Elemental Heavy Strike
Juggernaut Build

Created for Patch 3.19

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Heavy Strike is the very first Attack Skill you are going to use as a newly arrived Exile. It's a very crude Skill, it truly suits the Marauder class. Once you reach the town, you might want to change it for something else, usually something more flashy. But if you admire the simplicity of that Skill, and the huge Damage numbers that naturally come with it, stay tuned for this Guide! 

Heavy Strike is essentially an improved Auto Attack, you swing your Weapon to deal very high Damage and slightly knock back your enemies. It has high Damage Effectiveness and comes with a built-in Chance to deal Double Damage. The clear is a bit lacking, to say at least, but the single-target Damage it provides lavishly compensates for it. It's a perfect Skill for everyone who enjoys true Melee gameplay. 
To fully utilize the high Damage Effectiveness of this Skill, we are using 2 Handed Swords with very high Elemental Damage. Thanks to the special Banishing Blade obtainable from Heist, we can ignore all Elemental Resistances with our Critical Strikes. Fortunately for us, Swords have one of the best Passive Skills when it comes to Critical Strikes!  As a result, our Damage output can be really spiky. You will easily notice when you deal a Critical Hit with Doubled Damage, as it will take a large chunk of enemy HP and inflict powerful Shock. 

To be able to fight Enemies face-to-face, we have chosen the Juggernaut Ascendancy. It provides amazing mitigation against Physical and Elemental Damage and makes you Immune to the most slowing effects.  It also grants you a lot of Attack Speed and Accuracy Rating, which are essential for any Critical Strike Attack Build. With Fortify and all your Endurance Charges, you will fear no one!

Overall, it's a pretty cheap Build, but we advise against starting a new League with it. As an Attack Build, you simply need a good Weapon to deal good Damage. If you have some currency set aside and want to experience true melee combat, this is the ideal Build for you. 

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

1. Gameplay

Very high Attack Speed makes Leap Slam a very smooth form of travel. You will be able to quickly move from pack to pack and swing your Sword to kill everything in close range. Mark and Guard Skills will be triggered automatically, but you will need to remember about recasting Blood Rage from time to time. Against bosses, deploy your Totems for a massive Damage boost. Dodging incoming attacks is hardly your concern - as a Juggernaut, you can simply tank them all. 

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Heavy Strike suffers a lot due to a lack of AoE coverage early on. It requires additional Strikes and Melee Splash to properly clear packs of monsters.  As a result, you should consider leveling with completely different Skill or use two setups,  one with Heavy Strike against bosses or tough Rares, and one with any Skill of your choice suited for killing many enemies at once. There are many powerful Unique Weapons at your disposal to make your journey much easier and faster, or you can even use no Weapons at all and punch your enemies to death with Facebreaker Gloves or Hollow Palm Technique. As always, Tabula Rasa granting you an early six-link will be tremendously helpful. Without good gear, getting enough Damage can be quite rough at low levels because most of it comes from Critical Strikes. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Smite setup
	Smite - you can use this Skill with almost any Weapon, has good clear, and can "shotgun" for an okayish single target Damage. Hitting an enemy grants a temporary Buff that adds Lightning Damage to your Attacks.
	Ancestral Call Support - improves the clear and single target Damage. Attacking a bit away from your Main Target will cause the AoE to overlap.
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds a bit of flat Lightning Damage to your Attacks
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - improves your Elemental Damage with Attacks
	Cruelty Support - grants generic Damage boost to your Skills. Replace Added Lightning Damage Support.
	Multistrike Support - adds additional swings to your Attacks. Each subsequent swing is stronger than the previous one.

Auras setup
	Determination - this Aura gives you a lot of flat Armour, which is very important at low levels.
	Vitality - provides solid Life Regeneration. It's especially useful at Lord's Labirynth.

Utility setup
	Leap Slam - to travel faster you can use this Skill, if it can't be used with your Weapon use Dash instead.
	Elemental Weakness - lowers all Elemental Resistances of your enemies.
	Steelskin - reduces the Damage you take and disables Bleeds for a short duration.
	Ancestral Warchief - use this Totem to boost your Damage against tough opponents.

Bandits:

Kill all Bandits to get additional 2 Passive Tree Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

34 Points Passive Tree
We recommend this order:
1) Heart of the Warrior and Versatility 2) Art of the Gladiator3) Tribal Fury 4) Dismembering 5) Bloodless

69 Points Passive Tree
Allocate:
1) Barbarism 2) Disemboweling 3) Divine Judgement 4) Devotion 5) Disciple of Unyielding 6) Endurance 7)Stamina 8)Vigour 

Recommended leveling items:

Oni-Goroshi - a very strong Weapon that becomes stronger as you level up.

