10 deaths to kill Vaal on Normal?

It may be due to my newbieness and skillesness in playing Marauder, but it also might be due to my crappy gear...

I am following the Marauder Melee Build v4.00 and this is my build so far (as of level 28).

Here is what I am currently wearing:



I feel I lack damage but I know this is more of a tank build and that would be OK with me if not the fact that it's also quite hard to survive for me - either I take mobs one by one and run away from crowds or I am dead (even with flasks). Not to mention I died over 10 times trying to kill Vaal (being level 28), hitting it 5 times with Heavy Strike and dying...

I am really close to quit Marauder and switch to brand new Witch. Anyone able to talk me out of it? :)

How much hp and resistances did you have? I recently killed it with terrible self-found gear on Anarchy and it posed no issues. The lightning beam of death should only hit you for about 2/3 of your hp and you can run around to avoid them. The fire/phys smash would take you low but shouldn't kill you.
You just seem to be lacking some resists and hp to survive. I would recommend grinding Fellshrine until higher levels or for drops.

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Acrosis wrote:

How much hp and resistances did you have? I recently killed it with terrible self-found gear on Anarchy and it posed no issues. The lightning beam of death should only hit you for about 2/3 of your hp and you can run around to avoid them. The fire/phys smash would take you low but shouldn't kill you.
You just seem to be lacking some resists and hp to survive. I would recommend grinding Fellshrine until higher levels or for drops.

636 HP and these are my resistances:

You really should be using added fire damage instead of life on hit, since you haven't taken blood magic yet it doesn't really give you much benefit. Added fire should give you a pretty big DPS increase.
Other than that just make sure to dodge the laser.

What are you dying to most?

Probably the mace is just terrible.
I'm on a DW Duelist (lvl 28 atm) on Anarchy, obviously self-found gear and I killed him pretty easy. Actually it felt too easy.

I have ~400 DPS on Dual Strike, and it was just fine.

This kind of skill setup works great for normal difficulty.

You need better Rings/Ammy/Helmet but the weapon is probably whats holding you back.Next time you get an Alch use it on a ring.I can also give you: This might be faceroll at lower lvls but atleast you'll learn how to groundslam micro and use the basics of your build.

Also get warlords mark and a granite flask.Improve your rings to cap your resists.This is important.Either send more a pm or hit me up in game if you want the mace.Draknavar.

Vaal, maybe not in merciless, is quite easy if you know his skills. He will never really hit you.


Look for a good guide vid (youtube?), it might help you.

My gear was very crappy in every difficulty and I didn't use granite Flask and endurance charges at all in the beginning.

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It may be due to my newbieness and skillesness in playing Marauder

How do you play against Vaal ?


You must study Vaal's moves and skills, to see them in time and to move accordingly. Good mobility is the key to beating Vaal.

You're probably dying to Vaal's Smash. You should never try to tank it. Always be ready to stop using Heavy Strike and to move.
Stop attacking whenever you feel Vaal will attack, whatever attack that could be, to be ready to move.

If he already started his smash, don't instinctively run away from Vaal (= number 1 mistake), but on the contrary, run to him and get behind him.


Lasers : you could tank 1 hit, but you can't afford being hit one more time. Just keep moving to easily dodge em.


Try to always face Vaal's weakest arm, so that you could see him turning to use his smashing arm.
Try not to fight Vaal near a corner, you're limiting your escape ways.
Be careful when the ground is frozen around you.
If you are teleporting and coming back, do not click anywhere on the screen if you're still loading.

The only glaring need that I see is LIFE. You only have like +55'ish from your gear. If you add MOAR LIFE then your pool will shoot up closer to 1,000 and you will have a much easier time. Wear 2x Coral rings, turn them into magic rings with Transmute orbs and then add a second mod with Augment orb. You will probably end up with some Mana or more STR that way too.

Life aside, as far as the fight itself goes:
There is a lot to be said for "manual dodge" and knowing how to avoid attacks. The move speed stat is handy here and is often overlooked. Don't count on your Block (/w 1H builds) or Evasion or Armor to bail you out: Against large mobs and big hitting bosses learn to dodge attacks yourself. If an attack doesn't hit you because you moved your character it does zero damage.

With Vaal, you have to dodge the laser beam and the smash. Everything else should be fine and you can get life back (flasks) from killing the added mobs he summons.

I am not trying to be a jerk, but don't bother with new skills or new weapons or new whatever. Just practice and get better, and you will do sooooo much better in the game as it gets harder and harder.