Whisperer, Herald, Paladin and Polytheist revealed
Legacy of Phrecia
The Whisperer, Herald, Paladin and Polytheist Ascendancies have been revealed in another batch of teasers for the upcoming Legacy of Phrecia Event for Path of Exile. They each bring their own flavour of character customization, continuing the trend of the previously showcased Ascendancies.
Whisperer (Ranger)
| Node Effect | What it Does |
|---|---|
| Intelligence provides no inherent bonus to Maximum Mana +1 to Maximum Mana per Dexterity | An interesting twist in scaling which opens up brand new build possibilities like right tree sided Dexterity Mana Stackers. Note: Usually every 2 Intelligence grants 1 additional Mana meaning this Node is twice as efficient. |
| 100% of Physical Damage is taken from Mana before Life | Causes especially Mana Stackers to be a lot more durable against large Physical Hits as they usually run out of Life long before running out of Mana. Ideally paired together with Mind over Matter but may still have use cases on its own for builds that can't easily reach MoM. |
| 50% increased Mana Cost of Skills Attack Skills have Added Lightning Damage equal to 4% of maximum Mana | Stacks with the effect of Mind of the Council in order to reach 10% of maximum Mana as Added Lightning Damage. This makes Mana stacking Attack builds a very viable archetype especially when paired with Dexterity stacking. |
| Gain 10 Rage after Spending a total of 200 Mana | Grants one of the effects of Ravenous Passion without shifting Rage to be Spell based. A potential source of massive amounts of Rage. |
| 50% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks Non-instant Mana Recovery from Flasks is also Recovered as Life | Grants one of the effects of Indigon. Generally not the most useful mod as Mana Flasks recover substantially less than Life Flasks and are hard to keep up consistently to be worthwhile. For Attack based builds,which the Whisperer heavily incentivizes, Leech is simply a better source of Mana. |
| +4 to Minimum Frenzy Charges +4 to Minimum Power Charges +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges and Maximum Power Charges | Similar to the Hierophant's Conviction of Power, but it grants Frenzy Charges instead of Endurance Charges. Slightly lower value when compared to Conviction of Power as permanent Endurance Charges are more desirable as they are harder to acquire and unreliable Defenses feel worse. |
| 50% increased Blind EIffect 100% increased Stealth Blind Enemies on Hit | Stealth reduces the range at which monsters begin targeting the player, a fairly useless stat apart from very niche cases. The Blind on Hit and Blind Effect are decent. |
| Increases and Reductions to Spell Damage also apply to Attacks at 150% of their value | Grants the main effect of Crown of Eyes. |
| Projectiles from Attacks Fork Projectiles from Attacks can Fork 1 additional time | Effectively grants a global Awakened Fork Support. |
Herald (Witch)
| Node Effect | What it Does |
|---|---|
| Your Aura Skills are Disabled 200% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Herald Skills | This node is mandatory to take as every other Node branches from it. Note: Spellslinger, Arctic Armour, Blood and Sand, Blastchain Mine Support, Petrified Blood, Tempest Shield, Temporal Rift and Aspects (Cat, Spider, Stealth) do not count as Auras. |
| +75% to Chaos Resistance while affected by Herald of Agony Herald of Agony has 100% increased Buff Effect | Causes a Level 20 Herald of Agony to grant an additional 20% chance to Poison on Hit and 10% more Damage with Poison. One of the few sources of generic Chance to Poison. Also makes capping Chaos Resistance substantially easier. Keep in mind you may only pick one of the Herald specific Nodes. |
| Herald of Thunder has 100% increased Buff Effect +5% to maximum Lightning Resistance while affected by Herald of Thunder | Causes a Level 20 Herald of Thunder to grant an additional 19 to 76 Added Attack and Spell Lightning Damage. The +5% to maximum Lightning Resistance is the far more impactful stat here. |
