Path of Exile 3.10 Best Starter Builds

Path of Exile 3.10 Delirium Best Starter Builds

With the highly anticipated Path of Exile 3.10 Delirium league right around the corner, players are asking on a daily basis in both the forums and on Reddit what builds people are going to start the new league with.

03.19.2020 UPDATE: Adjusted the chart and builds, provided new Links and PoBs.

Unlike 3.9 Metamorph, it appears Delirium will focus on breach-style “zerg” mechanics, which means area of effect and clear are probably going to be stronger requirements than single-target boss killing builds. While builds that can both clear well and boss are included in this overview, a solid starter will probably want to focus more on area clear than single target.

OFFICIAL PATCH NOTES UPDATE!

BUFFED: Assassin Ascendancy was buffed, the changes to Tempered/Transcendent Flesh are solid. Commander of Darkness now grants +30% Elemental Resists (from +20%).
NERFED: Skeletons (40% less damage), Spirit Offering (no longer provides ES and lost elemental resist but gained chaos resist), Carrion Golem Damage (5% vs 8% and 50% vs 80%), Feeding Frenzy (No more Damage, but global so can link to Golem), Bone Barrier Ascendancy no longer grants Elemental Resistance per Minion (30% loss), Baron Helmet(Loss of 2 Zombies at 1500 Strength, 1.5% vs 2% Damage), Precision (20% Critical at Level 1 vs. 50% prior).
MORE: Fossil crafting was fundamentally changed, but we can still craft what we’re looking for; just differently. Impale was not changed at all!

3.10 PATCH IMPACT ON THESE BUILDS

Yes, Summoners were hit, but with the Cluster Jewel enhancements available, they are still rock solid (especially Zombies) and will perform exceptionally this league! Brunowa (the author of the King of All Summoners) wrote: “Overall, I think it was a fair nerf and we are set to still be one of (if not still) the strongest build in the game! And I’m sure once we get into the game and start playing around with things and improving upon it we’ll only get better.” I agree with him completely. While the biggest hit to the Zombie build was the nerf on Spirit Offering and lack of elemental resistances from Bone Barrier (which is now Chaos, which is actually good), the summoner builds will do just fine!

To clarify, with the introduction of Cluster Jewels, every build in the game is going to have the potential of evolving beyond any currently defined guide, but it will take time for the enhanced version of a build to be refined (which can only happen after the 3.10 launch). As such, don’t worry about following a guide at launch as nobody knows what the evolved Cluster Jewel version of a build will be for days or even weeks after the league launches. As time passes, build guides will be updated to include the expanded growth and use of Cluster Jewels. As that happens, the content provided herein will be updated accordingly.


Here is a great complete visual Categorized breakdown of each Cluster Jewel Node for Delirium!

Introduction

Skip Straight to the list!

I want to preface by saying I spent weeks testing each one of the top builds (and many in the follow-up list) as SSF/Leveling to end-game to verify their viability as they compare to each other as potential league starters for 3.10. This includes verifying their performance while leveling on as little as a 3-link to Act IV, their overall survival, bossing, clear speed, and scaling potential based on the first and second day of the league (which is often more SSF for players until the market grows and stabilizes).

Relative to this overview, I want to acknowledge how important play style is. Some people hate totems while others only play totem builds. Some like Melee while others love bow builds. The diversity of PoE is one of its greatest features, but also one of the most complex aspects of the game. While a build may be listed as “best” or “top”, some players may disagree because of the style(s) they prefer – but one thing is assured – the builds listed herein are all rock solid and viable for their represented roles as great league starters for 3.10 Delirium.

Path of Building is required to view many of the below builds. Additionally, make sure you have a good loot filter. I personally recommend NeverSink’s Loot Filter.

Qualifying the Best Starter Builds

Before I present the list, I want to say something very important: just because it’s on the top list doesn’t mean it’s a “best build”. I’m presenting this list based on my personal experience as well as the feedback of other gamers and streamers. I’m sure there’s a few solid builds that could make the top 5 list that I have either overlooked or personally don’t care for the play style of (but others could really enjoy). One thing to keep in mind is 3.10 Delirium focuses on breach-style mechanics; as such, I’ve chosen builds that either focus on clear (with proper survival), or a balance of clear and bossing.

Top Starter Builds for 3.10 Delirium

I created the above list of builds based on my personal experience from 3.9 and the changes that are anticipated for 3.10. Everyone thought Summoners would be nerfed hard in 3.9, but they still came out on top. Even with the nerfs to Summoners in 3.10, the above chart is still accurate, and summoners will still be one of (if not the) best league starters!

When it comes to a league starter, my core goal is to have a build that can easily handle yellow-tier maps on self-found gear and farm enough currency to “kickstart” any other build I want to try; but I also want a build that is capable of growing into and handling nearly all content if I want to stick with that build for a long period of time.

In addition to the above, here are the qualifiers I used to put together the list:

  1. Easy to Gear (SSF to T6-T10 Maps).
  2. Easy to acquire skills during leveling.
  3. Works on 4L to T6 Maps.
  4. Good Clear.
  5. Good Bossing.
  6. Solid Survival (most are HC Viable).
  7. Can Delve “well”.
  8. Fun to play.

Let’s get started!

