[3.0] How to Flicker. Two Handed Weapon Edition!

Hey guys !
Just wanted to say that right now i'm doing a 2h axe flicker duelist in the Beta and it is awesome!
The lockstep gets rid of the greatest drawback of flicker builds - desync .. and it feels great without it!
The Fortify is insanely good.
The reworked frenzy charges are also pretty cool .. and overall i'm really looking forward to the Awakening so i could do this build! I'll completely rethink this build and of course update it at some point ( hopefully a week or two after the release )!

Well in the beta i've decided to try something different and took Acrobatics + Phase Acro and i was rather happy with the results. When the Awakening is out i'll be able to do some testing with good gear ... but it is promising in my opinion. Also i was casting with mana ... probably that's something that i'll also keep.
So here's my tree in the beta:

I haven't taken any jewel slots just because i haven't found/crafted any that are worth it. If you do have such jewels tho grab a socket or two. From this point i'd probably go for more life nodes ( Juggernaut, the life+ev nodes in the ranger start etc. )

P.S. I've played a similar build in the 1m HC race league. Solo, self-found mace groundslammer and i was able to complete all 4 challenges in 24 gameplay hours but because of the flicker strike nature with this build the 2h RT+AC+Phase AC works even better and of course the clear speed is X times faster.

Well i've started using it as soon as i could get my hands on multistrike ( which was around level 22 i think )

Now how did the tree evolve .... it was something like
Master of the Arena > Bravery > Art of the Gladiator > Revelry > Golem's Blood > extra frenzy charge > Warrior's Blood > Heart of the warrior > Butchery > Barbarism > Resolute Technique > Wrecking Ball > Executioner> Herbalism > Acrobatics > Phase Acrobatics > extra frenzy charge > Cleaving > Slaughter > Thick skin

But since you want to play in HC i'd suggest that you go for Acrobatics earlier just in case . I never died while leveling but again.. just in case ... it's never a bad thing to be careful in HC :)

I think that multistrike was still level 19 a couple of wipes ago when i tried the build in beta.
Anyway the answer stands - start using flicker strike as soon as you get your hands on multistrike :)

For the damage well ... 2h weapons have plenty of damage to begin with and no damage nodes at all ? I don't think so ... almost no notable damage nodes doesn't mean no damage nodes. By the time you grab ( if you decide to level up as i did) Resolute Technique you'll already have 129% increased physical and 17% increased attack speed from the duelist start and another 82% increased physical and 8% attack speed from the marauder area for a total of 211% increased physical damage and 25% increased attack speed all that at around level 45. ;)

You can't really stun bosses or anything that is worth stunning without investing into stun passives and support gems because of that the culling effect doesn't proc when you need it and because of that it really falls short compared to the onslaught axe ability.
Usually axes have a bit more damage ( i.e. the 2h base axe with the highest dps is the vaal axe with 133.20 DPS, while the 2h base mace with the highest dps - the imperial maul, has only 116.70 ).
Because of all that axes are a bit better compared to maces.


Those are the theoretical answers to your questions but to be honest all that doesn't really matter because it speaks only of the potential and not what you currently have/can afford.

The practical answer is - use the best weapon that you have. You have a good axe ? Go for the axe passives. You have a good mace? Go for the mace passives.

Personally i've started this build with a 2h axe but a nice ( at the time .. it was even before the master crafting ) 2h mace dropped so i've switched to maces. Then i've got the atziri disfavour axe and tho i haven't really played this build much since i've got the axe ( and i've got it for a different build .. which didn't turned out as good as i've hoped that it will ) but i do plan to play it extensively when the Awakening is out and because my best 2h melee weapon at the moment is the Atziri axe i'll play with an axe oriented tree.