[Top 5] Path of Exile Best Chieftain Builds That Wreck Hard! (3.20.2)

Updated:

16 Feb 2023

5 – Fire Cyclone Shockwave

With the buffs to unique weapons, some builds got buffed a lot indirectly, and some skills saw a resurgence in their use. One such unique weapon that was heavily buffed was Marohi Erqui, which synergizes extremely well with Shockwave Support, since it doesn’t care about attack speed.

What Fire Cyclone Shockwave Excels in:

Great clearing
Extremely tanky
Cheap to get started and can do most content
Fun and buttery smooth to play

Pick Cyclone Shockwave if you like:

Killing as you move
Big Explosions
Facetanking your enemies

Fire Cyclone Shockwave full details:

Shockwave is a support/trigger that doesn’t rely on attack speed, and only cares about cooldown reduction and flat damage.
By using Marohi Erqui, which got a substantial buff to its flat damage, and nerfs to its attack speed, it became the perfect weapon for Shockwave.
We convert all our damage into Fire, to be able to scale better, and our tankyness comes from stacking many Endurance Charges as well as transferring physical damage we take into Fire, making better use of our resistance.

For more information, check here: https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/Barudi/BarudiRF?time-machine=week-3&i=0&search=time-machine%3Dweek-3%26class%3DChieftain%26skill%3DShockwave%26sort%3Ddps

4 – Strength Stacking Volcanic Fissure

It comes as no surprise in a league where it’s possible to get Sanctified Relics that give you flat damage per 10 attribute, (fire, cold and lightning based respectively on 10 strength, dexterity, and intelligence) that Strength stacking would resurge like it did, and one of the best Strength stacking classes in the game, Chieftain is all the more happy to stack further damage.

What Strength Stacking Volcanic Fissure Excels in:

Great for Sanctum
Can clear rather quickly
Tanky
Reaches millions of DPS
Sanctified Relic can almost double your damage.

Pick Volcanic Fissure if you Like:

Letting your totems do your work for you
Enjoy carnage as it unfolds in front of you
Play Attribute Stacking Builds.

Volcanic Fissure full details:

As a strength stacking attack build, we obviously make use of Iron Fortress, as is the best Strength-Stacking chest piece, which enables the combo with Crown of Eyes and Battlemage’s Cry, giving us over 900% increased Attack damage, since we have over 1900 strength.
Brutus’ Lead Sprinkler is a no-brainer, and what the build revolves around. You want one with Attack Speed corruption, to go as fast as possible.
Another way of getting a lot of damage, with a high price tag would be to get 2 Forbidden Jewels for Undeniable, which makes it so you essentially have 100% chance to hit and a lot of attack speed for free, due to your high Strength count.

For more information, check here: https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/boxcutter245/Zheka_TOTEM?time-machine=week-3&i=3&search=time-machine%3Dweek-3%26class%3DChieftain%26skill%3DVolcanic-Fissure%26sort%3Ddps

3 – Ancestral Warchief Totems

Yet another Strength Stacking build, making great use of Iron Will and Iron Fortress, this build has so much damage that it seems unfathomable. And yet, it’s right there and can deal with any content in the game.

What Ancestral Warchief Excels in:

Can reach dozens of millions of damage

Tanky
Safe Playstyle
Great for Sanctum

Pick Ancestral Warchief Totems if you Like:

Watching your totems smash your enemies for you
Totem builds
Dealing enough damage to entirely skip boss phases.

Ancestral Warchief Totems full details:

For Unique equips, you want Crown of Eyes, as we use this helmet for 150% Spell to Attacks conversion. Iron Fortress, THE Strength stacking body armor, Kaom’s Spirt, for infinite sustain of Rage, and a corrupted Magnate with as much Strength as possible.
And for rare items, you can either go with a Hunter Influenced Boots with lots of flat Strength and % Strength or Alberon’s Warpath for the 18% Strength. You can also go for a strong Shaper Shield with +1 Totem, or with Dawnbreaker for more survivability, and lastly, you want % Strength with as much flat Strength as possible for all your jewelry besides the belt.
And same deal as before, getting FF jewels with Undeniable will increase your damage manifold.

For more information, check here: https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/TyFawkes/Borechief?time-machine=week-3&i=3&search=time-machine%3Dweek-3%26class%3DChieftain%26skill%3DAncestral-Warchief%26sort%3Ddps

2 – Consecrated Path Totems

Consecrated Path is the perfect Totem skill, because it’s one of the few skills that can move their totems after casting, and if you get enough attack speed, it can walk alongside you without having to recast them!

What Consecrated Path Totems Excels in:

Insanely Tanky
Near permanent Berserk
Fun playstyle that plays by itself
Can make great use of a Strength Stacking Sanctified Relic

Pick Consecrated Path Totems if you Like:

Automated Totems
Great Clearing as well as amazing bossing
Attribute Stacking Builds

Consecrated Path Totems full details:

Since we aren’t a Berserker that can take advantage of Redblade Banner and use Battlemage’s Cry to its upmost effect, we’re forced into using the original piece of the combo, a Crown of Eyes, which transforms all your spell damage (which you’re getting from Iron Will, after converting all the melee strength bonus into Spell Damage) at 150% of the value. If your character has 2000 Strength, and you’re using Iron Fortress AND Iron Will and Crown of Eyes, you’re getting over 900% increased damage to ANY attacks.
You’ll want a +1 Totems Shaper shield here, with as much Strength, Life and resistances as possible. Of course, if you’re insanely lucky and can get % Life gained on Block, that’d be even stronger.
If you’re strapped for cash, a good, solid alternative is using a well-rolled, catalyzed Astramentis, for easy 130+ all attributes. Besides that, all of your Jewelry should have Synthetized Implicits for %Strength or %Attributes.

For more Info, check here: https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/Schnellimammi/SalamanderSalami?time-machine=week-3&i=4&search=time-machine%3Dweek-3%26class%3DChieftain%26skill%3DConsecrated-Path%26sort%3Ddps

1 – Fire Reap Chieftain

A unique take on this one, doing its best to be as immortal as possible but still retaining a substantial amount of damage. This Reap Chieftains uses Tempered by War and Damage Taken Conversion to ignore all Physical damage while also transferring as much Cold and Lightning Damage to Fire, to be even tankier further than possible!

What Fire Reap Excels in:

Quick and strong bursts of damage
Extremely tanky
Makes use of several niche and interesting mechanics
Can do all content with ease (over 100 million DPS)

Pick Fire Reap if you like:

Destroying your enemies in a burst of fiery explosions
Instantly deleting bosses
Having almost all damage taken be fire, and reaching practically immortality

Fire Reap full details:

Whereas previously people used Omniscience to insanely scale the damage, with Leadership Price, combined with Dawnbreaker, Sublime Vision for Purity of Fire and Tempered by War, means you get all Alt Ailments working for you, at the simple cost of balancing your Strength and Int to be the highest, and identical, amount.
As for Damage, with all 3 Confluxes, Awakened Spell Echo and Spell Cascade, Reap can hit 4 times quickly, reaching over 100 million DPS.
It also makes use of a fantastically unique and niche item, that can only be activated when you have both Strength and Int being the highest attribute, granting Profane and Consecrated Ground for free.

For more information, check here: https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/xMrLeitoS3/ImSorryShaperKEKW?time-machine=week-3&i=4&search=time-machine%3Dweek-3%26class%3DChieftain%26skill%3DReap%26sort%3Ddps