- League Starter
- Mapper
- All-Rounder
Introduction
This version focuses on being a very tanky mapper while maintaining the best clear speed compared to the other variants. The explodes that will occur from the Chieftain Ascendancy do enough damage to even wipe out tanky Rares & Map Bosses. It doesn’t come without a downside though, this version will have the worst recovery until you start to acquire Maximum Fire Resistance. On the flip side all you have to do is stack Fire Resistance & the Ascendancy will cover your Cold & Lightning Resistance.
Righteous Fire has been in Path of Exile since Closed Beta. It has had many variations ranging from Juggernaut, Occultist, low life Guardians, Hybrid Inquisitors & now I bring you the Chieftain.
You can expect to charge through your enemies & burn them to death while maintaining the absolutely fantastic defences a Chieftain brings you. For tougher targets, we’ll be cursing with our Punishment & Throwing Fire Trap. Don’t forget for full single target, we want to stand still to gain the full effect of Ramako Sun’s Light.
The FAQ section can be found on my RF Wiki
Build Overview
In this section, We’ll be outlining the pros, cons, and general playstyle for the Righteous Fire Chieftain. This will allow you to determine if this is the right build for you!
PROS
+ League Starter – You may not be able to level right away with this skill but have no fear you can get started right in Act 2 around level 17 to 20.
You also don’t need levelling gear.
+ Easy Playstyle – Righteous Fire only needs to be activated once per instance. After that, I’m mainly pressing 3 buttons. Shield Charge, Frostblink and Punishment & throw Fire Trap at tough targets.
+ Extremely Tanky – 90% Maximum Elemental Resistance, 1.5k+ Life Regeneration. Easy access to Chaos Resistance.
+ SSF Friendly – This build doesn’t need any uniques to progress the atlas. The boss damage might lack a bit but you can totally farm more gear to overcome the endgame.
CONS
– Damage – The build doesn’t get the best single target. Don’t let that put you off from playing it though. You can still Fly through maps but I’d say going past 2-4 Million damage (Guardian/Shaper DPS) Is when it can get pricey.
– Map Mods & Melee – You’ll want to avoid certain map mods like “No Regeneration, – Maximum Resistance & Less Recovery” Being Melee can be tricky for newer users. When you’re not very well geared, you will have to pay a bit more attention to some rare monsters.
– Bossing – Of the 3 Variants this version has the worst time bossing on a budget mainly because we get our Damage from standing still and it can be difficult to tank bosses on a budget. (You can absolutely acquire your void stones on Life & Resistance gear)
Playstyle
Activate Righteous Fire (Every time you go into a new zone) Shield charge or walk it’s your preference really. Occasionally use your Flammability on blue & rare packs of monsters. Later on we replace this with Punishment. When encountering tougher enemies you’ll be chucking Fire Trap while dancing around them or just straight sitting on their faces if you’re tanky enough.
For bossing on say Guardians I usually try to stand right next to them and Frostblink through them to chill and dodge the heavy hits. You can alternatively keep them on the edge of your ring from Righteous Fire and throw Fire Trap from a safer distance.
When you engage a large pack of monsters. Do not forget to use your Infernal Cry
Damage Scaling & Defensive Layers
Our Primary damage scaling is going to be broken down into 4 parts where you can typically find these stats. There are more than I can list but these are the most common stats.
Note: Righteous Fire scales off maximum Health so it’s important to keep up with the health rolls on items. (You can often ignore the life mod on a chest if you take the 15% Max life mastery) Note that life does not scale your Fire Trap so you don’t want to neglect your other damage modifiers.
High Sources of % Increased Damage.
- % Fire Damage (Sceptre, shield, passive tree, jewels)
- % Buring Damage (Sceptre, Jewel, Passive Tree)
- % Elemental Damage (Passive Tree)
- % Minion Damage (Passive Tree & Weapon) (because of Spiritual Aid)
Large amounts of Damage over time Multiplier
- % Fire Damage over time Multiplier (Passive Tree, Sceptre, Jewel)
- % Damage over time Multiplier (Passive Tree, Sceptre, Jewel)
+ To level of Gems
- +1 to Level of all spell skills (Sceptre and Amulet)
- +1 to Level of all fire spell skills (Sceptre, Shield and Amulet)
(Only Scales Fire Trap. So DOT Multi is preferred, this is a bonus stat)
PoB and Passive Skill Tree
The PoB community fork created by Localidentity is the only version being kept up to date, so make sure you have the correct version: PoB Community Fork.
This Comprehensive PoB will carry you through each stage of leveling, from both a League Start perspective & SSF environment.
Gearing
Note: Each piece ideally will want to be on the highest armour base you can get along with a high Life Roll. As we’re playing a Jugg our goal is to stack Armour.
