Level 9 Heavy Strike Marauder^3.21

Notes

*** Work In Progress ***

Ground Slam handles normal mobs with ease. Heavy Strike for single target DPS. Decoy Totem for large mobs/bosses to draw aggro. 
Ascendancy, Determination, and Endurance Charges for tank. Vulnerability, Ancestral Protector, and Intimidating Cry boost damage for tough 
bosses. 

LEVELING
 
Act 1 Priorities: 2H Axe/Gems -> Iron Rings -> Life Flasks -> MS Boots -> Jade Amulet & Leather Belt. 

Use 2H Axes until getting Skull Cracking skill at level 30 or you find a good rare mace. Axes have higher base damage/DPS at low levels. 

After Act 1, the main gear you need are weapon recipe, accuracy gloves/helmet, and ele res on gear. Vendor recipe for 2H maces is normal mace 
+ magic/rare/unique rustic sash + blacksmith whetstone. Upgrade weapon every time you get 1x transmutation and whetstone.

After getting Determination, drop or change Vitality level. After getting Precision, drop War Banner. After taking Champion of the Cause, increase 
Vitality/Precision levels, or add back War Banner (your preference).

Good uniques to level with: Karui's Ward (Dex, movespeed, accuracy). Mokou's Embrace after lab (cold res and huge attack speed)

ACCURACY

The weakness of this build, like other marauders, is low melee hit chance from low dex/accuracy. Resolute Strikes is a temporary fix, but weakens 
DPS on bosses. We need accuracy on gear plus levels in Precision to fix it.

War Banner provides enough accuracy until Act 3. Around level 30, you need acc on helmet/gloves until Precision. After Siosa quest swap War 
Banner for Precision.

In PoB, use Configuration -> Enemy Stats -> Level to find hit chance and how much you acc need (should be > 90% hit chance).

In Filterblade there's a "Normal Magic Item Progression" filter where you can add all equippable magic gloves/helmets to check for accuracy rolls. 

RESISTANCES

You get +40% all resistances on tree, 12-16% from endurance charges, and 110% fire res from ascendancy. After Act 1, drop iron rings and look 
for cold/lightning res rings from vendors. 50% cold/lightning res is sufficient until Act 7-8.

KITAVA

Some unique bosses have stun immunity, notably Kitava in acts 5 and 10. Kitava also ignores Decoy Totems. This boss is troublesome, but it's 
mostly the DPS part. Use Rejuvenation totems for sustain, mobility to avoid attacks, and play safe. It takes time, but isn't too hard. In Act 10 use
Ryslatha Pantheon for flask sustain. 

GENERAL TIPS & TRICKS

For melee builds, DPS is weapon dependent not skill gem dependent. Upgrade weapon to increase DPS.

Planting a 50 stage War Banner gives 2.5 seconds of Adrenaline, a huge DPS boost great for bursting tough rares/bosses. But the uptime on 
Adrenaline is so low, the 10% mana reservation is a questionable tradeoff. Use this in your build with care.

If you feel squishy at any point or have low ele res, put Endurance on Stun support in Ground Slam. It goes a long way for tankiness. 

Before going lab, be sure to have Determination. It's crucial for phys damage from traps and Izaro's slams.

You can fine-tune Vitality/Precision based on mana and how much regen or acc is needed. Play around with levels on these skills until you find 
what feels "right".

The Riverways in Act 6 is a great place for testing chaos degen. There are many parasites that poison on attack, let one build 3-4 stacks and
watch your HP. It shouldn't drain too quickly, else you need more regen on gear.