Righteous Fire
Chieftain Build

Updated for Patch 3.25

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RF Chieftain is a very popular build. The Burning Damage from Rightous Fire alone is only a small part of it - it deals enough damage to map comfortably and even kill bosses in a reasonable timeframe, but it's the Hinekora's on-kill explosion that takes the spotlight. It's a 5% chance that any enemy you kill will explode dealing 500% of their Maximum Life as Fire Damage. To put it into perspective, most Skills that source their Damage from Corpses' Maximum Life deal a fraction of their Lfie as damage. Even the Detonate Dead of Scavenging, which is used in this build too, deals only up to 36% of the corpse's Life as Fire Damage - and on top of that it has a 60% damage penalty for Ignite because it's still considered too strong. The Hinekora's Explosion will be used to Ignite bosses and it can be scaled with Fire, Burning, or Ignite Damage, but it's not a Spell so any modifiers to Spell damage are not very useful in this build. It has only a 5% chance of triggering, so bosses with no enemies around them to detonate may pose a problem. Here it's solved with Penance Mark from The Hateful Accuser and Vaal Breach. You also need a high chance to Ignite, gathered from a Skill Tree, and preferably a long Ignite Duration, so that the strong explosion will stick around for longer.

Cloak of Flame is an especially fitting gear piece as it increases the Ignite Duration on enemies. It also grants Fire Resistance; Fire Resistance will also affect your other Resistances at half of its value thanks to the Tasalio passive. Maximum Fire Resistance will let you effortlessly cap all your Maximum Elemental Resistances at 90% making the build extremely durable. Cloak of Flame also redirects 40% of Physical Damage to be taken as Fire which makes your Armour much more effective at mitigating Physical Damage. Reducing Physical Damage taken, especially Physical Hit Damage will be a key to survivability - the only way for your character to die in a fully developed build is to receive a particularly strong blow that would one-shot you, or by Damage over Time. Other Hits will actually heal you instead thanks to Defiance of Destiny and 100% damage Recoup from Bloodnotch and Petrified Blood. To protect yourself from pure DoT, like Shaper Beam, just get Life Regeneration.

The Bloodnotch, Immutable Force, and Valyrium combo will cause all Hits to Stun you. These Stuns won't affect you and you will Recoup a lot of life from such hits. This combination also creates an opportunity to hook up a few of your Spell setups to Cast when Stunned Support. It makes the build playable with one or two buttons which is a merit a lot of players value.

You can also find the best Path of Exile builds for the current Patch in our  POE Builds Tier List

1. Gameplay

Run around with RF on, that will do the job through most of the map. To move faster use Shield Charge. Detonate Dead, Punishment, Firestorm, and Flame Surge are triggered on Stun, so with every Hit you take. These will boost your boss damage. The only button you have to press during such fights is the Penance Mark from your Ring. Your passive skills are Vitality, Petrified Blood, and Flesh and Stone.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can start with any Spell that Ignites, such as FIre Trap, and combine it with RF at around level 20. Refer to our levelling section at Righteous Fire Juggernaut build if you want to be done with it quickly.

Bandits:

Two Additional Passive Skill Points seem like the best option for this build

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

99 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
122 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Tasalio
2. Ramako
3. Valako
4. Hinekora

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Tukohama: 3% additional Physical Damage Reduction per second you've been stationary, up to a maximum of 9%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Righteous Fire setup socketed in a Helmet
	Righteous Fire - RF deals Fire Damage over time based on your Maximum Life. Note it has no Duration Tag and deals no Ignite Damage.
	Increased Area of Effect Support - Increases Area of Effect.
	Elemental Focus Support - More Elemental Damage with no downside whatsoever.
	Efficacy Support - Linked Skill deals more Damage over Time.
	Concentrated Effect Support (Elder's Prefix) - More Area Damage but less Area of Effect.
	Burning Damage Support (Elder's Suffix) - More Burning Damage, which is Fire Damage over Time.

[DPS] Detonate Dead of Scavenging setup
	Detonate Dead of Scavenging - It detonates a Corpse. This explosion will inflict Ignite. The transfigured version of Detonate Dead cannot use the Corpses you've created, but in turn, deals more damage.
	Cast when Stunned Support - Linked Spell has a high chance of being triggered each time you're Stunned. Here, each Hit will Stun the character thanks to Valyrium.
	Burning Damage Support
	Swift Affliction Support - Less Ignite Duration but more Damage over Time.
	Unbound Ailments Support - More Ignite Duration and Damage.
	Deadly Ailments Support - Less Hit Damage, but more Damage with Ailments, which includes Ignite.

