Smith of Kitava Leveling Guide – The Stun-Priming Warrior Build (PoE 2 Patch 0.2.0)

The Smith of Kitava is shaping up to be one of the most dominant and comfortable leveling experiences in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.2.0, especially after a brutal nerf wave in the Dawn of the Hunt league. With meta builds like Invoker Ice Strike, Arc Sorceress, and attribute stackers gutted by the balance team, the classic Warrior’s blend of raw Strength, armor scaling, and stun dominance has emerged as a safe and powerful choice for early progression and campaign smashing.

This guide walks you through a Boneshatter-centric leveling route, leveraging newly buffed Hammer of the Gods and the build-defining ascendancy: Smith of Kitava.

Looking for a build that slams hard, stuns harder, and clears with a satisfying explosion? The Smith of Kitava offers a uniquely brutal playstyle built around Boneshatter, Perfect Strike, and a combat loop that rewards precision, positioning, and ruthless execution.

This guide walks you through the leveling process from Act 1 to your first Waystones, using mostly Uncut Gems and early game gear.

If you’re into Path of Exile 2 builds that make good use of Strength scaling, crowd control, and slamming gameplay, read on.

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Gameplay Loop: How This Build Works

The main gameplay flow revolves around priming enemies with Leap Slam and Mace Strike to inflict enough Stun Buildup, then exploding them with Boneshatter. Most mobs melt in one or two combos. The visuals and feedback are brutal, satisfying, and efficient.

Use Perfect Strike and Hammer of the Gods to delete tanky Rares or Bosses. As you gain levels and unlock Uncut Gems, you’ll weave in Earthquake, Shockwave Totem, and Cry skills to scale into a true stun-slamming machine.

The basic loop is as follows:

1. Leap Slam into a pack to prime enemies with Stun Buildup.

2. Boneshatter to detonate anything that’s been primed.

3. Perfect Strike and Hammer of the Gods for single-target punishment.

4. Infernal Cry and Seismic Cry for AoE burst and synergy with slam skills.

5. Dodge Roll to weave through combat and cancel animations fluidly.

Enemies are “primed for stun” once they reach the following thresholds:

• Normal: 40% Stun Buildup

• Magic: 60%

• Rare: 70%

• Unique: 80%

A bright orb above their heads indicates they’re ready to be shattered. If anyone’s still standing, use Mace Strike or Leap Slam again to finish the job.

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Skill Setup by Act (with Gem Priorities)

In Path of Exile 2, Uncut Gems are a new loot-based progression system:

• Uncut Skill Gem: Pick up as random drop or specific location during campaign. Each Uncut Skill Gem comes with a define level, you can only cut a corresponding skill gem (Level 1 – 20)

• Uncut Support Gem: Similar to Uncut Skill Gem, but the Level are from 1 – 3 

• Uncut Spirit Gem: Grants auras like Herald of Ash or utility buffs (Level 1 – 20)

These gems are cut manually and reward proper leveling choices and planning.

Act 1 – Setting the Foundation

Main Skills:

 

• Boneshatter: Core AoE tool. Deals massive damage and applies Stun Buildup.

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• Mace Strike: For priming leftovers or applying consistent stun to tougher enemies.

• Earthquake: Use this when something survives Boneshatter or for post-stun boss ticks.

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Animation Cancel Tip: Boneshatter hits early in its swing, so you can use Dodge Roll right after the hit lands to cancel recovery frames. Once mastered, this feels incredibly fluid.

 

Support Gems:

• Impact Shockwave → Boneshatter Triggers bonus AOE when you Heavy Stun

• Ruthless + Overpower → Mace Strike

  • Boosts every 5th hit with massive stun buildup

  • Scales stun buildup by 50%

• Magnified Effect → Boneshatter  Increases Boneshatter’s area for smoother clearing

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Act 2 – Mobility and Totem Support

 

By now, you’ll unlock your Uncut Skill Gems III-V. Plug in:

• Shockwave Totem: Slams enemies, synergizes with Jagged Ground

• Infernal Cry: Boosts Fire + Physical damage, especially when used with Perfect Strike

New Skill Additions:

• Leap Slam: Use to engage and apply wide-radius stun priming. Keep it at Level 7 to reduce unwanted full stuns (we want to prime, not detonate).

• Shockwave Totem: For additional AoE during bosses. Place behind the enemy so it survives.

• Infernal Cry: Cast before Earthquake or Perfect Strike to stack AoE burst.

Support Gems:

• Martial Tempo → Shockwave Totem (later moved to Perfect Strike) 

  • Improves attack speed (early on, can be rotated between Leap Slam or Perfect Strike)

• Fire Infusion → Shockwave Totem / Perfect Strike 

  • Used with Shockwave Totem or Perfect Strike for bonus fire scaling

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Act 3 – Core Rotation Begins

Key Playstyle Unlock:

• Perfect Strike: Your main single-target nuke. Press-and-hold until you see the red flash—release it for massive ignite-based damage. Feels slow, but lands hard.

