read this thread for fun, cheap, survivable build ideas!

Class: Duelist. (Mara works just as well, but I like Duelist.
Levels 1-20.
Grab a Rustic Sash from Nessa, Two Coral Rings, a Coral Amulet. Alternatively, You will want to acquire one of these as early as possible (Cost 1 chaos in HC leagues, usually free in Standards)
This helmet is good all the way up until Merciless ledge, by which point you have hopefully found one with a good life roll and a couple of resists and some armor.

You will also want to acquire
These are good until at least level 40.
At level 8, buy one of these. Also generally free in Standard, 1-2 chaos in HC/Ons depending on sockets/links
I used it all the way up until level 60 in Onslaught, and I'll use it all the way up until Lioneye remorse or Aegis Aurora depending on which one I decide to go with. It is a BiS item. 3% leech. Huge life roll. Best of all, 40% block chance.

At this point you may be thinking, damn this build is expensive, but it really isn't. You'll notice every item can be used until at least level 40, many until level 60 or beyond. With the amount of money you save looking for upgrades, it is actually extremely affordable.
At level 16, you should be in forest encampment in normal. Buy two Life rings and transmute/alt them until you get a physical damage roll. At this point you want to buy a pair of . Cost: 1chaos - 3exalt, any league, depending on roll. You really wont notice a huge difference between an 805 roll and a 996 roll (the lowest and highest rolls I have) until much later in the game.

-Shortcut-
You can buy one of these at level 8. It isn't really necessary until around level 60, but it is a lot of fun. Your DPS will be fine without it until then, though. Cost: 5-15 chaos depending on league and roll.

Amulet:
This is also very cheap and not really necessary. What is necessary is that you have an amulet with some intelligence on it. This one also has Mana, and spell block. With your block chance from Perandus, you now have 20% spell block. Alternatively, without Meginords, Grab an amulet with intelligence and alt it until you get a decent physical roll.

Passives, 1-20
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAmSu9gavFR35lTYTZbmnEuNX4vqfSTcAPWNtT35uDhO907XrvYEsFLQ==

You may notice there are 3 1 handed melee nodes. These give you 20 dex and no other benefit, except faster routing, and damage until you start using facebreakers. They will eventually be specced out of.

You will also want to pick up Clarity, and level it to 3. From then on with Clarity + wanderlust + passives, you should easily have enough mana to run IB + Splash.

You will be Using Infernal Blow + Life gain on hit until level 19. At which point you will start using Infernal Blow + Melee Splash + life gain on hit added in against bosses.

You can also add in Tempest shield if you have the mana for it. I did.

Levels 21-40
Honestly, this is a complete faceroll. I had meginords, so an advantage, but I soloed piety at level 26 without her getting a shot in.

You will want to help Oak.

Other gems to be leveling if you have them: Life Leech, Hatred, Determination, Enduring Cry, Immortal Call, Frenzy, Dominating Blow.

Passives 21-40
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAmSu9gavFR35lTYTZbmnEuNX4WNtT35uDvqfSTcAPhO907XrvYEsFLUCgYSEaVWSjNugB56cwFCBQR_e-ns3SIVcN2WEZLiftrKpyqXzZWfM=

NOTE: It is IMPERATIVE that you get Resolute Technique before Act 3 Cruel. There is a (slight) chance without it, that your infernal blow explosion crits into a reflect mob. I One shotted myself at level 55 on ledge this way with 1800hp, 4 active endurance charges. Max resists.

Around this point, you will want to start using Hatred + Reduce Mana + Determination OR purity, depending on your needs.. You will probably have to drop Tempest Shield.

In a 4L, you will use: Infernal Blow + Melee Splash + Melee Physical Damage + Mana Leech.

Alternatively, you can Use IB + MS + Melee Phys + Blood Magic, IF you already have resolute technique. I don't prefer to do it this way until later because you still have low HP. Make Sure you have a Granite flask, and with a Granite with armor roll + Perandus, you can tank Kole/Brutus very easily.

Passives 41-60
There is actually quite a bit more than 60 passives selected, as this is to get you to level 60. You will be getting passives from quests on the way. I think it is best to kill all 3 bandits for the skill point in cruel, personally.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAmSu9gavFR35lTYTZbmnEuNX4vqdY21Pfm4OE714TrK_nkcOGdO1672BLBS1AoO9OMglhIRpVZKM26AHnpzAUIFBH976ezdIhVw3ZYRkuJ-2sqnKpfNlZ88AaZp760qmVUWAaMoBWT30dFEw1KMXzvjbp42qQVaeEGjjsODrYTdiMdvuqoLSePIFvBLMCcQ==

You may have noticed, not that many HP nodes at this time. With the block nodes + perandus, they simply arent necessary. I killed Brutus in Merc without getting hit simply because I blocked the 3 attacks he got in.

My Current Gear (Level 52)


Tip: If you are lucky enough to own a Multistrike Gem and a 5L, swap in the Multistrike immediately before Fighting Brutus, Or Merveil, Vaal, Piety, etc. Anywhere you don't need the AOE.

Current DPS with this gear and this tree at 52: 4500 with splash. 6700 with Multistrike.

There are probably very similar builds out there, but I don't follow guides, I just look at the tree and make decisions.

Again, I'll expand on this later if there is interest, and after I experiment with finding what is "Best" from 60 onwards.


Edit: Ended up beating Piety Merc at level 59 with the gear listed. Since then I beat Temple Piety at level 71, Jungle Valley at level 71, Unique Crypt Map at level 66, but I did greatly upgrade my gear to things I'd been waiting for, and the changes are expensive. The old gear is still viable, just not "amazing."

Core of the build are frenzy charges coupled with Blood Dance boots to make me able to use Deaths Oath chest later when i get enough chaos res.
Tho the Deaths Oath chest is not a requirement at all, i want to try to utilise it nevertheless.

The only core item in my build are the boots, they give massive survival, allow you to utilise bloodrage and give bonus move speed.
Everything else but the boots is what you can find / trade, i opted for Terminus Est since it has decent DPS and the belt i dropped so it comes nice when it comes to mana regen for skills to use.

Due to no life regen / leech early on, you might wanna go 1h + shield and using some other skills until you can equip the boots.

For bandit rewards i chose:
+hp
+% physical damage
+frenzy charge



Current gear


Current skill tree:


Atm using frenzy vs one target to quickly build up frenzy charges, then use Blood Rage for extra survival and easy charge maintain.

For single target i use Puncture and Viper Strikes then switch to frenzy, refreshing both dots every several attack.
Puncture and Viper Strike have both proven quite great vs bosses and exile when coupled together.

For AoE i jump around using leap slam, it has proven quite efficent due to high attack speed and evasion i move around quite fast.

The build sometimes rubber bands due to desync tho.
The idea of the build is to prepare for utilisation of:


Since it's really nice roll imo and i want to test it on a life char.
Will be possible when i get more chaos res, but people really put a high price tag on those so i can't really do much atm in terms of using the chest piece.

I will update the post later with more info.