[3.3] Ascendant Slayer/Raider Starforge Cyclone (ISC UberElder Downed)

Nothing really change. Beside we lose Aspect of Spider as endgame aura option with Bestiary gone.

3.3 also revamp the Vaal skills, but Vaal Cyclone is still meme tier, and feel very awkward to use with cyclone, going for Lv21 cyclone is just better for the +1 additional range.
Vaal Double Strike on the other hand can be easily included since cyclone proc. bleed very reliably, which provide a strong burst against map bosses.

My first Shaper run this league with budget gear setup

https://youtu.be/ErMaidx7pwY

POB: https://pastebin.com/tRKqpMPK

Kondo's Pride as weapon, using 5Links only. Jewels are also very cheap because none of them have Life% (each of them cost less than 10 chaos).

Also not using Might of the Meek, because they cost ~1.5EX on our server for unknown reason (but they cost only about 15 chaos on GGG server).


My first UberElder run this league
(RT Ascendant Slayer/Raider, with Starforge)
https://youtu.be/uLYOOGtHdlE

First run this league and it was successful. Got one death from being combo by Shaper ball and Elder Ice spike.
I use 5L totem setup instead of Totem/VDS for UberElder because I'm not sure how many usage of VDS I can get it off for this fight, will test VDS later once I get my Starforge 6 linked.

POB: https://pastebin.com/yf8cxb3J

UberElder deathless run
(RT)
https://youtu.be/eKt_EoqWAD4
POB: https://pastebin.com/6NnEHByY
Similar setup as my first run, but got my Starforge 6 linked. Testing VDS with Totem together as 5L setup, and VDS actually perform quite nice since it recharge during each door phases. Also other Vaal skill will compete with VDS on recharging souls, so should definitely not using Vaal Haste(and Vaal Cyclone) in next run.

Early league Shaper run with modest gear (RT Slayer/Raider, no Starfroge, just Kondo):
Video:https://youtu.be/r_rDhFP-rlg
POB:https://pastebin.com/XyMBhH3L

RT version doing UberElder (Slayer/Raider, with Starforge)
Video:https://youtu.be/tcxXHaof9o0
POB:https://pastebin.com/R6HzJnJg

Crit version doing UberElder (Slayer/Jugg)
Video:https://youtu.be/mOcG5ShCIh0
POB:https://pastebin.com/rvR9FXTd

Scion feels weaker at low/medium gear levels, mostly because of no EndlessHunger, which make your leech duration rather short compared to Slayer during mapping (Leech duration= Hit damage * Leech% *50/ max life). And for lab running, Slayer is also stronger/safer because of leech duration.

Ascendant(Slayer/Raider) have higher movement speed (10% innate, 20% perma Onslaught and additional 17% from tree if you have Might of the Meek), allowing you to ditch Devoto and used other helm to boost life/resist and have easier gearing (Devoto is basicaly mandatory for Slayer cyclone), or just go full speed with Devoto.

For mapping damage, Ascendant(Slayer/Raider) is weaker, because both version can sustain perma frenzy during mapping and Slayer also get Headsman buff (20% more dmg).

However for bossing, especially against bosses that have no adds during main phase (EX: Shaper), Ascendant is better due to full frenzy charges sustain and perma Onslaught, and is easier to dodge boss mechanics as Ascendant move much faster.

Ascendant also have better affinity for Crit scaling (though it's still expensive) than Slayer, providing higher endgame potential.

Kill all bandits

RT Slayer/Raider template (LV90, no Might of the Meek)
www.poeurl.com/bVAV

RT Slayer/Raider template (Lv92, 2 Might of the Meek)
www.poeurl.com/bVBt
(Place Might of the Meek at the west and south jewel slot from Scion starting point:https://imgur.com/a/Xb46nnd )


"Tireless" is a very big QOL if you find that you're constantly out of mana during cycloning as 6L.
"Crimson Dance" and bleeding chance in Sword cluster give some dmg boost against single-target (6~10 % more DPS at 8 stacks), the reliable bleeding proc from cyclone also allow the usage of BloodLust to boost your totem dmg against single target, but you shouldn't invest any other passives on bleed scaling, especially after cyclone lost the Ruthless support in 3.1.

