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[3.29] Cyclone Slayer League Starter to Endgame Guide - Beginner Friendly

Creator
presentationDuelist
presentationSlayer
Starter
End Game
3.29 CotA
By FGKorbyn21
Updated on Aug 7, 2026
Aug 7, 2026

Path of Building Code

Build Overview

Here's my guide for my Cyclone Slayer League Starter to Endgame Build for Patch 3.29 Curse of the Allflame!

If you have any Questions - Come by my Twitch Here and I'll Help you out!

New Budget Staff Crafting Video Here!

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🚨Work in Progress, be sure to come by the Twitch Stream for the Newest Skill Tree and Gems as I'm changing it to test new things!🚨

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Cyclone / Cyclone of Tumult is a very easy league starter that can carry you into T16's with little to no currency! What's even better is that it continues to scale really well into Endgame with some more Investment. The more currency, the higher it'll scale (duh)!

Cyclone Mapping/Bossing -

Mapping and Bossing will be handled by Cyclone of Tumult which is a bigger and better version of Cyclone. Tumult has larger AoE and a higher DPS ceiling but has the drawback of reducing your Movement Speed drastically. We'll mitigate this Movement issue early on with The Stampede / Replica Stampede and eventually transition into Mageblood with Quicksilver Flask + Onslaught + Tailwind + Elusive Boots.

We'll get some added Damage and AoE with a Autoexertion + General's Cry + Ground Slam of Earthshaking setup. Autoexertion will auto cast a Warcry, which will be General's Cry. This Warcry will summon Mirage warriors from corpses to use a socketed attack skill, which will be Ground Slam of Earthshaking which provides a solid amount of clear speed and damage. We'll need Desecrate for Bossing, as there won't be corpses in Boss Arena's.

Defenses -

Our Defenses revolve around Life/Armor Stacking, Leeching Life, and Capped Lucky Attack and Spell Block. We'll stack around 4.5-5K Life and 30-40K Armor thanks to our Gear, Flask, Jewels, and Passive Tree Nodes.

We use a Warstaff for the Implicit Block for Versatile Combatant to allow Over capped Attack Block to turn into Spell Block. So we'll stack tons of Attack Block by using Nodes like Enigmatic Defence, Steelwood Stance, and Whirling Barrier alongside Tattoo's of the Valako Shieldbearer to reach 65% Attack and Spell Block. Combine this with More Than Skill from the Forbidden Flesh and Forbidden Flame Jewels and you'll have a 87.75% Chance to Block Attack and Spell Damage!

Brutal Fervour from the Slayer Ascendancy will keep our Leech and Leech effects running 24/7 to mitigate small hits as long as we keep spinning. We'll also have Overlord for 24/7 Fortification, tons of PDR, Ailment Immunity with Purity of Elements, 6 Endurance Charges, and big hit mitigation with Molten Shell for a very Tanky Spin-2-Win Build!

Early Game Regex - (\w\W){5}|([rgb]-){2}[rgb]|(-\w){5}|Runn|rint|Glint|Heav|s:.+(ax|stave)

Will show 3+ Links, MS Boots, Axe's (For Act 1 & 2 Pre Cyclone), Warstaffs, and Increased Phys Items

Filters for Campaign / Mapping

Useful Links -

Crafting a Warstaff -> High Investment or Budget

Crafting Curse on Hit Ring -> Here

Crafting Endgame Boots -> Here

Crafting Endgame Body Armor -> Here

Perma Buffs -

Bandits - Kill All Bandits (+1 Passive Skill Tree Points)

Major God - Soul of Arakaali

Minor God - Soul of Shakari

Map Regex - "!te of|m resistances$|k damage$|element$|kes$|s damage$|from$|ech$|t reg|res$"

Strengths and Weaknesses

  • 360° Huge AoE Clear
  • Smooth and Easy Bossing
  • Tanky
  • Very Easy League Starter
  • Immune to Phys/Ele Reflect and Ailments
  • Just Spin
  • Not Insanely Fast Movement Speed until Mageblood + Quicksilver Flask
  • Need some Currency for Uber Scaling (duh)

Build Variants

This version of the build will swap from our Rare Belt to Mageblood which will be used to keep our Flask up 24/7 and with x2 the effect. This is a massive Damage / Defense / Movement Speed / QoL spike for the build!

