Bit new, was looking for a powerful tank build to pursue this league. Is this still viable or have balance patches broken it?
The game has changed a lot since the last time he updated his guide, but most of it only makes this build way stronger if you change the passive around.
You should be able to find a lot of other guides that can achieve the same feat while gears are way cheaper than mirrored sword or legacy kaom.
Check out the duelist section for block type tank since his Ascendancy really makes those kind of builds cheaper and easier to play around with
_________________Gellig'sAegis End-Game Melee Life BossTank_________________
_________________Gellig'sAegis End-Game Melee Life BossTank_________________
Hi all,
I've had multiple requests for some information on my build, so here you go. I'm a level 100 Tank in POE, and am built for end-game bosses (optimized for minimizing risk). I've melee facetanked all bosses (with pretty much all mods) many times -- which also means you can solo any maps/mods in the game. As you can see in the videos thread listed below, I've done many World Firsts (defined as the first recorded evidence of that fight with key mods), done some AFK boss vids (to show how tanky he can be), etc. That being said, while every boss/every mod is doable (at least I havn't found one I can't do), some are often not worth the risk: -max Crema (+ other mods obviously can make it riskier), -max Shock and Horror (ditto), -max Dominus (ditto). And of course, Uber Queen Atziri is a whole new ball game of challenge, especially for melee. However, if you just levelled (or are 100), then there is minimal risk of loss (unless you are in HC).
Disclaimer/Warning: Melee is a bit better off in 2.0 than previously, but ranged is still king in POE imho. Tanks are never in a great spot given slow DPS and you can still die... You will still die if you aren't careful or get unlucky :). Don't expect to be able to facetank like I've done in my vids (some are tweaked builds and are from older versions of POE) -- there is always RNG that can nail you. If you want it easier, go ranged, low-life crit and walk away... ;) You have been warned. I recommend starting the game with other builds, get the feel for the game, etc, before jumping into melee tanking (unless you are a glutton for punishment). You really need great gear to be okay (versus other builds which are great with much less spend).
Here are some quotes from players in this thread and from my videos thread (NOTE -- most are pre 2.0!):
Spoiler
"Best Tank in poe, period." - hitreza "+1 to best tank in POE!" - Marmeduke "That...was...amazing. Excellent build." - Bowman8763 "love this + 100" - FullCust "Best Tank in poe, period. +1" - brookeanimals "Very impressive, best tank I ever seen!" - Hossdelgado "awesome build..." - EmirSc "Great build, also vids are amazeing !!" - fkgrechu "Very very nice build" - Mian_Scaratan "very very nice build :)" - Nightflowne "Great guide." - Daresso "Impressive stuff, mind blown..." - JennaHaze "best tank ever..." - turtleken "Great guide!! THE best tank build on POE!" - Soulbr1nger "The best ever" - uTun "awesome guide!!" - lokn7 "Amazing build mate" - camapngu133 "Awesome build" - glazn "King of tanks...THANK YOU!" - whoismiked "best build ever!" - Mutant890 "GREAT TANK build" - Savaging "Incredible :)" - Chundadragon "Amazing" - PaganDK "Awesome" - zanosaur "very very nice build" - xemoon "Best tank in Wraeclast!" - Grindrix "best guide ever" - Gusti_POE "That Uber Atziri facetank is beyond amazing." - moozooh "Awesome guide." - gewgleit "amazing build" - TMHChaser "awesome!" - rk2_Luna_Sea
Videos of melee facetanking various Bosses in game, including AFK fights, World Firsts, etc:
I was going to create a whole guide on Uber Atziri et others, but since people were asking for info sooner rather than later, I figured I would just explain quickly instead with this post.
Re: links in the staff in my original vid: Shockwave Totem, Chance to Flee, Increased AOE, Faster Casting, Increased Duration (so you don't need to recast it during spawn phase -- though you don't need this), Blood Magic (if your mana is an issue -- though if you 4 link it you don't need it). I would link it but I already have changed the colors for another set of tests I was doing for something else. However, use DD instead (read below).
For kicks, if you want to use a melee skill to get past her spawn phase, you can also use Ground Slam/Chance to Flee or Lightning Strike (Ground Slam is safer). Here is a quick vid snippet using Ground Slam for a low dps character in the spawn phase to show you how it can work:
My recommendation for the easiest and safest clearing of spawn phase for a low dps, and refills your flasks, is Double Doryani.
