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Ares the Pole Warrior


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Well this is my first time doing one of these so I will try to keep it simple and easy to comprehend. First off I named my guy off of Ares the God of War from Greek Mythology who was known to wield a spear and shield. Of course we can't do that so will just be strictly Pole Arms. I have only used this guy to level 20 so far and have not really played on Gold or Higher. But I read alot of guides. It's my friends game and he is leaving in December so not sure how far I will take him myself so figured I would share the build with yall (I am raising him to 50 first then we will beat Silver and go to Gold n try n do as much missions as we can)

 

The Skills:

 

Level 2: Tactics Lore

Level 3. MC Focus

Level 5. Pole Arms

Level 8. Concentration

Level 12. Constitution

Level 18. Speed Lore

Level 25. Armor Lore

Level 35. DW Focus

Level 50. Toughness

Level 65. Combat Reflexes

 

I go with Concentration sooner then most. My reason is cause I like to fight the Kobold Chieftain and White Griffin at least once by level 10. And at level 10 I go to the Orc region and train. By level 15 I am fighting the 4 Orc Champions in the cave(using 2 potions each time). And my guy is at 20 now. Here is how my skills look as of now:

 

Tactics Lore- 20

MC Focus- 10

Pole Arms- 5

Concentration- 1

Constitution- 10

Speed Lore- 4

 

I try to always keep Tactics Lore at my level and MC Focus and Constitution at half of my level. Concentration will remain at one due to no need of the other buffs. I want Pole arms up to half my level as well but of course will take some time.

 

For Attributes- In 35 levels(level 36 since u start at 1) I plan to raise Dexterity by 15, Strength by 15 and Vitality by 5..and do that for ever 35 levels. So by 71 u would have raised Dexterity by 30, Strength by 30 and Vitality by 10. And from 176 and on I would give all the rest to Strength, of course I will have to get game myself to get him that high.

 

The Combat Arts-(I will list as I raised them from their respective groups)

 

DEATH WARRIOR

 

Grim Resilience- Fortify-Readiness-Safeguard

 

Best choices to me to be safe..get the hit points from Fortify..Less chance to get hit from Readiness and Physical Resistance from Safeguard.

 

Scything Sweep- Force-Numb-Rage

 

Force is for more power. Numb stuns. And Rage makes the next move you use stronger.

 

Demonic Blow- Wounding-Poisoning-Life Leech

 

Wounding makes them bleed. Poisoning poisons(go figure). Life leech heals you.

 

Ruinous Onslaught- Fend-Adrenaline-Adrenaline

 

Fend raises defense. And both the Adrenaline's make you sustain less damage

 

Rousing Command- War Song-Impulse-Surge

 

War Song raises Attack. Impulse raises Attack/Casting Speed. Surge makes your regeneration faster when spell is active.

 

Malevolent Champion

 

Frenzied Rampage- Double Attack-Double Strike-Vampire

 

Double Attack and Double Strike help to strike twice with one hit. Vampire leeches life.

 

Reflective Emanation- Tough-Antimagic-Riposte

 

Tough relects Stun. I pick it because I hate to be stopped while I am attacking and arrows haven't really seem to have done much where being stunned annoys me. Antimagic reflects spells. And Riposte relects back more damage then the base buff.

 

Belligerent Vault- Reach-Shock-Commotion

 

Reach to jump father. Shock to slow down opponents from starting points. And Commotion to stun them when you land. Lots of fun there.

 

Killing Spree- Control-Perserverance-Sway

 

Control gives more attack. Perserverance makes it last longer. Sway increases attack speed.

 

Augmenting Guidon- Elite-Healing-Fear

 

Elite raises the Attacks and Defense values. Healings heals. Fear lowers the attack of opponents within the area.

 

 

I also use Rallied Souls. Even at its base form its pretty good. I mainly use it for fun or just against big mobs. Takes some of the heat off of you and they also do some damage.

