With the Path of Exile: Delirium League just around the corner, this is the perfect time to share with you some good starter builds. If you are a new player, this choice is quite important as it can make the difference between enjoying the game or giving up in frustration. And, if you are already experienced, then you likely understand that a good start can set the stage for success for the rest of the league. Choose well and you will have a huge advantage over others, as well as much more PoE Delirium currency to bankroll other characters you'll want to play. Navandis Gaming’s video has more details on the 5 excellent league starter builds in Path of Exile: Delirium league, and all the content of this article is quoted from his video. Also, make sure you join his discord if you like his video:
What is and makes a good league starter build
A league start is a build whose purpose is to get you, as fast as possible, to the point where you can farm tier 7 or 8 maps. That is a sweet point where you start generating a good amount of PoE currency and get decent drops which should allow you to buy or craft proper gear. A good starter should be able to transition from that point to become an end-game build by acquiring better and more expensive items. Ideally, this should be possible with minimal passive points re-speccing. Since starting a new league means you have absolutely nothing in your bank, a good starter build should be able to reach that Atlas mid-tier with self-found gear and cheap PoE items. It shouldn’t rely on expensive or hard to get unique items but rather ones that are always in abundance or obtainable using divination cards which can be easily farmed. And, just to clarify, while all builds will have some end-game recommended gear that is more expensive, at that point, we’re no longer talking about a starter build.
For example, that Arc Mine build does perfectly fine as a starter with self-found rare items, but for end-game, a Shavronne’s Wrapping armor is necessary. This doesn’t mean it needs that item to be an effective starter build. By the point you’ll get it, you are no longer in the starter phase.
Then, a good starter should be able to run any type of content, and most, if not all map mods. While boss killing is outside the scope of a league starter, it should do fairly well in the wide range of scenarios. An ideal starter should also use its main skill early on so you get plenty of practice and not waste too much time on changing your gem setups.
Another key aspect for a league starter is that it shouldn’t rely on mechanics, skills, or items that are introduced in the upcoming league. Not only would that involve a lot of guesswork, but such elements are always prone to be changed in the first weeks of a new league. In fact, going off-meta is always a good idea for league starter builds. In addition to that, a good starter should be easy to play, without complicated mechanics or combos and supported by a clear build guide. No matter how great a build is, if you’re wasting hours to figure out how to play it or choose the wrong leveling path in the passive tree, your efficiency will drop significantly.
Finally, all the builds that I’ll showcase have been tested, fine tuned or designed by myself. They worked great as starter builds for a number of leagues now and are proven to be reliable for new players and veterans alike.
1. Arc Mines Saboteur
This build is incredibly efficient at clearing very large packs of mobs. And, since delirium is all about spawning huge waves of angry monsters, this build is perfectly suited to take on that type of content. With mines, most of your damage comes from gems themselves, so even if you rub two sticks together, you’ll still end up with very solid DPS, which is excellent in a fresh league economy. The few unique items used in this build are only necessary once you’re running mid-tier maps. So, long after you’ve passed the league starter phase. Finally, with the previous Metamorph league content being here to stay, it’s definitely good to start with a build that’s great at killing bosses as well.
Arc Mines Saboteur does exactly that - laying down all your explosives and detonating them as soon as you engage a boss will generally obliterate them. Damage-wise this will be the best build you’ve ever played, being capable of easily surpassing 10M DPS even with basic gear. If this sounds like what you’re looking for, then check out the full PoE 3.10 builds - Arc Mines Saboteur build guide.
2. Skelemancer Summoner
My second suggestion for a league starter is an absolute beast of a summoner, the Skelemancer. This necromancer relies on raising an army of skeletons along with a few other minions who are there to support them, most notably zombies and spectres. What makes this build an amazing league starter is first and foremost its complete gear independence: almost none of your minions' damage comes from equipment; no strength stacking, no expensive jewels or mandatory uniques which are crucial for the build’s performance. As long as your resistance is capped, you’re good to go, and skeletons will obliterate everything in their path. Even the best-in-slot, end-game gear, costs less than what most builds need to clear white maps. The skelemancer is equally good at clearing large packs of mobs as well as killing bosses or other tough targets. Losing a few skeletons will never cripple you as raising some more doesn’t require corpses.
