Author: Goldie

Poe Cobra Lash is a skill that relies heavily on poison to attack enemies. This skill utilizes high attack speed to inflict poison at a greater chance while giving critical damage. This skill was known for the campaign as it can clear the mob easily while lacking the single target damage. However, after the latest patch, there is a decent upscale from 125% to 205% at gem level 20. This is good news because now you can have this build again even against a single target enemy. 

Building Your POE Cobra Lash with Defensive Gears

A very well-known fact about this build is that it is squishy. To make this build viable, you need to get 90% (the maximum) physical damage reduction without armor. You can do that by getting 12 endurance charges and looking for at least 150K of armor. To further prevent your demise, you also need to maximize the elemental resistance modifier on the jewels. You can do that by utilizing transcendence which increases elemental damage inflicted to you, but your armor now protects you from elemental damage. 

Another way to boost your defensive capability is by wearing Loreweave which can give you 76-78% maximum resistance. After you use any items that can boost your resistance to that number, you don’t have to worry about the map with elemental reduction as it will stay at maximum resistance. 

If you want to take the defensive route further, you can always rely on Ralakesh. It gives you 15-25% cold and chaos resistance. However, it doesn’t increase movement speed anymore. The best combo with the boots is always Restless Ward. It increases your movement speed while regenerating life per second. To complete the build, you can add eldritch implicits to your helmet which can help to add stats to your final build. 

Gems

For the gems, you want to use Vaal Molten Shell with the support gem Cast when Damage Taken. Additionally, you will need Whirling Blades with Faster Attacks and Lifetap which will use your life instead of Mana to activate the skill. For the PoE Cobra Lash, you want to have the following support gems: Awakened Unbound Ailment, Ice Bite, Awakened Deadly Ailments, Awakened Vicious Projectiles, and Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks. 

To further increase the damage, you need to use Despair with Lifetap support and use Temporal Chains with Cast when Damage Taken, More Duration, and Lifetap. Lastly, Use Malevolence with Enlighten support, Determination, and Grace to complete the build.

This build relies heavily on defensive gears, and it is designed to be usable even for the late game. With the excessive defensive stats, you now can defeat the bosses fairly quickly and easily. It is also possible if you do Ubers as long as your investment in equipment and gems is good enough to make the damage from the boss irrelevant. Although PoE Cobra Lash is a very interesting build, especially for campaign mode, you may struggle in League Starter mode since it requires heavy investment to make it dependable. 

For players looking to fully unlock the potential of their PoE Cobra Lash build, having the right gear and resources is crucial. If you’re in need of high-quality items or ready-to-play characters, check out Path of Exile 2 accounts for an easier and faster path to success. With optimized setups and reliable support, you’ll be prepared to tackle even the toughest bosses.

Path of Exile 2 is finally available in early access, and Grinding Gear Games’ ARPG already has the community in a chokehold. 

This expanded and improved sequel has clearly streamlined some of the more complex elements of the original game, but all of the overlapping systems and features can still be overwhelming for new players looking to get in on the action. But don’t give up just yet, because we’re about to walk you through one of the most important elements of the series: Path of Exile builds!

This overview will include enough information to help you understand and start your personal beginner Path of Exile build, but we will also follow this up with in-depth build guides for those who want a more guided PoE2 experience. 

First, what are Path of Exile builds?

Your PoE build is defined by all of the combined aspects of your created character. Their class, subclass, skills, weapons, armor, attributes, and stats.

For beginners, we’ll simplify how to create a Path of Exile build to make it as straightforward as possible. Don’t worry, PoE2 gives you plenty of room to grow as you get familiar with the game and better understand its systems. Seriously, have you seen what the skill tree looks like?

For now, we’re going to briefly cover the games’ six currently available classes – each of which has two Ascendency Classes (essentially sub-classes). Each Path of Exile build offers a unique gameplay experience, shaping your combat style and core mechanics in the game.

It’s also worth noting that some of these classes are more suited to beginners than others, so we’ll cover those and their Ascendencies first.

Ranger

Ever seen Lord of the Rings? The Ranger class is just Legolas down to the flashy, flippy archery skills and powerful Bows. Dexterity is its primary attribute. 

The Ranger’s strong ranged combat options and substantial mobility make it easy to do lots of damage while staying out of harm’s way. Probably the most beginner-friendly Class at the moment. 

Deadeye: Gains access to a variety of new Arrow Skills that increase damage. Has passives that make them even faster.