Once you have Mageblood, you can start crafting the Onslaught / Tailwind / Elusive Boots for Speed, Vulnerability on Hit Ring, Stranglegasp for 4 Anoints, - Mana Cost Body Armor, and More!

We can drop Rumi's Concoction at this point if you haven't already since we can anoint extra Block Nodes with Stranglegasp and use Tattoo's of the Valako Shieldbearer to help raise our Attack and Spell Block.

Once our Resistances, Attributes, and Accuracy are sorted we can swap off a normal Amulet over to the Stranglegasp. This Amulet can be Anointed 4 times and provides More Offense and Defense than almost every other Amulet for the build (Outside of Mirror tier Simplex stuff).

Equipment

Ezomyte Staff
Cogwork Ring
Leviathan Gauntlets
Giantslayer Helmet
Astral Plate
Mageblood
Stranglegasp
Cogwork Ring
Fugitive Boots
Eternal Life Flask
Diamond Flask
Basalt Flask
Quicksilver Flask
Granite Flask
Empyrean Vessel
Spirit Essence
Forbidden Flame
Forbidden Flesh
Lethal Pride
The Light of Meaning
Watcher's Eye
Ghoul Heart
New Item

Weapon:

You're going to want an Ezomyte Staff, Maelstrom Staff, or Judgement Staff for the Base 25% Block Chance!

The Best Mods to look for will be -

- % Increased Physical Damage + Phys Accuracy Hybrid

- Adds # to # Physical Damage to Attacks

- % Increased Attack Speed

- +% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier / Chance

- % Chance to Deal Double Damage

Crafting a Warstaff -> High Investment or Budget

Body Armor:

For this variant, we'll be using a Redeemer-Warlord Influenced Body Armor Craft to get a 10% Chance to Gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit and -15 / 20 Mana Cost of Socketed Attacks. This will save us 7 points on the Skill Tree! Crafting Video on this soon!

The Best Mods to look for will be -

- Socketed Attacks have -15 / 20 to Total Mana Cost

- 10% Chance to Gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit (If you do the expensive craft)

- Chance to Block Attack and / or Spell Damage

- + or % Increased Armor

- T1 Res / Attribute / Block / Physical Damage Reduction

Gloves:

Prioritize Life, Resistances, Attributes, Attack Speed, Accuracy, and Armor for Gloves. Don't bother with Added Damage to Attacks.

Influence your Gloves with Searing Exarch and Eater of Worlds, watch Here if you don't know what that means.

  • For Eater of Worlds Influence, go for Increased Chance to Impale
  • For Searing Exarch Influence, go for Increased Attack Speed / Increased Crit Chance

The Best Mods to look for will be -

- + to Maximum Life

- + or % Increased Armor

- T1 Res / Attribute

- % Increased Damage while Leeching

- % Increased Attack Speed

- + Accuracy (If Needed)

Helmet:

Prioritize Life, Resistances, Attributes, Accuracy, and Armor for Helmet.

Influence your Helmet with Searing Exarch and Eater of Worlds, watch Here if you don't know what that means.

  • For Eater of Worlds Influence, go for Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency
  • For Searing Exarch Influence, go for Increased Damage Per Power Charge / Vulnerability Curse Effect

I went with the new Exceptional Rogue Exile Drop Only Modifier that gives us Increased Damage against Enemies for each Fortification we have. I fractured this mod then used the Essence of Loathing.

The Best Mods to look for will be -

- + to Maximum Life

- + or % Increased Armor

- T1 Res / Attribute

- Nearby Enemies take 1% Increased Physical Damage per Two Fortification on You (Exceptional Rogue Exile Drop Only, will have to Fracture to craft, very Min-Max)

- % Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency (Essence of Loathing, can always just use Eater Influence Instead, very Min-Max)

- + Accuracy (If Needed)

- Crafted + Level and AoE

Boots:

Now that we have Mageblood, we can take advantage of a Quicksilver Flask, Onslaught, Elusive, and Tailwind Boots to out speed the Movement Speed Penalty on Cyclone of Tumult!

