Leap Slam of Groundbreaking
Chieftain Build

Updated for Patch 3.25

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Leap Slam of Groundbreaking is a Slam Attack with high damage but sluggish Attack Speed and short jump range. It would be a build like any other of that type if not for the inclusion of the Movement Skill gem tag, thus allowing us to take advantage of Bronn's Lithe Body Armour. It not only increases the damage by up to 100% but also increases the Gem Level of socketed Movement Skills by 5, which will significantly improve the effectiveness of added damage for the Attack. You can even Corrupt it for two or up to three additional Gem Levels for the Leap Slam. It makes for a solid foundation. One of the options to build on it is to incorporate Exertions and Warcries into the build, as Slam users usually do. Chieftain has a great passive for that - Sione, which increases the Warcry Buff Effect by 30% and fixes their Power to be always infinite. Another passives from this class will provide a 7th Support gem, Fist of War, a lot of Elemental Resistances with Ignite Immunity, and high Maximum Elemental Resistances pegged to Maximum Fire Resistance so that you can reach 90% of all Elemental Resistances with minimal effort.

To make this build durable you will need to invest in Life Regeneration and Physical Damage Reduction, that's mostly Armour, but Endurance Charges also reduce Physical Damage taken. The Life Pool is high thanks to the Blood Magic Keystone, a lot of Rare Items, and an overabundance of Life passives in the bottom-left corner of the Passive Skill Tree. The build utilizes Critical Strikes, which we can afford to implement because of the 160% Warcry Buff Effect with infinite power. It causes Battlemage's Cry to have a meaningful effect on the base Crit Chance and in turn, all sources of increased Crit Chance are much more potent. The type of damage you will deal is Fire, Converted from Physical. We could stick to the Physical Damage but scaling up Fire Damage is easier with the Elemental Penetration and sources of Physical Damage gained as Extra Fire from sources like Infernal Cry.

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1. Gameplay

Leap Slam is your sole damaging ability, also used to move between packs of enemies. Warcries are needed only when you're up against a tough enemy, but the Intimidating Cry increases your movement speed, so using it just to move faster is a good idea. Battlemage's Cry is used to apply Curse and Combustion. Besides Warcries, your other active Skills are Blood Rage or Bereseker, whichever one is not linked to Automation. Automation will trigger Molten Shell and Phase Run too. Your Auras are Determination and Precision.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Just follow our Leveling Guide for Marauder using Two-Handers and Melee Skills. You can switch to Leap Slam of Groundbreaking at any time.

Bandits:

Two Additional Passive Skill Points seem like the best option for this build.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

109 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Tasalio
2. Sione
3. Tukohama
4. Valako

Pantheon:

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

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Leap Slam setup
	Leap Slam of Groundbreaking - It's just like the regular Leap Slam but with damage comparable to standard Slam Attacks, although its range and Attack Speed are inferior to its non-transfigured counterpart.
	Overexertion Support - More Damage per each Exertion the linked Attack is affected by, which is 4 in this case.
	Melee Physical Damage Support - More Melee Physical Damage and a bit less Attack Speed.
	Fire Penetration Support - Damage Penetrates a big chunk of Fire Resistance. Use the Awakened Version of Fire Exposure on Hit.
	Pulverise Support - More Area of Effect and Area Damage, but less Attack Speed.
	Faster Attacks Support - We've found Faster Attacks a great solution to the otherwise poor clear speed, as with it you move faster. Still, if you're up against pinnacle bosses we recommend replacing it with  Elemental Damage with Attacks or  Increased Critical Damage if your Crit Chance is over 80%.

[UTILITY] Warcry setup
	Infernal Cry - The buff grants Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage, which is great in this Physical-to-Fire build. The Exertion causes enemies to combust on death.
	Seismic Cry - Knocks enemies back, grants you Armour, and increases your Stun Threshold. The Exertion grants 50% more Area of Effect for Attacks.
	Intimidating Cry - Grants Movement Speed and causes your Exerted Attacks to deal Double Damage.
	Enduring Cry - Generates Endurance Charges and Regenerates Life. Use it only when needed, it doesn't Exert Attacks.
	Urgent Orders Support - Increases Warcry Speed for linked Warcries.
	More Duration Support - Buffs from Warcries last longer.

[UTILITY] Battlemage's Cry setup
	Battlemage's Cry - It will Trigger linked Spells with its Exertions. The buff also increases your base Critical Strike Chance which the build takes advantage of.
	Firestorm - It's used to apply Combustion. You can use any other Fire Spell for that, but remember it has to have a good chance of Igniting the enemy, so it better be something with a wide area and multiple Hits per Cast.
	Combustion Support - Enemies Ignited with a linked Spell have their Fire Resistance lowered. It provides a 25% chance to Ignite too.
	Flammability - Provides an additional 25% chance to Ignite, and, more importantly, lowers Fire Resistance of affected enemy.

