With the end of the live broadcast held by the developers about Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas, players have learned more about this new league, such as the addition of some new mechanics, boss battles, and some quality of life improvements.
But what will never change is that after you enter this POE 3.26 on June 13, you still need to choose a new class and build the best build for it to complete the campaign provided by the game and enjoy the best gaming experience. And according to the previous leagues, choosing an interesting and high-damage starter build in the early stage of the campaign is very beneficial to your entire exploration process.
So this guide recommends some starter builds worth trying in Secrets of the Atlas league based on the information released by the developers and some feedback from the player community to help you complete all the campaigns more easily.
1. Toxic Rain Pathfinder
Players who love the ranged damage dealt by Ranger will definitely be familiar with Toxic Rain, which is the most reliable starting skill selected by players after the test of the previous leagues. The smooth farming map and boss encounter effects it brings can allow you to complete most of the campaign content in a very short time.
However, it is worth noting that you cannot get it when you first enter the game. You need to set your initial skill to Caustic Arrow before switching to Toxic Rain after your character reaches level 12.
In this leveling up process, you not only need to farm POE currency as much as possible, but also activate those passive skills that can improve Toxic Rain’s ability to melt enemies, such as Avatar of the Hunt and Farsight.
At the same time, the survivability contained in this Ranger build is not too strong, so you also need to choose some skills and gear that can improve the maximum health and armor stacking ability. Here are the skills and supporting gem options that need your attention.
- Toxic Rain: Faster Attacks/Efficacy/Mirage Archer
- Purity of Elements
- Blood Rage
- Despair
- Dash Or Any Movement Skill
For gear, here only recommend one – Ballista Totem, which can help you have super damage capabilities in encounters with a single boss, so that you can complete the specified campaign tasks at a faster speed.
2. Righteous Fire Chieftain
If you prefer to fight or explore with one hand, a build with the game’s most iconic Righteous Fire skill gem as the core will be your best choice. In normal situations, you just need to activate it and use super high mobility to repeatedly pass through enemies.
This skill is available when your character reaches level 16, but Righteous Fire has a fatal flaw – it will consume your own health when you enter the range during the casting process. So when you make this build, you need to buy POE currency to invest in your gear that can improve your health regeneration ability and fire resistance.
Or just choose Marauder, because all the passive skill points it provides are about improving the survivability of the build. The ones most worth activating are Nomadic Teachings and Arsonist, followed by Fire Mastery. Again, the following are the skills and support gems that can be recommended to you.
- Righteous Fire: Elemental Focus/Burning Damage/Efficacy
- Fire Trap: Trap & Mine Damage/Swift Affliction/Lifetap
- Summon Stone Golem
- Purity of Fire Or Purity of Elements
- Shield Charge
Since the most important thing in Righteous Fire Chieftain build is to balance your damage ability and fire resistance, when choosing item options, you should try to make a 6-link chest armor so that you can add Lifetap Support and Swift Affliction to Righteous Fire.
3. Minion Army Necromancer
In fact, Necromancer hasn’t changed much in POE 3.26, so you can still complete most of the map clearing tasks using a build centered around summoning an army of minions. And you can still rely on its different Ascendancy passive skills to adapt to your play style.
If you love offense, you can choose Commander of Darkness to increase the damage and defense capabilities of minions and your character; if you prefer defense, you can choose Bone Barrier to improve the survivability of the build.
If you haven’t found a suitable exploration method for yourself, it is recommended that you choose Grave Intentions and Lord of the Dead as your early options. With the following skills and supporting gems, you can also have a more comfortable exploration experience.
- Raise Zombie: Multistrike/Fortify/Ruthless/Melee Physical Damage
- Raise Spectre: Summon Phantasm/Multiple Projectiles/Pierce
- Pride
- Determination
- Dash Or Any Movement Skill
As with the previous leagues, the items you choose in Minion Army Necromancer build need to focus on improving the level of skills related to summoning minions, but the character defense bonus and all elemental resistance you hold are very necessary, so you can’t easily ignore it.
These are some of the first builds you should try out when Path of Exile 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas league begins, based on information released by the developers. Although the developers have been inactive for the past year with the decade-old game, players are still expecting a lot from the new league when it launches on June 13. Have fun!
