Path of Exile Top 10 Melee Builds
​1. Boneshatter of Complex Trauma Slayer (Duelist)
The highest damage 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 which 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 damage. If you wish to try out the Boneshatter Slayer build you can find a guide for it at the top of this webpage.
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2. Shockwave Cyclone Slayer (Duelist)
The Shockwave Cyclone Slayer is a strong build both offensively and defensively with 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 a strong starter build but it really starts to shine in the endgames once you have a high damage staff. You will have Fortification to reduce your damage taken from hits, high block with a staff, and you can kill enemies with 20% of their life remaining from the Duelist ascendancies. If you're interested in trying out the Shockwave Cyclone Slayer build you can find a guide for it in the menu at the top of this webpage.
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3. 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 while attacking enemies making it an excellent speed farming build. The Impale Flicker Strike Champion is recommended because it has better defenses than Cold Flicker Strike and Fire Flicker Strike variants while dishing out some really great damage with a high damage physical weapon. If you would like to try out the Impale Flicker Strike Champion build you can find a guide for it in the menu at the top of this page.
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4. Strength Molten Strike of the Zenith Juggernaut (Marauder)
Molten Strike of the Zenith is a fairly new strength stack build that's one of the most powerful melee builds in the game.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 10/10
Build Guide
The Juggernaut is the preferred ascendancy for this strength stacking build because the Undeniable ascendancy gives accuracy equal to twice your strength and attack speed from your accuracy. Molten Strike of the Zenith also has a wide spread area of effect attack with its projectiles that can trigger off of multiple enemies. If you would like to try out this Molten Strike of the Zenith build you can find a guide for it in the menu at the top of this website.
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5. Earthshatter Berserker (Marauder)
The Earthshatter Berserker has become the new melee slam meta and does very well with multiple warcries.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 8/10​​​​​
Build Guide​
When using Earthshatter, multiple warcries are very important because they trigger the secondary explosions of Earthshatter while also increasing its damage. This means you can use multiple Autoexertion gems to automatically cast your warcries and Overexertion Support to increase your damage for each recent warcry. If you would like to try out the fairly new Earthshatter Berserker slam build a guide for it can be found in the menu at the top of this page.
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6. 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: 10/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 10/10
Build Guide
With this build you generate Ragestorms with the Rage Vortex of Berserking gem while channeling Cyclone to deal high damage to nearby enemies. This build deals the highest single target damage of the Cyclone builds and it has excellent clearing damage but, it's 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 in the menu at the top of this webpage.
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7. Wild Strike of Extremes Trickster (Shadow)
Wild Strike of Extremes was buffed back in season 3.25 and it's much better than the old version of Wild Strike.
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 which made it a competitive build in the Marauder rankings. This build deals great boss damage because it inverts the resistances of your enemies and it also 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 build a guide for it can be found in the menu at the top of this page.
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8. Lacerate of Haemorrhage Bleed Gladiator (Duelist)
The Lacerate of Haemorrhage Gladiator is now one of the best melee builds in the game for boss encounters.
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 improvements to the Gladiator ascendancy way back in season 3.25. This build is now one of the best bossing melee builds because you can attack bosses and then easily move out of danger while the boss is taking Bleeding damage. If you would like to try out the Lacerate of Haemorrhage Gladiator build a guide for it can be found in the menu at the top of this page.
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9. Armour Stacking Smite Champion (Duelist)
Armour Stacking Smite Champions are capable of high damage and have very high 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
This build uses two build enabling Replica Dreamfeather weapons to greatly improve your attack damage with increases to your armour. Armour Stacking Smite Champions can also use the Doryani's Prototype body armour to give your enemies your extremely low lightning resistance and it makes armour mitigate your lightning damage taken. If you would like to try out the Armour Stacking Smite Champion build a guide for it can be found in the menu.​
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10. 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
Dual Strike of Ambidexterity was buffed in a previous patch which increased its damage effectiveness. The build can clear enemies well with Ancestral Cry Support and it has solid single target damage. If you're interested in trying out the Dual Strike of Ambidexterity Slayer build you can find a guide for it in the menu at the top of this page.
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HM. Acc. Stack Lightning Strike Juggernaut (Marauder)
The Lightning Strike Juggernaut is the best Juggernaut build in the game and the best accuracy stack build in the game.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 7/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 10/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
The Accuracy Stacking Lightning Strike Juggernaut is one of the strongest melee builds in the game both offensively and defensively. With investments in more expensive gear and more expensive jewels the damage of this build can get rather high. The Juggernaut ascendancy also doubles the armour of your equipped body armour which is helpful defensively. If you would like to try out this build a guide for it can be found in the menu at the top of this webpage.
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That's all for this PoE guide! You can view more Path of Exile guides in the menu at the top of this page. Best of luck!​