Some advice would be nice :)

I am quite a new player to PoE, well I have been looking around for tips and guides but I've always got this big question. See, my fav character is the marauder and I love going melee but I have been facing this problem, Blood Magic or not?

I realised that mana is quite a problem in early game and in late game must it always be Clarity skill gem to hold the mana regen? What are some of the alternatives I can consider and tell me some stuff about Blood Magic. Thx

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dasVertrauen wrote:

I am quite a new player to PoE, well I have been looking around for tips and guides but I've always got this big question. See, my fav character is the marauder and I love going melee but I have been facing this problem, Blood Magic or not?

I realised that mana is quite a problem in early game and in late game must it always be Clarity skill gem to hold the mana regen? What are some of the alternatives I can consider and tell me some stuff about Blood Magic. Thx

dont go blood magic and run 6 aura whit reduced mara reservation and inner force :D
use Blood Magic gem(this gem will be paid with life instead of mana) whit your dps gem and problem is solved whit your mana :D

You can always take Blood Magic talent early and then just spec out of it with re-spec points later(You are awarded 2 per act). You will probably be down near Blood Magic later on anyway if you want to take Unwavering Stance or Iron Reflexes, so you can always spec out and re-spend the points.

I will say this though: I didn't have any mana problems all through normal using Lightning Strike, Cleave, and Heavy Strike, even when I ran Hatred aura. Just get good at anticipating when you need to pop a mana potion, and try to look for a piece of gear (ring?) with +mana regen rate on it along with some +life or +damage.

With Blood Magic gems (instead of the skill) you can also choose which skills go on your life bar and which go on your mana bar. This applies to auras as well. Right now I am running Determination (+armor) on my health pool and Hatred and Anger on my mana pool. It barely made a dent in my health, and the other two auras only take my Mana down to half (I am level 39).

In the long term, I plan to run 1-2 on my health pool, and the rest (2-3) on my mana pool by using Blood Magic gems for all of my attack skills. My mana pool will be for auras only, for the most part.

BUT, if you are going to do anything with blood magic (skill or gems) you need to have the health pool for it, and life regen, and ideally some way to steal life (life on hit or life leech) that outpaces the life used for the skill.

hmm, thx for the advice and guides... I will try to play around with it.

Another thought. Endurance Charges are not a necessity for melees are they? But I kinda like the Regen from them though. Still I wanna maybe spend my points on something else and not use endurance entirely.

You will probably end up being close to at least 2 of +max endurance charge nodes depending on what you take.

The base skill gives 3, for 15% armor boost and 15% resist all.

If you need to, you can just spec out of something else and into the extra charges later.

Then you would have 25% boosts (with 5 total...3 base an 2 from passives), which is very noticable late game, especially since your armor will be much higher from gear. Taking the endurance and using them regularly also allows you to spec out of one of the diamond skins if you want to.

It depends on the exact type of Mara you want to play. If you're going to be right in dudes faces smashing away, you will probably want the extra armor. If you're playing ranged of any sort (bow, ethereal knives) you may not need them. If you play HC, you will need them.

ok, this is what i've planned:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYYz38UFB8uIzPKS72SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7dlhxPbz3ayqVw09D3dicqlZ89IhffV82cAans1mnpBVpzB25_rSp4QB5xQgNukaODboUEfjauw4ZKOHKTrYGlVN2GEhnjyMdodqhO-Bb5BsdO0Es6mUeu8UTfAfAnGE2WBLgziiAGVNJd8FLe98R34b-kCgPAWrxaQZ704hYJ_fMgl08YuMnrkFW_e-

I wanna keep a few things optional such as 'Iron Reflexes', still kept endurance optional, some mana regen nodes from Templar, +30 int nodes, the 'Acceleration' and 'Leather and Steel' from duelist tree. I wanna do a Cyclone marauder focused on HP and regen. Wonder if this skill tree will do just fine?

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dasVertrauen wrote:

ok, this is what i've planned:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYYz38UFB8uIzPKS72SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3yL9SPGS4n7dlhxPbz3ayqVw09D3dicqlZ89IhffV82cAans1mnpBVpzB25_rSp4QB5xQgNukaODboUEfjauw4ZKOHKTrYGlVN2GEhnjyMdodqhO-Bb5BsdO0Es6mUeu8UTfAfAnGE2WBLgziiAGVNJd8FLe98R34b-kCgPAWrxaQZ704hYJ_fMgl08YuMnrkFW_e-

I wanna keep a few things optional such as 'Iron Reflexes', still kept endurance optional, some mana regen nodes from Templar, +30 int nodes, the 'Acceleration' and 'Leather and Steel' from duelist tree. I wanna do a Cyclone marauder focused on HP and regen. Wonder if this skill tree will do just fine?

