The Duelist class in PoE is a hybrid class of strength and dexterity. Duelists have more damage and evasion from the start. This class can use a shield for protection effectively. Also, they are very powerful with single-handed and double-handed weapons or swords and longbows. So, you can play as a melee or ranged character.
The Duelist class has also three Ascendancy Classes.
- Slayer
- Gladiator
- Champion
The Duelist class is considered one of the best classes to start the game with. Due to its hybrid nature, you can build this class as high life (tank), high damage, or both. So, in this article, we will discuss some of the best builds for the duelist class.
Devon’s Blazing Headsman Slayer Build
- Character class: Duelist
- Ascendancy: Slayer
This build is not for league starters and is completely focused on the end game. So, if you are searching for league starter builds you can go to the next build.
This build is fire-based using Awakened Elemental damaged which provides you with 100% fire reflect immunity. Also, using slayer ascendancy in this build grants you the life leech ability. Using this build, you can just spin and hit enemies with lots of critical damage.
- Perfect for Boss Fights
- Very high HP
- DPS Ranges from 6M to 12M
- Excellent for end-game
- Focused on end-game (Very Expensive)
- Not good for starters
Playstyle
Nothing much to do here. Use the recommended gears and gem links. Spin and kill enemies with granted stun immunity. Do map mods as much as you like. Get to the endgame as soon as possible. In the early game, use the gears and gems you find and play as you like.
Recommended Gears
Here are some of the recommended gears for this build. These gears work well with this build.
- Head: Ghoul Glance Royal Burgonet
- Amulet: Xoph’s Blood Amber Amulet
- Chest: Loreweave Elegant Ringmail
- Gloves: Soul Grasp Vaal Gauntlets
- Boots: Pain Road Titan Greaves
- Belt: Ryslatha’s Coil Studded Belt
- Rings: Damnation Eye Sapphire Ring or Victory Whorl Two-stoned RIng
- Weapon: Void Forge Infernal Sword
- Shield: Any Rare or Unique Shield
Leveling
As this build is not focused on the early game, you can use any weapon but keep upgrading it for the smooth starter. Focus on upgrading Physical Damage. Voidforge with Xoph’s Heart is the best for this build so focus on getting these.
Awakened gems are recommended but you can also play without awakened gems if you find it hard. This build may cause some mana problems during leveling so use Praxis Ring in the early game until you find two rings with -3 mana cost of channeling skills. You also need to use Cyclone and Vaal Ancestral Warchief with Ancestral Protector.
Gem Link
For this build, you only need your Weapon, Chest, Head, Gloves, and Boots equipment for gem-link. But you need 6 slotted Weapons and Chest gear. Your gem-link should look like this in end-game:
| Cyclone (6-Link) | Cyclone Rage (Divergent) Infused Channeling Awakened Fire Penetration Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks Awakened Melee Physical Damage |
| Vaal Ancestral Warchief (6-Link) | Vaal Ancestral Warchief Ancestral Protector Combustion Elemental Damage with Attacks Fire Penetration Melee Physical Damage |
| Auras (4-Link) | Summon Skitterbots Herald of Purity Precision Enlighten Support (Level 3) |
| Leap Slam (4-Link) | Leap Slam Vengeance Rage Blood and Sand |
| Blood Range (4-Link) | Blood Rage Assassins Mark Berserk Enhance (Level 4) |
Ascendancy Nodes
After unlocking ascendancy, you have to choose ascendancy nodes to invest your points on. For this build, choose these ascendancies nodes for this build listed in order of importance.
- Headsman
- Bane of Legend
- Brutal Fervour
- Overwhelm
Bandits
In Act 2, there is a quest called “Deal with the Bandits” which will give you passive powerful combat abilities as a reward. You have to choose between 4 options which are:
- Save Bandit Lord Kraityn
- Save Bandit Lord Alira
- Save Bandit Lord Oak
- Kill All Bandits
For this build, save bandit lord Alira.
Pantheons
Pantheon powers help to enhance the characters’ defensive stats. These powers are available when players defeat certain gods from Act 6 to Act 10. There are altogether 12 gods. Four of them are major gods and eight of them are minor gods. A player can have the powers of one major god and one minor god.
For major gods, you can choose Soul of Lunaris. For minor god, you can choose Soul of Gruthkul or Soul of Yugul, or Soul of Shakari.
