[Top 5] Path of Exile Best Slayer Builds That Wreck Hard!

Updated:

30 Apr 2022

[Top 5] Path of Exile Best Slayer Builds That Wreck Hard!

Duelists, the lords of all blades, when faced with a choice of honing their skills become Slayers, capable of handling all forms of weapons to perfect finesse, extracting as much potential from them as possible, turning into a killing machine that feasts on the blood of his enemies.

And here are some of the builds that exemplify that concept!

5 – Shockwave Cyclone

Cyclone's massive AoE with Slayer

While a bit different than most Cyclone builds, the Shockwave variant has grown in popularity in the last few leagues, usually through some Chaos build path and Occultist, but the original intent has always been for pure physical, the way Chris (God) intended.

What the Shockwave Cyclone Excels in:

Buttery smooth clearing
Over 4 million DPS
Fairly tanky by scaling some armor and over 5,5k HP
Great League starter

Shockwave Cyclone full details:

The build revolves around the Cane of Kulemak, a new-ish item introduced in 3.14, that has unique and niche uses and can milk as much damage as possible from Shockwave, which is a support gem that can only be used with staves and maces.
You want to get as much physical damage and attack speed as possible on the staff, and getting Impale chance will help things around, without having to invest too heavily on the tree for that. The rest of the gear is just the standard melee physical stuff. Flat added Phys, crit chance, Abyssus, Critical Multi, elusive/tailwind boots if you can afford them, etc.
For rings (if you have an Additional Curse chest piece) you’ll want an Assassin’s mark ring and another with Vulnerability, to massively increase your damage, as these two are the strongest curses in the game for pure damage, only followed, perhaps, by Sniper’s Mark.

For more information, check here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3137398

4 – Oni-Goroshi Brutal Slam

Oni-Goroshi's Brutal Slam Illustration

From staff to a unique two-handed, single hilted blade, that counts as dual wield. The Slayer really can make any form of blade work. And the Oni-Goroshi is such a unique kind of weapon that people still have trouble understanding it and optimizing its damage.

What the Oni-Goroshi Brutal Slam Excels in:

Simple to gear, though very expensive
Over 15 million DPS
Clears the entire game with one hit
Immune to a lot of stuff through Her Embrace

Oni-Goroshi Brutal Slam full details:

The Oni-Goroshi is a unique one-handed, dual-wielding blade that grants you ‘Her Embrace’ when you ignite an enemy. It is a very powerful buff that grants you a LOT of damage, attack, cast and movement speed, immunity to Freeze, Chill, Burning and Ignite. All that at the cost of taking 0.5% of your life and Energy shield per second for each level you’re at. So at level 94, you’ll need to mitigate 47% of your life as a degen, as fire damage, which then is lessened by your fire res (which can be boosted too).
You NEED to have both the Oni-Goroshi (which is fairly cheap, and always 6-linked, which is great) and a Replica’s Farrul Fur, which is extremely expensive just by itself, from 10 to 35 exalted orbs. This is how you automate your Brutal and Frenzy Charges.
The Brutal Charges come from your Arn’s Anguish, which converts all forms of Endurance Charges into Brutal Charges, which grants you 3% chance of dealing TRIPLE damage. At 9 Frenzy/Brutal Charges (because of Masterful Form guaranteeing the same amount of Maximum Endurance Charges as Frenzy Charges) you can reach a 27% chance of dealing TRIPLE damage, which is a ludicrous amount of damage for any build, but especially with Oni-Goroshi, which has a massive amount of increased and flat damage already.

For more information, check here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3218063

3 – Frostblades Ichimonji

Frostblades against The Shaper

Stepping away from how expensive the last build was, there’s always budget-friendly builds that can still clear the entire game without breaking the bank, and this one tries to do just that, without pretending and lying to you with clever mechanics (ticking obscure boxes on PoB). And it does that by using two 3chaos blades and a pair of gloves that don’t ever cost over 5c.