Drop your Shockwave Totem/Increased Duration/Chance to Flee once at beginning of spawn phase (not really needed, by why not), and then just DD/Chance to Ignite/Conc Effect (you could also probably try Inc AOE instead of Chance to Ignite if you want).
As I stated, I changed my build significantly for Uber Queen. It is statistically doable with default Aegis builds variants, but there is a much higher chance you will die (I wish they didn't gate Uber to allow more people to try things), thus I went Safelli's and Evasion. My personal goal was to finish the content as a melee tank without dying (plus some other constraints).
I basically got Ondar's guile and Phase Acrobatics -- swapped to a few pieces of evasion gear to avoid projectile damage as much as possible (thus not taking Unwavering Stance), and a few reduced mana nodes for increasing my max resistances.
Spell Echo is very useful for keeping EC up, and I recommend it. IC makes The 2nd Trio fight a joke, and it helps in the first. Note, I didn't use Spell Echo for Uber Queen, but I'm now using it for times where I'm casting EC. I also recommend simply Spell Echo/EC & IC for the dungeon as it makes it a joke as well.
NOTE -- some videos have tweaked gear/specs (see my spoiler above for spec on Uber Atziri). Don't try the crazy stuff without really knowing the game or expect to die. PM me for help if you run into problems. Most of the videos I did prior to 1.2, so changes are always possible in later versions of the game.
Gear:
Spoiler
What I wear normally:
Spoiler
NOTE: I've finally achieved my task of upgrading all my gear to mirrored or almost max rolled uniques! You can still do this build without this super end game gear, but it obviously won't be as ideal.
I change things around when needed.. sometimes I'll swap to Heavy Strike, or Static/Molten Strike, etc, and will recolor as needed. I have a bunch of pairs of Rainbowstride's I'll swap around based on auras I want (Determination, Arctic Armor, Tempest Shield, Hatred, HOA, Purities, etc). I also sometimes swap Multistrike for Fortify depending on tank mode and ease of application. I also swap out Leap Slam and put in Fortify if I want Fortify applied on Whirling Blades but I want MS in. Lots of options.
I use different gems in my gloves as needed (CWDT, IC, ID.. maybe self cast EC.. sometimes I'll put Tempest Shield in there and tweak colors.. just depends.. sometimes Reckoning, Life gain on Hit/Leech, etc... sometimes Chaos Golem, sometimes Flame..). If I go for Static Strike or Molten Strike (for more AOE) then I'll swap AFK for WED.
Flasks:
Note: I swap my flasks around a lot. I normally use 2 Forbidden Taste flasks now since they buffed them (with my high chaos resistance).
This build focuses on Aegis for blocking, thus Stone/Rainbowstrides are for spell block. Kaom’s for health.
That 548 dps Corsair is currently the best 1-hander out there for this build (the other high 1h dps Foils out there require many nodes for Dex, thus are actually less DPS than this Corsair). I needed 2% mana leech for it, so I geared/passived accordingly (more would be lost due to mana gain cap).
My goal with gear was to get decent Chaos res to counter any in-game chaos NPCs as well as mitigate Blood Rage (which is used for Healing & extra DPS). I have a ring in the stash I used to use for +75% Chaos res, but I found 50%ish was enough. I also use another Aegis on swap and like to put Blood rage on shield if possible to swap to disable Blood Rage when needed (and still maintain blocking). I also wanted to use a decent enfeeble and/or discipline.
Another goal was to be at default max res without any endurance charges. Sometimes I swap in +1 overmax Stone, or use +3 Empower with level 21 Purity of gems to further increase max res.
For my tank build I originally wanted to be close to 90% damage reduction with determination and endurance charges, so I optimized armor for that as well. After significant testing, I settled for less -- and now in 2.0 I'm using Immortal Call (or self cast EC) so have even less. You can obviously tweak the build for more armor if you like.
Obviously aim for +life on gear, and any physical DPS (str)/AS mods generally speaking. Also, with corrupt items in 1.1, I got a few Corrupted Stone's of Laz (a +4 blocking, a spell blocking, and a +1 curse). Now I utilize Enfeeble and Temp chains as needed (and sometimes swap in Vulnerability and such for even more DPS). ES is also nice, making the overall block build stronger, so looked for that mod on items where possible.
