[3.15] Spectral Shield Throw Bleed Gladiator - tanky & fast mapping - good scaling - all content

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Monsieur_Ati wrote:

Spoiler

this is my latest variation of the bleed sst build:

venopuncture with hypothermia for an extra layer of defense:

I'm missing bottled faith, awakened gems.
gems are scuffed and I should swap out maim with awakaned swift affliction. but thats what im working on right now

cluster jewels are "one with the shield" to get max block, exposure therapy to counter degen, and usual damage nodes.

aura setup: war banner, pride, arctic armour, herald of purity, aspect of the spider.


rest of the jewels with max life, resists and some stats to get this build rolling.

right now I'm at almost 3.5m bleed dps
it chills, freezes, shatters, explodes, max block, max phys dmg red, phase acro, all in all pretty much op

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Mettriegel wrote:

Hey @all

I currently haveing a lot of fun with this build. Im playing standard because of work i only have a few hours to play in a week. i currently running red maps at 16 very smooth, only bosses take a while. sirius is a problem....

can you guys please give me some feedback what can i improve? here is my POB: https://pastebin.com/80BMqZn3


I know the weapon could be a rare one with damage over time multiplier, but then i would miss a lot of blockchance. any advice here?

im currently playing without lifetap because i dont have no mana issues, is it worth to change? and if yes, which gem should i switch then?

I would would realy love to get some feedback and advice.

Thanks in advance and have a great day. :-)

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А можно глянуть ваш поб? Сложно поверить в 3.5 миллиона

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Zarasi wrote:

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ressiv wrote:

You have a nice SSF boy there! I was wondering when would it be better to switch to Blood magic over Lifetap?

Thanks! Still working on it, got a new vulnerability ring, chest, and helm ready to go which will cap my block, add about 400 hp, and a bunch more chaos resist, but I'm at the mercy of the 6 link RNG. 2300~ fusings in and no luck which is super frustrating so I can't swap until I get the Astral Plate linked.

Blood Magic vs. Lifetap Support both have pro's and con's I'd say, and there isn't really a better one and it's just preference by looking at which is the best for you. I do prefer Blood Magic though.

Blood Magic reduces the strain on gems in your gear. It allows more freedom to do things like have both Malevolence and Pride to use on the fly based on the situation, adding Increased Duration Support to Enduring Cry, running a 4 link on Corrupting Fever, only need 3 sockets for Shield Charge (or Leap Slam in my case) since I don't need Lifetap Support on it, and also Culling Strike with Maim on Reckoning. With Lifetap Support you need at least 2 Lifetaps, you'd also want War Banner and Herald of Purity so you're down 4-5 gems sockets already. There's also more flexibility on your SST 6 link as you don't need Lifetap.

Lifetap Support though has the potential to deal more damage than a Blood Magic set-up. The four points that you use to get Blood Magic and Mortal Conviction can be spent elsewhere (such as damage). It's also much easier to keep Corrupting Fever active since the life costs of skills are higher. Being able to run multiple auras allows for more choice, and with Enlighten you could potential running some interesting combinations of auras (such as Skitterbots with Hypothermia).

I guess I just find Lifetap a bit too rigid with gem constraints, and I prefer the flexibility on gems more than I do the extra bit of damage that Lifetap would offer me.

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ressiv wrote:

I am also playing SSF when it comes to gear (only trade currency vs currency). I think this build is perfect for it this league, not really feeling the nerfs right now. SST Gladiator feels overpowered af compared to other builds I played previous leagues. High life, easily overcapped resists, gg block, high clear speed and ok damage on bosses. I never die, early red maps right now.

Hope you are enjoying your SSF-style play. This is my first time doing SSF and I can pretty much say I'll never be going back to trade leagues again, as SSF is so much more fun.

Also, yeah I agree on this build being great for this league. I know damage numbers were hurt in 3.15, but at this point even in red maps I just throw 1 shield and everything dies. The only things that stand more than one shield is a map boss. End-game bosses are "ok" damage as you say, and I'd love to be able to get more boss damage in there for them, but for the rate of how many times I do those types of bosses I'm not bothered too much that it takes me an extra minute or two.

