[3.10] Sovyn's Lazy Pally - Tanky Templar with Max Block

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PMTrigger เขียน:

soul taker means no need mana for skill?
how do u get a soul taker?

Yes, no mana considerations. Enables use of dominating blow, cyclone, etc., with many supports.

Soul Taker probably has the best chance of dropping from merciless Piety, Dominus or map bosses, but it can be chanced (a very, very small chance) from any Siege Axe. The DPS on the currently available version of it is OK but not great, that's the trade-off.

I've played before and ever since the introduction of the item and never seen one drop, so it is quite rare.

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NastyNati เขียน:

Is this build viable in HC/Nemesis?

Hello NastyNati. :)

Yes, it is. We had a fellow get to level 85 in Hardcore with this build.

It's not as survivable as a dual totem build or something like that, but for a melee you won't do better.

Well shit...

First CODT 1
Decoy Totem 16
End Cry 17
Molten Shell 17

Second CODT 11
Motal Call 13
(planned enfeeble, haven't rolled a single blue slot on the axe...)

As per the OP,

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First Cast when Damage Taken - Level this trigger gem to level 2 only. I recommend linking this with Enduring Cry (level only to 5), Molten Shell (level only to 8), and Enfeeble (level only to 5).
Second Cast when Damage Taken - Level this trigger gem up to approximately level 9-11 unless your life pool is very large, then level it more as needed. I recommend linking this with Immortal Call and Increased Duration. If you want to use a 4-link for this one as well, I suggest an Enduring Cry gem in series before the Immortal call. This will ensure endurance charges are topped up before the Immortal Call activates.

Overall I guess I'm not in a terrible position. Both CODT are still in the ballpark (I have enough health to sustain CODT at lvl 11) and the add on gems are fairly easy to obtain (I think I have all of them in stock anyway). Have to junk the gems in my first one but that isn't a huge drama (nothing in there is +qual). Alternately, I could keep leveling up the 3 gems on the first and spend 3 GCP to go "round the horn" to 20%, then level them up to where they should be. +qual doesn't effect requirements so that could be a viable option.

Unfortunately, if you're using a +qual gem at high level, you either have to use scouring to drop them down a level (fecking expensive for a 20/20) or try to sell it and buy something else...

What a PITA...

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Saviourself เขียน:

Overall I guess I'm not in a terrible position. Both CODT are still in the ballpark (I have enough health to sustain CODT at lvl 11) and the add on gems are fairly easy to obtain (I think I have all of them in stock anyway). Have to junk the gems in my first one but that isn't a huge drama (nothing in there is +qual). Alternately, I could keep leveling up the 3 gems on the first and spend 3 GCP to go "round the horn" to 20%, then level them up to where they should be. +qual doesn't effect requirements so that could be a viable option.

I'm in the same boat, all of my gems were too high. I'm self found so I may not have replacements right away. No big deal though, plays pretty much the same as pre-1.0.0.

I don't think + quality helps much on enduring cry or molten shell or decoy totem, but Enfeeble would benefit a bit.

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Sovyn เขียน:

I'm in the same boat, all of my gems were too high. I'm self found so I may not have replacements right away. No big deal though, plays pretty much the same as pre-1.0.0.

I don't think + quality helps much on enduring cry or molten shell or decoy totem, but Enfeeble would benefit a bit.

Yeah, they are minor but not inconsequential since I'm not going to scouring them.

Decoy Totem 1.5% Increased Totem Life
Enduring Cry 1.0% Increased Area of Effect radius
Molten Shell 1.5% Chance to Ignite enemies on hit with Fire Damage
Immortal Call 0.01s Increased Base Duration per Endurance Charge (lol)

Also, apparently support gems are not counted towards the cap, only active ones.

So you can still have a 20/20 duration on a curse. Not sure how long that will last so perhaps keep a spare lvl 1 in the bank. ; )

First off, thanks for the wonderful guide!

I'm using it in Nemesis at the moment and having quite a lot of fun at the lower levels.

Now, here's a question for the higher difficulties where things start to get heated: with the recent nerf to Purity and COTD, would you suggest a different mid-to-high level path?

Also, although there is 0 mana regen on the tree, have you ever dabbled in arctic armour?

