Today, we're diving into the final evolution of a build that began as an ambitious experiment and ended as a full-blown endgame destroyer: the Bleed Retaliator. What started as another piece of "off-meta trash nobody asked for" has now evolved into a shockingly powerful setup capable of walking-yes, literally walking-through the hardest encounters Path of Exile has to offer.

Whether it's Wave 15 Simulacrum, full 13-round Ultimatums, or Tier 17 maps, this build clears it all with a level of calm brutality that feels almost illegal. Even the feared Uber bosses-the ones designed to rip most builds apart-are face-tanked and deleted with ease.

Let's break down how this build came together, how to make POE currency, the tech that makes it possible, and why "just walking" is now a legitimate strategy for clearing endgame Path of Exile.

Two Skills, Two Jobs: Vaal Earthquake for Mapping, Eviscerate for Bossing

Instead of relying on a single skill, the Bleed Retaliator splits responsibilities:

Mapping Skill: Vaal Earthquake

The core mapping ability is Vaal Earthquake, a corrupted version of the classic Earthquake that requires Vaal souls. Unlike the base skill, Vaal EQ deals damage by stepping, erupting the ground around you as you move. The faster you walk, the more damage pulses you generate.

The cycle works like this:

1.You walk → the ground cracks

2.Cracks erupt into aftershocks

3.Chains of massive AoE bleeds delete everything

But there's a catch:

The aftershock system locks itself out until the previous aftershock has finished.

This makes skill effect duration extremely important. Too much duration slows down aftershock frequency. Too little duration, and your pulses happen so fast you lose coverage. The ideal solution is low duration, which makes cracks erupt rapidly and consistently.

Fixing the Vaal Soul Problem: Priest of Yaomac

Vaal EQ would normally be inconsistent due to soul gain prevention. This is where the Trialmaster ascendancy, Priest of Yaomac, becomes build-defining:

 Lowers soul cost from 30 → 21

 Shortens soul gain prevention

 20% chance to fully refill souls on use

 +1 Vaal soul regenerated per second

Combined with Atziri's Reign, this becomes 40% full refill chance and 2 souls per second, letting you chain Vaal Earthquakes almost endlessly.

Bossing Skill: Eviscerate-A Retaliate Skill With Massive Bleed Scaling

For single-target, the build swaps to Eviscerate, a retaliate skill with absurd base damage-perfect for bleed scaling. However, retaliate skills normally require blocking first, which is dangerous when facing one-shot mechanics like Shaper slams or Sirus beams.

The Bitter Instinct Fix

The new unique shield Bitter Instinct solves this problem elegantly:

 Makes retaliate skills activate automatically every 4 seconds

 No need to block

 Works even when used on weapon swap

This means you can weapon-swap to activate Eviscerate → swap back → continue using your main defenses. You gain all the upside with none of the risk.

Aggravating the Bleed: Tempest Rising + Ailments

Every bleed build lives or dies by one mechanic:

Aggravation triples your bleed damage.

To guarantee aggravation uptime, this build uses:

 Tempest Rising boots, which make ailmented enemies count as "moving"

 Skitterbots, providing permanent chill + shock

 Optional: Chilling Presence cluster if you want to avoid reservation issues

With this setup, enemies are always considered moving, and bleed is always aggravated-tripling our DPS without needing clunky movement skills.

The Defensive Wall: A Block-Based Tank With DoT Mitigation

A bleed build without defenses won't survive modern PoE. This one, however, is loaded with layers:

1. 90% Block with Lucky Block

Nearly every hit gets blocked, and blocked hits do nothing.

2. 100% Spell Suppression

All spells deal 60% less damage.

3. Permanent 20+ Fortification

Unlocked through Flesh + Flame to allocate Champion's Fortitude node.

4. Immortal Call + Endurance Charges

Huge physical mitigation and hit smoothing.

5. Heavy Armor Stacking

Big baseline mitigation for physical attacks.

6. Damage over Time protection

The build's biggest weakness is patched with:

 Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced DoT taken

 DoT Mastery: 10% less DoT taken

 Fortify Mastery: 10% reduced DoT taken with 20 Fortification

Most block builds crumble to DoTs. The Retaliator shrugs them off.

Put together, this makes the build almost impossible to kill in any real gameplay scenario.

Gear Breakdown (Min-Maxed Version)

The showcased gear is fully min-maxed, but you don't need perfect stats-just the mandatory ones.

Body Armour

Look for:

 High armour + evasion

 Suppression

 Resistances

Implicits:

 Increased Pride effect (Eater)

 Increased Aura effect (Exarch)Contains the main 6-link Eviscerate setup.

Weapon (One-Handed Axe)

 Very high physical damage

 Elder influence for Culling Strike

 Attack speed (optional)

Shield

 Life on block

 Spell suppression

 Ailment avoidance

("The Surrender" is usable but makes suppression harder to cap.)

Helmet

 Life

 Suppression

 Resistances

 Reservation efficiency implicit

 Reduced mana cost of attacks implicit

Gem setup includes Vaal Earthquake, Less Duration, Crushing Fist, Maim/Chance to Bleed.

Gloves

 Life

 Suppression

 Resistances

 Implicit for Phys DoT Multi

Supports reservation auras: Pride, Malevolence, Skitterbots + Enlighten.

Boots

Tempest Rising with:

 Faster bleeding

 Increased ailment duration

 Belt

 Life

 %Life

 Resistances

 Stygian Vise preferred for a Phasing on Kill jewel.

Rings

Synthesized rings with:

 Vulnerability on Hit

 Onslaught on Hit

 Life

 Resistances

 Attributes

Amulet

Stranglegrasp

Anoints:

 Sovereignty

 Safeguard

 Charisma

 Optional: Last Rites

Cluster Jewels and Jewels

Large Clusters

Two 8-passive clusters with:

 Master the Fundamentals

 Battle Hardened

 A flexible third node

Megalomaniacs

Useful combos include:

 Elegant Form

 Exploit Weakness

 Mortifying Aspect

 Enduring Composure

 Advanced Guard

Medium Clusters

Flow of Life + Wound Aggravation, including "Flesh and Flame" for Fortitude.

Other Jewels

 Light of Meaning

 Impossible Escape (Precise Technique radius)

 Watcher's Eye with Pride + Malevolence mods

 Phasing on Kill jewel

 Rune Grafts for unused masteries

Ascendancy, Pantheon & Masteries

Ascendancy Order

1.Determined Survivor

2.Gratuitous Violence

3.Jagged Technique

4.More Than Skill

→ Replace Jagged Technique with Priest of Yaomac once you obtain Tempest Rising.

Pantheon

 Major: Soul of Arakaali

 Minor: Soul of Ryslatha or Ralakesh depending on encounter

How the Build Feels to Play

The gameplay loop is hilariously simple:

1.Swap weapons to activate Eviscerate (bossing only)

2.Activate Vaal Earthquake

3.Walk forward

4.Everything dies

It's one of the few builds where movement is the main source of DPS. With high suppression, fortification, block, and mitigation, you simply walk through packs and watch the screen tear itself apart from chained bleeds.

Final Thoughts

The Bleed Retaliator started as an off-meta idea, but through clever tech, unique interactions, and relentless refinement, it has become a top-tier endgame monster. It handles:

 Peak endgame mechanics

 Uber bosses

 More POE exalted orbs

 Tank checks

 Damage over time

 Long-duration mapping content

…and it does all of this while letting you play one of the most relaxed, smooth, satisfying melee builds in the game.