![[PoE 2] - POEGuy’s Mortar Cannon Warbringer League Starter – Full Campaign Guide](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c5394wtgNAM/maxresdefault.jpg)
Overview
This build is structured as a two-stage league starter that walks a Warrior through the entire campaign before transitioning into a ranged grenade specialist for maps. Levelling is handled by Volcanic Fissure paired with Shockwave Totem and Earthquake — totems trigger the fissures while Earthquake’s jagged ground is detonated for huge boss damage. At level 52 the same character respeccs into Mortar Cannon and Cluster Grenade on a crossbow, and roughly 80% of the passive tree is reused so the swap costs very little gold.
The Warbringer ascendancy is the glue: the first lab gives a bonus totem placement plus spirits that provide significant offensive and defensive buffs, and the second lab routes 20% of damage taken to nearby totems for a strong campaign defensive layer. The creator’s pitch is explicitly that this is built to forgive new players — both halves of the build deal damage from outside enemy melee range, totems eat aggro, and the gear bar is intentionally low.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Self-contained from Act 1 through endgame on a single tree — minimal regret points needed for the level 52 transition.
- Volcanic Fissure + Shockwave Totem trivialises bosses with Earthquake jagged-ground stacking, even with vendor-bought weapons.
- Mortar Cannon scales hard with cheap added-physical rings/gloves and a +1 projectile amulet — all very accessible on league start.
- Warbringer totems absorb 20% of incoming damage; combined with armour + shield this makes the campaign survivable for casual play.
Cons
- Act 1 is rough for any Warrior — Red Veil and Grim Tangle in particular are punishing for melee characters before the rage support gem unlocks.
- Requires upgrading your weapon roughly every 7–10 levels to keep pace with monster scaling; not a true “set and forget” leveller.
- Resistances must be at ~50% across fire/cold/lightning before entering the interludes or the build feels squishy in the transition zones.
- Mortar Cannon rotation depends on staggering totem drops every second instead of spam-placing them — it is forgiving but not zero-button.
Key Skills
- Volcanic Fissure — Levelling damage skill; placed on the ground and detonated by totems.
- Shockwave Totem — Activates fissures and jagged ground, and pulls aggro off the player.
- Earthquake — Drops jagged ground for boss single target; combos with Shockwave Totem for chunk damage.
- Mortar Cannon — Post-level-52 ranged primary on crossbow; scales with totem placement and projectile count.
- Cluster Grenade — Late-campaign / mapping clear via shrapnel projectiles; benefits most from +projectile gear.
- Bone Shatter — Act 1 early clear before rage support is unlocked; only used on highlighted (heavy-stunned) enemies.
Gear & Anointments
Act 1 starts on a shield + one-handed mace combination for survivability, then swaps to a two-handed mace once Rage Support is unlocked from the Mad Burrow cave boss. From act 2 onward you move to a one-handed mace + shield to play Volcanic Fissure safely. At level 52 the transition is to a crossbow — the best in slot is a Bombarding Crossbow for the extra grenade implicit, but any 250–300 physical-DPS crossbow off the trade site works.
For scaling rare gear: added physical damage on rings, added physical damage on gloves, and a +1 projectile skills amulet are the high-impact cheap targets. Quality + Iron Rune go on the weapon to push physical DPS, and jewels should aim for two damaging modifiers each (elemental, totem, fire, or attack damage). Specific uniques to be confirmed against the source video.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Poeguy007. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage and act-by-act commentary: PoE 2 — POEGuy’s Mortar Cannon Warbringer League Starter – Full Campaign Guide.