To make this character, you will need:
- Full Natalya's set including 3-socket armor
- Suwayyah or Scissors Suwayyah with 3 sockets
- 1x Fal, Ohm, and Um runes
- 4x Ber runes
- 1x Perfect Skull
- 2x Bul-Kathos' Wedding Band
- String of Ears
- Soul Drainer
- Completion at least twice of the quest that allows you to socket an item as the quest reward
Do you see where I'm going with this? Stick the Fal, Ohm, and Um runes into the 3-socket katar to make the Chaos runeword. Use the socketing reward on Natalya's helm and katar. Stick a Ber rune in the helm and a perfect skull in the katar. Stick the remaining Ber runes into Nat's armor. Add whatever other phat lewt you have (Mara's, Annihilus, etc.). You now have up to 77% physical damage-reduction, 43% life-leech, and 24% mana-leech, and you can WW through a crowd of monsters and leech from all of them in rapid succession. Twenty points into Claw Mastery will really help out here (more damage = more leeching), and 20 into Shadow Master should be considered obvious for any assassin. Since you're dual-wielding katars instead of using a shield, 20 points into Weapon Block would be nice, and according to the Arreat Summit, you can block while WWing (LOL @ high block chance plus 77% damage-reduction...)
This character does have one really severe weakness: Even if you have a perfect Annihilus and perfect Mara's, and you've read 3 Scrolls of Resistance, you'll still only have 50% fire resistance on Hell difficulty... and this is a melee character. Fire-enchanted monsters have always been a problem for this character, and it was the one problem that I was never able to solve without making huge sacrifices elsewhere.
Feedback?|||
Q u o t e:
DR% caps at 50% for players.
Except for when something reduces your physical resistances. Then the extra 27% really comes in handy.
Q u o t e:
Except all of those pesky undead who are not leechable.
They are annoying, aren't they?
Q u o t e:
Due to dimishing returns this is very unwise. Somewhere around 50% is as good as you will reasonably get this, so leave it there.
Fair enough. It's the gear that really defines the character's theme.
Q u o t e:
Let this be the new mantra for your OCD
Sorry, but it doesn't work that way.
Q u o t e:
That is the way 99.9% of builds should be made for maximum effectiveness.
...if you're playing Hardcore.
Q u o t e:
- Sol'd Gerke's
- Sol'd GBane
- Sol'd PDR circlet with resists
- 2 Nature's Peace
- Atma's Amulet or 25+ PDR ammy with resists
- Dracs (Lifetap = 50% life leech against everything) or AR/LL gloves if you use Atma's
- resists/PDR crafted belt
- Gores (why not)
- Crushflange + SS/Gerke's/Resist shield on switch
- Torch/Anni/resist charms as needed
20 DS
20 Venom
20 Claw mastery
18 DT after +skills
The rest wherever you want them
Use BoS
Oh for the love of christ... over at the Civfanatics forums, my signature says "For every 2 seconds that a person saves by using an acronym instead of writing out the full name, another person scratches their head for 2 minutes trying to figure out what it means"
And what good is a Sol rune when monsters are whacking you for a hundred damage per hit on Hell difficulty? Why are you replacing BK's Wedding Band with Nature's Peace? Extra life, extra life leech, and +1 all skills are always useful, but Nature's Peace is only useful (and not exceptionally useful at that) against physical and poison damage. Just about the only thing that you didn't screw up was the use of Dracul's Grasp; believe it or not, the decision between that and Soul Drainer was the toughest call that I had to make when designing this character. I ultimately went with Soul Drainer because WW is a mana-intensive skill and I already had a lot more life leech than mana leech. I think I also dumped 20 points into Venom just to deal with those pesky physical immunes, but can't remember...
Can you please try to provide feedback without utterly butchering the theme of the character?|||
Q u o t e:
This character does have one really severe weakness: Even if you have a perfect Annihilus and perfect Mara's, and you've read 3 Scrolls of Resistance, you'll still only have 50% fire resistance on Hell difficulty... and this is a melee character. Fire-enchanted monsters have always been a problem for this character, and it was the one problem that I was never able to solve without making huge sacrifices elsewhere.
Oh my .. either get your hands on a 25%+ fire resist grand charm or - which is prolly better - get some fire absorb gear, i.e. swap one Bul-Kathos with a Dwarfstar or put Rising Sun on.|||Yeah Dwarf Star is a good choice.
