Level 97 Eviscerate Gladiator^3.25

Notes

FAQ 

So what Uber Lab is best?
When doing Pinnacle Bosses: War of Attrition is best. During maps it's a nearly completely dead node though.
How do we aggravate while we have this tree you ask? We have 10% chance to aggravate from the tree and 10% from vulnerability quality.

For mapping we go with Jagged Technique, this is since for clearing we want to hit a target once and have it bleed properly.

Why no Determination?
Determination was nerfed, we already grab a bunch of endurance charges and new base types will give us more base armour.
This combined with the fact that Blood Magic solves all our mana issues and alleviates a bunch of socket pressure(no lifetap required) makes it better to just run Pride and drop all other auras.

Patch notes said life gained on block was removed from shields, your build still has it!
The patch note says "Suffix Modifiers on Shields that cause you to Gain Life when you Block can no longer roll."
There are 2 of these type of mods: the mod "# life gained when you block" from non-influenced shields and the mod "Recover 5% of life when you block" from shaper influence.
Currently the theory is that since the Shaper mod says "recover" this isn't removed(and it wouldn't make sense to remove this and not remove es gained on block).
In case it turns out it actually IS removed, swap to a non-influenced shield and replace the "Recover 5% of life when you block" mod with a "+2% to all maximum resistances" mod

MANA PROBLEMS EARLY PROBABLY TAKE REDUCED MANA NODES AS NEEDED
You can take mana mastery early for 5 flat mana regen (this is almost a level 3 clarity!)
	
WHY SUNDER?
You can play Earthquake or Bladestorm of Uncertainty as well, mostly preference as it's just your clear skill, retaliation will be the single target.

PLAYSTYLE
We mostly just shield charge and flame dash around and use Sunder and monsters will explode. Eviscerate / Crushing Fist whenever you block
On single target you want to cast Vulnerability and use a Eviscerate / Crushing Fist procs. You also want to put down your War Banner (this is instant cast, really not as bad as it might seem).
In bosses with their own loadscreen you'll want to use Enduring Cry to keep up Endurance Charges.

LEVELING
Our first goal is getting to level 12, this is probably the most painful part of leveling, we use Spectral Throw for it, Ground Slam should work as well.
From level 12 to maps we'll use 2H axes with Sunder, which we'll slowly transition into bleed. 
Can swap to a shield earlier and go Retaliation skills if you want to risk it, requires going block nodes. Recommended to switch later once you have block, and stay 2H for longer. Merc Lab probably ideal.
See the "Level 13 Example" in the Items section for an example of how you can gear early on.

AXE CRAFTING
Essence of Contempt is key here.
Start by getting a 30% quality Reaver Axe. If this is hard to get a 30% quality Royal Axe will do.

Early/mid game you spam Essence of Contempt until you hit decent % phys, craft attack speed and you're done.
Later(expensive):
1. Spam Essence of Contempt until you hit hybrid % phys of the tier you want(don't go too greedy, T6+ should already be enough)
2. If you don't have an open prefix and suffix, annul until you do(while keeping the flat phys and hybrid phys of course)
3. Craft "Prefixes Cannot Be Changed"
4. Use a Veiled Orb, this should remove a suffix and add a prefix, if not: start over
5. Hope you unveil % phys, doesn't have to be % phys + bleed, any % phys works
6. Easiest method to proceed: Prefixes Cannot Be Changed -> Scout -> Multimod attack speed & dot mult
7. Harder method: Prefixes Cannot Be Changed -> Harvest add/remove speed and hope you hit high attack speed -> craft dot mult

THE RETALIATION LEVELING PLAN (spectral throw is better lul)

LEVEL ONE - Mule ranger for momentum + iron ring + check vendor for evasion shield (ms) and RRG or GGR
SWAP TO DUELIST - Take Shield Crush + Iron ring + check vendor again
copy / paste the regex: g-[gr]-r|r-[gr]-g|g-r-g|r-g-r|g-r|r-g|nne

LEVEL FOUR - Shield Charge + Crushing Fist + Warbanner
link Shield Charge + Shield Crush to momentum + chance to bleed

LEVEL TWELVE - swap to sunder over shield crush (depending on shield status and if you have a good 1-h)


DAY ONE UPDATE NOTES

BANDIT OPTIONS
	-They're honestly all fine options, I did opt into Alira for 15 ele res, it helps a lot for league start gearing
	-8% MS might be the best end-game
	-40 Life is not as good as expected since life rolls are so high on everything
	-+1 skill point might be better end-game as well

LAB
	-I ended up taking Block from first lab, but I think this depends on whether or not you can get a 40%+block shield early (they're actually not that hard to get) otherwise go for Retaliation node
	-If you don't need block, go for bleed explosions in Cruel - they're really nice, I had to wait until Merc personally though (block is REALLY important)
	-Lucky Block from Uber Lab, this node feels INSANE for this build, honestly it's a game changer. You get way more procs and no longer get hit much.

