Unarmed Cyclone Destroyer (HC) (12-15 Chaos start up build)



Hello Everyone! This is my first guide, and I MUST FIRST give credit where it is due. This build is a modified build for HC that originally came from a fellow named Blindfold. His build can be found here: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1132421

That being said, I must say that my first toon I ever got past level 75 was a Facebreaker IB duelist in Nemesis. He was a ton of fun, but unfortunately my knowledge of the game wasn't what it is today and he died. I made two more Facebreaker builds that season with IB and just couldn't get enough of the exploding bodies.

When VAAL expansion came out, melee was having a hard time so I built exclusively spell casters, and then when Masters came out - I went Iceshot, but my love for Facebreakers has always stuck with me. Now that the game meta allows for melee characters to shine again in HC, I introduce you to the Cyclone Destroyer!

The main purpose of this build was to make it HC viable, Melee capable, fun, and very tanky. I was surprised how effective the 'on hit' abilities were - sometimes clearing a room before I enter it if an archer hits me as I go in.

Lastly, I wanted the build to be "2 week" viable, in other words - be able to successfully make it with a '2 week' fresh economy. The gear I'm using is worth a few exalts right now, but that's only because I started mapping and was able to fine tune my gear. Originally I got this build going for 12 CHAOS, 7c for the facebreakers, 2c for some gems, and 3c for some introductory +Phys jewellery!

Here are the Details - Guide and explanations below:

EDIT1: Since posting these, I picked up 4% life leech on gear/passive tree and removed Life Gain on hit - supplanted with Conc Effect. This increased my DPS on cyclone to 20k making my life easier, and the Life Leech never failed to keep me up during long drawn out fights.
Defense/Offense screenshots


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Bandits:(N)Health::(C)Phys/AS::(M)Point (I took phys)
Leveling Passives

0-30 points

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAe4zG2FhjPfyMz_ZIXz8UIO8OUEfkURo-8i9-4nk56dXBBHloC2F4Db6KAdyE2Ud-vTZlTb6n

You want to go for Master of the Arena and Resolute technique right away. I leveled with Static Strike on a 2h weapon until about 25, then switched to Facebreakers and IB. Optionally I picked up Revelry in the duelist area to help with mana costs until i had enough life/life regen to Blood Magic my cyclone. Be sure to be leveling all your gems even if you're not using them yet.


31-50 points

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAe4zG2FhjPfyMz_ZIXz8UIO8OUEfkURo-8i9-4nk56dXBBHloC2F4Db6KAdyE2Ud-vTZlTb6nL8zBgraKYuyE73Tteu8FLWBLfLgpLmebrj534zwtcqnE9vcyfNnqGM9-dqytjQ==

Start filling in armor and life nodes, switch to cyclone with blood magic attached and you DEFINITELY should have a good pair of Facebreakers in tow by now (780%+).


51-70 points

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAe4zG2FhjPfyMz_ZIXz8UIO8OUEfkURo-8i9-4nk56dXBBHloC2F4Db6KAdyE2Ud-vTZlTb6nL8zBgraKYuyE73Tteu8FLWBLfLgpLmebrj534zwtcqnE9vcyfNnqGM9-dqytjV4TQKDAv6mVDPesrxuXMk5M_69saPLwH6IABLPAZp_f73w8BcRYns3SIVWpagGXtMautz7-Cti98kWmVzrhMZ7-jzWS

At this point you want to start thinking about going up to get your radius bonus from Templar tree, fill in all the +Block nodes you can, get the scion life wheel, and keep your armor rating at 50% while doing so. You can spec out of Revelry, and any dex nodes you needed to get along the way (Riposte is VERY dex hungry)


70+ points

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAe4zG2FhjPfyMz_ZIXz8UIO8OUEfkURo-8i9-4nk56dXBBHloC2F4Db6KAdyE2Ud-vTZlTb6nL8zBgraKYuyE73Tteu8FLWBLfLgpLmebrj534zwtcqnE9vcyfNnqGM9-dqytjV4TQKDAv6mVDPesrxuXMk5M_69saPLwH6IABLPAZp_f73w8BcRYns3SIVWpagGXtMautz7-Cti98kWmVzrhMZ7-jzWS8kGCB9l8AeenMLyf_EsUTRv6OlKkGbYsJd8YkSfV8awcp1OlDF8Y14KbmjuQVScv7DgaOClP5CIabONqFm8kqjbp

This is the gravy - The bulk of the build has been completed, you'll find the damage is adequate if not very good by now (no more need for +phys nodes), you should have attained 5k health, kept your armor rating at or above 50%ish, and basically pick up armor and health nodes as you see fit. It's all about keeping that survivability up now!


