HC Death's Oath Reave CI Witch (v1.0)

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Overview
This build is a mid-high price spec, and requires around level 80 to complete. The purpose of this build is to use Death's Oath unique astral plate in combination with Reave main attack. The passive tree focuses on maximizing shield defenses, es%, armour and physical damage with 1-handed weapons in order to achieve the best results. This build is currently implemented on a level 79 witch in onslaught league.

Death's Oath Reference
Death's Oath will be referenced as DO


Skill Tree Level 79 Witch


Items Level 79 Witch


Flasks Level 79 Witch


Build Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
Mid DPS
High Armour
Big ES pool (compared to HP build)
Cool looking :D

Weaknesses
No ES on chest
Mid INT
Hard to assemble gear/not cheap
Potential for mana problems

Itemization
The hardest part of the itemization is getting the right amount of strength in order to wear DO (180). I achieved this by buying a really high str amulet, and not worrying about it on other gear. Dream Fragments is a must, since it allows for freeze immunity, which makes melee viable for CI. DO, being the main item, does extra chaos damage over time within a medium radius of the player. Reave requires either a sword, dagger or claw, therefore it is up to the user to chose which base suits them the most. The rest of the gear is up to you, but Rainbow Strides and a phys damage belt are recommended.

Total Cost Aprox.~
5L Death's Oath - 2ex ONS
Dream Frags - 4-5ex ONS
Weapon - 0.3-2ex ONS
Shield - 0.5-2ex ONS
Other Gear - 1-3ex ONS
Total: 7.8ex - 14ex
Avg: 10.9ex
Optimistic: 9ex

Passive Tree
Keystones
Chaos Inoculation
Ghost Reaver
Iron Reflexes

Chaos Inoculation is used to counter act the negative effects of DO. Ghost Reaver allows for melee leeching, which is key in tanking. Iron Reflexes allows the use of grace for extra armour, furthering tankability.

The rest of the tree
The goal was to stack as much shield defenses, es%, armour and 1-handed damage as possible. The current layout seemed to be the best, but I'm sure there is room for improvement.

Bandits
Norm: Kill All
Cruel: Kill All
Merciless: Frenzy Charge

Gems
The goal was to use reave with enough phys leech from gear to not need life leech support gem. Current setup uses Reave + Multistrike + Faster Attacks + Melee Phys + Melee Phys at Full Life. I suggest running enduring cry for extra defense. Blood rage is also used to stack attack speed, since CI effectively avoids the blood rage downside.

Auras
Determination
Grace
Discipline
Hatred

Initial Goals
5k+ ES - Goal Met
4k+ DPS - Goal Met
Capped Resistances - Goal Not Met (very close)
50 Phys Reduction - Goal Met
Play merciless docks and 66-70 maps - Goal Met
70+ Maps - TBD

Future Goals
Obtain Stun Immunity (Chayula or Unwavering) - Difficult
10k DPS - Medium
6L Death's Oath - Difficult/Medium
600+ es shield - Medium
60 Phys Reduction - Difficult
Replace all str nodes from passives with gear - Easy/Medium

Screenshots of: DPS, Gear, Gameplay

Change Log

v1.0

Bump

i've been trolling the forms looking for a good reave witch build that focuses on defense and i really appreciate the effort you put forth in this guide.

my question for you is, how do you avoid stun lock without unwavering stance or stun immunity from a unique?