 

For Equipments I usally aim for Chance to Evade or Attacks Values. I do more and they miss more. Very nice. And for weapons gotta have the Regen per hit so you can use runes more effectively and Opponent Level for Death Blow so you can finish off Bosses faster when they get low.

 

 

Like I said this is my first guide so not sure if I missed anything. Feel free to ask questions. Hope yall like.

Edited by Inferno Stacks
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You could list what combos you use if any or just exactly how you go about killing stuff.

 

Also for personal reasons I'd like to know what your take is on having Speed Lore over something else like Combat Discipline as that skill choice kind of left me scratching my head.

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Nice work on this inferno. I'm actually wondering if you're the first to post a SW polearms build. As well, three questions.

  • What level have you gotten it to now
  • Any pix
  • Where's the word Ares come from... God of War?

 

Leech poles have fascinated me lately... you can't get them as uniques, but you can get them with a very powerful Bargainer.

 

:)

 

gogo

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at high level Reflective Emanation will replace combat reflexes nicely, so last skill pick imo should goto combat discipline to cut down regen, add more combat art attack power and at mastery, activate 4 semi-buff simotaniously looks really cool :P on a side note, Halberd of Commander, Gronkor's Downfall and Nengruil's Doombringer is probably the best pike, spear, and pole from pole arm uniques.

 

I think pole arm is superior at killing large crowds, but dual wield is better at killing bosses. I just love how poles sound so blunt when hitting enemies "SMACK IN THE HEAD" :diablo::):D

Edited by DarkKnight
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Nice work on this inferno. I'm actually wondering if you're the first to post a SW polearms build. As well, three questions.

  • What level have you gotten it to now
  • Any pix
  • Where's the word Ares come from... God of War?

 

Leech poles have fascinated me lately... you can't get them as uniques, but you can get them with a very powerful Bargainer.

 

:)

 

gogo

 

8 piece Denderan set for the LL bonus would go very well with this build. As DarkKnight suggested I'd drop Combat Reflexes for CD but I have never played Ice and Blood so I wasn't sure if that was considered necessary. Speed Lore I just don't see the point in using since the player will already have a weapon lore boosting it's chance to hit and attack speed, the run speed increase is possibly a reason since the Denderan set doesn't offer much but then again I don't see much of a reason to add anything else to this build so it could just be a filler skill boosted by +skills.

 

Overall, it looks like a solid build with probably 2 skills interchangeable(possibly make an EP/Blacksmith build subbing Toughness and CR for example). The two buffs and a LL Pole should make for a fast-killer who can take some abuse.

 

Ares, if I remember correctly, is the Roman god of war, Mars was the Greek god. I used to read a lot of mythology, Greek and Roman(very similar) were my favorites.

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@ Numerii..I chose speed lore cause I wanted the attack and defense since the SW is a close combat person..And the run speed helps too so I can get around faster. Also I haven't really tried combos too much cause I wouldnt always want them used in that order..If anything I would combine the Attack boosters.

 

@ Gogo..He is at 31 now...Sorry no pics...and Ares was the god of war in greek mythology..Of course I played that video game aswell but didn't know he wielded spear til I checked on Wikipedia

 

@ DarkKnight I will reconsider Combat Discipline cause my current armor actually has my evade at like 70%..so Discipline might serve me more use. Still gonna debate it though..I think 100% evade would be nice. And yeah just found me a Halberd of the Commander like 3 levels ago in the Jungle..

 

@Numerii(post 2)..I actually have the entire Denderan set I can use for like Level 40 that I obtained with a Valueables SW...The Romans called him Mars..The Greek Called him Ares. I believe...Mythology is great though. Gotta love this game having Minotaurs and Harpies. Wish this they had Cenataurs :)

Edited by Inferno Stacks
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Cool, I've always envisioned Denderan as a Polearm kind of guy. I've tried to get some lore/canon on the characters these sets are built after but so far I've only found Armantin, who was a dual-wielder. Lucreti was obviously a Summoner/Astral Lord type of guy since the entire set revolves around that tree. Really wish Ascaron would have put more time and resources into actually breathing some life into these characters.

