[2.4] How to smash Heads. Extremely detailed guide about the Facebreaker gloves and builds!

Well i don't like that widely used combination for a facebreaker build because :

1. You lose a lot of damage due to the lack of physical damage on the amulet ( and the flat physical damage rolls on amulets are very high )

2. You lose tons of life due to the lack of life mods on your amulet, shield, boots

3. Because of 2. you are more prone to one-shotting hits from certain bosses in certain high level maps ( especially combined with dangerous mods ) and that includes Atziri.

4. You lose tons of armour due to the low armour of the Aegis and no armour of the Rainbowstrides

5. You need spell block ONLY versus certain map bosses. For these bosses using Saffell's Frame is much more efficient because you don't need to sacrifice life and damage by using Lazhwar and Rainbowstrides. Not to mention the extra max resistances which are the way to go when you do Atziri and are extremely helpful versus these bosses.
Spell block is simply not needed vs trash mobs and most of the bosses as long as you have capped resists and high enough life.

6. The ES per block is pretty awesome indeed but it only really helps you vs fast small hits.. and you already shouldn't have any problem with that.


Not that your combination doesn't work ... it's just not better in my opinion.
And after all ... to each his own.

I took a look on the new 1.3 passive skill tree.
The important stats of the pre 1.3 build

int - 74
str - 363
dex - 43
life - 214%
evasion -56%
armour -134%
regen - 4.5%
% all elemental - 22%
fire res - 8%
max fire res - 1%
defenses from shield(armour) - 215%
total % phys damage - 118%
total % attack speed - 30%
block chance -42%
chaos resist - 20%
AOE dmg - 8%
AOE range - 12%
mana resrved - 4% ( needed to run 2x60% + herald of ash )

The important stats of the 1.3 build ( if the tree remains the same of course )

int - 84 (+10)
str - 343 (-20)
dex - 113 (+70)
life - 209% (-5%)
evasion -44% (-12%)
armour -136% (+2%)
regen - 6.4% (+1.9%)
% all elemental - 25% (+3%)
fire res - 8% (No change)
max fire res - 1% (No change)
defenses from shield(armour) - 340% (+125%)
total % phys damage - 174% (+56%)
total % attack speed - 22% (-8%)
block chance -24% (-18%)
chaos resist - 20% (No change)
AOE dmg - 8% (No change)
AOE range - 16% (+4%)
mana resrved - 4% ( needed to run 2x60% + herald of ash ) (No change)


Ok so a few words... with the new tree it will be a lot easier to get the dexterity you need. Capping resistances will be very easy too because now there are plenty of nice and easy to access resistance nodes. We'll get a lot more % physical damage ( if you are using Cyclone you'll get a pretty good DPS buff ) due to the changes in the starting duelist area and due to the new physical damage while holding shield nodes. Also we'll be getting a huge armour boost due to the incresed shield defenses. And we'll get some more life regen. The life remains pretty much the same.
Now the downside of the new tree is the block chance. Block chance has been seriously nerfed. Now there are a lot less block nodes and they give less block in general. If you are using BoR you'll end up with 72% block chance and if you are using Abyssus (like me) you'll end up with 58% block chance. But don't worry guys it sounds like a big deal but ... actually i doubt that it will affect you that much ( or at all ). Block chance nerf was expected and i'm very surprised that it happens now and not in 1.2 . And now with the introduction of the "counterattack" skills it seems like block would get even more powerful so tuning down was necessary. The good thing is that because this build can focus on defenses only getting all the block that we can get won't be difficult and it is the natural thing to do unlike pretty much all other builds who need to spend points on weapon specific damage nodes. Not to mention that Dual wield block was nerfed to the ground .... hard times for the blender guys... and of course Acrobatics now has a penalty to block ( FINALLY! ). ANd of course we should not forget the Rumi flask for extra block chance.. it will boost it up exactly when you need it.

So in the end the new tree nerfs some things while buffing others ... overall ... nothing will really change for this build treewise.
I can't way to see the new shield reactive skill i have the feeling that we'll be able to use it without having a weapon and that would be awesome! Maybe i'll switch back to BoR if the 15% extra block chance is crucial for this new skill .. i don't know .. we'll see .. but i'm super excited!


P.S. i'm pretty happy to say that this build survived all the way from closed beta up to day!

I must disagree. Unless they nerf the rumi flask the spell block of the flask + the spell block of the shield combined with the extra max resists from the saffel should be more than enough.

It seems so ... anyway we'll see what new uniques will come out ... maybe something will be useful here for extra anti-spell defense .. who knows!

i can't argue with that .. i already recommended to buy Rumi before tho ... i guess you should've listen to me ^^ ( if you are playing in standart of course )

But now let me tell you this ... spell block is needed for a couple of bosses .. and you can just .. not run the map until you get the needed gear .. tho i still think that nerfed saffel might be enough .. after all it's not just the spell block it's the +max resists as well ... and then there are flasks ... if you are going to run let's say .. a crematorium .. just bring a ruby flask with you and you won't have a problem at all. From my perspective it doesn't seem that bad to be honest.