"The Highlander" - 2H Sword Duelist Build (0.10.1)
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Introduction:
This build is based on a theory-crafted 2H Sword Duelist Frenzy Build. I got interested in the build and started posting feedback on progression and small changes. I later started changing both spec and gameplay a lot and decided to post my own build. It's a short-range melee build based on a good balance between survivability (lots of life, 5+ endurance charges, high armour, high leech) and physical damage (2h sword, 4+ frenzy charges, a few damage passives). It uses Cleave and Heavy Strike as main offensive skills, with Frenzy, Enduring Cry and Warlord's Mark as necessary tools. Why should I play this build?
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This build is for players that enjoy melee but want to try something different than full tanking and "long-raged" melee (that play mostly like casters). It uses the Duelist starting position to quickly achieve survivability (Iron Reflexes, Unwavering Stance, Steel Skin, Diamond Skin, life nodes) and get increased endurance and frenzy charges. In the offensive part, it takes advantage of the increased physical damage and speed from 2h swords to achieve good enough DPS for a melee char (I didn't like the past experience of being a good tank but taking a long time to kill bosses). The high DEX from Duelist works well with the high evasion rating you will get from gear (IR), while the STR helps the life nodes and physical damage, making the Duelist the optimal choice.
This build is able to one-shot it's way to mid-cruel, and after that is still able to one-shot whites and many blue mobs. In comparison to other 2h sword builds posted, this build favors the right side of the tree, while many other builds go for Blood Magic, Life and Resists on the left side (near Marauder). The right side has better access and progression, and grants overall more life than the left side, since you can access life nodes on the ranger and center side. It won't get Blood Magic (I don't like and don't like the concept of short-range melee using it) and Resolute Technique (it would be useful), but mana problems can be dealt with (early on with clarity, later with % mana leech from physical) and chance to hit will be greatly boosted by the dex nodes the duelist gets. RP Background:
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As an immortal, you carry the burden of mistrust. You don't have friends and prefer to adventure through Wraeclast alone, for anyone that approaches you could be ploting to take your head. At all times you remember what drives you: THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. In times of great necessity, you carefully pick your partners and keep your guard up. Your strong sword is your best friend and the first line of defense. Once the battle starts, you have no fear for the most challenging enemies, going for their heads first, leaving no one else alive after.
Passive Skill Tree (spec, future spec, progression): Level 20 Level 40 Level 60 (current) Level 80 Skills:
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Single target -> Heavy Strike ::: Melee Physical Damage, Mana Leech (+ Faster Attacks, + Fire Damage)
AoE -> Cleave ::: Added Fire Damage, Faster Attacks, Life Gain On Hit (+ Melee Damage) Movement/Finish Off -> Flicker Strike ::: Melee Physical Damage, Mana Leech (+ Faster Attacks, + Fire Damage) Tools -> Frenzy, Enduring Cry, Warlord's Mark, Decoy Totem, Enfeeble Aura -> Hatred (+ Grace, Purity) Spec Stats (from Passive Skill only):
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Life Increase: 224%
Armour Increase: 102% Physical Damage Increase: 97% Attack Speed Increase: 43% Resists: +21% all, 15% cold, 15% fire, 8% chaos Charges: +1 Endurance Charge, +18% endurance duration, +1 Frenzy Charge * Considers goal spec tree (95 points spent). Important Gear Stats to Aim For:
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4%+ Life Leech on Physical (using Life Leech support is not necessary)
1% Mana Leech on Physical (or use Mana Leech gem or Clarity) + 1 Endurance Charges (Kaom's Sign) + Maximum Life (the more the better) High physical damage High evasion rating Elemental Resists +20-40 int (otherwise you won't be able to run Purity or Clarity) Current Stats with Gear: Life: 2055 Mana: 329 (250 left for skills) Physical Damage Reduction: 75% (4.6K armour) Fire Resistance: 75% Cold Resistance: 48% (65%+ with purity) Lightning Resistance: 47% (65%+ with purity) Chaos Resistance: -60% Life Regen/sec: 54 * No Stun Heavy Strike DPS: 2.2K (3L with melee damage + mana leech) - Heavy Strike DPS (Party Setup): 3.6K (4L with melee dmg, fire dmg and faster attacks) Cleave DPS: 1.1K (+28 life gain per hit) Flicker Strike DPS: 2.2K Life Leech from Physical Damage: 4% base + 6% from Warlord's Mark Mana Leech from Physical Damage: 2% from Warlord's Mark Attacks per Second: 2.2 on normal attacks, 2.9 with faster attacks, 3.5 on Flicker Strike * Considers: Hatred aura, 5 endurance charges, 4 frenzy charges. Current spec at level 60. Default gear (I change around for farming or specific elemental mobs). Gear and Considerations:
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This considers my current build. Gear has huge room for improvement. With Terminus Est and overall better gear, I could reach 5K on heavy strike easily on my current level.
