Disintegrator
Cyclone/Ethereal Knives
Juggernaut
Build updated to Patch 3.4

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: medium

This is one of the builds we are most proud of. Even though there are more efficient and better builds out there, and this build relies on a very specific set of gear that can be hard to obtain, this is the build that utilizes very niche Cast on Melee Kill mechanic and extremely powerful Disintegrator Elder staff. This build is perfect for high-tier map farming and breezes through them like the wind.

This build was specifically designed for the Incursions League for several main reasons:

1. Juggernaut is extremely tanky and staying alive in Incursions is critical
2. Very fast clear speed will allow you to stay longer in the Incursions, earning you better rewards
3. Most of the recommended gear listed is unpopular in other builds - as soon as they are found by other players, they will be most likely offered for sale

For our other Path of Exile builds visit: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Cyclone is, in my opinion, the best, and the smoothest Melee skill in Path of Exile. It deals very high damage even when used by the tanky Juggernaut class. This build uses Cyclone with the powerful Disintegrator Elder staff. Disintegrator has very high base Physical Damage, grants insane amount of Physical Damage to your Spells (Ethereal Knives), and grants you a chance to gain Siphoning Charge when you use a skill. While you can have a maximum of 1 Siphoning Charge per Elder or Shaped item equipped, each of them grants Life Leech, Physical Damage added to Spells and Attacks, Physical Damage reduction from Hits, and deal Physical Damage to self. This Juggernaut build allows you to use 8-9 Endurance Charges with nearly 100% uptime. This, combined with Juggernaut's passives, provides insane Physical Damage mitigation and allows you to easily sustain the damage from 3-4 Siphoning Charges. On top of that, this build provides amazing end-game scaling. If you enjoy it and want to take this build to the next level, getting more Life Regen. would allow you to use even more Elder/Shaped items for simply astounding results.

0:06 Tier 11 Spider Forest 0:29 Tier 15 Colosseum 0:59 Tier 15 Lava Lake 1:30 Apex of Sacrifice This video was recorded on a level 87 Juggernaut with 3 Shaped/Elder items

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

This Cyclone Juggernaut should be leveled up as a classic Melee fighter. Simply wear high Physical DPS, and Life gear, and force your way through the campaign. We recommend using the reworked Ground Slam attack for high DPS and great AoE. 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Ground Slam setup
	Ground Slam - your primary attack for the leveling phase
	Melee Physical Damage Support - increases Melee Physical Damage
	Added Fire Damage Support - grants additional Fire Damage based on your weapon's Phys. Damage
	Faster Attacks Support - increases your Attack Speed

Leap Slam
	Leap Slam - your main mobility skill
	Faster Attacks Support

Leap Slam
	Stone Golem - grants increased Life Regen. per second
	Herald of Ash - grants increased Fire Damage and better clear speed
	Ancestral Warchief - summons a Totem that will increase your Melee Damage

Bandits:

We recommend helping Oak for increased Life Regen. and Physical Damage mitigation. Killing them all for two additional Passive Points is also a good option if you don't play to wear more than 3 total Elder/Shaped items

Leveling skill trees:

34 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Born to Fight 2) Barbarism 3) Smashing Strikes 4) Counterweight/Whirling Barrier

62 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Juggernaut 2) Bloodless 3) Wrecking Ball 4) Destroyer

Recommended leveling items:

Blackheart - great Phys. DPS leveling ring. You can wear two of those
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

The Blood Thorn - the best low-level staff you can use. Grants very high DPS
18% Chance to Block 12% Chance to Block 100% increased Physical Damage (5-10)% increased Attack Speed Reflects (22-44) Physical Damage to Attackers on Block Curse Enemies with Level 5 Vulnerability on Block Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Belt of the Deceiver - the best belt for the leveling phase. It can be also used when mapping and farming currency for the Tactician belt
+(25-35) to Strength (15-25)% increased Global 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

Goldrim - the best leveling helmet in Path of Exile
+(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)

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Unflinching
2. Unyielding
3. Undeniable
4. Unrelenting

