Bladestorm
Blood and Sand Gladiator build

Updated for Patch 3.14

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium

Bladestorm is one of the Melee Skills that got introduced in Patch 3.7. It's a Melee attack which creates up to three spinning tornadoes that periodically deals 50% of your Weapon's damage. Bladestorm offers very high sustained single-target damage if you get all three of them to damage the same enemy while in Blood Stance, as well as amazing mobility and area coverage if you switch to Sand stance for increased AoE and Movement Speed. Overall, this build provides great mobility for a Melee class, good clear speed, and very high DPS. It's also fully viable for a Starter Build, since Gladiator is one of the most durable classes thanks to Block mechanic, and can do just fine with just self-found equipment. This build does exceptionally well without any expensive equipment, but if geared properly will allow you to take down any Boss in the game deathless. That's a very versatile build that has been now thoroughly reworked for the current content. 

You can also check our other PoE build right here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

This is a very fast-paced and versatile melee build. You Charge between packs of enemies with greatly increased speed thanks to Close Combat Support Gem and leave deadly tornadoes behind you to obliterate everything. This build also utilizes the new Stances; you should use Blood Stance against Bosses, when you need more single-target damage, and switch to Sand Stance for greatly increased mobility and area coverage. For the defenses, this build uses high Life, max Block Chance, and some additional Physical Damage mitigation from Passives and Armour Rating.  You will also need to master the use of "Attack in place" button (default "Shift" on PC) as the targeting sometimes feel way off, and you will find yourself circling around monsters instead of obliterating them.

We have also decided this Gladiator to dual-wield One-hand Swords which offer the highest DPS when you utilize high Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier. You can also choose to use random high Physical DPS swords or Items like Paradoxica and The Saviour for the best end-game effectiveness.

The video was recorded on a level 93 Gladiator on Standard Softcore mode in Patch 3.14 - it's the newest version of the build with high Physical DPS Jewelled Foil and the Saviour. In the other slots, you will find just random Rare equipment and Pride/Impale Watcher's Eye Jewel

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling Gladiator is very easy. You should mainly focus on increasing your Physical DPS by upgrading the weapon and getting Rings and Gloves with flat added Physical Damage to Attacks. Your core defenses come from your Passives, so you should do just fine in that matter just with the gear you find while completing the campaign. As always, getting extra Movement Speed is always great for leveling which can be achieved by getting the Uniques listed below.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Cleave setup
	Cleave - one of the first Melee attacks available in Path of Exile. Grants decent damage and good AoE which makes it a solid leveling skill
	Ruthless Support - great buff to your DPS which increases the damage of each third hit
	Melee Physical Damage Support - increases the Physical Melee Damage you deal with supported skills
	Maim Support - this Gem will increase your damage and maim enemies on hit, which slows their movement speed and increases the damage they take

Bladestorm setup
	Bladestorm - core skill used in this build. It creates three spinning tornadoes which deal a portion of your weapon's damage with each Hit. It should be used as soon as you reach level 28
	Melee Physical Damage Support
	Pulverise Support - grants very high bonus DPS at a cost of reduced Attack Speed
	Close Combat Support - grants high bonus damage as well as increases your Attack Speed with Movement Skill for a short duration allowing faster travel between packs

Utility Gems
	Ancestral Warchief - summons a Totem which increases your Melee Damage
	Vulnerability - recommended Curse for this build
	Herald of Purity - grants very high bonus DPS based on your Physical Damage
	Leap Slam - recommended Movement Skill used in this build
	Summon Ice Golem - recommended Golem for the campaign which increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance

Bandits:

It's recommended to kill all the Bandits for two extra Passive Points, however, you can also help Alira for the extra Crit. Multiplier if you have a very high Critical Strike Chance

Leveling Skill Trees:

35 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Art of the Gladiator 2) Master of the Arena 3) Dervish 4) Golem's Blood 5) Ambidexterity and Blade Barrier

62 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Gladiator's Preservance 2) Constitution 3) Bloodless 4) Blade Master

Recommended leveling items:

Blackheart - great physical DPS leveling Ring. It is available as soon as level one, and it grants amazing DPS bonuses
Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks 5% increased Physical Damage Adds 1 to 3 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(20-30) to maximum Life (2-4) Life Regenerated per second 10% chance to Cause Monsters to Flee

Meginord's Girdle - powerful Belt which grants a lot of flat Physical Damage and Life
+(25-35) to Strength Adds 5 to 15 Physical Damage to Attacks +25 to Strength 10% increased maximum Life +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance 25% increased Flask Life Recovery rate

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

116 Points Final Skill Tree
116 Points Path of Building(PoB) link 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Painforged
2. Violent Retaliation
3. Versatile Combatant
4. Arena Challenger

Pantheon:

Major God: there are two choices depending on if you are grinding Maps or want to challenge end-game Bosses.

