With Trial of the Ancestors in full swing, you might be wondering which Tattoos are the best for your character. While a lot of the Tattoos are going to be good or bad depending on your build and position on the skill tree, there are some that have really shone in this League. Here are my favorites in the League so far, and a few notes on what makes them top tier.
Best Tattoos in Trial of the Ancestors - Path of Exile
Trial of the Ancestors is a league that has you collect warriors to participate in an auto-battler-style contest against 10 tribes. Each win is sweetened with rewards, including Favor to buy more units, uniques, and a variety of Tattoos. Tattoos can be used to make league-long changes to that character's passive tree, replacing selected nodes in order to alter builds in new ways. While there are almost 90 of these tattoos to be found, there are a handful that stand out from the rest.
Honoured Tattoo of the Makanga
This Honoured Tattoo gives a 2% increase to all maximum resistances so long as eight adjacent skills are allocated, providing a huge defense boost. It replaces any small attribute, making it one of the more versatile tattoos in the game.
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Tattoo of the Tukohama Warmonger
The Tattoo of the Tukohama Warmonger replaces any small strength passive node, altering it to grant +1 range to melee attacks. A great, early-game addition to any melee build, it's a nice little quality-of-life addition to make your hits feel better, and can help anyone looking to level a melee character as quickly and painlessly as possible.
Honoured Tattoo of the Berserker
While several of the tattoos can be incredibly difficult to reach, the Honored Berserker is in a prime position for a Witch, replacing one +30 Notable Dexterity passive. And lucky for Witches, there are two of these in easy reach: Alacrity and Agility. This tattoo grants 20% increased attack, cast, and movement speeds that would be beneficial to almost any build. There are only four +30 Notable Dexterity nodes on the PoE passive skill tree in 3.22, so you might not be able to make use of this particular tattoo yourself.
Honoured Tattoo of the Pa
This tattoo replaces any +30 Notable strength skill, altering it to "Melee hits fortify." Anything that makes me take less damage for any amount of time can make front-and-center melee builds much more likely to survive, and a thousand times more fun to play. There's a +30 Strength notable in just about every corner of the passive tree, making it reachable for a larger number of builds.
Tattoo of the Ramako Makanga
Ramako Makanga replaces a small Dexterity passive node, making all your skills fire an additional projectile. Since small Dexterity passives are fairly easy to come by, this is a no-brainer for almost any ranged build. If you're planning to build a ranged character of any type, maybe look into nabbing this tattoo for yourself. Just keep in mind the caveat: this tattoo requires seven adjacent passive skills are allocated.
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Tattoo of the Ramako Fleetfoot
I will take absolutely anything that makes me move faster, including this small Dexterity replacement that grants a stackable, two percent addition to movement speed.
Journey Tattoos of the Soul, Mind, and Body
The Journey Tattoo of the Mind, the Journey Tattoo of the Soul, and the Journey Tattoo of the Body are three different tattoos that allow you to boost your base max mana, energy shield, and health respectively. These stack, and each replace a notable passive (e.g. Mind replaces +30 Dexterity nodes, Soul replaces +30 Intelligence Notables, and Body replaces +30 Strength passives).
Tattoo of the Hinekora Makanga
Doom Occultists, rejoice: this tattoo replaces a small Intelligence skill to grant an eight percent increased effect of curses you deal out. Not only will this boost curse power and be stackable, it will be a necessity for anyone dealing out curses in the Intelligence section of the tree.
Tattoo of the Tawhoa Makanga
The Tattoo of the Tawhoa Makanga exchanges a small Dexterity passive with an eight percent increased effect of all flasks. I adore any tattoo that is useful for a variety of builds, and Tawhoa Makanga has to be my favorite of all. While not everyone will be hanging out on the right side of the passive tree, there are small Dexterity nodes available for almost any build. My love of tattoos that boost your flasks also includes the Tattoo of the Tawhoa Herbalist and the Tattoo of the Tawhoa Naturalist.
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