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Gems


5Link = Cyclone>Melee Physical Damage>Added Fire Damage>Life Gain on Hit>Blood Magic
(Once your Cyclone can hit for 12k, AND you have 4% life leech on gear/passives - switch LGoH to Conc Effect. It'll give you around 7k more DPS and you'll be leaching over 85 life per hit with 5%)
4Link = Reduced Mana>Hatred>Herald of Fire>Tempest Shield
4Link = Reckoning>Riposte>Melee Physical Damage>Added Fire Damage
4Link = CWDT(1)>Increased Duration(max)>Enduring Cry(5)>Immortal Call(3) {In that order}
3Link = Warlords Mark>Vaal Haste(Optional)>Blood Magic

If you manage to get a 6 Link, I would add faster attacks. I added Vaal Cyclone two nights ago because...Vaal Cyclone. I had an extra spot and nothing to do with it. It works wonders on +pack size. DOESN'T work wonders on "elemental" bearer blue packs :(

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Gear



Just a note here: The Abyssus is THE damage increaser here. It cost me 4c at level 60 when I could equip it, and the "% extra physical damage taken" isn't as scary as it looks, even in Hardcore. Some smart fellows did the math and it's not all that bad. Honestly at level 79, with permanant granite up, I haven't felt it from physical yet - though Obelisks with the lightning whip has almost ripped me twice while cycloning into them. Also note: the Elemental damage mod on my Rustic was on there when I bought it - it does NOT increase unarmed elemental damage, so don't go for it if you can avoid it.

Just go for Phys damage on jewellery/life/resists on gear, move speed is very important for cyclone as it reduces your move speed while in motion. Get a shield with as much +block as you can, anything under 28 isn't worth having. I believe the max for a straight armor shield is 26 base with +6% max mod roll.

Many people scream MEGINORD's MEGINORD's! But I honestly can't see myself losing the life roll and resists on my belt. We are already 3 items short for resists and 2 items short for life. Get one at your own risk, between Meg and Abyssus, i'll take Abyssus every time


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Q&A


Q: What should I quality?
A:

Vengeance first, it adds 10% to the chance to proc.
Then Riposte adds 20% damage increase
Melee Physical Damage adds another 10% each to your damage whith quality
Herald of Ash is another 15% damage
Cyclone adds 20% increased AOE which is always a nice touch, but not necessary

Q: Why not get Iron Reflexes and run Grace?
A: It's possible to run this, and it's not that far from our path, however all the gear I got as I leveled up is Armor only, and though Evasion shields can have higher block, it didn't seem worth 5 points when I could use those 5 points to go up towards Purity of Flesh for more life and chaos resist. This is a Hardcore build, survival is important. This is a preference though, if you found a shield with EV or Arm/EV, and 36% block, it might be worth it. As for running grace, I'd have to take out Hatred, and without hatred I lose too much DPS to effectively clear in single 'swings' through rooms.

Q: Why no Meginord's Girdle?
A: I explained this in the Gear section above, but it's really a preference. If you can hit 5k life and above with it, and cap your resists - go for it. But your life is going to be hell trying to do that with just Jewellery and a chest/shield. It's true it would add a LOT of DPS, but a 24% sash with defensive stats just seems better for HC.

Q: Why Tempest Shield?
A:
4% extra block. Nuff said

Q: Physical Reflect?
A:
No problem. I ran a few 18% phys reflect maps last week and I never had any scary moments. So long as your putting Warlord's Mark on the room prior to going in, you won't have any problems. Cyclone actually isn't the scary thing here, it's the 'on hit' abilities. Without Warlord's Mark, if all three of your 'on hit' abilities clear a phys reflect room - that's a lot of incoming damage. Also, run 2 Granite Flasks of warding (you don't need 'of armor' with this build) and keep em running 24/7 so long as there are mobs around.

Q: What's this builds biggest weakness?
A:
Player error. Cyclone can breed laziness and laziness can have you go into a pack without checking mods and get you in a sticky situation. Twice I've had close calls with Obelisk mobs, as well as large packs that put Fire/Ice novas on the ground. They're hard to see and 10-15 of those things going off under your feet can put a dent in your health or outright kill you with damage mods. NOTE: Yea, they did kill me. Follow my advice!

Q: Who are you?
A:
I'm nobody. Just an avid fan of POE since Nemesis came out, and finally found a build worth documenting.

Q: What about Unwavering Stance?
A:
Unwavering is an option to help with desync, but in my experience, even 5% evade can help tremendously. My On Hit abilities were going on enough where i felt that I didn't need it. The ONLY reason i wanted to put it in, was to make sure my abilities went off - but they went off as soon as they were off CD pretty much through a whole map.

Q: How did you RIP?
A:
"Insert element" Bearers + Vaal Cyclone. I KNEW that this would kill me in the end, and I'm not a fan of alt F4, so when i Vaal cycloned a HUGE group of mobs in a Strand map, and saw Storm Bearers were right next to me, I knew I'd die. There were 10-14 of them and all the circles stacked up below me, when Vaal cyclone ended i was furiously trying to run out of the circles but I knew it was the end. It was a proper end, and I had so much fun with this toon I'm not even sweating it. I feel like this toon reached his potential and i got to enjoy it. Now i'm doing SRS.


Thanks for looking and I truly hope you enjoy playing this as much as I do!

