How to Choose Your Favourite Build at League Start in POE 3.20: Theory and Recommendations

In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5, Spirit Walker Summoner remains one of the most popular summoner builds, boasting excellent performance. However, in Return of the Ancients Endgame, damage isn't the sole determining factor.

Focusing on minion damage doesn't guarantee a stable win. How to build a truly unkillable Spirit Walker has become a core concern for many summoner players.

A truly powerful Spirit Walker build doesn't rely on a single attribute for survivability. Through proper Companion Damage Reduction and multi-layered defensive resources, Spirit Walker can maintain a very high margin for error in high-difficulty endgames, becoming a true Path of Exile 2 immortal build.

Survivability Basics

Upon reaching Tier 15, it's recommended that Spirit Walker Summoner have at least 75% All Resistances. Furthermore, your resistances should ideally slightly exceed the cap, as some PoE 2 map debuffs will reduce your resistances.

Besides resistances, Evasion is also a core defensive attribute for Spirit Walker Summoner. Helmets, gloves, and boots should all prioritize high Evasion equipment.

Of course, life is equally important. More Maximum Life increases Spirit Walker Summoner's Effective HP, preventing instant death from high-damage PoE 2 skills.

Companions

Provide Defense

The key defensive mechanism for Spirit Walker Summoner lies in Companions. Many players only focus on summoned creature damage output, neglecting Loyalty effect provided by Companions. By equipping multiple Path of Exile 2 Companions with Loyalty Support Gems, significant damage reduction can be achieved.

A Spirit Walker with 10 Companions, all equipped with Loyalty, can achieve nearly 100% Damage Reduction. However, this doesn't mean complete invincibility. This effect depends on the survival of Companions and is primarily effective against hits. If you encounter areas of continuous damage, like Burning Ground, your character's life can still be threatened.

However, in most PoE 2 combat, as long as Companions are alive, they act as your life shield. This is why elite players' Spirit Walker builds typically revolve around Companion Survival.

In Patch 0.5.0, Undying Will Aura was adjusted. Previously, it could enhance both the character and Minions, granting the character vigorous defense. Now, it primarily affects Companions, increasing their survivability and reducing the impact of Burning Ground, Poison Ground, and some direct attacks, keeping Loyalty Damage Reduction effective for longer.

Therefore, you need to increase the number of companions and use Loyalty and Undying Will to ensure their survival. This is the lowest-cost way to improve defense in Path of Exile 2.

Death Loop

In actual PoE 2 gameplay, companion death is a frequent problem encountered by summoner builds. Normally, when a Companion is killed by an enemy, it enters a Revival state, unable to continue fighting and losing its Loyalty defensive effects. It must wait for a Revival Time to rejoin the battlefield.

When a Companion is in Revival, if another Companion dies, Revival Time of the resurrecting Companion is shortened. In short, the death of a Companion isn't necessarily a bad thing; in fact, by controlling the death rhythm, you can get them back into combat faster.

You can use specific skills and passives in Path of Exile 2 to control companion's health. Infernal Legion inflicts continuous fire damage on Minions and fire damage on nearby enemies, reducing Companion's health and making it easier for them to trigger Revival.

Feeding Frenzy makes summons more proactive in seeking out enemies, and Minion Instability causes Companions to explode upon death, dealing additional damage. By actively controlling the death of Companions through these mechanisms and then shorten the time, Companions can quickly return to the battlefield.

This prevents Companions from disappearing for extended periods, ensuring Loyalty defense buff remains almost constant. For high-difficulty POE 2 maps and boss fights, this proactive death loop strategy is a key technique for improving survivability in advanced companion summoning builds.

Aura Bot

Aura Bots are often underestimated in POE 2. However, in Return of the Ancients, a good Aura Bot can provide All Resistance, Energy Shield, Undying Will, Temporal Bubble, and Hinder Aura.

Elemental Resistance Aura is particularly useful. It provides approximately 35% All Resistance, significantly reducing gear requirements. For players lacking Path of Exile 2 Currency, this is almost a low-cost Mageblood alternative.

Additionally, Temporal Bubble and Hinder Aura can reduce enemy Movement Speed, Action Speed, and Cooldown Recovery, lowering their attack frequency and further enhancing survivability.

Deflection Rating

Besides Evasion, Deflection Rating is another core layer of defense for Spirit Walkers. Equipping chest armor, helmet, amulet, and passive tree nodes can further increase deflection.

Combined with high evasion, PoE 2 characters can achieve very stable damage reduction, remaining quite safe even when facing large numbers of endgame monsters.

