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

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Irmeli wrote:

Hi all! I started this league a bit late (yesterday) and would like some tips on the leveling process, because the leveling sections in the guide is not that clear.

What skill should I use in the beginning and should I change to SST instantly when I get it, and just run it with the 4 link setup from the guide?

Splitting steel at the start. Shift to Shattering Steel at level 12, then move to Spectral Shield Throw at 38 when you get it. Use Chance to Bleed Support on Splitting Steel and Shattering Steel. You can drop it when you get Spectral Shield Throw as you should have got Blood in the Eyes ascendancy at that point which has innate bleed chance.

Level 1 to 12: Splitting Steel -> Chance to Bleed -> Anything (Onslaught probably)
Level 12 to 38: Shattering Steel -> Chance to Bleed -> Vicious Projectiles -> Maim
Level 38+: Spectral Shield Throw -> Brutality -> Vicious Projectiles -> Maim

Then just go from there

As for the tree, something like the following until 38. You should get Blood in the Eyes from the Ascendancy as your first choice.

Hello! Can I build this character with like, 10 ex? Will the damage be good?

Hello Zarasi,

Which aura do you use? Pride or Malevolence?

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supervi1 wrote:

Hello! Can I build this character with like, 10 ex? Will the damage be good?

You could build this on probably half that to be honest. It's pretty much fantastic at anything other than end-game bosses, and also extremely tanky. The damage to end-game bosses (such as Maven, Sirus, Uber Elder, etc) is decent to good (based on gear) but not the best. If you want an all purpose character then this build is great, but if you wanted something just for bosses, then I'd look at other builds.

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breqker wrote:

Hello Zarasi,

Which aura do you use? Pride or Malevolence?

Hey. A bit of both. I switch between them based on the content I do. If I'm playing max-range, either because the content is sketchy and I might die, or if it's general purpose content like maps, I'd run Malevolence as monsters will be dying outside of the range of Pride quite often. If it's consistent close-range content like Heist, end-game bosses, or content that I've over-juiced I'll run Pride. I just have them set to CTRL + Q and CTRL + W key-binds and switch on the fly.

It's not really needed, but I had spare gem slots and I like the flexibility.

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Zarasi wrote:

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Irmeli wrote:

Hi all! I started this league a bit late (yesterday) and would like some tips on the leveling process, because the leveling sections in the guide is not that clear.

What skill should I use in the beginning and should I change to SST instantly when I get it, and just run it with the 4 link setup from the guide?

Splitting steel at the start. Shift to Shattering Steel at level 12, then move to Spectral Shield Throw at 38 when you get it. Use Chance to Bleed Support on Splitting Steel and Shattering Steel. You can drop it when you get Spectral Shield Throw as you should have got Blood in the Eyes ascendancy at that point which has innate bleed chance.

Level 1 to 12: Splitting Steel -> Chance to Bleed -> Anything (Onslaught probably)
Level 12 to 38: Shattering Steel -> Chance to Bleed -> Vicious Projectiles -> Maim
Level 38+: Spectral Shield Throw -> Brutality -> Vicious Projectiles -> Maim

Then just go from there

As for the tree, something like the following until 38. You should get Blood in the Eyes from the Ascendancy as your first choice.

Spoiler

Woah, thanks a lot for the incredibly detailed answer!

Currently sitting at 41% Chaos res and 5.7k hp, pretty happy with this build so far, but not too sure what to upgrade.

Do I go for a cluster? Weapon is an option, but the dps increase isn't massive.

Got this so far, i love the build but feel i lack a lot of damage, any advice or items to point for?

Thanks

Hey guys,

I started late and got not much time to play but this build carried me to the endgame, thumps up!

I currently have 8-10 ex to spend but i am not sure how to use it.
I have to find SST enchanted helm i guess and also awakened gems. But are there any other points i am missing?
What can be improved next especially for end game boss fights.

Thanks for all the help!

Hey guys, does Awakened Swift Affliction gives +0.5% to Damage over Time Multiplier per 1% q? Strange it says there is no difference btw lvl 21 swift and ASwift...

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HaZzZe wrote:

Got this so far, i love the build but feel i lack a lot of damage, any advice or items to point for?

Thanks

Spoiler

Shield and gloves, probably shield first. I got mine for 2.5 ex, could have gone a tiny bit higher armor wise, but I wanted the res as it allows me to use gloves with either no res or chaos res.