PoE Cleave Build 3.25 – Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur

The Cleave build in Path of Exile is a powerful and versatile melee setup that utilizes the sweeping arc of Cleave to deal substantial damage to enemies in front of you. This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of how to optimize a Cleave build in the 3.25 patch, ensuring you maximize your damage output and survivability.

Key Features of Cleave

Cleave (Level 20):

• Attack, AoE, Melee: Cleave is a melee attack that swings your weapon (or both weapons if dual wielding) in an arc, damaging enemies in an area in front of you.
• Mana Cost: 13 mana.
• Attack Speed: 80% of base.
• Attack Damage: 511.2% of base.
• Effectiveness of Added Damage: 511%.
• Weapon Requirements: Requires Level 70, 98 Strength, 68 Dexterity, and Axes or Swords.
• Dual Wielding: When dual wielding, deals 60% damage from each weapon combined.
• Radius Increase: +1 metre to radius, with an additional +0.1 metres to radius per nearby enemy, up to a maximum of +1 metre.

Building Around Cleave

1. Weapon Choice:

• Axes and Swords: Choose high-damage axes or swords with added physical damage, increased attack speed, and critical strike chance to maximize your damage output. Dual wielding is recommended for the combined damage bonus.

2. Passive Skill Tree:

• Focus on nodes that enhance melee damage, attack speed, critical strike chance, life, and physical damage mitigation. Specific clusters to prioritize include those near the Marauder, Duelist, and Templar start areas.
• Consider pathing to nodes that increase area of effect, life regeneration, armour, and resistances.

Ascendancy Choices

1. Slayer:

• Headsman: Increases damage and grants culling strike.
• Bane of Legends: Grants increased damage against unique enemies and culling strike.
• Endless Hunger: Grants life leech effects that continue past full life.
• Brutal Fervour: Enhances leech effects and grants immunity to stun while leeching.

2. Champion:

• Master of Metal: Grants impale chance and additional armour.
• Inspirational: Provides a banner that enhances damage and fortify effects.
• First to Strike, Last to Fall: Grants adrenaline on low life, increasing damage and survivability.
• Unstoppable Hero: Increases fortify duration and effect, enhancing tankiness.

Support Gems

1. Main Skill Setup:

• Cleave: Primary attack skill.
• Support Gems: Brutality, Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike, Fortify, Pulverise, and Ruthless.

2. Secondary Skill Setup:

• Ancestral Warchief: Totem skill to enhance melee damage.
• Support Gems: Multiple Totems, Melee Physical Damage, and Brutality.

3. Utility Skills:

• Leap Slam: For mobility.
• Steelskin / Immortal Call: For defense.
• Blood and Sand: To switch between Blood and Sand stances.
• Precision: For increased critical strike chance and accuracy.

Armor and Accessories

1. Armor:

• Body Armor: Prioritize armor with high life, resistances, and physical damage reduction. Consider options like Belly of the Beast for increased life and resistances.
• Helmet, Gloves, and Boots: Look for items that boost melee damage, attack speed, life, and resistances. Consider using items with life regeneration to enhance survivability.

2. Accessories:

• Amulet and Rings: Focus on items that enhance physical damage, life, resistances, and critical strike chance. Look for mods that increase stun duration and damage mitigation.
• Belt: A Stygian Vise with life, resistances, and increased physical damage is ideal.

Flask Setup

1. Life Flask:

• Instant Recovery: For emergency healing.

2. Utility Flasks:

• Quicksilver Flask: For increased movement speed.
• Basalt Flask: For physical damage reduction.
• Jade Flask: For increased evasion.
• Atziri’s Promise: For additional chaos damage and life leech.

Combat Strategy

1. Engaging Enemies:

• Use Cleave to deal high damage to enemies in a wide arc in front of you. Utilize the increased radius from nearby enemies to maximize your area of effect.
• Use your primary attack skill to deal damage while maintaining your Rage and positioning.

2. Utilizing Ascendancy Passives:

• Leverage the Slayer or Champion passives to enhance survivability and damage output. Use Slayer for a focus on life leech and culling strike, and Champion for impale effects and fortify bonuses.

3. Managing Buffs and Debuffs:

• Maintain high uptime on Blood and Sand stances and leverage the increased damage and control provided by each stance.
• Use your flasks to boost damage, resistances, and survivability during combat.

Example Builds

1. Slayer Cleave Build:

• Focus on life leech and culling strike.
• Utilize Headsman and Bane of Legends to maximize damage and survivability.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and leech effects.

2. Champion Cleave Build:

• Focus on impale effects and fortify bonuses.
• Utilize Master of Metal and Inspirational to increase damage and tankiness.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and fortify effects.

Conclusion

The Cleave build for Path of Exile 3.25 offers a powerful and versatile playstyle for melee enthusiasts who enjoy combining high damage with a wide area of effect. By focusing on maximizing damage, attack speed, and physical damage mitigation, players can effectively dominate both single-target and group encounters. Proper gear selection, passive skill tree planning, and strategic use of ascendancy passives will ensure that you unleash the full potential of this powerful skill. Equip your weapons, prepare your flasks, and carve through your enemies with the devastating power of Cleave.