Saqawal Twister in 3.21 (Chieftain)

Update 2: 3.21.0c Hotfix - Added a 100ms cooldown to the Twister Skill that is triggered when using the Saqawal's Flock Unique Helmet. - Yes, this is as bad as it looks. It is no longer possible to hit 30 procs per second. At least I can now say I'm partially responsible for a mid-league nerf (though the main responsibility is still on u/Beatlebomb) ... ... CDR required now: https://www.reddit.com/r/PathOfExileBuilds/comments/12ltiib/saqawals_twister_after_the_midleague_nerf_and

Disclaimer: Spark MTX is not working with Twister currently, even though it should and has done so in past leagues.(Update: This is fixed!)

Showcase with Maven-ed Phoenix (no regen map): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBgO6QP-xKU

POB: https://pobb.in/KjLuNDeK_nyr (not min-maxed, can swap to Asenath's for clear)

​

Saqawal's Twister has been buffed due to a new source of reduced duration on the weapon crucible tree! It is now possible to hit 99% reduced duration (previous max was 85%; technically 105% is possible now but that does nothing). This is done through 2 weapons with 10% reduced each, 25% reduced on Window of Opportunity passive cluster, and a combination adding to 54% on Warped Timepiece + 2 Timeclasp (up to 20% each). All this with just a normal Less Duration gem enables the buff duration of Avian's Might/Flight to be under a single server proc (0.033 sec), leading to 30 procs of Twister a second, double the previously possible 15 procs.

In addition, all this is done without the need for well-rolled Saqawal's Gloves and Boots, which in past leagues have gone for multiple divines each and were basically not even available in week 1 of a league. This enables this build on a budget, and potentially even possible in SSF.

The key concept is well described in Supaspork's forum guide and omnompanda's BotW showcase, but just a few new interactions here:

• Freeing up the gloves and boots slot is huge, and allows use of Asenath's Gentle Touch for a cheap explode, instead of having to craft an influenced chest. Also frees enough suffix slots for suppression and res.
• 10% instant leech is huge for a build hitting 100+ times per second on a single target (30 procs, each twister hits ~4 times). This means you don't need the Vitality LGoH WE (lowers budget significantly), or can use both for even crazier sustain. Probably even stronger on hybrid Inquisitor for instant ES leech.
• Getting reduced duration on Black Cane (or Vulconus for Inquisitor) is slightly challenging, but the item can be chanced since there's only 1 unique for the base, so not too unreasonable to get.
• The new weapon passive for Stormblast/Pyroclast mines reminded me that mines had auras. Stormblast is particularly interesting as even a level 1 gem (which has almost no cost) applies a 3% inc damage taken aura, which can be increased by 150% with the weapon passive mod. Mines also last for a fixed duration. This is just free single target damage with Minefield support as you have no skills to use when bossing.
• On a fun note, Vaal Firestorm has a fixed number of meteors, so reduced duration basically removes the soul gain prevention duration and it still does full hit dmg. Might be interesting for a slight dps boost though it give 30% reduced FPS and 50% less visibility.

You can play this on Chieftain (cheaper gearing, more explode scaling), Inquisitor (Crit), or Assassin/Pathfinder (Poison). All should be viable. To scale for end-game, you would probably need to figure out how to get reliable defences (imo Inquisitor with capped spell suppression will probably be the best).

Unfortunately, even though the build has a really nice playstyle and is actually strong, the current mtx-mismatch issue makes it hard to recommend, as it would really tax your GPU and makes it hard to avoid ground effects.

Edit: Have tested that 99% reduced along with 10% less (from tree) and Buffs on you expires 10% faster (Weapon passive) hits under the 0.033 breakpoint too, removing the need to even use the Less Duration gem, so you can reserve less mana on Aspect of the Avian.