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Scythe of the Cycle

Scythe of the Cycle

Legendary Scythe

  • Legendary
  • Level 70

Properties

461.5 Damage Per Second

249–461 Damage

1.30 Attacks per Second

Primary Attributes

  • +626–750 Intelligence

Secondary Attributes

  • Your Secondary skills deal 350–400% additional damage while Bone Armor is active but reduce the remaining duration of Bone Armor by 4 seconds. (Necromancer Only)

Random Affixes

  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Damage
  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Fire Damage
  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Cold Damage
  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Holy Damage
  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Lightning Damage
  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Poison Damage
  • +(981–1,199)–(1,175–1,490) Arcane Damage

Ancient & primal values

Ancient

  • +825–1,000 Intelligence
  • +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940) Damage

Primal

  • +1,000 Intelligence
  • +1,560–1,940 Damage

Fixed properties of the ancient form; primal items roll the top value of the ancient range. Game files, version 2.8.0.

All possible random properties (18 primary, 13 secondary)

Besides its fixed properties, this item rolls 2 primary and 1 secondary properties at random from these lists.

Primary

  • +6–10% Damage
  • Reduces cooldown of all skills by 6–10%.
  • Reduces all resource costs by 8–10%.
  • Increases Attack Speed by 5–7%
  • Chance to Deal 16–24% Area Damage on Hit.
  • +626–750 Intelligence ancient +825–1,000
  • +626–750 Vitality ancient +825–1,000
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Fire Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Cold Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Holy Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Lightning Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Poison Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +(853–1,043)–(1,022–1,296) Arcane Damage ancient +(1,318–1,560)–(1,609–1,940)
  • +15,474–18,429 Life per Hit ancient +20,271–23,950
  • Increases damage against elites by 5–8%
  • 34–39% chance to inflict Bleed for 300–400% weapon damage over 5 seconds.
  • Sockets (1–1)

Secondary

  • Monster kills grant +140–200 experience. ancient +220–260
  • Level Requirement Reduced by 2–30 ancient 30–40
  • +6,428–8,914 Life after Each Kill ancient +9,805–11,590
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Fear on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Stun on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Blind on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Freeze on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Chill on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Slow on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Immobilize on Hit
  • 1–2.6% Chance to Knockback on Hit
  • Ignores Durability Loss
  • +18–20 Maximum Essence (Necromancer)

Pool of the item type from the game files, version 2.8.0. Skill damage bonuses only carry weight for their class. All properties of this slot

"The Great Cycle of Being always begins anew... but not for you." —Master Necromancer Jostan

Scythe of the Cycle

This scythe is a classic risk-reward item for the Necromancer: as long as Bone Armor is active, your secondary skills deal massively more damage, but each of those hits eats into Bone Armor's remaining duration and shortens it. You're effectively trading protection time for a huge damage spike.

The Scythe of the Cycle fits Necromancer builds built around secondary skills like Bone Spear or Skeletal Mage, which extract the most from the high multiplier. My tip: make it a habit to re-cast Bone Armor the instant it expires so the damage bonus stays up continuously, and you don't suddenly find yourself without defense when the rapid drain burns the armor away early.

The math behind the trade

The bonus rolls between 350 and 400%, and a Primal Ancient hits the maximum. The price is fixed: each use of a Secondary skill takes 4 seconds off Bone Armor's remaining duration. Bone Armor itself lasts 60 seconds and has only a 10-second cooldown, so you can refresh it regularly and keep both the bonus and its damage reduction of 3% per enemy hit (up to 10 enemies) topped up. Cast it in the middle of a pack so the protection comes out at full strength.

Which rune works with the scythe

Limited Immunity clashes with the power: the armor only lasts 5 seconds with that rune, and a single Secondary skill use already removes 4 of them. Runes that keep the normal duration are a better fit - Vengeful Armaments for more damage, Dislocation for a 2-second stun with Poison damage, or Harvest of Anguish for extra movement speed and Cold damage.

Stats and partners

Every copy carries +626–750 Intelligence, plus bonus damage of +981–1,199 to 1,175–1,490. Also look for a socket, Damage %, Maximum Essence, Attack Speed or Cooldown Reduction. As a one-handed weapon, the scythe leaves room for a phylactery such as Iron Rose. It is also frequently paired with Krysbin's Sentence, Haunted Visions, Steuart's Greaves, Bloodtide Blade and Convention of Elements.

In the flavor text, Master Necromancer Jostan points out that the Great Cycle of Being always begins anew - just not for whoever the scythe cuts down.

by eRnstl