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Zarasi wrote:

Blood Magic vs. Lifetap Support both have pro's and con's

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Mettriegel wrote:

_push

Spoiler

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Zarasi wrote:

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ressiv wrote:

You have a nice SSF boy there! I was wondering when would it be better to switch to Blood magic over Lifetap?

Thanks! Still working on it, got a new vulnerability ring, chest, and helm ready to go which will cap my block, add about 400 hp, and a bunch more chaos resist, but I'm at the mercy of the 6 link RNG. 2300~ fusings in and no luck which is super frustrating so I can't swap until I get the Astral Plate linked.

Blood Magic vs. Lifetap Support both have pro's and con's I'd say, and there isn't really a better one and it's just preference by looking at which is the best for you. I do prefer Blood Magic though.

Blood Magic reduces the strain on gems in your gear. It allows more freedom to do things like have both Malevolence and Pride to use on the fly based on the situation, adding Increased Duration Support to Enduring Cry, running a 4 link on Corrupting Fever, only need 3 sockets for Shield Charge (or Leap Slam in my case) since I don't need Lifetap Support on it, and also Culling Strike with Maim on Reckoning. With Lifetap Support you need at least 2 Lifetaps, you'd also want War Banner and Herald of Purity so you're down 4-5 gems sockets already. There's also more flexibility on your SST 6 link as you don't need Lifetap.

Lifetap Support though has the potential to deal more damage than a Blood Magic set-up. The four points that you use to get Blood Magic and Mortal Conviction can be spent elsewhere (such as damage). It's also much easier to keep Corrupting Fever active since the life costs of skills are higher. Being able to run multiple auras allows for more choice, and with Enlighten you could potential running some interesting combinations of auras (such as Skitterbots with Hypothermia).

I guess I just find Lifetap a bit too rigid with gem constraints, and I prefer the flexibility on gems more than I do the extra bit of damage that Lifetap would offer me.

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ressiv wrote:

I am also playing SSF when it comes to gear (only trade currency vs currency). I think this build is perfect for it this league, not really feeling the nerfs right now. SST Gladiator feels overpowered af compared to other builds I played previous leagues. High life, easily overcapped resists, gg block, high clear speed and ok damage on bosses. I never die, early red maps right now.

Hope you are enjoying your SSF-style play. This is my first time doing SSF and I can pretty much say I'll never be going back to trade leagues again, as SSF is so much more fun.

Also, yeah I agree on this build being great for this league. I know damage numbers were hurt in 3.15, but at this point even in red maps I just throw 1 shield and everything dies. The only things that stand more than one shield is a map boss. End-game bosses are "ok" damage as you say, and I'd love to be able to get more boss damage in there for them, but for the rate of how many times I do those types of bosses I'm not bothered too much that it takes me an extra minute or two.

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Monsieur_Ati wrote:

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А можно глянуть ваш поб? Сложно поверить в 3.5 миллиона

https://pastebin.com/MK6nKk19

but why do I have to use google translate ?!

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pra-lima87 wrote:

Ok this subject :)
In running Blood Magic/Mortal Conviction with Pride + Arrogance
Since Preise reserves nothing arrogance is supposed to just boost pride. But on POB is like arrogance is doing nothing. Is it even worth it?

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pra-lima87 wrote:

On another subject, how are you guys dealing with physical immunity on expeditions? I got a Hydrosphere to my CWDT setup but also not sure how useful it is.

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ressiv wrote:

Spoiler

Few easy things you could change imo;
- get a better amulet
- reroll boots with high life
- craft better shield (perfect fossil on white base first to get 26%+ quality)
- I think you can easily craft a better weapon with the warlord base than your current one
- as mentioned couple times in this thread use swift affliction instead of unbound ailments
- vulnerability on hit ring

Why are you not using lifetap? I love it. Much more flexibility with aura's.
I'm running Pride, Herald of purity, Low vitality, War banner

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Zarasi wrote:

Spoiler

As cliche as it sounds, offensive is a good defensive, so boosting up those damage numbers will drastically help you stay alive longer as mobs are going to die before they can cause much damage to you.

I'd do the following. This will:

Triple your bleed damage
Add 250~ life
Overcap your resists for Elemental Weakness security
Remove mana so you don't have to mess around with regen

1. Get a new amulet with Phys DoT, with a prefix slot for life and some resists. A half decent one is around 5 to 15c just to get you going, and then anoint Cleaving.

