Poker build works

[~Foxfire~]

I was sick of hammerdins walking into the duel games and hostiling, so I decided to build a character which could handle them without AA blizz sorcs or pb necs. I put together a 2handed zerk barb with the sole intention of killing magical damage dealing characters. The items:

Arreats with 15max/15ias jewel
Highlord's wrath
Enigma Duskshroud
397ebotd warpike
Tgods
20ias/15str gloves
waterwalks (Thinking about swapping them for gores or travs)
20dex/246 raven
20dex/331 raven
level 48 bo
Inv full of 34-35 life LC's (For the sake of cost and time gathering)
12stat anni

All said and done, at level 89, he's dealing 19k zerk, 21k with a might merc. From the beginning I was pondering a Pride Might merc, but the fact is they die in the hammer fields, so I'm finding it's not very helpful. I went with base str/dex, so his vita is 542 right now, allowing me 8k life with lvl 48 bo. He hits the 115ias breakpoint for 13fpa attack with a warpike, which is slow, but gets the job done. I'm tempted to swap out one of the ravens for a 20str ring with life, for the sake of damage. His AR/dex requirements are pretty well satisfied. My skills are as follows:

20 Shout
20 Battle Orders
20 Howl
20 Berzerk
1 Ironskin
1 Natural Resist
Remainder in mastery

I also put 1 into ww for lvling the merc, if you were not worried about res, you could skip the 2 pts in ironskin/nat res and dump them into mastery. The reason I dumped those two points, and the 1 in ww, is that I wasn't going to hit the next % critical on mastery, and the damage is not noticeable with 1 point. I did ww for the sake of lvling mercenery, which, as I said earlier, wasn't as effective as I was hoping.

My first duel was against FireGrunt's pally, hc-supermanii, a level 95 hammerdin who is better known for his tppking with an IB sorc, but is still known for disrupting duel games. I went out first, teleporting to get some distance so that he would hopefully start setting up hammer fields. I saw him stationary on my map, so I went to take a look. I saw him standing in the midst of a full field, so I tele'd toward what I thought was the blank spot just below his feet. My tele missed slightly, putting me in the hammer's range. I swung a couple times, but missed. I was tanking 2-3 hammers before juv, though a few were rushed. I decided to tele out of the field, it had cost me 7 juvs already. I ran around, waiting for him to set up another field. This time, my tele was right on target. One swing plucked his ear from his head, as well as a handful of gold. He didn't return to me as many juvs as I spent, but it was still worth it.

The build was experimental from the beginning. Having dueled with virtually the same gear, but with ww, I was looking for something I could juv with, as my ww build had me risking my life with every ww. This one does the job, putting the 1-hit kill within reach, and giving you an 8k life bumper to work with. I give it 4.5 stars out of five, for the sake of how expensive it was including bo gear :P

[Dahkar]

Yeah, I love dueling newb hammeradins then teleing right south of them(If only i could afford enigma :P) then blizzing them or whatever attack :P

Lets see your max damage without might merc if you get a crit strike max damage is:6333.3333333333333333333333333333

So you have a pretty good shot of killing 4k lifers in one hit.

[Valar-Wrath]

Wow, those stats are insane. I didn't even think damage could get that high on a baba. :eek:

Anyway, congrats on the ear. Hope that really decked out barb doesn't die. :D

[Matt]

The only problems I see are: 13 FPA is, in my opinion, too slow. Secondly, barbs have the potential to teleport around pretty quickly, yet you have zero FCR on him.

I'd reccomend switching it up a little, as a skilled player WILL exploit the fact that they can easily cast hammers, and teleport away before you can finish a teleport onto them AND zerk. As soon as you run into one of these players, it'll be either a draw, or a loss for you. If they know what they're doing, you;re simply too slow on the IAS and FCR to stand a chance in hell of killing them.

Of course, until you run into such a player, looks like a good build...

-Matt

[ADSL]

Looks like a solid build, very similar to my friends new build.

Just a quick question, what AR do you have?

[~Foxfire~]

Yes, ias is slow, I was tempted to just use a botd cb 2-handed, but that's only hitting in the ~850 max dmg range, where my pike is 1326 max. As I built him to go for the 1-hit kill, since I run into far too many chickeners on this realm, I decided to go with the warpike. Agreed though, 13fps is quite slow. As for cast rate, now that I know the damage/life is good enough, I may look to mess with that a little bit. I figure I can sacrafice the tgods for an arachnid mesh, and perhaps a fcr/str ring in place of one of the ravens, however that still only puts me at 30fcr. It may be worth the next breakpoint, again, something I'll look at. Unfortunately the other places where I could add fcr are all taken by arguably required items (gloves are needed for the ias breakpoint, cbf on 1 raven, no slot for shield, arreats is too sweet, and highlord's is my only source of DS).