The 3.10 Delirium Best Starter Builds List

Note there are more than 20 build guides/PoB links below. If the build you were hoping to find isn’t in the top ten, check the following section!

For new players, you need to install Path of Building to view the PoB files.

Here is the list of what I believe the top ten Path of Exile 3.10 Delirium top Starter Builds are, omitting the pursuit of the new Ranged skills and minion nerfs. I also cover a number of other builds after the list for reference.

Make sure you check the Notes section of any PoB you download; that’s where most of the leveling information will be found!

Build – #1 Cyclone Impale Champion

Pros: Steady and solid, well-balanced, all content, good damage & survival, great delver. HC Viable.
Cons: Can be a bit slow and steady in the beginning. Not everyone likes Spin to Win.
Play Style: Spin. Win. Flask. Leap. Spin. Win some more. Impale. Death abounds!
Build Links: (Updated 03.16.2020) Custom PoB with Leveling Notes (updated for 3.10 and based on AlkaizerX’s build, also used by top end-game Champion Cyclone builds in 3.9 for HC and Deep Delving)

This is probably one of the best builds for 3.10 that’s balanced across the board and unlikely to be nerfed at all. While it doesn’t have the best clear speed, it makes up for it by being steady, reliable, and having better bossing potential than other faster clear builds. It’s also a build that can ultimately do all content in the game and is also a great delver.

03.15.2020 Note: I league started with this build, and it’s awesome. I recommend it as the #1 option with how RIPpy Delirium currently is. The PoB has been updated to level with Axes. Switch to Cyclone as soon as you get a 5-6 link!

Build – #2 Storm Brand Hierophant

Pros: Great starter (level 12), good clear and single-target, HC, SSF and All Content Viable
Cons: Can be squishy, have to be very careful in Lab (Traps)
Play Style: Toss down those Brands and let them work over your targets! Recall and ZAP!
Build Links: (Updated 03.19.2020) My PoB (Leveling notes) based on Nugiyen’s L99 HCSSF build.

Quickly becoming one of the most popular builds, Storm Brand saw a huge burst of damage from the new Archmage skill as well as the new Cluster Nodes. It’s fun, does great damage (both single target and clear), delves well, and can do all content (with the right gear) while being HC and SSF viable. Nugiyen almost hit L100 in HCSSF with this build but accidentally ran an elemental reflect map.

Build – #3 Lacerate Gladiator

Pros: All content strong build, great delver, tanky, bleedsplosions!
Cons: Slow to start.
Play Style: Leap, Lacerate, BLEEDSPLOSION!
Build Links: (Updated 03.19.2020) Zizaran’s 3.10 PoB (Has leveling trees and notes), Zizaran’s 3.10 Bleed Lacerate League Starter Youtube Video.

Lacerate Gladiator is one of the best builds I’ve ever played (3.8 and 3.9), and enabled Steelmage to hit Level 100 in HCSSF 3.10 Delirium first. This build levels as Bladestorm with Axes, and once in maps, switches to Axe/Shield and Lacerate. If you want one of the most balanced melee builds in the game that can do all content, is SSF and HC viable, bounces and bleeds, and can delve deeper than 600; this is it.

Build – #4 Bleed Split Arrow Gladiator / Champion

Pros: Cheap, start at Level 4, great clear, good bossing, HC Viable.
Cons: None
Play Style: Shooting, penetrating and bleedsploding your enemies!
Build Links: PoB for Gladiator Version (updated for 3.10 with leveling notes), PoB for Champion Version (updated for 3.10 with leveling notes)

I can’t speak highly enough about this build; it’s simply awesome. The Gladiator version is quick to level, has great damage, clears very well, downs bosses with Puncture as they bleed out running to chase you. The Champion version is a bit slower but has better survival. If you’re playing non-HC, I recommend the Gladiator variation. If you want to survive Hardcore, I recommend the Champion version.

Build – #5 Holy Flame Totem Hierophant

Pros: Cheap, Start at Level 4, good clear, good bossing, HC viable.
Cons: Totem Play Style can bore some.
Play Style: Channeled Totems, Fire Fire Fire!
Build Link: HFT PoB (Wallach) (3.10 version), Link to Wallach’s complete HFT guide

Steady is good, and Holy Flame Totem is exactly that. While Freezing Pulse Totems is my favorite for end-game totem murder, that build requires two unique jewels (First Snow) and a Soul Mantle to really shine. Without Soul Mantle, a socket must be taken by Spell Totem. With HFT you don’t need to socket a Spell Totem. The damage is good, bosses melt, survival is great, and it’s solid all the way to T10 maps on just a 4-link, which makes it an awesome league starter.

Build – #6 Ball Lightning Mines

Pros: Cheap, good clear, awesome bossing, excellent delver.
Cons: Start at L28. Mine play style can be clunky.
Play Style: Mines creating a lightning wall of death that destroys EVERYTHING.
Build Links: Ball Lightning Miner Video Guide by PoE Builds

Ball Lightning Mines destroyed all content in 3.9, equally melting the screen just the same as all bosses. There’s something magical about the flashing balls melting everything on the screen. This build is very powerful on just a 4-link, it delves excellently, and is easy to level once you get the skill at 28.

