Path of Exile: The Cyclone Slayer Build

If you’re looking for a fun build that can clear content in a flash, you’re in the right place! This nifty guide will help you build your Cyclone Slayer Duelist—one lean, mean, spinning machine of death. It’s a budget-light build, so you don’t have to worry about needlessly spending your PoE orbs.

Pros

This build works well even with a low-budget equipment set, making it a great league starter build. Also, it scales with any compatible gear you may acquire later, making it perform better or stronger. You can clear a great deal of content with it, all the way to Uber Elders and UberAtzari. Delving is no problem as well, Cyclone Slayers can reach deep floors easily.

It has great clear times, making it a great farmer. This is due to its powerful offense and mobility without sacrificing defense. While not really a pro, its reliance on personal skill (positioning and timing) may be a turnoff for more casual players.

Cons

It’s not recommended for the Hardcore League. Also, as the build relies on leeching HP and Mana, ‘No Leech’ maps are useless for them.

As a purely physical build, there’s no point in building/using elemental and/or chaos damage. Of course, it depends on your preference whether this is a pro or con.

Passives

Here are the important passive skills to take:

• Master of the Arena
• Art of the Gladiator
• Dervish
• Bravery
• Golem’s Blood
• Thick Skin
• Vitality Void
• Swift Skewering
• Blade of Cunning
• Bloodless
• Soul of Steel
• Brinkmanship
• Blade Master
• Juggernaut
• Barbarism
• Disemboweling
• Dismembering
• Twin Terrors
• Herbalism
• Fatal Blade
• Constitution
• Warrior’s Blood
• Heart of the Warrior
• Born to Fight
• Path of the Warrior

That’s also the general order of skills to take on the tree. Along the way, grab the jewel sockets near Brinkmanship, Barbarism, and Constitution. Use gems that provide or boost physical damage or defense, depending on what you lack at the moment. It is recommended to kill everybody in the ‘Deal with the Bandits’ quest to get two passive points. These two points are more valuable to the build than the reward.

Once you pick Slayer as an Ascendancy class, pick Headsman, Bane of Legends, Impact, and Overwhelm as your main passives. These will boost your damage and Cyclone’s range, making you more effective.

Gear

Since the build performs well with low-budget equipment, here are the criteria for the best ones.

For your weapon, go with two one-handed foil base blades. Cyclone’s area of effect scales with a weapon’s range, and these blades have the best ones among swords. Best in slot foils are Jeweled Foils with above 40% quality, some accuracy, multi-crafted mods, and about 450+ physical DPS. It doesn’t need critical strike chance nor chaos or elemental damage. It may also have a chance to impale.

Best in-slot helmets need an affix that increases physical damage for nearby enemies. It may also have an additional point to melee weapon range or boosts to maximum life.

As for armor, the most ideal is a rare ‘socketed gems are supported by level 1 Maim’ armor. Other important affixes are an increase to critical strike chance, % increase to max life, life regen, flat life boosts, and resistances.

You’ll want gloves with space for a weapon range affix, as well as boosts to physical damage and attack speed or accuracy. Those with a ‘Spiked Gloves’ base are recommended for their increase to melee damage.

The best boots will have increased movement speed, some resistances, increased intelligence and change to dodge both attacks and spells.

Your belt is best being a corrupted Soul Tether with a Pride effect of increased aura effect or attack speed during any flask effect. It will also have the bonus effect of something that’s similar to the Brutal Fervor passive of the ascendancy skill tree.

Amulets are for piling up damage affixes, as well as boosts to physical damage, weapon range, critical strike chance and multiplier, and ideally some intelligence. You can squeeze in more resistances with rings, but the best ones have a minus total mana cost of skills. At least one is required so you can spam more Cyclones.

Gems

Support Cyclone with Brutality, Melee Physical Damage, Impale, Infused Channeling, and either Fortify or Pulverize. Have Vaal Ancestral Warchief supported by Brutality, Melee Physical Damage, and Maim. Next, link Pride, Flesh and Stone, Maim, and Enlighten on another set of sockets. Another linked set should be Cast When Damage Taken, Immortal Call, Enfeeble or Assassin’s Mark, and Increased Duration. Your last linked set should be Leap Slam, Endurance Charge on Melee Stun, and Faster Attacks.

The following gems do not have to be linked to each other but are still useful for the build.

• Blood and Sand
• Dread Banner
• Blood Rage

Flasks

You need the following flasks:

Seething Divine Life Flask of Staunching

Experimenter’s Diamond Flask (of Warding or Heat)

Chemist’s Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline

Lion’s Roar or Sulphur Flask

Chemist’s Silver Flask (opposite of the Diamond Flask’s affix)

Jewels

You have more flexibility here, as there are no skill-specific jewels. Try to either boost your damage, critical strikes, defense, or whatever you need.

Conclusion

The Cyclone build is a good, fun casual build that can take you far in the game. It’s light on the wallet and a good farmer of PoE currency. It’s worth trying out if you like melee builds and classes. Take care that you don’t get dizzy spinning all day long!