Which build for key runs?

[UrbanHeroics]

A couple of nights ago, I was able to get in on a uber lvl game and simply fell in love with it for HC. I have already beaten all three difficulties, so now I am going to start building some wealth if I can. I am going to be MFing for myself and key running for a couple of the guys who put on the uber lvl.

I was wondering what kind of build would be a good idea for this. I was wanting to do a full orb/ES sorc build, but then I wouldn't be able to run Tkeys cause countess is always cold immune. I'm still thinking about it and just running summoner and maybe Nihl every now and then. I am kind of leaning toward a sorc due to the immediate use of tele. I don't have an enigma yet, and I imagine it will be a little bit before I do.

Any input???

[Tai.]

Lightning sorc is ideal if you want to do all 3 with the same char.

Best results are a conc barb for Nihl and then trading the keys u get for others - as they are the fastest runs and worth the most.

Search function should come up with many threads, personally I use IK set which is fairly cheap and works just fine.

The key for Nihl is to have 40 straight Damage Reduced, not %reduction. Repeat - sol runes good - Stormshield not.

Cheers
-Tai

[UrbanHeroics]

The key for Nihl is to have 40 straight Damage Reduced

Why is 40 the magic number? For the bugged vipers or for the CE of Nihl? I know the bug with the poison cloud of the vipers, is the 40 damage reduce to negate that?

[Tai.]

bugged vipers yes

[Nest]

Yes it is.

Also, I think berserk is superior to concentrate because you get a decent level howl, which makes the couple seconds to kill nihlathak very safe. The higher damage helps too.

[Azwype]

I use my wind druid. He farms both the countess and summoner then trades for d keys. This is for key hunting only. I use another char for Ubers.

[Deci]

Lightning sorc does the job very well like Tai. said.

[MYK]

Yes it is.

Also, I think berserk is superior to concentrate because you get a decent level howl, which makes the couple seconds to kill nihlathak very safe. The higher damage helps too.

I've run Nihlathak with three barb builds so far.

Concentrate, Bo, Howl, Master (around 40-50 DR, 35%DR, one hander, level 25 Howl)
IK Whirlwind, Shout, Bo, Mastery ( 45 DR, 20%DR, level 10 howl)
Berserker Berserk, Bo, Howl, Battlecry (110 DR, 2 handed, level 25 howl)

It was way easier to run them with my concentrate barb. I could be almost asleep and he would finish the run. I could probably pass out and he might even do the runs for me.
I don't really notice a damage difference overall. They all took down Nihlathak at roughly the same speeds
40 DR takes the poison clouds down to a sting. At 50 the clouds are just about negated. 60 and you don't feel them.
DR% is great against the charging sword draggers, and also against CE blasts for nihlathak(Yeah, even with Howl those little blow-up guys will find a way to explode next to you and make your day suck)

Anyways. Those are just some quick notes and stuff. Good luck on your key runs. :smiley:

[UrbanHeroics]

So here is my plan now that my cold sorc was killed while I let my idiot friend borrow her for one night: Fire sorc with ES. Hear me out, this is what I had in mind: Max telekenisis, firebolt, fireball, and fire mastery. One into first cold armor, static, and warmth. 5-10 into ES and dump the rest of my points into meteor.

I generally get to around 87-88 in one uber lvl, so I can get these achieved skills very quickly. With these I will have around 3k fireball damage completely naked and around 1k meteor impact damage with around 50-60% ES absorb. I am going to use this char to run only countess for the lovely runes she drops and the occasional key of terror which will pay for my uber lvling that I have done.

So, what do you guys think? I think that she will be pretty survivable, but I thought that about my last one until my dumb friend deeded her. I can't really remember how many monsters around countess are fire immune on average, can someone shed some light on the subject for me?

[hypper]

I use my wind druid. He farms both the countess and summoner then trades for d keys. This is for key hunting only. I use another char for Ubers.

Same here. But I kill nihl too...sometimes I die there because of the vipers.

[UrbanHeroics]

Sometimes I die there because of the vipers.

Being killed is not an option for me! I will survive! :cool:

That's mainly why I'm staying away from Nihl. I may stack up on some PDR and go down there every now and then, but this char will mainly be for countess.

[nunnjia]

well i just made a pure pdr barb in softcore and he has not died yet, even with a fanat nihl room with groups of undead chargers and vipers shooting clouds at me. Infact i've only had to use a pot once in the whole time i have played him and in over 100 nihl runs. He uses concentration and has around 110 pdr, maxed resists with 85 fire and 85 light. Only problem is ar and damage, but if you are planning to run in 1-3 player games, it wont matter. He deals about 3-5k dmg and about 3.5k ar amounting to 60-70% chance of hitting nihl. This barb was only for fun though, but he can run any area in the game. 1 point zerk lets me do this. Only thing i'm still scared of is IM, but even then i only lose about 1/3 life from each attack with the IM curse because of my low dmg. PM me for details. Uhm...he uses a ebotdz for weapon but other substitutes are definitely possible, though not as damaging. A quick PDR conc build with around 60 pdr would be like this

Big dmg one hander
gladiators bane w/ sol or 4sol armor
gerkes shield with pdiamond or sol depending on resists
arreats with sol
ammy with pdr/resists hopefully
tgods will do, dungos if you want some %dr also
laying of hands is nice, i personally use dracs for extra life leech
natures peace/ravenfrost (natures peace can give up to 11dr)
Infernostrides/hotspurs gives you that much needed fire resist

[STINGER]

The big damage 1hander is optional, any reasonable weapon gets it done if you do it right. Sure faster killing is nice but not a must.

[come back zinc]

Someone was asking which monsters were FI in the Tower:

Goat Men & Carvers.

The Carvers aren't anything to worry about unless they surround you. The goat men can really do a number on a wandering sorceress (especially if you get the bad version of the Countess' room).

Just try to hit the 105 FCR breakpoint, or even the one prior, and you should be alright to tele.

[Sasuke42]

I use my trapper but she's geared out like crazy. I farm t/h keys and trade for d keys.