[3.14] Rivalen's Wild Strike Berserker | Instant Rage & Berserk Sustain | 15M+ DPS

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[3.14] Rivalen's Wild Strike Berserker | Instant Rage & Berserk Sustain | 15M+ DPS

3.14 Updates and things:
• Guide and PoB is updated for 3.14.
• I'm still updating Phases.
• There is possibly a world where we run with one handers and drop Blitz/Flawless Savagery for Aspect of Carnage and the new passive Defy Pain. We'll have to test if there's more to this.

Please ask any questions you have! While updating, the guide will probably lag behind any specific info you might want.

Introduction

Welcome! I am Rivalen and this is my take on 'natural' Wild Strike. We don't use combat focus jewels as we are looking to see all the colors. We use the unique combo of Shackles and Chains of Emancipation for instant Rage and serious Berserk sustain.

We do our best to mitigate the single target pitfalls of Wild Strike. Berserker along with some specialty items/passives will get us there. The build us fast and fun. I will always be up for suggestions! Check out the Guide Overview section to get started or Snapshot section for a quick look.

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Snapshot
Offense
• Total DPS: 15M
• Effective Crit Chance: 95%
• Crit Multiplier: 596%
• Attack Speed: 12.44

Defense
• Total Life: 6.1k
• Evasion Chance: 55%
• Armour: 4k without flask/11k with
• Life Leech: 1.2k
• Other: Fortify, Sapped, Enfeeble, Berserk, and Taste of Hate

Gems
Wild Strike > Multistrike > Elemental Damage with Attacks > Trinity > Rage > Ancestral Call/Damage on Full Life/Inspiration
Enlighten > Summon Skitterbots > Herald of Purity > Flesh and Stone > War Banner > Precision
Leap Slam > Fortify > Faster Attacks > Vaal Ancestral Warchief
Berserk > Steelskin > Enduring Cry > Second Wind
Vortex > Hextouch > Temporal Chains > Enfeeble
Blood Rage (Unset Ring)
TLDR: Wild Strike, Leap Slam, Herald of Purity, Flesh & Stone, War Banner, Enfeeble

Gear
Showcased is thePhase 4 version.

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Contents
"

1. Introduction
2. Snapshot
3. Videos
4. Guide Overview
5. Build Details
• PoB, Pros/Cons, & Breakdown
6. Passive Choices
• Bandits, Ascendancy, Pantheon, & Trees
7. Phase 1: Act Leveling
8. Phase 2: Early Mapping
9. Phase 3: Functional (2 versions)
10. Phase 4: Final (2 versions)
11. Phase 5: Extreme
12. Current League Progression

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Videos

Showcase

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Guide Overview

How to use this guide
• The guide is designed in phases. There are 5 progressions, starting with 'Act Leveling' and finishing with 'Extreme Budget'.
• Each phase details the gems and gear we will be using during that stage. Many sections will have a TLDR for quick reference.
• Skip to the Breakdown section under Build Details for all the details on how this build works.

Phases
• Phase 1 covers your setup during the early levels through the Acts. There will be recommendations for league start and twink gear. A leveling guide is available.

• Phase 2 covers early mapping when you have begun acquiring currency.

• Phase 3 will begin distinguishing the build from others. Here you will discover the identity of the build on a budget.

• Phase 4 is the finalized build. This setup will take us through the games content.

• Phase 5 is a shopping list for extremely high end gear. This should not be the goal for the average player.

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Build Details


Pros/Cons
+ Very fast and interactive playstyle
+ Capable of all content
+ Simple progression
- Not a top tier single target build
- Cannot run elemental reflect mod
- Leap Slam can kill you on Phys reflect maps

Breakdown

Gems
Wild Strike
Wild Strike > Multistrike > Elemental Damage with Attacks > Trinity > Rage > Ancestral Call/Damage on Full Life/Inspiration

• Replace Ancestral Call with Inspiration or Damage on Full Life on the biggest bosses such as Sirus and Elder.
Inspiration is best until you have Immortal Ambition from Glorious Vanity (Ahuana version).
Buffs
Enlighten > Summon Skitterbots > Herald of Purity > Flesh & Stone > War Banner > Precision

• Level Precision as you gain levels on Enlighten.
• While we stack added physical and use Voidforge, Summon Skitterbots and Herald of Purity give us better value than Hatred.
Leap Slam
Leap Slam > Fortify > Faster Attacks > Vaal Ancestral Warchief

Blood Magic is good here for mana sustain. However, we are tight on links with the Curse setup so I opted to rely on the reduced mana cost mod from Replica Conquerer's Efficiency. It can also be crafted on rings. If you insist on Blood Magic, move Vaal Ancestral Warchief to the "Boosts" setup and remove Second Wind.
• We use Fortify on Leap Slam instead of Wild Strike because it does not add damage to Wild Strike's secondary effects. Fine for bosses. Bad for clear.
Boosts
Berserk > Steelskin > Enduring Cry > Second Wind

• If you can't get a decent unset ring for Blood Rage, you can place it here instead of Second Wind.
Curses
Vortex > Hextouch > Temporal Chains > Enfeeble

• We must have three of these gems in a certain order, though placements don't particularly matter. Temporal Chains must be located between Hextouch and Enfeeble so that Temporal Chains triggers first.
• See Shackles of the Wretched links for an example.
Unset Ring
Blood Rage

• If you forego the Unset Ring, replace Second Wind in the "Boosts" setup with Blood Rage and call it a day.

