Help me learn to Theorycraft better builds.

I've been playing this game on and off for close to two years at this point, and I've only never had 1 truly successful build that I built and geared myself. And the only reason it was successful was because of an obviously broken mechanic (Burn Prolif). It was your usual Flameblast Prolif MoM EB AA build that you see everywhere. I didn't actually follow a guide itself, but the build isn't unique in anyway.

I know I get way more enjoyment out of making and using a build that I created rather then following a build someone else did. I've tried it many times and it doesn't feel 'good' to me at all, so I try and make my own. And that's where I hope you guys can help me learn to craft a better build all together.

With the changes in the beta, I've thought up of a Dual Wield Crit sword build that would probably use Dual Strike as its main skill. Strike - Splash - Melee Phys - Multistrike - Crit Multi - Faster Attacks.

Now, I know that my build is with the Beta in mind, but I figure I'll post a 'live' version of the build as the concept is the same.

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgQAmy2K8F85xILpRrCrvqe9NmVNR36E2WBBY3AR1VeXQzFTu7_VG8iE73Tteu8FLWBLYSEaVYjtqfrh72SjNugB56cwns3SIRRN_Eu8nxiR8kGCB9l8Vw1aGrZB1fjEuNlhrY3Pfnas6hj3Mphv3COSfeXPPT5VtcEEXz_vDhQgUEfkUYzP9kg9_Fhj975ul_KcW69OKgAGFfZieZ-C4JVW6Ep945-Hdmeg_MXdDXfXVvoGIFh1dKAGohfckApGaSmlRJ6wcyFgwYs=

That is the build I would have planned for live If I where to go through and make this build. It would be planned for about 80-83 depending on bandits.

My idea behind this build in total, would be use make use of the crazy dual wield and 1-h/sword crit nodes that are around the tree.

For Offense:

In total it would have 395% crit from the tree, which If I calculated it right, with a 6.5% crit sword, i would have a 32% chance to crit with every hit (Which feels way low for some reason). 75% Multi from tree would be about all that I could grab without going way the hell into shadow. I'd have 46% attack speed from the tree (Not counting the 10% for dual wielding itself) and 184% phys damage with swords. I know 184% is a bit low, but on the beta tree its higher. Reaching upwards of 250% for roughly the same amount of points. I also get 3% leech from the tree which, with crits, should be plenty.

For Defense:

I'd be sitting at around 160% life by level 80. I know 160% is low for melee, but with the changes to defense in the beta, I might be able to slide by with 160% and fortify with 4-6 endurance charges and Immortal Call to help mitigate damage. Using Iron Reflexes I should be able to net some decent armor If I find a piece or two with good EV on it. 62% Armor, 30% evasion, and 102% Ev and Ar, hopefully will net me enough. 4.4% Life Regen should be enough to sustain Blood Rage for Frenzy Charges + Some extra leech, as frenzy charges in the beta are pretty dumb.

Misc :

I'd net +80 Int from the tree and +14 Int from some item will allow me to use a level 20 Crit Multi gem with exactly 108 Int. I only have 2% block from the tree which I feel would need to be higher, I'm close to another 5% but thats like 85-88 ish before I could net all of those.

So that is the basis of my idea, and I'm hoping you guys could tell me what I did right and what I did wrong when trying to make this build happen. I wan't to learn to be a better player overall, and I think getting the Tree down is a good place to start.

DW crit just screams Abysssus to me, I'd definitely try to craft my build/tree around that item. You already mentioned taking a lot of armor/Endurance Charges, maybe even Lightning Coil/Soul of Steel on top.
Your crit is going to be higher with the new foil bases if you're able to use them, plus some Power Charges from Ass Mark, probably closer to 50%.
I'd recommend the Versatility node in the Marauder start for you and Revelry in its new beta position instead of Mana Flows.
I'd say Crit Multi is a pretty underwhelming support gem nowadays unless you're going for some big status ailments.

That's all that comes to mind right now, your build looks like a solid starting point in general.

The biggest problem I would have with Abyssus would be the Increased Phys Damage taken. The ability to survive in melee is already hard enough without block, so with the few block points i have and the lack of a shield, It'd be to much of an investment to make it work. I could use CWDT-IC-Duration like usual, but that 40-50% increase would hurt to much on big hitting bosses.

When it comes to the Mana Flows node, In the beta tree I did take Revelry. The +2 mana gained on hit x2 for dual wield x3 for multistrike would net 12 mana gained for one swing of dual strike. It's possible I won't even need those as I might be able to grab 1% mana leech and sustain enough due to crit damage and phys.

