Boneshatter Of Carnage Champion Build Guide – Most Stunning Build
Introduction to the Boneshatter of Carnage Champion Build
When it comes to dominating the endgame content in Path of Exile, the Boneshatter of Carnage Champion build stands out as a formidable contender. This build is not just another melee option; it’s a powerhouse capable of delivering stunning blows both literally and figuratively. Renowned for its exceptional survivability, high damage output, and satisfying gameplay, the Boneshatter Champion build has quickly become a favorite among players looking to conquer the toughest challenges the game has to offer. Whether you're a seasoned exile or a newcomer, this build provides a robust and engaging experience that can handle everything from mapping to bossing.
The allure of the Boneshatter Champion lies in its unique blend of mechanics and its ability to scale damage and defense simultaneously. At its core, the build utilizes the Boneshatter skill, a powerful melee attack that generates Trauma stacks. These stacks not only amplify your damage but also inflict self-damage, requiring a strategic approach to mitigate the negative effects. However, the Champion ascendancy offers the perfect solution, providing unparalleled defensive layers that turn this self-inflicted damage into a negligible concern. This synergy is what makes the build truly shine, allowing you to focus on unleashing devastating attacks without the constant fear of self-destruction.
This comprehensive guide delves into the intricacies of the Boneshatter Champion build, covering everything from the essential skill tree nodes and gem setups to gear recommendations and playstyle tips. We'll explore how to effectively manage Trauma stacks, optimize your defenses, and maximize your damage output. Whether you're aiming to clear the most challenging maps, defeat formidable bosses, or simply enjoy a build that feels both powerful and satisfying, the Boneshatter Champion is an excellent choice. So, let’s dive in and discover why this build is considered one of the most stunning options in the current league.
Key Features and Strengths of the Build
The Boneshatter Champion build boasts a plethora of strengths that make it a top-tier choice for tackling Path of Exile's diverse content. Its key features are what set it apart, offering a unique playstyle that blends high damage output with exceptional survivability. Understanding these strengths is crucial for appreciating the build's potential and optimizing your gameplay.
One of the primary strengths of the Boneshatter Champion is its high survivability. The Champion ascendancy provides significant defensive benefits, including Fortify, increased armor, and reduced damage taken from self-inflicted hits. This allows the build to comfortably stack Trauma, which is essential for maximizing damage, without being overly concerned about the negative consequences. The build also benefits from high life regeneration and leech, ensuring you can sustain through even the most intense encounters. This resilience makes the Boneshatter Champion exceptionally well-suited for hardcore leagues and challenging endgame content.
Another standout feature is the build's impressive damage scaling. Boneshatter's mechanics are designed to reward aggressive play, with each Trauma stack significantly increasing your damage output. As you accumulate stacks, your attacks become more and more devastating, allowing you to quickly dispatch enemies and bosses alike. The build also scales well with various gear options, making it accessible to players at different budget levels. Whether you're using budget-friendly rares or investing in high-end uniques, the Boneshatter Champion can deliver exceptional damage. This scalability ensures the build remains viable throughout your progression, from early mapping to the deepest endgame content.
The Boneshatter Champion also excels in clear speed, making it an efficient mapper. The inherent area of effect of Boneshatter, combined with the ability to proliferate damage through explosions, allows you to quickly clear packs of enemies. The build's mobility options, such as Leap Slam or other movement skills, further enhance its clear speed, allowing you to navigate maps swiftly and efficiently. This combination of damage and mobility makes the Boneshatter Champion an excellent choice for farming currency and experience.
Finally, the satisfying gameplay of the Boneshatter Champion is a major draw for many players. The visceral impact of each hit, combined with the visual spectacle of explosions and shattering enemies, creates an incredibly engaging experience. The build’s active playstyle keeps you involved and responsive, making each encounter feel impactful and rewarding. Whether you enjoy the thrill of smashing through hordes of enemies or the satisfaction of taking down a challenging boss, the Boneshatter Champion offers a gameplay experience that is both fun and effective.
