[1.2] "The Cyclonus" A Life-Based Crit Cyclone Build by wraithe_au
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This build will not be updated for 1.3
There is a heavy loss in dps with the new tree so the Duelist Cyclonus moves toward the shadow area for crit modes and doesn't venture west anymore. I can offer those wanting to continue this build a rough tree that would work, but there is no way for me to test out numbers I'm really sorry for abandoning this build, but the duelist will be strong in 1.3 so if you want a powerful crit cyclone build for 1.3, choose duelist   Budget Spec: Bazaar 25 Aug 2014 Mid Spec: Shipyard 29 Aug 2014 Advanced Spec: Courtyard 21 Aug 14 Atziri 1.2 Turbo Speedrun 22 Aug 2014 Other: Advanced dual strike Plateau run Flicker Pinball Plateau  This is a duel wielding build that specialises in dealing massive critical damage at a near-capped critical chance. It offers impressive DPS and clear speed, high mobility and great survivability in mapping. It's great fun in a group and offers fast paced gameplay.  This guide is split into 3 builds of varying expense: Budget Spec The build is affordable, requiring nothing legacy and nothing worth more than 5ex a piece. The entire ensemble can be made with 25-30ex total. It uses a 5L chest and runs attacks off blood magic gems. 105k dps with Atziri's Promise and Vaal Haste 69k buffed only with Hatred/Grace Mid Spec The Mid Spec uses a 6L chest and introduces the Soul Taker, which allows the use of a full 6L cyclone main attack and maximises damage. The cost of this build is about 100-110ex. 207k dps with Atziri's Promise and Vaal Haste 167k buffed only with Hatred/Grace Advanced Spec This version explores the maximum capabilities of this build, utilising Atziri's Acuity for reflect mitigation and a mirrored dagger for the greatest damage. 382k dps with Atziri's Promise and Vaal Haste 253k buffed only with Hatred/Grace  The 3 builds share these items: The Abyssus. We make use of the 100-150% "increased critical strike multiplier with melee weapons" to enhance our crit damage. Immense power from one item with the only downside being an increased 40-50% incoming physical damage, but the extra damage received can be nullified by the Lightning Coil. Note: This build goes for strong damage, and physical reflected critical damage is very painful with this helmet equipped without a coil. Lightning Coil. This unique converts 40% of received physical damage into lightning damage which can then be resisted. The main downside of this chest piece is requiring an extra 60% lightning resistance. The physical damage received from the worse possible rolled abyssus (+50%) totals 150%. The lightning coil converts that into 90% physical 60% lightning Our lightning resistance is at 75%, which then becomes 90% physical 15% lightning 105% total damage. Only 5% more damage than otherwise. The effectiveness of our armour then comes into play as the lower the physical damage received (90%), the more damage mitigation is achieved. Proven here at the Path of Exile Wiki. Topaz Flask. This flask gives us an extra 10% to our maximum lightning resistance, boosting it to 85%. The total damage received then becomes 90% physical 9% lightning 99% total damage. Thats a 6% damage reduction! The Topaz Flask is the 3rd armour flask and is the equivalent of an extra 4500 armour. Belly of the Beast. In the 1.2 patch, base health gained per level was raised from 8 to 12, this unique became one of the best chest pieces available and gives this build +800 life. This is better than Koam's since it will scale to your level and allow the use of 6 gems. This chest is suggested for the Advanced Spec combined with Acuity since the extra phys damage received from the Abyssus may be too dangerous without the mitigation from a Lightning Coil. Rumi's Concoction Magnificent defensive potion that combines well with the 48% block of this build. It's like equipping a shield and a Lazhwar amulet for 6 seconds, while the retaining the damage of dual wielding. Soul Taker The best melee dps multiplier available. Without this weapon, a full 6L cyclone is impossible to maintain and we can use 2 auras off our mana. Equipped in the Mid and Advanced Specs. Atziri's Acuity The best item in the gloves slot. Reflect is a non issue with these equipped and it maximises the damage potential of the Melee Damage on Full Life gem as the leech effect will keep you at 100% life, 95% of the time. Equipped in the Advanced Spec. To get an idea of how insane the insta-leech effect is, some numbers from just the dagger: Phys dmg: 2277-5682 (avg 3980) Crit multi: 779% Crit chance: 91% Leech: 4% Attacks/sec: 5.26 Crit dmg: 3980 x 779% = 31k Leech: 31k x 4% = 1240 life Life leeched/sec: 1240 x 5.26 x 91% chance = 5870 life/sec I can go from 1 life to full in 0.8 seconds just by attacking. Of course, adding the leech effect from the soul taker makes this even faster. These gloves are well worth the investment for a high dps, high crit chance player, it's like drinking a Seething Divine Flask 5 times a second. The result is duel wield player more tankier than most shield builds. 
