Chieftain currently has 90% resistance easily and has Explode effects, two really powerful mechanics in POE 3.22. So why isn’t this class more popular? This is an interesting article I saw on Reddit. Here I want to briefly answer this question.

Why Chieftain Deals No Damage?

Because Chieftain doesn’t deal with any damage, it lacks a general damage increase, at least relative to other Ascendancy Classes. Although its Explode effects are good, it is not the best to use in simulacrum farming.

I’m assuming some people will choose other Ascendancy, and they usually steal resistance via Jewels. For those who don’t know what this means, players usually choose either Berserker or Juggernaut. Both can scale damage better than Chieftain, and have the option to steal Chieftain’s defensive abilities by using Forbidden Jewel to better balance the damage that Valako, Storm’s Embrace, lacks.

In addition, Chieftain Ascendancy is not flexible enough. The other classes are defensive enough to complete everything in Hardcore Solo Self Found. Because other classes deal much more damage, they require much less defense in Softcore Trade League.

What Players Look For In The Build?

I think Chieftain is a good choice as a starter in Hardcore League. But a question remains: why not just create a Champion or Pathfinder? This is one of the current dilemmas players face when considering League Ascendancy in their starting lineup.

Players will often want a build that can both scale damage and survive endgame boss mechanics, with damage scaling taking higher priority. It doesn’t matter if your build doesn’t take a single hit if it can’t end a boss fight in a few minutes.

Regardless, one of the main reasons for its lack of damage can be attributed to Marauder starting position. On the passive tree, there is no good damage node. Even though Explode does a lot of damage on average, you’ll get stuck once or twice per map on a zero-damage ascent.

So, as you can see, there’s a consensus that Chieftain will never be as popular as other Ascendancy. Because it can’t throw in POE Currency to roll damage scaling like Pathfinder. However, that doesn’t mean players no longer choose to play this Ascendancy and have fun with it. Because it opens up more possibilities for dealing with negative resistance.

Plus, it’s a Marauder with spells. By running Chieftain Ascendancy, players can easily circumvent these Penalties caused by Melding of the Flesh and gain maximum resistance. Don’t forget about Tasalio, Cleansing Water, which makes it easier for players to reach the resistance cap.

A Reasonable Answer To The Question

As good as Chieftain Ascendancy is, there are almost always better options for accomplishing what you want to do. Players will always enjoy things to the fullest, and that’s understandable. Even considering that it doesn’t have the best damage scaling, that doesn’t mean Chieftain is a completely useless Ascendancy. You can always use Chieftain to accomplish anything you want!

How To Make A Chieftain Build?

I don’t think those who blindly disparage Chieftain have tried to properly build Chieftain around Explode node.

Chieftain’s Explode is powerful when Ignite Proliferation has a 100% chance for Ignite. When built around it, it’s much stronger than Profane Bloom. While not the best, no other Ascendancy can give you such high baseline defense, allowing you to cast magic on all gear slots.

This build is ridiculously tanky for a Magic Find Build and has incredible clearing speed. Chieftain will never be that popular though due to its distinct lack of damage scaling when built around specialized archetypes. But it definitely has its place in Path of Exile community.

So overall, I think the reason it’s not popular is that Chieftain Ascendancy doesn’t provide a well-rounded building experience like other classes. That’s all for this guide. See you next time!

As a dominant class in Path of Exile, Chieftain is popular among players for his powerful abilities such as Resilience, Fire Damage, and Proficiency with Totems. It has also become the best build of choice for many players, a build that can invest in numerous layers of defense without forgetting to inflict Fire Damage on enemies.

Chieftain is one of the coolest-looking abilities in the game when used in conjunction with the physical spell Reap, which makes for some of the most popular builds for players.

It wields a Bloody Scythe, which is an exceptional POE Crucible Item that damages any enemy it sweeps through. While this skill requires an investment of physical damage, Chieftain can turn it all into fire.

So why is Chieftain using a full-fire conversion Reap in one of the best builds in Path of Exile? Note that this physical skill uses Key Stone, which converts Avatar of Fire into Fire, converting 50% of all damage of any type into Fire. Ngamahu, Flames Advance are Chieftain’s passive skills, they can also convert the remaining damage into Fire Damage.

Hinekora, Death’s Fury, is assigned in Chieftain’s passive skill tree to cover more enemies with Ash when they hit them. However, Death’s Fury tends to slow down enemies’ movement speed and cause them to take more Fire Damage.

Players can also convert part of Ice and Shock Elemental Damage into Fire Damage after using Dawnbreaker Shield. On the other hand, Cloak of Flame Robes can convert physical damage taken into Fire Damage.

Also Read: Things You Can Do Leading Up Until Next League Of Path of Exile

These gear and abilities give Chieftain additional layers of defense and resistance to Fire Damage. Players can try to use enough POE Currency to obtain more other equipment and skills suitable for Chieftain, to help it upgrade and build while transforming damage, improving its own defense and overall damage.

Passive skills such as Tasalio, Cleansing Water is a good example, because these skills allow Chieftain to directly increase 100% Fire Resistance and a large amount of Life Recovery when he suffers Fire Damage in Path of Exile.

Reap is a great hit-based skill on its own, and it performs even better when converted to Fire Damage or Cold Damage. But this skill also has a downside, it relies heavily on Spell Cascade, especially Awakened Spell Cascade.

Awakened Spell Cascades are rare and expensive. But it will ensure that Reap swings four Bloody Scythes around the target location instead of one. This makes the skill feel better and increases its damage and damage potential.

Finally, players can use Auras like Herald of Ash to detonate minions in Path of Exile that are affected by Fire Damage but haven’t died outright. This further increases the cleanup, as the explosion will kill stragglers not hit by the ability.

Overall, the damage and defense build of Fire Reap Chieftain is incredibly balanced. Its ability to convert a lot of incoming damage makes for a very solid build. Meanwhile, offensive damage conversion is also a powerful method in Path of Exile, as it allows for double stat drops while still dealing with a lot of damage to enemies. Believe that this build is definitely worth your try.