The POEGuy Sucky Boy Compendium

Shrapnel Ballista Hierophant · Sucky Boy · Gear progression

Info
Path of Exile 3.28 Updated: May 16, 2026 🔗 POE-Vault Siege Guide 🔗 POE-Vault Shrapnel Guide 📝 Notion FAQ 📺 POEGuy YouTube
Progression timeline representation made by BigCookies and build by POEGuy
💡 General Note: This is a companion site for getting a general idea of how to progress the build at each stage. So read POEGuy's full guide, watch the videos for deeper explanations, and ask for help on the Discord Server when needed.
Gear progression varies with lucky drops and market prices.
Work in progress — This page is still being expanded; sections, numbers, and recommendations may change.

1. Starting Level 94–96 | ~120 Divines

🎯 Requirements: Character level 94–96. Roughly 120 Divines invested.
🏆 Goal: 2000+ Strength

🟠 Core Unique Gear

  • •
    Weapon: Replica Iron Commander (Do not corrupt, prioritize 19–20% Attack Speed and high Crit Chance.)
  • •
    Boots: Replica Alberon's Warpath.
    • Warning: Do not buy cheaper, bricked corrupted Replica Alberon's Warpath boots. Volatile Vaal Orbs can unpredictably lower the static "1 to 80 Chaos Damage per 80 Strength" modifier. Lowering this chaos damage completely destroys your DPS.
  • •
    Helmet: Crown of Eyes.
  • •
    Body Armour: The Iron Fortress (Aim for high Strength roll.)
  • •
    Gloves: Maligaro's Virtuosity.
    • Warning: Critical Strike Multiplier is fixed at 300%; crit multi on tree or gear is a dead stat.
  • •
    Amulet: Astramentis
    • Anoint Watchtowers: Indigo, Silver, Silver

🧪 Flask Setup (Non-Mageblood)

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask — Instant Recovery, Immunity to Corrupted Blood.
  • •
    Utility 1: Diamond Flask — boosts Crit Chance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Quartz Flask — Phasing, Spell Suppression.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask — Movement Speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Sulphur Flask — Damage (upgrade to Bottled Faith or Progenesis.)
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Prefixes: % Duration, % Charge Recovery, or % Max Charges.
  • •
    Suffixes: % Armour, % Crit Chance, % Evasion, or % Movement Speed.
  • •
    Warning: Flask suffixes do not stack! If you activate multiple flasks with the same suffix, only the highest value applies. Ensure each magic flask has a unique suffix.
  • •
    Automation: Enchant magic utility flasks with Used When Charges Reach Full via Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs.
  • •
    Prep: 20% quality with Glassblower's Baubles.

💎 Jewels

🚫 OMIT: Emperor's Mastery.
It is expensive early on; use Emperor's Might or a rare Strength jewel instead!
  • •
    Unique: 1x The Light of Meaning (4% Chaos Res.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Watcher's Eye (Evade with Grace.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Lethal Pride (5% Strength or +20 Strength nodes.)
  • •
    Unique: 2× Split Personality (Strength + Accuracy preferred early.)
    • Priority: Capping hit chance is mandatory before considering Strength/Life versions.
  • •
    Unique: 1x Rain of Splinters (+2 Extra Projectiles.)
  • •
    Rare: 1x Large Cluster Jewel (11–12 Passives)
    • Base: 10% increased Spell Damage.
    • Priority mods: 25% or 35% Increased Effect, +4–5 Strength.
    • Nice to haves: All Attributes, Maximum Life, and Resistances.
    Note: More Strength is always better.
  • •
    Rare: 1x Medium Cluster Jewel (Totem Damage). 4 passives
    • Mandatory: Sleepless Sentries (Onslaught).
    • Secondary: Ancestral Reach.
    Note: 5 passives are fine on 2-notable clusters.
  • •
    Rare: 1x Medium Cluster Jewel (Projectile Damage). 4 passives
    • Mandatory: Aerodynamics (+1 Pierce).
    • Secondary: Shrieking Bolts.
    Note: 5 passives are fine on 2-notable clusters.
  • •
    Unique: 1x Emperor's Might
    •Rare (Lower Alternative): 1x Strength Jewel (% Life, flat Str, Res.)

🟡 Rare Gear

💡 Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Rings: Synthesised (Implicit: 6% Increased Strength or +18 to 20 Flat Strength. Meet the General Baseline above on other mods.)
  • •
    Belt: Synthesised (Implicit: 13% to 15% Increased Strength. Meet the General Baseline above on other mods.)
  • •
    Quiver: Penetrating Arrow Quiver
    Meet the General Baseline above. Nice to Have: % increased Attack Speed, % increased Damage with Bow Skills.
    Note: Warlord influence cannot be applied to fractured items.
    Craft (Choose One Path):
    • Choice A: Version 1 — Fractured +1 Arrow (easier; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice B: Version 2 — Non-fractured ilvl 82+ (budget; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice C: Version 3 — Warlord influence (Bound by Destiny; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice D: Version 4 — Fractured +2 Pierce (min-max; see Quiver Crafting).

