Build:Infernal Knight

Full Build Details
This knight uses low mana cost spells in combination with his deadly arsenal of flaming weapons. The basis of this build plays much like any other melee/tank build. You utalize the increased power of your boons to become resistant to all kinds of damage while swinging your weapons at enemies. Where it gets interesting is when we use the combination of Tsar Armor, Master of Motion, Fire Affinity and Warm to reach exactly 100% fire resistance. Allowing us to use Immolate without taking damage, giving is a cheap way to increase our fire damage while doing the things we would already be doing as a melee warrior. And using Ring of Fire to burn everyone that comes at us while remaining unharmed.

The low mana cost of Sigil of Fire, Mana Ward and Spark, allows us to get away with taking very low amounts of mana. Leyline Connection let's us regenerate mana between fights, meaning the only items this build uses are the very easily crafted Fire Stone, Fire Rag and Fire Varnish.

Skill Trees
Let's go through the three skill tree's and what your options are with each.

Philosopher
In the Philosopher tree there is really only one choice to make. Do you take Fire Affinity or Sigil of Ice. The choice is rather obvious. We need Fire Affinity to reach 100% fire resistance, and our build is focussed on dealing fire damage. So +15% fire damage is rather nice.

Warrior Monk
In the Warrior Monk tree, you have two more choices to make. First between Perfect Strike and Master of Motion. Perfect Strike is an awesome skill that would compliment Opportunist Stab perfectly. But we really need the 10% fire resistance to become fire immune. Not to mention the fact that Master of Motion is rediculously good and you don't have to look for an opening to use it. It's always there, making you harder to kill while you do your thing. And we have enough things competing for our quickslots, without having to find room for another weapon attack.

Then we get to the choice between Counterstrike and Flash Onslaught. Both are great skills. But in this case the prospect of losing our Discipline boon, and thus breaking our fire immunity, makes the choice rather easy. Flash Onslaught is an increadible skill that allows you to deal a lot of damage to a lot of enemies quickly. But dealing with groups of smaller enemies is already something we are good at. And we prefer not giving up our Discipline if we don't have to. So Counterstrike is the better choice here. It will help us more in boss fights, which is the area we will need the most help anyway.

Cabal Hermit
Again only one choice, and not a diffecult one. Sigil of Wind versus Infuse Wind. Since we will be using Fire Imbue whenever possible, there is really no point in ever using Infuse Wind. So we'll take Sigil of Wind so we have something to use against those pesky fire monsters.

Legacy
Because you can obtain at most 5 Tsar Stones in one playthrough, you will need to gain at least one of them through a Legacy Chest. And if you prefer stats over looks, you might consider leaving a pair of Black Plate Boots in a legacy chest to create Orichalcum Boots.

Early Game
Early game you will want to focus on exploring, building your resources, earning silver and unlocking skills. You can vary easily craft Fire Rags and Warm Potions to give you a boost in combat and eventually using Sigil of Fire to at least shoot a Fireball here and there. A few fire based weapon that can be found fairly easily are the Giantkind Halberd, by beating an Ash Giant Priest in Abrassar. Or the Obsidian Greatmace can be crafted from ingredients obtained from the Obsidian Elementals you can find in the Enmerkar Forest If you can beat yourself a giant you can get this rather powerful polearm with fire damage. Generally you just play as any other melee build. Use what you can find and make sure you sell everything you can!

Mid Game
By the mid game you will be able to gather some gear that will allow you to start doing the things you want from this character. Once you've unlocked all your skilltree's you only need 40% more resistance to become immune to fire. The Petrified Wood Armor plus Petrified Wood Boots will do the trick. They are quite easily crafted after gathering some Petrified Wood in the burning forest and farming some silver. Combine this with a Wide Black Hat for a boost to your fire damage and mana cost reduction.

Meanwhile in the Abrassar desert the Sunfall Axe is waiting for you. It's at the bottom of Stone Titan Caves. And while some of the enemies here can be quite tough, it should be doable and well worth the reward. The Red Lady's Dagger is also fairly easy to get. It's down in the depths of the Face of The Ancients. Be sure you have some way of dealing with the fire enemies though, as they are immune to fire damage.

Late Game
Once you've unlocked all your skills, including all the possible boons. And assembled the equipment above, or some other outfit that works for you. It's time to start optimizing your build. Farming materials to craft the Tsar Armor and Antique Plate Sallet. Farm the enchantment materials for the Economy and Guidance of Wind and start building your city in New Sirocco to unlock Scalp Collector.

Alternative Builds
Bringing a dagger in your offhand gives you the ability to deal two very powerful offhand attacks. But there are other options for that second hand. Here are a few.

Chakram
You could opt for a Chakram. This makes sense since you already have the Philosopher skilltree anyway. So what chakram to take then? Perhaps the Mysterious Chakram for the fire damage would make sense? I personally prefer the Ornate Chakram, as it's Musing of a Philosopher enchantment allows you to apply the Scorched hex with only three hits. And since Chakram Pierce hits twice, you can follow it with a Chakram Arc and you will have knocked your enemy down, and made him weak to fire and ice. This will also allow you to very easily switch to an ice weapon for when you are fighting fire resistant enemies.

Two handed
Perhaps you would prefer to wield a large two handed weapon? This is ofcourse possible. The main problem with this is that there are few good fire based late game weapons. You would likely end up with a Meteoric Set weapon by leaving an Obsidian Set weapon in a Legacy Chest. Which would allow you to apply Holy Blaze to your burning enemies. Which is kind of cool! But honestly the damage is mediocre at best. The Meteoric Greataxe is the strongest of the bnuch with 50 damage. Which is low for a two handed weapon and is almost matched by the 40 damage from the Sunfall Axe because of it's higher attackspeed.

Lantern
A lantern in your offhand can be a really cool weapon. You can use it to cast Flamethrower. Allthough that is a fairly mana heavy spell that leaves you vulnerable while channeling it. And it allows you to throw the lantern. Destroying it in the process, but giving you a ranged fire attack that costs no mana. You could also use the Lantern of Souls to give you some extra resistances to magic.

Shield
A shield in your offhand is never a bad idea. It will allow you to block more impact damage, costing less stemina with each hit blocked. The Dragon Shield seems to make sense as it can apply burning. But you've got plenty of ways to do that already. I personally like the Astral Shield as it applies Scorched. But really any shield will do just fine.

Quick Slots
Depending on your playstyle, you can include and exclude different skills and items in the quickslot bar. The Sigil of Fire can easily be cast before combat and Flint and Steel can be used from your pocket even on consoles. This leaves you with two slots on your quickbar.

You could bring Backstab. A very powerful attack, especially when playing with a friend, as enemies tend to get distracted.

There are a few block skills you could bring along to save yourself from sticky situations. Both Brace and Counterstrike are very good options.

Also adding a few Great Life Potions or Great Endurance Potions to your quickbar will usually serve you well.