Budget Spec:
This has been arranged to demonstrate what can be achieved with a lower investment of currency. Nothing here is a legacy item and no single piece costs more than 5ex. Mana issues are solved with Blood Magic gems. Price Breakdown: Abyssus - 20c-2ex (4ex for near perfect) 5L Coil - 4ex 298pdps Catalyst - 4ex 202pdps dagger - 5ex Jewellery (total) - 5ex belt - 4ex boots - 3ex Maligaro's - 1ex total investment - 30ex (less than the cost of a soul taker) Gems: GRRBB Cyclone Melee Phys Blood Magic Concentrated Effect Critical Damage Max solo DPS Vaal Haste, atziri's Promise, Hatred, Haste  Normal play No flasks, Buffed with Hatred and Grace  This Spec totals less than 30ex to build and uses zero legacy items (new league viable)
Mid Spec:
Price Breakdown: Abyssus 20c - 2ex (4ex for near perfect) 6L Lightning Coil 35ex Soul Taker 40ex 228pdps dagger 12ex Jewellery 5ex total Belt 4ex Boots 5ex Maligaro's 1ex Total value 106ex Max solo DPS Vaal Haste, atziri's Promise, Hatred, Haste  Normal play No flasks, Buffed with Hatred and Grace  This spec has been arranged to be somewhat affordable. It use zero legacy items so its absolutely viable for new leagues. The cost of equipment totals about 100ex including a weapon that only costs 12ex.
Advanced Spec:
Max solo DPS Vaal Haste, atziri's Promise, Hatred, Haste  Normal play No flasks, Buffed with Hatred and Grace  This is the final build that uses Atziri's Acuity and a mirrored dagger. This is here show the possibilities of the build in its final form.
Notes on Equipment requirements
This build relies heavily on maximum accuracy. This is the most important stat for this build next to resistances. It's recommended that you should have at least 500 accuracy on you equipment to function at good efficiency. This means finding rings and amulets with at least 150-200 accuracy a piece. We do not take any life leech nodes in the tree since leech can be found easily on equipment and some buffs. 4% leech is the minimum and is best found on an amulet. Using blood rage is good but this build doesn't rely on chaos resistance or life regen. Using a life potion with the 2% life leech mod is also good. The lightning coil reduces lightning resistance by 60%. There is no resistance in the chest, helm and gloves so finding the extra resistance can be tricky and expensive. Belly of the beast has resistance build in so we can add even more dps with better diamond rings and an extra node or two. But this is not recommended with Abyssus as the extra damage received from the helm is too dangerous without a lightning coil. The Advanced Spec uses Acuity so the extra damage can be ignored. INT is a big factor to this build, 108 is the absolute minimum to equip a level 20 conc effect gem. The best daggers require 149 INT. We don't travel to the shadow area so we don't get many INT nodes and even after taking a +30 INT node we still need to find around 75 INT from equipment just to equip a platinum kris.  