PoE Sanity

🐻 NEW Spirit Walker HUNTRESS Ascendancy Is INTERESTING! | Path of Exile: Return of the Ancients 0.5

By JorgenWatch videoDuration: PT14M3S

Summary

  • Overview of the new Spirit Walker Huntress Ascendancy focused on animal spirits and companion summoning.
  • Breakdown of the three spirit paths: Stag (Vivid), Owl (Primal), and Bear (Wild).
  • Detailed mechanics of the “Sacred Wisps” hidden power and its offensive and defensive buffs.
  • Analysis of the “Idolatry” node and its scaling with idol equipment.
  • The Beast Taming mechanic, allowing players to use unique bosses like Silverfist as companions.
  • Synergies with unique items such as the Silvian Effigy and wolf pack mechanics.

Spirit Walker Fundamentals

The Spirit Walker is a Huntress (Amazon) class ascendancy with an affinity for Asmerian animal spirits. It allows you to infuse the power of multiple spirits based on three wisp types: Primal, Vivid, and Wild.

The core mechanics revolve around gaining and expending wisps:

  • Vivid (Stag): Gain a Vivid wisp every 20 meters moved (maximum of 3). These are used to trigger a Vivid Stampede.
  • Primal (Owl): Gain an owl feather every four seconds (maximum of 3). Expend feathers when dodging to trigger Primal Bounty.
  • Wild (Bear): Summons a permanent bear companion.

Animal Spirit Mechanics and Scaling

Each spirit offers specific combat utility and stat conversions:

  1. The Stag (Vivid):

    • Converts 60% of physical damage to lightning damage.
    • Compatible with any martial weapon.
    • Allows for high conversion damage if using a high physical damage weapon.
    • Triggers leaps and stampede-style attacks similar to the Warrior class.

  2. The Owl (Primal):

    • Grants boons in the form of feathers.
    • Adds extra projectiles and enhances projectile speed for the next skill used.
    • Specialization allows dodging to expend three feathers for a 100% empowered Primal Bounty effect.

  3. The Bear (Wild):

    • Minions deal 20% more damage and have 20% more maximum life.
    • The Bear Spirit does not count toward the companion limit.
    • Abilities: Leaps at enemies to maim, leeches life with slams, and roars to intimidate (reducing inbound damage and increasing damage taken by enemies).

Sacred Wisps: The Hidden Power

If you combine all three spirit paths, you unlock a free hidden ascendancy node: The Power of the Sacred Wisps. This node enhances the quality of all three spirit animals and provides massive stat scaling:

  • Companion Damage: Companions deal additional damage equal to 60% of your main-hand weapon damage. This allows you to pass high spear or sceptre damage directly to your companions.
  • Bear Enhancements: The bear gains “Embrace of the Wild,” causing it to take 8% of the damage intended for the player. It also grants 2% maximum life regeneration per second.
  • Stag Enhancements: Stags become more aggressive and leap toward enemies more frequently.
  • Owl Enhancements: Empowered skills leave Soaring Ground, which grants 30% increased evasion rating and 40% increased damage to the player and allies while at full life.

Idolatry and Equipment Scaling

The Idolatry node incentivizes stacking idols in your equipment slots to buff companions:

  • Gains:
    • 10% increased companion damage per idol.
    • 2% increased reservation efficiency of skills per idol.
  • Drawbacks:
    • -4% to all elemental resistances per non-idol augment in your equipment.
    • Note: The resistance penalty can be mitigated through new crafting methods, making the massive damage and reservation buffs highly efficient for companion-heavy builds.

Taming Beast Bosses

The Spirit Walker can tame unique beast-tagged bosses to serve as trusted companions. Based on stat comparisons, some bosses stand out:

  • Silverfist: High HP and the highest percentage damage scaling (approx. 460%). It features fast mobility and a long attack distance.
  • Crobel: Features extremely high attack speed.
  • Raka, the Frozen Talon: A giant frozen Owlbear.
  • Three-headed Chimeral: Found in the Chimeral Wetlands.

Unique Item Synergies: Silvian Effigy

The Silvian Effigy (Stave Sceptre) is a high-synergy item for this ascendancy:

  1. Grants Level 20 Asmeri Wolf companion.
  2. Allows any number of companions of different types to be active simultaneously.
  3. Grants Level 20 Discipline aura for increased spirit.
  4. Allies in your presence regenerate a high amount of life.
  5. Combo Potential: By using the Silvian Effigy, the Spirit Aura, and the Spirit Walker nodes, you can maintain a “Wolf Pack” to mitigate damage, a Silverfist boss for heavy hits, and a gorilla army for supplemental damage.

Key References