Righteous Fire
Juggernaut Build

Updated for Patch 3.21

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Righteous Fire is one of the most iconic Skills in Path of Exile. It is one of the first "walking simulator" Builds ever created, and to this day it delivers exactly that - you can simply walk around enemies and watch them burn from your mere presence. When you turn Righteous Fire on it starts to deal Fire Damage to you and all enemies around you. In order to sustain that you will need lots of Life Regeneration and ways to reduce Fire Damage Taken, which is usually done by raising your Fire Resistances above the default 75%. In that process, you will naturally become very tanky.

You will need to make sure you can survive your own Righteous Fire, and be comfortable around dangerous Enemies. The Juggernaut is an Ascendency that is focused purely on Defense. It will grant you tons of Life Regeneration, make your Armour apply to Elemental Hits, and boost the usefulness of your Endurance Charges. By covering most of your Defensive requirements it allows you to pick up more Damage modifiers from other sources. 

Unfortunately, the Damage potential of the Righteous Fire is rather low. It is great at killing packs of weaker Enemies, but when it comes to proper single-target, it requires some help from other sources. The Fire Trap is a Skill that scales exactly the same way as Righteous Fire or a few other Fire DoT Spells, but also comes with a Hit component which can additionally inflict an Ignite for even more Damage. Be warned that even with the combination of those 2 Skills your Damage will be quite low. It can kill Bosses very easily, it just takes longer time than some other Builds with a similar budget. In return, you will be very tanky and can commit mistakes the other Builds couldn't afford to do. 

Thanks to the mentioned properties it's a very cheap Build to start playing with. It also has a pretty clear path of upgrades as you progress further into the end game. 

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

1. Gameplay

During regular mapping, you will be quickly Shield Charging from pack to pack, Burning all nearby Enemies with your Righteous Fire. Occasionally, you will have to stop for a moment and throw Fire Trap and apply your debuffs such as Curses or Fire Exposure versus particularly durable Rare or Unique Enemies. 

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can actually start using Righteous Fire quite early on, but it won't be too effective at first. You will need lots of Life Regeneration and capped Fire Resistances to sustain it, forcing it too early will slow you down drastically. There are a few Spells you can use to supplement your Damage such as Rolling Magma or Armageddon Brand, but the Fire Trap remains the best as it simply has the most Damage out of them all. At first, you will struggle with Dexterity and Intelligence Requirements, so try to keep eye on Items with such modifiers. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Fire Trap setup
	Fire Trap - throws a Trap that explodes, dealing Fire Damage and leaving Burning Ground in the location.
	Combustion Support - increases the Fire Damage dealt with the Trap and lowers the Fire Resistances of Ignited Enemies.
	Arcane Surge Support -  grants bonus to Spell Damage and Mana Regeneration.
	Efficacy Support - improves the Damage over Time effect of your Fire Trap.
	Trap and Mine Damage Support - provides you with tons of Spell Damage bonus but disables the Elemental Ailments.
	Increased Burning Damage Support - improves the Damage you deal with Burn effects.

Righteous Fire setup
	Righteous Fire - you can start using this Skill around Act 3. New Masteries are very important to sustain it early on.
	Elemental Focus Support - greatly increases the Elemental Damage you deal.
	Burning Damage Support - simply increases the Damage of your Righteous Fire
	Efficacy Support - increases the Damage of your DoT effect.

Aura setup
	Determination - grants tons of Armour Rating which is very helpful during the Campaign.
	Vitality - this Aura provides lots of Life Regeneration which is needed to sustain the Righteous Fire.
	Purity of Fire - raises your Maximum Fire Resistance reducing the Damage you take from your Skill.
	Clarity - grants Mana Regeneration, keep it at a low level so it doesn't Reserve too much Mana.

Utility setup
	Frostblink - an Instant Movement Spell that teleports you in a short distance.
	Flammability - this Curse lowers the Fire Resistance of affected Enemies.
	Steelskin - absorbs part of the incoming Hit Damage and disables Bleed effects on you.