[UTILITY] CwS setup
	Firestorm of Pelting - It's used to Hit many times a second without continuous casting. It's one of the best abilities for this purpose. Each Hit will trigger Penance Mark's effect and summon enemies to be detonated.
	Flame Surge - Creates Burning Ground which deals damage based on the Ignite the enemy is affected with.
	Spell Cascade - More Firestorms for more Hits. You can even use the Awakened version if you can afford this expensive gem.  Culling Strike is an alternative.
	Cast when Stunned Support

[UTILITY] Reservation setup can be socketed in a Shaper's Shield with local Mana Reservation Efficiency
	Petrified Blood - A big portion of incoming Hit Damage will be taken as DoT instead. You cannot avoid or reduce this DoT, but it gives you time to Regenerate and Recoup your Life back.
	Flesh and Stone - Stay in Sand Stance and approach the enemy to take much less Damage.
	Vitality - Regenerates Life.

[UTILITY] Malevolence setup
	Malevolence - More Damage over Time and increased Skill Effect Duration.
	Eternal Blessing - With Blood Magic the linked Aura will not Reserve Mana nor Life.

[UTILITY] Punishment setup
	Punishment - Enemies below half of their Maximum Life take increased Damage. You don't need Flammability because Ramako's passive fixes enemies' Resistance in place.
	Cast when Stunned Support

[MOBILITY] Shield Charge setup
	Shield Charge - The movement Skill to charge instead of walking.
	Faster Attacks Support - Use it to move Faster with Shield Charge.

[UTILITY] Vaal Breach
	Vaal Breach - Spawn more enemies during one-on-one fights to increase your chances of causing a big explosion.

5. Gear Setup

You're using Unique Amulet, Rings, Body Armour, and some Jewels. The rest of your gear pieces should be of Rare Quality to accumulate a lot of Maximum Life - a very important stat in this build. It scales up the damage of your Rightous Fire. Your Elemental Resistances should be at 90%. To achieve it seek Maximum Fire Resistance on your Rare Jewels and Shield. To cover your weak points, increase your Physical Damage reduction with Armour or Endurance Charges, maybe shift a portion of incoming Physical Damage to be taken as Elemental, and get some passive Life Regeneration for instances when Life Recoup won't work. Most Damage taken from Hits will be Recouped back with Petrified Blood and Bloodnotch. For situations where the Life Recoup had no chance to kick in, use Defiance of Destiny. To deal damage with RF seek Burning Damage, but most damage comes from Ignites caused by Hinekora's on-kill Effect. Be sure you have a high Ignite Chance, at least 80%. Increasing Spell Damage and reducing Enemies' Fire Resistance with Penetration, Combusion, Flammability, or Exposure does nothing in this build, Hinekora's detonation is not a Spell, and enemies' Fire Resistance is fixed at -20% if you're Stationary.

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - You will need a very specific Helemt, one that heavily supports local RF setup resulting in a quasi-6link improved with other modifiers. It must be an Elder-influenced Helmet.

Min. requirements: Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Burning Damage Socketed Gems are Supported by Level # Concentrated Effect Optional affixes:  Socketed Gems deal 30% more Elemental Damage (Essence) +1 to Level of Socketed AoE Gems; #% increased Area of Effect (crafted) Maximum Life Resistances

(Body Armour) Cloak of Flame - It redirects a big portion of Physical Damage to be taken as Fire, grants tons of Fire Resistance, and increases the Ignite Duration on enemies. All of these qualities are invaluable in this build.

+(50-75)% to Fire Resistance (40-75)% increased Ignite Duration on Enemies Reflects 100 Fire Damage to Melee Attackers 40% of Physical Damage taken as Fire Damage

(Weapon) Rare Weapon - We recommend a weapon with the triple metamod for additional Fire Damage over Time Multiplier and increased Fire Damage. Damage over Time Multiplier, Fire Damage, and Gem Level to Fire Skills can be found on Scepters, Wands, or Runic Daggers, Swords are popular as of 3.25 because of the Runesmithing option for Ignite Proliferation.

Min. requirements: 70% Increased Fire Damage +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems Damage Over Time Multiplier Optional affixes: increased Fire Damage over Time (crafted) Fire Damage Over Time Multiplier (crafted) +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems Burning Damage

(Off-hand) Rare Shield - A Shield with Maximum Life and Maximum Fire Resistance is what you should be looking for. Regular Fire Resistance, Armour, and Life Regeneration are great to have. Reservation Efficiency is also suitable if that would help you stay at or slightly above 50% of Maximum Life.