LEVELING GEMS + WHY NO SUNDER + WHY BLADESTORM?!
	-Shield Crush ended up being the best supplementary leveling skill for me (until I got enough block for retaliation)
	-1H Sunder just didn't feel great, so I didn't end up using it for more than a level or two
	-Bladestorm is an end-game GEM set-up now, only for utility (Maim + Fortify + Momentum) - this is mostly for procing Aggravate from our Vulnerability + Bloodletting node

SLIGHT TREE CHANGES
	-Still messing around with the tree and pathing but a few notes to make
	-GET THE AOE RETALIATION NODES ASAP - this is because Eviscerate scales REALLY well with AOE (I think you overlap way easier, and there is less of a deadzone in the middle, it's HUGE)
	-I opted to get Vanquisher instead of Marauder life - probably preference but just more damage vs more life basically
	-BLOOD STANCE AXE NODE WORKS WITHOUT BLOOD AND SAND!! (you are ALWAYS in blood stance naturally)

ENDURANCE CHARGE MOBS + STEAL CHARGE MAP MOD
	-Endurance Charges feel way stronger this league, not sure if it's intended change or a bug, or just the build
	-With that being said, the steal charge map mod is REALLY rippy and annoying because of it - we also rely a lot on endurance charges not to die

JACK THE AXE IS A GOOD STARTER WEAPON!
	-I ended up finding this axe myself, tbh early on it's not really easy to beat it, the buff is 20% more damage with bleed and 400 regen per enemy affected by your bleeds 
	-Really good recovery and it also has 35 dot multi on top of that!


DAY 2 EVISCERATE BLEED NOTES

THE 6-LINK
	-Volatility shows on POB to be the best 4th/5th link but I believe its too high variance to use early
	-Expert Retaliation feels REALLY good as a 4th link
	-Once you get Ryslatha's I would use Volatility as well - they scale really well together
	-Deadly Ailments is an option as well but it will be bad for leech/fortify, so I prefer Cruelty, generally you only choose one of these

BLADESTORM IS JUST UTILITY (WHY TRANSFIGURED?!)
	-I am testing out Transfigured Bladestorm just for some extra MS in the sand storms
	-It doesn't really matter much for damage because we are using it for the Maim+Culling+Aggravate chance (on tree + vuln quality, it hits fast and lingers)

ANNOINT?!
	-Currently using "Crushing Reply" which gives easy Fortify, could drop later if you put in Fortify gem on Evisc, or use a Crushing Fist set-up over bladestorm (Crushing Fist + Fist of War + Maim + Fortify)

TINCTURE IS OP!?	
	-You can use Tincture with "Blood Magic" and "Bloodsoaked Blade" keystone (it's 3 points)

I PLAN TO DROP BLOOD MAGIC EVENTUALLY!
	-Currently Blood Magic still but I will eventually try to drop it and go for Malevolence + Pride set-up (mana *should* be fine with "Spirit of War" nodes)

FRENZYS?!
	-I stopped using Blood Rage for a bit since the extra degen is a bit annoying
	-You can still get frenzies easily on this build with "frenzy charge gain" on chest implicit (we already have 100% charge duration, so this works out very well)

STILL NO PREPARED RESPONSE?!
	-Probably will try this out again over Bladestorm but it's not in POB (^^ for gem links)
	-Aggravate uptime will likely be lower so you might want 4 second aggravate mastery if you do go this route

MY DAMAGE IS TOO LOW?!
	-Make sure you take the Indiscriminate Revenge AOE nodes for the double overlap on Eviscerate, this is huge!
	-Most of the damage is from the weapon, "Jack the Axe" is very good starter but it won't be the super end-game weapon
	-6 Link and Gem quality helps a lot (especially things like Vulnerability for aggravate chance)
	-Ryslatha's and Volatility might feel bad occasionally (haven't tested enough yet)
	-Cluster set-up eventually will be much higher dps
	-Dot Multi neck/rings + Implicits on gear will help a lot as well
	-Dual Curse with Poacher's Mark could also be a thing later on (frenzys/flat dmg/phys reduce)


