Volcanic Fissure of Snaking
Chieftain Build

Created for Patch 3.25

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The Volcanic Fissure of Snaking is a Transfigured Slam Attack that removes the Projectile component of this Skill, leaving only the fiery fissure and eruptions. The fissure travels up to 4 times automatically seeking nearby Enemies. The eruptions can Hit the same Enemy many times, which will often happen if you target the first eruption far behind your opponent. It is also an insanely powerful feature during clearing Maps, as you won't ever have to worry about aiming or proper positioning. 

The newly improved Chieftain Ascendency is an excellent choice for any Slam Build. It offers infinite Warcry Power, tons of Damage in the form of additional Support Gem for your main Setup, and excellent mitigation against Elemental Damage. Since your Fire Resistance modifiers will apply to other Elemental types, it will be very easy to also include Chaos Resistance on your equipment. You can also opt for the Berserker Ascendency, which offers more Damage and Speed but suffers from the lack of defense. 

The Two-handed Maces are rarely used as they are quite lacking in terms of Attack Speed and Critical Strike Chance compared to Swords and Axes, but for Slams those properties don't matter that much. Instead, you will gain access to higher AoE, powerful Chill with any Damage type, and easily accessible Fortify. You will use many Warcries to Exert your Slam, but most of them will be automated, leaving you only 2 Warcries to use. They will last for 7 Attacks or twice as much if you can get the Forbidden Jewels, making them rather non-intrusive during your gameplay. 

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1. Gameplay

Use Seismic and Infernal Cry to Exert your Attacks, gain Onslaught, and generate all Charge types. The Volcanic Fissure Exerted by your Warcries will easily clear all nearby Enemies with just 1 Attack. For Movement use Leap Slam supplemented by Frostblink for an instant teleport. The Autoexertion Reserves Mana, leaving you enough space to use Herald of Ash and Purity to boost your Damage. The Battlemage's Cry will automatically trigger a linked Curse when you Hit your Enemies. 

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The leveling process with Melee Builds is very easy nowadays. The Volcanic Fissure is available very early into the game, at level 12. Keep upgrading your Weapon with the Vendor Recipe or buy cheap Unique Items with the highest Physical Damage you can get for your level Range. You can check out our Marauder Leveling Guide for PoE to see more tips!

Bandits:

Kill all Bandits to get an additional 2 Passive Tree Skill Points.

Leveling Skill Trees:
41 Points Passive Tree
Rush for the Resolute Technique and Blood Magic. Pick up any applicable Damage Notable in close proximity to speed up your leveling process. 

78 Points Passive Tree
Pick up Avatar of Fire to fully benefit from Elemental Damage bonuses. Warcry Speed is a vital modifier to make your Warcry worth using.  

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

107 Points Final Passive Tree  
120 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Sione, Sun's Roar
2. Tukohama, War's Herald
3. Tasalio, Cleansing Water
4. Valako, Storm's Embrace

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; +40% Chaos Resistance against Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you; Cannot be Blinded, You cannot be Maimed

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Volcanic Fissure of Snaking setup
	Volcanic Fissure of Snaking - Slams the ground to create a traveling fissure that erupts upon reaching its target, then continues to seek other targets up to 3 additional times.
	Overexertion Support - grants tons of Damage based on the number of Warcries Exerting your Attack.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - improves your Fire Damage with Attacks. The Awakened version makes you immune to Elemental Reflect.
	Fire Penetration Support - allows you to penetrate Fire Resistance. The Awakened version also inflicts Fire Exposure.
	Melee Physical Damage Support  - boosts your base Physical Damage at the cost of slower Attack Speed. The Awakened version inflicts Intimidate.
	Pulverise Support - greatly enlarges your AoE range and Damage but slows your Attack Speed further.

[UTILITY] Autoexertion setup
	Autoexertion - automatically triggers linked Warcries causing them to Exert your Attack, but disables the secondary Buff and Reserves Mana.
	Rallying Cry - Buffs nearby Allies and improves your Damage based on their number. Since Autoexertion disables Buffs, it Exerts your Attacks for 0% bonus Damage, which still counts for the Overexertion Support.
	Intimidating Cry - It exerts 2 of your Attacks causing them to deal Double Damage.
	Battlemage's Cry - automatically Casts linked Spells when you Hit an Enemy with the Exerted Attack.
	Flammability - your primary Curse that lowers the Fire Resistance of the affected Enemy and increases your chance to inflict Ignite, which is useful for the Fire Mastery.
	Punishment - greatly increases the Damage taken by Enemies below half of their maximum Life. You will need to anoint the Whispers of Doom on your Amulet to use this Curse.

