Questions about single pass, untwinked, HC play!

[Dazliare]

Hey all!

I was getting bored of everything really, and decided to try something new. I've never guardian'd before, nor have I mat'd an assassin. So I'm thinking I'll try and guardian a sin, single pass all the way for added oh noes. I have a few questions though!

I'm planning on a trapper (currently lvl 19 in jail lvl 3), but I'm not sure if I should go claw/shield or claw/claw with WB? I'll likely end up shopping a bone shield of deflecting to use for most of normal, but I have no idea what's better later on. Also, trap laying speed is determined by IAS, not FCR right?

What's the protocol on ancients? Can I S&E if I get crappy mods?

What should I use imbues for? Should I save them for a higher clvl?

I want to use the 3 chipped gems + magic item in a bone shield of deflecting to get sockets, but will it reroll the of deflecting part?

If the above doesn't work, what do you guys use larzuk for? Making RW bases?

About stashes, do I just keep my HC stashes named as such and make sure I don't move anything SC -> HC? Right now, my HC and SC stashes are in the same project in gomule, and I'm afraid I might mess something up.

I'll reply with other questions as they come up. Truth is, I've never played HC, so I'm pretty excited to try it.

[SunsetVista]

Good luck with your sin!

Claw/shield will likely be better for resists/magic find (Rhyme!), while claw/claw has the potential for more +skills (shop claws from Hell Anya). It will depend on if you plan to use Burst of Speed or Fade. If you don't know which you'll need (and you probably don't, in single pass), put a point in each and use them as needed.

Yes, traps use IAS.

You don't have to S&E to reroll the Ancient's mods. A simple town portal scroll will reset the fight, including the mods. If you have to S&E for some reason, typically you'd have to run through the last area without killing things and without picking up any loot. If you have to kill to survive, only kill what you have to (on /p1) and don't pick up the loot.

A nice thing to imbue is often a circlet, if you haven't already gambled a better one. Imbues do depend on character level, so you do want to be higher level when you imbue, or know the required item level for a particular affix you're after (check the german affix calculator).

I think the 3 chipped gems + magic item only works for weapons. You could use the Magic Shield of Spikes recipe, but it would lose Deflecting.
Also, the 3 chipped recipe rerolls the item entirely, so yes you would lose Deflecting.

Yep, RW bases, or a nice set/unique to add a jewel, gem, or rune.

About stashes, yes. Keep your HC stashes named as such. I usually name an untwinked stash after the character so that I never mule on anything I shouldn't.

[felixbavaria]

Claw/Claw allows you to use Weapon Block, which is independent of Dexterity and can block elemental attacks. For untwinked I'd say claw / shield is better because you can get CBF and MF from Rhyme ...

The 3 chipped gems recipe does not work for shields, only for weapons. You can try to re-roll claws, though (preferably of high qlvl), to get trap skills as staffmods, a chance of +1-3 to trap skills, and sockets for resist jewels.

[jiansonz]

I would advise against imbuing a circlet. If you pick up and sell most of the valuable loot along the way, you can gamble tons of circlets as you go.

I use my imbues for stuff you can't easily gamble, usually class-specific items* or elite merc weapons (preferrably ethereal if it's a melee merc). For the lower-half elite item types (which are the ones that you usually find, starting in late Nightmare), I wait until clvl 74 or higher because they can get Cruel damage at that point.

(* of less value for an Assassin since claws can be bought and gambled)

[Dazliare]

Awesome, you guys answered pretty much all of my current questions, thanks!

On circlets - I'm not a high enough lvl to gamble circlets yet, but that is one thing I plan on doing. I gambled gloves/boots of chance, so I have decent mf, but no sets or uniques yet :(

I'm also planning on using the of spikes recipe.

Overall I'm really glad I decided to do this. There are so many recipes/shopped items/gambles that I never knew about just using the best twinking gear possible.

[FredOfErik]

Since the man himself didn't mention it (and on the off-chance you've never come across it yourself), here is jiansonz's guide on untwinked play - really helpful.

[Dezrok]

Why not go claw/claw (for the higher +skills potential) and have claw/shield on switch (for the better resists/MF/CBF option)? Depending upon what you find along the way and your playing style you'll probably find yourself using one more than the other and can focus on just it if a better switch option comes along. For me one of the most enjoyable things about untwinked is being flexible to best utilise what you find along the way.

[japanzaman]

I would recommend setting the player settings as high as possible for both normal and nightmare to increase the amount of items you find. You could also lower them for bosses like Duriel if you don't feel confident in taking them down at P8 settings. A trapper shouldn't have much trouble with P8, and for single pass it makes a huge difference.

[Dazliare]

Since the man himself didn't mention it (and on the off-chance you've never come across it yourself), here is jiansonz's guide on untwinked play - really helpful.

<33333333333 I read a different guide that had a link to that guide, but the link was dead. So glad someone has it!

[FredOfErik]

Damn Thy, hiding all the links in the stickies