Path of Exile: Leveling and Progression Guide | Sentinel

Path of Exile’s Explosive Arrow Ballista build is popular because it can absolutely melt bosses and allow enough defense to occasionally take hits. Attack speed is crucial for this build and should be your priority for your gear. If you want to know how to level and progress with the Explosive Arrow Ballista build, we’re here to help you.

Leveling and Progression Guide in Path of Exile

Contrary to popular belief, the Explosive Arrow Balista’s mechanics are actually relatively easy. You want to stack as many explosive arrows on a target as possible to take advantage of the gem’s high damage multiplier.

Because the damage scaling is so high, the build concentrates on stacking a lot of protection, allowing you to strike a balance between defense and offense.

However, you might get overwhelmed regarding leveling and progression if you’re fairly new to the game. So, let’s focus on leveling resources, passive tree progression, and item progression.

General Tips

With that said, here are some of the tips that can help you better understand leveling and progression for the Explosive Arrow Ballista build:

Leveling Resources

• Act 1
  • Enemy at the Gate – Freezing Pulse and Purifying Flame
  • Mercy Mission – Summon Phantasm Support
  • Breaking Some Eggs – Flame Wall
  • Breaking Some Eggs 2 – Frostblink
  • The Caged Brute – Flame Dash
  • The Caged Brute 2 – Combustion Support
  • The Sirens Cadence

• Act 2
  • Intruders in Black – Herald of Ash and Herald of Purity
  • Sharp and Cruel – Faster Casting Support

• Act 3
  • Lost in Love – Flammability and Purity of Elements
  • Sever the Right Hand – Armageddon Brand and Cremation
  • A Fixture of Fate – Explosive Arrow, Ballista Totem Support, Faster Attacks Support, Grace, Determination, Lightning Spire Trap, Frenzy

• Act 4
  • Breaking the Seal – Summon Lightning Golem
  • The Eternal Nightmare

Passive Tree Progression (Acts 1-4, until Level 40)

• Cast Speed
• Spell Damage
• Heart and Soul
• Life Mastery
• Heart of Flame
• Purity of Flesh
• Primal Manifestation
• Sovereignty

Item Progression

• Evasion and Armor Scaling items
• When leveling, prioritize Storm Cloud + Skirmish
• Get Tabula as soon as possible
• Lifetap immediately to be able to free up Mana
• Grace + Determination + Defiance Banner for defense
• Life Roll in early and Spell Suppression for late game

ALSO READ: Path of Exile: Which Class to Play