Completely new to the game - need help with my 2h mace / Cyclone Marauder

Hi everyone, completely new to this game and just beat normal difficulty yesterday. Playing a Marauder which is using 2h maces as main weapon. Already picked Resolute Technique. Started with Sweep, but now using Cyclone cause I think it is better (and does not have the problem of me getting stunned). Also is more fun. Just hit lvl41, ~1000 life and currently in act 1 cruel. Found some decent gear luckily, including Quecholli, but not quite sure where this character is headed.

The key questions for me are: Unwavering yes/no and Blood Magic yes/no. I think what I would like to do is using the two curses of Vulnerability and Warlord's Mark together, to have life + mana leech, endurance charges and high physical damage. I am wondering though if the way up to Whispers of Doom is worth it. It would give me the required intelligence, and there is a few things I would pick up on the way (would also pick up the curse nodes). The alternative seems to be to get some Windscream boots.

Please don't just throw character build guides at me, trying to find my own way and make a fun build. It does not have to be able to do the hardest endgame maps either, but would like to be able to finish merciless.

Not having Blood Magic would allow me to run auras, right? That would give me a bit more flexibility maybe (I like to be flexible). Warlord's Mark would give me enough mana leech so that I can go without Blood Magic I think. And with Cyclone it seems to me that Unwavering is not that necessary...


My gear currently:


Passive skill tree (got 14 unallocated passive points at the moment):
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEACZYUIBo-JScpLjkOOztBP1BHUeZdSV8_Z5t2rHdTe4x8uHzZhVKUh5d5nsWtjc9-2WHfsuRR6hjrCe8O8i_3Mg==

Going for curses / Whispers of Doom would probably look something like this (71 skill points, would then see what else I take for endgame):
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEABLMJlg0fFCAYahjXGj4a5BynJScpLjLRNI45Djs7PCg8LUE_QYdFR0z_UEdR5lOlValYB11JXz9nm2jyagFqpWvZcql2rHdTeC97jHy4fNl85YVShjuIj49GlIeXeZe0m6Gcvp7FogCnCK2Nr2y3PriTwGbE9sauz37Yvdlh37LkUeoY6wnvDvAf8i_3Mvno_TD-Cg==



Also, am I right in assuming that this is probably my most valuable possession? Found it on a rare +20% quality box in act 1 normal ;).



Could alternatively use it as a second curse for high damage output enemies I guess.

Cyclone has really high mana costs, in general you use a blood magic gem and compensate it with decent life regen

like that you can use all your mana for auras

another way is to take the red mana costs of skills nodes + quality on concentrated effect
like this you can do it as well

and for finishing merciless you can use any skill, just cap your resistances and have enough life

your double cursing is not really needed, but it's up to you :)

US No
BM No
Double Cursing No

Double curse is not needed, I see that - but it would be kind of nice (and probably rather nonstandard?). Dont have a lot of skill points to spend on other things (armor / life / res) then though. But could run an aura I guess.

I don't think it's worth using so many skill points to get whispers of doom. If double cursing really appeals to you I would just use windscreams which are fairly cheap.

I also wouldn't get the blood magic node. For a cyclone build, I think it would be better to use a blood magic gem linked with cyclone and life gain on hit. Then you could use two auras or one aura and two heralds since you won't need to worry about mana. Good auras for melee are hatred and haste and the good heralds ate ash and thunder.

yes double cursing is non standard and you need all your skill points for life and 2h clusters, otherwise endgame will be tricky ;)

a cwdt enduring cry - immortal call - inc duration 4L is recommended as well

for cursing Id take Venegance + Curse on Hit or a second cwdt set up
for movement you can have leapslam somewhere
Bloodrage is useful for a huge amount of life leech...

Mana Version Auras: Hatred + Ash (profil)
with BM Gem: + Haste, but then you ve to get 4% red reserved mana from tree, you could use vitality/herald of thunder/any purity to cap resis as well

Hey guys, this is really helpful - thanks :). I will think about it. I might have mis-skilled this character already, but that is not really a problem, I am having fun. Right now I am using Cyclone + Herald of Ash + Elemental Proliferation + Warlord's Mark, which given the new unique battle hammer I found (Geofri's Baptism) gives enough mana leech to get along. Have to get more life, though. And more damage ;).

Would you use a second skill (single target) at all? Currently using Glacial Hammer for that, but maybe in the long run I won't need it any more and can just spiral through my enemies?

I already have a Blood Magic gem, but do not use it yet (also, the links in my gear are a bit shitty at the moment, and 6-linked stuff seems to be rather expensive in this game ;)).

I'm running Garmin's build from the 1mhc league where he reached around level 97 or 98 I think.

It's really strong and survivable. Only thing I'm really scared of are explosions, or really hard physical hitters.

Has really fast clearspeed too since you move really fast.





May have to drop haste for another Herald if they do increase the herald's % reserved with the expansion, which will suck, but will free up 2 passives.

For your build, best auras are Hatred, Haste and Herald of Ash. Get a reduced mana and run them with it in a 4l.

For single target, glacier hammer is alright, link it with multistrike, faster attacks, blood magic. Other single target you might want to consider is heavy strike.

Cast when damage taken setup will also help in many situations. 4L would be CWDT, enduring cry, immortal call and the last gem can either be increased duration or a curse such as enfeeble or even decoy totem.

I like warlock's mark as a curse for Cyclone but you definitely can use others. Like the others, I feel that a single curse should be sufficient and a dual curse an overkill.

For skill points try to get life first and foremost. The reason is that you might find a very good sword or axe and you will have to respec all damage nodes. I like the life wheel at the Scion area. Other worth notables are Master of the Arena, Art of the Gladiator and the damage nodes just south of the Duelist area. Try to also get some Accuracy nodes, it helps with Cyclone.

Try to get quality for Cyclone as it will help in your AOE. Also get gems like melee physical damage, concentrated effect, increased area of effect, added fire. Leap slam is so useful for both damage and movement. You will probably need a couple of blood magic and melee physical.

You are better off using 2h axes with cyclone, because they have better range, and with cyclone range really matters. Only reason to use maces is either you want to stun (then groundslam is better), or use mace specific skill like glacial hammer.

Thanks for all the additional information, this really helps :).

I know that axes have more reach, but I think it is fine with a hammer. It is also a lot of fun.

Kaom's is certainly too expensive for me, essentially anything that is >2 exa is definitely out of my league, just starting. Highest clear speed is not essential, fun is more important - my second character will probably be more "efficient". I will have to see.

About the two curses, have to see about that. Definitely not going for the node, it is too far away. Edzilla, you are not using any curses? I just thought that with a curse, you get a multiplicative damage effect on damage, which is quite nice. Using Warlord's Mark I currently don't need Blood Magic, which is nice, but I am only running one aura (Herald of Ash). The other problem I feel is that if I run out of mana, things can get dangerous because I can be stunned. BTW accuracy is not really needed because I am using resolute technique. Not using blood magic frees up one spot for skills.

Currently in the middle of A3 cruel, can't play too much at the moment, other stuff to do. Most dangerous thing is strongboxes - screen usually freezes for >10s if there is an exile. Problem of the Mac wrapper version.