If you’re looking for a high-damage Cleric setup in Path of Idle: Old Gods Rising, the Sword of Divine Punishment Build is an interesting option built around one main idea: increase the number of active Auras so you can reduce the cooldown of Sword of Divine Punishment and use it more frequently.
This is an Offense build with a Hard difficulty rating, so it is more demanding than some of the simpler official builds. The setup combines Cyrus Set equipment, several Legendary items, five Talent Masteries, and two Runewords.
In this guide, I’ll break down the complete setup, including the preferred attributes, skills, masteries, equipment, and exact Rune combinations.
Path of Idle Old Gods Cleric Punishment Build Guide – Talent, Skills
Job: Cleric
Role: Offense
Difficulty: Hard
The official build contains:
- 4 Skills
- 5 Talent Masteries
- 7 Equipment pieces
- 2 Runeword pairings
The main mechanic is increasing your Aura count.
The more Auras you maintain, the more effectively you can reduce the cooldown of Sword of Divine Punishment. This allows you to activate the main damage skill more frequently and ultimately increase your overall damage output.
Because the build depends on keeping several Auras active, it requires more attention to setup than a basic Cleric build.
Preferred Attributes
The official attribute priority is:
- Dexterity
- Intelligence
- Elemental Attack
- Crit Value
- All Damage
- Spell Speed
- Spell Accuracy
- Spell Damage
- Mastery Skill Damage
- All Skill Speed
- Reduced Mana Reservation
Attribute Priority Explained
Dexterity is the highest-priority attribute, followed by Intelligence.
After your main attributes, the build focuses heavily on offensive stats. Elemental Attack, Crit Value, and All Damage are particularly important because the entire setup is designed around maximizing the damage from your Cleric abilities.
The build also values Spell Speed, Spell Accuracy, and Spell Damage.
Finally, Mastery Skill Damage, All Skill Speed, and Reduced Mana Reservation help improve the overall performance of the build and make it easier to maintain its collection of Auras.
If you’re comparing equipment, I’d follow this order rather than simply picking an item because it has a higher overall power number.
Skills
The build uses four skills:
- Sword of Divine Punishment
- Aura of Lightning
- Aura of Flame
- Aura of Focus
Sword of Divine Punishment
Sword of Divine Punishment is the centerpiece of the entire build.
The goal is to increase your Aura count so that you can shorten its cooldown and trigger the skill more frequently.
This means the other three skills aren’t simply extra abilities thrown into the build. They are important because they help you maintain the Aura-based setup that allows Sword of Divine Punishment to perform at its best.
Aura of Lightning
Aura of Lightning is one of the Auras used by the build.
It contributes to the total Aura count while also fitting naturally into the build’s elemental damage focus.
Aura of Flame
The second elemental Aura is Aura of Flame.
Together with Aura of Lightning, this helps increase the number of active Auras while providing another offensive effect.
Aura of Focus
The final skill is Aura of Focus.
This is another important part of the Aura setup and helps complete the four-skill configuration.
The main thing to remember is that this build isn’t simply about using the strongest individual skills. The interaction between the Auras and Sword of Divine Punishment is what makes the build work.
Talent Masteries
The recommended Talent Masteries are:
- Awakening
- Judgment
- Divinity
- Conquest
- Glitter
Awakening
Awakening is one of the five masteries selected for the build.
It supports the overall Cleric setup and works alongside the other offensive masteries.
Judgment
Judgment fits the theme and offensive focus of the Sword of Divine Punishment setup.
It is one of the core masteries used to improve the build’s overall damage potential.
Divinity
Divinity provides another layer of support for the Cleric’s divine-themed offensive setup.
It works alongside the other selected masteries rather than changing the build into a defensive Cleric.
Conquest
Conquest is another offensive mastery included in the official setup.
It helps keep the build focused on maximizing damage output.
Glitter
The final mastery is Glitter.
With all five masteries combined, the build remains heavily focused on offense while supporting its Aura and Sword of Divine Punishment mechanics.
Equipment
The official build uses seven pieces of equipment:
- Cyrus’s Blade of Divine Punishment
- Cyrus’s Ring of Lightning
- Cyrus’s Gauntlets of Lightning Runes
- Cyrus’s Thunder Boots
- Like Thunder
- Temporal Cadence
- Batwing Veil
Four of these are pieces from the Cyrus Set, while the remaining three are Legendary items.
Cyrus’s Blade of Divine Punishment
This is the main Set weapon for the build.
As the name suggests, it is directly tied to the build’s central Sword of Divine Punishment theme.
Cyrus’s Ring of Lightning
The Cyrus’s Ring of Lightning is the recommended Set ring.
It complements the Lightning-focused side of the build while contributing to the overall Cyrus equipment setup.
Cyrus’s Gauntlets of Lightning Runes
These are the recommended Set gloves.
The Lightning theme continues here, making the gloves a natural fit for the build.
Cyrus’s Thunder Boots
The fourth Cyrus Set item is Cyrus’s Thunder Boots.
Together, these four Set pieces form the core equipment foundation of the build.
Like Thunder
Like Thunder is the recommended Legendary torso.
It fits the elemental and offensive direction of the setup while filling the torso slot outside the Cyrus Set.
Temporal Cadence
Temporal Cadence is the recommended Legendary amulet.
This is an important part of the equipment setup because the build is heavily focused on skill frequency and cooldown-related performance.
Batwing Veil
The final equipment piece is Batwing Veil, a Legendary helmet.
This completes the seven-piece equipment configuration.
Runeword Pairings
The Sword of Divine Punishment Build uses two Runeword pairings:
- Radiance
- Shockwave
These provide additional Aura-based skills that fit the overall strategy.
Radiance Runeword
The first Runeword is Radiance.
The exact Rune order is:
- Sol
- Fal
- Ber
The Runeword grants:
Brilliance Aura
The target equipment is:
Prayer Hood
So, if you’re creating this Runeword yourself, you need the exact Sol → Fal → Ber sequence and the appropriate triple-socket Prayer Hood.
Shockwave Runeword
The second Runeword is Shockwave.
The exact Rune order is:
- Tal
- Ort
- Tral
The Runeword grants:
Strike Aura
The target equipment is:
Prismatic Necklace
You’ll therefore need a suitable triple-socket Prismatic Necklace and the exact Tal → Ort → Tral Rune combination.
Why Shockwave Fits the Build
Strike Aura adds another Aura to the setup.
Since the main mechanic revolves around increasing your Aura count to improve the frequency of Sword of Divine Punishment, this Runeword fits directly into the build’s main strategy.
The Sword of Divine Punishment Build is a strong-looking but more demanding Cleric setup.
Its Hard difficulty rating makes sense because you need to understand how the Aura system works and build around the interaction between your Auras and Sword of Divine Punishment.
The core setup is built around Dexterity, Intelligence, Elemental Attack, Crit Value, and All Damage, while the Cyrus Set provides the foundation for the equipment.
The two Runewords are also extremely important:
Sol → Fal → Ber gives you Brilliance Aura through Radiance on Prayer Hood, while Tal → Ort → Tral gives you Strike Aura through Shockwave on Prismatic Necklace.
Once everything is combined, the goal is straightforward: increase your Aura count, reduce the Sword of Divine Punishment cooldown, and unleash the skill more frequently for higher overall damage.