3.10|Stress-Free PoE| TRIGGER HAPPY |Use Any Items You Want|1 Button Gameplay|Easily Customizable

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CAChadwick wrote:

I love the concept of this build, and I'm strongly considering using it to play a 2-person team with my daughter. We're both new to the game, so the "use any" gear setup for this build is a huge plus. She'll likely be playing an arc witch, so this would be a perfect compliment to avoid "stealing her thunder" (sorry for the dad pun) and letting her feel like the hero while I sit back and mop up whatever gets past her ranged attacks.

As a duo, I was thinking that adding one of the reworked war cries might benefit this build to ensure mobs are attacking me for the various block mechanics. Is this something you'd consider? I'm leaning towards either Enduring Cry (particularly if the healing component affects allies) or Intimidating Cry (I'm guessing this would be more useful for boss fights, particularly with the ignoring physical damage reduction mechanic?). I'm not sure what I'd remove from your build to fit these in, though. Tempest Shield?

Thanks again for this great guide, and I can't wait to see your 3.11 changes.

Thank you CAChadwick!

That's very nice of you to post such encouragement :). I was really surprised (when I first started posting my guides) as to how many people liked to play PoE like me; using any items and not many buttons. I'm really glad you like the build concepts :).

I think your co-op idea with your daughter is awesome. This build will keep you safe while you stand back. Unfortunately, you really won't be buffing her damage or survivability save for Culling Strike ending battles early and/or the War Cry idea you had.

In terms of the new Warcries, I think the best gem to replace would be Berserk. Berserk deals tons of damage and really works well with the build, but I also don't use it because I forget about it all the time ;). So since the build gets better perks from blocking than Berserk gives it, your Warcry would be a great replacement. Feel free to replace Tempest Shield if you want, but it does help add to our non-ascendancy block chance.

I'm not sure by the recently released description if Enduring Cry affects allies or not. If all Warcries will end up taunting enemies, you could really pick any that coincide nicely to your daughter's playstyle.

But you are correct, the Berserk slot in the Gems section of the guide should turn to "Berserk or Warcry of Your Choice".

I hope that was helpful. If it wasn't or you have more questions, let me know.

Thanks again for such kind encouragement. I appreciate your time :).

Finally after a lot of fear I tried the build against a Metamorph, didn't die this time around. Dunno if it was because I had been moving around during combat or if it really was blocking/extra defense preventing me from insta-dying as I was getting one-shot pre build. That or there is a Metamorph able to cast physical reflection on itself. Hard to tell, kinda wish the game could make the description of the unique enemies more visible/noticeable for you.

After all, it isn't like you will be mousing over the enemy, trying to read its description while at the same time jumping all over the place trying to keep yourself alive if it is a monster that spams DoT or insta-death attacks.

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Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

I think your co-op idea with your daughter is awesome. This build will keep you safe while you stand back. Unfortunately, you really won't be buffing her damage or survivability save for Culling Strike ending battles early and/or the War Cry idea you had.

Thanks for the reply! I had initially considered more of a direct buffing character, but most of the guides sounded really boring to play and/or very expensive to make work. Instead, a complimentary build like yours that can take care of close-range baddies and semi-facetank bosses sounds like it fits the bill.

Thanks for the suggestion on where to slot in a war cry ability. On a related note, how would you prioritize other abilities if I needed to add further active abilities? I know I'll likely need some sort of a movement skill since my daughter adored the teleport skill when we tried out Diablo 3, but I don't want to cripple the build in terms of damage output. Obviously I could combine Riposte and Reckoning (pairing with Close Combat and Brutality, I assume?) which would free up 4 gem slots, or would you try to hold onto those and drop something else? I'm just not that familiar yet with the math behind the choices.

And lastly, I know you've said that all directions of the passive tree are important, but I was hoping for a little more guidance on which directions to start out with. I've started a character for now just to get a general feel for the build (haven't quite gotten to Bladestorm, so using Cleave to level), and have generally headed to the left side of the tree to pick up various block mechanics and to head in the direction of Resolute Technique and some of the resistance buffs on that side of the tree. Is that the way you would prioritize them? And is it okay to hold off on the pure life-buffing abilities until the other abilities are picked up?

Thanks again for your advice!

I think getting blocking/res is pretty important but mana leech is also quite important. Like once you start using auras, or even without them you can run out of mana fast when fighting chonkier mobs. While I didn't run this build early game, I left the passives that just boosted HP as the last things to add. Flat armor/res along with block did me well even on my dual wield build.

But that's personal opinion, of course. The good thing about this build is that it works REALLY well even with the passives being tinkered around a tad/and gems. Add me on the game sometime, I could at least yeet you a few things too to make the ride smoother, like a belly of the beast as it does wonder for tanky builds.

PS: Wouldn't it be better to wait and start fresh on the next league? Just wondering as it is pretty close, and while I have no personal experience with standard the prices there seem quite...inflated. I am not sure if you intend to like expand your playstyle/do some tinkering of your own to eventually increase DPS or survival so it is at least something to take note. Also hopefully I didn't word this in a weird or rude way, I am legitimately concerned.

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Praef wrote:

PS: Wouldn't it be better to wait and start fresh on the next league?

That's our plan -- my daughter wants a chance to earn some wings, although I don't know if that's a realistic goal for us or not. I'm just playing around in the meantime to learn a little more about the game and to see what tweaks might make this build synergize better with my daughter's character. For example, I'm pretty sure mana leech won't be as strong for me initially as I don't think she'll leave much alive for me to actually hit, at least based on the little leveling we've done together this past week. :) Also, since arc witch is great for clearing trash, I'll likely focus slightly more on boss fights since we'll only be playing those characters together.

