[2.4] Tank of Blades: Slayer Life MoM NonCrit Ele BV LeapSlam Tank! (Guardian vids) + 1ExBUDGET!

WELCOME TO THE
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[2.4] Tank of Blades [Slayer Life MoM Staff NonCrit Elemental BV Leap Slam Tank]

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BUILD GUIDE!
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My name is Abiss, and I present to you the first iteration of the Tank of Blades build.

(Please bear with me through any grammatical or other errors - this is my second ever build guide.)

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Videos:

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• Clears ANY map.
• VERY TANKY, comparable to Energy Shield builds, due to the combination of a high life pool (Aorund 9k or more when combined with the mana due to Mind over Matter), Slayer Leech Ascendancies and Damage Reductions from various sources.
• Farms Uber Lab with any combination of Izaro Mods EASILY, Facetanking EVERYTHING!
• Steamrolls normal Atziri, but I have not tried Uber, as she's famously tough for Melee builds.
• Easily does pretty much any map mod. (I tend to annoying combinations like no leech with no regen etc.)
• And I mean ANY map mod (reflect, minus max resistance, curse immune, blood magic, etc.).
• Has a VERY cheap budget version - doable with less than 1 Exalted orb!
• Has no insane chroming costs for off-color sockets.
• Passive tree pretty much complete at level 90.

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PROS:

• VERY Tanky: This is the combination of Fortify, a HUGE life and Mana pool with Mind Over Matter, IMMUNITY TO LEECH AND STUN granted by Slayer's Life Leech ascendancy points, PERMANENT MAXIMUM ENDURANCE CHARGES for 24+% Phys reduction and tons of Elemenal Resistance, and a 6 second Immortal Call on CWDT. And this is all without the additional buffs that Flasks can provide!
• INSANE Damage: Blade Vortex is already known for its massive damage output, and using the power of Pledge of Hands for a 7-Link, with Elemental Overload, this damage hits some insane levels. Yet you can easily survive ANY reflect maps or packs (except for Mirror Atziri with full reflect.)
• FAST CLEAR SPEED: The pro above this one combined with the amazing mobility Leap Slam provides equals very fast map clears, without the reliance on Flasks!
• FAIRLY CHEAP: Most of the gear we use is pretty under-used and cheap at the moment, the most expensive being a 6-Link Pledge of Hands, which you can comfortably substitute a 5-Link one ( the loss of damage which will be hardly noticeable outside of boss fights) and a Voll's Devotion, which is under 4 Ex at the moment. You can do this build without Voll's Devotion, you just lose a lot of your tankiness, especially for Uber Lab farming.
• FAST AND STRAIGHTFORWARD LEVELING: Put on a pair of Facebreaker gloves at 16 with Meginord's Girdle and some other gear that adds Physical Damage to Attacks (rings, amulet, uniques) and you can level with this build with no respeccing needed ever.
• EXTREMELY SATISFYING TO PLAY: Tanking everything the game can dish out at you and laughing it off, while SLAMMING around instantly murdering pack, this build is both FLASHY and FUN.

CONS:

• TOO TANKY FOR YOUR OWN GOOD: Since you can usually just shrug off most damage, you'll sometimes be stupid and forget some important stuff, that you simply have to avoid - like the Reflect Atziri from Atziri's Split Phase or Lightning Thorns bosses (Blade Vortex does NOT like those). Insanely huge Elemental hits can also be a problem if you're not careful (applies to T15+ maps with insane Elemental Mods only).
• MELEE RANGE: You do have to get up close and personal, which means you might die a lot while leveling if you're not well-geared or experienced.

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Budget version:

The budget version of the build functions similarily to the more expensive one, with the exception of having to self-cast Enduring Cry for Boss Fights and Hexproof maps. Warlord's Mark will take care of maximum power charges while you're killing packs of monsters.

This is also a viable alternative for people who want to use their Ring and Amulet slots for damage or survivability, instead of the Romira's Banquet + Voll's Devotion combo. I personally enjoy the automation they provide, but if you're not bothered by selfcasting Enduring Cry, you could get much higher life or DPS numbers than me.

The build functions perfectly well on a 5-Linked Pledge of Hands, which is essentially a 6-Link because it has a built-in level 30 Spell Echo. This staff should only cost around 30-40 chaos orbs and will be your most expensive item. The rest of the gear is just rares with high Life and Resists, plus the Dexterity you need. I'll include what to look for in the gear requirements below.