Build – #7 Toxic Rain Mines Saboteur & Trickster

Pros: Cheap, start at Level 12, good clear, good bossing, HC viable, fun.
Cons: Miner play style; nonstop key-pressing and clicking. Self-cast trickster is good alternative.
Play Style: Ranged Mines; lots of clicking OR self-cast ranged attack; Poison/Chaos Damage (DoT)
Build Links: TR Mines PoB (Octavian) (updated for 3.10, includes leveling notes), Toxic Rain Trickster Guide by typicaldemon

TR Miners and self-cast tricksters did great this league, and will continue to be excellent performers. I’m wrapping both the miner and self-cast versions into this single entry for those who want to pursue different play styles. Either way, you can’t go wrong with Toxic Rain melting the entire screen in just a second or two.

Build #8 – Skeleton / Zombie Summoner

Pros: Cheap, start at level 10, good clear, very good bossing, HC viable.
Cons: None
Play Style: Self-Cast Minions at Location, Phys Damage. Meat Shield Zombies.
Build Links: King of all Summoners (Zombies) by brunowa, iLL3aT’s Cold Skeletons, Esoro’s Zombie Necromancer

As mentioned in the patch notes, Summoners were nerfed, but each of these builds should still be viable; the Skeleton damage hit may make using SRS while leveling more viable, but once in maps, Skeletons should perform just fine. One of the key play styles of a Summoner are the mechanics of monster targeting fo survival, so not only do our buddies wreck enemies, they also taunt and take aggro from us, which increases our survival greatly. Each of these builds should be awesome as a league starter, with the only concern being associated with the Cold Skeleton build, since Skeletons lost 40% of their damage, which will be felt during leveling – but here’s the thing, they were way too powerful in 3.9. The 40% nerf may make them “great” instead of “op”. Ultimately, if you want to play skeletons, you should be fine; and we need to remember the new Cluster Jewel nodes enhance our summoners even more! As such, I’ve provided three top build references; two for zombies, and one for skeletons. For those who like to cast on top of a target to kill it, go with Skeletons. If you just want to just cyclone through everything and have your Zombies clean up around you, go with Zombies.

03.15.2020 Update: Zombies are doing just fine, it’s just that everyone has jumped on the Animate Weapon bandwagon; the problem is AW is dying like crazy in Delirium, so it’s very squishy. If you want a Minion build, Zombies are still solid.

Build – #9 ED / Contagion Trickster

Pros: Fun, start at level 12, best clear, good survival, minimal gear requirements.
Cons: Can be squishy, bossing is slow, delve is average.
Play Style: Mark, Release, Watch the entire screen die. With bosses, Mark, run around screaming while you dodge, watch the boss die.
Build Link: Ultimate ED Trickster guide by Darkxellmc, Ghazzy’s Universal Essence Drain & Contagion build guide.

Essence Drain & Contagion is going to be very popular this league because it’s one of the best clearing builds in the game. While the single target damage is average at best (compared to other builds), it is quite enjoyable to destroy the entire screen (and even off-screen) with a single cast. Spread the love around!

Build – #10 SRS Necromancer

Pros: Fun, Start at Level 4, good clear, good bossing.
Cons: Can be squishy and doesn’t delve well.
Play Style: RELEASE THE HOMING MISSILES OF FACE-EATING DEATH!
Build Links: Angry Roleplayer’s SRS guide

I’ve always loved Summon Raging Spirits. It’s just fun, especially to level. While it’s not a top contender by any means for reaching 100 or pushing delve, as a first character, it’s enjoyable to play, easy to gear, and has great clear. It’s great for building the currency and item base for your next build.

What about the other great builds?!

There are a ton of other great builds to consider as league starters for 3.10. Here’s the continued list for consideration.

Make sure you check the Notes section of any PoB you download; that’s where most of the leveling information will be found!

