[3.1] ItsGameOgre's Lacerforge Leechtank [Facetank the Shaper]

3.1 CHANGES

As of 3.1, Vaal Pact has been reworked and will now double the leech rate instead of leeching instantly.
This is both good and bad, it allows for a much more subtle heal allowing you to recover a bit slower but in a far more stable manner. What does this mean for this build?

With a little respeccing on the skill tree the build has suffered a little bit of damage and life, but it is even tankier now.
Guardians are still faceroll except the Phoenix and the Shaper remains easy-mode


After messing about on my Berserker in Harbinger and dying one too many times I felt the need to change a couple things and make my own perfect build, and that is what I did. I took a few key mechanics from the skill tree and created a monster out of it.
Combined with the right gear I was able to kill the Shaper and other bosses with relative ease, facetanking your way to victory without breaking a sweat.
I took:

Life
Attack Speed
Critical Chance/Multiplier

I want to make one thing perfectly clear here: THIS IS NOT A LEAGUE STARTER!
This build is designed for the wealthy with enough funds on another character so they can make a boss slayer with expensive gear.

I can guarantee you, you will be able to complete the toughest of tough maps.
8 mod corrupted Excavation? Check
Uul-Netol? Check
T15 maps? Don't make me laugh...
Beachhead? XP heaven!

If you wish to see this build in action on a T16 map against 2 harbingers + more, see for yourself. (3.0)

https://youtu.be/RjQpXhI0c1s?t=8m29s

Pro's

Very easy to use and understand
Good damage, both single and multi target
You are not bound to Lacerate, swap out to any gem you like better
Near indestructible
Almost all content can be facetanked
Can clear some of the toughest maps


Cons

EXPENSIVE
Not the best for clearing maps due to moderate reach
Physical reflect/No leech maps = RIP
Random Reflect Rare Monster = usually RIP
Poor mobility (Not as much of an issue if you use The Retch)
Mobility/Attack speed debuffs will give you a hard time at times
Not great for Lab
Boring to some

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAECAABeAdwFtQYgBqIJlg-rFCAVIBa_FukX3BmOGbQhkCLqI9Mj9iQ3JIsmlSoLKjgs6S2DMHEwfDIBNZI31DkOOkI64T38R35LeEz_TZJN404qUEdRR1VLVbVYY13yXz9f0GHiZU1oZWqTbpdvJ287cFJ0oHasd-N4DXlofXWExYTZhVKGs4dqidOMNozPjX2Nv5J9l3mYV5hvmmqbtZ7No4qmV6luqZStjbIZtfK9Nr6nvwjAGsEEwzrG2M96z37TftQj1FLYvdlh3CPdqORR5c_o1uoQ6hjrCe0_7g7vDu968kXynPPd9kj2o_cy9774X_jr_gr-j_66?accountName=GonthorianDX&characterName=ItsGameOgre

We start out gathering as much life as we can at the Constitution section, working our way to Vaal Pact and Vitality Void, then on to Coldhearted Calculation and Phase Acrobatics. fill out the rest of the gaps depending on what you need the most at the time.
I always prioritize Life first, then go for Crit, Physical Damage and Attack Speed.

Pantheon: Brine King + Yugul

Old Briney gives us everything we need, less Stuns and less Chill, Yugul reduces reflect damage so you have a bit more hope on surviving that random Rare Reflect Monster, the extra Cold Resistance is also a welcome addition.

Bandits: Alira
All Resistance, Crit Multiplier and Mana Regen, everything we will make great use of.

As mentioned earlier, this build revolves around 3 key factors, Life, Attack Speed and Crit.
If we take the right gear with this skill tree we can make miracles happen.

The mandatory gear for this build is the following:



We take the Starforge for its insane damage output, Increased Area Damage and a luxurious Life bonus.
You can use a 5 linked one is certainly possible but with a significant damage reduction.
Kaom's Heart gives us a hefty +500 Life and Starkonja's Head gives us all 3 of our desired key factors with a nice Dexterity and high Evasion on top.

Our main skill will be Lacerate because it does two attacks in quick succession, has great damage and significant range, it is a great all-purpose skill for both mapping and bossing and won't let you down.

