Please give me some opinions/suggestions on my build

Hello all,

I wanted to build a sword and shield duelist that resembled a Gladiator. The overall idea of my build is high block chance and physical damage mixed in with poison/bleeding, and lifesteal for sustain. My ascendancy class would of course be Gladiator :)

Hopefully you can give me some suggestions about my passive skill tree, as well as what gear to use (I was thinking Daresso's Passion estoc).

Here's the skill tree: https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAQAAQSHBS0FtQZwDPINjREaFfAY2xpVG60hYCPTI_YshS0wLiMuUy_MMk46rT3iPs9AoEMxRalHfkjuTP9NRk2STipOn1FHVP5XVFoaWp9br14TXzlhIWFSYuxlTWa2bydvhHNrdO108Xiuen9674TZhO-Ks419jb-PmZOZk6iVzJpqmy2jiqXLsKuxs7TFu569Nr3mvqfAv8GCwuzDM9Nv037awd3j7T_t1-4O70705vlj_MX_HA==

Note - the Hematophagy part is what I'm going for past level 60, if I feel like I need more sustain. The rest of the skill tree will take about 80 points (which should be viable at around level 60)

Thank you very much!

were to start.. not enough health
why frenzy?
not enough acuraccy

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAQCAAHcBS0FZgY5BosJMwomDPcNzRQgFSAV7Bm0GjgaPhuXHM4g4yP2K1Atgy_MMk49Dz3iQKBDMUSeR35I7kz_TUZNklBHUWBTu1nzXz9f2mLsZU1nm28ncql07XfjeK55OXloeu982X7ihNmE74rwjX2aaqOKqW6playqrK-uPq-nsbO5Hb02vqe_1cC_wQTBgsQVxILE9sauypDRNtN-1ljaweCf4izkUelG7w7vevMG9qP3Mvuq_lQ=?accountName=agbudar&characterName=InfinitePoker

try this instead my current lvl 66gladiator and trust me you want resolute technique so you can focus on the important stuff which is block, hp, armor nodes.
with a
and lightning shield active you will have max block of 75% when painforged (ascendancy main node) is active im currently still looking for an anvil necklace to boost that even further.

perandus shields should not be too hard to find/buy usually 1-2 chaos

personally i use earthquake+ poison+ less duration as a base for what i do big aoe poisons everything and when i finish my ascendancy(definitely get painforged versatile combatant first) il be bleeding and maiming everything as well.

dont forget to get reckoning + riposte + optional vengeange for free melee damage.

definitely get lightning shield though
for aura's i use determination/grace depending on the situation
i always have artic armor ative and stone golem.


if you NEED to go for sword (earthquake requires axe/mace)... lacerate and lightning strike are good options.

You do need way more life in the tree.
Scaling dot damage in the tree is inefficient for bleeding and poison builds. you want to scale your physical damage because the dot damage is based off the damage of the initial hit (the harder you hit, the more bleed and poison you do). Frenzy charges are definitely the best way to scale your damage because they give % MORE damage which is multiplicative, and thus extremely efficient.
I would recommend a skill tree more like this:
make sure you pick up a blood rage gem to generate your frenzy charges.
your best bet for a skill gem is probably lacerate or reave, you want to hit pretty fast to trigger your maims and bleeds.

getting a decent block chance is okay, but don't bother trying too hard for it, it is often very inefficient to cap block, even as a gladiator.

for your weapon make sure you just pick up the highest physical dps weapon you can find, because all of your poison and bleed and initial damage will scale directly off your weapon damage. You can google a list of unique swords and pick them up while leveling, or just search for good rare weapons in trade.