(Outdated) Duelist - Hybrid Resolute Cyclone (Duelist)
Submitted by sowen014 on April 3, 2013 - 3:46PM EST
Page Views: 2214
Last Updated: April 3, 2013 - 4:03PM EST
Description
Very survival friendly build focusing on multiple forms of defense and many AoE damage sources for offense.Suggested Leagues: Default
Passive Skills
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Cyclone - AoE + Survival
Cyclone
Life Gain on Hit
Faster Attacks
Weapon Elemental Damage
Increased Area of Effect
Heavy Strike - Single Target + High Damage
Heavy Strike
Life Leech
Melee Physical Damage
Weapon Elemental Damage
Leap Slam - AoE + Movement
Leap Slam
Faster Attacks
Life Gain on Hit
Molten Shell/Enfeeble - AoE + Utility
Molten Shell
Enfeeble
Faster Casting
Increased Area of Effect
Grace/Wrath/Anger - AoE + Utility
Grace
Wrath
Anger
Reduced Mana
Infernal Blow - AoE + Finisher
Infernal Blow
Culling Strike
Increased Area of Effect
Flasks
Flask Set 1
Life Flask
Life Flask
Amethyst Flask
Granite Flask
Quicksilver Flask
Bandits
Kill all the bandits in Normal Difficulty - Rewards 1 Passive Skill PointKill all the bandits in Cruel Difficulty - Rewards 1 Passive Skill PointKill all the bandits in Merciless Difficulty - Rewards 1 Passive Skill PointGear
The nicest part about this build is that it eliminates the need for 3 otherwise very useful stats: Accuracy, Critical Hit Chance/Damage, and Mana. Without need for these stats, you can really optimize your skill points and gear to better suit your needs. Gear shouldn't be too expensive unless you start mixing in too much % increased Weapon Elemental Damage.Weapon: 1-handed Sword, Axe, or Mace - Decent Physical and Elemental Damage
Things to look for in gear (in order of importance):
+ Health
% Resists
Armor/Evasion
+ Physical Damage
% Weapon Elemental Damage (pricey)
% Physical Damage Leeched as Life (pricey)
% Chaos Resists (pricey - can be ignored)
The last 3 stats labeled "pricey" are prioritized last because they can be hard to find/afford in combination with the higher prioritized stats. It is most important to find gear with Health and Resists and socket combinations. As a sidenote, I would really like to use a Carcass Jack chest piece for this build. It would grant Health, Resists, Evasion, and a handy AoE buff.
NOTE: Wrath and Anger provide Lightning and Fire damage to weapons, but not cold. In order to utilize all 3 elements, a weapon with Cold damage already applied, or substituting Weapon Elemental Damage supports for Added Cold Damage may be useful. Of course, the more elemental damage types you can get on a weapon, the better.
Guide
This build is focused on survivability - mainly Health, but also uses a hybrid of Armor/Evasion and some Block. The block is handy because during the Cyclone animation you will not be stunned when you successfully block. I think hybrid works better because:Armor doesn't work unless you stack a rediculous amount through Iron Reflexes + Grace + Determination, which is out of the question with the Blood Magic keystone. Also, Evasion isn't reliable against high damage spikes. I think a good combination of the two may bring about a compromise as long as there is a VERY large health pool to draw from. Of course, you could pretty easily switch this over to an Armor focused build if you wish through the nearby Iron Reflexes keystone.
Similarly, the offensive side of this build is a hybrid between Physical and Elemental damage. This combats nicely between different types of enemy damage mitigation. The Elemental damage allows Cyclone to land large hits, while the Physical damage leeches life and melts single targets with Heavy Strike.
Combat may look something like this:
1.) Cast Enfeeble on mob.
2.) Cast Molten Shell on self.
3.) Leap Slam into mob.
4.) Cyclone for LoH and AoE damage.
5.) Optional - Stop to Infernal Blow low health enemies.
6.) Cyclone some more, until it is safe...
7.) Molten Shell and Enfeeble have most likely exploded/expired.
8.) Heavy Strike enemies left standing.
I hope this serves as a cost-effective and tanky melee build. Any suggestions feel free to comment. I am currently trying to respec some points into my Duelist to make this build, switching over from dual-wielding. I should also mention that this build could easily work for a Marauder or Templar as well.