I am not familiar with that build or skill myself, but that looks like a decent tree. I'm sure someone who knows the build could fine tune it.

Offhand though, I would say avoid the Armor + Energy shield nodes unless you really plan to run both. Otherwise, there are much better armor nodes to take (there is a nice 50% total one down by unwavering stance). You could consider skipping the initial Mara armor nodes for the same reason, since you won't need an armor buff in Normal diff and you can take better ones later (or just select them later if you need them)

Also, depending on skill gems and weapon type, the weapon elemental damage nodes (Catalyse + 2 others in Templar tree above Armor+Shiled circle) might do you more good than the "8% elemental damage ones". Depending on what skill you use, the game uses the nodes differently. I believe for weapon based skills the ones that specify "weapon elemental damage" are better. Then again, you may have just taken the solo 8% one to get to the mana regen.

I plan on taking Beserking, Acceleration, and Leather and Steel for my LS Mara as well...all that speed is just too good to pass up. Movement speed is sometimes overlooked as a survival skill, but it is great for clearing faster and getting out of trouble quick, IMO. I always stacked move speed in D3 /w my Barb b/c it allowed me to dodge projectiles way easier and move away from bad mobs quickly to gain a better position.

"

dasVertrauen wrote:

Another thought. Endurance Charges are not a necessity for melees are they? But I kinda like the Regen from them though.

Not necessary, but they're nice. One of the main things that's really great about endurance charges is that they give you a flat percentage damage reduction on top of what's already provided by your armor. Like resistances, the more damage reduction you have, the more each additional percent of it is worth.

Going from 20% reduction to 35% is far less noticeable than going from, say, 60% damage reduction to 75%. So if you already have a lot of reduction from armor, each endurance charge can make a gigantic difference and make you that much more tanky.

@OP
Firstly Unwavering Stance is a must for melee character. In end-game stun means more or less "revive" button. And you - as a melee character - are very vulnerable to stun.

Secondly with Unwavering Stance takien, you loose plenty of evasion rating. Don't fool yourself, your never gonna have pure armor equipment. In such a case Iron Reflexes is made just for you - and you are just 4 points away. Especially that armor that has been converted via Iron Reflexes also benefits from armor nodes. As an addition, you will get free base 1.5k armor from Grace aura.

Master of the Area is very good idea -> Cyclone is the only AoE skill I know, that benefits from this nodes in terms of range.

Considering Endurance Charges, for me they are a must as they bring most powerful defense against physical damage. And this (not elemental damage) will be main threat for you. Endurance Charges brings huge bonus for physical reduction, that IS NOT pierced by high damage.

I have no idea why did you take Elemental Damage node. Your damage will be strictly physical, so you won't see any changes in damage

Also I wonder why did you take Mana Regeneration node. 40% regen wont help you at all, because your mana pool will be always too small.
If you really want to maintain skills from mana use Mana Leech gem AND Eldritch Battery (yea, it's faaaaar). The reason is that you can only leech out 20% of your mana per second. With low mana pool you won't be able to maintain skill cost.
Another way out is a use of Blood Magic gem. Your life pool will be high independenly. And you won't need Life Leech gem as long you have enough "% life leech from physical damage attack" from gear's mods.
Third easiest way out is simple taking Blood Magic node. You will be always able to reset those 1-2 nodes and respecialise into previous solutions.

@Halezor

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Offhand though, I would say avoid the Armor + Energy shield nodes unless you really plan to run both.

I believe he took them, because it's most benefical way to get to Templar's Life Circle, not because pathetic energy shield.

~~nas

some many advice lol... I'll take note of all these.

@NinjaArabStrategist
So to say, I should get some elemental dmg too? So maybe i could drop 2 of the "armor and energy shield" nodes and get elemental instead.
I just wonder, would I actually need Clarity to sustain my mana or find mana leeching gears?

Actually the reason why I picked the "armor and energy shield" nodes was because of the 10% elemental resist. Or should I not?