CaptainLance Guardian Tank

Color Code: Section Information Bullet Points Special Info Strength Gems/Supports Intelligence Gems/Supports Dexterity Gems/Supports ******************* Selling Points of the Build *************************** ~ 100k Armour ~ 70%+ glacing spell and attack block ~ 2k ES recover on block ~ 90% max ele res ~ capped chaos res ~ 30% base phys reduction on top of 100k armour ~ High Regen ~ Fairly Respectable damage 5-10+ million depending on investment level/Smite/positioning(you want to be positioned a bit away from boss for optimal ball lightning dps) ~ Reflect Immune ~ Curse Immune ~ 20% less fire damage taken ~ Crit Immune (100%+ reduced extra damage from crits taken) ******************* Can The Build DIE? Limitations *************************** ~ Maven Brain Bomb / Eater of worlds Big explosion can still kill us from my couple tests ~ Nemesis Nullifier monster can turn off coruscating elixir thus allowing a small amount of chaos damage to kill us, this is extremely rare to encounter from my experience ~ Triple to Quadruple Damage Mods that Synnergise -> example Gain 200% cold + 10 cold pen in wave 30 simulacrum, I didn't die while running this but it was a scenario where I had to actually play the game and couldn't go afk because if I did go afk I could die ~ Searing Exarch/Eater Altars -> these can occasional roll remove flask mods /reduced flask charges, if coruscating gets turned off then we can die to a small hit of chaos damage. ~ Big Degen example: Sirus Clouds, Degens can't be outhealed by aegis because they can't be blocked, 90% max all res, capped chaos res and raw %phys reduction help along with good regen but ultimately something that has to be played around ~ Skills with inherent Penetration = Shaper balls come with 25 PEN so they hurt much much more than other attacks from most monsters hence they often can hit over that 2k threshold of safety that aegis gives us. We can still take quite a few hits and play around the mechanic but we can't afk shaper due to this one ability. ******************* Key Pieces of this Build *************************** ~ Melding of the Flesh: All max elemental resistances match highest, this allows us to invest into max cold res via purity of ice(+10%) and aegis aurora(+5%) to hit 90% max cold res also making fire and lightning 90% as well. We still need to cap our resistances normally, it only changes our new maximum ~ Aegis Aurora: This shield replenishes 2% of our armour when we block, so when we use it with glancing blows to get around 70% spell / attack block with 100k armour, 7 out of 10 hits from enemies will give us the player back 2k ES, There are very few hits in the game that will do more than 2k damage to us with our layers of defenses making most enemy hits on average heal our character ~ Ivory Tower: This unique gives us a large amount of flat ES from our reserved life so it makes hitting a good ES number while investing into life scaling doable, this has immense synnergy with Guardian Radiant Faith. ~ Radiant Faith: Guardian Ascendancy Point that gives 160% of reserved life as extra flat armour, this node alone is giving us 5K+ flat armour, combined with defiance banner and determination we hit 100k+ armour ~ Brutal Restraint Jewel(balbala) = Traitor Keystone: Traitor keystone gives us 4 flask charges every 5 seconds to each of our flasks per empty flask slot, with 2 empty flask slots and no additional investment we can maintain permanent uptime on our Coruscating Clixir and bismuth flasks(bismuth frees up many suffixes by helping cap res with downside of Melding of the Flesh) ~ Coruscating Elixir: Unique Flask that prevents chaos damage from bypassing our ES, this allows us to reserve both our life and mana pool, taking advantage of ivory towers big upside of giga ES via life investment without the downside of needing to invest into a mana pool and being unable to reserve our mana. This flask also sets our life to 1 when procced thus turning off RF, we turn RF back on via Doryani's Lessons Cluster Jewel notable that gives life leech to restore some HP allows us to turn RF back on, by using coruscating elixir with "used at end of flask" mod, we only need to press flask at start of map and it in ensures we will turn RF off a minimal amount of times ~ 100% aura Effect -> this