[CLASS BUILD] Lady of Pain - High-speed, heavy-armored DPS Fighter

[AndreaColombo]

I was planning my party for a 3.04 playthrough and when it came to filling the sixth slot, a tank-ish character seemed like the best fit—which put me in the rather awkward position of generally disliking tank characters (I find them boring) while needing one. So I thought to myself, "Let's a hire a henchman and make a tank-ish version of the Lady of Pain."

 

I did and I thought to myself, "What a wonderful build!"

(My actual thoughts may have been different and hereby so reported for the sake of a pun.)

 

So here it is:

 

 

Tank of Pain

As customary, anything not explicitly mentioned in this post is to be considered unchanged from post #96.

 

Premises

 

 

This is NOT a pure-tank build. I didn't want to make one 'cause pure tanks have always struck me as rather boring to play; moreover, since PX2 came along they have seemingly become much less effective.

 

As a variant of the Lady of Pain, Tank of Pain is ultimately a DPS Fighter build—except it sacrifices some DPS in favor of sturdiness. Based on my personal taste and play style, I sacrificed as little as possible in terms of offense while trying to improve on the traditionally weak spots of the main build: low Deflection and lackluster Will and Concentration.

 

I do, however, provide alternative options for those who may prefer a tankier approach at the cost of extra DPS. Just keep in mind that enemy A.I. is more than happy to disengage your tank and eat your free attack if you have low Accuracy and deal little damage.

 

 

Race, Background

 

 

For this build it is not necessarily to play as an Aumaua as we're not maxing out on MIG. I chose Human just because, but you may want to go Boreal Dwarf for the extra Accuracy, Moon Godlike for the healing (at the cost of your head equipment slot), or any other race really.

 

Background is also not vital for the same reason; I chose Aedyr just because but it can be anything so long as your attributes match the distribution shown below.

 

 

Attribute scores

 

 

 

I made this build for a hired henchman rather than for my protagonist, so I won't list any bonus attribute points only the Watcher can obtain. Needless to say if you play Tank of Pain as your main, those bonuses will make it stronger.

 

MIG: 15 [18] (+3 Pensiavi mes Rèi)

 

CON: 10

 

DEX: 10 [13] (+3 Ring of Thorns)

 

PER: 18

 

INT: 10

 

RES: 15

 

Notes:

• With this build I've generally kept attribute-boosting items to a minimum to make room for other items that better suit the tank concept in my opinion. Don't forget to factor in the +3 bonus from Caed Nua as well as the bonus from food (+2 CON from Pearlwood Chicken, +2 DEX from Rauatai Sweet Pie, +2 INT from Casità Casserole; you may want the +2 MIG from Farmer's Spread too when you're using Champion's Boon on her.)
• This stat spread was made with the +3 MIG resting bonus in mind; if you're going to choose a different one, subtract 3 from the attribute you're going to boost with the resting bonus and add 3 to MIG.
• High PER is necessary to offset the Accuracy penalty from your shield, lest your enemies feel no threat from your puny disengagement attacks. I would have wanted to fit a +2 in there from an item but ultimately preferred to enchant her armor to Legendary instead. If you're going for Superb to keep Legendary to other characters, by all means give her a +2 PER from the armor to get a nice, round 20.
• If you want a higher RES score, check out the alternative stat array below.

 

Talents & Abilities

 

 

 

As usual in no particular order; talents and abilities that are not part of the main build are italicized.

 

Talents:

Weapon Focus

Weapon Mastery

Weapon and Shield Style

Hold the Line

Rapid Recovery

Savage Attack

Vulnerable Attack OR Body Control

Apprentice's Sneak Attack

 

Notes:

