The Duelist is Path of Exile's strength/dexterity hybrid class, making him unmatched at dealing and avoiding damage. The Duelist is a daunting foe, and his reputation as a ruthless killer is well deserved. Build your most powerful Champion, Gladiator, Slayer league starters by browsing the Poe 3.5 Build we collected for you!

 

Duelist Champion Builds

POE Betrayal Champion Double Strike Starter Build - High DPS, Low Budget, Endgame

Pros

• + Decent damage & clear speed.
• + Vaal clones melt the boss's while you can sip tea.
• + Build is very cheap to start and get to end game with.
• + Doesn't require any specific unique at all, so very SSF viable.

Gems Setup

CHEST

Color's required:
1. 4 Red 2 Green
2. 4 Red 1 Green 1 Blue
3. 5 Red 1 Green

Vaal Double Strike + Maim + Melee Phys Damage Support [These 3 should always be in setup]

+ Ancestral Call + Melee Splash [For mapping]

Although you can clear upto T15 boss's easy with the above 5 links but for pure single target switch the above 2 gems with

+ Multistrike + Chance to Bleed (or even Weapon Elemental Damage Support)

6th link can be either

Increased Critical Strike support or Culling Strike or Chance to bleed (when used as 6th link then use Ruthless as switch gem for single target or Ruthless

GLOVES: Blood Magic + Leap Slam + Faster attacks support + Fortify

BOOTS: CWDT + Immortal call + Increased duration + Enfeeble(can use Ice Golem or Blood rage instead of curse)

HELME: Ancestral Warchief + Maim + Melee Phys + Conc

AURA'S

• Hatred--Always on
• HOI--- For mapping
• HOA--- For single target

Arctic Armour can also be used for extra phys defense

You can generally run 2 Aura's but can go 3 Aura's with a lvl3 enlighten support.

About Adrenaline (First to Strike, Last to Fall)

You can proc Adrenaline using either

• Righteous Fire (slow but use's only 1 gem slot)
• Using a 3 link setup:- Blood Magic + Blasphemy + Any curse

Either scenario, Activate/Deactivate to get 20sec Adrenaline boost, you can use life flask to recover your health back faster.

 

POE Betrayal Champion Freezing Cyclone Starter Build - Fast Clear, Cheap, Safe

Pros

• + Cheap cyclone build with decent DPS
• + League starter friendly
• + Pretty safe once you get uber lab (fortify, blind, chill, intimidate, endu charges, cannot be stunned, shattering/chaos explosion)
• + Fast clear speed : +35% MS during warcry + pack explosion with Abyssal cry
• + Easy coloring (on Bronn or Debeon)

Gems Setup

The links are sorted in descending order of importance. So the last gem in a chain should be the last one you slot in when you upgrade your amount of links.

The colour of the Text implies the colour of the Gem.

Comfortable Cyclone Setup for clearing - 6L

Cyclone + elemental damage + Added Cold Damage + Hypothermia + Increased Area of Effect + (Elemental Prolif or Ice bite)

With this setup arctic armor is not mandatory

High DPS Cyclone for bosses - 6L

Cyclone + elemental damage + Added Cold Damage + Elemental Focus + Hypothermia + Concentrated Effect

But in that case Arctic Armour is mandatory to chill the bosses to proc "The pandemonius effect"

WARNING : you cannot just only switch gems before bosses as it is usually done (here Increased area for Conc Effect and Ele prolif/Ice Bite for Ele focus), ele focus will prevent any ailment and you will loose all the pandemonis effect so you should either switch herald of ice for arctic armor !

Cast When Damage Taken Setup - 3L or 4L

CWDT + Orb of Storm + Frost bomb + Immortal Call

Frost bomb ==> -25 cold res, huge on bosses

Orb of storm ==> huge increased chance to proc Elemental Overload

Immortal Call ==> mostly here to survive a big blue pack of Porcupine mobs, especially if you are using Ele focus only

WarCry Setup - 4L

Abyssal Cry + Enduring Cry + Blood Magic + Ancestral Protector/Warchief

Abyssal Cry ==> really nice for clearing

Enduring Cry ==> Free endu charges (3 = +12% all res and +12% physical reduction), nice for Vulnerabilty/Ele weakness map and bosses

Blood magic ==> almost mandatory, you will spam your warcry every 3.33s and abyssal cry is really costly, and you will not have so much mana left especially when running all the aura

Movement Skill - 3L

Leap Slam + Faster Attack + Blood Magic

Aura Setup 2L + 1S or 5L

Blasphemy + Frosbite and (Herald of Ice or Arctic Armour)

Blasphemy + Frosbite + Herald of Ice + Arctic Armour + Enlighten lvl 3-4

If you are running Elemental Focus you are not doing any ailment with Cyclone, so you need a way to chill and we are using arctic armor for that.

