Level 96 Tectonic Slam Chieftain^3.26

Notes

This Leveling POB was inspired by Zizaran's 3.25 and 3.26 League Starters. Check the Notes on his POBs for more Leveling (especially for Crafting) info! (may not apply 1 to 1 to this Guide)

Ground Slam Berserker:
pobb - https://pobb.in/vYfc3T0fTQFN
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiMKUZJclcg

Ground Slam Slayer:
pobb - https://pobb.in/BuNxOBIGRtX3 (read Notes)
Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWdT2nVYBgc

FAQs are in my build post on the forum (section called "Problems + Solutions and FAQ"): https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3566895

=================== GEMS ===================
- Since at the start you may not have enough Sockets and Links, I sorted the Gems by how useful they are at that stage of the game (and the same thing for support gems in the case of the main damage skill).

- You can drop the least important Gems or the ones you don't need at the moment (for example if you have enough damage you can drop a Herald).

- You can level with any slam. Many people prefer Ground Slam into Sunder until reaching maps. Having 100% phys to fire conversion is not necessary at this point in the game.

- You can go for Autoexertion earlier if you prefer comfort (you may have to drop other Auras). Do not Autoexert Enduring Cry or Infernal Cry. Don't forget to link Flammability to Battlemage's Cry for maximum comfort.

- You should level most Gems as high as you're able to, but watch out for Gems with high requirements in Intelligence or Dexterity since you may shuffle your attributes around and not be able to use the Gem anymore 
    (If you do this mistake vendor the Gem alongside one Orb of Scouring to decrease level by one or with an Orb of Regret to go back to a lvl 1 Gem).

  - Another exception to this rule is the Cast When Damage Taken (CWDT) Support Gem, since it only supports Gems with a lower Required Level number than itself (raising the Gem Level increased the Required Level). 
    Example: for a Lvl 1 CWDT gem (which requires level 38), the highest level for Molten Shell which can still be triggered is lvl 7 (which has a required level 37) 

- DPS numbers in PoB are very sensitive to Warcry cooldowns and Fist of War due to the way it estimates average damage. 
  PoB assumes you are slamming off cooldown, which is not how it happens in practice (you are usually leap slamming and dodging in between every attack). 
  I recommend switching the Configuration between Average and Max Hit in the "Exerted/Boosted Calc mode" Option to have a clearer view of the "True DPS".

=================== GEAR ===================
Gear: Since you are playing a Chieftain, Fire Resistance has huge value. Life + Fire Resist + Chaos Resist on an armour base is all you need for all equipment slots to get started.

You can use Vendor Recipes early since you may not find the base you need: https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Vendor_recipe_system

Things to look out for:
Weapon: prioritise good Physical and/or Fire affixes (Physical is way stronger due to conversion mechanics). Use the Weapon + Whetstone + Rare Rustic Sash Recipe
Boots - prioritise Movement Speed
Rings and Amulets - prioritise Resists and Attributes, prefer Ruby Ring and Turqoise (Dex/Int) Amulet
 
Ruby Ring recipe: Iron Ring + Red Gem (any gem)
Turquoise Amulet (Dex + Int): Jade Amulet + Lapis Amulet + Orb of Transmutation


=================== PASSIVE SKILL TREE ===================
If you need extra Attributes for Gem/Gear Requirements use the +30 Dex or +30 Int Passive Notables, or the +Dex/+Int veiled craft.
Make sure to read the FAQ section in the Guide page for solving some common issues using the passive tree (they should be solved on their own by following the trees but maybe you still have some problems).

Some Mastery Passives you can flex into:
Fire Mastery: Regenerate 1 Life per second for each 1% Uncapped Fire Resistance - ONLY IF you have Avatar of Fire + High Overcapped Fire Resistance
Mana Mastery: Can change to other effects if you don't need the extra reservation
Armour Mastery: 30% Reduced Extra Damage taken from Crits 
Life Mastery: 15% increased Health if Body Armour does not have any Life modifiers 
Accuracy Mastery: +500 to Accuracy Rating / -2 to Accuracy Rating per Level. - If you have trouble capping your Accuracy and Crit this will almost single-handedly solve it (allocate the Eagle Eye node wheel)

If you have extra points and need some additional defensive layers you can allocate the following Warcry Masteries:
Warcries Debilitate Enemies for 1 second - generic defensiveness
Remove all Damaging Ailments when you Warcry - good against Poison if you don't have enough Chaos Resistance, for bleeding you will usually have your Life Flask Suffix

If you don't have enough jewels to reach 90% Max Fire Resist when swapping to the Cluster Jewel, you can keep Nomadic Teaching/Prismatic Skin node wheels allocated for a while longer, there's also an Armour Mastery for 1% Max Elemental Resists.
  Don't hesitate to respec multiple times in order to not waste points on extra Max Fire Res as your gear changes.
Once you have Avatar of Fire from Xoph's Blood, high enough levels (90+) and a Cluster Jewel you can deallocate the Tireless and Magmatic Strikes node wheels and get Two-Handed or Weapon-specific Masteries or a second Cluster (can check the lvl 100 Loadouts or the Minmaxed PoBs in the guide)
  If you lack life just get the other 6% Life Nodes until you invest in better gear and jewels
  ! IMPORTANT: you must have 100% Physical to Fire conversion at all times, don't forget to swap Fire Masteries when switching to/from Xoph's Blood !