Path of Exile: Why Righteous Fire is a Great Build for Beginners

Among many builds in Path of Exile, Righteous Fire is not only the most common but also one of the best, especially for beginners. In this article, I will go over the reasons why Righteous Fire is great and why you should consider it for your next character.

Why Righteous Fire?

Before anything, what is Righteous Fire? Well, it is a spell gem in Path of Exile that engulfs you in a magical fire when active, dealing damage over time to you and nearby enemies.

Righteous Fire damage scales with the amount of HP/energy shield you have. Because RF can also hurt you, you can address this by improving your life regeneration and increasing your fire resistance.

Now, you might be thinking: why is Righteous Fire so popular? One of the main reasons is that it is a pretty good league starter build. You can deal good damage even on a shoestring budget. However, you can make it shine by investing more currency.

Another reason is that it has a laid-back playstyle. Seriously, all you have to do is to activate the spell and just run around the map and see enemies burn to a crisp!

Which Class is the Best for RF?

So, which ascendancy class should you choose for your RF character? There are two viable options: Juggernaut and Inquisitor. The Juggernaut has high HP and life regeneration, which are important stats for RF. On top of that, this ascendancy class has access to pretty good passives, such as Unbreakable and Unflinching. This variant is recommended for beginners because it can take a beating even on a budget.

If you want more damage, opt for the Inquisitor variant. This class has two notable passives that can improve Righteous Fire: Pious Path and Sanctuary. Although the Inquisitor has the potential of dealing huge damage, it is squishier than Juggernaut. It is up to you whether you want more survivability or more damage.

Areas of Improvement

As mentioned earlier, Righteous Fire scales with your HP/energy shield, but there are things that you can do to improve damage output.

First, get yourself a good weapon. Ideally, you'd want an Opal Sceptre/Abyssal Sceptre with the following stats:

• Increased fire damage
• Increased fire damage over time multiplier
• Increased burning damage
• +1 to level of all fire spell skill gems
• Chance to ignite

The next thing you want to consider is the shield. If you went for the Juggernaut, you can equip a Saffell's Frame or Dawnbreaker, while Aegis Aurora for the Inquisitor.

Don't forget about support gems! Here are the gems that you can link to your Righteous Fire to make it even better:

• Burning Damage Support
• Swift Affliction Support
• Efficacy Support
• Elemental Focus Support
• Increased Area of Effect Support
• Empower Support

RF excels in burning multiple enemies at once, but it suffers from poor single-target damage. For this reason, you'd want to incorporate Fire Trap into your build as well. Link the Fire Trap gem to these support gems for maximum benefit:

• Trap and Mine Damage Support
• Burning Damage Support
• Swift Affliction Support
• Lifetap Support
• Empower Support

So, are you going to choose Righteous Fire as your next build?

Path of Exile is available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.