Bandits:

Kill all Bandits to get additional 2 Passive Tree Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

41 Points Passive Tree
We recommend this order:
1) Heart of the Warrior 2) Juggernaut 3) Barbarism 4) Arsonist&Fire Mastery 5) Prismatic Skin 6) Soul of Steel 7) Bloodless

71 Points Passive Tree
Allocate:
1) Hearty&Recovery Mastery 2) Divine Judgement 3) Spiritual Aid 4) Devotion 5) Retribution 

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - this Ring has a wide range of modifier values, but it potentially gives a lot of Resistances, Attributes, and Damage.

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

Tabula Rasa - allows you to use a 6-link or double 5-link setup very early.

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

Goldrim - this Helmet grants you up to 40% of each Elemental Resistance. You will need your Fire Resistance to be capped in order to have any chance of sustaining RF.

+(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)

Perandus Blazon - this Belt improves the Duration of your Flasks and grants you 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

Wanderlust - Freezes can e very deadly early on and those Boots make you Immune to that Ailment. They also grant you decent Movement Speed bonus.

+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 Boots grant you an unmatched amount of Movement Speed, considerably speeding up your leveling process.

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

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

118 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
118 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Untiring
2. Unbreakable
3. Unflinching
4. Unrelenting or Unyielding

Pantheon:

Major God: Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned in the past 2 seconds, Cannot be Frozen, 50% reduced Effect of Chill on you

Minor God: Soul of Ralakesh: 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time taken while moving; Moving while Bleeding doesn't cause you to take extra Damage

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Righteous Fire setup Socket in Helmet
	Righteous Fire - engulfs yourself in Fire, which deals Damage to you and all nearby Enemies. Doing so will also increase your Spell Damage massively.
	Burning Damage Support - it increases the Damage you Deal with Burning Skills such as Righteous Fire.
	Elemental Focus Support - the downside of this Support Skill doesn't apply here anyway, and in return, you will get a massive boost to Elemental Damage.
	Lifetap Support - increases the Damage by a relatively low amount, but also enables the use of the next Support Gem.
	Swift Affliction Support  - massively increases the Damage of Skills that have Duration. You will need the Lifetap Support for this to apply to Righteous Fire.

[DPS] Fire Trap setup
	Fire Trap - throw a Trap that explodes, dealing high Fire Damage and leaving Burning Ground for a short Duration.
	Burning Damage Support - increases the Damage of the Burning Ground and Ignite dealt by Fire Trap.
	Empower Support - it increases the Damage of your Fire Trap by raising its Gem Levels.
	Lifetap Support - makes your Mana Costs easier to manage and grants the Lifetap Buff required for Righteous Fire.
	Swift Affliction Support  - greatly increases the Damage dealt by Fire Trap, but slightly lowers its Duration.
	Trap and Mine Damage Support  - grants an insane amount of Damage for your Traps, but slightly lowers your Trap Throwing Speed.

[UTILITY] Auras
	Determination - scaling your Armour is very important, and this is the best Aura to do so. It will grant you a lot of base Armour Rating and improve all your Armour Rating from your Gear.
	Malevolence - improves all Damage over Time you deal, and increases the duration of your effects.
	Tempest Shield - it will give you lots of Spell Block Chance and make you immune to Shock.
	Summon Skitterbots - you summon a pair of Skittebots that inflict Shock and Chill on nearby Enemies. It also increases the Damage of your Fire Trap.

[UTILITY] Arrogance Aura
	Vitality - this Aura is very important early on, as it grants you tons of Life Regeneration. It Reserves a flat amount of Mana instead of the usual percentage.
	Arrogance Support - causes linked Auras to Reserve Life instead of Mana, that way you can freely level up your Vitality to level 20 and make use of new Aura Mastery which grants you Maximum Resistances.

[UTILITY] Shield Charge Setup
	Shield Charge - quickly charges towards the targeted location. It is your main Movement Skill, but it can't go through the terrain gaps.
	Faster Attacks Support - makes your Shield Charge much faster.
	Lifetap Support - you will pay the Mana Costs with your Life instead.

