Eldertuin The Fortress

Abstract

This build is centered on taking advantage of buffs. It has decent Armour, maximum Block and high Attack Speed to apply multiple Impales & Bleeds via . In adddition, the build uses while levelling, mapping and saving currency for an actual Headhunter, and sacrifices some “on paper” DPS in order to ensure that every stolen buff will be beneficial.

Without stolen buffs, this build can deal 2.9m Combined DPS, has 190k Phys eHP and 100k Elemental eHP. This build was made in Softcore Trade league. It is not SSF viable due to the uniques required, and it MAY be Hardcore viable (untested). This can also be used as a league starter.

Key Mechanics

Attack Speed

This build relies on hitting the target many times per second in order to leech life and stack multiple Impales and Bleeds as fast as possible.

A high quality gives 11% increased attack speed, plus its Eternal Labyrinth grants an additional 15%. It is also linked to a high quality for another 11% increase. From our gear, we’re using a triple green that gives us 36% increased attack speed. We also have two 5% increased Attack Speed on , giving us 15%, as well as anointed on our amulet for an extra 20%.

With our gems & equipment giving us about 100% increase, our passive tree, Gladiator ascendancy and cluster jewel ( and ) gives us a total of about 200% increased attack speed. gives us 44% more, a high quality gives us 24% more and each of the ten Challenger Charges (from Gladiator’s ) gives us 2% more for a total of 88% more attack speed.

This should push us above 8 attacks per second before stolen buffs. At the hideout, without Challenger charges, Onslaught and attack speed bonuses while Fortified and while Leeching, the build should have about 5.5 attacks per second on the character sheet. Note that we are ignoring accuracy since we’re using a with the corruption, which means our hits cannot be evaded at the cost of never critting.

Impale & Bleed

Even though Shield Crush can deal a significant amount of damage by itself (esp. with a high Armour shield), the build deals approx. half of its damage via Impale and Bleed stacking. Both of these mechanics takes advantage of the build’s high attack speed.

Impale stores 10% of the initial hit’s Physical damage, and deals the recorded damage to the target each time it is hit again. It remains until the maximum of 5 impale stacks is reached, which we are able to apply in one second. This is why we are aiming for at least 6 attacks per second. In addition, we also try increase the stored hit using increased Impale Effect via our high quality , two 6% increased Impale Effect on , and for a total of 17.9% stored hit. These two notables also push our Impale Chance from 60% to max out at 100%.

We also apply eight Bleed debuffs via , dealing 35% of the inflicting attack’s Physical damage over 5 seconds for each stack.

For an easier time clearing maps, we are also using to make bleeding enemies explode on death, dealing 5% of their max life as physical damage. It also has increased attack damage against Bleeding enemies, which stack with . Haemophilia, the nodes before Bloodletting, the nodes before and our Vulnerability curse on hit Ring gives us a total of 96% Chance to Bleed on hit.

Inspired Learning

The unique belt is one of the most iconic items in Path of Exile. It has the extremely powerful mod When you kill a Rare monster, you gain its Modifiers for 20 seconds, especially since every Rare monster would have at least three modifiers. It is also the rarest item in the game, with the lowest chance of dropping (or being chanced), which means it is also one of the most expensive. , on the other hand, “only” steals one Modifier from slain Rare monsters, and is far more common than a Headhunter. Click here to see a partial list of effects that can be stolen.

Inspired Learning is different from Headhunter in two other ways: it is a Jewel instead of a Belt, and it requires four allocated notables inside of a small radius in order to activate. The build puts Inspired Learning at the Jewel Socket south of the starting position of the Duelist, and allocate , , and to activate it.

Note that even though the stolen buffs stack, their duration is not reset for each Rare monster slain. This is why we are using ’s buff (Shaper’s Presence) to increase the stolen buff’s duration by 10%. It also negates Temporal Chain’s reservation cost when cast as an aura, which we use to curse ourselves (and everyone near us) via . Since we do not want our action speed to be reduced, we are using a high quality but level one . The final effect of Shaper’s Presence and the self curse would be 9% less action speed but 29% more stolen buff duration.

Since we are already using a Vulnerability curse on hit Ring, we can either use a Solstice Vigil with a very rare You can apply an additionl Curse corruption, or use a Windshriek (or a Windscream while levelling).

Armour & Block

With almost 3000 Armour on our shield and almost all of our gems being red, we are going to have a lot of Armour. We also get several nodes on the passive tree that increase our Armour, plus we’re using a high quality and a high quality . At endgame (without stolen buffs), we should have about 27,000 total Armour for about 86% Physical Damage Reduction.

The build takes almost every chance to block node on the passive tree that is near the Duelist. We are also using a with a minimum of 26% Chance to Block and each of our three should have +1% chance to block for a total of 70% Attack & Spell block chance on hideout. It maxes out to 79% Chance to Block Attack and Spell damage on combat, thanks to Gladiator’s & .