[UTILITY] Automation setup
	Molten Shell - Will absorb some of the incoming Hit Damage before expiring or exploding.
	Automation - Triggers all linked to it Instant Spells whenever they're off-cooldown.
	Phase Run - Increased Movement Speed with Phasing that turns into More Melee Damage if you use a Skill. It consumes Frenzy Charges to make itself last longer.
	Blood Rage - More Attack Speed, additional Life Leech, and Frenzy Charges on Kill. We've linked it to Automation for convenience, but you may as well replace it with  Berserk if that suits you better.

[UTILITY] Determination setup
	Determination - More and increased Armour, one of the most important defensive layers.
	Eternal Blessing Support - You have only one Aura due to Blood Magic, so you may as well have it off-charge with Eternal Blessing.

[UTILITY] Various gems
	Berserk - Drains all your Rage at an accelerating rate, but increases its Effect.
	Precision - Most likely you will need the additional Accuracy and Crit Chance from Precision. It won't Reserve a lot of Life.

5. Gear Setup

The build is a fairly basic one and it requires almost no Unique items to work. We did however make Bronn's Lithe mandatory as it's the main selling point of the build, to take advantage of the fact that we're using a Mobility Attack as the damage source. Leap Slam deals Physical Damage that has to be Converted to Fire. 90% of this Conversion is gained from the Skill Tree, while the remaining 10% can be sourced from Rare Goves or a Ring. A weapon will be very important. Use a 2-handed one for more damage per Hit. It's a Critical Strike build, but it's hard to reach 100% Crit Chance without using Tinctures and expensive Jewels, and that would alter the build in a way that we don't plan to cover in detail. If you want more damage, we recommend instead the Rational Doctrine, Leadership's Price, and Worship the Blightheart combo. The Fungal Ground, Profane Ground, Scorch, and Brittle work well in an Elemental Damage Crit build.

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - A Rare Helmet should get you a lot of Maximum Life, Armour, and Resistances. It can also be a source of Accuracy, Intelligence, and Life Regeneration. For the Eldritch mods, you may want to roll for Fire Penetration or Physical Damage taken as Elemental, and Flammability Curse Effect.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +80% to Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes:  Intelligence Accuracy Chaos Resistance Life Regeneration increased Life Regeneration Rate

(Helmet) Abyssus - The softcore Helmet. It grants tons of damage but in turn causes you to take a lot more Physical Damage, which is a very bad thing.

+(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

(Body Armour) Bronn's Lithe - It increases the Gem Level of socketed here Leap Slam to increase its effectiveness of added damage. Corrupting it may grant you another 2 levels, and double-corrupting even 3, resulting in Level 29 Leap Slam that deals almost 1000% of its original damage.

+5 to Level of Socketed Movement Gems 10% increased Attack Speed (60-100)% increased Damage with Movement Skills (200-250)% increased Evasion Rating 10% increased Movement Speed

(Weapon) Rare Mace - You can use any 2-hand weapon type, but the Impact Force Propagator, which is a Mace, may be the best option. It causes Warcries to Exert 2 additional Attacks. Look here only for high Physical DPS with Crit modifiers.

Min. requirements: 900 Physical DPS Optional affixes: Critical Strike modifiers Accuracy

(Gloves) Admiral's Arrogance - It's used to generate Rage more efficiently. Rage can also be gained via Vengeful Cry or by spending more Skill Points on Rage nodes, in which case you shall use Rare Gloves instead.

(6-12)% increased Attack Speed (100-140)% increased Armour (10-20)% chance that if you would gain Rage on Hit, you instead gain up to your maximum Rage +(1-3) to Level of all Melee Skill Gems

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Regular Gloves will provide you with Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and Dexterity. Accuracy, Armour, Life Regeneration, Attack Speed, and Chaos Resistance are good too. For the Eldritch mods seek Attack Speed or Crit Chance, and 10% Physical-to-Fire Conversion.

Min. requirements: +90 maximum Life +40% to Total Elemental Resistances Dexterity Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed Chaos Resistance Armour Life Regeneration Accuracy

(Boots) Rare Boots - Prioritize Maximum Life and Resistances. Movement Speed is not necessary if you're using only Leap Slam to move. For the Eldritch mods get Warcry Speed and Action Speed or Chaos Resistance.

Min. requirements: +90 maximum Life +80% to Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Freeze Avoidance (Crafted) Chaos Resistance Life Regeneration increased Movement Speed

(Belt) Rare Belt - Use a Rare Belt for Maximum Life, Resistances, and increased Elemental Damage with Attack. We heavily recommend getting some Chaos Resistance and Life Regeneration here as well.

Min. requirements: +100 maximum Life +80% to Total Elemental Resistances increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Optional affixes: increased Maximum Life Chaos Resistance Life Regeneration Armour

(Belt) Ryslatha's Coil - Ryslatha's Coil is a good substitute for a rare Belt if your Resistances are already high. It grants more Physical Damage, later Converted to Fire.