And why would you ever use 2 Nature's Peace? Unless you're that hard-pressed for poison resist...|||Just to throw the acronyms out there; (Also, Listen to Ven! He's been playing this game for years and, like some of us, has amassed a wealth of information about this game.)
3D: 3 Diamond Usually refers to a shield socketed with three perfect diamonds.
5%: generally relats to +5% all resistances small charms
7%: usually refers to a 7% magicfind smallcharm
A1, A2: Act 1, Act 2, etc.
AB: Amazon Basin
ABM: Amazon Basin Member
afaic: As far as I'm concerned
afaics: As far as I can see
afaik: As far as I know
afk: Away From Keyboard
Ali Baba: Blade of Ali Baba Exceptional Unique Tulwar
alvl: area level
Ama: Amazon
Amp: Amplify Damage (curse)
AMU, AMMY: Amulet
Ancients (AW): The Ancients' Way in Act 5
Andy: Andariel
Anni: Annihilus (the one and only unique small charm)
AoE: Area of Effect
AR: Attack rating
Arkaine's (Ark): Arkaine's Valor Elite Unique Balrog Skin
Arreat's: Arreat's Face Unique Slayer Guard
AS: Arreat Summit. Official website for D2: LoD
Assa/Assin: Assassin
Atlantean: The Atlantean Exceptional Unique Ancient Sword
Atma's: Atma's Scarab Unique Amulet
B.net (Bnet): Battle Net
b/o: Best Offer
BA: Bone Armor (necromancer skill)
BA: Blessed Aim (paladin skill)
Baba (Barb): Barbarian
Bane: Gladiator's Bane Elite Unique Wire Fleece
Baranar's (Banana): Baranar's Star Elite Unique Devil Star.
Bartuc's (Barts): Bartuc's Cut-Throat Unique Greater Talons
Basher: The Cranium Basher Elite Unique Thunder Maul
BBS: Be back soon (also BBin: be back in XX minutes)
BC (BCom): Battle Command (barbarian warcry)
BC (BCry): Battle Cry. A Barbarian warcry to decrease an enemy's damage and defense
BG: Blood Golem
BH: Blessed Hammer (paladin skill)
Big D: Diablo
BK: Bul-Kathos (unique ring/barbarian set)
BM: Bad Manners
BO: Battle Orders
BoI: Blades of Ice
BoS: Burst of Speed
BotD: Breath of the dying
BP: Bone Prison (necromancer skill)
BRB: be right back
brt: Be right there
BS: Blade Shield.
BS: Bone Spirit (necromancer skill)
B-Star: Barnard's star (unique mace)
BTC: Back To Channel
btw: By the way
Burrito (Buriza): Buriza-Do Kyanon Exceptional Unique Ballista
BW: Bone Wall. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree
C/C: Claw/Claw. Refers to an Assassin wielding dual claws
C/O: Current Offer
C/S: Claw/Shield. Refers to an Assassin using a claw and shield
Cat 2: Catacombs Level 2 in Act 1
CB: Collossus Blade
CB: Crushing Blow
CB: Charged Bolt (sorceress skill)
CBF: Cannot be frozen
CCB: Cruel Colossus Blade
CCS: Cruel Colossus Sword
CE: Cold Enchanted
CE: Corpse explosion (necromancer skill)
cg (grats): Congratulations.
CG: Clay Golem
Chan?: Go to channel.