Cyclone Blood and Sand Gladiator Build
- Character class: Duelist
- Ascendancy: Gladiator
Cyclone build for Duelists is very popular among players. This build is a melee build using Cyclone gem. Gladiator ascendancy is considered a balanced class for both offense and defense. And using Cyclone gem with other support gems with this ascendancy is very powerful. You get lots of damage, over 7000 life, endurance, leech, and armor with this build.
- League Starter Friendly
- Balance between high damage and high defense
- Fast Gameplay
- Good for endgame
- Difficult Boss Fights
- Use of Cyclone may not be that useful in endgame
Playstyle
In this build, using cyclone skill your character has a lot of attack speed. The character has a spinning ability for attacking. Your attack speed is fast but the movement speed of your character becomes slow.
You have to enter a map, use Leap Slam and Cyclone. Gratuitous Violence ascendancy keystone will help you use bleeding effect in enemies and deal 10% of their maximum damage as physical damage.
Recommended Gears
Here are some of the recommended gears for this build. These gears work well with this build.
- Head: Devoto’s Devotion
- Amulet: Any Rare Amulet Gear
- Chest: Belly of the Beast or Carcass Jack or Rare Astral Plate
- Gloves: Rare Spiked Gloves
- Boots: Rare Two-toned Boots (Cold and Lightning Resistances)
- Belt: Rare Stygian Vise
- RIngs: Rare Steel Rings or Shaped Ring + Mark of the Elder
- Weapon 1: Rare Siege Axe or Soul Taker
- Weapon 2: Rare Siege Axe or Soul Taker
Leveling
For this build, you need to start with Ground Slam gem until Level 12. Then after reaching level 12, you need to equip Sunder gem which will grant you high base damage. With Sunder, you need to link other gems too. Here are the gems in order of importance:
- Sunder
- Melee Physical Damage Support
- Onslaught Support
- Multistrike Support
- Maim Support
- Ruthless Support
You may not get all these gems in an instant. So, use whatever gems you have until you find them all. Maim Support, Ruthless Support, and Onslaught Support can be found early. But Melee Physical Damage Support will only be available in ACT II. You can use Added Fire Damage Support too if you are using Tabula Rasa chest.
Don’t forget to pick Blood and Sand gem at Level 4 and Herald of Ash and Herald of Purity in ACT II.
Gem Link
Cyclone is the main gem for damaging skill and you have to up your dexterity stats to fully level up the cyclone. As mentioned, Cyclone may not be that good until the end-game so Sunder can be used instead of it.
The gem links you need for this build are as follows:
| Cyclone 6-Link | Cyclone Infused Channeling Support Melee Physical Damage Support Pulverise Support Fortify Support Concentrated Effect Support or Increased Area of Effect Support |
Sunder 6-Link | Sunder Melee Physical Damage Support Multistrike Support Ruthless Support Maim Support Concentrated Effect Support |
| Vaal Ancestral Warchief 4-Link | Vaal Ancestral Warchief or Ancestral Warchief Multiple Totems Support Melee Physical Damage Support Concentrated Effect Support |
| Cast When Damage Taken Support 4-Link | Cast when Damage Taken Support (Level 10) Immortal Call (Level 12) Increased Duration Support (Level 20) Warlord’s Mark (Level 13) |
| Vaal Double Strike 4-Link | Vaal Double Strike Melee Physical Damage Support Maim Support Ruthless Support |
| Leap Slam 3-Link | Leap Slam Faster Attacks Support Fortify Support |
| Auras 3-Link | Herald of Ash Herald of Purity Blood and Sand |
Ascendancy Nodes
After unlocking ascendancy, you have to choose ascendancy nodes to invest your points on. For this build, choose these ascendancies nodes for this build listed in order of importance.
- Arena Challenger
- Blood in the Eyes
- Gratuitous Violence
- Outmatch and Outlast
Bandits
In Act 2, there is a quest called “Deal with the Bandits” which will give you passive powerful combat abilities as a reward. You have to choose between 4 options which are:
- Save Bandit Lord Kraityn
- Save Bandit Lord Alira
- Save Bandit Lord Oak
- Kill All Bandits
Kill all three of them for additional skill points of Eramir for this build.
