It’s that time again when a new Path of Exile league begins and we all get to start over. I personally love it, but the hardest part is always figuring out the best builds going into the new season with all the new changes and additions a league brings. I’ve put together a list of all the best Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League Starter builds going into the new update so you can plan ahead, as well as links to the best build guides for each one.
Best all-around league starter build – Explosive Arrow Champion
Explosive Arrow has been in a great spot for league starter builds for a while now. In fact, some speculated that heading into PoE 3.24 ranged builds such as Explosive Arrow would get nerfed. However, the build actually got buffed!
This build essentially fires arrows that stick to terrain that it collides with or enemies and then explodes after a short period of time, dealing area of effect damage. You can also stick additional arrows to enemies including those nearby, causing a cascade effect that adds the damage to the explosive arrow culminating in a big AoE with lots of damage.
In terms of playstyle, this is the perfect build for those who like to stay at range and have an easy time scaling naturally to deal damage as they play. Of course, better gear will always increase your damage. However, this build will have no problem completing all content, and yet the ceiling is very high in case you want to convert it to being an endgame build albeit with a hefty investment.
The only big negative change to Explosive Arrow comes in the form of changes to Vorici’s socket colors. The removal of white, it makes it crafting the proper weapon for Explosive Arrow on a Thicket Bow or even Grove Bow becomes tricky. However, it should still be relatively easy to do so with a Short Bow. That being said, truly great bows will be very expensive in this league, so plan on crafting your own or saving up a lot just to buy a good weapon if you go with Explosive Arrow Champion for your league starter build.
Pros:
- Simple and safe playstyle
- Very tanky build while still dealing massive damage
- Extremely viable in SSF setting
Cons:
- Expensive weapon crafting with new league changes
- Also a very popular league starter build that can make other crucial gear options more expensive than they should be
- Recovery issues for longer boss fights, though mitigated some with new league changes
Recommended build guide: Explosive Arrow Champion Leaguestarter by Zizaran
Best easy-to-play 1-button league starter build – Cast on Crit Detonate Dead Inquisitor
The Necropolis League is bringing a ton of quality-of-life changes to Path of Exile, but even still it can exhausting keeping up with all of the button presses required to make some builds shine. This build allows you to literally push a single button to play the build. This not only makes the build easy to play, but gives you wrist some well-needed rest.
New changes in this league have actually made this build stronger. Detonate Dead has long been considered a strong build, but the changes to DD and Inquisitor allowing this specific 1-Button build may truly push it into meta territory.
The gameplay essentially revolves around you literally grouping up enemies and then pressing a single button to cast all your spells and blow up corpses to deal insane damage.
Pros:
- 1-button does everything
- Can do all content
- The end-game variant is quite tanky
Cons:
- Have to play around corpse locations
- MTX actually affects this build, so some P2W arguments
- Playstyle is not for everyone
Recommended build guide: 1-Button CoC DD Inquisitor by Ventrua
Best minion league starter build – Poison Summon Raging Spirits (SRS) Necromancer
In Path of Exile, poison builds are extremely strong, especially if you can reach the poison cap. This Poison SRS Necromancer build does just that. And, with Necropolis league changes, you will start dealing damage earlier with this build eliminating a lot of the previous downtime when trying to get this build operational.
Poison Summon Raging Spirits Necromancer relies on using your minions, primarily Raging Spirits, to deal all your damage. With proper gear the scaling for this build is insane, allowing you to effectively map clear and kill bosses. In fact, with proper gearing, this build can be one of the best boss killers in the game.
This build is unique in that all of your damage comes from your minions, so by nature, you mostly just run around dodging enemies while letting your minions deal the damage and soak up incoming damage. Your actual playstyle usually consists of re-summoning your minions frequently and running around while they get to work.
Pros:
- Insane scaling due to poison
- Very good at killing bosses
- Overall straightforward to learn and play
Cons:
- Boring to some because your minions do all the work
- Lower budget builds have to constantly resummon its minions which can be tedious
- Poison-centric so relies on building poison stacks to really get going
Recommended build guide: Poison SRS Necromancer League Starter by BalorMage
Best melee-centric league starter build – Splitting Steel Champion
Splitting Steel has been a strong skill to build around for a while, especially as a league starter. However, it previously required a 2-button play-style just to execute Splitting Steel, which was not fun. However, with new changes in the Necropolis league, the clunky requirement to call your Splitting Steel stacks is no longer there.
The changes not only make the build more fun but allow it to focus more on increasing damage and survivability without having to build around the awkwardness of its playstyle. Choosing Champion allows you to scale damage to copious amounts via impale while being tanky due to Armor and Evasion.
If you’re looking for a melee build that can last you throughout the entire game, potentially even into the super late-game with the proper budget investment, you’ll want to take a look at Splitting Steel Champion.
Pros:
- Changes this league will make this build more fun to play than ever
- Can play through all content
- Gearing for this build is extremely beginner-friendly
Cons:
- Melee build (hehe)
- Requires good flasks to scale even higher
- Sacrifices suppression in the late game to increase damage
Recommended build guide: Splitting Steel Champion by TbXie