Char: Character
chips: chipped gems
CI: Cold Immune
CKN (Chu): Chu-ko-nu. Often refers specifically to the Demon Machine Exceptional Unique Chu-ko-nu Crossbow
CL: Chain Lightning (sorceress skill)
clvl: character level
CM: Cold Mastery
CM: Community Member
CM: Council Member
CM: Claw Mastery
CoA: Crown of Ages
CoH: Chains of Honor
Conc: Concentrate/ion (paladin aura/Barbarian skill)
Conv: Conviction (paladin skill)
CoS: Cloak of Shadows
CoT: Claws of Thunder
CP: Crystalline Passage in Act 5
CR: Cold resistance
Cranium (C basher): The Cranium Basher Elite Unique Thunder Maul
Crit: Critical Strike
CS: Cobra Strike
CS: Chaos Sanctuary in Act 4
CTA: Call to Arms
CTH: Chance to Hit
CU: Cursed
Cube: The Horadric Cube
cya: See you
D/A/E: Dodge/Avoid/Evade. Trio of Amazon defensive skills from the Passive and Magic skill tree
D: Diablo
D2: Diablo II
D2M: Damage to Mana
DC: Diablo Clone
DC: Dragon Claw
DD: Don't die
Decrep: Decrepify (necromancer skill)
Def: Defense
DEX: Dexterity
DF: Dragon Flight
dii: dii.net. A D2 reference and forum site
ding: Player announcing they've just leveled
DKK: Don't Kill King (cow king)
Dmg: Damage
Doombringer (Doom): Doombringer Elite Unique Champion Sword
DR: damage reduction
DS: Deadly Strike
DS: Death Sentry (assassin skill)
DT: Dragon Tail
Dur 2: Durance of Hate Level 2 in Act 3
Durry: Duriel
Eagle (Eaglehorn): Eaglehorn Elite Unique Crusader Bow
eBotD: Ethereal breath of the dying
ED: Enhansed defense/damage
EF: Extra Fast
ENE: Energy
ES: Energy Shield (sorceress skill)
ES: Extra Strong
Eth: Ethereal
exp: Experience
Eye (EoE): Eye of Etlitch Unique Amulet
FA: Freezing Arrow. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow skill tree
Face: Arreat's Face Unique Slayer Guard
Fana: Fanaticism. A Paladin offensive aura to increase attack speed and physical damage
FB: Fireball. Sorceress fire tree attack skill
FBR: Faster block rate
FC: Fire Claws. A Druid shape shifting skill
FCR: Faster Cast Rate
FE: Fire enchanted
FG: Fire Golem
FHR: Faster Hit Recovery
FI: Fire Immune
Fists: Magefist Unique Light Gauntlets
FN: Frost Nova. Sorceress cold tree attack skill
FO: frozen orb
FoF: Fists of Fire. An Assassin attack skill on the martial arts tree
FoH: Fist of Heavens
FPS: Frames per second (command needed /fps)
FR/W: Faster/fastest run walk (fastest being older)
FR: Feral Rage. A Druid shape shifting skill.
FR: Fire Resistance.
Frosties: Frostburn Unique Gauntlets.
FRW: Faster Run/Walk.
FT: For trade
FW: Firewall. Sorceress fire tree attack skill
GA: Guided Arrow
Gaze: Vampiregaze Exceptional Unique Grim Helm
GC: Grand Charm
GF: Grandfather (sword)
gfi: Go for it
GG: Good Game
gj: Good job.
GS: Glacial Spike. Sorceress cold tree attack skill
GSA: Goldstrike Arch Exceptional Unique Gothic Bow
gtg: Good to go (or Got to go)
Gull: Gull Unique Dagger
H: Hell difficulty level
Harley: Harlequin Crest Elite Unique Shako
HB: Holy Bolt. A Paladin combat skill
HC: High Council (uniques found in the Travincal Act3, Durrance of hate lvl 3 Act3 and Worldstone Keep lvl 3)
HC: Hard Core
HCMTF: Hit Causes Monster to Flee
Hellslayer: Hellslayer Elite Unique Decapitator
Heph: Hephasto the Armorer. Act 4 super unique monster
HF(#2): Have Fun
HF: Holly Freeze
HoBL: Hand of Blessed Light Unique Divine Scepter
Homunculus: Homunculus Unique Hierophant Trophy
Horn (Eaglehorn): Eaglehorn Elite Unique Crusader Bow
Hot: Warning that a portal is dangerous to enter
HoTo: Heart of the oak
HoW: Heart of Wolverine. A Druid summoning skill
HoZ: Herald of Zakarum
HS: Holy Shield. A Paladin combat skill to boost shield characteristics.
HS: Holy Shock.
