1h mace/shield marauder build

I have put together a 1h/shield mara and it's doesn't seem too shabby. I tested it out in default first to see how it would work out and to my surprise it was great at soloing maps without too much trouble, I expected worse since a lot of people have been ranting about mele being at a large disadvantage vs ranged. So I decided to try out my build in HC and it is a bit tankier than my default mara's build and I was looking for feedback on it. o:

Gems used and Level range implimented


Skill gems - lvl 1-35: Basic stuff; [Warlord's Mark](need to insert gem still)

Explanation:
Heavy Strike- I am a fan of Heavy strike is for shredding high hp mobs w/ regen because it just has a sexy multiplier, and the quality gem offers very nice bonus attack speed.
Shield Charge- I keep shield charge around purely for mobility and scrap it at later levels; I heavily dislike using this for damage because it often gets mobs & yourself stuck in terrain and its damage just feels inferior to heavy strike.
Decoy- I use decoy totem at low levels for rooms with casters and also for Fairgraves(i use decoy totem for the start of Fairgraves on all difficulties... he hurts quite a bit); i don't really use it for anything else as it conflicts with my enduring cry.
Note: Do not think that caster mobs will not shred your hp just because of the totem, always make sure your resists are 60% bare minimum when you know you are going to face large groups of them.
Ground Slam- I use ground slam because it has a nice radius, and welp its the signature aoe of 1h mace, it becomes exceptionally nice with higher attack speeds.
Flame totem- Flame totem is basically what I use to kill Vaal overseer, It is rather ineffective and slow, but it is a bit nicer than risking getting crit by his slam. I mostly used flame totem because I currently do not have movement speed on my boots so dodging slam becomes a bit more difficult.
Warlord's Mark- This is rather useless at the moment, but it is good to keep it in a slot to level it up for later. I love using this curse due to its massive amount of life leech that gives, I suppose it is not absolutely necessary but it offers some additional sustain in later levels.
Enfeeble- Personally I do not use this, but it would have a few benefits such as reduce the damage of Vaal Oversoul, or make you feel a bit more comfortable when taking on large mobs. My main reasoning for not using this is because of the high intelligence requirement, which will be in short supply unti later levels unless you have a nice onyx amulet.

Gems lvl 36-55: [Item quantity](still need to link gem)

Explanation: Now comes the difficult part, getting gear to accommodate skill links and auras.
Blood Magic- When you feel comfortable with your hp regen covering the damage you sustain from mobs and being depleted from the use of this you will want to integrate this to all of your attacking skills, warlord's mark, enduring cry, and wrath + anger auras if you otp to use them.
Purity- Not really necessary until you begin to notice your ele resistances slipping, I integrated this into my build before the transition to merciless.
Determination: What is not to love about extra physical reduction from armor.
Vitality- An extra boost to your hp regen, can be interchanged with haste if you feel that you are already tanky enough without it; beware haste has a very high dex requirement.
Reduced mana- You will want one of these tossed into a RRRB 4linked item, boots/glove/helm are the optimal choices, the goal is to use this plus the two reduced reserved mana node passives to get these down to 27% mana and use another reduced mana gem with hatred to get it down to 19% mana reserved.
Enduring Cry- This is your main endurance charge generator, unless you obtain a Quality Warlord's mark gem and use that to refresh orbs while in combat. It will be tedious to refresh every 8-10 seconds, but the bonus 35% physical resistance from your 7 charges it worth it.
Mele Physical Damage- This build is mostly a Physical 1h build, so you will be linking mele physical damage to your ground slam and heavy strike.
Added Fire Damage- I normally do not use this, but if you find yourself with a spare 4l or if you have a 5l you may choose to add this into a slot.
Item Rarity/Item Quantity- I normally stick Quantity into a 5L with ground slam and Rarity into a 4L with heavy strike. I enjoy the quantity in maps since, well map drops aren't too great. If your damage is low due to a bad weapon then you would probably want na Added Fire Damage gem over these.

