VIDEOS T11 Shaped Strand [Concept Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVRLh8a1VuM Atziri https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS5OoZbWcSY&t T14 Springs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtYXYNgLiss



Gladiator and his signature Gratuitous Violence keystone have been a fairly powerful and popular ascendancy choice. Many builds use it either for additional defenses based on block and spell block, or its damage over time effects to provide an offensive boost. This build revolves around applying bleed, and poison, and makes sure that these two damage over time sources together with the physical explosions are properly scaled. That's why supports and auras like Added Fire Damage, Weapon Elemental Damage, or Hatred are nowhere to be found as they don't affect the DoT and explosion damage sources this build is focused on. Blade Flurry, even after the 2.5.0 nerf, provides this build with a large area of effect that can be further expanded by the Increased Area of Effect support which effectively makes Riff Raff semi-ranged. Block and spell block, endurance charges, as well as the reworked Outmach and Outlast ascendancy keystone provide this build with significant defenses so crucial to survive in high-tier maps. And all of that with a rather tight budget projected at <1ex in a fresh economy.

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PROS With a mere investment of <50c this build provides you with decent clearspeed, awesome looking MTX-like visual effects and tons of explosions. All you need to do is master the technique of pressing keys at the right time and reading numbers on your screen. In other words, by making this build I tried to squeeze as much damage, defense and fun as possible out of a limited budget. And by combining various mechanics, ascendancy points and budget uniques I think my goal has been reached. CONS Despite Blade Flurry being considered a T1 skill its single target in this specific variation isn't as impressive as some hoped it'd be. Immunities to bleed and/or poison combined with a not-really-overtuned single target make certain endgame bosses like guardians increadibly challenging.

REQUIRED UNIQUES

Bringer of Rain also known as poor man's 6-link, a reliable and budget alternative for an expensive chest. With an estimated market price of <5c you get a huge offensive boost with some defensive features on top.



Rive for the purpose of this build called Raff, a few shady guys are selling decent rolls for close to an exalted, but no worries, if you dig a little deeper there's always a solid DPS roll for 1-2c. Getting this claw as soon as it's available for your character is crucial, since its "apply bleed on hit" mod is a build-enabler for this specific spec.

Doon Cuebiyari, some people may ask "what do you need an Iron Will scepter for?" The answer is, for its increased global damage scaled with strength. With estimated 70-80% increased damage from strength this scepter boosts not only melee, but also bleed, poison, and explosion damage. In other words it's a prime example of double dipping. also known as poor man's 6-link, a reliable and budget alternative for an expensive chest. With an estimated market price of <5c you get a huge offensive boost with some defensive features on top.for the purpose of this build called Raff, a few shady guys are selling decent rolls for close to an exalted, but no worries, if you dig a little deeper there's always a solid DPS roll for 1-2c. Getting this claw as soon as it's available for your character is crucial, since its "apply bleed on hit" mod is a build-enabler for this specific spec., some people may ask "what do you need an Iron Will scepter for?" The answer is, for its increased global damage scaled with strength. With estimated 70-80% increased damage from strength this scepter boosts not only melee, but also bleed, poison, and explosion damage. In other words it's a prime example of double dipping. JEWELRY

Life and flat physical damage on amulet/rings should be your priority. These modifiers should be followed by resistances and stats required for your skills. Strength, while important, comes last. Rustic Sash is the best belt in slot. I'd recommend getting one with decent life and strength as well as double resistances. Life and flat physical damage on amulet/rings should be your priority. These modifiers should be followed by resistances and stats required for your skills. Strength, while important, comes last. Rustic Sash is the best belt in slot. I'd recommend getting one with decent life and strength as well as double resistances. FLASKS

Rumi's should be your priority, and after the very recent nerf it should be rather easy and cheap to acquire. Atziri's is generally considered worthless market value speaking, so you should get it for 1 alchemy. When it comes to life flasks I strongly recommend one of staunching (removes bleeding) and one of heat (removes freeze/chill). Rumi's should be your priority, and after the very recent nerf it should be rather easy and cheap to acquire. Atziri's is generally considered worthless market value speaking, so you should get it for 1 alchemy. When it comes to life flasks I strongly recommend one of staunching (removes bleeding) and one of heat (removes freeze/chill). REMAINING GEAR

Considering we're using Whirling Blades for mobility there's no need to look for boots with increased movement speed. Instead, I'd suggest looking for a decent pair with life and either double resistances and an open suffix or double resistance and strength. Enchanting increased attack speed from either merciless or endgame labyrinth can provide you with a decent damage boost as well. Considering we're using Whirling Blades for mobility there's no need to look for boots with increased movement speed. Instead, I'd suggest looking for a decent pair with life and either double resistances and an open suffix or double resistance and strength. Enchanting increased attack speed from either merciless or endgame labyrinth can provide you with a decent damage boost as well. JEWELS

