This is a Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Warrior build for Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2)'s Dawn of the Hunt Update. Check out the Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Warrior build, including its gear, socketables, skills, and playstyle!

Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Build Summary

Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Build

Build Setup
Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava
Simple Gameplay High AoE Damage High Survivability Against Elemental Damage Relatively Weak Against Physical Damage Monotonous Gameplay Relies on Stun and Stun Buildup

The Smith of Kitava Class introduces the unkillable version of the Strike Warrior. Having all the benefits of damage from a regular Warrior and incredibly high resistances, the Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava goes into enemy packs without fear and leaves only ashes behind.

During the endgame, this build makes use of the Ascendency Skill Fire Spell on Hit, which makes use of the spells Flame Wall, Solar Orb, and Flammability to really lean into AoE Fire Damage.

Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Equipment

Equipment
Weapon 1					Helmet						Weapon 2 Offhand
					Body Armour
Gloves						Belt				Boots
Health Flask			Ring 1			Amulet				Ring 2			Mana Flask

Weapons

Two-Handed Mace, One-Handed Mace, and a Shield

Though this may vary depending on the player's preference, Warriors will most commonly use a Two-Handed Mace as the main source of damage. The One-Handed Mace and Shield in the second weapon loadout will mostly be used specifically for Shield Charge, which can be used to engage enemies or as an escape tool.

List of Weapons

Armor

Use Normal Armour Upon Ascending

Assuming you have ascended to Smith of Kitava in Act 2 after the Trial of The Sekhemas, you can use the Ascendency skill Smith's Masterwork to apply modifiers to your own body armour.

Once you get more Ascendency points in Act 3 after the Trial of Chaos, you will unlock the passive Coal Stoker, which gives your Cold and Lightning Resistance 50% of your Fire Resistance modifiers.

Use Armour with Fire Resistance and Maximum Life

Once you obtain equipment with enough modifiers to max out your resistances even without Smith's Masterwork, you may now Respec out of it and allot your Ascendency points into Heat of the Forge for more AoE Fire Damage. Look for Armour that provides both Fire Resistance and Maximum Life to maximize tankiness especially in the higher tier maps.

List of Armors

Accessories

Use an Amethyst Ring and Another Elemental Resistance Ring

In general, use rings that have the most elemental resistances, armour, or damage modifiers. However, having at least one Amethyst Ring will boost chaos resistance, which you cannot get as easily. For the second ring, a great option would be a Prismatic Ring to boost all elemental resistances.

In the early to mid game, you may opt to switch out your rings to increase resistances depending on the boss or enemy you are fighting.
List of Rings

Use an Armour-based Amulet Early on Then Switch to Mana and Spell Damage

Amber Amulet	・Increased Armour ・Increased Elemental Resistance ・Increased Attributes ・X to Level of all Melee Skills
Azure Amulet	・Increased Mana Regeneration Rate ・Increased Spell Damage ・Increased Cast Speed ・Increased Elemental Resistances ・Increased Intelligence ・X to Level of all Melee Skills

From Act 1 to the end of Cruel Mode or even in the early tiers of the endgame, use an Amulet that focuses mainly on improving your defenses. The skills and passive tree you use at that point does not need Mana and Spell Damage yet.

For Mapping, however, you will adjust your setup to accomodate Fire Spell on Hit, one of the Smith of Kitava's Ascendency Passives. Using this Ascendency Passive requires you to have some Intelligence invested in order to use fire spells.

List of Accessories

Socketables

Ruby	・X% increased Fire Damage ・X% increased Armour ・X% increased Attack Damage

It is recommended to equip Ruby Jewels to further boost your damage or defenses.

List of Jewels

Runes and Soul Cores

Equipment	Sockets
Weapon	Iron Rune
Armor	Desert Rune Body Rune Rebirth Rune

In general, using two Iron Runes to get a 40% Physical Damage boost for you Weapon will help greatly. As for your Armor Runes, slot in Desert Runes only if you are no longer using Smith's Masterwork and need more Fire Resistance. Other good options would be Body Runes for more health or Rebirth Runes for life regeneration for more survivability.

Charms

Antidote Charm	・Increased Duration ・Increased Charges ・Recover Life when Used

The Antidote Charm is the build's primary charm, as many enemies use in the endgame use Poison and you have capped out resistances for Fire, Cold, and Lightning damage.

List of All Charms

Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Skills

※ The Support Gems' priority are arranged in a descending order. The first one being the most important and the last being the least crucial.

