In this guide, I want to go over my 5 choices for league start builds in Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League.
With the absolute massive overhaul that Transfigure Gems is providing us, I wanted to make sure that I chose builds that were minimally or not affected by such changes.
If you also want to make these builds, please prepare enough POE Currency!
1. RoA Raider (Fuzzy Duckzy)
The first build on this list and my personal top rated build is the Rain of Arrows Raider by Fuzzy Duckzy.
This build is simplistic, very thorough, very detailed guide and easy to pivot if you decide to do so. Fuzzy demonstrates every step of the process, how he gets each Watchstone, each tier of map and each boss in his guides.
The Raider ascendancy is cozy a league start due to easy spell suppression and ailment immunity. With this build, you’ll have a very smooth league start and you’ll also have the option to transition into either Lightning Arrow or Tornado Shot Deadeye if you’re looking to mid-max.
Fuzzy has a guide on Tornado Shot as well. I have personally played Fuzzy’s builds before with no issues and I would recommend any of his builds as a solid starting point.
2. Poison BV Pathfinder (Lolcohol)
The next build on my list and my personal build choice for this league is Poison Blade Vortex Pathfinder by Lolcohol.
Now, I haven’t played Pathfinder in a while, but the Giga flask’s effect and duration is a fantastic quality of life that I look forward to taking advantage of.
Now, because of the changes to quality on Blade Vortex, you will not only be hitting more often due to increased hit rate of each blade, but the flat physical damage Blade Vortex provides has also been buffed on the top end. This means more physical damage we can then convert to chaos damage.
The build is relatively cheap to gear at league start with uniques, such as Obliteration, Cold Iron Point, Dendrobate and Asenath’s Gentle Touch.
In my personal opinion, Pathfinder feels like a great choice for this particular league in general, and not just with this build.
3. Lightning Arrow Deadeye (Crouching_Tuna)
The third build on my list is Crouching_Tuna’s Lightning Arrow Deadeye.
This is the quintessential bow build alongside Tornado Shot, but it’s a bit hard to league compared to Rain of Arrows Raider, but it has a higher ceiling.
If your personal plan is to play either Lightning Arrow or Tornado Shot as an end goal, it’s up to you whether you want to start those builds or transition to them from something easier, such as the Rain of Arrows Raider.
I have no problems recommending you start Lightning Arrow Deadeye, however, I do not recommend that you league start Tornado Shot. Kaom’s Spirit for rage generation has been completely destroyed, it might as well be deleted from the game, so obviously do not use them.
We don’t have the tattoos this league for additional projectiles that made this build feel incredibly comfortable, but the Quality in Tornado Shot does have built-in secondary projectiles if you choose to go that build or transition to it later.
As for Lightning Arrow Deadeye, it’s a great mapper. It’s very fast clear, and its flexibility on investment level, so you can choose how much you want to invest in it.
Tuna has also started putting himself in his own thumbnails, so that’s 100% more reason to trust this man.
Also Read: Path Of Exile 3.23 Affliction Update Notes - New Content & Highlights
4. Corrupting Fever Champion (Ruetoo, Video By Tripolarbear)
Number 4, we have Corrupting Fever Champion by Ruetoo.
Now, this is the only build on the list that I haven’t personally played. However, I have played Corrupting Fever and Champion separately before.
Champion is one of the tankiest mappers that you can play that doesn’t sacrifice a lot of clear speed. However, this particular build is not the best choice for very new players due to the mechanics involved.
Activating Corrupting Fever procs Adrenaline, giving a permanent buff up time. You can get this running as early as Act 3. This particular build should shine in the returning Ultimatum mechanic due to the tankiness and the speed to dodge in the circle.
Corrupting Fever Champion is a great choice if you want to play what is arguably the most overpowered ascendency.
5. Ele Guardian SRS/Poison SRS (Subtractem/Balormage)
For my final build, I have sort of a two-parter here. I have the Elemental SRS Guardian from Subtractem, and I also have the Poison SRS Necromancer from Balormage.
On the Elemental SRS Guardian side, we have the Sentinel of Radiance, which is completely busted or personal favorite that I’ve played over the past few leagues, Poison SRS Necromancer.
On the SRS Guardian side, it is one of the smoothest campaign experiences due to the Sentinel of Radiance being absolutely busted.
As for the Poison SRS, it’s great damage, and it’s very durable in the late game. And I’ve done many characters over different leagues that have done 80% deli with basically zero deaths.
The changes to SRS via the Transfigured Gems mean a little less minion movement speed, and it’s more so a nerf to the Popcorn Variant.
Both SRS builds have decent, clear, great single target and unfortunately Divergent Melee Splash is gone, but hopefully a substitution can be made to not lose so much clear speed.
These are also 2 builds that I may be keeping a close eye on due to the Primalist and the access to charms that are coming in this league.
Personally, I would have no trouble running Poison SRS Necromancer again, but I figured I would try something new.
To sum up, those are my 5 builds that I recommend for the up climbing POE 3.23 Affliction League. This will be one of the biggest shakeups that Path of Exile has ever seen and I’m personally very excited to see what sort of ridiculousness comes out of it. I hope you enjoyed the guide and have a fruitful league launch.
