[0.10.4] HC EK Tank Marauder (The Bloodfather)
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First, all credit goes to my eye-talian friend Sicily for this build! (He's just a lazy punk so i have to write a guide about it)
Updates
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0.10.3: Added level progression and new FAQ's.
0.10.2: Updated to the new passive skill tree. Added bandit choices. A few words about the build This build revolves around a high health, life regen, armor and lots of resists tanky EK marauder. Now most people would assume that having very high defensive stats would automatically mean that your damage suffered the other end of that deal, but that's what's so fun about this build! Edit: I am in default now, i was using the spec until level 86. The build
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Remember, this is the very late end game build. How you decide to spend your points up until then can vary a lot depending on your gear. Thankfully this build is very flexible and it shouldn't be hard to make the right choices as you progress.
Updated for 0.10.2: New build added with the changes made in 0.10.2 patch. A lot less points spent in this version, which leaves more options for you to pick from. Also included the reduced mana reserved points this time. (down by the Duelist starting area) Click for the build! Build Progression (Guidance for new players)
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This is just a rough outline of what i would recommend new players to progress through the spec. The spec is still very flexible and open to other interpretations. The way you spend your points to get to each tier of the spec may vary a lot depending on your gear and you should adjust it accordingly to make leveling as easy as possible.
Level 20
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http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEBGS4n7TwtTP9QUFRJWGNfP3KpfNmMz6yqud3E9sbY1I_nUu8O8i_2SA==
Level 40
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http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEBAnEEsxNbGS4n7TwtRmlM_1BQVElV1lhjWK9fP2TncLtyqXgNerh82YzPogCpbqyqrpOvbLXytz653cT2xYrGrsbY1I_nUu8O8B_yL_ZI9to=
Level 60
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http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEBAdwCcQSzBS0OrRNbGNsZLhv6IWAl3yftKaU8LUCgQ5xGaUz_UFBUSVXWWGNYr18_YEthIWTncLtyqXTtdPF4DXq4eu982YTvjM-euaIApBmpbqyqrpOvbLXytz653b6KxPbFisauxtjUj-Lq51LvDvAf8i_2SPba
Level 80
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http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEBAdwCcQSzBS0MfQ6tEH8TWxjbGS4b-h0UIWAl3yftKaU26TwtQKBDnEZpTP9QUFRJVcZV1lhjWK9Z818_YEthIWTnZp5odGz2cLtyqXTtdPF4DXq4eu982YLkhO-Kr4zPj0aQEZBVlKCeuaIApBmnCKlurKquk69stfK3PriTud2-isAaxPbFisaexq7G2M9l0NDUj9hN2mLa3eLq42rnUu8O8B_yL_ZI9tr60g==
About the build Depending on your gear you can have different variations of the build. For example on my current gear I've been very lucky to get a lot of dexterity and intellect, so I've been able to reassign points from those big dex/int nodes into more life, strength or armor. The way i leveled up was going Heavy Strike and Ground Slam to around level 65 and then transitioned into EK when i had the right amount of int, dex and gear for it. Admittedly i transitioned way too soon, i went for Inner Force before Iron Reflexes because i wanted higher int and better buffs. That was a big mistake though, i learned that the hard way. The armor and dex you get from going to Iron Reflexes will help a LOT more until you have some better gear. I tried going for more faster casting nodes but i felt like the difference was barely noticeable. It's better to just get faster casting and projectile speed from your wand(s) and shield. There is the option to get the crit nodes close to Inner Force and Static Blows, but that's also gonna increase your risk. The three 8% health nodes next to Inner Force are another very viable option, as you will get another 20 strength on the way there. (Please note that you will have to pick up Reduced Mana Reserved nodes near the marauder and duelist starting areas until your Reduced Mana gems are level 18 or higher.) Pros: 1. Very tanky with high life regen, life, armor and resists. 2. Scales very well with gear. 3. Amazing DPS. Cons: 1. Slow transition into the end game spec. 2. High risk on physical reflect mobs. 3. Always close to melee. Bandits
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Normal: Help Oak for +40hp.