2. Change the craft on your shield to Int/Quality instead of Str/Quality, which will allow you to drop the two points leading to Versatility. Put those two points towards getting Relentless.

3. Drop Iron Grip from your Spectral Shield Throw links and add in Swift Affliction (or Maim if you are having trouble with the recolour of the sockets).

4. Drop the two points getting Diamond Skin, the two nodes getting Mana Flows, and the 8 points that lead into the Templar area (leaving 12 points to spend). Spend 4 points getting Blood Magic and Mortal Conviction. Spend another 5 points getting Sanctuary. Spend the last three points getting Canabalistic Rites (top route). Drop War Banner from your links.

5. You mentioned you have a Warlords weapon - as long as it has any +x% "increased Physical Damage over Time" roll (whether it be 60% or 90%) and an open suffix to craft "+x% to Physical Damage over Time Multiplier" at the bench, then it's better than what you have. You can also buy a sword or axe like that for 1 chaos. Ideally you also want bleed chance on it as well, then you could drop another skill point from the tree and redistribute it elsewhere.

Bare in mind that "physical damage to attacks" does increase bleed damage, but not by much. From testing 5 to 8 phys to attacks added about 0.3% DPS for me, even an Abyssus which has a truck load of extra phys to attacks only added 2.3%. Also, the physical weapon damage of your main hand weapon doesn't matter at all, such as a level 1 white weapon does the same damage as a level 75 white weapon - it's only the mods on the weapon that we're interested in. Just mentioning this as I notice you're using Steel Rings and they could be switched out to something more useful like resist rings.

6. Make your weapon 3 sockets. Take all the gems out for now, and put in Enduring Cry -> Increased Duration, and Pride. Make sure Enduring Cry and Increased Duration are linked together, but Pride shouldn't be linked to anything. You aren't using Enduring Cry anywhere in your gear and you should. Set this abililty to your "left mouse" mouse ability and it'll automatically cast when you're walking around. It's a nice passive boost.

7. Take all the gems out of your gloves and recolour to RRGG. Add Maim back in that you took out of your weapon, also add in Reckoning from your second weapon set. Buy Culling Strike from the vendor and add it in there, then put Blood Rage in there too. So the links should be: Reckoning -> Maim Support -> Culling Strike Support -> Blood Rage. This will provide you with a source for Maim as well as culling targets with larger health pools, like bosses.

8. Rage in your Corrupting Fever links won't help, so you could drop that and get Brutality in there instead to boost the damage.

9. The gems in your shield can all come out as you don't need any of them. Keep War Banner in your stash though in case you ever want to move to a Lifetap Support set-up. In place of those gems, take the Shield Charge gems out of your helm and put them in your shield, but leave out Lifetap Support. Your shield should be RRG with Shield Charge -> Fortify -> Faster Attacks. You can also use Leap Slam if you find Shield Charge clunky (I hate it personally, it gets stuck on every random pebble on the floor).

10. This will free up your helm. In there add Cast when Damage Taken (level 1) -> Molten Shell (level 10) -> Tempest Shield (level 1). Put Malevolence in this link set-up also, but it won't fire from CWDT as the level is too high.

11. I'd drop your gloves and just get some 10c to 15c gloves with Dexterity, Life, and All Resist, with an armour base. Your base is nice, but the rolls aren't great and more life, attributes, and resists are going to give you greater flexibility for now.

12. Get a cheap-and-cheerful Vulnerability ring with intelligence and a prefix slot for life for around 10 to 15 chaos.

Here's a comparison of what you are currently using vs. the changes:



Total cost is around 20 to 30 chaos at most.

Here's an update PoB for you with a corrected tree, gem links, and gear options: https://pastebin.com/imFdE2gq.

Just a note on Pride and Malevolence also: I've added both to your gear but you only use one at a time. Use Pride when you are constantly in close range of targets (like end-game bosses), and use Malevolence for everything else. Pride only has a mid-range radius and it debuff's monsters rather than buffing yourself, whereas Malevolence will just buff yourself. This means if you're zipping around and killing monsters miles away then Pride isn't helping... however, in close range, Pride provides twice as much damage as Malevolence, so switch over to it for those and keep Malevolence for general mapping.