2.2 Gladiator Facebreaker Max Block / Counter attack [WIP]

PRO's
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+ Max Spell Block (78%)
+ Max Melee Block (78%)
+ High Armor(11K) and Physical Damage reduction (85-90%)
+ No Mana requirement
+ Fortify
+ 3 Aura
+ Life: Currently 4K+
+ Counter Skills are AoE and do decent damage (15K and 12K)
+ Completed All 3 levels of labyrinth
+ Have Map tested up to Tier8
+ Build can be done with 4L+
+ Reflect Immune

CON's
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- Slow attacking mobs can be a pain (specifically replicating boss in the maps)
- Rely on being hit from enemy
- No primary direct damage skill
- Need to refresh Enduring Cry every 15 seconds
- Lost of weapon slot
- I corrupted a few of my items making coloring painful
- Hardcore is unknown and same with higher level maps/events

Here is my current skill tree as of lvl 76. I know it stretches a ways but I needed the mana reduction to run last aura. Remember this build is a work in progress:

Lvl 76 (facebreaker):

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAQCAAGRAdwEswUtBjkGiwomDPcS4RQgFewXLxo4Gj4blxznIOMhYCcvKaUt0i_MMk462D0PQKBDMUd-TUZPfVFgU7tV1lcNWfNfP1_aYuxk52VNZp5o8moebztyD3KpdO108Xasd-N4DXk5eWh673y7fNl-4oCkhNmE74rwkFWRzpL3lG-WbKIAouqpbqmVrK-tja9sr6e5Hb02vqe_1cAawGbAv8EEwYLEFcT2xYrKkM9-0iHZYdrB6UbqGO8O8B_yL_MG9zL4AvrS-6o=?accountName=kilthas84&characterName=Holy_Avenger

Ascendancy Sub-Class and Point Selection

I decided to choose Gladiator here. I wanted the full spell block without having to shield swap or add the normal needed uniques.

Helm:

Since I am running facebreakers I wanted some more damage output. I went with Abyssus helm for the added damage and stats. Yes the additional damage taken seems counter productive but I hardly notice it due to the defenses of this build.

GLoves:

A Facebreaker build wouldn't be the same with out the actual gloves lol. As you can see they are not legacy and yes it was a pretty bad corrupt. These are self explanatory as they synergize with the counter attack skills.

Body Armor:


Here you can see I went with Belly of the Beast. This item gives good health increase , Armor/Evasion, and resists. This is not a BiS and could be replaced by a really good rolled yellow. I had this 5L already and with the color slots I needed. It has worked since I hit minimum level.

Shield:

Here I went with Lioneye's Remorse. I have tried a few different shields but I liked this one at the current time. It has a good block chance (30%), huge armor bonus , and life increase. Again not required and could be replaced by others.

Boots:

For the boots slot I went with the normal armor, run speed , life increase, and resists. These are interchangeable.

Belt:

For the belt I have always been a fan of Meginords Girdle. I am not sure if this is legacy or not but the concept is still the same. We need static physical damage increase and life. This could be swapped for another. I just have not play tested with anything else.

Amulet:

This is one of the few items that I would say is needed. The life on block and huge increase to block alone warrants this item. Yeah being a bit slow is a drag but the reflect additionally is pretty nice.

Rings:

As you can see not the best rings but you get the point. You are looking for the flat physical damage increase, Life, and resists.

SUPPORT ABILITIES
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4L (Helm): Blood Magic - Enduring Cry - Tempest Shield - Immortal Call
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In this series I have linked all skills to blood magic. This will be needed since we will be at near 100% mana reservation. This is required to be 4 linked.

Enduring Cry: This will be used for life regen and endurance charge generation
Immortal Call: I use this for those huge boss physical attacks
Tempest Shield: I use this for the lightning damage on block and the 3% increase



4L (Gloves): Blasphemy-Enfeeble Herald of Ash Hatred
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For this series of skills only a 2L is required.

Blasphemy-Enfeeble- Causes enemies to deal 30% less damage on top of crit reduction
Herald of Ash- This is a facebreaker staple for the increase of damage from the high physical
Hatred- This Aura falls into the same boat giving a huge increase of damage



3L (Shield): Blood Magic-Shield Charge-Fortify
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For this series of skills the 3L is required

Shield Charge-Fortify: Since Facebreakers limits the skills used I needed to find a way to use the fortify support. I like shield charge because it gives me some movement and gives me fortify on hit. It is ok and could be swapped for something else.



DAMAGE ABILITIES
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4L (Boots): Reckoning-Added Fire Dmg- Melee Physical Damage- Concentrated Effect
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Reckoning: This skill is currently in my 4L due to that it is already an AoE attack skill. The is one of two primary skills for this build. It does physical damage on block and it procs ALOT.

Concentrated Effect I decided that I needed a hard hitting skill for the close up battle so I went with concentrated effect for the good AoE dmg increase.


5L (Body Armor): Riposte-Added Fire Dmg- Melee Physical Damage- Increased Area of Effect- Melee Splash
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Riposte: This ability does considerably more damage than Reckoning. Initially I didnt realize this skill was single target only. Again the same , counter attack damage on block

Melee Splash: Once I added this little guy it helped my AoE damage out greatly. Without it Riposte is not at its full potential.

Increased Area of Effect: I went with this skill to give me some good AoE damage further out than Reckoning. This way reckoning hits hard close by but Riposte can hit the further out enemies

Normal:Oak
The +40 HP is golden here.

Cruel: Oak

The 16% increased physical damage feeds the Facebreakers nicely. This could be an additional skill point but I like the damage increase

Merciless: Oak

The additional Endurance charge adds to the pool leaving us with 7 Endurance charges after the skill tree and this selection.

I am still working on this portion of my build example.

Here are some things that helped me:

- Get block nodes initially along with HP
- Facebreakers are usable early I think lvl 14. If not I used a high damage 1h weapon until later
- For spell block I had Saffel's frame on shield swap. Used this until Cruel Ascendancy points
- Once I was able to use counter gems life got easier
- I used a high block shield :

up until lvl 70