Path of Exile Duelist DW Blood Tank Build Guide

Path of Exile Duelist DW Blood Tank Build Guide by seanmcdn

Hey guys, my names Sean and I love making beast builds!

Here’s my epic Dual Wield Blood Tank build.

Remember, this is merely a template for you to take and build upon. If you wish to “cookie-cutter” this build, that’s fine. But I encourage you to make your own adjustments. This fits my play-style, which might not be the same as yours.

Recommended Progression Builds: Remember these are only recommendations, if you feel you need more damage/health, feel free to stray from this guide.

19 Point Build

29 Point Build

42 Point Build

63 Point Build

78 Point Build, this is where you start getting your big damage nodes

91 Point Build

Full Build: NEW REVISED VERSION, THANKS TO “Velkor”!

Ok, first off you notice I only have 110 points spent. That’s because I opted to help Kraityn and get the +8% to all resists, considering most basic All Resist nodes are +6% I considered this to be a very solid choice.

The Keystones of this build are:
Blood Magic (Uses Health instead of Mana)
Unwavering Stance (Cannot Evade, but also cannot be stunned)
Iron Reflexes (Converts all Evade into Armor)

Here are all the bonuses you get from this build:

Stat Gains:
Strength: +260 (+130 Health, +52% Physical Damage)
Dex: +130 (+65 Accuracy, +26% Evasion – not sure how this interacts with Iron Reflexes)
Int: +10 (optional +30 node for higher crit multiplier gem)

Defensive Gains:
Resist All Elements: +50% (with Kraityn bonus)
Fire Resist: +30% (Puts you just above cap)
Armor Increase: +95%
Dual Wield Block: +22% chance
Reduced Crit Damage Taken: -30%
Increased Health: +137%, and +30 flat Health
Health Regen: +4.8% Health per second
Movement Speed: +10% (Much more due to the “Armour Master” node)

Offensive Gains:
Physical Damage: +140% (+30% of that being Axe only)
Attack Speed: +45% (+2% being Axe only)
Critical Chance: +125%
Critical Multiplier: +15% (easy to buff this with gems)
Accuracy: +16%

Summary of build:

If I had to attach a phrase to this build it would be, “Crazy dude running around with dual Axes that never dies.” Poetic, I know.

This build takes the pretty standard tank nodes but with a unique twist in that I used Dual Wield Block. This allows me, with the proper itemization, to still deal massive amounts of damage while still being incredibly beefy.

My thought process behind making this build was simply the fact that I would be able to get the amazing Dual Wield damage and sustain, while only sacrificing the armor gained from the shield. Because of my talents I still have the ability to block. Unfortunately the catch is that you need to get weapons with a high Crit Multiplier on them because this build severely lacks it. The Attack Speed increases allow me to get huge Life Leech/Life on Hit sustain.

Itemization

Gems/Skills:

Possible Skill Gems to use:

Dual Strike
Frenzy
Lightning Strike/Cleave (I prefer Cleave, I’ll tell you why later)
Lead Slam
Warlord’s Mark
Molten Shell
Blood Rage (Only use after you have at least 4% Health regen per second)
Decoy Totem (I know it sounds incredibly bad, but in the harder difficulties this guy will be your best friend.)

Possible Support Gems to use:

Life Gain on Hit
Life Leech
Faster Attacks (Scales really well with Life Gain/Leech)
Lesser Multiple Projectiles (If using Lightning Strike)

Why Cleave instead of Lightning Strike?

Because of the fact that I use the Warlord’s Mark curse. The curse gives you a good amount of Life Leech, but only with Physical Attacks (Which Lightning Strike converts half of your Physical into Elemental, therefore giving you half life leech- of course Life Gain on Hit would still work perfectly). I also feel that Cleave is a much more consistent AoE ability, because its a cone effect instead of 3-5 linear spells. Essentially its a matter of preference. LS can be better in the sense that you will have a somewhat “ranged” attack in your kit.

Why not use Blood Rage earlier?

I’ve actually been asked this a fair amount. Blood Rage degens 4% health per second, this build regens 4.8%. So once you grab all the Health Regen nodes you will still be gaining some life while Blood Rage is active. Using this skill early on is really just preference. At lower levels you will be taking some degen, therefore the importance to always be hitting something is there. Once your regen is past the 4%, you can maintain the ability and not worry about having to stay whacking something.

My Gem Setups:

Cleave with Life Gain on Hit and Fast Attacks is a MUST in my opinion. Every enemy you hit will proc the Life Gain, and with the extra attack speed you will be able to sustain yourself through ridiculous damage. Of course another gem perfect for this is the Melee Physical Damage gem, I just haven’t been able to get my hands on one.

Dual Strike with the same setup as Cleave. For any of your Physical Damage Abilities you will want a setup similar to the Life Gain/Fast Attacks/Melee Damage support gem setup.

Anything else is really preference.

Gameplay

Basic Combat Rotations

Single Target Fights: Basically, you are spamming Dual Strike on the target while maintaining Max Frenzy Orbs on yourself and Warlord’s Mark on the target.

AoE Fights: As you engage a fight you want to have Molten Shell up and put Warlord’s Mark on all the targets, then Cleave until your hand gets tired. Molten Shell is not worth recasting during a fight due to Cleave’s high damage and life gain.

Frequently Asked Questions! – Please Read Before Posting

Why Axes?
I picked Axes because of their increased damage intrinsic bonus. I also originally picked them because of my fear that I would not be able to equip any other end game weapon type with the lack of Dex nodes. However, I now have much more Dex with this build so the possibilities have really opened up to using different weapons.

Why Molten Shell?
I think Molten Shell is one of the most under-appreciated skills in the game right now. It provides a HUGE armor bonus, with armors nodes you’re getting close to 2k armor from it. Also, the main function of this build is sustained life gain… Which means you need to be attacking… Which means you can’t really use any other skills aside from your Life Leech skills… Which means you need something that you can throw up before a fight. Molten Shell does just that, and additionally does a massive AoE burst.
And no, I don’t typically use this on single target fights. Unless I get the chance to reapply without taking any damage.

Is it okay to use other weapon types?
Yes! No doubt, remember this post is really more just me putting out a concept of a build and you guys expanding on it… Its pretty boring if you just “cookie-cutter” a build, there’s no pride of ownership in that! There are several variants to this build you can use. I actually am working on making a Sword variant… There’s some pretty sick “reduced enemy chance to block” nodes I want to mess around with.

Why do you keep saying you don’t like Blood Rage?
I made this build with Regen in mind, in fact I would say it was the main inspiration of the build. If you boil down the idea of using vs. not using Blood Rage; it really is essentially a “high risk-high reward” vs. a safer play-style. However, remember… All you will really be gaining from BR is the life leech because you will rarely be low health, which is the requirement of receiving the bonus attack speed.

What rewards did you pick for the Bandit Quest?
Normal: +8% resist (Kraityn). Cruel and Merciless: Passive Points.
My rationale for picking the 8% resists is that every basic +All Resist node is 6%, making this bonus 2% more effective. I think of it as the game giving me a free +8% resist node in my tree, which I would take in a heartbeat.

I notice you haven’t updated your current level lately, what’s up with that?
After I progressed through Act 3 I decided to turn my focus to other characters, I’m currently working on a Cold Caster Shadow that I’m loving. However, I still check/update this thread and help out my fellow Duelists!

What’s with the pictures at the top of the page?
Seanald Trump, ROFL. And Witchbro, the most epic man to ever roam the Earth.