New melee character

[wickedswami]

After running my blizzsorc through nightmare, i got kinda tired of her so i'm gonna make a new character. My blizzsorc gave me some nice items from NM mephisto and i just wondered if they would be good enough for nm/early hell

i was thinking of going:
armor=rockfleece
helm=rockstopper
weapon= aldur's rythm/moonfall (probably both on a barb). I also have fleshrender, dno which is better
shield= bverrit keep/swordback hold
boots= goblin toe, then gore rider
gloves = sander's taboo(don't really have anything better)
belt=bladebuckle
rings=cathan's for extra lifesteal, 1 ohter (dno yet)
ammy= mahim oak

how far would i get with this? (and what should need upgrading?)

[Schmaleop]

I'd imagine you'll have a tough time in Hell with that gear.

The number one thing you need on most melee characters is a good weapon, so your ideally looking at elite class weapons.

Once you've got a weapon sorted your going to need leech, some form of CB, good resists and DR to really make your run a lot smother. Ofcourse there are ways around this but aiming for all of these is a solid plan.

You need to plan melee characters a lot more as they require a huge balance between survivabilty and kill speed imo.

If you found a Butchers Pupil or 2 then these are great initial weapons, as any twinker will tell you.

Also if you plan to run through on low players settings you can get away with a few weaker items in some gear slots. High settings and your looking at having to invest in the really drool worthy gear.

[wickedswami]

got one of those (butcher's pupil)
also found dury's shell and string of ears today
anything i should look for specifically?

[stephan]

Butcher's/Fleshrender is a nice combo for a Double Swing or Frenzy barb in NM. I gather from your first post reaching the end of NM is your main objective and with that you certainly can.

Later on when your sorc reaches Hell Meph you can put any of the elite axes or maces on him to get him through Hell.

[Schmaleop]

got one of those (butcher's pupil)
also found dury's shell and string of ears today
anything i should look for specifically?

Pretty much the best offensive helm is Guillames Face (Set Winged Helm).
It has all the things you want on a physical melee char and in good numbers; DS, CB, FHR and a nice boost to Str should not be knocked either.

Gore Riders (Unique War Boots) are a solid pair of boots too, again offering nice offensive mods.

Both are exceptional lvl items so should be well within your reach.

[h0nkeythecracker]

Gore Riders (Unique War Boots) are a solid pair of boots too, again offering nice offensive mods.

He has those (OP).

If you got an Um from your Nightmare Hellforge, then you can make a Crescent Moon Runeword in an Axe/Sword. This will be great for a Frenzy/Double Swing Barbarian, Zeal Paladin, or Fury Druid.

[wickedswami]

I also have the vile husk and deadstriker, but i don't really know if they're any better then my other stuff.

no UM though, so no crescent moon
any recommendations on a shield? the 2 i mentioned are actually the only good ones i have though.

oh and i found dury's shell yesterday, so that's probably better :)

[h0nkeythecracker]

I also have the vile husk and deadstriker, but i don't really know if they're any better then my other stuff.

no UM though, so no crescent moon
any recommendations on a shield? the 2 i mentioned are actually the only good ones i have though.

oh and i found dury's shell yesterday, so that's probably better :)

Do you mean Headstriker? If so, use that. It is very good. The Deadly Strike and Maximum Damage make it quite efficient.

As for a shield, you could use the Swordback Hold for the Open Wounds, plus it has some decent blocking.

[Xdeathfire]

Well, I would highly highly recommend you to get your blizz sorc to Hell and run Meph a few times.

The current gear you got now, while it can get you through hell, will give you alot of frustration due to your low killing speed. Melee characters that aren't HS or HF zealots have an especially hard time in Hell unless you have some really awesome gear ready to put on them.

As for the gear you have atm, only gore riders are really hell viable. If you can manage to get an Um crescent moon would be great.

[wickedswami]

my blizzsorc is kinda stuck atm, she can do NM act5 on P8 rather fast (needs some potions now and then) but other then that she's doin fine. Hell act 1 she dies before i can reach the den of evil.. (i think not having any dext is the biggest problem, seems like goin all vit isn't all that good)
she's lvl 69 atm, more leveling required?

[Xdeathfire]

I would definately do some more leveling at NM pindle or something. Try Hell again when you're in your 70s or have a nice gear upgrade. Actually, all vit is the way to go and Hell shouldn't be too hard. Put it at /players 1 if you need to. You use blizzard to kill everything and teleport past everything that is CI. Don't be afraid of abusing teleport. I, actually, rarely even walk/run with my sorc once I get an insight on my merc

[Hoop76]

Should be really easy to level to around 75 or so running nm baal.

[AeroGear]

I prefer max block over max vit. I also prefer running areas over bosses, the money is great for gambles, and gems, runes and charms are also more abundant. Its probably not the optimal time/xp/reward route though but it doesnt seem as boring to me!

[NeoKnuckles]

If you're aiming to advance your sorc for mf purposes, level up and aim for some fcr gear. With a fast teleport, you can turbo through most of the game pretty fast. Having about 80 fcr should get you a fast enough teleport to skip most of the game (I believe 78 is the fcr breakpoint)

[TheReadMenace]

Although it's crazy slow compared to most other builds, a Concentrate Barb with a few points in War Cry and Bersersk can make it really far with less than optimal gear. The stun effect is a lifesaver and keeps your barb out of harm's way 90% of the time.

[wickedswami]

i already started him in normal and gave him some double-swing points (for frenzy). But i could still remake since he's only lvl18 or sth.

Anyway on the sorc.. FCR isn't really gonna help i think since my mana depletes rather fast already. And since i'm playing 1.10 without RWM (or what's it called) i don't think i can get insight. I might need some+mana /+mana regen stuff...(still waiting for vipermagi..)

[Dseed]

+ mana > + mana regen . atleast from my personal experience with all 3 of my sorc

without insight. as do all of my MF sorc nowadays. you are much better off with + mana and 7-8 in warmth after +skill. for the obvious reason that +mana can be replenished rather fast with a mana pot.

i rarely run out of mana running hell AT/meph

[wickedswami]

i have 231 base mana atm, and a lack of +skills sets my warmth on 3 (2+1)
I just have enough mana to kill nm meph (with 3-4 tp's to get ot him) with MF gear on

[wickedswami]

time for a double post, tought it might be worth mentioning i found a 179%ED corpsemourn a kelpie snare(161%) and a 196% hysoldal evo in 1 baal run. (also an ith rune and some isenhart stuff, but that's probably not worth mentioning)