In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theShield Spear Warriorbuild for you to use to get into the late-game or endgame of the game.
Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and multitude of skill gems.
This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of the campaign and prepare you for your cruel playthroughs or endgame.
Introduction
TheShield Spear Warrioris aWarrior buildutilizing theWarbringer Ascendancyto fully utilize the shield and take advantage of the armor it provides, combined with the range and attack speed of the spear.
This build focuses on using the shield to block incoming damage and delivering devastating strikes using the shield.
This build is aiming for balance between the offensive capabilities of the spear and the high defense of the shield, providing a well-rounded setup that will help us get through any hurdle.
Starter Class
Firstly, for this build, our basestarter classis theWarrior class, which is one among the seven available for now at the time of making this guide. And on the expansive skill tree, the Warrior class will start on thesouthwestside. This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related to armor, stun buildup, totems, and flat melee damage.
For this particular build, we will be focusing on getting nodes that increase our one-handed weapon damage, armor, and our defenses while using the shield.
Passive Skills
For thepassive skill tree, this build is relatively straightforward as we will be focusing mainly down the southwestern part of the tree, emphasizing increasing our melee damage. We will be taking nodes such asBrutalandSmashalong the way, increasing our damage and stun buildup.
After this point, as we will be focusing on taking advantage of theblock chancewe get from using shields, we will be aiming for nodes that focus on amplifying that advantage.
The first group of passives that can be reached consists of theUnstoppable Barriernode, where upon getting the whole group, you will have an increased 20% block chance while also protecting you from slows.
Then, we will go southeast for a single attribute node and then take the three nodes that will increase our block chance to increase the effectiveness of our shields.
After this, we will go back on the southwestern axis and invest our points in thepassive branchthat will greatly increase the damage with our weapons early on by going for theone-handed weapon branchwith theImpairandReavingnodes.
The Impair node will add a chance tomaimtarget hits using a one-handed weapon while increasing the damage, while the Reaving node will give us an 8% increase in attack speed along with an increase in dexterity.
Following this, we will be going for another group that will improve our block chance and also give us life recovery through theVigilancenode, which will grant us 6 life whenever we block.
From here, we will work our way towards theouter ringof the passive skill tree toward the passive skill branch that will help us scale into the late game, as we will be aiming towards theBrute Strengthnode.
This four-noded branch will increase our strength attribute by 36, and the Brute Strength node itself will allow our damage to scale with our strength attribute by 1% for every 15 strength.After this branch, we will go north on the outer ring as we aim for theGreatest Defensenode, which will give us increased attack damage that scales with our armor value — of which we will be getting a huge amount from both our equipment and even more if you decide to invest into some armor nodes.
This particular skill group has two sides, and the other side also complements the build really well, providing great defensive values with even greater block chances, while also having a node that will restore 20 life every time you block withHunker Down, greatly improving your survivability.
Once we have all the nodes in these branches, we will work our way towards another node that will help with ourdamage scaling, and that is theLay Siegenode.
This node will increase our damage scaling by increasing our damage by 1% per every increase in chance to block, ensuring we scale both offensively and defensively.
These skill groups form thecore of this buildand provide us with solid stats both offensively and defensively. After these groups, you can either go for moreattack speed nodesor enhance the offensive capability of the spear by investing inbleeding nodes.
Ascendancy Choice
For this build, we will be choosing theWarbringer Ascensionclass for the Warrior. This is because this ascendancy gives us theRenly’s Trainingnode, which gives us a 40% base chance to block, alleviating the need to look for a shield with good block equipment value.
TheTurtle Charmnode at the end of this branch is useful if you are looking to go for a more offensive approach using the shield instead of raising your shield, as this node will give you the same blocking ability similar to raising your shield at the cost of 25% less block chance. This can be a great trade-off if you have sufficiently invested in other skill nodes that give you increased block chance.
If you want to maximize thedamage scaling from block chance, you’re able to ignore the Turtle Charm node and go for theJade Heritagenode, which will increase our armor as well as give usJade stacks, which will increase physical damage reduction per stack.
Active Skills Setups
For this active skill rotation for this build, we will be using skills fromtwo weapons, and as such, we will be switching between weapons quite often.
The first skill that we gain access to when playing with thespear weaponisWhirling Slash, and this skill, in addition to damaging enemies with a slashing melee attack, will kick up aWhirlwind, which by itselfslows and blindsenemies.
