[1.1.1] Evantis's Permastun Build and Stun Compedium

TL;DR

--->>> 1.1.0. SC/Ambush stun build: <<<---

--->>> 1.1.0. HC/Invasion stun build: <<<---

Permastunning Merc Kole http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pQh9VoVCdU
Permastunning Merc Piety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLjORViYjo8
Permastunning Merc Dominus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TENJdGd2PGE
Permastunning 70 Underground see boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNWtzLHsAus
Permastunning 71 Temple Piety http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn7bngh9MT0
Permastunning 71 Strand boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAAf0DFs1l4
Permastunning 72 Torture Chamber Merveil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brLG02edwuw
Permastunning 73 Cells boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqyS9lRIqHM
Permastunning 74 Underground river boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXkUii_74dI
Fail attempt to permastun 74 Maze Vaal (looks like REST from ECoC is not enough) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSSr32qRhp8
Fail with 74 Maze Vaal again, even with Stun support http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCEKCCb5sjs
Permastunning 75 Plateau boss www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3PPQIrYxYs
Permastunning 76 Predict boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9hzyTh4vVk
Permastunning DEX Melee Exile on 73 map http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnxI6rhu-uE&
Permastunning 77 Shipyard boss http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqt0th3kA4U
Permastunning 77 Shrine Piety first form http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoaFIhP5iwQ

/TL;DR

Hello fellow Marauders!

So you were said it won't be possible to permastun game bosses.
You were said that stun builds are nerfed to the ground.
You were said that melee has to be worse than ranged.

And you agreed with it, without checking it.
You believed Kripp. You believed patch notes. You believied what other said.

But you were wrong.

Today is the day of the new beginning for you. Why?

Because you're gonna remind yourself who is Marauder. Go to character create menu to hear it again, if you forgot.

"I am a warrior. I was born to fight, raised to defend my tribe. Now, I have been taken from my people, chained and exiled by cowards who fear Death. Death is my brother. I do not fear him. I see him in the eyes of the men and beasts that I kill. I feel him travelling beside me to this new land, this Wraeclast. He will take me to meet the ancestors when I am ready, and I am not ready."

Let me introduce to you the permastun Marauder, ultimate machine to dominate all ingame mobs in all difficulties. The best party member.

So what is stun? At first have a look what poepedia says at http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Stun

Stun is an ability to stop mob from doing damage. It's like better version of Temporal chains, because he stills gets damage, but is not able to hit back. Default stun duration is about 1/3 of a second, which can be increased by items, passive nodes and gems.

And what is permastun? It's stun that do not let mob hit you at all. Stun during all mob's life slowly taken by your hits, until he dies in shame and misery.

Permastun builds was working long before open beta started: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bTc37rLuyg

And it was abused by Kripp and his offhand claw with global threshold reduce bonus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2ZSCwTzAd8

You can read some discussions here: http://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/17ut30/kripps_new_build_is_ridiculous_100_reduced_stun/

So it was nerfed in patch 0.10.1 on February 7, 2013, and since then barely anyone tried to make it working.

"

Balance Changes
-Stun Threshold Reduction now has diminishing returns when it exceeds 75%. It's still possible to build very effective stun characters, but they cannot permanently lock down the hardest of bosses.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a bug where the Stun Threshold Reduction on Mortem Morsu was not limited to just attacks by that weapon.

So what do you need to permastun mobs? Three things are required:
a) enough damage
b) enough stun threshold reduce
c) enough attack speed or enough stun duration increase

The build which is able to permastun mobs is not very complicated. You can start (SC version) as Marauder or as Duelist, because you'll go to the both starting positions for more life (Marauder) or damage (Duelist). But I advice starting as Marauder, because... the boy is not the man.

--->>> 1.1.0. SC stun build: <<<---

--->>> 1.1.0. HC stun build: <<<---

What are we getting from it?


You get an absurd amount of DPS. 204%+96%+70%+76.4% is 440% increased physical dmg.
You hit like a truck.

79% all resistances, but still problems with spell damage? Let's add another 5%, and block most of spells!


Great, now let's have a look on skills.

Since stun threshold nerf - diminishing returns after getting 75% - we're gonna need stun threshold reduce from skills too (earlier it was enough to have stun gem and some nodes, especially with 2h weapons). So, there are only 2 skills which are worth to consider. First is Ground slam with it's AOE and 25% Reduced Enemy Stun Threshold. But it's Damage effectiveness is only 80%, which is not enough to permastun everything.

