1.3 The Community's Molten Strike, Face Melting Build!! 1h+shield and 2h variants available

it is skipped on purpose. Melee Physical Damage nodes only scale the initial hit of MS and thus provide a very small boost. You want to stack Physical Damage with Weapons to boost both the initial hit and the projectiles granting a much larger bonus to damage.

a GGG link for the source is in the guide

im playing this build in bloodlines right now - working out great, so far lvl68 marauder following the tree but no avatar of fire (is it really worth it? i remember it was not good back then)

isnt the remaining life+chaos, life+elemental res, life+armour nodes better than Unrelenting? i dont think mana costs are a problem if you have a 5link with BM

bloody bludgeon should also be pretty strong for a mace

4l reckoning/vengeance/blind/added fire works also pretty well with this build


current skill tree


next goal is capping out on resistances to remove diamond skin, take celestial punishment+judgement(was it a mistake getting them not earlier?) and the remaining shield nodes+bludgeon if possible(need more passives :D)
also get a 5link so i can use hatred

gear+gems


does this master enchant on my weapon actually work? i didnt notice a difference after crafting

hey Bizor, ill have to take a look. Like i mentioned the current trees are not 100% optimized but they are more then efficient to scale through end game maps.

I am finishing a new build currently and will be writing a guide as well as recording a video guide for it. After all that is done ill be coming back and spending some time with the trees for this current build and making it fully optimized.

The thing I really need is feedback from those going the previous block route vs those going 2h melee and the difference is survivability, especially with the addition of recreational gems. Since I have not played with any of them i cannot say how they would work into the build properly.

Just a reminder, if anyone has questions or comments feel free to message me or friend request me in game. I am always willing to help. You can be a total noob new to the game or a season vet, ill help in anyway I can.

i just died to a voidspawn of abaxoth -_- i dont think there was any way for me to mitigate his damage, just as my immortal call falls off i died in like 1 second. before that i almost ripped to congealing mud or blood dont remember, he dealt insane dmg, hope this isnt intended since my build was pretty tanky, you could argue about the gear but i think it should work on 66-70 maps.
anything else in the game up to lvl70 maps were no problem(i was 80 when i died) at all. with those vengeance/reckoning gems i could afk and probably not die.(they are noticable dps increase)

time to find another super-tanky build, any recommendations? class doesnt matter, it should be efficient at lower gear levels.(lvl66-70 maps) but it should be able to scale well later on with better gear :D

maybe its just me but i dont think immortal call was a good idea since i would rather mitigate higher damage at all times than being invulnerable for a short time. hence the endurance charges skill points+merciless oak would have paid off.

A point to consider.

I have a pretty decent build at level 90 with some legacy gear, decent defense, etc, yet one of the more frustrating aspects to the game is the random manner in which a melee build, no matter how strong, well-designed, and geared can get nailed out of the blue, with no chance to use flasks, run, whatever. It kind of trivializes the hard work and expenditure and can be very frustrating, especially if you're trying to level - or are in a HC league!

As a result, one aspect to this mara build that I've been considering as a variation, especially as there's so much fire damage built in, is to throw in a flame totem to give it a bit of a ranged capability.

I'm thinking of tossing out my molten shell/Iron will/BM set up and replacing it with FT/AFD/BM, or perhaps just throwing in FT as a stand-alone in a spare socket. Given that I also use flammability, Anger, the AOF passive, as well as a ton of added ED, that should give it some kick.

I'm too busy at the moment to reset my build since 1.3 came in, but once I get back into it I'll give it a whirl.

Timbo brings up some great points. Melee is prone to just get shafted on a moments notice. Totems can be very effective support and I feel are very underused. Taking advantage of fire nodes and using a flame totem could be an interesting way to go about things. let me know how you like it.


Anyways, on the topic of totems I wanted to just link the new guide I finished.
Searing Bond taken to an end game level. Lightning Warp Totems spread SB all over the place making it safer and more efficient then a regular SB build. No more getting stuck in low to mid maps. This build will run the top tier maps, even atziri, and all map mods. Videos in the thread for those curious.

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1144097

just started a new melee character so I will be able to accurately update the guide for 1.3 changes.

Returned to poe and i'm trying this build, very fun, great topic ^^

Its a good idea to run red. mana(lvl20) - h. of ash - proliferation - burn dmg and red.mana(lvl20) - hatred - grace, trading unreleting for sovereignty? I believe that would be left little mana, but i'm thinking of putting enfeeble, m.shell, leap slam and a totem (maybe searing bond, didnt like to much of fire totem) on bm.

Flame totem isn't necessarily THE go to totem here. Searing bond could be equally as effective, if not more so. To me the key was just the notion of putting one in for some kind of ranged capability in uncertain or risky circumstances that takes advantage of all the fire damage built in to the build.

You can get a lot of malicious pleasure out of totems, for those who've never used one. Nothing is as funny as dropping one over a cliff to a boss below who can do nothing but keep attacking ever-resurrecting totems that eventually wear him down and kill him. Or using them in close quarter situations such as chambered areas, where you can throw them into locked rooms like a hand grenade and watch them steadily wipe everything out while staying totally out of harms way. Or dropping them round corners in sewers to nail those nasty little critters that would otherwise be smacking you with poison gas clouds. Or acting as decoys. A good totem is like the Swiss army knife of POE - you can put them to many good uses. My first build did 90% of its work through using a flame totem and tons of minions to do all the damage and defending, with my character standing in the background and orchestrating the whole thing.