Are you ready to dominate the Path of Exile (PoE) league start with a powerful and reliable build? Look no further than the Lacerate Gladiator! This build is known for its excellent clear speed, strong bossing capabilities, and incredible survivability, making it a perfect choice for both new and experienced players. In this comprehensive guide, we'll delve deep into the intricacies of the Lacerate Gladiator, covering everything from skill tree progression and gem setups to gear recommendations and advanced strategies. Get ready to lacerate your way through the competition!

Why Choose Lacerate Gladiator?

The Lacerate Gladiator stands out as a top-tier league starter for several compelling reasons. First and foremost, it offers exceptional clear speed. Lacerate, as a skill, hits multiple times with each attack, creating a whirlwind of carnage that devastates packs of monsters. This makes mapping incredibly efficient, allowing you to accumulate wealth and experience quickly. Secondly, the Gladiator ascendancy provides incredible defensive layers. With perks like Gratuitous Violence for explosive enemy deaths and Challenger Charges for increased attack speed and movement speed, you'll be both powerful and resilient. More importantly, the Gladiator's inherent block chance and the ability to stack block chance effectively make it incredibly tanky, capable of withstanding significant amounts of damage. This survivability is crucial for tackling challenging content like endgame bosses and delves. Lastly, the Lacerate Gladiator is relatively budget-friendly. While min-maxing the build can become expensive, it performs exceptionally well with readily available and affordable gear, making it accessible to players of all economic backgrounds. Whether you're a seasoned PoE veteran or a newcomer to the game, the Lacerate Gladiator offers a smooth and rewarding experience right from the league's inception.

Skill Tree and Ascendancy

Crafting an effective skill tree and selecting the right ascendancy points are vital for optimizing your Lacerate Gladiator's performance. The skill tree should focus on maximizing physical damage, attack speed, critical strike chance, and survivability. Prioritize nodes that grant increased physical damage, melee damage, and area damage to amplify your Lacerate's offensive capabilities. Attack speed is equally important, as it directly affects the number of hits you deliver per second, translating to higher damage output and faster clear speed. Critical strike chance and critical strike multiplier nodes provide significant damage boosts, especially when combined with support gems like Increased Critical Damage. Defensively, invest in nodes that grant increased life, armor, and block chance. Life nodes are essential for maintaining your health pool, while armor provides physical damage reduction. Block chance, particularly when combined with the Gladiator's ascendancy, offers a substantial layer of defense against incoming attacks.

As for ascendancy points, the Gladiator offers a synergistic set of options that perfectly complement the Lacerate playstyle. Start with Gratuitous Violence, which causes enemies you kill to explode, dealing physical damage to surrounding foes. This significantly enhances your clear speed, especially in densely packed maps. Next, take เลือดในทราย (Blood in the Eyes), which grants bleeding immunity and maims enemies, reducing their movement speed and damage output. This provides both offensive and defensive benefits, making you more resilient against bleed-inflicting enemies and increasing your damage against maimed targets. After that, pick up Outmatch and Outlast, which grants Challenger Charges on kill. Challenger Charges provide increased attack speed and movement speed, further boosting your clear speed and mobility. Finally, allocate points to Versatile Combatant, which allows you to efficiently stack block chance to make you tanky.

Gem Setup

The correct gem setup is critical for maximizing the damage output and utility of your Lacerate Gladiator. The primary skill, Lacerate, should be linked with support gems that amplify its damage and coverage. A common and effective setup includes Lacerate, Multistrike, Brutality, Close Combat, Melee Physical Damage, and Impale. Multistrike significantly increases your attack speed and the number of hits per attack, while Brutality converts all damage to physical damage, scaling well with physical damage-focused builds. Close Combat provides a substantial damage boost against nearby enemies, and Melee Physical Damage further amplifies your physical damage output. Impale applies impale stacks to enemies, causing them to take increased physical damage over time.

