Boneshatter Warrior Build Guide 

Overview

Updated for Path of Exile 2 Early Access Patch 0.2.0g (Dawn of the Hunt League).

• Class: Warrior

• Ascendancy: Smith of Kitava

• Main Skills: Boneshatter, Leap Slam, Earthshatter, Hammer of the Gods

• Core Mechanics: Stun Priming, Armour Breaking, Shockwave Explosions

• Defensive Highlights:

  • Up to 90% Elemental Resistances via Coal Stoker and Forged in Flame passives.

  • Significant Life Regeneration and Strength bonuses from Smith’s Masterwork.

  • High Block Chance with a two-handed weapon and shield combination

This build’s strength lies in its ability to withstand immense damage while clearing packs of enemies efficiently. The synergy between skills and support gems ensures both survivability and offensive prowess

1. Core Skills

Boneshatter Setup

• Skill:   Boneshatter Attack enemies with a melee Strike. The Strike will cause a Heavy Stun on enemies that are Primed for Stun. Upon causing a Heavy Stun it will also create a Shockwave, dealing a large amount of damage in an area.Attacks enemies with a melee Strike. The Strike will cause a Heavy Stun on enemies that are Primed for Stun. Upon causing a Heavy Stun it will also create a Shockwave, dealing a large amount of damage in an area.Attack enemies with a melee Strike. The Strike will cause a Heavy Stun on enemies that are Primed for Stun. Upon causing a Heavy Stun it will also create a Shockwave, dealing a large amount of damage in an area.  –  Delivers a powerful strike that causes a heavy stun on enemies primed for it, triggering a damaging shockwave.

  • Impact Shockwave: Enhances the shockwave effect, dealing additional AoE damage upon a heavy stun.

  • Reach: Increases the area of effect, allowing Boneshatter to hit more enemies simultaneously.

  • Devastate: Ensures that heavy stuns from Boneshatter fully break enemy armour, amplifying subsequent damage.

  • Defy: Provides “lucky” damage rolls when surrounded, increasing the likelihood of higher damage outputs.
  • Magnified Effect: Further boosts the area of effect, enhancing the build’s clear speed.
• Function: Your main clearing Skills – still going strong after all those patches and by far the most strike and true. 

Leap Slam Setup

• Leap Slam: A mobility skill that primes enemies for stun upon landing.

  • Brink: Prevents Leap Slam from stunning, ensuring enemies remain primed for Boneshatter.

  • Martial Tempo: Increases attack speed, allowing for quicker engagements and repositioning.

  • Overpower: Boosts stun buildup, making it easier to achieve heavy stuns.

  • Holy Descent: Creates consecrated ground upon landing, providing life regeneration and increased critical strike chance

Earthshatter Setup

• Earthshatter: Slams the ground, creating spikes that can be detonated for additional damage and armour breaking.

• Rage: Generates rage, enhancing attack speed and damage.

• Upheaval: Increases the number of fissures created, amplifying the skill’s damage potential.

• Splinter: Ensures that Earthshatter breaks enemy armour, synergizing with other skills that benefit from broken armour.

• Aftershock: Provides a chance to cause an additional damaging aftershock, increasing overall DPS

Hammer of the Gods Setup

• Hammer of the Gods: A powerful attack used primarily against bosses, dealing massive damage.

  • Heft: Boosts maximum physical damage, enhancing the hammer’s impact.

  • Heavy Swing: Reduces attack speed but significantly increases physical damage.

  • Fist of War: Adds a powerful, periodically enhanced attack, delivering a substantial damage burst.

  • Lacerate: Introduces a chance to inflict bleeding, causing additional damage over time.

  • Exploit Weakness: Increases damage against enemies with fully broken armour, synergizing with Earthshatter and Devastate.

Aura Setup

Your first Uncut Spirit Gem will be from The King in the Mists boss in Act I where you are introduced to Path of Exile 2 Ritual Mechanic

Utilize this for:

•   Herald of Ash While active, enemies you sufficiently Overkill with attacks will cause an explosion that Ignites nearby enemies based on the Overkill damage dealt.While active, enemies you sufficiently Overkill with attacks will cause an explosion that Ignites nearby enemies based on the Overkill damage dealt. : Causes overkill damage to ignite nearby enemies, aiding in clear speed.

