Dragon's Immortal Tank (Updated for 1.2)

Holy shit this build puts everything on EZ MODE. This is a fucking beast build, I've never diedddddddd holy shit this is amazing! You made me post for the first time eveer!

Hey, i probably will make this build in the new leagues; )

Played a little bit with the skilltree and i was just wundering which version is actually better:

Vers. 1: your build lvl 90

Vers. 2: (Middle + IR)

Vers. 3: (Middle - IR)


Vers.1 - your build:

life: 239%
eva/armor: 32%
block: 31%
other: 2% leech; 30% fire dmg; IR; 20% armor shield; 15% resis


Vers.2 - middle + IR:

life: + 28%
eva/armor: + 50%
block: - 10%
other: IR; 15% resis


Vers.3 - middle - IR:

life: + 44%
eva/armor: + 100%
block: - 10%
other: -


If you go through the middle it seems to me you are more flexible (if u want to go 90+) ...

Things im not sure about:
- How much does "lava lash" increase your dmg?
- Would you prefer 10%block over 44%life? or ... how much %life would compensate +1% block?
(you could get 4% block instead of 16% life in Vers. 2+3)
- I probably didnt really understand your calculation on IR ... How much %armor did you get instead of IR to end up with -900armor? Shouldnt 100% more armor compensate for IR?


Thanks for sharing the build,
Mauredo

"

brocet wrote:

Holy shit this build puts everything on EZ MODE. This is a fucking beast build, I've never diedddddddd holy shit this is amazing! You made me post for the first time eveer!

Another satisfied customer :) I am so happy you like the build! I still enjoy the crap out of playing it. Making alts just doesn't seem half as fun as jumping on my mara and plowing through content like its nothing. Glad you took the time to post on the forums for the first time :)

"

mauredo wrote:

If you go through the middle it seems to me you are more flexible (if u want to go 90+) ...

Things im not sure about:
- How much does "lava lash" increase your dmg?
- Would you prefer 10%block over 44%life? or ... how much %life would compensate +1% block?
(you could get 4% block instead of 16% life in Vers. 2+3)
- I probably didnt really understand your calculation on IR ... How much %armor did you get instead of IR to end up with -900armor? Shouldnt 100% more armor compensate for IR?


Thanks for sharing the build,
Mauredo

Hi Mauredo!
I have often wondered how much lava lash increased my damage since I upgraded my gear. So, I spent another regret and found out :)
Lava lash dps fully buffed = 9751
No lava lash fully buffed = 9412
300+ dps gain for 1 skill point not too shabby!

Would I prefer 10% block over 44% life? Absolutely! I am a firm believer in block, especially with Aegis Aurora. I facetank mobs that pure HP stacking builds wouldn't dare to. Ofc, that doesn't include the kaoms users as they are pretty much god mode with their 10k hp. Am I saying that 10% block is better? No, but it is what I would choose based on my experience. It also kind of depends on your own circumstances too. If your only at say, 4k hp, then I think you would be better off choosing the hp nodes over the block nodes.

As for the calculations of armor you are referring to, I didn't do any calculations. I am simply fail at math and figuring out formulas and modifiers ect. That is why I took the time to use 20 regrets to get the real results. What you see on my post is data taken directly from my character screen after modifications to the build. If you like, I did take screenshots and could post them if it will help.


Very cool to wake up each day and see more happy posts about the build. ^_^
Glad you guys are enjoying it, and I am glad my friends convinced me to post a guide.



-Dragon

Hey Dragon its me again :D

Now that the new leagues have been announced, i would like to take this discussion a little bit further:
(Below topics are made assuming you play on Anarchy league)

How would you start out fresh in the new Anarchy league to make this build?
-Would u do an easy dual totem mf toon to farm some items and then start making this build on a new mara toon after you got some gear?
-Would u start out straight with mara and leave RNG completely control your fate gearing up?
-What nodes/weapons/skills would u use to reach and then clear merciless?

TBH the only drawback of this build is that if you dont have 6L, your dps is around 5-6k which is nice but having 10k is way more nicer.
And in a new fresh start you will have 4L max..

Would be nice to have your point of view on all these questions.

Thanks

"

nel0angel0 wrote:

Hey Dragon its me again :D

Now that the new leagues have been announced, i would like to take this discussion a little bit further:
(Below topics are made assuming you play on Anarchy league)

How would you start out fresh in the new Anarchy league to make this build?
-Would u do an easy dual totem mf toon to farm some items and then start making this build on a new mara toon after you got some gear?

I will probably do exactly this ... dual totem into this build ;D

Is this viable for hardcore? I'm thinking of transitioning my 2H mace GS LS HS Marauder into something that viable for maps. Do you die often in Standard with this build?

"

iamyoona wrote:

Is this viable for hardcore? I'm thinking of transitioning my 2H mace GS LS HS Marauder into something that viable for maps. Do you die often in Standard with this build?