📈 Rare Gear Stat Priorities

General Baseline (All Rares)
80+ maximum life 60%+ elemental resistances 51+ strength
Note: Helical Ring is excluded from this baseline.
Synthesised Rings
Implicit: 6% Increased Strength or +18 to 20 Flat Strength.
Warning: Avoid Bone and Unset Ring bases. Secure 50+ Intelligence on rings before swapping Astramentis for Eyes of the Greatwolf or a Simplex Amulet.
Synthesised Belt
Implicit: 13% to 15% Increased Strength.
Warning: Confirm the implicit is natively 13–15% before catalysts—lower rolls are often masked.
Penetrating Arrow Quiver
Mandatory: Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow Choose one of the 5 specific crafting paths listed in The Quiver Crafting section.
Nice to Have: % increased Attack Speed, % increased Damage with Bow Skills.
Warning: Warlord influence cannot be applied to fractured items.
Helical Ring (Stage 3 Endgame)
Explicit: 200+ Pseudo-Strength, 30+ to All Attributes.
Buy target: 190-200+ Pseudo-Strength and +30 to +40 All Attributes. Usually buy failed crafts instead of crafting; materials are expensive.
Best brick: Negative Critical Strike Multiplier; Maligaro's Virtuosity ignores it. Negative Life Recoup is also fine.
Copy: Use Kalandra's Touch in ring slot 2. Avoid negative Strength, Intelligence, or Life.

💡 Stage 1: Core — Phase Notes

  • •
    Budget: Emperor's Mastery is very expensive. Use Emperor's Might or a rare Strength jewel to start.
  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Frenzy: Manually cast Frenzy on bosses to generate charges and apply curses. We use Lifetap instead of Manaforged Arrows so the build can ignore brutal map and altar modifiers (like No Regen) for massive quality of life.
  • •
    Horticrafting Enchants: Use the Harvest bench for the following:
    • Body Armour: +1 to Strength per 2% Quality.
    • Bow (DPS): 1% increased Attack Speed per 8% Quality.
    • Bow (Accuracy): 1% increased Accuracy Rating per 2% Quality.
  • •
    Iron Will: The keystone is mandatory. It converts Strength's physical damage bonus into Spell Damage, which Crown of Eyes then applies to attacks.
  • •
    Pierce: Shrapnel Ballista has no native pierce. You absolutely need +2 Pierce via your quiver and the Aerodynamics cluster jewel.
  • •
    Scaling: Replica Iron Commander grants +1 maximum totem per 200 Strength.
  • •
    Shotgunning: Place totems directly on top of bosses to shotgun projectiles and trigger Point Blank.
  • •
    Transition: Do not swap until Level 94+, 2,000+ Strength, ~120 Divine budget, and all gear is ready.

2. Mid Level 97+ | 200d+

🎯 Requirements: Character level 97+. 200d+ invested.
🏆 Goal: 2400+ Strength

🟠 Uniques & Corruptions

  • •
    Weapon: Replica Iron Commander (No corruptions.)
  • •
    Boots: Replica Alberon's Warpath
    • Corruption Choice: Choose Option 1 OR Option 2. Corrupted items cannot have both.
      • Option 1 (Normal Vaal Orb): % Movement Speed, % chance to Suppress Spell Damage, or % increased Maximum Life.
      • Option 2 (Volatile Vaal Orb): Push % increased Strength above the 18% cap.
        • Volatile Gamble: Volatile Vaal Orbs can increase or lower "1 to 80 Chaos Damage to Attacks per 80 Strength". Higher is a massive DPS boost; lower bricks your DPS. Never use lowered chaos damage boots.
  • •
    Helmet: Crown of Eyes (Corruptions: +2 AoE Gems, +2 Aura Gems, 90% Cost and Reservation Multiplier, or % Max Life.)
  • •
    Body Armour: The Iron Fortress (Corruptions: +1 Socketed Gems or +2 Projectile Gems; aim for high Strength roll.)
  • •
    Gloves: Maligaro's Virtuosity (Corruptions: Attack Speed, Crit Chance for Attacks, or % Max Life.)
    • Optional Warlord prep: Standard corrupted gloves are fine here; only chase Warlord-influenced gloves when preparing to activate Bound by Destiny.
    • Craft: Start with non-unique Deerskin Gloves, add Warlord influence with a Warlord's Exalted Orb, then chance/bench-reroll rarity until it becomes Maligaro's Virtuosity (about 1,200 attempts on average; RNG can be far lower or 6,000+).
    • Order matters: Corrupt only after it is already a Warlord-influenced unique; this craft needs another Warlord item to matter.
  • •
    Amulet: Eyes of the Greatwolf (Anoint note: Requires Tainted Oil.)
    Anoint: Watchtowers Indigo, Silver, Silver, Tainted Oil
    Crucial Warning: Dropping Astramentis causes severe Intelligence loss. You must secure high Intelligence modifiers on your rings before equipping this.
    Mandatory Primary Mod: 36–38% Increased Attributes.
    Secondary Mod Tier List (Best to Worst):
    • Best: % Increased Global Critical Strike Chance.
    • Best (Alternative): % Increased Spell Damage. Crown of Eyes converts this to attack damage; buy whichever is cheaper between this and Crit Chance.
    • Good: % Increased Chaos Damage.
    • Worst: Pierce. If you land this, remove the Aerodynamics medium cluster jewel and use 2x 8-passive Large Cluster Jewels instead while using this version—see Rare: Large Cluster Jewel in 💎 Jewels for the Mid large-cluster targets.

