Ultimate Cyclone Slayer Build Guide - Slay the Stars (PoE Expedition 3.15)

Introduction

Cyclone is a perennial powerhouse that immediately asserted itself as one of the staple skills in the melee metascape on its inception. Slayer also received a few redesigned keystones, and is now one of the perfect pairings for crit-based melee builds. Despite a few tweaks in recent patches Cyclone remains — not only viable — one of the most potent melee end-game builds available. The result of many leagues of careful build chemistry is a Cyclone build of monstrous proportions. With the ability to melt any content in a matter of moments, our Crit-Based Cyclone Slayer is doubtless one of the strongest overall melee builds to ever grace Path of Exile.

No content is out of reach for this build. With 9000 or more effective Life, increased maximum Resistances, tons of Armour, and more, this build is not lacking in defense. It is always a great time to play Cyclone, and this is the most overpowered way to do it. Our Crit-Based Cyclone Slayer is a truly unstoppable force that is the perfect candidate to fulfill any task.

Since Patch 3.11 Harvest League, Cyclone no longer grants stun immunity and Starforge was heavily nerfed. This prompts us to changed our Ascendancy path and switch over to Atziri's Disfavour as our early game weapon, later transitioning to a Rare Exquisite Blade for maximum damage when our bank has been built up. In 3.14 Ultimatum League the build has no significant changes in power or pathing.

Build Assessment

Pros

+ Absurd damage potential — can basically scale indefinitely with enough currency

+ Excellent clear speed — one of the S-Tier melee builds

+ Solid all-round defenses — excellent Level 100 candidate

+ Melts bosses in the blink of an eye

+ Crit-based build with incredible scaling (~88% Crit Chance in top-end gear)

+ All map mods are possible (except no regeneration), immune to reflect

+ Strongest way to play Cyclone in the end-game

Cons

– Not a good Cyclone build for beginners — knowledge of how to upgrade a character and quickly generate currency is very helpful

– Expensive to achieve top-end gear, depending on the popularity and availability of items

– Cyclone can be a polarizing skill — careful movement is necessary for dangerous enemies

Path of Building and Furty’s Character

Make sure you are using the Path of Building Community Fork to include Impale DPS in the calculations.

You can find the Ultimate Cyclone Slayer’s Path of Building information here.

We use the Path of Building Community Fork for all of our builds, which is highly recommended. If you are encountering errors importing the build, please ensure you are using the Community Fork.

You can also find a link to Furty’s personal character for this build — last played in the 3.10 Delirium challenge league — by clicking here.

Playstyle and Build Mechanics

Cyclone is a very simple and straightforward skill. Now a channeled ability, your character spins around and attacks extremely quickly — technically it is considered a movement skill, although it slows your character. By stacking a lot of damage, Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier, Attack Speed, Impale, and Movement Speed, our Cyclone Slayer glides effortlessly through maps while shredding packs and bosses alike.

This is an exclusively Physical damage build, which makes it relatively easy to itemize for early on. As you start to become more ambitious with armour acquisitions, gear can become a little more difficult and/or expensive to obtain — after all, crit items are highly sought after for many builds. Fortunately, many of the items can be crafted yourself, and for only a few Exalted Orbs you outfit yourself with extremely strong items.

Simply enter a map, Leap Slam into a pack, and Cyclone through it to blow it to pieces.

Videos

100% Delirious Forge of the Phoenix Map with Kosis and Omniphobia

Simulacrum Wave 20 (feat. Kosis, the Revelation)

Uber Awakener

Passive Skill Tree

This is our recommended Level 93 Passive Skill Tree.

For more details on the Passive Tree, an earlier game version, skill acquisition order, and more, be sure to check out the Passive Skill Tree page for in-depth information.

Passive Skill Tree

Gems

We go over all of the gem links this build uses in the end-game on our Gem Link page.

