Please help with my build

I'm using a build that's supposed to be defensive and strong and be able to tackle top-end game stuff, yet I keep dying. I seem more proficient at dying than killing. It's very demotivating to have less XP when I end a session than when I began it. Just now I started at 61% and gave up on a Zana mission at 42%. Died 3 times. Maybe didn't get one-shot, but it can't have been far off. No time to heal or anything, just *poof* and reload at checkpoint.

I've bought a Brass Dome for practically all the chaos I had, yet keep dying (with 30 000 armour). Doing heaps of damage, at least in my mind, with over 80k dps. Fire resistance is a little off currently, but not much when taking into account endurance charges, which I basically have up all the time due to enduring cry and a good chance to fill up all from the ascendancy tree. Have almost 5000 life, which shouldn't suck I would think. However, it's no fun at all to keep dying and not be able to level up any more (currently level 81), and I'm losing the will to want to keep playing.

The build also greatly enhances crit chances, so right now I have around 36% crit chance and 330% multiplier (more with the ice golem up I should think).

Really hoped and thought it would be possible to progress more into Maps and levels. Sad panda.

- Cap your elemental resistances, get chaos resistance on at least one item.

- Get more life on your items. Most of your items only have the low mastercrafted life. That's just too little.

- Get properly rolled flasks preferably with quality on them. The suffixes on your Quicksilver Flask and Basalt Flask barely do anything at all.

- Your character has barely any movementspeed and isn't using a decently built movementskill. You couldn't dodge anything even if you wanted to dodge.

- Fix your gem setup. Half your 4Ls don't do anything.



TL; DR: You're only geared against physical damage, nothing else and you're incredibly slow while doing that.

Just a quick comment before I leave to meet some friends. I have Fortify from the Overwhelming Odds jewel in the tree, and I'm using Cleave for clearing. So basically have Fortify up all the time.

Cleave uses both weapon slots therefore Offhand weapon hurts your dps a lot.

The second Scaeva sword would be good and cheap choice for you.

(Btw Dual strike would be better with double Scaeva or use Vaal double strike version)

You have no life leech!

You can try blood rage buff (it will lower your life regeneration but you will be able to get frenzy charges and leech life) or take Vitality Void (or both)

Cap your resistances without relying on endurance charges.

Link your movement skill with faster attack and fortify

Selfcast enfeeble on bosses or use on blasphemy or cwdt (not so good imo)

Unrelenting ascendancy passive would help a bit with chaos resist (+ at least one item with chaos)

Flasks:

I am not sure how is Lion´s roar useful in your build (knocking enemies back seems contra productive here) but Diamond flask is must have for all crit based builds (with low crit).

It will boost your damage by a lot.

Atziri's Promise flask would also fit your needs (chaos resist, damage, a bit of leech)

You don´t need more than 1-2 life flask with good leech (life recovery)

Get rid of Sapping mod on your flasks!

Take smth like that*



(or anything with fast recovery and better than sapping mod)

* it should be with 20% quality (use baubles on white base before crafting or buy made)

Try to keep your utility flasks active all the time while mapping and bossing

"

Scarletsword wrote:

- Cap your elemental resistances, get chaos resistance on at least one item.

- Get more life on your items. Most of your items only have the low mastercrafted life. That's just too little.

- Get properly rolled flasks preferably with quality on them. The suffixes on your Quicksilver Flask and Basalt Flask barely do anything at all.

- Your character has barely any movementspeed and isn't using a decently built movementskill. You couldn't dodge anything even if you wanted to dodge.

- Fix your gem setup. Half your 4Ls don't do anything.

gem setups in detail

- Your boots only have Herald of Ash, the other gems aren't doing anything

- Your gloves only really have Hatred. Your golem should be dieing alot and won't be able to apply
Enfeeble unless it's a boss maybe.

- Your mainhand only really has the Ancestral Protector. CwDT - Temporal chains will never proc because of it's high level unless it's already too late compared to your HP-pool.

- Your offhand doesn't have anything in it. You can't use Arctic Armour and Herald of Ash at the same time because of your manapool and your Whirling Blades is unlinked and slow AF. Why aren't you using Fortify anywhere?

This leads to you having two empty 3Ls and one empty 4L for no reason.

TL; DR: You're only geared against physical damage, nothing else and you're incredibly slow while doing that.

Looks like part of the problem is that I don't really understand how CWDT and Curses work, and because my colours aren't quite right, I've been trying to put the gems I'm supposed to have into half-decent spots. I just upgraded the boots with more resitances, but the gloves are still fairly old. Just can't find good gear anywhere, and don't have the currency now to buy stuff with good life + resistances. I'm also supposed to have the Abyssus helmet, but seeing as I already die a lot, I can't see how that is going to help.

I hear the flasks are poor, so I'll try to reroll those and hope for better luck. Fortify comes from the Overwhelming Odds jewel. Would there be any point in having Fortify linked to Whirling Blades on top of that?

"

Rakiii wrote:

Cleave uses both weapon slots therefore Offhand weapon hurts your dps a lot.

