Path of Exile – Build: Elemental Cleave Marauder [Guide]

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• Overview
• Passive Skills
• Active Skills
• More Info

Melee characters are always the go-to classes for most RPG players due to the kinesthetic appeal and the commonly-held views of gamers when it comes to action role-playing games. While some may argue that other types of characters are better, the sight of a hulking brute charging in and hitting multiple enemies hard is something that can’t be ignored for long.

There’s the Ground Slam Marauder that gets quite a bit of play in Path of Exile. However, there are also other Marauder builds that could prove to be fun, and that’s where the Elemental Cleave Marauder comes in with elemental damage that looks cool on screen and is easier than it looks at first.

Some may say that it’s not as good as it used to, but there is still room for a build like this for those who are looking for more than just the usual flavor of the month builds can still go with this in softcore and find it fun to play with.

Overview

Here is a sample passive skill tree for this build.

There are many factors involved in devising a character build in a game like Path of Exile, even for something as simple and straightforward as the Marauder. The Elemental Cleave Marauder though proves to be a well-crafted build for what it does. The Elemental Cleave Marauder has potential in being a fun build to play around with, especially since melee characters are better.

This is a build that’s flexible with whatever choice of gear and can played in just about anything, whether in softcore or hardcore, solo or group play. The main strength is having very high HP and damage, regardless of gear. It also can overcome just about any map mod you may put it through and is also good for group play due to having 6 aura and shock stacks that help your party mates.

Passive Skills

In this area, you need to build up +250 to Strength, +140 to Dexterity, and +110 to Intelligence to form the foundation of this build. For offense, look for 4% increased Attack Speed, 110% increased Elemental Damage with Weapons, 41% increased Elemental Damage, as well as 20% Chance to Shock the enemy on hit with Lightning Damage. As for defense, get 30% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes first of all.

The Keystones you really need are Blood Magic, Iron Reflexes, Resolute Technique, and Resolute Technique. Also get other stuff like 30% increased Effect of Buffs on You, 20% increased Radius of Area Skills, 45% increased Shock Duration on enemies, and 8% increased Area Damage.

Lastly, boost your defenses by getting as much elemental resistance as you can, then topped off with 2.9% of Life Regenerated per Second, 321% increased maximum Life, and +60 to maximum Life so that you can tank incoming damage. You can only dish out your humongous damage if you can stay alive.

Active Skills

Cleave is your primary offensive skill, and it’s unique as it can be used with both dual wield and elemental damage, so you can hit a target twice in one attack without any less damage in each weapon due to dual wield penalty. The point of this build is having Cleave and Blood Magic working together, along with the support of 6 auras.

Basically, that’s Cleave, Weapon Elemental Damage, Faster Attacks, Life Leech, and Elemental Proliferation. That’s an active skill and around 5-6 auras that form the backbone of this build.

More Info

For more information regarding gems, auras, and gear that you’ll need for this build, [visit this link].