Skill and Character Builds Discussion

[IronWarfare]

Planning a cold necromancer with frozen spear: my goal is to have an insanely high -x% to enemy cold resistance. I was thinking about Doom as weapon, triple rumour of pain with -15 ecr, tons of icestorm shard, max low resistance, conviction of archdimeron helm and cold damage boost by act3 mercenary aura (and putting on him a fox runeword for even more cold damage). Is this build viable?

[Lucifer666]

Fox Runeword is useless for Act 3 Cold SOrceror...I plan something along those lines...BUT with Frozen Orb as the Main Skill...and Frozen Spear as backup...sure,it is viable with enough work on gear...

Edit:IronWarfare did you set up PlugY for Nez???Nez is a high quality mod too,I like it very much...since I seen your post there,I use PlugY 10 for Nez...

[IronWarfare]

Frozen Orb? Is that good? With the right equipment it can reach lvl 100, but is the damage worthy? Doesn't the fox runeword aura add to base Act3 sorceror aura?

At the moment I've abandoned for a bit Nez: I find it quite difficult and slow, but maybe that's because there are not character build guides, gameplay guides, help, item database, tips etc....

[Lucifer666]

There are everything except for Char Builds(which are useless IMO since you will be finding Skill Books with up to +9 Skill Points and therefore will eventually have max every skill like in Zy-El)...

http://web.archive.org/web/200708241722 ... index.html

You got everything you need for Nez here,and if you need some tip just tell me your starting Class and which Lvl are you currently...

[IronWarfare]

I had a necromancer at lvl 20, and I've started also a Zon for goldfinding like in ES (don't sure if it works, but tons of cool items require much gold)

[Lucifer666]

Ah,yes a Necro is usually the best starting Farmer...not in Nez thou...He is good for most of the game,but if you go down the summoner route you will find it IMPOSSIBLE to kill ANY Bosses after Nightmare...you don't need to focus on GF early in Nez,it somehow comes automatically once your Char is strong enough to run the special areas...Just spend all of your money at Gheed and you'll get everything you need to pown the game...Not on Gambling but on Mystery Chests...

My staring Char was Necro,I played him to end of Nightmare with never going into the special areas(the monsters are owning my lvl 100+ Summons),after that I made a Assassin...I literally Powned everything in my way...with her I done Hell before I reached lvl 300,with some minimal tweaking...Special Areas with the Assassin are no prob...Javelin Hail is Javazon's golden Skill.and Multishot being Uber for Bowzons...You'll see,once you are lvl 30+ and can actually use some early Uniques you'll start powning...the Beginning is the hardest part of Nez...

Edit: and oh yea...the Fox Runeword does not add to the Cold Sorcerors Aura,if you equip it on him it will cycle between his Aura and Fox Aura every 2 seconds...better put some more usefull Aura on him,like Holy Freeze(it gets synergys from his PFC)or some other protection aura like Defiance(it also gets sinergyzed by his PFC)...

[IronWarfare]

I had a necromancer at lvl 20, and I've started also a Zon for goldfinding like in ES (don't sure if it works, but tons of cool items require much gold)

Yeah, I've just put on him a Chains of Binding (it was collecting dust in my mule, at least I've found a use for that armor)

[Lucifer666]

Any suggestions for a weapon for a Elemental Form with Iron Claws and Maul??? Two Handed if possible...

[thepsycho2]

Preferably anything that swings fast and does decent damage at the same time. I'm thinking either a Guardian or Death Reaper.

Note: Slow week. But Chillout is making progress. Got both elemental-tab rings made. I'm currently working on a +2/2 starter shaman wand (EDIT: finally rerolled a +2/2). I am considering archdimeron for this build (it was even suggested by Metro that it should be used, because of the conviction oskill), but that will bite on my dexterity; will have to replace that with a jewel or emerald.

Planning on d-stoning gold find on the rings. Not sure what I am going to use as amulet, perhaps beads of the guardian may do.

EDIT: Don't have it. CBF would've been useful. So I'll have to use a druid-craft amulet for the time being. He's making slow but sure progress.