IAS: Increased Attack Speed/Initial Attack Speed
ID: Identify
IG: Iron Golem
IIRC: If I recall correctly
IK Maul: Immortal King's Stone Crusher Set Ogre Maul
IK: Immortal King's set
ilvl: item level
IM: Iron Maiden
IMHO: In my honest opinion
IMHO: In my humble opinion
Immo: Immolation Arrow. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree
IMO: In my opinion
Ire: Skullder's Ire Exceptional Unique Russet Armor
IS: Iron Skin. A Barbarian mastery to increase defense
ISO: In search of
ITD: Ignore Target's Defense
Izzy: Izual
Jalal's: Jalal's Mane Unique Totemic Mask
k: Okay
KA: Kick bum*(sensored)
KB: Knockback
l337: Elite
LA: Leap Attack
LC: Large Charm
LCS: Liying character screen
LE: Lightning enchanted
LEB: Lightning enchanted boss
LEM: Lightning Enchanted monster
LF: Lightning Fury. A skill on the Amazon Javelin and Spear tree
LHC: ladder hard core
LI: Lightning immune
Lidless: Lidless Wall Exceptional Unique Grim Shield
Lightsabre: Lightsabre Elite Unique Phase Blade
LL: Life Leech
LLD: Low level dueling
LM: Lightning Mastery
LoD: Lord of Destruction. The Diablo II expansion
LoH: Laying of Hands Disciple Set Bramble Mitts
LOL: Laughs out loud
LR: Lightning resistance
LR: Lower Resist. Necro curse to reduce enemies' magic resistance
LS: Lightning Sentry
LS: Lightning Strike. A skill on the Amazon Javelin and Spear tree
LSC: ladder soft core
LTB: Looking to Buy
LTT: Looking To Trade
Lyc: Lycander's Aim Unique Ceremonial Bow
MA: Martial Arts. Usually a description for an Assassin type of build, or reference to one of the Assassin skill trees
Mara's: Mara's Kaleidoscope Unique Amulet
Mat: Matriarchal bow
MB: Mana Burn
MDR: Magic Damage Reduced. Items with this mod reduce magical damage
Meph: Mephisto
MF: Magic Find
MFSC/SMFC: Magicfind Small Charm/Small Magicfind Charm
MI: Magic Immune
MiC: Meet in Channel (also MiP: Meet in Post [also oldschool])
ML: Mana Leech
mlvl: monster level
Mod: Moderator
Mod: Modifier. Adds a characteristic to an item such as a weapon or charm
Moser's: Moser's Blessed Circle Exceptional Unique Round Shield
MP: Market Place
MP: Multi-Player
MPK: Mana per kill
MR: Magic Resistant
MS: Multiple Shot. An attack skill on the Amazon Bow and Crossbow tree
MS: Multi-Shot. A mod available to boss monsters
msg: message
MSLEB: Multishot Lightning Enchanted Boss (oldschool)
Mule: character made only to carry extra items
n00b: Newbie
nbd: No big deal
Necro: Necromancer
newb: Newbie
NG: New Game/Next Game
NL: non-ladder (also NLSC, NLHC [see HC, SC#2])
nm (nvm): Never mind.
NM: NightMare difficulty
Norm: Normal Difficulty
NR: Natural Resistance. A Barbarian mastery to increase resistance to magic damage
NRG: Energy
Oak: Oak Sage. A Druid summoning skill
OBK: Oblivion Knights (also "OK")
Occy (Oculus): The Oculus Unique Swirling Crystal
OK: Oblivion Knight
OMG: Oh my god
orb: frozen orb
OT: Off Topic
OTOH: On the other hand
PA: perfect amethist
Paly: Paladin
PC: price check
PDR: Physical Damage Reduction
pdsc: Poison damage small charm
PGem/PG: Perfect Gem(S)
PI: Physical Immune. A monster immune to physical damage attack.
PK: Player Killer
PKK: Player Killer Killer. A player who kills player killers
PMH: Prevent Monster Heal
PN: Poison Nova. A Necromancer skill on the Poison and Bone tree
Pots: potions
PP: Party Please
PR: perfect ruby
PR: Poison resistance
PS: perfect skull
PS: Phoenix Strike
PSa: perfect saphire
PT: perfect topaz
PvM: person versus monsters
PvP: person versus person
PW: Password
qlvl: quality level
R/W: Run Walk
r: Ready. This is the standard signal among players in a group before triggering a monster urn/shrine or entering a particularly treacherous area
Reaver (Messy Reaver): Messerschmidt's Reaver Elite Unique Champion Axe
Req: Requirement
res: resistance
res: Resurrect
rl: Real life
RoF: Rate of Fire
RoF: River of Flame in Act 4.