Skill Tree and Ascendancy Choices
The skill tree and ascendancy choices are the backbone of any successful Path of Exile build, and the Boneshatter Champion is no exception. These choices dictate your character's strengths, weaknesses, and overall playstyle. For the Boneshatter Champion, the skill tree focuses on maximizing physical damage, increasing survivability, and enhancing area of effect. The Champion ascendancy, with its defensive prowess and damage amplification, synergizes perfectly with the Boneshatter skill, creating a powerful and resilient build.
When constructing the skill tree, prioritize nodes that grant increased physical damage, attack speed, and accuracy. These stats are crucial for scaling your damage output and ensuring your hits connect. Weapon-specific nodes, such as those for maces or axes, can further enhance your damage, depending on your chosen weapon. In addition to damage nodes, defensive nodes are equally important. Look for nodes that provide increased life, armor, and elemental resistances. These defensive layers will help you mitigate damage and survive tough encounters. Key defensive notables, such as Iron Reflexes or Unyielding, can significantly boost your survivability.
Area of effect (AoE) nodes are also crucial for the Boneshatter Champion, as they increase the range of your attacks and improve your clear speed. Nodes that grant increased AoE, such as those in the Templar and Marauder areas of the skill tree, can make a significant difference in your ability to clear packs of enemies quickly. Furthermore, nodes that provide life leech and mana leech are essential for sustain, allowing you to recover life and mana with each hit. This sustain is particularly important for a melee build that is constantly in the thick of combat.
The Champion ascendancy is the cornerstone of this build, providing unparalleled defensive and offensive benefits. The ascendancy points should be allocated in the following order:
- Worthy Foe: This notable grants the Fortify buff on hit, significantly increasing your armor and evasion, and making you immune to taunts. Fortify is a crucial defensive layer for the Boneshatter Champion, providing substantial damage reduction.
- Unstoppable Hero: This notable provides permanent Fortify, increased attack speed, and increased movement speed. The permanent Fortify further enhances your defenses, while the increased attack and movement speed improve your clear speed and overall mobility.
- Inspirational: This notable provides increased damage, increased area of effect, and increased mana regeneration for you and your allies. The increased damage and AoE scale your offensive capabilities, while the increased mana regeneration helps sustain your skills.
- Fortitude: This notable grants additional Fortify effect, reduced damage taken, and increased life regeneration. This final notable solidifies your defenses, making you incredibly tanky and resilient.
By carefully selecting your skill tree nodes and ascendancy choices, you can create a Boneshatter Champion that is both incredibly powerful and remarkably survivable. This combination of damage and defense is what makes the build so effective and enjoyable to play.
Gem Setups and Skill Links
The gem setups and skill links are critical components of the Boneshatter Champion build, determining how your skills function and interact with each other. The right gem combinations can significantly enhance your damage output, survivability, and overall effectiveness. Understanding the optimal gem setups is essential for maximizing the potential of this build.
The primary skill for this build is, of course, Boneshatter. This skill should be linked with support gems that amplify its damage and area of effect. A typical Boneshatter gem setup includes:
- Boneshatter: The core skill of the build, generating Trauma stacks for increased damage.
- Fortify: Provides the Fortify buff, granting additional armor and damage reduction. This gem is particularly important for a melee build that is constantly taking hits.
- Melee Physical Damage: Increases the physical damage of Boneshatter, significantly boosting your overall damage output.
- Brutality: Converts physical damage to chaos damage, bypassing enemy armor and increasing your damage against heavily armored foes.
- Earthquake: Adds an additional damage pulse after the initial hit, dealing substantial damage over a wider area.
- Close Combat: Increases your damage against nearby enemies, further amplifying your damage output in melee range.
For mobility, Leap Slam is a popular choice, allowing you to quickly traverse maps and engage enemies. A typical Leap Slam gem setup includes:
- Leap Slam: A movement skill that allows you to jump to a target location.
