Lightning Strike
Slayer Build

Updated for Patch 3.25

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

This build uses a Melee Attack to deal high Mixed Elemental Damage. Lightning Strike is one of the best candidates for this role as despite being a Melee Skill it has a huge Strike Range, and, more importantly, it releases Projectile on Hit. We will focus on these Projectiles more than the Melee Hit itself, their potential is huge with the right items. Here, we have used the Nimis Ring which causes them to Return to you. Normally the Projectiles you create won't even Hit the enemy you've struck with a Strike. By standing right on top of the foe you can extract unusually high damage from these lightning bolts, all of which converge at one point. To reach high Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier you will socket Nightblade Support in your main damaging setup, which forces you to use a Claw or a Dagger. Nightbalde is very powerful with the right Claw and Dagger masteries. You can get even more damage via Brittle and Scorch. To inflict these Ailments allocate Secrets of Suffering and deal mixed Elemental Damage. Lightning Strike, despite its name, will deal any type of Damage you have added to your Attacks. You want all three of these types to also Sap your enemies, and to create Resonances with Trinity Support.

This triple-elemental archetype is also a great opportunity to reap the benefits of Yoke of Suffering and The Taming Ring. Yoke causes enemies to take increased Damage, while Taming simply increases your damage. One of the stronger classes for this build is a Slayer. Masterful Form will extend your Endurance Charge limit to 7 to match the Frenzy Charge limit. Endurance Charges provide you with a very important Elemental and Physical Damage reduction. Being killed with a single blow would be otherwise a serious threat. To recover your Life quickly after getting struck the character relies on Leech from Brutal Fervour. Bane of Legends and Headsman will improve your damage and clear speed. To protect yourself from Attacks invest in Evasion - you should end up with around 50k of it. Spells will deal only half the damage to you thanks to the 100% Spell Suppression Chance. You're also Fortified. Overall, it's a fairly tanky build with high damage and excellent clear speed. It doesn't exceed in any role in particular, but that makes it decent for any content in the game.

You can also find our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Strike enemies with Lightning Strike and move forward with Whirling Blades. Steelskin, Blood Rage, and Assassin's Mark are triggered automatically. Tornado is triggered with Battlemage's Cry, which you can use during boss fights to cap your Crit Chance. Your passive Skills are Grace, Anger, and Skitterbots.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You should check our Trinity Molten Strike Champion Build for more insight on how to level up. It's a much more budget-friendly version of this build with a detailed leveling guide. We recommend switching to this version after getting all the necessary items, including Nimis.

Bandits:

Two Additional Passive Skill Points seem like the best option for this build

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Brutal Fervour
2. Bane of Legends
3. Headsman
4. Masterful Form

Pantheon:

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

Minor God: Soul of Ryslatha: 60% increased Life Recovery from Flasks used when on Low Life; Life Flasks gain 3 Charges every 3 seconds if you haven't used a Life Flask Recently

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Lightning Strike setup
	Vaal Lightning Strike - A Melee Strike that fires multiple Projectiles. Try to get a Vaal version for some extra damage.
	Multistrike Support - Faster Attack rate but slightly lower damage.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - Grants much more Elemental Damage.
	Nightblade Support - Nightblade improves Crit Chance, Crit Multiplier, and grants Elusive. Allocate two Claw and Dagger masteries to improve it further.
	Trinity Support - If you deal mixed Elemental Damage, it creates Resonances which grant you more Elemental Damage and Elemental Penetration.
	Inspiration Support - Increases Crit Chance, Elemental Damage, and lowers Mana Cost of a linked Skill.

[UTILITY] Reservation setup
	Grace - Added and increased Evasion Rating.
	Anger - Adds flat Fire Damage to Spells and Attacks.
	Summon Skitterbots - These will Chill and Shock, which, other than inherent to these Ailments perks, will increase your damage with The Taming, as you cannot Chill and Shock yourself with Secrets of Suffering.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Skills Reserve less Mana.

[MOBILITY] Whirling Blades setup
	Whirling Blades - It can be used to move faster through the map.
	Lifetap Support - Linked Skill costs no Mana but Life instead.
	Faster Attacks Support - Whirling Blades has increased Attack Speed which makes you dash faster.
	Rage Support - Grants Rage on Hit and increases Attack Speed if you have at least 10 Rage.

[UTILITY] Automation setup
	Steelskin - A Guard Spell that reduces the damage you take and stops Bleeding.
	Blood Rage - It's used here only to gain Attack Speed and more Life Leech.
	Automation - Linked Spells are Triggered automatically.
	Lifetap Support

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Assassin's Mark - Increased Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier against Makrked enemy.
	Mark on Hit Support - Linked Mark is Triggered on Hit against Rare and Unique enemies.
	Lifetap Support

[UTILITY] Tornado and Warcry setup
	Tornado - An Orb that interacts with your Projectiles and deals damage to enemies, based on the damage absorbed.
	Battlemage's Cry - For the next 3.4 seconds it grants up to +2.5% increased Crit Chance, and Triggers Tornado on the first Hit.
	Urgent Orders Support - Battlemage's Cry is performed much faster.