ROFL: Rolling on the floor laughing
S/S: Sword/Shield
SC: Soft Core
SC: small charm
Schaefer's: Schaefer's Hammer Elite Unique Legendary Mallet
SD: Shadow Disciplines. One of the Assassin skill trees
Sec: Hang on a second
SF: Static Field. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill
SH (Spec): Spectral Hit
Shaft: Shaftstop Exceptional Unique Mesh Armor
Shako: Harlequin Crest Shako (unique helm)
Silks: Silks of the Victor Unique Ancient Armor
Sin (Sinner): Assassin
Skullder's: Skullder's Ire Exceptional Unique Russet Armor
Slow: Slows Target. Item mod that slows enemies
slvl: Skill Level
SM (Master): Shadow Master
SM: Slow Missiles. A skill on the Amazon Passive and Magic tree
SoE: String Of Ears (belt)
Soj: Stone of Jordan
Sorc: sorceress
SP: Single Player. Usually refers to single-player mode of Diablo II
Spear: Bone Spear. A Necromancer attack skill
spider sash: Arachnid's Mesh (belt)
Spike: Wizardspike Elite Unique Bone Knife
Spirit: Bone Spirit. A Necromancer attack skill
SS (Storm): Stormshield Elite Unique Monarch Shield
SS: Stone Skin.
Stormspire: Stormspire Elite Unique Giant Thresher
STR: Strength
SW (Warrior): Shadow Warrior
SW: Shock Wave. A Druid shape shifting skill
Tal's Orb: Tal Rasha's Lidless Eye Set Swirling Crystal
Tarn: Tarnhelm Unique Skull Cap
TC: Treasure Class
TE (Tele): Teleport
TGod (TGV): Thundergod's Vigor Exceptional Unique War Belt
thx: Thanks
Tiamat's: Tiamat's Rebuke Exceptional Unique Dragon Shield
Titan's: Titan's Revenge Unique Ceremonial Javelin
TK: Telekinesis
TP: Trading Post
TP: Teleport. A Sorceress skill on the lightning tree.
TP: Town Portal
tppk: Town Portal Personnal Kill
Trav: Travincal in Act 3
TS: Thunderstorm. Sorceress lighting tree attack skill
TS: Tiger Strike.
ttyl: Talk to you later
Tucs: Bartuc's Cut-Throat Unique Greater Talons
Twitch: Twitchthroe Unique Studded Leather Armor
ty: Thank you.
tyt: Take your time
tyvm: Thank you very much
UD: Uber Diablo
Ume's: Ume's Lament Unique Grave Wand
Up'ed: Upgraded item
Valk: Valkyrie. A skill on the Amazon Passive and Magic tree
Valor: Arkaine's Valor Elite Unique Balrog Skin
Vamp: Vampiregaze Exceptional Unique Grim Helm
VIT: Vitality
w8: Wait
wb: Welcome back
WB: WereBear. A Druid shape shifting skill
WC: War Cry. A Barbarian warcry
WF: Windforce
Wizardspike: Wizardspike Elite Unique Bone Knife
WoF: Wake of Fire
WoI: Wake of Inferno
Wote (WOE): Wall of the Eyeless Unique Bone Shield
WP: Waypoint
WSK (WK2): Worldstone Keep Level 2 in Act 5
WT: WeaselTech
WW: WereWolf. A Druid shape shifting skill
WW: Whirlwind (barbarian skill)
WWS: Witchwild String Exceptional Unique Short Siege Bow
XP: experience
y: Yes
YMMV: Your mileage may vary
yw: You're welcome
Zerk: Berzerk. A Barbarian combat skill. (also berserker axe)
zod'ed: an item socketed with the Zod Rune
Zon: Amazon|||
Q u o t e:
Hardly. Let me give it my shot:
- Chaos claw
- Sol'd Gerke's
- Sol'd GBane
- Sol'd PDR circlet with resists
- 2 Nature's Peace
- Atma's Amulet or 25+ PDR ammy with resists
- Dracs (Lifetap = 50% life leech against everything) or AR/LL gloves if you use Atma's
- resists/PDR crafted belt
- Gores (why not)
- Crushflange + SS/Gerke's/Resist shield on switch
- Torch/Anni/resist charms as needed
20 DS
20 Venom
20 Claw mastery
18 DT after +skills
The rest wherever you want them
Nature's Peace Ring is a bad choice when you use Death Sentry due to its Slain Monsters Rest in Peace: while this won't apply to kills made by DS, it will apply to kills made with Whirlwind or Dragon Talon.
For those who don't already know, no Chance to Cast modifiers apply when using Whirlwind: you need to use a skill like Dragon Talon to apply Dracul's Grasp Vampirebone Gloves' 5% Chance to Cast Level 10 Life Tap on Striking.
