Vaal Ground Slam Spam
Berserker Build

Updated for Patch 3.14

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium to very high

Patch 3.14 and the Ultimatum League introduced a new very interesting pair of Gloves - Hateforge. That pair of Gloves allows the player to use Vaal Attack Skill by paying their Rage cost instead of accumulated Souls. Proper Berserker setup with War Bringer and multiple Warcries with greatly reduced Speed and Cooldowns, allow you to quickly generate Rage and nearly spam the Vaal Ground Slam. 

This build's final form requires Hateforge - currently the single-most expensive Unique in the game. Because of how strong the Item is, it currently costs over 300 Exalted Orbs. Rest assured, this build is fully viable as a standard Melee build with Ground Slam and a pair of regular Gloves. It will be "just" a regular Melee build with tons of DPS, solid defenses, and great AoE - the only difference lies in how often you will be able to Attack using your Vaal Ground Slam. 

Why Ground Slam? The answer is quite simple. First of all, it's the Attack with the shortest Soul Gain Prevention Time of 1 second - which means the Vaal Skill can be used at the highest possible frequency. It also is the only Attack in the entire game that can be Exerted by Warcries. At the same time it has high DPS, good AoE, and greatly increased damage to nearby enemies. You will often see Bosses get one-shotted if you buff yourself up before the encounter. 

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

1. Gameplay

From the playstyle perspective, this is a standard Melee/Slam build. You are going to spam Warcries to Exert your Attacks and Hit the ground with your Ground Slam to create devastating fissures that hit enemies in a cone in front of your character. This build deals purely Physical Damage and benefits from Impale mechanic and increased Critical Strike Chance. This build, in its base form, is already an exceptionally strong Melee build with very solid defenses from very high Life and Armour Rating. Top it up with the Hateforge Gloves, and you end up nearly endlessly spamming one of the deadliest Melee Attacks in the game with a greatly increased radius. It's a perfect build for the Ultimatum encounters, as with a single Hit you will instantly kill most of the enemies on your screen. 

This video was recorded on a level 94 Berserker using Hateforge and random Rare equipment. We had some Currency invested in it - approximately 150 Exalted Orbs and Hateforge on top of it. This build can be still played as a regular Melee build with Ground Slam which we did until level 94. It worked incredibly, just that it wasn't able to clear Ultimatums so efficiently without spamming the Vaal attack

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You are going to level up using Ground Slam as your primary DPS skill from level one. You can grab a cheap Level 1 / Quality 20 for a couple of Chaos Orbs early on, and save the "Vaal" stacks for tougher enemies and Bosses. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Ground Slam setup
	Vaal Ground Slam - Ground Slam is your primary DPS Skill. It also is one of the best Attacks for leveling because of high base damage and AoE
	Melee Physical Damage Support - a core Support Gem for most of the Melee Attacks in PoE
	Ruthless Support - greatly increases your damage with each third consecutive attack. It has a low base level requirement and can be replaced later with Fortify or Brutality Support
	Pulverise Support - greatly increases your Melee/AoE damage at the cost of reduced Attack Speed

Curse setup
	Vulnerability - enemies take more Physical Damage and have a chance to Bleed on hit

Auras and Banner setup
	Pride - offensive aura that grants more Physical Damage dealt to enemies
	Dread Banner - increases the Impale Effect and your chance to Impale enemies with Attacks
	Precision - for Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance which are both very important during the leveling phase. It's also a core Aura for your final version of this build

Utility Gems
	Intimidating Cry - enemies take more damage as they are Intimidated by this Warcy  and also Exerts your next Attacks to deal increased damage
	Ancestral Warchief - summons a Totem that increases your Melee Damage
	Leap Slam - the recommended mobility Skill for this build

Bandits:

Kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

33 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Born to Fight 2) Constitution 3) Art of the Gladiator 4) Bloodless

63 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Dismembering 2) Rampart (make sure to use Fortify Support at this point) 3) Steadfast 4) Barbarism 5) Disemboweling

Recommended leveling items:

Lycosidae - fixes your needs for Accuracy Rating on lower levels, and you will be surely missing a lot of it