40% increased Global Accuracy RatingUses both hand slots (70-90)% increased Critical Strike Chance Adds 2 to 3 Physical Damage to Attacks per Level Gain Her Embrace for 3 seconds when you Ignite an Enemy While in Her Embrace, take 0.5% of your total Maximum Life and Energy Shield as Fire Damage per second per Level Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

The Goddess Bound - one of the best Swords available at a low level. It is a 1-handed Weapon but takes both your Weapon slots.

+1 to Level of Socketed Melee Gems Uses both hand slots (250-300)% increased Physical Damage Adds 3 to 7 Fire Damage 20% increased Attack Speed 30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40) to Evasion Rating 20% reduced Rarity of Items found 30% increased Movement Speed when on Low Life

Limbsplit - another very strong low-level Weapon. You will reach 150 Strength very quickly, the Gore Shockwave can be supported by socketing Support Gems into this Weapon.

+1 to Level of Socketed Strength Gems Trigger Level 1 Gore Shockwave on Melee Hit if you have at least 150 Strength +(15-30) to Strength (80-100)% increased Physical Damage Adds 5 to 10 Physical Damage Culling Strike

Ewar's Mirage - has a very high Attack Speed and adds a lot of flat Lightning Damage. Available at level 26.

+25% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Adds 1 to (45-55) Lightning Damage (16-22)% increased Attack Speed Attacks Chain an additional time when in Main Hand Attacks fire an additional Projectile when in Off Hand (40-55)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

Terminus Est - available at level 51, this Sword will carry you through the Campaign and early Maps. Use Physical to Elemental conversion Skills and Support Gems to benefit from Elemental Damage scaling.

+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

Goldrim - this Helmet gives a lot of Elemental Resistances of every type

+(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)

Le Heup of All - a very powerful Ring that grants a bit of every Stat we might need

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

Thief's Torment - best Ring for leveling with Attacks, grants amazing Life and Mana Sustain, with some Elemental Resistances on top of that.

+(8-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (10-16)% increased Quantity of Items found Can't use other Rings +(25-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Gain (40-60) Life per Enemy Hit with Attacks Gain 30 Mana per Enemy Hit with Attacks 50% reduced Effect of Curses on you

Tabula Rasa - gives access to early Six-link Setup, and nothing else. Very strong for any leveling purpose

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

Perandus Blazon - makes your Flasks last longer, some Fire Resistances, and bonus to all Attributes.

(15-25)% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(20-30) to all Attributes (6-8)% increased Quantity of Items found +20% to Fire Resistance 20% increased Flask Effect Duration -2 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

Replica Karui Ward - very good Amulet for leveling, it grants Damage and Movement Speed. Use the Regular version if you use Projectile-based Skill

+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Intelligence +100 to Accuracy Rating 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Area of Effect 30% increased Area Damage

Facebreaker - with those Gloves you don't need to worry about your Weapon. They work great with any sources of Flat Physical Damage.

+30% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier 10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold (600-800)% more Physical Damage with Unarmed Melee Attacks Extra gore

Wanderlust - a very convenient pair of Boots that improves your Mana Regeneration and  make you Immune to Frozen Ailment

+5 to Dexterity +(10-20) to maximum Energy Shield (20-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 20% increased Movement Speed Cannot be Frozen

Seven-League Step - those grants an enormous bonus to your Movement Speed, making your leveling process much shorter

50% increased Movement Speed Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

119 Points Final Passive Tree 
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Unstoppable
2. Undeniable
3. Unflinching
4. Unbreakable

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 Shakari: 50% less Duration of Poisons on You, You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Heavy Strike setup
	Heavy Strike - a powerful swing that deals Damage to a single enemy and knocks it back, with a high chance to deal Double Damage. Use the Divergent Quality if you find knockback too annoying.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - grants a lot of Damage with your Elemental Attacks. The awakened version of this Gem gives you immunity to Reflected Damage
	Inspiration Support - reduces your Mana Costs while also improving your Damage and Critical Strike Chance
	Ruthless Support - grants an enormous boost to your every third Hit. Such Hits are sure to inflict maximum Shocks even on the strongest Bosses
	Close Combat Support  - improves your Damage if you stand close to the enemy, and makes your Leap Slam faster for a quick moment.
	Multistrike Support - adds extra swings to your Attacks. You can cancel the animation at any time.
	Melee Splash Support - deals Damage to enemies close to your Main Target. You will need either this Gem or Meginord's Vise Unique Gloves.

