9.4 .d 2H Axe Marauder Passive Skill Guide

Starting Stats: 30 Str / 18 Dex / 18 Int

I did not account for extra skill points from quests. This means that stats to meet requirements can likely be pushed back increasingly far as the character levels up. Rather than decide when points were like earned I chose to just ignore them for this guide, the only thing “bad” that happens is you might take a stat node a couple levels early.

Another thing, this guide assumes you already have awesome gear just waiting to get into. I’ve found it best to start trading for an item I’m missing a few levels before I can equip it, that way I’m not stuck sitting around asking myself the question: do I go adventuring in my soggy shoes even though I’m high enough level to wear real boots.

Before we plan our passive skills we have to look at the requirements of the items we want so we know how many stats to take and when to take them.

For the pure strength armor here’s a handy chart with: the level, Str required and # of nodes to get there. (Other slots have lower requirements, so if you fit the armor you’ll also fit the accessories)

Armor Level Strength Required Strength Nodes 4 18 8 28 12 38 1 16 47 2 20 57 3 24 66 4 28 76 5 32 86 6 36 95 7 40 114 9 48 124 10 52 134 11 55 141 12 58 148 12 60 153 13

Next up is 2Handed Axes, here’s where it gets a little trickier since some Axes have extra Dex Requirements (which you’re not likely to be able to meet) while others have extra Str requirements (which you’ll easily meet)

2H Axe Level Strength Required Dexterity Required Strength Nodes Dexterity Nodes 3 15 6 24 9 28 12 32 23 1 1 15 41 19 2 1 18 44 32 2 2 21 54 25 3 1 25 70 20 4 1 29 80 23 5 1 33 80 37 5 2 37 83 59 6 5 41 97 48 7 3 45 99 71 7 6 49 115 53 9 4 53 139 40 11 3 58 134 63 11 5 60 139 65 11 5

I have highlighted in Red the axes I recommend skipping, as meeting their Dex requirements is likely too onerous. This does mean at several points you’ll have to go ~8 levels without upgrading your Axe. This can be an especially dangerous time so around level 39 and level 47 you may want to consider back tracking and rerunning a slightly lower level area instead of constantly pushing ahead or you may want to consider, at least temporarily a +30dex belt to equip the missing axes at 37 and 45.

By the time you’re level 60 you’re only going to need 18 nodes (13Str/5Dex) so planning your build in a way to minimize stat nodes is important is vital for getting the most out of your character

Noobville (1-15) [Act 1 Normal] (Stat Nodes: Str 12,15 / Dex 11)

You’ll need your first Str point at level 12, and your second Str and first Dex point at 15 (so take one at 14)

That’s a lot of stats all of a sudden; let’s make sure we’re prepared to maximize our access gained from these stats. Also we’ll pick up damage over survivability at early levels since survivability isn’t a big issue in the first few areas and killing things faster is always good. (2,3,4)

Follow it up with 12% and 6% life (5,6)

Then grab 2 2H Damage to give you access to 10% accuracy nodes and the 4% Attack Speed (7.8)

By now our accuracy may be beginning to suffer a bit so grab the 10% accuracy. Low accuracy is one of the biggest problems facing marauders, a lot of people are choosing to go for the Resolute Technique keystone but I hate to give up crits and I’m not fond of the area of the tree it’s in (9)

Next it’s time for another 6% 2HD (10)

Note we’ve skipped the 6% 2H Accuracy node since we have access to the much better 10% accuracy nodes.

Next it’s stat time so that the lvl 12 axe and armor is equipable. The dex node isn’t very exciting but it’s the only one we have access to right now. (11,12)

Then grab two 4% life nodes to help make sure Merivel doesn’t kill you (13,14)

Finally take one more Str node to equip the next axe. (15)

Bonus Summary: +20 Str (10 life +4%melee damage), +10 Dex (+20 Accuracy +2%evasion), +44%melee damage, +26% life, +4% attack speed, +10% Accuracy

Something to note about early levels is that you can still meet the requirements for both Swords and Axes so don’t worry too much about the weapon type you’re wielding. Also you don’t pick up the 2Handed specific passives till about 7 so you’ve got a lot of flexibility to use whatever awesome lowbie rare items you’ve got sitting around / pick up without losing out on your passives

Over the River (16-26) Act 2 Normal (Stat Nodes: Str 20,24)

Start with another 2H Damage node (16)

