Lightning Strike
Berserker build

Updated for Patch 3.17

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It's a Berserker build that uses Lightning Strike with Trinity Support making you deal a lot of Elemental Damage. You will also be using Crystallised Omniscience to transform your Attributes into Omniscience - it grants you Elemental Resistances and Elemental Resistances Penetration instead of the regular stats that comes with Attributes. Berserker is one of the Ascendancies heavily focused on dealing a lot of Damage with Attacks, and Lightning Strike is one of the best Strike Skills to deal Elemental Damage with. It creates Projectiles so that your clear speed is improved as you can reach enemies further away. With Trinity Support you will have to deal more than one type of Elemental Damage to create Resonance stacks - it's easy to do with Lightning and Cold Damage.

With around 4k of Maximum Life, Chance to Block, Chance to Suppress Spell Damage, Elusive buff, Fortify, and Elemental Resistances sourced from Omniscience it's a relatively tanky build as well as a damage-oriented one. Your Elemental Resistance Penetration is very high, and as a Berserker your Attack should be supported by Rage mechanics, Blitz Charges, Flawless Savagery, and Aspect of the Carnage resulting in tons of Damage. The build offers a lot of flexibility as there are not a lot of required Unique Items, and you won't have to focus heavily on Resistances.

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

1. Gameplay

Lightning Strike is the only Skill used to deal damage, the Strikes are supposed to target more than one enemy, and the Projectiles created should Pierce. During boss fights activate several Skills to boost your damage for a short time - use both Ancestral Totems, General's Cry, Withering Step, and Berserk. The Skills such as Precision, Determination, Anger, Defiance Banner, and Blood Rage shall be turned on at all times. For a Guard Spell use Molten Shell, while the Whirling Blades is a good pick for a Movement Attack. Use Assassin's Mark linked with Mark on Hit for more Critical Strikes and Critical Strike Damage.

Full gameplay video:

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Lightning Strike is good only when your Strikes target additional Targets and your Projectiles can Pierce, before that use a Skill that would allow you to easily get through the first Acts. During the first few levels use Ancestral Protector with Ancestral Call Support, allocate Tribal Fury and you're set for the next five acts. After allocating Piercing Shots you can start using Lightning Strike, link it with Trinity Support if you're able to create Resoncances - try out Auras such as Anger, Wrath, Hatred, or different Heralds to achieve it. Crystallised Omniscience requires level 20, you can put it on as soon as the majority of your damage is Elemental, not Physical.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Ancestral Protector setup
	Ancestral Protector - it's a Totem that uses Strikes, it also grants you a buff increasing your, and its own Attack Speed
	Nightblade Support - the best pick if you're using Claws or Daggers, Critical Strikes grants you an Elusive buff. If you're using Swords or Axes you can go for  Melee Physical Damage Support
	Ancestral Call Support - Strikes Skill can target only one enemy, but this Support Gem allows them to target two more
	Ruthless Support - Every third Melee Attack is much stronger. If you want to deal more Elemental Damage use  Added Fire Damage Support

Whirling Blades setup
	Whirling Blades - one of the best movement Attacks for Claw users, with other Melee Weapon use Leap Slam instead
	Lifetap Support - makes your Movement Attack cost Life instead of Mana

Utility Gems
	Determination - defensive Aura for more Armour
	Anger - Anger adds Fire Damage to your Attacks, it's good with Lava Lash and Added Fire Damage Support
	Precision - increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance
	Flammability - the Curse that lowers Fire Resistance of  afflicted Opponents, use it if you deal mostly Fire Damage - after implementing Trinity Support start using Elemental Weakness or Assassin's Mark
	Ancestral Cry - a Warcry that enhances your Strike Skills which is especially useful early on

Bandits:

You should kill all the Bandits and take two more Passive Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

41 Points Skill Tree
If you're using Strike Skill allocate Tribal Fury with its Mastery. Start making your way to a Notable "Piercing Shots" if you plan to use Lightning Strike. If you deal mostly Fire Damage pick Laval Lash and Fire Mastery for Damage Conversion.

