With this PoE 3.11 Harvest Duelist Lacerate Gladiator Safe Starter Build, you can simply reach max block that mean you will have enough tank to do all the content in the game. You can be played with only 2 buttons if you want, Leap Slam + Lacerate.

 

Quick Jump

Pros & Cons

  • + Beginner friendly can be played in trade or SSF leagues and very easy to gear.
  • + Flasks are only situational, you don't need to get RSI to play this build.
  • + Can be played with only 2 buttons, Leap Slam + Lacerate.
  • + Don't need to constantly dodge everything; between Max Block, 5.5k+ hp and 7k armour (14k with flask) you have a good amount of physical mitigation. Add-on Enfeeble, Immortal Call and healing on block and you can tank most content.
  • - Not hardcore viable. Block is great for most things, but can't stop a 1-shot. White mobs in this game 1-shot you sometimes.
  • - Not good for big group play. Does ~1.5 mil dps, it is enough for solo content but not groups of 3 or more.
  • - Not a speed clear build. Lacerate is slow and even picking up a lot of attack speed from the tree it only gets near 3 attacks/sec. Of course, this is more than enough to maintain 8 stacks of bleed.
  • Can't do Physical Reflect.

 

Skill Tree

Ascendancy

Painforged > Versatile Combatant > Blood in the Eyes > Gratuitous Violence

Bandit: Kill All (recommended)

Pantheon: Solaris (Crit upgrade), Shakari (Poison Immune upgrade)

Passive Tree & PoB

leveling: 25 points -> 49 points -> 74 points

Path of Building Link: https://pastebin.com/YGrcAhPN

2m Bleed DPS variant: https://pastebin.com/wwSswrxi 


 

 

 

Gems Setup

Weapon 1: CWDT(5) -> Tempest Shield(1) -> Summon Flame golem(7) - For bossing swap Summon Flame Golem for Vulnerability (21/0)

Weapon 2: CWDT(20) -> Enfeeble(6) -> Immortal Call(20/20) - Enfeeble is 6 because of Int requirements

Helmet: Portal -> Blood Rage(20) -> War Banner(20) -> Enhance(3)

Gloves: Leap Slam(20) -> Blood Magic(20) -> Fortify(20) -> Faster Attacks(20)

Boots: Reckoning(21) -> Life Gain on Hit(21), Herald of Purity(20), Pride(21/23)

Body Armour: Lacerate(21/20) -> Brutality(21/23) -> Multistrike(21/23) -> Melee Physical Damage(21/0) -> Deadly Ailments(21/23) -> Chance to Bleed(21/23) - Listed in order of importance

 

Gear Setup

Helmet

40% increased Lacerate Damage

OR

Lacerate deals X to X added Physical Damage against Bleeding Enemies (increased damage is slightly better)

+10% Area of Effect craft(QoL)

OR

Physical Damage taken as Fire craft(survival)

Life

Resists

Body Armour

Armour base (Astral Plate is nice, but not needed and more expensive)

Life

+6% Chance to Block Attack Damage (Body Armour unveil, generic)

Resists (the more resists you get here the cheaper your rings will be)

Gloves

Hunter Armour base (Spiked Gloves do not increase bleed dps)

+13-15% Physical Damage over Time Multiplier (most important)

10%+ Attack Speed (apply bleeds faster, leap slam faster)

Life

Resists

+X - X Physical Damage to Attacks (works for bleeds)

Belt of the Deceiver

Using this for the "You take 30% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes". The only thing I was really dying to was 1-shots from rares. This is effectively 30% more HP vs Crits, very strong.

Boots

Armour base

25% + Movement Speed

Life

Cannot Be Frozen (Boots unveil, Rin) (use Heat flask before this) (1ex craft cost)

Resists

0.5% of Damage Leech as Life and Mana if you've killed recently (You can get rid of the leech on the tree for more HP if you want, I don't bother)

Amulet, The Anvil

Anvils are all the same, just grab any and anoint Growth and Decay on it.

Rings

You need to get a lot of resists here, but they are also a good source of damage.

Resists

Life

Adds X - X Physical Damage to Attacks

You can craft these yourself with a Steel/Iron ring base and Screaming Essence of Contempt, but if you're in a trade league check the trade site first, there are great bargains to be had for less than 10c.

Axe

Hunter Royal Axe base (highest average hit since AS doesn't help bleed we use this)

Axe comparison image: https://imgur.com/7xKcvY3

60% chance for Bleeding inflicted with this Weapon to deal 100% More Damage (a weapon with only this on it will be almost as good as a perfect generic melee weapon. Try to get this!)

Bleeding you inflict deals damage 13-15% faster (very, very good)

  • % Increased Physical Damage
  • Adds X to X Physical Damage
  • % to Quality
  • % Increased Damage with Bleeding
  • % Increased Attack Speed (QoL: does not increase DPS but can apply bleeds faster)

Craft your own Axes is first choice, getting the delve mod isn't too hard unless you're really unlucky.

used: Corroded Fossil + Jagged Fossil

You can add in Serrated, but that dilutes the pool with Attack Speed, Crit Chance, Accuracy and other attack modifiers we don't really want.

Shield

Recover % Life on Block

Life

Block % (if you get enough block % here you might not need it on Body Armour or Amulet)

Resists

Jewels

One Jewel with Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you

Life

Damage

Basically, you want to get life here and as much damage as you can. For a more detailed selection of gear, please refer to the PoB Link.

 

Leveling

Gems

Lvl 1: Double Strike (beach)

Chance to Bleed support (beach), link with Double Strike

Lvl 4: Ancestral Call (Mercy Mission side quest), link with Double Strike.

Puncture (Break Some Eggs quest) (replace Double Strike), War Banner , Reckoning

Lvl 8: Life Gain on Hit, link with Reckoning

Lvl 12: Lacerate (replace Puncture), link with Maim and Chance to Bleed
Maim

Lvl 16: Herald of Purity, Flesh and Stone

Lvl 18: Melee Physical Damage, link with Lacerate

After that just transition to the end-game setup. E.G. Replace Flesh and Stone with Pride, Replace Maim with Brutality, etc.

Gear

Just grab whichever Sword you can, when you get your first Blacksmith Whetstone, get a level appropriate sword and sell White Sword + Blacksmith Whetstone + Magic or Rare Rustic Sash. Once you get Lacerate, switch to Axes. You want to do this about every 10-15 levels to keep your damage at a good place while levelling. Once you get enough Blacksmith Whetstones you can make it 20% before doing the vendor recipe. Other than that just try to keep resists above 50 and get the sockets you need (tons of red).