There's three jewel mods that are required for this build. Increased damage, increased physical damage, and additional chance to block while dual wielding. All sources of damage this build utilizes scale off global and physical damage, so it's crucial to get these specfic mods in order to maximize double dipping. Block provides you with additional defenses that are crucial for your overall survivability. Such jewels are usually being sold for 1-2c in a fresh economy. There's three jewel mods that are required for this build. Increased damage, increased physical damage, and additional chance to block while dual wielding. All sources of damage this build utilizes scale off global and physical damage, so it's crucial to get these specfic mods in order to maximize double dipping. Block provides you with additional defenses that are crucial for your overall survivability. Such jewels are usually being sold for 1-2c in a fresh economy.

LEVEL 90 PASSIVE TREE poeurl.com/S5a



PASSIVE TREE STATS:

173% increased maximum life,

16% additional chance to block,

559% increased melee damage,

379% increased bleeding damage,

333% increased poison damage,

263% increased explosion damage.

Including jewels and required uniques. 173% increased maximum life,16% additional chance to block,559% increased melee damage,379% increased bleeding damage,333% increased poison damage,263% increased explosion damage.Including jewels and required uniques. ASCENDANCY

ENDGAME LABYRINTH



In order to succeed in the endgame labyrinth a number of additional measures has to be taken. Personally, I see sentinel traps as the most annoying and deadly feature that needs to be addressed. Because this build depends heavily on Whirling Blades when it comes to movement the comibination of sentinel traps dealing physical damage upon using a momevemnt skill and those constantly casting Temporal Chains can be frustrating. That's why two quicksilver flasks with the following suffixes are recommended:



They come in handy especially while trying to obtain both silver and golden keys and provide your with enough means to safely bypass the aformentioned traps. It is extremely important to swap back your usual flask setup right after completeing your golden or silver key chores. You want your usual flasks to be fully charged before each Izaro fight!



Speaking of which, with some merciless labyrinth experience and a proper flask management both Argus and Izaro shouldn't pose a threat. These fights also don't require any additional preparations other than replacing Increased AoE with Concentrated Effect.



Upon obtaining your last two ascendancy points I'd recommend picking up Outmatch and Outlast. You should also move Rive to your off-hand (which then automatically becomes your attacking hand) and then replace Enduring Cry with Ancestral Warchief since you're now generating endurance charges on kill. With the addition of another profitable endgame zone in 2.2 there's a need for each build to be endgame labyrinth-viable. After some basic testing I can confirm that this build meets this requirement.In order to succeed in the endgame labyrinth a number of additional measures has to be taken. Personally, I see sentinel traps as the most annoying and deadly feature that needs to be addressed. Because this build depends heavily on Whirling Blades when it comes to movement the comibination of sentinel traps dealing physical damage upon using a momevemnt skill and those constantly casting Temporal Chains can be frustrating. That's why two quicksilver flasks with the following suffixes are recommended:They come in handy especially while trying to obtain both silver and golden keys and provide your with enough means to safely bypass the aformentioned traps.Speaking of which, with some merciless labyrinth experience and a proper flask management both Argus and Izaro shouldn't pose a threat. These fights also don't require any additional preparations other than replacing Increased AoE with Concentrated Effect.Upon obtaining your last two ascendancy points I'd recommend picking up. You should also move Rive to your off-hand (which then automatically becomes your attacking hand) and then replace Enduring Cry with Ancestral Warchief since you're now generating endurance charges on kill. 30 POINTS & NORMAL LEVELING poeurl.com/D1O

