surviving hell as a hammerdin

[Distt]

I'm hoping i could get some advice here, as i have recently come back to d2 and created a hammerdin after my old account got wiped. My paladin is 85, has maxed out vigor, concentration and blessed aim, and is not far from maxing out hammers. He currently has wizardspike, lidless wall, magefist and que-hegans wisdom, the rest of the items are just average items that are not realy paladin specific or that great.

The problem is, on hell (and even some nightmare places) i get owned very quickly, my resists are not great on hell but they are maxed on nightmare, and the problem i have is in defense i think. My defense is around 2500 with holy shield, and my chance to block is something like 40%. I know thats low chance to block but i didn't want to put too many more points into dex when i will be increasing holy shield after hammers.

I do have an act2 nm defensive merc, wearing shaftstop, but without a decent helm and weapon he too just dies. I dont have any HRs to get him or myself high def gear heal HoZ or things like that, all i have access to is a mule full of pgems, but i dont see many people trading the good items for pgems so i am a bit out of luck. And being so easily killed on hell i cant do countess runs myself so thats out of the question.

What i am asking for is any tips on how i can survive hell, what can i do to improve my odds?

[NagisaFurukawa]

I am assuming you are playing non-ladder. If you aren't, try farming NM Countess for a few runes to make 'Spirit' and 'Insight'.

Lidless is one of your problems. 'Rhyme' in any old paladin shield with resistances is a significantly better option. What helm do you use? 'Lore' is a very good, cheap option there.

Another thing you could try is switching to an Act 2 NORMAL defensive mercenary for Defiance. Holy Freeze can be a little overrated at times, and the extra defense will help keep both you and your mercenary alive a little better. What kind of gear is he using? For his weapon, there are lots of cheap uniques, but if you can't get those, try 'Honor' in an exception or elite (possibly ethereal) polearm. For you helm, Tal Rasha's Horadric Crest (Death Mask) should be very easy to get, and provides very helpful leech, resistances, and life.

Last, are you playing in games with more than just a few players? Even something as cheesy as a Hammerdin can have its struggles without sufficient gear in games with many players.

[Distt]

I'm playing ladder, and i guess i will have to farm NM countess as it seems to be my only option. The problem with runewords is that even the easier to make ones i am having trouble finding decent items to put them in. I have been doing baal runs on hell for some EXP, hoping to find both a shield for myself and a polearm for my merc with the correct ammount of sockets, but so far i have had no luck.

As for number of players, i tried to do the first quest in act5 hell, killing the overseer, and even in my own game with no other players i got killed so easily, so i gave up trying to do any solo stuff on hell for the moment.

I'll get a defiance merc and try and get a few of the items you mentioned, hopefully having defiance running will give me the edge i need to survive better.

[bowndancer]

Just take the first pally shield you find with 40+ resists and make spirit runeword, its huge item for a hammer pally, gives lots of resists plus the other stats from spirit. A good place I find white/grey items is the place behind pindleskin, thats where I farm for socketable stuff.

[SmittySixTen]

I'm actually playing through the game as a hdin for a guide I wrote. I'm currently level 81 and at the Worldstone Keep WP in Hell difficulty. I can't quite make it to Baal yet (if I really pushed I probably could, but it's not worth the effort at this point). However, I can easily go anywhere else in the game.

My advice:
Make a Spirit Shield in a high base res (35+) Paladin shield. With the Wizzardspike you have, you'll hit the 75% FCR breakpoint no matter what the roll is for the Spirit, and you'll get some nice res on top of that.

I would also suggest swapping out the Que-Hegan's for a Smoke in a decent defense armor. You'll gain 50 res from it, and you really don't need the skills, FHR, or FCR from Que-Hegan's.

Get yourself a Dwarf Star, the fire absorb will help a lot, and they are fairly inexpensive.

A Lore helm will help you as well, until you can get a Shako. I made one in Nightmare and continued to use it until yesterday, when I was finally able to trade in some pgems and a couple of Tkeys for a Shako.

I would swap out your merc for a Prayer merc. Act 2, Normal or Hell difficulty Combat. I hardly ever have to use a potion, and you really don't need defense.

Next, I would start investing in dexterity (I plan to have anywhere from 147-167 base dexterity at level 95--I'll want 187 total with a 50% base blocking shield, so my eventual Torch and Anni will make up the difference). This will give me max block at level 95, with some wiggle room on the off chance I go over level 95. This is more important than defense, because at this point, it doesn't help that much. I have about 1/2 your defense, for the record.

