Level 54 Marauder^3.26

Notes

POEGUY's ANCESTRAL COMMANDER EA BALLISTA MINI-BUILD GUIDE

The Gauntlet is a small event dedicated to veteran Path Of Exile 1 players that will last 10 days. In terms of difficulty, it's about 4x times harder than regular Hardcore, so you need to start it with the right expectations!
The build I'm playing has strong defensive layers and should help people complete the campaign for the free mystery box prize.

Know that you also have a video regarding my build for the 2025 Gauntlet here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDCr9dH3JnE

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[NEW!] ACT 1 TIPS, TRICKS & REMINDERS.

Act 1 is one of the hardest acts in the Gauntlet event! Here are some useful tips and tricks to help you stay alive:

1) As soon as you start, put "Move Only" ( instead of "Default Attack" ) for your left Mouse Click.
2) Do not engage with the Mercenaries in the first Acts! They are VERY DEADLY. The only Mercenary that is fairly easy is the "Striker".
(The Striker is a slow moving mercenary, that will follow you around and yell "Gugu-Gaga" with a stick.)
3) For the unique bosses you will need to overlevel! Especially for the final act bosses
4) For the Crab boss ( that awards a skill point ) & Brutus we will use "PUNCTURE". Puncture is a powerful bow skill that will apply bleeding ( while moving they take a lot of damage ).
5) For Merveil ( Act 1 boss ) use at least 1 Sapphire ring ( gives Cold Resistance ) // Check your Cold Resistance - She does a lot of cold damage!
6) When things get deadly -> press "ESCAPE" and hit "EXIT TO LOGIN SCREEN" ( this will INSTANTLY close the game ). If you select instead "EXIT TO CHARACTER SELECTION" you can die!
7) Always use your Decoy Totem! Once you switch to Explosive Arrow Ballista in Act 3, you can drop the Decoy Totem.
8) You can farm HILLOCK if you want -> for starter items and Scroll of Wisdom ( you buy your early gems with them ).
9) You can spend you Gold to gamble items. ( each town has a NPC for Gambling ). 
*Gambling evasion/armour bases will tend to give you green/red sockets. This is a good way to get the sockets you need for the Explosive Arrow Ballista phase.

-----------------------------------------------PROGRESSION------------------------------------------------------

*As explained, we will need to mule the following gems (since the Marauder class does not has acces to them in the early acts):
Caustic Arrow (lvl 1), Mirage Archer (lvl 4), Void Manipulation (lvl 8), Toxic Rain (lvl 12), Puncture (lvl 1)
**You will create a Ranger in order to aquire them (check the SKILL TREE progression from this PoB)

Here is something annoying that YOU WILL NEED TO DO for mulling the gems:
In order for the Marauder to be able to use the gems they need to be low level. In order to keep the initial level you will need to buy them as soon as they appear; for example:
Once you enter "Lioneye's Watch" town you will buy 2x Caustic Arrows ( one for you & one you will put in your stash tab; so it will be level 1 )
Once you enter the "Submerged Passage" you will buy 2x Puncture ( one for you & one you will put in your stash tab; so it will be low level )
Once you reach level 4 you will buy 2x Mirage Archer Supports ( one for you & one you will put in your stash tab; so it will be level 4 )
Once you reach level 8 you will buy 2x Void Manipulation Supports ( one for you & one you will put in your stash tab; so it will be level 8 )

For Toxic Rain you don't need to do this since the moment we take it; we are done with mulling gems!
(Know that you can skip the Fairgraves quest and just rush to "Merveil's Caverns" in order to be able to buy the Toxic Rain Skill Gem)

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A. For Acts 1-3 ( Until the Library -Siosa Quest- ) we will use the following gem setups

MAIN DAMAGE:

Level 1- 8: Caustic Arrow + Mirage Archer
Level 8 -12: Caustic Arrow + Void Manipulation
Level 12 - *Until the Explosive Arrow Ballista swap in Act 3: Toxic Rain + Void Manipulation + Mirage Archer ( add Mirage Archer as soon as you get a 3-Link )

UTILITY:

- Decoy Totem ( you get it at level 4 )
// Decoy totem will help you stay alive in the first acts. Make sure to use it as explained in the video guide.
- Dash ( or Frostblink ) ( you buy it at level 4 )

AURAS: 

Clarity ( solves mana problems; you buy it after killing Brutus4 )

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B. For Acts 3-10 we will use the following gem setup // (You do the Library Quest & buy the gems for Siosa )

After you buy the gems from Siosa, you will need to go to "THE DOCKS" area to level up your gems. 
*You can continue with the campaign progression once Explosive Arrow reaches at least level 2 and Ballista Totem Support reaches level 5.  
If low level -> YOUR TOTEMS WILL DIE FAST and deal less damage!

MAIN DAMAGE:

- Explosive Arrow
- Ballista Totem Support
- Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
- Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support (When you find a 4-link item, this gem helps a lot with monster clears.)

Utility:

- Dash ( or Frostblink )
- Steelskin + Automation
- Flammability (Curse enemies with Flammability to deal more damage.)
- Frenzy + Manaforged Arrows Support ( for more Damage )

Auras:

- Clarity
- Precision
- Grace ( ADD IT ONLY AFTER YOU TOOK THE "12% Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills" - MANA MASTERY WHEEL - )

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[READ; BIG WARNING] Avoid using a Penetrating Arrow Quiver since it grants pierce! 
*This quiver is a very common drop during the campaign. You don't want any pierce effects since it will brick your damage with Explosive Arrow!

For rare items (during the Explosive Arrow Ballista phase), look for:

Attack Speed, Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks, Increased Fire Damage

[READ] Always make sure that you have more accuracy rating than life so you can benefit from that 40% MORE DAMAGE multiplier ( check the "PRECISE TECHNIQUE" Keystone )

-------------------------------------BANDITS, LABS & PANTHEON-----------------

BANDITS: Save ALIRA ( gives 15% to all Elemental Resistances )

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First Lab: End of Act 4 / before engaging Malachai - the act boss - (allocate Forest of Ancestors)
Second Lab: Start of Act 9 (allocate Ancestral Endurance)
Third Lab: Before killing Kitava in Act 10 (allocate Ancestral Defiance)
Forth Lab: In red maps ( allocate Toughened Skin )

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MAJOR GOD: Lunaris
MINOR GOD: Shakari

---------------------------------------------------------- ITEMS-------------------------------------------------

This is HCSSF, so you won't have many unique items. Focus on gear that boosts your defenses with modifiers like maximum life, resistances, and good armour or evasion ratings. 
You'll deal plenty of damage once you transition into Explosive Arrow Ballista with this skill tree setup, so you don't need to worry about bench crafting or getting damage from your items.
( if you are picky, for damage look for: Attack Speed, Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks, Increased Fire Damage )


I also added two temporary support channels for this build on the Discord server.
INVITE LINK HERE: https://discord.gg/92ab6Zs3ZT