  • Perfect Strike: High-damage channeled skill that explodes enemies when released at “Perfect Timing”

   

Herald Setup:

• Herald of Ash: Helps with overkill burn and mob clearing. Right-click to activate it from the Skill Gem menu.

Skill Leveling Priority:

1. Boneshatter

2. Perfect Strike

3. Shockwave Totem

4. Earthquake

5. Infernal Cry

Support Gems:

• Window of Opportunity → Perfect Strike

  • Shrinks the timing window for Perfect Strike, but rewards it with 35% more damage

• Premeditation → Infernal Cry Empowers skills like Infernal Cry

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Act 1 Cruel – Gearing Up for the Slam Meta

 

New Utility Skills:

• Seismic Cry: Use this only when you unlock Hammer of the Gods (it amplifies your next Slam skill significantly).

• Supercharged Slam: Optional. Test it as an alt to Perfect Strike if the windup doesn’t suit you.

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Act 2 Cruel – Your Signature Slam Arrives

New Core Skill:

• Hammer of the Gods: This is the button. Replace Earthquake. The ideal setup:

  1. Stun enemies with Mace Strike

  2. Cry combo: Infernal Cry → Seismic Cry

  3. Slam with Hammer of the Gods

Support Gems:

• Concentrated Effect Reduces area, increases burst damage – use carefully

• Heavy Swing   Big Physical Damage bonus at the cost of Attack Speed

• Brutality Locks you into Physical-only scaling, but boosts the numbers significantly

• Reach (after socketing Boneshatter with a Lesser Jeweller’s Orb)  Optional AOE for Boneshatter or Earthquake

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Act 3 Cruel – Resistance Scaling and Finishers

After beating the Azak Bog boss, link Cannibalism to Herald of Ash for sustainability. 

This is where your build begins to stabilize for Endgame prep.

If you find gear with +Spirit, you may replace Earthquake with Berserk for better mobility and damage uptime.

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Passive Tree

For Passives, Traverse the tree first to focus on the 2 handed Damage nodes

 

Afterward, travers upward to enhance area of effect when stun 

 

Finally Traverse to the left edge of the Skill Trees for Ignites and heavy Stun Damage Bonus 

Ascendancy: Smith of Kitava

Smith of Kitava Ascendancy: Armor = Power

The Smith of Kitava ascendancy turns ordinary armor into stat-packed juggernaut gear. With Smith’s Masterwork, you are locked into using Normal Body Armour, but in exchange, your body piece starts granting incredible modifiers:

• Life regeneration

• Flat Life

• Elemental resistances

• Strength and Damage Reduction

• Chaos mitigation

Key nodes like Tantalum Alloy, Support Straps, and Flowing Metal give enough durability to comfortably face-tank everything in the Acts.

First Two Ascendancy Points

1. Smith’s Masterwork – Forces you into Normal body armour, but lets you craft your own stats. Use Artificer’s Orbs + Vaal Orb to upgrade sockets and implicits.

2. Tantalum Alloy – Grants 75% Fire Resistance. Pick this early to trivialize gearing.

Midgame Nodes

3. Leather Bindings – 5% regen, great for sustain.

4. Coal Stoker – More resistances, essential for hitting 75% all res during campaign.

5. Kitavan Engraving – Flat Life bonus.

6. Support Straps – Strength boost and more Life to meet Giant’s Blood requirements.

Final Node Options

7. Forged in Flame – Enables pathing toward 90% Elemental Resist cap. Optionally replace early nodes like Tantalum Alloy with Molten Symbol and Flowing Metal for more defensive flexibility.

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Attribute Management

• Prioritize meeting Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity requirements for gear and skill gems.

• Dump the rest into Strength for more Life and damage.

• You can respec attribute points for gold if your needs change mid-campaign.

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Gear Progression Tips

• Check Town Vendors every level. Their inventory scales with your level and can yield early upgrades.

• In trade-enabled leagues, use Exalted Orbs to buy upgrades.

• Focus on gear with:

  • +% Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance

  • +Maximum Life

  • High base Physical Damage

  • % Increased Physical Damage

  • Adds Flat Phys or Fire Damage

  • % Increased Attack Speed

Crafting Tips:

• Use Transmutation/Augmentation/Essences to roll on white gear.

• Use Artificer’s Orbs + Blacksmith’s Whetstones to increase DPS and socket runes.

• Prioritize Iron Runes for offense, or Body Runes for defense.

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Wrapping Up

Once you’ve reached the end of your campaign progression and have all your core links in place, the Smith of Kitava build is ready to crush your first Waystones. Your final goal: stack Strength, slam harder, and never let an enemy walk away unstunned.

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