Preface: This build was inspired by Colossal Bulwark specifically, as I’ve always liked Overguard, but have to admit that Markovian’s Defense absolutely guts its usefulness. If Colossal Bulwark’s math works the way I assume it does, the damage penalty is cut down to a manageable -8%.
The intent of this build was to make something that’s both really easy to pilot, but also stupidly difficult to kill, without relying exclusively on pets.
Grimtools link
This comes out at 100% WPS (with fully capped Shattering Smash for phys RR), perfect block (assuming slightly above average rolls on gear with +% block chance) at a permanent >7k block absorption, serviceable OA after -360 DA from Blindside, and considerable health regen as well as lifesteal from Mark of the Voracious One.
I’ve tried a couple of variations of this build, including one that used Juggernaut for additional regen (with surprisingly solid results, I think the relic is really good, but was ultimately a little lacking in damage), Cadence (which lacked raw stats, and I don’t think is all that great without additional targets from Fighting Form or Crimson Claws), and Markovian’s Bulwark (which suffers under Markovian’s Defense and has worse raw block absorption).
The end result was… a little disappointing, performance wise, primarily as far as single target damage was concerned. It chugs along comfortably, but Arcane enemies can get a little frustrating because it’s unlikely you’ll kill them before they throw at least one Nullification at you.
In lighter news, however, it comfortably shrugs off upwards of 20k incoming DPS, and can hold its ground against up to 30k with potions, as long as it’s blockable. I don’t think Menhir’s Will even had a chance to trigger here.
(this kind of shocked me in hindsight, as the character is hardcore, and I would expect to have died twice over with that much damage coming in)
I’m not sure how confident I am in its ability to facetank Crate of Entertainment though. While the lifesteal is there, % damage reduction only comes from Empyrion devotion, and armor + block “only” sums up to about 11.5k mitigation, which might still be lethal.
(It also can’t do Callagadra as a result of not having enough phys resist.)
Overall, it kind of suffers from poor OA/DA without the ring, and subsequently requires two specific greens, which isn’t all that great.
I’ve not spent much time refining this build any further, because if I want to play something for the purpose of safety, I’ll just stick to pets instead. The damage output is just a little too low to really shine.
