Hard times..

[YoungDbl]

Maybe you guys can help me a little.
My fanatzealot is in act2 nm. Im playing at /p8. He has around 800 life,
400 dmg, 1k def, and 3k ar. My merc has about 900 life , 2k def , 500 dmg.
Whenever I run into a pack of cursed monsters I instantly die. Whenever I run into normal monsters that shoot elemental attacks I die in a few of them. My res are all around +40. When I run into boss packs of elemental attacks I instantly fall. Im not sure what to do. It is a struggle to get through any thing. My gear is as follows:

helm: Crown with 69 def........... :badteeth:
wepn: King's grace long sword.
Shield: ancients pledge kite shield
armor: twitchthroe
ring: 7ml manald
ring: rare with ar.
belt: bladebuckle
gloves: sanders
boots: hsarus
ammy: 20 cold res 20 mf
charms: all res and max dmg.

Im not really sure what to do im having such a hard time getting through act1 and 2. Its only nm to. That really discourages me from playing through to hell. Any advice on where/how/what to do about me gear upgrades?
I dont mind running places for items but cant go out of act1 nm. I can also
still make cows if that matters. So basicly im looking for what to do for gear upgrades.

Also my skills are basic
20x zeal
20x fanat
5x holy shield
1x pre req

I think im lvl 53. Level doesn't seem to be to important in this situation as it doesn't seem like itll help much. My dmg output just isn't enough..
Any input is appreciated. :innocent:

Edit: Maybe I should of added this. I play self found. Also im untwinked right now after a recent restart this is my first character. I dont want to start a character to farm boss's yet. Is there any places I can run or any items I can make or anything??

[Arfurala]

Change your weapon definitely, a long sword can't do much in NM, you need exceptional weapons to do enough damage Butcher's pupil will do the job very well.
Use sigon's combo (glove+belt/boots) for 30%IAS and 10%LL. That's almost a must for twinking all melee characters.

[Toa3t]

Before any more points in HS, pump Sacrifice. It'll do wonders to your damage

[Phosheez]

Where are the points in sacrifice? That will increase your damage output. Also, there is really no need to play on /p8. I would bring that down to /p3 or maybe /p5. I don't know what kind of merc you are using but a holy freeze merc is very good. I would try going back and running NM andy for a while until you can get some better gear. Once you get some basic gear to get you into act 3, run meph until you are blue in the face. Errr, maybe just until he gives you a nice shield HoZ is great, but a shield with sockets and maybe a little bit of increased blocking would be good, socket with pdiamonds.

[pharaoh]

Your life and AR look okay for that stage of the game, but your resists are horrible. You'll be constantly dying to poison and elemental attacks, and remember that in v1.10 and later, many normal monsters have elemental or poison damage added to their attacks. You also need a better weapon, as has been pointed out. Some exceptional uniques that are good and not too hard to get are Butcher's Pupil, Coldsteel Eye, Ginther's Rift, Headstriker, and The Atlantean. If you're lucky, you might be able to get your paws on The Fetid Sprinkler (but it seems holy water sprinklers drop very seldom). This has chance to cast for Confuse and Decrepify, so offers you a good measure of crowd control.

You really ought to pump Sacrifice too, as people say. Max it out, and you'll have +240% damage from the synergy.

A final option is to look at your merc. Might and Holy Freeze mercs are good choices (Normal Act2 Offensive and Defensive, respectively). You might also consider a Prayer merc (Normal Act2 Combat, if I remember right) and slapping an Insight polearm on the guy, if you're playing the runeword mod. You'll need to level him, but with the Prayer from him, and the Meditation from Insight with the synergy, you'll get pretty fast healing. You also won't need any mana potions or mana leech as long as your merc's alive.

[Arfurala]

IIRC HF and might merc are NM, he's stuck at NM act 1 so the prayer merc may be the only option.

[Hrus]

I would say that low damage + low life-leech is the problem. And as others said, there is no reason to play P8 with an underpowered (untwinked?) character like this one.

