[3.17] The Hiltless Pathfinder/Berserker/Gladiator Autoflask Bladestorm/Bleed Ascendant

I want to share a fun built which was intended to be a simple proof of concept first but turned out to be a very well-balanced off-meta character that was a real joy to play. In the end, it could master all endgame with ease and reached its limit at simulacrum wave 28.
Even doe it may not compete with the current meta builts while not being cheap either, I haven’t had that much fun putting a character together for a very long time. Therefore, I want to share it with you. The main concept is highly adaptable and maybe one or another finds out new ways to build around it.


https://pastebin.com/gpHQXPRH


The fundamentals:

Ever since the flask rework some seasons ago I wanted to test out the endless autoflask mechanic using the Hiltless. The Hitless is a two-handed sword which reflects minor damage back to you with each attack. This unique form of self-damaging is considered as hit, which enables the abuse of “gain x flask charges when hit” + “reuse flask at full charges”. It is basically a poor man’s Mageblood. Combine this with Pathfinder’s Master Surgeon Ascendency or Pathfinder Ascendant and you get a constant instant life recovery on top. That is 6% or 4% of Life each time you use a flask, which is basically all the time with all our flasks while you are attacking. As long you are not one-shotted, your are pretty hard to kill.
I always felt attracted to this mechanic, but on paper I had my doubts about endgame DPS, especially as Pathfinder. Then 3.17 came with a shit ton of new items and mods and when I found a Scion/Gladiator Forbidden Flesh, I could not help myself creating this character, which is a Berserker/Gladiator/Pathfinder Ascendant going full Physical/Bleed using Bladestorm + Corrupting Fever.


Summary:

Scion/Ascendant (Pathfinder + Berserker + Gladiator via Forbidden Flesh/Flame)
- Berserker: 15% more Damage, Rage=Speed, Leech, Stun Immunity
- Pathfinder: Speed, Flask Charges, automatic healing while attacking
- Gladiator: 20% more Damage over Time, blind on hit, some block chance
- Up to 5 Million Bleed DPS + 1 Million CF

Key Items:

- The Hiltless, corrupted with Fortify Support -> self-hit enables the flask mechanics
- All flasks with +7 charges on Hit Prefix
- Haemophilia gloves (corrupted with Vulnerability) -> Explosions, a key benefit of this build
- Ryslathas Coil -> huge dps boost
- Circle of Guilt with extra Phys and Buff effect -> huge dps boost
- Physical Cluster Jewels

Skills:
- Bladestorm provides a massive bonus to bleeding damage (112 % more) and is a fairly comfortable melee skill, which does not require you to stand still to ramp up your damage. In fact, you just move, swing, move, swing. This playstyle comes in handy in boss fights. The lingering bladestorms plus the bleeding do their work while you can concentrate on boss mechanics.

- Corrupting Fever is easy to use and scale along with Bladestorm. It’s extra Damage for free.

Auras:
- Pride
- Determination
- Malevolance
- Herald of Purity
- War Banner

Utility:
- Dash
- Vaal Molten Shell
- Berserk
- Blood Rage

Defence:
- 5.500 Life. Up to 6k if you sacrifice some damage
- 30k+ Armour, you can reach 90% Phys reduction
- 8k Evasion Rating + Blind on Hit, which is good for 50% evade chance
- 100% spell suppression
- Endless flask sustain and a permanent healing flow
- Fortify

Pros:
- Easy, mobile and forgiving playstyle
- Almost unkillable while mapping
- If you chose to use a life flask, you can literally spam it as long you are attacking
- Bleed-Explosions for clearing high density maps / delirium / simulacrum
- Can be extremely fast, depending on your chosen flask setup
- Decent for bossing
- You can easily plug in a Headhunter without losing elemental resistances

Cons:
- Certainly not a league-Starter!
- Need of very specific items
- There is no way around cluster jewels
- Scaling bleed to decent endgame DPS is pricy
- No upfront screen clear, it is a melee built after all
- No ailment immunity, although you can archive some by changing your flask setup or cluster jewels implicits etc.

Small things that greatly improves the gameplay:
- Phasing. In order to move – swing – move – swing, you want phasing
- Attack speed. Otherwise Bladestorm feels painfully slow
- Increased Area of Effect. Increases not only your initial Swing, but also the size of our Bladestorms AND your Bleed Explosions. Get es much as you can.


Have fun exiles!