The slam archetype in Path of Exile 2 runs on 24 Slam-tagged skill gems against only 12 Slam supports — a 2-to-1 ratio, where the minion archetype gets roughly 1.2 skills per support and Cold gets 2.8. Slams are skill-rich and support-poor, which means the build’s identity comes from which slam you pick, not from which modifiers you stack.
The other defining number is 8: eight of the 24 Slam skills sit in level band 1. A mace character has a real slam at character level 1, and the Mace cutting pool backs that up — tier 1 contains Rolling Slam, Boneshatter and Earthquake.
This guide maps the Mace ladder, the 24 Slam skills by band, and all 12 Slam supports, with the socket math that decides how many of them a Titan-style strength character can actually run.
The 23-gem Mace cutting ladder
| Tier | Mace gems in the pool | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rolling Slam, Boneshatter, Earthquake | 3 |
| 3 | Shield Charge, Shockwave Totem, Armour Breaker, Infernal Cry | 4 |
| 5 | Molten Blast, Perfect Strike, Resonating Shield | 3 |
| 7 | Shield Wall, Earthshatter, Volcanic Fissure, Leap Slam | 4 |
| 9 | Fortifying Cry, Forge Hammer, Sunder | 3 |
| 11 | Supercharged Slam, Seismic Cry, Stampede | 3 |
| 13 | Ancestral Cry, Hammer of the Gods, Ancestral Warrior Totem | 3 |
Mace totals 23 gems, the second-narrowest pool after Quarterstaff at 21. The per-tier count never exceeds four, which is good news for cutting: every tier gives at least three options, and the tier 13 pool is one-third Hammer of the Gods.
That last point is worth stating plainly. A tier 13 Mace uncut gem has three possible results, and one of them is the payoff slam. The build’s headline skill is a 1-in-3 on the final tier, not a random drop from a 50-entry pool.
The ladder also shows where the archetype’s non-slam tools sit. Warcries appear at tiers 3, 9, 11 and 13 — Infernal Cry, Fortifying Cry, Seismic Cry, Ancestral Cry. Totems appear twice — Shockwave Totem at tier 3 and Ancestral Warrior Totem at tier 13. A mace character is never only slamming; the pool keeps handing out support acts.
The 24 Slam skills, by band
| Band | Slam skills | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Earthquake, Falling Thunder, Furious Slam, Molten Crash, Righteous Descent, Rolling Slam, Soaring Midnight, Starborn Onslaught | 8 |
| 3 | Pounce, Shockwave Totem | 2 |
| 5 | Devour, Fury of the Mountain, Vaulting Impact | 3 |
| 7 | Earthshatter, Leap Slam, Volcanic Fissure | 3 |
| 9 | Forge Hammer, Sunder, Thunderous Leap | 3 |
| 11 | Rampage, Stampede, Supercharged Slam | 3 |
| 13 | Ancestral Cry, Hammer of the Gods | 2 |
By colour the pool splits 12 red, 11 uncoloured, 1 green. That is the least colourful skill pool in the game relative to its size: half of all slam skills have no attribute gate at all, because they are weapon-family skills. For a strength character the practical effect is that 11 of the 24 are open without stretching attributes, and the 12 red ones are the ones that reward the investment.
Band 1 being eight skills deep is unusual. Compare the ammunition pool, which has 5 at band 1, or the minion pool, which spreads one summon per tier. Slam front-loads.
The trade-off is that bands 9 through 13 add only eight skills total, and one of those is a warcry rather than a slam. The late slam pool is thin — bands 11 and 13 add only five skills between them, and one of those five is a warcry rather than a slam.
The 12 Slam supports
| Support | Band | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Concussive Runes | 1 | None |
| Fist of War I | 1 | Red |
| Fist Of Kalguur | 1 | None |
| Aftershock I | 2 | Red |
| Jagged Ground I | 2 | Red |
| Tectonic Slams | 2 | Red |
| Fist of War II | 3 | Red |
| Aftershock II | 4 | Red |
| Syzygy | 4 | Red |
| Brambleslam | 5 | Red |
| Fist of War III | 5 | Red |
| Jagged Ground II | 5 | Red |
Twelve supports is the smallest specialised pool of any archetype this site covers — 12 against 108 Attack supports and 56 Melee supports. 10 of the 12 are red, and the two that are not have no colour at all, which means a slam character needs red sockets and nothing else.
