POEGuy's Siege Ballista Hierophant

Sucky Boy Gear Progression

Path of Exile 3.28 Updated: April 11, 2026
💡 General Note: Not everyone's gear progression is going to be the same due to lucky drops, but here is a general timeline. Refer to the guide POB for exact jewel placement.

Phase 1: EA-Phase Level 30-78

🟠 Mandatory Uniques

  • •
    Quill Rain (Make sure to take the mastery that converts % Projectile Speed into % increased Damage once you reach it).

✨ Nice to Have Uniques

  • •
    Skirmish
  • •
    Replica Dragonfang's Flight (with EA)
  • •
    Wilma's Requital
  • •
    Prismweave (Good for leveling)
  • •
    Immortal Flesh (Nice for early map tanking)

🧪 Flask Setup

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask with Immunity to Corrupted Blood and Bleeding.
  • •
    Utility 1: Rumi's Concoction. Replaces a normal Granite Flask for massive physical damage reduction and block chance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Jade Flask for evasion.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask for movement speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Amethyst Flask for chaos resistance.
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Prefixes: % Increased Duration, % Charge Recovery, or % Maximum Charges.
  • •
    Suffixes: % Increased Evasion Rating, Armour, Critical Strike Chance, or Movement Speed.
  • •
    Automation: Apply 20% quality and enchant all magic utility flasks with "Used When Charges Reach Full" using your Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs.

🟡 Rare Gear

  • •
    Rare: 4-passive totem cluster jewel with Sleepless Sentries.
  • •
    Amulet
    • Look for +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems
    • Anoint Divine Judgement: Sepia, Teal, Black
  • •
    Rings
  • •
    Rare Quiver (WARNING: NO PIERCE)
  • •
    Rare Boots (Preferably Armour / Evasion base) (Look for +25% Movement Speed).
    • Eater of Worlds Ichor any of the following:
      - Regenerate #% of Life per second per Endurance Charge
      - #% increased Armour from Equipped Helmet and Gloves
      - #% increased Life Regeneration rate
    • Searing Exarch Ember any of the following:
      - #% increased Action Speed
      - #% increased Movement Speed
      - #% increased Damage per Endurance Charge
  • •
    Rare Gloves (Preferably Armour / Evasion base)
    • Eater of Worlds Ichor any of the following:
      - Inflict Fire Exposure on Hit, applying #% to Fire Resistance
    • Searing Exarch Ember any of the following:
      - #% increased Attack Speed
      - #% chance to Intimidate Enemies for 4 seconds on Hit
  • •
    Rare Helmet (Preferably Armour / Evasion base)
    • Eater of Worlds Ichor any of the following:
      - #% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as X elemental Damage
      - #% increased Armour from Equipped
    • Searing Exarch Ember any of the following:
      - #% reduced Mana Cost of Attacks (Only if struggling with mana)
      - #% of X Damage taken Recouped as Life
      - +#% to maximum Lightning Resistance
      - #% increased Area of Effect
  • •
    Rare Belt (Choose One Path):
    • Choice A: Regular Rare Belt
    • Choice B: Cord Belt
      Anoint Ash, Frost, and Storm: Sepia, Crimson, Crimson
  • •
    Body Armour (Preferably Armour / Evasion base)
    • Eater of Worlds Ichor any of the following:
      - #% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as an elemental type
    • Searing Exarch Ember any of the following:
      - +#% to all maximum Resistances
      - +#% maximum to an elemental resistance type

📈 Stats to look for on rare items

80+ life 60%+ elemental resistance

💡 Phase Notes & Crafting

  • •
    Flask Reminder: Remember to Check your flask setup after finishing acts and map progression. They are a huge defensive power boost.
  • •
    Warning: Look for 4-link items (2G-2R) at vendors. Avoid Penetrating Arrow Quivers entirely (you do not want your arrows to pierce).
  • •
    Crafting: Rings can be crafted with Deafening or Shrieking Essence of Anger for % fire damage.
  • •
    Catalysts: Use Turbulent Catalysts on accessories with % Fire Damage or Elemental Damage.
  • •
    Eldritch Crafting: Eldritch Ichor and Eldritch Ember can be used on rare non-corrupted Armour pieces to add extra powerful implicit mods.
  • •
    Acquisition: Rare equipment can also be acquired from trade or the Breach Genesis tree using Provisioning Wombgifts.