Use Boots with Increased Movement Speed, Chance to gain Onslaught on Kill, and Chance to gain Elusive and Tailwind on Crit Strike. This allows us to achieve anywhere from 200-250% Movement Speed. You can also choose to get Veiled Movement Speed which is a solid option depending on the cost of the Veiled Exalted Orb.

See how to craft them Here

The Best Mods to look for will be -

- % Increased Movement Speed

- + to Maximum Life

- % Chance to Gain Onslaught on Kill

- % Chance to Gain Elusive on Critical Strike

- % You have Tailwind if you have Dealt a Critical Strike Recently

- % Increased Effect of Tailwind on You

- % Increased Attack, Cast, and Movement Speed while You have Onslaught

- T1 Res / Attribute

Belt:

We'll be swapping over to Mageblood for Flask Automation which provides a ton of QoL and power increase. Expensive but for all the right reasons. Just make sure its a 4 Flask and try to get good Resistances and Attributes.

Amulet:

Once you have your Attributes and Resistances handled, you'll swap off a Rare Amulet to Stranglegasp. This Amulet can be Anointed 4 times and provides More Offense and Defense than almost every other Amulet for the build (Outside of Mirror tier).

I've anointed with Whispers of Doom for our Vulnerability on Hit Ring, Enigmatic Defence, Serpent Stance for Block / DPS, then Charisma for Mana Reservation Efficiency.

Rings:

Use your Ring Slots to fill out whatever needs to you may have. The only Required Affix is Channeling Skills have -3 to Total Mana Cost which can be crafted on from the Crafting Bench. Just make sure to have a 0 Mana Cost on Cyclone of Tumult!

I've chosen the Cogwork Ring as this removes 1 Prefix, but gives us 1 Additional Suffix. This allows us to get extra Attributes, Resistances, Crit, and Curse on Hit. The Prefix on Rings outside of Max Life and - Mana Cost are pretty bad so this Ring is perfect for the build!

The Best Mods to look for will be -

- -3 Mana Cost of Channeling Skills

- + to Maximum Life

- + to Global Critical Strike Multiplier

- + to Accuracy

- T1 Res / Attribute

- Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit (On 1 Ring only)

Crafting Curse on Hit Ring -> Here

Jewels:

The most important thing for the Jewels at this stage is getting a solid Lethal Pride (Kaom Strength of Blood) and Large Cluster Jewel! There's tons of variations of Lethal Pride (Kaom Strength of Blood) that are good, just use the Find Timeless Jewel Tool provided in my PoB file or come by my stream and ask.

For the Large Cluster Jewel, get one with Overlord so we can have Fortification. Make sure it Adds no more than 8 Passive Skills and good Notables like Martial Prowess, Feed the Fury, Fuel the Fight, Devastator, Brutal Infamy, Surefooted Striker, etc....

You'll want a Forbidden Flesh and Forbidden Flame with More Than Skill. The combo of these 2 Jewels give us Lucky Block for a HUGE EHP increase! These become more expensive as the league goes on so I try to buy early. Budget options are ones with Master of Metal / Worthy Foe. Pick whichever of the two are cheaper if on budget.

Next we'll use a Watcher's Eye Prismatic Jewel with Buffs when using Pride and Purity of Elements. I've gone with % Chance to Deal Double Damage, Impales Last 2 Additional Hits, and + Chaos Res. Increased Critical Strike Multiplier, Increased Physical Damage, and Increased Attack Speed are also really good so pick a 2 or 3 combo Jewel that's within your price range!

The Light of Meaning (Physical Damage) is great for tons of Physical Damage when placed in the correct location. This is typically a couple divine.

Flasks:

  • I'll use 1 Quicksilver Flask with 25% Increased Effect and Increased Movement Speed During Effect. Make sure to Craft on with an Enkindling Orb "70% Increased Effect"
  • I'll use 1 Diamond Flask for Critical Hit Chance with Reduced Effect of Curses to make us Immune to all Curses
  • I'll use 1 Granite Flask for Armor and Additional Elemental Resistances during Effect to help cap our Resistances
  • I'll use 1 Basalt Flask for More Armor and Increased Armor during Effect to raise our Phys Max Hit
  • Feel free to use either a Life Flask or Oriath's End / Progenesis / Bottled Faith / Stormblood Topaz Flask. All depends on what your farming / preferences.

