Some Questions about Fishymancer

[NowhereMan]

Hi all,

I started playing Diablo again after 2 years retired. Ok, now im back and im building a fishymancer that is going quite well, despite tooking me 10 minutes do kill normal baal...

Im in NM right now (lvl 43) and I am almost finishing maxing SM. Here goes the questions:

i) How many points should be enough in CE (i dont feel that maxing it should be necessary) and SR? Is there some kind of formula here?

ii) Also, im planning to use "Homunculus" (sry if the spelling is not correct) and I would like to know how many points should I have to max DEX.

iii) a 4 isted monarch (on switch) worths the massive STR required?

This is my first time here and im feeling like a totaly noob:prop:

People, thanks a lot, sry for my english!

[Evrae Altana]

i)Max CE. It's an awesome skill. Summon Resist deserves only 1 point; +skills will take care of the rest.
ii)Here's the blocking formula.
Total Blocking = [(Blocking * (Dexterity - 15)) / (Character Level * 2)]
iii)If you're using Homunculus as your main shield, you might or mght not have enough strength for the Spirit on switch. In any case, I'd rather have CtA/Spirit on switch rather than Isted stuff since MF suffers from such steep diminshing returns.

[garion]

1) 1 should be enough...but you can max it (after RS/SM)
2) dunno
3) you'll need 156 str for a monarch....allot of str

[FrostBurn]

i)It will be simplest to max it. However, if you would like enough points to max another skill (as I did, I maxed BWall as a synergy to BArmour), you don't have to max it. It depends on how large a radius you want. If you have enough gear to give you lots of +skills, you can get away with less points in CE. I'm currently working with a radius of 11 yards. I'm happy with that, and I get to fully max four other skills thanks to that compromise. 1 point in SR.

ii)Imo, you do not need max block with a fishymancer. You are not going to melee, your minions are. If you invest in Magi, you will be shielded by your melee skellies in front of you and you Magi behind you. I would go for max vita instead.

iii)Not imo.

[garion]

hey frostie you know how many yards = the screen? just curious...you have 11 yard radius (so that 22 yards diameter~66 feet....)....

anyone know the dimensions of the screen (800 res)

[FrostBurn]

Clicky here Garion:
http://diabloii.net/items/modifiers/fastrw.shtml

[garion]

Clicky here Garion:
http://diabloii.net/items/modifiers/fastrw.shtml

ahhhh...awesome...thx frosties :thumbsup:

[FrostBurn]

Clicky here also:
http://www.diabloii.net/faq/d2x-ufaq.shtml

Scroll down to the section that says 'How big is a Yard?' (about 1/3 down)

[garion]

Clicky here also:
http://www.diabloii.net/faq/d2x-ufaq.shtml

Scroll down to the section that says 'How big is a Yard?' (about 1/3 down)
this is a perfect diagram thx

http://www.diabloii.net/faq/images/d2x-ufaq-yards.shtml

[NowhereMan]

Thank you all for the help.

Here it goes a really noob question: what is a spirit? is it a ladder shield?

Other thing, I read (maybe in the fishy's guide) that one point in vita means only two in life and that is a bad deal, I think. Thats why I choose to max blocking. What your experience tells? which one is better?

About mages, im not pretending to use them. Should i consider to change my mind?

thx a lot!

[garion]

spirit is a ladder runeword..most people make it in a 4os monarch shield (req 156 str)...give +2 all Skill ~100 mana, 25-35% Faster Cast Rate (FCR)

however you can make them in pally shields if you have a pally for far less str reqs...and greater innate all res....

you can also make them in swords (long, broad...etc)..which could be a nice temp item for you if you don't have access to AOKL

so if you have dual spirits (shiled+sword)...you would get +4 all skills ~+200 mana +50-70% FCR

and its super easy to make...

tal+thul+ort+amn (in that order, into a 4 socket item)

http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/runewords-110.shtml