[3.10] Telvanni's Impale Cyclone | Champion | Tanky | All Content Viable | Budget Friendly

Introduction:
I just recently started playing Cyclone Champion and I am absolutely loving it.
Impale Cyclone is nothing new, but I wanted to share my build with you all.
Admittedly it is pretty similar to Bergerbrush's, as I started off using his build, which can be found here: http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2775438

Pros:
+ Good Clear Speed
+ Good Single Target
+ Extremely Tanky (can Face Tank Most Content)
+ Spin to Win (Mostly One Button Play)
+ Fairly Cheap to Gear (not Necessarily Gated Behind Expensive/Rare Uniques)
+ Scales well with Investment

Cons:
- Budget Build is only Moderately Tanky and Medium Clear Speed.
(Requires some Investment to Shine)
- It's a Melee Build, so you will have to do Mechanics for some Fights.


3.10 Update Log:
-Added "Expensive End Game Upgrade" section for the rich bois (April 22, 2020)

Why Champion?

We use the Champion Ascendancy for the Master of Metal passive, which gives us a huge boost to the efficacy of our Impales.

Champion also offers several other passives that bolster our defenses and offenses quite significantly.


Skill Tree | Bandits | Pantheon

Skill Tree:
Level 92 tree: www.poeurl.com/cQwv
PoB: pastebin.com/fu1Rn5Dr

Budget Level 92 tree: www.poeurl.com/cQzX
Budget PoB: pastebin.com/aKvE0NmM

Bandits:
Help Alira
+20% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier (for damage)
+15% to All Elemental Resistances (helps significantly when balancing resists)

OR

Kill All
For 2 passive skill points.

Ascendancy:
Master of Metal -> Conqueror -> Worthy Foe -> Unstoppable Hero

Pantheon:
Major: Lunaris (Mapping) OR Solaris (Bossing)
Minor: Gruthkul (for the physical resistance, to help balance out the negative physical resistance on our Abyssus Helmet)


Gems and Links

Cyclone: (6 Link, Body)
- Cyclone
- Impale Support
- Fortify Support
- Infused Channelling Support
- Melee Physical Damage Support
- Brutality Support

Drop Brutality Support if for some reason you are running a 5 link chest.

Pride | Flesh and Stone (4 Link, Helmet, Gloves, or Boots)
- Pride
- Flesh and Stone
- Maim Support
- Enlighten Support (level 3 or 4)

Enlighten MUST be level 3 or 4 in order to run this double aura setup.
Replace Pride with Herald of Purity if you cannot afford Enlighten Supports and are using the BUDGET setup


Blood and Sand | Dread Banner| Precision (4 Link, Helmet, Gloves, or Boots)
- Blood and Sand
- Dread Banner
- Precision (level 1)
- Enlighten Support (level 3 or 4)

Enlighten MUST be level 3 or 4 in order to run this double aura setup.
Precision MUST be kept below level 4 or it will reserve too much mana!
We are only using Precision for the critical strike chance bonus, which is provided at level 1.


Ancestral Warchief Totem (4 Link, Helmet, Gloves, or Boots)
- Ancestral Warchief
- Melee Physical Damage Support
- Brutality Support
- Culling Strike Support

This is mainly used during boss fights as supplemental damage.

CWDT | Molten Shell (2 Link Weapon)
- Molten Shell (level 16)
- Cast When Damage Taken Support (level 12)

When CWDT levels up it requires a large and larger amount of damage to be taken in order to proc, level 12 seems to be a good middle ground to prevent it from activating whenever a trash mob looks at us, but still allowing it to activate when we lose a sizable chunk of our health.

Your Molten Shell will not activate if it is leveled higher than the supported level of your CWDT gem! (read the tool tips if you decide to stray from 16/12)


Leap Slam (2 Link Weapon)
- Leap Slam
- Faster Attacks Support

This is our main movement skill.
Replace Leap Slam with Whirling Blades if you are using the BUDGET version.


Blood Rage (1 Link Weapon)
- Blood Rage

Vaal Grace (1 Link Weapon)
- Vaal Grace

This last gem is completely optional and is a flex spot.
I recommend Flame Dash for the budget build, as you are stuck using whirling blades which has some movement limitations.
I activate the Vaal Skill effect to get additional dodge chance for 6 seconds on particularly spicy bosses or mob packs.
DO NOT USE THE REGULAR GRACE AURA as you will not have enough Mana to run this with our double aura setup.


Important Notes:
You will notice that we have quite a few gems links socketed into our weapon(s).
This is nice because we do NOT require a six link weapon.
I personally use a 4 Link / 2 Link Two Handed Sword.
The only requirement for our weapon(s) is that CWDT and Molten Shell are NOT linked to anything else besides eachother, as anything linked directly to CWDT will not be able to be manually cast.


