Path of Exile 2’s 0.4 update marks a huge moment for fans of spell totem builds. For many players, the introduction of spell totem support gems is a game-changer, opening up an entirely new world of creative totem builds. With the Druid class joining the roster and new mechanics around charge generation, the possibilities for spell totems have never looked more promising. This guide will cover the current state of spell totems in the 0.4 update, recommend top skills and support choices, discuss charge generation strategies, and suggest the most suitable ascendancies and gear for building a powerful spell totem character.
Path of Exile 2 0.4 Speel Totem Build Guide
With the 0.4 patch, spell totem support gems finally become available, allowing almost any spell—current or future additions, to be cast through totems. This offers a vast playground for theorycrafters and seasoned totem enthusiasts alike. Now, you summon a totem, and it casts your chosen spell for you, streamlining both offense and gameplay style.
This system introduces a fresh twist: summoning spell totems now requires spending either 3 endurance or 3 power charges. This change means players can no longer rely on simply burning mana to flood the battlefield with totems. Instead, generating charges effectively becomes a core component of spell totem play. Players must find effective ways to generate and manage these charges, often using skills beyond just those dedicated to totems.
Despite these limitations, the update brings significant upsides. At level 20, spell totem support loses its less damage penalty entirely, compared to Path of Exile 1’s much harsher multipliers. The only remaining drawback is a 25% reduction to cast speed, which is much more manageable, especially considering the damage increase per power charge consumed when summoning totems. This results in a far more potent totem than in the first game.
There are additional mechanics to consider, such as totem duration (defaulting to 8 seconds), the number of totems you can summon (expandable via gear and passive tree), and how to optimize positioning and aggro range. These elements encourage deeper build crafting and strategic play.
PoE 2 Best Spell Totems Builds - How to Play Spell Totems in the 0.4 League
Below, we will share our approach for playing Spell Totem builds in the 0.4 league, covering the best spell skills to use, how to increase totem limits, how to generate charges for totems, which ascendancy to use, and other important aspects of the setup.
Top Spell Choices for Totems
Selecting the right spell to pair with your totems is the key for both damage and clear speed. After reviewing the available skills, several options stand out:
Bonestorm could be the leading candidate for a spell totem build. As a channeling skill, it benefits greatly from the totem AI, which can channel and release projectiles with perfect timing and no human error or downtime. This makes Bone Storm extremely efficient, maximizing damage without manual interruptions.
Bonestorm is also notable for not scaling with the infusion mechanic, which means its base numbers aren't balanced around needing an additional infusion buff. Most elemental spells in PoE 2 rely on infusion for peak output, but since totems can’t access infused versions, skills like Bone Storm that function independently of infusion retain their full potency.
Another advantage is Bonestorm’s natural interaction with power charges. When your totems are equipped with gear that shares charges (such as the unique gloves Tonal Caris), the totem itself can spend charges for empowered effects. This synergy allows both the player and their totems to benefit from charge generation, translating directly into more damage.
Other spells with potential for totem use include Spark, Unearth, Fireball, and Arc. However, these often have infusion scaling or other limitations (such as cooldowns, minion limits, or specific targeting requirements), making them less reliable compared to Bone Storm.
How To Increase Totem Limits:
By default, spell totems have a limit of one, but several methods allow you to increase this number:
Focus Shields can provide +1 maximum summoned totems.
Overabundance Support Gem adds an extra totem but reduces skill effect duration, affecting how long your totems stay active.
Soulmental Unique Body Armor grants +1 totem, though it curses you each time a totem dies.
Idol of Alder Amulet also increases your totem count.
Ascendancy Nodes such as Warbringer on the Warrior class supply an additional totem.
Ancestral Bond Keystone allows multiple totems but requires enough spirits to summon them, as each totem reserves 75 spirits.
When stacking these effects, it’s possible to reach three or more active totems, but careful spirit management is required if using Ancestral Bond, since spirits are also needed for auras and minions.
How To Generate Charge for Totems:
Since charges are essential for totem summoning, finding efficient ways to generate them is a top priority. Here are the primary methods:
1. Hateforge Gloves and Rage Generation
Hateforge gloves, dropping from the Trialmaster, grant up to three random charges on reaching maximum rage. While extremely rare and likely expensive, this method offers smooth charge generation if you can combine it with rage generation (via Shaman ascendancy, warcries, or bear form auto-attacks).