Gems- Whenever you can comfortably sustain these then include them:

Explanation:
Hatred- Requires a level 17 reduced mana gem to use in conjunction with your other three auras.
Wrath/Anger- When you feel that you have enough hp to cover the loss for the area you are in. For example, DO NOT leave these on in a Vaal Oversoul fight or in a perpet map; or anywhere you do not feel comfortable with the reduced hp.


Bandit Quests

Norm: Help Oak and take the bonus 40 hp.

Cruel: Kill all and take the skill point

Merciless: Help Oak and take the +1 Endurance Orb.


Existing character's & their builds

HC mara - lvl 67: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAAecCcQSzBS0S4RQgGJEZLhmFGjgaVRv6JKol3yftLdIyCTboNuk62EZpR35QR1BQU99USVcNWGNYr1jbWfNfP2BLYSFko2VNZp5uaXC7cql07XrvfLt82YTZhO-Mz5BVkc6bg57Nnz6iAKLqpBmnMKeEq8WsqrT5ud277b6nwBrFisbYyZjSIdSP2WHjaudS7DjvDu9O8B_yL_Pd9kj22ve--tI=

Default mara - lvl 77: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAAdwB5wJxBLMFLRLhFCAYkRkuG_ohAiFgJIsl3yfVJ-0q9i3SMBkyCTboOtg9D0CgRmlHflBHUFBT31RJVw1YY1ivWNtfOV8_YEthIWVNbmlwPnC7cql07XTxd2J4DXrve4x8u3zZffWE2YzPkc6ZK5uDnrmezZ8-oLSiAKLqpBmnMKvFrKq0-bndu-29gb6KvqfEFcRYxPbFisbYyZjKkNBH0iHZYd3j4urkUedS567vDu9O8B_yL_Pd9kj22vuq


Build Progression

lvl 1-36 build [including Norm A1-3 points(not the a2 bandit)]: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYY1BQjM_2SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7fPdrKpyqXzZWfPAGmaeqZVRYBoygFZPfZBVp4QaOOw4Oth8u8WK8B-iAASzAnG0-S3Snz7ZYVcN

I normally grab the shield nodes on the top left for the extra armor/block early on and the bonus 30% elemental resists. After I start using purity i usually repec out of these nodes and either place them into hp or damage nodes depending on my need.

lvl 37-56 build [including Cruel A1-3 points(with bandit SP)]: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYY1BQjM_2SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7fPdrKpyqXzZWfPAGmaeqZVRYBoygFZPfZBVp4QaOOw4Oth8u8WK8B-iAASzAnG0-S3Snz7ZYVcNkc677dIhns2nMBQgUEcB5zboZKMaVWEhEuGi6u9OMglAoAUtYEt673TthO-bg1PfWNuE2WVN

After cruel I pick up enduring cry and start picking up the remaining endurance charges on the skill tree and some damage nodes. The split on the bottom branch leading to the third endurance charge is completely optional. I normally take the lower one for quicker access to the third charge, but you will end up taking the top branch for the intellect node & reduced reserved mana eventually anyway. Both ways come out to the same points anyway but the top branch may be preferred due to there being hp nodes above it. (see trees in 57-70 build)

lvl 57-70 build [including merciless A1-A3 points(not Act 2 bandit)]-

Bottom branch: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYY1BQjM_2SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7fPdrKpyqXzZWfPAGmaekFWnhBo47Dg62PAfogAEswJxtPkt0p8-2WFXDZHOu-3SIZ7NpzAUIFBHAec26GSjGlVhIRLhourvTjIJQKAFLWBLeu907YTvm4NT31jbhNllTUd-q8Vuab6nJd8b-qQZWK9GaXC79toYkcmY-tI26eNqJKoZhfe-GmydrqcIuJMMfRB_xp58u8WK

Top Branch: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYY1BQjM_2SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7fPdrKpyqXzZWfPAGmaekFWnhBo47Dg62PAfogAEswJxtPkt0p8-2WFXDZHOu-3SIZ7NpzAUIFBHAec26BLhourvTjIJQKAFLWBLeu907YTvm4NT31jbhNllTUd-q8Vuab6nJd8b-qQZWK9GaXC79toYkcmY-tI26eNqJKoZhfe-GmydrqcIuJMMfRB_xp58u8WKeA2-igHc