Bandits: Oak

Uhm, ok, we're getting some damage, life, 2-hander nodes... wait, what?! Isn't it a dual wield build? Picking up 2-hander nodes may seem ridiculous at first, but considering how easy it is to craft a solid leveling 2-hander using the rustic sash recipe this type of weapon offers us a fairly decent damage output early on. You can start your leveling proces by picking up Cleave right after you reached Lioneye's Watch that you should replace with Sweep upon entering the Cavern of Wrath. In the meantime, pick up Added Fire from Breaking Some Eggs and Ancestral Protector (for a single target boost) after killing Brutus. After you made your way into the Forest Encampment, head off West so you can link your Sweep with Melee Physical Damage after killing Mother Eight Leg. Then back to town and off to the Chambers of Sins so you can get Herald of Ash after killing the result of a SBDM fetish that got out of hand. Then proceed to Act 3 at the end of which you should buy Ancestral Warchief and Less Duration from vendor (quests Sever the Right Hand and the Fixture of Fate respectively). Your 4-link setup should be Ancestral Warchief - Melee Physical Damage - Added Fire Damage - Less Duration. Uhm, ok, we're getting some damage, life, 2-hander nodes... wait, what?! Isn't it a dual wield build? Picking up 2-hander nodes may seem ridiculous at first, but considering how easy it is to craft a solid leveling 2-hander using the rustic sash recipe this type of weapon offers us a fairly decent damage output early on. You can start your leveling proces by picking up Cleave right after you reached Lioneye's Watch that you should replace with Sweep upon entering the Cavern of Wrath. In the meantime, pick up Added Fire from Breaking Some Eggs and Ancestral Protector (for a single target boost) after killing Brutus. After you made your way into the Forest Encampment, head off West so you can link your Sweep with Melee Physical Damage after killing Mother Eight Leg. Then back to town and off to the Chambers of Sins so you can get Herald of Ash after killing the result of a SBDM fetish that got out of hand. Then proceed to Act 3 at the end of which you should buy Ancestral Warchief and Less Duration from vendor (quests Sever the Right Hand and the Fixture of Fate respectively). Your 4-link setup should be Ancestral Warchief - Melee Physical Damage - Added Fire Damage - Less Duration. 60 POINTS & CRUEL LEVELING poeurl.com/S5D

Bandits: Oak

Cruel is a difficulty where very little happens. You should be okay with running your 4-link Warchief setup, there isn't any gems that you desperately need and all you're supposed to do is to pick up some additional life, roll your weapon and flasks. But hey, what about ascendancy? Well, you don't really need to ascend until level 70 so instead of losing precious time running trials and labyrinth you should focus solely on progressing through acts. Cruel is a difficulty where very little happens. You should be okay with running your 4-link Warchief setup, there isn't any gems that you desperately need and all you're supposed to do is to pick up some additional life, roll your weapon and flasks. But hey, what about ascendancy? Well, you don't really need to ascend until level 70 so instead of losing precious time running trials and labyrinth you should focus solely on progressing through acts. 90 POINTS & MERCILESS LEVELING poeurl.com/S5O

Bandits: Kraityn

Keep progressing with your 4-link Warchif setup and try to take the Ancestral Bond keystone as soon as it's possible. You may start adding various utility skills like Enduring Cry for additional defenses including elemental resistances that are hard to come by in a fresh economy. You should also consider running Blood Rage as soon as you can outregen it. Run Hatred with Herald of Ash and make sure you're leveling gems that you'll need for the endgame spec. Get to Merciless Dried Lake as soon as possible, run some blind chaos recipes to get some currency allowing you to transition into your endgame spec once you hit level 70. It may be a good idea to have 4 points unallocated once you reach your transition level for the reasons described below . Keep progressing with your 4-link Warchif setup and try to take the Ancestral Bond keystone as soon as it's possible. You may start adding various utility skills like Enduring Cry for additional defenses including elemental resistances that are hard to come by in a fresh economy. You should also consider running Blood Rage as soon as you can outregen it. Run Hatred with Herald of Ash and make sure you're leveling gems that you'll need for the endgame spec. Get to Merciless Dried Lake as soon as possible, run some blind chaos recipes to get some currency allowing you to transition into your endgame spec once you hit level 70. TRANSITION INTO ENDGAME SPEC You made it and reached level 70! It's still early on and you're piss poor, so make sure you don't overpay for anything. As you need to respec out of two 2-hander clusters make sure you do it properly, so you don't need to spend gazillions regrets doing so. If you actually listened to me and left 4 points unallocated you should now invest them in the dual wield Dervish cluster that'll allow you to respec out of Destroyer. Then respec out of Butchery and invest the reacquired points into Strong Arm. This order is rather important as you need to create a bridge linking various parts of your tree in the Duelist starting area. . Now that you have 4 points left, invest them in mana leech and Unwavering Stance. If you struggle with resistances and attributes you may wanna play with the tree a little until you get suitable gear. Now that you finally got Blade Flurry going it's about damn time you ascend! Pick up Gratuitous Violence in Normal, then Painforged and Versatile Combatant in Cruel and Merciless respectively. Congratulations, now you're a licensed Riff Raff Gladiator! ENDGAME CONTENT I tested this build in various T10-T15 maps, both solo and in a 2-4 man party, and its performance exceeded my expectations. I'm quite surprised that I was able to facetank various harder bosses like Malformation Piety and Residence Dominus though it's worth noticing that such fights can last up to 10 seconds in a map with hard mods. You should be able to run all map mods (including physical reflect, though it takes some skill) which significantly reduces the cost of rolling mid and high tier maps.