2. Breath of the Mountains Charm Combo
By combining Skull’s Bridal Helmet, Breath of the Mountains charm, and the Pragmatism body armor, you can generate a power charge every four seconds by taking cold damage through skill usage. This setup is functional but limited by the cooldown and the need for three unique items.
3. Lineage Support Gem with Offerings
The new Lineage support gem allows you to generate a power charge every four seconds while an offering (such as a skeleton sacrifice) is active. With gear and supports increasing offering limits, this can provide a steady stream of charges and synergizes well with spell totem duration scaling.
4. Ascendancy Passive Charge Generation
On the Gemling Legionnaire, a notable grants a charge every five seconds, with the type determined by the highest stat requirement of your equipped skills. This is fully passive and reliable, though slower than some active methods.
5. Bear Form and Rage Spending
Bear form players can use warcries supported by Raging Cry and Enraged Warcry supports to generate and spend rage in a single button press, granting endurance charges rapidly. Shaman ascendancy can also help by converting physical damage taken to cold, enabling more charge triggers.
6. Wyvern Form and Corpse Devouring
Wyvern’s Devour skill eats up to three corpses at once, granting a power charge and life regeneration per corpse. This is highly effective for mapping, though less so in boss fights without available corpses. Some setups use the Sacrifice reservation skill to turn minions into corpses for devouring.
7. Other Methods
Additional, less efficient options include using body armors that grant charges on crit or hit (though only your crits, not your totems’, count), Sniper’s Mark for frenzies (convertible to power charges), and supports like Armor Break or Endurance Impact (based on breaking or stunning enemies).
In practice, combining methods is often most effective: for example, using Wyvern Devour for mapping and Bear Form warcries for bossing ensures smooth charge flow across all content.
Best Gear and Support Considerations
Tonal Caris gloves are a key item, as they share charges with totems, allowing both you and your totems to benefit from charge generation. The Alpha Howl helmet can further expand charge-sharing range and spirits.
Ricochet Support is highly valuable for Bone Storm, allowing projectiles to chain off terrain and increasing clear speed dramatically. Other supports for increasing duration, scaling area of effect, or boosting damage are also worth including.
Best Ascendancies To Play Spell Totems
Several ascendancies offer excellent synergy with spell totem builds:
Shaman: Enables rage regeneration, which combines well with rage-based charge generation and bear form play.
Gemling Legionnaire: Grants passive charge generation and skill levels, improving overall uptime.
Warbringer: Increases max totem count and provides defensive bonuses.
Deadeye: Offers automated mark application and extra projectiles, great for projectile-based spells like Bone Storm.
Infernalist: Allows for large spirit pools, which can support more totems with Ancestral Bond.
Leech: Provides survivability and energy shield scaling, useful for tankier setups.
The new Oracle ascendancy for Druids is still a mystery, but early signs suggest it will have powerful totem synergies once revealed.
Meta Spell Totem Build Example: Bone Storm Totems
Main Skill: Bone Storm (Spell Totem Support, Ricochet Support, Increased Duration, Spell Damage/AoE Supports)
Charge Generation:
Bear form warcries for endurance charges (bossing)
Wyvern devour for power charges (mapping)
Tonal Caris gloves for sharing charges with totems
Ascendancy: Shaman (for rage regen), or Gemling Legionnaire (passive charge gain)
Gear:
Focus shield or Idol of Alder for +totem limit
Soulmental body armor (with curse mitigation)
Ricochet support for clear speed
Playstyle:
Summon totems, ensure charge generation loop is maintained via form switching or self-casting as needed.
Use supports and gear to maximize duration and area coverage.
For bosses, rely on Bear form warcries; for maps, utilize Wyvern’s devour for faster charge replenishment.
Alternative Spell Totem Build Plans
If spell totems or charge generation feel clunky, there are fallback options. Volcano skills, summoned from human form, function similarly to totems and can be scaled for multiple active instances with Storm Weaver ascendancy. This setup synergizes with Wyvern’s Rolling Magma for additional damage triggers.
Another alternative is the classic Mortar Cannon totem, which remains powerful and straightforward: simply summon the totem and let it handle the rest, bypassing the new charge mechanics.