EDIT 2: Made a druid-craft druid amulet. Required level 49. But it has +2 Druid skills, +18 all resist along with extra poison resist, strength, life boost. I have an Eye of the Beholder at 50 that I could use. Just started Act 4.

EDIT 3: Whoever's making the endlesswinter sorc halls page .. I'm inspired to try making a cold sorc now.. aargh! I am starting "ColdHearted".

[Lucifer666]

It's cpt_chaos...it does look good...

[thepsycho2]

Very interesting indeed.

I'm resuming my cold druid. I don't have enough resources for my sorceress yet.

EDIT: 32 and Act 5, I ran a few times down the main part of River of Flame to gather gold. I got some flawless gems in the course of it, not to mention a fair amount of gold and experience. Also my temp merc is an idiot -- didn't come with me to the chaos sanctuary but that's fine.. I cleared the seals and Diablo by myself. As a FYI I am using Tornado at 6 (before skill boosts) so I can spawn two per cast, to make it a little easier to hit cold-resistant and cold-immune monsters. Once I get my winter fury maxed I'm going to raise tornado (syn. to cyclone armor) before going for cyclone armor.

Rolled a junk rumour of pain into a more junky rumour of pain, so I tried again. -15% FIRE resistance. Aargh. So another reroll, and it became junky again.

[Lucifer666]

Yea,rerolling RoP's is a pain...I feel for ya man..hey if ya got some with -15 to Lightning I could trade you one of my - 15 Cold if you want???

[thepsycho2]

No luck on that either, I think the closest with lightning is -13% and it's on a thunder barb..

[Lucifer666]

Yo Psycho,wanna make a Craftsman Tourny rules with me??? I got bore of the HC Challenge and need something to rest from it,and as it seems both Nameless and Hans dissapeared and who knows when they will be back...

I figure something along these lines...

1.Death = Elimination
2.Up to three( 3 ) attempts allowed(must be with a different Class every time)
3.Gear Restrictions = Normal,Magic and Craft(does not apply to Jewels and Charms),NO Runewords allowed,Gemwords Allowed ONLY in Normal and Nightmare,by the time you enter Hell you MUST wear all Crafts
4. Muling OFF is allowed
5.Special Areas are a No Go till Baal of the Difficulty has been Slain
6.Player Setting used will be 4 by default,you can up it more if you wish,but you can't lower it below 4 at any time
7.Unlimited Rerun of areas

WayPoints and Quest along with your Crafted Gear will be used for Scoring,maybe you could come up with a scoring system of some sort,we could keep it simple like Waypoint Normal = 5 Points,Nightmare = 10 Points,Hell = 15 Points,Quests Normal = 10 Points,Nightmare = 15 Points,Hell = 20 Points,Craft Gear LOD Recipe = 5 Points,Craft Gear Class Recipe = 10 Points...hmmmm...this actually looks simple and good enough...What say you??? And the Others??? Will there be at least 4-5 persons participating???

[thepsycho2]

Yo Psycho,wanna make a Craftsman Tourny rules with me??? I got bore of the HC Challenge and need something to rest from it,and as it seems both Nameless and Hans dissapeared and who knows when they will be back...

I figure something along these lines...

1.Death = Elimination
2.Up to three( 3 ) attempts allowed(must be with a different Class every time)
3.Gear Restrictions = Normal,Magic and Craft(does not apply to Jewels and Charms),NO Runewords allowed,Gemwords Allowed ONLY in Normal and Nightmare,by the time you enter Hell you MUST wear all Crafts
4. Muling OFF is allowed
5.Special Areas are a No Go till Baal of the Difficulty has been Slain
6.Player Setting used will be 4 by default,you can up it more if you wish,but you can't lower it below 4 at any time
7.Unlimited Rerun of areas

WayPoints and Quest along with your Crafted Gear will be used for Scoring,maybe you could come up with a scoring system of some sort,we could keep it simple like Waypoint Normal = 5 Points,Nightmare = 10 Points,Hell = 15 Points,Quests Normal = 10 Points,Nightmare = 15 Points,Hell = 20 Points,Craft Gear LOD Recipe = 5 Points,Craft Gear Class Recipe = 10 Points...hmmmm...this actually looks simple and good enough...What say you??? And the Others??? Will there be at least 4-5 persons participating???

