Path of Exile is one of the most complex and rewarding action RPGs, offering players countless ways to customize their characters and builds. Among the many options available, the Kingsmarch build stands out for its high damage potential, mobility, and Path of exile currency in both clearing maps and taking down bosses. This guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough on creating an effective Kingsmarch build, including skill selection, passive tree planning, gear choices, playstyle tips, and advanced strategies.
Understanding the Kingsmarch Build
The Kingsmarch build is primarily a melee-focused attack build that balances speed, damage, and survivability. It is designed to excel in both clearing large groups of monsters and taking on tough bosses in endgame content. The core strengths of this build revolve around high attack speed, mobility to avoid damage, and life sustain through leech and defensive layers.
While the build can be adapted to several classes, it is most commonly associated with the Duelist, particularly the Slayer and Gladiator ascendancies. These classes naturally synergize with melee combat, providing bonuses to damage, leech, and defense that make Kingsmarch highly effective. However, other classes such as Marauder or Ranger can also be adapted for hybrid versions of the build.
Choosing the Right Class and Ascendancy
Duelist
The Duelist is the most popular choice for Kingsmarch due to its innate bonuses to melee damage and attack speed. Within this class, two ascendancies stand out:
Slayer: This ascendancy is ideal for players who prioritize life leech and sustain. Slayer’s overleech mechanic allows the player to recover life from high-damage hits quickly, which is particularly useful in boss fights or high-density map clears. Slayer also provides bonuses to critical strike damage, which can amplify your overall DPS if combined with crit-focused skills.
Gladiator: Gladiator shines for players who enjoy bleed-based effects, crowd control, and tankiness. This ascendancy grants bonuses to Fortify, bleeding effects, and block mechanics, making it suitable for more defensive playstyles while still maintaining strong melee damage.
Other classes like Marauder can work for high-health, tanky builds, and Ranger can be adapted for dual-wield Kingsmarch builds, although the synergy may not be as natural as with Duelist.
Key Skills for Kingsmarch
A successful Kingsmarch build relies on a combination of main attack skills, mobility skills, and utility skills. Proper selection ensures both high damage output and survivability.
Main Attack Skills
Cyclone: Cyclone is one of the most popular choices for Kingsmarch because it allows the player to move while attacking. This skill provides consistent AoE damage and pairs well with dual-wielding or two-handed weapons, maximizing DPS while maintaining mobility.
Ground Slam: Ground Slam offers excellent area-of-effect damage and knockback, making it ideal for clearing packs of enemies efficiently. It also benefits from melee physical damage and increased area nodes on the passive tree.
Double Strike: Often used in early game progression, Double Strike provides high single-target damage and scales well with crit-focused builds.
Mobility Skills
Leap Slam: Essential for quickly positioning during fights or escaping dangerous mechanics. Leap Slam synergizes well with movement speed modifiers and attack speed nodes.
Whirling Blades: Offers quick traversal through maps and effective dodging in dense packs, especially useful for melee characters who need to avoid being surrounded.
Utility Skills
Blood Rage: Increases attack speed and grants life leech, which is crucial for sustain during continuous combat.
Fortify (via Gladiator or Champion ascendancy): Reduces incoming damage from hits, enhancing survivability during boss fights or high-damage encounters.
Auras: Auras such as Pride or Determination can significantly boost damage or defense, depending on your build focus.
Passive Skill Tree Planning
The passive skill tree is where Kingsmarch truly comes to life. Players must balance damage, attack speed, and survivability to create a well-rounded character.
Damage Nodes
For damage scaling, focus on melee-specific nodes such as physical damage, area damage, and critical strike chance and multiplier if playing a crit-based build. Increasing area of effect is also recommended for skills like Cyclone and Ground Slam to efficiently clear monster packs.
Attack Speed Nodes
Fast attack speed is vital for maximizing DPS. Nodes that enhance weapon speed and dual-wielding efficiency are particularly valuable. Dual-wielding adds more hits per second, synergizing with leech and overleech mechanics.
