Need some help with my hybrid ama

[wwyvern]

Hello guys,

I'd appreciate some help with this ama. She's atm like lvl 72 and her skills are:

- LF - maxed - lvl 26
- Strafe maxed - lvl 22
- In the process of maxing charged strike - currently lvl 20 or so (still 6-7 points til maxed)
- Valk lvl 10 I'd say now

I calculated that I can max charged bolt and bring the valk to lvl 19 around lvl 84.

The passives are around lvl 7-8 at the moment with 2 points more in critical strike and and pierce (71%). Avoid, evade and dodge are all around 50%.

Merc: offensive (for the bow part).

Now, the questions:
- Should I actually bring the valk to 17 or instead go for some synergy of charged strike and LF? Will CS/LF do enough damage in hell with no other synergy?
- For CS, is titans a good choice? I hope so:)
- Ethereal titans? Seeing that I'd have a Wf on the switch then yeah, I'd have to wait until the replenish by themselves... however they might be better for CS?
- How much vita?

Thanks for helping,
WW

[Shanksie1337]

For a start you can leave the Valk at 15 and get +2 from titans to cast at 17.
I'd leave LF with NO synergies, as this kills fine in high player games with high pierce, so when putting skill points in synergies i'd worry more about passives, and this includes Critical/pierce/penetrate and to some extent Valk if you are using a WF. I think for pvm titans are the best choice, but for pvp TS's seem to be the javelin of choice.

Regarding Eth titans, for pvm you may aswell just use normal titans and be able to repair, tho with a good strafe setup on switch the time for repair isn't a problem. That said i have just aquired upp'd Eth titans for my LF/Strafe hybrid and the one noticeable difference is that the ML due to the extra physical damage means i can almost cope without drinking blue pots.

Lastly, vita, thats up to you, and with strafe only forming half your build the pressure to get the highest possible dex isn't so strong, so almost any vita level will be fine. Just keep vita low, and add it if you feel you need it instead of aiming for a random pre determined vita target. Personally my zons have anywhere between 500-900 life depending on build and gear. My LF/Strafe is actually base vita, and lot's and lot's of Dex, but that may not suit your playstyle. As with any strafer it's best to get vita from charms and use your stat points for dex as this is more effective, tho ofc make sure you stay alive :D.

Lastly if this is SC & pvm, i think the points you have added? into D/A/E were wasted, but thats just me.

[wwyvern]

Thanks for the advice mate; lets take them one by one.
- Valk: yeah, agreed, that's what I'm doing atm:)
- I maxed the charged strike not for the synergies with LF but for taking down individual monsters and bosses. Hope it works:) This way I have 2 lightning attacks (LF for mobs and CS for single monsters) and a physical attack (strafe). Problem is I find it a bit tricky to balance the +skills with IAS while keeping your resists and life decent. Atm I'm a bit low on IAS:) I might switch to andy visage at lvl 83, I think its better than shako for this build.
- I upgraded my normal titans, after all the damage comes form lightning anyway, so point closed on the eth titans. Not that I am very rich to trade for some:)
- I decided to invest all points in dex. I have like 970 life already, never had problems actually.

Thx again for the help,
WW

[Shanksie1337]

Problem is I find it a bit tricky to balance the +skills with IAS while keeping your resists and life decent.

Thats exactly why i don't use ChS, strafe WILL kill boss monsters with ease, and with the added benefit that you can do so from a distance so you can totally ignore the res issue.

Your life is a bit high for my tastes, but then if you plan on getting up close and personal with ChS the extra life may be vital. :D

[wwyvern]

Hm, I built on the previous ladder a pure strafer (with freezing). She had good equipment and all but Baal for example went down way too slowly. I though CS would be better:)

The life is mostly from my items, I didnt invest too much in it I would say... I got thundergods, shako, a bk ring, aldur boots and some charms... probably its because of playing so much HC before.

Cheers,
WW

[Shanksie1337]

well by "strafe" i meant the full package really

Strafe (ofc)
good Valk
good might merc with Reapers Toll

spanks bosses silly :D

tho from what ppl say, ChS is better, it just needs more care with the build/gear, and i prefer to do without the hassle :D

[wwyvern]

Hm, I had maxed strafe and maxed valk and it just happens the merc had a reapers toll... I was using a wf and I was minding the breakpoints and everything. Still went too slow I thought but maybe I did smt wrong somewhere else? She was close to 300 dex.

It's np, this is still a fun build to play:)

Thx for all the input,
WW

[Shanksie1337]

ahh it was HC, my bint has ~500 dex, so i guess that may explain some of it.