Dragon's Immortal Tank (Updated for 1.2)

Had some time today finally, so I fired up POE to see what I could do about the covenant fix. Since I do not have a pair of Rainbow Strides to test out my other idea, I decided to just keep all my auras and run them legit, meaning pay the additional costs.

So what did I lose? Gem slots and double the amount of HP reserved. I am still sitting very comfortably at 3400 hp after auras and 19k dps with 18k armor and 1272 ES. I will be giving this a try all night tonight but I don't see it as being a problem. Since I obtained a Soul Taker my health pool has been pretty much 100% full for 99% of the maps/bosses I have done. And I still swap in LL for bosses I know to be dangerous.

Since I did lose a few gem slots, I had to trim the fat so to speak. After auras and 6L IB, I am left with room enough for 1 curse, leap slam, and enduring cry. I decided to ditch portal since slots are now precious and scrolls are numerous. I also ditched my 2nd enduring cry.

One thing I noticed while playing around with this new patch is that it is still 100% possible to keep situational gems on your weapon swap. So long as you zone in and out with your main set of skills in place, you can sub in needed gems easily by replacing your BMs or RMs and your auras will not change.

For example, you are easily running the Maze map and obliterating everything. Now all that is left is Shadow of the Vaal. Once you get to his room, you can hit weapon swap, grab a second enduring cry gem and your immortal call gem, and replace your reduced mana or bm gems from auras with them.

Your auras will remain exactly the same during the fight, so long as you do not zone out. Then, once you are finished with the fight, you can put your regular gems back in place before zoning out. In addition, you can also decide to turn off wrath and anger when you get to the boss for an additional effective hp boost. Since this will no longer mean needing to use the covenant trick, getting them back after the fight is over is as simple as pushing 2 buttons.

The point I am trying to make is, since we need to trim the fat and use only the necessary gems, we must now more than ever make smart choices on what gems to store in weapon swap and KNOW WHEN TO USE THEM. If you intend to just cut down on auras then you will not need to worry about it. But if you decide to keep them all, and pay the price then this is what you will need to do.

As much as this sucks, we knew it was coming and just have to deal with it. I myself will be keeping my auras and will continue to look for gear with higher HP to replace the 500 hp I lost via reserved.

For those wondering, this is my current set-up.




Since returning to work I have been incredibly busy and haven't had all that much free time. But I know how confused some of the newer people are getting since the guide is pretty out of date lately so I will do my best to update and improve upon it this weekend (hopefully) in addition to trying to get my hands on some rainbow strides and regrets to test that route.

Hope you guys are still enjoying the build! I know I still do ^_^


-Dragon

I don't know what it is, but when I click on you passive build it doesn't show everything. It shows 66 pts spent (I counted), but only 13 points remaining up top. Could you post a screenshot or something by chance?

Thanks...

"

apparat07 wrote:

I don't know what it is, but when I click on you passive build it doesn't show everything. It shows 66 pts spent (I counted), but only 13 points remaining up top. Could you post a screenshot or something by chance?

Thanks...

Hmm... try copy/pasting this instead. I could try a screenshot but I cant fit it all into 1.

Ah, there we go. Thanks!

Hello,
I've been using your build for a while now, and had great success in taking down Piety on Merciless with it. I have one question in particular that I'd like to ask though. What is a good amount of Energy Shield to stop at? I've been trying to get the hybrid Arm/ES gear, but noticed that you only have 1 piece of it equipped. So, am I overdoing it? I have over 800 ES on my character, but I haven't gotten to take any passives for ES yet. I've got the idea in my head that the ES is almost like a replenishing HP bar. While it is very difficult for me to die (thanks to your build), there are still some things that really keep me worried. Scorched Earth, Chaos Damage, and heavy hitters (Brutus, Kole, etc.)

How do you cope with the heavy hitters? Also, I noticed that you took away your Unwavering Stance. Could you explain more on that decision? I know that with blocking the Unwavering stance only stops the animation from playing, but is that all it helps with? Isn't that like a stun in itself with you not being able to move?

My guess is that you block enough to avoid detrimental effects from the absence of Unwavering Stance, but I'd like to hear your reasoning for it. Thanks!

What are you block rates at now?

"

Nazaron wrote:

Hello,
I've been using your build for a while now, and had great success in taking down Piety on Merciless with it. I have one question in particular that I'd like to ask though. What is a good amount of Energy Shield to stop at? I've been trying to get the hybrid Arm/ES gear, but noticed that you only have 1 piece of it equipped. So, am I overdoing it? I have over 800 ES on my character, but I haven't gotten to take any passives for ES yet. I've got the idea in my head that the ES is almost like a replenishing HP bar. While it is very difficult for me to die (thanks to your build), there are still some things that really keep me worried. Scorched Earth, Chaos Damage, and heavy hitters (Brutus, Kole, etc.)

How do you cope with the heavy hitters? Also, I noticed that you took away your Unwavering Stance. Could you explain more on that decision? I know that with blocking the Unwavering stance only stops the animation from playing, but is that all it helps with? Isn't that like a stun in itself with you not being able to move?

My guess is that you block enough to avoid detrimental effects from the absence of Unwavering Stance, but I'd like to hear your reasoning for it. Thanks!

Well, I'd imagine no amount of ES would be too much, given you still want a good amount of physical mitigation (armor) for the heavy hitters as you mention. The reason being for the ES is it's going to be instantly replenished upon any block, and you won't dip into your health until it's gone (excluding chaos dmg). Therefore, the health serves as a comfortable buffer for chaos and the high physical dmg with the ES being a priority. Yes?