And don't forget :

• Bosses have 60% less curse effect on them AND 30% ele res
• Shaper has 80% less curse effect on him and 40% ele res

so frostbite efficiency is really reduced but frosbomb still apply the -25% cold debuff

POB link: https://pastebin.com/EUZtU1yq

 

Duelist Gladiator Builds

POE Betrayal Gladiator Herald of Agony Starter Build - Low Budget Viable, Endgame, Fast

Pros

• + Can do all map mods & content
• + You are immortal 83% of the time!
• + Works well on a budget

Gems Setup

Body: Herald of Agony - Pierce - Damage on Full Life - Minion Speed / Minion Damage + Vicious Projectiles + Vile Toxins (45-50% more dmg) / Maim / Empower 4 / Added Chaos

Getting 5 Off-colours on the Calamity can be hard, which is why I've included multiple alternatives for the 6th link.

Gloves: Cyclone - Life Gain on Hit - Fortify - Withering Touch - Faster Attacks - Poison

Note that I get 2 links from my gloves. Poison is a REQUIRED gem so if you don't have the gloves then you need to socket it. Lesser Poison is also a good option until you get an extra 20% chance to poison from gear or jewels.

Boots: Cast when Damage Taken (lvl 1) - Desecrate (lvl 7) - Spirit Offering (lvl 8) - Convocation (must be lvl 6 or above) / Increased Duration

For mapping, recommend Convocation instead of Increased Duration as Proximity Shield mobs will be very annoying otherwise. I Sometimes recolour my boots for Increased Duration when doing Über Elder.

Helmet: Tempest Shield - Curse on Hit - Temporal Chains - Culling Strike

Here you can experiment if you like. I love Temporal Chains but the only thing that's required is really the Tempest Shield. Abyssal Cry is also a valid contender here, especially if you pick up the instant cast warcry cluster.

Weapon: Herald of Purity - Withering Touch - Minion Damage - Maim - Faster Attacks - Melee Splash

Shield: Shield Charge + Faster Attacks + Blood Magic

If you don't use a Curse + Culling setup then you can use the helmet 4L for Shield Charge and throw in Fortify.

Ring: Hatred

The medium budget build will use Determination here instead to get the watcher's eye block. If you want to run Elemental Equilibrium then you want to link Hatred with Generosity, so you doesn't give the enemies +25% to cold resist. 

PoB - High Budget: https://pastebin.com/tXmwLs8H (~1m dps)
PoB - High Budget - Insant Abyssal Cry: https://pastebin.com/3ByLrL68 (~900k dps)
PoB - Medium Budget: https://pastebin.com/PW9uw8Mq (~630k dps)
PoB - Low Budget: https://pastebin.com/1Pzc3Ym1 (~550k dps)
PoB - HC / Life Oriented https://pastebin.com/KbA5dNh8 (~450k dps)
PoB - Super High Budget https://pastebin.com/CGgpHmQg (~2.4m dps. With Molten Strike to keep 15 wither stacks up)

 

POE Betrayal Gladiator Sunder Starter Build - Cheap, Easy, Tankly

Pros

• + Glad ascendancy saves you from exploding delve monsters
• + Cheap and easy to gear out
• + Tanky with various forms of mitigation on top of a decently big life pool
• + Fun to play
• + Almost a pseudo ranged skill
• + If you follow the guide it should be smooth sailing well into yellow maps.

Gems Setup

Even with Kaom's Roots stealing a 4-link you can still fit all your gems pretty comfortably.

6-Link: Sunder - Multistrike - Chance to Bleed - Melee Phys - Maim - Damage on Full Life

- No more Conc Effect; Chance to Bleed is easier to make fit and it syngerizes with the Gladiator Ascendancy, Maim and Vaal Double Strike and Vaal Ancestral Warchief with Bloodlust. If you want a faster Sunder use Faster Attacks instead of Damage on Full Life.

Movement: Leap Slam / Whirling Blades - Faster Attacks - Fortify - Blood Magic

- This can be socketed into a pair of Insanity crafted gloves for even faster movement. If you're using Soul Taker you won't need Blood Magic

Single Target: Vaal Double Strike - Vaal Ancestral Warchief - Increased Duration - Bloodlust

- Pop this on bosses and tough rares. You can use Elder boots with Inc Duration instead of Kaom's Roots and drop the Inc Duration gem for Melee Phys or Damage on Full Life if you want.

CWDT: Cast when Damage Taken - Immortal Call - Herald of Ash

- Keep CWDT and IC at level 1.

Prismatic Eclipse: Hatred - Bloodrage - Portal

- Portal can be replaced with Arctic Armour when using Soul Taker, it can otherwise replace Herald of Ash if you prefer it that way.