• Since we're replacing the usual two-hander with a one-hander plus shield, we're also replacing Two-Handed Style with Weapon and Shield Style.
• Hold the Line is the quintessential tank talent, as it enables your tank to engage one extra enemy. This will work in combo with your endgame sword Sheathed in Autumn, which grants you a third engagement slot, and with the ability Overbearing Guard listed below. Ultimately, Tank of Pain will be able to hold three enemies still with the threat of a damaging disengaging attack that will prone them and come at an Accuracy bonus.
• Rapid Recovery goes in combo with the healing items you'll be wearing (see the equipment section below) and the Healing Multiplier resting bonus you'll get from Survival. As tanks are meant to be durable and sturdy, I saw no reason to drop the regeneration concept from the Glass of Pain variant since it works so incredibly well.
• Vulnerable Attack is likely going to give you more DPS than Body Control gives you protection; however, it will also slow you down and you won't be using a Speed weapon to make up for it this time around. You may still want to go with Vulnerable Attack and activate it only against high-DR targets; or you may want to go with Body Control since it gives you a +10 against Stun, which is the one affliction no Priest spell or scroll can protect you from.
• If you want more tankiness at the cost of some DPS, I provide an alternative talent selection below.

 

Abilities:

Knock Down

Disciplined Barrage

Weapon Specialization

Armored Grace

Critical Defense

Overbearing Guard

Charge OR Confident Aim

Triggered Immunity

 

Notes:

• Triggered Immunity and Critical Defense are of course a given for any Fighter tank build.
• Overbearing Guard may seem like an underwhelming ability at a glance, but it's actually pretty good if you're tanking. Enemies will think twice before breaking engagement if your disengagement attacks have bonus damage, bonus Accuracy, and prone them. If they still chose to break engagement, your chances to prone them would be pretty good and that would still keep them away from your back line long enough for you to re-engage them.
• The choice between Confident Aim and Charge is a matter of play style, as both are very good abilities. Confident Aim is always a great choice for extra damage and, in the case of a tank, also for the Graze-to-Hit conversion given your lower Accuracy (though this build doesn't to half bad in that department); on the other hand, Charge means reaching priority targets (or rescuing your back line) immediately and without suffering disengagement attacks.

 

Equipment

 

 

 

Head: Sanguine Plate's Helm

Neck: Cloak of the Tireless Defender

Body: Sanguine Plate (enchanted to Legendary; Damage-proofed; Durgan-enhanced.)

Hands: Glittering Gauntlets OR Bracers of Deflection

Ring: Pensiavi mes Rèi

Ring: Ring of Protection

Boots: Frythr's Plated Greaves

Belt: Belt of Bountiful Healing

 

Notes:

• Sanguine Plate is a staple of the Lady of Pain build and, as a plate armor, goes well with the idea of a tank. Sanguine Plate's Helm is more than just an aesthetic choice in this case, as -50% duration to Stun and Knock Down effects are always nice to have on a front-line character supposed to take lots of punishment.
• The Cloak of the Tireless Defender + Belt of Bountiful Healing combo is unchanged from the Glass of Pain variant, as they work in combo with Rapid Recovery, the Heal Multiplier from Survival, and your high MIG score to push your healing through the roof. This is particularly good on a tank build as it greatly increases its durability.
• Glittering Gauntlets are a perfect fit for this build as they provide a nifty +9 Deflection without taking up a ring slot, as well as dazing enemies you hit. This makes your disengagement attacks even more dangerous and generally increases the effectiveness of your tank in melee while contributing to its defense. The Bracers of Deflection will do just fine until you get the Glittering Gauntlets from the relative stronghold quest.
• Ring of Protection goes without saying on a tank; Pensiavi mes Rèi increases your MIG score to boost your combat effectiveness as well as your healing.
• Frythr's Plated Greaves are pretty good for a tank given their bonus to DR; however, as they come rather late, you may want to use Shod-in-Faith, Greenstained Boots, Pathwork Boots, or Fenwalkers in the meanwhile (though generally I think Shod-in-Faith and Greenstained Boots should go to a character with lower Deflection.)
• For those who prefer a more tanky approach, I provide an alternative equipment array below.

 

 

 

 

Weapons

 

 

 

As mentioned before, this is going to be sword and shield build.

 

Weapon: Shatterstar (enchanted to Superb or Legendary; Durgan-enhanced); Sheathed in Autumn (Durgan-enhanced; optionally enchanted to Legendary.)

Shield: Redfield (enchanted to Superb or Legendary; Durgan-enhanced.)