Put ANY Insight on your merc you can find. Heck, I just upgraded mine to a Grim Scythe, if you are on East Ladder you can have my old Poleaxe Insight. Also, the Tal's Mask was a very good suggestion for a helm by NagisaFurukawa. You basically are going for anything with life leech. My guy is currently using a Duriel's Shell, but if your merc has max res in Hell, then the Shaftstop he's currently using is a good choice.

The Mages are fine, but they aren't needed if you have a Wizzy+Spirit shield. I would suggest getting something with additional res (you can never have too much when you're working without the best gear).

As for actually surviving in hell, use Redemption liberally. If you haven't invested in it yet, you really need to. It's by far the most useful defensive skill to you, and every PvM Paladin should have it.

Don't stand in one spot and spam hammers unless the monsters have no choice but to walk into them, and you are not having ranged monsters firing at you. If you're under fire, or monsters aren't going directly through your hammers (i.e. you are on the south, and they are coming in from the north), you should move, cast hammer 2-3 times, then move again, and keep doing it until everything is dead.

That's all I can think of for now. If you want to see a more in-depths description of my gear (or progress), my guide is located here. (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=717499) The part where I log my progress through the game is at the bottom. My goal is to complete Hell difficulty by Wednesday, so that it will only have taken me a month of casual play to do so. We'll see, though, because the Worldstone Keep has my number so far.

[Distt]

Well i managed to get a 4 socket scythe, and i put insight into that untill i can find something better for it. I also found a 2 socket superior corronet, but am unsure if i should make 'lore' because i already have a rockstopper, which has better resits and damage reduction, but lore has +1 skills and 2mana after each kill (which i shouldnt need with insight).

I'm still trying to find a 4 socket shield but so far i havn't had much luck.

[jeremyrx]

You don't need a 4 socket shield, any and I repeat ANY pally shield will get 4 sockets from Larzuk so you just need to find a pally shield with 30+ resists to get you started.

[Distt]

I thought larzuk only gave 1 socket?

[jeremyrx]

Larzuk will give one socket to unique and rare items, 1 or 2 sockets to blue items, and max sockets to normal items. All normal pally shields get 4 max sockets, therefor any pally shield will be a good base for spirit. :)

[SmittySixTen]

Rockstopper is actually probably a better option, unless you already have max res. If you do, then a Lore would probably be preferable.

[HeyItsBecky]

If you want to find a four socketed weapon or shield, I would do cow runs. They drop a lot. I currently have a spirit shield and wep on my pally. Just don't stop trying. You'll get it :)

[ChickenMcTest]

Also since your Merc is using insight you might try switching him out for a Prayer merc. The Prayer aura from the Merc will gain a synergy from the Meditation on Insight. Giving both of you great mana and health regen rates.

[Savagepenguin]

From personal experience, surviving hell (at least for me) is all about maxing out block and resistances. I honestly wouldn't worry as much about your defence rating until you've gotten those other 2 stats sorted. A strong vipermagi will go a long way to fixing this, as well as holding onto ANY (yes, ANY) half decent charms you find that have resistances on.

[asdfghjk]

Also since your Merc is using insight you might try switching him out for a Prayer merc. The Prayer aura from the Merc will gain a synergy from the Meditation on Insight. Giving both of you great mana and health regen rates.

Negative. Get a holy freeze. no need for prayer as redemption should be your healing aura.

Seriously.. hammerdins are EASSSY to play. I'd say if you max resistances you should be fine. get a good act 2 nm defensive merc with life leach or an act 5 barb to tank hits ..stay behind them and create fields of hammers and you should be fine.

Basic things you'll need are resistances, life and damage. max block with the help of holy shield would be nice, it's your call to get it or not, i always do because holy shield makes MB easy to obtain.

Good luck.

[Shanksie1337]

Holy Sheild on a hdin is a no brainer imho. Went for a defiance merc on my hdin, not that the choice is that important :).

[AnimeCraze]

I would actually suggest keeping the magefist, and get a vipermagi for 125 FCR. It's fun to play with more FCR, and it gives more damage.

[Imortaldead]

I want to know how you do the magggot liar with your hammerdin

ps with out tel

[AnimeCraze]

1) Get a friend.
2) Smite/charge.
3) merc and lots of TP to reposition him.
4) Point blank hammers. It works in 3 directions IIRC.
5) Get a sorc in there and clean it out, then rejoin game with the hammerdin.
6) Tele, you don't need enigma to do this. Naj's staff or charged amulet can work as well.

Edit: @Imortaldead, no need to PM me instead of asking the question publicly. If you are using smite, I am assuming you have a grief or something that actually adds smite damage. It's not a loss since I use grief for ubering anyways.