  1. Storm Burst Trickster is one of the best caster builds I’ve ever played. You can destroy the entire screen in seconds and melt bosses like few other skills (with very little investment). It’s very fun, scales well, and is a great league starter, able to quickly get you to maps. Just be prepared you could die a few times, and make sure you level with a physical melee skill until you get Storm Burst at level 12. Here’s a link to Esoro’s 3.9 Storm Burst Trickster PoB (details in notes).
  2. Caustic Arrow Trickster is another top performer that is likely to remain untouched with the 3.10 patch, Caustic Arrow is fun, has great survival, balanced clearing and single-target, and is just plain fun. It’s also easy to scale and build your own 6 link chaos bow in SSF. Here’s a link to My PoB with Notes (Updated for 3.10 with leveling notes, 3.4M DPS)
  3. Poison Blade Vortex Assassin has grown popular this league. It’s fun, clears well, and is also good at delving; it’s just a bit squishy and prone to 1-shots. Here’s a link to Gr0bb’s Poison BV Build Guide.
  4. CI Vortex Occultist is one of the best end-game builds, but it’s not the friendliest for SSF or easy leveling. However for those who are experienced in the game, they can make it work both as a starter and in SSF mode. Here’s a link to Ghazzy’s Vortex Cold Snap Occultist build.
  5. Icicle Mines is another great league starter, but I enjoyed the other builds more. Here’s a PoB of BeerLeague’s Low Life Icicle Mines Build. Here’s a link to the forum guide. Note it did receive a nerf in 3.9 of 20% damage and fewer projectiles.
  6. Cobra Lash clears well, is fun and is great as a league starter, but has poor bossing damage without investment. Here’s the PoB of a high DPS (5M+) lower life (4.8k) version, and the PoB of a lower DPS (600k) and higher life (6.5k) version.
  7. Storm Brand Inquisitor is quick and fun, but it doesn’t perform as well as the other builds while leveling when it comes to bossing (but the clear is great, and it’s rock solid for experienced players rushing to maps). Here’s a Storm Brand Inquisitor PoB for 3.9 that I used (details in notes). Thi3n also wrote a solid Storm Brand Inquisitor Guide for 3.9.
  8. Frost Blades lacks boss damage while leveling with self-found gear and is squishy, but is fun, clears great and is amazing at end-game with the right investment. Here’s a PoB based on Unchained’s 40M DPS version.
  9. Cyclone Impale Slayer is solid, tried and true, but is very slow to level up without solid gear investment. Here’s a PoB based on Duel Wield Ahn’s Might. It rocks, and is a great league starter because Ahn’s Might is very common and cheap.
  10. Bane is fun, fast, and solid, but doesn’t boss nearly as well as the top builds in the list. Some players also prefer Bane with Essence Drain rather than Contagion. Here’s the PoB of a Bane ED Trickster. It’s solid.
  11. Rain of Arrows Poison Pathfinder is a ton of fun. It’s faster clear than Caustic Arrow but bosses a bit slower. Here’s the PoB of this build. It’s fast, fun, and is a great farmer. Here’s a link to Astarift’s Pathfinder Poison RoA build (the one I ran, which rocks). Rain of Arrows received a 10% damage buff in 3.9.
  12. Freezing Pulse Totems is one of the best totem builds in the game; balanced for clear, bossing and delving, once you get the jewels and “good” equipment, you can do all the content PoE has to offer, which includes shattering the entire screen. It’s just not the best league starter because you need two First Snow jewels and a Soul Mantle to make it really work. Once you have those, the build rocks. Here’s Wallach’s Freezing Pulse Totems build guide.
  13. Vortex Trickster is solid for those who like the play style, and for end-game it’s one of the tankiest and most steady builds out there, capable of doing all content. Leveling to 28 with Stormblast mines is cake (and fun), and unlike Occultist, the Trickster variant can start using Vortex at 28. Vortex is also one of the best delvers in the game. It’s just a bit slow to ramp up, requires a switch to CI around level 70-75 and is a different play style from other builds. It’s also a bit squishy prior to CI due to the combination of life and ES (both around 1500 in SSF/league start before transition to CI), but once you get Ghost Dance and Escape Artist, it has great survival and solid damage; and the cold slows everything down. Here’s a PoB based on Gryphenprey’s build.
  14. Arc (Elementalist or Totems) is one of the most fun and visually satisfying skills to play, and with Arc getting a buff in 3.9, this could be a great league-starting option for Metamorph! Here’s a link to Enki’s Arc Elementalist build guide. Here’s also a link to Havock5700’s Arc Totems Build Guide. Arc’s chain range was increased by 40% in 3.9.
  15. Soulrend Trickster is a solid build guide (I actually ran it in 3.8, but it’s performance was just “ok”). With the buff from 3.9, Soulrend could become one of the best new league builds/starters. Here’s a link to Syreith’s Soulrend Trickster build guide. Soulrend received a substantial buff of 50% higher duration in 3.9.

Conclusion

There are definitely other great builds that could have made it on the list, but I believe the above list is solid for what we’ve learned in 3.9 and what should carry to 3.10 Delirium as Top Starter Builds.

I hope this list helps the PoE community; here’s to the continued success of Path of Exile and the fantastic job Grinding Gear Games has done with the game!

  1. I like your guide and I used the one you made for 3.9, too.

    You have a couple of errors:
    1. The Ball lightning description is placed in the Bleed Split Arrow Gladiator / Champion box.
    2. Lacerate Gladiator build has link to SRS Necro guide.

    Also, I recently finished the story on an SSF Bladestorm build. It was very strong.

    Thanks for your work.

  2. Thank you very much! Fixed! I didn’t play Bladestorm this league; how does it perform compared to Cyclone and Lacerate? The reason I didn’t try it is because very few people played it; only 0.5% in HC, and 0.8% in SSFHC. It did come in at 1% in SSF but only 0.3% in normal league.

  3. Big thanks for the work that you do, your content is so well laid it that it is a joy just reading and researching.

    Couple of questions compared to your previous installments:

    1) You mentioned totem plays fell off in the followup article for 3.9, yet holy flame totem is listed here again, anything changed?
    2) How do you feel about the storm burst trickster for this “zergy” incoming league?

  4. Thanks for the support, Edin! Nothing has changed with HFT, but it’s probably the best performing totem skill for a new league starter because it requires no specific items nor spell totem, which means you can max it out as much as possible without Soul Mantle; it also shines with big groups because of the flaming AoE. If I were to start a new totem build for 3.10 I’d definitely go HFT.

    Esoro’s Storm Burst Trickster is awesome; it’s just a bit squishy – but one of the best casters in the game (in my opinion). I just decided to focus on other builds this league since the Storm Burst build was covered last league. Based on your feedback I’m actually going to add the build to the second list for reference since it should still rock in 3.10.