I like low level Blood Rage on lvl 1 CWDT (combined with high chaos resistance) to give me 10% life leech regen (+ frenzy charges on kill). I have 2% from gear which is nice for instances where I've not triggered my Blood Rage yet, but I'm not capped out on health.
Any auto-triggers on CWDT to increase defence or offense are nice (i.e. enfeeble, temp chains, vulnerability, decoy totem, etc etc). You can also use Reckoning or other block-based counter attack gems.
In 2.0 I tend to use Discipline, Tempest Shield (no reserve now, nice!) and Herald of Ash. I also can swap in Purity of Fire or whatever if needed. I have lots of Aegis shields and Rainbowstride boots I use based on what I'm running -- or I just recolor stuff.
Sometimes I'll swap in Reckoning and life gems and such as well.. Depends on what I'm trying to do.
Alternate gear options
Spoiler
Legacy Soultaker is great -- you don't need to take the mana nodes, and you hardly have to worry about regen (other than in no regen maps and movement), but dps is hurt. I used to use legacy Soultaker. One downside to it is no Whirling Blades, which is a great skill if you want to be serious about all boss fights. It also is fun to have unlimited Dominating Blows (though parties hate it). You can use Double Strike with it as well (and Dominating Blow when solo).
Gems/skills and Why?
Spoiler
I have found that for general levelling, both Molten Strike and Static Strike (and my other gems) are great skills because they are both decent AOE (Reave can also be okay AOE and nice single target skill). If I'm using Reave I'll also use Concentrated Effect (which minimizes some AOE, but still is a great tradeoff). However, for optimizing for Boss fights, Heavy Strike is often best (Heavy Strike, Multistrike, Melee Physical Damage, Added Fire Damage). Use WED instead of Multistrike if you need true single target DPS. One option is to get some white sockets on various items to be able to mix things up.
My movement skills are: Leap Slam, Whirling Blades, and Faster Attacks. Pretty much all needed for mapping and bosses. You could opt to keep Leap Slam at level 1 since its primarily for movement, but the delta is so minimal I opted for the marginal DPS increase... as I mentioned, I sometimes swap Fortify instead of Leap Slam if I want to preserve my DPS but still have Fortify options...
As monsters do minimal amount of damage to me, I auto Enduring Cry and do limited duration Blood Rage. I like the limited duration because in a no-regen map a long duration can get annoying (you can chose to remove the Blood Rage gem if you want on no-regen maps). I played for a long time with Legacy Soultaker and Blood Rage w/ Inc Duration, but was glad once I swapped to CWDT. I sometimes also will tweak this to level 20 CWDT, level 20 Enduring Cry, and a higher Blood Rage.
I also have gear options to swap to using Arctic Armor (the only place I found I wanted that was -Max Crematorium, though you could use it at other bosses for minimal gain).
I have a spare ring with Portal in it I swap to for portals (or when I have a free slot I'll pop portal in there).
I can also chose to swap in Purity of Elements for Elemental Weakness maps if I want.
Before 1.2 I normally ran with Blood Magic, Enduring Cry, Increased Duration, Enfeeble (so I can do Enduring Cry on demand and do Enfeeble on Demand; sometimes if I feel leaving EC on CWDT is enough, then I'll swap in lvl 3 Empower for my lvl 20 Enduring Cry to increase my Enfeeble up to level 22.). For AFKing I remove Blood Rage, then replace Blood Magic with lvl 20 CWDT and replace the lvl 20 Enduring Cry with lvl 20 Rejuv Totem or with Lvl 3 Empower (you could also play around with lvl 20 Immortal Call or lvl 20 Molten Shell).
Since 1.2 with nodes being toned down, I tweak things -- now there are more White sockets, so try to utilize gear that will give you the most flexibility. Blood Magic gems generally aren't needed now with the skills being tweaked on mana consumption.
Why not more Heavy Strike?
Spoiler
Parties hate it, though it has its uses for moving the boss. And it is nice for "pure" single target (i.e. you need to remove Multistrike and use WED for Vorici missions, or certain bosses).