Phase 2: Early-Siege Days 1-3 | 50c Invested

🎯 Requirements: Level 78. Ensure your Siege Ballista gem is at least level 15 and has 20% quality before swapping. 1400 Dexterity (allows you to do early red maps comfortably).
🏆 Goal: 1600 Dexterity

🟠 Uniques

  • •
    Iron Commander (Look for 19-20% Increased Attack Speed, and use a Blessed Orb to max the implicit Crit Chance).
  • •
    Briskwrap (Must be 5-linked for the transition).
  • •
    Fractal Thoughts (CRITICAL: Your Strength MUST be higher than your Intelligence to get the 15% increased Dexterity. Look for a roll close to 40% Crit Multiplier).
  • •
    The Poised Prism (Use a Blessed Orb on the implicit and aim for good resistance rolls).
  • •
    Hrimsorrow
  • •
    Astramentis
    • Anoint Shaman's Dominion: Clear, Azure, Silver
    • Budget Amulet: Hyrri's Truth
      DO NOT enable the Level 30 Precision aura. Look for ~80 Dexterity and ~50% Crit Multi.

🧪 Flask Setup

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask with Immunity to Corrupted Blood and Bleeding.
  • •
    Utility 1: Rumi's Concoction. Replaces a normal Granite Flask for massive physical damage reduction and block chance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Jade Flask for evasion.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask for movement speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Amethyst Flask for chaos resistance.
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Prefixes: % Increased Duration, % Charge Recovery, or % Maximum Charges.
  • •
    Suffixes: % Increased Evasion Rating, Armour, Critical Strike Chance, or Movement Speed.
  • •
    Automation: Apply 20% quality and enchant all magic utility flasks with "Used When Charges Reach Full" using your Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs.

💎 Jewels

🚫 OMIT: Watcher's Eye, Split Personality & Garukhan's Flight.
They are expensive early on; add them in Mid-Siege instead!
  • •
    Unique: 4x Fluid Motion (Buy rolls with 22-24 Dexterity to maximize your stat conversion).
  • •
    Unique: 1x Careful Planning (Buy rolls with 22-24 Dexterity to maximize your stat conversion).
  • •
    Unique: 1x Brutal Restraint Timeless jewel (Needs to give at least 54 dex to beat fluid motion in duelist bottom node. At least 1x 5% dex + 1x 20 dex flat).
  • •
    Rare: 20 Dex + abyss jewel.
  • •
    Rare: 4-passive totem cluster jewel with Sleepless Sentries.
  • •
    Rare: 1x Rare Jewel with Maximum Life and Dexterity.

🟡 Rare Gear

💡 Note: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to all jewelry and belts to reach 20% quality!
  • •
    Rare Rings (Option: Fractured rings with +# to all Attributes)
  • •
    Stygian Vise Belt
  • •
    Rare Boots (Look for +25% Movement Speed).

📈 Stats to look for on rare items

80+ life 60%+ elemental resistance 43+ Dexterity

💡 Phase Notes & Crafting

  • •
    Flask Reminder: Remember to Check your flask setup after finishing acts and map progression. They are a huge defensive power boost.
  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to all jewelry and belts to reach 20% quality!
  • •
    Crafting: You can use Shrieking Essence of Sorrow and move up to Deafening Essence of Sorrow for early siege where currency is tight, to guarantee Tier 1 Dexterity.
  • •
    Omit: Watcher's Eye, Split Personality & Garukhan's Flight. They are expensive early on; add them in Mid-Siege instead.

Phase 3: Mid-Siege Days 4-7 | 2 Div Invested

🎯 Requirements: Ensure you have at least a 5-link bow and quality on all skill gems.
🏆 Goal: 1800 Dexterity (At 1800 you will be effortlessly blasting red maps).

🟠 Uniques

  • •
    Iron Commander
  • •
    Briskwrap (+gem corruptions: +2 projectile or +1 socketed gems. This pushes your Siege Ballista gem to Level 22, which grants 1 extra free totem).
  • •
    Fractal Thoughts
  • •
    The Poised Prism
  • •
    Hrimsorrow
  • •
    Garukhan's Flight
  • •
    Astramentis
    • Anoint Shaman's Dominion: Clear, Azure, Silver

🧪 Flask Setup

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask with Immunity to Corrupted Blood and Bleeding.
  • •
    Utility 1: Rumi's Concoction. Replaces a normal Granite Flask for massive physical damage reduction and block chance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Jade Flask for evasion.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask for movement speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Amethyst Flask for chaos resistance.
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Prefixes: % Increased Duration, % Charge Recovery, or % Maximum Charges.
  • •
    Suffixes: % Increased Evasion Rating, Armour, Critical Strike Chance, or Movement Speed.
  • •
    Automation: Apply 20% quality and enchant all magic utility flasks with "Used When Charges Reach Full" using your Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs.