Pantheons
Pantheon powers help to enhance the characters’ defensive stats. These powers are available when players defeat certain gods from Act 6 to Act 10. There are altogether 12 gods. Four of them are major gods and eight of them are minor gods. A player can have the powers of one major god and one minor god.
Choose the powers of Soul of the Brine King for major god and Soul of Gruthkul for minor god for this build.
Shattering Steel Impale Champion Build
- Character class: Duelist
- Ascendancy: Champion
This is a ranged build using Champion Ascendancy. This build uses Impale Support gem which pairs with Champion Ascendancy in the best way. This build focuses on dual One-handed swords as the main weapons which are the strongest in the game. This build is for league starters so there are no build-enabling items. This build uses Steel abilities like Shattering Steel or Splitting Steel.
- A fun build
- One of the best League starters
- Good for end game
- High Clearing Speed and Fun Mapping
- Easy to Follow
- Only Focuses on Physical Damage
- Expensive
- Not that good Bossing
Playstyle
This build has ridiculous clearing speed so the use of the gems which help you do that is very necessary. You can use Leap Slam or Smoke Mine to run around the map. If you choose Smoke Mine don’t forget to get Divergent for bonus attack speed.
While attacking, use some distance with enemies as you have ranged abilities. Use Blood Rage for increased Life steal and attack speed. Also, you can use Ancestral Protector to improve attack speed for tank bosses and monsters. If you have space in the gem slot, consider using Vaal Double Strike for additional burst damage.
While in defense, remember to keep your Fortify Support with Leap Slam. Vaal Molten Shell is also a very good defense skill gem for this build. Use Leap Slamming ability more often in this build and maintain your distance from the enemies.
Recommended Equipment
- Head: Any Rare Helmet
- Amulet: Any Rare Amulet
- Chest: Any Rare Body Armor
- Gloves: Any Rare Gloves or Great Old One’s Tentacles
- Boots: Tailwind Rare Boots or Atziri’s Step
- Belt: Any Rare Belt or The Nomad
- Rings: Any Rare Rings
- Weapon 1: Ichimonji or Paradoxica or Jewelled Foil
- Weapon 2: Ichimonji or The Saviour
Leveling
For this build leveling, you need to get to Call to Arms and Points Blank as soon as possible. You should have Point Blank around level 30. After getting Call to arms, also get Enduring Cry from ACT III and use it as a movement button by putting it in left-click.
For this build, you need to increase your attack speed, dexterity, and intelligence too.
Gem Links
Before starting your gem link, you need to choose between Shattering Steel and Splitting Steel which both are for ranged attacks. You can only use one of these abilities. Let’s see the gem links you need for this build.
| Shattering or Splitting Steel 6-Link | Shattering Steel or Splitting Steel Vicious Projectiles Support Brutality Support Slower Projectiles Support Maim Support or Greater Multiple Projectiles Support Concentrated Effect Support or Increased Critical Damage Support For Shattering Steel, you should use Greater Multiple Projectiles Support. For end-game, your gem-slot should be like this: Shattering Steel or Splitting Steel Brutality Support Slower Projectiles Support Maim Support Greater Multiple Projectiles Support Concentrated Effect Support or Increased Critical Damage Support |
| Ancestral Protector, Blood Rage and Portal (3-Link) | Ancestral Protector Blood Rage Portal |
| Leap Slam (4-Link) | Leap Slam Fortify Support Faster Attacks Support Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Support or Culling Strike Support |
| Vaal Molten Shell (4-Link) | Vaal Molten Shell Increased Duration Support Cast when Damage Taken Support (Level 3) Enfeeble (Level 7) |
| Other Gems | Pride Flesh ad Stone Dread Banner Herald of Purity |
These gems should be used for your setup. You will need at least one Enlighten Support of level 4 to fit everything. Blood Rage and Enduring cry should be active all of the time. Remember to pick Poacher’s Marks as soon as possible.
Ascendancy
After unlocking ascendancy, you have to choose ascendancy nodes to invest your points on. For this build, choose these ascendancies nodes for this build listed in order of importance.
- Master of Metal
- Unstoppable Hero
- Conqueror
- Worthy Foe
Bandits
In Act 2, there is a quest called “Deal with the Bandits” which will give you passive powerful combat abilities as a reward. You have to choose between 4 options which are:
- Save Bandit Lord Kraityn
- Save Bandit Lord Alira
- Save Bandit Lord Oak
- Kill All the Bandits
For this build, you need to Kill all three of them for Skill points.