Budget version gear requirements:

• Weapon: 5L Pledge of Hands
• Amulet: Rare Amulet with Life > Spell Damage > Cast Speed > Mana = Mana Regeneration > Cold Damage (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Ring #1: Essence Worm
• Ring #2: Rare Ring with Life > Resists >Cast Speed > Mana = Mana Regeneration > Cold Damage (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Armour: Belly of the Beast or a High Life Rare Chest (No links needed!)
• Belt: Rare Belt with Life and Resists (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Helmet: Rare Helm with Life and Resists (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Gloves: Rare Gloves with Life, Mana and Resists (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Boots: Rare Boots with Life, Movement Speed, Resists and Mana (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Unique Jewel: Clear Mind Cobalt Jewel
• Rare Jewels: you want jewels with Life and Damage (Area Damage, Physical Damage, Spell Damage, Cold Damage, Fire Damage), or Dexterity and Resists if you're missing some.
• If you have resists and dexterity covered on rares, you can also look for high Mana on them, as that will translate into more tankiness.

Budget version flask requirements:

Either of these (except for the life one) can be replaced with a Resistance Flask or one of these:


Budget version gems and explanations:

• Main setup: Blade Vortex - Life Leech - Controlled Destruction - Added Fire Damage - Increased Area of Effect/Concentrated Area of Effect (I swap Inc AoE in for faster map clears, and Conc Effect in for tough bosses)
• Aura: Hatred in the unique ring Essence Worm for 0% Mana reservation - results in more effective life for us due to Mind Over Matter!
• Movement skill: Leap Slam - Faster Attacks - Fortify (It's fast AND can move across obstacles!)
• Utility Gems: Vaal Haste + Blood Rage + Decoy Totem + Increased Duration
• Utility Gems #2: Vaal Lightning Trap + Enduring Cry
• CWDT Setup: Cast When Damage Taken lv20 + Immortal Call lv20 + Increased Duration + Summon Stone Golem
• Curse on Hit setup: Blade Vortex + Curse on Hit + Warlord's Mark + Increased Area of Effect - The increased AoE gem here can be replaced by Increased Duration, but you'll often kill monsters before you can curse them that way, so I recommend the AoE variant!

• For Elemental Reflect maps, swap out Hatred for Grace, swap out Added Fire Damage for Iron Will, swap out Elemental Focus for Added Chaos Damage.
• For Physical Reflect maps, swap out Controlled Destruction or Inc AoE for Physical to Lightning. This is rarely an issue however, at later levels you don't have to swap anything.

Budget version bandits and passive tree:

Bandits:
Normal: Oak (life)
Cruel: Alira (Cast Speed)
Merciless: Oak (Endurance charge)

Ascendancy:
Normal Lab: Slayer Ascendancy, take Bane of Legends
Cruel Lab: Headsman
Merciless Lab: Endless Hunger
Uber Lab: Brutal Fervour

Current Passive skill tree at level 91 (Essence Softcore).

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Offense:

Fully buffed with Concentrated Effect:


Unbuffed with Increased AoE:

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Defense:

• ~6.2k Life (Plus some ES)
• ~2.5k Mana for Mind Over Matter
• 20% Reduced damage taken (Fortify)
• 24% Reduced Physical damage taken (6 Endurance Charges)
• ~4% + 20% Overkill Damage Life Leech with 148% Life Leech Rate
• Immune to Bleed while Leeching
• Immune to Stun while Leeching
• ~2% Mana Leech
• ~6 second Immortal Call autocast with Cast when Damage Taken

Fully buffed:


Buffed but no flasks:


Unbuffed:

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Gems and explanations:

• Main setup: Blade Vortex - Life Leech - Controlled Destruction - Added Fire Damage - Elemental Focus - Increased Area of Effect/Concentrated Area of Effect (I swap Inc AoE in for faster map clears, and Conc Effect in for tough bosses)
• Aura: Hatred in the unique ring Essence Worm for 0% Mana reservation - more effective life for us!
• Movement skill: Leap Slam - Faster Attacks - Fortify (It's fast AND can move across obstacles!)
• Utility Gems: Vaal Haste + Blood Rage + Decoy Totem + Increased Duration
• Utility Gems #2: Vaal Lightning Trap + Increased Duration
• CWDT Setup: Cast When Damage Taken lv20 + Immortal Call lv20 + Increased Duration + Summon Stone Golem
• Curse on Hit setup: Blade Vortex + Curse on Hit + Warlord's Mark + Increased Area of Effect - The increased AoE gem here can be replaced by Increased Duration, but you'll often kill monsters before you can curse them that way, so I recommend the AoE variant!

• For Elemental Reflect maps, swap out Hatred for Grace, swap out Added Fire Damage for Iron Will, swap out Elemental Focus for Added Chaos Damage.
• For Physical Reflect maps, swap out Elemental Focus for Physical to Lightning. This is rarely an issue however, at later levels you don't have to swap anything.