SKILL GEM QUALITY Investing in quality of certain gems can increase your damage in a significant way. All you need to do in order to achieve that is to vendor your level 20 gem with a Gemcutter Prism. It then becomes a level 1 gem with 20% quality. Skills that benefit the most from 20% quality are marked with ^ sign. For more information about the specific benefits of each skills I'd suggest checking PoE Wiki

MAIN (BoR) :

Blade Flurry^

Poison

Culling Strike^

Increased Area of Effect^/Concentrated Effect*

*for bosses



AURA :

Blasphemy^

Vulnerability^

Grace



BUFF :

Blood Rage^

Ancestral Warchief

Vaal Lightning Trap

Increased Duration^



Cast when Damage Taken (15)

Immortal Call (16)

Increased Duration^



MOVEMENT :

Whirling Blades

Faster Attacks

Fortify

Blood Magic TOTAL STATS

16% additional chance to block,

754% increased melee damage,

479% increased bleeding damage,

489% increased poison damage,

401% increased explosion damage. Single Target AoE 173% increased maximum life,16% additional chance to block,754% increased melee damage,479% increased bleeding damage,489% increased poison damage,401% increased explosion damage. FAQ Will this build work with Rive + shield rather than dual wield? Yes, it'd work, though some changes would have to be applied in order to do that. Also, using Rive in combination with shield would significantly lower your DPS and clearspeed.



Are Painforged and Versitile Combatant really worth it? I always put defense before offense and from my perspective getting additional block that can be further supported by Rumi's and that also applies to spell block is definitely worth it.



How is your single target and boss killing ability? You can swap Increased AoE for Concentrated Effect before most boss fights and with such an offensive boost most bosses don't pose a threat. On top of that you can summon an Ancestral Warchief and place a Vaal Lightning Trap for additional damage. This build has been thoroughly tested in T11-15 maps and so far it seems to be a solid boss killer.



Can it be a league starter? I designed this build for it to be my league starter, so I guess my answer is yes.



How hard is it to cap resistances? It may be hard during the first week (but it's a common problem for nearly every build early on), so as already explained in the guide you may wanna tweak with the tree a little bit to get additional resistances until you find suitable jewelry.



Is this build Atziri viable? Absolutely, I killed Atziri (deathless) during my first run in half a year (see video) and the following runs were much easier and smoother, so I can confirm this build is an Atziri farmer.



Is this spec Guardians viable? This build can clear your way to the Guardians, but it won't be able to kill them. With anywhere between 5,700 and 6,000 life there isn't enough of a buffer to survive what most players refer to as oneshotting hits. Add immunities (three out of four Guardians are immune to at least one of your DoT sources) and the only doable Guardian left is Phoenix. 2.2-2.4 Riff Raff v. 1.0 VIDEOS T10 Plateau https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgYOzIvl_hQ



Gladiator and his Gratitious Violence node seem to be a very powerful and popular ascendancy choice. Many builds use it either for some additional AoE damage dealt by the physical explosions or scaling bleeding damage with a variety of high-end items like Atziri's Disfavor. This build revolves around applying bleed, poison and [occasionally] ignite and makes sure that these three damage over time sources are properly scaled. And that's why supports and auras like Added Fire Damage, Weapon Elemental Damage, or Hatred are nowhere to be found as they don't affect the DoT sources this spec is focused on. Reave provides this build with a fairly large area of effect that can be further expanded by Vaal Reave which effectively makes Riff Raff semi-ranged. Block and spell block, endurance charges, Arctic Armor as well as Fortify and the reworked Outmach and Outlast ascendancy point provide this build with significant defenses so crucial to survive in high-tier maps. And all of that with a rather tight budget.

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PROS With a mere investment of <50c this build provides you with decent clearspeed, awesome looking MTX-like visual effects and tons of explosions. All you need to do is master the technique of pressing keys at the right time and reading numbers on your screen. In other words, by making this build I tried to squeeze as much damage, defense and fun as possible out of a limited budget. And by combining various mechanics, ascendancy points and budget uniques I think my goal has been reached. CONS If you're looking for a spec with gazillions of tooltip DPS you can show off, you're checking a wrong guide. At this point I don't know if this spec is Atziri viable, haven't tried it yet as I have very little interest in actually farming her. It's up to you how far you'll push this spec and I believe that with a certain approach you should be able to perform well in the Apex.