Lastly, about Tempest Shield: you mention activating it once per area - do you mean that the dmg buff stays after you cancel the effect?

Cheers!

This build is not friendly to new players. You need to buy too many stuffs and these purchases are not optional.

My templar is 49 now and with a small group of caster mobs, I will be chopped down with in seconds. All element res 75% has not use in this case.

The worst is, despite the same armor and res with my other classes, they can survive the mobs because their DPS is a lot better, hit and run can take a few mobs each time and eventually clear the group but single handed Templar can't do the same and with more hits, it usually end up running from Portal/WP.

So far it's only mandatory on the amulet. I'm expecting the mandatory on the CwDT set.

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SkayExile เขียน:

First off, thanks for the wonderful guide!

I'm using it in Nemesis at the moment and having quite a lot of fun at the lower levels.

Now, here's a question for the higher difficulties where things start to get heated: with the recent nerf to Purity and COTD, would you suggest a different mid-to-high level path?

Also, although there is 0 mana regen on the tree, have you ever dabbled in arctic armour?

Lastly, about Tempest Shield: you mention activating it once per area - do you mean that the dmg buff stays after you cancel the effect?

Cheers!

Hello SkayExile. :) Glad you are having fun.

No, the build plays fine without any changes. No need for Purity at all -- ever -- with decent gear as we get more resists than most on the tree and decent gear often has double high resist rolls. As for CwDT I played for 8 months before it ever came out, I won't miss it even if they took it out of the game completely. We still do benefit from it as per the guide. No changes needed to the tree.

After reserving for a single aura early on and double auras for the end game, plus the fact that we use the little mana remaining for out attack skill, means that stuff like artic armour and mana shield are useless for us. It would be too hard to manage it with the build even if we did not use auras, as the Eldritch Battery keystone is too far away.

On Tempest, for some strange reason, GGG decided to have it work differently than the other auras, so every time you zone into a new area, you have to recast it. That said, I have not used it in a long time, maybe that has changed.

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rrrrr5r เขียน:

This build is not friendly to new players. You need to buy too many stuffs and these purchases are not optional.

I have to set the facts straight on that, friend. Everything is optional except a high block shield. People are literally giving these away. I am only making recommendations in the guide to help people who want guidance. There is probably no melee build out there with better survivability for a lower cost. Have you seen my gear? I kill everything in act 3 merciless with that gear and never come even close to dying. Please do try that with any other melee build with that same gear. :) The outcome would be entertaining if nothing else.

The lazy pally is my second character I raised up to Merciless, and while we always need better gear for the harder maps, I have to say it's probably less gear-dependent than my physical crit ranger. With my ho-hum equipment, I managed to tank all the bosses so far till midway of Act II. I could face-tank the weaver too, which is an impressive feat by my standards.

Part of the reason is that my main attack, heavy strike is (five) linked to multistrike, melee splash, life on hit and blood magic, so I happily wade into mobs; more bodies to whack means more life to gain. For my bosses and hard uniques, I switch the melee splash to either a life on leech or melee physical damage. Because I use blood magic, I carry four life flasks and one granite. Basically I simply left-click an enemy and latch on it like a pitbull, downing health potions to tank through. If I can't maintain the fight, I back off and let a high-end rejuvenation totem juice me up. Currently, I'm on the lookout for a better 5-linked chest armor and weapon. (If anyone knows of a bargain, do give me a heads up!)


I believe the passives do a lot of heavy lifting for the build, the block % being a crucial part. Skill-tree wise, I've been following Sovyn's guide faithfully (just skipping two life nodes -- for the moment, at least). Only variant is my skill gem set-up. Auras I'm using tempest shield and wrath for the extra block and added lightning damage. I'm leveling up anger and determination in other weapon slot, for the harder maps.

Gear is easier to progress than my ranger's as well. It's simply a shield with better block and a single-handed weapon with bigger damage. Less of a balancing act I had to do with my ranger's gear. (I'm poor, only one exalt to my name!)


Sovyn, do you think it's wise if I pursued the sovereignty aura nodes? I was thinking of running tempest shield, determination and anger all at once. TS for the extra block (my shield only blocks 24% but has plenty of resists), determination to make up for my gear's poor armor, and anger for extra bite.