2H Ground Slam - Feeling Squishy

Hey all,

I have posted in other threads in the past about build suggestions with my 2 cents. This time I need a bit of help. I am currently lvl 78 soon to be lvl 79. I feel like I am doing ok. I do decent dmg can run low level maps with out to much worry. There are, however, times when I take a hit and am like holy crap! I am either near dead or dead. I ran a 72 Zana Museum daily mission with Fracture, increased rare bosses, rogue exiles and more with relative ease. Mind you I skipped out on the 3 bosses, since I am close to lvl 79, I didn't want to take the exp penalty because I knew those three would wreck me.

I will say this before getting into build details. My gear is not totally sorted. I still have things to link, socket, and replace... but I still feel like something is off and would like a look over to see where if I am on par for my level or where I am lacking compared to similar builds. I would like to take this character to lvl 100 eventually.

Main Skills:
Ground Slam - Faster Attacks - Melee Physical Damage - Multistrike (plan to add: added fire and concentrated affect)
Heavy Strike - Item rarity
Leap Slam
CWDT - Enduring Cry - Molten Shell - Increased duration
Immortal call - Self cast with Increased Duration
Determination - even with reduced mana grace and determination seem to be cutting it close for me






So my Question is what can I change, do to improve this character? I am not opposed to respec'ing some spots if need be. But I feel that I'm too squishy and maybe loading up on life nodes will help that, and that, I'm not shelling out the crazy damage amounts as others at this level.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

-bohker

Your life pool is far too low. I would drop the uniques (besides marohi) and get life on everything. Life, life, life! And good rolls too.

You can get up to 6% life leech on a rare amulet, and mana leech on rings.

Also, you didn't state your resistances, if they aren't capped that is pretty important to do.

Your damage is also quit low, which is not unrelated to survivability. I would suggest running hatred instead of grace.

Good luck.

IMO, if you're using a Mace, you should take advantage of stun.

Steps to make your character stronger:

Offense
1. Run Hatred and Herald of Ash, for a huge DPS boost.
2. Use Heavy strike as a single-target dmg source, not just for MF culling. A 5L heavy strike setup of HS-Faster Attacks-Melee Phys-Added Fire-Stun will allow you to stunlock most bosses (pick up all the threshold redux passives in the tree, if you aren't getting it done reliably).

Defense
1. Link Endurance Charge on Melee Stun to your ground slam. GS-Melee phys-added fire-multistrike-ecoms (you'll need a 5l, obviously. Drop added fire, until you get it).
2. Link Immortal Call to CwDT. With increased duration gem, duration passives, and endurance charges, you'll get nice long periods of physical immunity.


Your tree is a bit of a mess. Spending way too many points to get to the scion life wheel, when there are plenty of life nodes available closer.

I'd do the following, to repair.

Refund 5 passives
https://www.poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAAecFLQmWC2ENzRLhFCAUTRiRGekaPhzOITQhVScgK1As-zSONug5Djs7PC09Dz38QT9Hfkz_UEdR5lWpWGNYr14TXz9gS2CRYMRhIWFSZU1o8moBa9lul3Kpdqx3U3gNeWh82YTZhVKGO4Zgh2qKIozPkGyXeZe0nsWi6qcwqSeplK2Nr2y0L7yfvTa-p8EExPbG2M9-2WHkUeSt6hjrCe8O707yL_Kc9kj3Mve-_Ev-VP_T

Spend 3 to connect line, pick up unwavering and an endurance charge
https://www.poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAAecFLQmWC2ENzRLhFCAUTRiRGekaPhzOITQhVScgK1As-zSONug5Djs7PC09Dz38QT9Hfkz_UEdR5lWpWGNYr14TXz9gS2CRYMRhIWFSZU1o8moBa9lul3Kpdqx3U3gNeWh82YTZhVKGO4Zgh2qKIozPkGyXeZe0nsWi6qcwqSeplK2Nr2y0L7yfvTa-p8EExPbG2M9-2WHkUeSt6hjrCe8O707yL_Kc9kj3Mve-_Ev-VP_Tns3SIVcNn8uRzg==

Refund 5 passives
https://www.poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAAecFLQmWDc0S4RQgFE0YkRnpGj4cziE0IVUnICtQLPs0jjboOQ47OzwtPQ89_EE_R35M_1BHUeZVqVhjXhNfP2BLYJFgxGEhYVJlTWjyagFr2W6Xcql2rHdTfNmE2YVShjuGYIdqiiKMz5Bsl3mXtJ7FouqnMKknqZStja9stC-8n702vqfE9sbYz37ZYeRR5K3qGOsJ7w7vTvIv8pz2SPcy9778S_5U_9OezdIhVw2fy5HO

Spend 5 to get close to max stun threshold redux from tree
https://www.poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAAecFLQmWDc0S4RQgFE0YkRnpGj4cziE0IVUnICtQLPs0jjboOQ47OzwtPQ89_EE_R35M_1BHUeZVqVhjXhNfP2BLYJFgxGEhYVJlTWjyagFr2W6Xcql2rHdTfNmE2YVShjuGYIdqiiKMz5Bsl3mXtJ7FouqnMKknqZStja9stC-8n702vqfE9sbYz37ZYeRR5K3qGOsJ7w7vTvIv8pz2SPcy9778S_5U_9OezdIhVw22pOJDmAqUh96Wkc6fyw==