REQUIRED UNIQUES

Bringer of Rain aka poor man's 6-link, a reliable and budget alternative for an expensive chest. With an estimated market price of <5c you get a huge offensive boost with some defensive features on top.



Rive for the purpose of this build called Raff, a few shady guys are selling decent rolls for close to an exalted, but no worries, if you dig a little deeper there's always a solid DPS roll for <5c. Getting this claw as soon as it's available for your character is crucial, since its "apply bleed on hit" mod is a build-enabler for this specific spec.

Once you applied bleed you want to capitalize on your DoT. Since we're short on sockets, getting poison from Snakebite is a budget alternative. Life and additional attack speed never hurt anyone either. Estimated price? <1c. aka poor man's 6-link, a reliable and budget alternative for an expensive chest. With an estimated market price of <5c you get a huge offensive boost with some defensive features on top.for the purpose of this build called Raff, a few shady guys are selling decent rolls for close to an exalted, but no worries, if you dig a little deeper there's always a solid DPS roll for <5c. Getting this claw as soon as it's available for your character is crucial, since its "apply bleed on hit" mod is a build-enabler for this specific spec.Once you applied bleed you want to capitalize on your DoT. Since we're short on sockets, getting poison fromis a budget alternative. Life and additional attack speed never hurt anyone either. Estimated price? <1c. SUGGESTED UNIQUES

Singularity not only provides you with an awesome looking aura, but also seems to be pretty effective. 60-80% increased damage sounds rather good, doesn't it? Especially considering lack of viable alternatives since we're limited to axes, maces and scepters. You get your own Singularity for a mere price of <2c.



As an interesting alternative for Singularity I'd recommend Relentless Fury. Granted, it doesn't give us a flashy aura-like effect to impress our party members, but Culling Strike can be seen as equal to increased damage. On top of that we get Onslaught which improves our overall clearspeed by making us attack and move faster across the map.



With an attribute requirement of 155 INT getting Vulnerability to level 20 can be tricky. While inserted in the socket between Barbarism and Jaggernaut Brute Force Solution can effectively solve this problem. The only requirement is that you need a roll that grants at least 22 INT on its own. With INT not being a pain anymore you can focus on stacking life, physical damage and resistances on your jewelry.



If you decide to use the alternative skill tree Fertile Mind may be an even better option. When socketed next to Fervour this jewel will allow you to meet the INT requirements of Vulnerability without losing strength, an attribute that's crucial for every melee build. not only provides you with an awesome looking aura, but also seems to be pretty effective. 60-80% increased damage sounds rather good, doesn't it? Especially considering lack of viable alternatives since we're limited to axes, maces and scepters. You get your own Singularity for a mere price of <2c.As an interesting alternative for Singularity I'd recommend. Granted, it doesn't give us a flashy aura-like effect to impress our party members, but Culling Strike can be seen as equal to increased damage. On top of that we get Onslaught which improves our overall clearspeed by making us attack and move faster across the map.With an attribute requirement of 155 INT getting Vulnerability to level 20 can be tricky. While inserted in the socket between Barbarism and Jaggernautcan effectively solve this problem. The only requirement is that you need a roll that grants at least 22 INT on its own. With INT not being a pain anymore you can focus on stacking life, physical damage and resistances on your jewelry.If you decide to use the alternative skill treemay be an even better option. When socketed next to Fervour this jewel will allow you to meet the INT requirements of Vulnerability without losing strength, an attribute that's crucial for every melee build. JEWELRY

Life, resistances and intelligence should be your priority. If you can get some physical damage on top of that, great, if not, you could always look for rings/amulet with an open prefix and Elreon-craft it. There's no consensus on how a particular piece of jewelry should be priced, so if you keep an eye on poe.trade, there's a chance you'll score a major ring or amulet for pennies. Life, resistances and intelligence should be your priority. If you can get some physical damage on top of that, great, if not, you could always look for rings/amulet with an open prefix and Elreon-craft it. There's no consensus on how a particular piece of jewelry should be priced, so if you keep an eye on poe.trade, there's a chance you'll score a major ring or amulet for pennies. FLASKS

Rumi's should be your priority, but make sure you don't overpay. Atziri's and Lioeney's are generally considered worthless market value speaking, so you should get them for 1 alchemy each. Rumi's should be your priority, but make sure you don't overpay. Atziri's and Lioeney's are generally considered worthless market value speaking, so you should get them for 1 alchemy each. REMAINING GEAR

Considering we're using Whirling Blades for mobility there's no need to look for boots with increased movement speed. Instead, I'd suggest looking for a decent pair with life and either double resistances and an open suffix or triple resistances. Considering we're using Whirling Blades for mobility there's no need to look for boots with increased movement speed. Instead, I'd suggest looking for a decent pair with life and either double resistances and an open suffix or triple resistances.