^x7070FF^x7070FFDAY 3 - 5 NOTES^7

NO BLOOD MAGIC?
	-Opted to switch into mana over Blood Magic
	-This allows me to fit in Malevolence and also it lets me use bleed tincture which adds quite a lot of single target damage! (this does fall off but you just use it to put a big bleed on boss with Eviscerate)
	-You'll want at least one -mana ring or amulet and also the "Spirit of War" nodes + mana reservation mastery / Might be able to swap earlier but might feel a bit bad without these
	-There is also reduced mana cost to attacks on helmet as well (other option is vuln effect, about 2% dps, which is worse than 1 pt on the tree)

VITALITY?!
	-Vitality is something that I want to run end-game at max level ideally, however right now I am using it at level one just for the watcher's eye mod

JACK THE AXE VS A RARE?!
	-I am still using Jack the Axe - which might surprise a lot of people
	-Main reason is HC trade is really limited on bases, and I didn't want to roll a random one
	-Jack the Axe also feels really good with the recovery and my damage already feels quite good, so I haven't felt the need to swap yet
	-A really good rare axe will be about 50-100% more damage, so definitely want to replace it for t17s / ubers

WHERE IS YOUR LIFE ON BLOCK SHAPER SHIELD!?	
	-I have yet to roll a good life on block / suppression shield that I am happy with, it's definitely REALLY good though, and this is another reason I haven't dropped the Jack the Axe yet!

NO FORIGVENESS ANOINT AND PREPARED RESPONSE (aka ping pong)
	-These two allow for Eviscerate and Crushing Fist to be spammed quite a lot
	-Between the Anoint and ascendancy you have a 70% to re-use the cooldown and ontop of that if you use Crushing Fist you have a 35% to reset Eviscerate
	-With that in mind I have added a Crushing Fist set-up with Maim linked 
	-To be honest though, I think it's unneccessary if you don't want to press more buttons, it does feel pretty nice though
	-Either way you'd want to Anoint for Eviscerate (it's very, very good)
	-Possible to drop "Expert Retaliation" for another damage link with this set-up, however I really like the QOL still

FORTIFY?!	
	-Since my last POB - I have changed Crushing Reply to No Forgiveness and started using Fortify Gem on Eviscerate (you could use it on Crushing Fist as well)
	-You could technically take Fortify Cluster, but this build is already too point starved so I think this is the best solution

AILMENTS AND PANTHEONS
	-Currently running Brine King and Garukhan for immune to freeze and reduced shock effect
	-Eventually I will likely fit in Ancestral Vision + Essence of Loathing Boots in order to be fully immune, and then I will likely run Arakaali and Ralakesh instead

USING BLADESTORM STILL?!
	-Bladestorm even without that much support still provides us with good uptime on aggravate as well as culling (you could probably link maim here as well but I just have it linked with shield charge)
	-This also provides us with something to press while waiting for bosses to hit us (it feels weird just standing there sometimes, at least to me)

NO RT?!
	-I've changed the tree around and messed with dropping RT (I had it for bladestorm/shield charge)
	-It feels fine without it, even though it's still probably good and I really wanted a few more points after dropping Blood Magic

AXE NODES VS RETALIATION NODES?!? ALSO WHERES VANQUISHER (why do you keep changing the tree?!?!)
	-I've been testing a lot of different points and masterys in game and on POB, so it's been changing quite a bit
	-After some testing I prefer the Retaliation nodes a bit more than the Axe nodes, just because the masterys are quite nice
	-20% armor after each retaliation skill used is ridiculous, it regularly gives me 80k+ armor while mapping
	-"Crushed" from Vanquisher and the phys matery is quite nice but I opted to drop RT so it's too many points now to be worth it (we also can get "Crush on Hit" from awakened Brutality at level 5)

SUPER END-GAME
	-For Ubers/T17s I am thinking of running Melding + a Purity (probably fire) and max res jewels, to hit 90 max - currently dot degens are a bit annoying (shaper beam for example) so this is probably the way
	-With a good axe this current POB is around 10M dps with tincture, you can definitely get better gear / scale more towards offense if you want to go that route (cluster / dual curse / dropping expert retaliation maybe?)



WEEK ONE UPDATE

REPLACED JACK + NEW SHIELD
	-Once you replace Jack the Axe, you'll want some more recovery, this is done by using Vitality linked to Arrogance (it reserves similar life to Jack)
	-The second way is to get Life on Block, this is INSANE recovery and you'll feel immortal while mapping, I simply used reforged harvest with Life on a shaper shield until I hit Life on Block % + Suppression
	-Keep in mind this does take a lot, and you'll want to do it on an evasion base to have a higher chance, ideally it's ilevel 86 for t1 suppression.

