Go-to place for high-impact Path of Exile 2 builds, in-depth guides, and everything you need to dominate Rayclast! Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or just getting started, we’re here to help you craft powerful builds that feel amazing to play. Today, we’re diving into an absolute firestorm of destruction: the Shockwave Totem Infernal build.
This build revolves around unleashing massive bursts of fire damage that melt enemies with explosive shockwaves, all while utilizing the relentless power of totems. If you love setting the battlefield ablaze while keeping yourself safe from a distance, then this build is exactly what you need. In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about skills, passives, gear choices, and playstyle tips so that you can start melting bosses and clearing maps like a pro.
With a major patch on the horizon, you may be wondering whether this niche setup will be affected. Fear not! The Shockwave Totem Infernal build is poised to become even stronger with the new additions in patch 0.2.0, including support gems and new uniques. Let’s dive into it!
Overview: What Makes the Shockwave Totem Infernal Build So Powerful?
The Shockwave Totem Infernal build is designed around a totem skill called Shockwave Totem, which has a unique damage scaling mechanic in Path of Exile 2. It utilizes its own weapon & POE 2 Chaos Orbs, which typically has a low base damage. However, the skill’s damage can be scaled by increasing the level of the skill gem. As you increase the skill gem level, the mana cost also increases, raising the overall complexity of the build.
Why Choose Shockwave Totem?
Totems in Path of Exile 2 are powerful because they allow players to deal damage from a distance, all while keeping themselves safe. Shockwave Totems, in particular, deal explosive fire damage in the form of shockwaves, offering tremendous AoE damage. Coupled with Infernal mechanics, this build becomes a relentless force of destruction, ideal for players who love to clear maps quickly and deal high damage to bosses.
Here’s a breakdown of the core mechanics that make this build shine:
- Fire Damage: This build focuses on converting most of your damage to fire, taking advantage of the fire-related nodes available in the Witch’s starting area.
- Totem Summoning: You summon multiple totems that continue to unleash shockwaves, allowing you to deal damage without putting yourself at risk.
- Tankiness: Despite being a ranged build, the Shockwave Totem Infernal build provides a high life pool, significant fire resistance, and strong damage mitigation, making you very tanky against incoming damage.
- Simple Yet Effective: Unlike most totem builds, this one doesn’t require complex passive trees or expensive uniques to function. It’s accessible, especially for players on a budget.
Core Skills and Gems
The primary damage dealer for this build is Shockwave Totem, which you’ll summon in triplets (at least three totems at all times) to maximize your damage output. To support this, you can summon a fourth totem using Earthquake through the Overabundance Gem, which creates Jagged Ground, slowing enemies and increasing the effectiveness of your shockwaves.
Key Gems for Your Setup
Shockwave Totem: This is the core of your build, summoning a totem that releases explosive shockwaves. Be sure to link it with damage-enhancing support gems like:
- Fire Infusion: Boosts your fire damage significantly.
- Elemental Focus: Adds more fire damage by restricting elemental damage to fire.
- Magnified Effect: Increases the damage and range of your shockwaves.
Ancestral Warrior Totem: A supporting totem that summons an ancestral warrior, which uses an earthquake attack. This helps you deal additional damage and slows enemies by creating Jagged Ground. Link it with:
- Elemental Focus: Further boosts elemental damage.
- Primal Armament: Increases your elemental attack damage.
- Fire Penetration: Helps bypass enemy fire resistance.
Infernal Hound: This exclusive minion provides an additional layer of utility by applying powerful fire exposure and reducing some of the damage taken by you. Link it with:
- Meat Shield: Makes the Infernal Hound tank damage for you.
- Minion Mastery: Enhances your minions’ effectiveness.
- Fire Exposure: Ensures enemies take more fire damage.
Orb of Storms: This is a utility spell used to create a Font of Rage (which generates rage) and Font of Blood (increases life regeneration). This helps with boss fights by ensuring you’re consistently replenishing your life and rage. Use it with support gems like:
- Heightened Curse: Increases curse effectiveness.