67 Points Skill Tree
On the left side pick up Steadfast, Bloodless, and Utmost Might with Masteries as shown. On the right side allocate Piercing Shots, Ballistics, and Acuity if you need more Accuracy Rating, if not - go for "From the Shadows" and pick the Elusive-related Mastery, same as with the Claw Cluster

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - it grants a lot of useful stats early on

(10-30)% increased Damage +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - it's a Helmet commonly used for leveling as it grants tons 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 - it's great for leveling, you can six-link the main setup from the start

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

Redbeak - Redbeak is one of the best leveling Swords for the earliest stages

40% increased Global Accuracy Rating 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

The Ignomon - another versatile Unique item that is used during the first few acts

(12-20)% increased Rarity of Items found +10 to Dexterity Adds 12 to 24 Fire Damage to Attacks +(100-150) to Accuracy Rating +(100-150) to Evasion Rating +20% to Fire Resistance

Poacher's Aim - the easiest way to make your Projectiles Pierce enemies

Projectiles Pierce an additional Target 10% increased Projectile Damage

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

106 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. War Bringer
2. Flawless Savagery
3. Aspect of Carnage
4. Blitz

Pantheon:

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

Minor God: Soul of Shakari You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Lightning Strike setup
	Lightning Strike - A Strike Attack that creates Projectiles making it great for clearing, just be sure that your Strike Skills target more than one enemy, and that the Projectiles you create Pierce. Use Vaal version as it's great for boss fights.
	Nightblade Support - you should be using Claws so that this Support Gem will be able to increase your Critical Strike Chance and grant you an Elusive buff on a landing one
	Trinity Support - your Elemental Damage has to be diversified between the different types of it to create Resonances, it's easily achievable
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - the Damage you deal with Attack Skill is increased
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds Cold Damage to your Attacks, you can swap it for Added Fire or Lightning Damage depending on your character as you have to activate Trinity's effect
	Multistrike Support - you Attack much faster by rapidly repeating linked Attack

[UTILITY] Aura setup can be socketed in a Shield with increased Reservation Efficiency if you have one
	Anger - an Aura that adds Additional Fire Damage to your Attack
	Precision - increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance
	Determination - increases and provides you with an additional Armour

[UTILITY] Ancestral Totems setup
	Ancestral Warchief - Totem grating you buff - more Melee Damage
	Ancestral Protector - gives you 20% more Attack Speed, even more with the Phantasmal variant
	Multiple Totems Support - you can summon both of these totems at the same time

[MOBILITY] Whirling Blades setup
	Whirling Blades - an Attack that makes you dash in a straight line to move faster
	Faster Attacks Support - Whirling Blades are faster so that you move with ha greater speed

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - Assassin's mark increases your Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier, grants you Power Charges, Life, and Mana on Kill
	Mark on Hit Support - linked Mark Curse is applied with every Hit
	Lifetap Support - linked Skills use Life instead of Mana

[UTILITY] Defiance Banner
	Defiance Banner - Banner granting you increased Armour, Evasion, and reducing Critical Strike Chance for nearby enemies

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - Creates a protective shield that absorbs a portion of incoming damage from hits, it's more effective the more Armour you have. You can link it to a CwDM as there is another skill that needs to be used as soon as it's off Cooldown, it's General's Cry.

[UTILITY] General's Cry
	General's Cry - use it as it's a Warcry with the shortest Cooldown and its only purpose is to generate Rage via War Bringer - it should be used constantly

[UTILITY] Berserk
	Berserk - you can spend the Rage you generated on Berserk to gain the same stats that Rage provides, but magnified

[UTILITY] Blood Rage
	Blood Rage - it's a Spell with a duration that refreshes each time you kill an opponent, use it for more Attack Speed, Life Leech, and Frenzy Charges

[UTILITY] Withering Step
	Withering Step - It instantly refreshes your Elusive buff to be applied anew with increased effectiveness, and it also grants you Phasing

5. Gear Setup

Crystallised Omniscience is a key part of the build as it changes the way you gear up your character. Getting more Attributes, especially Strength gives you more Elemental Resistances and Elemental Damage Penetration, so it's great to stack it up. Activating Trinity's Resonances is another thing to pay close attention to - you can't deal the same type of Elemental Damage all the time, it has to change between at least two different ones, look for added Fire, Cold, or Lightning Damage on your Weapon, Gloves, and Rings. Be sure that you have enough Accuracy and high enough Hit Chance, Critical Strike Chance will come organically from your Ascendancy Keystones, but you still can look for it as Blitz Charges actually reduces it. The best way to get more Crit Chance is to cause Brittle - equip Galesight or allocate Secrets of Suffering for it. After capping Elemental Resistances, which should be fairly easy, seek more Maximum Life. Armour, Chance to Suppress Spell Damage, and Chaos Resistances are secondary defensive layers.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Use Blizzard Crown as a base - it adds more Cold Damage to your Attacks. Besides Life and Attributes, you can get a variety of other mods that would increase your damage.

Min. requirements: 70 Maximum Life 50 Attributes Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Armour Chance to Suppress Spell Damage Nearby Enemies take #% increased Elemental Damage Global Critical Strike Multiplier Elemental Resistances

(Helmet) Galesight - You can inflict Brittle - that's the main reason to equip this Helmet. It's redundant after allocating Secrets of Suffering.