As for finding a good hammerdin, I imagine those are only to be found on softcore for the following reason: On this realm, hammerdins kill their opponents in very short order. If they don't kill them, they chicken. There is very little need to be skilled with the character when they are exploiting hacks and using a very overpowering build. The one I killed is one of the more renown, though I look forward to a better match. As for having a draw or losing, a draw is more likely. But the beauty of this build is that provided I don't lag, I'm not going to die from a hammerdin. It may take quite a few matches, but so long as the hammerdin sees I'm taking hits, he'll be encouraged to continue the duel. In this case, it will only be a matter of time. Not to say there aren't talented hammerdins out there on HC, but my theory is that most do not have the dueling experience with a hammerdin (Considering they get so few duels anyways, and the short length of time for which the duels last). I think I got lucky with that first teleport, showing him that I could be hurt badly with a hammer field, and showing him also that I wasn't doing any damage next to him. He too probably figured it was only a matter of time. I will work to use that strategy in future duels as well.

My ar with the above items is 9647, and worked well enough in the duel for me. Without 1 raven, and dropping the waterwalks, I drop down to 6375. I feel that in the event I am to go with a str ring or fcr/str ring in place of one of the ravens, it's going to have to have the ~100 ar. I've got a 18str/~30life/106ar ring I might go with, I'll shop around to see if I can nab a ring similar with fcr. Also, I'm not familiar with the fcr breakpoints on barb, I looked around on these forums and didn't find a guide with them listed. If anyone has these numbers or knows where to find them, I'd appreciate it. Thanks for the replies :)

*edit*
I just traded for a very cheap 10fcr/20str/20ar/9min dmg ring, pretty nearly exactly what I was looking for, and the price fit too. Any idea on those fcr breakpoints? :P

[xeyloderixed]

iirc the fcr bps for barbs are the same as sorks. 330 fcr should be good enough.

fcr fps
0 13
9 12
20 11
37 10
63 9

for the usual pallies, 75 fcr is 10 fps, so if u want to tele alongside the pally, ud need 37 fcr.

i also was thinking bout the 13 fpa zerk. not sure if a great poleaxe would be more balanced. a bit less damage, but same range and a bit faster. someone care to do calcs on that one?

oh, and ar/vita are good from what i hear from the barb forums. somthing like 100+/30+

[Herald of Doom]

Wouldn't a botd gpa be better? if I got it right it hits 12fps. You will lose a bunch of dmg though, not sure which would be better :)

EDIT: poop, calculating it took some time :p Oh, and what charms are you using, any of those got ar?

HoD

[~Foxfire~]

lmao, 2 replies after I edited asking for fcr bp's. Thanks guys. With respect to a gpa, 1 fpa better isn't really going to change the fact that I attack slow. I imagine it would have me giving up ~300 max dmg, especially considering I am not likely to get a high % one considering how many of those people make. I know, someone email blizz and tell them that we need a high damage two-handed weapon which can get 6 sockets, with a base weapon speed of -10. That'd be really nice right about now XD

So with that str/fcr ring and the sw sash, I'd be sitting pretty close to the cr speed of most pallies (Assuming they don't go for the 125, that's rare on this realm anyways). The sw sash should make up for a little of the ar/dmg lost by giving up the raven/tgod, hopefully the loss of 20 vita is made up for by cast rate.

A side note, does anyone every think 'castrate' instead of 'cast rate'? Faster castrate sounds like an attribute wanted by farmers [/offtopicrant]

[Herald of Doom]

13 fps= 1.9 attacks/second
12fps= 2 attacks / second

So, erh, well, I doubt it's worth the dmg lost now that I think about it :p BUT, a GPA BotD only needs 20 IAS for 12fpa, thus freeing up any slot you wish except amu (highlords)

HoD

[Valar-Wrath]

iirc the fcr bps for barbs are the same as sorks. 330 fcr should be good enough.

