[1.2] Oldschool, cheap and noobfriendly "Sword&Board" Marauder

Hey! Love the idea of this, I'm going to try it as my first proper hardcore character! :) Thanks for the guide!

"

I'm curious why you omit the juicy +15% physical damage node at the start of the Marauder tree. Should it at least get a mention for the lvl 85+ build?

This build is not set in stone. You can grab this if you like it. :)

"

I would also like to know why Reave is better than Double Strike + Melee Splash?

Reave = 1 Gem
DS+MS = 2 Gems
This means you can fit more damage gems into your main attack.
And once you add Multistrike (the best melee support gem) to the main attack, I got the feeling that DS has too many damage reducing gems in the chain (DS itself, splash, multistrike).

And I love the animation of Reave, as written in the introduction to the guide.
The decision is mainly based on my personal preference.

"

Also could this build work with Spectral Throw instead of Reave?

Sure, if you want to run around like a girl instead of facetanking and beating them down. ;-)

Hi there, currently following this build. Is the tree provided on the first page the planned tree? with all the armour nodes taken at marauder start?

Also, in the last post, you said you rerouted mara start, can you please elaborate?

Thanks!

"

kuo982 wrote:

Hi there, currently following this build. Is the tree provided on the first page the planned tree? with all the armour nodes taken at marauder start?

That's what I respecced my marauder into after 1.1...
You can totally skip those armor nodes, I know it's not too efficient. But there's not too much left to skill after ~80. ;)
Unless you plan to go really lategame.

But you are right, I should maybe change the skilltree in post 1.

"

Also, in the last post, you said you rerouted mara start, can you please elaborate?

In the beginning, I skilled like this:
click
I grabbed the sword/axe stuff below start to get a little DpS buff, then RT and then went on the road to duelist.

I had planned to do something like this:
Click

Then someone pointed out via PM I can also grab the 2 10% damage nodes between "Strong Arm" and "Born to fight" to have my "route" out of marauder start.
I therefor reallocated those points and grabbed "By the Blade" from the bottom, not top.
click
-20 str, +20% increased damage.

"

Peterlerock wrote:

"

kuo982 wrote:

Hi there, currently following this build. Is the tree provided on the first page the planned tree? with all the armour nodes taken at marauder start?

That's what I respecced my marauder into after 1.1...
You can totally skip those armor nodes, I know it's not too efficient. But there's not too much left to skill after ~80. ;)
Unless you plan to go really lategame.

But you are right, I should maybe change the skilltree in post 1.

"

Also, in the last post, you said you rerouted mara start, can you please elaborate?

In the beginning, I skilled like this:
click
I grabbed the sword/axe stuff below start to get a little DpS buff, then RT and then went on the road to duelist.

I had planned to do something like this:
Click

Then someone pointed out via PM I can also grab the 2 10% damage nodes between "Strong Arm" and "Born to fight" to have my "route" out of marauder start.
I therefor reallocated those points and grabbed "By the Blade" from the bottom, not top.
click
-20 str, +20% increased damage.

Ah now I understand, thanks for the clarification. This build is pretty refreshing, since I tried mostly the IB tanks back in domination. Haven't decided if I'm gonna respec out of those armour nodes right now, probably will tho because they aren't that great anyhow around my level, since I pretty much just followed it straight through since I didn't know the route to take when I started playing this build.

Keep up the good work though, would love to see how the build goes!

"

I'm confused. On page 1 your lvl 85 build gets Life and Armor are the beginning. But in those partial builds, you get the Life Regeneration nodes at the beginning. Which one should I get?

Ooops, didn't check while quickly allocating skillpoints.
Of course you grab the "life+armor".
I'll edit it.

"

kuo982 wrote:

Haven't decided if I'm gonna respec out of those armour nodes right now, probably will tho because they aren't that great anyhow around my level, since I pretty much just followed it straight through since I didn't know the route to take when I started playing this build.

It's never a good idea to "take it all" in a slow progress across the skilltree.

It's usually better to rush to some key stats, leave the nodes on the side for later, and once you have the "skeleton" of the build, you can add "muscle, fat and flesh".

I usually want the full way done as soon as possible, so I go for something like this:
45 points to Ranger with just life and little damage
Afterwards, I grab all the juicy stuff.
(note that this 45 tree also needs to be respecced (through the damage nodes in marauder start), but that's intended to get a faster skilltree progress in the beginning.

And of course always adapt the tree to your needs.
If you want more resist, grab it.
If you want more life, grab it.
If your damage sucks, get damage nodes.
(usually it's a good idea to also check poe.xyz.is for cheap upgrades)

You can btw also leave Marauder start through the fire resist (instead of the 2 damage nodes), that seems to be the road most marauder builds take nowadays:
click
All up to you.

I decided to make a sword and board guy after I found this.



It's quite a fun build.

Try out vaal cyclone with life leech or life gained on hit + melee phys + added fire/BM. Groups the mobs together and does really nice damage. Just be careful with mobs who freeze you or hard hitters.