The start of a new league is always an exciting period for Path of Exile players. It's a time of discovery, exploration, and speculation. Players new and old are on the hunt for their league starter builds while preparing their main grinding builds. League start is a crucial period for all players, when item prices are extremely volatile, and the market is raw, so it's best to get ahead of the competition. Patch 3.28 brought massive changes to the game; it made totems a viable option once again while keeping strike skills at the bottom of the barrel. So here are the 5 Best League Starter Builds for the Path of Exile 3.28 you can use to get the best start in the brand new Mirage League.
Ranking Explained
- Mapping: Map clear speed.
- Durability: Defence and Survivability.
- Ease of Use: How understandable the mechanics and leveling process are, as well as micro/macro gameplay.
- Budget: Investment cost.
- Bossing: Boss clear speed.
Best Overall Build: Kinetic Fusillade Ballista Hierophant by Palsteron
Why it works
The most recent update did wonders for totem players thanks to the changes involving Totem Placement Speed and Emerge Speed. Both of these stats now scale together rather than separately. This change significantly improved the gameplay feel of totems, making them much more responsive, less clunky, and overall much easier to run for new players.
Placing multiple ballistas that have extremely high attack speed makes clearing packs of enemies much faster. The build is also extremely cheap to scale into the late game, and the best part isthat there is no real skill rotation that players need to worry about. It's just a matter of placing as many ballistas as possible and waiting for things to disappear, and it works just fine, clearing juiced T16 maps. Fast, easy, cheap, it's no wonder this is the most popular league starter build so far.
Score:
- Mapping: 9/10
- Durability: 8/10
- Ease of Use: 10/10
- Budget: 9/10
- Bossing: 7/10
PoB: https://pobb.in/MpDjiqpnP2sV
Best Mapping Build: Kinetic Blast Deadeye by Fubgun
Why it works
Fubgun makes some of the most insane builds with some of the most insane clear speeds. The KB Deadeye is no exception; it features massive pack-clearing and great mobility to ensure you are blasting through T16 maps. It does come with a few drawbacks that most new players won't know how to address properly. Gearing and optimizing this build is a new player's nightmare, and the leveling switch from bow to wand can be extremely expensive.
Because of the massive screen-clearing capabilities of this build, its gonna work best on mechanics that require lots of movement and tightly packed enemies. Players looking to maximize the Legion and Breach mechanics should run this build. Great damage and mobility, making it perfect for clearing massive chunks of enemies and building mechanic meters.
Score:
- Mapping: 10/10
- Durability: 6/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Budget: 5/10
- Bossing: 7/10
PoB: https://pobb.in/h-si3kweTn_N
Best Bossing Build: Archmage Hierophant by Goratha
Why it works
The build can be summarised with 1 word: overlaps. The recent gem changes made Shock Nova extremely potent thanks to the cascading effect. It takes advantage of the fact that all you need to do is cast Shock Nova once, and it will repeat casting itself a certain number of times. By increasing your cast speed, you can create overlapping zones of damage and melt bosses and enemy packs. The repeat-casting effect makes bosses melt like ice cream amid record-breaking summer heat. However, the build can be difficult for newer players to grasp, as it requires knowledge of cascading effects, curses, and more.
Since the build is centered around doing bosses, it is highly recommended that players running this build should farm pinnacle bosses or Essences. Reaching pinnacle bosses quickly can be time-consuming, so juicing T16 maps with Essence modifiers is a better and more reliable way to generate currency.
Score:
- Mapping: 8/10
- Durability: 7/10
- Ease of Use: 6/10
- Budget: 7/10
- Bossing: 10/10
PoB: https://pobb.in/Hmlt9phwV-hw
Most Fun Build: Bleed Slam Slayer by PhazePlays
Why it works
Out of all the Ascendancies in PoE, Slayer is often one of the most fun to play. Most builds using the Slayer ascendancy have really competitive DPS and can reliably clear most bosses, including pinnacle bosses. This build was one of the best in the previous league, and it has only gotten better. The changes made this patch elevate the Bleed Slam Slayer even further, thanks to Gem changes and making Vaal Ground Slam easier to get. While the build is extremely fun and reliable to run, it is expensive to min-max.
The build does great with mechanics that have large open spaces for your spikes to spread to. Because of how slams work, it makes Expedition the optimal mapping mechanic, as most logbooks are in wide spaces and bleed damage bypasses the shield that Expedition enemies have.
Score:
- Mapping: 8/10
- Durability: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Budget: 6/10
- Bossing: 8/10
PoB: https://pobb.in/3rvtvz8dq0tc
Best Beginner Friendly/Budget Build: Righteous Fire Chieftain by Pohx
Why it works
Righteous Fire is one of the most stable builds in PoE history. Whether you are a veteran or a new player, this build will always have its place thanks to its reliability. You can reliably face tank most bosses in the game with this build, and the best part is how cheap it is to play. Players only need a few Chaos and even fewer Divines to get the most out of this build. However, the build has significant drawbacks that may be unappealing to more experienced players. It is sorely lacking in damage, and because of this, it is also rather slow to clear maps or do bosses. All you need to do for this build is literally turn RF on and hop from pack to pack, drop a totem now and then for bosses.
The best mapping mechanics players can take advantage of when running this build would be either Breach or Expedition. This patch saw major additions to Expedition, essentially making it a top-tier currency generator. Breach is also great for players just looking to clear maps rather than min-max for a certain mechanic.
Score:
- Mapping: 5/10
- Durability: 10/10
- Ease of Use: 10/10
- Budget: 10/10
- Bossing: 6/10
