[3.2] Insuppressible Gladiator | Max Block, Full Life, Sunder/TS, Super Tank, All-budget

This build is all based around survivability. The clear speed is actually respectable when you are a higher level and more geared as you have quite quick travel with both shield charge and leap slam. However, it does not compare to the multi-million DPS insane clearing builds that exist out there.

We trade off that stupidly fast clear speed by being able to facetank stuff. If you have to AFK quickly and not worry if your character will die while still being able to get through content at a reasonable pace, this build is the build for you.

This guide is being built around Block Chance and being able to recover life each time you block in order to gain survivability. The more you invest into this build, the better your survivability and dps will be and the further you will be able to progress through maps.

Pros:

• basically immortal unless you don't have enough life to take a 1-shot
• sunder is in the build but you can choose another main skill and tweak the build to your style
• life only build so Chaos damage is like every other resistance
• no immortal call except in specific gearing case

Cons:

• slow clear speed compared to higher dps speed builds
• no crits, but no worry about accuracy
• occasionally have to worry about getting 1-shot if not enough life investment in gear

The build did not break, woo!

Despite the HUGE buffs to block chance in the Gladiator ascendancy that just increase the survivability a ton, we lose some clear speed and dps from the bleed node switch. This just ensures that we will be taking Outmatch and Outlast as our uber-lab ascendancy pick.

I am going to be doing testing with this build with the new skill Tectonic Slam instead of Sunder. The numbers check out to being potentially better (especially that we get endurance charges reliably for the 18% increased dmg). I will say that Sunder still works and is a reliable skill to pick, but I will update this guide again once I can honestly say whether Tectonic Slam is worth it (but I think it will be, so give it a shot if you want!).

Update 1

Either dual wield or find a random shield until you get to lvl 8 for Crest of Perandus.

You get Sunder at lvl 12, so just use whatever you come across until then! (Nessa act 1 bought, after accepting The Siren's Cadence)

You will be using a mace endgame so levelling using a mace is preferred. The soonest you need to get one is level 12 with Sunder.

As mentioned to me by someone playing the build, being frozen/"Freeze" can be especially painful while levelling and opening strongboxes in HC(hardcore). To remedy this, look for a flask with the "of Heat" Suffix, or pick up a Icetomb Latticed Ringmail (lvl 39) as a levelling solution.

Cheap:


Not as Cheap:


In your weapon swap you can level 6 gems (dual wield 2 3-socket weapons), level skills that you may want to try in addition to Sunder if you want to customize the build at all. I put static strike as one of them. Include any auras or curses you may want to also level up and experiment with to benefit your playstyle. This is also a good place to put gems for this build that you will use when you can invest in better gear.

In these trees you will find +30 Dex or +30 Int nodes. If you need these to satisfy gear requirements while levelling, take them! You can refund them later once you have gear that can provide you with the stats necessary.

Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4

Level 60 Tree

Look in the Passive Tree section for after 60!

Oak

Since we do mostly phys dmg that gets converted, this is fantastic.

You get Sunder at lvl 12, so just use whatever you come across until then! (Nessa act 1 bought, after accepting The Siren's Cadence)

Main attack skill will be Sunder. (Static Strike works well for boss fights too)

Tectonic Slam in testing but looks promising as replacement for sunder! The 6L for this would likely be (in order of priority) Tectonic Slam + Elemental Damage with Attacks + Melee Physical Dmg Support + Added Fire DMG + Elemental Focus + Fire Penetration. Since TecSlam revolves around fire damage coverted from phys, the fire penetration is important. We aren't going to take multistrike because each hit from multistrike would take an endurance charge. This is still being tested and I can't guarantee this setup to be optimal. I will update this section further once I can confirm that it is a worthwhile change and can clear content just as well.