Speaking of bossing, would there be times that I would want to switch out of Bladestorm for something more single-target? Most of the strike skills seem to be predominantly intended for 2H weapons, so not sure if those would be an upgrade for this particular setup, even if there are no adds to deal with.

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Praef wrote:

Finally after a lot of fear I tried the build against a Metamorph, didn't die this time around. Dunno if it was because I had been moving around during combat or if it really was blocking/extra defense preventing me from insta-dying as I was getting one-shot pre build. That or there is a Metamorph able to cast physical reflection on itself. Hard to tell, kinda wish the game could make the description of the unique enemies more visible/noticeable for you.

After all, it isn't like you will be mousing over the enemy, trying to read its description while at the same time jumping all over the place trying to keep yourself alive if it is a monster that spams DoT or insta-death attacks.

Good job getting things done in Metamorph Praef,

That feels good hey? Metamorph mods are really straight forward in terms of the mods it has because you build the boss yourself. BUT if you add the body parts that came from the map boss, you'll be including some of that boss' traits and skills too. ALSO, Metamorphs can spawn tons of mobs that can roll any number of mods.

It would be nice if bosses had something more visible.

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CAChadwick wrote:

Spoiler

Thanks for the reply! I had initially considered more of a direct buffing character, but most of the guides sounded really boring to play and/or very expensive to make work. Instead, a complimentary build like yours that can take care of close-range baddies and semi-facetank bosses sounds like it fits the bill.

Thanks for the suggestion on where to slot in a war cry ability. On a related note, how would you prioritize other abilities if I needed to add further active abilities? I know I'll likely need some sort of a movement skill since my daughter adored the teleport skill when we tried out Diablo 3, but I don't want to cripple the build in terms of damage output. Obviously I could combine Riposte and Reckoning (pairing with Close Combat and Brutality, I assume?) which would free up 4 gem slots, or would you try to hold onto those and drop something else? I'm just not that familiar yet with the math behind the choices.

And lastly, I know you've said that all directions of the passive tree are important, but I was hoping for a little more guidance on which directions to start out with. I've started a character for now just to get a general feel for the build (haven't quite gotten to Bladestorm, so using Cleave to level), and have generally headed to the left side of the tree to pick up various block mechanics and to head in the direction of Resolute Technique and some of the resistance buffs on that side of the tree. Is that the way you would prioritize them? And is it okay to hold off on the pure life-buffing abilities until the other abilities are picked up?

Thanks again for your advice!

I'm glad it helped CAChadwick,

The Trigger skills actually deal a lot of damage. Even though they aren't our primary skill they are a huge help. That being said, they are bonus damage. So you could, as you said, combine Repost and Reckoning (with the supports you suggested too), or you could remove Culling Strike. Culling Strike isn't needed. It's also a perk. So it depends how much you want to add to the build.

Yes, I think Resolute Technique is probably your most important node on the tree beside the blocking nodes. But there is no point block if you're not also hitting. So I think Prioritizing Resolute Technique is a very good idea. After that, you're really not in a rush for anything. So maybe just fill out the branches that you passed as you start heading to the east side of the tree.

You're very welcome! Except for this post all I did was say, "yup, you're right!" ;).

Good questions! Feel free to ask whatever you like.

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CAChadwick wrote:

That's our plan -- my daughter wants a chance to earn some wings, although I don't know if that's a realistic goal for us or not. I'm just playing around in the meantime to learn a little more about the game and to see what tweaks might make this build synergize better with my daughter's character. For example, I'm pretty sure mana leech won't be as strong for me initially as I don't think she'll leave much alive for me to actually hit, at least based on the little leveling we've done together this past week. :) Also, since arc witch is great for clearing trash, I'll likely focus slightly more on boss fights since we'll only be playing those characters together.

Speaking of bossing, would there be times that I would want to switch out of Bladestorm for something more single-target? Most of the strike skills seem to be predominantly intended for 2H weapons, so not sure if those would be an upgrade for this particular setup, even if there are no adds to deal with.

The nice thing about Bladestorm is that it syncs nicely with the Blood and Sand stances. So Sand stance gives you plenty of damage and AoE for adds, while Blood stance greatly improves your damage against Rares and Uniques. The skill itself still gives you good AoE and storms that act like "DOTs" for the boss battles where the boss moves lots. BUUUUT you can honestly put any 100% physical gem in place of Bladestorm and the build will work great. You'll just have to remember to gem swap before a boss.

Yeah, it is difficult to tell what was the cause of my death because of those specific things-it could even be a random mob that did that.

And I suppose it makes sense, but grinding/farming for achievements can be a bit tricky. I think I only got the horns without actively working for those to be honest. Mostly because the others I didn't get were a tad specific.

As for damage, Bladestorm has the advantage of at least dealing constant damage even if you are being forced to move around the arena. But other builds with axe/sword and shield do enjoy lacerate. Of course that would mean switching weapons pre-fight or switching gems.

Thank you both for your answers. I finally got Bladestorm on my preview character and while I think it'll take a little while to get used to, I'm definitely enjoying it for trash mobs. I've had terrible luck getting socketed items and I'm not willing to waste materials on a throw-away character, but I can already see the potential for this character (wandering AFK for a moment and coming back to dead enemies is always nice).

Thanks again, I really look forward to playing this character "for real."