  • Deadly Herald: Increases the damage dealt by Herald of Ash.

  • Fire Mastery: Raises the gem level of Herald of Ash, enhancing its effectiveness.

   Overwhelming Presence While active, enemies in your Presence are easier to Stun and inflict Elemental Ailments upon.While active, enemies in your Presence are easier to Stun and inflict Elemental Ailments upon. : Makes nearby enemies easier to stun, supporting the build’s stun-centric mechanics.

• Cannibalism: Restores life upon killing enemies, contributing to survivability.

Ascendancy

 

Ascendancy Comparison: Titan vs Warbringer vs Smith of Kitava

While Boneshatter is a naturally synergistic Slam skill for Warriors, the choice of Ascendancy determines whether your build leans into raw brute force, utility and warcries, or scaling via crafted armor and fire synergies. Below is a breakdown of each Warrior Ascendancy and how it performs with a Boneshatter core:

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Smith of Kitava – The Armorer’s Path to Chaos-Infused Carnage

The Smith of Kitava Ascendancy is the newest addition introduced in Dawn of the Hunt and offers a unique playstyle centered around Normal Body Armour scaling. Despite the restriction of using only Normal rarity Body Armour (via Smith’s Masterwork), the bonuses it provides are unparalleled for Boneshatter’s glass-cannon-meets-juggernaut role.

Key Synergies for Boneshatter:

• Molten Symbol: Converts 25% of physical damage taken into fire—exceptional for reducing spike damage in melee combat.

• Flowing Metal: Grants +5% to Max Fire Res, which not only improves elemental defense but scales further if you’re stacking max res (like via Purity of Fire).

• Heavy Bracing and Internal Layer: Provide solid survivability with +100% stun threshold and -50% critical damage taken.

• Dedication to Kitava: Armour now mitigates Chaos damage, a rare and highly valuable trait for melee tanks.

• Living Weapon: Grants Manifest Weapon, enabling hybrid damage and possibly summoning support (though less relevant to Boneshatter directly).

Verdict:
Smith of Kitava is an excellent hybrid choice, bringing strong defensive scaling and enabling powerful fire conversion setups. It is ideal for Boneshatter players who want a bit of chaos and fire utility with armor-based tankiness and don’t mind the Normal Armor restriction.

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Titan – The Slam Specialist and Endurance Juggernaut

The Titan Ascendancy is tailor-made for slam-heavy, stun-centric builds. If you want to play Boneshatter in the most direct and brutal way possible, Titan is your go-to.

Key Synergies for Boneshatter:

• Crushing Impacts: Makes all hits Crushing Blows—this scales Boneshatter’s damage ceiling rapidly, especially vs high-health targets.

• Surprising Strength: 50% more damage against Heavy Stunned enemies synergizes directly with Boneshatter’s stun mechanics.

• Earthbreaker: 25% chance for Slam skills to cause Aftershocks—amazing for AoE clearing.

• Ancestral Empowerment: Every second Slam is Ancestrally Boosted—a pseudo Fist of War effect built in.

• Stone Skin and Mysterious Lineage: Offer +50% more armour from body armour and +15% max life respectively, both excellent for melee survivability.

Verdict:
Titan is the most “Boneshatter-native” Ascendancy, and offers the best raw DPS scaling and slam synergy. If you want to go all-in on stunning and smashing, this is your best option. The passive tree also boosts AoE, Stun Buildup, and Strength scaling, all core parts of the Boneshatter loop.

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Warbringer – Totemic Defense and Warcry Explosions

The Warbringer Ascendancy shines in hybrid setups that utilize warcries, totems, and armor-shattering mechanics. While it offers tools that Boneshatter can make use of, its focus is more spread out.

Key Synergies for Boneshatter:

• Imploding Impacts + Anvil’s Weight: Allow you to break enemy armour below 0, a powerful mechanic for increasing Boneshatter’s base physical damage penetration.