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Well my guy is level 35 now so just got the DW focus. Nothing is hard just taking while to level up. I fight in the forest. And have a save point next to the Boss scorpion. So I always fight him first..then teleport to forest and fight in there for awhile while taking out that Krael one aswell. Maybe when I hit 40 I can take pic of TV screen of him in full Denderan set(if it works). Think I have the full Armantin and Lucretis sets aswell.

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Nice build! I've often wanted to use polearms, but I usually end up taking hafted/sword/DW. Few questions though: I know the wiki says the attack/defense bonuses on speed lore are actually % bonuses, but I've also been told by a few people that speed lore doesn't seem to make a big difference (other than the run speed, took it on an old Inquisitor, love sprinting everywhere). How big a difference have you seen for this (might want to actually try it out). No AS focus anywhere (skele minions)?

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Leech poles have fascinated me lately... you can't get them as uniques, but you can get them with a very powerful Bargainer.

 

They are very, very strong; but purchasing them can get very, very addictive too :)

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@Rndm I haven't really payed much attention to how much higher it gets I just figured more attack and defense can't hurt for a guy who always in close combat. And yea I like it for the run speed mainly cause of how slow the SW is. And I don't get any AS Focus cause I only use Rallied Souls. Its good just as the base spell. At level 45 on another SW I was still able to resurrect like 6 things at a time with no AS focus. That was my DW Shadow Warrior though.

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Nice build! I've often wanted to use polearms, but I usually end up taking hafted/sword/DW. Few questions though: I know the wiki says the attack/defense bonuses on speed lore are actually % bonuses, but I've also been told by a few people that speed lore doesn't seem to make a big difference (other than the run speed, took it on an old Inquisitor, love sprinting everywhere). How big a difference have you seen for this (might want to actually try it out). No AS focus anywhere (skele minions)?

 

In my experiences, as a Shadow Warrior, the attack and defense value boosts are unnecessary. A couple of sockets devoted to -opponents' chance to evade covers your chance to hit along with whatever you have for a weapons lore, str/dex and I believe your CA levels help with some CAs. Regardless, plenty of ways to increase your chance to hit.

 

Keeping Reflective Emanation at max level takes care of your chance to be hit in all but the rarest of occasions. I've always been far more concerned with how much damage I took in with each hit, not how often I got hit.

 

The speed increase is rather negligible, only a 9% increase at 75 points and usually around Plat/Niob I've got my character at 150% run speed through gear/sockets.

 

At best I feel that Speed Lore might save you 2-3 sockets, though if you have a shopper it doesn't even do that much for you because you can find rings off the vendors that combine stats like run speed and -opponents' chance to evade and due to the way the game assigns values those rings with two stats will give you more bang for your buck than using rings with just one stat.

 

If you just don't have anything else to use for your 10th skill pick or you plan to work with a set that has BOTH low run speed increase and few sockets then it might be worth considering though.

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Well I like Speed Lore just to have even more Attack and Defense and Run Speed. You can never have enough. Still gonna take Combat Reflexes over Combat Discipline. I don't care for combo's. Frenzied Rampage clears out crowds enough and I get it back before it ends so I am set. Plus I enjoy when people miss..Haven't really got hurt with my SW by anyone. Only Silver though so doesn't mean much. U have to be level 50 for Gold right? And If my friend has a character at 50 can he just join me or does he have to clear Silver on campagin aswell?

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If your friend meets the level requirement for joining a game online then he can join any difficulty level.

 

Combat Discipline adds damage as well, it's not just for regen reduction to combos.

 

Play however you want though, this game(especially on console) is not as hard as some people make it out to be. Staying focused is probably the most important part of the game. Not keeping an eye on your health is probably the number 1 reason people die in this game.