Major things to improve are: accuracy (currently 80%), mana (need 1% mana leech from gear, used to have but had to focus on elemental resists), sword with better damage/speed ratio. Best gear items: Gameplay: This build offers good variation of skills for a melee style. You will attack with at least 4 different skills (in order of importance): Heavy Strike, Cleave, Frenzy, Flicker Strike. You will use Enduring Cry (optional Molten Shell) constantly, and cast either Warlord's Mark curse or Enfeeble curse. I use Warlord's more because it makes me nearly immortal when fighting mobs of 3+, but for dangerous areas Enfeeble should be considered. You will also be able to move quickly in the battlefield with Flicker Strike, getting away or into battle when needed. It's also a great skill to finish off enemies (when I'm with 4 frenzy charges up, I like the Cleave, Cleave, Flicker Strike x 6 combo - takes down packs of 5+). Solo:
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When playing solo you will need to keep your 5 endurance charges up at all times. Use Enduring Cry initially, then keep them up with Warlord's Mark when fighting mobs (refreshes endurance for every 5/6 killed). After that get your 4 frenzy charges up (5 if you choose bandits reward), cast Warlord's Mark and start on Cleave and Heavy Strike. Cleave should only be used on mobs of three or more. I only need Decoy Totem when there's a big pack of rangers. If you feel like you can handle the rangers (75% damage reduction), kill everyone else first then unleash your 4 frenzy charges with Flicker Strike (will grant you 6 attacks, enough to kill 4+ rangers).
Remember to keep your endurance charges up and either Warlord's or Enfeeble. This is what will keep you safe 90% of the time. Party:
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No short-ranged melee class can kill as quickly as ranged builds in this game. So instead of trying to compete with them for kills, do what you do best: go for the heads of the big, tough monsters. You can achieve 5K+ DPS (2K+ per hit) on Heavy Strike in parties (friends will have Anger, Wrath and/or Haste), while at the same time knocking and stunning the enemy. So go after the rares/bosses while your friends clear the room. Make sure you protect your glass cannons (don't knock tough enemies in their way), and your party will do fine;
When possible, work as off-tank - pay attention to the main tank and if he gets into trouble cast Enduring Cry and take his position. You can't tank as well as shield tanks, but you will do just fine, specially if you kill the tough enemies quickly (a few hits should do the trick). Thank you for your interest. Feedback is welcome. Last edited by biggoat#6997 on Mar 4, 2013, 11:34:48 AM
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Nice guide mate! Going to re-roll my duelist and try this out.
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Am still brainstorming a build very similar to this. Using Voll's protector and Terminus est sword for extra charges. I want to fit blood rage in there, but not sure if I'll be able to or not. |
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Thanks for the feedback.