CRUSHING FIST SEEMS NOT WORTH.. (at least once you get anoint?)
	-After testing quite a lot, while it feels nice to use Crushing Fist, it does seem to not be necessary if you have the "No Forgiveness" anoint
	-It does still reset quite a bit but if you are using "Expert Retaliation + Anoint" it's a bit overkill

RING OF THE ACCUSER ON PINNACLES
	-This is a new ring that grants "Penace Mark" it basically spawns a bunch of weak enemies every time you hit
	-These will proc your retaliate without having to tank boss abilities, it also keeps up fortify, onslaught, on kill effects, and even caps your Cruelty (more on this later)
	-Very nice ring and definitely worth using if you struggle on bosses!

GEM SWAP ON BOSSES
	-I've started to switch from "Expert Retaliation" to "Cruelty" for bossing
	-Expert Retaliation is very nice QOL while mapping but seems unnecessary on bosses, especially with Ring of the Accuser
	-Cruelty adds a TON of extra dps, if we abused "War of Attrition" we would be dot capped in certain situations

AILMENT IMMUNITY AND PANTHEONS
	-The best way to get Ailment Immunity will be through Essence of Loathing + Eater Implicit "avoid ailments" on boots (you'll want 60% here combined, so Defeaning + High Implicit)
	-This will be a bit expensive but its the most efficient way, since we get 20% from Thick Skin life nodes already and we can get 20% avoid on a Shield Mastery
	-I will swap to Arakaali and Ralakesh once I get this (I haven't yet)
	-I am currently using Brine King for freeze and Garukhan + Helm implicit to deal with shock (and boots to deal with chill, you can replace this with onslaught once you get avoid boots)

CLUSTER SET-UP AT HIGH LEVEL
	-Once you reach high 90s, you can drop "Hatchet Master" and go for a cluster set-up instead
	-You are looking for "Master the Fundamentals" "Furious Assault" and "Battle-hardened"
	-These are quite easy to roll with just "jagged" fossils

MY TINCTURE ISN'T WORKING IN POB?!
	-This just hasn't been implemented yet, I manually changed it in mine to show it on DPS

MELDING POSSIBLY? Maybe not worth
	-With jewels having 2% max resist now, I was considering melding + a purity of fire for the end-game scaling
	-It could be worth it but we also can get quite a bit already without melding so I'm still undecided

WHY IS MY GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE NOT WORKING ANYMORE?!
	-Once your damage gets high enough, you'll start one-shotting monsters without first applying a bleed, this results in no bleed pop
	-The way to fix this is to use "deadly ailments" but this has the downside of making Fortify quite bad
	-You'll still likely notice pops in t17s especially, its just a bit less consistent

TATTOOS
	-I started to use tattoos I found myself on my tree
	-I would recommend using one "Attack Damage Leech" in the situation where you don't use Blood Rage (possibly on bosses?)
	-Both %armor and %phys damage are both quite good to replace some strength nodes
	-Int/Dex are too important to really replace


HOW I CRAFTED AXE

JACK THE AXE REPLACED?! (this DOUBLED my damage)
	-Finally replaced Jack with a 670 top end rare axe (most important stat is the top end phys, attack speed is QOL)
	-I crafted this by using a "Fracturing Orb" on a 4-mod rare axe that had t1 hybrid (dictator's)
	-Afterwards I used reforge phys from harvest to hit flaring with an open prefix (you can do this with Essence of Contempt as well)
	-Then I did "Prefix can't be changed" veiled orb to hit %phys damage + blind chance (you could also do prefix can't be changed reforge physical... but this is far more expensive and more likely to fail but results in higher damage if you hit t1/t2/t3)
	-For the suffixes, I started by doing another "Prefix can't be changed" and scoured off the rest of them 
	-After it was clean of suffixes I did yet ANOTHER "Prefix can't be changed" and harvest augmented speed (this gurantees attack speed, but all the tiers are equally weighted, if you aren't satisified you can do it again)
	-To finish it I blocked "accuracy" and slammed to hit "damage over time multiplier" this was quite lucky but you can technically guarantee this eventually
	-In order to get this 100% you could do "Cannot Roll Attack" and slam, this limits the pool significantly and makes it far more likely
	-In the likely event it fails you can use an Annulment Orb (as long as you have "Cannot Roll Attack" on it still) this makes it so it only removes non-attack modifiers, unfortunately this includes itself, so you might have to do it more than once
	-For the last suffix I just crafted Phys DOT from the bench



















SUPER END GAME RESPEC TO SLAYER MAYBE

	-you can run Ralakesh + stack frenzy + Olesya's Delight for affliction charges and crazy tankiness with Masterful Form





























SHOUTOUT TO XAI FOR CARRYING THE POB
(also his fault if it sucks)



**DISCLAIMER**
(i am not responsible for any failed league starts)
RETALIATION MIGHT SUCK