It has been more than a month since the release of Path Of Exile 2 Dawn Of The Hunt League, and the advantages of almost every class and build have been revealed. If I am not mistaken, your screen should be always full of Lightning Spear Huntress Amazon Build recently. Yes, with its powerful damage output and fast map clearing ability, it has indeed become the focus of this league, and Huntress, as the latest class added to POE 2, has indeed attracted the attention of most players. Therefore, this build has long been a household name.
However, we are not going to talk about this build here, we will take you to witness a tactical that dares to challenge difficult endgames. With excellent survivability and boss damage, it has already topped the popularity list, and this is Siege Cascade Tactician Build!
How Does This Build Work?
This build is centered around Siege Cascade Pin, which, as the name suggests, is a unique way to play that combines Siege Cascade as a primary skill with Pin mechanic.
First, let’s take a look at how Siege Cascade works. Throw a bolt near each enemy in the target area, which will stay on the ground and explode after a brief delay.
But please note the following tips: Siege Cascade cannot freeze or stun enemies, and can only deal 200% bonus damage to rooted enemies. At the highest quality, it can also deal an additional 80% bonus damage to enemies affected by Hinder debuff. So as long as you are willing to invest more POE 2 Currency to improve the quality, you are absolutely sure to kill enemies with one shot.
So what’s the point of dealing extra damage to Hindered enemies if this skill can’t freeze or stun?
Before we get into that, let’s review some basics in Path Of Exile 2. Targets that can’t move are considered to be hampered, which means that in addition to Freeze and Heavy Stun, Pin and Shock can also cause Hindered. So while Siege Cascade can’t Freeze and Stun, it can still pin enemies, applying Hinder debuff, which triggers a 280% damage multiplier increase.
Tactician Ascendancy Nodes
But how do you quickly pin enemies? This is where Tactician Ascendancy nodes come into play.
Tactician’s Ascendancy passive skill, Suppressing Fire node, states that projectile damage will cause Pins, which is a key crowd control mechanic. Since Siege Cascade deals projectile damage, selecting this node means that the skill will automatically Pin enemies when it hits them.
And the other Ascendancy passive skill, Right Where We Want Them, makes Pinned enemies unable to take actions, giving you a significant defensive advantage.
Pin Mechanics Explained
Some people may not realize how powerful this effect is, so let’s briefly explain how Pin normally works.
Normally, Pinning will prevent enemies from moving, dodging, but they can still attack from where they are. However, with this Ascendancy passive skill, the pinned enemy will not be able to move, dodge, attack, or cast spells, effectively locking them out completely.
This means that the higher your damage, the faster you can pin your enemies, and the less chance they have to fight back, creating a powerful survival cycle.
Build Budget
The core Uniques of this build are Maligaro’s Virtuosity and The Deepest Tower. Maligaro’s Virtuosity is relatively expensive, requiring 5 POE 2 Divine Orbs, while The Deepest Tower is completely affordable, requiring only 1 POE 2 Exalted Orb.
Since the damage, control, and survivability of the build are closely related, this build also requires a strong crossbow. A good crossbow costs about 10 Exalted Orbs, but a top-notch crossbow will cost more. It’s all up to you, if you want to be unstoppable in the endgame, then choosing to buy POE 2 Currency and equip the best weapons is indeed a good way to go.
Overall, according to our calculations, this build can run well with 10 POE 2 Divine Orbs, so it is moderately priced.
Is It Worth Trying?
For the strength of a build, we usually evaluate it from a combination of its effective health (EHP), damage per second (DPS), and the highest level it can reach.
Shockingly, their DPS is only 10000, and EHP barely reaches 8000, which pales in comparison with mainstream builds. So how can such a low EHP and DPS boost a character to such a high level is really puzzling?
This is exactly where the strength of this build lies, although its DPS is only 10000, Pin mechanism allows it to deal amazing damage of up to 280%, while completely ignoring the enemy’s dodge.
Additionally, Tactician can summon additional Artillery Ballista Totems that inherit your auras and rain down explosive arrows to create a true siege effect. This massive area damage can easily lock enemies around and make them unable to attack, making it easy to deal with endgame maps even with only 8000 effective health.
Pros And Cons
From the moment you first get Siege Cascade and unlock Tactician, this skill will become your permanent companion throughout your journey without transitioning. Its devastating AoE damage, gorgeous visual effects, and unparalleled crowd control capabilities take the satisfaction of map clearance to multiple levels.
There are still two limitations here though: projectiles and flight time. Arrows from both Siege Cascade and Artillery Ballista hover in mid-air before exploding, so this delay can cause hits to miss when facing super-fast enemies, so you’ll need to invest in Projectile Speed Ammo System.
As a reload-based skill, ammunition can run out. However, Shard Scavenger buff consumes enemy ailments to replenish ammunition, while Tactician buff reduces Soul consumption by 50%, ensuring continuity, which cleverly makes up for this shortcoming.
Admittedly, Pin-based Siege Cascade Tactician is a niche build, but it is also a bold anti-mainstream choice that challenges the dominance of Lightning Spear Huntress and is the best choice for some warriors seeking a solo challenge.