Gear
Weapon
Voidforge

• Nothing comes close damage wise until we have a 500 pdps foil.

Body
Farrul's Fur

• The ultimate utility unique Body Armour. Power charges, Frenzy charges, Attack Speed, Crit Chance, Phasing, and Damage Avoidance. Everything has high synergy.
• Be sure to craft the Suffix "Grants level 20 Aspect of the Cat skill".
• Only beat out by Hunter/Warlord crafted chests.

Alternatives
Explode Chest

• "Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 3% of their Life as Physical Damage"
• A basic explode chest will give us better clear with worse bossing and defense. But this can become best all around with more Hunter and Crusader mods (high budget: see "Extreme version").


Helmet
Abyssus

• Unparalleled damage in a helmet slot. It comes with the cost of "Increased Physical Damage taken".
• Get the lowest negative roll you can afford.
• Best Enchant for bossing: "Berserk has 30% Increased Buff Effect" Nest best and cheaper is "40% Increased Wild Strike Damage"
• Best Enchants for clear: "Wild Strike's Beam Chains an additional 6 times". Our attack speed is high enough that we will proc lightning often enough to make this work.

Alternatives
Starkonja's Head

• A cheap alternative if you don't want the added squishiness from Abyssus. However, we lose tons of damage.

Rare (100+ Life and resistances)

• Good choice if resistances are what you're lacking. This can also slightly out perform Starkonja's in damage with "Nearby Enemeis take 6% increased Elemental Damage" Shaper mod. Again, nowhere close to Abyssus damage


Gloves
Shackles of the Wretched

• This is one of two mandatory pieces for our near infinite rage & long lasting Berserk setup. "Hexes applied by Socketed Curse Skills are Reflected back to you" is what we're after.
• Since it's a cheap piece, getting a "% Increased maximum Life" corruption is fairly easy.

Alternative Build
Rare (70+ Life and Utility)

• The alternative setup does not rely on instant Rage. It's technically stronger when at 0 Rage or Berserk, but much weaker overall with the uptime on Rage we have with the main build.
"Strike Skills Target one additional nearby "Enemy" is the mod we're looking for.

Boots
Rare (Life, Resistances, and Utility)

• 50+ Life. Get as a high of a roll as possible. It's harder to achieve with the Elusive mod we are also looking for.
• At least two resistances 60% total.
• "% chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike" is the utility we need.
• We need one open or craftable Suffix to Bench Craft Resistances for the purpose of balancing them for The Wise Oak. It can also be a place for Aspect of the Cat which is also a Suffix.

Belt
Chains of Emancipation

• The second mandatory piece to our instant Rage/Berserk setup. The mod "When you lose Temporal Chains you gain maximum Rage" is what we're after.
"Enemy Hits inflict Temporal Chains on you" can mostly be ignored since we gain Curse Immunity immediately upon losing Temp Chains from the mod "Immune to Curses while you have at least 25 Rage"

Alternate Build
Rare Stygian Vice

• Another place to get resistances and an extra Abyss jewel. Overall, weaker than the Rage/Berserk setup.
• 80+ to Maximum Life, two Resistance mods, and "Increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills"
• A good place to put an Abyss jewel with "% Chance to gain Onslaught for # Seconds on Kill."

Amulet
Rare (Life, Resistances, Crit Multi)

• 70+ Life with one standard Resistance modifier + a Benchcrafted one.
• To maximize The Wise Oak Flask, I recommend using a crafted Suffix for the second Resistance roll. This way we can keep rerolling it until we have matching resistances.
% to Global Critical Strike Miltiplier for damage
Annoint: Tenacity. This gives us some more life as well as damage scaled by our % to maximum life, which we grab a lot of.

Rings
Ring 1 - Rare (Life, Resistances, Accuracy)

Steel Rings and Vermillion Rings are the best bases. Rings with resistance implicits are good to cap those resistances for cheaper.
• Always prioritize Life on Rares, followed by Resistances.
• Again, one Benchcrafted Resistance for The Wise Oak.
• We also need Accuracy on gear. This is where we'll take it. 400+
• Last priority is some damage, best in the form of "Adds # to # Physical Damage to Attacks". Mods adding elemental damage are a cheaper alternative.

Ring 2 - Rare Unset Ring (Life/lots of Resistances)

• 60+ Life. This time we need two standard Resistance Suffixes + a crafted one. Once again, to balance The Wise Oak. Of course you can balance them without this step. It just gets harder to do with less bench mods.
"Adds # to # Physical Damage to Attacks" for damage.

Alternative
Rare with Assassin's Mark

• "Trigger Level # Assassin's Mark when you hit a Rare or Unique Enemy".
• This will cost us a Suffix and many more chaos/exalts. It will also overwrite Enfeeble on a single target rare/unique. We're trading defense for offense.

Flasks
Seething Divine Life Flask of Staunching

• Seething for Instant Recovery. Staunching for removing Bleed

Lion's Roar

• The knockback is a little annoying. However, the biggest bosses are immune to it. This is by far the largest DPS boost we get from a flask.

