bugged vipers, pdr and my IK barb

[Cubbie]

Hi,
what amount of straight pdr would I need to safely whirl my way down to nihlatak with my IK barb? I really want to try this out. It´s the last area I didn´t go and some keys would be nice : )

ATM I got only a 25pdr ammy and two Sols for the Helmet, thats 39 and propably not enough. Any more equipment suggestions?

I know that some of you tried this out. Would be great if you could share youre experience with me.

Cheers

[stephan]

Another sol in the armor and a nature's peace should make you very comfortable.

[AgentMarth]

39 then Nature Peace should make you be safe. Nature's also has the RIP mod that is useful for the stopping of CE's. You could also Sol the armor if you want. ~50 should negate them entirely. Of course, more is always welcome.

Sometimes I think the PDR may be overrated when it comes to the snakes though, my Zerker who runs him is sporting only 3 PDR, and is fine when doing so (No RIP mod either or no leech). But it could also be that he has 45% DR on him.

PDR is awesome though, and a full PDR build is nice to see in action.

[Cubbie]

Thanks for your quick answers. :thumbsup:

I try the nature´s peace first alone, since I dont´t want to resocket the armor. Maybe this will do the trick.

Yeah I read some of the pdr-build threads and really like the idea. But atm I´m just running back and forth through hell with my barb to find some useful stuff and not enough time and ressources to try all the nice ideas the people have.

thx again

[Smackfoo]

you don't need PDR if you hot key HOWL and battlecry, unless this is for HC.

[Cubbie]

Thx for the reminder to use some skills Smackfoo. That will make it safer for sure : )
Since I hate dying, even in Softcore I still try to get some PDR gear.

Cheers

[mephiztophelez]

my 'sin rocks Nihl with, err, 36iDR and 50% DR.

the vipers are not a problem.

[Cubbie]

Good to know : )

Cheers to the other side of the world, meph

[thepandafactor]

PDR is not needed on you, just your merc usually.

[mephiztophelez]

PDR is not needed on you, just your merc usually.

refer to my Nihlathak 1.0.1 (http://forums.diabloii.net/showthread.php?t=595668) guide.

some iDR takes a LOT of the sting out of the vipers.

[BobCox]

My IK barb has no PDR/sols and does not have a problem with this ever, Vipers are easy if you don't X their path and use 3 antidotes and a TP scroll in last belt slot. Use Find item or potion works to keep the bodys down, you are not doing this right.
Mine does all 3 keyruns easy as pie just no TP so a bit slow.

Edit: I never saw the guide above before (very Nice job! Congrats - I intuit the 3 base maps, but I never caught on to the panel before) but I would not trade my sockets for sols, better choices exist for IK builds, I use PDR on my Abbot build Pal (with a good BLUE OS shield as well you can stack enough SOLS in) but here it is not really needed IMHO.

[Cubbie]

Thx for all your feedback : ) And great guide meph! This helps a lot.

As for the sockets, I keep a spare IK helmet I could sol but after all your advise I probably try to go with the ammy/nature´s only first. It´s a tradeoff for me 48mf against 14 pdr. Hmm, still have to get nature´s first and then it´s time for experience how this will work.

I´m still a bit paranoid about the vipers, cause my feral/fury druid died in no time the only time I tried to get to Nihlathak. I was warned but still surprised how fast nearly 4 k life drained to the poison.

Cheers

[MYK]

Thx for all your feedback : ) And great guide meph! This helps a lot.

As for the sockets, I keep a spare IK helmet I could sol but after all your advise I probably try to go with the ammy/nature´s only first. It´s a tradeoff for me 48mf against 14 pdr. Hmm, still have to get nature´s first and then it´s time for experience how this will work.

I´m still a bit paranoid about the vipers, cause my feral/fury druid died in no time the only time I tried to get to Nihlathak. I was warned but still surprised how fast nearly 4 k life drained to the poison.

Cheers


Keys don't factor in MF when they drop.

I like to build fairly strong characters(I like to tank stuff). So, my choice is to sol the helm.

[mephiztophelez]

I´m still a bit paranoid about the vipers, cause my feral/fury druid died in no time the only time I tried to get to Nihlathak. I was warned but still surprised how fast nearly 4 k life drained to the poison.

the vipers damage is bugged. it's NOT just poison damage, theres a component of their physical damage tacked onto it and applied EVERY FRAME.

to quote my own guide:



A percentage of their charge damage is included in the secondary cloud of poison. The AoE cloud. This means that you could avoid the initial poison from the spear but still get the physical + poison damage of the cloud should you run into it.

THE CLOUD IS NOT VISIBLE. This is why many people think they get killed by something that isn't really there. The cloud will stay about five seconds AFTER the initial spear's cloud vanishes. If you do not move in this time, the second cloud will not effect you. Getting knocked back will also not trigger the second cloud. You will get poisoned by the viper and get a nice percentage of life taken away from you but it won't be over time.

Best thing to do is stand still when they fire or run past them at high velocity. The cloud will only form a second or two after the spear is thrown, this gives more than enough time for a character to run past them. Should you need to stop....stop and don't run or walk until five seconds after all the clouds have gone.


Because of the way Viper Poison clouds are calculated, having integer DR can drastically improve your living chances. Effectively, the poison cloud is some minor poison damage with the monster's main attack tacked onto it (I think this is similar to the effect found on the Countess Firewalls, actually). Every frame, this gets applied, so the 50-100 physical damage reduced in half will quickly knock down even the most resiliant players with 50% DR.

On the build, it means carrying around some (fairly) nonstandard gear. A maxed PDR/MDR build with marginal resists can tank everything (except poison damage) with great success. Pure kickers will take great advantage from this since sufficient CB can be found from just you

hence, decent iDR will really reduce the sting of the vipers.

[KellKheraptis]

Just wanted to throw out a vouch, my IK barb with 51 iDR and RIP downright trampled Nil's whole little gang without so much as a scratch, marching right through the poison clouds and all. Now to get the run time on the other two keys down to about 4 minutes...the game create cap is 20/hour IIRC.

[Cubbie]

Hi,
thanks for all the feedback.
ATM I got about 47 pdr including two Sols in a spare Helmet, Natures 8, and the 25 ammy. Didn´t met the Vipers again by now, but will give feedback when I got time to play again.

Cheers

[Mperor]

One way of doing it, my friend - always (almost) worked for my IK barb:

Basic req: ~3k life - easy for a barb.
A merc helps.

Walk to one of the four sides of the platform on which Nihlathak stands, and wait. As the monsters surrounding him reach you - leap over everybody to attack the now exposed Nihlathak. Then, use War cry to lower his defense, before using Howl to scare away all his minions, which will be coming back to Nihlathak to attack you. Then, you can to one-on-one duel Nihlathak. I've always found Concentrate to be more than enough to take him down.

If he teleports away, use the leap attack, rinse and repeat.

Since you're just after him, the number of corpses will be minimal. Your merc may be distracting half of his army anyways, and the CE will hit him, now you.

[Smackfoo]

It's safer without a merc, the merc will kill stuff and give Nihlathak bodies to blow.

I agree with concentrate. I kill him with a level 1 + skills concentrate with no issues. He usually goes down in 3 or 4 hits, but I've never really counted so it could be more of less if I crit.

[Cubbie]

My Barb is doing quite well right now with the aforementioned equipment. The charging CB attacks doe still some damage, but he doesn´t receive any damage from the bug anymore : )
The nice thing with barbs is, many options, like leap attack, howl.... and even tank all that is his way to Nihlathak.

Cheers