Gem Links

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheon

Our Ascendancy, Bandit, and Pantheon Power page goes into detail about all the choices you need to make in these regards.

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheon Powers

Gear Summary / TL;DR

These items strike a balance between power and cost-effectiveness. If you want to explore more options for Gear (both budget and high-end), Flasks, or get more information on alternatives and specialty items, please ensure you read the Gear, Jewels, and Flasks section in its entirety.

Some example gear used by our character:

Our recommendation:

Item Slot	Item Name
Head	Devoto's Devotion
Amulet	Daresso's Salute OR Rare Amulet ( Turquoise Amulet is ideal)
Chest	Kaom's Heart
Gloves	Atziri's Acuity OR Rare Spiked Gloves
Boots	Rare Boots
Belt	Rare Stygian Vise (with Endless Hunger) or Soul Tether
Rings	Rare Rings
Weapon	Rare Exquisite Blade, or Starforge

For much more detailed information on the best gear, jewels, and flasks to use, be sure to examine our detailed Gear Breakdown page.

Gear, Jewels, and Flasks Breakdown

Leveling

As a reminder, we have several guides to help you level up a character.

• Our step-by-step leveling walkthrough, which allows even more experienced players to save time and speed through the leveling process.
• Our guide to Unique Items for leveling, which helps you gear up your characters for the leveling process.
• Our beginner leveling guide, which answers many of the questions new players might have and will set you on the right path.

Start out with Ground Slam, which you should use until Level 12, when Sunder can be acquired. Sunder is a fairly potent leveling skill due to its high base damage and ease of use. Your Sunder links, in order of priority, are:

1. Sunder
2. Melee Physical Damage Support
3. Onslaught Support
4. Multistrike Support
5. Maim Support
6. Ruthless Support

Just use what you can get until the gems become available — Maim Support and Ruthless Support are available very early, along with Onslaught Support, but you will have to wait until Act II for Melee Physical Damage Support. Added Fire Damage Support is an option in the meantime, if you are using a Tabula Rasa.

Blood and Sand is available right at Level 4, and should be picked up immediately. Acquire Herald of Ash and Herald of Purity in Act II to help you level up. You can get Pride in Act III after doing Lost in Love and drop Herald of Purity.

Cyclone can honestly be used as soon as you can sustain it (e.g. using a ring such as Thief's Torment, but we recommend waiting until the latter part of the leveling process, or even after finishing Kitava. If you are league starting, you will probably want to do a little mapping before making the full switch, as Cyclone is a relatively weak skill until it gets a bit of scaling behind it.

FAQ

Which Anointments are Best for my Amulet?

As with all anointment advice, you can make a variety of different choices depending on how you want to tailor your build. Consider these recommendations:

• Fatal Blade — Our default recommendation for pure damage performance if using Swords.
• Vitality Void — Expensive, but a great option for increasing leech to the maximum. Recommended if you forget to keep Blood Rage active on bosses sometimes.
• Discipline and Training — Big boost to survivability and maximum life.

Why Do You Take Point Blank on the Tree?

Should only be used with Soul Tether and Glorious Vanity in niche setups.

I’m Having Mana Issues

Make sure you have the crafted affix -# to Total Mana Cost of Skills on both your rings. If you do not have those affixes, you will need to disable one of your auras and acquire % of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana on one of your gear pieces (recommended: Gloves).

I Can’t Afford Atziri's Acuity. Should I take Vaal Pact on the Tree?

This is a complicated question, because it largely depends on you, your gear, what league you are playing on, and your priorities as a player.

If you already have Glorious Vanity and have specced into Corrupted Soul, we recommend pathing to Vaal pact (3 point investment). If you have not yet done this, the answer is a lot murkier, as it is a 5 point investment from Golem’s Blood, and you will have to decide for yourself.

Check out the rest of the guide for any additional information:

Passive Skill Tree and Gem Links

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheon Power

Gear , Jewels, and Flasks Breakdown