MMOEXP-The Boneshatter Juggernaut build in Path of Exile
Path of Exile Boneshatter Juggernaut Build Guide: A Tanky Powerhouse
In the vast world of Path of Exile (PoE), players have the freedom to craft builds that suit various playstyles, from fast and nimble assassins to powerful spellcasters. Among the many options, the Boneshatter Juggernaut build stands out as a tanky powerhouse, providing both exceptional durability and Path of exile currency impressive damage output. This build is ideal for those who enjoy close-quarters combat while being able to survive the harshest of environments. However, like any build in PoE, creating an optimal Boneshatter Juggernaut requires a thorough understanding of the mechanics, gear selection, and how to maximize your damage potential while maintaining near-impenetrable defense.
The Boneshatter skill, in particular, synergizes beautifully with the Juggernaut’s high survivability, creating a unique playstyle where damage is dealt both to the player and enemies. But with the right gear, planning, and effective use of Path of Exile currency for optimization, you can become a fearsome force in the game. In this guide, we’ll break down the core elements of the Boneshatter Juggernaut build, highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, and the essential gear and skills that make this build a formidable choice for any Path of Exile player.
The Juggernaut Class: A Tanky Powerhouse
The Juggernaut is part of the Marauder class in Path of Exile, and it is built around high physical damage resistance, great mobility, and substantial defense. Juggernauts are often described as the "tank" archetype, excelling at soaking up damage while dishing out powerful blows. The Juggernaut’s unique ascendancy nodes—Unflinching, Unflinching Resolve, Unflinching Resilience, and Unflinching Rage—grant massive bonuses to armor, resistance, and stun immunity, allowing players to endure even the most devastating hits while staying in the fight longer.
When combined with the Boneshatter skill, which causes area-of-effect (AoE) damage when an enemy is stunned, the Juggernaut becomes even more powerful. Boneshatter has a unique mechanic: the more trauma you accumulate, the higher the damage dealt. However, this comes at a cost—each trauma stack deals damage to you, making survivability a priority. The Juggernaut's inherent tankiness, with its high armor, health, and resistance boosts, allows it to survive the self-inflicted damage from the trauma stacks while maximizing the damage output of Boneshatter.
With the right gearing, strategy, and management of Path of Exile currency for optimizing the build, the Juggernaut can become a monster capable of clearing high-level content, from endgame bosses to endgame mapping.
Key Gears and Items for the Boneshatter Juggernaut
To unlock the full potential of the Boneshatter Juggernaut, selecting the right equipment is crucial. The following items will enhance the build's damage output, survivability, and overall effectiveness.
Despot Axe (Weapon)
The Despot Axe is a two-handed weapon that dramatically boosts physical damage—up to 60%—and increases accuracy, which is vital for ensuring your attacks consistently hit enemies. Additionally, it enhances your attack speed, providing faster strikes that are essential for applying Boneshatter's trauma stacks. The axe also has a high chance to impale enemies with every hit, increasing your damage output and improving your ability to deal substantial harm over time.
Royal Burgonet (Helmet)
The Royal Burgonet is a powerful helmet that converts 9-10% of the physical damage taken into life, allowing you to recover health when hit, which helps counteract the self-inflicted damage from trauma stacks. It also increases your maximum life and provides elemental resistances—cold, fire, and lightning—making it a key component of your defensive setup.
Devout Chainmail (Body Armor)
Armor is vital for the Boneshatter Juggernaut to survive in Path of Exile's brutal environments. The Devout Chainmail offers an impressive increase to armor and energy shield, providing up to a 250% boost. It also adds chaos resistance and health regeneration, which are vital for sustaining yourself during long fights, especially in high-damage situations like boss battles or difficult maps.
Amethyst Ring
The Amethyst Ring is an excellent item for your Boneshatter Juggernaut, as it provides chaos resistance and a boost to accuracy. The extra life that the ring provides will enhance your survivability, especially when dealing with enemies that deal chaos damage. Chaos resistance is often a bottleneck for many builds, and this ring helps ensure that you're ready for whatever comes your way.
Turquoise Amulet
A Turquoise Amulet is a must-have for the Boneshatter Juggernaut, as it increases your dexterity, which enhances both your accuracy and life. The dexterity bonus ensures that you hit your targets more often, and the life bonus gives you the staying power needed to survive longer encounters, especially when you start stacking trauma.
Tanu Ahi (Gauntlets)
The Tanu Ahi Gauntlets provide an excellent balance between attack speed, armor, and evasion. These gauntlets also offer the ability to convert some of the damage you deal into life, which is crucial for sustaining health in long fights. Additionally, the chance to gain adrenaline or onslaught from these gauntlets boosts your overall combat effectiveness, allowing you to clear enemies faster and become even tankier.
Stygian Vise (Belt)
The Stygian Vise is a powerful belt that provides maximum health and grants crucial chaos and fire resistance. This belt is indispensable for staying alive when facing off against high-damage foes. The additional health boosts your overall tankiness, making it easier to stack trauma without worrying about dying too quickly.
Vaal Greaves (Boots)
The Vaal Greaves offer several crucial defensive bonuses, including reduced shock chances and increased life regeneration. The movement speed bonuses are also essential for repositioning in the heat of battle, making these boots perfect for both offense and defense.
Skill Gems to Pair with Boneshatter
Skill gems are another integral part of any build in Path of Exile, and for the Boneshatter Juggernaut, certain gems synergize perfectly with the build’s playstyle. Here are some key skill gems to consider:
Divergent Boneshatter
The Divergent Boneshatter variant enhances both the AoE (area of effect) and physical damage of Boneshatter, making it even more effective in dealing damage to enemies. While this variant increases the damage you take per trauma stack, the Juggernaut’s tankiness can offset this downside. With the right setup, you can turn the self-inflicted damage into an advantage, allowing you to deal huge amounts of damage while still staying alive.
Ancestral Protector
The Ancestral Protector totem increases your attack speed and provides melee damage to enemies within its area. This totem is great for adding more damage output during boss fights or large packs of enemies. It’s a perfect complement to your Boneshatter build, allowing you to attack faster and hit harder.
Determination
One of the most crucial defensive auras for the Boneshatter Juggernaut, Determination increases your armor and that of your allies. This gem significantly boosts your survivability, especially when facing high-damage enemies or endgame bosses. The aura grants more durability in tough encounters and ensures that you stay on your feet when things get rough.
Phantasmal Leap Slam
For mobility, Phantasmal Leap Slam is an excellent choice. It allows you to escape from dangerous situations, deal damage to enemies, and knock them back. This is a versatile tool for repositioning or escaping tricky situations, making it a great addition to your defensive arsenal.
Cast When Damage Taken
This gem automatically triggers linked spells when you take damage. For the Boneshatter Juggernaut, it’s a great way to ensure that defensive spells, like Immortal Call or Molten Shell, trigger without you needing to manually activate them. This makes surviving in high-damage situations much easier, allowing you to focus on the fight rather than constantly managing your defenses.
Conclusion
The Boneshatter Juggernaut build in Path of Exile is an excellent choice for players who want to tank damage, deal substantial damage, and have fun mastering a unique, high-risk, high-reward playstyle. With the right gear, skill gems, and Path of Exile currency for optimization, the Boneshatter Juggernaut can take on even the most difficult content in the game, from boss fights to high-tier mapping.
By focusing on POE orbs gear that enhances both your tankiness and damage output, along with skill gems that synergize with Boneshatter's mechanics, you can create a juggernaut that excels at dealing