Fairytale Knight - Vanilla Swordsman (Cleave/double strike)

Hello and welcome to a build which i hopefully will help newer players and/or more experienced players that's actually never used a 1-hand + shield character

This is my take on how a Melee Character in HC Leagues works, and i'm currently enjoying this exact build in Beyond league (11/09/2014).

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This build "requires" three things:

- A shield
- A sword
- An item that gives spell block (explanation below)

Just like our regular fairytale knight, we will be using a sword, and a shield.

We'll use two different skills:
- Cleave (for packs)
- Double strike (for single target)

You only need 4-link for up to lvl 70 maps (verified by myself) and you'll not be needing any super epic sword, either.

Build PRO's:
- Cheap as hell
- Easy as hell (user friendly)
- Pretty funny
- So ordinary that it's unique.
- Very tanky
- Good enough to take on anything with the right gear

Build CON's:
- Very boring for certain people
- Low AoE compared to other builds
- Only focusing on 1-h Swords and Shield. You have to respecc if you find a godlike 1-h axe/mace
- Lower damage compared to Dual Wield

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Skill tree


Gear i use in beyond as of right now (lvl 79)

Sword/Shield i used before, while leveling/killing piety


Gem Link (Offense):


Gem Link (defense)


Some numbers and clarifications:

We don't use Life leech/Life gained on hit gems. Because that removes potential damage, and since we're using sword and shield, it sucks to gimp. That's why we're content with % leech on _any_ gear until we get which is a very good shield. It gives us High HP, EPIC block chance and most importantly life leech. When we have leech on a piece of gear, we skip the gem.

We use for 50% spell block chance, and we don't use rainbowstrider because they suck. Not really, but i'm having almost 60% block chance, which gives us 30% spell block chance. This is good enough. Rainbowstride is pure ES, low spell block % and pretty useless resist stats. We want ES/Armour boots with high life and resistances. We need this item in order to somewhat deal with spells (and benefit from the build)

We're using a sword because it's faster, which gives us more chances per second to deal critical strikes. You can roll any 1-handed weapon as long as you respecc, however. We're also using a sword because this build is somewhat based on the theme of a Fairytale knight, which typically use a sword and a Shield.

To sustain mana, we use clarity until we find equipment with mana leech and/or gear with reg enough to sustain. When it comes to Auras in general, we use Grace for a sick boost to armour, and Hatred for very solid damage. Herald of ash can replace hatred and/or work combined. I'm only running hatred and grace as of right now however due to mana restrictions. We use tempest shield instead of grace when doing boss runs due to the fact that it boosts our block chance > Spell block chance,


My DPS with Cleave (5-link): 13454
My DPS with Double strike (4-link): 14778
My HP: 4850
My Armour: 7621
My Resistances: Fire 103%, Cold 81%, lightning 76%
My Block chance: 53%
My Spell block chance: 27%
255% Critical damage multiplier
24% Critical strike chance

Both Questions and Feedback is appreciated, both by PM and in the thread.
Videos will be added further down the road

I don't see any reason to use that shield instead of Perandu's one.

Why not use Reave/Conc Effect? I thought it was superior to Cleave?

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tinchop wrote:

I don't see any reason to use that shield instead of Perandu's one.

Way better armour, the 1-1000 block is very strong and it looks way cooler.

@Korrupted = Of course. But i find reave boring. There's also several reave guides available already, and as i state in the OP = the build is somewhat based on a theme.

"

Cergic wrote:

"

tinchop wrote:

I don't see any reason to use that shield instead of Perandu's one.

Way better armour, the 1-1000 block is very strong and it looks way cooler.

@Korrupted = Of course. But i find reave boring. There's also several reave guides available already, and as i state in the OP = the build is somewhat based on a theme.

Can i save M'lady with this build?

Any lvling tips(nodes priority, cheap alternate items)?

sorry, i missed this.

I'd say nothing out of the ordinary. High HP and 1-2 resistances on the chest if you're unable to quire a BotB, and when it comes to leveling i'd recommend hard ledge until 1-3 levels above, then rush fellshrine and do the same.

dude i want to play this build, could you re-do the passive tree pls? ;D