Mind Over Matter

Many Spirit Walker players utilize Mind Over Matter. This mechanic allows Mana to become an additional life source, significantly improving survivability. When Mind Over Matter is activated, when a PoE 2 character takes damage, Mana preferentially absorbed a portion of the damage instead of directly consuming Life, effectively reducing the risk of being instantly killed by a Boss's burst damage.

To ensure Mind Over Matter functions stably, you need to focus on maximizing maximum Mana, Mana regeneration, and Potion effects. For Health Potion, Instant Recovery and Increased Charges are recommended, allowing for rapid health recovery when critically injured, increasing survivability in combat.

Simultaneously, you need to use Mana Potions to replenish Mana consumed by Mind Over Matter, ensuring your character can continuously absorb damage. By combining Energy Shield, Mana, and potion recovery, Spirit Walker can achieve a more stable defensive cycle, possessing greater sustained combat capability in high-difficulty maps and boss battles in Path of Exile 2.

Practical Tips

Besides equipment and skill combinations, micro-management is equally important. Spirit Walker players should make good use of Minion Command skill, allowing companions to move and focus fire.

Especially in situations with high Modifier Expedition, or when encountering powerful Rare Monsters, avoid placing your character in dangerous areas of Path of Exile 2.

Maintaining movement is crucial, as movement grants additional Evasion. If in danger, you can use Weapon Swap to bring the core companion back to your side.

To ensure Spirit Walker Summoner has extremely high survivability in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5 Endgame, the key is not simply stacking damage, but building a complete defensive system, which is more stable than simply pursuing damage.

Path of Exile 3.29 Curse of the Allflame League not only adjusts several existing mechanics but also introduces new content, allowing players to battle monsters from the deep sea.

Of course, the biggest concern is how efficient these mechanics are for currency farming in PoE 3.29. With the removal of Mirage mechanic, the efficiency of many farming methods has dropped significantly. So, which mechanics provide the richest rewards in PoE 3.29?

Tier S

Curse of the Allflame

As the new mechanic introduced in Curse of the Allflame League, it is generally expected that the latest League mechanic in PoE will offer some of the highest rewards.

You first need to find Charts along the various coasts of Wraeclast, which can essentially be considered encounters. After obtaining Charts, you can board The Sovereign and begin your deep-sea treasure hunt.

You can connect multiple Charts together to create a large expedition. During the voyage, you can repeatedly challenge encounters while stacking rewards, which is clearly the core gameplay of this mechanic.

Each Chart comes with special modifiers that can affect adjacent Charts or the entire journey. For example, all monster equipment drops may be converted into gold, or friendly jellyfish may appear beside monster groups, and killing them can provide additional experience and drops.

Certain Charts will lead to special areas such as anchorages, shipwrecks, or abyssal pits, which are filled with treasure chests and monsters. You may even discover and recover ancient relics.

The special currency obtained from Curse of the Allflame is Ducats, which can be used to Twist items and grant them powerful effects.

In terms of mechanics, Curse of the Allflame is not overly complicated. Simply put, it is a series of underwater encounters that provide rewards such as XP and gold. Even without special Charts, it remains worth farming during the early League progression.

Delve

Delve mechanic was already one of the top strategies in PoE 3.28, and the removal of Mirage has no impact on it. Whether during the early or late stages of the league, Delve can provide extremely high returns.

In addition, Delve has become the only source of Fossils. Your main goal is to continuously explore deeper areas, target valuable nodes, and convert Fossils, Resonators, and other rewards into profit. Its potential remains extremely high.

Early Legion

Legion was one of the mechanics that benefited from Mirage, so its efficiency has declined in PoE 3.29. The good news is that Legion has been reworked, receiving improvements to both rewards and encounters.

In Domain of Timeless Conflict, you can use Crystals of Permutation to transform an Enshrouded Item into another unique item from the same category.

Legion Generals now drop five different types of Crystals of Permutation, each corresponding to a different item category.

After you unlock 90% of the monsters in a Legion encounter, all remaining sealed monsters will automatically be released without requiring manual activation.

In short, Legion has received improvements to both rewards and difficulty. Endgame Legion rewards are still weaker compared to other strategies, but early League Legion farming with low investment remains highly profitable thanks to the huge number of enemies, XP, and POE currency drops it provides.

Strongbox

Strongbox received no major changes in Path of Exile 3.29, with only a bug fix being applied. Although the removal of Mirage has affected its output to some extent, Strongbox remains one of the best farming strategies.

