Lancing Steel
Impale Champion build

Updated for Patch 3.18

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
 

Lancing Steel is one of the first Skills that introduced the Impale mechanics to PoE. It's a Projectile Attack that can deal simply massive Physical Damage by stacking Impale quickly. Lancing Steel Champion is a very flexible and well-rounded character. It can use both Two-handed and One-handed weapons depending on your personal preference and budget. Our recommended setup revolves around dual-wielding, whereas using Paradoxica and The Saviour yields the best results and allows you to scale your DPS nearly indefinitely.

At the same time, it's a tanky and fast build, which can obliterate entire screens of enemies thanks to the increased number of Projectiles and extra Chain. Most enemies will die within several Attacks, and tougher enemies should die from the additional attacks inflicted by your Mirage Warriors from The Saviour Unique Sword. The build can reach 6 to 7k of Maximum Life, some of which is reserved. It has a high Evasion Rating, a lot of Armour, Permanent Fortify, Petrified Blood, and rapid Life Regeneration.

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

1. Gameplay

Champion Ascendancy is the most optimal choice for this build, not only does it grant amazing defenses but also buffs the Impale mechanic, which is our primary source of additional Physical Damage. Build utilize purely Physical DPS to maximize the extra damage from Impale. Lancing Steel's main projectiles apply the Impale ailment, which adds additional Physical Damage to the next attacks against the Impaled target. With high Attack Speed, high base Physical Damage, and a great number of projectiles your single-target DPS is simply amazing. On the other hand, Life, Dodge, and permanent Fortify with increased effectiveness help us survive most of the incoming damage when we are standing close to Bosses for maximum Point Blank damage multiplier. Dash will help you move quickly through maps.

The biggest downside to this build is the fact that you will best off swapping Chain Support for Slower Projectiles against Bosses if you want to farm Tier 16+ content. You should be still able to kill most of the Bosses even with Chain, but if there are no ads around, it will just take significantly longer.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can level up this Duelist as a standard Melee fighter. It's recommended to use Cleave as your primary attack since you can use the same supporting gems for your Lancing Steel as well. You will also pick Physical Damage nodes on your skill tree, that will boost your Cleave damage during the leveling process. You can switch to Lancing Steel at higher levels when you have Master of Metal, and Impale mechanic provides much more consistent bonuses. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Cleave setup
	Cleave - your primary attack during the leveling phase
	Melee Physical Damage Support - grants a very high bonus to Physical Damage dealt
	Faster Attacks Support - grants increased Attack Speed
	Maim Support - increases Physical Damage received by enemies and dealt by Cleave

Lancing Steel setup
	Lancing Steel - you can switch to Lancing Steel at level 28, or preferably after you complete your first Lab and get Master of Metal for massive early game DPS bonus
	Maim Support
	Vicious Projectiles Support - greatly increases Physical Damage dealt by your Projectile Attacks
	Impale Support - one of the core Support Gems in this build which increases your chance to Impale on Attacks
	Chain Support - causes Lancing Steel projectiles to chain, greatly boosting your clear speed

Utility Gems
	Summon Lightning Golem - increases your Attack Speed
	Dash - the recommended mobility Skill for this build
	Vulnerability - the best curse for leveling with Physical Damage skills. Increase Physical Damage against enemies and increases your chance to inflict Bleeding
	Herald of Purity - provides extra Physical Damage
	Pride - increases the Physical Damage you deal to nearby enemies

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

34 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Master of the Arena 2) Dervish 3) Constitution 4) Bloodless 5) Blade of Cunning

69 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Point Blank 2) Iron Grip 3) Born to Fight 4) Forceful Skewering 5) Golem's Blood 6) Thick Skin 7) Bastion Breaker

Recommended leveling items:

Blackheart - the best rings for the earlies levels. It Will greatly boost your melee physical DPS

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks 5% increased Physical Damage Adds 1 to 3 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(20-30) to maximum Life (2-4) Life Regenerated per second 10% chance to Cause Monsters to Flee

Meginord's Girdle - great leveling Belt, increasing Physical Damage, and Maximum Life

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

Victario's Flight - the best Boots for leveling that grant high bonus Movement Speed and extra Attributes for Gem requirements

+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

Karui Ward - great amulet for Lancing Steel, increasing both your Attack Speed and Projectile Damage

+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Strength (5-10)% increased Attack Speed +100 to Accuracy Rating 30% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Projectile Damage

Redbank - you can use this sword since level one, which is an insane DPS boost for the early leveling process

100% increased Damage when on Low Life 50% increased Physical Damage Adds 2 to 6 Physical Damage 10% increased Attack Speed +(20-30) to maximum Life +2 Life gained for each Enemy hit by Attacks

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

114 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't Include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
122 Points Path of Building(PoB) link 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Master of Metal
2. Unstoppable Hero
3. Fortitude
4. First to Strike, Last to Fall

