Hello everyone! Do you want to clear Ultimate content with a 22/12 Bloody Pox build? Then you’re in the right place. I noticed that aside from Ch’thon’s neat Poison Pox build, there’s no Bloody Pox builds out there. I took a Witch Hunter that I had lying around that I wasn’t happy with, and tried re-speccing it and it performs adequately even without BiS gear (by adequately, I mean clears Aspirant Crucible extra spawns no buffs 80% of the time and can kill Ultimate Mad Queen without dying). I’m confident if I had some more of the missing legendaries, it would be very strong.
The idea is that Nightblade has some decently strong sources of Bleed damage. Blade Spirit in particular has solid base Bleed damage, and Phantasmal Blades is no slouch either. Bloody Pox has minimal Bleed, but is a great support Bleed skill in that it reduces everyones OA and helps deal with Bleed resistant enemies. I’ve cleared Ultimate Steps of Torment in a reasonable time with this build. The main issues are undead/shaleborn bosses, as these are very resistant to Bloody Pox and Bleed (Alkamos took a day and a half, haven’t fought Benn’Jahr but I’d imagine it would take a while).
It’s a fire and forget build. You cast all your Bleed skills, cast them a second time (because the -% Bleed resistance will take effect by then), and run around in circles until everything dies. You have very high health regen from Dreeg’s Blood and PB, and with the massive OA reduction (-480) your skills give, along with 50% fumble/impaired aim from Mark of the Apostate, you’re actually hard to kill (assuming you’re running).
Here is the BiS gear and grimcalc.
Head: Abyssal Mask (Leathery Hide / Spiritguard Powder (Death’s Vigil))
Shoulders: Stonehide Moosilauke’s Pauldrons of Kings (Scaled Hide / Solarstorm Powder (Homestead))
Chest: Korvoran’s Chestguard (Hallowed Ground / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Main hand: Gutripper (Oleron’s Blood / Potent Essence of Ch’thon (Black Legion))
Hands: Stonehide Exalted Handguards of Kings (Unholy Inscription / Outcast’s Elemental Scales (Outcasts))
Waist: Girdle of Stolen Dreams (Dense Fur / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Legs: Flesheater Legwraps (Scaled Hide / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Feet: Footpads of the Grey Magi (Mark of Mogdrogen / Outcast’s Skyguard Powder (Outcasts))
Amulet: The Peerless Eye of Beronath (Focusing Prism / Mogdrogen’s Sanctity (Rovers))
Rings: Incorruptible Cronley’s Signet of Nature’s Bounty (Ectoplasm / Breath of Life (Rovers))
Rings: Incorruptible Cronley’s Signet of Nature’s Bounty (Ectoplasm / Survivor’s Ingenuity (Devil’s Crossing))
Medal: Mark of the Apostate (Aether Soul)
Relic: Aegis
Grimcalc build
Click here to view equipment configuration
As you can see, you get to use some pretty neat legendaries that most builds don’t have a place for (Gutripper, Mark of the Apostate, Abyssal Mask, and to a lesser extent Korvoran’s Jacket and Footpads). They provide buffs to the skills I use, as well as an additional source of Bleed. I chose Aegis as the relic because there aren’t any good Bleed relics aside from Slaughter, and that requires me to both be close to enemies and give up Gutripper. I’d rather not do either of those things. That being said, if you’re below level 75 or don’t have access to Gutripper, I’d keep Slaughter and use some of the legendary Bleed axes. Aegis provides a heal, DA, and even more health regen, all things that I want to survive.
This build also uses an Empowered Scarlet Marksman on weapon swap. It gives the Anti-Clotting Dart ability, which is another great -% Bleed resist debuff. It’s only really feasible to use against single target bosses like nemeses or Mad Queen, but it ups the DPS a bunch.
Devotions are pretty debatable. I chose the current set-up to get access to Mogdrogen constellation for lots of Bleed damage buffs + DA reduction, but if you have Gutripper it might be worth it to drop Mogdrogen and Wolverine and go for Kraken + Behemoth. If you’re using axes, replace Hydra with Berserker.
Just to give an idea, here is the specs of the character that cleared Ultimate Mad Queen and Ultimate Steps of Torment no deaths, and farms Aspirant Crucible.
Head: Abyssal Mask (Leathery Hide / Nightshade Powder (Rovers))
Shoulders: Shoulderguards of Justice (Scaled Hide / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Chest: Korvoran’s Chestguard (Hallowed Ground / Bladeward Powder (Devil’s Crossing))
Main hand: Butcher of Burrwitch (Purified Salt / Essence of Ch’thon (Black Legion))
Offhand: Empowered Blood Carver (Essence of Ch’thon (Black Legion) / Essence of Ch’thon (Black Legion))
Hands: Handguards of Justice (Unholy Inscription / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Waist: Tinker’s Ingenuity (Dense Fur / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Legs: Exalted Leggings of Nature’s Bounty (Mutated Scales / Flameweave Powder (Homestead))
Feet: Resonant Exalted Sabatons of Vitality (Dense Fur / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Amulet: The Peerless Eye of Beronath (Focusing Prism)
Rings: Oblitorix (Ectoplasm / Survivor’s Perseverance (Devil’s Crossing))
Rings: Ring of Valiance (Ectoplasm / Survivor’s Perseverance (Devil’s Crossing))
Medal: Empowered Heretic’s Sigil (Aether Soul)
Relic: Slaughter
Grimcalc build (with +skills)
Grimcalc build (without +skills)
Click here to view equipment configuration
Since then I’ve replaced the Notched Bone with a Butcher of Burrwitch, but still no Gutripper =(
I’ll update with pictures and a little leveling guide later!