[UTILITY] Other Utility setups
	Frostblink - it is your secondary Travel Skill used to cross terrain gaps or slightly improve your overall Speed when combined with Shield Charge.
	Flammability - lowers the Fire Resistance of the affected Enemy. Casting it manually has the best effectiveness.
	Elemental Weakness - lowers Enemy Fire Resistances even more. You will need sources of additional Curses to use it.
	Molten Shell - forms a protective barrier that grants you Armour and absorbs incoming Damage.
	Infernal Cry - covers nearby enemies in Ash, increasing the Fire Damage they take from you. It also makes them explode upon death.

6. Gear Setup

The Damage is scaled mostly by getting Fire Damage over Time Multiplier and increased Fire or Elemental Damage modifiers. Additional Levels for your Fire Spells are also very important, as they will greatly improve their base Damage. Righteous Fire has only a few Support Gems that would benefit it, so it is best to use a Rare Helmet with built-in Support Gems and a special modifier that increases the Damage of Socketed Gems. This also allows you to use a Six-link setup for your Fire Trap. Thanks to the Spiritual Aid Notable on your Passive Tree you can scale your Damage with Minion Damage modifiers as well. With that said, you should prioritize getting solid Defenses first. You should focus on getting high amounts of Life on your Gear, as well as capping your Resistances. Sources of Maximum Fire Resistances are also very important as they will reduce the Damage you take from your RF. Flat Life Regeneration on your Gear greatly helps you with initial progress, but later on, it gets out-scaled by % Life Regeneration. Chaos Resistances are not required but are quite useful. You will also need plenty of Attributes, especially Dexterity, as you barely have any of it on your Passive Tree. 

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - you will need an Elder influenced Helmet crafted with the Essence of Horror. It should grant one additional Support Gem, effectively serving as a 6-link setup for your Righteous Fire. On top of that look for maximum Life, Resistances, or empty Prefix so you can craft additional Level for your RF.

Min. requirements: +60 Maximum Life Socketed Gems are Supported by: Concentrated Effect or Burning Damage  Socketed Gems deal 30% more Elemental Damage (Essence of Horror) Optional affixes: +1 to level of socketed AoE Gems Resistances Attributes Life Regeneration

Helmet enchantments: Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency for any of your Auras increased effect of Flammability

(Weapon) Rare Sceptre - you should look for Levels for your Fire Gems, Damage over Time Multiplier, and sources of Increased Damage for Burning Damage. Preferably it should be done on Sceptre which grants 40% increased Elemental Damage from its Implicit.

Min. requirements: 70% Increased Fire Damage +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems Optional affixes: Fire Damage Over Time Multiplier Damage Over Time Multiplier +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems Burning Damage

(Shield) Rise of the Phoenix - it is a great starting Shield that grants you tons of maximum Fire Resistances and Regeneration. It doesn't offer any maximum Life or Damage, so you shouldn't use it for too long.

(240-300)% increased Armour and Energy Shield Regenerate (100-200) Life per second +5% to maximum Fire Resistance +(20-25)% to Fire Resistance +25% to Fire Resistance while on Low Life 10% increased Movement Speed when on Low Life 100% chance to Avoid being Ignited while on Low Life

(Shield) Saffell's Frame - this Shield grants more universal Defense, as it raises all Elemental Resistances, not just Fire. It also grants a bit of Spell Damage and Spell Block Chance but disables your regular Attack Block Chance.

(20-30)% Chance to Block Spell Damage (20-30)% increased Spell Damage +(20-30)% to all Elemental Resistances +4% to all maximum Resistances Cannot Block Attacks

(Shield) Rare Shield - ultimately you will want to use a Rare Shield with modifiers to your fire Gem Levels and maximum Resistances. It should also grant you a bit of maximum Life and Resistances.

