Lacerate Gladiator Necropolis 3.24 Guide

Build Overview

Welcome to the WowCarry's guide for the Lacerate Gladiator build, tailored specifically for newcomers to the vast world of Path of Exile (PoE) and its latest expansion, Necropolis. Designed with clarity and ease of play in mind, this guide aims to smoothly guide new players through the early stages of the game, covering the initial two void stones. However, it's important to note that this build has its limitations and is not optimized for pushing into the more challenging endgame content. Veterans seeking a league starter may find they need to adjust and enhance the build to suit more advanced content.

Focusing on the Lacerate skill, this guide highlights its potential as an underappreciated gem within the PoE community. Unlike the more popular Cyclone, Lacerate achieves remarkable effectiveness with minimal gear investment, offering a distinctive playstyle characterized by its range and the combination of direct hits and bleed effects for damage. Its capability to clear enemies from a distance is reminiscent of the classic Vaal Reave builds, providing both formidable offense and solid defense.

The build's versatility is further enhanced by the Blood and Sand and Flesh and Stone skills, which augment Lacerate by allowing players to switch between modes tailored for either increased area coverage or enhanced single-target damage. This dynamic flexibility ensures that players can maintain efficient clearing speeds without compromising boss fighting capabilities.

Despite recent changes limiting its scalability into the late game, the Lacerate Gladiator build remains a compelling choice for those drawn to its unique mechanics and playstyle. Notably, the build requires no specific high-value items to get started. However, two items warrant special mention for their significant impact on the build's performance: Jack, the Axe, for its unparalleled efficiency with bleed effects, and Ryslatha's Coil, for its essential role in maximizing bleed damage. While the former is easily acquired, the latter may require a more substantial investment but is deemed crucial for optimizing the build's potential.

Pros and Cons

This segment of our guide for the Lacerate Gladiator build in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion, presented by WowCarry, outlines the key advantages and limitations of opting for this build. The Pros emphasize its user-friendly nature, making it an excellent choice for beginners looking to experience the game without the stress of acquiring rare items early on. It also highlights the build's adaptability in combat scenarios, thanks to the long reach of Lacerate.

However, it's important for players to be aware of the inherent challenges that come with melee-oriented builds, particularly when navigating high-level content where strategic positioning becomes paramount. Additionally, the reliance on Resolute Technique defines a ceiling on the potential damage output, indicating that while this build is capable of considerable performance, it is not designed for infinite scaling in terms of damage.

Build Main Mechanics

The Lacerate Gladiator build, designed for Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion and presented by WowCarry, boasts a dynamic playstyle that combines straightforward attack mechanics with strategic stance switching to adapt to various combat scenarios. At its core, Lacerate offers a satisfying way to engage enemies, enhanced by the fluid mobility provided by Leap Slam, enabling swift navigation through maps and efficient pack clearing.

Key to maximizing the effectiveness of this build is the Gladiator Ascendancy, which synergizes perfectly with the build's focus on speed and bleed effects. Arena Challenger enhances both movement and attack speed, significantly boosting clearing efficiency. Gratuitous Violence adds a powerful area-of-effect component to bleeding enemies, mirroring the effects of Inpulsa's Broken Heart, but without any item requirement. This synergy not only enhances clear speed but also integrates seamlessly with the build's focus on bleed damage and mobility.

The build's versatility is further highlighted by the Blood and Sand aura, which offers two distinct modes of play: Sand and Blood stances. Sand stance increases the angle and area of Lacerate's attacks, facilitating effortless clearing. On the other hand, Blood stance narrows the focus but significantly amplifies damage output, making it ideal for boss encounters and tougher enemies. While the build initially benefits from a predominance of Blood stance to leverage the significant damage bonus to bleeding, players are encouraged to adapt their stance based on the situation, switching to Sand stance for general mob clearing once their damage output is sufficiently optimized.

This approach ensures that the Lacerate Gladiator remains both engaging and versatile, capable of adapting to a variety of playstyles and challenges within the game. With thoughtful management of stances and a focus on mobility and bleed damage, players can enjoy a rewarding experience that balances smooth clearing with potent boss-fighting capabilities.

PoB, Passives and Gem Links

The foundation of our Lacerate Gladiator guide for Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion is detailed within the Path of Building (PoB), encompassing skill trees, gem linkages, and a primer on gear selection with upgrade potentials. This approach is designed to offer flexibility, allowing players to adapt their builds based on available gear rather than being constrained by strict item requirements. It's an effort by WowCarry to ensure even the newest members of the PoE community can navigate gear choices effectively, avoiding overly narrow trade filter settings and potentially missing out on valuable gear options.

Passive Skill Tree

• The cornerstone of this build is the Resolute Technique keystone, eliminating the ability to critically strike in exchange for a significant boost in damage output. This aligns perfectly with the build's focus on bleed damage, which inherently does not benefit from critical strikes.
• Priority should be given to acquiring bleed-focused nodes, delaying the acquisition of Crimson Dance until you've secured a reliable chance to cause bleeding with Lacerate and have enhanced your attack speed. This strategy bolsters single-target damage in Blood stance and optimizes the benefits from your Ascendancy keystones.
• While jewel sockets are a secondary consideration, they present an opportunity for substantial enhancements if high-quality jewels are available early in your progression.
• For leveling, a Sword&Board approach with an emphasis on early Axe nodes is recommended, though these can be later respecced to favor bleed damage, defense, and utility aspects of the build.