  5. Thanks for your advice bd lists! Poison rain or poison blade storm may be my start bd for next season.

  6. Thanks! I’m still updating it, and will continue to enhance it before and after the launch of the league. I haven’t tried Poison Rain of Arrows or Blade Storm as of yet; let me know how it goes!

  7. I think I know one of these :eyes:
    Miners and Necro are supposed to get massive nerfs, I hope they’ll need some currency investment to clear the endgame now. Seems like it’ll be the case when neon talks about it.
    Anyways, that’s a pretty good list! For all playstyles and builds that leaguestart very well.
    Thanks!

  8. Thanks for the feedback! My $0.02 is Necros and Miners will be nerfed a bit, but still quite viable in 3.10. The class mechanics are beloved by too many for GGG to destroy them. We’ll find out more tomorrow!

  9. Thanks for chucking that soulrend build up – first proper league start for me so looking forward to it!

    Just need an efficient leveling tree / gem guide now.. might be something I need to make myself though, not even sure what levels I can get the relevant gems.

    Also…Cat MTX.

  10. Hello,
    David
    Don’t you think survival will be the most important thing in this league? (Better rewards in the deeper, more dangerous areas of delirium)

    PS. Thanks for the advice in the last league. I turned the SRS necro into a Skeleton and easily finished Sirius.
    BR,
    Daniel

  11. Thanks for the work once again, i was surprised not seeing cremation on the list. I was thinking of it as my league starter, as it was a strong ssf build last league. Do you think it’s still fine?

  12. Survival is always important 🙂 Since it appears Delirium is a combination of Breach and Delve, this means zerg with scaling, so crowd control with delve skills; this leads me to believe the best builds will be deep delvers that could clear well, like Max Block Lacerate, Vortex, HoAG Jugg, and a few others (Mana Guardian was nerfed).

  13. The reason I removed it is because it’s a bit clunky and the Chieftain Version doesn’t give the jewels you need while leveling (which makes it unviable as a starter), however the Necro version gets up and running very quick and is a lot of fun; here’s the POB with Leveling Notes: https://pastebin.com/YQziisek

  14. Thoughts on Punc/Split Arrow Bleed Glad now with the fossil craft nerfs?

    Is it stil league starter viable or am I better off just going a summoner at the beginning?

  15. Bleed SA should still do very well, but something people aren’t talking about is it seems to have lost around 20% of it’s damage with the 3.10 PoB. I haven’t had time to investigate the exact cause; it may be due to the new jewel passives that were added (which can provide great bleed support), but the core builds did take a damage hit. Summoner should still be rock solid as a league starter.

  16. What are your thoughts on the viability/success of an Animate Weapon Summoner starter with the 3.10 changes?

  17. Hard to say TBH since nobody has really made a “starter” version of it (as far as I’m aware). Honestly, I’d stick with a proven build as my first build rather than risking an unproven starter build; but there’s nothing wrong with trying new things if that’s the route you want to go! When I start a new league, I like to stick with proven builds to grow my initial unique and currency base – then I can start playing around with other builds in a more enjoyable fashion.

  18. You have me intrigued about the gladiator bleed split arrow build, but the path of building is giving Lua errors for that and champion build links. Maybe it’s an issue with PoB?

  19. Ah sorry about that. It’s because I’m a nub and did not even realize that PoB was a separate application, I was using a web version =3. Cheers for that and the cool website.

  20. Very nice guide, as always.
    I chose my end-game build from your last list I don’t regret it.

    I’m starting 3.10 with ED/con, but not sure of which of the 2 is better.
    Have you tried both? Would you bet for a winner there?

  21. How would you say Soulrend trickster compares to ED overall? Im guessing ED has better clear, but what about bossing, budget and safety?

  22. Thanks for another great article! It puts me a bit off balance because I was contemplating cremation necro, too, now I don’t know ^^ anyway I also wanted to say thanks (again) for your previous articles, I had a lot of fun with Freezing Pulse Hierophant in Blight and Block Bleed Lacerate Gladiator in Metamorph (yes, I only build one character each league, no time for more!)

    Or maybe I’ll just take a break?… 😉

  23. Both of the ED/C guides are solid; honestly, just review the one you prefer and go for it – you can always adjust it later if necessary – plus the builds will evolve as people start unlocking the new Jewels. Let me know how it goes!

  24. Soulrend is more “fun” and I think both boss about the same. But ED/C will delve better than Soulrend due to the tight corridors. So that’s a consideration. For this league, I’d choose ED/C.

  25. Cremation Necro is a ton of fun, but a combination of AoE clear and survival will probably be king this league and something about Cremation Necro just doesn’t vibe right with me based on the videos I’ve seen of Delirium. But if you do a 1-shot build for all content, in all honesty, I’d go Impale Cyclone Champion. It will be able to do everything and wasn’t nerfed at all with 3.10 (it actually has buff potential with the new jewel/passive nodes). Let me know what you decide!

  26. Thank you for this! Excellent compilation and good place for anyone to start.
    Sorry to see you give up GD though, but can understand your frustration. Still following your guides there (crunchybones there as well 🙂 )
    Good work mate. Much appreciated.

  27. Ah but not only I do a 1-shot build, but on top of that, each league I try a new class. I’m left with only Witch and Scion (and I don’t think you like Scion very much, I can’t remember a single Scion build in all your articles, and I think I’ve read them all xD) I don’t want to play summoner and so my options are limited. Did you try the Herald of Purity Necro by any chance? xD

  28. Unfortunately not; I’m sure HoP will be very strong this league, but I haven’t played any updated builds for HoP since the release of 3.9. My guess is there will be plenty of posts in the forums. Let me know if you find something solid!