The Wise Oak

• This flask gives us a damage boost in the form of Elemental Penetration and a defensive boost in the form of reduced Elemental damage taken.
• Balance resistances to get maximum efficiency from this Flask. I would use a Taste of Hate instead until you can.

Alternative
Taste of Hate

• Run this until you have balanced resistances. Physical as Extra Cold is very great way to mitigate physical damage.

Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Acceleration

• 'Acceleration' for Attack Speed during effect. 'Experimenter's for Increased Duration.
• We use 'Acceleration' instead of 'Warding' because our Chains of Emancipation belt gives us Curse Immunity while above 25 Rage. Use Warding if you switch belts for any reason.

Alternative
Bottled Faith

• When you're hitting 95% Effective Crit Chance, you can replace the Diamond Flask with a Bottled Faith.
• This will keep your Crit chance high and give you the added benefits of Consecrated Ground (Life Regen) and more damage.

Experimenter's Basalt Flask of Heat

• More physical damage reduction paired with freeze and Chill immunity.

Jewels
The Interrogation

• Gives us the Secrets of Suffering Keystone, turning Ignite, Freeze/Chill, and Shock into Scorch, Brittle, and Sapped.
Scorch lowers the targets Elemental Resistances by up to 30%. We won't reach this cap.
Brittle gives us up to +15% chance to Critical Strike against those enemies.
Sap causes the affected target to deal up to 20% less damage to us.
• Freeze shatter is a bummer to give up for clear. However, Ignite didn't do much, and Shock we get from Skitterbots anyway. (It's actually good).
• It's worth noting that these alternate ailments have lower caps on their calculations. This was stated by GGG here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2687400. However, GGG does not give us that formula. Therefore, our numbers will be an unknown amount better than we can calculate. We will use Shock thresholds as a minimum baseline.

Glorious Vanity (Ahuana version)

• Ahuana gives us Immortal Ambition. The stat we like here is "Life Leech effects are not removed at Full Life". This allows our Leech counter to continue after reaching full life.
• This allows us to potentially use Damage on Full Life support instead of Inspiration support for more damage. This is a good choice if you cast Berserk on cooldown. Otherwise sitting on max Rage will drain our HP enough to lose consistency. (Berserk stops the drain effect because we are 'losing Rage')

Large Cluster Jewel: Sword Attacks or Damage with Two Handed Weapons

• Notable 1: Feed the Fury: Our source of Life Leech with Increased Damage and Attack Speed.
Notable 2: Fuel the Fight: Our source of Mana Leech with Increased Damage and Attack Speed.
Notable 3: Martial Prowess: Increased Damage, Attack Speed, and Accuracy.
• "Adds 8 Passive Skills" is optimal for best Passive point value.

Large Cluster Jewel: Increased Elemental Damage

Notable 1: Corrosive Elements: 10% Exposure for all three elements.
Notable 2: Prismatic Heart: Increased Elemental Damage and +10% to Elemental Resistances. The resistances are helpful with all the uniques we use.
Notable 3: Disorienting Display or Doryani's Lesson. Either one is fine because we don't allocate it. A 3 passive jewel uses less points than 2 passives.

Rare Jewels

1st priority: Life. Include on every rare jewel.
2nd priority: Crit Multiplier. This comes in many forms for us. Prefixes include 'Crit Multiplier with' Two Handed Melee Weapons, Fire Skills, Cold Skills, and Lightning Skills. Suffixes include Global Crit Multi, Melee Crit Multi, and Crit Multi with Elemental Skills.
3rd Priority: Increased Attack Speed. Attack Speed is great since Voidforge is awfully slow without all the Boosts we get.
• "Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you" is very beneficial Vaal Implicit. Price tags are high so sacrifice good affixes with lower budgets. This is also a good place to get missing resistances or attributes since those mods won't add much to the cost.


Mechanics & How to
Rage Generation
• This build functions using Chains of Emancipation Belt, Shackles of the Wretched Gloves, and a Vortex curse setup to gain Rage instantly and maintain Berserk for a very long time.

Chains of Emancipation has two mods that we value:
• "When you lose Temporal Chains you gain Maximum Rage"
• "Immune to Curses while you have at least 25 Rage"

Shackles of the Wretched has one mod that we value:
• "Hexes applied by Socketed Curse skills are Reflected back to you"

Vortex Curse Setup
• In our Shackles, we will link Vortex > Hextouch > Temporal Chains > Enfeeble.
• Link order must have Temporal Chains between Hextouch and Enfeeble. Otherwise, order does not matter.
How it all works (with some mystery)

• Cast Vortex. I bound it to my second row of skills and changed the key bind to Spacebar. As long as you are close enough to an enemy, it will trigger the effect. The only other 'legal' way is to use it on Left Click.
• Temporal Chains and then Enfeeble are cast on the enemy and also reflected back to you in that order(Shackles effect).
• Temporal Chains is overwritten on you by Enfeeble. This counts as "Losing Temporal Chains" (Chains effect). Maximum Rage is gained.
• We never actually gain either Curse because at 25 Rage, we have become Curse Immune.
Berserk Sustain
• Casting Berserk will begin draining your Rage. Crave the Slaughter and Rage Support will maintain high Rage for a while while attacking, especially on stationary targets. Divergent Rage, the Bloodscent Cluster Jewel, and the Reduced Rage Loss helm enchant can push sustain even further.
• Our hyper Rage sustain comes the fact that when we get down to 24 Rage, we will instantly be at max Rage again. However, we can't infinitely keep Rage since Berserk's Rage loss has super linear scaling. We will only drop to 0 when Rage is loss is so fast that we lose 24 Rage faster than Vortex' cooldown.

