what else measures up to a hammerdin in pvm?

[niigz]

i recently tried a bowazon and wind druid, probably not the greatest of choices but it made me come back to my pally and deciding hes the best class for pvm.

what else could out do a hammerdin (in pvm)

[sp00ked]

IMO blizz/glacial/fb/meteor sorc (all in one build) with infinity merc out performs a hammer pally

the most trouble I had with hammer pals is with bug vipers, stygian furies /dolls mana burn souls but with a sorc, those are no problem b/c of her range

also hammers dont perform well at all in closed spaces but the sorc spells perform excellent in both closed and open.

if you haven't made one of these sorcs yet I highly suggest you should.

[Bjam]

I don't think anything can match the overall power and MF ability of a Hammerdin in PvM. That said, several builds outperform a hammerdin in specific areas.

Just a few Examples:
Faithazon----> Pits and Chaos
LF Zon-------> Cows
CL/Orb Sorc--> Running T and H keys
Melee Builds--> Ubers

EDIT: I agree with Kykle on the Light Sorc, but only with an Infinity Merc

[kykle]

pure light sorc with infinity merc - with good gear it does any area af the game faster then a hammerdin

[obiwansbane]

so long as you arent running chaos sanc, most elemental zealers, and a one point smiter can be much safer than a hammerdin...

they're also much cheaper... and probably go just as fast anyways

[Lanceor]

Hammerdins are probably the best all-rounders out there (once you get an Enigma) with high damage, no immunity problems (yah, Wailing Beasts) and area of effect primary skill. Infinity light sorcs trade off some toughness and occasional immunity problems for greater damage and faster teleporting.

I find single element sorcs to be powerhouses equalling or bettering Hammerdins, but suffer from immunity problems.

Lightning zons will kill packed crowds and single large monsters faster than anyone else, but don't do so well against loose crowds or small targets. Of course, immunity problems once again.

For pure survivability, a life-tap Zealot (and Frenzy Barb, Fury Wolf?) is literally unkillable once life tap kicks in as long as no OK's are around.

[w a t s o n]

As someone else said, a pure light sorc with infinity merc and other top notch gear is as good or better than a hammerdin. Also, i have a Lf zon with Infinity Merc that destroys everything quite easily. The only problem with Lf zon is that i use Coh, so no teleport. Oh, and why on earth do people think that light zons have problems with small packs? That is a rediculous assumption, small packs are no problem at all, they go down in 1-2 seconds just like everything else.

[RAZARKUTTER]

If you have a fishymancer with enigma, you can run any area in the game and run it with ease.
You can run items with higher MF because this build is not very dependant on gear.
Curses allow you to increase killing speed, counter immunities
Safest build in game
This is why fishymancers are one of two character classes usually used highly at the start of the ladder.

[kykle]

light sorc is fastest. summoner is safest. hammerdin has both but cant measure up to either one in a single category

[mephiztophelez]

a kick-trap'sin can clear areas faster than a hammerdin up to about ~players 4/5.

[kykle]

kick-trapsin requires VERY expensive gear to be on par with light sorc or hdin for general pvm.

and both light sorc and hammerdin can clear players 8 without breaking a sweat

[carnageeee]

imo lite sorcs (w/ infinity of course) pwn Hdins in terms of the quickness of killing because, while both hammer and lightning are very high dmg spells, the lightning spells are easy to aim and can be shot from a distance while the din must be almost melee to aim accurately. Also a problem with the hammer is that some straggler monsters may escape, and we wouldn't want that would we? =D

In terms of survivability, Hdins are much safer imo than a sorc and I always use my hammer to run chaos, but not much else. I've never played a fishymancer, so I don't know about that...but a well built hammerdin is next to impossible for any monster to kill (I use sanctuary aura for souls, and redemption to refill life).

[mephiztophelez]

kick-trapsin requires VERY expensive gear to be on par with light sorc or hdin for general pvm.
what complete rubbish.

a k/t'sin can be built without a single highrune. i could put an entire k/t'sin together for less than the cost of an infinity stick, which a lit-sorc kinda "needs" or an enigma, without which a hammerdin is crap.

helm: guillaumes
ammy: anything with +skills & res a maras being awesome if you can swing it
belt: string of ears, tgods, dungos, credendum, some rare with fhr/res/stats, sigons coupled with the gloves if you must, or IK coupled with the gloves also works wonders.
armour: duress, treachery, gladiators bane, dury shell, even a viper can work here.
shield: stormshield for preference but any of the following can work: sanctuary, whistans, gerkes, rhyme.
gloves: dracs for preferecnce, crafted blood gloves can be sweet & cheap. laying of hands can also work here. sigons when coupled with the belt. IK gloves & belt....
boots: up'd gores for preference. 2x up'd goblin toes can work, some rare mirrored boots if neither of the other two are available. marrowwalks in a pinch. i once finished hell with a kicker in plain white mirrored boots.
weapon: black flail will get you through, a stormlash is t3h ultimate. fleshripper, a Gnasher, anything reasonably quick with some decent crushing blow is all you need here.
rings: ravenfrost & some rare with res & mana-leech.

merc: tals hat, dury shell & some kind of decent poker. a bonehew is perfectly viable.

aside from the Dracs & possibly the up'd gores, what in that list is going to cost more than pgems or could you not reasonably expect to find some kind of viable alternative in your travels?

you don't "need" all the fancy schmancy freddy ****hot gear to build a k/t'sin and have it blast through hell.

[kykle]

that is certainly viable, but it wont be able to keep up with a hdin or light sorc for boss runs