The Dentist

[rickcarson]

What think about this place some skillpoints in terror i mean in real life the dentist scares the **** out most of the people nobody likes it to go to the dentist I think it would truly look funny to see the monsters run away for the dentist

Heh.

My problem with Terror is the pathetically small radius.

[ronj]

Boneshades are usually rated according to the bone spear/bone spirit level. So you can get one for very cheap, like a 1/2/2/4/5.

[jgreg7]

Curse you, rc! [pun intended]

I had toyed with the idea of playing this build a while back, but never did since I thought it wouldn't be viable. Now I guess I'll have to start one...

Seriously, nice discussion. Sounds like fun!

[kanuks]

white in a +3 teeth wand gives +6 to teeth and dol and io are easier to find then boneshade...

phelix

Yes, but it's easier to find or trade for a +5 teeth boneshade than to find or trade for a +3 teeth white wand...

[rickcarson]

Curse you, rc! [pun intended]

I had toyed with the idea of playing this build a while back, but never did since I thought it wouldn't be viable. Now I guess I'll have to start one...

Seriously, nice discussion. Sounds like fun!

Hmm... yes, well 'viable' means different things to different people.

I'd be interested to hear from a PvP expert whether Teeth is better for duelling than Bone Spear. Teeth has the virtue that accuracy isn't quite as important

Marrowalks is absolutely huge - pushes the synergies from 60 to 93. But it should be fairly easy to level up to get them. Also with *any* of the Bone spells (but especially Teeth) it is very mana intensive... you can prise the Insight out of my cold (un)dead hands...

I'd always preferred Bone Prison to Bone Wall, so this was a good build for me to learn how to use that spell, as Wall and Teeth have quirks which compliment each other nicely.

[jgreg7]

Hmm... yes, well 'viable' means different things to different people.

I'd be interested to hear from a PvP expert whether Teeth is better for duelling than Bone Spear. Teeth has the virtue that accuracy isn't quite as important

Marrowalks is absolutely huge - pushes the synergies from 60 to 93. But it should be fairly easy to level up to get them. Also with *any* of the Bone spells (but especially Teeth) it is very mana intensive... you can prise the Insight out of my cold (un)dead hands...

I'd always preferred Bone Prison to Bone Wall, so this was a good build for me to learn how to use that spell, as Wall and Teeth have quirks which compliment each other nicely.

My version of viable means the character can solo Hell without uber gear, since I play exclusively SP. I'm also mostly untwinked, but for this build I'd make a marrowalks exeption. Unfortunately that still rules out the Insight, though.

I'll start my dentist as soon as I Patriarch the Lord of Mages that you also convinced me to start!

[rickcarson]

My version of viable means the character can solo Hell without uber gear, since I play exclusively SP. I'm also mostly untwinked, but for this build I'd make a marrowalks exeption. Unfortunately that still rules out the Insight, though.

Well, the funny thing is that by most people's count that would mean that a skellimancer is not viable.

Us SP types though tend to be a little more umm... 'persistent'. I Patriarched my skellimancer (with a lot less than uber gear), but it was a hard slog at times. So I have to wonder at the people who pop up and complain about the difficulty, especially when they have an extra 10-15 +skills more than what I had.

On the other hand, some of the 'cookie cutter' builds also fail that definition. I had a zeal/lightning aura pally and he absolutely ripped up nightmare (kills NM Baal in about 30 seconds, 20 of which is running round onto the catwalk), but then when he hit Hell he sucked and couldn't get anywhere. And this was despite having some 'uber' gear - Crescent Moon and Guardian Angel for instance.

In fact, a lot of the builds do not work as advertised. I'd long thought that my gear problem could be solved by having a sorc that could tele down to Hell Meph and get good gearzorz. The truth turned out to be that madly teleing all over the place on Durance level 2 is simply a recipe for *guaranteed* death by rabid undead flayer.

I've become addicted to Insight, but I think that it and Edge actually decrease the quality of the gameplay experience. I think Blizzard should have increased the difficulty of Normal and Nightmare. But the problem is that when they release new gear then there are two possibilities, either it is useless, or it is good (ie better than the previous alternatives). And if it is better than the alternatives, the game just got a bit easier.

I'll start my dentist as soon as I Patriarch the Lord of Mages that you also convinced me to start!

How is that going for you?

[jgreg7]

Well, the funny thing is that by most people's count that would mean that a skellimancer is not viable.
…
How is that going for you?

My skellimancer had a much easier time of it, finishing Hell around level 85. It probably helped that he had found an Arm of King Leoric, though. (No unique any char has found since has gotten me nearly as excited as that drop.)

The LoM was last seen bogged down in a1 Hell. He left NM at level 70, and probably should have run Baal a few more times to level up to ~75 first. He is great fun to play, though. I have a teleport staff on switch, so I can focus the mages on one target when necessary. When all mages target the same monster in a bone prison it is merciless!

One thing I’ve noticed about playing any build in Hell is the reduced tolerance for error. I have to concentrate on applying each character’s killing techniques correctly without getting distracted by chests, beer, etc. For example, remembering to cast lower resist to speed the process. Whatever the build, Hell is obviously not a fast trip. That’s also why I tend to get distracted by alternate builds (e.g. dentist) and let chars sit for a while.

[rickcarson]

The LoM was last seen bogged down in a1 Hell. He left NM at level 70, and probably should have run Baal a few more times to level up to ~75 first. He is great fun to play, though.

Because the Mages aren't level dependent the way skellies are you can actually enter Hell much earlier than other classes. I went in at about level 59 with with Hardcore LoM - this was solo though, so no twinking (but conversely, no lag). I was able to kill, and yes it was slowish. So I made the mistake of thinking maybe I should level him up a bit, or MF in NM for a while, and got killed by my own stupidity - standing too close to a Fire Enchanted Council Member while running NM Meph.

There was just no need for me to do that. Ahh... overconfidence... the great HC killer.

[Emerald Dragon]

Does this build have any chance in pvm?

It could be good in a team duel or something to stun a player while your buddy takes him out.