breakpoint is important because it doubles the amount of %phys reduction we get from each one of our auras making us much more effective at mitigating physical damage, it also ensures we hit 90% max cold res via purity of ice, to do this we need all the passives I grabbed on the character as well 8% aura effect from brutal restraint and one introspectional small cluster node. Alternatives would include a synthesised 15% aura helmet or hitting 16% aura effect from brutal restraint nodes. ~ Ashes of the Stars: this amulet greatly increases the ease of fitting in all our auras, levels up all our gems and best but not least it gives all our skill gems up to 30 quality which results in stats like 3% spell block from tempest shield/ 30% spell damage from RF, 15% increased armour/evasion with defiance banner, ect ect. The list goes on, and the amulet becomes extremely hard to even dream of replacing. ~ Righteous Providence via Forbidden Flame&Flesh: This enables our build with over 500% crit chance by the endgame setup aswell as some base strength and int which helps scale some life and ES, Without this the build struggles to get crit. I believe the build can operate without these jewels but at a fairly heavy loss in damage, swapping increased crit strike as a link and speccing an additional crit cluster/ect. Ultimately this will be what I would wager ends up being the most expensive piece of gear given the supply of forbidden flame righteous providence jewels. There is an alternate world where you can make this build as an inquisitor and get radiant faith jewels but the tree would look a bit different and would require some creative ingeniuity ******************* Leveling This Build *************************** Simply put, you cannot level this character the way it is, all of the key items to even make this build function the way its supposed to are not equippable till like level 60+. Ultimately I would recommend leveling as something else and respeccing when you can equip the key items of the build: ~ a generic lightning based spell caster(spark/storm brand/ball lightning) ~ Hollow Palm These options should lead to relatively smooth leveling to get to blood aqueducts and then leveling to the point you can equip the key gear, as long as you have some good leveling gear it shouldn't be too bad. ******************* Gem Link Setups ************************* Auras: ~ Determination - Discipline - Arrogance - Enlighten(3) ~ Wrath - Zealotry - Purity of Ice - Enlighten : (gloves with +1 aoe necessary for lvl 23 purity of ice) ~ Tempest Shield - Defiance Banner - Haste - Clarity(delevel however much needed to have enough mana to cast spells, this may be necessary to sustain mana casts, swap 3% regen suffix for reduced mana costs if mana is still an issue) Utility: ~ Frost shield 1.6% base crit + 4k extra hp shield - use in boss fight ~ Assassin's mark 1.5% base crit / 50% crit multi / 10% increased damage taken - use in boss fight ~ Smite -> a large portion of flat damage something like 20-40% more damage - use in boss fight ~ Righteous Fire has a 40% more damage multiplier and 50% increased spell damage, put on left click to auto turn back on whenever coruscating turns it off Movement: ~ Faster Attacks - Shield Charge - Smite(DPS)/Molten Shell(tank big hits) ~ Flame Dash(instant dash for dodging mechanics or hoping over walls) DPS: ~ Ball Lightning - Pinpoint - Inspiration - Slower Projectile - Lightning Pen - Arcane Surge Basically any other cold or lightning spell can be made to work in this build but will require support gem swaps as well as minor adjustments like dropping scintilating idea for a different cold notable if using a cold spell instead of a lightning spell ************** Misc Information / FAQ ****************** Bandits: Help Alira or 2 Passives if extra overcapped ele res Pantheon: Brine King(freeze immune) and Yugul(Helps us cap reflect/curse immunity) Can't TURN ON RF: Coruscating Elixir sets life to 1, you need to have doryani's lessons for life leech to turn RF back on Ascendancy Order: Radiant Faith -> Time of Need -> Harmony of Purpose -> Unwavering Faith Map Mods to AVOID: No Regen / REDUCED FLASK Charges / Reduced Aura Effect Non Ideal Map Mods we can run: Less Recovery/-Max/Reduced Block SSF Viable?: Not at all, way too many key uniques required