For pantheon, use Arakaali as major god after you capture the "Arachnoxia" upgrade in Sewer Map. Combined with Bloodrage and CwDt-IC, this upgrade boost your life recovery rate by 50% for 4sec whenever CwDt- IC proc, which affect your leech recovery (Credit to Reddit thread posted by SummeR for the discovery in 3.0- https://redd.it/6wgjoj). You can see the leech demonstration in my 3.0 video: https://youtu.be/8pun1HbLIWE

Minor god is flexible, I use Gruthkul/Shakari(with upgrade) in general, and Yugul(with upgrade) for UberElder.

We use Cyclone as main skill, and supplemented with Ancestral Warchief for single target.

Cyclone: Brutality-MeleePhys-Maim-Dmg on Full Life-Conc/AOE



Ancestral Warchief: Brutality-MeleePhys-Bloodlust-Ruthless-(Maim/Damage on full life)
or Ancestral Warchief-Vaal Double Strike-Brutality-MeleePhys-Bloodlust-Ruthless



Aura: Blasphemy-Vulnerability and Grace/Haste/Purity of Ice




Blood Rage and CwDt-Immortal Cry



LeapSlam-FasterAttack-Fortify-BloodMagic

Weapon: Kondo's Pride -> Starforge



Helmet: Rare



Armor: 6-Link rare Astral Plate from "The Celestial Justicar" or belly -> Elder/Shaper base




Glove and Belt: "Rare glove + Deceiver belt" -> "Tombfist + Rare Stygian Vise" -> Tombfist + Elder belt"




Amulet: Carnage Heart



Rings: Rare -> "Mark of the elder" + Shaper ring



Boots: Rare


Jewel




My usual Flask set-up for mapping

~ first lab

Example Tree: www.poeurl.com/bVLf

Dual wielding

Skill use cleave or molten strike/forst blade --> Sunder

Get first 2 ascendancy point into ranger.

~ Second lab

Example Tree: www.poeurl.com/bVMw

After first lab, switch to two-hand weapons as you start to get 2H specific nodes, respec "Duality" cluster and change "Strong arm" into "Butchery".

Continue using Sunder or try Earthquake/Laceration, since these two skills should feel much better in 3.3.

Get Desroyer-> Golem's Blood-> Wrecking Ball, then travel north to Templar starting area to get more life and some Int, also get Constitution since it's just nearby.

At second Lab, get the Raider subascendancy and put 1 point into Duelist.


~ Third lab
Example Tree: www.poeurl.com/bVNe

I start cyclone after getting the Raider sub-ascendancy since it give a lot of movement speed bonus. Start using Bloodrage to keep up frenzy and get the Onslaught bonus.
Get the 1 point jewel slot from Scion starting region and slot in "Warlord's Reach" jewel from the quest reward to get +1 bonus weapon range for early QoL.

For aura, use Blasphemy-Warlord's Mark at first for leech. But after getting Hematophagy and the mana/life leech node from Vitality Void cluster, you can switch to Blasphemy-Vulnerability for more damage instead.

Travel from south to link a path to Resolute Technique, and respec excessive passive points. If you get the Kondo's Pride early or have already been using a 2H sword, you can start filling the Sword cluster passive (get Razor's Edge for +1 weapon range first).

You should be able to do third lab with ~3.5K HP and 9K cyclone tooltip dps (4L Cyclone: Brutality-meleephys-Maim). Get Slayer sub-ascendancy from third lab.


Early mapping

You may find it hard to cap resist right after killing Kitava, if so, use Purity of Element as temporal solution until you have better gears.

