Super High Strength Builds

I've looked at a ton of builds, but I haven't seen one that went hog-wild with Strength on it. Seems like it could be an interesting avenue for a tanky and reasonably damaging build.

Strength gives a universal damage boost to melee damage, while also giving health. Win-win, right?

Anyhow, has anyone built a marauder with ultra high (700+) strength? I'm considering trying out a build with a ton of strength nodes to see what end-game effectiveness might look like. Something like the following where your base defenses are armor + high health regen:

Super High Strength Build (with Mace)

First draft, preserved for posterity:

Anyhow... if you've built a 700+ strength marauder, I'd be curious to see how it turned out...

You get high str and you dont take Iron Grip nor Iron Will? Imo waste.

I have 600 str maru EK build atm and str is nice but i will still drop those nodes in order to get something else (havent decide yet crits or some utility).

"

zkeleton wrote:

You get high str and you dont take Iron Grip nor Iron Will? Imo waste.

I have 600 str maru EK build atm and str is nice but i will still drop those nodes in order to get something else (havent decide yet crits or some utility).

The build would be based around using melee damage, so Iron Will/Grip not necessarily a big deal. The other aspect is that the Int/Dex are kept very low on purpose (<50 in that strawman build), so you're pretty much locking yourself into the world of red gems.

The good news is that a 700ish strength build gives you 140% extra melee damage. Other passives in that build would add +68% melee and +60% with 1H weapons. Resolute Technique is key so that you don't have to worry about being evaded or points in accuracy (again, low dex and really no +Acc passives).

700 strength with 199% increased max life is also a big pool of health. >8% health regen per second from passives on an enormous health pool would be quite effective, I think.

sure now your just a generic boring melee player with mediocre health and damage. you have no specialty, no flavor, what weapon are you using? what skills? you can barely use anything that will require int or dex, so your pigeon holed into using a very small set of weapons and skills. also since you are pigeon holed your also not maximizing on that damage type, so really your just a weak specialized version

this is not how you plan out a build. this is quite the opposite.

I understand that a build needs focus. The focus for this build is damage and defense using Strength.

Defense is High Health per Second regen plus armor. This would be achieved through STR-based armor, high health pool, and high regeneration. Auras that reinforce this defence are Vitality and Determination. These would be powered by Mana, leaving a very small mana pool other abilities. Molten Shield can also be used to good effect.

The main attack would be Axes, either 2H or 1H depending on the need for additional protection of a shield. The melee damage would be boosted primarily through very high strength, but some general melee and 1H passives. With very low Dex/Int, the best weapon choice naturally ends up being Str-based weapons... While specific skills are not listed, there are plenty of Str-only skills to choose from, both single target and AoE. These attacks could be funded by blood magic supports, since the remaining mana pool and regen will be small.

Enduring Cry can be added as in any melee build to increase survivability.

In short, the amount of passives spent on strength IS the focus.

"

Boylston wrote:

Auras that reinforce this defence are Vitality and Determination. These would be powered by Mana, leaving a very small mana pool other abilities.

You have blood magic selected.

As a little tickle I will just say 1 word: Astramentis.

Ok, I will add a few more words - Astramentis practically makes your pure STR marauder have enough Dex and Int (with a few minor additions here and there; nothing over 1 or 2 passive points cost) to use whatever you want.

You would still want to find a balance between getting pure STR and % increased HP nodes; in order to reach maximum efficiency of each STR point.

And of course, by using Astramentis, you may also opt for a ranged build (Iron Grip) or a spellcasting one (Iron Will).

"

mudbrick wrote:

"

Boylston wrote:

Auras that reinforce this defence are Vitality and Determination. These would be powered by Mana, leaving a very small mana pool other abilities.

You have blood magic selected.

Endgame you respec out of it, and use Blood Magic support gem on all mana waster skills, and you get to use at least 3 percentile auras on your mana pool. (example 40%+40%+40%+reduced mana gem results in only 85% of your mana pool taken; so you can also fit in Hatred - or if you take some reduced mana reservation nodes, you can fit a fourth 40% aura)

"

VenatorPoE wrote:

"

mudbrick wrote:

"

Boylston wrote:

Auras that reinforce this defence are Vitality and Determination. These would be powered by Mana, leaving a very small mana pool other abilities.

You have blood magic selected.

Endgame you respec out of it, and use Blood Magic support gem on all mana waster skills, and you get to use at least 3 percentile auras on your mana pool. (example 40%+40%+40%+reduced mana gem results in only 85% of your mana pool taken; so you can also fit in Hatred - or if you take some reduced mana reservation nodes, you can fit a fourth 40% aura)

Yeah, exactly. I pulled BM out of the original build quoted in the beginning. That build would not be an exact path that I would pick-- it's intended as a proof-of-concept that you can actually load up on Strength nodes and hit 700-800ish strength.

Thanks for the Astramentis suggestion-- I'll have to look into that more closely.

I wish I had a reliable calculator for end-game health/weapon damage. It would be good to compare tradeoffs between stacking even more strength as well as %life and weapon passives.

health on its own isnt going to do much at all, if your constantly taking damage and such.

also you do realize axes require some dex, its a str/dex weapon

the only weapon that is pure str is maces and only maces. even swords require dex.

also you took quite a few 1 handed nodes, meaning your gonna have to use a 1 handed weapon otherwise your gonna gimp your damage and have a ton of useless nodes.

honestly this is a poor way to plan a build and isnt worth even trying becaues you could get WAY more resistance, health, and damage without going for just strength.

10 points of strength only gives 2% melee damage, and 5 hp. which is VERY small compared to the damage nodes you chose not to take, let alone any utilities that come with it.

so yea, not a good way to plan and terrible idea all together