Mods
List of mods in order of build value:

Offense:
1. % Increased Attack Speed
•This mod does not give us the most damage. However, Attack Speed is critical to the quality of life of an innately slow Two-Handed build.
2. Damage Penetrates % Elemental Resistances
3. % to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
•This mod is outclassed by Added Physical Damage once you reach around 600% Crit Multiplier. However, the build as stated does not reach these numbers.
4. % Increased Physical Damage
5. % Increased Elemental Damage

Defense:
# to Maximum Life
% Increased to Elemental Resistances
% Increased Armour
% Increased Evasion Rating



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Passive Choices

Bandits
Alira - You can't beat the mana regen, crit multi, and resistances this gives early. Kill all is a later respec option if you prefer an alternate tree.

Alira
• 5 mana regenerated per second
• +20% to global critical strike multiplier
• +15% to all elemental resistances

Kill all
• 2 passive skill points
TLDR: Alira

Ascendancy
We will be running Berserker. This class gives us the highest attack speed potential in the game. Attack speed is most important to us to make up for slower innate attack speed with two handers. It also gives us very high damage to deal with bosses which tends to be Wild Strike's biggest weakness. This damage comes at a cost to our survivability. There are defensive mechanics we will be using to mitigate this.

1. Crave the Slaughter
Gain 1 Rage on Hit with Attacks, no more than once ever 0.3 seconds.

Rage gives us good damage, great attack speed, and some movement speed. This Notable is a great first choice to traverse the early Acts. It is important to keep Rage stacks up as much as possible. If you'd rather nuke bosses quicker and are ok with the movement speed loss, you can take Aspect of Carnage first, but you would need to respec that later.

Rage (maximum base of 50 before any added passives)
Per point of Rage:
1% increased attack damage (50% max)
0.5% increased attack speed (25% max)
0.2% increased movement speed (10% max)

2. Rite of Ruin
Lose 0.1% of Life per second per Rage while you are not losing Rage
Inherent effects from having Rage are Tripled
Cannot be stunned while you have at least 25 Rage

Given that we sustain Rage so easily, this Notable competes with Aspect of Carnage in damage. We also gain Stun Immunity instead of Increased Damage Taken. The downside is the Life degen. But again, we sustain Rage so easily that we will be using Berserk with near 100% uptime on bosses. The degen pauses while Berserk is running.
Alternative: Aspect of Carnage
2. Aspect of Carnage
10% Increased Damage Taken
40% more Damage

This notable is the largest attack damage modifier in the game. It can be replaced with Crave the Slaughter as our first option if damage is more important to you than movement. We will become squishier, but this isn't as much of an issue with early level mobs. You would only want this as a temporary option in the early game to avoid the Life degen of Rite of Ruin. However, simply running Vitality would be a better handicap.

3. Flawless Savagery
50% increased Critical Strike Chance for Attacks
+25% to Critical Strike Multiplier
Adds 20-30 Physical Damage to Attacks if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently

A pure damage notable with no downsides. Added Physical Damage and Critical Strike Multiplier are staples to our build.

4. Blitz
Gain a Blitz Charge on Critical Strike
2% More Attack Speed per Blitz Charge
10% reduced Critical Strike Chance per Blitz Charge
+20 to Maximum Blitz Charges

Attack speed is the most important modifier we need. Blitz gives us the most added Attack Speed available. Charges will fall off if you haven't Crit in 5 seconds. Therefore, this caters to the fast playstyle we are looking for. The loss of Crit Chance is manageable due to our high base. The Secrets of Suffering Notable from The Interrogation has amazing synergy with Blitz as it will give us huge Crit Chance from it's Brittle ailment.
TLDR: Crave the Slaughter > Rite of Ruin > Flawless Savagery > Blitz

Pantheon
Major God: Soul of Solaris
6% Additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby enemy
20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from hits
God Upgrades
Capture Vision of Justice in Orchard Map
8% Reduced Elemental Damage taken if you haven't been hit recently

Capture Eater of Souls in Core Map
Take no extra damage from Critical Strike if you have taken a Critical Strike Recently

Capture Kitava, The Destroyer in Lava Lake Map
50% chance to avoid Ailments from Critical Strikes

Physical Damage reduction is a great defensive stat for us due to the negative stats our damage passives give. This passive is superior since boss damage is what we fear most. Be sure to upgrade god powers for the smaller passives.

Soul of Lunaris is a viable option if you are primarily mapping against easier bosses.

Minor God: Soul of Tukohama
While Stationary, gain 2% additional Physical Damage Reduction every second, up to a maximum of 8%
God Upgrade
Capture Tahsin, Warmaker in Siege Map
While stationary, gain 0.5% of Life Regeneration per second every second, up to a maximum of 2%

More Physical Damage reduction is available to us here since we stand still while attacking.
TLDR: Solaris & Tukohama

Trees
• Trees up to 105 Points (level 84) do not include Cluster Jewels.
• This path is out of the way, but seems most efficient. We will use Regret orbs for the 116 tree(Level 95)
• If you're building a twink character with currency already: Skip to the 116 Point tree (Level 95).