Passive Tree

main:
123
123
ascendancy:
8
8
Keystones
Unwavering Stance
Cannot Evade enemy Attacks Cannot be Stunned
Versatile Combatant
-10% to maximum Chance to Block Attack Damage -10% to maximum Chance to Block Spell Damage +2% Chance to Block Spell Damage for each 1% Overcapped Chance to Block Attack Damage
Masteries
Life Mastery (2)
15% increased maximum Life if there are no Life Modifiers on Equipped Body Armour
+30 to maximum Life
Rage Mastery (1)
Nearby Enemies are Intimidated while you have Rage
Staff Mastery (1)
12% increased maximum Life and Mana if your equipped Staff has a Red and Blue Socket
Two Hand Mastery (1)
40% increased Damage with Hits against Rare and Unique Enemies
Physical Mastery (1)
10% more Maximum Physical Attack Damage
Mana Mastery (1)
12% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills
Critical Mastery (1)
+25% to Critical Strike Multiplier against Unique Enemies
Armour Mastery (1)
You take 30% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

Make sure to use the Runegraft of Treachery so you get the 15% Mana Reservation Efficiency to fit all the Aura's! We will swap off of this in the Min-Max Variant if you want to use Stormblood Topaz Flask.

We'll be using Tattoo's of the Valako Shieldbearer to help raise our Attack and Spell Block to 87.75%, so use as many as needed.

I've included a more in-depth explanation for the passive tree choices in the earlier variants if wanted. I proactively swap my nodes and have been testing so its too much to keep up with in this variant.

Skills

Gale Shelter
Astral Plate
Cyclone of Tumult
Brutality
Melee Physical Damage
Infused Channelling
Pulverise
Void Shockwave
Pandemonium Bane
Ezomyte Staff
Autoexertion
General's Cry
Ground Slam of Earthshaking
Pulverise
Melee Physical Damage
Loath Corona
Giantslayer Helmet
Flesh and Stone
Pride
Enlighten
Purity of Elements
Tempest Goad
Fugitive Boots
Mark On Hit
Assassin's Mark
Lifetap
Skull Talons
Leviathan Gauntlets
Molten Shell
Automation
Skull Talons
Leviathan Gauntlets
Blood and Sand
Blood Rage
Pandemonium Bane
Ezomyte Staff
Frostblink
Tempest Goad
Fugitive Boots
Desecrate
Grim Finger
Cogwork Ring
Vulnerability

For Bossing, you'll need to Cast Desecrate to Spawn Corpses for General's Cry to Summon your Mirage Warriors!

General's Cry will Auto-Summon Mirage's to use Ground Slam of Earthshaking to deal big damage when Autoexertion is Enabled

  • For Cyclone of Tumult
    Shockwave Support is causing Damaging Shockwaves for Extra DPS
    Pulverise Support is for DPS and AOE
    Melee Physical Damage Support is for DPS
    Brutality Support is for Phys DPS and Immunity to Elemental Reflection Map Mods
    Infused Channelling Support is for a Damage and Hit Pool Increase
  • For General's Cry
    Autoexertion is to automate the Warcry
    Ground Slam of Earthshaking replaces Sunder for better clear and same DPS
    Melee Physical Damage Support is for DPS
    Pulverise Support is for DPS and AOE
  • For our Enlighten Support Setup
    Enlighten Support to reduce Aura Gem Mana Reservation
    Pride is for More Physical Damage
    Flesh and Stone in Blood Stance for a DPS Increase
    Purity of Elements for Ailment Immunity and Resistances
  • Molten Shell with Automation will automate the Damage Reduction from the skill to provide us with a larger Hit Pool
  • Assassin's Mark with Mark On Hit Support will automate the mark to give us Power Charges and More Critical Hit Chance. Lifetap Support to make it cost life instead of mana
  • Frostblink will STAY AT LEVEL 1!!!! This is for Movement only
  • Blood Rage is for an Attack Speed Increase and Frenzy Charge Generation
  • Pride is for More Physical Damage
  • Blood and Sand in Blood Stance for a DPS Increase
  • Desecrate to Spawn Corpses for Bossing to activate your Mirages from General's Cry. Also keep this at Level 1!