Gear

General Notes:
Aim for 70+ life on every rare piece of gear. Try to Balance Elemental Resists as best you can (ideally overcapped). Do not overlook Chaos Resistance as it becomes pretty crucial late game. After that, look for pure offensive attack modifiers and life leech attack modifiers.

Weapon:
An extremely strong option for our build is Starforge:


This item boasts up to +100 Maximum Life, Attack Speed, Increased Physical Damage, and the Amazing Passive which allows our Physical Damage to apply shock.

Claws are a good budget alternative:
And make us less reliant on #% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life on other pieces of gear.
Specifically Bloodseeker and The Wasp Nest


A good pair can be found for less than 5c total.

Chest
To make this build buttery smooth we absolutely require a Warlord Influenced chest with "Socketed Attacks have -15 Total Mana cost".


A Dual Influenced explode is even more ideal for a smoother map clear.

Important for Budget Build: If you do not have a -15 Total Mana cost chest you MUST have #% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana on some of your gear.
Without it you will not be able to sustain cyclone.



A good budget option is a Tabula Rasa with +2 to duration gems.
Or any 6 link rare chest with Life, Resists, and ideally Armour.

Helmet

Abyssus


A corrupted or enchanted one is ideal.
Preferably with Max Melee Critical Strike Multiplier and a low Increased Physical Damage Taken roll.

Gloves

Spiked Gloves


Stats to look for:
-Life
-Resistances
-Adds # to # Physical Damage to Attacks
-#% Increased Attack Speed
-#% of Physical Attack DAmage Leeched as Life

Boots



Rare boots with movement speed, life, and resists.
Ideally also with the Tailwind modifier for a massive dps increase.

Boots are also a good spot to grab +dexterity or +intelligence to help meet our stat requirements.

Belt



Stygian Vise with life and resists.
Abyss Jewel with Life, Dex/Int, and Onslaught on Kill.

This is another good spot to grab +dexterity or +intelligence if you can afford a slightly pricier belt.

Amulet:



Rare amulet with life, critical strike multiplier, and whatever else you can get on it: Attack Speed, Crit Chance, Physical Damage, Physical Leech, etc.

Anointment: Fatal Blade for 2hs | Claws of the Hawk for Budget Build.

Rings:



Rare rings with life and resists.
Steel rings are a huge dps increase if you can balance resists.

Look for a good "Curse Enemies with level # Assassin's Mark on Hit" ring when you get the currency.

And as always look for Attack Speed, Physical Damage, Crit Multiplier/Chance, and Physical Leech where possible.

Flasks:
-Life
-Sulphur
-Lion's Roar
-Diamond
-Quick Silver

If you don't have the Hex Breaker cluster jewel make sure you have the "of warding" suffix on one of your flasks.

Your life flask needs to be either instant or at least increased recovery rate.



Jewels:

Starforge Jewel example:


Budget/Claw Jewel examples:


1. % Increased Maximum Life
2. Critical Strike Multiplier (Either Global or with Two Handed Melee Weapons, or Claws (for budget build), or just flat Melee Critical Strike Multiplier, etc)
3. Increased Shock Duration + Chance to Shock (if using Starforge, as we need chance to shock - DO NOT GET THIS MODIFIER IF YOU ARE NOT USING STARFORGE ei Budget build users.)

Other stats to look for:
-Crit Chance
-Increased Damage
-Increased Melee/Physical Damage

If you're short you could even grab:
- Dex/Int
- Resists
-Mana/Life Leech


Cluster Jewels


Large Cluster Jewels:

Example:


Any of the following combinations will do:

Adds 8-9 Passive Skills:
Added Small Passive Skills Grant: 10% increased Attack Damage (any), 12% increased Attack Damage with Two Handed Weapons (Starforge), 12% Damage with Hits/Ailments From Swords (Starforge), 12% increased Attack damage while Dual Wielding (budget). 12% Damage with Hits/Ailments From Claws (budget).

Prefixes:
1: Deep Cuts (Mandatory)
2:
-Feed the Fury
-Brutal Infamy (starforge)
-Deadly Repartee (dual wielding)
-Fuel the Fight (if you need mana leech)
-Wind Up (if you are using claws and don't have chance to gain power charges on chest)

Suffixes:
1: 2 Added Passive Skills Are Jewel Sockets (Mandatory, at least 1)
2:
-Smite the Weak
-Martial Prowess

Do not get a jewel with more than 9 added passives, as it makes it more expensive in terms of skill points to use. 8 is the most optimal, but 9 is acceptable on a budget.

Medium Cluster Jewels:

Example:


Your first two medium should be Channeling Jewels.
After that they should be Crit Chance.
These Jewels are more specific than the Large Jewels which are very mix and match.