Finishing out the tree (probably spec out of the Unyielding cluster and diamond skin when you have enough resists from gear, in favor of more health or dmg, whichever you prefer. There are plenty of nodes available for either)
https://www.poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgEAAecFLQmWDc0S4RQgFE0YkRnpGj4cziE0IVUnICtQLPs0jjboOQ47OzwtPQ89_EE_R35M_1BHUeZVqVhjXhNfP2BLYJFgxGEhYVJlTWjyagFr2W6Xcql2rHdTfNmE2YVShjuGYIdqiiKMz5Bsl3mXtJ7FouqnMKknqZStja9stC-8n702vqfE9sbYz37ZYeRR5K3qGOsJ7w7vTvIv8pz2SPcy9778S_5U_9OezdIhVw22pOJDmAqUhx2-3D0HdcCmM4fwH6IAkc7yQYIHA-6fy9-y3pY=

That's not quite the optimal tree, but it should be very playable.


Gearing up:
Try to get 1-2% mana leech and 3-4% life leech from jewelry/gloves. You can add leech to gloves, via master bench, if need be. Get a belt with a bunch of life and stun threshold redux. Get as much life as you can manage, while keeping resists maxxed. I wouldn't use any of the uniques you have on. They are killing your life pool. Carnage heart would be the first thing to go. Lioneye's boots are also quite poor. Unfortunately, those uniques carry a ton of attribute increases. You'll have to look for some dex/int on gear. Your passive tree is connected to two of the 30 int/dex nodes, as well, if you need them in the interim.

There are plenty of 50+hp, high resist items available, for < 2chaos. Any of them would be an upgrade.
http://poe.trade/search/ihusaranyahaki
http://poe.trade/search/uazurikeboroyo
http://poe.trade/search/enakoriaatuzye
etc.

Thanks!

I will look at this a bit later after work, or if work is slow :D. I was going to concentrate on getting some more life nodes. I had started following a guide for this since it is my first build then patch 1.3 came out and wiped the slate clean so I figured I would try my hand. It's been decent enough that I was able to solo all three difficulties (yes I died a few times, probably more than I would like to admit). However, now that I am in the map system, approaching endgame content.. I noticed I may have made mistakes, and appreciate the help trying to sort it.

Currently my resists after -60% from merc are:
76% - fire
76% - cold
75% - Lightning

After a quick glance over I definitely like those ideas. I hadn't thought about the endurance on stun, and I have at least 1 or 2 in my stash. I was concerned that under 300 str would not be enough so I was pushing dmg and strength node, and then armor to mitigate dmg taken in lieu of life. But, I feel like I have a load of armor that at random times does squat for me.

I use the Heavy Strike on rares for the item rarity, but linking that up with those gems is a much better idea for survivability.

Thanks again for the input. I'll tinker and let you know how it goes :D

My only real concern's with these changes are dropping so many life nodes. I was under the impression that anything less than about +180% to life is not viable or will be a tough go. I understand that I would be adding life through gear, but do not full understand how the mechanics of that work.

Say I have 3282 life. If I get a help with +80 life. Does that just add 80 to the pool resulting in a total of 3362? or does it get applied to a base stat that then recalculates the total life through other modifiers like strength/character level and results in a higher level. I really wish making changes in the passive menu would update your stats so you could see the changes before committing.

I found a helmet that looks to be aces for me with:

+75 to maximum Life
with T2 almost T1 resist rolls for the 3 main elements

I also have an Alpha's Howl, in case I need a little reserved reduction. Come to think of it I have a Belly of the Beast as well. But I really like the current chest I have now.

I agree that I need to be careful since both the Carnage Heart and Lioneyes paws have big attribute buffs. It may take me a while to make changes. I'm trying to save orbs to begin the 5/6 socket and link processes.

Again, thanks for the help and the ideas. I did spec out of 5 and then nabbed then connected the line and nabbed the unwavering stance and endurance charge nodes. I think before I back out much further, I need to sort the life/gear issue and possible at least get 1 5/6 link established. At the moment I can still run 66-68 maps fine, even rare ones depending on the modifiers. So I will grind and then hunt gear on poe.

From the POE wiki, the formula for calculating Life is:
Maximum Life = (38 + (Level * 12) + (Strength / 2) + additive modifiers) * (100% + multiplicative modifiers)

So, the 80 life you added on your helm is going to get multiplied by whatever +% mods you have working for you.


Getting stun working on your attacks is the most important thing for survivability. If you get all the threshold reduction nodes from the passive tree, you should be able to stun pretty much everything (ground slam for trash clearing, heavy strike for bosses). With 5 endurance charges and an increased duration gem, you'll also be firing off 6+ second Immortal Calls when you actually do get hit.

Even with 3300hp, you should be able to run maps successfully if you can stun everything. You'll just need to exercise a little caution and know what things are a threat.

Hey thanks again,

I feel a bit better about that now. I am finding some decent gear, and since I have been doing the chaos recipe, I can go for a few decent items. If I get lucky I may find something close in my adventures. Then if need be slap em in the old craft bench.

Just need to get those sockets and links going :) and I think I'll be aces.

Thanks

-bohker