[3.1] GLADIATOR 1H+Shield Max Block&Spell Block Tank + a BoR version

"

ComradeSerge wrote:

1h+shield Gladiator can hardly match the DPS of a 2-handed Champion, just as a buffed-Fortify Champion's tankiness can hardly match the tankiness of 78/78 block/spell block chance of Gladiator. Not sure how much that helped :D

I should have mentioned that I would be going the BoR route with Glad because... I mean, it almost demands it lol so I'm not sure how much of an impact it would have in the grand scheme of survivability and damage when compared to a Champion. Either way, I think Glad is more in line with what I want since it does fulfill the unstoppable force which I am looking for and the price of entry is fairly cheap for league play.

Which ability I will use though remains to be seen. I like to try something new with each league and I've already tried Ice Crash and Static Strike so that leaves Infernal Blow, Sunder and maybe Earthquake?

"

Deadpeng wrote:

We have 6 Ascendancy skill points in total. It therefore might seem reasonable to reach all the larger nodes as they exactly use up all 6 points. What I mean is to spend 5 points to grab all the block nodes but spend the last one on one handed damage rather than Violent Retaliation. Take note that violent retaliation requires quite a number of hits blocked to overtake one handed damage's bonus, depending on map situation this may or may not be better.

Oooh, I strongly disagree on that one. The reason why the large nodes are large is because they give the best and strongest effects. Going for 1 small node instead of 1 large node will practically NEVER be better. Violent Retaliation will always be better from 15% inc dmg and 5% inc attack speed if you have 78% block chance.

"

Messerschmitt wrote:

"

ComradeSerge wrote:

1h+shield Gladiator can hardly match the DPS of a 2-handed Champion, just as a buffed-Fortify Champion's tankiness can hardly match the tankiness of 78/78 block/spell block chance of Gladiator. Not sure how much that helped :D

I should have mentioned that I would be going the BoR route with Glad because... I mean, it almost demands it lol so I'm not sure how much of an impact it would have in the grand scheme of survivability and damage when compared to a Champion. Either way, I think Glad is more in line with what I want since it does fulfill the unstoppable force which I am looking for and the price of entry is fairly cheap for league play.

Which ability I will use though remains to be seen. I like to try something new with each league and I've already tried Ice Crash and Static Strike so that leaves Infernal Blow, Sunder and maybe Earthquake?

You don't have to go for all the block nodes in the gladiator tree, but can go for Outmatch instead of Violent Retaliation, for example. This will give you some nice DPS.

I'd recommend going for Sunder or Earthquake, in that case. The skills seem powerful enough, you might as well level both as you level your character and then decide later which one you like best.

"

ComradeSerge wrote:

You don't have to go for all the block nodes in the gladiator tree, but can go for Outmatch instead of Violent Retaliation, for example. This will give you some nice DPS.

I'd recommend going for Sunder or Earthquake, in that case. The skills seem powerful enough, you might as well level both as you level your character and then decide later which one you like best.

Good call! From what I understand, EQ isn't that great until you get Shorter Duration near maxed so I'll have that and EQ sitting in swap while I grind out Sunder and compare the two once I'm 70 or so.

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions! Greatly appreciated!

Hey Serge, big fan of your builds! I decided to take inspiration from this particular build and try to create my own facebreaker + BoR + Great Old One's Ward max block gladiator build, and stacking as much phys (on rings, meginord's, etc...) dmg as possible. Still haven't settled on a skill gem as I can't decide between ice crash/infernal blow.

If you aren't busy or have the time, any chance you can take a quick look at my skill tree and give me your thoughts :D? poeurl.com/x7e. Thanks for your time regardless, man, your builds are awesome!

Also open to reviews or comments from pretty much anyone, I'm not the most experienced player :).

Do you have an updated leveling tree or is it mostly the same path for 2.2? Between this with sunder and a tornado shot build

"

ComradeSerge wrote:

"

Bizmarc wrote:

Do you have any BiS uniques for the 2.2 now the neck and boots are free or just go for AR, Life, Resists, leech ect?

Best in slot is probably now The Anvil: http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/The_Anvil
since it allows us to reach 78% block/78% spell block

The Anvil really is a fantastic complement to the Gladiator nodes since the Anvil drawbacks are nullified by them. Might just do a variation of your build for the new league.

"(get RT as soon as possible - making a shorter route to it, you'll have to respec later):" can you elaborate on this for the newbies please?

I know these might sound like very noobish questions, but I haven't played POE in a year and a half and a lot has changed since then, not to mention I'm broke.

But basically I wanted to pick your brain and hear your thoughts on a dual-wield version of the build.

At the moment my current build has all the frenzy charge nodes and endurance nodes and I use BoR slotted with Cyclone. I USED to stack evade + dodge + block but I think they changed Acrobatics since last I played. Unless I'm mistaken. So my old build is no longer viable and I feel like I'm basically stuck halfway between a Flicker build and a Block build.

This might not be the best place to ask so I do not wish to waste your time but figured I'd give it a try.