Main Attack Gem Setup: GRRRBB Cyclone 20/20 Melee Phys 20/20 Melee Damage on Full Life 20/20 Added Fire 20/20 Conc. Effect 20/0 Inc Critical Damage 19/20 Classic cyclone gem set. MDoFL is included instead of LGoH since a 4% life leech amulet is equipped. Secondary Attack / Charge Builder: Cyclone - Power Charge on Critical - Cast on Crit - Assassin's Mark Our main source of power charges and our main curse trigger. Use in conjunction with the main attack Trigger Gem: CWDT (20/20) - Molten Shell (20/20) - Immortal Call (20/20) - Increased Duration (20) Complete defence package that procs when you need it most. Movement: Whirling Blades - Faster Attacks Primary Buffs: Hatred (20) - Grace (20) - Reduced Mana Optional Secondary Buffs: Vaal Haste - Increased Duration Vaal Grace - Increased Duration Optional Secondary Attack: Vaal Cyclone - LGoH - Melee Phys - Multistrike Extremely efficient at crowd control but can kill you if you draw too many enemies. Also, drawing too many fries your pc.  The tree has been optimised for the Marauder start 109 point tree This tree is pure STR/DEX based and collects all crit nodes available in this region. We don't venture into the Shadow area at all, nor do we take many INT nodes. The tree also takes zero specific weapon nodes so any 1h weapon can be used. Bloodseeker or Bino's would be great main weapon alternatives. Passive skill tree breakdown Health 129% increased maximum Life 76 to maximum Life 35% increased Life Recovery from Flasks 2.5% of Life Regenerated per Second Mitigation 94% increased Armour 56% increased Evasion Rating and Armour 50% increased Block Recovery 29% additional Chance to Block while Dual Wielding 25% to all Elemental Resistances 20% to Fire Resistance 4% additional Chance to Block while Dual Wielding or holding a Shield 1% to maximum Fire Resistance Damage 310% increased Critical Strike Chance with One Handed Melee Weapons 125% increased Weapon Critical Strike Chance while Dual Wielding 35% increased Critical Strike Multiplier 25% increased Critical Strike Multiplier with One Handed Melee Weapons 60% increased Accuracy Rating 22% increased Accuracy Rating with One Handed Melee Weapons 137% increased Physical Weapon Damage while Dual Wielding 48% increased Physical Damage with One Handed Melee Weapons 48% increased Melee Physical Damage 38% increased Attack Speed 28% increased Attack Speed with One Handed Melee Weapons 20% increased Attack Speed while Dual Wielding 8% increased Movement Speed 20% increased Flask Recovery Speed Other 250 to Strength 190 to Dexterity 60 to Intelligence 10% reduced Mana Cost of Skills 8% chance to Avoid Elemental Status Ailments 8% increased maximum Mana 5% increased Effect of Buffs on You 2 to Melee Weapon and Unarmed range Bandits: ALL OAK ALIRA 
Other Attack types
Cyclone suffers from desync like no other skill, and it takes practice to avoid situations that put you into desync, such as spinning into a a rock or into a doorway. This build is not about the attack skill. It's about the tree and the weapon. You can adapt your playstyle around it. If cyclone isn't what you prefer then here are other attack types that work with this guide: All skills are buffed with Atziri's Promise, Vaal Haste, Hatred and Haste
Mid Spec
Advanced Spec
228pdps Dagger vs 392pdps Axe
If you're going crit, a mediocre dagger can beat a GG 1h weapon with a 5% base. 228 pdps Compared to this weapon: 392pdps No dagger nodes were taken and yet the dagger offered 13k more dps than the axe  This is the result of the 9.75% base crit of the dagger, and the 80% chance implicit. Unbuffed and in town, the crit chance of the dagger and ST are 73.2% and 37.5% respectively.