Its biggest advantage is incredible consistency. You only need to invest in Strongboxes, trigger repeated reward explosions, and generate profit through a fast and valuable farming cycle. It works perfectly with efficient mapping and does not require a specific build, making it ideal for early League farming.

Abyss

PoE 3.29 brings a complete modernization rework to Abyss. The new Abyssal Pits will open directly and release energy outward, corrupting enemies within the area. After killing enough monsters, Abyssal Legion will emerge.

The reason Abyss was mediocre in Path of Exile 3.28 was that even with optimized equipment and Atlas passive investments, its currency and item rewards still lacked enough impact.

However, in Curse of the Allflame League, Abyss becomes the exclusive source of Abyssal Jewels and Stygian Vises, while also receiving support from new Scarabs and Atlas passives.

Abyss will also introduce a new Pinnacle Boss with a series of exclusive unique items. This makes its potential rewards much more exciting.

Tier A

Bestiary

Bestiary requires players to manage a zoo and capture beasts. Due to its complicated gameplay, many players do not enjoy this mechanic.

However, in PoE 3.29, Talismans become an exclusive Bestiary reward. Each type of red beast has a chance to drop a specific Talisman related to its type.

Talismans receive major improvements. They will no longer drop Corrupted, meaning players can freely craft on them. Their special modifiers are also changed from Implicits into Enchantments, allowing them to compete with Blight Anointments and making them much stronger than before.

Unstable Breach

This strategy had extremely high returns in PoE 3.28 when combined with Mirage mechanic, offering excellent monster density and powerful Breach rewards. You need a build with strong clear speed to maximize its efficiency.

After Mirage was removed, the rewards from this mechanic were almost cut in half. Even so, it still provides decent returns.

Expedition

Expedition received almost no changes in PoE 3.29, so you can basically evaluate it using the same standards as Mirage League.

Its entry requirements and investment threshold are low while still maintaining solid profitability. You only need to place explosives properly, target the best reward types, and convert Artifacts, currency, and Logbooks into stable returns.

Essence Farming

Essence farming remains one of the most reliable currency-making methods in the game. You simply focus on Essences, increase rewards, and convert them into currency. Essences maintain steady demand throughout the league, and the gameplay is very straightforward, making it a strong choice during the early League.

Boss Rush

Boss Rush is completely unaffected by Mirage. A Boss-focused Atlas Tree remains one of the simplest and most reliable endgame farming methods. You only need to focus on valuable monsters, making it extremely efficient.

However, you will lose some regular drops, and you also need a build capable of killing bosses quickly.

Betrayal

Betrayal is a strategy best suited for experienced players who understand Syndicate board management. The core idea is to arrange the right members, create valuable safe houses, and convert specific rewards into profit.

It was only considered a Tier B strategy in PoE 3.28, but it receives improvements in PoE 3.29 and can produce more Scarabs.

Tier B

Harvest

Harvest farming mainly focuses on collecting Lifeforce and converting it into crafting resources for profit. It was one of the mechanics that benefited from Mirage, so its efficiency will decrease in PoE 3.29.

In addition, the removal of Harvest crafting option is another blow to this strategy. Although it can still generate a large amount of currency, its performance is far weaker compared to Mirage League.

General Map Farming

The simplest strategies often still have their place. This approach does not heavily specialize in any single mechanic. Instead, it focuses on clearing maps quickly and efficiently, accumulating currency through a wide range of drops and high overall efficiency.

Its advantages are simplicity, flexibility, and strong adaptability. However, because it lacks specialization, its maximum currency-per-hour potential is lower than top-tier strategies, making it more suitable for casual players.

These are some of the most popular farming strategies ranked for Path of Exile 3.29 Curse of the Allflame League. Some strategies are not suitable for the beginning of the League, so you can start with Strongbox or Essence farming before transitioning into more specialized methods.

Since the release of the first Path of Exile 3.29 teaser, the developers have been sharing updates via video; however, they recently released specific written details regarding Reliquarian.

As Scion's second Ascendancy class, Reliquarian was introduced alongside 3.28 league, making it a relatively new addition. Unfortunately, perhaps due to mechanics that lacked standout appeal, it failed to gain significant traction during Mirage league.

In an effort to boost Reliquarian's popularity and utility, and to encourage more players to try it in 3.29 league, the development team has announced upcoming optimizations. If you are interested in this class, here is a preview of what to expect!

Reliquarian core mechanics

If you played Legacy of Phrecia event, you might recall Scavenger, a limited-time Ascendancy for Scion. Reliquarian was introduced to the core Path of Exile game as a redesigned evolution of that concept.