And how do you propose to get 330 fcr?!?!one!! ;)

Anyway, I'd pay SECKS to see Matt and Fox duel. Matt's hammerdin vs. Fox's anti-hammerdin. :clap:

Too bad they are on two different realms. :(

[~Foxfire~]

13 fps= 1.9 attacks/second
12fps= 2 attacks / second

So, erh, well, I doubt it's worth the dmg lost now that I think about it :p BUT, a GPA BotD only needs 20 IAS for 12fpa, thus freeing up any slot you wish except amu (highlords)

HoD

Aye thanks for running the numbers, I suppose I'll stick with the wp. Would be nice to be able to drop the gloves and throw on some trangs for a little better cast rate (castrate? >.<), though I'd only do that if I figured I had enough damage to where I wasn't defeating the build entirely. Shat, just realized, arachnid mesh alone hits the 11fps breakpoint, that ring doesn't help me that I just bought unless I can scrounge up another 7 cr somewhere grr. I suppose I'll sell it, I paid too little for it anyways lol.

[xeyloderixed]

[QUOTE=Valar-Wrath]And how do you propose to get 330 fcr?!?!one!! ;)

Anyway, I'd pay SECKS to see Matt and Fox duel. Matt's hammerdin vs. Fox's anti-hammerdin. :clap:
QUOTE]

duh, of course u use that fast cast hack ><

wow, i usually dont typo numbers ><

omg u pay in SECKS? noone else does anymore

[ADSL]

cbf on 1 raven


My ar with the above items is 9647


Just 2 quick notes, your ar seems abit on the low side, maybe use some ar/life charms, those are pretty cheap.

And why would you need cbf vs a hammerdin?

[Still-Xey-Lover]

He might duel sorcys too i guess.

[~Foxfire~]

I'm not sure why I would want to have cbf. It's just something I've always put on my melee characters, lol. I was also thinking of using this character to kill some of the cs hackers on the realm, just hide a bunch of LR charms in the inv. My lr will look low, and tgods doesn't help when lr is already low. I've already had a couple offers from zons to duel me, that would be a satisfying kill as well.

[Matt]

Anyway, I'd pay SECKS to see Matt and Fox duel. Matt's hammerdin vs. Fox's anti-hammerdin. :clap:

Too bad they are on two different realms. :(

Well, seeing how my hammerdin doesnt teleport, and is actually built to magic find, I'm not optimistic about what the outcome would be. But, we all know thats never stopped me before. If he WERE on East, I'd do it. (I would rely on making him teleport into hammerfields, and moving in time, so I didnt get hit)

All in all, I think I could probably win a couple duels, though my damage (9k+) is not enough to kill him before he could get away, so I wouldnt kill him with this hammerdin, and he would have a hell of a time hitting me (I do have 125% FCR, and if I so choose, a teleport amulet), I'd predict a draw. Now, give me an enigmadin, built to my specifications... woooooooo-oooohooo

-Matt

[~Foxfire~]

The hammers that I tanked 3 of before juving were 12k, I imagine it would be a matter of time before the killing blow fell on you. You're right though, a competent hammerdin with 125fcr would be a biatch to catch, though he really would NEED the hammer field to get the kill on me. 1-2 hammers here and there isn't going to stop me :D

[Dahkar]

Has anyone brought up the fact that he can use dual wizzies(putting him at a insane cast speed) or dual hotos(way more expensive) putting him at a insane cast speed then just weapon switch when you get near them.

[Valar-Wrath]

Has anyone brought up the fact that he can use dual wizzies(putting him at a insane cast speed) or dual hotos(way more expensive) putting him at a insane cast speed then just weapon switch when you get near them.

He could, but that would be tiresome if he had to switch, tele to the hammerdin, switch, attack. If he misses and hammerdin moves, he'd have to switch, tele, switch, attack again. That gives too much time for the hammerdin to take advantage, in my opinion.

[Herald of Doom]

Switching for tele'ing is almost un-doable. You'll end up tele'ing with your pole and hitting with wizzies...

