In Path of Exile, surviving in the endgame content can be challenging, especially when facing bosses and powerful enemies. While dealing damage is essential, it's equally important to prioritize defensive mechanics to avoid getting one-shot. Maximizing your defenses can make a significant difference in your survival rate and overall success in the game. In this guide, LOLTANK will explore various defensive mechanics that you can incorporate into your builds to maximize your survivability.

• Stun and Block Recovery
• Critical Strike Immunity
• Overcapping of elemental resistants
• - Why Overcap Elemental Resistances?
• - How to Achieve Overcapped Elemental Resistances
• - An Extreme Example of Overcapping
• Life regeneration
• Block Defense

 

↖Stun and Block Recovery

Stun and block recovery are important stats to focus on in Path of Exile to avoid getting stunned and incapacitated during combat. If you are playing a max blocker character, your best bet is to invest in the Unstoppable node to avoid being stunned entirely. However, not all ascendancies have this node, so there are other ways to get around stun.

One way to avoid being stunned is to get implicits on your items that give you a chance to avoid being stunned. For example, the Searing Exile implicit can give you a chance to avoid being stunned. Another way to get around stun is to have Unwavering Stance, which makes you immune to stun, but you lose evasion. This is not a problem if you are not an evasion character.

There are also new gems in the game, such as Immutable Force and BloodNotch Crimson Jewel, that give you a 500 to 1000 increase in stun and block recovery. This means that stuns will have almost no effect on you, and you will be able to recover from blocking much faster.

To get these gems, you can roll them on your flask, or look for nodes in the tree that allow you to have block recovery. For example, there are nodes that give you a 4% increase in stun and block recovery per fortification. You can also get increased block recovery from the Tetsudo node or Staff Mastery.

 

↖Critical Strike Immunity

Critical Strike Immunity is a very important defensive layer to consider, especially in Delve, where enemies have very high critical strike multipliers and chances. Being hit by a critical strike can be extremely problematic, and may result in a one-shot death.

There are several ways to achieve critical strike immunity in Path of Exile.

• The first method is to use Verity's Reach, a unique ring that grants the player immunity to critical strikes if they have a magic ring equipped in their left ring slot. This is a very effective way to negate critical strikes, and is used in many Delve builds.
• The second method is to use the unique shield, Brimstone. This shield grants the player immunity to extra damage from critical strikes, and is very useful for builds that need a high degree of defense.
• Another way to achieve critical strike immunity is by using Watcher's Eye jewels with the mod "48% reduced extra damage from critical strikes while affected by Determination". This is a very easy way to get additional sources of critical strike immunity, and allows players to run any armor they want.
• Players can also use Sanctum of Thought, a passive skill on the skill tree that grants 30% reduced extra damage from critical strikes. Additionally, a shaped shield with the mod "Increases and Reductions to Critical Strike Damage also apply to Damage taken from Critical Strikes" can be used to further increase critical strike immunity.

It is important to note that critical strikes are not the only way to die in Path of Exile. However, by using the strategies listed above, players can greatly reduce the likelihood of being killed by critical strikes.

 

↖Overcapping of elemental resistants

Overcapping of elemental resistances is an important strategy in Path of Exile, especially when delving or facing bosses that deal elemental damage. Overcapping your resistances means increasing them beyond the maximum of 75% to mitigate incoming elemental damage, as well as protecting against elemental penetration. In this guide, we will discuss the benefits of overcapping, different methods of achieving overcapped resistances, and an extreme example of overcapping.

 

↖- Why Overcap Elemental Resistances?

Overcapping your elemental resistances provides several benefits in Path of Exile. First and foremost, it helps you survive in situations where you are facing high amounts of elemental damage. Delving in the mine, facing off against tough bosses, or even just encountering a powerful rare mob can all result in a sudden spike of elemental damage that can be fatal if your resistances are not overcapped.

Secondly, overcapping can protect against elemental penetration. Certain enemies, such as map bosses or some delve encounters, have the ability to penetrate your elemental resistances. By overcapping, you can protect against this, making it more difficult for these enemies to deal significant damage to you.