15 Points: Here
30 Points: Here
45 Points: Here
60 Points: Here
75 Points: Here
90 Points: Here
105 Points: Here
116 Points (Level 95): Here
• Add Clusters, use Regrets, and reallocate.
121 Points (Level 100): Here

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Last edited by rvalen on May 7, 2021, 9:13:13 PM
Last bumped on Jan 25, 2022, 2:02:57 PM
Phase 1: Acts Leveling Guide

Preparation
Rules of Thumb:
• Keep resistances (except Chaos) capped at 75 at least by the time you reach Act 6.
• 300hp per Act
• Use crafting bench to add these mods where available (resistance is priority)
• As far as I know, TyTy's guide is the fastest way to level a Maruader. Video Guide
We will be incorporating most of this strategy up to a point. You can stick with Bladestorm for efficiency up to maps as he does or switch to Wild Strike as early as level 28.

Gear
Early Gearing Tips
• In the early stages, we're just looking for Resistances, Life, and to get new weapons in every Act.
• Unless you find a unique or nice rare, use the Physical weapon vendor recipe on weapon base of choice.
Physical Weapon Recipe
Vendor these items:
• Weapon (any rarity, sockets will stay the same)
• Magic or Rare Rustic Sash (Rare gives better roll)
• Blacksmith's Whetstone
Essences are the next best way to craft early gear.
Essence crafting
Essences of Contempt (Adds # to # Physical Damage) is best.
Essence of Zeal (#% Increased Attack Speed) is also good.
Essence of Greed (# to Maximum Life) is best for Armour.
Tip: Use any Essence on a Normal Rustic Sash from the Vendor for Physical weapon recipe.
• Aside from that, use all low level Essences liberally as they have no value going forward
• Don't wear a body armour early, as it carries a movement speed penalty.
• Check vendor recipes after quests for Movement Speed Boots. Type "ss" in vendor window for highlighting.

Unique Options/Twink Gear
• Here is an example of many viable options. Note that you cannot use swords with Ground Slam or Sunder, which is what this guide suggests. But you can use Two handers or Dual wield. Just be sure to adjust your tree accordingly. For every Two-Handed specific node, there is a Dual Wield option near it.
Armours
• These are generally worth using if you come across them early enough and can balance resistances around them.
Accessories
• All very good early game crutches (Mana/Life Recovery, Added Physical, and Resistances)


One Handed Axes
• Best choice with faster Leap Slams and Movement Speed boosts.
Two Handed Axes
• More capable of one-shotting packs.
One Handed Swords
• Faster Leap Slams, but unable to use with Ground Slam and Sunder. A fine pick if you prefer leveling with Frost Blades.
Two Handed Swords
• Thematic choice. Again, no Ground Slam or Sunder for leveling.

Act 1

Post Hillock
Look for weapon of choice
Find 2R1G item
Find Red socket items
Find Movement Speed Boots in vendor
Find or Purchase Iron Rings from vendor
Find Rustic Sashes
Links
2R: Ground Slam > Ruthless

Post Hailrake
Reward: Ancestral Protector
Reward: Steelskin
Reward: Onslaught
Reward: Quicksilver Flask
Buy Chance to Bleed
Buy War Banner
Buy Ancestral Call (add to weapon swap)
Buy Blood and Sand
Buy Dash
Find Jade Amulet
Links
2R1G: Ground Slam > Chance to Bleed > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Ruthless(move)
1G: Dash (Requires Jade Amulet)
1R: Steelskin (Bind to left click)
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call

Post Brutus
Reward: Added Fire Damage (Replace Chance to Bleed)
Reward: Leap Slam (replace Dash)
Buy Maim (replace Ruthless)
Buy Enduring Cry (place in weapon swap until you allocate the Call to Arms Keystone
Links
2R1G: Ground Slam > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R: Leap Slam
1R: Steelskin
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Enduring Cry

Post Fairgraves
Reward: Sunder (replace Ground Slam)
Links
2R1G: Sunder > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R: Leap Slam
1R: Steelskin
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Enduring Cry

Act 2

Post Fidelitas
Reward: Herald of Ash
Buy Herald of Purity
Links
2R1G: Sunder > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R: Leap Slam
1R: Steelskin
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Enduring Cry

Post Great White Beast & Weaver
Find 6R sockets in off-hand weapons(no links necessary)
Reward: Faster Attacks (add to Leap Slam)
Reward: Rare Rustic Sash or Quicksilver Flask
Buy Blood Rage
Buy Elemental Damage with Atacks (add to weapon swap)
Buy Trinity (add to weapon swap)
Buy Flesh and Stone (add to weapon swap)
Links
2R1G: Sunder > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Steelskin
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Enduring Cry
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone

Act 3

Start of Act 3
Find 3R1G item
Buy Melee Physical Damage (add to Sunder)
Replace Steelskin with Enduring Cry once you have Call to Arms Keystone(remember to keep on left click)
Move Steelskin to weapon swap
Links
3R1G: Sunder > Melee Physical Damage > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone

