Greetings, seekers of builds!
Today I would like to present a build, which idea is considered weak here. Yes, you guessed it right . One-handed Blade Arc. A skill that is great with two-handers and terrible with one-handed weapons despite numerous Crate attempts to make it attractable via different sets (like Spellscourge) and items (Nightclaw axe, Eldritch Gaze - for Witchblades, numerous MIs etc.). Ok, I decided, let me try it as well and see if the situation is dire indeed. And what are my conclusions? Well⌠mixed, to be honest
. But let us see the build I constructed.
First, I want to mention @RektbyProtoss and @fordprefect. Their Tactician and Warlord/Warder Blade Arc builds gave me a lot of ideas (as well as fashion ). Thanks, guys!
1. Grimtools link
Oleron+Mogdrogen combination is pretty powerful, also easy to build if we can omit flat RR from devotions (thanks to Terrify transmuter of War Cry skill). Bloodied Crystals + Titan Plating are used for Armor mostly and Reflected Damage Reduction (must-have for heavy DoT builds), you can use Marks of Illusions + Chains of Oleron instead (but I recommend more Armor).
2. In-game character stats
general stats, only passive buffs are active
Blade Arc breakdown
damage stats
defense stats
3. Gear/Build explanation
By itself, one-handed Blade Arc is not particularly strong, so it need some âbeefâ. In this case - Bleeding Damage. It helps dealing with tough targets that do not die to our usual feeble swipes . We have such items in the game. Here they are:
- Core items.
Set. Bloodragerâs Endless Frenzy. Currently the best Physical/Bleeding set, supports our Damage types and Blade Arc completely. What about Baldir? Well, it⌠exists. Maybe for Bleeding Judgment concept. But Bloodrager is better thousand times.
Weapon. Sandclaw Slicer. More damage and lifesteal to Blade Arc, good bonuses to Presence of Virtue beat other MIs. About prefixes/suffixes. âTyrantâsâ prefix is great (helps by reducing enemyâs Damage when War Cry is on cooldown), also âBloodthirstyâ is good for Bleeding part (and more lifesteal). âof Alacrityâ or similar are mandatory.
Shield. KalisâKaâs Harvest. Enormous IT/Bleeding damage modifiers to Presence of Virtue, flat damage to Blade Arc as well. About prefixes/suffixes. You need to get Physical Resistance, others are interchangeable. My current ones are decent, so I do not farm for better shield that hard.
Medal. Mark of Consumption. More Bleeding Damage to Blade Arc + life leech. Craftable.
Gloves. Grasp of Unchained Might (or as I called them Unchas). 20% Weapon Damage to Blade Arc, Physical/Bleeding Damage bonuses etc. These are the best-in-slot for almost every Blade Arc build (except for Pierce BA Tactitians).
- Mandatory items.
Rings. Cronleyâs Signet. Bleeding Damage, Laceration points, Attack Speed. About prefixes/suffixes. If you use Deathstalker Relic, âIncorruptibleâ prefix is mandatory.
Pants. Chausses of Barbaros. Great pants for our build with an amazing proc. Crate has to try harder to make other options more favorable than those Barbroses.
- Can be changed.
Belt. Ugdenbog Girdle. +1 to Soldier, %Armor. About prefixes/suffixes. I chose âStonefacedâ because of additional %Armor, âof Readinessâ is always nice to have. The alternative is Reforged Chains of Oleron (more Damage, %Crit) or any belt with +1 to Soldier.
Relic. Deathstalker. Pet provides another -8% Physical/-10% Bleeding RR in a big area, bonuses are up to you. If you want more Skill Points, Resistances, Reflected Damage Reduction and circuit-breaker - Serenity is your choice. Combine the slot with your Cronleyâs Signets and choose for yourselves the best variant.
Boots. Windshear Greaves. Nice Physical/Bleeding slot with %Phys Res, %Trap Res, %Acid Res and good proc (slightly nerfed in 1.2 though). You can take anything here.
Craft items with Reduced Freeze Duration (bonus is provided by Malmouth blacksmith in Steelcap District).
About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~83% for Physical (-8% from Deathstalker pet aura, -25% from Guardians of Empyrion aura, -32% from Assassinâs Blade constellation and flat 18 from Terrify modifier of War Cry skill) and ~85% for Bleeding (-10% from Deathstalker pet aura, -25% from Guardians of Empyrion aura, -32% from Huntress constellation and flat 18 from Terrify modifier of War Cry skill). Not the best, but good enough.
4. Gameplay
Charge through Blitz/Violent Delights, War Cry to apply Damage Reduction/RR to enemies and swipe everything you see with Blade Arc, use Blitz for extra healing from Dryad when needed/against lifeleech-resistant targets. Ascension for damage boost/flat damage absorption. Overguard for extra toughness (it reduces your damage, so I do not recommend using it constantly). Remember - it is a fighter build, not a tank, so do not be too arrogant. Sometimes you need Energy potions.
5. Videos
Mad Queen.
KraâVall.
Lokarr (pretty tough in 1.2).
Morgoneth.
SR 75 full (okay in chunks, somewhat slow in boss rooms).
Avatar of Mogdrogen (old video) (pretty hard, potions are shown in the video, one augment for fire+lightning Resistance. Forgot to use Elixir of the Ancients ).
Ravager of Flesh (potions are in the video, occasional healpots, no Aether Clusters, kiting. Yeah, the build is slow ).
Callagadra (potions are in the video, occasional healpots, no Aether Clusters, kiting).
Crate boss (potions are in the video, occasional healpots, some Aether Clusters, kiting. If something bleeds, we can kill it ).
Clones of Bourbon (potions are in the video, no healpots/Aether Clusters, facetank).
Overall this build is not tanky enough for Celestials. For SR and other stuff (did not try Crucible) it is decent. Damage-wise it is not as bad as I thought. So my feelings are mixed . But I like it. This is my favorite class combination, and gameplay is satisfying. And yes, remove Terrify effect from War Cry modifier, it is annoying!
Thank you for reading this topic. Hope you have gleaned some useful information from it if you want to try one-handed Blade Arc concept as well. Feedback/critique is welcomed as always.
Have a nice day!