Path of Exile Top 7 Starter Builds
1. Summon Raging Spirit Necromancer (Witch)
This summoner build is ranked first for league starter builds and is the strongest minion build in the game.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 10/10
Build Guide
Best Starter Witch Build: The Summon Raging Spirit Necromancer has strong damage against multiple enemies and extremely high damage against bosses. Minion builds are popular starter builds and this is the strongest starter build in the game while still being one of the most inexpensive summoner builds to outfit. If you are interested in trying out the Summon Raging Spirit Necromancer build you can find a guide for the build here Summoner Raging Spirit Guide.
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2. Ground Slam Berserker (Marauder)
Marauder is an excellent choice for starting the game because of the high number of early defensive nodes on the tree.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
Best Starter Marauder Build: Ground Slam Of Earthshaking is a level one melee skill that stuns enemies with a large area of effect attack which makes it great for survival. This build is also one of the strongest and most popular builds to start the game with this season and is great all the way through the endgame. If you are interested in trying out the Ground Slam Of Earthshaking Berserker you can find a guide for the build here Ground Slam Berserker Guide.
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3. Toxic Rain Trickster (Shadow)
The Toxic Rain Trickster is one of the strongest Shadow builds in the game and has very strong defensive ascendancies.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
Best Starter Shadow Build: This build requires you to channel Toxic Rain which rains down area of effect chaos spores. This build is the strongest Shadow bow build and doesn't require mirror tier gear to be competitive with other builds. If you are interested in trying out the Toxic Rain Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Toxic Rain Trickster Guide.
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4. Freezing Pulse Totem Hierophant (Templar)
The Freezing Pulse Totem Hierophant is the best starter totem build in the game and has excellent damage and survival.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
Best Starter Templar Build: The Freezing Pulse Hierophant is one of the strongest totem builds in the game for clearing normal enemies and still does well on boss fights. The Hierophant ascendancy gives a minimum of four Endurance charges and four Power charges which is helpful both offensively and defensively. If you are interested in trying out the Freezing Pulse build you can find a guide for this build here Freezing Pulse Totem Hierophant.
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5. Shockwave Cyclone Slayer (Duelist)
The Shockwave Cyclone Slayer is one of the best melee builds in the game and is an excellent choice for a starter build.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
Best Starter Duelist Build: The Shockwave Cyclone Slayer is a popular build and is capable of dealing very high damage while moving around. You will however have to wait until you are at least level 28 for a reduced mana cost ring or have enough mana leech to use Cyclone. You should try and acquire a unique Praxis ring which reduces the mana cost of Cyclone to zero at level 28 to channel Cyclone without using mana. If you are interested in trying out the Shockwave Cyclone Slayer build you can find a guide for the build here Shockwave Cyclone Slayer Guide.
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6. Elemental Hit Of The Spectrum Ascendant (Scion)
The Elemental Hit Of The Spectrum Ascendant is a strong starter Scion build that deals great damage on a low budget.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 7/10 Heist: 5/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
Best Starter Scion Build: The Elemental Hit Of the Spectrum Ascendant excels at dealing excellent damage on a limited budget making it a great starter build. The bow for Elemental Hit of the Spectrum doesn't require very high physical damage like Lightning Arrow and Ice Shot it requires a low to middle cost tri-elemental bow to deal high damage. Elemental Hit of the Spectrum replaced Elemental Hit for the best Scion starter build because the standard Elemental Hit gem was changed to require a melee weapon (a guide for this build will possibly be added at a later date).
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7. Oro's Fire Flicker Strike Deadeye (Ranger)
It's recommended to play Fire Flicker Strike as a Deadeye after the removal of the Raider ascendancy in 3.25.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10​
Build Guide
Best Starter Ranger Build: The Oro's Fire Flicker Strike Deadeye is the most budget friendly Flicker Strike build to start the game off with. It deals high damage with an inexpensive Oro's Sacrifice weapon and Kaom's Heart body armour. You can optionally switch to Cold Flicker Strike later if you want a higher damage ceiling. If you are interested in trying out the Oro's Fire Flicker Strike Deadeye build you can find a guide for it here Oro's Fire Flicker Strike Deadeye Guide.
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That's all for the Top 7 Starter Builds! For more on Path of Exile you can view the endgame guide here Endgame Guide.
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