Now, I know what some of you might say: summoners will be nerfed in the upcoming league. However, the overall damage output of this build is way higher than it realistically needs. Even if necromancers would be rolled back to what they were 3 leagues ago, this build would still clear everything without breaking a sweat. You can go to the video guide for Skelemancer witch build.
3. Essence Drain + Contagion
If chaos spells, curses, and general warlock vibe are more appealing to you, then this is definitely the right choice. One of the best farming builds in the entire game, it uses a very simple combo between two spells to spread a chaos damage-over-time debuff from a single enemy to all nearby mobs. Sometimes, it’s enough to cast this combo once and everything you can see on the screen dies almost instantly. This makes it perfect for a league whose main mechanic is spawn tons of monsters coming in from every direction. You get pretty much all the necessary skill gems very early on, so you don’t need to use other spells while leveling. And since most lower level monsters don’t have much chaos resistance, you’ll cut through them like a hot knife through butter. The build is also not at all gear dependent but rather gains most of its efficiency from gem levels and passives. This makes it ideal for a league starter as it allows you to push through the game without having to slow down because you couldn’t find certain items. While the end-game version of the build requires a specific unique helmet, that can be skipped until you start running red tier maps.
Speaking of maps, it can run all the existing map mods, saving you time and PoE currency, allowing you to quickly complete most of your Atlas. Running higher tier content ahead of other players means you have a better chance at selling items for more currency, giving you a leg-up for the rest of the league. You can watch the video for a full Essence Drain + Contagion build guide.
4. Scourge Arrow Ranger
My fourth suggestion is the amazing Scourge Arrow Ranger build. Incredibly fast paced and with amazing clearing capabilities, this poison build is a farming and leveling beast. Firing a charged, piercing arrow will create spore pods which explode into countless projectiles that shred enemies to bits and poison them. No special aiming or targeting is required and this fits perfectly with the new league mechanic of spawning a large number of monsters from all directions. Most of its efficiency comes from gems and passives rather than gear, making it perfect for the first days of a new league. It doesn’t really need any mandatory uniques and even its best-in-slot gear is usually really cheap. Just grab any bow with decent attack speed and you’re good to go. Focus on your other gear on defenses and you’ll cruise through story mode and the first Atlas tiers. And, as any respectable farmer, it’s able to run literally every map mod and that is a huge advantage when you start going through the Atlas. You won’t waste any time or currency to reroll maps and get many more drops, greatly boosting your efficiency.
5. Cyclone Slayer
If fast paced, brutal melee combat is more to your liking than casting spells, then this is the perfect build for you. Grab two swords with decent physical damage and spin your way through the entire game. If you’ve ever played whirlwind barb in any Diablo game, well, this is Path of Exile’s equivalent. Incredible mobility, excellent clearing speed and really solid damage are all perks of the now famous Cyclone Slayer. On top of that, it uses one of the very few skills in the game which can continuously apply damage while constantly moving. Killing enemies while responding and evading dangerous stuff is a great defensive mechanism.
The build is also not at all gear dependent and doesn’t need any specific unique items. On top of that, items boosting physical or melee damage are always abundant, so you’ll have plenty to choose from.
This version of the build is also intentionally designed as a very budget-oriented one, making it ideal as a league starter. Absolutely no insanely expensive items which are impossible to obtain at the beginning of a league. While its efficiency was somewhat nerfed in Blight league, I’ve added a few great workarounds in the Cyclone Slayer build guide’s pinned comment. Make sure to check that out to make the best out of the build. It’s a very fun build to play and if you’re a new Path of Exile player, then this will provide a perfect taste of what the game has to offer.
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