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 - your primary attack and core DPS source
	Cast on Melee Kill Support - core Gem for this entire build. It will make kills with Cyclone proc the Ethereal Knives spell for better AoE and extra more damage
	Ethereal Knives - is auto-cast by Melee kills with Cyclone attack. Significantly increases your clear speed and DPS versus bigger packs
	Brutality Support - increases Physical Damage dealt by both your Cyclone and EK Spell
	Maim Support - maims enemies, slowing them down, and increases Physical Damage of both Cyclone and EK
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - increases the chance to Critically Hit with both your supported skills

[DEFENSE] Molten Shell setup
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast Molten Shell, keep it at level 9 for more frequent casts
	Molten Shell - grants a shield that Absorbs damage and grant increased Armour. Keep this gem at level 14.
	Life Leech Support - each Molten Shell explosion will heal you for a percentage of damage dealt
	Power Charge on Critical Support - will make Molten Shell generate Power Charges for increased Critical Strike Chance

[DPS] Ancestral Warchief
	Ancestral Warchief - grants increased Melee Damage when active
	Brutality Support
	Melee Physical Damage Support
	Culling Strike Support  - makes your Totem instantly kill enemies below 10% Life

[CURSE] Vulnerability Aura setup
	Blasphemy Support - makes your supported Curse work as an Aura
	Vulnerability - the recommended Curse for this setup. Increases Physical Damage taken by cursed enemies

[GOLEM] Stone Golem
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-summon your Golem. Upgrade this Gem to level 20
	Stone Golem - grants increased Life Regeneration

[WARCRY] Enduring Cry
	Enduring Cry - grants increased Life Regen. This Gem is completely optional in this build, because of the Juggernaut's Endurance Charge generation rate

[MOBILITY] Leap Slam setup
	Leap Slam -  your main mobility skill
	Faster Attack Support
	Fortify Support - Hits with Leap Slam will grant you the Fortify buff which reduces your damage taken

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find the recommended gear for this Disintegrator Cyclone Juggernaut build. This build can be built on a reasonable budget but may require a little bit of time invested to find the proper equipment. In order to wear the Repentance gloves, you will need very high attribute bonuses on your rings and belt, which combined with high Elemental Resistances, will most likely limit the number of available offers.

In this spot, we would like to invite you to visit our Path of Exile marketplace, where you can buy cheap PoE currency offered by other players.

Our recommended gear will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and maximum Life
3. Save you at least a couple of hours on planning your build, as it's already there!

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - it can be easy to get a helmet with Shaped/Elder mods. Increased Area of Effect mods can be useful for your Curse/Aura and be relatively cheap

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 30% Fire Resistance 30% Cold Resistance 30% Lightning Resistance 35 Intelligence Shaped/Elder mods: increased Area of Effect increased Spell Block Chance

Helmet enchantment: 40% increased Cyclone Damage

(Body Armour) Bronn's Lithe - is the best DPS-oriented Body Armour for this build. It's recommended to use the Iron Reflexes Passive so that the Evasion is converted to Armour

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) +2 to Level of Socketed Movement Gems 10% increased Attack Speed (35-50)% increased Damage with Movement Skills (200-250)% increased Evasion Rating 10% increased Movement Speed 15% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've used a Movement Skill Recently

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - rare armour can provide the highest defensive bonuses

Min. requirements: 1800 Armour Rating 90 maximum Life 30% Fire Resistance 30% Cold Resistance 30% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: Intelligence Shaped/Elder mods: %increased maximum Life

(Weapon) Disintegrator - the build-defining weapon. It is very hard to get, it drops only from the Uber Elder, however, because of limited uses, the majority of them are offered for sale right away

20% Chance to Block Adds (270-300) to (340-380) Physical Damage Adds (376-400) to (568-600) Physical Damage to Spells +1 to Maximum Siphoning Charges per Elder or Shaper Item Equipped 25% chance to gain a Siphoning Charge when you use a Skill Adds (12-14) to (15-16) Physical Damage to Attacks and Spells per Siphoning Charge Gain 4% of Non-Chaos Damage as extra Chaos Damage per Siphoning Charge 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction from Hits per Siphoning Charge 0.2% of Damage Leeched as Life per Siphoning Charge Take 150 Physical Damage per Second per Siphoning Charge if you've used a Skill Recently

(Boots) Rare Boots - pick the pair with the highest Life and movement speed bonus you can afford