Pantheons
You can choose Soul of Lunaris for Major god. For Minor god choose Soul of Shakari.
Lacerate Gladiator Build
- Character class: Duelist
- Ascendancy: Gladiator
Cyclone skill gems and their ability are widely used in the PoE community. But there is another skill gem Lacerate that is highly ignored but is very useful. Lacerate is considered a melee skill but when reached endgame you will get ranged-like abilities from this skill gem and this build. It gives the players high damage with strong defense.
Lacerate is also very good for league starters. The scaling of Lacerate is also good for end-game which is great bossing too. This build is fast and very powerful.
- Ideal League Starter
- Both Range and Melee attacks
- Good for end-game
- High clear and movement speed
- DPS does not exceed 5M
- Need proper positioning in boss fights
Playstyle
The use of Lacerate to quickly kill monsters and Leap Slam to move through the map is the main playstyle of this build. Ascendancy nodes of Gladiator like Arena Challenger increase movement and attack speed by 20%. Gratuitous Violence grants a bleeding effect that explodes monsters and deals physical damage of 10% of monsters’ maximum life. Instead of 2 weapons in other builds, players use 1 weapon and 1 shield.
Recommended Equipment
- Head: Any Rare Helmet.
- Amulet: Any Rare Amulet or Talisman
- Chest: Belly of the Beast or Rare Astral Plate
- Gloves: Rare Spiked Gloves
- Boots: Rare Tiran Greaves or Kaom’s Roots (Uber Elder)
- Belt: Rare Stygian Vise
- Rings: Rare Steel Rings
- Weapon 1: Crafted or Multi-modded Siege Axe
- Shield: Lioneye’s Remorse
Leveling
You cannot get a Lacerate in the early game. So, in the early game equip Ground Slam until Level 12. Gem-links for leveling for this build should look like this:
- Lacerate
- Melee Physical Damage Support
- Multistrike Support
- Pulverise Support
- Brutality Support
- Onslaught Support
Onslaught Support can be found in the early game. But after you complete ACT V, you can get Fortify Support with a Silver Flask. Also, before you find Brutality Support and Multistrike Support you can use any gem. But later on, you should use these gems compulsory. At the start of the game, you need Blood and Sand. In ACT II get Flesh and Stone and in ACT III get Pride gem.
Gem Links
These gems can be linked with each other to increase the efficiency of the required skills. So, gem link is very important for your character development.
Following gem links should be used for this build and all gems should be used in the equipment where there is the same number of required gems slots available. Here are the names for the gem link.
| Lacerate (6- Link) | Lacerate Awakened Multistrike Support Awakened Brutality Support Awakened Melee Physical Damage Support (You can also use Awakened Ruthless Support) Close Combat Support (You can also use Chance to Bleed Support) Fortify Support |
| Vaal Ancestral Warchief 4-Link | Vaal Ancestral Warchief Brutality Support Bloodlust Support Melee Physical Damage Support |
| Auras 4-Link | Pride Maim Support Flesh and Stone Enlighten Support (Level 4) |
| Cast When Damage Taken Support 4-Link | Cast when Damage Taken Support (Level 20) Vaal Molten Shell Increased Duration Support Blood Rage |
| Leap Slam 3-Link | Leap Slam Faster Attacks Support Lifetap Support |
| Blood and Sand and Utility | Blood and Sand Enduring Cry Summon Stone Golem |
Ascendancy
After unlocking ascendancy, you have to choose ascendancy nodes to invest your points on. For this build, choose these ascendancies nodes for this build listed in order of importance.
- Arena Challenger
- Blood in the Eyes
- Gratuitous Violence
- Outmatch and Outlast
Bandits
In Act 2, there is a quest called “Deal with the Bandits” which will give you passive powerful combat abilities as a reward. You have to choose between 4 options which are:
- Save Bandit Lord Kraityn
- Save Bandit Lord Alira
- Save Bandit Lord Oak
- Kill All Bandits
In this build, you have to help Eramir and kill all bandits for 2 passive skill points.
Pantheons
Choose Soul of Brine King or Solaris for Major God and Soul of Gruthkul for Minor God for this build.