Cruel: I personally killed all bandits for the skill point, but +12% physical is also very viable. I just don't think anyone will ever have dps issues with this build. Merciless: Killed all again for the skill point. For those going for endurance charges should get that though, as that is very viable as well. Skill gems and links
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5L - EK+Faster Casting+Blood Magic+Iron Will+Added Fire Damage/Life Leech 4L - EK+Faster Casting/Faster Projectiles/Added Fire Damage/Life Leech+Blood Magic+Iron Will 4L - Reduced Mana+Vitality+Determination+Hatred 3L/4L - Reduced Mana+Haste+Purity+ * 3L/4L - Reduced Mana+Blood Magic+Grace+Projectile Weakness/Enfeeble/Temporal Chains 3L/4L - Blood Magic+Bear Trap+Added Fire Damage+Faster Casting/Culling Strike You can play around with the links here. Some prefer to use Skeleton Totem instead of Bear Trap for some situations. As for the EK, i personally use a 5L and i usually run Added Fire Damage. But when i do physical reflect maps or hard maps in general i always swap to Life Leech for safety. For auras you will want to ALWAYS run Vitality, Grace, Determination and Hatred. The fifth aura will be either Haste or Purity depending on what you need. Gear and stats
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There are different options when it comes to your weapon set up for this build. Some may want to man-mode and go dual wands and some will prefer the safety of wand and shield. I personally enjoyed both.
The goal is to at least have a wand with very high spell damage as it very efficiently scales your damage up. The ideal wand would want Spell Damage, Projectile Speed and Faster Casting, but that's a dream wand that is very hard to find and usually very expensive. All of your other gear will have to be either pure armor or evasion, or armor/evasion. Make sure you have at least a decent a mount of hp and one or two resists on every item as well. F.A.Q
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Q: Which support gem do you prefer for a 6L?
A: I personally like Faster Projectiles over Fork, Pierce and Chain. Mainly because you gain more range, which automatically is more safety. But also because it's easier to control your damage. You run a higher risk of being killed by physical reflect with Fork, Pierce and Chain. Q: Is this a hard spec to play? A: It may take some time getting used to, as it is a pretty slow attack and you're almost always in melee range. But once you master it, it's a lot of fun and very potential! Q: How much DPS can i get with this build? A: In pretty OK gear i reached numbers like 6500 DPS. However, having that much pure physical damage is VERY risky in hardcore and i would not recommend it. I run 5k DPS with life leech and a shield. Q: How do your stats look right now? A: At 86 with pretty good gear I'm currently at: 13.5k armor (45% reduction), 6.4k health, 80% all resists (with out purity), 525 life/second and 4.2k dps with out auras on. My gear (now in default)
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(The thread will be a work in progress, i will keep updating the guide and build as i progress and/or new patches arrive) My Supporter Pack list compensates for my small penis. Last edited by Relidar#4309 on Mar 22, 2013, 12:30:13 AM
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Hey!
Could you go into the dangers of physical reflect? You have a ton of mitigation and HP, but are you prone to one shotting yourself? Leader of InHouseGaming. IGN: Kowz Last edited by Kowz#3319 on Feb 22, 2013, 1:27:57 AM
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" Heya! Well if you do decide to go 2H melee, you have other options than being just purely physical. Like grabbing some Elemental Damage nodes and mixing in some Weapon Elemental Damage support gems. But if you do decide to focus purely on physical, then yes there is a risk. However, it can be controlled and mitigated with gear, flasks and life leech. Your main issue with melee attacks is that your attacks rapidly scale up to scary fast, so it gives you less time to react. You don't have this issue with EK as it is a pretty slow attack. My best advice though, is to ALWAYS check what you are attacking and what kind of map you are doing, never leave anything to chance. Other than that, always carry at least one granite flask with increased armor % and make sure you stack armor on your gear. At 13.5k armor and 5k dps it's pretty easy to control, but i always take it slow and make sure i pop flasks before attacking. I play with a few EK marauders my self that run with very good shields and 20k+ armor though, and they have no issues at all. I'm just not there yet with my gear. Life leech definitely helps, ideally you will want a quality life leech for faster life regen, but a normal one at high level works too! (Life on hit is an option too, especially for AoE melee attacks, it just doesn't work on EK) My Supporter Pack list compensates for my small penis. Last edited by Relidar#4309 on Feb 22, 2013, 1:33:20 AM
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How can you run Vitality, Determination, Hatred and Purity all togehter?
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" he used the mana for auras and bm gems for everthing else |
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I see but can you reduce the mana reservation so far that you can run 3x 40% and 1x 30% mana reservation auras alltogether? Dont think so.
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" Think again. Works. Cool guide formatting, relidar! ;) Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
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" Yep! As mentioned in the guide above, you will need to pick up at least 20% Reduced Mana Reservation until your Reduced Mana and Blood Magic gems are at least level 17-18. And at that point you just need one 5% node to sustain all the auras. Thank you VenatorPoE! :) My Supporter Pack list compensates for my small penis.
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At 73% Reduced Mana gems you can run the 4 auras with 10% reduced reservation nodes. Before that you'll need to get 15/20% reduced reservation or just not run the last aura. Until you switch to 0 mana you can also have Enduring Cry run off mana (usually).
Sicily |
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lot of wasted points
look at the build i made 2 days ago its more efficient and more dmg Last edited by prettycoolguy#1614 on Feb 22, 2013, 12:27:28 PM
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