Dinnin Darkblade
06-04-2006, 17:24
AKA The Hero's of the Wind
Back Story: The four stood before the tattered rogue camp. The depression and dispair soaked into thier very bones as they looked upon this hovel. Each had come from a different land and each had sought to bring justice into this gods forsaken place. However as they traveled with a caravan to the camp they had been attacked. In the strike each had had thier weapons of choice rended to dust. The sorceress's staff had been snapped in twine by the sharp blade of a corrupt rogue. The barbarians axe shattered on the hardened skin of a yeti. The necromancers wand faded of it's magic as demonic foes brought thier own unholy powers to bear. And the paladins sword was sundered by the hammer of a gargantuan man.
As the travelers talked about thier next move in the safty of the rogue camp they began to notice that the most common weapon found here was the bow. Everywere they looked the women carried them. Even Charsi, a smith of steel, made fine and equisit bows for use by the rogues. And so they approached Akara and proposed a deal. Supply the heros with bows and they would go forth and reclaim thier monestary.
================================================== ========
Okay now the basic non-beautified and dramatized version. Thru my times here and in diablo II I have seen Rangers, Bowbarians, Ranged Enchantresses, and even the rare Dark Ranger. I have played in an all Ranger group once, tho it fell apart due to folks not showing up. Kind of hard to get 8 people that can meet at the same time each week consistantly.
However what I've not seen is these four charactors brought together in a party, each built to support the other. This is something I'd like to try out. However the first step to forming a group like this is figuring out how each charactor can best support the group as a whole. This is were I ask you my fellow forumites for help. Below is my ideas for each charactor and thier genralized roles within the party.
Some Rules to follow when posting suggestions for the builds
1. If this group gets going we will be allowing twinking of items and gear. Good bows are hard to come by, why limit ourselves to self found with charactors that are not normally made for bows. However this will be limited to the following. Bows, Crossbows, enough gold to purchase a bow upon creation and arrows, and one amulet and one ring.
2. The bows will be the only source of damage allowed, or rather, the arrow of the bow must carry the damage. I.E. no orbs for a sorc for fire immunes, no zeal for paladins for close combat, weapon masteries for a barb are also useless, and Necro poison/bone/summon spells are off limits. The only exceptions are a sorceress Cold Armor spells and the Necromancers Curses.
3. The bow must be equipped at all times except in the event of death. Then run naked as usual to retrieve corpse. I.E. No prebuffing with staves for a sorc, no wands for curses and such, no scepters for paladin skills (what ones a ranger would want to pre-buff is beyond me), and no BO sticks for a barbs battle orders and other warcries.
Okay on to the classes
Hero #1: The Sorceress
As an enchantress the sorceress is already a master of ranged combat using a raven claw. For the most part this charactor is your standard enchantress. However since she does not use frozen orb or thunderstorm to deal with Cold Immunes she has some space left over.
Attribute Placement
Str: Enough for Ravenclaw or any other gear she finds and uses. No more than enough to wear your heaviest piece of armor.
Dex: 200 : there will always be a necromancer to cast Amp Damage so you might as well get use of the extra physical damage. Besides the extra life won't be as neccasary as you'll see later.
Vita : Everything Else : While she won't need as much life, she will still want a respectable amount.
Nrg : Base lets face it, your not even spamming Orb, so why do you need any?
Skills
warmth 20
Enchant 20
FireMastery 20
Chilling Armor 20
Teleport 1
Telekinesis 1
1 in pre-requisists
Basic Game Play: Same as an enchantress for the most part. Use enchant to boost her parties damage and inflict her own. Chilling Armor is for ranged attackers since they won't be getting close (see barb section below)
Bow of Choice: Ravenclaw or a High Phys damage bow, depending on how gameplay dictates.
Hero #2: The Barbarian
This barbarian is a bow master. He has learned how to strike with accuracy with the bow and is learned in how to keep his foes at a distance.
Attribute Placement
Str: Enough for heaviest item
Dex: 200
Vita: Everything else
Nrg; none, when does a non-singer ever put points here... do they even put points here?
