I've played D2 off an on for a year or so, first with a Zeal paladin, now with a Hammerdin. Everything was fun until I got to Act II on hell difficulty. My merc and I can't stay alive long enough to finish quests. :( Is there a way to get my Hammerdin through hell and still play casually like I have been?
I heard that Enigma armor will help, but since I only play SP, is acquiring it realistic?
It is more realistic to obtain enigma in single playing than battlenet if you are a loner and do not like trading imo as you can run places like LK etc for runes with constant map pattern and player setting.
However, you do not actually need enigma to complete hell. Hammerdin is consider one of the easiest character to complete hell mainly due to his natural high resist, damage and block rate even with normal paladin items. I have observe you have complete nightmare and hell act 1, i suggest you can start magic find nightmare meph and baal and try to get more items, esp: herald of zakarum glided shield. You may also run hell andariel to try to get items such as wizardspike, shako and if possible, soj. Make sure your block rate is 75% with holyshield. Resistance can be fix by Herald of zakarum or even spirit shield.
Yes, I chose hammerdin because I heard it was a good build for beginners...how sad. For my build, Blessed Hammer and Blessed Aim are maxed, and the rest of my points are invested mostly in Holy Shield, Vigor, and Concentration (currently level 78). For gear I have Ancient's Pledge as my primary shield and Spirit Shroud for my armor. Primary weapon is a war scepter that gives +2 all Paladin skills...rest of gear goes to boosting resists. I have a Holy Freeze merc, but I somehow lost all his gear and am now starting from scratch.
So it sounds like I need to max out Holy Shield and then do more mfing in Nightmare and Hell/Act I?
hmm, looking at your equipment setup, i can recommend some equipment before your final weapon/armor.
For weapon, you may try wizardspike for 75%res, 50%fcr or even spectral shard for 10%Res, 50%fcr before you hunt runes for Hoto.
For shield-wise, try to get a nice res all, 4os paladin shield and make a nice spirit (rune required: tal thul ort amn) which are cheap and good. If you are feeling rich, you can get Hoz (from nightmare/hell meph) to get a +4 to combat skill, nice block and Res (but you will not get the 35%fcr for spirit)
For armor, try to grab a vipermagi to cover your resistance and fcr before enigma. Important point to note: Fcr= your DPS. Try to aim for at least 75%.
For ammy, get Seraph's Hymn for +2 all skill before getting Maras or rare +2, 10fcr ammy.
For rings, either use Soj for skill and mana boost or any 10fcr,str,dex, res all rings.
For boots, get sandertreks for str, vit boost. Or war travellers for mf.
For Belt, grab a arachnid mesh for 1skill, 10fcr. Or T-god for lightning absorb, nice str and vit boost.
For helm, mf hell andy to get a shako for 2all skill, 50mf and nice boost or mana and hp. Or can start to gamble for rare coronet (at level 87) for 20fcr/2all skills/ 2os with nice mode like str, dex, all res, mf.
For glove, i recommend trang oul glove as it has cold res. However alot will recommend magefist. Just pick anyone and you are good to go.
I just suggest some common equipment for merc for you to mix and match. Just make sure you have health leech and some ias to ensure survivability for your merc.
For you information: My merc is use obedience, cham andy and fortitude armor.
For skill wise, you did nothing wrong. But for me, i will put 1 point into holyshield and let my equipment bring up the skill level of holyshield at the beginning and concentrate all my points on bless hammer, bless aim, vigor and concentration till they are max. After which, i will pump my holyshield. You can add points into holy bolt if you meet any difficulty in hell baal wave 2 minions.
If you use Wizard Spike along with an average roll on spirit (~30fcr(25-35)), and then use Skin of the Vipermagi: 115. Then youll only need another 10%fcr from either an amulet or ring.
And imo, the only choice of weapon for your merc is an Insight runeword. And be sure to make new ones as you find better base weapons for your merc! And get that 17med aura?!
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