- Faster Attacks: Increases the attack speed of Leap Slam, making it faster to use and more responsive.
- Fortify: Provides the Fortify buff, enhancing your defenses while moving between packs of enemies.
To enhance survivability, consider using a Cast when Damage Taken setup. This setup automatically casts defensive skills when you take a certain amount of damage. A typical Cast when Damage Taken setup includes:
- Cast when Damage Taken: Triggers linked skills when you take a specified amount of damage.
- Molten Shell: Provides a temporary armor buff that absorbs incoming damage.
- Steelskin: Creates a shield that absorbs incoming damage, providing additional protection.
- Enduring Cry: Generates endurance charges, which reduce incoming physical damage and elemental damage.
For additional utility, consider using a Blood Rage setup. Blood Rage grants increased attack speed and life leech, but it also inflicts a small amount of chaos damage over time. A typical Blood Rage gem setup includes:
- Blood Rage: Grants increased attack speed and life leech, but also inflicts chaos damage over time.
- Increased Duration: Increases the duration of Blood Rage, allowing you to maintain the buffs for longer.
Finally, for bossing, consider using a Vaal Warchief Totem setup. This totem provides additional damage and attack speed, significantly boosting your damage output against single targets. A typical Vaal Warchief Totem setup includes:
- Vaal Warchief Totem: Summons a totem that provides additional damage and attack speed.
- Multiple Totems: Allows you to summon multiple totems, further amplifying your damage output.
- Melee Physical Damage: Increases the physical damage of the totem, boosting its damage output.
- Brutality: Converts physical damage to chaos damage, bypassing enemy armor and increasing your damage against heavily armored foes.
By carefully selecting your gem setups and skill links, you can optimize your damage output, survivability, and overall effectiveness, making the Boneshatter Champion a formidable force in Path of Exile.
Gear Recommendations and Budget Considerations
Gear is the cornerstone of any Path of Exile build, and the Boneshatter Champion is no exception. The right gear can significantly enhance your damage output, survivability, and overall performance. When gearing your Boneshatter Champion, it's essential to balance offensive and defensive stats, ensuring you can deal substantial damage while remaining resilient in combat. This section will provide detailed gear recommendations, catering to various budget levels and playstyles.
Weapon: The weapon is arguably the most critical piece of gear for the Boneshatter Champion. A two-handed mace or axe is the preferred choice, as these weapon types offer high physical damage and attack speed. For budget options, look for rare two-handed weapons with high physical damage, attack speed, and critical strike chance. As your budget increases, consider investing in unique weapons such as:
- The Disintegrator: This unique two-handed mace provides a significant damage boost, thanks to its high physical damage and increased critical strike chance. It also offers increased area of effect, which is beneficial for Boneshatter.
- Starforge: A high-end option, Starforge, is a unique two-handed sword that deals pure physical damage and has a high critical strike chance. Its downside is that you cannot deal elemental damage, but this is mitigated by the Brutality support gem, which converts physical damage to chaos damage.
Armor: For armor, prioritize items with high armor values and life. A six-linked chest piece is essential for maximizing your Boneshatter gem setup. Look for rare armor pieces with high armor, life, and elemental resistances. As your budget increases, consider investing in unique armor such as:
- Belly of the Beast: This unique chest piece provides a significant life boost, enhancing your survivability. It also offers increased elemental resistances, which is beneficial for mitigating elemental damage.
- Brass Dome: The Brass Dome is a unique chest piece that provides high armor and elemental resistances. It also makes you immune to critical strikes, further enhancing your defenses.
Helmet: For the helmet slot, look for rare helmets with high armor, life, and elemental resistances. A helmet with an enchantment that enhances Boneshatter damage or area of effect can be a significant damage boost. As your budget increases, consider:
- Devoto's Devotion: A unique helmet that provides increased attack speed, movement speed, and dexterity. The increased attack speed is particularly beneficial for Boneshatter.
