Shield Crush Juggernaut Guide/Breakdown for Ruthless (PoE Ancestor 3.22)

TO START - Duelist mule to Brutus for blood and sand, precision (can go to Intruders in Black for Blood and Sand but can just use an Uncarved for this, no biggie). Take splitting steel after hillock. Stash all shields you find. - Marauder mule to Brutus for anc protector, enduring cry. Take ground slam after hillock. Stash all shields you find. - Main marauder, use shield crush if you can or splitting steel/ground slam for a bit otherwise (if turbo bad shield drop rng somehow) - molten shell after eggs - vitality after brutus - chain hook for Cavern of Wrath (if main hand weapon base is up to date, deals decent dmg at melee range and stacks rage vs merveil, also lets you leap over gaps if enemy on other side) - warlord's mark after Intruders in Black - vulnerability after Tolman - anc warchief after Gravicius - berserk after Breaking the Seal UNCARVED GEMSTONE ORDER - blood rage (we lost some atk speed from losing accuracy from Undeniable so this is more valuable earlier now) - consecrated path (fuck quickstep) - spare! (can sell if trade, or save for future character) ASCENDANCY ORDER - Undeniable (we rush precise technique + weathered hunter wheel with mastery, best value for dps early with this node) - Unstoppable (it's shit now but it still gives freeze + chill immune, run this until you get GG shield with ele avoid mod) - Unbreakable (best node in ruthless but only really good when we have a good chest piece, freeze immune is higher prio) - Unflinching (+1 max end and good synergy with Inexorable) - Unrelening (once we have 100% ele avoid drop Unstoppable for this, ideally hoard some free campaign regrets for the swap) LEVELLING TIPS - Either keep track of what shield bases drop at certain levels or make a filter for it, always be on the lookout for upgrades - Kill Alira only if playing HC, 2 points otherwise. We get more than enough res on tree, you will really want the points later on and they also let you get precise technique online faster - Remember that shield crush does double dmg to stuff in the middle of its area - Bastion breaker is top prio after Precise Technique because it shreds through most campaign bosses' armour - As long as stuff can't kill you you will be able to kill it on a 1 link. Tanky = good. - Innocence will always be able to kill you. Get as much fire res as you can for a5 and hide behind the statues when he does his big 'I AM YOUR GOD' fire jizz nova attack. You will be okay. I believe in you. - Make sure to keep accuracy above life for Precise Technique to function. Eagle eye is fine to take to help with this despite it giving crit, lets you take another accuracy mastery as well. - You can chain hook for rage generation vs bosses that don't have adds (and those that appear before you get warlord's mark) - Use warlord's mark while clearing areas to quickly build rage and spend with berserk for more movement speed, rinse repeat - Getting a helm that enables the bleed immune armour/evasion mastery is great for making lab more comfortable. MISC NOTES - Determination may be cheaper now due to the nerf making it only useful on builds that already have armour. (it's unticked in the skills tab because it now has a different effect in ruthless, this is in the config with inc aura effect applied) - Precision should be used early to fix accuracy until you have determination + pride, then you should try to work without it - Try to get an amethyst ring with mana leech so you can drop the small passive for it (saves 2 points because we want to take the upper path for Gladiator's Perseverence + Crystal Skin wheel later). - Accuracy mod on gloves can make Precise Technique a lot easier to maintain at higher life values. - Priotize Delve for dense fossil spam on highest level 20% qual (or 30% if you can get betrayal bench layer) colossal tower shield you can find (pick these up all the time and stash them) (can add metallic in dual resonator to remove another possible prefix mod but not worth the cost IMO). No we do not want a flat life mod on our shield. - Also prioritize heist for replica dreamfeather (BiS mainhand, huge dps spike. Its accuracy does not apply to shield crush though so don't get bamboozled by that), and because heist is busted in general - Replica Dreamfeather's huge chunk of inc attack damage makes sources of it on the tree less valuable overall. - Multiple totem support, war banner, oils for panopticon are all high priority upgrades. Pride is more expensive but also high prio. - This build has a lot of buttons. CWDT on molten shell + blood rage helps a little. Maybe put the ones you mostly use for bosses on your alt keys. - Shield crush also scales off evasion rating on shield, just grab iron reflexes if you randomly get a good high evasion shield - If you get an Emperor's Vigilance to drop, well done! I have no idea how to make a build for that. You probably need Seething Fury to make it worthwhile. - This build was probably way stronger in Crucible due to the extra armour you could get on shields very easily, but it's still probably the best melee build for ruthless for the upcoming league. - In trade league, once you have some alchs, keep some livesearches running for shield upgrades (especailly high armour shields with any chance to avoid ele ailment mod) and other stuff you need. Livesearch is your best friend. - Only take the Crystal Skin wheel once you have a good ele avoid shield and eldritch ele avoid mod on boots. With Thick Skin this gets us to 100% ele avoid (best part of this build IMO). - You don't need a high ele avoid chance mod on your shield to get 100% avoid, can manage with the lowest tier if you take extra small life passives around thick skin - Even with the endurance charge ascendancy notables taken, taking +1 endurance charge notables on tree isn't really worth it compared to other options. - Will need to be flexible on a few points so you can make use of the tattoos that transform +30 attribute notables. - With some extra sources of mana reservation efficiently (enchant for a 50% aura + eldritch implicit) and more accuracy on gear you can try to fit precision back in and drop eagle eye. - The Magnate would be a good GG belt option but tattoos replace attributes, will be hard to use them and still get 400 str. Arn's Anguish is another late endgame option for increased damage but it makes Unrelenting useless, can take Untiring instead I guess? But also makes you squishier. WHY PLAY THIS OVER BONESHATTER? - Extra defensive layer from using shield, significantly more armour and bonuses from extra suffix mods - Build scales dps from armour but doesn't require it to not kill yourself, so dps is not capped until you get determination + good chest and thus easier to get a corrupted 6 link going as well. - Built in aoe and good single target, don't need supports or passives to make things work. - BiS weapon is farmable from heist, appears relatively often - Can get full ele ailment immune (big pog) - Don't need the nerfed regen node to not kill ourselves so we can take endurance charge stuff for extra defenses - Enduring cry helps make up for lack of boneshatter's regen from Untiring a bit, on-demand extra life flask - Shield crafting is so much easier than trying to improve a weapon lategame, can just fossil spam on bases you find. - Less fucked over by map mods - Saves an uncarved gem not needing to get main skill via siosa and another gem because warlord's mark competes with ancestral cry quest reward now (bonezone needs both). So can get blood rage + consecrated path + keep one spare instead. - Does similar damage to boneshatter with nothing crazy in endgame setup - Bonehatter got hit harder by the jugg nerfs, losing a chunk of regen that's important for keeping the build comfortable, and also by determination change since shield builds get more benefit from it now