💎 Jewels

  • •
    Unique: 1x The Light of Meaning (4% Chaos Res.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Watcher's Eye (Evade with Grace.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Lethal Pride (5% Strength or +20 Strength nodes.)
  • •
    Unique: 2× Split Personality (+5 Str, +40 Accuracy.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Rain of Splinters (+2 Extra Projectiles.)
  • •
    Rare: 1x Large Cluster Jewel (12 Passives)
    • Base: 10% increased Spell Damage.
    • Priority mods: Exactly 35% Increased Effect, +6–8 Strength.
    • Nice to haves: All Attributes, Maximum Life, or Resistances.
  • •
    Rare: 1x Medium Cluster Jewel (Totem Damage). 4 passives
    • Mandatory: Sleepless Sentries (Onslaught).
    • Secondary: Ancestral Reach.
    Note: 5 passives are fine on 2-notable clusters.
  • •
    Rare: 1x Medium Cluster Jewel (Projectile Damage). 4 passives
    • Mandatory: Aerodynamics (+1 Pierce).
    • Secondary: Shrieking Bolts.
    Note: 5 passives are fine on 2-notable clusters.
  • •
    Unique: 1x Emperor's Might
    •Rare (Lower Alternative): 1x Strength Jewel (% Life, flat Str, Res.)

🟡 Rare Gear

💡 Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Rings: Synthesised (Implicit: 6% Increased Strength or +18 to 20 Flat Strength. Meet the General Baseline above on other mods.)
  • •
    Belt: Synthesised (Implicit: 13% to 15% Increased Strength. Meet the General Baseline above on other mods.)
  • •
    Quiver: Penetrating Arrow Quiver
    Meet the General Baseline above. Nice to Have: % increased Attack Speed, % increased Damage with Bow Skills.
    Note: Warlord influence cannot be applied to fractured items.
    Craft (Choose One Path):
    • Choice A: Version 1 — Fractured +1 Arrow (easier; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice B: Version 2 — Non-fractured ilvl 82+ (budget; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice C: Version 3 — Warlord influence (Bound by Destiny; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice D: Version 4 — Fractured +2 Pierce (min-max; see Quiver Crafting).

🧪 Flask Setup (Non-Mageblood)

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask — Instant Recovery, Immunity to Corrupted Blood.
  • •
    Utility 1: Diamond Flask — boosts Crit Chance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Quartz Flask — Phasing, Spell Suppression.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask — Movement Speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Sulphur Flask — Damage (upgrade to Bottled Faith or Progenesis.)
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Prefixes: % Duration, % Charge Recovery, or % Max Charges.
  • •
    Suffixes: % Armour, % Crit Chance, % Evasion, or % Movement Speed.
  • •
    Warning: Flask suffixes do not stack! If you activate multiple flasks with the same suffix, only the highest value applies. Ensure each magic flask has a unique suffix.
  • •
    Automation: Enchant magic utility flasks with Used When Charges Reach Full via Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs.
  • •
    Prep: 20% quality with Glassblower's Baubles.

🧪 Flask Setup (Mageblood)

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask — Instant Recovery, Immunity to Corrupted Blood.
  • •
    Utility 1: Topaz Flask — boosts Lightning Resistance and Maximum Lightning Resistance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Sapphire Flask — boosts Cold Resistance and Maximum Cold Resistance.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask — boosts Movement Speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Quartz Flask — grants Phasing and Spell Suppression.
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Enchant: Enkindling Orbs for 68–70% increased effect.
  • •
    Prefix: 25% Increased Effect.
  • •
    Suffixes: One of each across magic flasks: % Armour, % Crit Chance, % Evasion, % Additional Elemental Resistances.
  • •
    Warning: Flask suffixes do not stack! If you activate multiple flasks with the same suffix, only the highest value applies. Ensure each magic flask has a unique suffix.

📈 Rare Gear Stat Priorities

General Baseline (All Rares)
80+ maximum life 60%+ elemental resistances 51+ strength
Note: Helical Ring is excluded from this baseline.
Synthesised Rings
Implicit: 6% Increased Strength or +18 to 20 Flat Strength.
Warning: Avoid Bone and Unset Ring bases. Secure 50+ Intelligence on rings before swapping Astramentis for Eyes of the Greatwolf or a Simplex Amulet.
Synthesised Belt
Implicit: 13% to 15% Increased Strength.
Warning: Confirm the implicit is natively 13–15% before catalysts—lower rolls are often masked.
Penetrating Arrow Quiver
Mandatory: Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow Choose one of the 5 specific crafting paths listed in The Quiver Crafting section.
Nice to Have: % increased Attack Speed, % increased Damage with Bow Skills.
Warning: Warlord influence cannot be applied to fractured items.
Helical Ring (Stage 3 Endgame)
Explicit: 200+ Pseudo-Strength, 30+ to All Attributes.
Buy target: 190-200+ Pseudo-Strength and +30 to +40 All Attributes. Usually buy failed crafts instead of crafting; materials are expensive.
Best brick: Negative Critical Strike Multiplier; Maligaro's Virtuosity ignores it. Negative Life Recoup is also fine.
Copy: Use Kalandra's Touch in ring slot 2. Avoid negative Strength, Intelligence, or Life.