- Starkonja's Head: A unique helmet that provides increased life, evasion, and attack speed. It also offers a chance to blind nearby enemies, further enhancing your survivability.
Gloves: Gloves should prioritize life, armor, and attack speed. Rare gloves with these stats are a solid choice for budget-conscious players. As your budget increases, consider:
- Asenath's Gentle Touch: Unique gloves that provide the Temporal Chains curse on hit, slowing down enemies and making them easier to deal with.
- Grip of the Council: Unique gloves that increase your damage against chilled enemies.
Boots: Boots should prioritize movement speed, life, and elemental resistances. Rare boots with these stats are an excellent budget option. As your budget increases, consider:
- Kaom's Roots: Unique boots that provide a massive life boost and make you immune to stun and chill. This enhances your survivability and prevents interruptions during combat.
- Atziri's Step: Unique boots that provide high evasion and movement speed, increasing your mobility and survivability.
Belt: For the belt slot, prioritize belts with increased life and elemental resistances. A Stygian Vise is a popular choice, as it offers an additional jewel socket for further customization. As your budget increases, consider:
- Headhunter: A high-end unique belt that steals buffs from rare and unique enemies, providing a significant damage and speed boost.
- Bisco's Leash: Unique belt that increases item quantity and rarity, making it ideal for farming currency.
Jewelry: Rings and amulets should prioritize life, elemental resistances, and damage stats. Look for rare jewelry with increased physical damage, attack speed, and critical strike chance. As your budget increases, consider:
- Amulet:
- The Jinxed Juju: A unique amulet that provides chaos damage, chaos resistance, and increased damage based on your chaos resistance.
- Astramentis: A unique amulet that provides a significant boost to all attributes, allowing you to meet gem requirements and gear affixes more easily.
- Rings:
- Opal Ring with Physical Damage Affixes: Provides a significant damage boost.
Jewels: Jewels can provide additional stats such as life, damage, and resistances. Look for jewels with increased maximum life, physical damage, and attack speed. Consider using unique jewels such as:
- Watcher's Eye: A unique jewel that provides additional modifiers from your auras, such as increased damage, life leech, or attack speed.
- Brutal Restraint: A unique jewel that provides various stat bonuses based on the notables it affects.
By carefully selecting your gear, you can create a Boneshatter Champion that is both powerful and resilient, capable of tackling the most challenging content in Path of Exile. Remember to balance offensive and defensive stats, and prioritize gear that complements your playstyle and budget.
Playstyle and Combat Strategies
The playstyle and combat strategies for the Boneshatter Champion are centered around aggressive melee combat, leveraging the build's high damage output and survivability. Mastering the intricacies of the Boneshatter skill and understanding how to effectively manage Trauma stacks is crucial for maximizing the build's potential. This section will provide detailed insights into the optimal playstyle and combat strategies for the Boneshatter Champion.
At its core, the Boneshatter Champion is a melee powerhouse that thrives in the thick of combat. The build's primary objective is to generate Trauma stacks, which significantly amplify your damage output. However, Trauma stacks also inflict self-damage, requiring a strategic approach to mitigate the negative effects. The Champion ascendancy provides the perfect solution, offering unparalleled defensive layers that turn this self-inflicted damage into a negligible concern. This allows you to focus on unleashing devastating attacks without the constant fear of self-destruction.
During combat, the key is to maintain a steady flow of attacks, generating and sustaining Trauma stacks. Start by engaging enemies with Boneshatter, building up Trauma stacks quickly. The more stacks you accumulate, the more damage you deal. However, be mindful of your life pool and defensive layers. If you find yourself taking excessive damage, consider disengaging briefly to regenerate life and recover. The build's high life regeneration and leech, combined with the defensive benefits of the Champion ascendancy, should allow you to sustain through most encounters.
