Helping me out. A tanky templar?

Hello everybody.

Currently im struggling with my character.
Since I reached teh merciless difficulty I find myself unable to kill any "orange" monsters or even groups of "blues".

Initially my thought was to create a tanky onehand/shield templar. Before I continue I'd like to post my current skill tree. It was created without any strategy guide, just playing along by my own, but i reached the point of frustration at which I do not want to continue to play, since I keep dying and dying.

Usually I am running into a pile of monsters and try to spam molten shell, enduring cry and keep spamming lightning strike. Molten shell does roughly 1000 dps, LS something around 750. Single targets get killed "pretty fast" while spamming 1100 dps glacial hammer.

Additions: I am running the anger aura with a blodd magic gem, just to push my damage.

Here is my current skill tree. (There are still 2 distributable skill points)
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAAecCcQSzBVsZLhoyGjgjTSftKS4pTzKJNug62D38QDZEckbXTdhPfVBQUWBUSVcNV-JYY1nzXz9mnnKpd-V8uHzZgFaCm4TEi4yMdozPkFWezaC0ogCnMKeEqZWsqrT5ud3AGsQVxPbG2NIh1I_ZYd7B4XPkredS7DjtIO8O8B_yL_ZI-6o=

And this is what I think will become final build (more or less):
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgUAAecCcQSzBVsZLhoyGjgjTSftKS4pTzKJNug62D38QDZEckbXTdhPfVBQUWBUSVcNV-JYY1nzXz9mnnKpd-V8uHzZgFaCm4TEi4yMdozPkFWezaC0ogCnMKeEqZWsqrT5ud3AGsQVxPbG2NIh1I_ZYd7B4XPkredS7DjtIO8O8B_yL_ZI-6pkoxpVmswwdeHarLqXtFWpYIhhUp_LBjl5wO7ZWK94Dalu0TYJM7XyrpNs9oLkiq_aYpSgaHTYTfPdd2JR5rQvQT8UIFBHGJHJmA==

So, is there something you'd want to improve? Any help is greatly appreciated! :)

PS: If someone could tell me how to link my equipment I will do that, so that you can get an impression of my gear as well.

Best wishes!

bumping

To link gear, click on your character in the top left screen, hover above his gear and CTRL+ALT+CLICK.

Make sure you clicked post reply and that the you clicked on the content box before that.

Anyhow i would guess it's gear related, your build seems ok but i dunno what skills you use.

Wrath may be a better alternative since it amplifies lightning damage and that's what you're consistently spamming. I've never used anger but isn't that for fire damage?

Build look pretty solid aside from a few minor nodes I recommend you take. First you're missing out on 24% life from the two nodes down near Blood Drinker and Lava Lash. I would also take the one node into Blood Drinker and link a Life Leech gem to your main ability. Also, I see you missed out on a life node and two armor/es nodes at the Templar start. Head north to take that armor/es and Body and Soul circle just north of the intelligence node. Also, head further north and pick up some more life and Fitness.

You have a decent +25% all resist from what I can see. Just make sure you're getting a lot more than that from your gear. You can also run purity to help in that department.

Even after all that you're still going to have a rough time clearing merciless if you're pure melee. They have it really rough compared to ranged at the moment but if you're careful you can get through it. I would recommend picking up a Lightning Strike or Ground Slam so you can have some ranged utility for those shitty Yellow/Orange mobs. Hope this helps.

Thank you all for your constructive criticism.

Here is my gear with their respective skillgems:


@Bungkai
Yes, that is true. I haven't found wrath yet or chose other quest rewards. I will try to get it. Thank you.

@Heikujin
That sounds good. Currently I'm trying to reach unwavering stance as fast as possible since I'm getting stunned alot which seems to hinder me from casting molten shell and LS alot :) Or are there any other fast ways to increase stun resistance? That is the mail reason for letting those 2 points go.

Do you have some gem link suggestions? Please keep in mind that I'm eating mana potions like gummi bears ;)


//edit: the "shield charge triangle" is in that chest armor just for leveling the gems.

According to your gear and passives you've got 61% cold, 84% fire(75% w/o cap increase), 80% lightning(75% w/o cap increase) and 25% chaos. In merciless you receive -60% resistance reduction which would put you at 1% cold, 24% fire, 20% lightning, and -35% chaos. That's if the reduction isn't using your cap as your highest resistance. Not sure how that's calculated. So, it all comes down to your gear. No offense, but it's absolutely horrid. I would recommend farming the Ledge or Fellshrine to: a. get better gear, b. get currency to buy better gear, and c. level up a bit. If you can't solo very efficiently, hop in a group. Put that item quantity gem to good use and link it with your lightning strike.

Your gems look fine, however, might I suggest adding an escape gem like Leap Slam, Flicker Strike, or Whirling Blades? I find it extremely useful for those "oh shit" moments and need to get away fast.

About your mana issues. I can see you've missed a lot of good mana nodes at the Templar start like Prestigitation, the two 8% increased mana nodes, and the 8% reduced mana cost node. Also, look for some more mana regen on your gear. It's pretty easy to get and makes a big difference. Also, pick up a Clarity and level it to 3.

Thanks for your comment, Heikujin.
Last time I checked my resistances weren't that bad. I cannot check it at the moment but I think I have 75 fire, 75 lighting and something about 60 on ice. Not to mention the 3 endurance charges that are up all the time.

Using leapslam is a pretty good idea. I will look forward using it!
Well, sadly better gear does not come in easily. Usually the stuff I find is even worse compared to what I am using at the moment.

So, on the one hand I could try to rearrange some points to casch the two 12% life nodes and the mana nodes, but on the other hand it will push me further away from unwavering stance.

What parts of my equipment would you change, and why, if I may ask?