Some hammerdin questions.

[gmaers]

So after alot of thinking im gonna surrender a make me a hammerdin :p call it lamerdin or whatever you want to its the only class/specc ive seen who can do anything in this game be it boosting/mfing/keyrunning or ubers he makes it all.

Since im gonna trade away all my gear on all of my chars and delete them and try to make an uber hdin im gonna start with the spirit shield since i wanna go 125 fcr (or is it 135? Im relatively sure its 125 but it cant hurt to ask). Wich are the elite kind of pala shields that make them worth trying to roll a decent spirit in? I have an akaran rondache with 41 all resses but I am wondering if that really is an elite shield since its block % (40) seems low but then Im not really good at block % on shields.

So my intended gear for this hdin is:

Helm: shako um`ed /2 skill 20 fcr circlet
Neck: maras
Chest: Enigma
Weapon: wizzy /Hoto
Shield: Spirit monarch /spirit palashield
Belt: arachnid
Gloves: Magefist
Boots: Wartraveller
Ring 1: Soj
Ring 2: 10 Fcr ring /soj

Switch: none /cta

The items after / is items i dont have/plan to use, i figured if its 125% you need to reach and get an circlet with 20 fcr i can skip the fcr rings all together and go for 2 sojs but that wont happen for a while since i supspect those circlets dont go for pgems exactly.

Im not gonna list merc gear since I find them annoying with the dying and such but if i need one ive got lawbringer for chaos, that one that regens mana and obedience for boss killing.

Seeing as ive got most of the gear and alot of old gear that will go for pul and up i figure i can collect a healthy ammount of runes to spend on the palla to make him good, hopefully anyways.

Im doing this because I dont really enjoy having 5 chars for 5 different tasks and i really dont have time to gear and play that many either so im giving it all to make one really good char and as mentioned i feel that the hdin is best allaround for multiple tasks without filling you inventory to the max with skillers (yes I had a windy :p).

Well if any one have any tips/pointers/whatever feel free to post them =)

[Anti-Life]

well the gear looks good.

Try to get a high res all sacred tage for your spirit but really any with high res all. Don't worry too much about the block % on the shield as holy shield adds about 30-35% on top of that anyways when at a decent level (which you will be at with the +skills you have currently).

For the merc I would suggest an act 1 cold rogue with an ice bow. This is great for chaos and baal runs because Iron Maiden will not effect them at all. You also get the holy freeze aura that will effect everyone in the radius, unlike lawbringer IIRC (it only effects undead with sant aura or am I missing something obvious?)

For your circlet what you realy want is a 2/20/2 circlet. in the opem sockets max your res in hell (if needed) or ber it for more PDR. ZTrust me in some of the places the boss packs hit real hard, even with a CTA/Spirit switch to BO yourself you still take a pounding.

War Tavs are nice boots and handy, but I personally prefer sandstorm treks for the stats they give. Thats just me personally however. War travs mf is very handy though. Decide on what is best for you.

Regarding the spirit monarch, I would strongly suggest you don't bother. The strength req for it with your gear means less life which is bed. More stats in vit is what you need.

Hope that helped a bit

[BAMFSpecialOps]

For spirit, always go with a pally only shield, lower str, great staff mods(40+ base res anyone?) Shako+wizzy is a great combo, and one I would suggest its cheaper and works wonders in pvm. With wizzy you will not need a 2/20/2 circ to pump your res up with, plus extra skills from hoto really arn't in dire need on a hdin. Travs for mf are fine, Treks offer stats, for chaos even Hotspurs work out great.

[gmaers]

@BAMFSpecialOps Yes well this topic is about me creating a paladin hence the monarch instead of a paladin shield wich wouldnt do much for my sorc/druid :p.

Well then i know sacred targe, but if the block% doesnt matter that much couldnt I just roll with my akaran rondache?

[Uncle_Mike]

Is this for PvM?

I prefer wizzy to hoto in PvM iirc since the additional mana and 10 fcr help a lot and 10-11k dmg is still plenty.

I would use waterwalks for boots unless it's an mf char - 15 dex and huge life and max fire res - all three are lovely mods and hammerdins don't really need strenght on boots unless you want to use CoA without the -req jewel for helm slot which would IMO make no sense for PvM.

Sacred targe is the preferable shield choice for a hammerdin. It doesn't have to have 45% base all res, less is fine too. If you're worried about resistances use wizzy socketed with a 15 res all jewel and trangs for more cold res instead of magefists. You don't need mana regen that much with redemption and mana pots. Plus sacred targes are sought after so it's worth investing a bit in your shield since it has better resale value. IIRC sacred rondache is a close second.

and the breakpoint is 125 fcr :)

[gmaers]

Oh yea forgot to mention this is for pvm. Well if I can roll with wizzy thats great saves me some runes then for other gear :).

I was thinking yesterday that if I where to get a hold of a 20 fcr circlet and 10 fcr amu I could go with HoZ instead for some added damage plus I have like 2 of em stashed away somewhere.
setup then would be:
wizzy 50 fcr
helm 20 fcr
amu 10 fcr
belt 20 fcr
gloves 20 fcr
one 10 ias ring

I know that getting the circlet and amu would probably be alot more expensive then the shield but is this any setup people use? If it is it atleast gives me something to try to get :).

[BAMFSpecialOps]

I have seen people use it on Nonladder where a nice spirit shield is crazy expensive and the circ/ammy arn't really anything special...but with a hammerdin you don't need great gear.

[gmaers]

Yea probably not but since im making this my only char i might aswell get something to aim for gearwise :)

[BAMFSpecialOps]

Well I would suggest you go simple first, then while your mfing/running/etc and you come across a great rare or unique to trade etc then you upgrade. Simple yet many people tend to try to get the perfect gear before even worrying about a character.