💎 Jewels

  • •
    Unique: 3x Fluid Motion (Buy rolls with 22-24 Dexterity to maximize your stat conversion).
  • •
    Unique: +2 attributes Light of Meaning
  • •
    Unique: 1x Brutal Restraint (At least 2x 5% dex + 1x 20 dex flat).
  • •
    Unique: 1x Split Personality (+5 Dex / +40 Armour).
    Note: If you can't get a +5 to Dex / +40 Armour, the following are fine: +5 to Dex / +5 to Maximum Life, and +5 to Dex / +5 to Str.
  • •
    Unique: 1x Watcher's Eye (Chance to Evade with Grace).
  • •
    Rare: 4-passive totem cluster jewel with Sleepless Sentries.

🟡 Rare Gear

💡 Note: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to all jewelry and belts to reach 20% quality!
  • •
    Synthesised Belt with % dex (Check the roll range carefully to avoid scammers).
  • •
    Rings (Choose One Path):
    • Choice A: Synthesised Rings (% dex or flat dex). (Note: Avoid Bone rings and Unset rings)
    • Choice B: 2x Redeemer influence rings paired with Redeemer Bound by Destiny jewel.
    • Choice C: Fractured rings with +# to all Attributes.

📈 Stats to look for on rare items

80+ life 60%+ elemental resistance 51+ Dexterity

💡 Phase Notes & Crafting

  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to all jewelry and belts to reach 20% quality!
  • •
    Synth Warning: Check the roll range carefully on Synthesised Belts to avoid scammers. Ensure implicit is natively 13-15% before applying catalysts.
  • •
    Armour Crafting: For the Dual Influence Body Armour, refer to the main guide video and FAQ guide for the crafting method.
  • •
    Bound by Destiny: If you use the Redeemer ring setup, this jewel will replace your Watcher's Eye slot.

Phase 4: Late-Siege Days 7+ | 10d+ Invested

🎯 Requirements: Complete Mid-Siege gear foundation.
🏆 Goal: 2000 Dexterity (Do not push past 2000 Dexterity; if you want to invest further, transition into Shrapnel Ballista instead).

🔮 Skill Gem Upgrades

  • •
    Enhance Support (Level 4): Socket this in your body armour with Siege Ballista. Because of the gem's quality scaling, a level 4 Enhance gives you nearly 250% increased attack speed for free.

🟠 Uniques & Corruptions

  • •
    Iron Commander
  • •
    Fractal Thoughts
  • •
    The Poised Prism (Corruptions: Adds flat cold damage OR bow attacks fire an additional arrow).
  • •
    Hrimsorrow (Corruptions: Critical Strike Chance for Attacks, Attack Speed, or Maximum Life).
  • •
    Garukhan's Flight (Corruptions: % Increased Movement Speed).
  • •
    Astramentis
    • Intrinsic catalyst. Anoint Shaman's Dominion: Clear, Azure, Silver

🧪 Flask Setup

  • •
    Life Flask: Divine Life Flask with Immunity to Corrupted Blood and Bleeding.
  • •
    Utility 1: Rumi's Concoction. Replaces a normal Granite Flask for massive physical damage reduction and block chance.
  • •
    Utility 2: Jade Flask for evasion.
  • •
    Utility 3: Quicksilver Flask for movement speed.
  • •
    Utility 4: Amethyst Flask for chaos resistance. Swap to a Diamond Flask or Sulphur Flask once your chaos resistance is capped via The Light of Meaning jewel.
Rolling & Setup
  • •
    Prefixes: % Increased Duration, % Charge Recovery, or % Maximum Charges.
  • •
    Suffixes: % Increased Evasion Rating, Armour, Critical Strike Chance, or Movement Speed.
  • •
    Automation: Apply 20% quality and enchant all magic utility flasks with "Used When Charges Reach Full" using your Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs.

💎 Final Jewels

  • •
    Unique: 3x Fluid Motion (Buy max rolls with 24 Dexterity to maximize your stat conversion).
  • •
    Unique: 1x Brutal Restraint (At least 2x 5% dex + 1x 20 dex flat).
  • •
    Unique: 1x Split Personality (+5 Dex / +40 Armour).
  • •
    Unique: 1x Watcher's Eye (Chance to Evade with Grace).
  • •
    Unique: % Chaos Resistance Light of Meaning (Use this if you can hit 2k dex without the +attributes version. This jewel alone can fix your negative Chaos Resistance for endgame pushing).
  • •
    Rare: 4-passive totem cluster jewel with Sleepless Sentries.