 

↖- How to Achieve Overcapped Elemental Resistances

There are several ways to achieve overcapped resistances in Path of Exile.

One common method is to use items with "+1 to all maximum resistances" or "X% increased maximum resistances" as implicit mods. For example, a shield with a "+1 to all maximum resistances" implicit can provide a significant boost to your resistances.

Another method is to use unique items that provide overcapped resistances. Examples include Loreweave, which provides +80 to all maximum resistances, and Brass Dome, which provides +30% to maximum fire resistance.

In addition to these methods, there are passive skills that can provide overcapped resistances. For example, the "Reservation Mastery" passive in the skill tree provides +1% to all elemental resistances if you have both life and mana reserved. The "Diamond Skin" passive provides +2% to maximum resistances.

 

↖- An Extreme Example of Overcapping

While most builds only overcap their resistances by a few percentage points, there are extreme examples of overcapping that take the strategy to the next level. One such example is the "Immutable Fire" build, which uses a combination of items and passives to achieve 90% fire resistance and convert all incoming damage to fire.

This build uses items such as Dawnbreaker, which provides +20% to maximum fire resistance and converts 20% of cold and lightning damage taken to fire, and a ruby flask, which provides +25% increased effect of flasks and reduces fire damage taken by 20%. The player also uses the "Sublime Vision" unique jewel, which disables all other auras and converts 30% of cold and lightning damage taken to fire.

By overcapping fire resistance and converting all incoming damage to fire, the player is able to recoup all fire damage as life, essentially making them invincible to fire damage. While this build requires a significant investment and is not accessible to all players, it is a testament to the power of overcapping elemental resistances in Path of Exile.

 

↖Life regeneration

Life regeneration is an often overlooked defensive mechanic in Path of Exile, but it can be incredibly powerful when used correctly. One effective way to boost life regeneration is by using an "arrogance" setup with the Vitality aura. This increases the amount of life regenerated and can make a character borderline immortal.

When looking at gear, it's important to look for flat life regeneration and increased life regeneration rate. T1 or T2 rolls of 18 to 23 life regeneration rate are ideal. Surging Vitality is a powerful item that can cycle huge amounts of regeneration every four seconds. If using an armor-based character, consider using the "Cloth and Chain" node to regenerate life equal to 1% of armor.

Endurance charges are also important for life regeneration, and there are many ways to generate them. The Red Dream is a dirt-cheap option that generates endurance charges on kill. A crafted chest can also give you the implicit for endurance charges every few seconds. Finally, Enduring Cry is a classic way to generate endurance charges.

 

↖Block Defense

One way to increase your defense is through the use of block mechanics. There are several ways to achieve max block, and we will discuss them below.

• The first way to achieve max block is through glancing blows. Glancing blows doubles your attack and spell block but comes with a 65% damage penalty for blocked hits. To achieve this, you will need to take shield block nodes and energy shield nodes. You can also take aegis aurora for an additional 6% block chance. Lastly, you will want to use the temper shield gem.
• The second way to achieve max block is through versatile combatant. This reduces your attack and spell block cap by 25% but gives you 2% spell block for every 1% overcapped attack block. This can be useful for builds that are based around flasks. You can achieve this by playing a pathfinder or gladiator and taking versatile combatant nodes.
• The third way to achieve max block is through full block. This is achieved by stacking replica reckless defense, which gives a chance to block attack or spell damage. This build allows you to fully mitigate all block damage and achieve close to 75/75 block. You will want to focus on taking spellblock wherever you can find it and using small clusters for additional spell block.

 

Conclusion:

Maximizing your defenses in Path of Exile is crucial to surviving in endgame content. By incorporating defensive mechanics such as life regeneration, armor, evasion, and resistances, you can significantly increase your chances of surviving challenging encounters. Remember, it's not just about dealing damage, but also about mitigating incoming damage. By prioritizing defensive mechanics in your build, you can improve your overall success rate and have a more enjoyable gaming experience. So, take the time to evaluate your build and see where you can incorporate more defensive mechanics, and watch as your survivability and success in the game increase.