Shockwave Totem Warbringer Leveling Guide

Act 1

Uncut Skill Gem I or II (Cut in order)

Use any leftover Uncut Skill Gem II that you drop to level up Rolling Slam and then Boneshatter.

Uncut Support Gem I (Cut in order)

1. Rage for Rolling Slam
2. Overpower for Rolling Slam
3. Magnified Effect for Boneshatter
4. You save your remaining Uncut Support Gems for Skill Gem III skills

Uncut Skill Gem III or IV

1. Shockwave Totem
   • Use it on Bosses and strong Rares for extra damage.
   • Tip: Place the Totem behind the Boss so it survives for longer as the Boss focuses on you.
   • Tip: You want to get +x to Level of all Melee Skills on your weapon, and ideally on your gloves and amulet as well. This is one of the only things that scales Shockwave Totem.

Use any leftover Uncut Skill Gem III and IV that you drop to level up Shockwave Totem -> Rolling Slam -> Boneshatter.

Uncut Support Gem I (Cut in order)

1. Overabundance for Shockwave Totem
   • This costs a lot of mana, try to get "Gain X charges every second" on your mana flask to prepare for this.
2. Lacerate for Shockwave Totem
   • This enables you to use Bloodlust on Rolling Slam
3. Bloodlust for Rolling Slam

Uncut Spirit Gem IV

1. Herald of Ash
   • Activate it by opening the skill gem menu and Right Click the skill icon left of the skill name. To see if it's active check if Spirit shows 0/30 and the Herald of Ash icon swirls.

Uncut Skill Gem V or VI

None of the skills in this tier are useful for you, use them to level the skills you're already using. Prioritize Shockwave Totem!

Act 2

Uncut Spirit Gem IV

Switch to Scavenged Plating instead of Herald of Ash.

Uncut Skill Gem VII or VIII (Cut in order)

None of the skills in this row are worth taking, so use them to level up skills you already have and to add some skills that weren't a priority before.

1. Shockwave Totem
   • Keep leveling up Shockwave Totem as the first priority.
   • Remember: look for items with +x to Level of all Melee Skills on it. As Shockwave Totem uses its own weapon the damage on your weapon is not as important.
2. Sunder
   • Link this to Fist of War and Bloodlust.

Move Rage support from Rolling Slam to Mace Strike, and remove Rolling Slam from your build.

Uncut Support Gem I (Cut in order)

Check if you have missed any of the recommended gems before heading into Act 2.

From here you may use any level 1 Uncut Support Gem to liberally fill your remaining skill sockets however you see fit. Check the skill slider above for inspiration.

Act 3

Act 3 gives you access to Uncut Support Gem II, substantially increasing the amount of support gem options available to you.

Uncut Skill Gem IX or X

None of the skills in this row are worth taking (feel free to try them out anyway!) so simply level up your skills, always prioritizing Shockwave Totem.

Uncut Support Gem II (Cut in order)

Tip: Make sure to pick up the guaranteed Lesser Jeweller's Orb in the Sandswept Marsh that can be found in a chest in a small encampment at the edge of the layout.

This allows you to 4-link your Shockwave Totem by using the Orb on the skill icon of Shockwave Totem inside your skill tab.

1. Brutality for Shockwave Totem after using the Lesser Jeweller's Orb on it.
2. Overpower for Shockwave Totem. Replace Overabundance with Overpower as you should have an extra totem from the skill tree by now.
3. If you have mana issues, use Inspiration on Shockwave Totem instead of Overpower.
4. Save at least 2 Uncut Support Gems for Hammer of the Gods which unlocks later

Uncut Spirit Gem of any tier once at 60+ Spirit

1. Instead of adding an extra Spirit Skill use the Spirit you get here to support Scavenged Plating with Vitality and Precision.
2. To check if you have missed any of the permanent Spirit bonuses you acquire during your campaign, check out our Permanent Stats From The Campaign Guide.

Act 1 Cruel

Uncut Skill Gem X or XI

Again: you already have your main skills at this point. So keep leveling them up:

1. Shockwave Totem
   • Keep looking for gear with +x to Level of all Melee Skills, this can roll on your Weapon, Gloves and Amulet. It's extremely important to get these stats as this is the main stat that scales your damage.

Act 2 Cruel

Uncut Skill Gem XIII or XIV or XV

1. Ancestral Warrior Totem
   • Move Sunder(along with its links) to this Meta gem and replace Bloodlust with Overabundance so you can place this totem without giving up any Shockwave Totems.
2. Hammer of the Gods
   • It's not as useful for you as it is for other builds, but very fun to use.
   • Keep prioritizing +x to Level of all Melee Skills, but if you can get this in addition to some % increased Physical Damage on your weapon that's great for this skill.
   • Support it with Concentrated Effect and Fist of War.

Act 3 Cruel

Link Clarity to Scavenged Plating after defeating the Boss in the Azak Bog for +40 permanent spirit and also cut a skill gem into Time of Need.

Congratulations, you've finished the gem progression of the Shockwave Totem Warbringer Leveling Campaign and your links are properly set up to tackle your first Waystones.

First, travel to Brutal and Smash. Then move to Devastation and Carved Earth.

Afterwards go all the way down to Ancestral Artifice and Watchtowers. After you get Watchtowers you can focus almost fully on your totems.

Lastly, don't forget to pick up Cruel Methods, and start moving towards Supportive Ancestors. Once you picked that up you can start filling out the skill tree with any damage or defense nodes you might still be missing.

• By far the best way to get passable gear in the campaign is to check the Vendor in Town each time you level up! As vendors change their offerings based on your level this is an excellent way to find extra upgrades.
• Most of the damage you take during the campaign outside of Boss/Rare encounters is Physical Damage. Armour massively reduces that damage, so look out for high Armour rolls on your gear. As Sturdy Metal grants a massive boost to your Body Armour, make sure that it has an especially good defensive value.
• Prioritize +#% to Fire, Cold and Lightning Resistance as well as +# to Maximum Life on your remaining pieces
• The only damage stat you really care about is +x to Level of all Melee Skills. This cannot be empathized enough. The actual damage roll on your weapon is irrelevant for everything but Hammer of the Gods in your Waystone setup.
• A great source is checking vendors occasionally for promising bases to craft on with Orbs of Transmutation, Orbs of Augmentation, Regal Orbs, Exalted Orbs, Chaos Orbs and Essences.
• To finish off your item use one or two Artificer's Orb and socket Iron Runes. You may also use Blacksmith's Whetstone to additionally increase your weapons dps.
• Idol of Uldurn is a great unique to use on this build. Try to pick one up from the trade site if you're not SSF.
• Look out for maces with a high Item Level but a low strength requirement. Since the base damage on the weapon doesn't really matter anyway, this means you can try to get +x to Level of all Melee Skills on it and pick up Giant's Blood on the skill tree so you can use a shield!
• If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!

Why am I having such big mana issues?

Constantly casting Shockwave Totems is quite expensive on mana. Link Inspiration to them earlier than this guide suggests to give up some of your damage in exchange for less mana issues.

My totem placement speed feels very slow, can I make it feel better?

Replace one of your support gems with Ancestral Urgency for more Totem Placement Speed. By the time you complete the campaign, you should have enough Totem Placement Speed from the tree to fix this issue.

Check out this video for an overview of the build in video format.

Congratulations on finishing the Shockwave Totem Warbringer Leveling Guide! You beat the campaign and want to know how to further upgrade this build? Stay tuned for the Endgame version of the build that will be released soon!