Clarifying a later point about Life Tap: life and mana returned by % Life Stolen per hit and % Mana Stolen per hit are subject to difficulty level penalties (reduced to 1/2 in Nightmare and 1/3 in Hell) and a monster's drain effectiveness (so life returned by 50% LS is reduced to 1/6 when attacking a monster with 50% drain effectiveness in Hell), but neither of these apply to life returned by Life Tap (life returned is still 50% of physical attack damage, not ~8%).
Q u o t e:
Mass PDR is better: it is calculated before %DR resistance, so if it nullifies all of the opponent's damage then getting Amp'd/Decrep'd won't matter.
Whether integer or percentage damage reduction is better depends on the magnitude of the damage applied: DR is better against swarms of normal monsters whose only threat is their cumulative damage, DR % is better against heavy hitters (not all of which are bosses). Given that an Assassin can put points into Fade, applying large amounts of both isn't out of the question.
Q u o t e:
You have nearly 125PDR on my build. Only boss packs and Frenytaurs can hurt you, and if they deal elemental damage the MDR/PDR bug can negate it all.
There are normal monsters which can hurt you even while equipping massive DR, and Blood Lords aren't normally one of them: without +% Damage, when spawned solo in Hell even a Unique Death Lord and its minions in the Throne of Destruction in Hell only apply 80-120 physical damage each (it's the speed with which they apply this damage which normally makes them dangerous).
Charging Claw Vipers and Reanimated Horde can apply significantly more (when playing solo in Hell, Claw Vipers in the Frozen River apply ~200-266 physical damage and 47-94 magic damage, Unholy Corpses in the Worldstone Keep Level 1 apply ~214-432 physical damage), as can other monsters with any +% Damage. An Undead Soul Killer in the Throne of Destruction has a death explosion applying 291-486 physical damage (so 582-972 with a critical hit, which occurs 5% of the time).
However, when playing in Ladder or single player games, monster attack damage increases by 1/16 (6.25%) with each additional player in Nightmare and Hell: in an eight-player game, that non-enhanced Unique Death Lord and its minions would all apply 115-172 physical damage each, charging Claw Vipers ~285-380 (and ~67-135 magic damage) and charging Unholy Corpses ~304-619.
All Champion monsters apply +% Damage, Extra Strong Unique monsters and their minions do so (and are as common as Cursed Unique monsters: ~25% of all random Unique monsters in Hell will be ES) and ~7% will spawn Aura Enchanted with Might or Fanaticism in Hell.
So aside from applying mass DR or DR % (or both), it might be an idea to invest at least one point in Cloak of Shadows and Mind Blast (or more, depending on skill bonuses). When you run into an Extra Strong, Cursed and Aura Enchanted Unique and its minions (or an ES Unique in the vicinity of any other enchanted with Might after being cursed with Amplify Damage by Oblivion Knights or Stygian Furies), no amount of DR and DR % will help you nearly as much as being able to accurately assess danger and take steps to manage it (blind minions to separate them from the boss, or stun all and convert at least one of them to take the heat off you) before you're in over your head (by about six feet).
Q u o t e:
Due to the PDR/MDR bug, any attack that deals magical and physical damage will be reduced by the total amount of MDR + PDR.
When an attack applies physical and magic, fire, cold or lightning damage, any excess DR or MDR is applied after Resist % and percentage and integer Absorb: if an attack applies 80 physical damage and 33 cold damage to a player with DR 50, MDR 50 and DR 50%, excess MDR (33-50 = -17) is applied after DR 50 (80-50 = 30) and DR 50% (30*0.5 = 15), resulting in no damage (15-17 < 0).
However, while this might be significant at lower levels when questing or duelling, it becomes less so in Hell: that Claw Viper I mentioned earlier applies 47-94 magic damage, which also increases by 1/16 with each additional player in Ladder and single player games (as does most magic or elemental damage normally added to a monster's physical damage attacks); a Fire, Lightning or Cold Enchanted Unique Death Lord has 66-100 elemental damage added to its attacks, while 33-50 is added to those of its minions.
For more details:
http://www.theam
http://www.theam
Souls need sorb and light resist stack in case they come convic, they will knock off ES with their mana drain attacks, tgod's and like 75% stack above the 85% cap with tgod's is a must
venom lords, just use some fire sorb(and stack for convic). using rising sun atm but will swap to dual dwarfs when I get a good replacement amulet
snakes and reanimated horde are *fairly* harmless because they attack so slowly, just don't afk near them. ie keep moving. I max block with gerke's so I'm pretty good on the physical stuff, at least these guys.
Dolls are nearly completely harmless. I can handle a large pile exploding with no trouble at all.