Positioning is crucial for a melee build like the Boneshatter Champion. Try to position yourself strategically, taking advantage of the build's area of effect to hit multiple enemies simultaneously. This not only increases your damage output but also improves your clear speed. Use movement skills like Leap Slam to quickly traverse maps, engage enemies, and reposition yourself as needed. A well-timed Leap Slam can help you avoid dangerous attacks, close the gap on ranged enemies, and maintain momentum during combat.
Against bosses and single-target encounters, the Boneshatter Champion truly shines. The build's high damage scaling and sustained damage output make it exceptionally well-suited for taking down formidable bosses. Before engaging a boss, ensure you have built up a sufficient number of Trauma stacks to maximize your damage potential. Use utility skills like Vaal Warchief Totem to further amplify your damage output. Maintain a steady stream of attacks, and be mindful of boss mechanics and attacks. Use movement skills to dodge telegraphed attacks, and rely on your defensive layers to mitigate incoming damage.
Managing Trauma stacks is a critical aspect of the Boneshatter Champion playstyle. While Trauma stacks significantly increase your damage, they also inflict self-damage. The Champion ascendancy mitigates this self-damage, but it's still essential to be aware of your Trauma stack count and defensive capabilities. If you find yourself taking excessive self-damage, consider reducing your attack speed or using defensive skills like Molten Shell or Steelskin to absorb incoming damage. The build's high life regeneration and leech should allow you to recover from self-inflicted damage quickly, but it's still important to manage your Trauma stacks strategically.
In mapping scenarios, the Boneshatter Champion excels at clearing packs of enemies quickly and efficiently. The build's inherent area of effect, combined with the ability to proliferate damage through explosions, allows you to clear maps swiftly. Use movement skills to navigate maps quickly, and engage packs of enemies aggressively. Maintain a steady flow of attacks, and take advantage of the build's mobility and clear speed to maximize your efficiency. Consider using map modifiers that enhance monster density or reward aggressive playstyles, such as Beyond or Legion, to further amplify your map clear speed.
By mastering the playstyle and combat strategies outlined above, you can unlock the full potential of the Boneshatter Champion and conquer even the most challenging content in Path of Exile. Remember to practice and refine your skills, and adapt your playstyle to suit different encounters and situations.
Leveling Tips and Progression
Leveling a character in Path of Exile can be a daunting task, especially for new players. The Boneshatter Champion, while powerful in the endgame, requires a strategic approach to leveling. This section will provide detailed leveling tips and progression strategies to ensure a smooth and efficient journey from the early acts to the endgame maps. By following these guidelines, you can effectively level your Boneshatter Champion and prepare it for the challenges that lie ahead.
Early Levels (Act 1-3): During the early acts, focus on acquiring essential support gems and skills. Start by using a skill like Ground Slam or Sunder, as these skills are effective for leveling and clear packs of enemies quickly. Link these skills with support gems like Melee Physical Damage, Onslaught, and Faster Attacks to enhance your damage output and clear speed. Prioritize life nodes and defensive stats on the skill tree, as survivability is crucial during the early levels. Complete the Labyrinth as early as possible to acquire your first ascendancy points. Allocate these points to Worthy Foe, which provides the Fortify buff and enhances your defenses.
Transitioning to Boneshatter can be done around level 28, when the skill becomes available. Link Boneshatter with support gems like Melee Physical Damage, Fortify, and Maim to maximize its damage and utility. Continue to prioritize life nodes and defensive stats on the skill tree, and acquire gear with high armor and elemental resistances. Complete the Normal Labyrinth to acquire your second ascendancy points. Allocate these points to Unstoppable Hero, which provides permanent Fortify, increased attack speed, and increased movement speed.
Mid Levels (Act 4-7): During the mid levels, focus on completing the remaining acts and acquiring essential gear. Continue to upgrade your weapon and armor, prioritizing items with high physical damage, life, and elemental resistances. Complete the Cruel Labyrinth to acquire your third ascendancy points. Allocate these points to Inspirational, which provides increased damage, area of effect, and mana regeneration.