Main Auras will be Hatred + Warlords Mark(with Blasphemy)
{if +1 curse amulet, add Enfeeble or Punishment with Curse On Hit.}

6L (chest) RRRRGB or RRRRRG
Sunder + Multistrike + Faster Attacks + Melee Phys Support + Added Fire Damage + (Concentrated Effect/Increased Area of Effect or Elemental Damage with Attacks)

Static Strike + Multistrike + Faster Attacks + Melee Phys Support + Added Fire Damage + Elemental Damage with Attacks

3L/2L RRR
Rallying Cry + CWDT (lvl 14) + (Portal or Immortal Call (lvl 16) only if you have the gain charge on block on your shield)
Rallying Cry does not need to be linked. The CWDT will only be affecting the Portal or Immortal Call. This CWDT setup is for quality of life or some extra survivability with an abundance of endurance charges. Rallying cry is used for further damage during intense fights - when a large pack appears, pop the cry in order to have an easier time bursting through the initial impact.

3L/2L RGB
Blasphemy + Warlords Mark + Hatred
Blasphemy and Warlords Mark need to be linked. Hatred can sit by itself.

4L RRRG or (RGBB or RRGB)
Reckoning + Riposte + Vengeance + Endurance Charge on melee stun
or (if you have +1 curses)
Reckoning + Riposte + Curse on Hit + (Enfeeble or Punishment)

4L RRRG
Faster Attacks + Leap Slam + Shield Charge + Fortify

4L RGBB
CWDT (lvl 2) + Tempest Shield (lvl 8) + Chaos Golem (stone golem if not enough int) (lvl 4) + (Phase run (lvl 4) or Frost Bomb (lvl 11))

Gem list by Colour:
Red:


Green:


Blue:


White:

Once you have completed the trees in the Levelling section, this is where to go next!

Level 70 Tree
Level 80 Tree
Level 85 "Done"


Level 100 (finished)
Level 100 (more life oriented than damage)

As much as I would like to go another ascendancy, you can't beat the 100% block chance applied to spells without needing any gear. At max block, you also get max spell block.

Gladiator: (in order of acquisition)
Painforged
Versatile Combatant
Violent Retaliation

Since Beastiary updating losing the Bleedsplosion due to node change, the uber-lab pick will be:
Outmatch and Outlast

Pantheon List for reference
MAJOR:

• Soul of Solaris
  
  • Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes if you have taken a Critical Strike Recently!
  • Due to how the block mechanics work - you can "take" a crit, but block it, but it still counts as a crit. Having this will mitigate any hits you take as "recently" is every 4 seconds. It should drastically decrease your chances of getting critically hit.
  
  

MINOR:
Varies depending on boss or circumstance, but let's take by default

• Soul of Ryslatha - free flasks in a boss fight? yes please!

but second choice would be

• Soul of Tukohama - Extra damage mitigation and healing? Nice only for fights where you know you won't be moving much.

Both of the minor/secondary choices can be chosen based on your playstyle/preferences. If you have a lot of Avenger's flasks (see Flasks), then you may want to stick with Tukohama or something else.

• If you were fighting a fire boss I would use Abberath.
• If you were fighting a cold boss I would use Yugul.
• If you were fighting a bleed boss I would use Ralakesh.
• etc... Make these situation dependent, but use at your own discretion.

The following pastebin is optimal gear and will be expensive, but it is achievable. If you want gear from past seasons that I have gotten through fairly casual play, please take a look at my characters (Note: it won't have shields with the shaper mods, and I couldn't afford a Surrender at the time so an Aegis was used). If you have any questions, please let me know!

Paste is HERE


The next pastebin is gear all T1 with maxed stats. This is not achievable, but purely for a min/max demonstration on how far this build can be currently pushed. The paste HERE is gear virtually impossible to get.


If there are any problems, I'm missing anything, or you would like to see things done in a different way - I will see what I can do!

There were some pretty big changes to blocking with the Gladiator ascendancy in 3.2. With the update of Violent Retaliation that increases our MAX block chance by 4%, we can have up to 82% with an anvil. This is insane.