Min. requirements: +100 Maximum Life maximum Fire Resistance Optional affixes: Socketed Gems have #% increased Reservation Efficiency (Shaper's Suffix) Life Regeneration Resistances

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - It's a great opportunity to get more Dexterity, Life, and Resistances. For the Eldritch mods try to gain Ignite Proliferation and chance to Hinder or Life Leech from Fire Damage.

Min. requirements: +50 Dexterity +100 to maximum Life +40% to Total Resistances Optional affixes:  Life Regeneration increased Life Regeneration Rate Armour Chaos Resistance

(Boots) Rare Boots - For Prefixes, we recommend Life, Movement Speed, and crafted Freeze immunity. For Suffixes get Resistances and Life Regeneration. For the Eldritch mods aim for Maximum Fire Resistance and increased Life Regeneration Rate.

Min. requirements: +90 to maximum Life 30% increased Movement Speed +40% to Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes:  Life Regeneration 100% Chance to Avoid being Frozen (crafted Prefix) Chaos Resistance

(Belt) Rare Belt - On a Belt you may find a lot of Maximum Life and Resistances. Armour, Chaos Resistance, and Life Regeneration will be great too. Dexterity and Intelligence can be crafted.

Min. requirements: +90 to maximum Life +80% to Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes:  increased Maximum Life (Hunter's Prefix) Life Regeneration Chaos Resistance Attributes

(Amulet) Defiance of Destiny - DoD is a potent source of Life Recovery. It's the best-in-slot item in this build as it tends to rely on getting Hit and standing still to work. Until you can afford one, use a Rare Amulet with Life and Resistances.

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(60-80) to maximum Life +(10-40)% to Fire Resistance +(10-40)% to Cold Resistance +(10-40)% to Lightning Resistance Gain (10-20)% of Missing Unreserved Life before being Hit by an Enemy

Recommended Anointments: Whispers of Doom

(Ring) Valyrium - Causes nearly all incoming Hit Damage to Stun you, which is necessary. If you feel like you have too much Energy Shield for it to work, somehow, allocate The Agnostic Keystone.

+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield +(30-40) to maximum Energy Shield +(30-40)% to Fire Resistance -40% to Cold Resistance Stun Threshold is based on Energy Shield instead of Life

(Ring) The Hateful Accuser - Enemies Cursed with Penance Mark will summon hostile phantasm when you Hit them. These enemies can be detonated with the Hinekora's passive. Your abilities that Hit are Detonate Dead, Flame Surge, Firestorm of Pelting, or Shield Charge.

50% increased Elemental Ailment Duration on you 50% reduced Effect of Curses on you Grants level 20 Penance Mark (6-12)% increased Cast Speed +(30-60) to maximum Life +(7-19)% to Chaos Resistance

(Jewel) The Light of Meaning - The Light of Meaning with increased Fire Damage may be good if you socket it near Stamina or Instability.

Passive Skills in Radius also grant 6% increased Fire Damage

(Jewel) Immutable Force - Nearly all Hits will Stun you, so increased Stun Recovery is important to move at all. With at least 961% roll and no other sources or Stun Recovery, Stuns should not affect you.

(500-1000)% increased Stun and Block Recovery

(Jewel) Bloodnotch - With a good Roll on this Jewel, all damage you receive will be Recovered back. It makes you immune to Hits dealing less damage than the Maximum damage you can take.

(40-60)% of Damage taken from Stunning Hits is Recovered as Life

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Go for Maximum Fire Resistance, increased Maximum Life, Burning Damage, and whatever stats are missing.

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Maximum Fire Resistance Burning Damage Damage over Time Multiplier Fire Damage over Time Multiplier

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - You're using Malevolence and Vitality. Prioritize Damage over Time Multiplier from Malevolence.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Most notables on a Fire Damage Large Cluster Jewels will work. These are used to gain more damage and to make more space for regular Jewels.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Cremator 1 Added Passive Skill is Smoking Remains 1 Added Passive Skill is Burning Bright

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Burning Damage Medium Cluster Jewels are to be used if you have any points left to spare. Wrapped in Flame is particularly good, it grants Chill immunity and has a chance to Cover enemies in Ash on Hit.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Wrapped in Flame 1 Added Passive Skill is Wasting Affliction 1 Added Passive Skill is Flow of Life

Other suggested Flasks and Tinctures: Flagellant's Basalt Flask with reduced effect of Shock on you Flagellant's Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Flagellant's Ruby Flask with crafted Life Regeneration Flagellant's Granite Flask with increased Armour Rating Flagellant's Sulphur Flask with increased Elemental Resistances

If you have any other build requests, please leave that in the comments below.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.