Here, I’ll take you through a quick my progress for the first three days of POE 3.22 Trial of the Ancestors league. 

I league started with Chaos Blazing Salvo Totem build and like what I have tested before, levelling was very easy and smooth. I did not find any wand with plus one to fire the spell during the campaign. So, I just used the best wand I could find before switching to The Consuming Dark daggers at level fifty-three. 

Also Read: How To Make Chaos Blazing Salvo Totem Hierophant Build With Extremely Low Budget In POE 3.22?

As you know, the Act Bosses were taken down very quickly. I had access to a lot of life nodes on the skill tree, so survivability was never an issue. 

Mapping & Gear Progression 

I did not buy any gear before I hit yellow maps, except for the two Consuming Dark, which I bought for one Chaos Orb each. 

These were my gears when I was running white maps. You can see that these gears are really bad. 

So really, this build is very cheap to start with. You don’t need any gear to start this build, not even Consuming Dark, but it’s nice to have them if you have the POE Currency. They are the priorities when it comes to upgrading your gears because they give a huge damage boost. 

These are my gears when running yellow maps:

• Consuming Dark - 1c x 2
• Kikazaru - 1c
• Soul Mantle - 1c
• Mindspiral - Self Found
• Self-flagellation jewel - 4c
• Dragon Beads Citrine Amulet - 1c
• Viper Horn Royal Burgonet - 1c
• Stygian Vise - 4c
• Brood Solace Crimson Jewel - 1c
• Whispering Sight Ghastly Eye Jewel - 1c
• Dire Grip Gloves - 2c
• Rune Track Boots - 2c
• Bramble Nail Two Stone Ring -10c

The whole set of gears costs about thirty Chaos Orbs, which is slightly higher than what I expected. The most expensive piece is the curse on hit despair ring, which costs me ten Chaos Orbs. 

The rest of my gears and jewels are very cheap, and I even found some that I could use for my build. I changed my helmet to Mindspiral after the uber lab. I was lucky to get this despair curse effect enchantment during my first uber lab. 

However, a helmet enchantment is not needed for farming red maps. I found a jewel with a reduced curse effect on me and some other nice mods, so currently I am not using the minor god Yugul. 

In this league, Yugul can be found in Terrace Map, which is a Tier 8 map. You can also get reduced curse effect by using Tattoo of the Hinekora Deathwarden. 

My next upgrade is to get a six-link Soul Mantle, preferably with the plus two to socketed gems corrupted implicit. I’m going to use some tattoos on my skill tree where I see fit. 

Trial of the Ancestors 

I only started to engage with the league mechanics after I finished the campaign. 

The mechanics could be a little confusing at first. But in my opinion, it’s very fun and exciting. The more I play, the more I like it. 

When running through the campaign or mapping, you would often find Silver Coins, which can be used to create an entrance to the Halls of the Dead. 

Once you are inside, you activate the waypoint and next time you wanna come here you can just click this. When you touch the Well of Passing, it transports you to sort of the afterlife. 

To participate in the Trial of the Ancestors, you go to the very end and click this. 

These are the opponents that you will be fighting against depending on which ones you choose. The sponsors basically mean that, by winning this match, you will earn five hundred favours with the Kitava Tribe. 

After the match, you can visit the NPC and buy warriors or equipment for the next round using the Favours earned. 

Depending on the opponent, you will get different rewards after winning each match. I always prioritize the rewards. But if none of the rewards are good, I choose my opponent based on the Favours earned.

This is Round 1. You will need to win multiple matches to eventually win a tournament.

To win a match, you must destroy all enemies’ totems while preventing the enemies from doing the same to your totems. The only way to destroy the enemies’ totems is by channeling them to lower their life until they explode. 

After winning the match, you can then collect your reward. 

My Strategy

There are four positions on the field: Attacker, Flanker, Escort, and Defender.  

I always prioritize the positions, Attacker and Flanker. I only fill up the positions, Escort and Defender, when I get more Warriors after a few rounds. This is because I feel like the Attackers also serve as a very good line of defense. 

The Attackers will always prioritize fighting the opponents before destroying the totems. So, they will attack the enemies and stop them from going to our side, thus our totems are protected. 

Flankers are important, as their priority is to destroy the enemies’ totems. So, when we are busy fighting mid-field, the flankers will try to sneak into the enemies’ back and destroy their totems. 

Defenders usually stay with the totems while Escorts are to escort you and join you in whatever you do in the fight. 

It feels good to play a totem build this league. This is because you will be stunned for a few seconds if you get hit when channeling the enemies’ totems. If you’re playing a self-cast build, these few seconds are deadly because you’re left completely defenseless. 

I usually place the totems around me when channeling the enemies’ totems. So, if I get hit and stunned when channeling the enemies’ totems, my totems will deal damage to the enemies approaching me so that I don’t get killed.