DougDadyUsWest
06-01-2006, 20:23
A hammerdin build is pretty basic, right? blessed hammers, concentration, vigor, blessed aim, and 0wn4g3. Well... for those of us who keep exping above and beyond lv80, there is the problem of what to do with those remaining skill points. It seems that the prevailing notion is when at this point, we dump the remaining skills into holy shield. RUBBISH! says I.
A paladin has so many potentially useful and uber-0wn4g3 ski11z in his aura repatoire that I think it's a terrible waste to invest valuable skill points in +X% useless defense. Here are a few aura's that I wish we saw more of:
-Holy Freeze (my favorite, due to nostalgia) this was essential for the 1.09 UsWest HC paladin. Back then, aura switching was much more effective. After you maxed fanat/hammers or conc, it was time to max holy freeze. The monsters would be slowed to a crawl while you hammered away. Around level 90 most of the screen will be slowed to 50% or slower, if a necro is around try casting decrepify and watch as the enemies are too slow to get to you before their untimely demise!
-Resists Fire this one is probably the best not only for individual but party as well. If a paladin in your group has this equiped, you will no longer have to worry about conviction, lower resists, or venom lords at all. For every two points invested in this skill, the paladin gains +1% max fire resists. That's pretty fkin sweet in my opinion. around level 90 you can have at least +5% max fire all the time.
-Salvation not as good as resists fire I don't think. When was the last time someone died to cold damage? lightning hurts but if you are consistantly dying to lightning (or anything for that matter) maybe think about getting stronger resists before going back to the Chaos Sanctuary. This is good to have as a backup, in case some other godly paladin has resists fire. But not really, because no other paladin will have resists fire. Get resists fire instead.
-Sanctuary this skill is funny. undead are repelled from you. It really sucks for trying to hammer them, as repelling your enemies is about the last thing you want. But funny none the less.
-Conviction conviction actually doesn't help much if you are only around blizz sorcs, as they should already have -100% enemy cold resists from Cold Mastery. Maybe if you plan ahead, your sorc friend can add extra synergy instead of CM. This does help a ton with the Lightning Fury amazon and the Lightning Sorc. It will also slightly help the CE damage for a Necro.
-Resists Cold and Lightning not smart to add points to these instead of fire, unless you are planning on pvp. Obviously, resists cold is the more useful here.
There you have it. I really wish more paladin's would consider the party and develop a backup aura.
A paladin has so many potentially useful and uber-0wn4g3 ski11z in his aura repatoire that I think it's a terrible waste to invest valuable skill points in +X% useless defense. Here are a few aura's that I wish we saw more of:
-Holy Freeze (my favorite, due to nostalgia) this was essential for the 1.09 UsWest HC paladin. Back then, aura switching was much more effective. After you maxed fanat/hammers or conc, it was time to max holy freeze. The monsters would be slowed to a crawl while you hammered away. Around level 90 most of the screen will be slowed to 50% or slower, if a necro is around try casting decrepify and watch as the enemies are too slow to get to you before their untimely demise!
-Resists Fire this one is probably the best not only for individual but party as well. If a paladin in your group has this equiped, you will no longer have to worry about conviction, lower resists, or venom lords at all. For every two points invested in this skill, the paladin gains +1% max fire resists. That's pretty fkin sweet in my opinion. around level 90 you can have at least +5% max fire all the time.
-Salvation not as good as resists fire I don't think. When was the last time someone died to cold damage? lightning hurts but if you are consistantly dying to lightning (or anything for that matter) maybe think about getting stronger resists before going back to the Chaos Sanctuary. This is good to have as a backup, in case some other godly paladin has resists fire. But not really, because no other paladin will have resists fire. Get resists fire instead.
-Sanctuary this skill is funny. undead are repelled from you. It really sucks for trying to hammer them, as repelling your enemies is about the last thing you want. But funny none the less.
-Conviction conviction actually doesn't help much if you are only around blizz sorcs, as they should already have -100% enemy cold resists from Cold Mastery. Maybe if you plan ahead, your sorc friend can add extra synergy instead of CM. This does help a ton with the Lightning Fury amazon and the Lightning Sorc. It will also slightly help the CE damage for a Necro.
-Resists Cold and Lightning not smart to add points to these instead of fire, unless you are planning on pvp. Obviously, resists cold is the more useful here.
There you have it. I really wish more paladin's would consider the party and develop a backup aura.