unless you have a lot of time and know how to make this work in SSF Regen During Flask VS Reduced Mana Cost: Use reduced mana cost on quicksilver suffix if mana sustain is a problem(this will be the case if you can't afford to fit clarity into auras most likely (may require minus mana cost ring prefix as well) ************** Reservation Fitting The Auras IN ****************** Life Reservation: ~ Anomalous Arrogance (lvl 20) ~ 2 Jewels with 2% reservation efficiency implicits(abyss jewel + cluster/rare/melding/unnatural) ~ 20% reservation roll on Ashes of the stars ~ Enlighten 3(enlighten 4 would make you need less of the above listed items) ~ 30% Life Reservation Mastery Mana Reservation: ~Same Mana Reservation Nodes I have on tree ~10% mana reservation from defeaning essence of loathing crafting on helmet ~Eater of worlds implicit 7-12% mana reservation efficiency(I would go for like 9, 11 is overkill because I leveled clarity more than necessary) ~Keep clarity at appropriate level to still have mana unreserved to cast all skills ~Enlighten level 3 linked to Haste - Zealotry - Wrath (I messed this up and linked with purity, I would keep purity in +1 aoe item but don't worry about having the 50% auras in that because the 1 level doesn't hit any important breakpoints for them) ~Introspection cluster with 3 passives ~Ashes of the stars 20% reservation efficiency ~Mana reservation masteries ~reservation implicits on 2 jewels ~Keep in mind enlighten 4s will ease a lot of tension in these setups and making fitting all the auras in easier but they come at a high price for giga min-maxing. ************** COST OF BUILD ****************** #1 KEY ITEMS mentioned in the first section. Everything up there but righteous providence is pretty mandatory for the build to function, righteous providence can be forgone at the cost of a lot of crit. But without the other pieces the build simply does not work. So if you can't atleast get those items do not start this build as it won't work without them. Aegis: 1ex Nebulis: 10c? Ashes of the Stars: 1-2ex? Ivory Tower 6L: 5-7ex? Brutal Restraint: 30c + 30divines ~ 2ex Melding of the Flesh: 10c? Coruscating Elixir: 1c Rares: 60c each * 6 ~ 360c ~ 3ex Cluster with doryani on travel node: 50c? Introspection Cluster: 75c? descent 2 mod watchers eye: 1-3ex Crit Cluster: 100c? ~BASELINE estimate: 20ex roughly -> very basic setup Main thing missing is crit chance via righteous providence ~Everything Past the baseline is moving into min-max taking the build to its peak and I will go over these potential upgrades ~ PRICES MAY VARY(this goes over cost for myself when I was buying these items, and there is a good chance this prices will go up or down depending on market) ~Righteous providence jewels: 4ex when I first bought them, good chance they get much more expensive ~Unnatural instinct -> 7ex -> Corrupt blood one ->20ex ~Alt qual tempest -> 5ex ~Alt qual defiance banner -> 3ex ~Divergent Ball lightning x3 x 70c + 3 gem corrupts*100c = 510c / 4ex ~Belt Craft cost -> 5ex so far(will be more if I meta craft prefixes ~Gloves -> 1ex base(2 good suffix(chaos res + special temple mod res, can be changed to lightning with harvest) with open suffix) +2ex suffix can't be changed + aisling then some eldritch chaos/anul/exalt till good life. All in all on this craft I spent around 6ex but I would expect average cost closer to 10ex due to probably needing multiple aisling attempts to hit a suffix veil mod. ~Boots -> like 50-200c depending on how picky you are with mods, simply get fractured life base boots of int/str variety and spam chaos res essences till hitting other okay affixes, eldritch currencies can be used to finish up prefix pool ~Rings was a series of buying life es rings with mediocre suffixes then crafting cannot roll caster and slam crusader orb on prefix (6ex ISH so far invested into my current rings if I count fails but technically the fails still hit lightning damage that other builds want which I sold for breakeven/profit) ~helmet -> SSF ENCHANT BTW -> Craft with loathing essences till good suffixes(100-200c) +eldritch anul/exalt block method till either good life or good es. Total cost for this piece for me was like 2-3ex, UNTIL I decided I wanted 11% reservation efficiency instead of 9%, then I blew like 5 ex in orb of conflicts.