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Whether you're an experienced player or a new starter, this guide will help you decide on the best league starter options as we dive back in with fresh insights and strategies. Let's explore some top builds for the Settlers League event, focusing on mapping efficiency, survivability, and adaptability to the Necropolis League mechanics that have now layered additional content and complexity.

1. Lightning Strike Slayer: The Star of the League

Why It’s Dominant

Without a doubt, Lightning Strike Slayer has taken the spotlight as the build of the league, achieving popularity and effectiveness that makes it the most reliable all-rounder. Although it shares some space with Trickster and Warden variants, the Slayer variant stands out due to its tankiness, high damage, and exceptional mapping speed. This build can handle almost anything the game throws at it, from farming maps to tackling challenging bosses, thanks to the defensive value it derives from the Slayer ascendancy.

Build Mechanics and Ascendancy Choices

The Slayer’s core strengths lie in the combination of Headsman, Bane of Legends, Brutal Fervour, and Masterful Form. Here’s why these are essential:

· Headsman and Bane of Legends: These two provide massive DPS boosts and cull capabilities, making encounters with bosses and high-health enemies a breeze.

· Overleech: The Slayer’s overleech effect from Brutal Fervour ensures sustained healing even while at full life, giving it unrivaled sustain.

· Masterful Form: With the increased effectiveness of endurance charges in this patch, the added defenses further solidify Slayer's tankiness.

The build benefits from immunity to physical reflect, impale effects, and a significant boost in attack and movement speed. Lightning Strike scales well with elemental damage, so gearing with elemental modifiers, life leech, and added elemental damage on hit are essential for a successful endgame Slayer.

Leveling Guide

If you’re considering this build for the fresh start, here’s a basic leveling path:

· Act 1: Begin with Spectral Throw until you hit level 12, using a two-handed weapon for added damage.

· Act 2 and Beyond: Transition to Lightning Strike as soon as possible and link it with Added Fire Damage, Pierce, and eventually Multistrike.

· Endgame: In later stages, add gems like Elemental Damage with Attacks, Trinity, and Ancestral Call to further boost its effectiveness.

I’ve prepared a simple leveling Path of Building (PoB) for new players or those interested in a streamlined campaign experience, which can be found in the video description.

2. Ice Nova + Frostbolt Hierophant

The Ice Nova + Frostbolt Hierophant is a close contender and one of the most innovative builds of this league. Originally a popular choice among streamers and theorycrafters, it has steadily gained traction as a league starter due to its simplicity and effectiveness. Using Kitava’s Thirst as the helm for self-casting and Conviction of Power for charges, this build brings great utility and fun to clearing maps.

Build Mechanics

This build leverages the unique interaction between Ice Nova and Frostbolt. By casting Ice Nova on Frostbolt, players gain a secondary explosion around each Frostbolt, effectively doubling their damage area and maximizing AoE clear speed.

· Kitava’s Thirst: This helm has a 50% chance to trigger socketed spells, making it ideal for automated casting.

· Hierophant Ascendancy: Using Divine Guidance and Sanctuary of Thought, this ascendancy converts mana into effective life and energy shield, while Conviction of Power offers endurance and power charge generation.

This build is perfect for mapping and has the added bonus of easy MTX customization, as Ice Nova has some great visuals.

Leveling Guide

Starting as a caster, you’ll want to grab an elemental damage weapon early on.

· Act 1-2: Start with Freezing Pulse or Frostbolt. Once you obtain Ice Nova, link it with Frostbolt for effective leveling.

· Act 3 Onward: Transition to full Ice Nova + Frostbolt with increased area and mana cost reduction.

By Act 4, Kitava’s Thirst becomes accessible, and you can add Path Of Exile Currency like Spell Echo, Arcane Surge, and Added Cold Damage to optimize your output.

3. Hexblast Trickster

If you’re looking for a powerful single-target skill and chaos damage, Hexblast Trickster may be the way to go. This build was highly popular at the beginning of the league and has retained some popularity due to its versatility in damage and its unique ability to eliminate enemy resistances.

Build Mechanics

Hexblast Trickster centers around chaos damage conversion, utilizing Hexes for enormous damage scaling. Trickster brings defensive and offensive advantages with Escape Artist and Swift Killer, which provides free frenzy and power charges. This is particularly valuable for sustained mapping and bossing.

As you progress into maps, Ephemeral Edge can be used to enhance your damage by focusing on energy shield scaling, which makes this build relatively tanky for a caster setup.

Leveling Guide

Starting with basic spell gems:

· Act 1-3: Use Blight or Essence Drain until you can access Hexblast.

· Endgame Transition: As you approach higher tiers, Hexblast with high Hex effectiveness will clear enemies quickly.

Hexblast Trickster performs exceptionally well in single-target fights, and it’s a solid option for league start if you prefer a chaos-based caster playstyle.

4. Elemental Hit Raider

Elemental Hit Raider offers excellent speed and the flexibility to scale any of the three elemental types, making it one of the more versatile builds. Raiders gain increased evasion and phasing, allowing Elemental Hit to deal damage from a safe distance while maintaining mobility.

Build Mechanics

Elemental Hit scales well with both attack speed and elemental modifiers, giving it flexibility in gearing. Raider's Avatar of the Veil and Avatar of the Chase provide increased evasion and elemental status immunity, making it effective for endgame bosses and high-tier maps.

Leveling Guide

· Act 1-4: Using Spectral Throw until you acquire Elemental Hit works best.

· Act 5 and Beyond: Equip Elemental Hit and scale with elemental damage bonuses. Supporting gems like Added Cold Damage, Ancestral Call, and Multistrike boost damage significantly.

Elemental Hit Raider is an accessible option for those who like mobile, high-damage characters.

5. Frost Blades Champion

If you’re after a high-speed melee build with a focus on map clearing, Frost Blades Champion is an exciting choice. This build gained early popularity and has maintained its status as a solid melee choice.

Build Mechanics

Frost Blades offers wide AoE coverage while being highly compatible with elemental damage scaling. Paired with the Champion's tanky nature and First to Strike, Last to Fall for burst damage, this build can excel in a variety of content.

Leveling Guide

· Act 1-3: Start with a generic melee skill until you can acquire Frost Blades.

· Act 4-10: Build into additional AoE, and focus on life leech, attack speed, and melee physical damage for high efficiency.

Frost Blades Champion remains versatile, especially for players wanting to progress quickly through maps.

Final Thoughts

As the Settlers League Fresh Start Event approaches, now’s the time to strategize and prepare for your new league start. Lightning Strike Slayer is undeniably a top choice for most players due to its sheer power and ease of use. However, Ice Nova + Frostbolt Hierophant and Hexblast Trickster also provide strong options depending on your playstyle. Whether you’re after speed, resilience, or a fun mapping experience, these builds cover a variety of needs to tackle the new league content head-on.

Be sure to check out Path of Building for the recommended build setups, and remember to test early so you can hit the ground running when the Fresh Start kicks off!