Skills
Battle Orders 20
Shout 20
Grim Ward: 10 to 16 depending on what radius is needed
Natural Resist: 13
Howl: 1
Taunt: 1
Battle Command: 1
Iron Skin: 1
Increased Stamina: 1
Increased Speed: 1
Game Play : This barbarian uses tactics to take care of his foes. Grim Ward keeps the foes of his party at bay while battle orders insures any damage they do take is less seveare since they are so much hardier. Shout also keeps them safe from mundane ranged attacks.
Hero #3: The Necromancer
A dark man with even darker secrets. This necromancer has given up the raising of the dead and creation of golems. He has turned away from the poisons of his kin, and the piercing bone spears and haunting bone spirits of his kind. Instead he fights with guile and cunning using his bow to slaughter foes that are imprisioned within his walls and prisions of living bone. His curses further confuse and confuddle the enemy making them easy pickings for his team.
Attribute Placement
Str : Enough for gear, sounding familiar?
Dexterity : 200, aside from enchant your looking at pure physical damage aside from gems and other mods like crushing blow and open wounds.
Vita : Whats left goes here
Nrg : Shouldn't need to much, but if curses are draining him dry perhaps bump it up a bit, 40 or 50 should work
Skill Placement
Bone Wall 20
Bone Prision 20
Lower Resist 16
Dim Vision 20
1 in all pre-requisits
Game Play: The Dark Ranger uses his curses to further annoy and pester the enemies of his teammates. While the barbarians Ward will keep melee foes at bay there are still ranged enemies to contend with. Dim Vision is the perfect cure for this. Also it can be used to pacify an area before the party enters it by casting it at the edge of the screen. Lower Resist and Amp Damage can also be used to further inflict more damage upon the enemies of the party. Lastly, for those foes unfased by the gruesome totem of the barbarian the necromancer has his trusted bone walls and prisions to contain them while the party picks them apart one by one.
Hero #4 The Paladin
Here is were I run into the largest descision to be made. Thanks to the Necromancers Lower Resist curse even Fire Immunes are not so much a worry. So The path I am planning on for this ranger is that of fanaticism. If you think otherwise please post your reasons to go with other auras.
reasons I'm taking fanatasism
1 : Boosts everyones AR a bit
2: Boosts everyones attack speed so that means more damage over time
3: Boosts everyones damage a bit so more damage period
Reasons not to take Elemental Auras
1: They tend to attract the enemy, something we are striving to avoid.
2: Slowing is not needed when the enemy cannot reach the party in the first place
3: With Lower Resist one element (the Sorc's enchant) plus physical damage should be enough.
Attribute Placement
str: enough for gear
Dex: 200
Vitality : The rest
Nrg : Nothing, nada, zip.... gee is this familiar by now?
Skill Placement
20 Fanatisism
20 Blessed Aim
20 Fire Resist
20 Lightning resist
Genral Play : This paladin's main purpose is to make everyone on the team look good by speeding them up, making thier blows hurt more, and lifting thier arrows to thier mark, all with fanaticism. The points in the resists are to help with the paladins resists. Since you have so much left over after blessed aim ( for passive AR bonus) and Fanaticism (main aura) why not spend points to raise your max resists on the two most common damage types?
Over all for the group high damage high speed bows will be whats sought after. Everyone will want an angelic ammy and ring combo for AR as well. Beyond that, getting resists and IAS will be the main theame for gear. And with the barbarians maxed shout high defense might not be a bad idea either.
Overall the party should have a signifigant source of fire damage, physical damage, and AR from skills alone. The necromancers curses can further increase the damage of the parties bows. The barbarian and necromancer add a great deal of safty to this as well. Tho the four would have to work in unision and not be running off willy nilly I think this could work out.
Please keep in mind that this team would be played with each other alone. No other party members, and no soloing.
Any Suggestions or Ideas? Anything I"m missing?
At this time I'm not looking to form a group to do this team. That will come after I've gotten some feedback about the team set up.
BTW, Thanks to Fredsta54 for mentioning the Bowbarian to me. Got me thinking of my odd ball bow builds i enjoy. And thanks to Squiggle as well since he was the one that urged me to post this after we talked about the idea together.
