Path of Exile (POE) offers various ways to increase the damage dealt with one-handed weapons. Here’s a breakdown of the methods you can employ:
Weapon Selection:
Base Damage: Choose weapons with inherently high physical damage, especially for physical damage builds. One-handed Swords, Axes, and Maces generally have good base damage.
Unique Weapons: Powerful unique weapons obtained from endgame encounters or specific areas can offer exceptional damage bonuses and modifiers tailored to specific builds.
Crafting:
Essences: Apply powerful prefixes like increased physical damage, attack speed, or specific elemental damage based on the chosen Essence type.
Orbs: Utilize various Orbs like Alterations, Exalted Orbs, and Crafting Benches to add valuable modifiers that enhance damage output:
Physical Damage: Look for mods like "Increased Physical Damage," "Added Physical Damage," or "Increased Critical Strike Multiplier."
Elemental Damage: Craft for mods like "+# to Fire/Cold/Lightning Damage" or increased elemental damage modifiers based on your chosen element.
Skill Selection:
Choose skills that scale well with one-handed weapons:
Some skills inherently benefit from using one-handed weapons, like "Spectral Throw" or "Shield Charge."
Passive Skill Tree:
Invest in passive skills that directly increase damage:
Look for nodes that grant increased physical damage, increased elemental damage (based on your chosen element), increased attack speed (if applicable), or critical strike chance (if applicable).
Ascendancy Classes: Specific Ascendancy classes like "Slayer" or "Berserker" offer inherent bonuses towards damage output with one-handed weapons.
Gear and Flasks:
Items: Certain armor pieces, helmets, gloves, and amulets can provide increased physical damage, elemental damage bonuses, or critical strike multipliers.
Flasks: Utilize flasks that grant increased attack speed, increased damage during flask effect, or elemental damage penetration (for elemental builds).
Here are some additional tips:
Focus on synergy: Ensure all aspects of your build complement each other. This means choosing skills, passive skills, and gear that work together to maximize your damage output.
Understand damage modifiers: Different damage modifiers have varying effects. Increased physical damage directly adds to the base damage, while increased elemental damage applies multiplicatively with other elemental damage modifiers.
Consider the Gesamtkunstwerk approach: Think of your character as a whole, not just individual items or stats. A well-rounded build prioritizes not only damage but also survivability and utility.
Resources for Finding Information:
Online Build Guides: Consult online resources and build guides created by experienced players for detailed recommendations on weapon choices, crafting strategies, passive skill allocation, and overall build development tailored to maximizing damage with one-handed weapons.
Path of Building Community: Utilize community tools like Path of Building to experiment with different weapon choices, passive skill allocations, and gear combinations to see how they affect your character’s overall damage output.
Remember: Increasing damage with one-handed weapons requires a strategic approach. By understanding the different methods available, crafting effectively, and focusing on build synergy, you can significantly enhance your character’s offensive capabilities in Path of Exile.