PoE Rage Vortex Build 3.25 – Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur

The Rage Vortex build in Path of Exile is designed to harness the power of rage to deliver devastating area-of-effect (AoE) damage with a spinning melee attack. This build focuses on using swords or axes to spin and create a ragestorm that deals repeated attack damage based on your attack speed. The ragestorm sacrifices a portion of your rage, making it crucial to manage and accumulate rage effectively during combat. This guide will provide a comprehensive overview of how to optimize a Rage Vortex build in the 3.25 patch, ensuring you maximize your damage output and efficiency.

Key Features of Rage Vortex

Rage Vortex (Level 20):

• Attack, AoE, Duration, Melee: Rage Vortex is a melee attack that spins with a sword or axe to deal damage in an area around you, creating a ragestorm that deals repeated damage.
• Life Cost: 46 life.
• Attack Speed: 70% of base.
• Attack Damage: 69.9% of base.
• Effectiveness of Added Damage: 70%.
• Quality: +20%.
• Requirements: Requires Level 70, 155 Strength.
• Rage Vortex Mechanics:
  • Base duration is 3.00 seconds.
  • Base radius is 1.8 metres.
  • Sacrifices 25% of rage to create a ragestorm, if you have at least 10 rage.
  • Ragestorm deals 10% more damage per 1 rage sacrificed.
  • Ragestorm has +0.1 metres to radius per 2 rage sacrificed.
  • Ragestorm hits 250% more frequently.
  • Maximum 1 ragestorm.

Building Around Rage Vortex

1. Weapon Choice:

• High Physical Damage Swords or Axes: Prioritize weapons with high base physical damage to maximize the effectiveness of Rage Vortex. Look for weapons with increased attack speed, critical strike chance, and added physical damage.

2. Passive Skill Tree:

• Focus on nodes that enhance physical damage, melee damage, area of effect, and critical strike chance. Specific clusters to prioritize include those near the Duelist, Marauder, and Ranger start areas.
• Consider pathing to nodes that increase life, resistances, and defensive attributes to maintain survivability.

Ascendancy Choices

1. Berserker:

• Crave the Slaughter: Provides increased attack speed and movement speed, enhancing your mobility and damage output.
• Rite of Ruin: Grants rage regeneration and reduces damage taken, improving your sustain and durability.
• Aspect of Carnage: Provides a significant damage boost at the cost of increased damage taken.
• War Bringer: Grants instant warcry benefits, helping with rage management and life recovery.

2. Slayer:

• Headsman: Provides increased damage against rare and unique enemies, and increased AoE.
• Bane of Legends: Grants culling strike, making it easier to finish off tough enemies.
• Endless Hunger: Provides life leech effects and immunity to bleeding, improving your sustain in combat.
• Brutal Fervour: Enhances life leech, providing more life recovery.

Support Gems

1. Main Skill Setup:

• Rage Vortex: Primary attack skill.
• Support Gems: Brutality, Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike, Fortify, and Increased Duration.

2. Secondary Skill Setup:

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

3. Utility Skills:

• Blood and Sand: Aura to switch between Blood and Sand Stance.
• Flesh and Stone: Aura to reduce incoming damage and increase damage to enemies.
• Steelskin / Immortal Call: For defense.
• Leap Slam / Shield Charge: For mobility.
• Dread Banner: For increased accuracy and physical damage.

Armor and Accessories

1. Armor:

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

2. Accessories:

• Amulet and Rings: Focus on items that enhance physical damage, life, and resistances. Look for mods that increase attack speed and critical strike chance.
• 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:

• Granite Flask: For increased armor.
• Basalt Flask: For physical damage reduction.
• Quicksilver Flask: For increased movement speed.
• Sulphur Flask: For increased damage and life regeneration.
• Silver Flask: For increased movement and attack speed.

Combat Strategy

1. Engaging Enemies:

• Use Rage Vortex to quickly engage enemies and unleash powerful melee attacks. Manage your rage effectively to maximize the damage of your ragestorms.

2. Utilizing Ascendancy Passives:

• Leverage the Berserker or Slayer passives to enhance your defenses and damage output. Use Berserker for increased rage management and damage. Use Slayer for increased damage against tough enemies and enhanced life leech.

3. Managing Buffs and Debuffs:

• Maintain high uptime on Blood and Sand to switch between stances as needed. Use Flesh and Stone to reduce incoming damage and increase damage to enemies. Apply flasks to enhance your damage, resistances, and survivability during combat.

Example Builds

1. Berserker Rage Vortex Build:

• Focus on increased attack speed, rage management, and damage.
• Utilize Crave the Slaughter and Rite of Ruin to maximize damage and sustain.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and attack speed.

2. Slayer Rage Vortex Build:

• Focus on increased damage against rare and unique enemies, and enhanced life leech.
• Utilize Headsman and Endless Hunger to maximize damage and sustain.
• Use support gems that enhance physical damage and area of effect.

Conclusion

The Rage Vortex build for Path of Exile 3.25 offers a dynamic and powerful playstyle for melee enthusiasts who enjoy combining direct melee attacks with rage management mechanics. By focusing on maximizing physical damage, area of effect, and overall damage effectiveness, 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 spin into battle with the overwhelming force of Rage Vortex to decimate your foes and conquer the battlefield.