Dragon's Immortal Tank (Updated for 1.2)

I would like to start by saying a few words about the path that led me here and this build.

I have always liked RPG games, be it pen and paper or pc games, and have been playing them for years. Always I was drawn to melee characters, especially one hand and shield users.

When PoE entered the open beta I started playing with a bunch of friends, picking, without a second thought, to play an LS mace/shield Templar (which ended to a total failure at level 54). Not getting disappointed, I opted for a DW sword ranger (which again ended in a total failure at level 60). Being sick and tired of the handicapped melee builds I created a 7 aura/EB summoner (which at level 79 is still viable but extremely boring). I then went through a searing staff fire witch (currently 59), a Death Harp shadow (46 and he’ll stay there), a lightning arrow ranger (level 60).

But no matter what I‘ve tried, I wasn’t satisfied with gameplay, cause, as I mentioned before, I am a nutter for melee and especially tank builds. And that was when, being on the verge of dropping the game altogether, I stumbled upon Dragon’s build.

Upon reading the thread’s name “Dragon's Infernal Tank” I was instantly intrigued. The fact that it mentioned that it was a “Guide with Videos” was all the sweeter.

Being already intrigued, I clicked the link and was greeted by a picture of an epic marauder, heavy on steel and all glowing, being at ease on his battle pose behind his bright tempest shield effect.

Skimming through it I quickly realized that it was a well composed, very explanatory and still active build. Apart from the fact that it had a lot of “colors” (yeah I ‘m weird that way, but it makes it easier to read a long text when it is differently colored imho), Dragon had even went out of his way to analyze the “The effects of Patch 0.11.0 on the build” and what made him pick the skills he did, which greatly impressed me.

Having decided that the build was worth more than a quick look, I scrolled up and watched all the videos first and then went on to read the whole post and all the following replies.

When I was done I said to myself “Yup I want some of that candy pretty please” and proceeded to create my own infernal tank.

First and foremost, I would like to say that itemization for this build is a bitch… It is greatly understated how int and dex starved the build is. It really is a HUGE problem to get the necessary attributes to max all your skills and that leads to a chain of dependency issues. What I mean is that you get an item that give dex/int/or both but it lacks resists/life/mf and so on, which you can’t change because then you won’t be able to use your skills. Granted you can opt to take some +30 nodes but there is only one readily available (1 skill point) but they are still not enough. Add to that fact that you “lock” 2 slots of your gear (amulet and shield) which would otherwise be a fountain of those much needed stats (mainly life and tons of resists from the shield), and you get yourself into a huge jam trying to achieve max resists, high life, a decent mf and not to forget chaos resist… Furthermore, a 6link is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to enjoy the full extent of this build.

However, this build is FREAKING AMAZING!!!! If you manage to achieve all of the above, then you end up with a nearly unkillable, greatly versatile, high dps, glowing mountain of metal that spreads death at his will….

Having read the replies of some people and the doubts about the dps of this build (yeah I m talking about you 20k cleave dude) keep in mind that contrary to any other skill, Infernal Blow with Melee Splash (both 20 quality) does aoe all around you at a huge distance, even around corners, behind walls etc and added to that it creates a chain reaction of corpse explosions (leaving summoners with no corpses to raise) which ARE NOT COUNTED IN THE TOOLTIP. So Dragon’s 10k dps tooltip could easily translate to 20k -30k and more dmg, if you take into account all of the above. Add to that the fact that there ain’t a greater feeling than jumping into the mid of a throng of mobs and detonating ALL of them in a matter of seconds and you got yourself a golden build.

And the greatest part is that what I’ve just mentioned ISN’T EVEN THE STRONG POINT OF THE BUILD. By playing this build you absolutely become near UNKILLABLE… You get a HUGE block chance (62% of which applies to spells as well) mitigating a great number of attacks against you (both melee and projectile based). The few attacks that get through have to deal with OVERCAPPED resists, an AMAZING ARMOR RATING that mitigates a huge amount of the incoming damage, a very LARGE HEALTH POOL, which REGENERATES INCREDIBLY FAST and, most of all, an energy shield THAT REGENERATES EACH TIME YOU BLOCK by 4% of your armor!!!

I am still very far away from Dragon’s stats and level but I am working my way there. One thing to note is that this was my first and only character that actually finished merciless act 3 2 levels below the map level (Lunaris Temple 3 is 68 I finished it without a sweat at 66 and been farming it since)

My very own Infernal Tank



The stats





The gear