[GUIDE] My Dominating Blow 2h Ranger...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2OpopNAM4 <-- lunaris 3 + piety run
http://youtu.be/eusvuBkPH6A <-- funny goatmen mod in a 69 map, just 30 secs

Here is the passive tree (it's quite unique!!!):
Dominating Blow Ranger


Apologies for the video quality!


Weapon: 2h Staff or another 2h. I picked staff because I like the block%. I have 40% block just with 3 passive points in staff block + the BoR 15%. It synergizes very well. I initially used a Pillar of the Caged God and had a bunch of points into STR nodes and also more +str and +phys on my gear but then my friend gave me a rare staff and I like it a little better, mainly because it freed up some points.

Helm: Bringer of Rain

Gloves & Boots & Rings: Standard life + res stuff. You have to get a lot of resists from these items as you don't have any from Bringer or a chest armor. +Phys is always nice on them as well.

Belt: If a rare staff then get a nice Rustic sash with life, armor, resists. If Pillar, then Meginord's is a must.


Gem setup in the BoR: 20/20 Dominating Blow, 20/20 Melee Splash, lvl 20 Multistrike + 20/20 Reduced Mana. Notice how Multistrike doesn't have to be quality, which is because its quality bonus sucks, just 10% increased physical damage (one point on the tree). With the 20/20 Reduced Mana and the ~35% reduced cost of skills from your tree, the Dom Blow becomes about 83 mana. Without the 20/20 reduced mana it goes to 138 (that's before putting a gem to replace it like Added Fire Dmg which makes it an insane 180).


Curse: Whatever you want, doesn't really matter.

Aura: I just run Hatred most of the time


Here are my items:

Pros:
-Probably the most fun I've had in the game
- Very unique, people will lol, especially since you're a ranger
- Good survivability
- Good dps, my dom blow is 9k and aoe, then add a continuous army of minions (my highest was 90 at once). It's easy to sustain 35+ minimum, upwards of 60-70+.
- Fairly cheap except for the Bringer and possibly the staff, but staves aren't popular so you can get a good phys one for cheap, or just use a new 16% Pillar which costs a few chaos
- Clears very fast
- No need for expensive 6 link armor or weapon (assuming
- Excellent build for people who like to solo or duo

Cons:
- Well, you're melee so there's that inherent disadvantage...
- It's not easy getting 77/77/77 resists (and a little chaos). You have to get monster resists on just a few items. Look at my 2 rings for example. They weren't too expensive, they're just very specific and that can be frustrating when trying to find them
- That's it, no other cons, #1 build on the server etc

Would minion instability work with this build?

"

eirstryder wrote:

Would minion instability work with this build?

I have no idea, that's a good question.

I forgot to add that I'd love to hear any suggestions... secondary skills, changing a few points here and there on the tree, specific gear suggestions, anything. This is a new build for me. I don't even have a Cast when Damage Taken slotted, for example.

"

WAWAMELONS wrote:

"

eirstryder wrote:

Would minion instability work with this build?

I have no idea, that's a good question.

I forgot to add that I'd love to hear any suggestions... secondary skills, changing a few points here and there on the tree, specific gear suggestions, anything. This is a new build for me. I don't even have a Cast when Damage Taken slotted, for example.

I myself am a new player, but I love the theorycrafting aspect of the game.

This build looks insanely fun! Is the unique a necessary part of the build?

Also, how does this build perform in progressing through the story + maps?

Do you think this build would be effective for this type of setup?

"

eirstryder wrote:

"

WAWAMELONS wrote:

"

eirstryder wrote:

Would minion instability work with this build?

I have no idea, that's a good question.

I forgot to add that I'd love to hear any suggestions... secondary skills, changing a few points here and there on the tree, specific gear suggestions, anything. This is a new build for me. I don't even have a Cast when Damage Taken slotted, for example.

I myself am a new player, but I love the theorycrafting aspect of the game.

This build looks insanely fun! Is the unique a necessary part of the build?

Also, how does this build perform in progressing through the story + maps?

Do you think this build would be effective for this type of setup?

Spoiler

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUBAnEEswVbFE0VIBmFGmwdviSqJ-0o-ipNLOk1kjbpOrM8BTwtPydBh0jnSn1KyEz_TdhVxlltWpFfmGegbqpyqXzZfVOBb4LHguSDOId2iPGKr4uMjHaPRpAKkBGboZ2Ana6ePJ_fogCnCKh9rFmsqq9stfK3PriTvrvE9sWKxq7PZdDQ0_vdBd0N42rnY-vu73zvhvAf-ej8xf4K

For a new player, I'm 50/50 on if it would be viable. It's just that this was a respec for me, I didn't progress through the early and mid levels with these skills, I just respecced at 78 into it. With that said, you can use other skills for the leveling up process and then just switch the gems to the dom blow setup above. The most expensive item (the helm, like 7-8 exalted for a rand one) isn't necessary unless you use Pillar of the Caged God. If you use a rare staff, you can put a good rare helm + rare chest armor instead, but the staff would have to be pretty nice damage.

Your tree: I'd need to know what type of 2h weapon you'd use before reviewing it. It doesn't have to be a staff... can be a maul/axe/sword, whatever. I just picked staff because of the huge 40% block with a staff + bringer of rain helm + the 3 passive nodes. As a templar a staff really would be a good idea, though. Let me know and I'll go over it real quick.


Edit: You asked about maps. After just getting 77/77/77 resists today I've been dominating em (pun intended). Yesterday I had low resists then I bought those rings and everything changed... it's amazing the difference that makes.

http://youtu.be/eusvuBkPH6A <-- funny goatmen mod in a 69 map, just 30 secs

I think I'd go with a staff. What kind of revisions would you make to my build in the previous post?

Assuming it's a rare staff and not pillar, this is lvl 64:


changes:
- 13% staff block just a point away
- no need to go all the way near the ranger tree to those life nodes
- 2x minion damage nodes next to you
- 2x minion life nodes next to you but i didn't add them b/c im not sure how much life you want them to have with minion instability
- 3 points in three 5% reduced cost of skills (dom blow cost is enormous)
- +2% max all resists node

After that the next 4 levels I'd get the 21% attack speed near the middle. For 4 points you get 21% AS + 10 str. That's a sweet deal.

That's about it.

Can't recommend this build enough to people. I've played the game a long time and done countless Ranger builds, everything from cookie-cutter to oddball ones and this is one of the most fun and most effective yet, especially for solo/duo play. Clear speed is very fast, survivability is excellent, doesn't get repetitive because your army changes a lot, you get the auras from the yellow monsters you convert, it's just awesome.

haha, goatmen on goatmen ;)

but you could optimize your passive tree and get one free skill point by cutting the 3-points connection to "leather and steel" from just underneath the duelist class and reconnect it a bit to the left to "steel skin" with 2-points.

this way you:
- lose 20 dex;
- gain 10 strengh;
- gain 1 skill point which you can use on life/mana/damage/ias/resists/defense/30dex/whatever