Veteran HC Builds

[come back zinc]

Three things I've noticed...

(1) A lot of people often come to this forum asking about HC builds (I myself did when I first started posting).
(2) Most of the Build posts in the other forums are based on earlier versions of the game and, though basically correct, lack necessary information for solid HC play.
(3) I've noticed that a lot of people seem to park themselves in the forum when they have little or nothing to do; that's what I do while at work, anyway.

I was wondering if there were enough knowledgeable people, here, willing to put together some quick HC build guides. Some of the more frequent posters could outline their favourite builds, and of course we can always dig up Socialism's Orb guide.

Perhaps, if we can get enough interest, there might be reason for Zappa (all hail) to put together a sticky with a list of the builds.

Marth, I know you've got the HC Hammerdin thing down. Prion, you know a ton about traps (at least it seems that way). I'm sure Stinger could MacGuyver a build out of a cracked sash, a fulminating potion and a Lower Resist wand, so he can, essentially, write about anything. The guys from the KTA would also have a wealth of information which they could share.

Basically, we all have certain builds we know well, and we've all made them work in HC. At the very least it could be an opportunity to show off what you've learned and help a new player out. It would also help stem the flow of one-off questions concerning what should otherwise be basic, readily available information.

Thoughts?

[prion]

i'm not an expert but i do have a write up of my build thats mostly finished.

[ZappaFan]

I think this would be outstanding if there are people to do it. Definitely would merit a sticky.

[MasterMynd]

I really like this idea. :thumbsup:

I usually ended up reading a Guide, then spending a significant amount of time in the forums to find out what did/didn't apply in the current release and/or in HC.vs.SC. It would have been great to have up-to-date guides that were intended specifically for HC.

[come back zinc]

I can cover FC Bears, as I know them pretty much backwards and forwards. In another few weeks I can probably cover Javas as well, but I'm sure there are some people who would be much better at it than I.

I'll get started on the FC Build, and I'll try to use that sexy yellow that Socialism uses in his.

[prion]

you mean the highlight tag?

[Zelator]

I can write some stuff about a Veangeance pala... :)

[UrbanHeroics]

I would definitely say that the safest build that I have played on HC is a orb/full ES build. She can definitely take some damage. I have had my trapsin for quite some time now and haven't really run into any problems when I was playing correctly. Occasionally, when I try to run through WSK to ball, I hit some monster that sting a little bit though.

I would say that the three safest builds I have played have been an orb/ES sorc, trapsin that uses cloak of shadow very liberally, and a summoner that uses dim vision and CE very liberally also.

[STINGER]

But then we wouldnt have the fun of seeing new HC players die a bit and then the feeling of accomplishment in helping them improve! The beginning tuff time recorded in the deeds thread wouldnt be there. ;)

You know, frankly most the SC builds are fine its just minor adjustments to make them do fine in HC. Most SCers dont have any issue sacraficing a little life for some energy to make the early part of the game easier wiht more mana. They dont have issues putting high strenght gear on low life builds where if you do that stuff here you are just asking for it.

Most of your "well planned" SC builds are decent.

For instance, the Fishymancer works, but it is better suited for HC if it directed the player to add points to Bone Armor synergies and not maxing CE, or more in DV and less in CE...etc

Things like getting max resists and using charms for living stats and maybe some absorbs meaning not using the gear many SC players say to use like (2) SOJ and 5-6 Skillers and Arachnids over that nice rare resist belt with FHR!

Using BO too much vs allowing it to drop!

Actively looking for monster mods that are bad!

Cutting the fat like not investing in a Valk and going all out damage isnt a bad thing, but you need to play appropriately where having a Godly Valk and pumping the passives is a darn good way to avoid death but slows killing speed. Then you can go wiht the 1 point Valk, pump some passives and play it accordingly.

Using that Smoke armor over Wealth....

Trying to really work on getting stats from gear over just investing it and ending up with 280 str when you only need 235 and loosing all that vita that might mean alot of life.