Consider using a two-handed mace or axe with high physical damage and attack speed. Look for rare items with affixes that enhance your damage output and survivability. Continue to prioritize life nodes and defensive stats on the skill tree, and acquire key passive nodes that boost your armor and elemental resistances. Use the crafting bench to add missing resistances or life to your gear.
Late Levels (Act 8-10): During the late levels, focus on completing the remaining acts and preparing for the endgame maps. Continue to upgrade your gear, prioritizing items with high physical damage, life, and elemental resistances. Complete the Merciless Labyrinth to acquire your final ascendancy points. Allocate these points to Fortitude, which provides additional Fortify effect, reduced damage taken, and increased life regeneration.
By the time you reach the endgame, you should have a solid foundation for your Boneshatter Champion build. Your gear should provide a balance of offensive and defensive stats, and your skill tree should be optimized for damage, survivability, and area of effect. Continue to upgrade your gear and refine your skill tree as you progress through the endgame content.
Throughout the leveling process, it’s essential to adapt your playstyle and strategies to suit different encounters and situations. Experiment with different skills and support gems to find what works best for you. Don't be afraid to respec your skill tree if you find yourself struggling with a particular boss or encounter. Path of Exile offers a high degree of customization, so take advantage of it to optimize your build and playstyle.
By following these leveling tips and progression strategies, you can efficiently level your Boneshatter Champion and prepare it for the challenges of the endgame. Remember to prioritize survivability during the early levels, gradually transitioning to a balance of offense and defense as you progress. With the right approach, you can create a powerful and resilient Boneshatter Champion that can conquer even the most challenging content in Path of Exile.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Boneshatter Champion build is undeniably one of the most stunning and effective builds available in the current Path of Exile league. Its unique blend of high damage output, exceptional survivability, and satisfying gameplay makes it a top-tier choice for players looking to conquer a wide range of content. Whether you're a seasoned exile or a newcomer, the Boneshatter Champion offers a robust and engaging experience that can handle everything from mapping to bossing.
Throughout this comprehensive guide, we've explored the intricacies of the Boneshatter Champion build, covering everything from the essential skill tree nodes and gem setups to gear recommendations and playstyle tips. We've delved into the key features and strengths of the build, highlighting its impressive damage scaling, survivability, clear speed, and satisfying gameplay. We've also provided detailed guidance on skill tree and ascendancy choices, gem setups and skill links, gear recommendations, and leveling tips.
The strength of the Boneshatter Champion lies in its synergy between offense and defense. The Boneshatter skill, with its Trauma stack mechanic, rewards aggressive play by significantly amplifying your damage output. The Champion ascendancy provides unparalleled defensive layers that mitigate the self-inflicted damage from Trauma stacks, allowing you to focus on unleashing devastating attacks. This combination of damage and defense makes the build incredibly resilient and effective in a variety of scenarios.
The versatility of the Boneshatter Champion is another major draw. The build excels in both mapping and bossing, making it an excellent choice for players who enjoy a diverse range of content. Its high clear speed and area of effect make it efficient for farming currency and experience, while its sustained damage output and defensive capabilities make it well-suited for tackling challenging bosses. Whether you prefer the thrill of clearing hordes of enemies or the satisfaction of taking down a formidable boss, the Boneshatter Champion offers a gameplay experience that is both fun and effective.
Ultimately, the Boneshatter Champion is a testament to the depth and complexity of Path of Exile. Its intricate mechanics and strategic gameplay reward players who invest the time and effort to master it. The build's combination of damage, survivability, and versatility makes it a formidable force in the game, capable of conquering even the most challenging content. If you're looking for a build that is both powerful and engaging, the Boneshatter Champion is an excellent choice.
So, if you're ready to experience a build that is truly stunning, look no further than the Boneshatter Champion. With its impressive damage, exceptional survivability, and satisfying gameplay, this build is sure to provide you with countless hours of enjoyment in Path of Exile. Dive in, experiment, and discover the power of the Boneshatter Champion for yourself.