What the Frostblades Ichimonji Excels in:

Extremely budget and league starter Friendly
Simple to play and fantastic clearing
Scales linearly with budget and gear
Freezes everything, making it a safe build, along with substantial amounts of block

Frostblades Ichimonji full details:

The way this build works is by having two Ichimonji, which are very high DPS and fast attacking swords, but with very low critical strike chance, which we, as Slayers, can boost by speccing into the Overwhelming Ascendancy Node, instantly making both blades a whopping 8% Crit.
This, combined with Slayer’s own quick and strong attacks, makes it so nothing can withstand your blows, and all with the tiny cost of a measly 6 chaos orbs or less. The Ichimonji are so strong that they can carry you through all of the endgame until you can farm enough currency to do the big jump, and get yourself a Paradoxica and a Saviour, and then, your damage will hit the skies, reaching over 15 million DPS easily.
For defense, we rely mostly on Slayer leech, some 70% block chance, killing and freezing enemies before they get a chance to hit (and nearly everything is permanently frozen) and our single target comes from clever positioning with the Hydrosphere, and by having Tribal Fury or Ancestral Call, to double hit the bosses when you hit the Hydrosphere.

For more a thorough breakdown, check here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3147878

2 – Hollow Palm Cyclone

Hollow Palm Cyclone Illustration

This time, our weapons aren’t blades, but our fists! With Hollow Palm, our hands become as deadly and sharp as any blade, and we crush all who stand in our way! By using Cyclone, the fastest hitting skill, with the best AoE for unarmed, and in this case, unencumbered, we can reach millions of DPS!

What the Hollow Palm Cyclone Excels in:

Fantastic and linear leveling, though not a cheap nor league starter build
Can get it going with just a few uniques and scales fantastically
Over 10 million DPS
Fairly tanky with over 5k life

Hollow Palm Cyclone full details:

Hollow Palm comes from the Unique Cluster Jewel One from Nothing, that grants the Keystone Hollow Palm Technique. This means that while we are unencumbered (no weapons, shields, or gloves), we get 40% More Attack Speed and 14 to 20 Physical Attack Damage per 10 Dex. This means that the more Dexterity we have, the more damage we deal.
Due to how Attribute stacking builds work in PoE, this means we can get easily over 1,2k Dex, and with some heavy investment, over 1,7k Dex. With some great and synergistic items, that means we can get a massive amount of Life from Dex, with the Garukhan’s Flight, which grants +2 Life per 10 Dex. With a single pair of boots, we get over 1k HP.
The best way to stack attributes is by getting as many jewels as possible, jewels that grant flat Dexterity or that convert nearby nodes into Dex. A massive source of Dex is also the Brutal Restraint, especially if you get 5% Dex ones.

For more information, check here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3218038

1 – KissMeQuick’s Reave: Reborn

Demonic Reave MTX

Who would’ve thought that a skill as old as Reave could still find viability and, more so, excel in 3.16? KissMeQuick did, and they have a fantastic guide that will take you by the hand and show you exactly what you want and need to make this work, and boy, how it works beautifully!

What KissMeQuick’s Reave:Reborn Excels in:

Scales fantastically with investment, but it’s cheap to start with
Can league Start
Kills the entire content
Very Tanky and a really fun playstyle

KissMeQuick’s Reave:Reborn full details:

Reave has always been a skill that demanded mobs to hit constantly, in order to stack up to its full potential and area. And with Scourge shitting out mobs everywhere, it’s the best Reave has been in forever. Our biggest investment comes from Paradoxica, which literally doubles our damage.
We achieve our tankyness by being full Block, Slayer Overleech (remember how Reave loves attacking? That’s the best thing about Overleech, we’re always leeching), 79% ele res, permanent Fortify, endurance charges, and over 6,5k HP.
Always remember to use your Vaal Skills (Vaal Reave and Vaal Ancestral Warchief) for bosses, popping down the Ancestral Protector for a massive attack speed boost, and using the Vaal Dual Strike Clones to help you deal as much single target damage as possible and insta-phase the bosses!

For a thorough breakdown of this build, click here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2976624