The structure is three rank lines plus three singletons:
- Fist of War — I, II, III across bands 1, 3 and 5. Three of the twelve.
- Aftershock — I at band 2, II at band 4. Two of the twelve.
- Jagged Ground — I at band 2, II at band 5. Two of the twelve.
That is seven of twelve in three lines, leaving Concussive Runes, Fist Of Kalguur, Tectonic Slams, Syzygy and Brambleslam as one-ofs. The practical read: a slam build’s support suite is mostly “how far up the Fist of War line can I get”.
The source text for the band-1 entry is the clearest statement of what the archetype is buying:
“Fist of War I — Supports Slams you use yourself, providing a powerful Ancestral Boost every few seconds.” — poe2db.tw support gem entry, cached in
src/data/poe2-support-gems.json
“Slams you use yourself” is the restriction that matters. A slam delivered by a totem is not a slam you use yourself, which is why the Mace pool’s two totem options and its three Fist of War ranks pull in different directions.
Sockets, and the rank-line problem
The gem ladder: 2 sockets at gem level 1, 3 at gem level 10 (character 36), 4 at gem level 15 (character 64), 5 at gem level 20 (character 90).
A slam build wants Fist of War III (band 5) plus Aftershock II (band 4) plus a slam skill. That is three links. At character level 36 you have three sockets — exactly enough for the minimum viable version, with no room for utility.
This is tighter than it looks, because the rank lines mean the “best” supports are available early but not simultaneously. Fist of War III needs band 5, which is reachable long before the four-socket breakpoint at character level 64. You can own the support and not be able to fit it.
Realistic progression:
Gem level 1, two sockets. One slam plus Fist of War I. The band-1 pool gives you three red options and two uncoloured ones, so the slot is easy to fill.
Gem level 10, three sockets. Fist of War II at band 3 plus Aftershock I at band 2. This is the first configuration with two real damage supports.
Gem level 15, four sockets. Fist of War III plus Aftershock II plus one singleton. Character level 64 is when the build stops feeling constrained.
Gem level 20, five sockets. The full suite: three rank lines plus two singletons.
Skill choice, by band reality
Because bands 9 through 13 add only eight skills, the decision point is early. A character who starts with Rolling Slam (band 1, red, pure physical) and a character who starts with Earthquake (band 1, red, duration-based) are on different paths by band 7, when Earthshatter and Volcanic Fissure arrive.
The two band-13 options frame the endgame:
- Hammer of the Gods — conditional, duration-based, and the only Slam in the Mace pool’s tier 13 row.
- Ancestral Cry — a warcry that also carries the Attack, Slam and Melee tags, which means it can consume the same support slots.
That overlap is the most interesting thing in the slam data. Ancestral Cry is tagged Warcry, Attack, Buff, AoE, Melee, Slam, Projectile, Trigger, Fire, Duration, Nova and Conditional — twelve tags. It can use both Warcry supports (16 in the pool) and Slam supports (12). A build that leans on it has access to a 28-support combined pool instead of 12.
Warrior themes, and what the class table implies
The Warrior’s three themes are Heavy Slams, Stuns and Knockback, and Defences. The first is the archetype; the second is the delivery; the third is the reason the build survives standing in melee.
That third theme is not optional flavour. A slam character commits to being in contact with the enemy, and the class table’s own wording — “Use your large life pool to absorb the rest” — describes a character that expects to be hit. The 12 red Slam supports include survivability options only indirectly; most of the archetype’s defence comes from the class and the tree, not the gems.
For the surrounding systems, the support gems guide covers all 557 supports by band and colour, the uncut gems guide explains the 20-level ladder behind the socket counts, and the skill gems database lists every Slam entry with tags.
The Warrior class guide covers the three themes in full, the ascension guide explains the level 22 and 38 gates, and the minion build is the archetype with the deepest support pool if you want the opposite problem.