💡 Stage 2: Mid-Tier & Corruptions — Phase Notes

  • •
    Amulet Swap Warning: Dropping Astramentis for Eyes of the Greatwolf or a Simplex Amulet lowers your Intelligence. Secure +51–55 Intelligence on your rare rings before swapping.
  • •
    Fixing Intelligence: Dropping Astramentis lowers your Intelligence. Recover it back by using any of the following:
    • +# to All Attributes on your Large Cluster Jewels.
    • Using a Split Personality with Strength/Intelligence (ensure you have capped hit rate).
    • Direct Intelligence rolls on your Rings and Rare Synthesised Belt (if you haven't swapped to Mageblood yet).
  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Extra Totem: Reaching Level 22 on your Shrapnel Ballista gem (via a +1 or +2 corrupted The Iron Fortress) grants an extra totem.
  • •
    Frenzy: Manually cast Frenzy on bosses to generate charges and apply curses. We use Lifetap instead of Manaforged Arrows so the build can ignore brutal map and altar modifiers for massive quality of life.
  • •
    Horticrafting Enchants: Use the Harvest bench for the following:
    • Body Armour: +1 to Strength per 2% Quality.
    • Bow (DPS): 1% increased Attack Speed per 8% Quality.
    • Bow (Accuracy): 1% increased Accuracy Rating per 2% Quality.
  • •
    Jewel Swap: Equip 2× Warlord-influenced items to enable the Bound by Destiny jewel (this replaces Rain of Splinters).
  • •
    Pierce Upgrade: Craft a +2 Pierce quiver.
  • •
    Scaling: Replica Iron Commander grants +1 maximum totem per 200 Strength.
  • •
    Shotgunning: Place totems directly on top of bosses to shotgun projectiles and trigger Point Blank.

3. End Level 99–100 | Multiple Mirrors

🎯 Requirements: Character level 99–100. Multiple Mirrors invested.
🏆 Goal: 3000–4000+ Strength

🟠 Uniques & Corruptions

  • •
    Weapon: Replica Iron Commander (No corruptions.)
  • •
    Boots: Replica Alberon's Warpath
    • Corruption Choice: Choose Option 1 OR Option 2. Corrupted items cannot have both.
      • Option 1 (Normal Vaal Orb): % Movement Speed, % chance to Suppress Spell Damage, or % increased Maximum Life.
      • Option 2 (Volatile Vaal Orb): Push % increased Strength above the 18% cap.
        • Volatile Gamble: Volatile Vaal Orbs can increase or lower "1 to 80 Chaos Damage to Attacks per 80 Strength". Higher is a massive DPS boost; lower bricks your DPS. Never use lowered chaos damage boots.
  • •
    Helmet: Crown of Eyes (Corruptions: +2 AoE Gems, +2 Aura Gems, 90% Cost and Reservation Multiplier, or % Max Life.)
  • •
    Body Armour: The Iron Fortress (Corruptions: +1 Socketed Gems or +2 Projectile Gems; aim for high Strength roll.)
  • •
    Gloves: Warlord-influenced Maligaro's Virtuosity (Corruptions: Attack Speed, Crit Chance for Attacks, or % Max Life; extreme min-max only.)
    • Craft: Start with non-unique Deerskin Gloves, add Warlord influence with a Warlord's Exalted Orb, then chance/bench-reroll rarity until it becomes Maligaro's Virtuosity.
    • Order matters: You cannot add influence after it is already unique; corrupt for Attack Speed, Crit Chance for Attacks, or % Max Life only after the influenced unique is made.
    • Cost: Pure RNG chancing; expect about 1,200 Scouring/Chance attempts or bench rerolls on average, with unlucky streaks reaching 6,000+.
  • •
    Amulet: Simplex Amulet with Warlord/Shaper Influence
    • Anoint Watchtowers: Indigo, Silver, Silver
    Exact Target Numbers:
    • Prefix: 2% increased Damage per 15 Strength.
    • Suffix 1: 26% increased Strength.
    • Suffix 2: 19% increased Attributes.
    These are final displayed values after Simplex Amulet explicit-magnitude doubling and Intrinsic Catalysts.
    Crucial Warning: Dropping Astramentis causes severe Intelligence loss. You must secure high Intelligence modifiers on your rings before equipping this.
  • •
    Ring 2: Kalandra's Touch.
  • •
    Belt: Mageblood.

🧪 Flask Setup (Mageblood)

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask — Instant Recovery, Immunity to Corrupted Blood.
  • •
    Utility 1: Topaz Flask — boosts Lightning Resistance and Maximum Lightning Resistance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Sapphire Flask — boosts Cold Resistance and Maximum Cold Resistance.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask — boosts Movement Speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Quartz Flask — grants Phasing and Spell Suppression.
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Enchant: Enkindling Orbs for 68–70% increased effect.
  • •
    Prefix: 25% Increased Effect.
  • •
    Suffixes: One of each across magic flasks: % Armour, % Crit Chance, % Evasion, % Additional Elemental Resistances.
  • •
    Warning: Flask suffixes do not stack! If you activate multiple flasks with the same suffix, only the highest value applies. Ensure each magic flask has a unique suffix.