First Jewel:
Adds 4-5 Passive Skills:
Added Small Passive Skills Grant: Channeling Skills Deal 12% Increased Damage
Prefix:
1: Hex Breaker (provides curse immunity while channeling, which allows us to drop our warding flask)
2: Precise Focus
Suffix:
1: 1 Added passive skill is a Jewel Socket

Second Jewel:
Adds 4-5 Passive Skills:
Added Small Passive Skills Grant: Channeling Skills Deal 12% Increased Damage
Prefix:
1: Enduring Focus (gives us a source of endurance charges)
2: Precise Focus
Suffix:
1: 1 Added passive skill is a Jewel Socket

Third and Fourth Jewels:
Adds 4-5 Passive Skills:
Added Small Passive Skills Grant: 15% Increased Critical Strike Chance
Prefix:
1: Precise Commander
2: Provocateur
Suffix:
1: 1 Added passive skill is a Jewel Socket

Small Cluster Jewels:
Are optional.
Small Cluster Jewels give us access to more % increased max health.
But using regular Jewels can give us 7% increased max health and an array of dps increases.
I use a combination of mostly regular Jewels with 1 or 2 small cluster jewels.


Expensive End Game Upgrades


Priority Upgrades:

Flasks: ~25 Ex

Bottled Faith (replaces sulphur flask)
This is a huge dps increase.

Jewels: ~20 Ex

Watcher's Eye
A Tier:
-Impale Duration while effected by Pride
-Double Damage Chance while effected by Pride

B Tier:
-Attack Damage while effected by Pride/Precision
-Crit Multiplier while effected by Precision

C Tier:
-Attack Speed while effected by Precision

Looks like Impale duration is the biggest single dps increase.
But a Double Damage Chance + a B or C tier mod might be better than just an impale duration affix.

Gems: ~7 Ex
Awakened Melee Physical Damage Supports
-Gives a 10% chance to intimidate enemies on hit, which is a huge dps increase.

Boots: ~5 Ex

Hunter Influenced Tailwind boots, ideally with Life, Resists, Movement Speed.
Tailwind is a huge dps increase, as well as a nice movement speed buff.
(mine have some bad rolls on them)


Some other notable upgrades:
(Most of these are only 3-5% dps increase)

Weapon: ~10 Ex
Single or Double Implicit Starforge
-#% Increased Attack Speed
-Adds # to # Physical Damage
-#% Increased Physical Damage

^These are all good options, but make sure your Starforge is already max rolls.
An uncorrupted Starforge with 500% Physical Damage + 8% Attack speed is going to beat out a corrupted 425% physical damage + 5% attack speed one that has a decent implicit.

Gloves: ~20 Ex
Warlord Influenced Spiked Gloves with #% Increased Melee Damage explicit.


Boots: ~15 Ex
Dual Influenced Hunter/Redeemer boots with Tailwind + Elusive
Not a dps upgrade over just hunter influenced tailwind boots, but does give a nice boost to clear speed.


Belt: ~7 ex
Hunter Influenced Stygian Vise with "Enemies have -#% to total physical damage reduction against your hits"
(Makes it significantly more difficult to manage resists/stat requirements as it takes up a suffix slot on our belt)

Gems: ~6 ex
Awakened Brutality Support


FAQ


I feel squishy!

Make sure that:
-Your resists are capped.
-You have 70+ life on every piece of rare gear.
-You have enough %life nodes on the tree
-You are keeping your flasks active 100% of the time while mapping.
-You are using Hex Breaker on your Medium Cluster Jewel or a Warding Flask
-You have a Heat Flask.
-Your life flask is Bubbling, Seething, Catalysed, or Panicked.
-You have sufficient Life Leech on your gear (easier with claws/budget build).

I die when i stop moving!

Don't stop moving then?
Make sure you kill everything in a wide area round you before you stop spinning, or you are likely to get one shot by nearby mobs.

I don't meet the stat requirements for my gems?
Dex/Int can be a real pain to get.
We need roughly 135 Int and 155 Dex.
Try to get these on Boots/Belt if you can.
Other options would be to get them on rings/amulet.
Or even on your Regular Jewels.

Last edited by TelvanniPoE on Apr 22, 2020, 8:40:44 AM
Last bumped on May 13, 2020, 12:27:39 PM
[Reserved]
[Reserved]
Thanks for the detail guide. I am having a blast with this build!
"
RedVelvet777 wrote:
Thanks for the detail guide. I am having a blast with this build!


Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
3.10 Update:
Added an Expensive End Game Upgrade section for the wealthier players.
Last edited by TelvanniPoE on Apr 22, 2020, 8:04:51 AM
Hello, thank you very much for the guide! Are there any other weapons you would suggest we use if we want to upgrade from the recommended budget claws?
Followed this guide for the most part. I took the waycry cluster for instant warcry and I'm using 3 warcry medium clusters. You can get a lot more crit multi and damage this way and a little bit of extra sustain and tankiness. I dropped the CWDT setup and opted for berserk to use the rage gained from mob mentality for a little bit of an extra burst. I also opted to take both impale wheels as well. It's worked fairly well so far.

Report Forum Post

Report Account:

Report Type

Additional Info