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Seems like the most popular tank builds centre around Relic spam, and while these are very strong they do come with downsides - not only does the constant relic use eat into your shooting time, meaning fights can last a very long time, you're also in real trouble if you roll a boss with Empathy.

Lifesteal was instead how we tanked in R1, and let you translate tankiness into damage, as you could attack when other builds had to dodge or get knocked down. Key to this is having stagger resist - it's not just about taking the hit, it's being able to stay on the offense and steal back whatever damage you're taking.

That's what this build is all about, offering high EHP (1445 with shield, 722 without) while also getting your DPS high enough to outleech your incoming damage, and also getting back-to-back Stoneskin so you can shrug off enemy attacks. This will let you take on bosses with Vicious (+15% damage) and Spiteful (up to +25% damage) without ever having to dodge. Meanwhile, back-to-back Bulletstorm means our damage is no slouch either, taking out a World Boss in a minute in a half - no 10 minute fights for us!

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Archetypes:

- Alchemist Prime so we can stack concoctions for tankiness. Stone Mist is key to this build, not just for the +25% DR, but even more for the stagger reduction. NB: this only reduces your stagger level by 1, meaning things that would knock you over will still stagger you back, which is why I'm still strafing out of the way of Tal'Ratha's charges.

- Gunslinger is our pick for all its bonuses to firerate and reload - the important thing about lifesteal is that it scales off Base Damage, i.e. ignoring weakspots, crits, gearscore, etc. This means that the usual crit stacking meta doesn't actually buff your lifesteal at all. Firerate however will, whilst buffing our DPS and helping us get those Devloop procs sooner.

- One interesting thing about Stone Mist is that it begins its cooldown once the cloud finishes, but the Stoneskin effect lasts beyond that. This means with enough cooldown reduction, you can get back-to-back Stoneskin even without Devloop - check out this build variant here: https://youtu.be/UFxh1tKLz-8

Weapons & Mods:

- As usual for Devloop builds, we want a high firerate weapon - I've gone with the Typewriter again with Corrosive Shot and Momentum, which will do most of the heavy-lifting for buffing our crit rate.

- Nebula is our sidearm so we can use Swarm as another source of crits, with Harmonizer for the Mod damage buff. You could also bring another high firerate weapon like the MP60 or Tec22 with Overflow and Deadly Calm for fast devloop fishing.

Trinkets:

- Nightmare Spiral is our main source of lifesteal - 10% of base Ranged damage is huge, though we will have to work around the healing nerf.

- Devoured Loop, yet again - those back-to-back Bulletstorms and Stone Mists are worth the DR penalty even on a tank build.

- Instead of our usual crit ring picks, I've gone with Stone of Continuance for skill duration, buying us more time for the Devloop proc. Akari Warband would be a good alternative, but Perfect Dodging seems a little counter to the whole facetank playstyle.

- Seal of the Empress for the best HP on a ring, while also buffing our shield strength. The Endurance penalty hardly matters since we're not dodging.

- Ring of Crisis is a lifesaver, giving us an extra 44 HP shield everytime our health gets too long. You could also go with Ring of the Robust for a DR and HP buff instead.

Traits:

- Fortify, Vigor, Barkskin for tankiness
- Siphoner for the lifesteal.
- Spirit for crucial Corrosive Shot uptime.
- Glutton for faster relic use when we're expecting a tough attack phase.
- No need for Expertise as we're Devlooping, so I've gone with Footwork. For elemental bosses, Shadeskin can be useful.

Consumables:

- Mudtooth Tonic and Bark Extract for survivability
- Shaedskin for mod gen.
- Tranquility Font for handling.
- NOT Sanguine Vapor - we don't want another DR penalty.
- Confidence Booster for extra stagger resist - particularly vs Skullcracker bosses.

Relic:

- Nightmare Spiral tanks our healing effectiveness, but Shielded Heart is unaffected. The full shield is huge for tanking tough attacks or in emergencies.

- For our frags, we want Crit Chance and Firerate, and Skill Duration.

Armour:

- No reason not to go Ultra Heavy since we don't need to dodge.

Playstyle:

- The important thing about lifesteal is that offence is defence, doubly so for devloop builds - so keep up the damage as much as possible. Pop your skills and mods, then go ham. Refresh your skills when they're getting low.

- For particularly dangerous phases, pop your Shielded Heart. You can use the relic and Corrosive Shot to reload your gun as well, which can save you some time - hesitation is defeat.

- Try to avoid any attacks that will still stagger you even with Stoneskin.

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00:00 Intro
00:05 Tal'Rathja (Metaphysical)
01:55 Build