Help with Hammerdin Build

[XAndrewX]

I makin a hammerdin. From the advice Ive gotten Im gonna max out Hammers, Vigor, conc, and aim. The rest to Holy Shield. Does this sound good?

P.S. Tell me what you would do.

[Dagnome]

So far it sounds good with the vigor, aim, hammers, and sheild. I would suggest that you do NOT get redemption. I think it is a waste of a skill point.
I put a few points into Defiance beacuse it gives a 15% defense bonus to sheilds which is good beacuse def is why we really get holy sheild. I only put a few points into this, like 2-3 beacuse the addition to skills makes it boost. real quick. I know your on east and on my f-list so if you get to hell cs whisper me and you can have the experiecne of my cleric.

For Equipment, here what I use PvM (Player Vs Monster)

Helm-Tarn
Armor-Gskin
Gloves- Tri res
Boots- Tri Res
Belt- 24 FHR to life and duel res
Rings- FCR and res's
Ammy +2 res's Fcr.
Sheild, your standard +2 16 prism

Thats pretty much what I use for my din.
Hope this helped.

[zrk]

Putting points into defiance is stupid. Defiance gives a 15% def synergy to holy shield while points to holy shield give the same 15% def AND more block and a longer period.
Max out hammers first, while maxing hammers put the spare points into concentration and vigor, when these 3 are maxed out start maxing blessed aim. You can put a few points into holy shield at low levels or when you reach the late lvl 70's, it doesnt really matter. After that its all holy shield, or a resist element aura for the passive +1% max resist per level. Works out especially nicely with resist fire: with hotspurs and lvl 5 resist fire youll have 95% fire res :P
Redemption is a question of the amount of +skills and personal preference. With some +skills redemption becomes pretty good but with a lower amount of +skills it doesnt really help too much. I personally dont use it.

[WarlockCC]

Personally, I like redemtion. After you lay waste to the foul hordes, you redeem their soul to get life and mana in the process.

I also use it when in dire need of health and a health potion simply won't do (for some reason I don't get as much purple potions with my hammerdin as with my other chars.

My hammerdin's items are a mess, I can't advise other people to try it, but he works really well for me and they are easy to get :
Full Iratha's
Heavenly Garb
Some boots with 30frw and res
Some kite shield with 20 pris, +1 pala, 7 str and -20 req.
+2 pala +1 blessed hammer scepter.
1 SoJ which he found
1 rare ring with 14 str, 10fc and 1 or 2 res.

This does prove that whatever gear you toss on a hammerdin, they can still be effective.
My pala does have very little str and some 440 vit, that might also be the reason he does what the Bee Gee's tell him to do.

[WarlockCC]

Putting points into defiance is stupid. Defiance gives a 15% def synergy to holy shield while points to holy shield give the same 15% def AND more block and a longer period.
Max out hammers first, while maxing hammers put the spare points into concentration and vigor, when these 3 are maxed out start maxing blessed aim. You can put a few points into holy shield at low levels or when you reach the late lvl 70's, it doesnt really matter. After that its all holy shield, or a resist element aura for the passive +1% max resist per level. Works out especially nicely with resist fire: with hotspurs and lvl 5 resist fire youll have 95% fire res :P
Redemption is a question of the amount of +skills and personal preference. With some +skills redemption becomes pretty good but with a lower amount of +skills it doesnt really help too much. I personally dont use it.
I could be mistaken here, or have misread/misunderstood the Arreat, but I thought you only got 1 to max res with every 2 points you put in a res specific aura. So 10 points in Resist Fire will beget you 5% max fire resist when that aura is not active, 10% when it is active.

[Dagnome]

I still say redemption isnt as reliable as a pot. Redemp can work well with mobs, but in the heat of battle you dont got time to redemp. Maybe im just senile about using it cause im to lazy to switch skills. So you can if you want, it works for alot of people, just not me.

[Noite Escura]

I could be mistaken here, or have misread/misunderstood the Arreat, but I thought you only got 1 to max res with every 2 points you put in a res specific aura. So 10 points in Resist Fire will beget you 5% max fire resist when that aura is not active, 10% when it is active.
No, it incresases passively. 10 point in HF will top you max Fire at 80. Off course it doesn't help if you don't have enough resists to take you there. Redemption is useful to get Mana, not so much for life. On mine I spent a point in Meditation, so I don't wanna spend another in Redemption. It does ok, but sometimes Meditation just takes so many time to replenish. My LoD hammerdin had a +2 redemption Scepter on switch and it worked great to replenish Mana. Too bad you can't have it on Scepters in Classic...

[zrk]

I could be mistaken here, or have misread/misunderstood the Arreat, but I thought you only got 1 to max res with every 2 points you put in a res specific aura. So 10 points in Resist Fire will beget you 5% max fire resist when that aura is not active, 10% when it is active.
The Arreat sure does say so. Guess it is like that then. So holy shield would in that case surely be a better choice of skill points.

