Lacerate "Budget-Slicer"
Bleed Gladiator build

Updated for Patch 3.17

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Guide notes

March 21, 2020 -Updated for Patch 3.10 April 4, 2020 -Updated gameplay video January 25, 2021 -Updated for Patch 3.13 March 11, 2022 -Updated for Patch 3.17 -enriched by the variant without The Bringer of Rain

Build overview
Tags: [MELEE] [PHYSICAL] [BLEED] [LIFE] [STARTER]
Budget:  Defenses:		Boss DPS: AoE:

 

Gladiator is a typical sword & board type of character which offers very solid defenses regardless of your equipment. Thanks to Passive skills that increase your Block Chance, Gladiator is a perfect character to level up in new Leagues and/or play in the SSF mode. This build has very solid DPS and defenses, and with Melee changes introduced in Patch 3.7, it's a fully end-game viable build. For 3.17, we've decided to switch it to a mostly Bleed-based build, with no Implae mechanics implemented - it's able to reach over one million DPS with very basic gear this way. It's also moderately tanky, with over 5k of Maximum Life and high Block Chance.

We have decided to build this Gladiator on The Bringer of Rain, in order to drastically cut costs. A fully geared character that can clear Maps up to Tier 15 with ease will cost just a few Exalted Orbs, making it one of the cheapest builds for low and mid-tier farming. The Bringer of Rain is a unique Helmet that offers a 7-link setup for just a few Chaos Orbs but makes you unable to use Body Armour. With it missing, you lose a bunch of valuable defensive stats that are compensated by Gladiator's high chance to Block and Armour Rating. As for patch 3.17, we've decided to include the setups with a regular Helmet and Body Armour since it is in a way just a better version of the build that you can upgrade to later.

You can check our other Path of Exile builds right here

 

1. Gameplay

Lacerate Gladiator is a typical Melee character. It utilizes a one-handed Axe and Shield to slices through enemies. Lacerate attacks twice with your main-hand weapon creating two waves of force. Enemies right in front of you can be hit by both waves simultaneously, receiving full damage. Lacerate also deals more damage against bleeding targets. This build uses the Resolute Technique Passive, which saves you a lot of effort (and money) to reach enough Accuracy Rating on your gear to efficiently kill your enemies. While it is an insane damage buff up to mid-tier Maps, it limits your maximum possible DPS by making you unable to Critically Strike.

0:08 Tier 12 Conservatory 0:33 Tier 13 Underground River 1:02 Tier 14 Dunes 1:37 Tier 14 Ivory Temple 2:02 Tier 14 Vaal Pyramid 2:21 Tier 15 Volcano Video recorded on a level 932 Gladiator on Standard mode using Bringer of Rain and Soul Taker. The entire gear cost approximately 2 Exalted Orbs which resulted in approx 300k fully buffed DPS without Impale. This video was recorded pre 3.13 but the gameplay hasn't changed much since

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2. Build's PROS & CONS

PROS

good sustained damage capped chance to Block Spells and Attacks making up for amazing defenses good as a League starter build budget-friendly with no expensive item requirements

CONS

moderate AoE at the current state, it has very limited end-game Bossing capabilities

 

3. Leveling tips

Leveling with Gladiator is a very easy task. You should have enough defenses just from following the recommended Passive Skill Trees and upgrading your gear with self-found stuff once in a while. Your main priority should be increasing your DPS output by upgrading the weapon (aim for one-handed Axes with the highest base Physical DPS) and getting equipment with flat Added Physical Damage to Attacks, and increases to Attack Speed. Below you will find several useful unique items that will greatly boost you during the leveling phase. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Lacerate setup
	Lacerate - primary Attack used in this build. It is recommended to upgrade it at the same time you level up your character
	Melee Physical Damage Support - primary Support Gem for any Melee/Physical build
	Multistrike Support - makes you attack two more times with a greatly increased Attack Speed and slightly reduced damage
	Maim Support - Maims enemies, which increases the Physical Damage they take and slows them down

Shield Charge setup
	Shield Charge - your primary mobility skill
	Faster Attacks Support - increases your movement speed with Shield Charge

Utility gems
	Ancestral Warchief - allows you to create a Totem that increases your Melee Damage
	Vulnerability - the recommended Curse for this build
	Summon Lightning Golem - grants increased Attack and Cast Speed
	Herald of Ash - grants added Fire Damage to your Attacks based on your Physical DPS. It also causes AoE explosions for extra clear speed

