Post how you handle elite packs

[stillman]

While speeding through the difficulties, I've gotten killed by about half of the elite packs from Act I normal onward. Now, in Hell mode, I'm saving gold by tackling this problem. I use Evocation (-15% cd's) and the following:

1-Cast Diamond Skin and Mirror Image right away. Both have the rune effect that makes them last a bit longer, so more time is spent being "safe", with only about 4 seconds of cd time.

2-Teleport the hell away for those 4 seconds. I use Wormhole that lets you tele twice in a row.

3-Dilly dally until AP is full and cd's are done, then approach again.

I find this works Ok. Diamond skin lets you dash ahead for assassination attempts on foes that produce more foes. I might try getting my crit chance up and use Critical Mass passive to keep Diamond Skin on indefinitely. However, take a good pommelling in a boss mob, and it's gone for a real long time.

So, can anyone survive consistently without reliance on teleport? Elites take a long time to kill, so not only do your cd's get you killed, but your AP also needs time to regenerate.

[korialstraz]

2-Teleport the hell away for those 4 seconds. I use Wormhole that lets you tele twice in a row.

You can teleport as many times as you're able to cast teleport before the 1 second timer is up. I think I've managed to cast it 4 times right after eachother.

[magicrectangle]

Cast venom hydra, monsters start coming towards me. If they're slow, empty globe on arcane torrent and then start kiting. If they're fast, immediately start kiting. Kite in a relatively small circle around the venom hydra, unless ground effects from the pack force you to use a bigger kite path.

Pop diamond skin if they get close. If I get enough range on them (they're slower monsters) arcane torrent until they're close and resume kiting. Recast venom hydra as needed.

A little tedious but it gets the job done. This is on Inferno difficulty. On the lower difficulties my approach was more like the one described in the OP, but diamond skin and mirror images are wrecked simply much much too quickly in Inferno to allow you to stand and burn with elites on you.

[DexA]

I use twister and split missiles with elecrified magic weapon to make as many hits and crits as possible. I search for gear with crit chance and +life on hit to get a stable health income. Also i use diamond skin with critical mass so its a little luck based. Can also be difficult versus fast sinlge targets.

[Cloudparter]

I usually use Diamond Skin/Prism tank for the full 7 seconds. Once Diamond Skin runs out I use Mirror Images/Duplicates and start to kite for another 7 seconds. That way I only have 1 second between cooldowns (cooldowns are 15 sec. each) and almost always have a defensive skill up. Oh and I use Force Armor/Power of the Storm to help spam meteors as I kite. In between letting my Arcane regen for more Meteorbs I use Shock Pulse/Piercing Orb for AoE and piercing. It does decent damage too for a free skill.

[Hector]

I got tired of running away and chipping at their health slowly; my current strategy is: cast Archon and hope they all die before I die. Usually works wonders in parties because I can sit there and cast the huge beam of lifebar-melting.

Diamond Skin is a life saver too. It even works while frozen and this is invaluable (I'm A2 Hell atm).

[rodge]

It depends on the affixes.

Cast Energy Armor, Magic Weapon, and Arcane Orbit. Summon Arcane Hydra near enemies. Charge towards enemies and Spectral Blade them to death, refreshing Arcane Orbit when it runs out. If there's a ranged enemy, or some enemy that needs to be taken down ASAP but can't reach, summon Hydra near the target. Have a Hydra up as much as possible too.

I hate Fire Chains. A LOT. If there's fire chains and the enemy is fast moving, I'm screwed. The only chance I have to counter those is through Hydra, then run a lot putting up Diamond Skin whenever it's necessary.

[StarMage]

So far, elites are manageable in Hell (hardest are the mortar ones) but I don't die to them anymore. How? I grinded to level 60 before I reached Act II hell and with 26k HP and 14k DPS (I know that's nothing compared to those who've farmed Inferno gear already), I'm no longer scared of elites!

Anyway I rotate between Diamond Skin, Teleport with Rapture (those decoys help A LOT, they don't die unlike regular mirror image) and frost nova. Main attacks are Blizzard + Venom Hydra. Fast moving enemies / mortar are the hardest and I'm actually forced to chug a pot or two.

[Stupiful]

I liked the discussion in this thread so I decided to quit lurking. Whee!

Anyway, I have an overabundance of CC in my build since I generally party with people that build a bit more glass-cannony. I start off with Blizzard/Frozen Solid, then Wormhole into the pack, immediately Frost Nova/Deep Freeze them all, and Wormhole back out. Throw down a Meteor and start electrocuting the group, with Deep Freeze's crit bonus and critical mass (post nerf even) help to get my cooldowns back up. My last skill is Mirror Images/Duplicates to help create more bodies for enemies to move around to get to me, or I swap it out for Diamond Skin/Crystal Shell for single target bosses and anything else that has hard to avoid damage.

The above tactic has no health sustain and relies totally on slipperiness and CC to stay alive, but so far it has worked.