Dealing with IM

[dutes]

I'm playing as a Zealot and I'm up to Act IV NM and i'm dying... a lot. Its not for a lack of killing power (i'm dealing 407-1313 damage per hit... and with 5 hits from zeal at maximum speed its a lot of damage) in fact its the opposite. I'll be in the thick of it and then suddenly BAM... dead. Why? Iron Maiden.

Stuck in the middle of combat with nowhere to go but through the enemy and suddenly I have IM on me. I can't stop attacking as Zeal just keeps on hitting and after about 2 swings of the sword (out of 5) I've killed myself. Is there anyway I can deal with this or do I just have to grit my teeth and bear the enormous loss fo experience (was almost level 69 and now after a number of deaths I'm nowhere near it) and cash (in ressurecting my merc)?

[Ed from Russia]

Yeah, IM is a problem for Zealots. Here are a few suggestions, though none are optimal:
- Get a low-physical-damage high-elemental-damage weapon on switch
- Also get your Merc one of those
- Instead of Fanaticism use Conviction if you have it, or Holy Freeze
OR:
- Get a ranged weapon on switch,
- give your merc a elemental-damage weapon.

That's my answer, but there's a better one here (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=545616).

[dutes]

Unfortunately in combat, the first inkling that IM might have been cast is 'You Have Died, Death Takes its Toll of Experience' :undecided:

[Morkka]

I managed to get a hold of a Glimmershred which is great for this. Whenever you are in an area with oblivion knights, just pull it out and start being a coward for a bit.

Its slower and a bit annoying, but does keep you alive.

[maiku]

You can often find wands or scepters which may have mods on them for like 1-100 lightning, fire, poison, etc. Those might be a viable alternative. Or you could also socket some 6-socket weapon with maybe something like perf emeralds, topazes, etc. or with elemental damage jewels on switch, so that your physical damage is low but elemental damage is high. Then zeal away.

[sirpoopsalot]

Also, if you stand close enough to Oblivion Knights (aka OK), they will cast Decrepify on you (which is still a pain, but at least it's not insta-death). The problem with relying upon decrep is that multiple Oblivion Knights can be spread out, and they love to overwrite each others curses (i.e. the one you're whacking away at has you decrepified, and then another on the edge of the screen casts IM to overwrite the decrep.) A lot of the time, this means you're dead again.

I have noticed that the more you run around, the more OK's tend to cast curses (so if you stand still they're more likely to hurl those magic/elemental balls at you).


The solution I'm trying, and it seems to work fairly well (if I'm not swarmed):

- level21 conviction (I only have 1 point in HS, and chose conviction instead)
- 65% Crushing Blow (Guillaume's, Goreriders, Duress)
- Rare Scimitar (damage: 2-8 physical, 164-230 Fire, 2-533 Lightning, 21 poison)
- Sacred Targe (4x Jewels of Thunder providing 4-381 Lightning Damage)
- another +3-135 Lightning damage from equipment


I did the math on that setup last night, and then tested it out (briefly, in Hell) today to confirm. On /players1 I kill an OK in 4-6 zeal hits with conviction active, depending on how often my 65% CB triggers... and my IM-returned damage is only about 400 per killed OK. The results are potion-drinking galore, but it's actually relatively safe if I'm not swarmed.

Of course, this doesn't work that well in swarms - the monsters have way too much life for this to be a solution. Likewise, it's not a great solution on higher /players settings, since monsters have more life (and therefore I receive more returned damage before they die).

I'm going to spend a few more hours doing tests on this and then post again in Lanceor's thread/guide.



Unfortunately for every physical-damage/melee-based character, there aren't any perfect solutions for Iron Maiden, especially in situations where monsters have a lot of life (or there are simply a lot of monsters, which results in a lot of monster life).

[Pyro Dynasty]

they only way to stop IM is to know where it is (i.e. the chaos sanctuary) and use those gimmers while there. as for your merc just let him stay dead while in IM territory he will die far too much to worry about him