Although I type way too much and have probably wrote the same things countless times I dont have the passion or dedication to format a proper build sticky post and if I did do that then what the hell would I do around here?

Good idea though....

Maybe I will just add my take on each build and give a Ghetto/McGyuver version of it as I find time! ;)

[JEDubz]

I have a "cheap" hammerdin (not the most uber gear but I'm level 90 and have survived ubers with my friend who was a smight paladin.) that I could write a guide up for.

[prion]

the FAQ says this:
Possible builds that the forum has suggested would make excellent starting HC characters:
- Lightning Trap Assassin
- Summoner Necromancer
- Lightning Fury Amazon
- Orb Sorceress (or possibly Meteorb - see the sorceress forum for more details on sorceress variations)
- Blessed Hammer Paladin (aka Hammerdin)
what if we just link to those builds right there?
Are there any other builds that should be added?

I think in some cases we can probably just link to an existing guide, but in others it may be better to write a new one.

[Master Zap]

Sara's abridged Version of the "Stolen" Abbot Build that was once posted on these forums and now only found at the AB as originated by SSOG


What is a abbot or Monk Pally as I call them?

This is a pally that stacks interger PDR like found on the Sol rune or thru mods like Life Everlasting and Amicea. The Beauty of interger or hard pdr vs dr% is there is no cap on the amount you can stack. This in a nutshell means you can negate nearly all physical damage in the game. Yeah, it's really that good and it's a real boon for HC mode of play. The tradeoff is slower kill speed.


Even if a person chooses not to go all out on pdr, simply adding some to your build can never hurt.

The reason it works is the majority of monsters do less then 110 damage per attack in games with small player count. There is certain combo's of monster mods like Might and Fanat, extra strong that may deal over 110. Bosses/champions uniques may also do over 110.

Things to look for , Circlets and ammy's with the Life Everlasting mod. This has a maximum Pdr of 25 and is variable. With up to 2 sockets your Looking at a hat with up to 39 PDR! on its own.

For armors you have a few more options.

Gbane (probably my fav, drawback is level 85 to use)
Arkain's Valor
Iron Pelt
"jewelers" Magic armor of Amicea , varible max pdr of 15

**Gris set full of sols is a very viable build**

Tgods belt is the best option for the str and lite sorb

If you cant shop a Jewelers of amicae , then Any Jewelers with a useful secondary mod is doable. My personal armor in use is a Jewelers Plate of the Whale with 93 life on it and 28pdr. Life and Fhr would be what I'd consider then next Ideal 2nd mod. Your looking at 28pdr here.

Pally shields 28 pdr 45 res , Sign me up!

if your looking over the items suggested your going to say, Sara you kook, where does the res come from , you'll get owned by the 1st pack of Gloams you cross.

Insert my varient.

Skills

20 prayer
20 charge
20 might
10+vigor
5+ in vengence , enough in conviction with +gear to hit -100 res
1 in each of the res auras
1 in salvation

I use Insight elder staff , it has decent damage 200-300+ on wep and a med aura that will regen life due to the maxed prayer aura. Its also great Ar , offers critical and just plain looks neat. Salvation is the aura you will have in use most of the time in hell mode. Expect about 5-6K damage on charge, 3K ish on vegence. You will have a decent chance to do double damage with a critical roll.

Merc options

There is certain mods in the game that reduce monster damage so that they can remain under your pdr threshold limit.
They are
Weaken
Decrep
Battle Cry

I'd reccomend to use a Reapers Toll Merc for the decrep. When monsters do half their damage, your pdr is effectively doubled. Use Gface helm and Treachory armor. He will kill faster then you and greatly speeds up boss killing.

Rings: 1 ravenfrost (have to get cbf somewhere) , 1 Natures peace (10 more pdr yay!) If using Gbane armor, use another Natures peace or a Dwarfstar for more life, sorb and mdr.

Things of Note:

You dont need block. If the monster doesnt hurt then why bother investing in block?