We also have Endurance Charges (generated via instant () ) for 16% elemental and physical resist. Along with 10% Fortify effect from the wheel that gives us 22% less damage from hits, most of the damage that goes thru our block chance should be sufficiently mitigated.

Reckoning

Even though the build is using a for extra Maim chance, Onslaught chance and Life on Hit, this is actually a customizable four-link. Feel free to get some lightning golems, spectres, animated guardian or any other four-link instead. Even with Gladiator’s , Reckoning still barely deals any damage.

Movement & Utility Skills

We already have a high Armour shield so the build uses as its movement skill linked with a high quality . We also have a for extra single target DPS.

Since we have to use a triple green , we can put a linked with a there, as well as an unlinked high quality in case we need to use a blink skill in an emergency.

Gear, Flasks & Gems

Equipment

Here are the unique equipment that the build uses:

Anoint on the Solstice Vigil using an Amber, an Azure and a Black Oil.

On the remaining slots, prioritize Rare equipment that has Armour, Maximum Life, Chaos Resists and Elemental Resists. The Helmet should have the Eternal Labyrinth enchant 15% Increased Shield Crush Attack Speed and your Ring should have the Warlord influence mod Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit. Your Rare shield should have 3000 Armour minimum, and at least 26% Chance to Block.

Jewels (Abyss, Base & Cluster)

Because more than half of this build’s gear is unique, any Rare item that can have Resistance and Life should have it. Prioritize Chaos Resist, Elemental Resist and Maximum Life on Rare Jewels. Unfortunately, these are the most expensive pieces used by the build.

The two Abyss Jewels socketed on should both have 5% Increased Attack Speed and 6% Increased Impale Effect affixes.

We are using the following Jewels on the Passive Tree. The build can use three base jewels, and each should have +1% Chance to Block Attack Damage while holding a Shield affix.

The Cluster Jewel should have Eight passive skills, 12% increased Attack Damage while holding a Shield affix, and .

Flasks

Skill Gem Links

Note that Awakened, Alternate and Quality Corruption on gems are not required by the build. Feel free to use gems from Lily Roth.

Passive Tree & Path of Building

You can see the Passive Tree, Equipment and Skills via PoEPlanner. For the damage calculations and the levelling passive tree, you can import this pastebin link to the Path of Building Community edition.

Ascendancy

Get the following Gladiator ascendancy notables in this order:

Bandit & Pantheon

We need every passive point we can get: Kill All Bandits. As for the pantheon, it’s especially tricky to get Chaos Resistance, so I recommend the Soul of Arakaali (5% Reduced Damage from DoT) with the Witch of the Cauldron (+25% Chaos Res. vs DoT) and the Soul of Shakari (5% Reduced Chaos Damage).

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use this build to farm…

• Bestiary: Yes. Bestiary monsters are Rare monsters that we can steal buffs from.
• Delve: Kinda. We don’t have that much firepower to get into deep delving.
• Incursion: Yes, but Leap Slam would be a better movement skill rather than Shield Charge.
• Betrayal: Kinda. Not enough Rare monsters.
• Breach: Yes. Again, Leap Slam would be better especially on maps with elevation changes.
• Harbinger: Yes. The Harbingers can create multiple Rare monsters.
• Abyss: Yes. Everytime the Abyss “crack” stops, it always spawns at least one rare.
• Legion: Kinda. Something that Chains would be better, but the Bleed pop helps.
• Blight: Kinda. Same as Legion above.
• Metamorph: Kinda. When the unique summons its rare mobs, the fight will suddenly become easier.
• Delirium: Kinda. The fog does not spawn many Rare monsters.
• Harvest: Yes. Focus on the big seeds to steal their buff, then clean up.
• Heist: Yes. After the alarm, Rare monsters spawn a lot.
• Ritual: Yes. Starting at the third Ritual, a lot of Rares are spawned.
• Expedition: Yes. Rare monsters spawned always have Ward, so burst those down first.

How do you sustain mana when 98% of your mana is reserved?

• I don’t. All active skills are linked to .

Why is this build named Eldertuin The Fortress?

• I randomly got an while gambling with Expedition League’s Gwennen. I was already looking for another build to make, having about 10 watchstones unlocked on the atlas, so I decided to check where I can use the mini headhunter jewel. When I saw that the socket near Duelist is easy to get, with access to an Endurance, Armor, Life and Bleed notables, I decided to make a Shield Crush + Shield Charge build. The name of the build came from the web serial The Wandering Inn, where there’s an adventurer named Eldertuin The Fortress who is known from using his shields. Also, this build uses a , which is very apt considering the events currently unfolding at Book 8.