Why is a reflect/thorns build not a thing in this game?

I am just wondering why a viable reflect build isn't a thing (using reckoning and the like with some reflect gear). It just seems strange as these skills are in the game, as is a taunt mechanic that is not as useful without a "tank" archtype behind it. GGG seems to buffing taunt/adding more of it in the recent content updates without much reasoning for players to pick them or use them as they have no support. I can understand why it should never be a very strong build, because of the non-sense that was old leach, but at least have a couple uniques/nodes in the tree to allow a build like this.
Just a guy who is interested in some veterans opinion on this.

VaalMoltenShell
Oh there are better options ... Nevermind.

Um there is a trigger gem build killing stuff by just running let me have a look

Btw nowdays you could make a juggernaut triggering end charge on stun with reckoning which will get pushed to 9 10 charges and a high level cwdt discharge setup (not sure if that's still possible )could be triggered with doedres give him kingsguards and you get 1k life each cycle
Flammability eleweakness pof and just walk

Walking Bomb

Just realized how fucking broken juggernaut is you only need doedres flask

Because clear speed is the most important metric in the game due to its grindy nature and builds which only work when things are hitting them are slow by definition. The best builds are the ones which move as quickly as possible through the map, killing things in the most efficient manner.

Having to stand next to a monster and wait for it to beat at you is hardly ideal.


There is a niche tank build which uses damage reflect as a healing mechanic, and that's pretty much it. It uses Crown of the Pale King, Thousand Teeth Temu and The Anvil which can facetank almost anything. It's niche because its clear speed is slow.

Yeah it made me sad for the longest time that reflect damage is pitifully low in PoE. I had some niche fun with thorns in Diablo 3 yonks ago, more recently I smashed through Grim Dawn with a reflect damage soldier (that game even had a strong reflect damage set when I played it in beta) and in PoE I've had to settle for a tanky cwdt exile. It's alright - a fun change up when I wanna facetank and go full spectator mode.

I remember my friend saying no thorns in PoE because it'd encourage bots or something... But considering there are skills that clear screens on 1 button press I imagine botters already have much better options even if thorns became somewhat decent. Would love to see some more reflect damage options cos It's a niche playstyle I enjoy but realistically I can't see it happening.

Don't know if this counts for you, but it was a primarily "afk/pacifist" build I put together quite some time ago. Note the date (Feb 2015), so I haven't tested this with the current state of the game, but I imagine it would still work OK. The character shown in the video was mostly a proof of concept than an actual character I spent time on. I respecced in Standard to test it - definitely has a lot of room for improvement. The damage/clear was pretty abysmal, but it was capable of clearing entire maps without manually attacking or using flasks, depending on the mobs/mods for the map. Again, proof of concept and all that. ;)

Thanks for Input!