I'd rather try unlimited attempts. The only thing stating that if your next attempt is doing better than the previous, the previous character is removed from the board. The 1 life rule can remain.

No oskill gemwords.

Going for Nihlathak is a risk for some players especially with /p4, so I am considering a multiplier bonus for obtaining all waypoints, completing Domain and completing difficulty. You can only gain the bonus once. It is something like this:

All waypoints obtained: +0.05 per act except act 4, act 4 and 5 will be combined
Difficulty completed: +0.05 Normal, +0.10 Nightmare and again for Hell
Killing Nihlathak: +0.15 Normal, +0.20 Nightmare, +0.35 Hell

1.55 multiplier bonus to be had. Considering this is tacked onto a normal 1x, scores can be multiplied by 2.55 for the pure completionist.

Now, for gear.

Legacy craft:
Craft and wear a ring or amulet: 4
Craft and wear a normal item: 10
Craft and wear an exceptional item: 20
Craft and wear an elite item: 30
Two-handed items get twice the bonus.

Class craft:
Craft and wear a ring or amulet: 8
Craft and wear a normal item: 15
Craft and wear an exceptional item: 30
Craft and wear an elite item: 45
Two-handed items get twice the bonus.

These values can be adjusted.

Mercenary wearing: Follow the same guidelines. However, for ANY craft amulet or ring is 5, so nobody is carrying around barbarians all the time. Two-handed bonus carries as well, so you can get 90 for an elite 2H, or a 1H/shield for the act 3 merc.

Quests: Finishing all quests in an act will get you 3 for Normal, 6 for Nightmare and 10 for Hell. This encourages completion. It also encourages attempt to go after Nihlathak in Act 5.

So down here it would be something like this:

Code: Select all

Name (class)                Lvl  Prog     Equip      GPM       Total     Status
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Notepad++ is your best friend)
Prog: Quests completion
Equip: total of all equipment worn
GPM: Game Progress Multiplier, start at 1 and add any multiplier bonuses.
Total: (Prog + Equip) * GPM .. cut off any decimals.
Status: Nothing means character is alive. RIP: dead. RET: retired from play. A RET player has higher priority over RIP. An alive player has priority over a RET player.

A player with a Lvl higher than another with the same total has higher prirority.

[Lucifer666]

Cool,so I am up for it,anybody else???

[thepsycho2]

Think this is actually worth it? I am open to any suggestions as to tweaks.

Greedy, my double-swing barb, is halfway through act 5. As it is suggested, he's going to have dual "Gluttony" weapons eventually. Trying to build him up is a challenge with little extra equip.

[Lucifer666]

Yea why not man,the most important thing is to have fun after all...let's wait a while to see if anybody else is interested...

[thepsycho2]

I'll put up what I have in the tournament central thread then. It'll get some exposure there..

On that note, Greedy has two Larzuk's Aim Tribal Hatchets mainly for the skill boost and damage, not for throw though. He's a double-swinger. 57 seems so far away..

[dis astranagant]

How can I find out the IAS breakpoints for killer scythe with a knuckle weapon? Plugging hand to hand into the ias calculator on the wiki just makes it puke.

[maxmage]

okay so i had this idea... for a poor mans thunder barb.

okay so this is on the basis that a melee barb can go to the toughest places because he hits hard but tanks harder.
but using the same concept for for the thunder barb.

im sitting on 3.3 k life with 1 point in luck of the ancients 1 in strength of the ancients and 1 into vigor of the ancients iron skin and natural resists.
1 into shout bo and battle command when i switch to my bo swords the shouts are lvl
15 shout 18 bo and 15 battle command

and when i switch to attack setup (w)

17 strength of the cnients 17 luck of the ancients 20 vigor of the ancients 17b iron skin and 17 natural res

i have a total of 227 strength and 413 vitality.