 

Notes:

• Redfield is one of my favorite shields, and not just because it looks terrific with Sanguine Plate As a medium shield, it provides what I consider the best protection versus Accuracy loss deal of the lot. At -4 Accuracy, which you more than make up for with your PER score, you get +16 Deflection off the bat, which increases to +24 when you enchant it to Superb (and that's without factoring in the bonus from Weapon and Shield Style.) On top of that, it continuously passively debuffs your enemies' Accuracy, which is always handy. Any other medium shield will do just fine while you wait to get Redfield in Act III.
• Sheathed in Autumn is one of the best swords in the game, and a perfect fit for a tank as it enables its wielder to engage one additional enemy. As a bonus, it already comes as Superb and with a lash, thus minimizing the enchanting expenditure on your part. Unfortunately there aren't many particularly good swords before Act III except Steadfast which also comes rather late; until you get either of them, any other sword will do (just slap a lash on it and make it Exceptional when you can.
• NEW! Shatterstar is possibly the best weapon choice for this build. Not only does it come a lot earlier; it offers the same extra engagement slot as Sheathed in Autumn and grants +50% crit damage to boot. The latter synergizes really well with this build as it can be buffed to have a very high Accuracy (and therefore made to crit often) but its damage output suffers from not using a two-hander and/or Vulnerable Attack. Additionally, while Shatterstar can be enchanted to Legendary just like Sheathed in Autumn can, you can add to it a lash of your choice instead of being stuck with a predetermined Freeze lash (pro tip: Freeze is the most resisted elemental damage type on average.) Kudos to AlexDeLarge for suggesting this

 

Calculation for your recovery is as follows:

 

Without potion of DAOM:

 

Recovery: 100% + 50% (plate armor) +5% (Frythr's Plated Greaves) -15% (Durganized armor) - 20% (Armored Grace) = 120%

 

Bonuses: 15% (Durganized sword) * 15% (Durganized shield) = 32%

 

Final: 120% - 32% = 88% before DEX

 

 

With potion of DAOM:

 

Recovery: 100% + 50% (plate armor) +5% (Frythr's Plated Greaves) -15% (Durganized armor) - 20% (Armored Grace) = 120%

 

Bonuses: 15% (Durganized sword) * 15% (Durganized shield) * 50% (DAOM) = 98%

 

Final: 120% - 98% = 22% before DEX

 

 

With Ring of Thorns and Rauatai Sweet Pie, you get 15 DEX or 15% Action Speed to subtract from your remaining recovery. With DAOM you won't be at zero recovery, but still pretty darn fast.

 

If you want to reach 0 recovery with this build you need to replace Sheathed in Autumn with The Last Blade of the White Forge, which is the only sword in the game to come with the Speed enchantment. You can enchant it to Superb and add a lash to match the damage output of Sheathed in Autumn, and reach 0 recovery at the cost of the extra engagement slot. However, keep in mind The Last Blade of the White Forge comes very late unless you rush it (and even then, it doesn't come very early) so it might not be worth your while.

 

 

 

 

 

Want a tankier version?

Look no further! Here's an alternative talent, ability, and equipment selection for those who are willing to sacrifice some more DPS for extra tankiness.

 

 

 

 

Talents:

Weapon Focus

Weapon Mastery

Weapon and Shield Style

Hold the Line

Rapid Recovery

Savage Attack OR Bull's Will OR Snake's Reflexes

Vulnerable Attack OR Body Control

Apprentice's Sneak Attack Superior Deflection

 

Abilities:

Knock Down

Disciplined Barrage Vigorous Defense

Weapon Specialization

Armored Grace

Critical Defense

Overbearing Guard

Charge OR Confident Aim Fearless

Triggered Immunity

 

Notes:

• Vigorous Defense is a good ability but it doesn't stack with Scroll of Defense. If you tend to use the latter a lot, you may want to take Disciplined Barrage instead (but watch out: Disciplined Barrage doesn't stack with Scroll of Valor.)
• Fearless is a good ability but if you're going against enemies that notoriously use Frighten / Terrify against you (*cough* dragons *cough*) you're probably going to use a Scroll of Prayer Against Fear anyway, so Charge or Confident Aim may still be a better choice.

 

Equipment:

(anything not listed here is unchanged from the main list above.)