- Cursed Ground: Expands the curse’s area of effect.
Flammability: This curse spell reduces fire resistance on enemies, making them more susceptible to your damage. It’s extremely important for bosses, where you’ll want to maximize your damage output.
Time of Need: This persistent aura will periodically heal you and remove ailments. Link it with:
- Fast Forward: Ensures your healing triggers more frequently.
Stampede: This mobility skill increases your damage output and helps you move through the battlefield. It’s especially useful for aftershocks and dealing extra damage in dynamic combat situations.
Passive Tree & Ascendancy
The passive tree is a crucial aspect of optimizing your Shockwave Totem Infernal build. Early on, you’ll want to focus on increasing your fire damage, totem damage, and life pool, while also obtaining the necessary strength for wielding your two-handed weapons.
Key Passives
- Avatar of Fire: This notable passive is essential for converting your damage to fire.
- Giants Blood: Grants additional life and survivability, helping you maintain your high life pool.
- Totem Damage and Fire Attack Nodes: Focus on these as you progress along the tree to maximize your damage output.
- Blood Magic: You’ll likely need to allocate points to Blood Magic to use your Infernal Flame efficiently.
Ascendancy
The ascendancy offers crucial bonuses to your build’s survivability and damage:
- Pyromantic: Provides a massive fire damage boost.
- Paa: Enhances your overall defense and damage mitigation.
- Infernal Hound: The extra fire damage exposure and minion help with both offense and defense.
- Altered Flesh: Offers significant defense boosts, making this build tanky against high incoming damage.
Gear and Items
While the Shockwave Totem Infernal build is relatively inexpensive, gearing up can still be a challenge. Below are the essential Path of Exile 2 Currency choices that will help you maximize your build’s potential:
Weapons
- Two-Handed Maces: These provide a substantial elemental damage boost. Look for maces that give +7 to level of all melee skill gems and increased elemental damage with attacks. These boosts apply directly to your totem damage, making your maces an essential part of your build.
Helmet, Gloves, and Boots
- Helmet: Prioritize high defensive stats, including life, resistances, and armor.
- Gloves: Focus on defensive stats, with an additional emphasis on added physical and fire damage to attacks.
- Boots: Aim for high defensive stats and increased movement speed. This allows for better positioning and faster mapping.
Amulet and Rings
- Amulet: Look for life, resistances, and added levels to melee gems. Anointing your amulet with Watchtowers or Ancestral Artifice is highly recommended.
- Rings: These should focus on maximum life, resistances, and strength. They’re especially important if you’re using the Ingenuity Belt.
Belt
- Ingenuity Belt: This belt is highly recommended for its ability to massively boost your ring stats.
Body Armor
- Look for a rare body armor with life, armor rating, and fire resistance.
Playstyle and Tips
The Shockwave Totem Infernal build is designed for powerful AoE damage and strong survivability. Here’s how to maximize your performance:
- Totem Placement: Always maintain at least three Shockwave Totems active at all times. Position your totems strategically to maximize coverage and ensure that enemies get hit by multiple shockwaves.
- Earthquake Setup: Use your Ancestral Warrior Totem to summon an earthquake totem that creates Jagged Ground. This slows enemies and makes them more vulnerable to your shockwaves.
- Curse Effectiveness: Apply Flammability to increase fire damage on enemies, especially bosses.
- Defensive Play: Keep your Infernal Hound active to tank some damage for you. Maintain a high life pool and focus on fire resistance to mitigate incoming damage.
Conclusion
The Shockwave Totem Infernal Build is a powerful, fire-themed totem build that combines high damage with excellent survivability. With the right gear, passive tree, and playstyle, you can farm bosses, clear maps, and take down endgame content with ease. This build is incredibly satisfying to play, especially when you watch the shockwaves obliterate large groups of enemies.