In addition to the max block chance increase, it is now easier to get and maintain max block with "1% additional Block Chance for each Hit you've Blocked in the past 10 seconds. Having this means that even if you can't get enough gear to cap your block, once you start blocking, it will only get easier to do so! This will help a lot with capping your block chance during fights, and getting more base block chance just decreases the time it takes for you to hit the 82% block cap during a fight.

Using The Red Nightmare is also an option to help get block chance, but it is rather expensive of an investment. The money spent on this can be used elsewhere for greater benefit now that any lacking block chance can be made up with Violent Retaliation.

Passive Tree: 23%
Ascendancy Tree: 6% + 8% if taken damage recently (last 4 sec), +1% per block in past 10 sec
Tempest shield: 3%
The Anvil: 8%

Shield: (goal ends are in brackets, the range is for the +8% from Ascendancy)

• Crest of Perandus: 31% (71-79%)
• Aegis Aurora: 32% (72%-80%)
• The Surrender: 30% (70%-78%)
• Rare Shaped Shield: (from the armour based shields, who needs ES?!)
  
  • Ranges anywhere from:
    
    • 23%-26% base ( (63%-71%) - (66%-74%) ) is not great so you have two choices
    • Either find one that also has +% chance to block OR get block on your gloves and on a Jewel.
    • I recommend doing the jewel and gloves option.
    • If you can get 5% on your gloves, and 1 Jewel with 1% block. Using an Ezomyte Tower Shield(24%) you will have 30% block and you can hit 78%. (70%-78%)
    
    
  
  

These can help make the extra couple percent if you are using a low block shield! Or if you want to modify the tree slightly...
Gloves: 0-7% block
Jewels: Any % block here. Each can only give +1% for a Rare.

Remember, with the block % chances gained from Violent Retaliation, we have a LOT more flexibility in this area.


Goal Totals:
Block: 82% (cap +3% from The Anvil + the +4% from Violent Retaliation)
Spell block: we get 100% from Versatile Combatant

Perpetual Basalt Flask of Staunching

• increased Charge Recovery
• Immunity to Bleeding during Flask effect
• Removes Bleeding on use

Experimenter's Silver Flask (or Sulphur) of Dousing

• Increased Duration
• Immunity to Ignite during Flask effect
• Removes Burning on use

3 Health Flasks:

• 1 - Saturated Eternal Life Flask of Gluttony (can get like 3200 life/6sec)
  
  • Increases amount recovered
  • reduced recovery rate
  • Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life
  
  
• 2 - Panicked Eternal Life Flask of Warding
  
  • Reduced Amount Recovered
  • Instant recovery while on low life
  • Immunity to Curses during Flask effect
  • Removes Curses on use
  
  
• 3 - Cautious Eternal Life Flask of Adrenaline OR Blood of the Karui
  
  • 100% increased recovery when on low life
  • increased Movement Speed
  
  

Considering our crits/crit immunity, taking anything with "Avenger's" (Recharges 3 Charges when you take a Critical Strike) is basically free flask charges while you're getting pummeled on. This can be interchanged with your secondary Pantheon depending on your playstyle preferences.

Optional: Use 1 resistance flask in place of Basalt depending on area.
Optional: Use 1 Sulphur Flask in place of Silver flask depending on preference. (Use Sulphur if you have Perseverance Belt)

The Anvil amulet
Get a +1 to curses if you can afford it - this can add more dps or survivability to the build.

Shield:
Note: If you are using Aegis, you will need some ES. I recommend against it and skipping to even a cheap Shaped shield.

In order of best to worst:
Shaped Rare shield with 5% life on block > The Surrender > Aegis Aurora > Crest of Perandus

On the shaped shield, if you can get "Gain an Endurance, Frenzy or Power charge when you block." then that will help this build a lot (See NOTE 1 at bottom).