+(10-20) to maximum Life +(120-160) to Armour +(30-40) to maximum Life Your hits can't be Evaded +(3-5)% Chance to Block Adds 250 to 300 Cold Damage to Counterattacks

Redblade Tramplers - a great mid-level Boots that provide bonus Life, Movement Speed, and added Physical Damage to Attacks

Adds (2-5) to (7-10) Physical Damage to Attacks (5-10)% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold (150-200)% increased Armour +(50-70) to maximum Life +(20-30)% to Fire Resistance 25% increased Movement Speed Unaffected by Burning Ground

Deidbellow - amazing leveling Helmet which boosts your Attack and Movement Speed - both greatly reducing the time you spend on completing the campaign mode

+(20-30) to Strength +(20-30) to Dexterity Adds 10 to 20 Physical Damage to Attacks +(200-300) to Armour 20% increased Melee Damage Cannot Leech when on Low Life If you've Warcried Recently, you and nearby allies have 20% increased Attack, Cast and Movement Speed

Gorebreaker - an amazing low-level Mace that offers very high Physical DPS at level 10

10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold (300-360)% increased Physical Damage 20% reduced Attack Speed (10-20)% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold (30-50)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies Extra gore

Wurm's Molt - provides Life and Mana Leech on lower levels which saves you a bunch of respec Points on your Passive Tree

+(25-40) to maximum Life +(20-30) to Strength +(20-30) to Intelligence +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance 0.4% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life 0.4% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

117 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
117 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Flawless Savagery
2. Aspect of Carnage
3. War Bringer
4. Defy Pain

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali for 5% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; 10% chance to Avoid Lightning Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Shakari 5% reduced Chaos Damage taken; 25% reduced Chaos Damage over Time taken while on Caustic Ground

Since Chaos Damage can hurt you a lot - at least in our case, the Chaos Resistance was quite low - so we have decided to pick two of the Gods that reduce the DoT and Chaos Damage slightly

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Vaal Ground Slam setup
	Vaal Ground Slam - primary Skill used in this build. You will be mainly using the Vaal part of the skill with devastating DPS, increased AoE, and a 100% Chance to Hit. If you are not using Hateforge you will be simply using the regular Skill more often
	Brutality Support - you will deal no non-Physical damage but the Physical Damage will be greatly increased, making it the core Support Gem for all purely Physical DPS Skills
	Melee Physical Damage Support - more Physical Damage - pretty straightforward and core Support Gem in this setup
	Pulverise Support - more AoE and more Damage for AoE Attacks at the cost of reduced Attack Speed
	Ruthless Support - every third supported Attack will deal greatly increased Damage so you can expect Exerted Ruthless that Crit. to one-shot most of the content
	Impale Support - extremely important if you want to reach a 100% Chance to Impale with Attacks, and at the same time, increase its effect

[UTILITY] Warcry setup
	Enduring Cry - regenerate your Life and generates Endurance Charges. Like all the other Warcries in this setup, you have to basically spam when off cooldown or keep a charge to work as an extra Instant Life Flask
	Seismic Cry - empowers your next Slam Attacks increasing its damage and reducing enemy Stun Threshold
	Intimidating Cry - enemies take more damage from the Intimidate debuff, and also Exerts your next Attacks making it deal double damage
	Second Wind Support - adds extra charges to your Warcries but also reduces their cooldown

[UTILITY] Aura, Stance, and Banner setup
	Pride - Pride is the best Aura for Physical DPS builds which increases your damage against enemies. The effect is increased the longer the enemy stays in its radius
	Flesh and Stone - allows you to switch between Blood and Sand stances. It's recommended to use the Blood Stance for increased Physical Damage
	Maim Support - increases the effectiveness of Maim caused by the Flesh and Stone's Blood Aura
	Enlighten Support - reduces the Mana Reservation Cost of linked Spells and Auras

[UTILITY] Blood Rage/Curse
	Blood Rage - keep it at level 9, it gives more Life Leech and Attack Speed and allows you to generate Frenzy Charges
	Assassin's Mark - if you have the extra Curse affix on your Chest you can either use Assassin's Mark in this low-level Cast when Damage Taken setup, or apply it via a Ring affix. Keep it at level 7
	Cast when Damage Taken - level 5, will automatically cast linked Blood Rage and linked Curse each time you take 812 damage