[JihadJesus]

I would second the motion for an exceptional base weapon. NM cows should yield you a decent base exceptional weapon to make 'Honor' or some other decent, easy to make runeword in. That would help a lot, as would picking up some life leech - gamble for LL rare rings and/or amulets, or just hope a Cathan's drops while doing cow runs (they seem to be the grass of Sanctuary - green and absolutely everwhere).

For the rest of your equipment, gamble rares or use easy to make runewords like 'Lore'. I'd also recommend that you remake the shield in a pally shield with some +resists in it - it'll carry you further and probably have a higher block rate. If you haven't been paying attention to that you should.. try to keep it at at least 50% at this point of the game, and once you're final gear is decided shoot for the full 75%.

[YoungDbl]

My merc is a defiance one. I can grab a mite merc and I guess im going to have to. My only options of running areas for items is nm andy and all of normal including normal cows. I guess ill check the drop rate of some places and run a little. I was pumping hs before sacrafice becuase my defence with my defiance merc was only 400's. Even with lvl 5 hs and defiance merc I cant hit 1k yet. Looks like ill grab a mite merc and toss to sacrafice. I have absolutely no magic find. Will it still be worth running these places for items?

[LitmusDragon]

Normal Baal may be a good option. He drops fairly well, up to mid-level exceptional items if I remember correctly.

Some exceptional-class weapons will drop in Act 5 normal so you may have a chance to find a Gladius/Cutlass/Shamshir/Tulwar/Dimensional Blade/Battle Sword/Rune Sword/Ancient Sword to make a better King's Grace.

Might merc would add a bit more damage but you still need a better weapon.

[YoungDbl]

Well it seems that normal baal has the best chance to drop a few good items for me. Having no magic find this is a pain in the arse. I dont want to do 500k normal baal runs for a exceptional weapon. Im going to reformat my computer again... after just doing it 2 weeks ago. Hardware problems I guess. Once I reinstalled windows xp and run baal for a bit ill post back later today and let you know if it helps.

OT: Does any one know anything about windows vista? Im running windows xp professional and always like to keep updated.

[LitmusDragon]

Actually having less MF will mean you have a better chance for socketed items to drop.

Baal himself won't drop any 3 socketed exceptionals, it will be his minions or the creatures in the WSK that drop these.

I imagine it shouldn't take too terribly long to find some sort of exceptional sword to make a better King's grace.

For more MF you could remove your current helm (69 def is doing nothing for you) and replace it with a 2 or 3 socketed helm with Topaz in it.

edit:
Hmm. I did a bit of research, and it turns out that most exceptional one-handed swords can't spawn with 3 sockets.

The only exceptional 1h sword that can spawn 3 sockets are: Dimensional Blade, Rune Sword, Battle Sword, Ancient Sword.

It IS possible to find the Dimensional Blade in Act 5 Normal.

The Battle Sword can drop anywhere from NM den of evil onwards.

The Rune Sword really dosn't drop until mid-late NM Act II, and the Ancient Sword drops a bit later than that.

So it may actually be pretty difficulty to find a 3 socketed exceptional sword at the point of the game where you are currently at.

On the other hand, Normal Baal is capable of dropping several exceptional uniques that would be quite useful to you i.e. Butcher's Pupil, Headstriker.

So it still may be a good idea to run Baal, but the 3 socket exceptionals are probably not going to be so plentiful as I'd originally thought. :tongue:

Good luck!

[YoungDbl]

Thanks normal baal running it is. Maybe ill get addicted and level my pally to like 60 and equip some better items overall. Can any one give me a atma readout of hand of zakarum if any one happens to have it. I would check the websites but my computer is being a pain in the a$$.

OT: Still trying to find info on windows vista.

[Toppo]

OT: Still trying to find info on windows vista.
I think there's an open beta for download but you'll have to wait for some time to get the "final" version.

[Superhal]

imho, all melee chars are really hard to start with on a realm. i learned that the hard way with my first char in .09. i finally made it to hell meph with ferocious cb i bought and cubed myself with shael/shael/eth. it took like 2 weeks to get that far.

now i always start with a blizz sorc, and i have enough weapons to start new chars in less than 2 days.