If you have only crappy rare weapon and slow atk speed, you might also need to fill up remaining life leech nodes in Hematophagy cluster to have more leech duration/leech rate to feel comfortable in boss fight, you can respec out those later after you get a Kondo or Doomsower.

Try to get 5L Strength based armor as soon as possible, and add Damage on full life to cyclone link.

Capture the "Arachnoxia" in T5 Sewer Map to upgrade Arakaali pantheon.

I will just talk about this fight from the perspective of Slayer-leech based Cyclone build. Our Slayer-leech combined with Vaal Pact/Arrakalli allow us to basically ignore the DoT ground effects in Uber Elder Fight as long as our leech duration is still up, which make the fight rather easy compare to most other ascendancy (Try to avoid the DoT nonetheless, since it partially offset your Slayer leech effect).


My Aura setup
Vulnerability + Purity of Ice

My pantheon setup
Major: Arrakalli (The only major god for all slayer leech build, other choices are heretics)
Minor: Yugul(Get the upgrade for reduced cold damage taken, this include the DOT ground)

My flask setup
Writhing Jar (Bubbling Life flask of Heat for Ascendant)
Lion's Roar
Chemist's Sulphur Flask of Heat (or Stibnite/Sapphire)
Chemist's Sapphire Flask of Heat
Chemist's Quick Silver Flask of Heat (or of Adrenaline)

Don't press your flask mindlessly, try to always have freeze/chill immunity up by timing your flask, and Jar/Roar for Heal/burst, Quicksilver for the Slow phase or emergency dodge.

This fight is separated into 4 phases:

A: Shaper phase (Elder is invulnerable)
B: Elder phase (Shaper is invulnerable)
C: Door phase (Either Shaper or Elder door, and both boss are invulnerable)
D: Final phase (Both are not invulnerable, but only Shaper can be culled)

The sequence go like this: A->B->C(elder door)->A->B->C(shaper door)->A->B->C(elder)->D
Each phase is passed after the Shaper/Elder lose 25% of their total life, or after a fixed timer(Door phase).

Phase A is rather easy for us, since the yellow balls from shaper can't hit you at close melee range (they require a minimum traveling distance to be "armed"), you can just cycloning around Shaper without any fear. Elder will shoot you with ice spikes, but at this stage you should tank those spikes easily with Slayer leech (Also since Spikes don't have cold penetration, Purity of Ice and Sapphire is very effective).
The major risk is that the shaper will constantly teleport around the arena, and during the searching for shaper you can be stunned by the Elder ice spikes and then killed by shaper balls (The Slayer nerfed in losing stun immunity is actually big here). But as long as you can engage Shaper quickly and start spinning, this phase is easy.

Phase B is the most difficult one. Elder is mostly immobile, but Shaper will constantly cover the elder with Balls and Laser. The big trick here is try to lure the aiming of Shaper into other direction, since the Shaper will only target your last location. Shaper usually fire 3~4 rounds of balls then followed by 1 laser. In best situation, you want to lure the all the balls and laser away from Elder and deal damage to elder before the Shaper start aiming again, but in practice, the firing of shaper balls is very rapid, so you should try focus on luring the Laser away as your first goal, since the Laser last few seconds, allowing you have big time window to burst the Elder (Save your DPS flasks for this opportunity!). Another thing you have to pay attention here is that the shaper would still teleport around the arena, so the direction of balls and laser will also change. Also don't be too distracted/restricted by the expanding Elder Ring, it take quite some time to expand and explode, keep on moving and lure the Shaper beam/balls out of the center ring so you are safe to deal dmg to Elder.
In short: Always put most of your attention on the Shaper, even if he is invulnerable, since he is the real boss here.

Phase C is just spawning trash for you to fill your flask, just always pay attention on the location of Shaper, and keep moving (even better if your movement is vertical to the direction of shaper balls/laser). You don't have to kill the elder door, just clear the spawn and the door will disappear after fixed time. For Slayer, you can try to kill one Door to get the 20 sec Onslaught from Bane of Legends, since the Door is an unique monster, and Slayer can even intentionally leave some small squids behind (just no big squids, they can spawn DOT ground), so you can use them to proc Headsman (20% more damage) later in phase A or B (small squid deal almost 0 damage if only few of them left).