[UTILITY] Auras
	Determination - greatly improves your Armour Rating, which is the main Defense of this Build.
	Haste - grants you a lot of Attack Speed, which improves your Damage and Leap Slam traveling. Use Vaal Haste for short bursts of additional speed. You can also replace it with Anger or Wrath for better DPS, but less mobility bonus
	Defiance Banner - increases your Armour Rating. You can place the Banner to Taunt nearby Enemies.
	Precision -  grants a lot of Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance. Accuracy grants us Attack Speed thanks to the Undeniable Passive.
	Enlighten Support  - reduces the Mana Reservation of all linked Auras
	Herald of Ice - grants a bit of Cold Damage to your Attacks and causes explosions when you kill a frozen enemy.  Drop it if you have issues with your Mana Reservation.

[UTILITY] Totems setup
	Ancestral Warchief - this Totem improves your Melee Damage by a huge amount. You must be in close distance to activate the Buff
	Ancestral Protector - similarly to the previous one, this Totem grants you a lot of Attack Speed.
	Multiple Totems Support - you need this Support Gem to be able to summon both Totems at once.

[UTILITY] Arcanist Brand setup
	Assassin's Mark - increases Critical Strike chance against Marked enemy and gives you a chance to generate Power Charge on Hit.
	Mark on Hit Support - automatically Marks the Enemy when you Hit it with an Attack.
	Lifetap Support - Marks consume a lot of Mana. Use this Support to pay its cost in Life instead.

[UTILITY] Leap Slam and Smite setup
	Leap Slam - this is your main Movement Skill. Close Combat buff from your Main Attack makes it nearly instant.
	Smite -  hitting an enemy with this Attack will give you a lot of Elemental Damage to all your Attacks for a short duration.
	Faster Attacks Support - makes linked Skills much quicker to perform.
	Increased Duration Support - prolongs the duration of the Smite Aura, so you have to use it less often.

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - grants you a defensive Shield based on the amount of Armour you have.
	Blood Rage - gives you a short Buff that refreshes on Kill. It grants you a lot of Attack Speed and a chance to generate Frenzy Charge.

6. Gear Setup

Every warrior needs a good Weapon to fight. In this case, you are going to use a Two-Handed Sword, ideally with the Banishing Blade as a Base to ignore the Elemental Resistances of your Enemies. An average Sword with that Base will outperform even the best Sword with a different Base due to all the Elemental Damage we get from other sources, such as Replica Abyssus which gives an enormous amount of Critical Strike Multiplier and flat Damage of every Element. 

Unfortunately, Strike Skills require the Melee Splash effect to have any form of Map Clear. You can get it by using the proper Support Gem, and swapping it for a more damage-focused Support Gem when needed, or by wearing the Meginord's Vise Unique Gloves. They are very cheap and common, so getting a pair with additional Critical Strike Chance and Attack Speed is very easy, which makes them comparable to a good pair of Rare Gloves. The major downside of this solution is the extra knockback on every Hit, which gets quite noticeable in longer fights.  You will need a lot of Attributes on your Gear since our Passive Tree provides almost exclusively the Strength Attribute.  You will also need a lot of maximum Life, especially if you are going to use the Brass Dome Unique Armour. Elemental Quality on your Accessories can provide an amazing boost to your Elemental Resistances and Elemental Damage modifiers. 

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Replica Abyssus - this Helmet is quite impossible to beat when it comes to pure Damage, however, it makes you more susceptible to Elemental Damage.

+(20-25) to all Attributes Adds 40 to 75 Fire Damage to Attacks Adds 30 to 65 Cold Damage to Attacks Adds 10 to 130 Lightning Damage to Attacks +(100-125)% to Melee Critical Strike Multiplier (100-120)% increased Armour (40-50)% increased Elemental Damage taken

Helmet enchantments: Heavy Strike has a 12% chance to deal Double Damage 40% increased Heavy Strike Damage 30% increased Assassin's Mark Curse Effect

(Weapon) Rare Weapon - the most important gear piece of every warrior - a strong Sword. It's important to use the Banishing Blade as a Base to ignore Elemental Resistances with Critical Strikes. Try to get a high Base Critical Strike Chance

Min. requirements: 800+ Elemental DPS 7% Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Culling Strike Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 10 Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 1 Fortify

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - you can simply wear a Rare Armour with lots of maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and some useful modifiers to boost your Damage

Min. requirements: +110 to maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: +(0.5–1.5)% to Attack Critical Strike Chance You can apply an additional Curse (19-20)% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills Haste has (28-30)% increased Aura Effect

(Body Armour) The Brass Dome - when it comes to Defense options, this Armour is unmatched. It reduces your maximum Life, but grants tons of Armour and Maximum Elemental Resistances.

(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

(Body Armour) Loreweave - it's quite tricky to get this Armour with good rolls, but once you do, it's a very good mix of offense and defense.

