[3.17] strTrader Max Block Bleed Lacerate Gladiator -- League Start & End Game v3.17.03.17.22

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Dessembrae_ wrote:

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Also remove the 3 points on your far right and take the Aggressive Bastion nodes on the left.

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strTrader wrote:

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Dessembrae_ wrote:

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Also remove the 3 points on your far right and take the Aggressive Bastion nodes on the left.

Alright, now I'm starting to get the hang of it. Swapped out dawnbreaker for a Surrender, swapped out my axe for a Jack, put in a Ryslatha, updated some gems, and fixed the tree as you suggested. I also started doing more closed area maps to make the most of the tonkiness. Thank you for the pointers.

Some things I do not understand though. You only put points into endurance charge on kill / frenzy charge on kill, why? Is it because you care only about clearing speed? Wouldn't it make sense to have endurance/ frenzy charge on block for bosses?

Second, auras. Why run Flesh & Stone? I can see the appeal of a wider lacerate for clearing, but the damage drop is significant, and using blood stance doesn't provide a benefit worth 25% mana since we already maim on bleed. If it's for challenger charges on kill why not use blood&sand + determination? Why isn't it better to run Determination or something like Arctic Armor for defense and stay in blood stance?

Anyhoo, great build. I'm starting to enjoy it more and more (turns out my enjoyment is linearly correlated to my spell block).

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Dessembrae_ wrote:

Some things I do not understand though. You only put points into endurance charge on kill / frenzy charge on kill, why? Is it because you care only about clearing speed? Wouldn't it make sense to have endurance/ frenzy charge on block for bosses?

My justification is that bosses are more manageable. You don't want to take a hit intentionally to generate charges just to provide more protection for the next hit. I am also using Granite + Vaal Molten Shell (+ Increased Duration) to provide protection. Eventually, you will reach a point where the boss dies within 10-15s so you will have some charges uptime during the fight.

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Dessembrae_ wrote:

Second, auras. Why run Flesh & Stone? I can see the appeal of a wider lacerate for clearing, but the damage drop is significant, and using blood stance doesn't provide a benefit worth 25% mana since we already maim on bleed. If it's for challenger charges on kill why not use blood&sand + determination? Why isn't it better to run Determination or something like Arctic Armor for defense and stay in blood stance?

Flesh & Stone's maim effect stack with Blood in the Eyes (and also stacks with Maim support if linked to Flesh & Stone). Since we are running Pride, there is no way to fit in Determination. Flesh & Stone also provides blind and increased damage taken. I often use Blood & Sand as a substitute for Flesh & Stone if there isn't enough mana reservation efficiency. If you are pushing for levels, you can use Determinations + Dread Banner instead of Pride and War Banner. I do some toggling during mapping. Sand is enough for Magic packs but sometimes I need to switch to Blood for Rares (or if they didn't die in the explosion). AoE is really good (even in closed spaces). Your gems are not maxed yet, so you can try out Sand later.

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strTrader wrote:

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Dessembrae_ wrote:

Some things I do not understand though. You only put points into endurance charge on kill / frenzy charge on kill, why? Is it because you care only about clearing speed? Wouldn't it make sense to have endurance/ frenzy charge on block for bosses?

My justification is that bosses are more manageable. You don't want to take a hit intentionally to generate charges just to provide more protection for the next hit. I am also using Granite + Vaal Molten Shell (+ Increased Duration) to provide protection. Eventually, you will reach a point where the boss dies within 10-15s so you will have some charges uptime during the fight.

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Dessembrae_ wrote:

Second, auras. Why run Flesh & Stone? I can see the appeal of a wider lacerate for clearing, but the damage drop is significant, and using blood stance doesn't provide a benefit worth 25% mana since we already maim on bleed. If it's for challenger charges on kill why not use blood&sand + determination? Why isn't it better to run Determination or something like Arctic Armor for defense and stay in blood stance?

