Overview
This build chases the classic “machine gun” crossbow fantasy: hold one button, spray a continuous stream of Armour Piercing Rounds, and watch them chain up to six times between enemies. It is built around the Gemling Legionnaire’s quality-stacking and the odd-quality bonus on Armour Piercing Rounds, which converts into raw attack speed so the character fires several projectiles per second.
The damage engine is physical and almost entirely rage-driven. An Eternal Rage amulet implicit feeds the build into rage, which is then pushed to maximum and amplified by Berserk for north of 100% more damage from rage alone, before a Bestial Rage Megalomaniac adds a further chunk of increased physical damage. Because the projectiles break armour as they hit, fully-broken-armour effects and Lion’s Roar stack on top for even more multiplier.
The creator pitches it as one of the fastest builds they have played this league — smooth mapping from the chaining clear, and pinnacle bosses that melt in seconds once the single-target links are swapped in.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- One-button, hold-to-clear playstyle that feels satisfying in dense packs
- Six-chain clear blankets the screen — very strong, smooth mapping
- Melts pinnacle bosses once you swap to the single-target link set
- Gemling Legionnaire is flexible and rewards the all-quality theme heavily
- Scales further with item rarity stacked on rings/idols for juicy loot
Cons
- Heavily gear-gated — wants Mageblood, a desecrated chaining crossbow, and several divine-tier uniques
- Armour Piercing Rounds has tiny base damage on its own; all the power is in the surrounding scaffolding
- Rage upkeep with Berserk drains life, so it leans on Rebirth Runes and regen to stay alive
- Single-target setup does not auto-reload — you must dodge-roll or hit Emergency Reload to refill clips
Key Skills
- Armour Piercing Rounds — the main clear and single-target skill; odd quality grants the attack speed that drives the machine-gun feel
- Chain support + desecrated “attacks chain an additional time” — stacks to six chains for the blanket clear
- Berserk + Eternal Rage — the rage core, providing well over 100% more damage from two spirit gems
- Emergency Reload — instant clip refill and a large damage burst for boss phases
- Wind Dancer / Ghost Dance — the evasion and recovery layer that keeps you alive while ditching HP for rage
Gear & Anointments
Weapon is the priority: a high physical-damage crossbow with plus levels to projectile/attack skills and the desecrated “attacks chain an additional time” suffix (Abyss-exclusive). Two uniques anchor the rest — Concentrating Command helmet for the Surrounded buff effects, and a corrupted-to-five Warrior Invictus body armour for life-per-socket and resistances. The amulet must roll the Eternal Rage implicit; the creator anointed Dangerous Blossom for extra physical damage. Rings and idols are tuned for 100% item rarity plus life. Specific roll targets should be confirmed against the source video.
Endgame Notes
For pinnacle bosses, swap the clear links (Unnatural Embrace / Fresh Clip / Dominus’ Grasp / Chain / Mobility) over to the single-target package — Deliberation, Multishot, Heist and Defy on High Velocity Rounds — and manage reloads manually with dodge-rolls or Emergency Reload. With a Mageblood the build reaches 100%+ movement speed for very fast clears.
Credits & Source
Build credited to ProjectPT (Peuget2). See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage and voice commentary: Machine Gun Gemling — Simple 1-Button Build (PoE 2 0.5).