💎 Jewels

  • •
    Unique: 1x The Light of Meaning (4% Chaos Res.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Watcher's Eye (Evade with Grace.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Lethal Pride (5% Strength or +20 Strength nodes.)
  • •
    Unique: 2× Split Personality (+5 Str, +40 Accuracy.)
  • •
    Rare: 1x Large Cluster Jewel (12 Passives)
    • Base: 10% increased Spell Damage.
    • Priority mods: Exactly 35% Increased Effect, +8 Strength (T1), and +4 All Attributes (T1).
  • •
    Rare: 1x Medium Cluster Jewel (Totem Damage). 4 passives
    • Mandatory: Sleepless Sentries (Onslaught).
    • Secondary: Ancestral Reach.
    Note: 5 passives are fine on 2-notable clusters.
  • •
    Rare: 1x Medium Cluster Jewel (Projectile Damage). 4 passives
    • Mandatory: Aerodynamics (+1 Pierce).
    • Secondary: Shrieking Bolts.
    Note: 5 passives are fine on 2-notable clusters.
  • •
    Unique: 1x Emperor's Mastery.
    •Rare (Lower Alternative): 1x Strength Jewel (% Life, flat Str, Res.)
  • •
    Unique: 1x Bound by Destiny (Replaces Rain of Splinters; requires 2× Warlord items.)

🟡 Rare Gear

💡 Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Ring 1: Helical Ring (Target 190-200+ Pseudo-Strength and +30 to +40 All Attributes.)
    • Usually better to buy a failed craft than craft it yourself; material costs are high.
    • Best brick is negative Critical Strike Multiplier because Maligaro's Virtuosity ignores it.
    • Copy it with Kalandra's Touch in ring slot 2.
  • •
    Quiver: Penetrating Arrow Quiver
    Meet the General Baseline above. Nice to Have: % increased Attack Speed, % increased Damage with Bow Skills.
    Note: Warlord influence cannot be applied to fractured items.
    Craft (Choose One Path):
    • Choice A: Version 1 — Fractured +1 Arrow (easier; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice B: Version 2 — Non-fractured ilvl 82+ (budget; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice C: Version 3 — Warlord influence (Bound by Destiny; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice D: Version 4 — Fractured +2 Pierce (min-max; see Quiver Crafting).
    • Choice F: Version 5 — Synthesised Quiver (mirror-tier; see Quiver Crafting).

📈 Rare Gear Stat Priorities

General Baseline (All Rares)
80+ maximum life 60%+ elemental resistances 51+ strength
Note: Helical Ring is excluded from this baseline.
Synthesised Rings
Implicit: 6% Increased Strength or +18 to 20 Flat Strength.
Warning: Avoid Bone and Unset Ring bases. Secure 50+ Intelligence on rings before swapping Astramentis for Eyes of the Greatwolf or a Simplex Amulet.
Synthesised Belt
Implicit: 13% to 15% Increased Strength.
Warning: Confirm the implicit is natively 13–15% before catalysts—lower rolls are often masked.
Penetrating Arrow Quiver
Mandatory: Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow Choose one of the 5 specific crafting paths listed in The Quiver Crafting section.
Nice to Have: % increased Attack Speed, % increased Damage with Bow Skills.
Warning: Warlord influence cannot be applied to fractured items.
Helical Ring (Stage 3 Endgame)
Explicit: 200+ Pseudo-Strength, 30+ to All Attributes.
Buy target: 190-200+ Pseudo-Strength and +30 to +40 All Attributes. Usually buy failed crafts instead of crafting; materials are expensive.
Best brick: Negative Critical Strike Multiplier; Maligaro's Virtuosity ignores it. Negative Life Recoup is also fine.
Copy: Use Kalandra's Touch in ring slot 2. Avoid negative Strength, Intelligence, or Life.

💡 Stage 3: Endgame Min-Max — Phase Notes

  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Extra Totem: Ensure your Shrapnel Ballista gem stays at Level 22+ to keep your extra totem.
  • •
    Frenzy: Manually cast Frenzy on bosses to generate charges and apply curses. We use Lifetap instead of Manaforged Arrows so the build can ignore brutal map and altar modifiers for massive quality of life.
  • •
    Horticrafting Enchants: Use the Harvest bench for the following:
    • Body Armour: +1 to Strength per 2% Quality.
    • Bow (DPS): 1% increased Attack Speed per 8% Quality.
    • Bow (Accuracy): 1% increased Accuracy Rating per 2% Quality.
  • •
    Imbued Gems: Use a green Coin of Skill on an uncorrupted 20/20 Shrapnel Ballista gem. Top imbues: Withering Touch, Greater Multiple Projectiles, or Returning Projectiles.
  • •
    Fixing Intelligence: Dropping Astramentis lowers your Intelligence. Recover it back by using any of the following:
    • +# to All Attributes on your Large Cluster Jewels.
    • Using a Split Personality with Strength/Intelligence (ensure you have capped hit rate).
    • Direct Intelligence rolls on your Rings and Rare Synthesised Belt (if you haven't swapped to Mageblood yet).
  • •
    Scaling: Replica Iron Commander grants +1 maximum totem per 200 Strength.
  • •
    Shotgunning: Place totems directly on top of bosses to shotgun projectiles and trigger Point Blank.

TL;DR Crafting and Notes Quick Reference

Pre-craft, quality & upkeep Harvest · Catalysts · Mana

🌿 Horticrafting (Harvest bench)

  • •
    Horticrafting Enchants:
    • Body Armour: +1 to Strength per 2% Quality.
    • Bow (DPS Focus): 1% increased Attack Speed per 8% Quality.
    • Bow (Accuracy Focus): 1% increased Accuracy Rating per 2% Quality.

