PoE 1 Guide: Explosive Arrow Ballista – How to Farm 3 Mirrors in 12 Days and Reach Level 100

Summary

The "Return of the Ancestors" event in Path of Exile 1 offers a unique opportunity to play with special ascendancy classes. This build, the Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander, has been tested across multiple events and proven itself as a top-tier mapper. In this event alone, it reached level 100 and generated three Mirrors of Kalandra in just 12 days—a testament to its farming efficiency and survivability, and a massive boost to any player's POE currency reserves. If you're looking to jumpstart your wealth or gear up quickly for this event, I highly recommend MMOEXP for fast and reliable POE Currency delivery.

Build Philosophy: Direct Hit Damage over Damage Over Time

Most Explosive Arrow builds focus on damage over time scaling. This build takes a different approach, scaling the direct hit damage component instead . The mechanic works as follows: Explosive Arrow stacks fuses onto enemies, and when they reach maximum stacks, they trigger a massive explosion. By stacking attack speed and gem levels, you trigger these explosions as frequently as possible .

Why This Approach Works

Direct hit scaling offers several advantages over the traditional damage over time route. You get more immediate burst damage, more flexible equipment choices, and you don't rely on Damage Over Time Multiplier. The clear speed in maps is significantly higher, making it ideal for event farming .

 

Core Mechanics

Damage Scaling

The build scales damage through two primary vectors:

Gem Levels: Explosive Arrow scales exceptionally well with levels . My setup reaches gem level 29 through corruption, with the amulet providing an additional +2. The Replica Dragonfang's Flight can even push this to +3 for Explosive Arrow. Empower Support is used for further scaling .

Attack Speed: The more attack speed you have, the faster fuses stack on enemies, triggering more explosions. This is why Quill Rain is the weapon of choice—it provides 100% increased attack speed .

Defensive Layers

Ancestral Commander is arguably the tankiest ascendancy for this build:

Call of the Ancestors: 20% of damage taken is transferred to nearby totems—a permanent global damage reduction 

Ancestral Endurance: +2 maximum Endurance Charges, providing additional physical and elemental damage reduction 

Ancestral Defiance: Restores 15% of missing unreserved life before being hit—essentially a free Defiance of Destiny effect 

Born under Fire: Converts half of nearby enemies' physical damage into fire damage, effectively reducing physical damage taken by 37.5% 

With these layers plus 90% physical damage reduction, 60%+ evasion, and spell suppression, the build is near-immortal in T16 maps .

 

The Playstyle

This is a lazy, one-button build. Simply place your ballista totems and let them do the work. Move in circles while dropping totems—everything on screen melts .

For five-way farming, reset in the middle when the green boss icons disappear from the minimap. The build's area clear is so strong that few other builds can match it in this content .

Gear Essentials

Weapon: Quill Rain with close to 100% projectile speed. Take the Bow Mastery that converts Projectile Speed into increased Damage .

Quiver: Skirmish—gives an additional totem and helps with attributes .

Helmet: Wilma's Requital (best) or a rare helmet. This saves passive points by granting Ancestral Bond .

Body Armour: Prioritize high armour value. Born under Fire doubles your chest's armour value .

Belt: Headhunter or Replica Headhunter—adds damage and grants rare monster buffs on kill .

Amulet: Replica Dragonfang's Flight with +3 to Explosive Arrow, or a rare amulet with +1 Fire Skills .

 

Farming Strategies

Five-Way Timeless Conflict

In small events, few players farm timeless jewels, making this highly profitable. The build excels at five-way farming—killing the generals quickly and generating high reward counts .

Ultimatum Farming

This was the biggest money maker in the event. Using specific scarabs (Catalysing, Inscribing, Bribing) on Jungle Valley maps, you can run ultimatums twice using the Mirage mechanic .

Key tip: You don't need to juice the map—it only affects catalyst rewards, not the inscribed ultimatums you're targeting . The build can run Gruelling Gauntlet (13 rounds with random modifiers), which few builds can survive .

Expected Returns

In 12 days, this strategy generated three Mirrors of Kalandra: two from ultimatum drops and the equivalent value from a Headhunter .

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Pierce effects: Any pierce prevents fuses from stacking on enemies—avoid Penetrating Arrow Quivers 

Missing the "Sleepless Sentries" jewel: Essential for permanent onslaught while totems are summoned 

Forgetting Fire Mastery and Bow Mastery: These provide free damage 

Not upgrading to Level 21 Explosive Arrow: Significant damage increase 

Leveling and Transition

Start with Ground Slam and Sunder until Act 4. Around level 35, unlock the first Labyrinth trial and transition to Explosive Arrow Ballista . Don't stress about gear in the campaign—sockets are more important than stats early on.

 

Event-Specific Notes

The "Return of the Ancestors" event uses the Legacy of Phrecia ascendancy classes. Ancestral Commander (Marauder) was the most popular choice for Explosive Arrow, with many players reaching above level 90 .

The event runs for three weeks and merges into the Mirage League. Characters and items are fully transferred afterward . Even if you only complete the campaign, you'll receive a free mystery box.

Conclusion

The Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander is a proven event build—cheap to start, tanky enough for hardcore content, and capable of farming the most profitable endgame strategies. Whether you're farming five-ways for timeless jewels or ultimatums for divine orbs, this build delivers consistent results with minimal effort.