PoE Sanity

Rating the Most Popular League Starters of PoE 0.5

By ds lilyWatch videoDuration: PT15M30S

Summary

  • This evaluation covers popular league starter builds for Path of Exile 0.5, focusing on single-target damage, defense, clear speed, ease of use (button count), and accessibility (SSF-friendliness).
  • The ratings are subjective and based on the creator’s personal experience; build viability often depends on player skill, gear progression, and specific content goals.
  • “Screen cancer” is used to describe builds with high visual clutter, which may impact performance on lower-end hardware.

Ice Shot Deadeye (Snipe/Fubgun)

  • Single Target: 9 (with Snipe), 3 (without). Relies heavily on timing Snipe for bossing.
  • Defense: 3.5 (relying on Freeze and evasion/deflection). Improves to 5 with hybrid gear.
  • Clear Speed: 8.5.
  • Total Score: 7.

Twisters (Spirit Walker/Amazon/Deadeye/Invoker)

  • Single Target: 10 (small arenas), 8.5 (open areas).
  • Defense: 2.
  • Clear Speed: Variable (3 for beginners, 7–10 based on skill/map type). High attack speed is required for efficiency.
  • Total Score: 6.5.
  • Notes: Features high visual clutter and requires a “piano” playstyle (approx. 6 buttons for single target). SSF-friendly.

Martial Artist

  • Single Target: 10 (predicted).
  • Defense: 7 (predicted).
  • Clear Speed: 8 (predicted).
  • Notes: Difficult to rate precisely due to current game mechanics.

Plant Casters

  • Djinn:
    • Single Target: 4 | Defense: 10 | Clear Speed: 5.
    • Total Score: 6.3. Best for defensive, tanky playstyles.
  • Oracle:
    • Single Target: 6 | Defense: 5 | Clear Speed: 5.5.
    • Total Score: 5.5.
  • Lich:
    • Single Target: 3 | Defense: 10 | Clear Speed: 8.
    • Total Score: 7. High clear speed due to ascendancy explosions; considered the best variant.

Djinn Spectre Summoner (Varashta)

  • Single Target: 10+ (extremely high damage).
  • Defense: 10 (via Energy Shield and minion aggro).
  • Clear Speed: 5.
  • Total Score: 8.3.
  • Notes: Very active playstyle (3 buttons for clear, 7 for single target). Features high visual clutter.

Grenade Witchhunter

  • Single Target: 6.
  • Defense: 6.
  • Clear Speed: 7.
  • Total Score: 6.3.
  • Notes: Efficient, but occasionally requires backtracking for drops. Can be a one-button clear build.

Shield Wall Warrior

  • Single Target: 5.
  • Defense: 7.
  • Clear Speed: 5 (8 with the Lineage gem).
  • Total Score: 5.6.

Essence Drain/Contagion Lich

  • Single Target: 2 (falls off in maps, but viable).
  • Defense: 10.
  • Clear Speed: 4.5 (8 in Abyss content).
  • Total Score: 5.5.

Ballining/Volcano Bloodmage

  • Single Target: 10 (high projectile overlap).
  • Defense: 8 (includes damage reaction effects).
  • Clear Speed: 8.
  • Total Score: 8.6.
  • Notes: Requires the Syre of Shards unique item. Extremely performance-intensive; may be unplayable on lower-end PCs.

Lightning Xbow (Galvanic Shards/Stormblast)

  • Deadeye Variant:
    • Single Target: 9 | Defense: 2 | Clear Speed: 8.5.
    • Total Score: 6.5.
  • Witchhunter Variant:
    • Single Target: 8 | Defense: 6 | Clear Speed: 7.
    • Total Score: 7. More well-rounded.
  • Tactician Variant:
    • Single Target: 10 | Defense: Low (relies on pinning) | Clear Speed: 7.5.
    • Total Score: 6.8.

Key References