Which route do you think is most optimal

[nether]

I may just end up making two characters now.... after I hit level 40 on this guy.

Think I had a pretty good idea of the gear I'd go with too:

Woodcutters FH, Villains, polished RoBx2, bar brawler boots, marrowtaint, troublemakers, DotSp.

Do I just balance it between more/better crits? Or does one get more than the other.

[Mino]

I lay waste to everybody too, and I went the critical route with lots of hit points via increased fortitude. I've got high damage and my crits can one-shot anything currently in the game. My high hit points should future proof my character as well as the insane critical damage. I haven't worried about DR due to hp's. And I swear I notice enemies hit you less simply by increasing your level even if u don't add to BC. I also have 6 pts in increased crits so I'm currently at 38%. I switch to quickstrike dagger when immune to crits, and still one-shot most characters. Cleave allows me to obliterate mobs which equals faster kills/sec.

Looks like we think alike. I'm currently working on a new build where I started with Increased Fortitude at level 5, and used the majority of my level ups on AD and AC. Just twice on HP to get Regeneration and Corpse Eater because of the minimum requirement. I also have Cleave, and haven't used any level ups for BC. In fact, right now because of Quickstrike Dagger and Valuga's Shimmering Hat, my BC is -3%, but I kill everything first (or with the Brutes and Aluril, I can hit 4 times, flee, and then attack again).

This is my build that hasn't done any quests that involve choosing a side yet. I want to have all the L&E items and same stats before splitting off into different saves for that.

[Sarumar]

I also got Increase Fort to level 5 and stopped there. If I manage to get to such lofty levels as Sarumar, i will have over 700 hit points! If monsters get more powerful with new releases, i can easily add to better crits but currently with Dagger of the Shadow Priests, I'm at 5.25 crit multiplier. Also that sets me up for high level skills fracture and internal bleeding. I didn't bother with those skills yet because my crits one shot anything currently in the game. It will be interesting to see how my character turns out as I've largely ignored both BC and DR.

I pick 2 levels of IF (when it was added in game) somewhere
in level 130. If you like crit build then i suggest; 2 level in IF, 3 Level in Evasion, cleave 2, combat speed 2 perhaps some level in BC and rest to MC.

[nether]

Is regeneration a requirement for increased fortitude at any skill level? I forget.

[Mino]

Other way around, each level of Regeneration requires a level of Increased Fortitude.

[nether]

Thanks. So which one gets more points, better crit or more crit? It might not matter but I'd like to hear opinions anyway. Think I'll just start off even for now 1 in each

[Mino]

It partly depends on how much leveling up you plan to do. If you're trying not to get too high level but want an extra boost when you land a critical hit, then Better Criticals can help with that.

But if you plan to level up a lot and try to get powerful base stats, then just focus on More Criticals, because you can just level up your AD, so the amount that gets multiplied will go up, without having to increase the multiplier.

So I would only go with Better Criticals if you want to get one of those new high level skills since its a requirement.

[Ian]

For me, a high BC over 100%, AC over 200% and big AD was the best idea to level up.
So, I don't really need many HP. I only get killed very rarely with that strategy and I don't need many bonemeal potions. The only mobs which I hate are the spiders which their strong actorconditions and high BC.

But I think, there are so many ways to make a good build.

[SirGrindsalot]

i put this post off for too long, it's about time for me to write it.

what is the most powerful build in AT ??

well ... it depends on what level you max it out; as of now, the game doesn't really allow you to go any higher in level than 40~50, as anything above that requires ridiculous amounts of xp to progress and you might as well just start a new build.

also, builds are more powerful depending on what mob they fight; high AC builds do much better against Plaguestriders than other builds, and many high-power builds are ridiculously underpowered when fighting these mobs; but then they fight the giants, and roll them.

In game mechanics, the best stat is BC; if mobs can't hit you, it really matters little what your other stats are;
ofc unless you take it to the extreme, such as a build with no damage bonus whatsoever trying to kill a hardshell beetle...

So, in practical terms, the better build is neither the one that works the best in theory, nor the one that has the highest maths. Sure, you can use your skills wisely, and adapt your equipment, but a few things can be said that are certain when talking about 6.11:

1) Telling newcomers to build a Fortitude-only char is just plain wrong. I did (F1/F2/F3) and it sucked until lev 30, when it was still getting one-shotted by the crits on the way to remgard.
To start, put the first 4 points in damage, doing the rat cave. At lev 5, level up Fortitude 1 and put a point into HP. ideally, you want 35 (+F1) base hp before lev 8; the difference is immense. Also, go buy the 1800Gp Leather Shirt (+1DR) BEFORE the JoF, you will be able to roll snakes like there is no tomorrow (as they can't really do more than 1 dmg to you). You can even push to the area on the south side of Prim (before teh caves) and kill those blue snakes, they do 1-2pts of damage and pay 102xp.
Generally, a measly 3 levels in hp (+15 hp total) will help you immensly as you strive to reach the magical 70hp level, where mobs can't 1-shot you anymore AND BMP won't go to waste if you use them. .. but don't lev up the hp just yet, wait until lev 5, 8, and 10~ish.