Pathfinder: Still uses a Bow, but changes combat to focus more on Concoctions: equipment that can be used to inflict status effect damage to groups of enemies. 

Witch

A powerful necromancer class that specializes in summoning different types of undead minions ready to fight for her using her signature weapon: the Sceptre. Intelligence is its primary attribute.

The Witch is perfect for a beginner Path of Exile build, thanks to her flexible summoning abilities and versatile spellcasting. Having an army of minions really makes up for not having a co-op partner – which will probably be the experience of many beginners.

Infernalist: Gains the ability to summon a Loyal Hellhound and increase damage output by replacing Mana bar with a new Infernal Flame meter. Has passives that increase the strength of your summons.

Blood Mage: Uses Life as a resource for damaging spells. The more Life that is sacrificed, the stronger the spells are. Has passives that increase maximum Life.

Warrior

The classic RPG tank. Specializes in heavy, close-quarters combat and AoE strikes with its signature weapon: the Mace. Strength is its primary attribute. 

The Warrior seems like it might be an easy pick for beginners right off the bat, but you have to account for PoE2’s advanced difficulty and tendency to throw tons of enemies at you at once. Because Warrior combat puts you in the thick of it at all times, it’s easy to get overwhelmed.

Titan: Devastating slam attacks and stunning blows. Has passives that increase maximum life, backpack size, and armor.

Warbringer: All about attack-boosting Totems and Warcrys. Passives make your shield stronger.

Mercenary

A one-man army. The Mercenary class uses a Crossbow that can rapid-fire explosive bolts just as easily as it can be used to snipe enemies at long-range. Also packs elemental grenades for good measure. Dexterity and Strength are its primary attributes.

The Mercenary is great for wrecking shop just about anywhere you go, but it’s also pretty complex. Its combat focuses heavily on skills and combos, so it might not be the best choice for someone just starting out. But hey, don’t let us stop you from having a good time. The Mercenary is awesome. 

Witch Hunter: Focuses on a variety of passives that provide boosts to defense, offense, and utility. Highlights include delaying enemy spellcasting and popping boss characters with your first strike.

Gemling Legionnaire: Heavy focus on Skill Gems. Can equip more than most other classes, buff them to hell, and more.

Monk

An agile character that specializes in close melee combat and elemental with its signature weapon: the Quarterstaff, but also excels in Unarmed hand-to-hand combat. Intelligence and Dexterity are its primary attributes.

Monks are martial arts masters that are excellently balanced across the board. If you like the close-quarters combat of the Warrior but want more mobility, then the Monk is a fantastic choice. However, it also asks you to master several different mechanics at once in order to use it to the fullest.

Invoker: Specializes in powered-up elemental skills. Has the ability to meditate, which recharges and doubles its maximum available energy. 

Acolyte of Chayula: Gains the ability to trade Spirit for Darkness, which boosts your defenses. Has passives that provide bonus Chaos Damage.

Sorceress

An elemental spellcasting mage class. Uses caster weapons like wands and staffs to fling Fireballs and all manner of elemental projectiles at enemies. Intelligence is its primary attribute. 

A Sorceress Path of Exile build can be incredibly powerful and highly effective when played skillfully. Unfortunately for beginners, this class’s low survivability makes it far less forgiving than the other classes on this list. The very definition of a glass cannon. 

Chronomancer: This Path of Exile build archetype shifts from elemental mastery to manipulating time itself. Go back in time, pull a Clockstoppers on your enemies, and even skip time forward to reset your cooldowns. 

Stormweaver: Goes all-in on the elements. Induces Shock to enemies with any elemental damage, summons Elemental Storms – just in general wreaks havoc.

These are your choices as far as Class selection goes in Path of Exile 2. We recommend the easier to use PoE 2 Builds like the Witch and Ranger to kick off your PoE2 journey, but feel free to experiment to find what works for you! If you’re looking to speed up your progress, consider exploring PoE 2 Build Accounts to find pre-made characters optimized for your preferred playstyle.

The Rain of Arrows POE build is great if you are looking for an easy, fast, tanky, and absolutely fun build. This build is great for a league starter, and you will choose Raider ascendancy. The reason why you should choose this class is because it has excellent speed, life and defenses. 

Why Choose the Rain of Arrows PoE Build?

It deals more consistent damage without depending on bow mechanics such as Fork, Pierce, or Chain. In terms of investment, it also costs reasonably, which will take you to the end game quite quickly. When you gain more currency, you can then progress to different bow builds such as tornado shot or frenzy stacking, making the Rain of Arrows POE ideal for your league starter build.