LEVEL 90 PASSIVE TREE http://poeurl.com/C4z



STATS:

167% increased maximum life,

6% additional chance to block,

297% increased melee damage,

83% increased attack speed,

70% increased damage over time.





ALTERNATIVE LEVEL 90 PASSIVE TREE poeurl.com/H95



STATS:

163% increased maximum life,

13% additional chance to block,

333% increased melee damage,

67% increased attack speed,

70/90% increased damage/physical damage over time. 163% increased maximum life,13% additional chance to block,333% increased melee damage,67% increased attack speed,70/90% increased damage/physical damage over time. 167% increased maximum life,6% additional chance to block,297% increased melee damage,83% increased attack speed,70% increased damage over time. ASCENDANCY

ENDGAME LABYRINTH



In order to succeed in the endgame labyrinth a number of additional measures has to be taken. Personally, I see sentinel traps as the most annoying and deadly feature that needs to be addressed. Because this build depends heavily on Whirling Blades when it comes to movement the comibination of sentinel traps dealing physical damage upon using a momevemnt skill and those constantly casting Temporal Chains can be frustrating. That's why two quicksilver flasks with the following suffixes are recommended:



They come in handy especially while trying to obtain both silver and golden keys and provide your with enough means to safely bypass the aformentioned traps. It is extremely important to swap back your usual flask setup right after completeing your golden or silver key chores. You want your usual flasks to be fully charged before each Izaro fight!



Speaking of which, with some merciless labyrinth experience and a proper flask management both Argus and Izaro shouldn't pose a threat. These fights also don't require any additional preparations other than replacing Increased AoE with Concentrated Effect.



Upon obtaining your last two ascendancy points I'd recommend picking up Outmatch and Outlast. You should also move Rive to your off-hand (which then automatically becomes your attacking hand) and then replace Enduring Cry with Rallying Cry since you're now generating endurance charges on kill. With the additional of another profitable endgame zone there's a need for each build to be endgame labyrinth-viable. After some basic testing I can confirm that this build meets this requirement.In order to succeed in the endgame labyrinth a number of additional measures has to be taken. Personally, I see sentinel traps as the most annoying and deadly feature that needs to be addressed. Because this build depends heavily on Whirling Blades when it comes to movement the comibination of sentinel traps dealing physical damage upon using a momevemnt skill and those constantly casting Temporal Chains can be frustrating. That's why two quicksilver flasks with the following suffixes are recommended:They come in handy especially while trying to obtain both silver and golden keys and provide your with enough means to safely bypass the aformentioned traps.Speaking of which, with some merciless labyrinth experience and a proper flask management both Argus and Izaro shouldn't pose a threat. These fights also don't require any additional preparations other than replacing Increased AoE with Concentrated Effect.Upon obtaining your last two ascendancy points I'd recommend picking up. You should also move Rive to your off-hand (which then automatically becomes your attacking hand) and then replace Enduring Cry with Rallying Cry since you're now generating endurance charges on kill. 30 POINTS & NORMAL LEVELING poeurl.com/D1O

Bandits: Oak

Uhm, ok, we're getting some damage, life, 2-hander nodes... wait, what?! Isn't it a dual wield build? Picking up 2-hander nodes may seem ridiculous at first, but considering how easy it is to craft a solid leveling 2-hander using the rustic sash recipe this type of weapon offers us a fairly decent damage output early on. You can start your leveling proces by picking up Cleave right after you reached Lioneye's Watch that you should replace with Sweep upon entering the Cavern of Wrath. In the meantime, pick up Added Fire from Breaking Some Eggs and Ancestral Protector (for a single target boost) after killing Brutus. After you made your way into the Forest Encampment, head off West so you can link your Sweep with Melee Physical Damage after killing Mother Eight Leg. Then back to town and off to the Chambers of Sins so you can get Herald of Ash after killing the result of a SBDM fetish that got out of hand. Then proceed to Act 3 at the end of which you should buy Earthquake and Less Duration from vendor (quests Sever the Right Hand and the Fixture of Fate respectively). Your 4-link setup should be Earthquake - Melee Physical Damage - Added Fire Damage - Less Duration. Uhm, ok, we're getting some damage, life, 2-hander nodes... wait, what?! Isn't it a dual wield build? Picking up 2-hander nodes may seem ridiculous at first, but considering how easy it is to craft a solid leveling 2-hander using the rustic sash recipe this type of weapon offers us a fairly decent damage output early on. You can start your leveling proces by picking up Cleave right after you reached Lioneye's Watch that you should replace with Sweep upon entering the Cavern of Wrath. In the meantime, pick up Added Fire from Breaking Some Eggs and Ancestral Protector (for a single target boost) after killing Brutus. After you made your way into the Forest Encampment, head off West so you can link your Sweep with Melee Physical Damage after killing Mother Eight Leg. Then back to town and off to the Chambers of Sins so you can get Herald of Ash after killing the result of a SBDM fetish that got out of hand. Then proceed to Act 3 at the end of which you should buy Earthquake and Less Duration from vendor (quests Sever the Right Hand and the Fixture of Fate respectively). Your 4-link setup should be Earthquake - Melee Physical Damage - Added Fire Damage - Less Duration. 60 POINTS & CRUEL LEVELING poeurl.com/D1P

