Mace/Shield LS Templar with Video and writeup(Written for New Players)

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Shizzsosa wrote:

for mana issue early on get Clarity. I'm lv 32 with 251 mana. Clarity reserves 200 but with only 51 mana I can spam LS as much as i want and never run out. It's refilled almost to full by the time the animation for the next LS starts. And i currently have a support which ups my LS mana cost by 170%. Of course that means you don't have enough mana to reserve any other auras but at this level you can't really run multiple auras anyway.

I just switched to Clarity from Tempest shield. Atm I have Clarity and Wrath and no mana issues. Tho I miss my tempest shield :(

This is some fantastic discussion. I'll update the guide about the end of this week with all the new information about skill gems, support gems, equipment, bandit quest, mana, etc.

Haven't been able to play as much as I'd like to... but here's my gear at 42:



Going through A2 cruel fairly comfortably with this setup. It's important to remember to keep upgrading your armor and shields as you level, especially as you advance in acts in cruel and merciless. That 100-200 extra armor on each piece of gear really adds up. Also resistances! I see too many people neglecting resistances. I was maxed at 80% through Act 1 cruel and merivelle was cake. But dropped down a little with new gear and still doing OK, but noticing elemental damage hurting more for sure.

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Thehealthygamer wrote:

Haven't been able to play as much as I'd like to... but here's my gear at 42:

Going through A2 cruel fairly comfortably with this setup. It's important to remember to keep upgrading your armor and shields as you level, especially as you advance in acts in cruel and merciless. That 100-200 extra armor on each piece of gear really adds up. Also resistances! I see too many people neglecting resistances. I was maxed at 80% through Act 1 cruel and merivelle was cake. But dropped down a little with new gear and still doing OK, but noticing elemental damage hurting more for sure.

What exactly do I need to look for whenever I get my gear upgrades? I tend to sink to the mindset of "It's rare so it's good."

I have to ask, why did you choose not to pick any pieces of gear with Energy Shield on them. Is it viable to mix pieces with just Armour & Armour W/ES.

Would this build be viable with one-hand sword and shield instead of mace and shield? Or are the sword nodes to far off?

If i'm not mistaken sword is not that nice because:
1. The Swordbonus is +Accuracy while Mace grant +Elemental --> Lightning Strike and Tempest Shield are Elemental.

2. You can get the passive for 100% Accuracy/No Crits really easy as Templar whcih makes the Accuracy bonus swords grant not that interesting.
2.1 This passive is also right next to a big ass Mace cluster and close to 2 of the best Shield clusters.
2.2 This same Node is close to the Marauder starting Area which has tons of HP/Reg.

3. Maces are cool!

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Testbuild wrote:

I have to ask, why did you choose not to pick any pieces of gear with Energy Shield on them. Is it viable to mix pieces with just Armour & Armour W/ES.

Yeah, i also got the impression that getting all those +ES nodes doesn't make much sense if you don't go for the ES equipment.

Great guide OP, i notice that you're playing Default. Would this work in HC?

HC or go home!

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Grossmond wrote:

Was about to start on a LS Templar when I saw this thread, very nice work on the build. Saw the talk about Mana issues and was wondering since you take some of the nodes to improve your ES are there 8 points of change workable in this build to pick up Eld. Battery? With a decent ES it might be possible to slip in 1-2 more auras to make up for the lost ES, or am I crazy on that thought?

I don't think you're crazy at all. This was one of my first thoughts as well. But alas, I'm a newbie all the same and don't have any hands-on with end game to speak from.

That said, supposedly what Kripparrian has been doing with his Wand-Templar build is taking the +ES gear with Eldritch Battery to the point where you have enough mana to run all your auras, then take straight +Armor gear for extra mitigation. Maybe I heard wrong, but it makes sense.

However, coming from this quote...

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Shizzsosa wrote:

for mana issue early on get Clarity. I'm lv 32 with 251 mana. Clarity reserves 200 but with only 51 mana I can spam LS as much as i want and never run out. It's refilled almost to full by the time the animation for the next LS starts. And i currently have a support which ups my LS mana cost by 170%. Of course that means you don't have enough mana to reserve any other auras but at this level you can't really run multiple auras anyway.

...I'm thinking it might be a toss-up. Clarity alone may do the trick, without losing out on any well-spent points in the current build.

Either way, I think I'm going to level up this spec in a way that leaves the option open to me until I know better from experience.

Just for reference, my thoughts on a mod of this build to bring in EB would look something like this.

I think it mostly drops some armor, block chance, and +Dex to make the leap (sorry, won't break down the actual +/- changes right now). Could opt for dropping some of the offensive points instead, but those points just feel so much more efficiently spent to me.

Anyway, just my 2 cents. IMO it's worth checking out, even if my tweak isn't the best way to get there.