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the bandits for two additional Passive Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

23 Points Skill Tree
At this stage, the build is suited for any Attack Skill with a Shield and one-handed Weapon

54 Points Skill Tree
Go for the Resolute Technique, the Axe Cluster, more maximum Life, and generic Melee Damage nodes

84 Points Skill Tree
Now the build is adjusted to deal mostly Bleed Damage

Recommended leveling items:

Blackheart - one of the best leveling Rings for melee classes
Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks 5% increased Physical Damage Adds 1 to 3 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(20-30) to maximum Life (2-4) Life Regenerated per second 10% chance to Cause Monsters to Flee

Meginord's Girdle - an extremely powerful Belt, which equipped on level 8 will serve you for many many levels. You can easily keep it until you reach low-level Maps
+(25-35) to Strength Adds 5 to 15 Physical Damage to Attacks +25 to Strength 10% increased maximum Life +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance 25% increased Flask Life Recovery rate

Crest of Perandus - the best low-level Shield which grants very high bonus Life
+(60-80) to maximum Life (5-7.5) Life Regenerated per second +30% to Lightning Resistance 0.6% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life +5% Chance to Block

Screaming Eagle - one of the first unique Axes that can be used. It also increases your Movement Speed which is a perfect attribute for leveling faster
Socketed Gems are supported by Level 2 Chance to Flee Adds (10-15) to (25-30) Physical Damage +(10-15) to maximum Life +(5-7) Life gained on Kill 10% increased Movement Speed

Relentless Fury - has very high base Physical DPS and also grants Culling Strike, Onslaught, and Life Leech. Truly the best pick for its' level
(60-80)% increased Physical Damage Adds (3-5) to (7-10) Physical Damage 2% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life Culling Strike You gain Onslaught for 3 seconds on Culling Strike Cannot be Chilled while you have Onslaught
Goldrim - the best leveling Helmet in the game. It grants very high All Elemental Resistances bonuses, which makes it very useful until the early mapping phase
+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

111 Points Final Skill Tree
111 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Blood in the Eyes
2. Gratuitous Violence
3. Painforged
4. Violent Retaliation

Pantheon:

Major God:

Soul of Lunaris 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God:

Soul of Shakari 5% reduced chaos damage taken 25% reduced chaos damage over time taken while in a caustic cloud

 

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Lacerate setup (in The Bringer of Rain)
	Lacerate - your primary DPS skill. It's a swift Melee/AoE attack
	Cruelty Support -  it grants you more Damage wit Hits and more Damage over Time
	Multistrike Support - makes you repeat the Attack more times with increased Attack Speed
	Brutality Support - use it to deal more Physical Damage and limit yourself only to this one type of Damage
Support Gems granted by The Bringer of Rain:
	Faster Attacks Support - grants increased Attack Speed with supported skills
	Blind Support - grants a chance to Blind enemies on Hit
	Melee Physical Damage Support - increases Melee Physical Damage of supported skills

[DPS] alternative Lacerate setup (for when you're not using The Bringer of Rain, but a 6-link Body Armour)
	Lacerate
	Cruelty Support
	Multistrike Support
	Brutality Support
	Melee Physical Damage Support
	Chance to Bleed Support - you have a higher chance to cause Bleeding, added Physical Damage, and more Bleed Damage

[UTILITY] Reckoning/Ancestral Warchief setup (in The Surrenderer)
	Ancestral Protector - summons a Totem which increases your Attack Speed
	Culling Strike Support - makes supported skills (Totem and Reckoning) instantly kill enemies below 10% Life
	Support Gem granted by The Surrender:
	Reckoning - Counter-attack skill which is granted by The Surrenderer shield. If you don't have it yet, just keep the other two Gems as listed above and add Reckoning to the setup.