(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) Rare Amulet - Rare Amulet is good if you need Resistances and Attributes, but in almost any case a Unique one would be a more suitable option.

Min. requirements: +80 Maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances Attributes Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Life Regeneration

(Amulet) Yoke of Suffering - With the Mace Mastery and this Amulet you will inflict Ignite, Chill, and Shock, making it a good choice. It even has Resistances and some Attributes, but lacks Maximum Life.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(10-20)% to Fire Resistance +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance +(20-40)% to Lightning Resistance 30% reduced Duration of Ailments on Enemies (5-10)% chance to Shock Enemies take (5-10)% increased Damage for each type of Ailment you have inflicted on them Your Elemental Damage can Shock

(Amulet) Leadership's Price - Leadership's Price is a great pick for an Elemental Damage build that uses Critical Strikes, like this one. Sap, Scorch, and Brittle are much better than Ignite you would otherwise inflict with Fire Damage Hits. Use Tattoos to adjust your Attributes and make it work.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(-3-3)% to maximum Fire Resistance +(-3-3)% to maximum Cold Resistance +(-3-3)% to maximum Lightning Resistance You have Scorching Conflux, Brittle Conflux and Sapping Conflux while your two highest Attributes are equal Cannot Ignite, Chill, Freeze or Shock Corrupted

Recommended Anointments: Disemboweling Nomadic Teachings Heart of Flame Worship the Blightheart

(Ring) Rare Rings - Rings are a source of Maximum Life, and Resistances, Attributes. If you cannot get the remaining 10% Conversion from Rare Gloves, it can be found here too as a rare Delve Prefix.

Min. requirements: +90 Maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances Attributes Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Accuracy increased Attack Speed Life Regeneration Chaos Resistance 10% of Physical Damage Converted fo Fire Damage.

(Ring) Polaric Devastation - Polaric Devastation is used primarily to Cover enemies in Ash which causes them to take increased Fire Damage, but it also has a lot of Resistances and other useful boons. It only lacks Maximum Life.

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage (15-25)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance (10-20)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies Left Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds when you Ignite them Right Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Frost for 5 seconds when you Freeze them

(Jewel) The Light of Meaning - A very efficient way to gain more damage if you have a reasonable amount of passives clustered around a jewel socket, which you do. Get a copy with increased Physical or Fire Damage.

Passive Skills in Radius also grant 6% increased Fire Damage Passive Skills in Radius also grant 6% increased Physical Damage

(Jewel) Intuitive Leap - We have used it to allocate notables near Stamina. Measured Fury would be otherwise a hassle to pick up as it's inconveniently placed, and really out of our way.

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

(Jewel) Rational Doctrine - If you are wearing Leadership's Price with Intelligence and Strength balanced out, then it's a no-brainer to include the Rational Doctrine too. Consecrated Ground Regenerates Life and reduces the Effect of Curses on you. Profane Ground increases the critical strike chance and Effect of your Curses. Replacing Consecrated Ground with Fungal Ground via Worship the Blightheart anoint will grant you 25% Chaos Resistance and lower enemies' Resistances by 10%. It's also valid.

<Three random synthesis implicit modifiers> You have Consecrated Ground around you while stationary if Strength is your highest Attribute 25% chance to create Profane Ground on Critical Strike if Intelligence is your highest Attribute Effects of Consecrated Ground you create Linger for 4 seconds Effects of Profane Ground you create Linger for 4 seconds

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Maximum Life with Critical Strike modifiers are great here. Remember that your Maximum Cold and Lightning Resistances are equal to Maximum Fire Resistance which is found on these Jewels. You should be able to fix your Attributes and Resistances with gear pieces.

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Attributes Resistances Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Multiplier Maximum Fire Resistance

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Marauder has a lot of excellent passives to borrow from its ascendancies. Flawless Savagery will suit this build a lot, but so will War Bringer, Crave the Slaughter, or Untiring.

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

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - One Large Mace and Staff Cluster Jewel with the Overlord notable to Fortify yourself is needed. Martial Prowess with Calamitous or Feed the Fury are your other best options.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Feed the Fury 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess 1 Added Passive Skill is Overlord 1 Added Passive Skill is Calamitous

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Medium Cluster Jewels specialized in Exerted Attacks can be very potent. Look for the listed here notables on them. Lead by Example is the most important one, it grants Onslaught.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Mob Mentality 1 Added Passive Skill is Lead by Example 1 Added Passive Skill is Cry Wolf 1 Added Passive Skill is Provocateur

Other suggested Flasks and Tinctures: Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Granite Flask with increased Armour Ruby or Quicksilver Flask with reduced Effect of Curses on you Diamond Flask with increased Crit Chance Prismatic or Rosethorn Tincture with Elemental Penetration (if using Bloodsoaked Blade or not using Blood Magic)

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.