Path of Exile 2 is already shaping up to be a theorycrafter’s paradise, and few builds showcase the game’s mechanical depth better than this Herald Chaining, armor-exploding, fish-spawning monstrosity. On the surface, it looks like pure visual chaos—screens detonating, enemies shattering instantly, loot raining from the sky—but beneath that spectacle lies one of the most intricate and satisfying interaction loops currently possible in POE2.
This build is a masterclass in layering mechanics: elemental damage conversion, armor break, Herald triggers, and slam-based skill synergy all working together to create a self-sustaining chain reaction. Whether you’re a new player looking for a reliable and POE2 Currency, or an endgame grinder who wants to delete pinnacle bosses before they can react, this setup delivers on all fronts.
Let’s break it down, step by step.
The Core Concept: Herald Chaining
At the heart of this build is Herald chaining, a loop where multiple on-kill and on-hit effects continuously trigger one another. The primary engine is Herald of Ice, but it doesn’t work alone. Instead, it’s carefully set up to interact with cold damage, armor break, and armor explosion in a way that turns every shattered enemy into a catalyst for further destruction.
The chain begins with dealing lightning damage, typically via Thunder-based skills. Once lightning damage is applied, the build follows up by dealing cold damage, which chills enemies. Chilled enemies can then be shattered when killed, which is the key condition for Herald of Ice to activate.
For newer players, this is where an early-game ring becomes essential. Before your damage reaches a certain threshold, enemies won’t reliably shatter. That ring helps bridge the gap, ensuring that enemies can still be shattered and allowing Herald of Ice to trigger consistently. Once your gear improves and your damage scales high enough, the ring becomes unnecessary—but early on, it’s a massive quality-of-life boost.
Once Herald of Ice triggers, the screen already starts to explode. But the build doesn’t stop there.
Armor Explosion: Turning Ice into a Feedback Loop
Herald of Ice alone is powerful, but the real magic happens when it’s paired with armor explosion. The goal is to make Herald of Ice trigger armor explosion—and then make armor explosion trigger Herald of Ice right back.
Sounds simple, right? Not quite.
By default, armor explosion requires armor break, and armor break requires physical damage. Here’s the first problem: Herald of Ice doesn’t deal physical damage. It’s purely cold-based.
This is where crafting comes in.
By crafting a weapon with “gain X% of damage as physical damage”, Herald of Ice suddenly gains the ability to deal physical damage indirectly. That physical component is enough to break armor when paired with Armor Break III, which in turn triggers armor explosion.
Now we’ve got Herald of Ice triggering armor explosion—but we’re still missing one crucial link.
Cold Attunement: Completing the Chain
Armor explosion, by default, deals physical damage. Physical damage alone won’t chill enemies, which means it won’t enable shattering—and without shattering, Herald of Ice won’t trigger again.
The solution is elegantly simple: Cold Attunement.
By slotting in Cold Attunement, armor explosion now deals cold damage as well. This means:
Armor explosion deals cold damage
Cold damage chills enemies
Chilled enemies can be shattered
Shattering triggers Herald of Ice
Herald of Ice triggers armor explosion
And just like that, the loop is complete.
The result is a cascading chain reaction where one kill sets off a sequence of explosions that spreads across the screen. Packs don’t just die—they evaporate. Loot explosions follow shortly after, often before you even realize what just happened.
As a bonus, this interaction also generates endurance charges and additional armor, giving the build a surprising amount of defensive value alongside its absurd damage output.
Clearing vs Bossing: Solving the Sunder Problem
For clearing maps, Sunder is phenomenal. It scales area of effect incredibly well, sends shockwaves across the screen, and—thanks to the build’s interactions—spawns “fishes” everywhere that explode and chain damage through packs.
The problem?
Sunder is terrible at killing bosses.
Its damage scaling falls off hard in single-target scenarios, which is unacceptable for endgame content. The solution is to pivot into a second damage engine specifically for bossing, without abandoning the core identity of the build.
That’s where Forge Hammer, Earthshatter, and Molten Fissures come in.
The Fish Engine: Scaling Everything at Once
One of the most elegant aspects of this build is that Thunder, Sunder, Forge Hammer, and Earthshatter all spawn fishes. Because of this shared mechanic, scaling “fish” damage automatically scales every major skill in the build.
Instead of investing into separate damage types or skill-specific modifiers, you’re scaling everything simultaneously. More fishes means more explosions, more triggers, and more damage—whether you’re clearing maps or fighting bosses.
For boss fights, the rotation is deceptively simple but devastatingly effective.
Boss Rotation: Delete Before They React
Every boss fight starts the same way:
Throw Forge Hammer
Use Earthshatter
Use a shout to detonate everything
Forge Hammer and Earthshatter both create molten fissures and fish-spawning effects. When you shout, they explode together, dealing massive burst damage.
Then comes the key interaction.
Earthshatter is a slam skill, which means it triggers the molten fissures created by Forge Hammer. Once they’ve detonated, you shout again to blow them up a second time. Then you repeat the process.
The damage ramps so aggressively that once you have even moderately decent gear, Tier 3 Pinnacle bosses die in a single rotation, often without ever getting the chance to attack.
It’s brutal, efficient, and extremely satisfying.
Gameplay Across Progression Stages
While the endgame version of the build is flashy and complex, the leveling and early mapping versions are surprisingly straightforward.
Leveling Phase
During the campaign, you’ll rely on a tried-and-true warrior leveling setup: Rolling Slam + Boneshatter.
The interaction works by using Rolling Slam and canceling its second animation with Boneshatter. Ideally, Rolling Slam stuns enemies, and Boneshatter consumes that stun to create a massive explosion.
This combo is one of the strongest leveling tools in POE2, capable of clearing entire screens with minimal investment.
If you happen to find a particularly strong weapon early on, you may notice enemies dying or getting stunned instantly before you can even use Boneshatter. In that case, simply focus on Rolling Slam alone—it’s more than enough.
For players who don’t want to think too much during the campaign, there’s an even easier option. Slot Brink into Rolling Slam, which prevents it from stunning. This guarantees a consistent rotation:
Rolling Slam → Boneshatter → Repeat
Simple, reliable, and extremely effective.
Early Mapping
Once you enter maps, you begin transitioning into the Herald and armor explosion setup. At this stage, the early-game ring becomes important again, helping ensure that enemies can still be shattered reliably.
Your clear speed skyrockets here, even before the build is fully online.
Endgame
In the endgame, everything comes together. Herald chaining is fully functional, armor explosions loop endlessly, and boss fights become a matter of execution rather than survival.
At this point, the build stops feeling like a collection of mechanics and starts feeling like a finely tuned engine—every part feeding into the next.
Final Thoughts
This POE2 build is a perfect example of what makes Path of Exile special. It’s not just about stacking damage numbers—it’s about understanding how systems interact, then pushing those interactions to their absolute limit.
Herald of Ice chaining into armor explosion, armor explosion chilling enemies, shattering triggering Herald again, and slam skills detonating molten fissures in a perfectly timed loop—it’s complex, yes, but also deeply rewarding.
Whether you’re exploding entire maps in seconds or one-shotting pinnacle bosses with a perfectly executed rotation, this build delivers some of the most satisfying gameplay buy POE2 Currency has to offer.
If you enjoy builds that reward knowledge, planning, and mechanical synergy, this is one you absolutely shouldn’t miss.