[UTILITY] Curse
	Vulnerability - the recommended Curse for this build. If you manage to get the Impresence Amulet, you can use it as an Aura around you. Otherwise, link it to a low-level Cast when Damage Taken Gem or try to get it via Gloves Corruption

[MOBILITY] Leap Slam setup
	Leap Slam - recommended Movement skill used in this build. You can also use Shield Charge which is faster, but won't allow you to jump over cliffs and other obstacles
	Faster Attacks Support - you can Leap much faster
	Lifetap Support - allows you to pay no attention to Mana when moving, as you spend Life on the linked Skills instead

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Pride - It's the default Aura for Melee Physical Builds, the enemies nearby take more Physical Damage
	Blood and Stance - allows you to change Stances, whereas Blood Stance grants more damage (used versus Bosses) and Sand Stance, which increases AoE (resulting in better clear speed)
	Flesh and Stone - grants additional bonuses based on your active Stance
	Herald of Purity - it grants you more Physical Damage and creates Minions which can be used to divert the enemies' attention from you

[UTILITY] Dread Banner
	War Banner - enemies near you take increased Physical Damage

[UTILITY] Phase Run
	Phase Run - Phase Run is great, it grants you Stealth, Phasing, increased Movement Speed, and more Melee Damage for a short duration

[UTILITY] Various utility Gems
	Cast when Damage Taken Support  - auto-casts all the supported spells whenever you take a certain amount of damage. Keep this Gem at level 10
	Blood Rage - grants increased Attack Speed, Frenzy Charge generation, and Life Leech. Use level 13 of the Blood Rage Gem
	Immortal Call - it should be automatically activated when you take too much damage at once to shield you from taking even more, keep at a low level

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5. Gear Setup

Below you will find all the recommended items for this build. Keep in mind that this build is very straightforward and ALL the items listed below can be replaced with random Rares. If you decide not to use The Bringer of Rain just use a Body Armour that increases your Life and Elemental Resistance like Belly of the Beast (highest bonus Life), Carcass Jack (extra DPS), Daresso's Defiance (Onslaught buff), or similar. 

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully

Stat priorities on items: Maximum Life Elemental Resistances Physical Damage Attack Speed Damage over Time Mana Reservation Efficiency Intelligence Chaos Resistance Armour

(Helmet) The Bringer of Rain - a cheap seven-link option for the primary DPS setup. It's good for a budget version, quickly becoming replaceable as you start dealing with the end-game content.

Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 18 Melee Physical Damage Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 18 Faster Attacks Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 18 Blind 6% Chance to Block Attack Damage Adds 20 to 30 Physical Damage to Attacks (200-300)% increased Armour and Evasion +(200-220) to maximum Life 20% chance to gain an Endurance Charge when you Block Can't use Chest armour Extra gore

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - If you decide to get a Rare Helmet, makes sure it's a good one, it should provide a lot of Maximum Life and make enemies take at least 9% increased Physical Damage

Min. requirements: +50% to Elemental Resistances +60 to maximum Life Nearby Enemies take 9% increased Physical Damage Optional affixes: Intelligence Armour

Helmet enchantment: Lacerate deals (14-18) to (20-25) added Physical Damage against Bleeding Enemies 40% increased Lacerate Damage

(Weapon) Jack, the Axe - A decent pick for the weapon slot. Grants increased Life Leech, Bleed Chance, and much more Bleed Damage.

Grants Level 20 Thirst for Blood Skill (130-150)% increased Physical Damage Adds (11-14) to (18-23) Physical Damage 25% chance to cause Bleeding on Hit +(25-35)% to Damage over Time Multiplier for Bleeding from Hits with this Weapon

(Weapon) Soul Taker - a very good choice with high base Attack Speed and very decent DPS. You shouldn't have any problems with your Mana Management, but it will surely be useful on no-Leech Maps

(100-140)% increased Physical Damage Adds 10 to 20 Physical Damage (20-25)% increased Attack Speed +(20-25)% to Cold Resistance Insufficient Mana doesn't prevent your Melee Attacks Your Physical Damage can Chill

(Weapon) Rare Axe - Can be potentially the best in the slot with high base Physical DPS, however, it will be also the most expensive option. you can seek many Bleeding-related mods and ones to increase your Physical Damage over Time.

Min. requirements: 380 Physical DPS 1.6 Attack Speed Optional affixes: Increased Damage with Bleeding Damage over Time Multiplier for Bleeding from Hits with this Weapon Hits with this Weapon have Culling Strike against Bleeding Enemies Physical Damage over Time Multiplier

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - If you're not using The Bringer of Rain make sure you can make up for it with a good Body Armour. It should grant you a lot of Maximum Life. You can also use Unique Body Armours such as Belly of the Beast, Carcass Jack, or Daresso's Defiance.

