Path of Exile Top 10 Melee Builds
1. Molten Strike of the Zenith Champion (Duelist)
The best melee build on the list goes to the Molten Strike of Zenith Champion which has amazing damage potential.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 10/10
Build Guide
The Molten Strike of Zenith Champion can invert enemies' resistances with the recommended Rakiata's Dance weapon which gives it a significant edge on boss fights while still maintaining excellent clearing damage. Molten Strike of Zenith also has a wide spread area of effect attack with its projectiles which can trigger off of multiple enemies. If you would like to try the top rated build on our list you can find a guide for it here Molten Strike of Zenith Champion Guide.
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2. Boneshatter of Complex Trauma Slayer (Duelist)
The second place melee build on the list goes to the Boneshatter Slayer which has very high single target damage.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
The Boneshatter Slayer has a quick stacking damage buff that increases your damage and gives very high single target damage. Boneshatter also triggers an area of effect pulse whenever an enemy is stunned which makes it great for clearing groups of enemies. If you would like to try this build out you can find a guide for it here Boneshatter Slayer Guide.
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3. Shockwave Cyclone Slayer (Duelist)
The Shockwave Cyclone Slayer is a strong build both offensively and defensively and has great mobility.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
The Shockwave Cyclone Slayer is one of the strongest starter builds in the game and really starts to shine in the endgame once you have a strong staff. You will have Fortification to reduce melee damage taken, high block using a staff, and kill enemies with 20% of their life remaining with your ascendancy. Impale Cyclone Champion was omitted from this list because this build is a slightly stronger physical Cyclone build. If you are interested in trying out the Shockwave Cyclone Slayer build you can find a guide for the build here Shockwave Cyclone Slayer Guide.
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4. Impale Flicker Strike Champion (Duelist)
The Impale Flicker Strike Champion excels at delve and heists and is the best melee build for speed farming.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10​​
Build Guide
Flicker Strike teleports from pack to pack making it excellent at speed farming. The Impale Flicker Strike Champion is recommended because it has better defenses than the Cold Flicker Strike Deadeye and the Oro's Flicker Strike Deadeye while also dishing out some really great damage with a physical weapon. If you would like to try out the Impale Flicker Strike Champion you can find a guide for the build here Impale Flicker Strike Champion Guide.
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5. Rage Vortex of Berserking Cyclone Berserker (Marauder)
The Rage Vortex of Berserking Cyclone Berserker is a fairly new Cyclone build variant that deals excellent damage.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 10/10
Build Guide
With this build you will generate Ragestorms with Rage Vortex of Berserking while channeling Cyclone to deal high damage to nearby enemies. This build deals the highest single target damage of the Cyclone builds while still maintaining excellent clearing damage but is not as strong defensively as some builds. If you would like to try out the Rage Vortex of Berserking Cyclone Berserker build a guide for it can be found here Rage Vortex of Berserking Cyclone Berserker Guide.
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6. Wild Strike of Extremes Trickster (Shadow)
The Wild Strike of Extremes Trickster is much better than the standard Wild Strike and was majorly buffed in 3.25.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
Wild Strike of Extremes had its damage effectiveness nearly doubled in 3.25 making it a powerful build for this season. This build deals great boss damage because it inverts the resistances of your enemies and it deals great clearing damage because Wild Strike of Extremes is a wide area of effect attack. If you would like to try out the Wild Strike of Extremes Trickster a guide for the build can be found here Wild Strike of Extremes Trickster Guide.
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7. Lacerate of Haemorrhage Bleed Gladiator (Duelist)
The Lacerate of Haemorrhage Gladiator is one of the best melee builds in the game for bosses.
Mapping: 8/10 Delve: 9/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 10/10​​
Build Guide
The Lacerate of Haemorrhage Gladiator was majorly buffed with changes to the Gladiator ascendancy in the new season 3.25. This build is now one of the best bossing melee builds in the game because you can attack bosses and then simply move out of danger while the boss takes damage from Bleeding. If you would like to try out the Lacerate of Haemorrhage Bleed Gladiator a guide for the build can be found here Lacerate of Haemorrhage Gladiator Guide.
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8. Armour Stacking Smite Champion (Duelist)
This build is capable of excellent damage and has an extremely high amount of armour to help with survival.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 8/10 Damage: 7/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
The Armour Stacking Smite Champion uses Doryani's Prototype to give enemies your extremely low lightning resistances and makes armour mitigate your lightning damage taken. This build uses two build enabling Replica Dreamfeather weapons to greatly increase your attack damage with increases to your armour. If you would like to try out the Armour Stacking Smite Champion build a guide for it can be found here Armour Stacking Smite Champion Guide.
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9. Dual Strike of Ambidexterity Slayer (Duelist)
The Dual Strike of Ambidexterity Slayer is a fairly new transfigured build that received a significant buff in 3.25.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
This build was buffed along with multiple other melee builds that had their damage effectiveness increased. It can clear well with Awakened Ancestral Cry Support and has high single target damage. If you are interested in trying out the Dual Strike of Ambidexterity Slayer build you can find a guide for it here Dual Strike of Ambidexterity Slayer Guide.​​​​
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10. CoC Forbidden Rite Cyclone Occultist (Witch)
This build is strong once you invest an very large amount of currency into it and takes the tenth place spot.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10​​
Build Guide
This build excels at clearing enemies with the Profane Bloom ascendancy which makes enemies explode and deal a large amount of chaos damage to nearby enemies but also has middle of the road single target damage. This build is expensive to optimize but is excellent once you have 100% critical strike chance with Power charges, very high attack speed, and high increased spell damage. If you are interested in trying out the CoC Forbidden Rite Cyclone Occultist build you can find a guide for it here CoC Forbidden Rite Cyclone Occultist Guide.​
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HM. Cast on Crit Ice Spear Cyclone Inquisitor (Templar)
Ice Spear received a buff when they added Ice Spear of Splintering to the game and is the honorable mention.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 7/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 7/10 Bosses: 6/10​​
Build Guide
The CoC Ice Spear Cyclone Inquisitor received a buff in a previous season with the addition of Ice Spear of Splintering making it a very strong clearing skill. Ice Spear lost its 600% critical strike chance increase which was redundant for a cast on critical strike build, greatly increased the damage of Ice Spear, and it now splits into multiple projectiles that target nearby enemies. The single target damage of Ice Spear of Splitting is however a little low. If you are interested in trying out the CoC Ice Spear Cyclone Inquisitor you can find a guide for it here CoC Ice Spear Cyclone Inquisitor Guide.
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That's all for the Top 10 Melee Builds! For more on Path of Exile you can view the endgame guide here Endgame Guide.
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