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Solaris 6% Physical Damage Reduction if there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Tukohama While stationary, gain 3% additional Physical Damage Reduction every second, up to a maximum of 9%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Lancing Steel setup
	Lancing Steel - your main skill, for both AoE and single target. It is a Physical Ranged Attack that utilizes the Impale mechanics for massive damage bonuses on consecutive Hits. It's recommended to switch between Chain Support and Slower Projectiles against Bosses
	Brutality Support - greatly increases Physical Damage dealt, but makes you unable to deal Elemental and Chaos Damage with the supported attack (which is negligible)
	Vicious Projectiles Support - grants very high Physical Projectile Damage bonuses
	Maim Support - increases Physical Damage taken by enemies and slows them down
	Impale Support - increases the chance and effectiveness of your Impale
	Chain Support - makes your Lancing Steel's projectiles chain which boosts your clear speed. You should replace it with  Slower Projectiles Support against Bosses

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Vitality - grants you passive Life Regeneration
	Precision - increases your Accuracy Rating and Crit. Chance. You don't have to use it at the maximum level, upgrade it to the point where you still feel comfortable with your unreserved Mana Pool (level 3 in our case)
	Dread Banner - The Impale-oriented Banner that increases the efficiency of this mechanics, Accuracy, and Chance to Impale. When Placed grants Maximum Fortification, AoE, and Aura Effect
	Arrogance Support - linked Spells reserve Life instead of Mana

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Pride - increased Physical Damage taken by nearby enemies, being more efficient as you stand near them for over four seconds
	Petrified Blood - the Lower Half of your Life is lost more gradually when taking damage from Hits giving you precious time to recover it instead of dying instantly
	Determination - grants you increased and added Armour, you could swap it for  Purity of Elements or more offensive-oriented Skills such as  Herald of Purity or  Flesh and Stone
	Enlighten Support - reduces the Mana Reservation cost of li

[MOBILITY] Leap Slam setup
	Leap Slam - main mobility skill for faster movement through maps
	Faster Attacks Support - allows you to Leap faster increasing your mobility
	Lifetap Support - makes Dash cost Life instead of Mana

[UTILITY] Various utility Gems
	Ancestral Protector - spawns a Totem that will increase your Attack Speed
	Blood Rage - grants increased Attack Speed, Life Leech, and lets you generate Frenzy Charges for more damage
	Sniper's Mark - significantly increases your Projectile damage against marked targets. Should be used manually against Bosses
	Culling Strike Support - Totem kills enemies that are low on Life, which is useful against the toughest bosses

[UTILITY] Molten Shell setup
	Molten Shell - creates a barrier that reduces the Damage you receive, it scales with your Armour
	Lifetap Support - you spend Life instead of Mana on linked Spell

[UTILITY] Enduring Cry
	Enduring Cry - a Warcry that generates Endurance Charges and grants instant Life recovery

[UTILITY] Vulnerability (applied via Ring affix)
	Vulnerability - the best Curse for this build which increases Physical damage taken by affected enemies. It has to be applied by a Ring affix

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find all the recommended and required gear for this build. Most of the items should be easily obtained. While our recommended setup revolves around two expensive and hard to obtain Unique Weapons they can be replaced with any High Physical DPS Swords (you could even use Two-Handed weapons for this build with some small Passive adjustments)

At this point, we would love to invite you to visit our PoE Currency marketplace. You can buy cheap PoE Orbs, Unique Items, and Power Leveling services from other Path of Exile players.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - this is a very solid option for this build. It can give you a ton of extra defensive stats, and increase your DPS as well

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life Nearby enemies take #% Increased Physical Damage Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Elemental Resistances Chaos Resistance

Helmet enchantment: 40% increased Lancing Steel Damage Lancing Steel has a 30% chance count as consuming Steel Shards without Consuming them

(Weapon) Paradoxica - with high added Physical Damage from Champion's Ascendancy and Impale, this is truly the best Weapon you can use for this build. You should aim to get one with as close to 200 Physical base DPS as possible

+25% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Attacks with this Weapon deal Double Damage Veiled Prefix Veiled Suffix

(Weapon) The Saviour - Paradixoca and The Saviour is the best possible combination of Weapons for this build. While The Saviour has low base damage, it creates Mirage Warriors to mimic your Attacks, which result in dealing nearly 40% More Damage than it would appear from your stats

40% increased Global Accuracy Rating Triggers Level 20 Reflection when Equipped (40-50)% increased Physical Damage Adds (16-22) to (40-45) Physical Damage (8-12)% increased Attack Speed (8-12)% increased Critical Strike Chance

(Weapon) Rare Jewelled Foil - Rare, high Physical DPS Jewelled Foil is a great pick for this build if you can't afford/obtain The Saviour and The Paradoxica Swords

Min. requirements: 150% increased Physical Damage Adds 15 to 30 Physical Damage 20% increased Attack Speed Optional affixes: Critical Strike Chance Global Critical Strike Multiplier