1H Rare Mace:
Rare, preferably Behemoth Mace for the +% attack speed.
Look for something with a high pDPS, it is more important than any elemental dps.

That's everything! For the rest of the gear:
Get one piece that has #% mana leech. This is important for no-curse maps where warlords mark is basically useless and we have no mana gain from that.

Shoot for gear that will cap your resistances even with map's elemental weakness. Red tier maps with curses always apply as a level 15 curse. Level 15 Elemental Weakness = 34% reduced elemental resists, so you'll need 109% all res in "merciless" or 169% in "normal" (hideout) to be resist capped safely. Should be easy to get as there is only 1 or two required uniques to this build.

Life is critical. Once you are resistance capped, focus on life.

If you are picky like me, try and get chaos resistance, I like to try and get up to about 40% at least in Merc.

Try and get spiked gloves for the extra dps boost.

Either a rustic sash or a leather belt.

With iron reflexes, could try for some two-toned armour/evasion boots for the extra resist, or just go for titan greaves.

I'm all for Astral Plate for the extra resistances. It is all about what you can get.

Eternal Burgonet helm has the highest armour.

Ezomyte Tower shield has the highest life out of the higher tier armour shields, but try and get one with the required mods first!

Rings are great to get any attributes you might be missing (intelligence, dexterity, strength). They also work well for helping cap your resistances. I would invest in these last to make up where the rest of your gear failed to meet your requirements. Otherwise I would try and get Steel Rings to help with your dps! If you are lacking in say... Lightning Resistance, you can get a Topaz ring that has implicit up to +30% Lightning Resistance, then roll a T1 Lightning resistance at max +48%, then roll a T1 All elemental resistances at +16%. Using only two suffixes, you can get your Lightning Resistance up 94%. Add to that possible +life, or intelligence, or dexterity, or damage to attacks, or life leech, and you are all set.

Some other uniques you could use on the build are:

Fairly simple, nothing complicated or extreme. If you can afford The Red Nightmare, this should be an option for you to substitute for block elsewhere in the build.

Important:

• Any jewels with +1% block chance with shields that you need based on requirements in the "GETTING TO MAX BLOCK" section. (prefix)
• Jewels with % increased Maximum life. (prefix)

Good:

• #% increased attack speed while Holding a shield (prefix)
• #% increased physical damage (prefix)
• #% increased physical damage with 1h melee weapons (prefix)
• #% increased melee damage while holding a shield (prefix)
• #% increased attack speed with 1h melee weapons (prefix)
• #% increased physical damage with maces (prefix)
• #% increased attack speed with maces (prefix)
• #% of physical attack damage leeched as life (prefix)
• #% increased damage (suffix)
• #% increased area damage (suffix)
• #% increased attack speed (suffix)
• #% increased attack and cast speed (suffix)
• +#% to resistances of any type (suffixes)
• #% increased melee damage (suffix)

Okay:

• #% increased armour (prefix)
• +# to any attributes as you require! (suffixes)

Gloves:
Commandment Of Light. Gives % Life Regen whenever you take a crit. We will "take crits" but most of them will be blocked. After our Pantheon procs (Soul of Solaris), we will also still take crits, but take no extra damage from them!

Helm:
Up to you really. Can pick anything that might affect Sunder, Rallying Cry, Reckoning, Warlord's Mark, etc...

Boots:
2% Regen if you've been hit recently, or 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently. I would stick with the regen.

If you can get your hands on a shaper shield that has:
"Gain an Endurance, Frenzy or Power charge when you block."
Then this will open up some things.

You won't have to have the "Endurance charge on melee stun support" attached to things like reckoning.

This may be changed if Tectonic Slam works out due to it needing so many endurance charges.

Why am I having mana problems?!


Would you consider this HC viable as a league starter?


Have you looked into using Spectral Shield Throw instead of Sunder?


What kind of DPS are we looking at?