Post Piety
Reward: Punishment
Buy Pride (add to weapon swap)
Links
3R1G: Sunder > Melee Physical Damage > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: Punishment
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone
1R: weapon swap - Pride

Post Finding Busts & Sulphate

Reward: Jade Amulet
Links
No changes
3R1G: Sunder > Melee Physical Damage > Added Fire Damage > Onslaught
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: Punishment
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone
1R: weapon swap - Pride

Post General Gravicus & Piety
Reward: Ancestral Warchief (replace Ancestral Protector)
Buy Bladestorm (replace Sunder)
Buy Close Combat (replace Onslaught
Buy Rage (replace Added Fire Damage)
Links
3R1G: Bladestorm > Melee Physical Damage > Rage > Close Combat
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: Punishment
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone
1R: weapon swap - Pride

Act 4

Post Malachai
Reward: Multistrike (save in stash)
Buy Summon Ice Golem if you have room
Links
3R1G: Bladestorm > Melee Physical Damage > Rage > Close Combat
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: Punishment
1G: Summon Ice Golem
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone
1R: weapon swap - Pride

Act 5

Post Justicar Casticus
Reward: Silver Flask
Links
No changes
3R1G: Bladestorm > Melee Physical Damage > Rage > Close Combat
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Herald of Ash
1R: Herald of Purity
1R: Punishment
1G: Summon Ice Golem
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone
1R: weapon swap - Pride

Post High Templar Avarius
Replace Herald of Ash with Pride
Move Herald of Purity to weapon swap
Links
No changes
3R1G: Bladestorm > Melee Physical Damage > Rage > Close Combat
2R: Ancestral Protector > Maim
1R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks
1R: Enduring Cry
1R: Blood and Sand
1R: War Banner
1G: Blood Rage
1R: Pride
1R: Punishment
1G: Summon Ice Golem
1R: weapon swap - Ancestral Call
1R: weapon swap - Steelskin
1R: weapon swap - Elemental Damage with Attacks
1R: weapon swap - Trinity
1R: weapon swap - Flesh and Stone
1R: weapon swap - Herald of Purity

Act 6
Decide if you want to keep running Bladestorm or move to Wild Strike setup.
Bladestorm will be much faster until you reach maps, but there's nothing wrong with being a purist.
Bladestorm Final Setup
Buy Vulnerability (replace Punishment)
Buy or find Vaal Double Strike (add to Ancestral Warchief
Buy Fortify (add to Bladestorm)
Buy Brutality (add to Bladestorm)
Replace War Banner with Flesh & Stone
Buy Enlighten from trade when possible (add to Pride)
Buy another Melee Physical Damage (replace Maim on Ancestral Warchief)
Move Maim to Flesh & Stone
Buy Endurance Charge on Melee Stun (add to Leap Slam
Buy Blood Magic (add to Leap Slam)
Buy Vaal Molten shell from trade if possible,
Buy Increased Duration
Buy Cast When Damage Taken
Links
5R1G: Bladestorm > Melee Physical Damage > Rage > Close Combat > Fortify > Brutality
3R1G: Ancestral Warchief > Melee Physical Damage > Brutality > Vaal Double Strike
3R1B: Pride > Flesh & Stone > Maim > Enlighten
3R1G: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks > Endurance Charge on Melee Stun > Blood Magic
1R: Blood & Sand
1G: Blood Rage
1R Vulnerability
1R: Vaal Molten Shell
2R1B: CWDT (level 1) > Increased Duration > Enfeeble (level 5)

Wild Strike Final Setup
Replace Bladestorm with Wild Strike
Replace Melee Physical Damage with Multistrike
Replace Rage with Ancestral Call
Replace Close Combat with Elemental Damage with Attacks
Move Trinity to Wild Strike
Buy Inspiration (add to Wild Strike)
Buy Culling Strike (replace Endurance Charge on Melee Stun)
Buy Fortify (replace Blood Magic)
Buy Enhance when Possible (add to Leap Slam)
Move Blood Rage to Leap Slam
Replace Pride with Herald of Purity
Buy Enlighten when Possible (add to Herald of Purity)
Move Flesh & Stone to Herald of Purity
Move War Banner to Herald of Purity
Buy Second Wind (add to Enduring Cry)
Move Steelskin back in from stash
Buy Blasphemy
Buy Enfeeble
Buy Berserk
Buy Precision
Links
1G5R: Wild Strike > Multistrike > Elemental Damage with Atacks > Trinity > Rage > Ancestral Call
4G2R: Enhance > Leap Slam > Faster Attacks > Culling Strike > Blood Rage > Fortify
1B3R: Enlighten > Herald of Purity > Flesh & Stone > War Banner
3R1G: Vaal Ancestral Warchief > Enduring Cry > Second Wind > Steelskin
2B2R: Blasphemy > Enfeeble > Berserk > Precision

_________________________________________________________________________

Phase 2: Early Mapping
Snapshot & Info
• We utilize many uniques to fast-track our way through the Atlas. As I'm not a Hardcore player, Damage > Surviveability early. Later on, we'll put together a more balanced character.
• If you find yourself dying, try some of the alternative options.