Bandits: Oak

Cruel is a difficulty where very little happens. You should be okay with running your 4-link Earthquake setup, there isn't any gems that you desperately need and all you're supposed to do is to pick up some additional life, roll your weapon and flasks. But hey, what about ascendancy? Well, you don't really need to ascend until level 70 so instead of losing precious time running trials and labyrinth you should focus solely on progressing through acts. Cruel is a difficulty where very little happens. You should be okay with running your 4-link Earthquake setup, there isn't any gems that you desperately need and all you're supposed to do is to pick up some additional life, roll your weapon and flasks. But hey, what about ascendancy? Well, you don't really need to ascend until level 70 so instead of losing precious time running trials and labyrinth you should focus solely on progressing through acts. 90 POINTS & MERCILESS LEVELING poeurl.com/D1T

Bandits: Kraityn

Keep progressing with your 4-link Earthquake setup. You may start adding various utility skills like Enduring Cry for additional defenses including elemental resistances that are hard to come by in a fresh economy. You should also consider running Blood Rage as soon as you can outregen it. Run Hatred with Herald of Ash and make sure you're leveling gems that you'll need for the endgame spec. Get to Merciless Dried Lake as soon as possible, run some blind chaos recipes to get some currency allowing you to transition into your endgame spec once you hit level 70. It may be a good idea to have 4 points unallocated once you reach your transition level for the reasons described below . Keep progressing with your 4-link Earthquake setup. You may start adding various utility skills like Enduring Cry for additional defenses including elemental resistances that are hard to come by in a fresh economy. You should also consider running Blood Rage as soon as you can outregen it. Run Hatred with Herald of Ash and make sure you're leveling gems that you'll need for the endgame spec. Get to Merciless Dried Lake as soon as possible, run some blind chaos recipes to get some currency allowing you to transition into your endgame spec once you hit level 70. TRANSITION INTO ENDGAME SPEC You made it and reached level 70! It's still early on and you're piss poor, so make sure you don't overpay for anything. As you need to respec out of two 2-hander clusters make sure you do it properly, so you don't need to spend gazillions regrets doing so. If you actually listened to me and left 4 points unallocated you should now invest them in the one-handed Strong Arm cluster that'll allow you to respec out of butchery. Invest the respecced points into the Dervish cluster, so you can get rid of Destroyer. This order is rather important as you need to create bridges linking various parts of your tree . Now that you have 4 points left, invest them in the Aspect of the Panther and Finesse. If you struggle with resistances and attributes you may wanna play with the tree a little until you get suitable gear. Now that you finally got Reave going it's about damn time you ascend! Pick up Gratitious Violence in Normal, then Painforged and Versatile Combatant in Cruel and Merciless respectively. Congratulations, now you're a licensed Riff Raff Gladiator! ENDGAME CONTENT I tested this build in various T7-T13 maps, both solo and in a 2-4 man party, and its performance exceeded my expectations. I'm quite surprised that I was able to facetank various harder bosses like Malformation Piety and Residence Dominus though it's worth noticing that such fights can last up to 30 seconds in a map with hard mods. You should be able to run all map mods (including physical reflect, though it takes some skill) which significantly reduces the cost of rolling mid and high tier maps. I haven't tested either Atziri or endgame content beyond T13, so it's hard for me to say how well this build would be doing in such environment.