  29. Why destroyer circle (only 2h MELEE weapons) taken as SA bleed Champion ? Am i missing somthing ? Lioneye aint close so its not that.

  30. You are correct – they changed it and didn’t put it in the patch notes! In 3.9 it gave the Ailment chance to any 2H weapon, in 3.10 they changed it to 2H Melee only. The good news is the new dynamic jewel nodes should make up for this. Good find – thanks!

  31. For Cyclone Champion the notes say to go with Alira, but the tree uses 2 passives for killing all the bandits… I’m guessing I’ll need to go with Alira and drop the Juggernaut then, if I read the notes right?

  32. Hi David, a fantastic Work done here! so helpful!

    I Have now to make a choice between Cyclone Impale Champion or Storm Burst Trickster for this new chapter. Trickster seems a very nice one, but for a newbe like me not so easy to understand. the PoPb file / Note is not explaining very well the leveling for links and skills. I found a video from Esoro updated for 3.10 but he is speaking mainly about end game configuration. Not easy…

    By the way what do you thing between the two builds?

    Era

  33. Yes; one reallocates and drops Alira at end-game, but so few players get that far (so many create another character) it’s not defined in the PoB notes. So yes, level to ~90 or so with Alira then you can look at switching at that point. BTW Impale Cyclone Champion was made for Delirium; probably one of the best builds for it IMO (with how RIPpy it is).

  34. Definitely go Cyclone Impale; survival is a big problem with Delirium (it’s overtuned and GGG needs to adjust it). Storm Burst Trickster will melt.

    I’m running the Cyclone build and it’s doing very, very good.

  35. Figure I’ll try out the Cyclone Impale build for my second character, since I’m not really liking my first. I’m assuming on the PoB you refund and swap from Phase III to the Default build when you get a pair of swords worth using? I know right now the Scaeva / Ahn’s Might setup is pretty popular pre-foils.

  36. You got it! Axes are so good during leveling we can’t avoid using them; and Axes can easily carry you to 90+ and even end-game if you can’t find the best swords. You can also consider switching to a facebreaker build as well. Let me know how it goes, and enjoy!

  37. Just skimming over your notes for the Cyclone build, and noticed the gems/links don’t matchup with the ones listed in PoB. I assume the “End-game setup” under your notes are the ones to follow rather than the ones listed under Skills?

  38. Hi David, thanks for all your work, I used some of your grim dawn builds as well. I have a question about the cyclone build. In the PoB skill tree, I see how to level with phase 1,2,3 and that defualt is the end-game setup. My question is, will I have enough respec points in order to go from phase 3 to the endgame build without running into issues. Thanks again!

  39. Well, if you’re complete with Phase 3 you’re probably doing Red-tier maps, so you’ll have enough currency to purchase Orbs of Regret if that’s the route you want to go. I think many players will stick with Axes just because it works and is easy. But for min/maxing one should definitely consider Swords for DPS or Facebreakers/Shield for survival.

  40. Hi. on cyclone champ pob, theres a red circle on some of the passive. what does it means?

  41. A big thanks for the cyclone update David. indeed it is awesome!

    thanks also for the Notes update. more precise now, especially avoiding to use abreviation for the gems names. i was crazy with your previous build 🙂

    Era

  42. I really wish you’d linked to the forum guides for some of the top ranked builds you have instead of just the PoBs. Other than that, the updated rankings for 3.10 have definitely helped me to evaluate what to try next now that I feel like the bleed split arrow build has hit it’s high point for me at early maps. It’s just a bit too squishy for the Delirium mechanics and I got a few other options to try. Thanks!

  43. I link what I have personally played and can vouch for; I know there are some great forum guides, but many of them look great, but aren’t taken to end-game and played by the top players. Every build was getting facerolled by Delirium – but the latest changes should have made it easier for survival. I know the Bleed Champion can do all content (Gladiator is more for mapping and delving, but not for all content since it’s squishier). If you’re doing Gladiator, you could give the Champion version a try.

  44. You can quickly look up the top Facebreaker Cyclone builds in poe.ninja. I recommend looking at HC characters as they are usually the most resilient. Good luck!

  45. Hey,

    I started a Duelist based off of your ‘Build – #1 Cyclone Impale Champion’. The PoB is only partially complete. Did you get a chance to complete the build?

  46. It’s all there – select the different trees within the dropdown combo box to the lower left of the tree window (just to the left of RESET and IMPORT TREE).

  47. Hi again,
    Eventually I went Cremation Necro and this far I’m happy with it. It’s fun and visually very satisfying (in a pyrotechnical point of view :p) the only drawback is that I die a lot, but that’s not too bad xD
    Sorry for being a noob, but in your PoB I don’t understand why the Fire Penetration support gem is linked to nothing (in the helmet) am I missing something or was the gem here just to be levelled, waiting for something else?… (and what? ^^)
    Thanks again for the build, neat as usual!

  48. Which cremation necro build are you following? I don’t have one listed in the 3.10 build list, so I assume you are following one from the forums?