5. Gear Setup

It's a fairly basic Elemental Damage Attack build that most players are familiar with. It uses Maximum Life as its life pool, enhanced by capped Spell Suppression Chance, and rapid Life Recovery via Leech. Most Attacks are Evaded on account of a high Evasion Rating, which is commonly found on nearly all gear pieces. There's also some space for a small amount of Armour or perhaps Block Chance, but these are not the main defensive layers. Your Physical Damage Reduction is already high thanks to Endurance Charges, so Armour is not needed, be it only against small and medium Hits. Your Damage comes from a Claw and is improved with Unique Jewelry, such as Taming, Nimis, and Yoke of Suffering. A lot of additional sources of damage can also be found on Jewels and Cluster Jewels. Try to reach a 100% Critical Strike Chance, and then improve it with Critical Strike Multiplier. Flat Added Elemental Damage is also very desirable. Get enough Accuracy to land every Hit and 98 Intelligence at the very least. Strength is also needed, but a lot of it is easily acquired via Lethal Pride.

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Get a Helmet with Maximum Life, Resistances, Suppression, and maybe Intelligence or Chaos Resistance. For the Eldritch mods try to acquire Mana Reservation Efficiency and Reduced Mana Cost of Skills.

Min. requirements: +100 to maximum Life +40% to Total Elemental Resistances Spell Suppression Chance Optional affixes:  Attributes  Chaos Resistance Evasion

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - A basic Evasion Body Armour with Spell Suppression, Maximum Life, and Resistances is what you're looking for. For the Eldritch mods get Increased Effect of Auras and Fortify Chance for Melee Hits.

Min. requirements: +130 maximum Life +80% to Total Elemental Resistances +15% Spell Suppression Chance Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Life Regeneration Evasion

(Weapon) Rare Claw - You're looking for Added Fire, Lightning, and Cold Damage with increased Attack Speed, and maybe Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Multiplier.

Min. requirements: 700 Elemental DPS Optional affixes: Critical Strike modifiers

(Off-hand) Rare Shield - Focus on Maximum Life, Resistances, and Spell Suppression. All the other mods are much less important.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life +40% Elemental Resistances Spell Suppression Chance Optional affixes: Chance to Block Chaos Resistance Attack Speed

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Maximum Life, Resistances, and Suppression. You can also craft a Veiled Prefix that causes your Projectiles to Pierce one more target. For the Eldritch mods get extra Pierce again with Rage on Hit.

Min. requirements: +90 maximum Life +40% to Total Elemental Resistances +10% Spell Suppression Chance Projectiles Pierce an additional Target (Crafted) Optional affixes: Attack Speed Evasion

(Boots) Ralakesh's Impatience - FIxes your Frenzy, Endurance, and Power Charges at maximum values. Great with Masterful Form.

+(15-25)% to Cold Resistance +(15-25)% to Chaos Resistance Count as having maximum number of Endurance Charges Count as having maximum number of Frenzy Charges Count as having maximum number of Power Charges

(Belt) Rare Belt - Here we recommend seeking Maximum Life, Resistances, Strength, and increased Elemental Damage with Attacks. Stygian Vise would be the best choice.

Min. requirements: +100 maximum Life +40% to Total Elemental Resistances 40% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills Strength Optional affixes: Life Regeneration Chaos Resistance increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Yoke of Suffering - Yoke has a lot of Resistances and it causes enemies to take increased Elemental Damage.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(10-20)% to Fire Resistance +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance +(20-40)% to Lightning Resistance 30% reduced Duration of Ailments on Enemies (5-10)% chance to Shock Enemies take (5-10)% increased Damage for each type of Ailment you have inflicted on them Your Elemental Damage can Shock

Recommended Anointments: Sione's Ambition Throatseeker Divine Judgement

(Ring) The Taming - It increases your Elemental Damage by a lot and grants you a significant amount of Elemental Resistances. You should wear two of these if you don't have Nimis yet.

+(8-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (30-40)% increased Elemental Damage with Hits and Ailments for each type of Elemental Ailment on Enemy +(20-30)% to all Elemental Resistances 10% chance to Freeze, Shock and Ignite

(Ring) Nimis - Projectiles make up the main portion of your Lightning Strike's Damage. Use Nimis to make them return to you and deal damage once again.

+(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance +(30-50) to Dexterity (25-35)% increased Projectile Damage Projectiles Return to you Projectiles are fired in random directions

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - Socket it near Fervour to gain a lot of Strength. Look for useful notable upgrades if you can afford to do so.

Commanded leadership over (10000-18000) warriors under (Akoya-Kaom-Rakiata) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Karui Historic

(Jewel) The Interrogation - With your Mixed Elemental Damage and high Crit Chance you will easily Sap, Scorch, and Brittle your foes. Skitterbots will Chill and Shock for you.

Adds Secrets of Suffering

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Abyss Jewels seem like the preferable Jewels, especially Murderous Abyss Jewels. You're looking mainly for Added Elemental Damage to Claw Attacks, but be on the lookout for Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments which will mix well with Ancestral Vision.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Attributes Resistances Added Elemental Damage to Claw Attacks Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Multiplier Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - You're using Grace and Anger. Grace has defensive mods for Evasion and Suppression. Anger has a lot of great offensive-oriented mods.

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

(Jewel) Ancestral Vision - It should grant you a 50% Chance to Avoid every Elemental Ailment. The remaining 50% you can find on Abyss Jewels. Being Chill, Freeze, and Shock-immune is a powerful defense layer.

+(5-10) to Dexterity Modifiers to Chance to Suppress Spell Damage also apply to Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments at 50% of their Value

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - One or two Claw-and-Dagger-oriented Cluster Jewels will improve your damage big time. Fan of Blades is especially good - it grants you one more Projectile.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fan of Blades 1 Added Passive Skill is Fuel the Fight 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess 1 Added Passive Skill is Calamitious

Other suggested Flasks and Tinctures: Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Silver Flask with reduced Effect of Curses on you Jade Flask with increased Evasion Rating Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance Prismatic Tincture with Elemental Penetration

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

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