[3.6] TECTONIC SLAM GUARDIAN - BLAST YOUR WAY THROUGH THE ATLAS - 1M SHAPER DPS WITH <2EX BUDGET!

*NOTE* This build is a WIP so expect to see more sections/explanations in the future

PoB Link: https://pastebin.com/i8ReEcHr


Introduction:

Spoiler
I just want to start by thanking you for taking the time to read this build, it's my first attempt at one after about 500 hours of playing the game. Synthesis' balancing has really thrown melee out of the meta and in a sea of winter orb and storm brand builds I just wanted a strong melee build and after trying molten strike I found that it was just too restricting and it didn't feel all that smooth to play, but then I came across tectonic slam and after a little bit of farting about on PoB I created a rough version of the build, and after taking a little inspiration from Bashtart's version of the build I came to this current version of the build that is both incredibly satisfying and ridiculously cheap to get going.

Tectonic slam is an absolutely amazing skill and it's by far one of the most satisfying skills in the game when you stack AoE% and attack speed as you can spam tectonic slam infinitely with stupid amounts of AoE per attack. One attack can effectively completely melt the screen with the right conditions. Tectonic slam is also one of the safer melee attacks in my opinion, with enough AoE% you can completely melt packs from a safe distance away because of the size of the attack, especially if an endurance charge is consumed.



The Core Mechanics:

Spoiler
The whole build revolves around making sure your tectonic slam has as much damage, attack speed, and AoE% as it's really your only damage dealer. We pick the Guardian ascendancy because of the stupid amounts of AoE%, charge regen, and damage that it gives us which is perfect for making sure tectonic slam does as much damage to as big of an area as possible. A Lycosidae is absolutely crucial for this build because of that sweet sweet 100% hit chance that makes this build far, far smoother to play.

In combat, you want to always keep your flasks and your fortify buff up; you should be leap slamming a hell of a lot to dodge and to move as our attack speed makes leap slam very effective at clearing huge distances in no time which can massively help you to disengage from a boss fight or to just flat out melt a map. This build's mechanics also makes it very good at low-level delving as your mobility and your tankiness makes lingering in the dark so much less dangerous as you can simply just throw a flare down and hit one thing and watch your health shoot back up to max because of the amazing leech this build offers.



Pros and Cons

Spoiler
Pros:
-Amazing clear speed
-Incredibly satisfying to play
-Costs peanuts to get you started
-Fantastic leech
-Surprisingly nice life pool of 6,3k HP at level 92
-100% hit chance from Lycosidae is just orgasmic
-Rather good single target, not the best but definitely good
-Huge AoE means you can melt anything on the screen in a few hits
-Amazing delver once you have enough attack speed for leap slam
-Off-meta build so gear is in relatively abundant quantities.

Cons:
-Both physical and elemental reflect murder you instantly
-No leech maps are a no-no
-Leveling with tectonic slam can be a really grueling task
-Late game BiS equipment prices can spike up your blood pressure
-Terrible mana leech during leveling unless you equip yourself for it
-Little to no dex from the tree so you have to stack it yourself



Gear

Spoiler
Weapon

For your weapon, the choices are honestly infinite. Personally I'd recommend any 1h mace with 1.7+ attacks per second and as much physical damage as you can afford to get. If you're looking to upgrade further on you could look for crit chance/multiplier rolls on your weapon too for a little bit of added damage but that's only for more wealthy players who can afford to buy such weapons as they can run you a pretty penny if you're looking for the optimal weapon.

A Doryani's Catalyst can also be used as a more budget-friendly alternative that still gives you a shit ton of DPS til you can afford a proper rare mace.


Shield

Lycosidae is the absolute BiS for this build because of that lovely, lovely 100% hit chance that I think makes this build butter smooth to play and it makes sure that you can always reliably oneshot packs before they oneshot you as without it you're looking at a 70-80% hit chance which on paper isn't that bad but it's incredibly noticeable during gameplay.


Body

A Loreweave is the BiS for this build because of the ele damage, crit chance, and added physical damage that buffs the living shit out of our DPS, and the 78% res cap is also quite nice imo. If you can't afford it, any rare 6L with a lot of life and resistances can also be used well into the endgame and can probably provide more defense than Loreweave could which is mighty useful for leveling and just generally not getting bummed by Syndicate.


Helmet

Abyssus is the BiS for this build because of the stupid amount of damage it gives us (around 30-40% of our total DPS comes from it) from the added physical damage and the ridiculous crit multiplier affix, but if you're struggling with tankiness then I would advise against it because it does make you far more vulnerable to physical damage. You'll definitely die more with an Abyssus on but I still think it's well worth it considering how much damage it gives us.


Gloves

In terms of gloves, any rare with life/resists/phys damage is more than adequate and is enough to get you by til you can afford gloves with life/resists/phys dmg/attack speed/phys dmg conversion which can potentially give you a healthy chunk of extra DPS provided you have the money to invest and your resistances are still capped.



Last edited by Kyuzero on Apr 14, 2019, 1:22:44 PM
Last bumped on Apr 12, 2019, 12:31:07 PM

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