Mapping

Cruel

Boneshatter	Impact Shockwave Martial Tempo Volcanic Eruption Execute
Perfect Strike	Window of Opportunity Concentrated Effect Close Combat
Leap Slam	Overpower Brink
Herald of Ash	Magnified Effect Deadly Herald Cannibalism
Fire Spell on Hit	Impetus Flame Wall Solar Orb Flammability
Time of Need	Fast Forward
Shield Charge	Stomping Ground

In the endgame, you would need to have enough elemental resilience on your equipment and accessories to have max defenses even without Smith's Masterwork. Once you reach that, you can Respec into Fire Spell on Hit to get more AoE Fire Damage. Make sure to only get the fire spells using Level 7 Uncut Skill Gems to avoid needing high intelligence attribute requirements to equip the spells.

Boneshatter	Impact Shockwave Martial Tempo
Perfect Strike	Window of Opportunity Concentrated Effect Execute
Leap Slam	Overpower Brink
Time of Need	Fast Forward
Herald of Ash	Magnified Effect
Shield Charge	Stomping Ground

Replace Rolling Slam with Leap Slam and prime enemies for stun using that. For survivability, Time of Need provides a huge boost and will make the game much easier.

List of Skills

Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Passive Tree

Passive Tree Progression

Ascendency Passive Nodes
Cruel: Smith's Masterwork, Tantalum Alloy, Kitavan Engraving, and Coal Stoker Mapping: Coal Stoker and Fire Spell on Hit
Passive Nodes
1.	Brutal and Smash	2.	Resolute Technique
3.	Singular Purpose and Shockwaves	4.	Crushing Verdict and Skullcrusher
5.	Titanic	6.	Prism Guard and its surrounding nodes
7.	Unbreaking	8.	Beef and Blade Catcher
9.	Unbending	10.	Flip the Script and Shattering Blow
11.	Blade Catcher and Polished Iron	12.	Blood Magic

In the endgame, focus on further improving your defenses, maximum life, stun buildup and damage. With enough resistances and stun build up, bosses will quickly get stunned before they execute many of their attacks.

Passive Skill Tree Guide and List of Passives

Flaming Tank Smith of Kitava Playstyle

Skill Rotations

※ Press on what type you are fighting for a more detailed explanation on the playstyle and skill rotation.

Type	Skill Rotation
Mobbing	▶
Bossing	▶ ▶ With Glory: ▶ ▶

Mobbing

For general mobbing, you will spam Leap Slam into or nearby enemy packs with the goal of having as many enemies primed for stunning as possible. Once enemies can be stunned, you can use Boneshatter to deal massive AoE damage.

Bossing

For bossing, you will rely almost entirely on Perfect Strike to defeat bosses and rare enemies throughout the endgame. Spamming Perfect Strike and using Boneshatter when bosses are primed for stun is more than enough to clear maps. Once Glory from heavy stunning enemies has been built up, make sure to weave in Hammer of the Gods for massive additional damage.

Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) Related Guides

List of All Builds

Dawn of the Hunt Best Builds

Rank	Build
	Lightning Spear Amazon Glacial Lance Deadeye Spark Blood Mage Cast on Ignite Comet Infernalist
	Dark Effigy Lich Slam Bleed Titan Bleed Bow Deadeye Ballista Tactician Storm Wave Invoker Poison Bleed Rapid Assault Ritualist Poison Pathfinder
	Flaming Smith of Kitava Lich Necromancer Bleed Twister Amazon Thorns Smith of Kitava Mana Stack Chayula Grenadier Gemling Legionnaire Fire Grenade Witchhunter Lightning Arrow Deadeye
	Warcry Warbringer Ice Lightning Invoker Spark Stormweaver

Dawn of the Hunt Leveling Builds

Strike Warrior	Lightning Ranger	Spark Sorceress
Arsonist Minion Witch	Lightning Mercenary	Lightning Monk
Bleed Huntress

All Build Guides

List of Builds by Class
Huntress				Mercenary				Monk
Witch				Sorceress				Warrior
Ranger				-				-
Other Build Guides
Dawn of the Hunt Leveling Builds						How to Make a Good Build

Warrior Leveling Builds

Strike Warrior NEW

Focus: AoE, High Single Target Damage, Physical

Warrior Endgame Builds

Fire Explosion Warbringer	Focus: Burst, AoE, DoT, Stun
Slam Bleed Titan UP	Focus: Aftershocks, Stun, Bleed
Shockwave Totem Titan	Focus: AoE, Mobbing, Stun, Fast Clear
Flaming Smith of Kitava NEW	Focus: AoE, High Single Target Damage, Physical, Tank
Warcry Warbringer NEW	Focus: AoE, Ignite, Stun

Warrior Class and Ascendancy Guides

Base Class
Warrior
Ascendancies
Warbringer	Titan	Smith of Kitava