At this point you may decided to take the three elemental nodes in the templar tree, I didn't find them too useful until i began using elemental damage auras. Around level 64 I begin using blood magic with wrath & anger so I opt towards inner force for additional benefits on the 6 auras I run. I'm not quite sure that this is the most effective route, but I enjoy the bonus ~7% all ele resist & +1 max ele resists (purity), +14% armor (deter), + 0.4% hp regen/s, ~20-30 bonus light/fire damage from wrath/anger auras, and ~7% extra phys damage to cold damage from hatred(all auras ~ lvl 16-17). With lvl 17 reduced mana gems & the two 5% reduced reserved mana nodes I am able to run hatred, purity, vitality, and determination with 100% mana reserved.

lvl 71-90: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYY1BQjM_2SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7fPdrKpyqXzZWfPAGmaekFWnhBo47Dg62PAfogAEswJxtPkt0p8-2WFXDZHOu-3SIZ7NpzAUIFBHAec26BLhourvTjIJQKAFLWBLeu907YTvm4NT31jbhNllTUd-q8Vuab6nJd8b-qQZWK9GaXC79toYkcmY-tI26eNqJKoZhfe-GmydrqcIuJMMfRB_xp58u8WKeA2-igHcrK_KkF853eO9gZkrPfx8uCkuKLVgiFWpl7SsunuMIQIq9ueu5FGHKQ==

After the allocation of the lvl 70 points, with decent gear, I don't have too many issues with survivability so I opt towards damage.
Note: you may want to grab some block nodes a bit earlier than 60 if you are noticing that you are taking quite a bit of damage, 36-40% should effectively make you block ~ 40-50% more attacks than you were previously.

Types of gear you want
I use pure Armor gear & pure armor shields, but if your ele resists are suffering then a armor/ES shield will suffice.

Weapon: physical damage, Increased attack speed, and optional ele damage. Playing with a slow mace will make your life miserable so try your best to get decent physical damage weapons with IAS; a mace with slower than 1.3 attack speed will just really suck the life out of you.

Normal:
Try to keep Elemental resists capped if at all possible, 60% minimum each. Aim for elemental resists gear with health. Should be finishing norm with 800-1.5k hp.

Cruel:
Same as normal except now you may want to take chaos resist over some ele resists as you may begin using purity if you can acquire a 4l this early. 3L and 4L aren't too vital yer but you will definitely want to link mele physical damage and blood magic to your attacking skills, if sustainable. I had around 2.2k health, cap fire resist, and about 68% physical and a granite before taking on vaal; I survived slam hits but try not to take them regardless. I finished cruel with ~ 2.6k hp.

Merciless:
Make it a point to get your hands on 4L gloves/boots/helm/chest and 3L weapon/shield with ele resists, and hp. Chaos resist may be prioritized over ele resists, but try not to let them go below 60%. Chaos damage will be the biggest weakness of this build, as the only way to mitigate it is through resist on gear since the passives are too far to be worth it. Once you reach 0-20% chaos resist in merciless it won't be as big of an issue. I refrained from fighting Vaal Oversoul until I had at least 3.6k hp, 79% physical damage reduction, 82% fire resist. I ended fighting him for 40 minutes with flame totem... lol. You may want to pay someone a chaos or so just to kill it for you if you don't want to chance a HC character. I was capable of taking a slam hit, but it is best not to push your luck too far.


Grinding Areas:

Normal: Did not particularly grind here, I simply kept my level 3-4 levels over the maps i was in. Also do not take on maps with large amounts of casters which you do not have sufficient resists for, they will burn your hp.

Cruel: Ground in Ledge until about level 40, and then in various maps until reaching 2.1k hp before Vaal.

Merciless: Ground in Ledge until about 60 then in Fellshrine until I had ~3.6k hp and was ready to face Vaal Oversoul. After Vaal, I continue to grind Fellshrine, or move into map. If you are not comfortable with your chaos resist or life regen(I had ~ 280 life/second at this point), then do not map farm yet. Also it may be a good idea to pick up a few block nodes at this point to attempt to get it to at least ~36%.

If I left anything out or am unclear on something or if you just have some feedback on how to improve my build please leave comments.