Min. requirements: +110 to maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: You can apply an additional Curse Enemies you Kill have a chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their Maximum Life as Physical Damage increased Area of Effect Armour

(Shield) The Surrender - One of the best Shields for this build. It grants very high defensive utility and the Reckoning skill for some extra DPS. It's very expensive. Make sure you have a very high Block Chance before equipping it.

Grants Level 30 Reckoning Skill (130-170)% increased Armour +(65-80) to maximum Life Recover 250 Life when you Block +6% Chance to Block +1500 Armour if you've Blocked Recently

(Shield) Lioneye’s Remorse - solid and budget-friendly option. It grants very high bonus Life but no Elemental Resistances and no offensive utility

(200-250)% increased Armour 20% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(160-180) to maximum Life 5% reduced Movement Speed -25 Physical Damage taken from Projectile Attacks +5% Chance to Block

(Boots) Rare Boots - just aim for high defensive stats and preferably use a Strength base for extra Armour Rating

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 25% Movement Speed +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes High Armour Rating

Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently

(Belt) Belt of the Deceiver - solid and inexpensive option. It can be also used during the leveling process

(25-35) to Strength (15-25)% increased Physical Damage You take 30% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes +(30-40) to maximum Life +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances Nearby Enemies are Intimidated

(Belt) Ryslatha's Coil - it's the best Belt for any Bleed build with a Crimson Dance by a long shot. It's also an expensive one. It keeps the Bleeds you caused by your best Attacks (which deal 40% more damage) resulting in a much higher DPS.

(20-30)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies +(20-40) to Strength (30-40)% more Maximum Physical Attack Damage (40-30)% less Minimum Physical Attack Damage Adds 1 to (15-20) Physical Damage to Attacks +(80-100) to maximum Life Gain 50 Life when you Stun an Enemy

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - using a rare amulet will require you to switch from Vulnerability Aura to a low-level Cast when Damage Taken Curse application

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 45 Intelligence 40 Dexterity Optional affixes: Adds Physical Damage to Attacks Damage over Time Multiplier Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana

Recommended Anointments: Master of Force Revenge of the Haunted Retaliation Disciple of the Unyielding Panopticon

(Ring) Rare Rings - The regular Life, Resistances, and some utility mods should be sufficient

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life +60% Total Elemental Resistances Adds min. 9 Physical Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: Attributes increased Melee Damage increased Attack Speed Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted)

(Ring) Circle of Guilt - If you're using Herald of Purity you can consider using this Unique Ring, it can increase the Herald's buff effect and your damage

<One to three random Synthesis implicit modifiers> +(10-20) to all Attributes Adds (8-10) to (13-15) Physical Damage +(350-400) to Armour <Two Random Herald of Purity modifiers>

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - preferably Spiked Gloves for extra Melee Damage. Other than that, you aim for high defensive stats and Attributes

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life Added min. 7 Physical Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: Dexterity Armour Elemental Resistances increased Melee Damage Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit, with 48% increased Effect (corrupted implicit)

(Gloves) Haemophilia - very good and inexpensive option for the Gloves slot. Haemophilia grants extra AoE by making slain enemies explode (similar to Gratuitous Violence Passive)

25% increased Damage over Time +(20-30) to Strength Attacks have 25% chance to cause Bleeding (25-40)% increased Attack Damage against Bleeding Enemies Bleeding Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Maximum Life as Physical Damage 25% reduced Bleeding Duration

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - these should provide extra Life and bonus damage

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Generic/Physical/Melee Damage Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed /Attack Speed while holding a Shield increased Armour

(Jewels) Rare Abyss Jewels - Abyss Jewels should provide more DPS at the same price

Recommended affixes: maximum Life Added Physical Damage to Attacks Added Physical Damage to Axe Attacks Optional affixes: increased Damage if you have killed recently chance to gain Onslaught on kill for 4 seconds

(Flask) Lion's Roar - grants very high bonus Damage and Armour making it one of the best utility Flasks for this build

+1500 to Armour Adds Knockback to Melee Attacks during Flask effect Knocks Back Enemies in an Area when you use a Flask 75% chance to cause Enemies to Flee on use (7-10)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - great when combined with The Surrender as it makes you more likely to Block Damage

+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Silver Flask with random ailment removal Sulphur Flask with random ailment removal Basalt Flask with random ailment removal

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