(this is ultimately unnecessary don't be me and waste the five ex, currently that 2% reservation won't make or break the build ~ Ashes of the stars -> 5ex for perfect reservation/qual roll ~ Aegis -> 2ex for corrupted version(1ex non corrupted) ~ Nebulis -> 1ex for spell per int damage + lightning but just a 10c one with cold% or %lightning will work ~ Watchers eye -> 7ex but there are probably some fairly good 2 stats ones for 1ex on the market ~ Brutal restraint Traitor -> 30c -> aura effect -> 10 different balbala tries on average to hit? if you get other good stats like %damage/onslaught/crit/ect icing on cake. but BEST would be a 16% aura to drop introspection cluster(at this point I've just leaned into the little extra reservation efficiency it gives me but ultimately I could optimise better saving those passives) ~ +2 Ivory Tower -> 1ex for corrupted +2 aoe(non linked or socketed) -> 1850 vaals, 1500 fuse and 350 jewellers Estimate of Setup I put together so Far: 90ex if I start accounting for price increases like righteous providence just checked was 20ex for the set(this is all pretty variable stuff so definitely do your homework and check current prices) *********************** Going Beyond My Setup ************************ ~15 % aura synth helmet ~16 % aura brutal restraint with other usable stats ~Nebulis with %double spell damage ~+4 ivory tower ~Meta Crafting Suffixes on rings and Prefixes on Belt ~Level to 100 grab easy crit mastery from block cluster(21%) and crit cluster(25%) and cast speed + crit 3 point cluster. should net a good 60 crit +14% cast speed and some crit chance for solid DPS upgrades *********************** Crafting Rares ************************ ~ BELT: 1 - Hunter Slam 86 Stygian vise, spam fundamental fossils till T1 strength + T1% attributes(1/60 average). 2 - anul 3rd suffix so there is an open suffix 3 - suffixes can't be changed 4 - reforge speed for movespeex/castspeed or reforge caster for reforge cast speed 5 - suffixes can't be changed 6 - reforge life more common -> repeat step 5 through six till you hit life prefix rolls you are happy with 7 - benchcraft last prefix ~RINGS: 1 - buy ring base you want with t1 es t1 life 2 - anul extra prefix/suffix, need 1 and only 1 open affix for both suffix and prefix pool 3 - craft cannot roll caster 4 - slam crusader orb for a high chance at %es 5 -> sell if you hit anything but %ES and go back to step 1 6 -> prefixes can't be changed + reforge speed for cast speed / chaos for chaos res 7 -> if good suffix, go for multimod suffixes can't be changed + aisling otherwise repeat step 6 8 -> block suffix mod you don't want, and unveil 9 -> benchcraft last suffix ~BOOTS: 1 - buy fractured life boots int/str bases preferable for chance at str/int roll on suffix 2 - spam chaos res essence till 3 good suffixes 3 - suffixes can't be changed + aisling , block mana to insure you unveil movespeed mod (all good outcomes) 4 - benchcraft last prefix ~GLOVES: 1 - buy gloves base with temple resist mod + good chaos res(str/int good too) 2 - anul 3rd suffix if bad 3 - Suffixes can't be changed + aisling -> repeat till veiled suffix hit(this step can be saved for prefix pool if you have 3 good suffixes already) USE ELDRITCH ANULS to remove veiled prefix if you hit something you don't want to go again 4 - Make searing exarch dominant with red eldritch currency using it on gloves 5 - block mana + eldritch exalt 6 - if bad exalt, then remove benchcraft with bench and use eldritch anul to take off bad prefix, REPEAT step5/6 till 2 good prefixes 7 - benchcraft +1 aoe to make purtiy of ice level 21 go to 23 for 5% max res breakpoint ~HELMET: 1 - Buy helmet with fracture chaos res/str/int/res you need OR Helmet with ball lightning/skill of your choice enchant 2 - spam defeaning essences of loathing for mana reservation efficiency till you hit 3 good suffixes 3 - Block mana + eldritch exalt 4 - if bad exalt, then remove benchcraft with bench and use eldritch anul to take off bad prefix, REPEAT step3/4 till 2 good prefixes 5 - benchcraft last prefix with life/es aoe gems depending on what works best for current setup(being able to move purity of ice out of enlighten setup for something like haste frees up additional mana *****************************************************************************