Follow it up with some survivability, I actually like the crit reduction a lot because the more you can scale damage down the better your armor will be at preventing damage. (17)

That said getting to the 12% armor (through the 8%s) is still a higher priority over the second incoming crit reduction. (18)

We also need some balance, go ahead and grab a second 10% accuracy node so you don’t miss too often (19)

Strength node time so we can equip our new armor at 20 and axe at 21 (20)

Alright, we can finally make a run for that 12% armor buff (21, 22)

And follow up with the other crit reduction (23)

Another Str for an armor upgrade (24)

Finally we commit to the axe (25, 26)

Bonus Summary: +40 Str (20 life +8%melee damage), +10 Dex (+20 Accuracy +2%evasion), +60%melee damage, +26% life, +6% attack speed, +20% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +28% armor.

Life is a Cruel Mistress (27-32) Act 1 Cruel (Stat Nodes: Str 28, 32)

Start with another Axe node (27)

More Strength, for armor at 28 and a new axe at 29 (28)

Then we grab some more axe nodes and start setting ourselves up for a run on the Duelist’s two handed melee line (29, 30, 31)

Then we start hopping over to the Duelist 2H line, grabbing a Str we need for armor at 32 (32)

Bonus Summary: +60 Str (30 life +12%melee damage), +10 Dex (+20 Accuracy +2%evasion), +76%melee damage, +26% life, +6% attack speed, +44% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +28% armor.

At least I won’t get lost this time (33-37) Act 2 Cruel (Stat Nodes: Str 36 / Dex 33)

Dex lets up equip a new axe and opens up the Duelist 2H line (33)

Duelist 2 Handed line (34,35)

Str time for new armor and to unlock str and armor passives (36)

More 2 Handed Duelist goodness (37)

Bonus Summary: +70 Str (35 life +14%melee damage), +20 Dex (+40 Accuracy +4%evasion), +88%melee damage, +26% life, +6% attack speed, +56% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +28% armor.

The difficulty naming is actually quite good (38-42) Act 1 Ruthless (Stat Nodes: Str 39, 41 / Dex 40)

10% melee damage! (38)

We level up Str twice, and Dex once for new armor at 40 and a new axe at 41 (39, 40, 41)

Finally we grab the second Duelist 10% melee damage node (42)

Bonus Summary: +90 Str (45 life +18%melee damage), +30 Dex (+60 Accuracy +6%evasion), +108%melee damage, +26% life, +6% attack speed, +56% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +28% armor.

Alright, I’ve got the optimal path this time (43-47) Act 2 Ruthless

I’ve probably been neglecting defense for too long but those 10% melee damage bonuses were hard to pass up.

Time to remedy that problem starting with some armor (43, 44, 45)

And following with life (46,46)

Bonus Summary: +90 Str (45 life +18%melee damage), +30 Dex (+60 Accuracy +6%evasion), +108%melee damage, +34% life, +6% attack speed, +56% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +54% armor.

Here we go again (48-52) Act 1 Merciless (Stat Nodes: Str 48, 52 / Dex 49)

Time for new armor and a new axe (48, 49)

Let’s keep grabbing life, I’d hate to die after we got this far (50,51)

Jump back down to the bottom of the tree to equip new armor at 52 (52)

Bonus Summary: +110 Str (55 life +22%melee damage), +40 Dex (+80 Accuracy +8%evasion), +108%melee damage, +46% life, +6% attack speed, +56% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +54% armor.

Almost There (53-58) Act 2 Merciless (Stat Nodes: Str 55 / Dex 57)

Lets grab the last 6% life we can (53)

Before snagging a missing axe Passive (54)

Strength lets up equip new armor (55)

Before grabbing another missing axe Passive (56)

Dex for a new axe (57)

Attack Speed from the Duelist (58)

Bonus Summary: +120 Str (60 life +24%melee damage), +50 Dex (+100 Accuracy +10%evasion), +116%melee damage, +52% life, +11% attack speed, +64% Accuracy, -30% damage on incoming crits, +54% armor.

59+ Chaos

You’ll need one more strength at 60 to equip your last armor, although you’ll probably eventually need more stats to keep leveling active skills. You’ve got about 10 more worthwhile nodes available without taking any stats and can get to a big chunk of Axe passives that are only 1 dex node away. You’re also not too far from the stun immunity capstone (with some bonus armor along the way)