[UTILITY] Various Gems (no links required)
	Leap Slam - the recommended movement Skill for this build. It's fast and has no cooldown which is the best pick to boost your mobility
	Berserk - this Skill offers massive DPS burst for a short duration. It's best to use it before encountering a Boss, and if you Exert your Attacks, most of the enemies will be one-shotted
	Molten Shell - the best Guard Spell for this build which increases your Armour Rating and grants a protective shield that absorbs some of the incoming damage. Put it under your left mouse button so that it's triggered almost automatically
	Precision - an amazing Aura that increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance. If you don't have Hateforge and use regular Ground Slam often, it's a good idea to upgrade it to the highest level possible based on your unreserved Mana
	Dread Banner - increases your Chance to Impale and its' effectiveness on enemies
	Blood and Sand - if you have Hateforge, you can use a level 1 Precision and you should be able to cast Blood and Sand Aura. It increases your AoE Damage at the cost of reduced radius

[UTILITY] Vulnerability (as Ring affix)
	Vulnerability - it's best to apply Vulnerability Curse via Ring affix for a smoother playstyle. It's the best Curse for this build which boosts your Physical DPS

6. Gear Setup

Below you will find the recommended gear for this build. While this build primarily focuses on Hateforge Gloves and spamming your Vaal Ground Slam, it's also a fully viable Melee build without it - you are just not going to be able to use it as often and consistently, but you can still benefit from this Berserker's durability and massive AoE Damage. This build utilizes several Unique Items, out of which, most should be easily accessible and relatively inexpensive, whereas, all of them can be replaced with random Rares that boost your required stats.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - the best and most balanced option. We have focused on grabbing as much Life and Accuracy Rating here, but you may as well get it from the Rings and get more Resistance on the Helmet

Min. requirements: +110 to Maximum Life 450 Accuracy Rating Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Nearby enemies take #% Increased Physical Damage Attributes

(Helmet) Abyssus -  if you want to greatly increase your DPS at the cost of defenses, this is the best way to achieve it. It makes it a bit harder to Carp Resistances though, and you will surely have to spend more on your other Rare parts

+(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

Helmet enchantments: 40% increased Ground Slam Damage Berserk has 30% increased Buff Effect

(Weapon) Rare Mace - the BiS and actually the only viable option for the Weapon. Just look for the highest possible base Physical DPS you can afford

Min. requirements: 400+ base Physical DPS Optional stats: Chance to Impale enemies with Attacks Critical Strike Multiplier Accuracy Rating

(Shield) Redblade Banner - a mandatory Shield for this build. It greatly reduces the cooldown of your Warcries and they always have Infinite Power

+(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) Rare Body Armour - a regular Body Armour is your best option. Aim to get the highest Life, Attack Crit. Chance and possibly extra Curse

Min. requirements: +110 to Maximum Life Attacks have +#% Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances You Can Apply Additional Curse High Armour Rating

(Boots) Rare Boots - mainly for defensive stats. If you want to invest some extra Currency in your Boots, just grab a pair with Tailwind or Cannot be Frozen affixes

Min. requirements: +70 to Maximum Life +25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently #% chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Attributes

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - we recommend getting as much Life, Accuracy, and Added Physical Damage here. You should have your Resistances capped without the Gloves, as eventually, you want to replace them with Hateforge

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life 400 Accuracy Rating Optional affixes: Attributes Damage while Leeching Added Physical Damage with Attacks

(Gloves) Hateforge - the build-defining Item. It's currently the single most expensive Item in the game, which costs several hundred Exalted Orbs. Luckily, it's not mandatory for this build and you can still play it as a very powerful Melee build with a pair of regular Rare Gloves, but you will be unable to spam your Vaal Ground Slam and experience the true nature of this build

Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 30 Rage (120-150)% increased Armour (10-25)% reduced Rage Cost of Skills Vaal Attack Skills not Used by Totems Cost Rage instead of requiring Souls You cannot gain Rage during Soul Gain Prevention

