[3.17] strTrader Max Block Bleed Lacerate Gladiator -- League Start & End Game v3.17.03.17.22

Thank you for such a detailed answer, ill have a look when i get home

Hi strTrader,

Any though about the patch note ?

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Ald3rak wrote:

Any though about the patch note ?

Hi Ald3rak,

Nothing stood out to me from the manifesto. Understandably, manifesto needs to have a theme and for 3.17 that is self-cast spells and physical bow builds. That is not to say patch notes will not affect us, I am still hopeful that we will receive some form of power creep either through balance changes, 3.17 expansion or 3.17 league mechanics.

From the manifesto, we can (probably) conclude the following:

1. Versatile Combatant will stay as is. I can accepted this decision as it will take more than one league to determine its usefulness.

2. Similar reasoning, Gladiator Ascendancy will not be changed. Although Reigning Veteran and Violent Retaliation have seen very low usage (<5% in SSC).

3. Fortify: Given that stacks will ignore physical damage reduction, this may give us more defensive layers if we want to invest in it. Personally if I don't get 5+ stacks per hit, I am reluctant to use it.

Those are the main take-aways. This build should roughly stay the same unless any of the following happens:

1. New unique affecting bleed mechanic.
2. New influenced modifiers
3. New crafting orbs

Im new to following builds on this site.

I was very interested to do a bleed and block build and have casually made it through a few acts using the gem set up, except I can't figure out how to view this builds passive tree. Trying to open the link only brings me to paste pin inwhich I'm then lost on what to do from there. I've been following a similar bleed build as I've went, but really want to go through with this one. Any help will be massively appreciated.

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EvisceralPain wrote:

Trying to open the link only brings me to paste pin inwhich I'm then lost on what to do from there.

I am assuming you are not using Path of Building - Community fork. This is an application that people use to import/create/review build (tree/gear/gems).

You can download from the following link:
https://github.com/PathOfBuildingCommunity/PathOfBuilding/releases

Once installed:
1. Click "New": this will take you to a brand new build screen.
2. Click "Import/Export Build": this is at the top left corner.
3. Under Build Sharing, click "Import from website..." and enter the pastebin address "https://pastebin.com/u1sKaH7J".
4. Click "Import".

You might have more questions, but I will let you play around with it first.

Edit: Make sure you click "Check for Update" on the bottom left corner to update to the latest version: 2.13.0

1. Why is cruelty better? From what I can see, swift affliction provides more damage

2. How to get divergent chance to bleed? Just keep using gemcutters prism on it?

3. is it worth using gemcutters prism on all my gems even though they are all non-awakened gems? I mean, for a beginner like me, gemcutters are not cheap, i think its about 1c each

edit: just got a vulnerability on hit ring, i think it increased my dps by about 250k on pob. you are right, this is a huge dps gain

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5ecured wrote:

1. Why is cruelty better? From what I can see, swift affliction provides more damage.

Are you checking in-game or in PoB? In PoB, Cruelty provides slightly more DPS and also longer bleed duration. Cruelty buff is very good (unless you are facing end game bosses).

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5ecured wrote:

2. How to get divergent chance to bleed? Just keep using gemcutters prism on it?

Divergent gems are available in Grand Heist, I suggest buying it. The alternative is to use Secondary Regrading Lens on a regular Chance to Bleed gem but the weight is only 1/6 to get Divergent quality.

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5ecured wrote:

3. is it worth using gemcutters prism on all my gems even though they are all non-awakened gems? I mean, for a beginner like me, gemcutters are not cheap, i think its about 1c each

You can sell a L20/0 and a GCP to get a L1/20 gem and re-level the gem. I suggest only do this for support gems (or any skill gem that is not Lacerate).

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strTrader wrote:

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5ecured wrote:

1. Why is cruelty better? From what I can see, swift affliction provides more damage.

Are you checking in-game or in PoB? In PoB, Cruelty provides slightly more DPS and also longer bleed duration. Cruelty buff is very good (unless you are facing end game bosses).

"

5ecured wrote:

2. How to get divergent chance to bleed? Just keep using gemcutters prism on it?

Divergent gems are available in Grand Heist, I suggest buying it. The alternative is to use Secondary Regrading Lens on a regular Chance to Bleed gem but the weight is only 1/6 to get Divergent quality.

"

5ecured wrote:

3. is it worth using gemcutters prism on all my gems even though they are all non-awakened gems? I mean, for a beginner like me, gemcutters are not cheap, i think its about 1c each

You can sell a L20/0 and a GCP to get a L1/20 gem and re-level the gem. I suggest only do this for support gems (or any skill gem that is not Lacerate).

So overall, you suggest that i use cruelty over swift affliction?

Could you tell me how to search for divergent gems in poe trade? I can search for awakened gems but cannot search divergent ones

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5ecured wrote:

So overall, you suggest that i use cruelty over swift affliction?

Could you tell me how to search for divergent gems in poe trade? I can search for awakened gems but cannot search divergent ones

You should try Cruelty and see if you like it.

For Divergent Chance to Bleed: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Standard/Q2gYXMmCw

If you want to wait, I can give you mine after league merge.

Thanks for your help

I just beat all 4 conquerors, 4 times each. Then I proceeded to fight sirus and I lost of course. However, I just realized that I actually fought sirus A8. and if my understanding is correct, A8 sirus is a lot more difficult than A1-7 ? Its just a bit crazy for a new player like me to see sirus for the very first time ever, and not knowing i was fighting him in A8 lol

i dont know, i never met sirus all this time. the only time is now, when my atlas is A8.

I still feel very satisfied that i beat all 4 conquerors and put up a decent fight vs A8 sirus. if my understanding is correct that A1 sirus is easier, than im quite confident i wouldve beaten him at A1.

This game is truly beautiful but i feel there is just way too many things to learn. believe it or not, i fought sirus and i still dont know anything about crafting/delve/heist/the feared/atziri/etc (all those terms i normally see get thrown around). it feels like i need to invest some serious time from my life in order to learn all this.

Apart from there being too many things to learn, i feel the game changes quickly. the passive tree for example, gets reworked regularly and im not a fan of this because i feel they are just changing it for the sake of changing it. not sure if 3.17 has passive tree changes, if not maybe 3.18.

Also, my favorite build is righteous fire. but the gear is so expensive for them so i understand i need to farm currency first. but how can i do this efficiently, when i only know a few things to look out for? For example, i know to look for increased burning damage/increased fire damage/fire dot multiplier/dot multiplier etc.

I just beat al hezmin and he dropped a boots with "chance to gain elusive on crit strikes" and "10% chance to gain onslaught on kill". I thought yes this is a decent boots but i had ZERO idea when i checked the prices of similar boots, these go for 3-5 ex. i was so close to dropping them/throwing them away.

my point is, i dont know which mods are valuable. and obviously this comes with time, which goes back to my first point that there is so, so, so, so, so much to learn in this game.

POE is not a game for casuals. you cannot play a few hours per week and expect to progress decently. You need to invest lots and lots of hours per week to do that. unfortunately i am not at a stage in life where i am able to do that. Still, I want to thank you for creating a high quality guide (this one) that allows beginners like me to experience and enjoy the game.