Our secondary skill will be everyone's favorite Ancestral Warchief as this guy will deal significant damage on itself, and if paired with Maim it will further increase the damage you do to your enemies, there is no reason to not use him as your damage will increase by at least 40% while he is attacking.

For mobility we have little choice but to use Leap Slam, while it is a clunky skill, it gets the job done jumping over maps like a madman. We pair this skill up with Faster Attacks to make it more reliable and Fortify to increase our defenses.

The rest of our skills consist out of Summon Ice Golem for Increased Crit Chance and Accuracy, Arctic Armor for defense, Assasin's Mark
for that sweet extra Crit and lastly Vaal Haste to burst down bosses/Breaches.

If we combine all of these things and add Cloaked in Savagery to the mix we are near unkillable as you will always be at full health, even in rough conditions.
This makes even the Shaper fear you as you will be able to facetank his laser attack if you took a savage hit right before it!

As mentioned earlier, we depend a lot on our Uniques for the amazing properties they have.
To fill out the rest of your outfit we need the following:

Gloves: Spiked Gloves
What more is there to say? +20% Melee damage
Look out for:

Life
Strength
Attack Speed
Accuracy
Resistance
Added Physical Damage

Boots: Two-Toned Boots/Titan Greaves
Two-Toned Boots give us excellent resistances making them the better pick here, you can also use Titan Greaves with a nice enchant on them.
Look out for:

Life
Strength
Resistance
Resistance
Movement Speed
Armor/Evasion

Belt: Choice
You can use either a Leather Belt, The Retch or even a HeadHunter if you can afford one.
My pick is The Retch because it offers us exactly what we need.
It gives a 60% increased flask duration which is extremely helpful at bosses, 15% movement speed during flasks which this build really lacks and a 200% leech as Chaos damage for that extra damage bonus, do keep in mind that you cannot use Brutality with this setup, use Ruthless instead.
It also comes with a good Life and Ice resistance bonus!

If you go for a Leather Belt, look out for:
Life
Strength
Resistance
Resistance
Resistance
Armor/Increased Flask Charges Gained

Rings/Amulet:
For our rings we want two Diamond Rings, these give us Crit Chance.
As for our amulet, the Carnage Heart provides many useful properties, a Onyx Amulet, is also a great pick.
Just make sure all jewelry has a high life and strength bonus.
Fill out the rest of your resistances and don't forget to get about 150 intelligence.
If you have the room in your amulet, look out for Crit Chance and Multiplier as those will greatly benefit your DPS.

Secondary Weapon:
For your secondary weapon you want to take another two-handed sword, my pick is a Terminus Est.
The only purpose for this weapon is as a Culling Strike finisher for your bosses, you can use either a ranged attack, Flicker Strike or whatever you prefer that gets the job done, combined with the required support gems for optimal use and an Item Rarity Support for that extra loot.

In this Skill Tree we have access to a whopping 5 Jewel Slots, and those should not go to waste!
In every slot we want the best Jewels we can find.
This means every Jewel needs 6-7% Increased Maximum Life, preferably Attack Speed (with swords) and a Crit multiplier.
Don't forget that you can also fill up the rest of your resistances with jewels as well!

For our Flasks we need the following:

Eternal Life Flask (Bleed Immunity)
Diamond Flask (Chill/Freeze Immunity)
Silver Flask (Shock Immunity)
Lion's Roar


We also have a swappable fifth flask:

Rotgut (11 second sprint with The Retch) <3
A secondary Eternal Life Flask (for trials and lab)
Quicksilver Flask (Increased Movement Speed During Flask Effect) (for frequent short sprints at bosses)
Doedre's Elixir (Trigger a Savage Hit for increased damage and gain 100% damage leech, useful against Shaper lasers for example)

Starforge: Lacerate - Faster Attacks - Multistrike - Brutality - Melee Physical Damage - Increased Critical Strikes

Secondary Weapon: Flicker Strike (or whatever you plan to use) - Culling Strike - Faster Attacks - Item Rarity - Multistrike

Spiked Gloves: Ancestral Warchief - Melee Physical Damage - Maim - Brutality

Boots: Leap Slam - Faster Attacks - Fortify - Vaal Haste

Starkonja's Head: Arctic Armor - Summon Ice Golem - Blasphemy Support - Assasin's Mark

So... You got everything you need and are ready to roll, maps should be no problem at all, maybe the annoying chaos based bosses in the t1-6 maps such as Canyon and Desert will give you a problem so it is best to avoid those.
Maps should not give you any problems except that you sometimes encounter that annoying Rare Reflect Monster that will likely make you kill yourself.