Mana burn is shockingly no trouble unless it comes with conviction suggesting I need resist stack not more mana
Moon lords hit quickly and hit hard. they will knock off ES because of the incoming damage and then you *can* be in trouble, I'd rate them above snakes and souls on the threat list simply because negating all that damage is hard, and they will knock off ES even without mana burn if you tele into a pack. Same category for interesting supermobs fanata extra fast mana burn melee stuff, nasty seis spawns etc, just don't afk next to them. Basically anything that normally hits hard modified to catch you or hit you much quicker/harder than normal is going to be interesting. Pretty much max block high FHR and get out of there. I don't have a better solution for that yet i wish I did.
-edit-
don't forget, moon lords actually use the frenzy skill, so their damage will be higher.|||
Q u o t e:
The idea however is that massive amounts of PDR (You can break 140 IIRC) will function far better than hitting 50%DR, because you basically have to sacrifice your Gerke's to use a Stormshield. At the same time, you are free to use BoS over Fade and work faster.
I'm well aware that mass DR is far better than DR % when it reduces damage by more than 50%, and when it significantly reduces or negates damage when cursed with Decrepify or Amplify Damage. However, as I've already mentioned there are also plenty of damage enhancements (higher player count in Nightmare and Hell Ladder and SP games, critical hits, skills, aurae and Champion and Unique bonuses) against which DR % is more effective.
Even without Fade, it's possible to equip both mass DR and DR 50%... so why not do so? Here's a link to a post comparing varying combinations against an Extra Strong Death Lord and its minions (albeit in an eight-player game):
http://www.theam
And here's a link to a post detailing the damage applied by an Extra Strong, Cursed and Aura Enchanted Unique Death Lord with Might and its minions (again in an eight-player game):
http://www.theam
That particular combination is thankfully quite rare at 1/1,540... but 1/770 are ES, Cursed and AE with Might or Fanaticism, 1/22 are just ES and Cursed, and 1/14 AE with Might or Fanaticism. As I said before, Extra Strong alone is just as common as Cursed, meaning 1/4 Unique Death Lords (or almost all other monsters which cannot have Multiple Shots selected) have at least +99% Damage in Hell, and their 3-6 minions have +49%.
Q u o t e:
Reanimated Horde can charge you, but as long as you do not stand still they are not a threat (not to mention most characters will never set foot in WSK1 more than a few times).
Reanimated Horde also spawn in the Frozen River, Glacial Trail, Nihlathak's Temple, Halls of Anguish, Halls of Vaught, Infernal Pit and Ancients' Way. Those in the Worldstone Keep Level 1 are only slightly higher level than the rest (85 vs 82 in the Ancients' Way), and thus only slightly more damaging.
Q u o t e:
The biggest threats in the game (dolls, pit lords, frenzytaurs, souls) can all be rendered weak with a proper PDR build.
What about Stygian Furies, which fire enhanceable physical damage bolts which always hit (although they can be blocked), and will always cast Amplify Damage in Nightmare and Hell when their target has >= 80% maximum life?
I assume you're referring to melee damage, since as mentioned earlier the death explosion of an Undead Soul Killer in the Throne of Destruction in Hell applies 291-486 physical damage (DR 140 reduces that by ~36% on average, DR 50% by 50%), and DR is no use whatsoever against Willowisp lightning bolts: those of Unique Black or Burning Souls and their minions in the WSK 2 and Throne of Destruction in Hell apply 200-300 pure lightning damage (287-431 in an eight-player Ladder or SP game) due to a bug which results in that damage being calculated using the percentages for the mana damage which can be added to their melee attacks (I bring this up because I suspect Blizzard halved +% Damage applied by Champion and Extra Strong bonuses to Willowisps in 1.13 after being informed that the bugged lightning bolt damage is based on their melee damage, and somebody mistakenly believed that this was their physical damage).
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snakes and reanimated horde are *fairly* harmless because they attack so slowly, just don't afk near them. ie keep moving. I max block with gerke's so I'm pretty good on the physical stuff, at least these guys.
Claw Viper charge damage varies quite considerably, with those in Acts 2-3 never applying more than 1-2 physical damage, regardless of player count (they also use the SerpentCharge skill, which applies no +% Damage). Those in Act 5 can be similarly harmless, or much more damaging:
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However, charging Claw Vipers and Reanimated Horde always hit and cannot be blocked, regardless of where they spawn: it's only when they're obstructed or their target has moved that they fail to connect. On a related matter, monsters using Smite require a hit-check and can be blocked, and its +% Damage doesn't apply.
