Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.3.0 - Artillery Ballista Gemling Legionnaire Build Guide
Aug-23-2025 PSTAttribute-stacking builds in Path of Exile 2: The Third Edict are no longer the powerhouses they once were. For many veterans who loved the old Gemling Legionnaire attribute-stacker, this change has left them searching for a new identity. Fortunately, Patch 0.3.0 brings us a comfortable, fun, and highly effective alternative: the Artillery Ballista Gemling Legionnaire.
In this guide, we'll break down everything you need to know about this build, including ascendancy choices, skills, gear, playstyle, and strategies to dominate the Rise of the Abyssals league.
And remember—if you're looking to power up your character faster, our PoE 2 Store is stocked with weapons, armor, jewelry, and PoE 2 currency bundles to get you started on the right foot.
Why Play the Artillery Ballista Gemling Legionnaire?
The main appeal of this build lies in its simplicity and power. You don't need lightning-fast reflexes or complex rotations—just place down your totems and watch them annihilate everything on your screen.
By default, Artillery Ballista can only summon one totem. However, with passive tree nodes like Ancestral Artifice and Watchtowers, you'll raise this limit to three. When three Ballistae are raining explosive projectiles from the sky, map clearing becomes effortless.
Even better, this build transforms Artillery Ballista's natural fire damage into cold damage using Blueflame Bracers, enabling your totems to freeze enemies in place. Freezing packs and bosses in Path of Exile 2 are an enormous defensive advantage.
Ascendancy Order
For the Gemling Legionnaire, here's the optimal order of notable passives in Patch 0.3.0:
1. Crystalline Potential
2. Bolstering Implants – grants +2 levels to Artillery Ballista.
3. Adaptive Capability
4. Enhanced Effectiveness – doubles HP gained per point of STR.
If you dislike the attribute penalty from Enhanced Effectiveness, you can swap it for Advanced Thaumaturgy to lower your mana costs.
Core Playstyle
The Artillery Ballista Legionnaire has one of the easiest playstyles in the game:
· Mapping: Drop three Ballistae, move forward, repeat. Packs will melt before you even see them.
· Bossing: Cast Hypothermia and Frost Bomb first to reduce cold resistance. Then place Ballistae and spam Glacial Bolt to stack extra damage.
· Survivability: Freezes from your cold-converted Ballista make encounters much safer.
Recommended Gear
Here are the most important gear slots for this build:
· Weapon: Any crossbow with +7 to Level of All Projectile Skills. The weapon's base damage doesn't matter—totem skill levels are everything.
· Body Armor:
· Cloak of Flame for survivability (40% physical damage taken as fire).
· The Coming Calamity (expensive but strong) to reduce nearby enemies' resistances to zero.
· Helmet:
· Rare Champion Helm with STR/DEX/chaos resist, or
· Heatshiver for raw offense.
· Gloves: Blueflame Bracers – mandatory for converting fire to cold.
· Boots: Rare with 35% movement speed + resists.
· Amulet:
· Best: +3 to Level of All Projectile Skills.
· Alternative: Fireflower for +4 to Fire Skills.
· Rings:
· Start: Amethyst Rings for chaos resistance.
· Endgame: Breach Rings with “Added Fire/Cold Damage to Attacks.”
· Belt: Rare with STR, life, mana, and resists.
· Charms:
1. Thawing Charm (freeze immunity)
2. Stone Charm (stun immunity)
3. Flexible slot (e.g. Golden Charm or The Fall of the Axe for Onslaught).
For scaling, stack STR for both survivability and damage, while also ensuring capped resistances.
Gem & Skill Setup
Main Skill – Artillery Ballista
· Cold Infusion
· Overabundance
· Martial Tempo
· Inspiration
· Primal Armament
Secondary Damage – Glacial Bolt
· Glacier
· Scattershot
· Culling Strike
· Ammo Conservation
· Cold Penetration
Curses & Utility
· Hypothermia + Heightened Curse / Cursed Ground
· Frost Bomb (for Cold Exposure)
· Overwhelming Presence (aura setup)
Companion: Quadrilla (with “All Damage Shocks” mod). Support with Meat Shield for survivability.
Passive Tree Highlights
· Early leveling: Ignore totem nodes. Focus on attack and area damage.
· Pathing priorities: Resolute Technique, Polymathy, Sand in the Eyes, Authority, Crushing Judgement.
· Totem nodes: Allocate Watchtowers and Ancestral Artifice first for +2 Ballistae.
· Defenses: Pick up Prism Guard for +1% to maximum elemental resistances.
Tips & Strategies (Patch 0.3.0)
· Leveling: Start with Lightning Arrow + Orb of Storms until you ascend to Gemling Legionnaire.
· Quadrilla farming: Head to the Troubled Camp in Jungle Ruins (Act 3 Cruel). Reset until you find a rare Quadrilla with mods like All Damage Shocks or Trail of Cold.
· Companion supports: Avoid Loyalty; it makes your Quadrilla too squishy. Replace with Meat Shield.
· Amulet anointing: Use Mental Toughness (Distilled Envy → Fear → Greed) to reduce mana costs.
· Expensive upgrades: If you have currency, go for Prism of Belief (+3 Artillery Ballista) or The Coming Calamity chestpiece.
Final Thoughts on the Artillery Ballista Legionnaire
Despite the death of attribute-stacking builds, the Gemling Legionnaire is alive and well in Path of Exile 2: The Third Edict. The Artillery Ballista variant offers smooth gameplay, insane map clear, and surprisingly strong bossing—all without the complexity of micromanaging dozens of mechanics.
While it won't deliver the same wow factor as the old attribute-stacker, it remains one of the most comfortable and effective builds in Patch 0.3.0.
So, if you're looking for a fresh Gemling Legionnaire experience, give the Artillery Ballista build a try—you'll be raining icy death on your enemies in no time.
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