Inventory:
Spoiler
Misc Flasks I often carry in inventory:
More flasks for various boss options. Purity for Elem Weakness maps if needed. For AFKing remove Blood Rage, then replace Blood Magic with lvl 20 CWDT and replace the lvl 20 Enduring Cry with Rejuv Totem (or Empower, Immortal Call, or Molten Shell). Arctic Armor is for -max Crema (you could use it other places, but it is not really needed).
Misc items in Inv:
I use gems as needed.. for example, I like to swap in Clarity instead of Wrath/Discipline in 1/2 regen maps.
Shield swap & items in stash I might use:
Spoiler
Shield on swap (aka for my 'dps' variant):
Other items in stash:
Fairgraves' theoretically could be used for -shock stacks -- but I pretty much don't use it.
Another Aegis only used for -max Crema variants.
Never know...
And then some others (be prepared!):
The Vertex helm is nice for various options, like Lightning Strike, Spectral Throw, etc.
I've got a few other swap items.. but you get the point ;)
Passive Tree:
Spoiler
Note -- the first 70 levels come so fast so I didn't bother listing them with passive trees. Again, this build isn't for first-timers, so if you need to ask the best way to get to 100 then this build isn't for you.
Unwavering Stance (cannot be stunned) is great for not being ever interrupted and constant Aegis ES regen on block -- which is key on nasty fights (like -max double crema).
Resolute Technique is nice for consistency in doing damage you can rely on as a tank.
Unyielding is necessary if you want to be a real tank (and lower damage).
Solo self-buffed stats in 2.0:
Spoiler
Life: 8921 (or >9k if you take another +5% hp node or 40 HP rather than +1 end charge)
Shield: 1259 (w/ Discipline; 849 without)
Block: 75% (w/ Tempest Shield, 72% without)
Spell block: 63% (w/ Tempest Shield, 61% without)
Physical damage reduction: 48% naked at level 100, up to 90% with tweaks (i.e. no EC charges, no Chaos Golem, no Fortify, no Determination, etc -- with non-empowered Chaos Golem and Determination its 63%.. with 3 charges its 75% and with 7 charges its 90%.. plus then you have Fortify on top of that and healing ES & mana on block, too).
Life regen: 713
Fire resistance: 75% (or more if you use Purity of Fire)
Cold resistance: 80% (or more if you use Purity of Ice)
Lightning resistance: 75% (or more if you use Purity of Lightning)
Chaos resistance: 70%
Dps: 46k to 50k in DPS mode, 13k to 20k in pure Tank mode (using Reave; DPS mode = HOA + HOT + Hatred + Blood Rage + Flame Golem + using MS instead of Fortify and using Rallying Cry). DPS goes up a bunch in groups with good buffs, and further goes up (not tooltip) with Reckoning and other block based reactives). And I still haven't taken the +1 bandit reward for attack speed (or +physical damage), and didn't optimize for DPS jewels -- so near 50k DPS self-buffed seems doable if you made a few minor tweaks -- and I am not using any Vaal abilities for even additional burst DPS (or Vaal Reave for larger aoe). Going pure tank mode, using Fortify instead of MS, using Chaos Golem instead of Flame Golem, End cry instead of Rallying Cry, using defensive Auras yields 17.3k dps with BR or 13k w/o.. or a bit more with Rallying.. or use both).
Str: 473, Int: 177, Dex: 154, Mana: 902
NOTE -- Tank mode means defensive auras (Disc, etc). DPS means offensive auras. So the above numbers would change based on what I'm doing.
Pros & Cons of builds
Spoiler
Pros:
Built for tanking bosses and damage
You can do all map mods (don't use auras on blood magic), but things like -max can still wreck you.
Cons:
Expensive & uses legacy gear (to optimize)
Decent tank DPS, but still crappy DPS relatively speaking
This incarnation of the game (and all previous) have favored LL, Ranged Crit. Thus, you pretty much have everything against you :)
Bandit Rewards & Why
Spoiler
Basically, you have lots of flexibility here... If you want to min/max something minor you can tweak at 100.
Normal: skill point or +40 HP
I went skill point but either works, with very minor differences in 2.0 (i.e. a 5% node is almost exactly like +40 HP).
