In Path of Exile 2, weapon choices are crucial to crafting powerful builds and optimizing your damage output. One highly sought-after weapon is the Solemn Maul—a mighty two-handed mace that can significantly elevate the effectiveness of physical damage and stun-focused builds. Whether you’re a melee enthusiast or a player looking to bolster your defense and POE2 Currency crowd control, acquiring the Solemn Maul is an essential goal.
This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about how to get the Solemn Maul in Path of Exile 2 — from what it is and why it’s valuable, to where and how you can farm or craft it efficiently.
What Is the Solemn Maul?
The Solemn Maul is a unique or rare two-handed mace weapon known for its high base physical damage, increased stun chance, and specific mods that benefit melee and stun-centric builds. It is especially favored by classes and builds that revolve around heavy-hitting melee attacks, crowd control via stun, and synergy with physical and elemental damage enhancements.
Key Attributes of Solemn Maul
High Base Physical Damage: Makes it ideal for builds focusing on raw melee power.
Increased Stun Chance: Helps lock down enemies and control mobs during combat.
Potential for Elemental Damage Mods: Often pairs well with skills that add lightning or fire damage.
Compatibility: Perfect for Juggernaut, Gladiator, and other melee-oriented ascendancies and classes.
Because of these features, the Solemn Maul is often the centerpiece weapon for builds like the Heavy Stun Armor Break Galvanic Titan, Earthshatter smashers, and more.
Ways to Obtain the Solemn Maul
- Farming Bosses and Specific Monsters
Certain bosses and high-tier monsters in Path of Exile 2 have increased chances to drop the Solemn Maul or the base weapon type (two-handed maces) with suitable mods.
Endgame Bosses: Some endgame bosses in maps or special areas may drop Solemn Maul or related unique weapons.
Nemesis and Rare Enemies: Certain Nemesis bosses and rare monsters with high item quantity mods have an increased chance of dropping rare or unique maces.
Tip: Use the Atlas to focus on maps with bosses known to drop physical two-handed weapons. Increasing your item quantity and rarity through gear and map mods can improve your chances.
- Crafting and Vendor Recipes
You can also obtain the Solemn Maul through crafting systems and vendor recipes:
Fossil Crafting: Using physical and stun-related fossils on two-handed mace bases can help create Solemn Maul-like weapons with desired mods.
Essence Crafting: Essences that add physical damage, stun chance, or elemental damage can be used on bases to produce powerful mauls.
Vendor Recipes: While there isn’t a direct vendor recipe to get Solemn Maul, trading certain rare items or currency with NPCs may yield useful weapons or materials.
- Trading with Other Players
If farming and crafting take too long, trading is a fast alternative. The PoE 2 trading community is active, and you can:
Use official or third-party trade platforms to search for Solemn Mauls.
Offer currency, unique items, or other valuable gear to acquire the weapon.
Check forums and community trading hubs for players selling Solemn Mauls.
Trading allows you to find versions of the Solemn Maul with ideal mods and quality, saving you crafting time.
Farming Locations and Strategies
To maximize your chances of getting Solemn Maul, consider the following farming tips:
Target Specific Maps
High-Level Maps: Focus on tier 15+ maps with bosses known for dropping two-handed physical weapons.
Maps with Increased Item Quantity: Run maps with mods that boost item quantity to increase drop chances.
Bounty or Contract Missions: Some bounty rewards include rare or unique weapon drops.
Optimize Your Character
Use gear and passive tree nodes that increase item rarity and quantity.
Employ skills that speed up clearing mobs and bosses to maximize farming efficiency.
Group Farming
Join parties or guilds that run boss farms or map clears.
Coordinate runs to cover more ground and clear content faster.
Crafting Tips for a Perfect Solemn Maul
Crafting a powerful Solemn Maul requires planning and the right materials:
Step 1: Acquire a High-Quality Two-Handed Mace Base
Look for bases with high physical damage and attack speed.
Step 2: Use Fossils and Essences
Use Physical Fossils to boost physical damage mods.
Use Stun Fossils or Jagged Fossils to enhance stun-related modifiers.
Essences like Essence of Wrath or Essence of Thunder add elemental damage that synergizes well.
Step 3: Apply Crafting Bench and Master Mods
Use crafting benches to add or improve:
Increased stun duration or chance.
Additional physical damage.
Increased attack speed.
Step 4: Quality and Corruption
Use Blacksmith’s Whetstones to improve weapon quality and boost damage.
Use the Vaal Orb or Corruption cautiously to add powerful but risky modifiers.
How to Use Solemn Maul Effectively in Builds
Once you have your Solemn Maul, optimize your character to fully utilize its potential:
Skill Gems: Equip melee skills like Heavy Strike, Earthshatter, or Ground Slam with supports that enhance physical and stun damage.
Passive Tree: Invest in melee, physical damage, stun, and life nodes.
Ascendancy: Classes like Juggernaut or Gladiator can maximize stun and physical damage synergies.
Flasks and Buffs: Use flasks that increase physical damage, attack speed, or stun chance.
Conclusion
The Solemn Maul is a powerful weapon that can transform your melee build in Path of Exile 2 into a stun-locking, armor-breaking juggernaut. Whether you choose to farm it through bosses and maps, craft it using fossils and essences, or trade with other players, understanding how to acquire and optimize this weapon is key to mastering physical melee combat.
Start by targeting high-level maps and bosses, invest time into crafting for the perfect stats, and equip the right skills and passives to dominate the POE 2 Chaos Orbs battlefield with your Solemn Maul. With patience and dedication, this mighty mace will become the cornerstone of your devastating melee arsenal.