(Weapon) Grelwood Shank - a perfect budget weapon for this build. It grants you an extra Passives Point as you can refund Point Blank and two extra Projectiles for Lancing Steel

(185-215)% increased Physical Damage (15-20)% increased Attack Speed 80% increased Armour while stationary Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles if you've been Hit Recently Point Blank Iron Reflexes while stationary

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - the best in the Slot Armour for this build. It can give you tons of extra Life and increase the base Crit. Chance for your Attacks which is the best affix you can get from it. Extra Physical DPS explosions when you kill enemies is also amazing, but pieces like that can get really expensive

Min. requirements: 110 maximum Life Attacks have +#% to Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Maximum Life % Enemies you kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Maximum Life as Physical Damage

(Boots) Rare Boots - they are the best choice if you need to fix your Resistances. You can try getting Tailwind or Elusive on those (or even both if you can afford such a pair) and the highest possible Life

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 60% Elemental Resistances 25% Movement Speed Optional affixes: #% chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently

Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently 10% Chance to Dodge Attack Hits if you've taken a Critical Strike Recently

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - if you need to fix your Resistances and increase Maximum Life they are the go-to choice

Min. requirements: 90 maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Adds Physical Damage to Attacks Melee Damage Damage while Leeching

(Belt) Stygian Vise - a decent choice, you can put additional Abyss Jewel in them to increase your Physical Damage

Min. requirements: 100 maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Maximum Life% Global Physical Damage/Increased Damage

(Belt) Ryslatha's Coil - the best Belt you can get - it grants not only a lot of Life but also increases your Damage significantly

(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

(Amulet) Carnage Heart - a cheaper alternative for high-end Rare Amulet. It will improve your Life Leech which yields better survivability.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(20-40) to all Attributes +(10-20)% to all Elemental Resistances (1.2-2)% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life 50% increased Life Leeched per second (30-40)% increased Damage while Leeching Extra gore

(Amulet) Aul's Uprising (Strength) - If you're struggling with Mana Reservation go for this Amulet. It can make your Pride or Determination completely free while also granting some nice defensive stats. Use the Strength version.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(20-30) to Strength (15-20)% increased Armour +(50-70) to maximum Life Nearby Enemies have 10% reduced Stun and Block Recovery <Random Strength aura> Reserves no Mana

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - it's definitely the best option, will provide the highest DPS boost with Global Critical Strike Multiplier affix

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 40 Dexterity 35% Global Critical Strike Multiplier Adds min. 10 Physical Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: Critical Strike Chance Elemental Resistances Attributes

(Ring) Rare Steel Rings - the best base for your Rings which adds the highest possible Physical Damage to Attacks. One of the Rings should have the Vulnerability Curse on it

Min. requirements: 50 maximum Life 75% Total Elemental Resistances Adds min. 12 Physical Damage to Attacks Curse enemies with Vulnerability Curse on Hit Optional affixes: Attributes Attack Speed

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - with added flat Physical Damage to Attacks/Sword Attacks

Recommended affixes: Added Physical Damage to Attacks/Sword Attacks maximum Life Optional affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier Chance to gain Onslaught on Kill

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - they should provide extra Life and damage

Recommended affixes: maximum Life Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Increased Physical Damage/Damage with Swords

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - look for the common Physical Damage Notables and no more than 8 passive skills in total.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Battle-Hardened 1 Added Passive Skill is Force Multiplier 1 Added Passive Skill is Iron Breaker 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewels - Projectile Damage Medium Cluster offers some of the best Notables - Eye to Eye and Repeater. Use one Aerodynamics for extra Pierce.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Eye to Eye 1 Added Passive Skill is Repeater 1 Added Passive Skill is Aerodynamics

(Jewel) Unnatural Instinct - put it in a socket above Sentinel Notable to gain some substantial benefits

Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius

(Jewel) Lord of Steel - There are three variants of this Jewel, you should go for the one that increases the Impale Effect, it's a mandatory item for the build

5% increased Impale Effect Call of Steel deals Reflected Damage with (40-50)% increased Area of Effect Call of Steel has (80-100)% increased Use Speed

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - The Jewel which provides you with more Strength and some unique Notable modifiers. Socket it in a place where it would influence the most of your allocated passives.

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

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - the BiS Jewel if you get one that increases the maximum number of Impale stacks while you have Pride Aura active

(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 Gain a Flask Charge when you deal a Critical Strike while affected by Precision +(20-30)% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision

(Flask) Bottled Faith - pretty much the best Utility Flask in the game which greatly increases your Critical Strike Chance and damage. It's quite expensive, so if you can't afford it, you can use Cinderswallow Urn or a Magic Sulphur Flask for some extra bonus damage

40% increased Damage 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

(Flask) Dying Sun - this Flask will add additional projectiles to your Lancing Steel

+50% to Fire Resistance 20% less Fire Damage taken (-10-10)% increased Charges used Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect (15-25)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Silver Flask with random ailment removal Ample Diamond Flask with random ailment removal

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

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