What a lot of people may not realize with this skill is that casting anotherWhirling Slashwhile you are inside the Whirlwind willincrease its sizeandincrease its effectswhen you leave it, causing it toexplode.
Next is our firstranged attack skill, and this is theExplosive Spear.
Normally, the skill will send out aflaming spearthat deals minor initial damage and willblow up, dealingarea damageafter a set amount of time.
The explosion of the unamplified version of this skill can be difficult to land because of the relatively long timer of the “fuse” of the explosive. But theamplified versionof the skill, using aFrenzy Charge,instantly explodesin a huge cross section, making it excellent at dealing with large groups of enemies.
The spear has access to an easy and reliable way to getFrenzy Charges, and that is through theCull the Weakskill, which is anexecute skillthat can instantly kill an enemy that is low on health in a single strike.
This will be shown with ablue indicatoron top of a weak enemy, and whenever youcull or killan enemy with the skill, you will gain aFrenzy Charge. You can have up tothree Frenzy Chargesby default, and these will increase andamplify some of the spear attacks and skills.
Ourmain source of damageand main tool for clearing mobs will come from the skillShield Charge.
This skill willscale with the armor valueon the shield and is really great for both clearing mobs and dealing with bosses, as the area of damage is quite large and the damage is substantial.
After the Shield Charge, if you haven’t cleared out the mob or if there’s more incoming damage, theResonating Shieldskill is a great follow-up because it will damage in a huge area around you indamaging shockwaves, and these waves will alsodamage the armorof the enemies, priming them for even more damage.
Another great skill for this build is theShield Wallskill.
This skill will perform a slam on the ground, creating anearth wallin front of you,blocking incoming projectiles, and will blow up dealing damage. This is great because it will give you the option to damage enemies while youdodge awayfrom projectiles and explosions, especially during boss fights.
With these sets of skills, the idealcombination of skill rotationwill beShield Charge,Shield Wall, and thenResonating Shield,rotating as the cooldown refreshes for Shield Charge.
This rotation will allow you toclear mobsanddo mapping quicklywhile using alargely defensive build.
If you are looking for moreoffensive options, the spear skillRakeis a really solid skill.
This skill will allow you tojump a short distanceandslash in frontof you, inflictingbleedon all the enemies hit. If the initial damage does not kill them, the bleeding will surely take care of most enemies before they reach you.
Another skill that will help with the skill rotation of this build is theBlood Huntskill.
This skill willlunge towards a target, and if it’s suffering from bleeding, Blood Hunt will cause anexplosion, consuming the bleeding. The explosion is really good for dealing withmobs of enemies, as you can quickly take them out in rapid succession after inflicting bleeding using your other skills.
Spirit Gem
Regarding thespirit gem, we will be using theMagma Barrierfor this build.
Thispassive skillwill buff our shield with magma, which willspray magmain front whenever thebuffed raised shield is attacked, while also giving us anEndurance Charge.
Although we are not relying on any warcry skills with this particular build, themagma sprayadds an additional source of damage.
Support Gems
For oursupport gems, we are looking to utilize support gems that will maximize the effectiveness when using ourshield, while giving us more options to deal with our enemies and also improving the effectiveness of ourshield skills.
The first support gem we will be using on ourWhirling Slashis theMaim gem.
This will allow our whirlwind to always inflict maim on our targets, which will also slow down their movement speed and their evasion ratings.
Another great support gem that works well with theWhirling Slashis theEncumbrance gem.
As this gem will increase the amount of slow caused by the whirlwind, it will give additional crowd control to the skill.
For theExplosive Spearskill, we will be prioritizing theFast Forward support gem, as it will shorten the duration before the spear explodes, making it easier to hit enemies even without aFrenzy Charge.
TheMagnified Effectsupport gem, which increases the area of effect of the skill, works well with theExplosive Spear, since it will allow you to cover more area with each thrown lance.
One of the support gems we will be getting early on is theMartial Tempo gem, which we will slot into ourCull the Weakskill.
This will increase the speed of the skill by 20%, decreasing the time we will be locked into the attacking animation, allowing us to reposition faster after the culling strike.
Another support gem we will be using withCull the WeakistheExecute skill, which increases the damage dealt to enemies with low health, raising the threshold at which we can do the culling and increasing the effectiveness of the skill.
TheOverpowersupport gem works really well in tandem with theShield Chargeskill because it will increase the already powerful stun buildup of the skill, making it possible for you to instantly follow up with aBone Shatterskill for heavy stuns after theShield Chargewhile you are mapping.