I died a lot when I was learning the build and how to be melee. This was my first melee build that was successful, so I had to learn what I could and could not do. Today, I don't die. I have figured out what adjustments to make for certain map mods and bosses, and simply just don't die unless I play too confident. Many of my recent deaths have been me seeing what I can do. I spent a lot of time on the Vaal video and allowed him to smash my face several times which lead to several deaths. Temple Piety has claimed my life a few times also, but most of those were test runs as well.

What gets me killed more often than anything else is not being fully resist capped. Any mod, curse, or other mechanic that messes with my resistances is very dangerous and I have to be especially careful. But the way I understand it, these things are dangerous for any build.

I personally don't have the stones to play hardcore, but if I did I would be confident in playing this build there. The only real dangers to this build are map bosses.

"

nel0angel0 wrote:

Hey Dragon its me again :D

Now that the new leagues have been announced, i would like to take this discussion a little bit further:
(Below topics are made assuming you play on Anarchy league)

How would you start out fresh in the new Anarchy league to make this build?
-Would u do an easy dual totem mf toon to farm some items and then start making this build on a new mara toon after you got some gear?
-Would u start out straight with mara and leave RNG completely control your fate gearing up?
-What nodes/weapons/skills would u use to reach and then clear merciless?

TBH the only drawback of this build is that if you dont have 6L, your dps is around 5-6k which is nice but having 10k is way more nicer.
And in a new fresh start you will have 4L max..

Would be nice to have your point of view on all these questions.

Thanks

Hello again nel,

The way I always played d2 ladder resets was to first make a mf char to farm items and then proceed to create the funner builds later. I am sure I will prob be doing this as well in anarchy league. One thing that does concern me a bit is how short the league is. 4 months is not that long for a season. Depending on how the first one goes and how much time I have to put into it (going back to work soon!) I may just start with the build I plan to play all 4 months and forgo the mf char. I usually like to experience things first, then make adjustments as I learn.

If I did start this build over again I would prob just use what ever I had in terms of weapons. If I happen to find a really nice 1h sword I would prob use cleave. If I found a good 1h mace ground slam would be my obv choice. I prob wouldn't try to level this build with infernal blow and splash simply because I think the aoe is pretty bad without quality gems. And, like you pointed out, this build doesn't really shine until you get a 6L. So I guess I would prob do like I did with my current mara. Level with GS or cleave to the end of merciless, then try to get my hands on the gear/gems needed after.

Ha ha, so as I am re-reading this I guess I should just say TLDR: I am not really sure what my plans are! We shall just have to see. A lot of my future plans are hinged on the upcoming changes to hp/es nodes and monster damage reduction.

Sorry I couldn't really give a straight answer :P I am one of those types that has to learn by experience rather than theory crafting.


-Dragon

"

Dragon585 wrote:

If I did start this build over again I would prob just use what ever I had in terms of weapons. If I happen to find a really nice 1h sword I would prob use cleave. If I found a good 1h mace ground slam would be my obv choice. I prob wouldn't try to level this build with infernal blow and splash simply because I think the aoe is pretty bad without quality gems. And, like you pointed out, this build doesn't really shine until you get a 6L. So I guess I would prob do like I did with my current mara. Level with GS or cleave to the end of merciless, then try to get my hands on the gear/gems needed after.

Right now I'm going thru leveling this build from scratch, of course using cast off's from my other char's and stuff I find/buy.

Once you are able to get melee splash (Act3 quest in normal) it works pretty well with a 4L as you describe in your original post. I'll link my equipment if anyone wants to see, but I don't have anything uber. It's great watching entire groups blow up! Once you have that, there's no need for cleave or ground slam. I was surprised by that, but it's true so far.

Right now where it's weak is against single targets like bosses. I keep Heavy Strike setup just for those situations. I hope that later this won't be needed.

Dragon: Please make sure to share your thoughts and changes after the patch takes hold. I'm pretty anxious as to how this is going to affect all our melee builds, and am kinda pissed about the way they chose to refund our points. It basically means we need to wait and see before playing.

Finally, just curious if you (or anyone) has tried this using Concentrated Effect or Increased Area of Effect, or is that just overkill? And I just found a Carcass Jack on my other Character. Any thoughts on it's use with this build? (Linked below for reference).

Thanks for sharing, this is a fun build.

Right now I'm playing a level 70 HS/GS marauder (with fairly crappy gear). I'm very curious to see the overall changes to the tree and how it effects this build. Considering using that free reset to build this. I do need to try and come up with some better gear over the next few days (most of mine hasn't been upgraded in far too many levels).

I may just shelve the marauder and focus on another toon while trying to get the gear together for this, then use the reset to try it out once I've got the goods.

I've been thinking - the upcoming patch is going to "nerf" life nodes. IE: we are going to lose life overall. This is bad for Blood Magic, which most melee rely upon, this build as well. I wonder if we might might actually suffer instead of benefit from this patch?