Notes on all things DPS
It's a well known bug that the dps displayed in the tool tip for cyclone is incorrect and the actual dps delivered is DOUBLED. There is no official word on this bug but it can be tested. Try out dual strike with splash and multi and test out cyclone with similar dps tooltips. You'll find, as I have, that the cyclone clear speed is miles ahead of DS. This build has an unofficial dps output of 506k/764k. The Hatred aura causes almost all white mobs to freeze and shatter. With the advance spec, merciless Dominus gets semi/perma frozen with the damage from hatred alone.
Choosing Daggers
When choosing a dagger for this build its important to consider the different types of daggers available and their properties. Ambushers can scale to the highest pdps of any dagger and is considered the BiS for dagger builds. But for crit builds, the ambusher only has a base crit chance of 6.68%, and for duel wield builds like this one, the implicit is 40% global, which is the lowest possible. The platinum kris offers the highest local chance at 7.28%, this means that platinum kris will scale to the highest local critical chance, and with an implicit of 80%, it scales to the highest crit chance of any dagger and it also scales the secondary weapon to max. The weapon shown in the mid spec is a platinum kris with 228 pdps and 34% crit chance and cost me 12ex to buy. An ambusher that can offer the same dps needs to have at least 270pdps and a max 38% crit chance, a 50-80ex weapon! Spending 50-80ex on a platinum kris then i would probably have +20k dps than i have now. The other main factor involved in choosing a dagger is the INT requirements, a platinum kris is the best for this build but it requires 149 INT. In order for me to equip it, i had to take a +30 passive and somehow squeeze 94 INT into my equipment. If you have trouble finding INT then the ambusher is the best dagger, it only requires 113 DEX and 113 INT. Acuity's have an INT mod so it will save a int passive node.
LGoH or Life Leech
LGoH is a staple of the Blender build, from which this build was based. The +54hp per hit from LGoH is the best hp multiplier you can use, hitting a mob 4-5 times until dead would give you much more hp than the damage received by the mob. This is why a Blender's hp stays at full, 90% of the time. With this build, I'm finding that i am killing mobs in 1-2 hits. This causes a problem with LGoH. The mob would hit me once and i would hit the mob twice, killing it. The hp gained from LGoH is sometimes less than the damage received by the mob. I am using 4% life leech in my amulet which is sufficient for my needs. The new changes to life leech means that only the largest hit will be the one that leeches and that will always be a critical hit so I've calculated that to be 746hp per crit from the dagger. This is definitely an improvement from the LGoH gem, the only drawback is because of the leech speed, my life is full for less time and the melee damage on full life gem is not as effective. But it matters not, since i still get 79k dps when the gem isn't active.
Reflect Maps
It is advisable while using the Budget and Mid Specs, to avoid reflect maps and mobs, especially phys reflect. The reflected damage gets amplified by wearing the Abyssus and causes some extreme damage. If faced with that situation, just the secondary cyclone, which is fine for elemental maps but physical maps requires even more care. Atziri's Acuity gloves offers instant life leech and allows the use of the main attack, but reflect is still an issue since because your leech activates after you get the reflected damage, dealing such massive damage could one-shot you when critical hitting a large group!
Levelling from Scratch
I have not tested this build from scratch but because the main crit nodes are on the outer edges of our tree, you won't see the benefits to well into your progress. I would suggest respeccing an existing high level character 70+. This build is great for Blenders wanting something new, the node locations are similar.
Survivability?
The main goal of this build is to squeeze as much dps out as possible while maintaining a relatively good level of defence, relying on high life leeching and annihilating your foe before he has a chance to do much damage, a "box your way out of trouble" style defence. It's not about afk immortality, it's about being the weakling in the corner holding a stick. A REALLY BIG FUCKING STICK. Atziri farming is doable with this build, but that's not the main focus. It's about being the front line damage dealer in mapping groups, we plow through hordes of enemies, constantly moving forward, leaving a trail of dead and dying for the team to clean up. It's fast and furious gameplay with a feeling of immense power.
What's Next?