The second one is Heavy strike. It has 25% stun threshold too, but a great Damage effectiveness (150%). But it's singletarget skill, so it is necessary to add an AOE gem, Melee splash. The other good suport gems are:
1) Added fire dmg, for even more dps and split dmg sources to work better against physical reflect
2) Melee physical dmg, for even more dps
3) Blood magic, for being able to use Hatred, Purity and Determination on mana
4) Life leech, for double reflect on maps
5) Stun (obvious, but not nessesary on enough stun threshold reduce from other sources)
6) Melee damage on full life (requires some skill in using, but adds another ton of damage)

Multistrike IS NOT good for this build. I will explain it later.

The most important are items. You're gonna look after mods they other people think are useless and lowers item's price. Usually when someone finds an item with "Reduced stun treshold" or "Reduced stun duration", he thinks "eh crap, two useless mods on this item".

And so you can buy items like this

for 1 chaos as I did.

Questions [some might be outdated, I will update them after making Ambush permastun Marauder to lvl 80]:

1) What are the hardest mobs to permastun (requiring the most stun threshold reduce and/or the highest damage)?
I will discover and update it, as I'm making Ambush permastunner currently.

2) How much reduce stun threshold I need to permastun everything?
Don't know exact numbers, it depends on your DPS and stun threshold. I use 95% with AOE and sometimes change Melee splash to Stun gem when fighting Exiles/act bosses, which gives me 130%.

3) What about stun duration?
Not that worth in my opinion. Yes, they are some nodes with this ability, but a) they cost passives b) they do not increase your dps. Increasing attack speed is far better in this case.

4) Why 1h and not 2h?
Because 2h's are slow and you have to use Multistrike to attack fast enough. But Multistrike reduces your damage increasing attack speed. And we don't want to hit fast. We want to hit hard enough to stun.
The other reason is obvious - we loose the shield. And there are some situation when shield is necessary, i.e. with rooms full of ranged champion mobs split in parts which cannot be stunned in same time.

5) Why Maces and not axes? People say they have bigger DPS
Stop listening to the others, and test all by yourself! Maces are best Melee weapons for real hard damage, not some paper DPS raised by high attack speed or crit chance. Calculate nodes. And what is most important, maces as weapons have higher minimum dmg, which we need to be as high as it can. We have to stun every time we hit, so with same attack speed 120-160 weapon will be better than 80-240, despite of lower DPS. And so we don't use Multristike, 2-2,5 attacks per second is more than enough.

6) What other gems are useful?
a) The Vulnerability curse. One and only. Quality it as high as you can. The one of two reasons why we'd need some int.

13% additional chance to stun
26% reduced stun recovery
over 41% increased physical damage (it shows "increased", but it's monster side curse, so in fact it is a damage multiplier)
increased energy shield recharge (remember while mob has energy shield, it has only a half chance of being stunned)

b) auras - I will check it on 1.1.0 on my new character, but Hatred + Purity of Lightning + Purity of Ice (with Reduced mana) is a good base choice, as Shock+Freeze are the most deadly elemental statuses. I would consider Grace + Iron reflexes instead of purities for HC only.

c) fast movement skill


d) for really hard situations, entering to room full of nasty champion spiders or something else flickerstriking on you before you hit it


e) you can use some totem (decoy one, or spell totem with vulnerability+increased area of effect+blood magic), but really don't have to. Stun is more than enough to deal with mobs. And you don't have to curse anything except some very rare occasions to permastun.

7) Why not Grace? Low mana (life with blood mana gem) cost and gives so much Evasion, and can be even transformed to Armour using Iron reflexes.
Because you don't need that much armour. High damage, stun and high block are your survivability perks. I play with 4-5k armour (7k with Molten shell) and less than 3k hp. And the second thing, Grace requires Dexterity. A lot of it. Which gives nothing to our char since he always hits (Resolute technique). And Iron reflexes node is so far away, that it isn't worth going to. Ofc HC (Invasion) is another pair of shoes, so as I sad before, I would use Grace then.

8) Why not any elemental dame aura? Anger? Wrath? It could be used on life with Blood Mana support
Outdated due to auras cost change [Because loosing any percent of your life is not worth increasing damage for 200-400 if you have over 10000.]

9) How do we deal with double reflect? (map + mob affix)
Unfortunately, not that ideal, but still well. We need to increase life leech and decrease damage for this kind of maps, switching support gems (Melee physical damage -> Life leech). Granite potion is a fiend then too. Better do not use Molten shell there, vs elemental reflect mob on elemental reflect map.

10) What is the best weapon for permastun build?
I use 1h mace with stun 14% threshold reduce, max roll is 15%. Mace increases stun duration too. These are the most important affixes: base stun duration increase, stun threshold reduce, % phys dmg, add x-y phys dmg. Elemental damage is useless. Increased attack speed is good, but not that important. As I said before, we need to hit hard, not often but weak.


11) When can we start permastunning mobs?
Lvl 27, buy your Marauder cheap 4L Geofry's Baptism and use Ground Slam + ECoS + Stun + Blood mana, and stun everything until 60+. Search for currency in the meantime, and buy some good 1h weapon with 130+ minimum damage and 10%+ REST.