(Belt) Stygian Vise  - the best option is to look for a Stygian Vise with high Life and Resistances. You can also get a Global or Physical Damage bonus on them

Min. requirements: +90 to Maximum Life 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes Damage/Physical Damage Gain a Flash Charge when you deal a Critical Strike

(Amulet) Rare Amulet  - you are looking to get all the necessary Intelligence here, extra Life, and possibly Pride Reservation cost reduction

Min. requirements: +50 to Maximum Life Pride has 20% reduced Reservation 40 Intelligence Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Added Physical Damage to Attacks Critical Strike Multiplier

Recommended Anointments: Blacksmith's Clout Tenacity

(Ring) Rare Rings - you basically need to fix your Resistances here, and Vulnerability. Obviously, some extra Life is always good

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life Non-Channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit, with 20% increased Effect 90% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: #% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life Attributes Chaos Resistance

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewels - you are most likely going to use one Abyssal Jewel in your Stygian Vise. Just get extra Life and Critical Strike Multiplier

Min. requirements: +30 to maximum Life Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Added Physical Damage to Attacks Damage if you've Killed recently

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - basically with extra Life, Crit. Multiplier and possibly some other damage amplifying mods

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Area Damage/Physical Damage/Damage with Maces Attributes

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - you are going to use one Large Cluster Jewel, preferably one that boosts your Damage with Maces and Staves and can give you the Overlord Passive that grants you basically a permanent Fortify

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Devastator 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess 1 Added Passive Skill is Overlord

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - you can use up to two Medium Cluster Jewel with bonuses to Exerted Attacks. Not only they will grant you increased damage but offer various Utility bonuses like increased Armour, Charge Generation, etc.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Lead By Example 1 Added Passive Skill is Mob Mentality 1 Added Passive Skill is Rattling Bellow 1 Added Passive Skill is Warning Call

(Jewel) Rapid Expansion - Ground Slam's threshold Jewel that allows you to generate Endurance Charges when stunning enemies and increase its radius. It's a rather inexpensive Jewel so you can try getting a Corrupted one with the "Corrupted Blood Cannot be Inflicted on you" mod

(8-12)% increased Global Physical Damage With at least 40 Strength in Radius, Ground Slam has a 35% chance to grant an Endurance Charge when you Stun an Enemy With at least 40 Strength in Radius, Ground Slam has a 50% increased angle

(Jewel) Replica Conqueror's Efficiency - increases your Maximum Rage and reduces the flat Mana Cost of Skills

4% increased Skill Effect Duration +5 to Maximum Rage Non-Channelling Skills have -9 to Total Mana Cost

(Jewel) Vaal Sentencing - greatly increases your Critical Strike Chance with Vaal Skill, boosting your Vaal Ground Slam's DPS significantly

(80-120)% increased Vaal Skill Critical Strike Chance

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - one of the best Jewels in the game, pretty much all the builds that use any Aura want one, and in this case, you can get powerful Pride and Precision Aura mods

(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: (8-12)% chance to deal Double Damage while using Pride (40-60)% increased Attack Physical Damage while using Pride (40-60)% increased Attack Damage while affected by Precision +(20-30)% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision

(Flask) Lion's Roar - Use Lion's Roar more Armour and high Melee Attack Damage multiplier. One of the best Flasks for this build

+3000 to Armour Adds Knockback to Melee Attacks during Flask effect Knocks Back Enemies in an Area when you use a Flask 75% chance to cause Enemies to Flee on use (20-25)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

(Flask) Soul Catcher - a mandatory Flask for this build which boosts your Damage with Vaal Skills and reduces their Soul Gain Prevention time

Phasing 10% chance to Dodge Attack Hits 10% chance to Dodge Spell Hits Cannot gain Mana during effect Vaal Skills have (80-120)% increased Critical Strike Chance during effect Vaal Skills deal (80-120)% increased Damage during effect Vaal Skills used during effect have (40-20)% reduced Soul Gain Prevention Duration

Other suggested Flasks: Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Heat (Freeze Immunity) Exerpimtenter's Diamond of Warding (Immune to Curses) Panicked Divine Life Flask of Staunching (Immunity to Bleeding)

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.