TbXie's Bladefall Blade Blast Chieftain Build Guide (PoE Crucible 3.21)

Out Of Date

August 17th, 2023, 20:09

Disclaimer

Due to the latest balancing changes, we do not recommend playing this build anymore, as it does not meet the high standards we apply to our guides in terms of fun and performance. We are leaving it up as a reference and it might be revived in a later patch.

Introduction

With Blade Blast‘s release in 3.10 Delirium League, people initially didn’t think much of it. However, it was quickly realized that the skill really did outrageous damage. Obviously, because of the way the skill works, you would need to pair it with a generator. Blade Blast does exactly what is sounds like it would do. It blows up “lingering blades” which are to be created by other skills. There’s a couple of skills that would leave these lingering blades, but the most efficient and pleasant way of creating them is definitely Bladefall. This means the build is a 2-Button-Build, meaning that your main skill requires another skill to work (think of combinations like Desecrate & Volatile Dead and Essence Drain & Contagion types of builds).

While that definitely isn’t comfortable for all players, the reward you’re getting for it is low-key obnoxious. The current state of the build puts it over 7,000 Health, 82% Physical Damage Reduction, good life regenerated per second, close to maximum Block & Spell Block with Life gained on block, Endurance Charges, some dodge and upwards of 10 million Pinnacle DPS. This most likely means it’s one of the strongest possible builds in the game, while being very obtainable on a reasonable amount of gear / currency and even in a SSF environment, if you play enough!

Other than your two-button mainskill(s), the build requires you to press a couple of other buttons to play it optimally. I guess one could argue that is the only downside the build needs you to deal with. Because of the way Chieftain works, you’re going to need to be generating Endurance Charges. Since you want this to be automated as much as possible, I’d argue going to Call to Arms is very efficient, as you can just move your Enduring Cry to your Left Mouse button and forget about it all together.

Ideally, you also want to manually cast Immortal Call to keep Chieftain’s 15% More Damage buff up more consistently (read: permanently). In the guide’s gem links, I have linked it to a very low level Cast when Damage Taken Support because I personally don’t like having to press a ton of buttons. If you don’t mind doing this, however, it is highly recommended to run a high level one and press it manually every 5 seconds. If you decide to do this, you can link it to Arcane Surge Support for super reliable uptime there as well!

Other than those active skills, the build uses a Trigger Wand to relieve pressure from gear and increase you damage output tremendously. Additionally, there’s a Tempest Shield in there to get you a little bit extra block chance as well. Since the build runs an obscene amount of regeneration it also uses Righteous Fire and Vaal Righteous Fire. This is where a lot of your overall DPS comes from as it gives a whopping 69% more multiplier to your damage!

Build Summary

Pros and Cons

Pros

+ Strong bosser with amazing clear
+ Requires no Uniques whatsoever to function
+ Therefore SSF & league start viable
+ High HP pool / Block Chance to make for a smooth playstyle
+ This is the “play it before it gets nerfed” type of build

Cons

– It’s a horrible leveling experience as Marauders and Spells don’t go hand in hand
– Pretty heavy on buttons to press (2 Button Build + Warcry, Immortal Call, etc.)

Map Modifiers to be Avoided

No Regeneration is incredibly annoying to run, as you’re relying on Life/Mana/ES regeneration quite a bit. If you insist on doing it anyway, you need to turn of your Righteous Fire. Otherwise Elemental Reflect is a no go.

Playstyle, Mechanics & Strengths

As explained before, Blade Blast detonates Lingering Blades. These Lingering Blades are created by skills like Bladefall, Blade Vortex and Ethereal Knives create blades that are detonatable for Blade Blast. The reason why Bladefall is the most efficient for us is because if works really well with Unleash Support and Spell Cascade Support. This is the most amount of blades one can create per cast, and thus makes for the most efficient way of creating blades and dealing damage.

Defensively, the build also packs quite a punch. Because of its nature and it being a Marauder, it picks up a lot of life naturally. Other than that though, it focuses on getting as much block as possible by using Glancing Blows. Because of the downside of that keystone, you’re going to get Life gained when Blocking on a Shield. This effectively reduces damage taken by around 60%. Other than that, the build has a reasonable amount of Armour, Dodge, and Physical damage Reduction. It most certainly is one of the tankier builds you will ever be playing.