If you need to powerlevel your way from 80 to 90, do some T15 Beachhead rotations on Global 820, it should take you 1-3 days depending on how much you play.

As for bosses:

Uber Lab? Not great, the traps will do a boatload of damage to you as you have a lot of health, your 2 Life Flasks are probably not gonna cut it, it is doable, you are just at a disadvantage, as for Izaro, steamroll facetank, he cannot and will not kill you as long you attack him.

Atziri? Watch out! ALWAYS swap out or remove your Multistrike gem otherwise the additional attacks will pick a random clone, it only takes ONE hit against the mirror clone to kill yourself! I recommend a Ruthless gem as a substitute.

Uber Atziri? It should be doable, I tried her once but I couldn't get past the first clone phase because I messed up and lack the experience myself, again, swap your Multistrike with Ruthless so you don't end up killing yourself. I recommend The Retch for this fight as the extra mobility will probably save your skin from the oneshot Flameblast that are very hard to avoid.

Pale Court? Why are we even discussing this... Steamroll those wimps and pray to RNGesus that you kill Yriel last.

Breachlords? Steamroll and pray you don't encounter a Rare Reflect Monster halfway through the map, proceed to melt the boss within a few seconds.
Chayula? That may be a problem as you probably have -60% Chaos Resistance, I never tried it and probably never will.

Beachhead? Save them for Beachhead rotations, but if you really want to solo it, you can do it without breaking a sweat, just make sure you don't end up killing a group that drops the elemental explosives upon dying and not getting out of it in time.

Guardians?
Minotaur - Facetank
Chimera - Facetank, use your Rotgut or Quicksilver when he enters his stealth mode and find him ASAP, also use your Life Flask otherwise he will kill you rather quickly!
Hydra - Facetank
Phoenix - This guy can give you some trouble, especially when buffed with map mods, his blade flurry attack may end up oneshotting you, his explosion attack oneshots you and his minions do a ton of damage from a distance. I don't recommend alching his maps.

Shaper? As long you know what you are doing, you can do it deathless in about 4 minutes if you don't make mistakes.
All of his attacks can be facetanked except the lasers, you'll get plenty of time to move out of the way though. His slam also oneshots.
As for his slam attack, I prefer to use Rotgut or a Quicksilver to run away then rush back at him hoping he melee's me so I can do some good damage to him.
His Chaos attack will do massive damage on you should you walk into one after it has ended.
The strategy is to stand as close to him as possible, this way you do the most damage and it increases the likelihood that he will end up melee'ing you which is the easiest to tank.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjQpXhI0c1s

Abyseus???
While it does significantly increase your damage, it completely kills the purpose of this build, you will be more likely to be oneshot by guardians and other endgame bosses. By no means is it not viable but I don't recommend it.
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Can I use skill X instead of Lacerate?
Sure, but I chose Lacerate because it does a lot of hits per second ensuring that you stay alive in the roughest conditions. Use Cleave or Heavy strike for all I care.
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Bosses still oneshot me!!!
Is your level high enough? Do you have enough life?
For Shaper I recommend at least level 85 with 8.2k Life.
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How do you expect me to buy/get all this expensive gear!?
Create a farm build first and use that for a couple of days till you get about 40ex or buy the items when you got the funds for it.
This is what you can expect to pay for the items for this build:

Starforge 10ex
Starkonja 1-2ex
Kaom's 4ex
Retch 14ex
Boots 1-2ex
Gloves 1-2ex
Rings 1-2ex each
Amulet 1-2ex
Belt 1-2ex
Jewels 40-60c each