Has 6 Sockets +(8-24) to all Attributes Adds (4-10) to (14-36) Physical Damage to Attacks (20-60)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(15-50) to maximum Energy Shield +(20-60) to maximum Life +(20-50) to maximum Mana (6-30)% increased Rarity of Items found (15-50)% increased Elemental Damage Your Maximum Resistances are (76-78)%

(Boots) Rare Boots - you will mostly move around by using the Leap Slam, so Movement Speed is not as important here. Try to get a lot of maximum Life and Elemental Resistances here.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 20% increased Movement Speed +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: (8–12)% chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Attributes 6% increased Damage per Endurance Charge damage (Searing Exarch Implicit) You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently (Hunter Influence)

(Gloves) Meginord's Vise - adds a Melee Splash effect to all your Attacks, but also gives them Knockback. You can get good Corrupted Implicits on them very easily. Use the Alternative Quality Heavy Strike Gem to reduce the Knockback effect

Melee Strike Skills deal Splash Damage to surrounding targets +50 to Strength (150-200)% increased Armour 100% increased Knockback Distance Melee Hits with Strike Skills always Knockback Optional Vaal Implictis:  Attacks have +(0.5-0.8)% to Critical Strike Chance (8-10)% increased Attack Speed +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charge

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - if you prefer better Map clear and don't plan on fighting Bosses all the time, you can use Rare Gloves with maximum Life, additional Strike targets, and Attack Speed.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life +90% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strike Skills target 2 additional nearby Enemies  (9-16)% increased Attack Speed Accuracy Rating Gain 1 Rage on Hit with Attacks, no more than once every 1.1 seconds

(Gloves) Kaom's Spirit - you can also use this pair of Gloves to generate Rage at the cost of your Life Regeneration. It will allow you to use the Berserk Skill quite often.

+(50-70) to maximum Life +(20-30)% to Fire Resistance (0.3-0.5)% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life Life Recovery from Regeneration is not applied Regenerate 1 Rage per second for every 100 Life Recovery per second from Regeneration

(Belt) Rare Belt - try to get a lot of maximum Life and Resistances on your Belt. You can also find some useful Damage increases and Flask modifiers. Use the Stygian Vise to fit in additional Abyss Jewel.

Min. requirements: +100 to Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: % Increased Maximum Life Elemental Damage with Attacks 17% reduced Flask Charges used

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewel - if you have Abyss Socket on your gear, use a Jewel with maximum Life and Elemental Resistances. You can also get Attack Speed and Critical Strike Multiplier here.

Min. requirements: +30 to maximum Life Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: +10% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier increased Attack Speed Attributes

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - try to get maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and at least 2 useful modifiers on your Amulet. You will need Reduced Mana Cost on 2 pieces of your Gear

Min. requirements: +60% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental Damage with Attacks Critical Strike  Multiplier Attributes Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost

Recommended Anointments: Fatal Blade

(Ring) Rare Ring -  you can get a lot of Elemental Damage on your Rings if you use the Opal Ring as a base and upgrade it with Elemental Catalyst. Pair it with maximum Life, Resistances, and reduced Mana Cost of Skills.

Min. requirements: +80% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost Elemental Damage with Attacks Attributes

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Jewels can provide a lot of Damage on this Build. Try to find one with maximum Life, Critical Strike Multiplier, and Attack Speed.

Recommended affixes: 7% increased maximum Life #% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier #% to Melee Critical Strike Multiplier #% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Two Handed Melee Weapons #% increased Attack Speed with Two Handed Melee Weapons #% increased Attack Speed with Swords

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - you can get a lot of Damage from this Jewel with proper modifiers.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura mods: #% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision #% increased Attack Damage while affected by Precision

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - you have a lot of Passives suitable for this Jewel in the Duelist area. Try to get one with Leech and Chance to deal Double Damage.

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

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame&Flesh - you can borrow very strong Passives from other Marauder Ascendacies by using those Jewels. Most notably, Tukohama, War's Herald Passive gives a lot of Damage while being relatively cheap.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh/Flame

(Jewel) Mantra of Flames - this Jewel gives a lot of Elemental Damage to your Attack since we have a lot of Buffs at all times.

Adds (3-5) to (8-12) Fire Attack Damage per Buff on you Adds (2-3) to (5-8) Fire Spell Damage per Buff on you

(Flask)Bottled Faith- it's an expensive Flask, but very much worth its price. It grants a lot of Critical Strike Chance and increases the Damage enemies take.

Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Flask effect

Suggested Flasks: Quicksilver Flask with Attack Speed bonus Life Flask  with Bleeding Removal Silver Flask with Critical Strike Chance bonus Diamond Flask with Shock Reduction

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.