I just wanted to put the build I've been playing this league onto people's radar, as I think it's strong, fun, and the way I'm building is novel in this meta as far as I know. According to Poe Ninja, I'm THE ONLY HoAG player that is using a rare bow, which I feel is a super strong (dare I say best?) choice for slotting HoAG into. Not wasting your body armor slot on a corrupted Lioneye's or Skin of the Lords lets you use the Fourth Vow, which is one of the best defensive packages in the game, ESPECIALLY with the Juggernaut ascendency.

Here is my current set up: https://pobb.in/_nWHkPPBfvkI

I'm just a bit shy of 17 mil DPS, and have 190k EHP. I know EHP is viewed as a somewhat obtuse number with varying usefulness, but I can attest that game feel wise I feel incredible tanky, and once I got defiance of destiny I'm nearly unkillable outside of Ubers.

It's not low budget by any means, but I crafted everything myself, and it's scaleable from VERY low investment. I transitioned the build from boneshatter in late yellows/early reds all the way to Ubers, T17s, etc. Slowly investing more and more felt really smooth. The build basically got going on just a two link Pragmatism (21/20 HoAG and Minion Damage) and a quill rain, so it is truly dirt cheap to start, not even requiring a six link.

This set-up is my next step: https://pobb.in/-0upwFYupoO1

It's mainly just rejigging things with a Devouring Diadem, and getting an Empower 4. The Empower 4 is only a bit more damage. Using a diadem lets me drop some reservation nodes and invest into a third cluster set up for more Pure Agony notables. My only concern for this version is keeping up 85 virulence stacks, as I'd need to try it out and see how fast they fall off. Currently I have no problem keeping up 70, and with getting wither from Balance of Terror we should be able to slot mirage archer into Storm Rain for more poisons. Getting EB will also let us slot in a Divine Blessing Malevolence. The issue with this is sockets, but by my count dropping life tap from the chest and recrafting the quiver (just attributes, res, life) onto an ornate quiver base should solve everything.

A lot of people seem to hate the HoAG playstyle, and while it's not the MOST fun build (no explodedy :( ), it's still 1-button build with only slightly, slightly delayed damage. I just swap Vicious Proj for Pierce when mapping and everything feels pretty smooth.

If people are interested I can explain how to craft the bow and gloves, as everything else is just stats, res, life, etc.

EDIT: I recorded a video showcase of a two death (skill issue) Uber Cortex with pretty easy mods. Please ignore my fucked up loot filter, I am incredibly lazy.

https://youtu.be/-6Y9rPFu_0w?si=Y7VKAJ9It_uabinh