How it Works

FAQ's

Why Warstaff over Axe/Sword?

Warstaves have Implicit Block Chance which is one of the most vital components to the builds survivability. Also very cheap and easy to craft

Where does all the Block and Spell Block come from?

Versatile Combatant will convert any Attack Block over 65% to x2 the amount of Spell Block. So just stack tons of Attack Block from our Warstaff Implicit (25%), Serpent Stance (5%), Enigmatic Defence (8%), Body Armor (9%), Whirling Barrier (8%), Steelwood Stance (10%), and as many Tattoo's of the Valako Shieldbearer until you have the capped Attack and Spell Block. Rumi's Concoction will provide a lot of the Block we need early on until we can craft the Body Armor and afford the Tattoo's.

When to Drop Precision?

Once you get enough Accuracy on other gear pieces to have 100% Chance to Hit without the Aura. Can always use it if you need, including linking it with Arrogance Support if you don't have the necessary mana

Is Forbidden Flesh and Flame Required?

No, but the extra 17.75% Chance to Block is really comfy, especially in tough maps. Buy them ASAP, they go up in price fast. Can always use a budget one like Master of Metal or Worthy Foe depending on which is cheaper.

Why drop Autoexertion + General's Cry in the Final Variant?

Once you get the Speed with Mageblood, it can be tough for our Mirage Warriors from the setup to keep up with us when mapping so this just puts all the power into Cyclone of Tumult itself. So we instead focus on Maximizing our Cyclone of Tumult Damage. This will free up some Mana Reservation to allow us to equip Herald of Purity into our Enlighten Support setup as well. Phase Run can fill the last slots for tons of Movement Speed

Changelog

8/7/26 - Updated Endgame variants to match 3.29 Mana Nerfs, added some new tech with the Stormblood Topaz Flask for tons of DPS and more

7/30/26- Added Budget Warstaff Craft Video, fixed typo

7/27/26 - Updated build to match Mana Changes, will change again once they fix Mana Cost bug / formula

7/24/26 - Added Filters and Campaign Regex

7/22/26 - New Video posted going over build changes, planner and PoB file updated

7/17/26 - Updated to match changes coming for 3.29

4/21/26 - Added Ring Crafting Video to Guide

4/10/26 - Added Staff Crafting Video to Guide

4/2/26 - Added Link to new Update Video

4/1/26 - Updated Endgame Variants in preparation for new Video, added Links to my own Crafting Videos and added some more descriptions for some gear pieces. Fixed broken link

3/19/26 - Massively Updated Endgame Variants to use new Purity of Elements tech and a lot of the Uber Crafted gear I made this league. Update video to follow soon!

3/11/26 - Updated PoB file and guide text to match 3.28 changes/additions

3/4/26 - Updated Guide to include new Void Shockwave Support Gem

3/3/26 - Updated Guide to remove and replace it with Enlighten Support at later stages to save Skill Tree points and an anoint

3/2/26 - Updated Guide to match 3.28 Changes, new video coming soon

11/28/25 - Updated Video link and variants to match new changes

11/19/25 - Updated the 95 Crit and Uber Variants to reflect league changes. Uber Variant is now my Live Gear that I've been using. Added Info to How it Plays Segment and Added More detail to many sections of the guide. Video Update coming by end of week showcasing Uber Boss kills and Level 100 Variant

11/12/25 - Added more Information about Grafts and other skill choices

11/8/25 - Added Grafts to use for build

Comments

Video Guide

Stats

Stats are displayed for the "LvL 100 Min-Max" Variant only
Character
Attributes
248 / 
166 / 
193
Movement Speed
352%
Pantheon Major
Arakaali
Pantheon Minor
Shakari
Charges
Endurance Charges
6
Frenzy Charges
4
Power Charges
3
Defensive
Life
4,892
Energy Shield
52
Mana
1,057
Armour
30,159
Evasion Rating
478
Block
87.75%
Resistances
76% / 
75% / 
72% / 
75%
Simulated
Effective Health Pool
576K
Max Hit
26K / 
63K / 
61K / 
55K / 
55K
Skill DPS Estimation
Cyclone of Tumult
168M

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