I haven’t seen many melee mage hunters posted, so here’s my first ever Mage Hunter. I initially tooled him up for the purpose of testing how strong Beronath’s Fury was. He turned out way better than expected though, so here’s a guide for any wannabe melee Mage Hunters out there. In fact, I think I have a new favorite class combo 
A Quick Summary:
A very simple-to-pilot build, but requires some specialized gear. No double rares are required to be able to clear Gladiator 170. Smack things around with Beronath’s Fury while dual-wielding two Bargoll’s Hearts. Huge elemental resist reduction shreds enemies while ridiculous damage absorb and some lifesteal keeps you alive and lets you facetank 99% of enemies continuously. I’m posting 2 versions, both of which are capable of Gladiator 170. I personally think version 2 is faster and more fun (good for campaign), but version 1 is safer for crucible farming.
decent dps for Beronath’s Fury! If you’re wondering why I have no additional stash tabs, I created this character in Grimtools since I didn’t have an existing Mage Hunter to test it, but all items (except boots) are legitimately farmed or crafted
Video: Coming soon
Grimtools:
Version 1 - Tankier with maxed Mirror, more lifesteal, more health, and Time Dilation: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/gZwg1pqZ
Version 2 - much more offensive. Higher default attack DPS and higher AoE damage with Elemental Seekers and Arcane Currents: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/aZqK1p62
Pros:
- about 100% crit damage
- easy to play
- Performs consistently (clears Gladiator 170 consistently)
- Insane survivability (over 500 flat damage absorb, 21% damage absorb, 20% reduced enemy damage, 20% lifesteal, and over 20% physical resist)
- over 3,000 OA and DA with procs
- over 100 elemental resist reduction (plus 20% more from viper)
- great base resists and cc resists
cons:
- enemy clear rate is on the slow side (we’re using Beronath’s Fury, after all)
- attack speed is difficult to come across, since neither the Arcanist nor Inquisitor masteries provide any melee attack speed
- getting good Bargoll’s Heart drops can be difficult, but the build doesn’t absolutely require them
- low OA pre-procs. 12/12 Biting Cold helps this, though
Levelling:
As with all Arcanists, level this with Olexra’s Flash Freeze and Greater Fireblast weapon component skill. Get to Inquisitor mastery level 50 quickly and max Inquisitor Seal and Aura of Censure. When Greater Fireblast starts to get weaker in Elite, throw Hagarrad into the mix. When you get a Direwolf Crest, Shard of Beronath, and some weapons with good attack speed, you can transition to this build.
Devotion:
This differs depending on which version you’re using. Version 1 aims for Aeon’s Hourglass for the great nodes and the ability to refresh cooldowns on Mirror (still not 100% uptime though). I pick up some great defensive Primordial devotions in Eel, Lizard, and Solemn Watcher along the way. Jackal, Ghoul, and Viper give me the Chaos affinity I need while giving me some much needed attack speed and attack utility. I also grab 5 points in Revenant for some nice attacking bonuses. Finally, I get some Eldritch and Ascendant affinity to give me access to Rhowan’s Crown and Crab for great elemental bonuses. Hawk and Panther help fill in the affinity gaps and give me some much needed OA.
Version 2 focuses almost entirely on Eldritch and Ascendant devotions. The main change is that I skip out on Aeon’s Hourglass for full-on offensive constellations. I pick up Raven only for the affinity, whereas Scholar’s Light, Toad and Wolverine give me a nice mix of offense and defense. I also pick up Bard’s Harp for some nice rounded bonuses and a good proc. Finally, Blind Sage and Attak Seru provide some great node bonuses with great offensive procs.
Itemization:
4 Pieces of Iskandra set provide great physical resistance and great elemental damage. Ignaffar’s Combustion gives every stat this build could ever want, and Direwolf Crest is necessary for DW but gives great OA and is actually a decent WPS proc too. Runesinged Handguards aren’t the greatest, but there aren’t any legendary gloves that provide both attack speed and elemental damage, and the DA bonus is decent. Mageguard Leggings, Scales of Beronath, and Signet of the Runefather all give nice elemental bonuses and Inquisitor Seal bonuses, which boost this build’s survivability by a huge margin. A Cronley’s Signet is mainly for attack speed, and Stoneplate Greaves are solely for rounding out resistances.
Finally, 2 Bargoll’s Hearts provide great resist reduction, and they can generate with a number of useful affixes. Vampiric, Aggressive, and Of Alacrity are all great magic affixes, whereas there are a number of fantastic rare affixes to look out for. Enchanter’s or Runecarved helps convert almost all of your physical damage to elemental, Of Scorched Runes gives attack speed alongside other great bonuses, and Of Arcane Balance lets you get 22/12 Inquisitor Seal. You’ll likely never find a Bargoll’s Heart with 2 useful rare affixes (I never have :eek:), but if you do, your enemies will be in a world of hurt.
Special Thanks
to Autentist for discussing Beronath’s Fury with me and indirectly inspiring me to try to create a build around it.
