Help a New Guy Out: Lvl 25 Mara, Resolute Technique, Where form here?

Okay, so I was following this build:

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/73072

I'm lvl 25 right now, and I've already gotten Resolute Technique. I haven't assigned anything after that, because I wasn't sure if I really want Blood Magic.

Being new, I'm struck between wanting to follow a specific build to the exact skill point....and wanting to do SOME parts on my own.


Anyway, I am not sure what build I want to follow anymore, maybe you guys can help me.

I'm a Marauder, as I mentioned.

I'd prefer to weld a 2 hander.

I want my guy to be a tank, focusing on elemental resistance, high health, health regen/Life on hit type stuff. High armor.

In other words, I want him to be more defense oriented than offense, although obviously he needs to be proficient in both, but in a party with my friends I want him to be the tanky guy.

I REALLY, REALLY like using Sweep, but being new, I don't know if it is a skill I can only use now in the beginning of the game, or if it is something I can keep using.


Can you guys give me some advice? Any advice?

I've googled, I've searched the forums...I've read the FAQs.....and I am still just not sure where to go from here, what to do with my marauder. Thanks guys. Sorry if this seems stupid, but again, I'm a noob, trying to make the best out of my gaming experience.

Thanks in advance again!

Okay, a couple things:

Templar area has good armor, elemental damage, area of effect, etc. I would suggest heading up that way to secure the beginnings of your tankiness. If you look just to the left of the home node for Templar, you'll see a sick group of nodes where you can spend a good 10 points.

Something you may have overlooked in your own starting area, good for a tank: there are two nodes which reduce enemy critical damage. TAKE THEM. If not now, then soon. You'll think they're wasted until you need them.

If you're going to tank, at least for the beginning levels of this build, you could go sweep/cleave (focusing more on cleave for ease of leveling).

One thing that only clicked for me recently (pretty new) is that almost every build will look drastically different at different levels. You get respec points, and later you'll be able to afford Regrets. So if you need something now (mana regen, reduced mana cost, whatever), but fear it's a wasted point later, take it now and mark it in your mind to change.

You need to make yourself viable for the slog from 30-50. That's where newbie builds (mine included) become mediocre, often because you're trying to specialize before you have the gear, the currency, or the passive points you need.

I can give you more specific help if you can tell me more than "I wanna be tanky." Do you want AoE? Do you want high dps on single target? Just general answers to those questions would help immensely.

Thanks for your answers. It is much appreciated.

Yes, it is specifically today while playing with a mara that had awesome AoE, that I realized I want AoE more than anything.

I WAS using Heavy Strike/Sweep/Decoy Totem.

Now that I made it into Cruel, and I'm lvl 38, a guy in my party was kind enough to gift me an awesome Maul.

So right now, I'm using Heavy Strike/Leap Slam/Ground Slam.


The build I'm currently following is:
0.11.2 [Newbie Friendly] MARAUDER MELEE BUILD v4.1
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/73072



I want my guy to be:

Tanky
High DPS for AOE
High Survivability
Use 1-hand Mace
High elemental Resistance


Hope this helps

Okay, so to start, a couple things to remember:

Your build sucks. I'm a newbie, and my build sucks. Far from being a bad thing, it's going to teach you how to make a better build, or respec yours. This isn't a bad thing, and you can't really stop it from happening by obsessing over every detail. You'll get a feel for it... slowly.

Damage will mostly come from gear. If you need more damage, and you're SURE that your gear is uberleet, THEN spec into damage, but this shouldn't happen to you (if you're lucky / good at trading) until Merciless.

Make sure you've got some life leech (even 2% will make a massive difference) and stack the amazing life nodes that are in your starting area, templar area, and on the dexterity-heavy line which runs east between the two.

Now:

Are you sure you want to use a 1-handed mace? I only ask because there are some beastly two-handers out there. If you're going 1-handed, you'll be looking for damage multipliers, and not worrying a ton about armor (because of shields).

The next thing to think about is the source of your damage. If you look around at the AoE skills, they will tell you a bit. Look for:

Does it add elemental damage, or convert physical damage to elemental?
Is the AoE effect considered melee damage or projectile?

Once you've picked one of these, as well as a single-target skill, then think about augmenting (or addressing the weaknesses of) your chosen skills.

Honestly, at this point, make sure you're picking up the resists and HP to be tanky, and experiment like hell with your skills. Where you are right now, with that Mace you're in love with, look at the stats... does it have %extra phys damage? Then think about gems that convert phys to elemental. Does it have elemental damage on it? Find some nodes that add "Elemental Damage with Weapons" like Lava Lash, just below and to the left of your starting area.

Basically, go play!

Hope this was a helpful rant. And not just a... rant. If you have any more questions, lemme know (after the disclosure that I'm pretty newbish myself)

Thats my mace

I don't see why you say my build sucks. I think it is actually really good.

Sorry, I guess that came off wrong. My point was that it's insanely hard to get an uber build right off the bat. You'll be able to fine-tune as you go, as long as you pay attention to what's happening as you're fighting - are the fights taking too long, are you too reliant on flasks, does one kind of mob in particular give you a hard time.

I wasn't actually saying that it sucks, my bad.

Okay cool, I'm actually using the same Maul. So there's very little elemental damage on the weapon. This means that nodes which up your weapon elemental damage will do very little for you at this time.

If you were to use a skill (or support) that converted some of your physical damage into an element, then you'll open up a lot more good damage node options. Infernal blow could be a good fit here, if you use that for single-target. Then you can get items/nodes/auras which increase fire damage, and it will all start to stack.

Okay, neat, thank you :)


The cool thing is, I didn't even really start utilizing the build I'm doing until I hit around lvl37 or so. Before that.....it was almost as if I was a generic marauder, even though I was following the build.

Now I am actually starting to use the build the way its meant to be used...and I do mean "starting"....I have a LONG way to go. So far it is VERY fun!