HoD

[~Foxfire~]

It's a neat thought, no doubt, but the idea here is to be able to tele with or faster than a hammerdin in order to have a better chance of landing the hit. Once I landed next to the hammerdin with my uber cast speed, I'd have to switch, taking 1 finger off my row of 4 juvs, then swing. Taking a finger off juvs is a bad thing in a potential hammer field. Also, if he is indeed the smart hammerdin dueler we were theorizing about earlier, he'll see I've landed and move on. I like the theory, just not sure it's realistic since I'd have to switch back. However, if I managed a 1handed zerk build that could pack this kind of damage, holding a wizzy in the left hand would be a sweet idea ;P

[Matt]

It's a neat thought, no doubt, but the idea here is to be able to tele with or faster than a hammerdin in order to have a better chance of landing the hit. Once I landed next to the hammerdin with my uber cast speed, I'd have to switch, taking 1 finger off my row of 4 juvs, then swing. Taking a finger off juvs is a bad thing in a potential hammer field. Also, if he is indeed the smart hammerdin dueler we were theorizing about earlier, he'll see I've landed and move on. I like the theory, just not sure it's realistic since I'd have to switch back. However, if I managed a 1handed zerk build that could pack this kind of damage, holding a wizzy in the left hand would be a sweet idea ;P

Well, I guess it comes down to whether or not you want to practice it, and leave the effeciency of the build up to you. As it is now, such a dueler (the smart one we were theorizing) WILL beat you, you simply dont have the speed, theres not a damn thing you can do about it. Its not anything you can prevent now, its all about how smart/skilled your opponent is. If he knows what hes doing, and has a well built hammerdin, he is, hands down, faster than you, and no matter what you do, he WILL get away, thanks to this speed advantage.

Now, if you put dual wizzies on switch, you dont lose anything (except a second of your time, to switch your WC weps for them, but since you're already doing gear switches anyways, this shouldnt be a biggie) I mean, you're not using a shield anyways, being a hammerdin killer, theres nothing to lose, you might as well put them on.

In addition to having no disadvantage to having em there, you put the effectiveness of the build in your own hands, rather than out of reach.
I have experience with tele-zerkers myself, and it really, absolutely is an excellent build, which becomes exponentially more effective when you've had practice with where to teleport, when to teleport, and your speed once you land, how fast you can land a hit after you click teleport. This is one of the most skill-reliant dueling builds out there in my mind (which is why its my all time favorite build... Well, I prefer a mid level one 1her, but same idea)

So, if you put dual wizardspikes on switch, and practice, you will be faster, your teleport will be a hell of a lot quicker (also conscider, if you do this, getting 5% more fcr somewhere, to hit the last (reasonable) breakpoint), like 6 frames quicker, something in that range... now, thats a lot of time. The question is, can you now switch weapons in less time than you made up using dual wizzies, to make your overall attack faster? If the answer is yes, and it will be with practice, then the answer to whether or not you should do it is quite simple, yes.

In other words, say obviously completly as an example, that pre-wizzies wep switch, your time for tele+land+swing, was 5 seconds, now, with the wizzies, you have an extra step in there (wep switch), but your "tele" step is a lot shorter. Now, without the "switch weapons" step in there, your time would be something under the original 5 seconds, say 4.5 Half a second difference. Now, its just up to you to switch weapons in less than the difference, in this example, .5 seconds.

To sum it up, without practice, you're right, its impractical, and wont help you. But with practice, it will make your build more effective/faster, and is worth doing.

-Matt

[NightShade]

Poke of dooooom.



The problem with WW is indeed the lack of juvs. I really do suggest some FCR....You can port quickly and should take advantage of that. The only thing I absolutely hate about telezerkers is the fact that by the time my lance strike was there, they were already moving.

[~Foxfire~]

Poke of dooooom.



The problem with WW is indeed the lack of juvs. I really do suggest some FCR....You can port quickly and should take advantage of that. The only thing I absolutely hate about telezerkers is the fact that by the time my lance strike was there, they were already moving.

Aye, and that's why I'm so reluctant to work with a switch. If I have to switch after I land, that's only more space for them to move. My attack must land as shortly after I land as possible. The duel works like this. I am the aggressor, the paladin is on defense. If the paladin tries to be offensive, he's getting too close to me. His advantage is at a distance. Accordingly, I control the pace of this combat. The goal of the hammerdin is to kill me. The only way he is going to kill me is through the use of a hammerfield. There's isn't another way for him to deal the damage fast enough. Lucky for me, my character is built specifically with the intention of tanking those hammer fields. Provided I don't miss a juv, I can't lose. The action begins when I enter the hammerfield.

This is not a caster vs caster duel where cast rate is the deciding factor. The place I need to be fast is between when I land, during the swing, and at the point of contact between pole point and paladin. Cast rate will be helpful in chasing him, no doubt. My concern is that I will be slower between when I land (due to switch) and when I swing. I don't need to worry about catching him, because he has to lure me into the field in order to get the kill.

