S-TIER | BUILD MERCENAIRE INFINITE FALLING THUNDER GEMLING LEGIONNAIRE (@Palsteron) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

This Mercenary build Falling Thunder leverages the Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy to turn Falling Thunder (Falling Thunder) into an almost automatic attack. Normally, this skill works as a « finishing blow » that can only be unleashed after building up power charges. Here, the author stacks several sources that prevent these charges from being consumed on use, until the chance to keep them exceeds 100%. The result: Falling Thunder can be spammed continuously, at almost no mana cost, like an auto-attack.

The build relies on a weapon swap system between two weapon sets: the first set up for Whirling Slash (very fast movement), the second for Falling Thunder (damage, using a warstaff despite looking like a spear build). The whole setup also revolves around building up Rage, a resource that increases damage, attack speed, and stun threshold all at once, at the cost of life decay offset by Chaos Inoculation.

Note: this isn’t a step-by-step build guide but a showcase video of a heavily invested setup. The author does point out, however, that the core mechanic (charge retention) remains accessible in a budget version on skills other than Falling Thunder.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

Here is the complete gem setup for this build.

Set 1

Set 1

12 skills • 49 gems

Virtuous BarrierVirtuous Barrier

Jet de lanceSpear Throw

Rage éternelleEternal Rage

Régulation des chargesCharge Regulation

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

BerserkBerserk

Œil de l'hiverEye of Winter

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

BlasphèmeBlasphemy

Taillade tourbillonnanteWhirling Slash

Grondement de tonnerreFalling Thunder

ConvalescenceConvalescence

Recommended Equipment

• Helmet: Crown of Eyes — converts spell damage into attack damage, essential to exploit the bonuses of notable Mystical Rage on Falling Thunder
• Belt: Mageblood — illustrates the very high investment level of this setup (manages flask effect duration continuously)
• Flask: Lavianga’s Spirits — utility flask with strong defensive value
• Charms: Rite of Passage, Nascent Hope, and The Fall of the Axe — three unique charms rounding out the defensive/offensive setup
• Amulet: crafted with a quality modifier to push the main gem’s quality, complemented by a distillate
• Crafted rage jewels: look for the « +1 maximum rage » prefix combined with an increased prefix effect (up to +3 max rage, +4/+5 with Adorned) and increased energy shield/hybrid
• « Faster start of energy shield recharge » jewels (2-3 copies): compensate for the near-total absence of leech on this build
• Distillates: Paragon + Thaumaturge Generator, one on the helmet and one on the amulet
• Boots: high-tier Chronomancer modifier (10%+) for charge conservation
• Body: rune granting a bonus to energy shield recharge rate

Gameplay Tips

• Map start routine: walk into the first pack before spamming Falling Thunder — otherwise the automatic weapon swap cuts you off from Blasphemy and you stop generating charges
• Keep a life regeneration mod anywhere on your gear because of the life decay from Berserk (essential with Chaos Inoculation)
• Align your Strength and Intelligence support gems: the majority color (red = Strength, blue = Intelligence) in the support skill slots grants critical strike immunity and -30% cost, respectively
• Adorned is optional: at the current price, a rage jewel at 34% or higher is enough to guarantee the +1 max rage tier — no need to go further
• Never remove the support that prevents your projectiles from being blocked on Falling Thunder — without it, the skill becomes very uncomfortable to play

Why This Mercenary Falling Thunder Build Never Consumes Its Charges

The core of the build relies on stacking sources of « chance to not consume a charge on use » until it exceeds 100%. The author adds up: 42% quality on the gem (via notable Advanced Thaumaturgy, a Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy passive that converts the alternate quality of all skills into a charge conservation percentage), 25% via the Charge Regulation support, 10% via an idol slotted in the body armor, 10% via a passive tree notable (such as notable The Fabled Stag), and up to 15% via a Chronomancer modifier on the boots (only the tier above 10 works).

The 42% quality on the gem itself comes from several stacked sources: a crafted modifier on the amulet (+5%), the Paragon Distill (+5%), two small Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy passive points each granting 2% quality, and a body idol whose linked modifier translates into additional quality. All bonuses tied to power charges remain active even when the charge is not removed — only the « consume without removing » mechanic changes.

Charge Generation: Blasphemy, Living Lightning and Thaumaturgic Generator

Since charges are (almost) never consumed, they still need to be generated initially. The build uses Blasphemy (Blasphemy) + Repulsion, which sets up a curse aura that deals a hit — counted as a melee hit once combined with Living Lightning (Living Lightning). This « melee » tag then unlocks the support gems Ailiths Chimes (charge generation) and Culmination I (combo), which must be socketed in a specific order: Ailiths Chimes first, Culmination I next, then Ailiths Chimes once more. Without this sequencing, the game won’t let you socket them.

The most powerful charge generator remains the Thaumaturgic Generator, a passive tree notable that can be instilled onto a jewel. It grants a power, frenzy, or endurance charge every 5 seconds, with an affinity leaning toward power charges based on the jewel’s stats (Intelligence favors blue/power). Endurance charges are supplemented via Herald of Ice, with an Armour Explosion setup (type Uruks Smelting) and the Armour Break III support, which has a chance to grant an endurance charge.

Weapon Swap: Two Weapon Sets, Two Distinct Roles

The build actively uses weapon swapping. Weapon set 1 carries Whirling Slash (Whirling Slash), the movement skill, with the Rigwalds Ferocity support, which only grants its 30% attack speed bonus while the active weapon is indeed weapon set 1. Weapon set 2 carries Falling Thunder (Falling Thunder), the damage skill, played on a warstaff despite the visual appearance of a spear build.

The auras follow the same logic: Blasphemy + Repulsion are only active on weapon set 1 (useful only during movement with Whirling Slash), while Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice are only active on weapon set 2 (useful for damage clearing). This split saves 60 spirit points in total.

Rage Stacking: Damage, Speed and Stun Immunity

Rage is the build’s second core resource. Berserk grants additional maximum rage (a bonus tied to the Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy) as well as a strong increased rage effect percentage — but continuously drains life. The build works around this issue with Chaos Inoculation (life fixed at 1), which makes this life decay completely harmless as long as a single life regeneration modifier is present on the gear.

Each point of rage grants 1% additional damage (up to 97-103% more damage depending on investment), along with an attack speed bonus via the new Medved’s Felling support (5% attack speed for every 5 points of rage — the reason for the extreme attack speed on Whirling Slash). The maximum life loss tied to rage is not an issue since the player’s life is fixed at 1. Finally, notable Mystical Rage converts part of the rage into increased spell damage, which justifies using Crown of Eyes (turns spell damage into attack damage) and using a hybrid spell/energy shield craft on the dual sockets. Rage also increases the stun threshold, making the character nearly impossible to stun once rage has been stacked.

Defense and Energy Shield Recovery

The build displays between 12,000 and 15,000 energy shield points depending on the presence of an endurance charge and the gear worn — more than enough to avoid one-shots in most situations. The real weak point is recovery: charge conservation mechanics largely neutralize classic leech, making leech conversion gloves completely ineffective on this build.

The chosen solution relies on 2 to 3 jewels with the « faster start of energy shield recharge » modifier (a prefix that scales with jewel quality), combined with notable Convalescence, a support that forces the energy shield to restart even mid-combat, usable roughly every 16 seconds. A recovery rune on the body armour completes the setup by increasing the energy shield recharge rate.

Passive Tree