2h Pure Physical Heavy Strike Slayer - build review (state of melee)

So.. Ive decided to approach the 'melee sucks' situation with open mind. I wanted to make a concentrated effort and spent reasonable (in old league terms) currency to make one of the oldests (and tbh worst) skills in the game - Heavy Strike work

Few notes:
1) this was a twink leveling experience, i had few weapons and a tabula ready
2) this is not min-maxed altho it uses 90-95% pieces so the room for improvement - while there - is rather small
3) pre maps i did not care about zerging content, was literally watching a movie on the second screen so i cannot comment on leveling in depth
4) i know the tree is not 'typical' - i wanted to test and use the noob traps while avoiding 'best picks' (like Soul of Arrakali or Retch belt)
5) while building i wanted to follow archetypical noob though process aka tankiness == armour etc. Im perfectly aware that build/item choices I did are 50% ideal or less. Thats on purpose


Build Overview:
- 2h, resolute technique, Heavy Strike, Melee as melee gets. Lvl90

Tree:


Gear:


Pantheon:
- Solaris + Shakari (both full)

Build choices explained (and why generic ARPG knowledge of a typical noob does not work in POE):

- melee. melee is tanky, does its damage close range but has the means to survive it. POE: truth stops at 'means to survive'. this part is generic and melee has very little bonus there. this is fundamental NOOB TRAP. melee has no innate bonus to survivability

- Chest piece: Armour. Armour is good and makes you stay alive.POE: sadly Armour is something we get from flask and what is really important is handling BS elemental damage (martyr ghosts, various degens like the Dark Forest boss ice degens, phys degens in endgame fights). in POE the best chest available is Loreweave. Using armour chest piece is a NOOB TRAP '1

- Fortify and damage when Fortified cluster (Rampart). Probably one the least used clusters. But for a Joe Newbie this looks so good: 15% increased Fortify, some damage while Fortified. isnt this win-win? POE: well.. no. this cluster is universally forgotten for a reason. fortify effect going from 20 to 23 is ok unless you face DoT damage (heavily present in endgame) that Fortify does not affect. 4 points much better spent on life. NOOB TRAP '2

- Aspect of the Crab: melee build? good defences? chest piece gives us huge bonus to the effectiveness? it sounds great.. sadly, the one and only Aspect worth using is Spider one. there is no competition - remaining 3 are pure waste of mana reservation. Aspect of the Crab is - maybe - good on very evasive/blocky builds that are hit rarely. but you are going to get hit frequently if f2f with enemies. it is literally at 1-2 stacks all the time despite ~30% evade chance.. POE: we have 100 skills but only 8 are actually 'good'. never, ever try to force weak skills. it is never worth it. NOOB TRAP '3

- Pure physical build: this is a mistake done not only by new players. current POE is absolutely dominated by elemental damage. this is esp visible when picking 'end game' jewelry - there are simply no mods to use! flat phys, crafter global phys.. thats it. non crit pure phys build has TWO jewelry rolls. TWO. attack speed can be 3rd if one is pushing it. most abyss mods are worthless, there is not a chance to make a 4 prop (3+life) abyss jewel for this build. POE: leave with it, our new 'niche' archetype is to convert everything several times for quadruple dip to chaos. pure phys is for noobs. gigantic NOOB TRAP '4

oh.. there is exactly ONE flask that benefits pure phys builds. ONE (silver doesnt count because everyone has Onslaught from other sources and Sulphur.. please)

- Heavy Strike. This is obvious one. Skill whose only redeeming feature is 'chance to deal double damage' that (in standard) caps at 20+20+12 == 52% more multiplier that PoB doesnt seem to calculate properly. the damage IS there. it really is. but it is based on luck and setup (bleeding, maiming, fortify, flask, totems..). setup for a fight takes longer than the fight itself.

this skill forced me into Slayer (and picking rarely if ever used Impact node). and made me appreciate closed layout maps (infuriating knockback mechanic). POE: melee? what is melee? we have a nice set of ranged skills, preferably spells that are going to get buffed in a knee jerk reaction in 2 weeks - pick one that looks 'meleeish' and youll be fine. NOOB TRAP '5. never, ever use this skill. NEVER.

