Skipping Armor Nodes?

I've been sketching out my passive tree for a Marauder build and have been looking at the builds on this thread and on some other sites. I've noticed something that is confusing to me and makes me feel like I'm missing something.

Almost every build skips the Armor +15% and Armor +10% passives that shoot off from the starting area heading directly to the left. Obviously everyone runs down the middle to grab the life nodes, but why skip 25% of armor that you don't have to travel for? What is more perplexing is that most of the builds grab Armor clusters later in the tree.

Is this purely preference, or am I not understanding some mechanics here? (I've seen it too much for it not to be simply preference).

Thanks for the help!
Didn't know that below poster. TY for that!
IGN: Meowauder
IGN: ThatOneGuyThatllDie
Last edited by Shocky1000 on May 28, 2013, 3:08:38 PM
Not all Armor nodes are created equal and point efficiency is crucial for some builds. Life is always more important and should be taken earlier than armor. By waiting to take armor you can take better clusters of nodes that you will likely pass by...and you can always take the Mara armor nodes later too/instead if you need/want to.

But, as far as bang for your buck: There are 2x clusters of armor nodes that each give +50% for 3 pts...one by Unwavering Stance and one by Duelist tree.

Above poster is incorrect: The 24%/24% Armor/Evasion nodes do not stack if you have Iron Reflexes equipped (turns Eva rating into extra armor rating). If you have Iron Reflexes you only get the buff to armor of 24%.

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