Head: Argwes Adra's Helm

Body: Argwes Adra (enchanted to Legendary; Durgan-enhanced; +2 PER or +1 PER and damage proofing.)

Shield: The Last Tower

 

Notes:

• Argwes Adra is the tank armor par excellence, as it grants Second Chance on unconscious which further increases the tank's durability. I personally found this build doesn't really need it, as it hardly ever goes down in the first place; however, if you feel like having this kind of safety net, this is the armor for you.
• Argwes Adra's Helm is also perfectly suited for a tank, with its +3 bonus to RES.
• The Last Tower is more of an aesthetic choice, because let's face it: Who wears red with green? That said, it conveniently offers extra protection for those who want a tankier build (at the cost an extra 4 points of Accuracy); the +1 to Move Speed is just gravy.

Edited October 30, 2016 by AndreaColombo

[Raven Darkholme]

I didn't know about the existence of that shield, looks interesting and so does your build as always.

Edited October 9, 2016 by Raven Darkholme

[Boeroer]

How come? You can simply buy it in Twin Elms. But as far as I know it only loweres enemies' ACC by 3. No will debuff. And other than Little Saviour, you have to hit with that aura. Still a nice shield.

 

Another nice option for such a tanky fighter is the Executioner's Hood instead of the sanguine plate's helm. It also looks nice with the plate and gives you that sweet frightening aura that helps even more with tanking. Together with Redfield you'll lower enemies' ACC by 13.

[AndreaColombo]

But as far as I know it only loweres enemies' ACC by 3. No will debuff.

 

Ah, yes. It bestows -3 to Accuracy and targets Will; I must've gotten confused.

 

When I first tried it before TWM was out, the shield would target the wielder as well. It wouldn't bestow the Accuracy penalty on them, but if it scored a crit, it would trigger Frenzy from the Sanguine Plate, which was pretty nice at the beginning of combat Not sure it still works like that, though. When it happened to me was a very long time ago.

[Raven Darkholme]

How come? You can simply buy it in Twin Elms. But as far as I know it only loweres enemies' ACC by 3. No will debuff. And other than Little Saviour, you have to hit with that aura. Still a nice shield.

 

Another nice option for such a tanky fighter is the Executioner's Hood instead of the sanguine plate's helm. It also looks nice with the plate and gives you that sweet frightening aura that helps even more with tanking. Together with Redfield you'll lower enemies' ACC by 13.

Yea I guess I just never looked at the stats of it.

[Boeroer]

 

But as far as I know it only loweres enemies' ACC by 3. No will debuff.

 

Ah, yes. It bestows -3 to Accuracy and targets Will; I must've gotten confused.

 

When I first tried it before TWM was out, the shield would target the wielder as well. It wouldn't bestow the Accuracy penalty on them, but if it scored a crit, it would trigger Frenzy from the Sanguine Plate, which was pretty nice at the beginning of combat Not sure it still works like that, though. When it happened to me was a very long time ago.

 

If it still works like that it would be a must-have item for any Wild Orlan! His Stalwart Defiance would be up all the time. 

Edited October 9, 2016 by Boeroer

[Jojobobo]

I would go for Bear's Fortitude over Body Control, I'm reasonably sure most Stun (and Paralysis and Petrification) attacks target Fortitude anyway (things like Physic Backlash target Will, but they're pretty damn rare) - so you're looking at a universally applied +10 defence over the situational +10 defence (I was faced with this same choice on my current character and picked Bear's Fortitude when I realised Body Control only offers 10 and not 15 or 20 defence against the attacks). Other than that, nice update on a new alternate version of the build.

Edited October 11, 2016 by Jojobobo

[JackalTornMoons]

What is everyone's generally accepted order of usefulness for the save feats (for tanky characters in particular)?  I realize it largely depends, but something like this?:

 

1) Bull's

2) Bear's

3) Body Control

4) Mental Fortress

5) Unstoppable

6) Snake's

[Raven Darkholme]

Will is useless.

I always stack Bear's and Body control and don't even bother with the rest, since you can raise reflex with Llengrath's potion.