  49. What Cluster Jewels for Bleed Split arrow? love the build, but level 90 and cant see taking away from passives suggested to use for Cluster Jewel.

  50. No, no, I’m following the PoB for cremation necro that you posted right here in this thread (#14)

    It’s the only resource I’m using, because even on poe ninja, apparently, nobody with lvl >90 is running it (well I’m only lvl85 anyway)

  51. Oh my apologies! For some reason my brain referenced it as Volatile Dead (which is what people are running this league). Last league, players took it to 100 so I know it’s definitely viable (I think I took mine to 90 or so last league). I honestly can’t remember the Fire Pen Gem allocation; it could have been for uber boss fight swapping. I do remember Cremation can do all content in the game though; shouldn’t be any different in 3.10.

  52. Is there any way to look these up not using PoB? It’s just too damn convoluted for someone who just wants to learn the game.

  53. Hi David, Hope that you are well!!

    I am playing now SB Hierophant and it is a fantastic character to play, love it.
    Now i have really something strange with my gems. as soon as i have Attached Archmage support to Storm Burst, When i Use SB my Mana is all consumed in 1 second. when I take off Archmage everything is fine…strange no?

    I am at the end of Phase two in leveling and I follow closely your build. The only one slot that i did not validate in the build is RuneBinder (to use HoT longer)

    Thanks David

  54. There might be build guides for some of the PoB’s, but I usually provide a PoB because there is no viable build guide – however each PoB should have leveling notes and leveling trees. Which build in particular are you considering?

  55. Thanks! Interesting; I didn’t encounter any mana issues like that at all (and I played it as SSF start from scratch). Since Archmage costs more based on unreserved mana, I’m guessing you don’t have your auras, etc. up? I’ve run two Archmage builds so far and didn’t have any mana issues with either of them. My apologies for not posting a more helpful response, but I don’t know what the issue could be 🙁

  56. I’m on console and fairly casual. The overwhelmingly negative feedback on Delerium convinced me to sit out this league.

    Still feeling the temptation though! Impale cyclone champion and EDC trickster both call to me.

    Given the late start, the semi-ssf nature of console poe, and my casual hours… Should I exercise willpower and stay away?

  57. Hey Scott! The first two weeks of the league were terrible; Delirium was completely imbalanced and everyone was getting 1-shot. The good news is it’s been fixed and is actually fun now EXCEPT for the fact it’s hard to go back and pick things up because it leaves exploding bodies, etc. behind you. However once you do a circle, it’s usually OK. I’d go with Impale Cyclone Champion; that was my first and it destroyed everything (even during the bad Delirium balance). Let me know how things go!

  58. Hi David!

    Really liking the Cyclone Impale Champion so far. When or at what level do you recommend switching from Phase 3 to End-Game swords? For a casual non-min/maxer, is axes through the end game viable?

  59. Honestly, you can stay axes the whole time if you want – you should only really consider switching to swords if you want to spend 10ex+ on custom foils. The other alternative is to switch to the facebreaker variation – that seems to be the current end-game preference now. Here’s a PoB I put together if you’re interested: https://pastebin.com/xH2rhsYt

  60. Slow going for me so far. Frustrated to have to stick with Bladestorm for so long, but sticking with it. Dying a lot because my gear is shoddy, but reluctant to shop for upgrades when I assume I’ll replace it all ASAP. Plus I have no idea what gear to look for.

    Looking ahead, I’m confused about some things: the pob notes contradict the skills section in a few places. And the Soul Tether belt surprises me, since it works off life leech – does Blood Rage alone provide enough leech for that to be useful, or is there some other source of it?

    Sorry about my cluelessness. Maybe I should be looking for a more hand-holding build guide.

  61. Thank you so much for replying so quickly, I sort of assumed it cause I saw 2 1 handed swords in the end build, but wasn’t sure. I’m really liking the frost blades to start. Got my butt handed to me by Brutas, mostly because my guy was almost there when I started this build and my frost blades was level 2. So that was fun. Once it caught up I was just face rolling things again. I can’t wait to get to Act 2 today! Just dropped more money than I care to mention to get the white armor set… so yeah! It’s a great quarantine!

    Stay healthy and safe mate.

  62. for the cyclone impale, only 36 points in the tree are assigned when I imported the code from pastebin

  63. Nevermind for some reason it imported wrong for the Cyclone build. What are your thoughts on cluster jewels for this build though?

  64. love the cyclone build, but the endgame of the build is unclear. In the notes it says to have your CWDT set up in your boots, but then in the items he says to use boots that have no sockets (Koam’s). Additionally, the watchers eye doesn’t seem to reflect any of the endgame skills listed in the notes. He switches off of pride for endgame, but seems to use a watchers eye based off of pride. This is only my second season to play, I’m more than sure most of you can logically switch things out from experience playing. I’m trying to figure out how to make adjustments and having a hard time. The boots for example seem fairly important to the build, but where do I put the cwdt/enfeeble if I use Koam’s?

  65. Sorry for the confusion; you’ll need to drop those when you get Kaom’s Roots. You can look at the skill setup of the PoB to see the end-game setup vs. the leveling (Axes/Non-Kaom’s) build. I hope this helps!

  66. Hey David! First time using PoB and pretty new to PoE in general, so I’m confused by your leveling notes as far as what skills to take.