Reliquarian stands out from other Ascendancies due to its highly dynamic nature. Its skills and mechanics are not static; instead, they evolve alongside league updates.

This adds a layer of unpredictability and fun to the class rankings. If the mechanics are well-balanced and you can master them quickly, you might even find yourself dominating new leagues using this class.

Each major node in Reliquarian skill tree grants several passive skills based on specific unique item types; additionally, you can aim to acquire extra passive skill points.

All Reliquarian passive skills are categorized by unique item type: Armor, Caster Weapons, Martial Weapons, and Jewelry, with each category containing several specific skills.

Note the progression requirements: you must begin by unlocking skills in the armor category; the caster and martial weapon categories only become available once the armor category is fully unlocked; and the jewelry category requires you to have unlocked all skills in either the caster or martial Weapon categories first.

Reliquarian in 3.29

To completely revamp Reliquarian in Curse of the Allflame league, the developers have replaced almost the entire skill lineup with new options.

It is no wonder the development team released text-and-image previews early; they wanted to give you ample time to fully understand these features.

However, with over twenty skills available, not every single one is worth unlocking. Instead, you should examine the specific effects of each skill and unlock them selectively based on your needs for 3.29 league.

Of course, during any Path of Exile league, skills alone aren't enough to craft a complete, powerful build; you must continuously acquire better items and upgrade your gear setup.

To that end, you can buy Path of Exile currency at POECURRENCY.com to reroll the modifiers on your existing weapons or armor and boost their power.

Strong skills for the early league

If you want to make rapid progress as a Reliquarian when Path of Exile 3.29 launches, Vaal Caress is a great skill to unlock first. It grants you Onslaught status for 20 seconds after you use another Vaal skill.

While under the effect of Onslaught, your movement speed, attack speed, and cast speed all receive a 20% boost. When combined with other ways to trigger this status, you might even be able to maintain Onslaught uptime throughout the entire 3.29 league.

Additionally, Vaal Caress increases the level of all Vaal skill gems by 2, which is a significant bonus.

The second new Reliquarian skill to highlight is Elevore. It provides a 25% chance to suppress spell damage and a 25% chance to avoid elemental ailments, while also restoring 200 Life whenever you successfully suppress spell damage.

It is worth noting that there is Wolf Pelt helmet in the game sharing the same name and offering virtually identical effects. Combining the two can yield bonuses that far exceed your expectations.

Next up is Kaom's Roots. A key tip here: if you are playing an evasion-based character, do not select this skill, as one of its modifiers prevents you from evading enemy attacks.

However, the skill grants immunity to stun and knockback, ensures your movement speed never drops below its base value, and provides a flat +100 to maximum life. So, as long as you don't rely on evasion, this serves as a fairly solid defensive setup.

Skills with great overall viability

Unlike the aforementioned Reliquarian skills, which are often limited to the early league due to various constraints, some options offer broader utility, such as Dawnbreaker.

This skill converts 25% of the cold, lightning, or physical damage you take into fire damage. Notably, just like Elevore, there is a piece of gear in Path of Exile sharing the name Dawnbreaker that features this same conversion mechanic.

While this effect might seem insignificant on its own, unlocking it allows you to build your character around it to maximize its potential.

For instance, you could create a character that largely ignores cold/lightning/physical resistances, instead pouring resources into stacking fire resistance.

This mechanic becomes incredibly powerful when facing massive, lethal hits; while many of Path of Exile's toughest bosses possess resistance penetration, it usually applies only to the specific damage types they deal.

Finally, let's look at The Apostate. There is also a piece of armor by the same name, though Reliquarian skill version has weaker base stats than the original gear.

Interestingly, this design choice is intentional. The Apostate Cabalist Regalia armor has no attribute requirements and provides no Energy Shield; instead, it grants bonuses to Strength and resistances.

More importantly, equipping it grants a bonus to Maximum Life rather than Energy Shield, even though chest armor is typically the primary source of Energy Shield in the game.

Consequently, simply equipping The Apostate armor results in a massive loss of total energy shield.

To balance this, the skill version of The Apostate reduces your maximum life by 12 points for every level gained, resulting in a total loss of 1,200 life.

However, in the endgame, a single chest piece can easily provide 1,200 Energy Shield on its own. Thus, opting for a standard chest piece instead of The Apostate yields a higher overall benefit, while still allowing you to utilize other skill features.

These are just a few of the new Reliquarian skills worth unlocking in Path of Exile 3.29; there are plenty more for you to explore. Also, the stream is starting soon, be sure to tune in on time so you don't miss out on Twitch Drops!

