(Theorycraft) Big Man with a Brain: Spirited MoM Berserker

Recently I've been toying with an idea for a build that I think will be really really tanky, while also having decent if not great damage. The idea (in its current infancy) is to stack as many +#% of damage gained as mana when hit mods, so that Mind over Matter is essentially negating 30% of incoming damage. I'll go through some thoughts I've had on the subject below

Spirited Response:
This jewel is the core of the build's defense. It provides 10% %dgamwh as long as Rallying Cry is up. With a 20% quality Rallying Cry, and the ascendancy passive I'll go over next, that should be a walk in the park. It is possible to use more than one Spirited Response, though getting two jewel sockets with 50 intelligence in the radius as a marauder could be tricky. I'll probably only use one myself.

Berserker:
Berserker is the class of choice, since it provides the War Bringer notable, which buffs warcry skills in a few ways. Firstly, it increases the duration by 100%, putting it at over 20 seconds with a 20% quality gem. The passive also provides 25% life and mana recovery when you use a warcry, which is huge. When I do this build, probably in the next challenge league, I'll probably use a self cast Enduring Cry to more fully take advantage of that passive. The third buff it grants is a reduction to warcry cooldown, which is nice, but ultimately it will probably be inconsequential given how long the warcries will last.

Mindspiral Aventail Helmet
This is probably the next best source of %dgamwh, with a roll of 5-10%. A max roll would make negating Mind over Matter really easy, since you would only need 10% from other sources. The downside of Mindspiral is that you cannot leech mana, so you either need more than 30% dgamwh or really insane regen. That said, the goal of building this way is to reach over 30% dgamwh, so that downside should be easy enough to work around. And if you get really starved for mana, just refresh a warcry for a free 25%.

Battle Rouse
This is a notable passive on the skill tree that provides maximum mana and a 3% dgamwh roll. Most builds don't even consider taking it, since mana leech is usually more efficient.

Praxis Paua Ring
This is another unique I will almost certainly use when I do this build, since it provides a guaranteed 8% dgamwh, with no other roll possible. However, I'll have to limit the number of uniques I use beyond that, since neither Mindspiral nor Praxis have life or resists, though both have hefty mana rolls which sort of counts towards life.

Rough Calculations
MoM: 30% of damage taken from mana
Spirited Response/Rallying Cry: -10%
Mindspiral: -10%
Praxis: -8%
Battle Rouse: -3%
Total: 31%
So with this setup and a max rolled Mindspiral, it is possible to gain mana when hit even with Mind over Matter.

Corrupted Implicit Modifier
It is possible to corrupt a ring, amulet, or shield so that it has a 3-6% dgamwh mod. If you don't want to use one of the uniques listed, corrupting one or more of those gear pieces with this mod could easily replace it. However, buying corrupted gear, or corrupting it yourself, can be costly, and since I was going to use a build like this to start a new league, it isn't something I'll be doing, at least not until late game.


I've talked a lot about this wacky defensive strategy, but I have no plan for the offense of this build. Mindspiral gives increases to cold and lightning damage, so some sort of Call of the Brotherhood build might be interesting, but other than that I haven't given it much thought. if you have any thoughts, questions, or suggestions on that, or anything I've said, please leave a reply. This is a discussion forum after all.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1291062
hope this could be helpful.

and if you can corrupt Praxis to get dtgamwh, you could just drop Mindspiral.
need to consider the location to put Spirited Response. 50 int around.... go north.

Corrupting Praxis would be the perfect thing to do. As far as location, north is indeed best. The jewel socket closest to MoM can work, though pathing to get 50 there would probably be inefficient. It may be better than other options though. I think I'll probably go for the one by the power charge in the witch area, because I'm thinking of using Storm Call with this build and so I'l take the lightning damage wheel as well.

You pick Berserker because of Cloaked in Savagery's 100% leech right?
if that's correct, I recommend skill that do multiple hits, frequently, like Lightning Tendrils for example.
Storm Call has its duration effect that can not be skipped, the delay between strikes could be serious danger cause you can't leech there.

I pick Berserker for the 100% increased warcry duration. I also had planned to possibly take duration nodes on the tree so, I realize that Storm Call is a bad choice. I do enjoy the playstyle of Lightning Tendrils, I've used it before, but I was trying to do a CI occultist with it. It would be interesting to play an LT marauder.

Actually I'll probably go melee or bow, since the default boost berserker gets is physical attack damage. I've wanted to do a static strike build for a while, so maybe this will be that build. Whatever I do, I'l post a thread on it once I've got it up and running.

Great idea. I feel like damage gained as mana on hit is really underrated.

I wonder if there would be some additional defensive synergy with these items as a way to gain some damage taken as life too:

I always wanted to try meleee build with Mind over Matter maybe i will try it with this items. But i don't know which skill to use or even how to build three. I was play other build with MoM and i was need a lot mana regen and mana and I used only 1 aura so i don't know maybe it's bad idea for melee. Skil tree: https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAECAAHcBLMFLQthDF8UIBSpFukaPhynHNwkNykuLlMy0TWSOd08LT38QYdD50VHRZ1HflBHU1JTpVYtVw1YY18_ZU1nm2jybzt07XfjeA14enrvfLh9-4IHg1-DzITZhO-FModqjM-PGphXmuCiAKdtqSepbqmUrj6vbLXytz69Nr6nvwjAGsBmw2jEuMauxtjSIdNv1fjYvdrB3uXg2ORR6-7vDvAf8azyQfZI-ej-Cg== ?