Hardcore Tempest Build (Sovyn Adaptation)

Note: These stats do not include Molten Shell (more AC), Frenzy Charges (more speed and damage), Endurance Charges(much more damage reduction--currently an additional 16%), Blood Rage (more attack speed and much more life leech--1.2%), Tempest Shield (more damage and 3% more block).

Additionally, the the stats lack the minor benefits of my gems which I had unequipped to link here (an adjustment of roughly 100-200 more DPS toward Ice Crash).

At most--and I mean "most" in a very unrealistic sense--damage to Ice Crash would be 2,200 (300 additional damage than what the picture depicts). Really, the most important factor not included in the stats is the 16% damage reduction (which puts me at 76%) and the additional 3% block (putting me at 55% block and 27% spell block).

Sovyn's Lazy Pally's 22-skill-point suggestion
Sovyn's Lazy Pally's 47-skill-point suggestion
Sovyn's Lazy Pally's 62-skill-point suggestion

Around this point I started to deviate from Sovyn's Guide:

Skill Tree at level 66 (83 skill points)

Projected Skill Tree at level 89 (106 skill points)

(His guide suggestions were a little different: With 82 skill points and 103 skill points.)

My my bandit choices are pretty straight-forward:

Normal: Oak's +60 Hp reward
Cruel: Oaks' +20% Physical Damage reward
Merciless: Oak's +1 Endurance Charge reward

Alternatively, one could get Kraityn's +8% Attack Speed reward from Cruel and the kill-all-bandits reward of 1 skill point in Merciless.

Obviously, everyone's leveling gear will be different based on one's wealth and luck of drops. However, a tip for those who may not know it: http://poe.trade/ is your friend. Use it. I'll just link my current gear (mind you, sockets, color, and links are a work in progress--along with the gems themselves):



Helm: Decent Armor and helps with increasing Damage. 4-socket and 4-links on helm (or gloves or boots) are the easiest to get while leveling. It was the most viable option to put my main attack and support gems.
Armor: Armor value is vital here. Hps are second, followed by resists.
Gloves: Hps and resists are vital here. Armor comes after those two.
Belt: Damage and Hps are paramount, along with resists.
Boots: Like the gloves, Hps and resists take importance, followed by armor.
Shield: Armor is vital here, as much as on the Body Armor since so many skill points apply to the shield's defense. My current shield also adds damage which is nice. Alternatively, high block works (30%+) or a shield with loads of resists and Hps (which are on my new shield in my stash).
Weapon: Weapon choice is a no-brainer. High physical damage is a must. Mine was nice at 62. Now, it's starting to scale down against the Mobs I'm fighting.
Amulet: With a blocking character, this amulet's spell block is amazing. I'm currently at 26 Spell Block without Tempest Shield on. I've noticed a huge difference with it.
Ring1: The resists were essential here, as were the Hps. The mana leech and other things only added to the ring's usefulness.
Ring2: the minus to skill costs mod have always been vital for me while leveling. Even at my level I cannot enter combat without at least one of Eleron's rings on. I choose my best one that had good resists on it.

My current flasks I use are
I also have damage specific flasks in addition to those.
And, I have another Granite of similar modifiers to swap out with my Quicksilver Flask (or a Quarts Flask).
As a side note, I prefer level my life flasks over the level 65 one but that's a matter of preference--I suppose.

Eleron's modifier:
As mentioned, this build has always had mana problems: Eleron's rings (and/or amulet) becomes a must. They can be bought fairly cheap from Eleron in act 1 or occasionally any ring vendor (from any act). I wore two Eleron's mods early on.

My minimum level I've found is level 8 and the maximum minus to mana cost is 8:

Auras:
In the beginning I ran just Vitality at the highest gem level. A little later, I ran it with Clarity at level 3, 4, or 6 (whatever was the lowest possible level but met my mana needs at the time). Remember, this build's intelligence is fairly low.

Currently. I'm running Purity of Elements (at a reasonable level for my intelligence but not too high that if i remove an item or two would prevent me from using it still) and Clarity.

Later, I plan on running Determination along with Vitality (and possibly Clarity, if needed).

The gems are linked within various items below:

All my skill gems have been linked (vide supra); however, I will link them linked here and add a few notes. Also, I carry my back-up weapons, to level gems I plan on using but am not doing so currently. Also, while I agree with Sovyn that Static Shock is more effective than Ice Crash, Static Shock's delay (even at the cost of placing a Reduced Duration Support gem) prevents me from doing much damage in group play.
In solo play I use Multistrike with Static Shock but in group play I use Ice Crash with Melee Physical Damage.

Currently, I am running with
4 gems: Ice Crash /w Endurance Charge on Melee Stun, Fortify, & Melee Physical Damage (Helm)
3 gems: Double Strike with Life Leech and Life Gain on Hit (Weapon)
3 gems: Cast when Damage Taken with Enfeeble and Tempest Shield (Armor)
3 gems: Cast when Damage Taken with Immortal Call and Increased Duration (Gloves)
2 gems: Reckoning with Added Fire Damage (Armor)
1 gem: Totem Decoy (Boots)
1 gem: Leap Slam (Boots)
1 gem: Purity of Elements (Boots)
1 gem: Clarity (Boots)
1 gem: Vaal Summon Skeleton (Shield)
1 gem: Summon Flame Golem (Shield)
1 gem: Conversation Trap (Shield)
1 gem: Vengeance (Armor)
1 gem: Blood Rage or Flicker Strike (Gloves)

When my sockets, links, and colors are correct,
(I) Conversation Trap will be replaced with Minion Life,
(II) Riposte will be added (preferably linked with Reckoning, Vengeance, and Added Fire Damage),
(III) Purity of Elements and Clarity will be replaced with Determination and Vitality, and
(IV) I will only have one Cast when Damage Taken to be linked with Enfeeble, Increased Duration, and Immortal Call (Tempest Shield and Molten Shell will be self-casted or Tempest Shield and Blood Rage will be linked with the second Cast when Damage Taken with just Molten Shell being self-casted).
Point is, there will be improvements when it becomes viable.

Lastly, Some gems I stopped leveling at the point I am (whether due to keeping with Cast when Damage Taken or due to my intelligence):
1) Cast when Damage Taken (level 1)
2) Cast when Damage Taken (level 2)
3) Vaal Summon Skeletons (level 9, projected)
4) Clarity (level 6)
5) Enfeeble (level 4)
6) Tempest Shield (level 8)
7) Purity of Elements (level 15, projected)

My current jewels scream for improvement but, nevertheless, the ones I use have their usefulness.

While I do not have as good of gear as Sovyn, my self-found (or bought) gear at the beginning of the Tempest League is decent.

I am very glad that I invested in HP nodes, as the changes to POE that came with The Awakening (and Act 4) would have meant disaster otherwise (e.g. I've taken hits that would have killed me in act 4 and in Cruel). There are now much larger damage spikes (i.e. large and instant one or two hit damage received. The same satisfaction comes from investing in endurance charges (for a compounded benefit of damage reduction and longer Immoral Call).

However, mana management is a continual problem. More pressing, however, is the low DPS output. The least concerning matters are maxing resists in Merciless difficulty or increasing HPs further. Merciless' acts 3 and 4 pose serious dangers, as do running "maps".

Overall, this build continues to be fun. Very tanky. Some adjustments and improvements are in order (e.g. with gear).

7/24/15: A handful of seconds after posting initially, I realized and corrected some item links (I had mixed up my primary and secondary weapon and off weapon links). Additionally, I added this "Edit History" section.