POB link

• Budget at level 80: https://pastebin.com/vGxWkWeV
• 95 with some investment: https://pastebin.com/8dG0CU3g

 

Duelist Slayer Builds

POE Betrayal Slayer Freezing Cyclone Starter Build - Fast Clear Speed, Low Budget, Endgame

Pros

• + Fast clear speed.
• + Easy League start and scales well as you gain currency.
• + Cyclone kills as you move, no stopping.
• + Frozen things can't hit you.
• + Melee build, see their frozen faces before they shatter.
• + Immune to Stun and Bleed.
• + 3c budget gets you farming maps.
• + No mirror tier or Headhunter required.
• + No corpses left behind to be raised/detonated.
• + Insane leech with VP and Slayer Ascendancy.

Gems Setup

Cyclone

Standard Mapping

Damage on Full Life Support + Elemental Damage with Attacks Support + Melee Physical Damage Support + Maim Support + Hypothermia Support

Most things get frozen and shattered as we pass by and bosses melt.

Four Link

Cyclone + Melee Physical Damage Support + Elemental Damage with Attacks Support + Hypothermia Support

Five Link adds

Maim Support + Damage on Full Life Support + Fortify Support + Chance to Bleed Support

Maim more consistent dmg while Dmg on Full higher dmg 90% of the time. If using Kondo's Bleed Support also an option.

If you are having survival issues at all throw in Fortify for any other red support other than Elemental Damage with attacks.

Can use Faster Attacks before Hypo is available or Mana leech if having issues.

Max Freeze

Elemental Damage with Attacks Support + Melee Physical Damage Support + Elemental Proliferation Support + Hypothermia Support + Ice Bite Support

With this setup 99% of things you hit will freeze and then shatter. Lower damage, not really good for bosses but really fun to map with.

Bossing

Elemental Focus Support + Concentrated Effect Support + Damage on Full Life Support + Elemental Damage with Attacks Support + Melee Physical Damage Support

Or

Concentrated Effect Support  + Hypothermia Support + Damage on Full Life Support + Elemental Damage with Attacks Support + Melee Physical Damage Support

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Aura's

Hatred + Blasphemy Support + Frostbite + Enlighten Support + Enfeeble + Grace

Simple, straight forward. When you get Enlighten lvl 3 throw it in and be done. Herald of Ice can also be used but Hatred + Frostbite wins out in the end. Enfeeble also useful on bosses and grace as well if you want to take the hit to your damage.

---

Movement

Leap Slam + Fortify Support + Faster Attacks Support + Blood Magic Support + Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Support

Nothing new here. If you are Vaal Pact blood magic can still be used or you can put endurance on melee stun in. If you aren't using Vaal Pack using blood magic lets you leap forever.

If you are using Fortify in you Cyclone setup put in Endurance charge on melee stun support.

---

Totem

Ancestral Protector + Increased Duration Support + Elemental Proliferation Support + Faster Attacks Support + Blood Rage + Haste

This setup will allow your totem to be freezing pretty much anything it hits. This has been great for Abyssal Cracks and anything where monsters are pouring out of portals(elder phase 2).

Protector or Warchief is really upto your personal preference. Protector maths out to more damage for you but it's pretty much equal.

---

CWDT

Cast when Damage Taken Support + Immortal Call + Increased Duration Support + Frost Bomb

Arctic Breath can be really good at spreading chilling ground but the -20 cold resist on frost bomb is useful in almost every situation. Vortex and Shock Nova are also useable.

Golems are also good, lightning specifically but at low levels they die and at high levels you have to cast yourself. Also when mapping mobs will avoid you and instead go straight for your golem making you double back to kill them. 

 

POE Betrayal Slayer Sunder Starter Build - Fast, Cheap, Easy To Leveling

Pros

• + Fast
• + Tanky.
• + Above-average DPS.
• + It's a Phys-attack build that can run phys reflect maps.
• + Completely immune to phys reflect enemies or maps.
• + The gear is absolutely cheap as chips to obtain.
• + Levelling is easy, as is the final Kitava kill without the need for Twink quality gear.

Gems Setup

Helmet

The Bringer of Rain Nightmare Bascinet

• L5 – Ruthless (R)
• L12 –Sunder (R)
• L18 - Concentrated Effect (B)
• L38 – Multistrike (R)

Weapon

Wings of Entropy Sundering Axe (Can use at Level 60)

• L10 - Leap Slam (R)
• L24 – Punishment (R) or (L24) Warlord's Mark (R)
• L31 – Fortify (R)
• L38 - Curse on Hit (B)

Gloves

Anything with an armour base and +20 Dex, +50 Life & +60 to Dual or Tri-Resistances

• L5 - Chance to Bleed (R)
• L8 – Maim (R)
• L18 - Melee Phys Damage(R)
• L28 – Ancestral Warchief (R)

Or

• L5 - Ruthless (R)
• L18 - Concentrated Effect (B)
• L18 - Melee Phys Damage (R)
• L28 - Vaal Ancestral Warchief (R)

Boots

Atziri’s Step Slink Boots (Can use at Level 69)

• L16 – Blood Rage (G)
• L16 – Arctic Armour (G)
• L24 – Hatred (G)
• L34 – Summon Stone Golem (R)