12) I'm so rich, are there any items which will be even better?
The bringer of Rain. Nuff said. 6L with blind (7L in fact). Free endurance charges sometimes. Great phys damage bonus. 15% more block chance. It's the most OP melee item currently (no, it is not Kaom's Heart). Damn, it is melee's Shavronne's Wrappings, people just didn't recognize it yet.

Did I mention you have 55-60% block chance with BoR in this build, depending of shield's type?

Also, gems quality.
- max Melee splash for even better AoE
- max Heavy strike for 15% increased attack speed
- max Vulnerability for even better phys dmg increase
- max Add fire dmg support for even more fire dmg

13) You said the best party member, why?
Because your chance to stun does not decrease while mobs health increases by another party member. If you can permastun mobs playing single player, you will be able to do it in 6 people party too. Stun is calculated as you'd be playing single player, despite of number of people in maps. And you will save people asses taking care of bosses, hard champions and elites.

14) Bandits rewards?
a) Help Oak for 40 hp
b) Help Oak again. Another 18% phys damage is great bonus to this build[/s]
c) Help Oak again. Endurance charges are so good. SO good.

15) Can I see your character details?
Sure. I didn't finish it yet (more damage nodes to come), but it's already facerolling everything everywhere.



16) What are the max roll of stun affixes on items? What are notable items for this build?
* 14-15% stun threshold reduce on belt and mace
* All 1h maces has 20% increased stun duration except for slower (1.1 attack speed) Auric Mace which has 40% and even slower Gavel (1.05 AS) with 40% too
* Facebreaker has 10% reduced stun threshold but none of other stats is valuable, so any life + res + attack speed gloves will be better
* Meginord's Girdle belt is good for increasing damage but very bad for increasing stun ability (neither stun threshold reduce nor stun duration)
* The Magnate belt is good for stun duration and damage, if you have enough stun threshold reduce
* The Anvil amulet has great blocking bonuses but movement speed and attack speed reduces sux a little
* Stone of Lazhwar amulet would help maxing spellblock (75%), but I'm not sure if it's available in all leagues
* Le Heup of All ring is great if you have enough resistances for drop standard allres + single res + life leech + hp rings

17) How to level up this build?
a) At the beginning make some levels with Cleave using axe from vendor, or Ground slam with 2h vendor maul. Put 2 cheap rings and Sadima's Touch gloves for DPS. Focus on life nodes from start until getting all of them, except taking Resolute technike ASAP.


b) Lvl 8 add some more life and leech putting cheap belt


c) Lvl 27 put insane on this level 2h maul to easily get yourself up to Merciless. Groundslam everything until you can start leveling Heavy strike with Melee splash without suffering on lack of mana everytime.

d) change 2h weapon for 1h+shield, usually at 58 lvl. Start adding some resistances, armour.

18) Can you help me killing X?
Sure. PM me on forum, I'll try to be online while you'd need help. I love mushroom dancing with Vaal or stunblinding Piety.

More questions are welcome.

PS Current items (switching Melee splash in helmet with Stun in gloves in very rare occasions):

Can we get some vids posted?

Extremely interested as I started PoE after the nerf and been looking for a good melee char.

Good luck and see you in-game.

Sounds cool, bit skeptical myself for end game viability though....

Screenshot of your /deaths and some videos of you tackling some hard content, like 74 maze map vaal and keeping him permastunned would be great.

For anything else (73 maps and below excluding maybe piety and that totem boss) it seems rather unnecessary to me, and your dps is no where near a good 2 hand weapon user fyi.

Your making some big claims here - melee not being worse than ranged being the main one.

Good stuff

I know this build is not the 'king of DPS' build and I never intend it to be. I would be able to make I think about 15-20k DPS after getting changing several items (especially my shitty jevelry + gloves), bumping min-max dmg and attack speed, but as far as my current DPS is enough for permastun I'm not interested in spending any currency on items.

It is rather a proposal of build which uses nerfed ability in the way it still works. And it makes a lot of fun and safety (while playing melee).

Sorry I can't post any videos unless someone propose a simple program for recording.
I tried Fraps, but didn't work well.


/deaths screenshot attacked (scroll right), with Stun gem I was able to permastun 74 Maze Vaal (with 13% more stun chance and 41% more physical damage from Vulnerability). Required a lot of single shot damage. 71 Temple Piety didn't require more than 95% REST.

Added some videos at the beginning of this guide.

You my friend have defined my next marauder build.

Nice post, lets hope GGG doesn't see it :) haha

Talk to me after the merger of anarchy with standard if you still need more map videos, and I'll see what I can do.

Is this a noob friendly build? I have barely played the game despite money put into it (time restrictions) and it looks a lot of fun, but just wondering still.