[UTILITY] Manual Warcry setup
	Infernal Cry - adds a lot of Extra Fire Damage and Exerts your Attacks to trigger Combustion on Hit, which deals a small amount of Damage to nearby Enemies.
	Seismic Cry - greatly improves the AoE of your Exerted Attacks. It also grants you More Armour for a few seconds.
	Vengeful Cry - you can use this Skill after taking 15% of your maximum Life in a single Hit. It raises your maximum Rage limit by up to 46 for 6 seconds.
	Enduring Cry - you can also use this Warcry instead for a massive Life Regeneration bonus.
	Urgent Orders Support - significantly speeds up your Warcry usage. You can also use the More Duration Support to make all those Buffs last almost 10 seconds.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Herald of Ash -  grants a lot of Extra Fire Damage based on your Physical Damage.
	Herald of Purity - improves your Physical Damage and summons helpful Minions. You won't be able to use it without Mana Reservation Efficiency on your Helmet.
	Blood and Sand - boosts your AoE or Damage depending on your stance. With more AoE, you are more likely to overlap eruptions on the same target.

[UTILITY] Movement setup
	Leap Slam -  your main Movement Skill that causes you to jump towards the targeted location. It is a Slam Skill, so you need the Warcry Mastery to not waste your Exertions on it.
	Faster Attacks Support - makes your Leap Slam significantly faster to perform.
	Frostblink -  if you have empty Sockets to spare you can use this Skill to instantly dodge incoming Attacks without interrupting your Slams. Keep it at a low level to avoid high Attribute requirements.

[UTILITY] Guard setup
	Molten Shell - a Guard Skill that absorbs a large amount of Damage and improves your Armour during its Duration.
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - automatically triggers your Guard Skill when you take enough Damage.

[UTILITY] Banner setup
	War Banner - it grants you tons of Damage for a few seconds after placing it on the ground. It requires Valor, which you can get for killing Enemies or Hitting Rare and Unique monsters.

6. Gear Setup

The leveling process is very straightforward. In the Settlers of Karguul League, the expensive Runecrafted Maces will deal the most Damage, but it is not that impactful for Build functionality. You will use almost exclusively Rare Items with a few exceptions. To boost your Damage you will only seek high Physical DPS on your Weapon, Attack Speed, and bonuses to Elemental Damage with Attacks. With the Resolute Technique, you don't need Accuracy or Critical Strike Multiplier. For defense, you will need high maximum Life, Armour, and Resistance. You will barely need any Cold and Lightning Resistance on your Gear thanks to the Cheftain Ascendency, which will allow you to easily grab more Chaos Resistance. You will also need maximum Fire Resistance on your Jewels. 

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - use the Essence of Loathing until you get Mana Reservation Efficiency, high maximum Life, and Fire or Chaos Resistance. The Eldritch Influence further improves your Reservation Efficiency and lowers the Mana Cost of your Attacks.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 8% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills  40% to Fire Resistance Optional affixes:  Attributes  Chaos Resistance

(Helmet) Echoes of Creation - this Helmet grants you an insane amount of Damage, but also causes you to take heavy Physical Damage every time you Attack. If you can't keep up with the self-damage you should use Rare Helmet instead.

Socketed Warcry Skills have +1 Cooldown Use (80-120)% increased Armour +(50-70) to maximum Life When you Attack, take (15-20)% of Life as Physical Damage for each Warcry Exerting the Attack Skills deal (10-15)% more Damage for each Warcry Exerting them

(Weapon) Tawhoa's Felling - a great starting Mace that offers a decent amount of Damage and mimics your Attack with the Mirage Chieftain. The copied Attack doesn't benefit from your Warcries but still contributes plenty of Damage and AoE coverage for free.

Trigger Level 20 Tawhoa's Chosen when you Attack with a Non-Vaal Slam or Strike Skill near an Enemy +(30-40) to Strength (250-300)% increased Physical Damage (20-30)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies (20-30)% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold with this Weapon

(Weapon) Rare Weapon - use the Weapon with the highest Physical DPS you can find. You can use 3 Weapon types: Axe for most Damage, Warstaffs to Block incoming Attacks, or Maces to gain a lot of AoE and Chill Enemies. High Attack Speed is vital for comfortable gameplay.

Min. requirements: 800+ Physical DPS Optional affixes: Attack Speed Gain (30-50)% of Weapon Physical Damage as Extra Damage of each Element  Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate (11-13)% Elemental Resistance

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - it is your most important piece for Physical Damage Reduction. Look for high maximum Life, tons of Armour, and a flat Damage Reduction bonus. Use Eldritch Influence to gain maximum Fire Resistance and shift Physical Damage to be taken as Fire Damage.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 6% additional Physical Damage Reduction +1000 to Armour Optional affixes: % of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire Damage % to maximum Fire Resistance You can apply an additional Curse

(Belt) Rare Belt - use a Stygian Vise with high maximum Life, Resistance, and a bonus to Elemental Damage with Attacks. You can also craft the missing Attributes that you will need for your Gem Requirements.

