[PoE 2] My secret 1-Button League Starter that Destroy All Content | 0.5.5 Forbidden Rites

Overview

This is a Cluster Grenade totem starter built around one idea: stack enough reduced detonation time that the mini-grenades from a Cluster Grenade land on the same spot as the primary explosion. The overlap shotguns single targets for a damage multiplier that is among the largest available, and because the whole thing is delivered by totems, the endgame play pattern collapses to a single button.

The route to it is deliberately conventional. You run the campaign as a crossbow Mercenary on the well-known Permafrost Bolts plus Fragmentation Rounds shell — freeze the target, then dump single-target damage into it — and only swap to the totem setup at level 52, once a Greater Jeweller’s Orb and four Gemcutter’s Prisms are in hand. Every step was play-tested in SSF, so nothing on the path assumes trade access.

The Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy carries the build twice over: it keeps the campaign shell tanky, and it is the reroll platform that makes this a low-risk starter — the same character pivots into a number of stronger builds later without a fresh levelling run.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Genuinely one-button in the endgame; no ammo-swap or grenade-cooldown management
• Cluster Grenade × Gemling Legionnaire interaction survived the 0.5.5 balance pass
• Campaign never needs more than three buttons, and was validated in SSF
• A one-divine variant cleared T16 in the first week of the prior league
• Gemling Legionnaire rerolls into many other builds, so the levelling isn’t wasted

Cons

• The level 52 swap is gated on a Greater Jeweller’s Orb plus four Gemcutter’s Prisms
• Weapon crafting is RNG-heavy — you fish bases and hope the Regal lands
• Mana is handled by Blood Magic on the one-divine setup, so the budget version before that is less comfortable
• No skill-balance changes this patch means no upside surprise; it is exactly as strong as last league

Key Skills

• Cluster Grenade — the core damage skill; primary explosion plus overlapping mini-grenades
• Mortar Cannon — extra Gemcutter’s Prisms go here for an additional totem
• Permafrost Bolts — campaign freeze setup, used from level one
• Fragmentation Rounds — campaign single-target payoff on frozen enemies
• Eternal Rage — added around level 58 for a large late-campaign damage jump

Gear & Anointments

Crossbow crafting is the through-line: craft a flat-and-percent physical weapon in Act 2 and ride it to level 33, move to the Bombard Crossbow at 33 (it grants an extra grenade), then the Plated Crossbow base at 59 for another. Look for percent physical or flat physical, then Regal, Exalt, and slot an Iron Rune. An Essence of Abrasion on the level 59 base guarantees the physical mods if you find one. The one-divine endgame setup pairs Reverie for defence with Blood Magic to remove mana upkeep entirely.

Endgame Notes

The totem setup takes you to T16 on its own, and the one-divine variant cleared T16 at 1% quantity daily in the previous league. A +2 totem crossbow craft is the main scaling upgrade past that point.

Credits & Source

Build credited to Lazy Exile. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: [PoE 2] My secret 1-Button League Starter that Destroy All Content | 0.5.5 Forbidden Rites.