"Good build" minimum requirements?

Hey all,

Old-ish new player coming back to PoE since early 2014. (Much change. Such wow!)

I've been looking through some of the new 2.0 (and the soon the new exciting 2.1) builds and started to get curious:

Is there any "minimum stat requirements" that mark a build a "good" build?

For instance, is there some kind of Health threshold that you have to be over for it to be considered viable?
Or maybe a DPS minimum that you should have per difficulty based on area/difficulty or something?

I'm a big fan of 'breaking the meta' as it were and I've been toying around with the idea of some interesting builds.

There's a lot that goes into the crafting of a 'good' build, especially from the start of a new league.
Here's some steps I go through when designing a build (and relevant stats targets I aim for):

1. What do I want my main skill to be? (How will I deal damage?)

This is the first big step for me. Picking a staring skill helps define my class (what classes get the skill and relevant supports from quests? Which would I have to find/buy?). I then typically plan a rough skill tree in my head with what notables I want to aim for.

2. What kind of items will I need to make the build work? (How will I defend myself?)

Once I've planned out my main skill and rough tree, I think about what uniques (if any) will benefit my build, and what kind of stats I'll need on rares. At this point I also consider my skill tree, and how my defenses will work. Will I use armor? Endurance charges? Block? Other mechanics?

3. Life/Res thresholds
These are targets I aim for as minimums, roughly.
No threshold target indicated means I don't really care about it; get what you can.









4. DPS
Generally, there isn't really a DPS target, not to mention that tooltips for different skills mean different things, and actual DPS is often higher than what is listed.

Typically, I think a 'good' build should be able to shred most white and blue packs (base enemy type dependent) with little effort in maps that are appropriate for level/gear quality.

If you can do this at all points in the game, your DPS is fine/good.

-Savage

Every build is good if you enjoy it.

If you knew how to make own builds a year ago, then you will not have any problems with it now either.

Get a few unique items and a skill you build around.

Tree planning goes the same way, you make a plan for the nodes you think are important, then pick up all the life nodes you passed by.
Obviously while leveling you pick up life earlier and leave dmg nodes for higher levels.
(btw health is never enough)

In the end the succes of a build depends on your items, so make sure you can afford it.

Also some builds become viable only at higher levels, leveling until then is advised with some other skills and items that let you grind fast. (facebreaker/ totems/ traps)

Most the time I have around 1k hp in the end of normal a4, ~2k at cruel and ~4k at merciles when I attemp malachai.
(Later getting up to 6k is a good idea but mostly depends on your gear, if you have ~100 hp on every item then you will most likely even go over 6k.)

What I highly do not advise is playing 2h or dw melee build in a new league, you will not find weapons, you will not have any defenses, just end up being a dead man.

Awesome. Thanks for the great replies you guys!

/givecookie