Gems
Wild Strike > Multistrike > Elemental Damage with Attacks > Trinity > Rage > Ancestral Call/Damage on Full Life/Inspiration
Summon Skitterbots > Herald of Purity > Flesh and Stone > Precision
Leap Slam > Fortify > Faster Attacks > Vaal Ancestral Warchief
Cast When Damage Taken > Steelskin > Enduring Cry > Second Wind
Blood Rage > Berserk

Gear
Weapon
Terminus Est has great stats for the early-going. Accuracy, MS, and Mana on kill are handicaps for what we commonly lack early on. Frenzy charges on bosses is a bonus
Body
• Any rare six-link body armour with Life & Resistances. I would avoid a Tabula Rasa at this stage. Wild Strike links go here.
Helmet
• Abyssus helps us smash through the Atlas early. The cost is mega-squishiness. If you prefer a more full health bar, swap it out.No problem.
Alternative
• Rare helmet with Life and Resistances if preferred.
Gloves
Oskarm is great early for the Accuracy and Crit chance which we lack early. Assassin's Mark is extra sweet for boss killing.
• Fitting this in with Abyssus can make capping Resistances difficult. Look for extra Res on the Body Armour. If it's too tight, a well rounded combo is Oskarm with a rare helm.
Alternatives

Rare gloves with Life and Res are fine if necessary. Sacrifice Oskarm for Abyssus and use Rare Gloves if you want damage over surviveability.

• If you can afford both Shackles of the Wretched and the Chains of Emancipation belt at this stage, go for it.
Boots
• Rare boots with Life & Resistances
Belt
Belt of the Deceiver gives Res, some Life, Phys, and "Intimidated". Solid damage boosts.
Alternative
• Go ahead and switch to the Shackles/Chains setup if you can grab both items
Amulet
Rare Amulet with Life and Resistances. You'll most likely need a Turquoise base for Dex and Int. Any damage here is just a bonus.
Rings
Rare Rings. Prioritize Life & Resistances. Accuracy is next. Any damage is a bonus and totally unnecessary with some of the uniques.
Flasks
• Essentially the end game Flasks other than Taste of Hate or The Wise Oak as it is more expensive.• We'll use a Granite Flask in their place temporarily.
Jewels
The Interrogation is core to the build. It gives us huge damage as long as we're criting and surviveability as well.
Replica Conquerer's Efficiency has great synergy.


_________________________________________________________________________

Phase 3: Functional
Upgrades & Changes

Gems
Wild Strike > Multistrike > Elemental Damage with Attacks > Trinity > Rage > Ancestral Call/Damage on Full Life/Inspiration
Enlighten > Summon Skitterbots > Herald of Purity > Flesh and Stone > War Banner > Precision
Leap Slam > Fortify > Faster Attacks > Vaal Ancestral Warchief
Berserk > Steelskin > Enduring Cry > Second Wind
Vortex > Hextouch > Temporal Chains > Enfeeble
Blood Rage (Unset Ring)

Gear

_________________________________________________________________________

Phase 4: Final
Upgrades & Changes

Gems
Wild Strike > Multistrike > Elemental Damage with Attacks > Trinity > Rage > Ancestral Call/Damage on Full Life/Inspiration
Enlighten > Summon Skitterbots > Herald of Purity > Flesh and Stone > War Banner > Precision
Leap Slam > Fortify > Faster Attacks > Vaal Ancestral Warchief
Berserk > Steelskin > Enduring Cry > Second Wind
Vortex > Hextouch > Temporal Chains > Enfeeble
Blood Rage (Unset Ring)

Gear

_________________________________________________________________________

Phase 5: Extreme
Upgrades & Changes

Gems

Gear
Last edited by rvalen on May 7, 2021, 9:56:12 PM
This is exactly what i was looking for, most people utilize just one element but i really really wanna use all three, thats what this skill is all about.

don't you think elementalist will be better? the shaper nodes and exposure seems really good as well. could you maybe include a elementalist one? or would the ST too terrible?
Last edited by xb00niex on Jan 14, 2021, 2:58:18 PM
"
xb00niex wrote:
This is exactly what i was looking for, most people utilize just one element but i really really wanna use all three, thats what this skill is all about.

don't you think elementalist will be better? the shaper nodes and exposure seems really good as well. could you maybe include a elementalist one? or would the ST too terrible?


Elementalist would be viable of course. The issue with Wild Strike is single target damage. Berserker gives us the best stats to overcome that. Having low boss damage also means you're standing in front of them more often. This is where we need Attack Speed. Since we are using a two hander for optimal damage, Zerker mitigates that problem as well. It also helps when Leap Slamming into packs. Being squishy with a slow wind up time feels very bad.

Given that Wild Strike is 100% converted, there is no downside other than the innate squishiness of Berserker. Raider would be more comparable in efficiency. You just trade Damage for a ton of evasion and dodge. In bossing terms, you could say Zerker is kill or be killed while Raider has the endurance to stay in an extended fight.
"
rvalen wrote:
"
xb00niex wrote:
This is exactly what i was looking for, most people utilize just one element but i really really wanna use all three, thats what this skill is all about.

don't you think elementalist will be better? the shaper nodes and exposure seems really good as well. could you maybe include a elementalist one? or would the ST too terrible?