Agreed, switching and attacking has a level of skill involvement. In a LAN duel, or one of consistant and low ping, skill becomes more of a factor. In a battle.net realm, where pings are inconsistent, my switch-attack speed is far slower than playing single player. The difference in speed between a 11fps cast and a 9fps is .5 casts per second (2.2 and 2.7 respectively). I cast 2 times per second. Half a cast = 1/4 of a second. Saving half a cast in a second in any other case would be advantageous for sure, however it's not significant enough to make up the time lost in switch-attack.

I don't spend my entire time casting. In fact, my mode of transportation is mostly running, as it's more predictable for me. Teleport is used almost exclusively for skipping most of the hammers in the field, and to find the hammer's blind spot.

Working with fcr frames where I don't have to switch makes a lot of sense, and I'm fine with that especially considering I use a sw sash to bo with anyways. But switching sacrafices my time between landing and striking. IAS would be a more worthy investment, and we have already discussed that I am about as good as I can be there.+

"As it is now, such a dueler (the smart one we were theorizing) WILL beat you, you simply dont have the speed, theres not a damn thing you can do about it."

The only way I'm getting beat is if I miss a juv.

"you put the effectiveness of the build in your own hands, rather than out of reach."

Falacy: False Dichotomy

This is not an either/or case. If I don't "use 2 wizzies on switch, putting the effectiveness of the build in my hands", the effectiveness is not out of reach.

"In other words, say obviously completly as an example, that pre-wizzies wep switch, your time for tele+land+swing, was 5 seconds, now, with the wizzies, you have an extra step in there (wep switch), but your "tele" step is a lot shorter. Now, without the "switch weapons" step in there, your time would be something under the original 5 seconds, say 4.5 Half a second difference. Now, its just up to you to switch weapons in less than the difference, in this example, .5 seconds."

Falacy: Example doesn't fit, numbers do not represent real time.

Finally, practice is not an option here. Every duel is a different situation and by a different dueler. It's a life or death situation every time. If this were softcore, and I could spar with a hammerdin for an hour or so, then practice is feasible. The build is safe right now, and I know I can get the one-hit. If I'm patient, the right teleport will come.

[Matt]

The only way I'm getting beat is if I miss a juv.
Right, you wont die either way, I'm not disagreeing with you here. But you have a better chance of killing him with wizzies than you do without them.


"you put the effectiveness of the build in your own hands, rather than out of reach."

Falacy: False Dichotomy

This is not an either/or case. If I don't "use 2 wizzies on switch, putting the effectiveness of the build in my hands", the effectiveness is not out of reach.

Its not out of reach as it is now, but its a lot more in reach with dual wizardspikes. Yeah, you can still win duels as is now, thats obvious, you killed a level 95 hammerdin. However, I'm saying if you use dual wizzies, and learn how to utilize them effectively, you could be more effective than you are now, because the speed factor is not limited by your breakpoints being out of reach, but rather by your own speed.


Falacy: Example doesn't fit, numbers do not represent real time. Whats it matter what the numbers are? I was giving an example. I dont need to figure out what they actually are, I just need to use some random numbers which are roughly relative to how they would be were they actually accurate. Examples are just that, examples. I'm not suggesting that a teleport without dual wizzies takes 5 seconds. I was using 5 seconds as an example.



Finally, practice is not an option here. Every duel is a different situation and by a different dueler. It's a life or death situation every time. If this were softcore, and I could spar with a hammerdin for an hour or so, then practice is feasible. The build is safe right now, and I know I can get the one-hit. If I'm patient, the right teleport will come.

I dont agree. You can definitly practice on hardcore. Sure, you dont get practice through sparring, but there are other ways, such as practicing on your own (its all about how fast you can tele+wep switch, you dont need a duel to practice teleporting and weapon switching quickly... In addition, you can put all your skills to use in a duel, after all, with 8k life, you said it yourself, unless you miss a juv, you're not gonna die, so whats to fear with trying something different?

Dont get me wrong, I'm not attacking or flaming you or something, I'm simply telling you that using dual wizzies IS more effective, and why. You can choose not to do it, thats fine, I'm just telling you my opinion on it. After all, whats to lose anyways? After you BO, you're not re-boing without all your prebuff gear again, so you dont need your WC weps, and you dont use a shield on either setting.