(240-280)% increased Energy Shield +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance (30-40)% increased Elemental Damage 25% chance to inflict Brittle Cannot inflict Freeze or Chill 10% increased Elemental Damage per Sextant affecting the area

Helmet enchantments: Lightning Strike enchantment

(Weapon) Rare Claw - a lot of Added Damage of any Element can be sourced from a weapon, these Prefixes should interest you the most, Suffixes can get you Attributes, Accuracy, Critical, or Attack Speed mods

Min. requirements: Adds 70 to 120 Fire Damage Adds 70 to 120 Cold Damage Adds 10 to 220 Lightning Damage Optional affixes: Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Dexterity increased Accuracy Rating Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate #% Elemental Resistances

(Weapon) Rare Shield - Rare Shield can get you some more specific mods that you need the most, such as Reservation Efficiency for socketed Skills

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 40% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chance to Suppress Spell Damage Socketed Gems have 30% increased Reservation Efficiency Attributes increased Attack Damage with Elemental Skills Chance to Block Accuracy Rating

(Weapon) Redblade Banner - this Shield ensures that each time you use a Warcry you gain a lot of Rage via War Bringer that you can spend on Berserker, it's a recommended option

+(20-30) to maximum Life (80-100)% increased Armour +(50-60) to maximum Life 20% increased Taunt Duration +5% Chance to Block 50% increased Warcry Cooldown Recovery Rate Warcries have infinite Power

(Body Armour) The Brass Dome - you don't suffer from the only downside of this Armour so it's definitely the best option

(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) Rare Boots - get Movement Speed, Life, Attributes, and for the more expensive mods - Onslaught and Tailwind

Min. requirements: 30% Movement Speed 70 maximum Life 50 Attributes Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves can grant you added Elemental Damage as Prefixes, it's an opportunity you can't miss on

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 50% Total Elemental Resistances Added Fire, Lightning, or Cold Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Chance to Suppress Spell Damage Attributes increased Attack Speed

(Belt) Rare Belt - Belts can get you a lot of Maximum Life, Resistances, Attributes, and even increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 40% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills 40 Strength Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Elemental Resistances increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Crystallised Omniscience - It's a great fit for a build that deals Elemental Damage, such as this one. It transforms your Attributes to grant you Elemental Damage Penetration and Elemental Resistances instead of whatever was their former function.

+(10-16) to all Attributes Modifiers to Attributes instead apply to Omniscience +1% to all Elemental Resistances per 10 Omniscience Penetrate 1% Elemental Resistances per 10 Omniscience Attribute Requirements can be satisfied by (15-25)% of Omniscience

Recommended Anointments: Panopticon Utmost Swiftness Utmost Intelect Divine Judgement

(Ring) Rare Ring - Rings are able to provide you with a  lot of Attributes and Added Elemental Damage to Attacks, but you should of course focus on Maximum Life as the goal of every build is to not die

Min. requirements: 50 to Maximum Life 50 Attributes Added Fire, Lightning, or Cold Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills Elemental Resistances Attributes Accuracy Rating Chaos Resistance Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted)

(Ring) Mark of the Elder - If your other Ring is Shaper-influenced, you should definitely equip this one for a massive boost of added, and increased Damage

Adds (3-4) to (10-14) Physical Damage to Attacks 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Tentacle Whip on Kill Adds (26-32) to (42-48) Cold Damage to Attacks (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Attack Damage if your other Ring is a Shaper Item Cannot be Stunned by Attacks if your other Ring is an Elder Item

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Maximum Life and Attributes are your top priority, but if you lack any of the more important stats such as Accuracy or Resistances, get this one first

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Elemental Resistances increased Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage with Attacks/Claws Attributes increased Evasion Rating

(Jewel) Mantra of Flames - it's one of the best Unique Jewels to increase your DPS as you have a lot of buffs such as Blitz Charges, Rage, and Fortify

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

(Jewel) Thread of Hope - Put Thread of Hope next to Fervour and allocate Force of Nature, Piercing Shots, Primeval Force, One With Nature, and Quickstep. It has to have a Large Ring

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) The Interrogation - with Secrets of Suffering you can apply Brittle, Sap, and Scorch with Critical Hits - it's a must-have

Adds Secrets of Suffering

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - specific Aura enhancements can increase your Damage or survivability, you should definitely get yourself one of those

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

(Flask) Bottled Faith - Expensive Flask that increases your Damage and Critical Strike Chance

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (20-40)% increased 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

Other suggested Flasks: Granite Flask of Staunching for Bleed removal Bubbling Divine Life Flask with Immunity to Poison during Flask Effect Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline 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.