Min. requirements: +60 Maximum Life +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems Optional affixes: % to maximum Fire Resistance Attack or Spell Block Chance Increased Fire Damage Resistances

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - you can use Rare Armour which has high amounts of maximum Life, Resistances, and Life Regeneration. You can also get Mana Reservation Efficiency and Aura Effect, but you shouldn't spend too much here as you should upgrade it to Unique Armour at some point.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 70% total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistances Life Regeneration per Second % of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire/Lightning Damage increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills

(Body Armour) The Brass Dome - it is the ultimate Defensive Armour. Maximum Resistances and extreme amounts of Armour are very strong on their own, but it also disables the Extra Damage from enemy Critical Strikes. The loss of maximum Life is a big downside, but not big enough to not use this Armour.

(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 - at first you can use Rare Boots with bonuses to maximum Life, Movement Speed, and Resistances. They also can grant you the chance to avoid Ailments or Life Regeneration.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 60% total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Life Regenerate per Second 100% chance to Avoid being Chilled/Frozen

(Boots) Legacy of Fury - an extremely useful pair of Boots that improve your Clear Speed and single-target Damage. Scorch reduces all Elemental Resistances and can be improved via the effect of Non-Damaging Elemental Ailments on your remaining Gear.

(200–300)% increased Armour and Evasion 30% increased Movement Speed Nearby Enemies are Scorched (30–50)% increased Effect of Scorch (30–40)% chance when you Kill a Scorched Enemy to Burn Each surrounding Enemy for 4 seconds, dealing 8% of the Killed Enemy's Life as Fire Damage per second

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - you can get a very important modifier that improves all your Regeneration Rates here. Other than that, look for usual Life and Resistances.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 20% increased Life Regeneration Rate 60% total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Fire Damage Over Time Multiplier Inflict Fire Exposure on Hit, applying -11% to Fire Resistance Attributes

(Belt) Rare Belt - your Belt is simple yet powerful - you should stack a lot of maximum Life and Resistances here. You can also look for Hunter's percentage maximum Life or Life Regeneration.

Min. requirements: +70 to Maximum Life 60% total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: % Increased Maximum Life Chaos Resistances Attributes Life Regeneration

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewel - if you have a Stygian Vise Belt, you can use an additional Abyss Jewel to get some bonus maximum Resistances, maximum Life, or Attributes. You can also get Immunity to Corrupting Blood or Elemental Avoidances.

Min. requirements: +30 to maximum Life Optional affixes: Attributes Resistances Ailment Avoidance Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - a good Rare Amulet is very impactful on your Damage. Here you should look for additional Levels for your Fire Gems and Damage over Time Multiplier. Try to also get a bit of maximum Life, Resistances, or Attributes here.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems Optional affixes: Attributes Damage Over Time Multiplier Elemental and Chaos Resistances Fire Damage Area of Effect and Area Damage

Recommended Anointments: Charisma

(Ring) Rare Ring - ideally you should use a Vermilion Ring with maximum Life modifiers and use Fertile Catalyst to boost them significantly. If you still lack them, get Resistances and Attributes here, otherwise, you can use the Essence of Delirium to get Damage over Time Multiplier. Minimum Frenzy Charges are also an affordable way to get some Damage on a defensive-focused Ring.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Resistances Attributes Damage over Time Multiplier minimum Frenzy Charges

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - on your Jewels you should get maximum Life, lacking Resistances or Attributes, and some minor bonuses to your Burning Damage. Remember, you can also use modifiers to Minion Damage.

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Mana Reservation Efficiency Resistances Attributes increased Burning/Minion/Fire/Elemental/Over Time Damage  Fire Damage over Time Multiplier

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - there is only one modifier that would boost your Damage here, and it is quite expensive. Defensive modifiers are also useful and should be much easier to acquire.

(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: (10-15)% increased Life Recovery Rate while affected by Vitality +(18-22)% to Damage over Time Multiplier while affected by Malevolence

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - it always grants plenty of Dexterity and has the possibility to grant some useful modifiers on nearby Notables that you have picked anyway.

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of (Asenath-Balbala-Nasima) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Flask) Bottled Faith - creates a Consecrated Ground with a vastly increased Area of Effect, which applies increased Damage Taken modifier to Enemies standing in it.

(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 Effect

Suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding Removal Quartz Flask with additional Attack Speed bonus Quicksilver Flask with Curse Effect Reduction Granite Flask with Armour Rating Bonus

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