[2.5] Breath of the Council Melee Abyssal Cry Whiner - Uber Izaro / Pale Council down

Released with patch 2.3, updated to 2.5 (does not really need an update as the concept still stands)

Shortest description: melee / Abyssal Cry / Deidbellow / Berserker / Voidheart / Uber Lab (3+keys)+Pale Council capable

Pro's:
- Very good pack clearing speed (whole pack dies when first mob dies)
- Cheap for what it does (the most expensive piece is Voidheart but I've managed to get the prophecy twice so it is possible to get it self found)
- Very good sustain in long fights (25% life recovered every few seconds - endless flasks)
- Good single target thanks to stacking poison/bleeds + totem. Due to us being pretty immortal these fights are very safe but can take a while compared to 2mil crit builds.
- Not Yet Another Juggernaut Build (NYAJB)

Con's
- Voidheart is - just like for most melee builds nowadays - pretty much necessary without actually being mandatory. Lack of it hurts when dealing with single targets
- Melee.


Gear:


Tree:


Stats:


Gear Choices:

Very strong melee weapon. Guaranteed rolls, pretty cheap (due to being 'the bad outcome' from Pale Council). Prioritize chaos damage. Our job is to reach chain-reaction threshold.
Other mods are pretty much tailor made for this build.


My new love. The Amazing. The Great. The Fantastic. Unique item that is truly unique and changes how you play. For me it is the new Infractem of POE's uniques.
The 'you are 20% faster' mod makes you care about your warcries, makes you think about movement, makes you blaze trough maps. Other stats arent bad either.


Sadly it is so good that once you can get it - get it. It is just too good to miss.

Other pieces are what is needed to build a character the way I build melee guys: AR + EV + strong shield.

Other items are to cap resists and to provide INT that is in very high demand and in short supply at the same time. good 35+ INT roll on ring/amulet makes gearing much easier.

Get some Energy Shield. Value is irrelevant. For tough fights (Uber Izi) you disable blood rage so you'll have some ES from time to time. ANY ES gives you 50% chance to avoid stun. It is a nice bonus that is very cheap to get and can save one's ass.


Tree Choices:
- Shield defence % nodes (with a good shield) provide base of our defences.
- Mixed AR/EV nodes to protect us both from phys (that is also covered with End Charges) and elemental attacks (that armour does nothing agains).
- Enough life nodes to reach ~5k around 90. High enough to not be worried about stuns.
- Enough weapon damage to start chain reactions
- Several jewel slots. Jewels to look for: damage / phys damage / area damage / chaos damage / dot damage / phys with maces / life. try to pick these that double/triple dip (damage/area damage/phys damage). These jewels are surprisingly pricey so be warned (the same stats are used for bladefall mines..)
- Area radius and damage from templar
- Attack speed. Our weapon isnt the fastest.
- Diamond skin - spec in/out depending on your needs. Resists are hard to come by in my case so I have a Purity on hand for dangerous maps (disable Hatred as it has miniscule clear speed impact anyway)

Ascendancy choice:
Berserker - War bringer + 3 other nodes.
War Bringer: obvious, THE build. 25% life on warcry, warcry cooldown cut in half. Perfect.
'The 40% MORE node': good for melee attack but what it does is it enables the Abyssal Cry chains.
4th choice is awkward. The leech node is bad, you wont need it ever. So the 25% aspd if not hit recently is the only other choice. Pick it. 4th ascendancy for this build is hardly needed to be honest.


Gems:
Ground Slam + AOE + Melee Phys + End Charge on Melee Stun + Faster Attacks + 6th gem I never used. Yes, it is effectively a 3 link.
Why not EQ?
- because I do not like playing stuff that feels like cheating
- this build needs one hit, the aftershock hits empty terrain and is a waste
- i like the directional targeting GS has and find it safer than EQ's 'in your face' application

I happen to have the EQ enchant (not the best but still) and tried it while whacking Izaro but i just enjoy GS more.

For Uber Izaro and other tough bosses: replace AOE with Conc Effect and Abyssal Cry with Enduring Cry.

Other links:
Blasphemy + Vulnerability / Enfeeble (depending on situation)

Abyssal Cry (lowest level you can get!) + AOE + Poison + Blood Magic (too many times got OOM without it. but it can be done. then replace it with Void Manipulation)

Hatred / Grace as our 50% aura because why not.

Leap Slam + Faster Attacks + Fortify

Counterattack gems + Melee Phys + Ancestral Protector (not Warchief - for the same reason why not EQ)

Stone Golem (because had it lying around.. this is the first time I noticed that it is this particular golem type and not the other. Irrelevant because I hardly ever summon him anyway.)

Playstyle:
- run to a pack
- abyssal cry
- slam
- collect loot

Build can handle phys reflect and ele reflect maps. Phys reflect can be scarry but once 6 end charges and Granite are up - it is perfectly safe. Ele reflect maps are non-issue.

Videos:
TBD (off on short vacation)

If you play with breath of the council plus voidhearth it seems strange to not use the added chaos dmg and void manipulation gems. Is there a reason?

How do you get endless flasks?