⚙️ Catalysts & combat upkeep

  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to jewelry and belts for 20% catalyst quality.
  • •
    Mana Setup: Use Lifetap on Frenzy instead of Manaforged Arrows to ignore brutal map/altar modifiers like "No Regen". Manually cast Frenzy on bosses to generate charges and apply curses.
  • •
    Placement: Place totems directly on top of bosses to shotgun projectiles and trigger Point Blank.

📌 Crafting reminders

  • •
    Synthesised Bases: Check roll ranges carefully. Ensure belt implicits are natively 13–15% increased Strength before buying or catalysting. Avoid Bone and Unset rings.
  • •
    Illegal Combinations: Be aware of illegal item combinations. Some influence combos are forbidden by GGG in the coding:
    • Influenced items cannot be fractured.
    • Synthesis items cannot be influenced.
    • Influenced items cannot be split.
      • But Split items can become Influenced items.
  • •
    Item Acquisition: Rare equipment can also be acquired from trade or the Breach Genesis tree using Provisioning Wombgifts.

The Quiver Crafting Five paths · Pierce goals

Quiver Crafting & Pierce: Shrapnel Ballista has no built-in pierce. Target +2 Pierce total (quiver + tree). Five paths below—Version 1 fractured +1 Arrow, Version 2 budget 3.27 Matron pipeline, Version 3 Warlord for Bound by Destiny, Version 4 +2 Pierce fractured, Version 5 synthesised mirror push.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Crafting Walkthroughs

🏹 Quiver crafting Five versions

Pick one path. Accent colors match Versions 1–5.

Version 1: Fractured "+1 Arrow" Quiver (Easier)

Base: Penetrating Arrow Quiver with fractured "Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow".

  1. Spam Deafening Essence of Rage to guarantee Strength.
  2. Stop when hitting high Life and Resistances.
Warning: Fractured items cannot be influenced. Do not slam a Warlord's Exalted Orb here.
Version 2: Regular Quiver

Base: Non-fractured ilvl 82+ Penetrating Arrow Quiver (ilvl 86+ for T1 Bow Damage.)

  1. Spam Deafening Essence of Rage until "Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow".
  2. Ensure a 3rd suffix remains.
  3. Use a Wild Bristle Matron beast craft to add "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed".
  4. Use an Orb of Scouring to clean prefixes.
  5. Slam 2× Exalted Orbs, fishing for Life. Flat elemental or physical attack prefixes do not matter (Replica Alberon's Warpath).
  6. If the Life tier is bad, repeat Steps 3 through 5.
  7. Bench craft Attack Speed, flat All Attributes, Armour and Evasion, or Chaos Damage to Attacks.
Bench compare: Matron suffix lock replaces the old expensive bench metamod for 3.27.
Version 3: Warlord Influenced Quiver (Bound by Destiny)
Video: Bound by Destiny quiver craft by Love86.

Base: Non-fractured ilvl 82+ Penetrating Arrow Quiver.

  1. Spam Deafening Essence of Rage until "Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow".
  2. Ensure a 3rd suffix remains.
  3. Use a Wild Bristle Matron beast craft to add "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed".
  4. Use an Orb of Scouring to clean prefixes.
  5. Slam 2× Exalted Orbs, fishing for Life. Flat elemental or physical attack prefixes do not matter (Replica Alberon's Warpath).
  6. Ensure you have an open affix. Slam a Warlord's Exalted Orb to add Warlord influence (enables Bound by Destiny).
  7. Bench craft Attack Speed, flat All Attributes, Armour and Evasion, or Chaos Damage to Attacks.
Version 4: +2 Pierce Fractured Quiver (Min-Max)
Video: +2 Pierce fractured quiver craft by Love86.

Base: Penetrating Arrow Quiver (ilvl 86+ for top Bow Damage.)

  1. Spam Essence of Insanity for +2 Pierce.
  2. Use a Fracturing Orb to permanently lock the +2 Pierce modifier.
  3. Spam Deafening Essence of Rage until hitting "Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow".
  4. Use an Orb of Annulment on any 3rd suffix to isolate the fractured Pierce, Strength, and +1 Arrow.
  5. Bench "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed" and use an Orb of Scouring.
  6. Bench "Cannot Roll Attack Modifiers".
  7. Slam 2× Foulborn Exalted Orbs. Guarantees Maximum Life and Damage with Bow Skills.
  8. Remove the crafted metamod. Bench craft Attack Speed, flat All Attributes, Armour and Evasion, or Chaos Damage to Attacks.
Warning: Fractured items cannot be influenced. Warlord's Exalted Orbs cannot be applied here.
Version 5: Synthesised Quiver (True Mirror-Tier Min-Max)

Base: Synthesised Quiver.

Estimated Cost: 2–3 Mirrors of Kalandra. Vivid Vultures are the biggest sink at roughly 2–5 Divines each; Craicic Chimeral imprints are roughly 0.5–1 Divine each; Foulborn Exalted Orbs are roughly 3–5 Divines each. Do not craft this yourself—the low odds make costs spiral fast. Watch POEGuy crafting a mirror-tier quiver on stream for Patch 3.28 (4/2/2026) to see how quickly the currency disappears. Buy a Mirror of Kalandra and mirror an existing quiver instead.
  1. Use Craicic Chimeral beasts to create magic imprints.
  2. Use Vivid Vulture beasts to reroll synthesis implicits. Restore the imprint if you roll over a keeper. Repeat until you hit 5% increased Strength, +20 to Strength, and Arrows Pierce 3 additional targets.
  3. Spam Deafening Essence of Rage until "Bow Attacks fire an Additional Arrow".
  4. Use an Orb of Annulment on any 3rd suffix.
  5. Bench "Suffixes Cannot Be Changed" and use an Orb of Scouring.
  6. Bench "Cannot Roll Attack Modifiers".
  7. Slam 2× Foulborn Exalted Orbs.
  8. Remove the crafted metamod. Bench craft Attack Speed, flat All Attributes, Armour and Evasion, or Chaos Damage to Attacks.