Flesh & Stone's maim effect stack with Blood in the Eyes (and also stacks with Maim support if linked to Flesh & Stone). Since we are running Pride, there is no way to fit in Determination. Flesh & Stone also provides blind and increased damage taken. I often use Blood & Sand as a substitute for Flesh & Stone if there isn't enough mana reservation efficiency. If you are pushing for levels, you can use Determinations + Dread Banner instead of Pride and War Banner. I do some toggling during mapping. Sand is enough for Magic packs but sometimes I need to switch to Blood for Rares (or if they didn't die in the explosion). AoE is really good (even in closed spaces). Your gems are not maxed yet, so you can try out Sand later.

That makes a lot of sense.
I swapped in Flesh & Stone instead of Defiance Banner now, running F&S, Pride, Determination, and Tempest Shield. Hopefully I can find another Enlighten and cram Purity in there as well down the line, or at least a banner. It feels pretty smooth mapping, though it can get annoying when I misjudge the tonkiness of the enemies. It works better on rares than I expected. You certainly know your stuff. Thank you.

I'm thinking I should try the new forbidden flesh/flame mechanics. I can't decide between Reigning Veteran (+10 max block), outlast & and outmatch (end charge on kill, 10% more physical + 10% reduced physical damage taken), fortitude (always on 20 fortitude), unstoppable hero (+20% AS, +500 AR/ER), or Conqueror (10% reduced damage taken). Given that it costs 2 jewel slots it needs to be something grand.

Hello,

I'm at 75% block and ~50% spell block at the moment, but I still feel a bit squishy in red maps (maybe I'm missing health?). I would like to know what items to aim for (as I'm still saving up some currency), and if I should make any changes to my auras or passive tree.

I also feel that I lack some DPS for bossing, I'm still leveling up some of the gems and my character (maybe that's the reason?).

Here is my PoB:
https://pastebin.com/5yJua3jH

Thank you for the build, and have a good day.

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hlcrowbar wrote:

https://pastebin.com/5yJua3jH

I made some updates in this PoB: https://pastebin.com/jHwmiv0C

You are slightly under leveled so I increased your character level to 90 and gems to 20/20 to show you the difference. See Edit tree and the following changes and comments (not in any order):

1. For L90: Get Veteran Solider and a jewel socket (for a Pride Watcher's Eye). I didn't include the jewel because I don't know your budget. They are selling for ~1ex.

2. Belt: I flipped the more Maximum and more Minimum values so show you the difference. Since your attack speed is not high enough, you absolutely want to have # more Maximum > more Minimum values. The belt is also not qualitied.

3. Allocated your 4th Ascendancy points to Arena Challenger.

4. Included Vulnerability curse. You can either get it on ring or gloves implicit or hand cast. It will increase your damage significantly (especially on bosses).

5. You should get an helmet enchant. Your helmet can be easily be crafted with Essence of Greed (and with better resistances).

6. You can get physical DoT multiplier as gloves implicit.

7. You can get bleeding you inflict deals damage faster on boots implicit.

8. You can get more spell block on chest implicit. You are over capped in terms of overall resistances and you can balance them out using Harvest resistance swap.

9. Relinked your 6 link. Dropping Swift Affliction for Cruelty, changing Chance to Bleed to Divergent Chance to Bleed (~35c) and changing Lacerate to L21/20 (~5c). The reasoning for dropping Swift Affliction is because your attack speed is too low to maintain 8 stacks of shortened bleeds.

10. Anomalous herald of purity (~15) can provide more survivability.

I think you'd be more comfortable once the above changes are made. There is no quick fix for your life (without more investment).

For low budget/league start, what auras do you recommend until enlightens and gear can be acquired?

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Hellsmith wrote:

For low budget/league start, what auras do you recommend until enlightens and gear can be acquired?

Assuming you get the reservation efficiency notable:

Pre-map: Pride + Herald of Purity + Blood and Sand + (War Banner)
Map: Tempest Shield, Herald of Purity + Flesh and Stone + (War Banner)

Set up might depends on if you have mana leech/mana cost reduction on skills.

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Hellsmith wrote:

For low budget/league start, what auras do you recommend until enlightens and gear can be acquired?

Also, use Cruelty instead of Swift Affliction.

I know that i have to level up,but for some reason i die ALOT even in yellow maps and i have no idea what else to upgrade in terms of survivability ..even if i get more life i feel like im gonna get one shot