{Videos may come if people want them, not sure if I should just Fraps or stream to get highlights and map clears. Any input here is welcome}
Last edited by splitside on May 12, 2015, 12:31:17 AM
Last bumped on Mar 9, 2016, 7:48:54 AM
what chest r u using?

nice to see abyss in bloodlines and with facebreaker.but i think 12k dmg from cyclone is damn low.the new trigger gems help to clear maps i think.
Woops! Sorry added the chest piece. Yea 12k is low, but the survivability and added possible 25k damage from on hit abilities - even in 75 maps have no trouble just 'bowling' through killing everything.

I just added 4% life leech, took out life gain on hit, and added conc effect. Cyclone damage is now 21k.
Last edited by splitside on Jan 8, 2015, 10:12:31 PM
good tutorial, i will start this build, marauder lv 44, on 65-70 i will post again, anyway ty!
Friendly bump.

Reached 76 now using a this guide as a guideline.

Cyclone is as fun as you think it is, desync can be an issue (but you can play around it).



Thank you OP for modifying the build to a workable HC version.

Playing this kind of build right now. I'm lvl 72 right now and even though the first levels may be boring (because it's way too easy with Facebreakers and Infernal Blow then Cyclone :p), it gets really interesting to play right now.
I started on Bloodlines but I ripped due to the only thing that could kill me : bleed stacks. I don't really know what happened, just spinned into a pack and bam ! 17 stacks right on my face, didn't have time to portal to town and I didn't have any flask with remove bleeding. The lesson here is : ALWAYS carry a flask with "removes bleeding" and be sure it's constantly full because that thing is crazy dangerous while leveling. (Got killed in act 1, Merciless)
Aside from that and playing on my laptop with around 5 FPS (no kidding, sometimes I really have 5 FPS) and shitty gear in act 3 Merciless, I had no problems so it's definitely very safe for Hardcore ! :D

I don't have the same build, I'm running this (it's the final build with all skill points except 3 for the bandit rewards : Life - Attack Speed - Endurance Charge) :


Got an Abyssus, 769% Facebreakers, a Meginord's Girdle and a Lioneye's Remorse with some rares for chest, boots and jewellry and I'm sitting at 15k DPS with my Cyclone, which means I'm destroying maps with no damage nodes, while having around 11k armor and 4300 HP. Next level I'm going to take the last aura node for the 4% less mana reserverd and I'm going to switch to Hatred - Determination - Herald of Ash (this setup requires a lvl 20 reduced mana gem ; bought one for 15 chaos)
Why ? Because I prefer the great defensive boost of Determination to the 4% block chance of Tempest Shield and it just continues to scale with passive points !
Probably not going to take a Belly of the Beast for the moment as I would gain around 300 HP (tested it in game) but would lose a lot of resistances and armor.

Also, I play with a manual EC and IC because it allows me to have a constant uptime on Endurance charges (mh tasty 20% physical reduction !) and I can activate Immortal Call for any given situation. It also makes it much easier to deal with physical reflect maps : you just need to make sure you have Immortal Call up at all times when spinning through pack of mobs.
Aside from physical reflect, which is doable but pretty boring and quite risky at times, this build can do any map mods with ease !

To make it short, it's AWESOME, try it :)
How did you rip?
"
Vadler wrote:
...


Isn't unwavering stance bad for cyclone? I mean, while cycloning you can not be stunned. But it removes any evasion (however low, mine is 8%) you have.
Yup, you're right, this keystone survived the remaking of the tree from Infernal Blow to Cyclone ^^
Still, it can be interesting to run it (since I can't find a better pathing than the one I have right now, since I need those aura nodes) simply because it's cheap (and I really don't care much about evasion with all that block and armor). But I think I would invest it in a damage node, it really boosts our DPS. After some tweaking, this is my final tree (I think) :


Specced out of Combat Stamina and subsidiary nodes and got some more damage nodes along with 0.2% life regen per endurance charge. So with all 6 charges up, you lose only 0.6% life regen, 30% armor, 5% life and 50% inc defenses from shield for 48% physical damage and 4% attack speed. Trust me, it boosts the DPS by a few thousands, really worth it.

My stuff at the moment :
Spoiler


Stats at lvl 74 : 4424 HP. I could get around 550 HP with my current passives from 80 max life on each ring and on the amulet. Plus I will get more life while leveling (and grabbing some more passives ofc)
18k Cyclone DPS : destroys everything for the moment. I didn't run higher than 73 maps.
9k to 10k damage for each counter attack : Can actually clear whole rooms of normal/magic mobs instantly.
14 346 armor, estimated phys reduction : 64%
Goes up to 31 632 armor, estimated reduction : 79% with my Granite Flask and I can get even more from Vaal Molten Shell and my 4 endurance charges (with endurance charges I get to the 90% estimated reduction). Physical mobs are a joke.
50% block chance.

Passive tree at the moment :

"
RIPnRhyme wrote:
How did you rip?


The ONE THING I KNEW would kill me, Vaal Cyclone + "(Insert element) Bearer" mob.

I vaal cycloned a screen of mobs and realized too late that the closest blue pack was STorm Bearer. I literally said on Vent, "See ya boys!" and died instantly as 12+ Storm circles exploded me at once.

It's ok though, I had a TON of fun with this build and WILL do it again.

I'll add some more Q&A in a few minutes to answer some of the questions that were asked here.

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