[YoungDbl]

I like to play untwinked. What fun is a character with a full gear equip just laying around waiting. Most likely I will run baal and change all my equipment.
Still looking for a atma readout on the hand of zakarum if any one can supply me with one please.

OT: the beta version of windows vista is downloadable? From where and does it work as a whole windows program like windows xp pro or is it just a try it out and take a tour then get your windows back to normal.

[LitmusDragon]

Still looking for a atma readout on the hand of zakarum if any one can supply me with one please.

Here it is. It may take you quite a while to find one untwinked tho:

Herald of Zakarum
Gilded Shield
Defense: 444
Chance to Block: 72%
Smite Damage: 20 to 28
Durability: 29 of 50
(Paladin Only)
Required Strength: 89
Required Level: 42
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x68dfc10c
+20 to Strength
+20 to Vitality
+163% Enhanced Defense
+30% Increased Chance of Blocking
All Resistances +50
+2 to Paladin Skill Levels
30% Faster Block Rate
20% Bonus to Attack Rating
+2 to Combat Skills (Paladin Only)

[YoungDbl]

Wrong item :lol:. Im actually looking for the hand of zakarum weapon. That should be a little easier to find then a hoz. Thanks anyways though.

OT: windows vista beta download link any one? And does it upgrade your current windows or is it just like a tour?

[monsinour]

Wrong item :lol:. Im actually looking for the hand of zakarum weapon. That should be a little easier to find then a hoz. Thanks anyways though.

OT: windows vista beta download link any one? And does it upgrade your current windows or is it just like a tour?

Windoze vista is a full beta. lasts for 30 days and then you are back to square 1. So if you upgrade to vista at some point you will have to downgrade back to xp. There are compatability issues with D2 and Vista. GL if you try it. As far as where to DL it from, try M$ download page.

[LitmusDragon]

Wrong item :lol:. Im actually looking for the hand of zakarum weapon. That should be a little easier to find then a hoz. Thanks anyways though.

Ohhhh .... right, right.

Zakarum's Hand
Rune Scepter
One-Hand Damage: 38 to 70
Durability: 33 of 50
Required Strength: 58
Required Level: 37
Mace Class - Very Fast Attack Speed
Item Version: Expansion
Item Level: 90
Fingerprint: 0x9abc6d33
+193% Enhanced Damage
Regenerate Mana 10%
Heal Stamina Plus 15%
8% Mana stolen per hit
30% Increased Attack Speed
+2 to Holy Freeze (Paladin Only)
+2 to Holy Shock (Paladin Only)
Ignore Target Defense
150% Damage to Undead
6% Chance to cast Level 5 Blizzard on striking

[YoungDbl]

Thanks I guess ill just stick to windows xp pro.
Thanks for the readout to.

That was exactly what I was hoping for.
I plan to run baal for that and maybe some other items like
silks of the victor and what not. Hopefully without doing a couple
hundred baal runs...


OT: im going to just wait for the full version of windows vista I guess.
Itll probly be 200$ I know the windows xp pro was.

[Superhal]

oh, one other thing i thought of: if you are stalled in act 2, it may be because of the black spikey balls the unravelers shoot. in hell, these often kill my paladins in one shot. i think they work the same way as holy bolts, in that they get extra damage vs paladins. none of my other chars get killed that quick by those things.

what i do (like all missile chars) is run at them diagonally. the worst case scenario (i haven't seen this outside of hell) is a champion pack or boss. the worst i've seen was 2 bosses and a champion pack in the same hallway behind a door opposite of a big room. i had to run across the room to get to them, and i would usually die before i could get halfway.

[WhiskeyJack]

On top of everything else, you might look for a 2-socket sword or hammer and use the strength RW (amn/tir)- 25% CB is great for a fanazealot, and it's relatively cheap/easy so far as RWs go. King's Grace in a dimensional blade is also useful- I relied on that for a while in early NM with a fanazealot as well.

Regarding shields- you might want to look for a better one too. AP is a good RW, but you might try finding a pally specific shield to make it in, if only for the slightly higher chance to block, that, or higher normal shield. I know you're using holy shield, but starting from a better base might improve your def a bit.

