Ground Slam Marauder - Critique wanted - updated end game

I`m fairly new to this class having only played a week but impressed with the damage compared to my ranger when at similar level. Although having to get up close and personal for mele has been a change of mind set.

Mana management has been an issue for much of the levelling until recently where I managed to get a total of 5% mana leech skill on gear.

Also uncertain if to take Unwavering Stance.
Am considering to replace the helm and boots for items with life.

Currently DPS is good, resists are over capped and armor is poor

Level 67
Life - 2866
Mana - 453
Armor - 2341

Dps ^ 1449 (unbuffed)
Ground slam - 3342 (unbuffed)
Heavy Strike - 7338 (unbuffed) 10k when in party with stronger buffs


If anyone could have a look at both my gear and skill tree and offer any pointers for next set of improvements would be most appreciated.

My Gear


My Skill Tree


The Skill Tree considering.

Any feedback on current setup and gear and proposed skill tree progression would be appreciated.

Also with this setup, what level are maps viable?

bump

Would definitily try to get Life on every Socket, also try to get an 5 Link Weapon or Chest. Another "weapon elemental dmg" would probably give you another 1000 Dmg boost. Would also get a slower Weapon if you have Mana Problems, the Attack Speed like a Drillhammer doesnt mesh well with the cap on Mana Leech(Regenaration).

I use a Leapslammer at the Moment and get a Attack Speed of 0.61 per Attack and do a average Dmg of 9000, and i can press Q all the time without any Mana Trouble. Maybe you should also change on Leap Slam, the jumping is a little bit distracting but you get dont get hit so often so your armor can be a little crappy(like mine) ^^

My Gear



My Build


Im running 3 Auras on Mana + Grace on Life, but when i get the Reduced Mana Gem on Max Level i probably can even run Grace on my Mana pool and still be spamming my Leap Slam.
Maps arent really a problem, but i didnt have a chance to run anything higher than a 69 Map. 66-68 areant really a problem, just some bosses are harder than others.

I took life off recently when the leech return for life was 4% and mana 5% from gear, seemed to do ok with only the occassional need to retreat or use pots.

Mind you have not been solo recently and have had the benefit of other team members buffs at the moment.

As for the slow weapon, I had seen these but had not heard much about them. I guess the reduced cost of mana with the added damage and armor penetration would be a step up, but initially a bit uncomfortable to go to a slow weapon, even if better.

This might seem like a silly question, I'm just starting out with melee builds but...
why do you use added elemental damage with so much physical dmg laying about? Do you get the elemental damage from the added fire dmg gem alone?

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FusionCoreDance wrote:

This might seem like a silly question, I'm just starting out with melee builds but...
why do you use added elemental damage with so much physical dmg laying about? Do you get the elemental damage from the added fire dmg gem alone?

I believe so and that was the main motivation. I also have by luck rather than good management got elemental damage on jewelry.

I cant confirm if my auras are also influenced by them but if so then it is a very very large boost.

Ok so now 78 and am uncertain where to go next for skills to fill out.

Ideas include the following+

1) Health, just fill out health nodes starting with the 8+12% near Master of the Arena
2) Static Blows, whilst I am not geared for lighning damage, I still do some from jewerly and it has a great stun capability that might be worth it
3) Unwavering Stance, I did not get that as I prioritised other skills but it might be worth chasing and then follow up with a second Steel Skin tree
4) Other?

Using only 4 link and no Blood Magic still pleased with the DPS with only 2 offensive auras.

Ground Slam - 5k
Heavy Strike - 11.5k

Any suggestions with explaination most appreciated?

My current build is as follows+

Thanks KuroBear! I added an elem dmg gem and boosted my overall dps by abt 30% at level 1 gem with no passives!! Your wisdom is helpful.

I find Unwavering Stance to be awesome...no need to expand into it, stuns are just NOT fun and u already have Iron Reflexes so there's no downside. HOWEVER, it takes 4 points for you to get it vs. 2 points for Static Blows. So now you have to also weigh in your attack speed. Shock stacks work better to boost your other damage (fire and physical) so really what you want is just enough lightning dmg + attack speed to trigger shock and no more. I've seen some people try to attach a Spell Totem + Arc to any build in the book to try to achieve that :D
So:

- if u have the lightning dmg + shock, try Static Blows
- if u have a lot of patience! get Unwavering Stance
- if u do not have patience nor the capacity to use shock, just get more HP

My opinion.

Thank you for your suggestion. I have unwavering stance on my ranger which is a must and earlier on as it is much more fragile.

I might do what I have done for a few skills

1) Go for Static Blows as it is 2 levels to achieve now then when I hit 4 levels from now, delete and get Unwavering stance. If it keeps mobs off me a little more, then all the better. And rework to get it again, or revisit the idea of life again then.

I did similar to this when I was completing Steel Skin, it seemed better to have 3 armor nodes 1 of which was stronger near Armor Mastery until I was able to get Master of the Arena.



It kept me with more armor until I could do more damage.

As for life, well I have 4 items that I can still increase that I am wearing that can substitue for skill nodes until ready.