength, pick a pair of Gloves with Maximum Life, Resistances, and some offensive bonuses.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes Accuracy Rating Attack Speed Added Physical Damage Chaos Resistance

(Belt) Rare Belt - The Belt is a simple case, look for the usual Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, additionally, you can craft Strength.

Min. requirements: +100 to Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances +30 to Strength Optional affixes: increased Maximum Life increased Damage

(Belt) Ryslatha's Coil - It's often the best option for any Physical Damage Attack Build since the damage it grants is very high. In this case, it provides a lot of Life on Stun.

(20-30)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies +(20-40) to Strength (30-40)% more Maximum Physical Attack Damage (40-30)% less Minimum Physical Attack Damage Adds 1 to (15-20) Physical Damage to Attacks +(80-100) to maximum Life Gain 50 Life when you Stun an Enemy

(Belt) The Magnate - Accumulating 400 Strength should be easy, making this Belt a very good option. It increases your Damage significantly but grants no Maximum Life.

(20-30)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies +(40-50) to Strength +(20-25)% to all Elemental Resistances 50% increased Flask Charges gained 10% chance to deal Double Damage while you have at least 200 Strength 5% chance to deal Triple Damage while you have at least 400 Strength

(Amulet) Astramentis  - This Amulet is great for Attributes-stacking builds such as this one, it grants a lot of Strength and other Attributes which will be also needed to some extent.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

(Amulet) Ashes of the Stars  - It can grat a lot of Quality to your Anomalous or Divergent Boneshatter, enhancing your build. Reservation Efficiency is great too.

+(10–16) to all Attributes (5–10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10–20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20–30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems

(Amulet) Rare Amulet  - Rare Amulet is excellent too, it can increase your Strength and Damage, or Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills you're using.

Min. requirements: +50 to Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes increased Strength increased Attack Speed Accuracy increased Damage per 15 Strength increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills Pride/Determination has increased Mana Reservation Efficiency Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted)

Recommended Anointments: Cruel Preparation Charisma Titanic Impacts Dismembering Panopticon

(Ring) Rare Rings - The most common slot to fix your Resistances, additionally you should look for Strength, Maximum Life, and some offensive mods for more damage.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances +40 to Strength Optional affixes: Adds Physical Damage to Attacks Accuracy Rating Crit Strike Chance/Multiplier increased Attack Speed

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - On your Rare Jewels look for Strength, 7% increased Maximum Life, and some other modifiers, Elemental Resistances or Attack Speed are preferable.

Min. requirements: increased Maximum Life increased Attack Speed Elemental Resistances increased Global Physical Damage Strength

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - It's used to upgrade your Notables in Range, the best Socket for that is near Stamina - three Notables can be affected by it. Look for increased Strength or Maximum Life.

Commanded leadership over (10000-18000) warriors under (Akoya-Kaom-Rakiata) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Karui Historic

(Jewel) Brawn - It's an optional Jewel that can increase your Strength and Dexterity but reduce your Intelligence.

(4-6)% increased Dexterity (4-6)% increased Strength (15-10)% reduced Intelligence

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Look for Pride modifiers on your Watcher's Eye, especially the one that improves the Impale effect.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: Impales you inflict last 2 additional Hits while using Pride (40-60)% increased Attack Physical Damage while using Pride

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Overlord grants Fortify on Hit, Devastator can make enemies explode on Kill, and Martial Prowess is a lot of damage

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Overlord 1 Added Passive Skill is Devastator 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess 1 Added Passive Skill is Master the Fundamentals

(Jewel) Split Personality - The Jewel Socket next to Doomsday Keystone is the place you can put this Jewel in, if you need more Strength, put a Large Cluster Jewel there first and two Split Personalities in the sockets.

This Jewel's Socket has 25% increased effect per Allocated Passive Skill between it and your Class' starting location Recommended modifiers: +5 to Strength (obligatory) +40 to Accuracy Rating +5 to maximum Life

(Flask) Lion's Roar - It's the best Flask for Melee builds. It increases Melee Physical Damage, Armour, and adds Knockback to your Melee Attacks.

+1500 to Armour Adds Knockback to Melee Attacks during Flask effect Knocks Back Enemies in an Area when you use a Flask 75% chance to cause Enemies to Flee on use (7-10)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

Other suggested Flasks: Alchemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline Basalt Flask with increased Armour Silver Flask with increased Attack Speed Life 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.