Use the Anya red portal in hell to re-roll armors quickly

Salvation aura coves the lost res

Pdr is only available on gear. This is your 1st priority.
Res, fhr and other mods can come from charms.


My pally has about 100 pdr with the staff and about 125 pdr with the shield up. I can stand in the pack of almost any monster in the game and not take damage. When damage is taken, its in very small amounts and is quickly healed with meditation.

Poison , Open wounds and Magic damage still hurts

This pally is nearly unkillable Pvm.



Hope this sheds some light on a neglected but highly effective mod when stacked. Sorry if this is a little sloppy.

[Tai.]

So would you be looking for in depth guides on the best starting builds, or just to have a guide compendium (wide-reaching) that tackles builds as they work for HC?

[AgentMarth]

First, I typed more than I though I would, so unless you got nothing better to do, I don't expect it to really be read. Or you can just skip to the bottom.

Marth, I know you've got the HC Hammerdin thing down.

Its not so much having the Hammerdin thing down, as I put all my best gear on him. With Enigma, which isn't something a new HC player can achieve easily, I was able to go base str, and only 100 dex. The rest went into vita, therefore resulting in high life. He also has ALL my 20 life sc's, and a few 18 and 19's until I find some more 20's. Thanks to that, he currently has 2223 base life. Torch, Anni, Wizzy with FR jewel, 44 ST Spirit, and res on rings and ammy's he is well enough stacked to not even notice LR when cast on him.

But, trailing off my point, the reason he does so well is because I put alot of effort into him. Something you wouldn't be able to do fresh into HC.

The only piece of advice I can think to give is don't be afraid to sacrifice damage if it means more survivability. I.e, go Wizzy instead of Hoto to stack res. Tgods is worth losing 1 skill from Arach as well. Just still try and maintain 125 FCR.



Anyways, STINGER seemed to cover it quite well, mainly with the "You know, frankly most the SC builds are fine its just minor adjustments to make them do fine in HC.", while it is a nice idea, its just something that, to me, is more about play style than differences in the build. In HC you have to mind dangerous things like FELE, in SC its "oops *presses ESC*"

Another factor is wealth. When you have enough of it, you can pretty much follow whatever you want to seeing as how with better items, you are stronger in many ways. It is hard to tell someone how to build if they don't have much gear though. Even that Smoke (*loves*) can be hard to acquire if a Lum doesn't come your way. My Java's before my current use to all have a one point Valk for an extra tank just in case. My current, slaughters everything so fast that there isn't a need for a Valk and I went more into damage. Looking back, I may not have even needed block with 43%DR, 1.7k life and 50% plus dodges. But yet again, thats because of the time put into making her so strong. A new Java is just is praying for Titans.



Really, what I tend to do, is build a char, however I want pretty much, be it wasting stats, skills, or whatever, then once I find my "ideal" gear for the char, have MYK PK them while there are naked and rebuild. Some choose to keep there first char of the season, which is completely fine, but I tend to remake and re-level a character more to my taste of perfection.

Hell, if you want a guide to follow, try the PvP guides IMO. They try and prefect your character to the teeth. The only thing is the gear would not be easy, more like far from it.


To sum up, I think I would prefer helping people in individual threads, because its more, well, personal I guess you could say. We can get an idea of that persons wealth, current gear, playstyle and be better off helping them on a one by one basis. There are guides in the SC forums, and people still ask questions because they still come up. In the end, only minor changes need to be made to most builds, and a few other things to consider like don't get ahead of your self, and don't bite of more than you can chew. TBH, I think its better to have people die a few times early on in HC, so they learn from it.

[NightShade]

If you want a real "veteran" build, I would suggest a pure str zerker with tons of physical damage reduce (via sol/Amicea/etc) where monsters may only be hitting you for 30-40 per swing.

Basically the rank and file don't scratch you and your prayer merc....but god help you if there are fire archers.

[Tor Land]

Wouldn't the best HC advise be to play with a friend? :)