@Dragon
(Anyone can reply and say his opinion dont get me wrong)

2 things i want say:

1) Yesterday i was in a a 72 map (Jungle Valley) and i died 2 consecutive times in the boss room. These 2 deaths were the first deaths i ever had since i changed my spec into infernal tank (for the last 4 months, i m 83 lvl now).
I still dont know if i could survive in that room if played differently, but here are the facts of the monsters in that room: Spider boss + 10 normal spiders + 5 blue spiders + 1 rare spider with extra phys dmg aura + 1 rare spider with elemental reflect + all spiders had 4-5 frenzy charges + all hit with viper strike.
I did not die from the ele reflect, i died after 5-10 seconds from the hits with 4 endurance charges on and enfeeble on all the mobs (both times i died this way). My 2 friends died almost instantly (LA ranger / Dual spork witch).
My question is if i could survive, maybe i didnt play it right.
My stats are 70% block / 5k armor / 3k life / 850 ES / 5k dps IB on a 5L / 50% phys dmg reduce with endurance charges on / and most importantly 60% chaos res.


2) I wanted to ask Dragon and anyone that uses this build, if u have thought of Anvil amulet + Rainbowstrides boots.
This makes your block chance 78% and gives you 25% spell block instead of 50% (which translates approx 25%-30% spell block on tooltip i suppose).
The downside of it is that you lose hp from boots and 10% attack speed but u get 500 armor + life evey time u block + nice dmg every time u block and ofc 78% block chance.
Would that be more tanky/viable than Stone of Lawzar + Rainbostrides?


Thanks for all your replies in advance.

I just want to share my opinion, even though you ideally want dragon's thoughts since he is much more experienced.

"

nel0angel0 wrote:

Spider boss + 10 normal spiders + 5 blue spiders + 1 rare spider with extra phys dmg aura + 1 rare spider with elemental reflect + all spiders had 4-5 frenzy charges + all hit with viper strike.
I did not die from the ele reflect, i died after 5-10 seconds from the hits with 4 endurance charges on and enfeeble on all the mobs (both times i died this way). My 2 friends died almost instantly (LA ranger / Dual spork witch).
My question is if i could survive, maybe i didnt play it right.
My stats are 70% block / 5k armor / 3k life / 850 ES / 5k dps IB on a 5L / 50% phys dmg reduce with endurance charges on / and most importantly 60% chaos res.

Did you die from the flicker hits and her new EK attack? 3k life and 5k armor (you didnt use granite?) vs a damage aura flicker pack all hasted, can still be painful. Then again you have high block, enfeeble on and 4 charges .... soooo I dont know :/ And with 60 chaos res and some good regen, the viper charges shouldnt have been an issue, or at least not that much if you say had 4 of them on you at once. Was this with aegis aurora?

"

nel0angel0 wrote:

2) I wanted to ask Dragon and anyone that uses this build, if u have thought of Anvil amulet + Rainbowstrides boots.
This makes your block chance 78% and gives you 25% spell block instead of 50% (which translates approx 25%-30% spell block on tooltip i suppose).
The downside of it is that you lose hp from boots and 10% attack speed but u get 500 armor + life evey time u block + nice dmg every time u block and ofc 78% block chance.
Would that be more tanky/viable than Stone of Lawzar + Rainbostrides?


Thanks for all your replies in advance.

3% max attacks block is not worth losing almost half your spell block imo

25+12% x 78% = 29% with a perfect rainbowstride
50+12% x 78% = 48% with SOL (and 68% with a perfect rainbowstride too)

75 to 78% is still roughly 1 in every 4 attacks getting through over a long streak of attacks.

you lose 10 ias and 20 ms with that amu,

you gain a small amount of armor and 40 life on block, but how good is it? Also, I think the reflected physical on block is crap.

"

mvm199 wrote:

Did you die from the flicker hits and her new EK attack? 3k life and 5k armor (you didnt use granite?) vs a damage aura flicker pack all hasted, can still be painful. Then again you have high block, enfeeble on and 4 charges .... soooo I dont know :/ And with 60 chaos res and some good regen, the viper charges shouldnt have been an issue, or at least not that much if you say had 4 of them on you at once. Was this with aegis aurora?

I got aegis aurora and i had granite flask on, i forgot to mention that.
The spiders did not flicker, they used viper strike and i really didnt notice the attacks of the boss spider because there was really many of them, overwhelming i might say.
Really dont know how, second time as soon as i entered the room i casted enduring cry got myself 4 charges, poped a granite flask and went straight to kill the phys dmg aura rare. I died on the way..

"

mvm199 wrote:

3% max attacks block is not worth losing almost half your spell block imo

25+12% x 78% = 29% with a perfect rainbowstride
50+12% x 78% = 48% with SOL (and 68% with a perfect rainbowstride too)

75 to 78% is still roughly 1 in every 4 attacks getting through over a long streak of attacks.

you lose 10 ias and 20 ms with that amu,

you gain a small amount of armor and 40 life on block, but how good is it? Also, I think the reflected physical on block is crap.

Your point is right, the major losses are the spell block and the lost ias/ms, but i thought the 78% block and the 10 passive skill points u save from going to 75% would compensate these losses. With these skill points u could get more armor and more dps nodes.