The second Scaeva sword would be good and cheap choice for you.

(Btw Dual strike would be better with double Scaeva or use Vaal double strike version)

I've looked at another Scaeva, but guess my thinking, or hope, was to get a decent-damaging stat-stick of sorts too. But from what I could find with searches, those things are very expensive. So best move right now is probably to get another Scaeva and hope to get better resistances on other gear instead.

"

Rakiii wrote:

You have no life leech!

You can try blood rage buff (it will lower your life regeneration but you will be able to get frenzy charges and leech life) or take Vitality Void (or both)

Cap your resistances without relying on endurance charges.

Link your movement skill with faster attack and fortify

Don't think I have life leech from the passive skill tree, but I do have quite high regeneration in general (almost 400/sec iirc), plus 0.6% life leech from the Scaeva. I'm obviously still dying, but more red sockets on another Scaeva won't be enough? Sadly Vitality Void is a bit outside range currently, and not part of the build I think. If I were to redo the skill tree, how would I best go about it without gimping the damage too much?

As above, would there be a benefit to having Fortify in a gem as well as getting it from Overwhelming Odds? If I were to drop Cleave and use a more AoE Double Strike, as per the guide, I'd probably die even more as I can't kill stuff as quickly.

A problem is that I'm new to the game and don't know how all these various skills work (like CWDT), so I'm worried about straying away from the build guide. On my own I'm sure to mess up even more.

"

Rakiii wrote:

Selfcast enfeeble on bosses or use on blasphemy or cwdt (not so good imo)

Unrelenting ascendancy passive would help a bit with chaos resist (+ at least one item with chaos)

The plan is to take Unrelenting next, but I haven't dared to take on the last Lab yet (have done all trials). On Enfeeble, does it only trigger if the ice golem dies?

"

Rakiii wrote:

Flasks:

I am not sure how is Lion´s roar useful in your build (knocking enemies back seems contra productive here) but Diamond flask is must have for all crit based builds (with low crit).

It will boost your damage by a lot.

Atziri's Promise flask would also fit your needs (chaos resist, damage, a bit of leech)

You don´t need more than 1-2 life flask with good leech (life recovery)

Get rid of Sapping mod on your flasks!

Take smth like that*

(or anything with fast recovery and better than sapping mod)

* it should be with 20% quality (use baubles on white base before crafting or buy made)

Try to keep your utility flasks active all the time while mapping and bossing

Very recently swapped out a life flash for Lion's Roar as I figured the extra Armor would help, but truth be told, it's so hectic in combat that I mostly just use life flasks to try to stay alive, while WB out of danger or to a new pack of enemies. Combat is so fast and chaotic that I've not been able to keep on top of flask use as well. If I need to keep up utility flasks 100% of the time, it's going to be a big challenge for me. Does sound like the flasks are poor or the wrong selection, though, so I need to do something about that. Sounds like Lion's Roar is kind of a waste, so may as well remove it then. Not even used it yet, heh. Been sitting in the stash for 50 levels or something.

I do have a few pieces of gear with chaos damage, but otherwise it would be big downgrades on what I have (like the chest piece).

The build guide recommends Assassin's Mark (where I have Enfeeble now) and Ice Golem to further increase crit chances, but I preferred the Stone Golem tbh. The Ice version just keeps dying. The Stone golem granted more life regen, and could stand up better in combat, also with a smash the ground attack from time to time that did quite a lot of damage.

For information, this is the last stage of the build's skill tree. It's very far and I'll never get close to level 100, but anywho...


As a tangent on currency, is it normal to go through a whole character like this (up to level 80+) without finding a single Exalt? Or have I been unlucky?

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

As a tangent on currency, is it normal to go through a whole character like this (up to level 80+) without finding a single Exalt? Or have I been unlucky?

I started playing back at Perendus league. I had leveled 4 toons above 80 and another 3 toons past 60 before I saw my first Exalted orb. Funnily enough, the only two I ever found dropped in the same map.

I haven't played in a league for a while so maybe I'm being hypocritical, but it seems your gear has a lot of mixed and useless stats. I mean out of the rares, there's not one I would consider half decent.

Your luck in finding gear and currency seems just as bad as mine. Maybe try to save some chaos and buy some improved rares, prioritizing life, resists.

Statsticking only works on abilities that hit specifically with the weapon in your mainhand. This will be mentioned in the describtion of the skill gem. Lacerate would work like that to give you an example besides Double Strike.
You'll hit your enemies with a wet noodle if you're trying to statstick with cleave.
These weapons are currently expensive because a lot of people use them and it's somewhat popular this league.

Fortify is really strong and using the jewel and the gem in your movementskill setup will increase the uptime. You'll often run into a pack of monsters without Fortify up since the jewel only provides the base duration of 4 seconds for Fortify while the support gem can push it up to 6-ish seconds with quality.

CwDT - curse has one problem. You have to take damage to trigger the curse. Only the following hits will be "enfeebled". You can either use a lowlevel CwDT to trigger it more often but this will lead to a weaker curse or a higher gem which will trigger it only sometimes.

