[3.8] Deep Delver Block/HoA [2m DPS, Extreme Sustain] NO FLASKING NEEDED

This build relies on a few interworking mechanics.
Pierce comes from Projectile Weakness
Virulence comes from Cospri's Will/Curses
Blade Vortex maintains maximum Virulence on single-targets/bosses
Spirit Offering has 100% up-time and is automatic, and clears most corpses protecting us from Detonate Dead
Desecrate is available for use in boss fights to maintain Spirit Offering
Items can be evasion or armor bases thanks to Iron Reflexes in passive tree
Most items are very cheap, helmet can be supplemented cheaply with Cold Iron Point
Curses: Poacher's Mark, Projectile Weakness, Vulnerability
Auras: Aspect of the Spider, Determination, Precision, Vitality, Flesh and Stone
Elemental Equilibrium boosts HoA from helmet mod (get cold/fire attack jewel to proc)

Helmet:

Crafted with Essence of Insanity. Took me about 50 tries. You can even get better rolls. Though this is a 4-link items, these mods effectively make it a 6-link item with additional minion gem levels on top of that. If you're not able to afford this right now, you can substitute your DPS by using a Cold Iron Point dagger and only lose a portion of survivability.

Weapon:

Extremely cheap. 1 alch. Advancing Fortress gives everything we want for this build. Block chance, Life gain on hit, and even gives fortify to our movement skill. We also use fortify on cyclone -- again this build is meant to be very simple to use.

Shield:

This shield is core for our survivability. +maximum resistances, life gain on block, and %life gain as well. Originally I paid 4ex for this. You can get a very cheap version if you focus one mode over the other. The shield can even be an evasion base, as Iron Reflexes will convert evasion to armor.

Amulet:

This is one of the cheapest Aul's amulets. This item is required.
The anointment on this item is min-maxing and optional. The additional curse is needed for our Blade Vortex/Vulnerability. You can skip this for a cheaper anointment and swap the curse on hit for additional life gain for even more survivability,

Chest:

Cospri's Will is strictly required for this build. Though this item gives no life, we take a huge amount of life on our passive tree. Cospri's also allows us to stack Virulence on cursed enemies, gives nice chaos resistance, has high evasion that will be converted to armor thanks to Iron Reflexes, and most important gives us an extra maximum curse AND applies our curses to hexproof enemies.

Rings:


These rings are required for the build. They have come down in price and are currently about 100c as of writing this guide. These are the mods you want to have and they make our HoA reserve next to no mana.

Note: Gloves, Boots and Belt are for life and resists. I would recommend choosing one of them for Aspect of the Spider. They can be armor or evasion bases thanks to Iron Reflexes.

Gloves:

I self-crafted these but it is not necessary. I simply needed Aspect of the Spider and a high life roll. You can get Aspect of the Spider on either your gloves, belt or boots for less investment.

Belt:

Life and resists. Armor is nice but not needed.

Boots:

Life and resists. Additional dodge is nice but not needed.

Watcher's Eye:

This Eye is not required but really helps max out our survivability. One or more of these mods will help go a long way.