Jewelry Crafting Synth rings · belt · Simplex

Shrapnel Crafting (Strength): Spam Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Rage to guarantee high flat Strength on rares. (Note: Essences above Screaming can reroll existing rare items).

Jewelry crafting video timestamp — just a rehash of the information present in the main video guide by POEGuy.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Crafting Walkthroughs

Ring Crafting
  1. Base: Synthesised Ring with 6% increased Strength or +18–20 flat Strength implicit. Never buy Bone or Unset rings.
  2. Verify: Confirm the synthesised implicit range is real (6% Strength or +18–20 flat Strength) before paying a premium—bad implicits are sometimes masked by catalysts.
  3. Prep: Apply 20× Intrinsic Catalysts directly on the item for 20% catalyst quality and max attribute scaling (Magic/Rare is fine).
  4. Roll: Spam Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Rage to upgrade or reroll it, guaranteeing high flat Strength. (Essences above Screaming will reroll rare items without needing to scour them first).
  5. Target: Keep rolling until you see strong Maximum Life and at least one solid Elemental Resistance; bench later for gaps.
  6. Bench: Craft whichever suffix/prefix is missing (Life or a resistance type). Use Harvest benches later if resistances skew wrong.
  7. Finish: With one open affix, slam an Exalted Orb if you still need a last mod—avoid if you risk bricking a nearly-perfect ring.
Belt Crafting
  1. Base: Synthesised Belt with % Strength implicit. Ensure it has exactly 0 catalysts applied when buying to avoid scams.
  2. Verify: Confirm the belt implicit is natively 13–15% Increased Strength before catalysts.
  3. Prep: Apply 20× Intrinsic Catalysts directly on the item for 20% catalyst quality (Magic/Rare is fine).
  4. Roll: Spam Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Rage to upgrade or reroll it, guaranteeing Tier 1 flat Strength. (Essences above Screaming will reroll rare items without needing to scour them first).
  5. Target: Stop when you hit high Maximum Life and solid Resistances.
  6. Finish: Bench-craft missing stats and use an Exalted Orb to slam the last open affix. Use Harvest to swap resistance types if they become unbalanced.
Helical Ring Buying
  1. Buy, don't craft: Usually buy failed Helical Ring crafts; material costs and RNG are brutal.
    • High entry cost: Helical Ring bases, Intrinsic Catalysts, Divine Orbs, and Reflecting Mist attempts add up fast.
    • RNG tax: Hitting high Strength plus All Attributes with acceptable downsides can burn huge currency; misting can flip those stats negative.
    • Market upside: Other builds dump negative Critical Strike Multiplier failures; this build ignores that mod.
  2. Target: 190-200+ Pseudo-Strength and +30 to +40 All Attributes.
  3. Best bricks: Negative Critical Strike Multiplier (Maligaro's Virtuosity ignores it) or negative Life Recoup.
  4. Finish: Copy it with Kalandra's Touch. Avoid negative Strength, Intelligence, or Life.
Simplex Amulet Crafting (3.28 Recombinator Method)
Credit: Credit to @scimitar4323 for commenting on SpicySushi’s Simplex Crafting Video with the typed-out process. And as always watch the video to see how its made with visuals.
Warning: Dropping Astramentis causes severe Intelligence loss. Secure 50+ Intelligence on rare rings or cluster jewels before equipping this amulet.
• Tools/Methods used for the craft:
  • Essence
  • Harvest Horticrafting Station (Make sure to do a harvest encounter to unlock)
  • Einhar’s Menagerie for Beast Crafting
  • Orb of Alteration Spamming
  • Recombination

Simplex Base Making:

  1. Buy a split non-influenced Simplex Amulet
  2. Use a Shaper's Exalted Orb on the Simplex Amulet
  3. Imprint to preserve the base using Craicic Chimeral at the Menagerie (Must be white)
  4. Essence of Contempt spam until % increased Attributes suffix, Make sure it's the only Shaper mod on it
    • Essence of Contempt helps to fish out suffixes since it guarantees a prefix filling in the only prefix slot.
    • You can also use other Essences as long as they guarantee a prefix and is cheap
      • Other Essences you can use are the following: Essence of Woe, Essence of Torment, Essence of Suffering, Essence of Anguish, Essence of Doubt, Essence of Dread.