On July 16th, the official team will be livestreaming to explain more information about Path of Exile 3.29, but they've already stated that Mirage League-related mechanics will not appear on the map. Is this really good news?

While the final information regarding Mirage League mechanic in PoE 3.29 won't be fully confirmed until the 16th, if it is completely removed, it means the mechanic will neither generate naturally on the map nor appear in Black Barya region, and Shrine Belt series items associated with it will become invalid.

Furthermore, full Mirage maps with the affix Empowered Mirage covering the entire map will no longer be usable in Standard leagues, and new leagues will no longer be able to acquire them.

The only unaddressed aspect is whether Mirage-related PoE currencies (such as Volatile Valor Orb, Refracting Fog, etc.) will be retained in the core gameplay of PoE 3.29. This was not mentioned at all in the announcement, leaving considerable uncertainty.

How has Mirage mechanic performed previously?

Many players and analysts believe that Mirage mechanics are the most playable since Affliction league, and may even surpass the appeal of Necropolis league - the latter, while entertaining, offered a somewhat poor experience in-game.

The core breakthrough of Mirage mechanic lies in solving a long-standing problem plaguing Path of Exile: the low reward of in-game mechanics.

Looking back at leagues before PoE 3.29, features like Keepers of the Flame and Breach in Kalandra offered extremely low rewards for in-game interaction, leading players to almost never engage with them.

The same applied to Necropolis league; once the ideal Necropolis setup was achieved, players stopped paying attention to the map's mechanics.

In contrast, Mirage is the first league mechanic in nearly three years that allows players to actively and frequently interact within the map and reap reasonable rewards.

It would have been truly regrettable for players to completely remove it in Patch 3.29, rather than adjust or weaken it.

Impact on Farming Diversity

Previously, the random affixes Mirage introduced to each map (such as 100% more currency) were a significant source of surprise in endgame farming.

However, once Patch 3.29 decides to remove any form of this random dynamic, map spawns will revert to a completely predictable, static pattern.

Simultaneously, the third map affix system created by Mirage may be completely removed in Patch 3.29, forcing players to choose only traditional eight-affix maps or regular maps, significantly reducing the diversity of endgame farming paths.

It is estimated that more than half of the current farming strategies relying on Mirage will lose their support, undoubtedly the most significant overhaul of the endgame content ecosystem by this patch.

Impact on the Economy

One of Mirage's most prominent contributions is extending the economic lifecycle of several existing league mechanisms.

Take Beyond as an example. Normally, its exclusive PoE currency depreciates rapidly as the game progresses. However, Mirage, by introducing Volatile Valor Orb - which only drops in Marauder area when combined with Beyond monsters - has kept Beyond's economy consistently strong throughout the game.

Furthermore, currencies like Dexterous Catalyst and Refracting Fog provide richer dimensions for endgame progression. They not only make extreme gear upgrades possible but also spawn many new builds that rely on these numerical breakthroughs.

PoE 3.29 hasn't clarified whether these currencies will be retained. If they disappear, gameplay elements like Beyond will quickly depreciate in the new patch, losing their previous value.

This could potentially create a chain reaction, indirectly weakening the long-term playability of existing content in the game.

Mirage May Create Mandatory Issues

If Mirage mechanic were to be fully integrated into the core game, it could indeed create a mandatory pressure on players to invest in Atlas Skill Tree to specialize in it. This might be one of the reasons the development team chose not to include it in the core of Patch 3.29.

However, the new patch didn't attempt any compromises, such as giving it a fixed random trigger probability like Affliction League, or retaining the mechanic by linking it to Scarab, allowing players to actively choose whether to invest in it based on their strategy.

The announcements released did not mention any alternatives to Mirage. If they weren't mentioned in the livestream on the 16th either, doesn't the official decision seem too absolute?

Overall Impact and Future Outlook

In summary, Mirage not only creates a new endgame farming path for players and introduces a brand-new PoE currency system, but also provides random surprises within the map.

This comprehensive benefit is quite rare in the entire Path of Exile historical league.

However, as of now, the official team has neither given any hints about whether it will return in the future, nor provided any supplementary explanations regarding the retention or removal of related currencies. The overall situation seems quite serious. For players, retaining some elements of Mirage through random triggering is certainly better than completely removing it from the game.

The final full changes for PoE 3.29 will be revealed in this Thursday's live stream, where we can see if the development team has prepared any alternative designs.

If they neither retain any core elements of Mirage mechanics nor provide a transitional solution, then this will be one of the most significant changes to Patch 3.29 endgame experience.