Gems

The gem setups for the Lacerate Gladiator are tailored to complement the build's mechanics, with flexibility in secondary links to adapt to personal playstyle or situational needs. The main skill setup revolves around Lacerate, supported by gems that amplify its damage and utility, while auxiliary setups provide mobility, defense, and additional damage sources.

• Lacerate 6-Link: The core attack setup, with options between Melee Physical Damage Support and Ruthless Support based on personal preference. The recommended setup is Lacerate, Chance to Bleed Support, Brutality Support, Multistrike Support, Lifetap Support, and Melee Physical Damage Support.
• Ancestral Totems 4-Link: Utilizes both Ancestral Warchief and Vaal Ancestral Warchief for increased damage output on tougher bosses, supported by Maim Support and Culling Strike Support.
• Auras 3-Link: Comprises Pride, Determination, and Blood and Sand, essential for boosting physical damage and adapting the skill's functionality.
• Utility 4-Link: Focuses on survival and utility with Lifetap Support, Enduring Cry, Blood Rage, and Molten Shell.
• Leap Slam 3-Link: Provides mobility through Leap Slam, enhanced by Faster Attacks Support and Lifetap Support.
• Reckoning 4-Link: A defensive setup featuring Reckoning, supported by Lifetap Support, Life Gain on Hit Support, and Pulverise Support.
• Vulnerability Application: Early on, Vulnerability is applied through Mark of Submission. Once a curse-on-hit Vulnerability ring is acquired, this gem setup can be adjusted.
• Enduring Cry is recommended to be bound to the left-click action, ensuring it is cast automatically without disrupting movement, thanks to the Call to Arms keystone.

This comprehensive guide to gem links and passive skills sets the stage for building a powerful Lacerate Gladiator, capable of navigating the challenges of Necropolis with confidence.

Ascendancy, Pantheons and Deal with the Bandits

Ascendancy

For the Lacerate Gladiator build in Path of Exile's Necropolis expansion, the Ascendancy choices focus on enhancing both offensive and defensive capabilities. These choices, curated by WowCarry, form the backbone of the build's strength, offering a blend of speed, damage, and survivability.

• Arena Challenger: Boosts movement and attack speed significantly, playing into the build's emphasis on agility and quick strikes.
• Blood in the Eyes: Enhances bleed effects, making enemies suffer more from your attacks and improving overall damage output.
• Gratuitous Violence: Causes bleeding enemies to explode upon death, dealing a portion of their maximum life as physical damage to surrounding enemies. This is akin to having a built-in area of effect damage increase.
• Painforged: Provides additional block chance and damage mitigation, crucial for survivability in tougher encounters.

Bandits

With the Resolute Technique keystone being a cornerstone of this build, the most beneficial choice in dealing with the bandits is to eliminate them all for the two additional passive points. This is universally applicable, although players in Solo Self-Found (SSF), particularly in hardcore (SSFHC), might initially consider aiding Alira for her resistances boost. Nevertheless, it is recommended to respec out of this choice once the build is adequately geared.

Pantheon

• Major Gods: Soul of Arakaali is recommended for its defensive utility against degenerative effects, which are often more problematic than direct damage. Alternatively, Soul of the Brine King offers crucial immunity to freeze effects, enhancing the build's resilience.
• Minor Gods: Soul of Gruthkul provides additional defense against physical damage, while Soul of Abberath mitigates burning ground effects and ignite damage. The choice of minor god is flexible and should be tailored to address the most pressing issues not already solved by gear or flasks.

This section rounds off with guidance on navigating the early game's WildWood campaign, highlighting the importance of the Warden of the Maji for either a significant boost to movement speed or elemental resistances, depending on the build's needs at that stage. As always, adaptation to gear and charm improvements is key as you progress into higher map tiers. Due to the vast array of builds and the ever-evolving meta of Path of Exile, it's impractical to test every interaction for each league. 

Gear

For the Lacerate Gladiator build in PoE's Necropolis, gearing is aimed at optimizing damage output, survivability, and utility. Presented by WowCarry, the following is a curated list of recommended gear to enhance the performance of this build, emphasizing the importance of balance between offensive and defensive attributes.

This gear selection is designed to support the core mechanics of the Lacerate Gladiator, ensuring players can effectively engage in combat while maintaining a strong defense. The combination of these items provides a solid foundation, allowing for further customization and optimization based on individual play style and the challenges of the Necropolis expansion.

Summary

Wrapping up, this Lacerate Gladiator guide for PoE's Necropolis lays out everything you need to slice through your enemies and enjoy a smooth gaming experience. From build basics, gear choices, to detailed skill trees and gem setups, we've covered it all. Remember, this build is perfect for both newcomers looking for an accessible entry into the game and seasoned players in search of a solid league starter. And if you find yourself needing a bit more help or simply want to boost your gameplay, remember that we at WowCarry offer services related to this build. Whether it's a part of the guide you're stuck on or if you're looking to optimize the entire build, we're here to help. Dive into Necropolis with confidence, and let the Lacerate Gladiator lead your way to victory!