Maps: Soul of Lunaris 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Bosses: Soul of Solaris 6% Physical Damage Reduction if there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50%  less Area Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul - 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Bladestorm setup
	Bladestorm - your primary DPS skill used in this build. Use it in Blood Stance against Bosses and Sand Stance when leveling and farming. It creates multiple tornadoes that can hit the same enemy simultaneously so getting the Helmet enchantment with +1 Bladestorm greatly increases your DPS
	Melee Physical Damage Support - one of the core Support Gems for all Melee/Physical skills
	Brutality Support - grants a very high Physical DPS bonus but makes your Bladestorm unable to deal other types of damage
	Close Combat Support - increases your Melee Damage based on proximity, and causes your Movement Skills to have greatly increased Speed
	Fortify Support - increases your Melee Damage but also grants a very powerful defensive buff that reduces all the damage taken by your character
	Impale Support - greatly increases your Chance to Impale with Attacks which is a great way to scale your DPS

[UTILITY] Auras
	Pride - the best Aura for this pure-physical build which increases the damage you deal to enemies in the radius. The bonus is increased over time, for example against Bosses
	Flesh and Stone - increases your damage further while you are in Blood Stance. It also Maims enemies which bonus effect can be increased by linking this Aura to Maim Support
	Maim Support - increases the damage you deal to enemies Maimed by Flesh and Stone Aura. If your Mana is too low, just skip this Gem and try linking Maim to your Ancestral Totem
	Enlighten Support - reduces the amount of Mana Reserved by supported skills

[UTILITY] Various utility Gems (no links required)
	Ancestral Warchief - this Totem increases your Melee Damage while active. In most cases, you will only need it against Bosses
	Dread Banner - increases your Chance to Impale enemies on Hits with Attacks. This is yet another Gem that can be skipped if you don't have enough Mana
	Blood and Sand - one of the core Auras used in this build which increases your AoE damage at the cost of slightly reducing the radius of your Skills
	Blood Rage - increases your Attack Speed, Life Steal, and generates Frenzy Charges for an extra DPS bonus. It deals moderate amount of damage to your character which can be ignored thanks to your high Leech

[MOBILITY] Leap Slam
	Leap Slam - the best Mobility Skill used for this build which will help you jump over cliffs and obstacles
	Faster Attacks Support
	Lifetap Support - causes Leap Slam to cost Life instead of Mana allowing you to feely spam it

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast Molten Shell after you take a certain amount of damage
	Cast when Stunned Support - it should increase the frequency at which Molten Shell is triggered, and since you should have empty sockets, why not add it?
	Molten Shell - a great Guard Spell which grants a protective shield that absorbs incoming damage based on your Armour Rating

[UTILITY] Riposte setup
	Riposte - a counter-attack that can be triggered very often dealing extra damage and offering additional bonuses like Culling Strike and Power Charges
	Culling Strike Support - makes Riposte instantly kill enemies below 10% Life
	Brutality Support - grants the highest DPS bonus out of all possible Support Gems
	Power Charge on Critical Support - generates Power Charges on Crits. with Riposte

5. Gear Setup

This Bladestorm Gladiator build is very easy to gear up and quite flexible in terms of item choices. We have decided to base it on the Ahn's Might swords which have very high base DPS and grant amazing bonuses when your maximum Frenzy Charge count equals 0, but this build will do just fine with any Rare/High Physical DPS Swords.

If by any chance you are looking for cheap PoE Currency needed to get all recommended gear, you are at the right place. Simply head over to our Market section accessible via the link on top of the page.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully
3. Save you at least a couple of hours on planning your build!

(Helmet) Abyssus - the best in the slot in terms of raw DPS. It increases your Physical Damage taken, but with most hits getting blocked you should be able to live with it

Adds 40 to 60 Physical Damage to Attacks +(20-25) to all Attributes +(100-125)% to Melee Critical Strike Multiplier (100-120)% increased Armour (40-50)% increased Physical Damage taken

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - the most universal choice for the Helmet slot. You can get just a random one with high defensive stats (Life/Resistances) but also an end-game Helmet with Crit. Multiplier and other expensive affixes on it

Min. requirements: 90 Maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Nearby enemies take #% Increased Physical Damage Critical Strike Multiplier Attributes

Helmet enchantment: +1 to maximum number of Bladestorms 40% increased Bladestorm Damage

(Weapon) The Saviour  - one of the best end-game weapons for this build which creates two illusions that will mimic your Attack and deal extra Damage