I consider my build complete at level 90 but there is room for even more improvement beyond 90. The tree has access to more life nodes (6 from the wheel and 3 marauder), and also some dps nodes (2-4 at ranger, 6-8 at marauder), all without wasting a single pathway node. This build has potential for level 100.
PCoC/CoC
I have linked a secondary cyclone gem setup: Cyclone - PCoC - CoC - Assassin's Mark The idea behind this is to have a second cyclone that is used to build power charges and also curse all mobs with crit weakness at the same time, and to use this in conjunction with the main attack. I usually use this cyclone on the first enemy to build one charge and curse every other mob in the vicinity, then switch to my main cyclone which alternates seamlessly. This is the most efficient way to maintain max power charges and stay mobile. Assassin's Mark is without a doubt the best curse to use with this build. A cursed mob will add 9% to the crit chance and 39% crit multi to both weapons and also grant a 39% chance to gain a power charge. This should really replace PCoC in this setup but it's kept to build charges against bosses So many strikes within one breath. But only one strike needed, for certain death. Last edited by fiqst on Dec 10, 2014, 4:36:08 PM
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" 313k Full Offensive DPS 212k Defensive DPS Key changes: - Uses Blood Rage for the massive leeching amount. 15% altogether. - Changed equipment to include Chaos resistance (+70 res, +10 merc) to lessen Blood Rage degen - Altered tree to include more life regen for Blood Rage (3.5% total) - Using Atziri's Invitation over a rustic for more dps and leech but lost 130 life Full Solo DPS Buffs: Haste, Hatred, Vaal Haste, 4 Power Charges, 3 Frenzy Charges, Atziri's Promise, Rumi's Concoction, Jade Flask +71%  Normal Play, no flasks, no Vaal Auras Buffs: Grace, Hatred  109 Point Tree Passive skill tree breakdown Health 139% increased maximum Life (+37 from Belly) 72 to maximum Life 35% increased Life Recovery from Flasks (+50 from Belly) - Seething divine flask gives 1811 life instantly 3.5% of Life Regenerated per Second Mitigation 56% increased Evasion Rating and Armour 54% increased Armour 50% increased Block Recovery 25% to all Elemental Resistances 21% additional Chance to Block while Dual Wielding 15% increased Block and Stun Recovery 8% to Fire Resistance 4% additional Chance to Block while Dual Wielding or holding a Shield 1% to maximum Fire Resistance Damage 310% increased Critical Strike Chance with One Handed Melee Weapons 125% increased Weapon Critical Strike Chance while Dual Wielding 32% increased Critical Strike Chance 467% TOTAL 35% increased Critical Strike Multiplier 25% increased Critical Strike Multiplier with One Handed Melee Weapons 60% TOTAL 114% increased Accuracy Rating 22% increased Accuracy Rating with One Handed Melee Weapons 136% TOTAL 125% increased Physical Weapon Damage while Dual Wielding 71% increased Melee Physical Damage 48% increased Physical Damage with One Handed Melee Weapons 244% TOTAL 38% increased Attack Speed 28% increased Attack Speed with One Handed Melee Weapons 20% increased Attack Speed while Dual Wielding 86% TOTAL 8% increased Movement Speed 20% increased Flask Recovery Speed Other 250 to Strength 190 to Dexterity 60 to Intelligence 30% Chance to Avoid being Stunned 10% reduced Mana Cost of Skills 8% chance to Avoid Elemental Status Ailments 8% increased maximum Mana 5% increased Effect of Buffs on You 2 to Melee Weapon and Unarmed range
NOTES
Blood Rage improves this build greatly. There is a massive difference between the 4% life leech of before to the 15% now. I was offered this advice by many people but i was too stubborn to drop my beloved diamond rings. About 40% of my damage is physical so the effective leech is around 12.7k/sec, basically 13 seething divine flasks per second. Physical reflect from individual monsters is 14%, i can actually out-leech reflect now. Critting 5-10 reflect mobs at once will still one-shot me though.