2) spend ALL your other points in damage until you reach 25~ish damage bonus. Then, at lev 30, you can start building the endgame build.
If you do a pure (well, semi-pure, as you'll lose 3 levels to +hp) damage build, you will be able to breeze through Prim/BWM easily, farm 1 gazzillion gold, and pimp out your toon. The only mobs which will actually menace you (where you might die even when you have pots) are the Plaguestrides, which can corner you 2v1 and hit you with a -70% AC debuff, AND they crit. To kill these comfortably, you will need a solid 250% AC, which you either get through tricks (using the berserk sword, as i did) or using Skills, pumping religiously every skill you get (except F1 and F2) into Weapon Accuracy. Other mobs in the game are simply not a factor; The itqhuan cave, burrowers, wyrms, etc.. will simply explode when you attack (and hit) 5 times at +37 dmg.

3) mobs that will take the hit, but do not die instantly because of sheer humungousness of hp stat, such as those stone giant thingies (whatever they are called) on the way to remgard, will simply try to hit you back and hope for a crit (which your 25 base + 15 extra hp pretty much render impossible); at which point one starts to wonder how good BC is and the answer is .. a lot. BC is the best stat, but one upon which you simply cannot rely until you have enough of everything else, so don't start to put any points into it until you have 250% AC and at least +30 dmg.
If you want to sacrifice a total of 4 levels in +hp, maybe 3-4 levels in +AC, you will still have plenty of damage to make any fight a short one, until the spider mountains. There, and around lev 30, you can reverse your build priorities and go all out on BC. Remember that for every +5AC that you have, the corresponding BC value is +3, and for every +12 AC you get +9BC .. so don't use that bloody QSD after lev 30. You gain a unnecessary +20AC and lose a precious -20BC (the equivalent of circa 28% AC).. you should have plenty +AC from skills right now if you were wise enough to NOT buy the two +1AP skills, as having 6 attacks of which 3-4 miss is much worse than having 5 attacks of which 4-5 hit.

4) criticals are pointless. They make fights quicker *sometimes*, and they can *sometimes* help you kill a mob (by reloading) which would be too strong for you. The whole idea is ridiculous. You lose hit chance, BC, damage, and decent gear by chasing after crits, while having a fragile build that risks death at every critical taken and that needs to "flee" to kill stuff.
besides, when a mob has maybe 7% chance of hitting you, and you have 90% + chance of hitting it , with 40x 4-5 attacks / damage, yeah, you can wait an extra round.
ofc lev 60+ builds need not apply; Also, we have no idea (well, most of us) how mobs will scale later on, but unless they start to have ridiculous +AC/+BC stats, a +250AC and +100BC build (rest in damage, 5 attacks, no other fancy stuff) will rule them all.

I ate a bag of sausages while writing this post

edit:
i feel this post is pretty much complete. if a player wants to spend time grindimg out of the level range of an area (remgard coast is the highest lev area as of now) when all quests are done, just to break the game, then whatever, but that has nothing to do with building the best AT build for 6.11; It's like people who take CE2 and raww on how powerful it is while killing wolves and snakes at lev 30. It's ridiculous to say how much better your build is when you are 20+ levels above the mobs you're killing.

Instead, the best build(the "most optimal" as OP wanted to know), without taking in consideration theoretical builds which are impossible to make (all BC), or tedious as they die massively at the first levels (no hp), or that have great damage potential but low survivability, or that are a plain ol pain in the butt to use ... is this one. Semi-pure dam build, with some extra hp, only F2, no extra AP, all the damage that you need to bypass DR15 comfortably (about 30-40 damage per hit), and as close to BC+100 as possible (or higher), making you practically immortal. Note also how the high-BC build practically lets you unlock DR 11 .... and 3 attacks .. or DR 9 and 5 attacks. DR4 is practically forced (helmet, shield, shirt and boots; gloves to DR5 are optional. Plus Bark Skin skill, if one wants to lev to 52+ ...

[Mino]

You make some interesting points, but I have to say, I'm surprised to see someone who goes by the name "SirGrindsalot" write this:
"the game doesn't really allow you to go any higher in level than 40~50, as anything above that requires ridiculous amounts of xp to progress and you might as well just start a new build."

Yes, it does take more and more XP to progress, but if you want some of those high level skills, that's what you'll have to do. I know not everyone does, but I like Quick Learner for that level up boost, even though I'm passing up on other skills, it lets me build up my base stats faster, including the +1HP from every level up.

I did this after getting all my must-have skills though (going by my new game - currently at lvl 73).
Increased Fortitude at level 5
Regeneration at level 8 (using +5 HP from a level up, but all others went to AD)
Corpse Eater at level 12
Weapon Accuracy at level 16
Hard Hit at level 20
Cleave at level 24
Combat Speed 1 at level 28
Combat Speed 2 at level 32
More Criticals at level 36 (to get above a 25% ECC rate for an average 1 out of 4 critical hits)
Evasion 1 at level 40
Evasion 2 at level 44
After that, each skill point has gone to Quick Learner while I grind for L&E items. I started off in the Gargoyle caves but decided to go after the slightly better odds of the Extraordinary items, starting with the 2 from the spider caves. Cleave comes in pretty handy there.

As of level 72, I'm on level 7 of the Quicker Learner skill, and in the spider caves, I'm able to level up about 1 level each day, depending on how much time I have to play. Each release has new monsters with higher XP payoffs, so having QL ahead of time will let me get more out of future updates. And since my grinding right now is for the rare drop items, I get the extra XP while I wait for the drop.