1H + Shield w/ Aegis Aurora (Lvl 83) - Added Video

It's really very flexible where it goes from here. I could get damage, more block, or work towards more HP. Obviously skill points are a lot slower now. If I ever get to lvl 90, those 8 skill points will make a massive difference.

With really good gear, you can drop some of the All Resist passives. I'm already at the point where I'm well over the cap on maybe all of them. That frees up some points.


To be fair, the video is a bit deceiving. It doesn't work quite this well against all mobs. The more mobs there are and the faster they attack, the better.

first 1h/shield tank build i really like in this game, till now i didn't even consider it a viable "class".

good job mate.

I'm looking at getting into HC and was looking for a tank build for my first one, this one seems to really fit what I was thinking.

You said you did not have the shield until merciless, what did you use until then?

I would love to see your gear layout as well.

I was going exactly the same nodes down the marauder tree, lol :) Since I'm not that high level I wasn't thinking furthermore... but yeah, It's an obvious path to go to templar tree etc..., good build I really like it.

Also, excellent shield *drool*

Can you post your full gear please?

yea full gear and gems, links etc would be great.

to complete the build "guide", can u throw some tips on early leveling with this build? :)

Before I got this shield, I used a standard high armor shield with life and resists.

Before the Aegis Aurora, I used Warlord's Mark for an additional 6% LL (2% from passive tree). When you're doing almost all physical damage, 8% LL is a lot. Combined with high passive regen, it kept me going. Warlord's Mark is essential early on in the build. I actually did not use blood magic for my attacks until late in the game. I used 3 auras then (tempest, vitality, determination), but my mana pool was extremely small. The mana leech from Warlord's allows you to have less than 100 mana and still spam skills.

I think the key for making a 1h/Shield build really viable is having a good 1H weapon with high damage. Machoke was also a 1H/Shield user and look at his old weapon. We were actually bidding against each other for the weapon I'm using now. The weapon is the most important part, especially if you're soloing.

For this shield to really work, you have to have high block. As stated in my original thread, I have 63% block chance (39% for spells). I think it would still provide some beneift with <50% block, but I think getting to 60% or more is key. I never tested it with less block though as my build was already heavily invested before getting the shield.

yea 60% or more no kidding. the block is like the best game mechanic, because u mitigate 100% dmg when u block, unlike diablo3 block, which kinda sucks.

what are the bandit rewards you choose?

flat hp, skill point, endurance charge?

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big_aug wrote:

Skill wise, I use Ground Slam, Glacial Hammer, and 2x Enduring Cry. Could someone confirm for me that damage reduction from enduring cry is applied to damage before it is taken away from your energy shield? All skills use Blood Magic support gems.

Energy shield just stands in for health - everything else about the way you take damage is unchanged. If endurance charge damage reduction didn't work for Energy Shield, ES would be utterly underpowered. Or, to put it more appropriately, endurance charges are so ridiculously overpowered compared to any other form of damage mitigation that any effective health base that didn't get affected by them would be comparatively useless.

Honestly, I would find a way to get that extra endurance charge into your build that you skipped near marauder. You can get it into your build at a cost of only 2 talent points. Assuming you are running a constant 6 charges, you can also spend a further 1 point for an extra 1.2% life regen per second.

This is the modified talent tree at 105 points with the extra endurance charge.


Solid tank build - I am looking for a heavy shield-focused build and I will probably start with this!

Skill point, skill point, skill point

This is my only character past lvl 30 in PoE, so I just went with the flexible option.