Rat's Nest version
For those who dislike Abyssus 216k Full Offensive DPS 148k Defensive DPS Full Solo DPS Buffs: Haste, Hatred, Vaal Haste, 4 Power Charges, 3 Frenzy Charges, Atziri's Promise, Rumi's Concoction, Jade Flask +71%  Normal Play, no flasks, no Vaal Auras Buffs: Grace, Hatred  So many strikes within one breath. But only one strike needed, for certain death. Last edited by fiqst on Oct 1, 2014, 5:22:55 PM
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Question about progression. I'm 77 lvl.
How is important "finesse" and nodes to the right of it? I started to build my tree from left side where most important crit nodes stored and after then move to the right in the tree and end up that i haven't enough points (6 points actually) to get finesse but i not sure is 20% of accuracy worth to drop some nodes from left path of tree. I always have RT champs previously and didn't pay any attention on accuracy before so i need suggestion here :) Last edited by Novarg on Aug 25, 2014, 11:19:53 AM
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Wouldn't Curse on Hit gem be better on secondary attack instead of Cast on Crit? Am I missing something?
Other than that, this is one of the most intresting guides out there - love the division by wealth! EDIT: Ok, found it myself. Curse on Hit curses only mobs hit and loses the AoE of the curse... So definately CoC + Curse then. IGN: ManModeMara (gmt +3) Last edited by H_E_P_T_A on Aug 25, 2014, 2:20:33 PM
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@ Novarg
The ranger nodes are not crucial and you've taken all of the major dps and life nodes already, so it seems fine. According to poebuilder, i lost about 25% of my dps and 250 life by dropping those ranger nodes, so that will give you an indication of the gains in 6 level's time. @ H_E_P_T_A Thanks for your kind words. Curse on hit would be very effective in a leap slam setup (if you had such a weapon equipped), you could link LS - CoH - inc aoe - AssMark. You would have your main mobility skill cursing everything in a wide circle as well. Or better yet, have a pair of Mali's with the cast on crit corruption so you can add another gem to the mix On side note, i've added a video showing dual strike usage. Found here: Advanced dual strike Plateau run So many strikes within one breath. But only one strike needed, for certain death. Last edited by fiqst on Aug 25, 2014, 5:44:37 PM
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What gems you put in maligaro gloves ?
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On the Maligaro's I have the secondary cyclone.
Budget GGBR: Cyclone Cast on crit Assassins mark Blood magic Mid GGBB: Cyclone Cast on crit Assassins mark Pcoc In the guide I had to use eva boots, since I had no other alternative. The best option would be arm boots RRRR: Cwdt 20/20 Enduring cry 20/20 Molten shell 20/20 Immortal call 20/20 Sorry for the confusion. So many strikes within one breath.
But only one strike needed, for certain death. | |
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Dam, seeing that Atziri run with advanced setup made me rethink about my current wander "plan" (well already 91lvl, but miss a lot gear :S) Have mara in 70s and duelist 89lvl both empty tree atm. Acuity rdy. Wonder where currencies with 6l normal shav+coe+minors after possible resell could take me. 150ex maybe, enough for decent body armor+soul taker+dagger to be able to do some content decntly with this build?
Edit: oh there was seperate duelist thread a bout this build aswell... https://www.youtube.com/user/MrChalyps Last edited by Chalyps on Aug 28, 2014, 11:23:16 AM
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hi if u have some vid for the mid spec that will be great :)
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Hi thanks for the interest.
@ Rautaisannos It looks like you'll have about 70-90ex to spend on a weapon. The mid spec uses a 12ex weapon and gets good damage. So expect damage levels between the 2 specs. The choice of chest is huge with acuity, leech will always out-heal any damage you receive from abyssus (except phys reflect) so the choice is yours. @ tinomaster I'll make a mid spec vid ASAP. So many strikes within one breath.
But only one strike needed, for certain death. |