🟡 Rare Gear

💡 Note: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to all rare jewelry and belts to reach 20% quality!
  • •
    Synthesised Belt with % dex (Check the roll range carefully to avoid scammers).
  • •
    Special Rare Body Armour: Dual influence body armour with %dex + level to socketed dex gems, attack crit, Additional curse.
    Crafting method: Refer to the main guide video and FAQ guide.
  • •
    Endgame Rings (Choose One Path):
    • Choice A: Synthesised Rings (% dex or 16+ flat dex). (Note: Avoid Bone rings and Unset rings)
    • Choice B: 2x Redeemer influence rings paired with Redeemer Bound by Destiny.

📈 Stats to look for on rare items

80+ life 60%+ elemental resistance 51+ Dexterity

💡 Phase Notes & Crafting

  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to all jewelry and belts to reach 20% quality!
  • •
    Synth Warning: Check the roll range carefully on Synthesised Belts to avoid scammers. Ensure implicit is natively 13-15% before applying catalysts.
  • •
    Armour Crafting: For the Dual Influence Body Armour, refer to the main guide video and FAQ guide for the crafting method.
  • •
    Bound by Destiny: If you use the Redeemer ring setup, this jewel will replace your Watcher's Eye slot.

TL;DR Crafting & Setup Quick Reference

💍 Jewelry & Belts

  • •
    Catalysts: Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to your rings, amulets, and belts to reach 20% quality. Use Turbulent Catalysts during the EA-Phase.
  • •
    EA-Phase Crafting: Spam Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Anger for guaranteed % Fire Damage until you hit good life/resists. (Note: Essences above Screaming can reroll existing rare items).
  • •
    Siege Crafting (Dexterity): Spam Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Sorrow to guarantee Tier 1 Dexterity on your rare gear. (Note: Essences above Screaming can reroll existing rare items).
  • •
    Synthesised Bases: Check roll ranges carefully! Ensure Belt implicits are natively 13-15% Dexterity before buying/catalysting. Avoid Bone and Unset rings.

🛡️ Armour & Flasks

  • •
    Eldritch Implicits (EA-Phase): Use Searing Exarch Embers and Eater of Worlds Ichors on your non-corrupted Rare Helmet, Gloves, Boots, and Body Armour to add powerful implicit mods.
  • •
    Endgame Body Armour: Creating the ultimate body armour requires Dual Influence. Refer to the main guide video and FAQ for the exact step-by-step crafting process.
  • •
    Flask Automation: Apply 20% quality (Glassblower's Baubles) and enchant all magic utility flasks with Used When Charges Reach Full using your Crafting Bench or Instilling Orbs for fully automated uptime.
  • •
    Item Acquisition: Rare equipment can also be acquired from trade or the Breach Genesis tree using Provisioning Wombgifts.

🛠️ Step-by-Step Crafting Walkthroughs

🔥 EA-Phase Ring/Belt
  1. Acquire an item base (e.g., Amethyst Ring or Heavy/Cord Belt).
  2. (Optional) Apply Turbulent Catalysts to hit 20% quality and boost elemental damage modifiers.
  3. Use Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Anger to upgrade it (or reroll it), guaranteeing % Fire Damage.
  4. Repeat step 3 until the item rolls a high Maximum Life modifier (+70 or higher) and at least one good Elemental Resistance.
  5. Go to your Hideout Crafting Bench and craft whichever stat is missing (Life or Resistance).
🏹 Siege Phase Ring/Belt
  1. Acquire one of the following bases:
    • Synthesised Base (with % Dex implicit)
    • Fractured Base (with +# to all Attributes)
    • Redeemer Influenced Base (if using Bound by Destiny)
  2. Apply Intrinsic Catalysts to reach 20% quality.
  3. Use Deafening/Shrieking Essence of Sorrow to upgrade/reroll it, guaranteeing Tier 1 flat Dexterity. (Essences above Screaming will reroll rare items without needing to scour them first).
  4. Repeat step 3 until the item rolls a high Maximum Life modifier (+70 or higher) and required Resistances.
  5. Go to your Hideout Crafting Bench and craft whichever stat is missing (Life or Resistances).