-Matt

[~Foxfire~]

Just threw 2 wizzy's on, the cast speed is hella fun. As far as transportation goes, they're sweet as can be. But the switch misses more often than not, as latency doesn't allow it to switch when I press the button every time,and to wait long enough for the switch to work is clearly slower. I ended up zerking with my wizzy on multiple occasions. They pissed themselves when I did it, but I'm afraid it won't have the same effect on a hammerdin. I feel that if this were a duel where I could give the hammerdin no room for fear of giving him an advantage, the wizzy's would be where it's at. Though I gotta admit, flying around at 100fcr with 180 all res was pretty fun lol.

[Matt]

Just threw 2 wizzy's on, the cast speed is hella fun. As far as transportation goes, they're sweet as can be. But the switch misses more often than not, as latency doesn't allow it to switch when I press the button every time,and to wait long enough for the switch to work is clearly slower. I ended up zerking with my wizzy on multiple occasions. They pissed themselves when I did it, but I'm afraid it won't have the same effect on a hammerdin. I feel that if this were a duel where I could give the hammerdin no room for fear of giving him an advantage, the wizzy's would be where it's at. Though I gotta admit, flying around at 100fcr with 180 all res was pretty fun lol.

Glad you tried it, and it is unfortunate that the latency issues dont let you switch as effectively as you would like :( Well, I do appriciate that you were willing to try it! Have a great time with your barbarian, kill some more hammerdins!

-Matt

[AzaZaz]

with respect to practice, its definately not out of reach on hardcore. It's just a matter of playing PVM with a PVP approach. instead of holding down the mouse on monsters with your eyes closed yawning at how boring it is, when you're getting say hell izzy quest for your barb for example, you can practice tele-zerking izzy then tele'ing out of the way...and if its a HLD char all the better because exp isnt a factor. I found with my 69 neccy I was terribly rusty and I didnt like it, but I solo'd all his quests and that alone gave me the "feel" for the char. Its about being comfortable in your settings, and of course having lots of duels with a certain char under your belt is nice, its not plausible for a high lvl dueler on hc, doesnt mean acheiving some kind of comfort level with your char is impossible. Very happy you took Matt's suggestion and gave it a spin, open mindedness and willing to take other ppls suggestions into consideration (even though you may not agree with them) is such a great quality and your barb will be better for it. All the luck to you and popping some hammerdins.


On the topic of killing hammerdins, I'm leaning towards a FOH or Lightning sorc as an upcoming project....any input on which one you all think I should use and maybe some pros and cons would help, maybe i missed something in my decision but i'm leaning towards Lightning. Thanks.



Cheers

[~Foxfire~]

I was very aware of what the switch conditions were going to be like, I've dueled with switch reliant builds in the past. I'm not sure if it's my connection or bnet in general, but they don't like me to use tele and switch >.<. Luckily I'm very comfortable with the build, I have my keys setup the same way I do with every char I build, so that's all very comfortable. His cast rate even at it's base is even comfortable.

As for which killer, definately light sorc. Conviction, even at a high lvl, doesn't have a very good radius, and foh isn't any good without the conviction. Light sorc is very wicked for that purpose, the problem there is aim. I was in the process of making a dueling light sorc before I made my druid and barbs, but I decided she was too easy a kill as I couldn't manager her life too far beyond 2.5k. Previous light sorcs of mine with that life died to 1 hammer. Their damage output is rediculous and definately capable of the 1-hit, I just didn't trust that much wealth on the line to continue the project. I wanna hear about it if you do make the light sorc though :D

[NightShade]

My only Light sorc was 45 and she did pretty well.


I actually found aim to be the easy part. How many people deal with lighting...People who fight trappers. If you lead them right they will walk into it as they are no used to having the shots lead correctly.

[Baranor]

mmm apart from the attack speed there aint much you can do i think.. now if you had say an eth botd zerker axe you might do wizzy/zerkeraxe and have both decent fcr and attack speed but the dam would be lower. prhaps some lame arsed eth legendary mallet? lots of min damage on that... fury?


gah, im rusty on this

[AzaZaz]

I'm not to concerned about dying, I'm actually considering going 100% glass cannon, since 1-2 hammers will probably kill me regardless without CTA, why bother defending against it. Put all my focus into dishing out the most dmg I can the fastest and hope I land mine first. Reading the PVP forums they're telling me shako > Griffs for a light sorc so that saves greatly on the cost. I dont have a lightning ormus but i'll find one that will suffice for now, eschutas not entirely too expensive, so anyways i'll let you know how it works, it wont happen for another week at least anyways.