Cruel: skill point or 8% AS
I went skill point in 2.0 to focus on more survivability, but 8% AS works too.
Merciless: skill point or End Charge
I went skill point but you can also focus on more EC charges if you like.
So, what kinda of luck have you had finding/chancing/crafting in your 100 levels?
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I found a (legacy) Soultaker, a couple BORs, and a couple Aegis's. I have found non-legacy Soultakers as well.
I 6-linked 2 items before 1.0 (and later sold them for mucho profit). I 6-linked 1 item in 1.2.
I chanced a (legacy) Soultaker, and a Shav's (and 2 troll Infernal Mantles).
I've found only about 10 ex in 100 levels. I found about 3 eternals. I found 0 mirrors, and never have even been in a party when a mirror was found. Currency in this game for me comes from selling/trading great rares or uniques (usually using the in game trading system if I could move it fast, or in the forums if I couldn't sell it fast or if it was worth 50+ ex). Finding and/or chancing a Shav’s (etc) is game-changing for your currency pool.
Your thoughts on Aegis, Evasion, etc?
Spoiler
Do I think Aegis is OP? Yes, but not for the majority of the playing population who don’t min/max optimize for it (thus it is an interesting debate if it is OP). I also think Legacy Kaom’s is OP, top-tier crafted rares are OP, and the ability to Mirror is OP. At this point, after years of balancing (going back to beta, etc), after going live, after introducing Legacies, it would be interesting for them to nerf Aegis, but not all-together surprising.
What about Arctic Armor? I think it is useful in a few key scenarios (like –max Crema), but 99% of the time you don’t need it in this build. Nice for certain fights like Malachai.
What about Evasion? I think Evasion needs a slight buff. All the Evasion vids I’ve watched reminds me of someone playing Russian roulette. When someone says "tanky", I sometimes think of risk vs death, with tanky characters having less risk; also meaning the more map mods they can handle, the more bosses they can do, the more npcs they can ignore, the easier they can handle lag or desync, etc -- the tankier they become in my mind. How close and how frequently someone comes to dying speaks to ones tankyness. For example, when I'm watching a video and someones health is spiking low over and over I tend to think that it is just a matter of time before that rng will kill you (not always). That’s how I feel when I watch Evasion tanks (which, to me, is a form of tanking – avoiding damage). Still, some people enjoy it, and it’s great to see that tank variant. And, as I recently posted, it was useful for me at Uber Queen Atziri.
How much health do you feel an end-game boss tank needs? IMHO a tank in POE needs > 7000 hits. I'm going to assume max res and such. Less than that and there are bosses with mods that will drop you. I feel even more comfortable for nasty bosses at >8k.
Updates
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10/24/14 -- optimized Pure Tank build and made various text tweaks for clarity. 10/25/14 -- added in levelling passive trees on request. 12/13/14 -- updated build for 1.3 (aka the block nerf patch). 02/07/15 -- updated vid and tweaked build. 02/16/15 -- updated vids. 08/04/15 -- updated build for 2.0. 08/15/15 -- updated vids.
Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed the information. There are lots of minor tweaks one can do to the build to optimize it around your own preferences... Feel free to ask me questions on how to optimize your build, your gear, how boss fights work, whatever. That being said, I’m not around as much as I used to be, so hopefully your questions don’t hit /dev/null ;) Thx for reading!
For those of you interested in an updated form of Gelligs build that can achieve just about all of the function of his build in the current meta here ya go. https://pastebin.com/wfXtgBFZ
This new updated tree works best with the style of gearing that I specify in the POE Building Program so the gear listed by mortezellah is a bit out of date. But the good news is that we can hit nearly all of the same leech/dps/life/es that he did without a legacy kaoms!! Or even mirrored gearing. And the new tree works with just about any weapon/skill combination you wish to use (however the dps will suffer as some skills have poor base scaling). Hope you enjoy!!
(Note: If you would like an actual build guide that will go into more detail let me know and I'll see what I can do. The listed pastebin link is for use with the program called path of building. It not only includes all gearing used but it also shows a list of skills and dps figures based on gear that I had lying around. Also the auras can be changed alot and most that are listed are the ones than can be helpful.)
Last edited by Aqua_Dragon#6327 on May 24, 2017, 10:23:52 PM