Sacrifice Warlord Amulet:

  1. Buy an iLvl 80+ non-influenced amulet
  2. Use an Elder's Exalted Orb on the non-influenced amulet
  3. Use Harvest Horticrafting Station Reforge Influence into Warlord
  4. Orb of Alteration spam until % increased Damage per 15 Strength; make sure it's the only Warlord mod on it.
  5. Use an Awakener's Orb by first right clicking orb then left clicking the Warlord non- Simplex Amulet and finally left clicking Simplex Amulet
  6. Now we have a double influenced Shaper/Warlord Simplex Amulet with the following
    • Prefix: % increased Damage per 15 Strength
    • Suffix: % increased Attributes
    • Suffix: random suffix
  7. Use an Orb of Annulment (1/3 chance) to remove the random suffix
    • if fail then apply imprint then go back to Menagerie to remake a new imprint and start from step 4
  8. Use a Divine Orb for 9% increased Attributes

Astrolabe Amulet

  1. buy iLvl 84+ Astrolabe Amulet:
  2. Orb of Alteration spam until T1 % increased Strength
    • if it's the only mod then use Wild Bristle Matron at the Menagerie for Suffixes Cannot Be Changed
    • if it has another mod on it then annul 50/50, if fail -> back to alt spamming
  3. Imprint to preserve the base using Craicic Chimeral at the Menagerie (Must be magic)
  4. Then use a Regal Orb to hopefully hit a random non-native (i.e non-Warlord , non-Shaper ) influenced mod such as Hunter/Elder/Redeemer/Crusader.
    • You can check by pressing “Alt” in game and looking for Suffix/Prefix modifier “Of the X”
    • Example of non-native: #% increased Damage per Power Charge from Crusader.
  5. Reforge Chaos on Harvest Horticrafting Station. You are looking to hopefully hit an Elder or Hunter suffix
    • if item has filled suffix with Warlord mod + two non-native influenced mods Then suffixes are complete
    • Otherwise, re-imprint and go again, This might take multiple imprints
  6. With suffixes complete we can Wild Bristle Matron for Suffixes Cannot Be Changed
    • Reforge Influence on Harvest Horticrafting Station to hit a non-native prefix
  7. if item has only one non-native prefix mod means you are done with the crafting
  8. Use a Divine Orb for 12% increased Strength

Recombination:

  1. Merge: Combine the prepared Simplex Amulet and Astrolabe Amulet in the Recombinator.
  2. ???
  3. Hope you hit the 50-50
    • Else restart the craft.

Cluster Jewel Crafting Large spell · Medium totem · Medium projectile

🛠️ Step-by-Step Crafting Walkthroughs

Medium Cluster — Totem Damage
  1. Base: Medium Cluster Jewel with Totem Damage enchant—ilvl 68+, 4 passives (5 is fine on 2-notable clusters; ilvl 68-74 keeps the pool cleaner).
  2. Method: Spam Orbs of Alteration and Orbs of Augmentation until you hit Sleepless Sentries.
  3. Target: Use a Regal Orb. Try to hit Ancestral Reach.
  4. Trade: Searching by notable names is usually fastest.
Medium Cluster — Projectile Damage
  1. Base: Medium Cluster Jewel with Projectile Damage enchant—4 passives (5 is fine on 2-notable clusters).
  2. Method: Spam Orbs of Alteration and Orbs of Augmentation until you hit Aerodynamics.
  3. Target: Use a Regal Orb. Try to hit Shrieking Bolts.
  4. Trade: Buying a listed jewel is often fastest.
Large Cluster Jewel (Strength Stacking)
Small passives grant 10% increased Spell Damage — scales through Iron Will + Crown of Eyes. See 💎 Jewels in each phase for 11 vs 12 passive targets and tier goals.
Base Required: ilvl 84+, 11 or 12 passives, Added Small Passive Skills grant: 10% increased Spell Damage.
Tier note: These are target modifier value brackets for buying, rolling, or fracturing the jewel. Tier 1 is best; Tier 2 is the budget fallback.
Trade check: Always price-check finished or near-finished listed jewels before crafting; buying can be cheaper than forcing bases, fractures, and failed attempts.
Using a Pre-Fractured Cluster Jewel Base
  • Tier 1 targets to use: 35% Increased Effect, +8 Strength, or +4 All Attributes.
  • Tier 2 targets to use: 25% Increased Effect, +6–7 Strength, or +3 All Attributes.
  1. Buy at least 3 bases with one target pre-fractured, or self-fracture if Fracturing Orbs are cheap.
    • Base Note: Keep backups ready. If one craft becomes a dud, move to the next base.
  2. Spam Orbs of Alteration for the missing partner:
    • % Effect if +Strength is fractured.
    • +Strength if % Effect is fractured.
    • Profit Note: If you hit 25–35% Effect with another useful attribute like T1/T2 Intelligence, price-check it. Sell if valuable; otherwise keep rolling.
  3. Use an Orb of Augmentation, then a Regal Orb.
  4. Fill open affixes with Exalted Orbs. Bad hit? Scour and restart.
Clean Base
  • Tier 1 targets: 35% Increased Effect, +8 Strength, or +4 All Attributes.
  • Tier 2 targets: 25% Increased Effect, +6–7 Strength, or +3 All Attributes.
  1. Buy at least 3 clean bases. Spam Orbs of Alteration until a Tier 1 or Tier 2 target.
    • Base Note: Backup bases keep the craft moving if a fracture misses.
    • Profit Note: If you hit 25–35% Effect with another useful attribute like T1/T2 Intelligence, price-check it. Sell if valuable; otherwise keep rolling.
  2. Use an Orb of Augmentation, then a Regal Orb.
  3. Fill open affixes with Exalted Orbs, or stop here if skipping fracture.
  4. Optional: At exactly 4 modifiers, use a Fracturing Orb for a 1 in 4 hit.
  5. If it hits, finish like a fractured base. If it misses, start over.