Shade i'd like to hear more about a 45 Light sorc, that sounds kinda intriguing to me.

[NightShade]

It was pretty standard stuff.

6 lightskillers
Visceraunt
+3 light ammy
+3 light helm
Fcr rings
Water walks
+3 light +3 LM +20%fcr orb
Some belt that I forget currently
Sovm

8k ish damage. The big killer was the fact that when pking, it ripped thru monsters and minions, unlike fireball...+ the range is huge.

Spirit shroud/Peasent crown swap on merc.


The main pro's of the build :

Everyone expects fire/cold sorcs
Few PvM'ers know how to dodge lightening bolts effecitvely
Most pvp'ers will be specialized in anti-cold
The bolts stream together. They think it's one, but it's 2-3 coming right for em.
Peirces though obstacles. Thinks like necro minions or mercs don't really get in the way

[~Foxfire~]

I don't know what your realm is like, but here, people know what build you are because of maphack (one of the reasons I refuse to use it). I built my light sorc with all +toallskillgear instead of +light dmg (Which would have been the better way to go). That way the actually can't tell what I am, no matter what the guess (I was hoto/viper/spirit/shako/mara/sojs/swsash).

Shako does better dmg than griff on your char screen, but that -enemy resist on griff is so wicked it's not funny. But, this is HC, not SC, defensive mods may be what you're looking for. However, dont' go too nuts in that category, even with cta and good stats you're still only going to be running 2.5-3k life, not necessarily enough to tank a hit from a hammer. Definately invest in -enemylightres gear, it's way more effective than +yourskilldmg gear.

[NightShade]

I was on west. He makes a good point about MH, but we've all learned to deal with that.


I rarely went head on with her (I'm a coward like that) and more a less went pking in nm baal runs with the help of a wand on switch...They'd *****, they'd come back with a friend's dueler or some such, leave me an ear.

Head on dueling games are full of 90% life chickeners and the usual crap assosciated with public games, so I made sure to pick my battles.

[HelzCaretaker]

aaron, I have a lightning ormus 14% you can get

[AzaZaz]

aaron, I have a lightning ormus 14% you can get


awesome, Trish is coming down this weekend and we're going to a ball tournament so I dunno how much I'll be on fri/sat (none) but she or I might be on sometime thurs sun or monday.


Popped three lvl 18 chickens last night too, you missed a good little run

[~Foxfire~]

Back on topic:

I dueled a hammerdin with more dueling skill, she'd teleport, set up hammers, run away, but the fact was I just frustrated her by not tele'ing. I forced her to go on the offensive out of mere boredom lol. lvl 95 again, I know a guy who hated this char, might bring me a nice purse :)

[Valar-Wrath]

Back on topic:

I dueled a hammerdin with more dueling skill, she'd teleport, set up hammers, run away, but the fact was I just frustrated her by not tele'ing. I forced her to go on the offensive out of mere boredom lol. lvl 95 again, I know a guy who hated this char, might bring me a nice purse :)

You one-hitted her I imagine then? That's the only way I see of defeating chicken. Unless they didn't use chicken. :eek: Anyway, nice work on your ear. :thumbsup:

[~Foxfire~]

Yeah, I've only ever landed 2 hits with that barbarian so far. Both of which I have ears to prove for, both of which are 95 hammerdins. I don't know if she was using chicken or not, she said she didn't, but I hear that alot. Wouldn't have mattered either way I suppose, lol. This time I did feel the cast rate a little more, she was in and out of hammer fields very fast. But because of the length of the duel, her bo expired while mine ran strong at... level 47 I think is what I was using at the time. She made me juv a lot more too. I found that as time wore on, she was forced to attack me on screen because she realized it wasn't doing her any good to just hammerfield and not draw me into them. If I were to try and play their 'caster' game, I might have to sacrafice some damage for cast rate, but if I force them to play my game, they're done.

[PawnOfChaos]

PLZ GIB US SCREENIES!#$!

seriously, I love reading the dialogue which usually pops up after a chickener dies...

"OMG U HAXOR MY CHIKN DINT WERK!!!"

[NightShade]

Or my favourite "xxxxxxx has left the game"

[Raith]

or this one, "rofl nub. this char has ****ty items anyway". boohoo. good job, please provide sexy screeeeeeeenz~`