SKILL GEM QUALITY Investing in quality of certain gems can increase your damage in a significant way. All you need to do in order to achieve that is to vendor your level 20 gem with a Gemcutter Prism. It then becomes a level 1 gem with 20% quality. Skills that benefit the most from 20% quality are marked with ^ sign. For more information about the specific benefits of each skills I'd suggest checking PoE Wiki

MAIN (BoR) :

Reave^

Multistrike^

Fortify

Increased Area of Effect^/Concentrated Effect*

*for bosses



AURA :

Blasphemy^

Vulnerability^

Arctic Armor

Herald of Ash



BUFF :

Blood Rage^

Increased Duration^

Vaal Reave



Enduring Cry^

Increased Duration^

Increased Area of Effect^

Blood Magic



MOVEMENT :

Whirling Blades

Faster Attacks

Blood Magic

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FAQ Will this build work with Rive + shield rather than dual wield? Yes, it'd work, though some changes would have to be applied in order to do that. Also, using Rive in combination with shield would significantly lower your DPS and clearspeed.



Are Painforged and Versitile Combatant really worth it? I always put defense before offense and from my perspective getting additional block that can be further supported by Rumi's and that also applies to spell block is definitely worth it.



How is your single target and boss killing ability? You can swap Increased AoE for Concentrated Effect before most boss fights and with such an offensive boost most bosses don't pose a threat. Thought I haven't done all bosses with this build, so I can't speak of T14-15 or Atziri.



Can it be a league starter? I designed this build for it to be my league starter, so I guess my answer is yes.



How hard is it to cap resistances? It may be hard during the first week (but it's a common problem for nearly every build early on), so as already explained in the guide you may wanna tweak with the tree a little bit to get additional resistances until you find suitable jewelry.



Is this build Atziri viable? As reported by tazeko this build is definitely Atziri viable. There's currently no video aviable, but there's a chance that one will be recorded and uploaded at some point in the future.



Is this spec Pale Council viable? Absolutely, with a proper flask management the council shouldn't be a problem at all. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gladiator and his Gratitious Violence node seem to be a very powerful and popular ascendancy choice. Many builds use it either for some additional AoE damage dealt by the physical explosions or scaling bleeding damage with a variety of high-end items like Atziri's Disfavor. This build revolves around applying bleed, poison and [occasionally] ignite and makes sure that these three damage over time sources are properly scaled. And that's why supports and auras like Added Fire Damage, Weapon Elemental Damage, or Hatred are nowhere to be found as they don't affect the DoT sources this spec is focused on. Reave provides this build with a fairly large area of effect that can be further expanded by Vaal Reave which effectively makes Riff Raff semi-ranged. Block and spell block, endurance charges, Arctic Armor as well as Fortify and the reworked Outmach and Outlast ascendancy point provide this build with significant defenses so crucial to survive in high-tier maps. And all of that with a rather tight budget.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Reave^Multistrike^FortifyIncreased Area of Effect^/Concentrated Effect**for bossesBlasphemy^Vulnerability^Arctic ArmorHerald of AshBlood Rage^Increased Duration^Vaal ReaveEnduring Cry^Increased Duration^Increased Area of Effect^Blood MagicWhirling BladesFaster AttacksBlood Magic-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gladiator and his signature Gratuitous Violence keystone have been a fairly powerful and popular ascendancy choice. Many builds use it either for additional defenses based on block and spell block, or its damage over time effects to provide an offensive boost. This build revolves around applying bleed, and poison, and makes sure that these two damage over time sources together with the physical explosions are properly scaled. That's why supports and auras like Added Fire Damage, Weapon Elemental Damage, or Hatred are nowhere to be found as they don't affect the DoT and explosion damage sources this build is focused on. Blade Flurry, even after the 2.5.0 nerf, provides this build with a large area of effect that can be further expanded by the Increased Area of Effect support which effectively makes Riff Raff semi-ranged. Block and spell block, endurance charges, as well as the reworked Outmach and Outlast ascendancy keystone provide this build with significant defenses so crucial to survive in high-tier maps. And all of that with a rather tight budget projected at <1ex in a fresh economy.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Blade Flurry^PoisonCulling Strike^Increased Area of Effect^/Concentrated Effect**for bossesBlasphemy^Vulnerability^GraceBlood Rage^Ancestral WarchiefVaal Lightning TrapIncreased Duration^Cast when Damage Taken (15)Immortal Call (16)Increased Duration^Whirling BladesFaster AttacksFortifyBlood Magic---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [2.4] Riff Raff - under 1ex Reave RT DoT Gladiator: http://poeurl.com/C6q

Last edited by Weißenberg on Dec 16, 2016, 7:33:50 PM Last bumped on Jul 13, 2017, 2:11:54 AM