• Greatwolf’s Howl: Warcry spam is viable, allowing frequent Intimidating/Enduring Cry uptime.

• Jade Heritage: Flat physical damage reduction via Jade stacks, great for sustainability.

• Wooden Wall + Answered Call: Totem synergy helps redirect incoming damage, but Boneshatter doesn’t use Totems by default—these are more niche.

Verdict:
Warbringer can work for Boneshatter if you want to experiment with armour-breaking mechanics or warcry-heavy variants, but it’s not the most streamlined synergy. You sacrifice some core slam amplification compared to Titan for more tactical utility.

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Final Verdict

Ascendancy	Playstyle	Pros	Cons
Smith of Kitava	Fire-conversion hybrid bruiser	Defensive bonuses from Normal Body Armour, fire/chaos res scaling	Requires specific gear (Normal Body Armour), less slam scaling
Titan	Pure slam & stun powerhouse	Maximum synergy with Boneshatter mechanics	Less flexibility in build experimentation
Warbringer	Warcry/totem utility bruiser	Unique tools (warcry spam, armour breaking)	Indirect synergy with Boneshatter

Recommendation:
Pick Titan for the most direct and powerful Boneshatter synergy. Choose Smith of Kitava if you’re looking for defensive layering, elemental res conversion, and want to experiment with fire-themed bonuses. Warbringer is viable, but only if you’re building around warcries or hybrid mechanics.

Passive Skill Tree

The passive skill tree progression focuses on improve your Damage and Stun Scaling. 

Early Game (25 Passive Points)

Mid Game (50 Passive Points)

End game + Map

If you are using Earthshatter

Stat Priorities

• Primary: Strenght to Scale your Damage, Other stat are dependent on your gear. 

Gear Recommendations

Slot	Offensive Priorities	Defensive Priorities
Weapon	– High Physical DPS- Attack Speed- % Melee/Physical Damage- Adds Lightning Damage to Attacks	(None – offense focused)
Shield	(Optional – if not 2H)	– High Block Chance- Max Life- Resistances- The Surrender is ideal for mapping survivability
Helmet	– Area of Effect (optional)	– Life- Resistances- Armour
Chest	– % Increased Damage	– High Life- +% Max Fire Resistance- Armour- Chaos Resistance
Gloves	– Attack Speed- Adds Lightning to Attacks- Mana Leech	– Life- Resistances
Boots	– Movement Speed	– Life- Resistances- Armour
Rings	– Adds Physical or Lightning to Attacks- Mana Leech- % Increased Damage	– Resistances (Fire, Chaos)- Life
Amulet	– % Global Physical Damage- % Increased Melee Damage- Attribute Filler (Strength)	– Life- +% Max Fire Resistance
Belt	– % Increased Physical Damage- Strength	– Life- Armour- Resistances
Jewels	– % Melee Damage- % Attack Speed- % Area Damage	– % Block Chance- +% Max Fire Resistance- Chaos Resistance

Here’s the rewritten Gear Recommendation – Offensive Scaling section for the Boneshatter Smith of Kitava build, formatted and enhanced for clarity and precision:

Gear Recommendations: Offensive Scaling

The backbone of your damage output is your weapon—Boneshatter lives or dies by it. Here’s how to optimize your offensive gear:

• Weapon Priority:
  Your main-hand weapon is your #1 source of damage. Look for:

  • High base physical DPS

  • % Increased Physical or Melee Damage

  • Added Physical Damage

  • Attack Speed, which directly affects Boneshatter’s stacking and stun output

• Area of Effect:
  Increased Area of Effect smooths out clear speed and helps with Hammer of the Gods overlap. Look for this stat on helms, weapons, or passive tree clusters.

• Attack Speed & Tempo:
  Faster attacks = faster Boneshatter stacks, higher damage, and smoother stuns. This stat is particularly noticeable in tougher encounters and helps with shock uptime.

• Mana Leech:
  A sustainable mana pool is essential. Secure Mana Leech from:

  • Rings (prefixes like “of Leech”)

  • Gloves, or

  • Weapon mods
    This ensures you can maintain momentum during extended boss phases without relying on flasks.