For utility skills, consider incorporating mobility and defensive options. Leap Slam is a popular choice for movement, allowing you to quickly traverse maps and evade enemy attacks. Link it with Faster Attacks to further enhance its speed. Ancestral Protector is a valuable support skill that summons an ancestral totem, granting you increased attack speed. Enduring Cry is a potent defensive skill that generates endurance charges, providing physical damage reduction and elemental resistance. Finally, consider using Pride as an aura to increase your physical damage output, and Blood and Sand to switch between clear (Sand Stance) and boss (Blood Stance) scenarios. These auras and skills provide additional layers of offense and defense, making you a formidable force on the battlefield.

Gear Recommendations

Selecting the right gear is crucial for maximizing your Lacerate Gladiator's potential. Prioritize items with affixes that enhance your damage, survivability, and utility. For weapons, look for swords or axes with high physical damage, attack speed, and critical strike chance. A well-rolled rare weapon can often outperform unique options, especially early in the league. When choosing armour, focus on pieces with high armor values and life. A chest piece with a five or six-linked sockets is essential for housing your primary Lacerate setup. Helmets should provide life, armor, and potentially resistances. Gloves should offer attack speed, accuracy, and life. Boots should grant movement speed, life, and resistances.

Accessories play a vital role in rounding out your character's stats and providing additional utility. Amulets should prioritize life, physical damage, critical strike chance, and critical strike multiplier. Rings should provide life, resistances, and potentially accuracy or damage. A belt should offer life, armor, and potentially flask modifiers. Flasks are an indispensable part of any PoE build, providing on-demand buffs and utility. Use a life flask for healing, a quicksilver flask for movement speed, a granite flask for armor, a jade flask for evasion, and a sulphur flask for increased damage. Ensure your flasks have useful modifiers such as increased duration, reduced mana cost, or immunity to ailments.

Leveling Guide

Leveling a Lacerate Gladiator is a relatively straightforward process. Start by using skills like Ground Slam or Cleave in the early levels, gradually transitioning to Lacerate around level 28 when it becomes available. Focus on completing the main story quests and tackling side areas for additional experience and gear. Prioritize leveling your Lacerate gem and support gems as quickly as possible. Upgrade your weapons and armour regularly, focusing on items with high physical damage and life. As you progress through the acts, adjust your skill tree and gem setups to adapt to the challenges you encounter. Don't be afraid to experiment with different gem combinations and passive skills to find what works best for your playstyle. By following these leveling tips, you'll reach the endgame in no time and be ready to tackle the most challenging content PoE has to offer.

Endgame Progression

Once you've reached the endgame, the real fun begins. Focus on completing maps, defeating bosses, and delving into the depths of the Azurite Mine. As you accumulate wealth, invest in upgrading your gear and optimizing your skill tree. Consider purchasing more powerful unique items or crafting high-end rare items. Experiment with different support gems and skill setups to further enhance your damage output and survivability. Engage in endgame activities such as Uber Elder, Sirus, and Maven to test your skills and earn valuable rewards. Don't be afraid to seek advice from other players or consult online resources for tips and strategies. With dedication and perseverance, you'll master the Lacerate Gladiator and conquer all that Path of Exile has to offer.

Advanced Strategies

To truly master the Lacerate Gladiator, consider implementing advanced strategies that can further enhance your performance. One such strategy is to incorporate cluster jewels into your build. Cluster jewels are unique jewels that grant access to additional passive skills, allowing you to customize your character's build and unlock powerful synergies. Look for cluster jewels that provide increased physical damage, attack speed, or life. Another advanced strategy is to utilize specific weapon combinations to maximize your damage output. Dual-wielding swords or axes can provide significant damage bonuses, while using a shield can enhance your survivability. Experiment with different weapon types and combinations to find what works best for your playstyle. Finally, consider incorporating advanced movement techniques into your gameplay, such as animation canceling and stutter-stepping, to further optimize your clear speed and maneuverability.

Conclusion

The Lacerate Gladiator is a fantastic league starter build in Path of Exile, offering a balanced combination of damage, survivability, and clear speed. Its accessibility and budget-friendliness make it an excellent choice for both new and experienced players. By following the guidance in this comprehensive guide, you'll be well-equipped to dominate the league start and conquer all that PoE has to offer. So, gear up, sharpen your blades, and prepare to lacerate your way to victory!