[Boeroer]

Right - fortitude is the most important defense for me because it helps against the most nasty disables. And even grazes from those are bad.That's why I love Frenzy (and even Greater Frenzy if I can spare the talent point).

 

I would not say that Will is useless, but it's also the last one on my list. If you're not a Dragon Thrashed Chanter it's no big problem if you get charmed etc. But since I like most of my chars with a lot of INT it's never a big problem anyways. 

 

Reflex is nice, but besides using spells (or potions which mimic spells) it can also be buffed by weapon & shield style.

 

Deflection surely is important, but can be boosted in so many ways.

 

And if I have a priest in the party I don't care about defense against afflictions at all.

[Raven Darkholme]

Right - fortitude is the most important defense for me because it helps against the most nasty disables. And even grazes from those are bad.That's why I love Frenzy (and even Greater Frenzy if I can spare the talent point).

 

I would not say that Will is useless, but it's also the last one on my list. If you're not a Dragon Thrashed Chanter it's no big problem if you get charmed etc. But since I like most of my chars with a lot of INT it's never a big problem anyways. 

 

Reflex is nice, but besides using spells (or potions which mimic spells) it can also be buffed by weapon & shield style.

 

Deflection surely is important, but can be boosted in so many ways.

 

And if I have a priest in the party I don't care about defense against afflictions at all.

Thing is because of scrolls will is quite unimportant since you can just immune everything even without a priest.

You can't immune stun and I don't think prone (not quite sure on prone).

Also if you run a paladin you don't even need charm immune as long as his will is decent (For me it's the lowest attribute and still at 143 in combat) because you just knock your allies out of charm with SA + Aegis combo.

[Boeroer]

Sure you can be immune to stun and prone - with a priest. Liturgies against Minor/Major Afflictions for the win!

[Raven Darkholme]

I want that as scroll, I hate priests!

Edited October 24, 2016 by Raven Darkholme

[AndreaColombo]

I want that as scroll, I hate priests!

 

I too want that as scrolls, but I love priests!

[Ineth]

I really enjoyed this build for my main character, but I must admit that the "Frenzy + Consecrated Grounds" combo stopped being its main attraction at high levels, because then it became all about Charge.

 

Playing on Hard difficulty, in most typical trash-mob battles she could insta-kill one enemy of her choice in the first round of combat by Charge'ing them, and then a second enemy (plus potentially ones standing in between) using the second Charge. All without having to care about engagement or walking distances. Very satisfying... :D

 

So I'm wondering, is there a variation of this build that is intentionally focused on the Charge ability, making it even deadlier/faster/amesomer...?

Edited October 27, 2016 by Ineth

[AndreaColombo]

I haven't built specifically around the Charge ability but the Glass of Pain variant replaces Shod-in-Faith with Frythr's Plated Greaves, which may better synergize with it. Granted, they come rather late, but so does Charge; you may wear Shod-in-Faith at lower levels and swap them when you get the Greaves.

 

They grant a 1/rest ability that, going by memory, gives +3.5 move speed, +15 defense against Engagement, and prevents Engagement from stopping your movement. With it, you could quickly rejoin the rest of your party after charging priority targets, in case you had to protect a squishy or just wanted to be back within the priest's buffs' AOE.

 

Other than that, as you can't really change the speed at which you charge, the ability is all about pumping MIG to boost damage, which the LoP already does

[FluxWing]

Hmm, interesting new build variant. I had a similar concept for my tank in my last run.

 

Actually I was inspired by the Tanks in the Iron Flail camp. A place I usually use to level up soulbound weapons like steadfast, unlabored blade and the like. With a deflection potion and a shield you are usually safe against most enemies. Except for those tin-can warriors with flails. They always tend to consistently hit you for silly small amounts of damage regardless of your deflection, wearing down your Health.

So I thought, what if those guy had really high Might? Would a custom warrior built with flails as a focus be able to tank and do good damage?

 

I had almost your exact abilities + talents.

Key tanky stuff: 3xDeflection boosters, Bears's Fortitude, Critical Def.

Key dps stuff: Weapon mastery:Adventurer, Armored grace, Confident Aim.