Min. requirements: 85 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Cold Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% increased Movement Speed Shaped/Elder mods: Unaffected by Chilled/Burning/Shocked/Desecrated Ground Chance to avoid status ailments

(Boots) Death's Door - the best in the slot. Grants +1 to maximum Endurance Charges which extremely valuable for this build

+(20-40) to Strength 200% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances 25% increased Movement Speed +1 to Maximum Endurance Charges 50% increased Elemental Ailment Duration on You Cannot be inflicted with Bleeding

Boot enchantment: 0.6% of Damage Leeched as Life and Mana if you've Killed Recently Regenerate 2% of Life and Mana per second if you were Hit Recently

(Belt) Rare Belt - can be picked mainly for the defensive utility. A belt with +1 to maximum Endurance Charges is recommended

Min. requirements: 90 maximum Life 30% Fire Resistance 30% Cold Resistance 30% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: increased Physical Damage +1 to maximum Endurance Charges Shaped/Elder mods: %increased maximum Life %increased All Attributes

(Amulet) The Tactician - very good pick for this build. Provides very high DPS bonuses, and a lot of extremely important Intelligence

(20-30)% increased Stun Duration on Enemies (25-40)% increased Global Physical Damage +(40-50) to Strength +(40-50) to Intelligence 50% increased Flask Charges gained +(20-25)% to all Elemental Resistances while you have at least 200 Strength (50-60)% increased Critical Strike Chance while you have at least 200 Intelligence Corrupted implicit modifier: +1 to maximum Endurance Charges

(Amulet) Carnage Heart - a very solid pick for this build. You will be unable to run Vulnerability Aura though with Blood Magic Passive

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(20-40) to all Attributes +(10-20)% to all Elemental Resistances (1.2-2)% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life 50% increased Life Leeched per second (30-40)% increased Damage while Leeching Extra gore

(Amulet) Impresence (Physical) - another good and inexpensive amulet option. Allows you to use "free" Vulnerability Curse Aura and grants decent DPS and defensive bonuses

+(10-16) to all Attributes Adds (12-16) to (20-25) Physical Damage +(400-500) to Armour +(50-70) to maximum Life (30-40)% increased Stun and Block Recovery 100% reduced Vulnerability Mana Reservation Gain Maddening Presence for 10 seconds when you Kill a Rare or Unique Enemy

(Rings) Rare Rings - with Life and Elemental Resistances. These have to cap your resistances and get you to 306 Intelligence for the Repentance gloves requirements

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 45 Intelligence Added min. 7 Physical Damage to Attacks Missing Resistances Optional affixes: Strength increased Critical Strike Chance Shaped/Elder affixes: Curse enemies with Warlord's Mark on Hit (Defenses) Curse enemies with Assassin's Mark on Hit (DPS)

(Gloves) Repentance - the best in the slot. You should easily get around 500 Strength with this build, which grants roughly 100% increased Ethereal Knives and Molten Shell Damage. It's important to buy a pair with as low reduced Spell Damage affix as possible

(30-0)% reduced Spell Damage (120-180)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(8-16) to maximum Energy Shield 500% increased Attribute Requirements Iron Will

Glove enchantment: Commandment of Force Commandment of Light

(Jewel) Brute Force Solution - this unique jewel makes it much easier to wear Repentance gloves, at a cost of slightly reducing your Life and DPS

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

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - get some extra Life and Physical Damage bonuses

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Generic/Physical Damage Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed increased Critical Strike Chance / Multiplier

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - not a bad pick, however, Block is not the most important defensive aspect of this build, so picking this Flask is entirely up to you

+3000 to Armour (14-20)% Chance to Block during Flask effect (6-10)% Chance to Block Spells during Flask effect

(Flask) Lion's Roar - another great utility Flask

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

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Warding (curse immunity) Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Curing (bleeding immunity) Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Heat (freeze and chill immunity) Ample Diamond Flask of Iron Skin (increases Armour and Critical Strike Chance)

If you decide to go for this build, please let us know how it performs in your opinion. We would like to continue our work on this project and possibly make Cast on Melee Kill Support Gem popular, since it has very limited uses, yet provides quite interesting mechanic.

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