im only lvl 66. and farming nightmare cows.

my skill setup is max thunder wave for taking hoards of weaker enemies
going toe to toe and getting a massive crowd of cows to to follow tank like a boss and take them all out in hoards and i lay the smack down with plasma rain.

my thunder wave is lvl 49 nova is 29 and plasma rain is 26

thunder wave is 8.6k and plasma rain is 11k

thunder wave has a short skill timer made even shorter is you can cast thunderwave quickly dont need much fcr to accoplish this 20-40 is enough.

plasma rain can be cast 3-4 times slower then blizzard it hink
before it stops stacking. because of the skill timer.

so your trippling the damage output per second.

sword of choice for this build is opposing desitny and rings of choice are rerolled barbarion rings that give 1-3 mastery barb only and i have 1 ring with +1 barb skills AND 3 to mastery i may be able to roll +1 all skills as well socket and forge a jewel that has +1 barb skills with a god rune to get +1 all.

later i plan on getting a 6 socketed sword filling +1 barb skils with god rune forgings

for +12 barb skills in each hand. +24. then im going to get a bunch of large charmes convert them so they can be socketed and put +1 barb jewels in them.

conviction will come from many sources and lower resist i can roll on a ring and i can always use ancients call.

[thepsycho2]

I've seen such destruction with my usage of Klepto, the summoner druid, and several Might oskill items. Now I want to shift that over to my summoner necromancer Chase.

Here's my plan so far:

20 Raise Vampire
25 Raise Skeleton
30 Revive
30 Skeleton Mastery (Yes, last).

Though in theory I should max Raise Skeleton before Raise Vampire since it is more of a physical-based approach. My necro will run Might (of course), so that will leave a wide opening for my mercenary, which I am currently stuck on. My current thought is to stack auras-on-equip on an Act 5 Defense barbarian: "Fox", "Grand Leon", Hermes' Gift...

...while my armor will have "Stomach Ache" alongside a vital piece of equipment for most summoners: anything with oskill Teleport ("Saiyajin"). Though for the most part that will be on the off-switch later on, the weapon will be of primary use until I get a good summoner wand (That one unique on my mind but my brain farted). As far as shields go, I am divided between "Medicine" and anything else you could throw at me that could be better.

My plan: Both rings, amulet, gloves, boots, belt will have oskill Might. I have considered ArchDimeron but decided against it (- to stats!) and am thinking Servant's Leathers until something better I can think of..

Suggestions? Let me know.

[Lucifer666]

for Helm,a Jewelers filled with Knowledgeable Jewels,also don't forget that Salvation on Equip also makes your summons UNfreezable if their resists go beyond 100 with Summon Res and Salvation,also Def Barb CAN equip a Shield if ya give him a one handed weapon,extra slot for Aura on Equip...Shiled maybe Crafted Necro with Jewelers affix would be best...you will be needing lots of +Skills...

[thepsycho2]

Necro is on hold, I'm having too much fun with my summoner druid.

Current setup:

Weapon: "Nature's Kingdom" in a Rune Staff
Armor: "Stomach Ache" (Cleansing)
Gloves, Belt, Ring1, Ring2, Amulet: +Might oskill
Helm: "Learned One" yeah I overshot this one.
Boots: Placeholder

Merc is an Act 5 Defense barb

Weapon: "Grand Leon" Gothic Sword, will up his weapon later
Armor: "Fox" (Protection From Cold)
Helm: Placeholder
Gloves: "Mighty" procs Amplify Damage
Belt: Placeholder
Boots: Gore Rider (LoD War Boots)
Ring1, Ring2: Lifesteal
Amulet: +All Resistance

You can equip shields on defense barbs with 1H swords? Huh. Sounds weird, but might want to try it out. What would I install on him anyway? Something with a useful AOE, perhaps.

[Lucifer666]

Envy can be made in Shields,or you could give im the shield with 75%DR,forgot the name,I think Blinn or Metro found that out about Barb Merc being able to use Shield...