Back Story: The four stood before the tattered rogue camp. The depression and dispair soaked into thier very bones as they looked upon this hovel. Each had come from a different land and each had sought to bring justice into this gods forsaken place. However as they traveled with a caravan to the camp they had been attacked. In the strike each had had thier weapons of choice rended to dust. The sorceress's staff had been snapped in twine by the sharp blade of a corrupt rogue. The barbarians axe shattered on the hardened skin of a yeti. The necromancers wand faded of it's magic as demonic foes brought thier own unholy powers to bear. And the paladins sword was sundered by the hammer of a gargantuan man.
As the travelers talked about thier next move in the safty of the rogue camp they began to notice that the most common weapon found here was the bow. Everywere they looked the women carried them. Even Charsi, a smith of steel, made fine and equisit bows for use by the rogues. And so they approached Akara and proposed a deal. Supply the heros with bows and they would go forth and reclaim thier monestary.
================================================== ========
Okay now the basic non-beautified and dramatized version. Thru my times here and in diablo II I have seen Rangers, Bowbarians, Ranged Enchantresses, and even the rare Dark Ranger. I have played in an all Ranger group once, tho it fell apart due to folks not showing up. Kind of hard to get 8 people that can meet at the same time each week consistantly.
However what I've not seen is these four charactors brought together in a party, each built to support the other. This is something I'd like to try out. However the first step to forming a group like this is figuring out how each charactor can best support the group as a whole. This is were I ask you my fellow forumites for help. Below is my ideas for each charactor and thier genralized roles within the party.
Some Rules to follow when posting suggestions for the builds
1. If this group gets going we will be allowing twinking of items and gear. Good bows are hard to come by, why limit ourselves to self found with charactors that are not normally made for bows. However this will be limited to the following. Bows, Crossbows, enough gold to purchase a bow upon creation and arrows, and one amulet and one ring.
2. The bows will be the only source of damage allowed, or rather, the arrow of the bow must carry the damage. I.E. no orbs for a sorc for fire immunes, no zeal for paladins for close combat, weapon masteries for a barb are also useless, and Necro poison/bone/summon spells are off limits. The only exceptions are a sorceress Cold Armor spells and the Necromancers Curses.
3. The bow must be equipped at all times except in the event of death. Then run naked as usual to retrieve corpse. I.E. No prebuffing with staves for a sorc, no wands for curses and such, no scepters for paladin skills (what ones a ranger would want to pre-buff is beyond me), and no BO sticks for a barbs battle orders and other warcries.
Okay on to the classes
Hero #1: The Sorceress
As an enchantress the sorceress is already a master of ranged combat using a raven claw. For the most part this charactor is your standard enchantress. However since she does not use frozen orb or thunderstorm to deal with Cold Immunes she has some space left over.
Attribute Placement
Str: Enough for Ravenclaw or any other gear she finds and uses. No more than enough to wear your heaviest piece of armor.
Dex: 200 : there will always be a necromancer to cast Amp Damage so you might as well get use of the extra physical damage. Besides the extra life won't be as neccasary as you'll see later.
Vita : Everything Else : While she won't need as much life, she will still want a respectable amount.
Nrg : Base lets face it, your not even spamming Orb, so why do you need any?
Skills
warmth 20
Enchant 20
FireMastery 20
Chilling Armor 20
Teleport 1
Telekinesis 1
1 in pre-requisists
Basic Game Play: Same as an enchantress for the most part. Use enchant to boost her parties damage and inflict her own. Chilling Armor is for ranged attackers since they won't be getting close (see barb section below)
Bow of Choice: Ravenclaw or a High Phys damage bow, depending on how gameplay dictates.
Hero #2: The Barbarian
This barbarian is a bow master. He has learned how to strike with accuracy with the bow and is learned in how to keep his foes at a distance.
Attribute Placement
Str: Enough for heaviest item
Dex: 200
Vita: Everything else
Nrg; none, when does a non-singer ever put points here... do they even put points here?