- going non crit. aka picking ascendancy without absurd +accuracy perks (jugg, champion). there is no place for non-crit builds in this game. never, ever do it (EO does not work with pure phys aka noob trap '4). this is not even a noob trap. this is a dramatic GGG's design fiasco..


other than that:
- Purity of Ice - i delve a lot and cold always made me suffer. because Loreweave was out, had to make a substitute and got a nice Eye to go with it.
- Dread Banner - impale.. is nice. sadly 20% chance is very very low. it is still HUGE more pure phys multiplier for 10% reservation
- Rampage gloves: the only way i could stomach playing namelock melee.. without it it is absurdly slow
- Bleeding cluster. Needed for 80% bleeding chance so i can reliably use Bloodlust while getting bleeds from other sources. it.. works



Game experience and build performance:
- leveling (compared to casters) SUX. use Frost Blades as long as possible.
- 2 Redbeaks -> Wideswing -> Cauteriser -> rare 340pdps 2h axe -> Disfavour. weapon progression is easy
- Chance to Bleed gem keeps your weapon relevant no matter what
- farmed T1 maps with 2800 hp untill 75. died like every 10th or 20th map. doable. did no bosses (3% lightning res.. why risk it)
- did all labs below nominal level. as long as you have up to date flasks it is very easy.


- after gearing: low life total. damage passives, fortify passives and general pathing made life nodes difficult to reach, also includes no easily available jewel nodes. on the other hand - rarely died and if - to elemental bursts.
- very limited gear upgrade path. but the damage is ok even for endgame
- playstyle surprisingly fast (Esp in delving with narrow corridors) yet very exhausting. you need 2-3 clicks per pack while casters (even bad ones) need 1 cast per packS.. good attack speed makes traveling easy
- the worst part: you HAVE TO BE THERE playstyle. you need to actually BE where all the danger is. some scenarios are simply impossible + there is SO MUCH BULLLLLSSSSHHH.. 'damage out of nowhere' that facetanking is risky no matter what. it is cool that i can 1 tap T15 kitava phases. but once the phys degen etc starts to spread i HAVE TO RUN. becuse exactly ZERO of my defences protects me from phys degen (ok, end charges do). then i do no damage, mobs start piling up and suddenly it is fight for survival..
- good delver thanks to slayer leech. surprisingly good vs 200+ depths thanks to high cold res and good phys resiliance. sadly - can insta pop to some bs out of nowhere because it has 5.5k life instead of 7k that i could get if i went with better skill saving up a lot of passives and 2 jewel sockets..






TL;DR: heavy strike SUCKS just like all melee sucks but it can work if one is ready to overpay and at the same time aim lower


challenge: POB a variation of this build that is significantly tankier and/or deal more damage but:
- heavy strike stays
- chest stays
- weapon stays (you wont find much better in standard anyway under 100ex)
- slayer and its nodes stay (i like the stun node)
- be realistic with your gear 'crafts'. no elder rings with Spider, max life, max res and godly corrupt. i can shell 1-2ex a piece but be real..

this is to show that picking 'legit good' build idea, not trying to be a cheap ass you can - and will - end up with a turd of a character that 100c spellcaster eats alive.

so all 'melee is fine' warriors out there - cmon, prove me wrong


ps. that was my last melee build. it is 100% not worth my nor anyones time to play melee in this game in its current state.

GOOD POST, NOW GGG WILL NERF CYCLONE AGAIN.


Ho I need to correct you, Cat aspect is super op but you need furr chest.


Also you are right all those totems+banner needed to boost dps of melee is bullshit when casters/ranged don t need them and deal x2 the damage.

It is clunky and annoying to use but GGG seems to think melee need for some reason more clicks to deal damage.



Ranged: 1 click boom-boom all packs 2 screen away.

melee: place totem, place banner, go face in danger, boom only half a pack and take 2 time the damage.

Melee is fine


Just use Blade Vortex

"

challenge: POB a variation of this build that is significantly tankier and/or deal more damage but:
- heavy strike stays
- chest stays

use gladiator. (and the 82+% block makes you be hit way less which makes the crab way more useful as it's generally at/near 15 stacks when hit)

i'd also go IR and ditch the watcher's. i'd also ditch half the gear (huh?) and that brutality gem (wha?). actually, i'd remove every other piece of gear and use COMPLETELY different gem sets. arctic armour? lolwut?


/thread

"

robmafia a écrit :

use gladiator. (and the 82+% block makes you be hit way less which makes the crab way more useful as it's generally at/near 15 stacks when hit)

i'd also go IR and ditch the watcher's. i'd also ditch half the gear (huh?) and that brutality gem (wha?). actually, i'd remove every other piece of gear and use COMPLETELY different gem sets. arctic armour? lolwut?


/thread

It wasn't at all predictable that robmafia would come in here talking about how great heavy strike is rofl

"

Legatus1982 a écrit :

"

robmafia a écrit :

use gladiator. (and the 82+% block makes you be hit way less which makes the crab way more useful as it's generally at/near 15 stacks when hit)

i'd also go IR and ditch the watcher's. i'd also ditch half the gear (huh?) and that brutality gem (wha?). actually, i'd remove every other piece of gear and use COMPLETELY different gem sets. arctic armour? lolwut?