[fredsta54]

Well im guessing your starting out, heres a solid cheap build

Full irathas
+2 17 fhr inc block shield (cheap, since u dont NEED the res on it)
2X 2x fr lr rings
Shard
Hotspur

20 conc
20 bh
20 vigor/BA
1 holy shield

Then for the rest, id put it to redemption or holy freeze







Fred

[XAndrewX]

Well im guessing your starting out, heres a solid cheap build

Full irathas
+2 17 fhr inc block shield (cheap, since u dont NEED the res on it)
2X 2x fr lr rings
Shard
Hotspur

20 conc
20 bh
20 vigor/BA
1 holy shield

Then for the rest, id put it to redemption or holy freeze







Fred



Ok Im suprised no one has advised milla becasue Im only lvl 30. Anyways Right now Im wearing

Armor: Twitchthroe
Weap: Rust handle (+1 to skills)
Ammy: Eye (+1 to skills)
Shield: Steelclash (+1 to skills)
and others


I have a +2 flail and +2 blocking shield wwaiting for my lvl.


BTW Whats so good about hotspurs?

[zrk]

BTW Whats so good about hotspurs?

The fact that they allow you to actually TANK venom lords and stuff instead of tossing a few hammers and backing up a bit; tossing a few hammers and backing up a bit.

[Dagnome]

My pally can take Lords just fine without having to back up, I dont wear spurs. I think they are overated a bit.

[zrk]

My pally can take Lords just fine without having to back up, I dont wear spurs. I think they are overated a bit.
Well the fire oblivion knights can deal high amounts of damage aswell.

[WarlockCC]

Well the fire oblivion knights can deal high amounts of damage aswell.
I don't wear them on my hammerdin(yes, I made one a long time ago, but left him at 84), but I do wear them on my CS sorc. It keeps her alive. Main damage I get is, as Fred predicted, poison damage and physical damage from Venom Lords and Oblivion Knights. I would not CS without hotspurs on her. They reduce the damage she takes from fire sources by 60%. And when I get conviction on me from the infector, she dies almost instantly, so the fire damage is a issue for sorcs. Maybe not so much for hammerdins, because with a bit of redemption, you can be good as new.
As for my hammerdin, I also toss some hammers and step back, toss some hammers and step back. This reduces the damage you take by up to 75% or something(rough estimate). Also, it helps me hit them better. My hammerdin does wear Iratha's though, so he does have more then 75 fres. That might also be why he doesn't really miss the hotspurs.

[XAndrewX]

LOL Now I want a pair of hotspurs.

[Dagnome]

Dont go out of your way to get spurs, I stand by they are not the best choice for a hammerdin.

[XAndrewX]

Dont go out of your way to get spurs, I stand by they are not the best choice for a hammerdin.

Eh Ill just get them to get them. Whether on my sorc or my din. Ill just try them out. Right now Im usin the uni boots that give +10 res, +2 vigor, and some other mods. I like them.

[WarlockCC]

Dont go out of your way to get spurs, I stand by they are not the best choice for a hammerdin.
Indeed, to each their own.
Though a hammerdin does have Vigor, so speedwise it doesn't really matter.
If this given hammerdin CS's a lot, I would advise comparing. I think with the hotspurs on you can tank the Venomlord's inferno even better.
On the downside, other boots could up 2 or even 3 resists by up to 40.
Or, like the Tearhaunch you now wear, 10 res all, 5 str and 5 dex with 30frw.
I would like to point out that with decrep on you and a cold aura monster near, you are not moving when you are a sorc trying to walk.
Sorcs can tele and pala's can charge to still get around fast.
I don't think I would put these boots on a necro, probably not even a barb unless the barb has a good amount of the frw skill.

[Dagnome]

I know what your using, I would suggest try to get some 30 fr/w duel res boots. You really want something better than those. I wouldnt suggest them on anyone. I have found countless spurs and sold em, gave em away, I even got a gull for a pair once. I dont care for them. You can MF boots that are much better than spurs. Let me tell ay something, my cleric has a 5 res in hell cs and he can run around and get hit just fine. Having fire res is good but 75 is enough. The whole getting it to 90 is just pointless in my eyes, course my opinion is biased beacuse I dont like them.

[fredsta54]

Personally i think hotspur is the ultimate cs boot for din and sorc, this is opinion based though

Ive tested with 30/10 40 lr 40 fr 40 cr boots, and found hotspur to be superior for csing, especially solo clears (>single player made boots)


And ofc, on ladder hotspur > lesser rare boots




Fred

[WarlockCC]

Personally i think hotspur is the ultimate cs boot for din and sorc, this is opinion based though

Ive tested with 30/10 40 lr 40 fr 40 cr boots, and found hotspur to be superior for csing, especially solo clears (>single player made boots)


And ofc, on ladder hotspur > lesser rare boots




Fred
It was because of your advocacy that I put them on my sorc Fred. And I must say I have not been disappointed. Where others run, hide and flee, my sorc stands and fights the Venom Lords head on. I just move back a bit when they start swinging their swords.
At the moment my sorc only has 91 fres in Hell, 90 of which is visible/active.
This isn't really enough since lower res or conviction will drop my res well below acceptable levels. But I could not tank so well without the 45% extra fire res and the 15% to max fire res.