| Herald of Ash has 100% increased Buff Effect +5% to maximum Fire Resistance while affected by Herald of Ash | Causes a Level 20 Herald of Ash to grant an additional 20% of Physical Damage as Extra Fire Damage. Both the Buff Effect and the +5% max res are respectable bonuses. |
| Herald of Ice has 100% increased Buff Effect +5% to maximum Cold Resistance while affected by Herald of Ice | Causes a Level 20 Herald of Ice to grant an additional 38 to 56 Added Attack and Spell Cold Damage. The +5% to maximum Cold Resistance is the far more impactful stat here. |
| Herald of Purity has 100% increased Buff Effect 15% additional Physical Damage Reduction while affected by Herald of Purity | Causes a Level 20 Herald of Purity to grant an additional 12% more Physical Damage, which is sizeable. 15% additional Physical Damage Reduction is by far the best stat out of all the Herald specific bonuses |
| +5% to Critical Strike Chance of Herald Skills Herald Skills have 50% increased Area of Effect | A big increase in damage potential for Herald of Thunder/Herald of Ice Autobomber builds. 50% increased Area of Effect is also a very welcome statline. |
| +2 to maximum number of Sentinels of Purity +25 to Maximum Virulence Minions deal 66% increased Damage while you are affected by a Herald | Another big increase in damage for the Minion oriented Heralds. |
| +3 to Level of all Herald Skill Gems | Grants good damage to the active components of the Heralds (except for Herald of Ash). Especially valuable for the Minions from Herald of Purity and Herald of Agony. Not worth taking when Heralds are used only for their buffs. |
| 20% Chance to gain Elemental Conflux for 4 seconds when you Kill an Enemy | Elemental Conflux causes ALL of your damage to Ignite, Chill and Shock. Keep in mind it does not contribute towards Freeze. |
| Gain additional Elemental Damage Reduction equal to half your Chaos Resistance Maximum Endurance, Frenzy and Power Charges is 0 | Eternal Damnation as an Ascendancy Node. While the downside is very severe this can still be an extremely strong node when properly built around, as the Damage Reduction granted is not affected by Enemy Penetration. |
Paladin (Duelist)
| Node Effect | What it Does |
|---|---|
| Curses are inflicted on you instead of Linked targets 40% increased Effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills while you have a Linked Target | 40% increased Effect of Non-Curse Auras is a massive amount and could potentially make the Paladin the best Aurabot Support in Legacy of Phrecia. |
| Magic Utility Flasks applied to you have 40% increased Effect Non-Unique Utility Flasks you Use apply to Linked Targets | Grants the same effect as Ceinture of Benevolence, a popular belt for Supports. 40% Flask Effect is a massive increase that further leans into a great Support Ascendancy. |
| +5 to Level of all Link Skill Gems Lose no Experience when you die because a Linked target died | The only link skills that truly benefit from extra Levels are Frigid Bond Support and Flame Link. For these Skills this Node grants a very substantial damage boost however. |
| Grants Level 30 Discipline Skill | Level 30 Discipline grants 50% more Energy Shield when compared to Level 20. |
| Grants Level 30 Determination Skill | Level 30 Determination grants 50% more Armour when compared to Level 20. |
| Grants Level 30 Grace Skill | Level 30 Grace grants 66% more Evasion when compared to level 20. |
| You have Consecrated Ground around you while stationary Effects of Consecrated Ground you create Linger for 4 seconds | Combines parts of the Inquisitor's Sanctuary and Pious Path. This gives you a bit of life regeneration and 50% reduced effect of curses on you. |
| 25% chance to Trigger Level 20 Summon Elemental Relic when you or a nearby Ally Kill an Enemy, or Hit a Rare or Unique Enemy | A 1:1 copy of the Guardian's Unwavering Crusade. The Relics grant the equivalent of Level 27 versions of Hatred, Anger and Wrath. Though these do not scale with Effect of Non-Curse Auras. |
| Nearby Enemies take 25% increased Elemental Damage | An offensively stronger version of the Inquisitor's Augury of Penitence. |