Skills
Battle Orders 20
Shout 20
Grim Ward: 10 to 16 depending on what radius is needed
Natural Resist: 13
Howl: 1
Taunt: 1
Battle Command: 1
Iron Skin: 1
Increased Stamina: 1
Increased Speed: 1
Game Play : This barbarian uses tactics to take care of his foes. Grim Ward keeps the foes of his party at bay while battle orders insures any damage they do take is less seveare since they are so much hardier. Shout also keeps them safe from mundane ranged attacks.
Hero #3: The Necromancer
A dark man with even darker secrets. This necromancer has given up the raising of the dead and creation of golems. He has turned away from the poisons of his kin, and the piercing bone spears and haunting bone spirits of his kind. Instead he fights with guile and cunning using his bow to slaughter foes that are imprisioned within his walls and prisions of living bone. His curses further confuse and confuddle the enemy making them easy pickings for his team.
Attribute Placement
Str : Enough for gear, sounding familiar?
Dexterity : 200, aside from enchant your looking at pure physical damage aside from gems and other mods like crushing blow and open wounds.
Vita : Whats left goes here
Nrg : Shouldn't need to much, but if curses are draining him dry perhaps bump it up a bit, 40 or 50 should work
Skill Placement
Bone Wall 20
Bone Prision 20
Lower Resist 16
Dim Vision 20
1 in all pre-requisits
Game Play: The Dark Ranger uses his curses to further annoy and pester the enemies of his teammates. While the barbarians Ward will keep melee foes at bay there are still ranged enemies to contend with. Dim Vision is the perfect cure for this. Also it can be used to pacify an area before the party enters it by casting it at the edge of the screen. Lower Resist and Amp Damage can also be used to further inflict more damage upon the enemies of the party. Lastly, for those foes unfased by the gruesome totem of the barbarian the necromancer has his trusted bone walls and prisions to contain them while the party picks them apart one by one.
Hero #4 The Paladin
Here is were I run into the largest descision to be made. Thanks to the Necromancers Lower Resist curse even Fire Immunes are not so much a worry. So The path I am planning on for this ranger is that of fanaticism. If you think otherwise please post your reasons to go with other auras.
reasons I'm taking fanatasism
1 : Boosts everyones AR a bit
2: Boosts everyones attack speed so that means more damage over time
3: Boosts everyones damage a bit so more damage period
Reasons not to take Elemental Auras
1: They tend to attract the enemy, something we are striving to avoid.
2: Slowing is not needed when the enemy cannot reach the party in the first place
3: With Lower Resist one element (the Sorc's enchant) plus physical damage should be enough.
Attribute Placement
str: enough for gear
Dex: 200
Vitality : The rest
Nrg : Nothing, nada, zip.... gee is this familiar by now?
Skill Placement
20 Fanatisism
20 Blessed Aim
20 Fire Resist
20 Lightning resist
Genral Play : This paladin's main purpose is to make everyone on the team look good by speeding them up, making thier blows hurt more, and lifting thier arrows to thier mark, all with fanaticism. The points in the resists are to help with the paladins resists. Since you have so much left over after blessed aim ( for passive AR bonus) and Fanaticism (main aura) why not spend points to raise your max resists on the two most common damage types?
Over all for the group high damage high speed bows will be whats sought after. Everyone will want an angelic ammy and ring combo for AR as well. Beyond that, getting resists and IAS will be the main theame for gear. And with the barbarians maxed shout high defense might not be a bad idea either.
Overall the party should have a signifigant source of fire damage, physical damage, and AR from skills alone. The necromancers curses can further increase the damage of the parties bows. The barbarian and necromancer add a great deal of safty to this as well. Tho the four would have to work in unision and not be running off willy nilly I think this could work out.
Please keep in mind that this team would be played with each other alone. No other party members, and no soloing.
Any Suggestions or Ideas? Anything I"m missing?
At this time I'm not looking to form a group to do this team. That will come after I've gotten some feedback about the team set up.
BTW, Thanks to Fredsta54 for mentioning the Bowbarian to me. Got me thinking of my odd ball bow builds i enjoy. And thanks to Squiggle as well since he was the one that urged me to post this after we talked about the idea together.