Hey Exiles! Welcome back to the channel — your go-to place for high-impact Path of Exile 2 builds, in-depth guides, and everything you need to dominate Wraeclast. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newcomer, we’re here to help you craft powerful builds that not only feel amazing to play but also deliver maximum destruction.
Today, we’re diving into a Firestorm of destruction with the Shockwave Totem Infernal build. This build is all about melting enemies with massive bursts of fire damage, detonating explosive shockwaves, and harnessing the relentless power of totems. If you love lighting up the battlefield with powerful fire spells while staying safe at a distance, this build is just what you need.
In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know, including skills, passives, gear choices, and playstyle tips. You’ll be ready to start melting bosses and clearing maps with ease, even as a new player or a casual veteran. Plus, with the exciting new patch 0.2.0 coming up, this build will only get stronger thanks to the addition of new support gems and POE 2 Orbs items!
Let’s jump right into it.
1. The Core Concept: Shockwave Totem Infernal Build
Shockwave Totem Basics
Shockwave Totem, like many totem-based skills in Path of Exile 2, operates on a unique damage scaling mechanism. The skill uses its own weapon with a relatively low base damage, which is amplified by raising the gem’s level. However, increasing the skill’s level also raises the Mana cost, which can complicate the build. To counter this challenge, we recommend a straightforward yet reliable fix by utilizing the Infernal ascendancy.
The Infernal ascendancy, paired with Parametric Pack, allows you to free-cast skills regardless of their Mana cost, at the expense of taking damage when your Infernal Flame fills up. By increasing your maximum fire resistance, you can mitigate the damage significantly and become incredibly tanky.
The beauty of this setup is that it allows you to focus heavily on fire damage, particularly around the Witch’s starting area, which has several high-value fire DPS nodes. Moreover, two-handed maces, which boast high elemental damage bonuses, are an excellent weapon choice. These maces not only provide strong physical damage but also apply to your Shockwave Totems, allowing for massive bursts of fire-based destruction.
2. Key Build Features: The Strength of Totems and Fire Damage
Totem Summoning and Damage Scaling
The foundation of this build revolves around having three Shockwave Totems active at all times. These totems will unleash devastating fire shockwaves that obliterate any enemies in their path. Additionally, with the Overabundance Gem, you can summon an additional Ancestral Warrior Totem that uses the Earthquake skill. This adds an extra layer of damage while also applying the Jagged Ground debuff that slows enemies and detonates with the shockwave explosions.
While your Shockwave Totems are the primary damage dealers, Ancestral Warrior Totem provides valuable additional DPS and utility through the Earthquake skill. As a result, the build is capable of dishing out extreme damage both for single-target and clear-speed situations.
One of the standout features of this build is its tanky nature. With 4,000+ life, high fire resistance, and moderate armor rating, you can take a substantial amount of incoming damage. Combine this with the Altered Flesh and Summoned Hellhound (for additional fire exposure and damage mitigation), and you’ve got a build that can withstand nearly anything thrown at you.
Clear Speed and Bossing
The build’s clear speed is impressive, with most enemies getting one-shotted by your Shockwave Totems. Additionally, these totems will automatically target enemies, even offscreen, making it easy to wipe out entire packs of mobs without needing to constantly aim.
When it comes to bossing, this build truly shines. Shockwave Totems deal massive amounts of damage, and with the ability to summon additional totems and an Ancestral Warrior Totem, you can efficiently farm even the toughest bosses. The build’s relatively simple nature also means you won’t need any high-budget uniques or complex passive skills to get started, making it a great option for both new and experienced players.
3. Gear and Itemization
Weapons: Two-Handed Maces with Elemental Damage
Your weapon of choice should be two-handed maces with increased elemental damage with attacks. Unlike generic increased physical attack damage mods, elemental damage scales directly with your Shockwave Totems, offering a significant boost to your overall DPS. Additionally, look for maces with +7 to level of all melee skill gems to increase your damage output.
While base strength and the strength required for your weapons are important, look for items that don’t have high strength requirements, as this will make gearing up easier and more affordable.
Helmet, Gloves, and Boots
- Helmet: Aim for rare helmets with high defensive stats such as life, resistances, and high armor rating. A solid helmet will provide much-needed protection and survivability.
- Gloves: Similarly, look for gloves that provide defensive stats and perhaps additional physical and fire damage to attacks. These will bolster both your defense and damage output.
- Boots: Boots should focus on defensive stats, including life, resistances, and at least 25% increased movement speed. If you can, try to get extra strength on your boots to meet your attribute requirements.
Amulet and Rings
The amulet should focus on covering missing attributes, resistances, and leveling up melee gems. Anointed options such as Watchtowers or Ancestral Artifice are essential for the build, especially if you are using the Megalomaniac or Tree passives.
For rings, focus on 100 maximum life, attributes, and resistances. Since you’ll be using the Ingenuity Belt, which boosts ring stats, aim to get additional fire damage mods or damage to attacks on your rings to maximize your DPS.
Body Armor
A rare body armor should be chosen for its defensive stats, particularly life and armor rating. This is essential for surviving in harder content and will help you reach the necessary 90% maximum fire resistance to withstand damage from your skills.
Belt: Ingenuity Belt
The Ingenuity Belt is one of the best options for this build as it boosts your ring stats significantly. A well-rolled belt can enhance both offensive and defensive stats, making it an essential piece for maximizing your build’s power with Path of Exile 2 Currency.
4. Active Skills and Support Gems
The core of the build revolves around the following skill setups:
- Shockwave Totem: Your primary damage dealer, which should always be active to maximize DPS. Recommended support gems include Astral Projection, Magnified Effect, Fire Infusion, Ululate, and Marshall Tempo.
- Ancestral Warrior Totem (Earthquake): Summon an Earthquake Totem for extra DPS and utility. Support it with Elemental Focus, Fire Penetration, and Primal Armament to maximize its impact.
- Summon Infernal Hound: This minion provides extra utility by igniting enemies and applying powerful fire exposure debuffs. Support it with Meat Shield, Minion Mastery, Fire Exposure, and Elemental Army to increase its effectiveness.
- Orb of Storms: Use this spell for generating Font of Rage and Font of Blood to boost your rage generation and life regeneration, respectively.
- Flammability: The best curse spell for this build, reducing the fire resistance of affected enemies. Use it against bosses for optimal DPS. Enhance it with Heightened Curse and Cursed Ground for better application.
- Time of Need: This aura is a key survival tool, providing life regeneration and ailment removal. Support it with Fast Forward for more frequent triggers.
5. Passive Tree and Ascendancy
While leveling up the build, focus on fire damage and totem damage nodes, with a heavy emphasis on strength for wielding your weapons. In the later stages of the campaign and when transitioning to mapping, allocate points to the following:
- Avatar of Fire
- Giant’s Blood
- Totem Damage Nodes
In the ascendancy, pick the following passives:
- Pyromantic: Increases fire damage and totem survivability.
- Infernal Hound: Boosts your minion’s effectiveness and applies fire exposure to enemies.
- Altered Flesh: Provides additional fire resistance and survivability.
Conclusion
This Shockwave Totem Infernal build is a highly effective and fun-to-play fire-damage-based totem build that thrives in both clear speed and bossing. With the ability to scale its damage massively and stay tanky with high fire resistance, it’s perfect for players who enjoy dominating from a distance while staying safe.
With the upcoming patch 0.2.0 and the new support gems, this build will only grow stronger. So, what are you waiting for? Get in the game, experiment, and let the shockwaves carry you to victory! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or suggestions for tweaks.
As always, happy gaming, Exiles!