/thread

It wasn't at all predictable that robmafia would come in here talking about how great heavy strike is rofl

yeah, i definitely never said that. another lie...

"

robmafia a écrit :

"

Legatus1982 a écrit :

"

robmafia a écrit :

use gladiator. (and the 82+% block makes you be hit way less which makes the crab way more useful as it's generally at/near 15 stacks when hit)

i'd also go IR and ditch the watcher's. i'd also ditch half the gear (huh?) and that brutality gem (wha?). actually, i'd remove every other piece of gear and use COMPLETELY different gem sets. arctic armour? lolwut?


/thread

It wasn't at all predictable that robmafia would come in here talking about how great heavy strike is rofl

yeah, i definitely never said that. another lie...

You've kind of both got good points here, but this thread is just a silly straw man argument when the OP is putting arbitrary and terrible restrictions on the build. I mean... Slayer stun node? What?

OP, I'm not at all on the "melee is fine" bandwagon, but I'm pretty sure I could easily double your damage just by making better decisions with gear and passives. Your straw man argument is kind of hurting your own position here...

I'd be happy to prove just how suboptimal your setup is if you want to make this in POB and share a link.

it is not a straw man. it is an experiment if you can make 'melee that is not one particular build' actually viable in the broad sense

this is the build that makes NO errors - it is not AoF + Atziri's flask etc. it only makes auto-loss decisions - that SHOULD NOT BE auto-loss decisions in the first place!. this is the build that some noob out there is trying to build right now.

Stun node.. well. if you havent tested it, give it a try. it actually is MUCH stronger than POB tells you. but thats beside the point.

you can take the 'typical slayer' crab nodes, damage is not a problem of this build anyway (3-5 hitting Chimera phase).


try to make this archetypical melee build looking trough the eyes of a Joe Noob - he believes Armour is ok, he believes that 2h is ok and he wanted to use Impale/Bleed to boost his dps (this one actually works)

im 100% aware that going crit/loreweave/any-other-skill is better (oh and ascendant with UI+2MoM). really, i know that

the challenge is to make this perfectly correct build strong. not to prove that you know Loreweave is busted.


and i expected 'melee is fine' crowd to do just that - to tell me: 'melee is fine, just use THIS ONE BUILD'.

pastebin:

"

sidtherat a écrit :

it is not a straw man. it is an experiment if you can make 'melee that is not one particular build' actually viable in the broad sense

this is the build that makes NO errors - it is not AoF + Atziri's flask etc. it only makes auto-loss decisions - that SHOULD NOT BE auto-loss decisions in the first place!. this is the build that some noob out there is trying to build right now.

Stun node.. well. if you havent tested it, give it a try. it actually is MUCH stronger than POB tells you. but thats beside the point.

you can take the 'typical slayer' crab nodes, damage is not a problem of this build anyway (3-5 hitting Chimera phase).


try to make this archetypical melee build looking trough the eyes of a Joe Noob - he believes Armour is ok, he believes that 2h is ok and he wanted to use Impale/Bleed to boost his dps (this one actually works)

im 100% aware that going crit/loreweave/any-other-skill is better (oh and ascendant with UI+2MoM). really, i know that

the challenge is to make this perfectly correct build strong. not to prove that you know Loreweave is busted.

and i expected 'melee is fine' crowd to do just that - to tell me: 'melee is fine, just use THIS ONE BUILD'.

pastebin:

Spoiler

https://pastebin.com/6Dp3umKv

So your argument is that you deliberately made bad choices and ended up with a bad build? You get that your logic is absolutely insane, right?

I made a build that does zero damage with arc mines because I allocated Ancestral Bond. Clearly Arc is trash and needs to be buffed, by your logic...

Please delete your thread, because I am on your side in the melee debate and nonsensical inanity like this hurts our mutual position.

trouble is - why you claim these decisions are bad?

they fit the genre archetype. this build does everything proper. what it doesnt do is use 'meta' choices that FOR NOT F.. REASON are like 10 times better.

POE doesnt have a manual but in the proverbial one: where does it say 'armour is useless, do not use it'? where does it say 'some skills are GARBAGE, never touch them, EVER'? list is long.

not a single part of this build is WRONG in logical sense. all what is wrong about it is that it follows well beaten arpg path of 'melee'.

meanwhile in POE melee means 'cyclone CoC' or 'cyclone Herald of Agony'. (and instead of fixing it on the hour they buff spells for like 4th time in a row.. WTF?)

challenge is voluntary, optional and noone is forced to even look at it.
i just wanted to know how far you can get THIS BUILD (that, again, is perfectly fine game mechanics wise. the game balance and design is what is broken).