Terminus Est is really "The Sword" for this build. I still need one to boost my DPS, but the build works well without it (it's not really hard to trade for a good 2h sword for a few chaos). I don't think Voll's fits well though. Crit is always good, but it has very low armour/evasion overall, and the reduced mana without blood magic will be such a pain... But you've probably adapted a bit to your reality so let us know how it works. |
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I'm planning to do a similar build after obtaining a
as well. However, I'd opt to go grab all the Frenzy charge nodes to keep Flicker available at most times (not sure if I want to invest on Endurance charge nodes yet...) Also, I'm planning to use a Q Concentrated Effect on Cleave; I tested this out on my Shadow, and the DPS increase is insane (AoE decrease is noticable, but managable). For single DPS, would Double Strike work with 2H Sword? (can't access game atm to try) Because I don't think I can rely on Flicker as single target DPS at all times. Anyhow, a rough draft of the skills/supports I'm planning to use (passive build not accessible at the moment ._.): 6L Flicker Culling Double Strike Crit Chance Accuracy Mana Leech 5L 6S Cleave Concentrated Crit Chance Mana Leech Life Leech/Accuracy? Blood Rage 4L Reduced Mana Hatred Vitality Determination 4L Reduced Mana Blood Magic Grace Another Aura 4L/S Leap Slam Warlord's Mark Enduring Cry Enduring Cry? @ELLE_mt Dual Elemental Hit Totems w/ Tri-Curse, Traps, Frost Wall: http://tinyurl.com/bvdxbjz Last edited by Versal#7834 on Mar 3, 2013, 5:48:29 PM
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" I started off thinking about more Frenzy charges too, but I strongly suggest you focus on Endurance Charges early on, and leave frenzy for later. I know that in first acts the game will seem easy enough to ignore def, but once you get into mid-cruel, and specially in merciless, Endurance charges and either Enfeeble or Warlord's is what is going to keep you alive. Take my word on it. 5 endurance + Enfeeble, as an example, can debuff an enemy damage on 55-60%. It's a lot! It also helps with any lack of resistances you get (you only need 50% resist to get to 75% with charges up). Also, Flicker is very fun in the first two difficulties, but you need Blood Rage to actually keep spamming it. Even with Terminus Est, you would need a very high crit to spam Flicker. Problem is Blood Rage becomes pretty much obsolete in Merci, since you have -60% chaos resistance. So you would need pretty good chaos resistance gear, plus around 4% life regen, to keep Flicker and Blood Rage for long periods. As for Concentrated, it's a very good idea. I might try it. Double Strike was a big doubt I had, because many duelist builds are based on it. I actually like the idea of using it, but I leveled both DS and Heavy for a while and Heavy always had more DPS, like way more. It also stuns and knocks, which some people find annoying but I think it fits well in this build. So for me HS is better, but this build is very doable with DS (link Life Gain on Hit for ~60 life per attack). Thanks. Last edited by biggoat#6997 on Mar 4, 2013, 11:46:25 AM
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Hmm... what's your view on Frenzy as single target DPS then?
I mean like... rather than using it as a tool, have it on all times for main single target DPS w/ Flicker @ELLE_mt Dual Elemental Hit Totems w/ Tri-Curse, Traps, Frost Wall: http://tinyurl.com/bvdxbjz Last edited by Versal#7834 on Mar 4, 2013, 7:29:52 PM
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Is this build still viable? I'm loving the idea of a tank, but worried the extra damage in this build will make me less.... tanky-y....
I really wanna give Duelist a shot, he seems pretty forsaken these days. |
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" Just started a few days ago, and I'm 43 now in A2 Cruel. So far I haven't had many problems with survivability, although the real test comes when I switch over to 2H at 51 from 1H + Shield. I'll update when that happens @ELLE_mt
Dual Elemental Hit Totems w/ Tri-Curse, Traps, Frost Wall: http://tinyurl.com/bvdxbjz |
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Build is very viable. As I said, I single shotted my way to end-cruel with Shiversting (you can use any high damage 2h weapon really) and did fine in merciless. I recall only 1 death in merciless btw, when I didn't have my 5 endurance charges up.
If you check the passive tree, you will see that the build invests a lot more on def (life, armour, endurance charges, resists) then on damage. Only took a few damage nodes to help farming and such things. So it has very good survivability, even though it's not a tank per say. It's still the best melee build I've played. EDIT: To answer the frenzy question, I tried using frenzy as main DPS, but it has very low dmg compared to heavy strike and double strike, and also it costs a lot of mana (if you put 2 or 3 supports you will probably need Blood Magic or you will increase mana issues). I saw no reason to use it, honestly. It's a single target skill that doesn't offer good DPS, only reason to use it would be to go for higher attack speed, but Flicker Strike has awesome attack speed if you want that, and Cleave with faster attacks is also very fast and AoE. So I only suggest Frenzy as a tool to get the 4 or 5 frenzy charges. Thanks! Last edited by biggoat#6997 on Mar 5, 2013, 8:53:24 AM
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