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Bandits and passive tree:

Bandits:
Normal: Oak (life)
Cruel: Alira (Cast Speed)
Merciless: Oak (Endurance charge)

Ascendancy:
Normal Lab: Slayer Ascendancy, take Bane of Legends
Cruel Lab: Headsman
Merciless Lab: Endless Hunger
Uber Lab: Brutal Fervour

Current Passive skill tree at level 91 (Essence Softcore).

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GEAR SETUP:

Required Items:

• Weapon: Pledge of Hands
• Amulet: Voll's Devotion
• Ring #1: Essence Worm
• Ring #2: Romira's Banquet
• Armour: Belly of the Beast
• Belt: Rare Belt with Life and Resists (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Helmet: Rare Helm with Life and Resists (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Gloves: Rare Gloves with Life, Mana and Resists (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Boots: Rare Boots with Life, Movement Speed, Resists and Mana (If needed, also Dexterity!)
• Unique Jewel: Clear Mind Cobalt Jewel
• Rare Jewels: you want jewels with Life and Damage (Area Damage, Physical Damage, Spell Damage, Cold Damage, Fire Damage), or Dexterity and Resists if you're missing some.
• If you have resists and dexterity covered on rares, you can also look for high Mana on them, as that will translate into more tankiness for you.

My gear (nearing perfection, you DON'T need items this good):


My Jewels (LOTS of room for improvement):


My Flasks (I rarely use them, you can use any combination you like):

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Leveling:

Get to level 12 any way you wish, then get Blade Vortex. Start linking it with the support skills listed below as you level up. Put it in a Lifesprig or Tabula Rasa for faster leveling!
Blade Vortex -> Added Fire Damage -> Added Lightning Damage -> Controlled Destruction -> Faster Casting -> Increased AoE -> Spell Echo...

Controlled Destruction and Faster Casting replace Added Fire and Added Lightning at 18. Spell Echo replaces Faster Casting at 38.

Run Hatred and Herald of Ice for more DPS. Before you get to level 36 for Hatred, you can use all three Herald Skills.

Look for Spell Damage on your leveling items! Physical damage on weapons doesn't help Blade Vortex! It gets damage from Spell Damage, Area Damage, Physical Damage (NOT Physical Attack Damage! NOT Physical Weapon Damage! NOT Melee Damage!), Cold Damage and if you have Added Fire Linked, Fire Damage.

Also look for Cast Speed on your leveling items!

Items that will really speed up your leveling are:

• At level 1:
[dbLinkedItem id="10741104953" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741104957" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741104961" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199920" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199923" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199929" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199932" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199935" inline="0"]
• Elreon Rings and Amulets will make your mana needs disappear, so try getting them!
• At level 8:
[dbLinkedItem id="10741104965" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199937" inline="0"][dbLinkedItem id="10741199942" inline="0"]

Skill tree progression:


Passive skill tree at 29 points used - start by picking up the Duration nodes:


Passive skill tree at 49 points - continue into the Area of Effect nodes:


Passive skill tree at 69 points - grab more life nodes and some jewels:


Passive skill at 80 points - continue picking up Life nodes, consider taking Mind Over Matter if you have enough Mana, more jewels:


Passive skill at 100 points - finish with more life and Scion AoE:

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Special thanks:

Kudos to Bob for helping me bounce ideas!

Whoops, premature submit! I'll be adding the rest of the guide soon~

Nicely written guide man
keep it up !
might consider adding some character panel screenshot , other way its well written.

Wow incredible nice build I especially love that its budget friendly.

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ZipperTAG wrote:

Nicely written guide man
keep it up !
might consider adding some character panel screenshot , other way its well written.

Thanks man! I've added some screenshots, cheers for the advice! ;)

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zzang wrote:

Wow incredible nice build I especially love that its budget friendly.

Heh thanks, yeah compared to a CI or Lowlife build, it certainly is! :D

You use romira + voll just to keep up end charges? There has to be an easier way.

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Aggnog wrote:

You use romira + voll just to keep up end charges? There has to be an easier way.

Well, for regular packs there's Warlord's Mark, and there's always the option of self-casting Enduring Cry... But that's for a budget build variant. I'll add a section talking about it tomorrow.

Suffice to say that I love the automation and guaranteed full-time Endurance Charges this combo provides.

Added two new vids:

Minotaur Guardian Easy Facetank

Surviving Vinktar Square Boss without a Topaz Flask

Added an Uber Lab run video. Facetanking charged-up Izaro. Like a boss.

Uber Labyrinth Run, facetanking charged Izaro

Added a Budget Version section!