The Dancing Dervish/Hollow Palm Technique
Cyclone Slayer build

Updated for Patch 3.17

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The Dancing Dervish is a Two-Hand Sword that triggers a built-in Skill once you enter a Rampage with 15 kills - Manifest Dancing Dervishes. When this Skill is active the player cannot use weapons, and the Sword starts moving on its own, it becomes a Minon. The built-in Attack is supported by all the socketed Support Gems which do not have to be linked. Hollow Palm Technique is a Keystone you can get from One with Nothing, it adds Physical Damage to Melee Skills per Dexterity and grants 40% more Attack Speed with Melee Skills, given that you don't have gloves nor a weapon. It's a great match for the Sword which makes you unable to use weapons when on Rampage anyways. You can also play as a Raider - it's a different type of build with its own merits, but the core synergy of The Dancing Dervish with Hollow Palm remains.

Cyclone is the skill you're going to be using, there is no specific reason for it, it's just a Melee Attack with high Mobility and good DPS. The setup for this Skill shall be another six-link, this time on your Body Armour. Dexterity stacking is a big part of the build, as the source of your damage is the Hollow Palm Technique - it adds 14 to 20 Physical Attack Damage per 10 Dexterity. A lot of your Items should be Unique as these can grant you tons of Dexterity. With a lot of this specific Attribute providing you with an Accuracy Rating you can safely take the Precise Technique for 40% more Attack Damage and a side effect - it disables Critical Strikes. Take also Magebane for Spell Suppression, and Iron Reflex for Armour. The Slayer's variant is great for boss-killing and Leeching Life to stay alive, it's definitely a damage-oriented build. The defenses are 4k of Maximum Life, Armour, Spell Suppression, Block Chance, and Fortify.

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1. Gameplay

Your job is to use Cyclone, it has great damage on its own, but the Dancing Dervishes will supplement your DPS and weaken your enemies. These Minions will act on their own, support them with Minon Speed to make them more capable of applying debuffs. Your number of sockets is limited so you don't have much room for unnecessary Skills. Use Dash and Molten Shell occasionally. Blood Rage, Dread Banner, Determination, Blood and Sand, and Pride should stay on at all times. During boss fights activate Ancestral Warchief Totem.

Full gameplay video:   This video was recorded on level 93 Slayer with approximately 1400 Dexterity (resulting in over 1kk Cyclone tooltip DPS when buffed and "rampaging")

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Allocate the Hollow palm Technique as fast as you can, it's great for leveling. You can use any Attack that can be performed while unarmed, Ground Slam can be used since level one, later to be replaced with Cyclone. After allocating Hollow Palm Technique, get more Dexterity, Resistances, and Damage. At level 20 equip Astramentis, which will be also used in the final version of the build. The Dancing Dervish requires level 59, there should be no issue reaching this level with no weapon.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Cleave setup
	Ground Slam - a basic Aoe Slam Attack that can be performed with no weapon
	Melee Physical Damage Support - it grants you increased Melee Physical Damage
	Ruthless Support - every third Attack deals increased damage
	Maim Support - you deal more Damage and Maim enemies

various Gems
	Ancestral Warchief - it boosts your Melee Damage
	Vulnerability - Curse that causes your enemies to take more Physical Damage, hitting these enemies can cause Bleed
	Pride - enemies near you take more Physical Damage, after 4 seconds this effect is increased
	Leap Slam - a movement Attack that makes you move faster

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points.

Leveling Skill Trees:

20 Points Skill Tree
Go for the Large Jewel Socket and allocate Hollow Palm Technique, then get more Dexterity and the Onslaught Notable

54 Points Skill Tree
Adjust the way out of your starting location, get Maximum Life, dual-wield Damage, and if your Accuracy Rating is higher than Maximum Life, go for Precise Technique
 

Recommended leveling items:

Blackheart - cheap leveling Ring for Physical Damage/Attack builds

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 - a Belt granting increased Physical Damage, Strength, Cold Resistance, and Maximum Life

+(25-35) to Strength +25 to Strength Adds 5 to 15 Physical Damage to Attacks 10% increased maximum Life +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance 25% increased Flask Life Recovery rate

Goldrim - one of the best leveling Helmets, it offers a lot of Elemental Resistances

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Astramentis - it grants you a lot of Attributes, equip it as soon as you're able to

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

100 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
116 Points Path of Building(PoB) link
 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Brutal Fervour
2. Impact
3. Bane of Legends
4. Headsman

Pantheon:

Major God: 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%

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] Cyclone setup
	Cyclone - It has a very high Attack Rate, good AoE, and allows you to move while constantly Attacking
	Melee Physical Damage Support - reduces your Attack Speed, but grants a lot of Melee Physical Damage
	Pulverise Support - Pulverise decreases your Attack Speed but increases the AoE and Area Damage
	Brutality Support - increases the Physical Damage, you can no longer deal Chaos or Elemental Damage with linked Skill
	Fortify Support - Fortifies your Character while increasing your Attack Damage
	Impale Support - Effect of Impale and Chance to Impale is increased

[DPS] Dancing Dervish setup socketed in The Dancing Dervish
	Faster Attacks Support - increases the Attack Speed of the Sword
	Increased Area of Effect Support - Are of Effect for Sword's Attacks is increased
	Maim Support - Dervishes Maim on Hit, slowing down the opponent and dealing increased damage
	Blind Support - grants a Blind chance with increased Blind Duration
	Minion Speed Support - Swords move and attack much Faster
	Pulverise Support

