~~~Wubird's PvM Priest Paladin(Pure Mage)~~~

[MrMoneyShot]

Everyone makes the typical hammerdin etc these days, but with horadrim ancients being magic immune more people have started using holy bolt more often

i got to thinking one day, what if i made a pure mage? well lucky me i found a rose branded cadeucus of the magus with 3+ redemption, salvation and FOH auto mods

i had a spare pride on another character and wanted to see how strong the blessed hammer could be using only the merc's concentration, and after all my normal equip i still output 10,000 blessed hammer dmg

now most will say thats low, well somewhat, but for PvM thats fine, cause i was also doing 16k holy bolt and 6k FOH(holy bolts), the build was surprisingly fun and pretty effective and im debating making on the realms

stats
str enough for gear with rings and charms on(or 174 if you use CoA)
dex enough for max block
vita everything else
enrg none

Skills
20 Holy Bolt
20 Blessed Hammer
20 FOH
20 Vigor
1 in all prequisites Holy shield, and Redemption
Rest in Blessed Aim

Why Redemption? well i like to tele and do runs quick, but without insight mana can still go down quick. redemption has solved so many of my issues with some of the more dangerous monsters(mana burn, reviving monsters etc) having redemption on not only gives you an instant well every 2-3 seconds but also clears corpses as already noted, and vs a manaburn pack it doesnt take many hammers to kill them, but sometimes you might get stuck. with redemption i have NEVER gotten stuck using it.

other auras to consider are Sanctuary, Salvation, if you dont have pride your own 1pt Concentration built up by +skills

by not "needing" concentration on my character it allows me to shift auras more often to suit the moment, and that makes for more fun pvm play and also a much more self sufficient character

Items
this is relatively wealthy stuff so be prepared to spend fg

Helm
Crown of Ages Cham/Ber or Ber/Ber, between this and enigma we get necessary dmg reduction + FHR 1skill resists great helm, expensive str requirement.
if you cant afford CoA you probably cant afford this either but 3combatskilsl Circlet of the Magus with 2os and socket with resist/life jewels

Weapon
3 combat skill scepter with 3 to FOH, other auto mods like Redemption and Holy shield will save you points but are probably very expensive, i socketed mine with ISTs for MF
if you cant get this HOTO works

Shield
Spirit Sacred Targe, 35 FCR is what you want

Armor
Enigma, put it in ancient armor for style

Gloves
Magefist or Trangs gloves

Belt
Arachnids mesh this is a must, if you cant get it craft a caster belt

Boots
I use Sandstorm Trek, but Water Walk orTri resist rare boots would be great

Amulet
i use a 2paladin skill 20FCR ammy, this doesnt make or break the build but it helps get to the 125fcr breakpoint, if you already have met the breakpoint via rings,Seraphs Hymn with 2defensive skills is a interesting option or the standard Maras

Rings
i use 1 stone of jordan and a rare FCR ring, stats/resists always good. if you havent gotten the 125 FCR breakpoint use 2 FCR rings or if you hit the BP without the rings use 2 SoJs

Switch
CTA Flail with 6 BO if possible, spirit shield(any will do)

Charms 6Pcombats with life
ptorch + anni and resist/life scs

i like to have 8 spots open in my inventory plus my cube for mfing, for pure dmg go 8 pcombats + cube

Act 2 mercenary Holy Freeze
ePride Thresher
treachery mage plate
andys helm

W

My general strategy vs most monsters is BH but considering in popular MF areas like Chaos, WSK, and Pindle undead are so prevalent i usually fire off 2 hammers then start dropping FOH everywhere which will usually decimate most undead packs and 1-2 holy bolts will drop most everything left behind

in places like Mausoleum, Ancient Tunnels, and Chaos is embarrassing how quickly i run through some rooms.

imo for the mentioned areas its one of the fastest if not the fastest in running, with considering 1-2 BHs will take out alot of monsters around you it allows you to drop FOH and Holy bolt with safety, your mercenary will be blinding and freezing most monsters so hes pretty self sufficient and if he starts getting hurt your holy bolt heals up to 200 HP a shot.

probably the most fun PvM character ive made on D2 next to BladeSin

[Doppel]

Very nice idea.

[MrMoneyShot]

the items listed are end game, but until you get pride, using a 1pt concentration helped by +skills will work, and typical cheap gear like Spirit Sword/Pally shield

redemption is a little used skill but for a paladin it can be great due to the rapid healing and clearing the battlefield

the number to aim for is 5k FOH holybolts, that will do enough dmg to take out most packs in 1-2 shots

what i realized about concentration is that compared to the synergies its really not all that strong, and tahts because it works at 50% effectiveness when giving dmg to hammers, and in PVM 8k hammers can kill most anything in the game, maxing out hammer synergies isnt necessary, which allows the mage to also have maxed out HB and FOH.

i posted on jsp but even after 10 years it seems most people are still content making the same old same old hammerdins, this was a refreshing twist

it could probably be tweaked to make a more hybrid role, but i think that would defeat the idea of being a Mage