• Shock Support via Lightning Damage:
  Even a small amount of Lightning Damage to Attacks—often found on Gloves or Rings—allows Hammer of the Gods to inflict shock, a powerful damage multiplier especially in boss fights.

• Stacking Increased Damage:
  Look for gear with any of the following:

  • % Increased Melee Damage

  • % Global Physical Damage

  • % Increased Damage with Two-Handed Weapons (if not using a shield)

  • % Attack Damage or % Area Damage

  • % Increased Damage with Maces (if applicable)

Tip: Don’t spread too thin—stack synergistic mods. A well-rolled rare weapon will outscale most Uniques if it’s focused purely on physical DPS and speed.

 

Defensive

For a Boneshatter Smith of Kitava build, your defenses revolve around stacking Life, resistances, and Block. Here’s what to prioritize:

• Maximum Fire Resistance: Aim to push this as high as possible—ideally up to +5% or even +10%. Nodes like Flowing Metal and Molten Symbol make this a key defensive layer, converting physical damage into manageable Fire damage.

• Fire and Chaos Resistance: Cap your Fire and Chaos Resistances early. Chaos damage is particularly dangerous in POE2, and nodes like Dedication to Kitava let your armour help mitigate it if properly stacked.

• Maximum Life: Always seek flat +Life rolls on gear. The more HP you have, the more you can endure self-inflicted stun damage from Boneshatter scaling.

• Strength: Not only does Strength boost your life pool, it also synergizes with many passive and armor bonuses. Gear with high Strength rolls should be prioritized where possible.

• Block Chance (Shield): Block is your primary defensive mechanic while mapping. Equip a shield with high base Block Chance, and scale it further with passive tree and Support Gems.

  • Once you approach block cap, you become nearly invulnerable to trash mobs.

  • The Surrender (if available in POE2) remains an exceptional mapping shield due to its sustain and raw defense.

• Armour: While not your main priority, Armour helps blunt incoming physical hits. It synergizes with several Kitava passives (like Dedication to Kitava) and grants bonuses such as reduced crit damage taken and Ignite immunity via armor-specific nodes. Treat it as a secondary defense behind Life and Resistances.

⚠️ Still getting chunked in maps? Be sure to consult our Survival Guide for tips on mitigation layers, flask setup, and chaos resistance planning.

• Shield: Focus on shields that offer high block chance, life, and resistances.

• Body Armour: A normal (white) body armour is required to benefit from Smith’s Masterwork bonuses.

• Helmet, Gloves, Boots: Prioritize life, resistances, and strength. Unique items like Thrillsteel can provide additional benefits.

• Accessories: Amulets and rings should offer life, resistances, and attributes. Belts like Infernoclasp can enhance fire resistance and strength.

• Jewels: Seek jewels that increase melee damage, stun duration, and provide additional resistances.

Leveling Tips

• Early Game: Utilize Leap Slam and Boneshatter for efficient clearing. Focus on acquiring gear that boosts physical damage and life.

• Mid Game: Introduce Earthshatter and Hammer of the Gods as you progress, ensuring you have the necessary support gems to maximize their effectiveness.

• Late Game: Optimize your gear and passive tree to fully benefit from the build’s defensive and offensive capabilities.

Smith of Kitava Boneshatter Summary

This Boneshatter Warrior build takes full advantage of Path of Exile 2’s reworked melee mechanics by focusing on powerful slam-based attacks and scaling both survivability and area-clearing efficiency. Anchored by the Smith of Kitava Ascendancy, the build utilizes armor-based defensive bonuses and ignite-immunity through Body Armour modifiers, while leveraging Fire and Physical scaling for consistent single-target damage and clear.

While Smith of Kitava offers unique value through Manifest Weapon and armor-scaling defenses, this guide also compares Titan’s raw life and slam multipliers and Warbringer’s totem and warcry synergies to help you decide the best Ascendancy for your content focus—be it mapping, bossing, or hybrid gameplay.

With the right gear—particularly high-block shields and strong melee weapons—this build becomes a near-unstoppable juggernaut capable of clearing large packs and delivering crushing blows to even the toughest endgame foes.