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Pride - nearby enemies receive increased Physical Damage, after 4 seconds this effect is increased
	Determination - your character has increased and added Armour
	Blood and Sand - you can switch between Blood Stance and Sand Stance, for more Damage, or more AoE
	Dread Banner - increases your Chance to Imaple and the effect of it, nearby enemies have less Accuracy Rating

[UTILITY] Vulnerability
	Vulnerability - Cursed enemies take increased Physical Damage while Attacking them can cause Bleeding

[UTILITY] Molten Shell
	Molten Shell - for a short while reduces the Damage you receive from Hits, it's more effective the more Armour you have

[UTILITY] Ancestral Warchief
	Ancestral Warchief - grants you more Melee Damage as it stays active

[MOBILITY] Dash
	Dash - Dash is a simple Movement Spell that can be used to dodge attacks or to move with greater haste

[UTILITY] Blood Rage
	Blood Rage - increases your Attack Speed, Life Leech, and grants you Frenzy Charges at the cost of draining your Life

5. Gear Setup

Stack as much Dexterity as you're able to without compromising Maximum Life or Elemental Resistances. It's a non-Crit. build with not a lot of stats to look for, it's mostly Maximum Life, Resistances, and Damage. Get the Rings with Sockets in them as these are hard to come by. It's not a particularly expensive build, but as always, stacking Attributes can be very expensive if you're dedicated to min-max the DPS.

(Helmet) Devoto's Devotion - It's a very good unique Helmet as all of the stats are great, it's also cheap and commonly found. Use Rare Helmet only if you desperately need more Resistances.

+(50-65) to Dexterity 10% reduced Global Physical Damage 16% increased Attack Speed (150-200)% increased Armour and Evasion +(15-25)% to Chaos Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed Mercury Footprints

Helmet enchantment: increased Cyclone Damage or Attack Speed

(Body Armour) Wildwrap - gives you a lot of Attack Speed, Dexterity, Damage per Dexterity, and other stats

10% increased Attack Speed +(600-700) to Evasion Rating +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance 5% increased Movement Speed (20-25)% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks 15% increased Dexterity 1% increased Damage per 15 Dexterity

(Weapon) The Dancing Dervish - an important part of the build, the Minions it creates are using a Skill resembling Cyclone Attacks and are mainly used to Maim, Blind, and deal some damage on their own

60% increased Global Accuracy Rating (130-160)% increased Physical Damage (25-30)% increased Attack Speed 5% increased Movement Speed Triggers Level 15 Manifest Dancing Dervish on Rampage Manifested Dancing Dervish disables both weapon slots Manifested Dancing Dervish dies when Rampage ends Rampage

(Boots) Garukhan's Flight - These boots provide you with Maximum Life per Dexterity, Dexterity, Life Regeneration, and Immunity to various Ground Effects

+(30-40) to Dexterity (300-340)% increased Evasion Rating 30% increased Movement Speed Immune to Burning Ground, Shocked Ground and Chilled Ground Regenerate 100 Life per second while moving +2 to Maximum Life per 10 Dexterity

(Belt) Rare Belt - a good Belt can be expensive, it should grant you increased Dexterity, Life, and Elemental Resistances

Min. requirements: +90 maximum Life +70% to Total Elemental Resistances 13% increased Dexterity (synthesized implicit) Optional affixes: increased Damage increased Attributes Armour increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Astramentis - it's a commonly-used Amulet, it's inexpensive, and grants not only Dexterity but a lot of other Attributes which you will also need

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - if you're using a Rare Amulet, be sure it can get you more Dexterity than Astramentis, it should also give you some of the basic defensive stats

Min. requirements: +50 Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances +60 Dexterity 14% increased Dexterity Optional affixes: Attributes increased Area of Effect Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana

Recommended Anointments: Tenacity Finesse Panopticon

(Ring) Rare Rings - Use Unset Rings, you can socket here Skill Gems that don't need to be Supported. Look for Dexterity, Life, Resistances, Attributes, and added Damage.

Min. requirements: +60 maximum Life +60% to Total Elemental Resistances +60 Dexterity Optional affixes: increased Melee Damage increased Dexterity (implicit) increased Attack Speed Added Physical Damage to Attacks Attributes

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - The recommended aura modifier is "Impales you inflict last 2 additional Hits while using Pride", if you don't have it, replace it with another Pride or Determination mod

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Split Personality - If your skill tree makes it worth it, use two of these with modifiers to Dexterity and Maximum Life

This Jewel's Socket has 25% increased effect per Allocated Passive Skill between it and your Class' starting location <Two random modifiers>

(Jewel) One With Nothing - It's the core element of the build, the keystone Hollow Palm Technique is a game-changer

Adds Hollow Palm Technique

(Jewel) Fluid Motion - put it near Unwavering Stance for more Dexterity and less Strength

+(16-24) to Dexterity Strength from Passives in Radius is Transformed to Dexterity

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - it's used only for the Dexterity that is added for every allocated node in its radius

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of (Asenath-Balbala-Nasima) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) Unnatural Instinct - Place it above Sentinel for many various useful stats

Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - these should provide extra Life and various damage or utility bonuses

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Physical/Area Damage with a two-handed sword Dexterity Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - a regular Large Cluster Jewel or two with  the Attack-related notables is your best option to get more Damage, and to have additional Jewel Sockets

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fuel the Fight 1 Added Passive Skill is Iron Breaker 1 Added Passive Skill is Smite the Weak 1 Added Passive Skill is Force Multiplier 1 Added Passive Skill is Battle-Hardened

(Flask) Lion's Roar - every build that deals Physical Damage with Melee Attacks should be using this Flask

+1500 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 (7-10)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

Other suggested Flasks: Quicksilver Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Life Flask with random ailment removal Basalt Flask with random ailment removal Sulphur Flask with random ailment removal

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.