Survivability Nodes
Survivability ensures the build can handle high-end content. Key areas include life, life leech, evasion, armor, and Fortify effect nodes. Balancing these nodes with damage nodes is critical; too much damage without sustain will result in frequent deaths, while too much survivability may slow map clearing.
Gear Recommendations
Selecting the right gear is crucial to achieving the full potential of the Kingsmarch build. Melee-focused builds require attention to weapons, defensive gear, and accessories.
Weapons
Two-Handed Swords or Axes: Provide high base damage, ideal for Cyclone or Ground Slam.
Dual-Wield Swords or Maces: Increase attack speed and synergize with dual-wield nodes on the passive tree.
Unique Weapons: Certain uniques like Starforge or Lioneye’s Glare enhance damage or survivability and can define your build’s playstyle.
Armor
Chest: Prioritize life, resistances, and bonuses from Fortify.
Helmet: Focus on added life, critical strike enhancements, or resistances depending on your build.
Gloves and Boots: Life, attack speed, and resistances are key, while movement speed on boots boosts mobility.
Accessories
Rings and Amulets: Provide physical damage, elemental resistances, life bonuses, and critical strike modifiers.
Belt: Stygian Vise belts with life, resistances, and an Abyssal socket are ideal for customization and stat optimization.
Playstyle Tips
The Kingsmarch build requires a balance of offense and defense. Here are some practical tips:
Use Mobility Proactively: Leap Slam and Whirling Blades are not only for movement between packs but for avoiding dangerous attacks and repositioning during fights.
Maintain Fortify Buffs: Defensive buffs such as Fortify can drastically reduce damage taken, making it easier to sustain through tough encounters.
Stack Life Leech: Sustain is critical, especially in high-density maps or boss fights. Life leech keeps your health topped off without constant flask usage.
Adapt to Map Mods: Some maps introduce modifiers that can significantly alter combat dynamics. Adjust your positioning, flasks, and skill usage accordingly.
Pros and Cons of Kingsmarch Builds
Pros
High Map Clearing Speed: Excellent area-of-effect damage allows for rapid clearing.
Strong Single-Target Damage: Effective against bosses when properly geared.
Flexible Playstyle: Can be crit or non-crit, dual-wield or two-handed.
Good Sustain: Life leech and Fortify provide survivability.
Cons
Exposure to Damage: Melee builds are inherently closer to enemies, increasing risk.
Gear Dependence: High-end performance relies on obtaining optimal weapons and armor.
Skill Complexity: Properly balancing mobility, attack timing, and defensive layers can be challenging.
Advanced Tips
For experienced players, further optimization can enhance the Kingsmarch build:
Ascendancy Optimization: Maximize bonuses that enhance your preferred playstyle—Slayer for leech and crit, Gladiator for bleed and crowd control.
Support Gems: Pair your main skill with support gems like Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike, or Increased Area of Effect for maximum efficiency.
Flasks: Use flasks strategically—Life flasks for survival, utility flasks for status ailments, and Quicksilver Flasks for mobility.
Crafting: Enhance weapons and armor with high physical damage, attack speed, and life to improve performance in endgame content.
Conclusion
The Kingsmarch build in Path of Exile offers a high-damage, fast-paced, and versatile melee experience. With proper skill selection, passive tree optimization, and gear choices, the build excels at both clearing maps and tackling bosses. Its combination of mobility, sustain, and damage makes it a favorite for melee enthusiasts seeking an engaging playstyle.
While the build requires careful planning, attention to gear, and mastery of movement and attack timing, it rewards players with a dynamic and powerful approach to combat in Wraeclast. Whether you prefer crit-focused burst damage or consistent non-crit output, Kingsmarch provides a strong framework adaptable to multiple playstyles, making it an excellent choice for both newcomers and veteran players alike.
Mastering Kingsmarch ensures a fun, efficient, and powerful experience in Path of Exile, allowing you to dominate content from early maps to buy POE chaos orbs with confidence.
