newbie questions

[drouillard]

Hello folks,

I have been playing DII for years but never put much effort into it. I started going back to it about a year ago and finished normal for the first time..... and promply got squashed not knowing the differance in Nightmare. Repeatedly:tombstone:

After finding this forum I'm doing my builds better. Right now I'm running a Frost Zealot at level 66 on chap 4 in Nightmare.

Looking to branch out a bit I was reading up on the Auradin but the article in the beginners section was mentioning all sort of rune words not listed on MA website. Quite a few of the various builds mentioned different rune words. Are these ladder only? I play on my laptop without going on line except for updates.

Any recommondations for an Auradin? I have to say my playing still is mustly a point and click style. I haven't quite mastered the Sorc or Sing Barb switching between skills a hundred times a second.

Thxs,
Jim

[Mursilis]

The Auradin (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=365416&page=1&pp=10) requires some very specific, high end gear to work. If you're just starting out this wouldn't be the build for you seeing as you won't have the wealth to use him properly.

That said the runewords mentioned are listed on the Arreat Summit (http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/runewords-110.shtml) page for runewords. Alot of them are Ladder only runewords so to play them offline in SP mode you'd need to install and use RWM (http://www.twilightdesert.com/d2/mods.html) (RuneWord Mod), which is supported by the SP community here.

[drouillard]

Thx.

The runes & gems I have. The gear.... well now that I can get to decent levels I'm starting to see some of it. I've collected 100's (maybe more) of runes and gems trying to figure out where I was going wrong.

Maybe Auradin isn't the best term. While playing the Frost Zealot I put on Beast and Bramble and it really started mowing them down. I've been thinking of using rune word based auras with an Avenger, more of a Glow in the Dark Avenger vs. an Auradin.

Idea was:

Max'd Convection w/Vengence and max'd Resists
Beast, Delirium, Exile and Chains of Honor (Bramble if I can find enough resists)

On the Merc (Nightmare might):

Doom and Bramble (if I can't find enough resists)

Jim

[Mursilis]

You've been playing for only a few weeks and already found a Ber? You are far luckier than I.

An Avenger is possible even without all those high end runewords. Case in point I just patted one a little while back that uses zero runewords and mostly exceptional gear. However I have some suggestions for the gear you mentioned:

Shield
Exile isn't the best shield for a paladin, HoZ is far more effective with more +skills, AR boost and lots of resistances. Barring that a spirit runeword in a all resist paladin shield would be a cheaper and more useful alternative. If you really want the life tap, then a pair of Dracul's Grasp gloves work well.

Helm
I'm not a fan of Delirium, personal preference. This build needs some mana leech to offset the high price of Vengeance. To that end Vampire Gaze would be helpful (8% ML). Along with that it provides damage reduction, life leech and another source of cold damage. No resistances but your Chains of Honor and other gear should easily make up for that. However if you really are looking for auras then the Dream helm would be up your alley. It's Holy Shock aura would synergies with the hard points you put into Resist Lightning (couple that with a Dream shield for absurd damage)

Armor
Why Bramble? Thorns isn't very useful in Hell difficulty. Chains of Honor is a much better piece of equipment with high resistances and +2 skills. Couple with that some life leech and damage reduction and I don't have a better alternative.

[drouillard]

I have been playing for a long while, just not very successfully. Even with the forums help I haven't been through Hell yet. DDII is the only real time game I can play without motion sickness.

I didn't find the BER rune. I was having so much trouble I thought it was my equipment so I ran the Countess a few thousand times and cubed all the runes. At players 8 she always drops one. I remember a couple time I got three. It wasn't until I found your guys help on build that I relized it was how I was picking skills & placing stats.

It was just an idea to see how many auras I could put together and still make it work out for PvM.

Thx,
Jim

[Gorny]

I have been playing for a long while, just not very successfully. Even with the forums help I haven't been through Hell yet. DDII is the only real time game I can play without motion sickness.

I didn't find the BER rune. I was having so much trouble I thought it was my equipment so I ran the Countess a few thousand times and cubed all the runes. At players 8 she always drops one. I remember a couple time I got three. It wasn't until I found your guys help on build that I relized it was how I was picking skills & placing stats.

It was just an idea to see how many auras I could put together and still make it work out for PvM.

Thx,
Jim


Ber rune is super insanely hard to find.

Your chances of hooking up with the playmate of the year are better.