 

Stats(Wild Orlan):

M: 17

C: 14
D: 11

P: 10

I: 10

R: 16

 

Just like you used 18 perception to counteract the large shield. I instead kept using small/medium shields (Little Saviour at the end) with 10 Per.

And together with flails (30% graze to hit), confident aim (20% graze to hit) and Fighter's 30 base accuracy, I figured this would give me enough accuracy to be able to afford Max Might

As a side-note, Armored graze and using a fast flail (Unforgiven) most of the game, and you won't notice this guy is wearing plate and having 11 Dex, he hits quite fast.

 

Sturdy as a brick, and hits like a...clock....well not very hard, but at least fast and very consistent medium damage. Keeps up with like 80-90% damage done of my other single-target damage dealers, while at the same time being sturdy enough for all the big bosses in PotD.

 

I know, not enough spectacular changes to warrant making my own guide out of it. (But if I did I would have probably named it after his favorite weapon-set: The Unforgiven Little Saviour -

There is not a single kneecap being safe in all of Eora when this guys waddles about.)

 

Did not mean to hijack your build thread in anyway, I figured it could be interesting to see an alternative way to continue your Max-Might approach, I could easily see using this guy with an Aumaua and 21 starting Might for even more pain.

And I must point out that I really do enjoy the "of Pain"-builds you have made. Very fun and effective-the-whole-game type of builds.

Fighter is a very underestimated class in PoE for some odd reason. I couldn't stand the class in the Infinity Engine games, but in PoE it is quite flexible in comparison. 

[AndreaColombo]

Updated the Tank of Pain build to reflect AlexDeLarge's suggestion to use Shatterstar instead of Sheathed in Autumn as the weapon of choice. It comes a lot earlier and offers the same +1 engagement slot perk with an extra +50% crit damage and more flexibility in choosing your own lash instead of being stuck with one given.

 

@FluxWing — Confident Aim is a great ability and I will definitely be taking it with all my build variants after 3.04 lands. Recently I've been avoiding it because of the bug that makes it impossibly overpowered upon saving/reloading.

 

Thanks for posting your build, by the way! It's always interesting to see other approaches to filling the same role in a party, and in fact there would be nothing wrong with giving it its own, dedicated thread with the fancy name

[QuiteGoneJin]

Hi Mocker22,

 

my favorite party composition for the Lady of the Pain includes KDubya's Juggernaut Monk to help in the front line (conveniently, Zahua's attributes are very close to the Juggernaut's),

a pure-support Priest,

a DPS/CC Wizard,

a ranged Cipher mostly for CC/ranged DPS,

and either a Paladin if you want more focus on the front line, or a Druid (Hiravias does perfectly well) if you want more focus on casting (plus a well-built Druid can be pretty powerful in melee when Spiritshifted.)

...

How would you build said Paly and Priest? 

[JerekKruger]

For the priest, this build seems to be an obvious candidate (it's even a build by Andrea). I can't say for certain what Paladin build Andrea had in mind, but the standard Paladin build would be to go for various party improving buffs and healing spells, then spec into Sacred Immolation at level 13, making sure you have picked up Scion of Flame at some point to maximise its damage.

[QuiteGoneJin]

Do either of these work for Paly? http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/86277-class-build-fire-priest-ranged-sup-offdps/

 

Which of the Cipher builds is most up to date? I tried a Cipher recently and its abilities seemed so much weaker than I remembered from ages back when I played them last. 

[Boeroer]

What do you mean? For paladin? Or was it a typo and you mean party? Those priest builds work very well. The max MIG part makes them very good damage dealers, too.

[AndreaColombo]

Heya,

 

The Unfaithful is my current go-to Priest build, but any will do the trick. Been forever since I've used a Paladin; the Thundercat and Chillfog builds work really well with Glass of Pain and a priest

[Caeyrii]

I'm curious to why Defender isn't in either iteration of Tank of Pain.

[Boeroer]

Basically because it's crap I guess.

 

Now seriously: it surpresses Savage Attack and lowers your deflection, only giving you +2 engagement slots. Hold the Line would be better - if you want to do anything with engagement that is - which is a quite meh approach though. You can totally ignore any talents and abilites around engagement and be totally fine in my opinion.