After the first round of A->B->C, the Elder start to dish out some new trick in later rounds (mostly during phase B).

The first trick (and the most deadly one) is the Slow phase. This can't be avoid (even if you manage to dodge the initial animation or leave the siphoning cone) and can't be dispelled by any flask, it always slow you down for quite few seconds. The slow by itself is still manageable if you pop a quick silver, but this slow is absolutely deadly if you are also chilled (it's impossible to dodge anything with slow and chill, and the stun duration get almost doubled in this status). Always keep one usage of chill removing flask for this situation, and always short spin your cyclone so you can stop spinning as soon as you saw the elder diving animation (Getting slowed and stuck in cyclone animation is very deadly). Koam's Root and Jugg ascendancy trivialize this mechanics, but you can't possibly sacrifice 30~35% movement speed as cyclone build to wear Koam's Root just for this situation.

The second trick from elder is the tentacle, they deal quick some damage (2~3K per hit) and will stun-lock you if you get caught, but is very easy to dodge (just normal moving is enough).

The final trick is the elder shower, this seem do deal no damage if you are directly under him, and even if you get hit by the shower, it's only just about 1~2K damage, nothing big. Just remember that elder will do a "delayed" slam aiming at your last location after the shower, dodge that and you're fine.

If you manage into phase D as Slayer, you are basically passed, since phase D start with both Elder and Shaper at 25% health, you should instantly cull the shaper at 20%. And without Shaper, the Elder alone is just a joke.

In 3.3, you can abuse the bursting power of Vaal Double Strike in this fight(VDS-Brutality-Bloodlust-MeleePhys-Ruthless). VDS can be recharged to full usage after each Door phase by killing spawns, cast all VDS at once can quickly phase the Elder/Shaper once they become vulnerable, just be sure to proc. bleed with Cyclone on them first. Example Clip: https://youtu.be/bD4eKF071fQ

It's possible to make crit Starforge work, and perform better than RT variant. However without good investment, RT variant will perform better due to its damage consistency. So don't transition to crit carelessly without preparations. (I personally would only do the transition after getting a decent Crit Elder Armor)

For consistency of crit, in general you want to aim for ~40% Effective Crit Chance (without buff).

[Effective Crit Chance] = [Base crit] X [1 + (Total Inc.% of Crit Chance)] X [Chance to Hit]

The major problem with Starforge is that it has only 5% base crit, making the required amount of Inc.% Crit Chance% very hard to achieve efficiently.

However, you can modified the [Base crit] through multiple ways:

1. Increased Critical Strikes Support: The easiest and most cheap way is just replacing one support gem with "Increased Critical Strikes", which give you +1.9% base crit and +115 Inc.% of Crit chance, can allow you to easily scale crit with any weapons. The downside of this is that the Damage multiplier provide by this support gem is generally lower than most other alternatives, so you are trading some damage potential for crit consistency and scaling easiness.

2. Elder Body Armor suffix: The body armor drop as Elder base in Elder affected region can roll a suffix: "Attacks have +% to Critical Strike Chance", which is a direct modifier on your base crit with all attack skills. You can get up to +1.5% on base crit through this single suffix mod, which is almost half the power of "Increased Critical Strikes Support", making this a very powerful and efficient way to scale crit with Starforge. The downside of this is that you need a itlv84 Elder armor to get the highest tier of this mod, which is generally scarce on the market. And not all the people like crafting things by them-self.

3. Corruption mods on Gloves: In 3.3, you can get "Attacks have +(0.5–0.8)% to Critical Strike Chance" on Gloves after corruption. One Socket Tombfist is very suitable for corruption. The downside of this is the pure RNG involved in corruption, which can brick the item, and the market availability of correct corruption on correct gloves is not stable.

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