40% increased Global Accuracy Rating Triggers Level 20 Reflection when Equipped (40-50)% increased Physical Damage Adds (16-22) to (40-45) Physical Damage (8-12)% increased Attack Speed (8-12)% increased Critical Strike Chance

(Weapon) Rare One-Handed Sword  - just aim for the highest Physical DPS. Jeweled Foil is a very solid base thanks to the implicit Crit. Multiplier bonus

Min. requirements: 400 Physical DPS 1.75 Attack Speed Optional affixes: Increased Critical Strike Multiplier Increased Critical Strike Chance

(Body Armour) Loreweave - a good all-around Armour that grants added Physical Damage, Crit, and all kind of attributes. Most importantly, it increases your Maximum Elemental Resistances, but the bonus Elemental Damage is negligible for this Gladiator

Has 6 Sockets Adds (4-10) to (14-36) Physical Damage to Attacks +(8-24) to all Attributes (20-60)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(15-50) to maximum Energy Shield +(20-60) to maximum Life +(20-50) to maximum Mana (6-30)% increased Rarity of Items found (15-50)% increased Elemental Damage Your Maximum Resistances are (76-78)%

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - possibly the BiS option which can grant tons of Life and Defensive stats on top of extra Attack Crit. Chance and possibly flat Mana Cost Reduction of socketed Attacks

Min. requirements: 110 Maximum Life 10% Maximum Life Optional affixes: Attacks have +# to Critical Strike Chance Elemental Resistances Socketed Attacks have -15 to Total Mana Cost

(Body Armour) Belly of the Beast - great well-rounded Body Armour which grants very high bonus Life

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) (150-200)% increased Armour (30-40)% increased maximum Life +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances 50% increased Flask Life Recovery rate Extra gore

(Boots) Rare Boots - get pair with the highest maximum Life bonus you can afford

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed 75% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Cannot be Frozen You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently

Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently

(Belt) Stygian Vise - again, aim for high defensive stats - increased Damage/Global Physical Damage will be also very useful

Min. requirements: 100 maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Damage/Global Physical Damage Maximum Life% Attributes

(Belt) Belt of the Deceiver - despite being very cheap, it’s an extremely powerful Belt. Intimidating enemies grant very high additional DPS as it's multiplicative with other bonuses. It's a great addition to low-budget builds

(25-35) to Strength (15-25)% increased Physical Damage You take 30% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes +(30-40) to maximum Life +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances Nearby Enemies are Intimidated

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - the BiS option, you can either focus DPS-oriented stats or get some extra Mana Reservation Cost reduction to use all the recommended Auras

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 30% increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes #% Reduced Reservation of Skills Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost

Recommended Anointments: Charisma Blade of Cunning Dismembering

(Ring) Rare Rings - Steel Rings are the best possible base. You should aim to get one Ring with Assassin's Mark or you would have to apply it in another less convenient way

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Trigger Level 12 Assassin's Mark when you Hit a Rare or Unique Enemy  Optional affixes: Non-channelling Skills have -# to Total Mana Cost Accuracy Rating Attributes Added Physical Damage to Attacks

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - you are looking for high defensive stats and the highest Accuracy Rating bonus possible

Min. requirements: 75 maximum Life 400 Accuracy Rating 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: added Physical Damage to Attacks Attack Speed/Melee Damage

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - this should provide extra Life and damage bonuses

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Physical/Melee/Area Damage Global Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances

(Jewels) Murderous Eye Jewel - try to get at least one Abyssal Jewel with a chance to gain Onslaught on kill for extra DPS bonus

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Chance to gain Onslaught on kill for 4 seconds Global/Melee Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: Added Physical Damage to Attacks/Sword Attacks

(Jewels) Watcher's Eye - this Jewel with Pride modifier that increases the maximum number of Impale stacks is one of the best DPS amplifiers for this build

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: Impales you inflict last 2 additional Hits while using Pride (8-12)% chance to deal Double Damage while using Pride

(Flask) Cinderswallo Urn - one of the most popular Utility Flasks in Path of Exile. Grants insane Life/Mana Recovery on Onslaught buff

Onslaught Recharges 1 Charge when you Consume an Ignited corpse Enemies Ignited by you during Flask Effect take 10% increased Damage Recover (1-3)% of Life when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect Recover (1-3)% of Mana when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect Recover (1-3)% of Energy Shield when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect Veiled Suffix

(Flask) Lion's Roar - grants a very high bonus Melee Damage and Armour Rating. It's one of the Best utility Flasks for Melee builds and mandatory in this case

+3000 to Armour Adds Knockback to Melee Attacks during Flask effect Knocks Back Enemies in an Area when you use a Flask 75% chance to cause Enemies to Flee on use (20-25)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (Bleeding immunity) Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Warding (Curse immunity) Ample Quicksilver Flask of Heat

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.