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Mana burn is shockingly no trouble unless it comes with conviction suggesting I need resist stack not more mana
Surprisingly, Energy Shield also applies to mana damage. At most, Unique Wraiths and Willowisps and their minions in level 85 areas in Hell can apply 200-300 base mana damage with their melee attacks (although this increases with player count in Ladder and SP games): although the Resist -100% penalty in Hell also applies to mana damage, level 20 ES with level 20 Telekinesis reduces 200-300 by 75% to 50-75 and 75% of 250-275 (187.5-206.25) is redirected to mana, resulting in 237.5-281.25 mana loss before Resist -100% and 287.5-356.25 after it (compared to 400-600 without ES).
Mana Burn damage applied by missiles is actually less: a Mana Burn Unique Willowisp in a level 85 area would apply 66-100 base mana damage with its lightning bolts, while those of its minions would apply 33-50. However, due to a bug Mana Burn damage is multiplied by 256 when applied by melee attacks, resulting in 16,896-25,600 and 8,448-12,800 base mana damage respectively. If you haven't been having any trouble with that, you aren't being hit by melee attacks.
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don't forget, moon lords actually use the frenzy skill, so their damage will be higher.
Blood Lords do not use the Barbarian Frenzy skill (which applies +% Damage), they use the BloodLordFrenzy skill, which at level 8 in Hell only applies +80% Attack Rating, and after eight hits applies +79 attack rate and velocity for 15 seconds (the first hit already applies +42). Thorned Hulks use MonFrenzy.
So Blood Lord damage is still comparable to most other monsters in the same area, but aside from the speed of their attacks (unlike Thorned Hulks their skill is a sequence of two attacks, and it's used 60-80% of the time) there is also their melee range: this is 7, equal to that of Frozen Horrors or a player attacking them with a rangeadder 4 polearm or spear, and only exceeded by that of Tentacle Beasts (range 9). This means that, despite their size, they can often attack over the shoulders of those closer to the player rather than milling around trying to find a closer position from which to attack.
This also makes them more dangerous even when blinded by Cloak of Shadows: an Assassin armed with any claw will only have range 4 when attacking them, which means even blinded Blood Lords will become aware of her and be capable of attacking her before she is able to return the favour.
This is also why Megademons (range 5) and Minions of Destruction (range 6) can be more dangerous if you can't equip enough DR to significantly reduce or negate their physical damage, or if they receive damage enhancements which reduce the effectiveness of DR.|||I have zero issues with furies at all. I have a large amount of PDR, and take fairly little damage from succubi since I subtract that before my modified physical resist. With ES up I take none at all. As for the resist comment, it's with ES down that wisps are an issue and only with convic, hence resist stack will help me. Without convic and es down it really doesn't matter.|||
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Acronyms are great and make things a LOT easier....|||
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I have zero issues with furies at all. I have a large amount of PDR, and take fairly little damage from succubi since I subtract that before my modified physical resist. With ES up I take none at all.
I've no doubt you normally have no issues with Stygian Furies, even with DR and no Energy Shield: normal Hell Witches in the Throne of Destruction only apply 48-86 base physical damage, so even in eight-player Ladder and SP games that's only 69-123.
However, I brought them up because their ability to cast Amplify Damage themselves results in a significant increase in the odds of them spawning as problematic Unique monsters:
Even if they don't spawn as Unique themselves, their presence has the same effect on the odds of any Unique in the vicinity becoming a serious problem.
The point I've been trying to make is that going all-out DR makes sense in some circumstances, but not in others: I'm certainly not suggesting that it's either DR or DR %, but that a balance between the two can be better (you might not be quite as indestructible against the rank and file, but you'll be less vulnerable to any really nasty pieces of work).
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As for the resist comment, it's with ES down that wisps are an issue and only with convic, hence resist stack will help me. Without convic and es down it really doesn't matter.
I was commenting on the first half of your statement ("Mana burn is shockingly no trouble"), saying that Energy Shield and Resist % penalties also apply to mana damage and only melee Mana Burn damage is bugged: I didn't know what to make of the latter part, since Conviction has no effect on Mana Burn's damage (aside from making it easier to hit and thus apply that damage) or ES mana loss while ES is active. Thanks for clarifying.|||
wisdom is beyond price... be thankful you have it.
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Acronyms are great and make things a LOT easier....
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