Ascendancy order

Rapid Assault to increase attack, cast, and movement speed is the most important for the first, followed by Quartz Infusion which can decrease spell damage by 40%. To increase the defense even more, you should look at the Avatar of the Veil, which reduces 50% chance of getting elemental ailments such as Frozen, Ignited, Shocked, etc. Once Avatar of the Chase is available, you should activate it to increase the effect of Onslaught 100% while giving 10% more evasion.

Leveling in the Campaign

The first thing you should target is Precise Technique. Even though you won’t deal a critical hit anymore, it will give you much more consistent damage. Also, you will get 40% attacking damage increased, especially when your max life is lower than your Accuracy. As a consequence, you also need to get some accuracy nodes to make this strategy work. Don’t forget to take the accuracy mastery which also gives 500 accuracy points. If you need extra damage, you can always get Point Blank to increase the damage level up to 30%. 

Crit Build Gear for Rain of Arrows PoE

The transition to crit build starts when you reach level 70 or 80, which is when you are about to explore the Uber Lab. Remember that you can always start earlier, making your transition smoother. For the crit build, you want to use Lion Pelt for the helmet with additional life points and evasion. However, you can aim for mana cost reduction and physical damage conversion for better stats. 

For the armor, you should not aim for life. Instead, focus on evasion. Defense is also a good option, but it is actually still better to take defense from other parts. Another important point is to have another physical damage conversion which will make you a bit more tanky. For the implicits, you can choose haste/anger or non-curse aura effect. This configuration ensures your Rain of Arrows POE build remains efficient and durable.

When it comes to the rings, you need strength and intelligence. It is recommended to use two fractured rings and then use Harvest and Chaos Reforge to get both chaos resistance and one elemental resistance. In the process, you probably will get some mana and life increased as well. If you are seeking more damage, you can always search for rare rings and a taming ring. 

When it is about amulet, Hyrri’s Truth Amulet with big crit is highly recommended. However, it costs more mana, and this means you need to get the Mana Nodes on the skill trees along with the mastery. For the boots, the Three-Step Assault Boots are necessary considering their stats. You will get a 100% evasion rate during Onslaught with 100% uptime. Also, you will also get 30% Elemental Ailments when phasing. These two unique items are difficult to obtain, but they have a great impact on your overall build. Therefore, make sure you plan on getting them.

Previously, we discussed some good resistance points. However, it is still not all. To increase the resistance further, you will need a pair of gloves with stacked resistances. Slink Gloves with fractured resistance are recommended. You will craft them with any essence of resistance, giving you two resistance points into the build. To complete it, you also need to get the third resistance stack. After that, you can aim for anything else such as life. For the Implicits, you will need Attack Speed. If you feel the resistance points is too much, you can always opt for the Crit chance or increased elemental damage. Pick the stats that you are lacking and fit more with your build. 

Talking about the belt, Heavy Belt or Stygian Vise is decent for adding strength. As discussed, adding resistance is always a good thing, and you can also combine it with elemental damage to deal more damage to enemies. 

Now about the quiver, obviously you will need to stack damage. You can go for Broadhead or Primal Arrow Quiver which give a big crit multiplier with bows. It is also recommended to aim for increased critical chances, increased attack speed, flat damage to attacks and life. 

With 6 Divine Orbs to craft, you can reach the end-game content without struggling too much. You should start with a bow that has at least 600 Elemental DPS with 8% critical chance. Once you obtain the base bow, you can now equip the Deafening Essence of Wrath. You want to make sure the roll is for Elemental Prefix with an open suffix. You probably want to consider an increase in attack speed too, but in the end, it will cost you too much. 

Choosing the Flask

The Quicksilver flask with the increase of attack speed as its suffix combined with Seething Divine Life Flask to prevent corrupted blood are the main options that you can have. Jade flask with evasion stat, Diamond Flask with crit chance, and Taste of Hate are the three other flasks that you will need to build your Rain of Arrows POE setup.

The Jewels

It is recommended to have rare jewels with attack speed with bows or critical strike. We talk about this in the last part because it is expensive, even though it brings a decent boost to your character’s stat. If you want to aim for unique jewels, Lethal Pride with Double Damage and Intimidate are probably your best option. These enhancements perfectly complement the Rain of Arrows POE build, elevating its overall effectiveness.

