Exciting (2H) Melee Build! (4L only)

So here’s a new guide to this build; I’m leaving up the old explanations below for posterity’s sake. Here's the passive skill tree.

This build is very solid; it survives many situations where other builds would crumble. It has no problem with level 74 maps. Some bosses (chaos-based) are to be avoided, but c’est la vie.

I built this tank with the idea of utilizing The Blood Dance sharkskin boots, which give 1% life regeneration per second per frenzy charge. I run 6 charges.

I also wanted to hit all the life nodes I possibly could. I also took Acrobatics (passive node: 30% chance to dodge attacks) and the nodes behind it, mostly for the spell dodge.

I only took +%dmg where it was a bargain. The baseline for choosing damage nodes comes from the bandit reward quest is Cruel from Oak (+18% physical damage).

I am currently level 81. With 6 frenzy charges up, I regenerate 996.8 life per second. I have 5,798 maximum life. My chance to evade attacks is 25%. My chance to Dodge attacks is 40%. My chance to dodge spells is 30%. With 6 frenzy charges up, I have 7843.1 dps.

This build runs Cast When Damage Taken linked with Enduring Cry and Immortal Call, supported by Increased Duration. This along with the dodge and the extremely high regen make it a formidable build.

I run Wrath and Vitality; Wrath is pretty clutch.

The build’s primary attack is Molten Strike; it’s secondary attack is Frenzy, for maintaining frenzy charges.

Even running ~74 level maps, I rarely have to use my potions.

Here's my gear:



If anyone has any questions/comments, I'd love to hear them...


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Stuff underneath this is outdated...

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<Update: 2015 April 22 MON 13:49 EST>

Changes: swapped to a armor-based helmet due to socket-color considerations, so I could run Immortal Call with Increased Duration on my Cast When Damage Taken setup. I am also running Vitality now instead of Grace.





Level 76 skill tree.

Comments: Was able to take down a lvl 74 Zana map (modified with +100% cold damage, or something like that, and misc). It was slow-going, but my character wasn't really in danger of dying. Still looking forward to getting my health nodes, though. (Max life is currently 5100+ life. Life regen is high; without the +6% life regeneration from Frenzy charges, it's above 500 life regenerated per second.)

Level 68/69/70 maps go by quickly without a hitch.


<Update: 2015 April 15 WED 20:22 EST>

Level 72 skill tree. (Slight deviation from old planned tree, which I left at the bottom of my post. Accuracy nodes turned out to be unnecessary.)

Current equipment:


Play is progressing fine; level 69 maps are no problem. Haven't tried higher ones yet.
Skill gem differences (which you can see in the equipment: added Immortal Call on a lvl7 Cast When Damage Taken gem and am running a copy of temporal chains on each CWDT setup.

Planned future tree. Build complete. Robust.

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Introduction
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This is a very fun and exciting build to play. It is super-survivable and it is very straightforward. At level 62, I can run a level 66 map and kill the boss without difficulty. Requires only 4L and the Blood Dance boots (which are easy to get).

The way it works: Lots of regen & Acrobatics/etc with evasion. Uses a 2H weapon, although you could use any weapon you want with this build as it is now.

Currently I am leveling quickly.

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Skills
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Molten Strike - I use Molten Strike and have been pleased with the results. This is the primary attack.
Frenzy - Hit things to get your Frenzy charges going/to keep them going when necessary. (Boots should have ~30% chance to give you a Frenzy charge on kill.)
Cast When Damage Taken - Enduring Cry and Temporal Chains make this build more robust.
Grace - Makes the build more robust.
Leap Slam - Gets you places.

As you can see, this is a very simple build, but it is lots of fun to play!

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Current Flasks
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I guess it's worth mentioning that the first two flasks are must-haves.

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Current gear
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The Blood Dance boots are what give this build so much regen. They are necessary. Note on the 2H: Originally, I was running a 1H weapon and a shield (Yes, even with Acrobatics, running a shield is good. Being able to have +life on it alone makes it a healthy consideration). However, I found that the extra defense (as this build is so tanky) was unnecessary, and switched to a 2H at the beginning of A3 Merciless.

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Skill tree
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Level 62 skill tree.
Future (97-point) skill tree.

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Bandits
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Normal: +40 max life
Merciless: +18% Physical Damage
Merciless: +1 Frenzy charge


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Conclusion
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The build is simple and elegant. It works. Try it.

Bump