Golem - curse on hit also has a problem. He has to specifically attack the right monster and hit it. While this might work in a bossfight, it is still clunky and you won't have your curse up every time.
The choice of golem is up to you. They only make a small difference and you can go for a Stone Golem if you prefer the increased life regen.

Curses are important but this again completely up to you. Assassin's Mark is really offensive and Enfeeble really defensive. You might want to switch to Assassin's Mark at some point when you have enough defense.

Flasks usually have the most impact on your character but Life Flasks only heal you, they don't prevent you from taking damage. Lion's Roar is strong, Atziri's Promise was mentioned above and a Diamond Flask are also a great choice in this case. This will leave you with one Life Flask and one additional Flask of your choice. Try to get Bleed and Freeze removal. Curse removal would be the next great thing on the list.

It's completely normal to not find a single Exalted Orb up to level 80. I've played leagues where I found my first Exalted Orb at 92 but I've also played leagues where I found 3-4 Exalted Orbs on my way to 90. They're just rare and random.

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

Don't think I have life leech from the passive skill tree, but I do have quite high regeneration in general (almost 400/sec iirc), plus 0.6% life leech from the Scaeva. I'm obviously still dying, but more red sockets on another Scaeva won't be enough? Sadly Vitality Void is a bit outside range currently, and not part of the build I think. If I were to redo the skill tree, how would I best go about it without gimping the damage too much?

Yes you´re right about scaeva life leech I have overlooked that.
You can try blood rage without changing your tree. It gives you nice damage buff (AS and frenzy charges), better life leech but punish your regen.

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

As above, would there be a benefit to having Fortify in a gem as well as getting it from Overwhelming Odds? If I were to drop Cleave and use a more AoE Double Strike, as per the guide, I'd probably die even more as I can't kill stuff as quickly.

A problem is that I'm new to the game and don't know how all these various skills work (like CWDT), so I'm worried about straying away from the build guide. On my own I'm sure to mess up even more.

It´s worth using despite having the jewel bcos you´re also moving and not hitting (link it with faster attack and movement skill).

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

The plan is to take Unrelenting next, but I haven't dared to take on the last Lab yet (have done all trials). On Enfeeble, does it only trigger if the ice golem dies?

Minions cannot apply curses this way (see the description of Curse on hit jewel).

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

Very recently swapped out a life flash for Lion's Roar as I figured the extra Armor would help, but truth be told, it's so hectic in combat that I mostly just use life flasks to try to stay alive, while WB out of danger or to a new pack of enemies. Combat is so fast and chaotic that I've not been able to keep on top of flask use as well. If I need to keep up utility flasks 100% of the time, it's going to be a big challenge for me. Does sound like the flasks are poor or the wrong selection, though, so I need to do something about that. Sounds like Lion's Roar is kind of a waste, so may as well remove it then. Not even used it yet, heh. Been sitting in the stash for 50 levels or something.

The flasks are big part of PoE endgame but new players underestimate them.
1-2 life instant flasks should be enough with good life recovery (regen/leech) just for some hectic situation rest should be filled with utility flasks (or unique).

You should have enough physical damage mitigation (through armor and endurance charges) so I would drop basalt/lion´s and take: Stibnite, Diamond and Atziri´s Promise

Utility should be with mods you´re missing (anti freeze, curse, bleed)
I have anti bleed on life flask (+ on one utility in lab)

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

As a tangent on currency, is it normal to go through a whole character like this (up to level 80+) without finding a single Exalt? Or have I been unlucky?

It´s pretty normal exalted orbs are very rare.

"

Rakiii wrote:

The flasks are big part of PoE endgame but new players underestimate them.
1-2 life instant flasks should be enough with good life recovery (regen/leech) just for some hectic situation rest should be filled with utility flasks (or unique).

You should have enough physical damage mitigation (through armor and endurance charges) so I would drop basalt/lion´s and take: Stibnite, Diamond and Atziri´s Promise

Utility should be with mods you´re missing (anti freeze, curse, bleed)
I have anti bleed on life flask (+ on one utility in lab)

Not been able to address everything, but I spent a lot more orbs than I thought was needed to fix the affixes on the flasks, and now it looks better I think. Not convinced I'll be able to use the non-life flasks as much as I probably should, but things are just so darn chaotic during combat, when I can die in an instant. So I tend to always have a finger over a life flask, so I can (try to) save my life in time. Have looked into Atziri's Promise too, but should try to get a good Scaeva first for the few Chaos I have I think. And possibly some other gear to fix the somewhat low (non-endurance charges) fire resistance.

"

Rakiii wrote:

"

Pangaearocks wrote:

As a tangent on currency, is it normal to go through a whole character like this (up to level 80+) without finding a single Exalt? Or have I been unlucky?

It´s pretty normal exalted orbs are very rare.

Thanks. That makes me feel a little better at least. Seems so freakish to see items for sale for several exalts, never mind the truly expensive stuff, when I've never seen the things.