I thought about running Herald of Thunder for crit shocks/assassins mark spread through CoH. The biggest problem with running Thunder would be Int investement. I'd need 150 int for level 20 HoT and I only pick up 60 out of the tree, 80 if I pick up Versitility. It's possible to self cast it, but I was hoping to find a way to apply it quickly. I was even thinking about using one of my 4 links for Whirling Blades. Whirling Blades - PCoC - Fortify - Faster Attacks. With Dual wield and attack speed from tree with 1.6 - 2.0 ish attack speeds I think I might be able to keep up the 3/4 which is another 150/200%, pretty easily.

I also though about dipping into the reduced mana reserved at the bottom of the dualist tree and running Ash/Hatred/Ice for crit freezes on mobs. With PCoC and Herald of Ice I would need about 108 Int in total, Getting 80 from the tree and the 14 from dualist start I would need either 14 int or forgo a few levels of PCoC. I could then run Dual Strike through blood magic and whriling blades through mana, with 1% leech somewhere on my items it should sustain it enough to stay even on cost. So I would use - Strike - Splash - Multi - Melee Phys - Blood Magic - Faster Attacks. probably swapping melee phys for BM if I cant sustain it before i reach those mana reserves. Though by the high 80's I should have enough currency for a solid 5 link.

Thanks for the tips BTW. I hope more people will chime in to see if I'm on the right track or not.

Bump please

For auras, neither Herald of Thunder/Ice are much good to you since they add flat elemental damage and you're a physical attacker. You won't do appreciably enough light/cold to shock or freeze. If and when you can, you probably didn't need the help stomping the trash into the ground with physical damage. Lightning skills and cold skills can proc shocks and freezes no problem. But that's not your bailiwick. You're not an Arcist.

You get much more out of Hatred or Herald of Ash, because those scale as a %x of your physical, effectively being a "more" multiplier to damage against non-resistant enemies). A low level clarity can also help smooth over your mana economy on top of leech and gain on hit and it's getting buffed for a4 to use less reserve.

Increased Critical Damage is fine, as it doubles your critical multiplier anyway. Since you're critting roughly a third of your cycles, you'll notice it.

Mind that Assassin's Mark's buff to your crit multiplier is a more bonus, not an increase. So it'll multiply your Inc Crit Dmg gem and possibly gib you on reflect if you try to hit an invincible reflect pack or something and roll too many consecutive crits. So I thoroughly recommend you find a way to CoH an Assassin's Mark on an AOE skill of some kind. Ball Lightning can be CoH carrier, but may be a bit janky for an attacker build. Though it does a nice job going around corners and naturally "pierces."

I don't recommend PCoC. Increased Critical Strike is a little better than 100% increased. Three power Charges is 150%. The extra 50% from the third charge is not worth micromanaging the charges and the spool-up time it takes to get there.

As for defenses, consider not doing IR at all. Melee duelists are one of the few builds that have any easy time pathing mixed Armor/Evasion and they synergize well because you can just stack both just below the point of diminishing returns. Grace is a good choice for bumping your evasion to just over 50%.

If you do stick with IR get Unwavering Stance since you go right by it for one point. Stun immunity is good, and certainly won't hurt for a melee build to have. Some mobs with some map mods can wind up stunlocking you just long enough to keep you from moving or depriving you of dps.

Maybe you're not aware, but armor's damage mitigation diminishes in proportion to the size of any incoming hit. Small frequent hits pink off your armor. You will feel big smashy hits. This is to impress upon you the fact that Endurance Charge physical mitigation is flat and does not behave like armor. If you have 24% DR from Charges, it's always 24% DR no matter if it's 1 damage or 10,000 damage.

Finally Soul of Steel gives 4% flat phys DR permanently and is being moved right by where you are pathing near the Bloodless life nodes. It's essentially a "free" and honorary Endurance Charge that you have at all times.

Since you want to figure things out yourself, I'll just post some thoughts, you can figure a tree yourself im sure.


First Problem: On Live, there are no basecrit swords atm, which mean you only get around 6,9% base crit at best.

2nd Problem: You want to go crit but you chose the marauder side. While there are crit options, the shadow/ranger side would be much better for critchance.

3rd "problem": For theorycrafting in general, plan out what you want to do in the tree and be aware which side of the tree offers which bonuses the most (shadow being crit related while mara being life/noncrit related mostly). This is ofc all basics, but you get what I'm saying I hope.

Next thing is point investment. Count how many points you invest into a skillpath and look at the outcome of the investment. Its all numbers and how characters play out. Maybe taking a shorter route will net you less crit but more "increased damage", resulting in giving you a smoother game experience, since you can invest your saved travelpoints elsewhere.

In the spoiler, I'll link a tree how I would build such a character on live starting as a Duelist. (I'd start as a shadow anyway for several reasons)

I've gibbed myself on 30% crit of all things with EK.

You don't have to be dagger shadow to notice the benefits of crit at all.

EDIT: Point of fact, it's also a good argument to get some evasion, since it doesn't descale in proportion to your own burst. The other alternative is to Physical to Lightning to get some damage conversion, which would solve the Herald of Thunder problem.