Uniques only Impale Cyclone Champion

Updated: PoE 3.12 Heist.

Pros:
- a bit over 6k Life;
- with flask up have over 60k Armour;
- full immune vs Freeze/Shock/Ignite;
- 5 Endurance charges almost always up;
- perma Fortify with Fortify effect;
- don't have Mana issues;
- Resolute Technique.


Cons:
- Resolute Technique;
- only 2.5-3 million Shaper DPS.


Can comfortably do pretty much any content. Can handle Endgame bosses: killing Shaper and Uber Elder can feel a bit slow, but it can tank even Shaper slam, Uber Elder is a bit more dangerous. On Sirus I have around 5 FpS after Metamorph, so I don't know much about how it hadles him after changes (should be doable though).

Good survivability on T16 maps with Awakening level 8: cannot run only "physical reflect" maps. On Hardcore you also need to avoid "multiple projectiles" or maps with many added damage mods. Can even do Hall of Grandmasters, but for it you will need to swap one of the gems in main skill setup for Block Chance Reduction Support and on HC I would advise against doing it.

Champion is chosen because of perma Fortify and extra Impales for damage. And Cyclone feels really smooth, because you do not need to stop moving to deal damage.

Gear







Soul Taker, Siege Axe lets us not to worry about mana, it can be further corrupted for more damage but i'm scared to loose it. You need to prioritise attack speed on it.

Sporeguard, Saint's Hauberk is an overall good item: it helps with Chaos resistance, gives Life, also some extra situational damage reduction. Annoint Purity of Flesh for more Chaos resistance and Life.

Devoto's Devotion, Nightmare Bascinet gives us extra movement speed and Chaos resistance which is nice.

Cyclopean Coil, Leather Belt for status immunities and some Life:
- Strength > Dexterity gives Ignite immunity;
- Dexterity > Intelligence gives Freeze immunity.
Without it we will lack Intelligence for max level Purity of Lightning.

Aul's Uprising, Onyx Amulet with "Pride Reserves no Mana" is the best amulet for this build. It is expencive though, and a bit cheaper option will be Impresence, Onyx Amulet (Physical version) one: with it you need to switch Pride aura for Blasphemy + Vulnerability curse. The damage will be near the same, but you will lose the Watcher's Eye, Prismatic Jewel damage options (like additional impales, while affected by Pride).

Circle of Guilt, Synthesised Iron Ring with "Herald of Purity has XX% increased buff effect" and "XX% increased Physical Damage while affected by Herald of Purity" is the best ring for our build, but it is expensive especially with good implicits.

The Pariah, Unset Ring with Red socket is good and much cheaper choice.

Also you can use Precursor's Emblem Ruby Ring for Endurance charges generation and some Fire Resistance or The Red Nightmare, Crimson Jewel if you do not have Megalomaniac, Medium Cluster Jewel with Enduring Composure, Enduring Focus or Enduring Ward for Endurance charges generation.

Currently I'm using The Watcher's Eye Prismatic Jewel with Shock immunity for survivability and extra Impales which boosts our damage. It can be even more iproved with chance to deal double damage, but the price is smth like ~150 ex for it. Also keep in mind, that without Pride aura this jewel won't give you any damage increase.

Lethal Pride Timeless Jewel gives us fire resistance, a bit more Strength and some other stuff (just look for somesing nice: Increased Physical/Melee Damage, extra Life, percentage Strength, reduced Damage from Critical Strikes or Fortify effect).

My current Megalomaniac, Medium Cluster Jewel has legacy Deep Cuts in it, which gives around 13% of total DpS. You can swap it for Bloodscent one, or some other good physical notable, I just don't want to search for it on Standard and also "10 impales" sounds much nicer than "9 impales and Rage" for me.

Atziri's Promise Amethyst Flask is only used for Chaos resistance due to Brutality Support in our
Cyclone setup.

My current items are pretty min-maxed, but that's not that necessary, I just like perfect items or items with good rolls. Perfect items could cost quite some currency, but if you are looking for just high enough rolls prices will be much lower (like 1% off perfect item won't decrease your damage/defences, but will be noticeably cheaper).


Labyrinth Enchantments
Helmet:
- "15% increased Cyclone Attack Speed" good in general;
- "Blood and Sand has 40% increased Buff Effect" reliable and good DpS increase;
- "Ancestral Protector Totem grants 18% increased Attack Speed while Active" is a bit situational but cheap.

Gloves:
- "Commandment of Light" can be nice for Consecrated Ground to increase regen;
- "Commandment of Spite" for Chilled Ground to slow enemies even more.

Boots:
- "Regenerate 2% of Life per second if you were Hit Recently";
- "16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently".

Belt: "+300 to Armour while you have Fortify".

What uniques can be easily changed
- Sporeguard, Saint's Hauberk for a rare chest with good Life roll;
- The Pariah, Unset Ring, for a Steel Ring;
- Veruso's Battering Rams, Titan Gauntlets for rare Spiked Gloves.


Gems
Main Skill: Cyclone + Infused Channeling Support + Melee Physical Damage Support + Brutality Support + Impale Support + Pulverise Support

CWDT: CWDT level 7 + Increased Duration + Vaal Molten Shell + Tempest Shield

Movement: Leap Slam + Faster Attacks + Phase Run
Also it's nice to have Portal somewhere, for example on weapon swap.

For Frenzy charges and extra damage: Poacher's Mark + Blood Magic Support.

Other: Reckoning + Ancestral Protector + Culling Strike Support

Auras and buffs:
- Purity of Lightning
- Herald of Purity
- Pride
- War Banner
- Ancestral Protector- I'm only using it for bosses
- Blood and Sand, put it in The Pariah Unset Ring, for +2 levels.
- Flesh and Stone + Maim

I'm always using Blood Stance for more damage, because survivability is already good enough.


Bandits and Pantheon
Bandits: just go for 2 points (kill all) option.

For the minor god i'm going for Soul of Shakari, because we are lacking Chaos Resist, and Poison protection is nice too.

For the major god- usually Soul of Lunaris for survivability in maps, but Soul of Arakaali can be helpful vs heavy Chaos damage (Chayula for example).

Leveling tips
Before Cyclone in the Act 3, you can level with any skill that you like. Perforate is pretty good skill, use Sand Stance from Blood and Sand for clear. Also Splitting Steel seems to have good damage and clear too, even it's not a melee skill.

For leveling you just path along the endgame Passive tree, maybe skipping some nodes, to faster get Resolute Technique.

At first Labyrinth take Unstoppable Hero, and here we need one of our main skill links be Fortify Support, till second Labyrinth, where you should take Fortitude.

Third Lab is Master of Metal, for extra damage, because we hit maps at this point. And in the last Lab you can take either Inspirational for more damage or First to Strike, Last to Fall for the "cheat death" effect.

Couple good Unique items:
- Belt of the Deceiver, Heavy Belt is really good belt even for early mapping;
- Praxis, Paua Ring helps with Mana cost with Cyclone;
- Relentless Fury, Decorative Axe is a nice leveling axe, tho the damage will fall off pretty quickly.
Last edited by Zabarovka on Nov 28, 2020, 8:53:50 AM
Last bumped on Mar 2, 2020, 2:59:30 PM

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