[2.2] Guardian Aurabot (optional dual-curse) from 2week Flashback event

This is the Guardian build I ended up with in the 2-week Perandus Flashback event.

I thought building mana would be a good idea, so I can have a good amount of ES from Radiant Faith while wearing dirt cheap gear. I was browsing through Guardian builds and stumbled on Ruz's Mana Guardian Support (https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1655452) which was a useful demonstration of what I was thinking, props to Ruz and EnemyCrab for doing it first. I didn't hit 10k mana like EnemyCrab's build but it was still good.

It's quite a cheap build, with the most expensive item being the Shavronne's Wrappings. I leveled with Solaris Lorica up to level 91-92 and managed between 5k to 7k ES with it. The massive mana pool makes up for having to wear Alpha's Howl and Prism Guardian (and Solaris Lorica).

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Radiant/Unwavering Faith:

The 7400 reserved mana turns into 1110 flat ES, which is great for any build except those using Eldritch Battery. For comparison, a Vaal Discipline at level 20 gives you 908 ES and Discipline at level 20 is 303 ES and 330 ES at level 22 (without aura effectiveness).

The 1279 reserved life turns into 2046 flat Armor. Grace and Determination on top of that can produce some interesting results when supporting chars with Iron Reflexes.

Total of 9 auras also gives us 9% physical damage reduction and 1.8% life regen.

We have 67% aura effectiveness from passives, which unfortunately doesn't affect Radiant Faith but it does make everything else great. You will barely need any resistance on your gear with 67% increased resistances on your level 22 Purities.

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Defense Stats:


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Gear:


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Passive trees:



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Aura setups:


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Skills:

You can basically use whatever you want on your Armor/Gloves/Boots sockets. The 9 auras fit in your Weapon/Shield/Helmet sockets, plus one extra socket anywhere for Arctic Armour.

I ran Vaal Grace, 2x Vaal Discipline and Vaal Detonate Dead when it was neeeded. I didn't do Vaal Haste since others always had some. Gluttony of Elements might be nice to have if you can wear the Blood of Corruption. We have a lot of room for Vaal Skills and not enough skillbar.

Enduring Cry is pretty great with the ascendancy passive that makes it instant and 0 mana cost. The temporary 15% move/attack/cast speed bonus for everyone is also nice. Plus free endurance charges for everyone if you are using Conduit.

Flame Dash for moving around. Most people seem to prefer Whirling Blades these days. I had 135% move speed with Quicksilver of Adrenaline, plus the 15% bonus after I cast Enduring Cry, so I could usually keep up with the whirlies. Even if I used Whirling Blades I'd still need a Flame Dash or Lightning Warp to jump over obstacles, and I couldn't spare a skill slot for that.

Decoy Totem is OP. That's all I'll say about that.

Stone/Chaos/Lightning Golem are all okay. I prefer Stone Golem since I use Zealot's Oath. You can drop the golem if you are tight on sockets.

A lot of people did dual Curse on Hit with Ball Lightning or other skills, but I felt Curse on Hit was too slow when clearing maps fast, only useful when you'd slow down for a boss or unique mob, at which point you might as well self-cast a couple of curses.

A wand let's you use Frenzy and generate charges if you decide to use Conduit. Also useful for taunting enemies and breaking barrels. If you prefer a sword/dagger instead of a wand, you have various choices. Ephemeral Edge, Heartbreaker, Divinarius are all good. A rare dagger with int and mana can also be had cheaply.

Auxium and Perandus Blazon are good choices for the belt. I used Auxium (it's the only belt with mana) for a while then switched to a rare belt with increased flask duration. ES, armor, chaos resistance, flask duration/charges, stun recovery are all nice to have on your belt.

I think Alpha's Howl is the best choice for a helmet, but Heretic's Veil can also be decent if you are doing double/triple curses. Mindspiral or Geofri's Crest can be nice while leveling. You gotta use Auxium if you aren't using Alpha's Howl so you don't get frozen.

Looks like a great build.