| Enemies Taunted by you take 20% increased Damage Enemies Taunted by you deal 20% less Damage with Hits and Ailments against other targets Warcries have infinite Power | A combination of the Champion's Conqueror and Worthy Foe as well as Redblade Banner. Redblade Banner especially incurred heavy opportunity cost so a source for infinite Power is good. |
Polytheist (Templar)
| Node Effect | What it Does |
|---|---|
| +3 to Minimum Endurance Charges +3 to Minimum Frenzy Charges +3 to Minimum Power Charges | Completely removes the need for Charge generation, additional Max Charges can be made up with +1 to Minimum Endurance/Frezy/Power Charges on Rare Gear. Very useful especially for Bossing. |
| Hex Reflection Your Hexes can affect Hexproof Enemies Immune to Reflected Damage | A combination of the effects of Atziri's Reflection, Bastion of Elements and Unholy Authority. Hex Reflection inflicts the monster with the same Hex it curses you with. Note that the Hex still affects you. |
| Spells fire 2 additional Projectiles Nova Spells Cast at the targeted location instead of around you | +2 Projectiles is generically powerful for most projectile based builds. Grants Astral Projectors effect without the heavy 30% less damage and 20% less AoE penalties. Astral Projector already is an integral part for builds such as Shockwave Totem, making this is an extremely strong node. |
| Burning Hoofprints Triggers Level 20 Abberath's Fury | Grants Level 20 instead of the Level 7 version granted by Abberath's Hooves. While numbers for Level 20 are unknown this could potentially create a viable walking simulator build which is always a blast to play. |
| 100% increased Evasion Rating while moving Immune to Burning Ground, Shocked Ground and Chilled Ground Regenerate 4% of Life per second while moving 100% increased Mana Regeneration Rate while moving | Synergizes with any Build that doesn't have to stop moving in order to deal damage, such as Abberath's Fury. |
| Nearby Enemies are Blinded 100% increased Critical Strike Chance against Blinded Enemies Enemies Blinded by you have 100% reduced Critical Strike Chance | A strong combination of offensive and defensive bonuses. Note that Monsters with sources of #% increased Critical Strike Chance from Monster Modifiers or Map Mods may still Crit you. |
| Enemies you've Hit Recently have 100% reduced Life Regeneration rate 30% more Maximum Attack Damage | Use this node with Attacks that have a very wide Damage range such as Lightning Damage or for Bleed builds. Stopping Monster Life Regeneration can be especially useful for said Bleed builds. |
| +10% to maximum Cold Resistance Cannot be Frozen | +10% to maximum Cold Resistance is an absurd amount and makes it substantially easier for Melding of the Flesh builds to reach the 90% Resistance cap. "Cannot be Frozen" is the icing on the cake. Note: The previous nodes before this are counterintuitive for any Spell based build. All Nova skills are Spells which reduces the synergy within the Ascendancy. This may be intentional. |
| +300 to maximum Life Regenerate 8% of Life per second Spell Skills deal no Damage Your Spells are disabled | Effectively grants Gruthkul's Pelt. Losing access to Spells is an extremely harsh downside even for Attack based builds as it disables Auras, Heralds, Curses, Stances, Guard Skills, Frostblink, Banners and Berserk. |
Path of Exile Coverage
The Whisperer, Herald, Paladin and Polytheist Ascendancies all bring their own special perks to the Legacy of Phrecia Event. Most notable mentions are right tree sided Mana stackers with the Whisperer, Herald Autobombers and promising Paladin Aurabot Supports. The Polytheist also brings various options such as Abberath's Fury Walking Simulator builds, various Nova centered builds and can easily cap at 90% max Resistance. Looking for more news on Path of Exile 1? Then head over to our Discord and select the Path of Exile role in #roles to stay up to date with our content development. Stay sane, Exile!
Written by: Cptn Garbage
Reviewed by: Tenkiei
