Path of Exile 2: How to build around Pillar of The Caged God

Modified Dec 20, 2024 22:18 IST

Explore the Pillar of The Caged God build in PoE2 (Image via GGG) — Pillar of The Caged God is not to be trifled with (Image via GGG)

Pillar of The Caged God is a unique Quarterstaff that can be a build-defining breakpoint in Path of Exile 2. Generally, Attributes in this game give you very little on their own, and they're taken as needed to meet equipment and Gem requirements. However, with the Pillar of The Caged God equipped, all of your Attributes suddenly provide buffs that can add up to massive boosts in the end-game.

It doesn't take a hardboiled build-maker to say that this item is earmarked for Attribute stackers. In this guide, we'll take a look at what the Pillar of The Caged God Quarterstaff does, and how to make the best use of it in Path of Exile 2.

How to utilize Pillar of The Caged God in Path of Exile 2

Gemling Legionnaire goes to the top once again (Image via GGG)

Pillar of The Caged God grants you additional secondary effects for each point in your Attributes: Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence.

10% increased Weapon Damage per 5 Strength
2% increased Attack Speed per 5 Dexterity
2% increased Area of Effect for Attacks per 5 Intelligence

Enterprising players may notice how much percentage-based increase to weapon damage you can get from Strength. This Quarterstaff itself is a dinky unleveled stick that anyone can use from character level 1 (as long as they have 10 Dexterity), and it only deals 9-18 damage by default (13.5 average damage on swing, 18.9 DPS). However, with the Strength-stacking bonuses alone, martial classes can easily enter the five-digit DPS echelon with this.

Right off the bat, the weapon type poses some restrictions. You cannot, for example, use it as an off-hand stat stick with Giant's Blood on a Warrior. Holding a Quarterstaff necessitates the usage of Quarterstaff Skills. The natural wielder, therefore, is a Monk.

Monks do not use much Strength naturally, as they are more aligned toward Intelligence and Dexterity. However, with the Pillar of The Caged God, you can keep your Physical-scaling DPS Skills limited to lower Skill Gem levels to keep the requirements low, and then get some surplus Strength from travel nodes.

The obvious synergy for min-maxing purposes here is the Astramantis unique Amulet, which can grant 100+ of all Attributes. This presents a nice side-order of also offloading your Gem requirements to get more Strength. Due to the exorbitant price of this unique item, though, it's just a pipe dream for now. Instead, you'll need to stack additional attack damage and Strength wherever you can with your gear.

However, to get the biggest bang for your buck, don't select Monk as your starting class. Pillar of The Caged God instead synergizes best with the Mercenary, thanks to the Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy. With the Ascendancy Passive Adaptive Capability, you can just reroll your existing Attribute nodes to be all Strength. Thanks to Enhanced Effectiveness, this will also give you a substantially larger Life pool to work with. With this, you'll want to go for pure STR-scaling gear (armor is not the best defensive path to go with, but your options are limited on that front).

To clarify something that could potentially entrap some players: you do not want to use this for leveling, despite low stat requirements. Instead, Pillar of The Caged God is ideal for a mid-game or end-game build switch, where the Attribute backlog will provide some significant benefits right off the bat.

Check out our other guides on the game:

Edited by Niladri Roy