Oh, and don't forget your crafting recipes. Blood gloves are great for untwinked melee- LL and 5-10 %CB. I really haven't found a unique that I prefer more for my zealots, especially as it can roll IAS and other mods too. Safety items can also give resistances- I used a safety crown for a while. Not the best, but as good as some early game rares.

Blood gloves:

Magical Heavy
or Sharkskin Gloves (Excep)
or Vampirebone Gloves (Elite)
+ Jewel (any)
+ Nef Rune (#4)
+ Perfect Ruby

Other recipes can be useful too, in a pinch, so after you reformat, look them up.

Cheers,
WJ

[water_moon]

OT: Still trying to find info on windows vista.
Vista will require a chunk o' goodness (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/evaluate/hardware/vistarpc.mspx). Make sure you have all the pre-reqs for it, it's going to be top heavy. (1 GB for the pro version)

[YoungDbl]

Im going to try those gloves. Kings grace isnt really as good as I thought it was. I think ill just run baal for some items. Plus the extra levels should help. I was using sanders and twitch becuase they seemed to have helped me attack faster I didnt check the breakpoints though. Should I replace them for the crafted gloves and maybe a heavier armor?

@superhal : The missle attacks arnt the problem. Its any elemental attacks from beetles for instance. Or even the ones that are normal and hit me and have added elemental damage. And any thing with mana burn.

@water_moon : Dang that sucks pretty bad. Looks like ill be sitting with windows xp for a bit longer. I appreciate you looking it up for me though w_m drinks on me! :sunny:

[SiTro]

The beetles... Find any and all sources of cold damage you can. I've found before that when they're chilled they seem to zap out their bolts a bit less often than once every hit. My blizz sorc in normal also didn't get any bolts sent back from hits when they were frozen solid either.

It's all based on my own playing, and I'm not certain on this, but it seems chilled = not always and frozen = no bolts.

[Pavel]

It's all based on my own playing, and I'm not certain on this, but it seems chilled = not always and frozen = no bolts.

I've noticed this too.

[JihadJesus]

The bolts are triggered by hit recovery animations. I'm not sure if it's at the beginning of the animation or the end of the animation cycle, but I do know they're tied. So if they're slowed or chilled, the bolts come less frequently, and if frozen solid there are no bolts since there is no hit recovery animation.


...wow, I know too much about this silly little game. The fact that I knew that off the top of my head is kinda sad

[YoungDbl]

Ok this is all OT..
First: I reformated my computer and everything now I just need a link to atma it seems that the one in the stickies is down..
Second: My monitor is real fuzzy. It was fine untill I resized it then changed it back under display. Any help would be appreciated
Thirdly: Some of the names in the box that shows who's online are either invisible but still take up spaces or, have a x'd out white box where there pal would be. Any help on this is appreciated.

Thanks in advance

[sirpoopsalot]

#1, I'd PM Cattleya and Hrus (and maybe the doc)

#2, Try a video-test sequence if you can (I'm not sure how, but your video-card may have one - look in your program menu or in the Control Panel). I'm not much of a hardware guy, sorry.

#3, it's the squid - patience young(dbl) one, Elly'll solve it sooner or later.

[YoungDbl]

I didn't know it was a problem to everyone. I actually just got it a few minutes ago. Ok that solves that. The video card im not sure how to fix that sucks but I guess ill deal with it. I was hoping just to get a link to the .exe download but ill throw them a pm I guess. Thanks. :sunny:

[Hrus]

Back to the original topic, I would not recommend Baal for MFing, it just takes too long to get through the WSK and his minions. Do only a few runs for leveling and then go to NM and get to Andariel. Because of her bugged drop, she has similar if not better odds than Baal and you can run her much more faster.

[YoungDbl]

Thanks hrus :sunny: Theres our wonderful mod!
I forgot all about bugged andy. Ill be able to run her with ease. Im going to reformat my computer again though. Stupid me used the wrong cd after a couple hours of it running I noticed that it wasn't formating it was just removing windows xp and putting it back in. Besides my monitor is still crappy. Hrus do you think you can post me a link to a download for atma? I need to get my stash back up. I dont mean to bug you though if your busy.