How did you level during the 2 week? If you switch your defensive auras to offensive, are you able to solo in dried lake/low level maps? I'm thinking of doing something similar and when I have no friends online using a 4 link Kinetic Blast to act as an ele wander.

I leveled mostly solo using 4L Spark. Dried Lake was kinda slow to clear with 1-2 auras and a Herald. I wasted some time with various bad choices on the passive tree and had to respec a lot.

About leveling I would add:

- level with Spark, Firestorm, Arc, (dual) Flame Totem, or whatever else works for you
- don't spend too many points on dps and life, unless you absolutely need it. you'll have to Regret them later
- focus on getting mana, some mana reservation nodes and enough ES to put on your Solaris Lorica early

I was planning to get some chaos dmg passives and run a 5-6L Essence Drain. However, I gave up on doing any damage before level 70. This was perhaps influenced by the fact that mediocre DPS was almost useless in Flashback. Dried Lake with tons of added mobs from Flashback, wasn't really doable on my 4L. So instead, I focused on keeping everyone else alive just long enough to kill all the things.

And when there's no-one around to kill things, you are stuck twiddling your thumbs. If you don't have a good mapping group (I didn't), and don't want to be doing public rotations half the time (1-15fps max for me), it's perhaps not a good idea to go full support.

I'd like to figure out a way to clear up to t9 maps solo, while keeping as much of my defensive stuff as possible. I doubt it can be done on a 4L but I haven't tried anything yet. Coloring a 5L Solaris Lorica for certain gem combos wouldn't be easy.

Some Guardian builds that can kill things:

2.2 FlashBack Solo AoF WI Guardian (Dead #1Guardian 2WFB) https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1661250

Hard In The Paint Guardian. Endgame Facetank with Big Deeps. https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1646577

Hi seems like a nice guide.

You did skill ZO Ruz did not.

Seems like kinda hard if u have no regen or? Why do you think he skipped it?

Alaso how do u handle stuns non of the guides are using Eye of Chayula or something like that.

Re: Zealot's Oath

ZO was great addition for me, and kept me alive in countless situations. If you are not in the middle of Flashback insanity, I suppose you would survive just fine without it. Although if you have to run out of the shit to recharge ES, you are going to be leaving your friends without auras.

I used the unique flask with ZO before I grabbed it on the tree. The added consecrated ground is amazing if you can spare the flask slot.

I was also using the regen nodes at templar start, but I removed them when I needed the extra 2 points for something else.

You can also get consecrated ground by using an Animate Guardian with Zahndethus' Cassock.



Re: Stun immunity

I thought stun was going to be a problem, but I can't say I got stunlocked often. I could barely notice the small stuns here and there. All the mitigation plus regen makes most stuns/stunlocks inconsequential. It might be a bigger problem if your party is not killing things somewhat fast.

The one time I remember dying to a stunlock after level 92, was in a -max/2x dmg mods/temp chains Shrine, with all league mods turned on. There was a bit of lag and I was too slow with my Vaal Discipline when going up the final stairs, so Piety locked me down with her lightning bolts.

I did a bunch of dangerous t13-15 maps (including some twinned Abyss/Colosseums) in the last week of Perandus, leveled from 97 to 98 without dying. Died after I dinged 98, in a twinned Colosseum, but not to a stun.

You can still wear a Chayula if it works better for you (or you are playing HC).

Stun recovery on your belt/boots is pretty nice to have if you are not stun immune. I had 42% total on my belt/boots.

You can also get Heart of Oak on the tree for 4-5 points for 28-36% chance to avoid stuns, plus stun recovery, 1% regen and move speed.

I actually chanced a pair of Skyforth 3 days before the Flashback event ended. I wore them for a hard map and it felt way more dangerous without regen, so I just put them back in my stash. If you aren't runing ZO (or the flask), I suppose it might be BIS. 500% of 7-8k mana pool is 40k life. The mana roll also goes really well with this build. Plus 1-2 extra auras depending on your setup.

What did you use for damage?