Min. requirements: +90 to maximum Life 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills +50% Resistance Optional affixes: % increased maximum Life Attributes

(Jewel) Rare Abyss Jewel - on the extra Abyss Jewel socketed in your Belt you should look for maximum Life, cover lacking Resistance or Attribute, and get Immunity against Corrupted Blood.

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

(Boots) Rare Boots - another defensive option, look for maximum Life, Movement Speed, and Resistance. You can Craft the Immunity to Freeze via Crafting Bench. Use Eldritch Influence to gain maximum Fire Resistance and speed up your Warcries.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 40% to Elemental Resistance +2% to maximum Fire Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: 100% chance to Avoid being Frozen Chaos Resistance

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - here you can get plenty of Damage in the form of Attack Speed and conditional Damage against Chilled Enemies. It should also provide the usual maximum Life and Resistance. The Eldritch Influence is a great source of Life Leech from your Fire Damage.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 40% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: % increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies % increased Attack Speed % of Fire Damage Leeched as Life Chaos Resistance

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - a great source of Attributes, Elemental Damage, and maximum Life. You can also get Added Physical Damage to your Attack here, but lowering the Mana Costs is usually more useful.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills 40% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Added Physical Damage to Attacks Non-Channelling Skills have -(7-6) to Total Mana Cost Attributes Chaos Resistance

(Amulet) Defiance of Destiny - restores a portion of your maximum Life every time you take Damage. Even after the recent Nerf it is still the strongest defensive Amulet in the entire Game.

+(60-80) to maximum Life +(10-40)% to Fire Resistance +(10-40)% to Cold Resistance +(10-40)% to Lightning Resistance Gain (10-20)% of Missing Unreserved Life before being Hit by an Enemy

(Ring) Rare Ring - on your Rare Ring you should look for the same bonuses as the Amulet. The best Base would be the Vermilion Ring to improve your maximum Life, but the Amethyst Ring for Chaos Resistance is usually more accessible.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills 40% to Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Added Physical Damage to Attacks Non-Channelling Skills have -(7-6) to Total Mana Cost Attributes Chaos Resistance

(Ring) Polaric Devastation - when equipped on your Left Ring slot you will Cover Enemies in Ash, which increases the Fire Damage they take by 20% and slows down their Movement.

(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) Rare Jewels - here you will look only for two modifiers: maximum Life and maximum Fire Resistance. The Attack Speed is also useful, but it can be very expensive. Other than that look for lacking Resistances or Attributes.

Min. requirements: increased maximum Life +2% to maximum Fire Resistance Recommended affixes: Attack Speed Resistance Attribute

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - here you can get two very important Notables: the Fuel the Fight to get Mana Leech for generic Attacks, and the Overlord to gain Fortify with your Mace Attacks. The third Notable will be usually skipped but still has to be present on the Jewel.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fuel the Fight 1 Added Passive Skill is Heavy Hitter 1 Added Passive Skill is Overlord

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - the Warcry Clusters offer many useful bonuses for you. The most important is Mob Mentality which generates all your Charges for you. The Lead By Example is also important, as it grants you Onlsaught. The Warning Call encourages you to use Warcry at least once in 8 seconds, as it grants you a lot of Armour for doing so.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Mob Mentality 1 Added Passive Skill is Warning Call 1 Added Passive Skill is Cry Wolf 1 Added Passive Skill is Lead By Example

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame&Flesh - it is not necessary but makes your gameplay much smoother. By borrowing the War Bringer Notable from Berserk Ascendency your Warcries will Extert double the amount of Attacks.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifier on Forbidden Flesh/Flame Recommended Ascendancy Notable: War Bringer

(Jewel) The Light of Meaning - this Jewel adds bonus Fire Damage to every nearby Notable that you will pick up anyway. The Fire variant is quite cheap and very effective.

Passive Skills in Radius also grant 6% increased Fire Damage

(Tincture) Prismatic Tincture - a well-rolled Tincture can grant you an insane amount of Damage for a short time. It can be reactivated after a few seconds, making it a very good tool against Bosses.

(70-100)% increased Elemental Damage with Melee Weapons Recommended affixes: % increased effect % increased Cooldown Recovery Rate Melee Weapon Damage Penetrates #% Elemental Resistances

(Flask) Lion's Roar - this Flask grants you plenty of Damage, and the Knock Back is not very noticeable as the Fissures will automatically target your Enemies.

Adds Knockback to Melee Attacks during Effect Knocks Back Enemies in an Area when you use a Flask 75% chance to cause Enemies to Flee on use (7-10)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

Suggested Flasks: Life Flask  with Bleeding Removal Quicksilver Flask with bonus Attack/Movement Speed  Quartz Flask with increased Armour Bonus

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.