Critique My 1st Build

Thanks for the tips folks. I hope this is closer to being a final build.

I dropped Unwavering Stance to free up some points, and avoid duplication with Block Recovery. Also removed the points from the upper left side as suggested.

The extra points were put into the initial damage branch at the Marauder starting node, and in the lower right for more damage and mana. Also picked up Crusader at the top. Hopefully this will be enough for DPS.

Build Link

The only thing left to do I would think is drop 30 points for a 90-point build. Any suggestions as to what should go first?

Keep in mind that Unwavering Stance makes you immune to stuns from attacks and blocks. It's much better than block recovery which only reduces block stun duration. If you removed block recovery, it would only take an additional point to reach Unwavering. Taking out the int, and 2 str nodes leading to duelist and taking the half-circle path would allow you to get Unwavering plus an extra skill point.
Shown here:


Increased Defences from Shield nodes are another thing I think you should remove. You currently have 130%. With a 600 armor shield that will give you 1380 total. You can take out two of these nodes(1 near templar, 1 near duelist). That's 60% or 360 armor. 2 skill points for only another 360 armor is wasteful.
With that you now have 3 extra nodes.


As I mentioned before, you should take out the +12hp/1.2% regen off scion's area. The 12hp can easily be made up for on gear. As for the life regen nodes, wouldn't you benefit more from putting them in max life% nodes instead? More life creates a bigger buffer and larger pool for you to regen from.
To put it another way, you could take out those scion nodes and put it into duelist's side. 12 hp and 1.2% regen vs +20% max life, 1% regen, and 1 skill point.

(I'm including the .4% regen nodes below duelist)

Here's a 90-point tree. It's a bit rough, and possibly inefficient, but it'll give you an idea of what to do.


If dps gets to be a problem, always try to upgrade your weapon first before thinking about switching defensive nodes for offensive ones.

One last thing. Get one of these


I've leveled a character past level 70 with this before upgrading.

Thanks man. I really appreciate your expertise. Based on what you said, hopefully this is closer to usable.

Big change here is that it goes down towards the duelist start instead up and over (past Unwavering Stance). This picks up Blood Drinker on the way. Is BD worth the skill point?

According to the Offline skill app, this build has 100% increased Defenses from Shields. Is that still wasteful, or in the range of acceptable?

120 point build

90 point build

I personally take Blood Drinker whenever I'm able to. Some people don't, but I don't see it as a waste since you're trying to maximize tankiness.

You could remove the 30% shield defences node below Templar. The other 70% is from nodes like Testudo which gives 6% block/20% defence so it's not a waste.

I noticed that you missed two 12% life nodes right below Blood Drinker. If you need more passive points you can take out the .4% life regen nodes at duelist. You could also remove the Endurance Charge Duration nodes since you'll probably run Cast When Damage Taken with Endurance Cry and self-casting Enduring Cry should be a habit before engaging enemies.

Personally I don't like the single res nodes you're taking. With Diamond Skin, Diamon Flesh and Sentinel you should be doing more than okay. You can also consider helping Kraityn on normal (+8% all res).
Also, I understand trying to avoid weapon specialization, but you really, really need some offensive nodes. Otherwise you'll find yourself in a situation where at the end of merciless you'll be dealing 2k dps solo target, which won't get the job done. I see you have 30 pts left and realistically it's 10 (getting lvled up beyond 80 is hard as hell)... it's not gonna work, sir, there'll be mobs regenerating way more life than the damage they'll take from your attacks. You'd get stuck hitting a single voidbearer for 5 minutes before it's dead.