Vennie Ground Slam Cookiecutter: Lagging HC - ALIVE Project

Hello everyone!

Now, I do not play HC for a few reasons. My PC sucks, and my internet connection is as stable as a mental patient.

The aim of this build is to make as cookie cutter-ish, as survivable as possible character, which should be able to survive most of the lag moments, while not being gear dependent.

So, the idea is to use a one handed mace and a shield. Get high block chance, maximum Endurance Charges, and high stun chance with Ground Slam, which is intended to be used both as an AoE attack and a single target attack.

I spent a couple of hours brainstorming the passive skill tree, and I came up with this passive tree build. Do take into consideration that I have not yet started playing this build. I will start playing it on Saturday night (it is Thursday now).

There is a problem with shields and block chance: when you block an attack, you effectively get stunned for a short duration. Normally to solve that you would need to invest in Block Recovery, but I solve that problem with Unwavering Stance.

Next, I find it annoying that I can die just like that with some really good pieces of gear, so I wanted to minimize the need for really strong gear pieces, so my loss if I die feels smaller. I achieve that with a mix of Diamond Skin nodes, +30% ER in the shield ring near Templar tree and a lot of Endurance Charges. This build provides about +100% elemental resistance without a single resist affix on items. Endurance Charges also serve their purpose as reliable physical damage reducters. With the two unique rings which provide +1 to Max endurance charges, you should count on having at least 50% physical damage reduction even to the hardest boss hits.

Gameplay wise, using this setup requires the player to be well aware of his positioning in relation to the monsters. You are supposed to kite the monsters around into tight spots and prevent them from ever even reaching you.

The build utilizes Blood Magic for a simple reason that investing into Mana regeneration nodes and items would be counter productive to the aim of the build. In late game using a Blood Magic support gem on Ground Slam is a viable option, but I wouldn't use it unless I own a 6L armour, and the aim of the build is to be as gear independent as possible!

Skills:

Ground Slam + Stun + Melee Physical Damage + Life Leech (+Faster Attacks/Concentrated Effect/Knockback, may also use Melee on Full Life if you are confident in your kiting skills and have the right HP flasks)

Enduring Cry

Buffs/Auras:

Grace, Discipline (may also use Wrath, Anger, though the build is not really all that supportive about those)

The passive skill tree:

Click this line!

Please leave your feedback, I appreciate it very much. I apologize if I left out anything important; it Will be added.

Reserved for updates + bump

Im in the same spot like you crappy computer and high ping.

I love man up style and melee berserker style but ...

like you said you want to stay alive ... then go range its simple as that.

You may not like it but i cant go melee in 6ppl game while all the fireworks is going on so ..

Atm im trying 2x totem build and what can i say ... i dont take damage while i still have stacked life and other def nods.

Not as fun as melee but well ...

"

zkeleton wrote:

Im in the same spot like you crappy computer and high ping.

I love man up style and melee berserker style but ...

like you said you want to stay alive ... then go range its simple as that.

You may not like it but i cant go melee in 6ppl game while all the fireworks is going on so ..

Atm im trying 2x totem build and what can i say ... i dont take damage while i still have stacked life and other def nods.

Not as fun as melee but well ...

I don't see ranged being in a better position defensively in case of a sudden disconnect / graphical lag moment. The aim was to build the most survivable, gear independent character possible. Also when it comes to parties, the biggest party I'm ever going to be a part of is not likly to exceed 3 players, so that doesn't bother me. When it comes to double totems; I tried playing that and it is just not enjoyable anymore as it was in CB; so I'm not going to play something I do not enjoy.

Except for Ground Slam, what are the rest of the skills/gems you use (if you said which one i am so sorry but i am a new player so i still need to understand the shortcuts so please be gentle with me) ?

Bones Smasher (the one near Resolute Technique) and Iron Reflexes are a waste of points. As a Marauder you don't have much evasion to start with and you don't have much dex either. So Iron Reflexes are 4 wasted points. Even with a Grace aura it's not worth it, because a Granite Flask gives you 4k armor. And armor won't save you from the 3k+ hit of a boss monster. You wasted another 6 points to get Bone Smasher with a total of +10 Strength and +34% more physical damage. Take a look at the Templar tree. After Swashbuckler you can get the same amount of damage for only 4 points. Or the Marauder tree.

You can get +50%! more physical damage there for only 5 points if you go for Strong Arm there. Also you need more life nodes. The more the better. Go for the Fitness node above the Templar tree. For 5 points you get +10 int, +20 str and +34% life. With 6 points more you can go for Divine Toughness. That would give you +30 int and another +34% life. I strongly and highly recommend going for these life nodes ASAP. The best tanking method is life and resists. Everything else is crap, except for Energy Shield if you have CI. Armor and evasion aren't completely useless but their usefulness is very limited.

Equipment: Look for life, resists (mainly chaos!) and maybe some dex/int bonus so you can use gems that aren't only based on strength. Since you're using Endurance Charges, life bonus is more important than resists, except for chaos. On your weapon look for damage, + %physical damage and faster attack. Everything else is a bonus. Only take gear that gives you an armor bonus.

Skills: For Bosses you can take Glacial Hammer or Heavy Strike. I would go for Glacial Hammer, because the knockback of Heavy Strike can be annoying as hell if you're playing in a party, whereas the freeze from Glacial Hammer is very welcome. You should use Life Leech only on Single Target Skills like Glacial Hammer and Heavy Strike. For AoE Skills like Sweep and Ground Slam you are much better off with Life Gain on Hit. Remember that the life leech from Life Gain on Hit is applied instantly, which is very important when you're fighting against a big mob. And don't forget about the Totems. A Decoy or Rejuvenation Totem might save your ass more than once. And the Detonate Dead skill is also very helpful. No more trouble with Necromancers reviving the monsters you just killed and you don't have to worry about corpse explosions too! And don't you forget about those shiny curses. Warlord's Mark might be just the one you're looking for. Or Vulnerability.

Main Skill: Ground Slam + Melee Physical Damage + Life Gain on Hit + Added Fire Damage + Faster Attcks
Glacial Hammer + Melee Physical Damage + Weapon Elemental Damage + Life Leech

I would suggest putting Ground Slam along with the support gems in a 5 linked armor. Put Glacial Hammer along with the support gems in a 4 linked helm, gauntlets or boots. If you want to run auras, always combine them with a Reduced Mana gem if possible. Because running those auras means less life for tanking. Since you're playing HC think very careful about running auras. Is the benefit really worth the loss of life?

Wonderful post; thank you for the feedback! I will analyze it more closely and see what I can implement into my build.