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Well I like Speed Lore just to have even more Attack and Defense and Run Speed. You can never have enough. Still gonna take Combat Reflexes over Combat Discipline. I don't care for combo's. Frenzied Rampage clears out crowds enough and I get it back before it ends so I am set. Plus I enjoy when people miss..Haven't really got hurt with my SW by anyone. Only Silver though so doesn't mean much. U have to be level 50 for Gold right? And If my friend has a character at 50 can he just join me or does he have to clear Silver on campagin aswell?

 

Your logic is sound, but Speed lore just won't do anywhere near as much as you hope. It's on the list of less than great skills in this game. socketing 1 whet, 1 anneal blacksmith arts and 1 +run speed% ring and you can pretty much out do Speed lore. and gain the damage and armor that come with the smith arts.

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@ Numerii Yeah I noticed that...pretty much thats why people just go with Vitality..cause as long as u have potions you will never die. Makes them less fun in my opinion..I got like 3000 light potions in chest as well as like 500 reg ones. Oh yeah and we play couch co op..not online.

 

@ Loco but does the Blacksmith skill get higher as you level up? Or does it always remain the same. Cause if its always the same amount..Speed Lore would eventually out do it especially when mastered.

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The blacksmith runes increase each difficulty level and are % based so therefore they get better with both levels and gear. Run speed rings also increase with level, my 76 platinum shopper can get just short of 11% off of vendors...and sometimes pull something great like +6 all skills with it.

 

Take Speed Lore if you want, it's your character after all, just accept that any benefits that skill will grant your character can easily be replicated with 2-3 sockets or simply as part of your gear. It looks like a great skill on paper, and as you level up, but around 75 or so with plat/niob gear it becomes mostly negligible. I had to experience myself when I first started this game but once I did see it I deleted that character and started over because I basically had 56 points and a skill choice doing nothing for my character.

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@ Numerii Yeah I noticed that...pretty much thats why people just go with Vitality..cause as long as u have potions you will never die. Makes them less fun in my opinion..I got like 3000 light potions in chest as well as like 500 reg ones. Oh yeah and we play couch co op..not online.

 

@ Loco but does the Blacksmith skill get higher as you level up? Or does it always remain the same. Cause if its always the same amount..Speed Lore would eventually out do it especially when mastered.

 

 

On console the merchant levels with you. The highest level merchant on Console is in the wastelands.

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Is there like a best merchant in game that sells the best stuff? Sux the SW doesnt have Barganing...

 

nope, they all offer the same goods. the difference is that they offer somewhat different stuff to each char class. and the SW is stuck with only junk, and what he can pick up from killing.

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Well like I stated in original post my friend leaves in like 2 months so I thought this guy would be my final person but I am with a Dryad now that I like way more. This SW was great though..no problems with bosses and everything just the Dryad is funner and not enough time to take both far. I know he would at least last on Platinum but Niobium..never know...

Edited by Inferno Stacks
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Amazing to see someone using ruinous onslaught.

 

Speed lore is an odd one, run speed can be gained from item bonuses and attack speed doesn't take long to reach max anyway.

 

Poles are fun, almost as fast as dual wield and you can go a long way just using Frenzied Rampage.

 

I got mine to platinum before I got bored, and started another class.

 

Sw lack bargaining but make up for it with sheer persistence. Hard to kill, they just grind their way to good items. They aren't a class you can rush game with unless you have a good stock of armour/weapons waiting for them.

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Well like I stated in original post my friend leaves in like 2 months so I thought this guy would be my final person but I am with a Dryad now that I like way more. This SW was great though..no problems with bosses and everything just the Dryad is funner and not enough time to take both far. I know he would at least last on Platinum but Niobium..never know...

 

Shadow warrior looks so bad ass and that's all I need to keep me motivated hahaha :):D

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