Playstyle-wise I feel like it is very smooth and more importantly very forgiving. Mistakes don’t really get punished whatsoever on this build and the fact that you can say that about the build without it feeling like it has poor damage is its main benefit.

Optionally, if you want to enjoy the game like you have never before (or have before, if you’ve ever used this piece), this is the character that makes use of the Explody Chest. The reason why it uses it well is because of the way these Explosions scale. They do not scale with Spell Damage, but they do scale with Fire Damage for example, and this build only does Fire Damage so you might as well look for Fire Damage instead of generic Spell Damage. It also scales off of Elemental Damage rolls, of which you pick up a decent amount. All in all, the Explody Chest generally clears entire screens by itself without any help. It is an expensive item, however, and is not required whatsoever to play the build.

Passive Skill Tree, PoB, and Gem Links

You can find an optimized Path of Building here. Every build I release will use the community fork of Path of Building. You can find PoB’s Fork, by LocalIdentity, here.

If you are not comfortable with Path of Building, PoePlanner’s website offers you a non-PoB alternative to import the code from the above link. it is highly recommended you install Path of Building to follow builds most optimally.

More information about the Passive Skill Tree, as well as all the Gem Links can be found on our dedicated page.

Passive Skill Tree, PoB & Gem Links

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheons

Our Ascendancy, Bandit, and Pantheon Power page goes into detail about all the choices you need to make in these regards.

Ascendancy, Bandit & Pantheon Power Page

Gear Summary / TL;DR

A lot of this is explained more in depth in the Gear Page, however we will provide you with a basic idea of what gear you’re looking for in this short summary.

Gear, Jewel & Flask Page

Our recommendation:

Item Slot	Item Name
Head	Rare Helmet with High Life, Resistances and -9% to Fire Resistance
Amulet	Rare Amulet with Life, +1 Physical Gems and Resistances
Chest	Explode Chest piece with Maximum Life
Gloves	High Life, Resistances and Dexterity
Boots	High Life, Dexterity, Resistances and Movement Speed or Legacy of Fury
Belt	Stygian Vise with High Life and Resistances
Rings	Coral Rings or Opal Rings with Life, Fire Damage & Resistances
Weapon	Rare Sceptre with Fire Damage, Spell Damage or +1 to Skills, Cast Speed and Trigger Mod
Shield	High Life and Recover % Life when you Block

Questions & Support

I made it a habit to check all comments in my guides on a daily basis. Obviously, there might be occurrences where getting a reply might take longer but I really do try to get back to you as soon as possible. I prefer you making remarks, suggestions or asking questions that way as it allows others to read through the comments, providing them with a potential answer to their question, without having to wait for me again. If I have somehow missed your question, you can try reaching me on our Discord.

If you enjoy my content to such an extent that you’d like to support me and my work, I have a Patreon you can check out. At no point should you feel pressured to contribute, but if you do, your support means more to me than you will ever imagine.

Leveling

Even though we are very adamant about trying to give you a leveling experience that lies as close to your endgame playstyle as possible, we will recommend you to use the standard leveling setups until after Act 5. Blade Blast just doesn’t function that well until you have all of your stuff going, especially on a Marauder, as you will have no damage nodes. For more information about leveling, we refer you to the following guides:

Our step-by-step leveling walkthrough, which allows even more experienced players to save time and speed through the leveling process.
Our guide to Unique Items for leveling, which helps you gear up your characters for the leveling process.
Our beginner leveling guide, which answers many of the questions new players might have and will set you on the right path.

If you still want to go at it as a spellcasting Marauder, you will need someone who helps you with gems as most of these will not be accessible to you as a Marauder.

Getting to Brutus & Merveil

For starters, create a Marauder in whichever league you want to start.

Pick up an Explosive Trap to start your journey and go to kill Hailrake and clear Mud Flats. Set up the following links after Mud Flats:

Frost Bomb

Explosive Trap

After killing Brutus, you will be adding an Added Lightning Damage Support to your Frost Bomb.

Level 12 and Onwards Setup

From level 12, after killing Merveil, you’ll be setting up for your road to level 28. You should be breezing through content at this point as these skills are really strong while leveling.

At level 28, swap your Storm Brand for Armageddon Brand as it scales better with the passives you are picking up in the skill tree.