Need help on what deulist build to choose

A lot of the build's I'm reading through and I don't know really the exact strengths and weaknesses of each one, I know it's a lot to ask help on what to choose for such a complex system but I'm utterly at a lost here.

Read this thread by Natharias. This is a really good place to start making your build.

Says its not applicable anymore due to the "death of damage avoidance." So do I still use it..?

-snip-

Read carefully. It says: discontinued. That is, OP decided not to expand the thread, because damage avoidance (especially spell damage avoidance) has been nerfed to hell. But most (if not nearly all) of OP's point is still valid. I have lv80+ chars, and I still refer to that thread when I want to make a new char.

Alright, so I know survivability > DPS, I have the general idea that I should aim for 80-90 points in a build because I don't have the uniques or whatever to make it a niche build. Does that sound good? I'm doing a iron reflexes sword and board build as my foundation.

I'm also debating on if I should get either cleave or reave? And should I add a single DPS skill on top of that, like double strike;or just add support gems on to of whatever mentioned skill to make it's DPS higher.

You may head to PoE Builder in order to plan your build. The site has a stat aggregator, so you can see for example how much increased life you will get with your planned build. As a rule of thumb, aim for 150% increased life. And in general, plan for 90-100 points (which translates into level 70 and 80 respectively). This is for practical reason: that past level 80, levelling up becomes a gruelling experience. You might want your build to be complete by level 80, so that you may experience the end game in full without worrying when the next "level up" will come.

And you will need at least one main attack and one utility skill. I personally use at least 2 utility skills, one for escape and another for counter. And don't forget that you might want to don one or two auras.

Regarding uniques, there are of course builds that are dependent on particular uniques. But you don't have to force yourself to use uniques to enjoy the game. My first char didn't use any unique until level 65 or so. In fact, the particular unique that I need for my build didn't drop until that char was level 74. You can try and get the unique drop yourself, especially in maps, but you can also get some useful uniques by trading. Common uniques are pretty cheap these days. There are even people who offer free uniques for new players. Just browse the Trading section of this forum.

My final questions are if I should use cleave or reaveand a single targey DPS skill (auras are a must I know), and what's a good place to get currency to buy equipment you need?

reave or cleave comes down to which ever one you prefer when you test them tbh. As for farming, maps basically, if not maps then the zone where you feel like ur killing the most stuff per hour. Merciless docks or lunaris temple are usually where I end up when not in maps.

I have a guide in my sig for a self found dual wield duelist reave build, quite minimal gear investment, easy to find upgrades for etc.

honestly when it comes to choosing what to do in this game its generally better to start with the skill, what skill do I want to play, what looks fun to me? then when you know the skill, look at different ways it can be used, again what looks most fun and effective? Once you know that it will point you towards which class is best suited to doing that. Choosing class first is sort of like deciding what you want for dinner by picking a particular pot and plate then asking yourself what sort of food can be cooked in this pot and sit nicely on this plate/bowl etc. The skill defines the build, the class is far more open and detached from what ur actually going to end up with.

Hm. I've been recommended Static Strike as a skill to build around and it definitely seems tempting with how it's AoE and DPS works. I don't want to go dual wielded and want to go sword and shield as well. I've been recommended a build similar to this;

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgIAAF4EsQUtCC4JMwqbDPcS4RUgGY4ZtBuXG60i4izpL8wyTj3iQKBHfkfiSO5KfUxgTUZeE2BLYSFi7GVNZfBnoHTtdU54rnjreu-E2YTvh3aK8JVmm42kOaaNqZWsr702vqfAv8GCxILKkMrT0IHRNtN-18vdDeIs45_nCulG7YPvevzFIWCwc0Sev9VTu0rIPycqTbXybqo1kti9qW4yCXJsbEZN4_6POuGmV_4K8kVkoxpVrlD-axPJZac=

But for the duelist of course. It's a evasion/armor/block migitation build with static strike and it seems really tempting in practice; because damage has to go through all of that before coming on top of my life pool, instead of just going through armor. Could I work at this build from scratch and at a duelist level?