Another great support gem for theShield Chargeskill is theStomping Groundskill, as it will cause a trail of shockwaves, damaging everything in your path as you charge toward your target, allowing you to deal maximum damage with this skill.
For theShield Wallskill, the first support gem we will use is theFortress gem.
This support gem will allow us to put down a wall of stone walls in a circle around us, blocking projectiles from all sides. Although we do need to be careful about using this in boss fights, as you can unintentionally block yourself unless you have awar cryskill to burst the stones immediately.
Another great support gem for theShield Wallis theConcentrated Effectsupport gem.
This will increase the damage of the area effect at the cost of reducing the area, but the skill will still provide considerable defensive value in spite of the reduction.
For theResounding Shieldskill, we will be using theBurgeonsupport gem, which will increase the damage the wave deals the longer the skill is channeled, up to 40%.
As we will not have a huge amount ofmana pool, another support gem that will greatly help with this skill is theInspiration gem, since it will reduce the mana cost of the skill by 30%.
Regarding theRakeskill, which is one of the most common skills we will be using with this build, we will putBrutalityas one of the support gems.
This will increase the physical damage done by this skill, which will in turn increase the bleeding damage as it scales off the physical damage.
The second support gem that is good to have onRakeis theAmbush gem, as it will make it so that the first attack against a full-health enemy is always acritical hit.
For theBlood Huntskill, we will be using theBlood in the Eyessupport gem.
This is great, as it will decrease the evasion stat of the targets inflicted by bleed from this skill by hobbling them. Although evasion is not a big issue early on, there are some evasive enemies that can be quite hard to hit, and this support gem will give us a reliable skill to use against such enemies by usingBlood Hunt.
Another support gem this skill greatly benefits from is theExecutesupport gem, which will increase the damage dealt by 50% against low-life enemies.
This is when we will be using this skill most often to cause the blood explosions to clear the mobs.
For ourSpirit Gemskill,Magma Barrier, we will be using theEternal Flameand the
support gems.
TheEternal Flamegem will increase the duration ofigniteat the cost of reducing the chance of ignition by 25%, while theIgnitionsupport gem will increase the chance to ignite by 100%, offsetting the reduction from theEternal Flamesupport gem.
Gear and Equipment
This build does not rely onUniquesto function and can perform well with good gear ofrarequality. Ourspear skillswill benefit from increasedphysical damage, and if the gear hasleeching propertiesof eitherlifeormana, it will greatly help with our sustain.
For ourshield, the build will greatly benefit from those with highbase armor value, with properties that increase the armor value even further,scaling damagegreatly as well.
While notUnique-dependent, using theTyranny’s Gripwill greatly increase your damage output, especially early in the game, and will greatly help as you progress through the campaign—at the cost of losing access toranged attackssuch asSpear ThrowandExplosive Spear.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly by using theShield ChargeandResounding Shieldskills, followed by finishing off the mobs withRakeandBloodhunt.
This combo will allow you to go through most of the mobs without pressure during your playthrough, as long as you don’t put yourself into a corner and get surrounded by an overwhelming number.
As you level up, you’re able to either start investing intoArea Attack nodesfor more damage or start working towardsThorn nodesto add to yourpassive damagewhile giving you additionaldefense. One important thing to note when leveling is that it is a requirement to chooseDexterityfor yourattribute nodesin order to meet the requirement for thespear weaponand the corresponding skills at the higher levels.
Mapping and Bossing
Although this build performs well in bothbossingandmapping, dealing with bosses can take getting used to, as theplaystyleis different from other more traditionalWarrior builds. You will need totime your skillsmore carefully between the bosses’ attacks andblockthe incoming attacks to regain your resources whilewhittling downthe boss’s health using thebleedfrom the spear.
The build performs surprisingly well in mapping, as you can basicallyShield Charge and Slamacross the map without any big trouble.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scalingis enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseArmor Value,Area of Attack,Attack Speed, andAttack Damage.
The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherWarcries,Rage, orAttack Speed nodes, and benefits from high-Strength gearto further boostlifeandmelee damage.
This build performs well inSSFandHardcore, thanks to its high damage and high survivability due to the high armor value. It is not reliant on expensiveUniquesand offers a balance betweensafety,damage, andstrategic gameplay.
So, this wraps up my guide for theShield Spear Warriorbuild guide forPath of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