    For instance on the SB Hierophant you have this in the notes:

    Leveling
    Start: PurFlame+FrostB
    Blastchaine Mines (Boss)
    Mid: SB+AddLD+CD+Conc | HoT | WoC

    Act I
    (Start) PurFlame+EleProlif
    (Medicine) ASurge(x2)
    (Cave) HFT+FrostBl
    (Prison) AddLight (+PurFlam+EleProlif)
    (Mervail) StormB+Clarity+SC+FlameD

    Other than guesses at the names of skills (is FrostB “Frost Bolt” or “Frost Bomb”? There is no Blastchaine skill, do you mean Storm mines with Blastchain support?) I am very confused as to what skills I should be changing out or what supports should attach where. Could you help me parse it a bit better? Thanks!

  67. Sorry for the noob question… Returning player here and have a question regarding your Build – #4 Bleed Split Arrow Gladiator.

    Looking at the skill tree in PoB, why are you allocating skills to 2H melee damage for a bow build? Is there something I’m missing?

    Thanks for the help and the builds!

  68. Thanks for the reply!

    I might just not be seeing it, but could you go into a little bit more about how to determine what skills and supports to use based on the leveling notes in the PoB?

  69. I see that one, but the area I was talking about, you have the Hypnotic Glimmer Crimson Jewel. Again, sorry for any noob questions/confusion.

  70. I would need to know what build you’re referring to? The notes paired with the multiple leveling trees should be pretty solid, but if any part seems confusing or incorrect, let me know and I can fix it. Thanks!

  71. Oh! I think you mean the Champion version? You are absolutely correct! Not sure how that slipped through; go ahead and go left from master arena to go around the 2H nodes.

    Hmmm… I wonder how those got in there! If you could confirm the exact PoB you’re referring to, I’ll fix and post an update.

  72. So let’s look at this example from the Stormbrand Heirophant (though it’s similar across the few builds I looked at):

    Leveling
    Start: PurFlame+FrostB
    Blastchaine Mines (Boss)
    Mid: SB+AddLD+CD+Conc | HoT | WoC

    Act I
    (Start) PurFlame+EleProlif
    (Medicine) ASurge(x2)
    (Cave) HFT+FrostBl
    (Prison) AddLight (+PurFlam+EleProlif)
    (Mervail) StormB+Clarity+SC+FlameD

    The Act I (Start) makes sense since that is a primary+support, but then you have (Medicine) Asurge(x2)… Given that 4L items are not available, what am I supposed to do with those? Throw them in random slots to level up?

    Then there’s (Cave) HFT+FrostBl. Both of those are primary skills and don’t match up with the PurFlame+EleProlif example.

    As you acquire more primary skills, how do you determine which ones to replace or which supports to add to those? For instance I just finished Spike/Sins and one of them has all primary and the other has all support listed.

    Thanks again for all the hard work putting these together and I’m sure that some of this is just me being dense, but any help in understanding is appreciated!

  73. Good points – my apologies the notes for that particular build were a bit scribbly; I should have refined them a bit. Yes, it just means get 2 Arcane Surges and start leveling them in any slot. HFT can stand on its own; I believe FrostBl is supposed to be FrostBo (Bomb). I haven’t played the build since launch, so I can’t remember the details. I’ll be sure to be much more specific in the future as I’m throwing the notes together. Thanks for the feedback!

  74. Last idiotic question, again – My apologies. I started new character (Storm Brand Hierophant). Using Import Pastebin with PoB, only a portion of the Tree shows up. Is the build finished within PoB, or am I not doing something right?

    Thanks again man- you rock.

  75. There is a dropdown to the lower left of the tree that has multiple leveling Phases. The default should be Phase I. Setting it to Phase II or III, etc. should show the growth path for the build. I hope this helps!

  76. Yea my Gladiator is toast, appreciate the help. Was using Champion build and already ascended to Gladiator. Switching over to Storm char. Thanks again

  77. Hey, thanks for the builds. I’ve been playing a bleedsplosion bow gladiator for a while now and started it off with your build. I’ve modified it quite a bit by this point as I’ve been dumping lots of currency into it, and it’s probably one of the most fun builds I’ve ever done. I was wondering about the decision to not include any cluster jewels even after the 3.10 update, though. They seemed incredibly efficient and powerful when I obtained some, and even cheap versions that would fit in a budget build still felt quite good. This isn’t meant as an attack or anything, I was just wondering if there’s some reason I’m missing for not taking a cluster node, or if you feel they actually are good additions to the build.

    Thanks again for the build! This is the first build I feel like I’ve really “completed” to where I feel there are no more possible upgrades (except hitting lvl 100 or mirror-tier items), was a lot of fun.

  78. Hey Zark! When the build was published, the best jewels weren’t really defined – now that the league has been out for quite some time, it’s pretty easy to see what the BiS is 🙂 Thanks for the support!

  79. Skeleton builds have been a thing for a while now. Thanks to the steady damage output and survivability and cheap items this setup is often suggested for new players. Skeletonmancer also has lots of room for modification in it’s gem and passive tree setup so you can tailor the experience in your own play while the core gameplay remains pretty much the same.

  80. Yes, but sadly they got nerfed and they aren’t nearly as strong as they once were. I don’t think anyone has taken skeletons to L100 this league; everyone is doing Spectres or Zombies (with spectre support).

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