| Item Slot | Item Name | Rarity |
| Head | Here we’ll be looking for an Armour helmet with Elder influence ilvl 82, Essence of Horror helmet modifier with Socketed Gems are Support by either level 16/18/20 Burning Damage OR Concentrated Effect (IF YOU HIT BOTH YOU GOT A GOD HELM) The level doesn’t matter in particular as long as you can get these modifiers. Beyond this, getting the + level to AoE gems craft will be huge for your Fire Trap. Alternatively, you can purchase Burning Damage & Concentrated effect helmets on trade. You can usually find these really cheap after the first week. Crafting 8% Physical Damage taken as Fire helps to mitigate physical damage. For SSF players you can reforge Fire with Harvest. | Rare |
| Amulet | A life amulet with a Damage Over Time Multiplier and resistances will do plenty when starting out. Getting +1 to level of all fire/spell gems is also great here if you’re using a rare. The base will be either Turquoise Amulet, Jade Amulet or Marble Amulet depending on whether you need the extra attributes or not (Note you might want to use a Lapis Amulet in the early game just for the extra int till you get to that part of the tree). | Rare |
| Chest | Cloak of Flame is going to be our primary way of mitigating Physical Damage. Other alternatives are going with a Pure armour body & crafting Physical damage taken as Fire & Lightning. Lightning Coil can work but is much harder to fit in the build due to the resistance penalty (Don’t forget to use the 15% Maximum Life if no life modifiers are on body armor). | Unique |
| Gloves | Again we want Pure Armour. This is one of THE Most important places to get a High % Life Regen roll. It can roll all the way up to 21%. Since gloves are our least likely gear to replace I’d recommend spending some currency on them. This is also a great place to get Dex or Chaos res along with +1 to socketed aoe gems and place our aura gems in our gloves for the bonus. Exarch Influence – Ignite Proliferation here will massively enhance your clear. | Rare |
| Boots | Annihilation's Approach are my personal favorite, they really elevate how fast your character can move. They do have a big downside so make sure to add in Arrogance Support & Vitality or throw on a Kikazaru to help with the sustain. Other options are going with 20%+ Movement speed boots with % Life Regeneration Rate & Chaos resistance. A nice premium is onslaught on kill. (Note: You really want to aim for at least 89% Maximum Resistance before trying to run Annihilation's Approach | Unique |
| Belt | The highest source of FLAT Life regen which pairs extremely well with our Gloves. You’re looking for Life/Life regen & potentially res/chaos resistance. For uniques Immortal Flesh is honestly going to beat most rares due to the Armour bonus & MASSIVE Life regen. For the super late game, we can go with an elder crafted stygian with shock avoidance & abbysal jewel with shock avoidance. | Unique |
| Rings | An easy source of Life & Resists, we can craft minimum frenzy charges for some free damage too. This is usually where I get most of my chaos resistance. Harvest Reforge chaos = Guaranteed chaos roll. Essence of Delirium a high end crafting option for players aiming for more damage. | Rare |
| Weapon | Here we want High sources of Fire Damage Over Time Multiplier & Increase Fire Damage. For a more expensive weapon, we can look for + Fire Gems with Multi or High Increase and craft the missing stat. You can also go with a mixture of stats such as High burn damage & high increases and craft Multi. Basically, you want a combination of stats and the 2 best modifiers to bench craft are Fire Multi & Fire damage & Ignite chance. | Rare |
| Shield | Rise of the Phoenix is my personal favorite here. I try to look for one with Physical damage taken as X element. Dawnbreaker is an option for players looking for more Physical Mitigation but make sure to still keep up your maximum resistance. SSF players can aim for +3 Maximum Fire resistance shields with Life & life Regen. | Unique |
Ascendancy, Bandit & Pantheon Powers
You can read about the Ascendancy, Bandit choice, and Pantheon Power recommendations for this build on our dedicated page.
Levelling
If this is your first character you need to get some gems from the Witch before we start playing the Marauder. Level a Witch to level 4 to get these gems. Note: you need to complete the “Breaking some eggs” and the “Medicine Chest” quest.
The following gems you can purchase on your Witch Mule:
Rolling Magma
Elemental Proliferation Support
Frostblink
Flame Wall
Summon Phantasm Support
Holy Flame Totem
Levelling trees & Gem setups can be found in the Path Of Building link.
Early on we’ll be using Rolling Magma linked with Elemental Proliferation Support and later on also supported by Combustion Support Once we get Flame Wall we’ll be shooting into the flame wall for bonus damage.
We’ll also be using Holy Flame Totem linked with Added Fire Damage Support & Summon Phantasm Support
For players looking to get a bit faster, you can also purchase Leap Slam after you kill Brutus and link it to faster attacks.
Picking up Reservation Skills like Determination , Vitality , Purity of Elements when they’re available to us will go a long way.
For mobility, we’ll be using Frostblink all the way from Act 1 to the endgame.
In act 3 I like to pick up Flammability and link it to Lifetap Support (later on we’ll be switching to Punishment)
You also have the option for switching to Armageddon Brand after completing the Library quest, this will be less single target but faster clear and no more reason for Flame Wall
I have created a full leveling guide for you, so if you get stuck or are not sure what to do, please watch the below video.
Switching to Righteous Fire
This can be done at a minimum of level 17 after reaching our first Fire Mastery. To help reach the fire resistance cap we can use 2 ruby rings & craft fire resistance on our gear from our bench at our hideout. To help acquire ruby rings we can vendor an iron ring + red gem to make a ruby ring.
The setup here depends on how many sockets we actually have access to, but they will be listed in order of priority so if you only have a 4-link or 5-link don’t worry.
- Righteous Fire
- Elemental Focus Support
- Burning Damage Support
- Efficacy Support if you want more aoe use Increased Area of Effect Support
- Lifetap Support
- Swift Affliction Support
4-Link Fire Trap ( Requires Act 3 Library quest Completion)
This setup can be used all the way to the very endgame.
- Fire Trap
- Swift Affliction Support If you can’t find 3 greens use Controlled Destruction Support
- Lifetap Support
- Trap and Mine Damage Support
Questions?
If you have any questions about my build, please join the ARPG Vault Discord where a team of moderators will answer you.
Closing Notes
If you’ve gotten this far with the guide, I’d like to sincerely thank you & hope you decided to play the RF Juggernaut, you can check out my Twitch Stream, where I am live almost daily. For other daily content including build updates, be sure to check out my Youtube Channel