Elementalist would be viable of course. The issue with Wild Strike is single target damage. Berserker gives us the best stats to overcome that. Having low boss damage also means you're standing in front of them more often. This is where we need Attack Speed. Since we are using a two hander for optimal damage, Zerker mitigates that problem as well. It also helps when Leap Slamming into packs. Being squishy with a slow wind up time feels very bad.

Given that Wild Strike is 100% converted, there is no downside other than the innate squishiness of Berserker. Raider would be more comparable in efficiency. You just trade Damage for a ton of evasion and dodge. In bossing terms, you could say Zerker is kill or be killed while Raider has the endurance to stay in an extended fight.


Thank you for explaining, thats reasonable! I just don't like to be too squishy, do you think zerker still can built decent defense ? The lifsteal, dodge and high phys reduction seem good, i like to have max resistance on everything as well and could this get higher than 6k hp?

another thing is chaos resistance, i really like this to be maxed, possible?
Last edited by xb00niex on Jan 14, 2021, 6:25:37 PM
"
xb00niex wrote:
"
rvalen wrote:
"
xb00niex wrote:
This is exactly what i was looking for, most people utilize just one element but i really really wanna use all three, thats what this skill is all about.

don't you think elementalist will be better? the shaper nodes and exposure seems really good as well. could you maybe include a elementalist one? or would the ST too terrible?


Elementalist would be viable of course. The issue with Wild Strike is single target damage. Berserker gives us the best stats to overcome that. Having low boss damage also means you're standing in front of them more often. This is where we need Attack Speed. Since we are using a two hander for optimal damage, Zerker mitigates that problem as well. It also helps when Leap Slamming into packs. Being squishy with a slow wind up time feels very bad.

Given that Wild Strike is 100% converted, there is no downside other than the innate squishiness of Berserker. Raider would be more comparable in efficiency. You just trade Damage for a ton of evasion and dodge. In bossing terms, you could say Zerker is kill or be killed while Raider has the endurance to stay in an extended fight.


Thank you for explaining, thats reasonable! I just don't like to be too squishy, do you think zerker still can built decent defense ? The lifsteal, dodge and high phys reduction seem good, i like to have max resistance on everything as well and could this get higher than 6k hp?

another thing is chaos resistance, i really like this to be maxed, possible?


The most immediate things we can do to build defense is:
1) Trade out Abyssus helm for a Starkonja's or rare with 100+ life. That helm makes us take a lot more physical damage.
2)For more life, take 5 more nodes on the Constitution wheel on tree. Trade out points to Butchery and Savagery. This is about 500 more hp.
3)Use Vaal Grace or Vaal Molten shell during boss fights.

Keep in mind we use Blasphemy/Enfeeble to mitigate more damage. We can't use any elemental auras so we have the mana to reserve. The cool thing about this is that we can hot-swap Enfeeble to Elemental Weakness whenever we want for damage/defense depending on what we're up against. Only do this if you're going to use Enfeeble most of the time. Skitterbots is a better alternative to Elemental Weakness if you didn't want the Enfeeble option.

Elemental resistances are no problem. We use plenty of jewels to get more if you're lacking on gear. We won't have much chaos resistance without trading out uniques for rares. But unless you're running Metamorphs, it isn't a big deal.
Thanks a lot, i think i will use your build! this seems really good overall, you convinced me! :D
"
xb00niex wrote:
Thanks a lot, i think i will use your build! this seems really good overall, you convinced me! :D


Great to hear! Everything will be more clear once the guide is complete. I've been bogged down and now we're running up against the start time haha. Finishing leveling guide first and then will fill out the build details with more explanations.
"
rvalen wrote:
"
xb00niex wrote:
Thanks a lot, i think i will use your build! this seems really good overall, you convinced me! :D


Great to hear! Everything will be more clear once the guide is complete. I've been bogged down and now we're running up against the start time haha. Finishing leveling guide first and then will fill out the build details with more explanations.


Im pretty sure it will! Are you gonna include alternative weapon maybe too? Voidforge right of the bat should be difficult, depends on the price of course.

Sure you will get it in time! A guide on this scale takes quite some time! :P
"
xb00niex wrote:
"
rvalen wrote:
"
xb00niex wrote:
Thanks a lot, i think i will use your build! this seems really good overall, you convinced me! :D


Great to hear! Everything will be more clear once the guide is complete. I've been bogged down and now we're running up against the start time haha. Finishing leveling guide first and then will fill out the build details with more explanations.


Im pretty sure it will! Are you gonna include alternative weapon maybe too? Voidforge right of the bat should be difficult, depends on the price of course.

Sure you will get it in time! A guide on this scale takes quite some time! :P


For mapping you can use Terminus Est. Until we get some Attack Speed, running dual wield will feel better. In that case you can use dual Ichimonji's or Scaeva's. If you go this route, be sure to allocate Strong Arm instead of Butchery and respec it later (2 orbs of regret)

For leveling, use the physical weapon vendor recipe in every act unless you've found a better rare or unique. Vendor the item base you want (any rarity) + a magic or rare rustic sash (rare gives higher mod) + Blacksmith's Whetstone. Leveling Two hander uniques include Limbsplit, Reaper's Pursuit, and the Bloodreaper.
Last edited by rvalen on Jan 16, 2021, 8:19:12 AM

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