Intro & build description
Bladestorm was one of the skills introduced with melee rework and 3.7 patch. It’s pretty different as far as melee skills go, because it has unique interaction with Blood and Sand skill. When in blood stance, the storms created will be stationary and will grant you attack speed while standing in them. In sand stance, the storms created will move and give you some movement speed when standing in them.
This particular build dual-wields swords, scales physical damage and critical strike multiplier, also has a decent chance to impale.
Build Pros
- Decent life pool
- Fast clear speed
- Cheap to start and scales really well with currency invested
- Has plenty of single target damage, so the build can kill Shaper and Uber Elder
Build Cons
- Melee build, which means you have to be up close to deal damage
- Physical reflect is a no-go
Passive tree(s) and Path of Building
[3.8] Skill TreeBandits
Bandits Quest Choice |
Kill all bandits |
Ascendancy skill points
Labyrinths | Skill point choice |
---|---|
Labyrinth 1 | Flawless Savagery |
Labyrinth 2 | Blitz |
Labyrinth 3 | Crave The Slaughter |
Endgame Labyrinth | Rite of Ruin |

Skill gem setup
Helm
Vaal Ancestral Warchief
Pulverise
Precision
Blood Rage
Body Armor
Bladestorm
Close Combat Support
Impale Support
Pulverise Support
Rage Support
Brutality Support
Gloves
Leap Slam
Endurance Charge on Melee Stun Support
Fortify Support
Blood Magic Support
Boots
Flesh and Stone
Blood and Sand
Berserk
Maim
2h Weapon
None
1h Weapon
Dread Banner
Herald of Purity
Summon Ice Golem
Offhand weapon / shield
Immortal Call (LVL 3)
Assassin's Mark (LVL 1)
Cast When Damage Taken (LVL 3)
Build uniques / Example rare gear
Tip: Click on the item to view it on PoE Wiki or to view similar rare items in poe.tradeHelmet
Starkonja's HeadPerfect helm for most melee builds with a great balance of offensive and defensive stats.
You could also go for rare armour or evasion based helmet with 100+ life, “Nearby Enemies take 9% increased Physical Damage
” mod crafted with jagged fossil and some resistances.
Body Armour
Rare Astral Plate with MaimIdeally, the build should look for a 6-linked Astral Plate, crafted with Serrated fossils.
It should have “Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 1 Maim”, since this mod by itself gives a lot of damage. Any life or resistance mods on top of that would be ideal.
Gloves
Rare Spiked GlovesLook for Rare Spiked gloves with life, physical damage to attacks and increased attack speed.
Any resistances on top of that would be great, but can get pricey.
Boots
Rare bootsLook for generic rare boots with ~80 life, 30% incresed movement speed and some resistances.
Good enchantment would be “16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you’ve Killed Recently”.
Left Ring
Rare RingLook for rings with life, #-# physical damage to attacks and as much resistances as you can get.
When you have more currency, you could look for rare Steel rings with aforementioned mods.
Amulet
Rare amuletWe want amulet with as many damage mods as we can get for this build.
Look for one with at least 30% to global critical stike chance and multiplier and as high #-# physical damage to attacks as you can get.
Life is always a good bonus on top of damage stats.
Belt
Rare Stygian ViseLook for rare Stygian Vise with at least 80 life and as high resistances as you can find.
1Hand Weapon
Rare Crafted Jewelled FoilThis build dual wields rare Jewelled Foil swords – you can craft them yourself or buy them.
I would approach crafting one in a following way:
1.) Get a Jewelled foil with 83 item level
2.) Roll it using Orbs of Alteration until you hit Champion’s, Conqueror’s, Emperor’s or ideally Dictator’s prefix
3.) Regal it
4.) Craft “Can have multiple Crafted Modifiers” mod for 2 EX
5.) Craft increased physical damage, adds #-# physical damage, attack speed and quality.
Follow the link to poe.trade to take a look at similar foils.
Offhand
Rare Crafted Jewelled FoilLook for another Jewelled Foil just like the one I described previously.
Jewel
Tempered FleshTempered Flesh is a great jewel for critical builds.
Place it in the slot right under the Stamina notable.
Helmet
Rare jewelsOn rare jewels look for following mods:
1.) Global critical strike multiplier / critical strike multiplier with one handed melee weapons
2.) Increased maximum life
3.) Any Increased attack speed mod
4.) Increased damage / melee damage / physical damage
5.) Resitances or attributes that you are lacking, if any
Flask
Flask Setup1.) Lion’s Roar
2.) Cinderswallow Urn
3.) Instant Recovery Divine life flask with bleed removal
4.) Diamond Flask with freeze removal
5.) Sulfur Flask / Basalt Flask with curse removal