So, that’s basically the build for Raider with Rain of Arrows as the main skill. We subjectively believe that this build is very powerful, especially in the early league. Though it doesn’t scale tremendously in the end game, you can still transition to a different powerful build if you are ready. Otherwise, you can stick with the Rain of Arrows POE build.

Being efficient means you will be able to level up your character quickly without wasting too many resources, such as consumed time. Here’s the high efficiency PoE leveling guide that will be useful for your next adventure.

Inefficient Leveling

The first thing you need to know about inefficient PoE leveling is the fact that there is lack of understanding. Unlike other games with simple and repetitive mechanics, Path of Exile is a game where you need to understand the game mechanics deeper. Also, with several updates, you will need to learn the updated information in order to prevent wasted time during the Path of Exile leveling up process. 

Avoid Wasting Time

Standing in place while managing inventory or equipping gems is something every effective PoE leveling guide advises against. Unfortunately, this takes a lot of time. However, it is understandable if you are still adapting to the game. However, once you understand how the game works, you should do these things while moving instead of standing still doing nothing.

The next thing you need to think about is killing easier monsters to gain more exp. Just like in other grinding games, defeating tougher monsters with a slightly more exp isn’t worth the time, even if you get better loot. At the same time, you should avoid killing every mob you see, especially those in lower zones as they don’t give justified exp points. 

Planning your route is another thing you should consider when leveling up. You shouldn’t make a wild guess about the exit, wasting the quicksilver effect. Furthermore, make sure you have all the loot you need. Backtracking is a common cause of inefficient PoE leveling, especially when there is no monster around to refill the quicksilver charge. Lastly, it is highly recommended to watch speed runners doing their leveling to get an idea of how it should be done for better efficiency. Of course, you don’t have to struggle that much to match the speed. However, you should get the idea of how to farm exp better in order to level up. 

Proper Character Build

If you want to level up efficiently, there is no other way other than copying the build from the experienced players with the similar playstyle you are comfortable with. This way, you can have an ideal expectation on how efficient that build to level up. However, if you want to experiment with yourself, there are a few things you should know.

The first thing is to understand exactly what your PoE build is all about. This means you need to understand how the items and their mechanic work together to deliver a result. You also need to know, for example, items you need to pick up. Otherwise, you will be wasting time looting everything. It may be good at the beginning of the game, but it will take you more time. You also need to know which socket colors to look for and understand the order of the passive tree. There are also recipes that can help you gain power through skills. Basically, practicing a specific build is very important and helpful. 

Another thing you can do with a character build is know when to switch from the early to late-game build. They are different considering you need a lot more damage to beat the monsters. If you are looking for a build, make sure you know when to switch. Typically, early game builds rely on consistency and cheap investment. However, they don’t generally scale well into the endgame, forcing you to change it based on the situation. 

A decent skill level is another factor contributing to the speed of your character build. There is a rule stating that you need a skill that delivers enough DPS, even if you are 3-5 levels behind the zone. Please keep in mind that you don’t have to use your main skills to build a character, especially if you have other efficient DPS skills. Once your main skills are properly invested with supporting items, you then can proceed to the endgame. Aim for less than 10 minutes to kill the boss with a secondary DPS skill that is inexpensive and efficient to build. 

Proper PoE Leveling Gear

Most people almost always lean to quicksilver and silver flasks. Both increase movement speed and the onslaught from the silver flask gives extra attack speed. With both items, you can beat monsters faster and you can explore the area faster. 

You should also consider armor with elemental resistance, such as Goldrim. Elemental resistance is needed because many enemies use elements to attack you. You should also stay away from being dead because it can reduce your exp as a penalty, even if it is only applicable in ACT VI and higher. Karui Ward is also a good amulet that increases movement speed and accuracy, allowing you to kill enemies more quickly.

Quests

There are so many available quests that you can complete. However, you should be focusing on the more rewarding ones such as The Dweller of the Deep, Marooned Mariner, and The Way Forward in ACT I. Unless you want to know the detailed story about the quest, you should not be focusing on other quests that don’t give significant benefits. 

If you’re looking to enhance your leveling journey, consider starting with well equipped Path of Exile account. These accounts can save time and give you a strong foundation for efficient progression.

To sum it up, an efficient POE leveling guide relies on understanding how this game works by bare minimum to quests doing, killing mobs, and exploring the area. Always avoid being dead by increasing armor rating and elemental resistance and switch to attacking when you are at a higher level. Make sure you focus on your build and not distracted by items. You can make a note or follow a detailed PoE leveling guide to stay on track with the items and builds you need.