11-14-2006, 12:24 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-14-2006, 01:20 AM by the Langolier.)
Kind Knight:
I hope you have fun building this type of warrior the way you like. A long time ago, NiteFox played an interesting character build that I thought I would post to give you some ideas. The main concept was a warrior who used as much -Damage From Enemies (-DFE) as possible in tandem with mana shield (which has 33% damage reduction itself), with a vampires weapon to sustain the mana shield. In practice, the character is untouchable in normal mode, pretty effective in nightmare, but by the time hell/hell comes around, the -DFE just isn't very effective anymore. It is still playable in hell/hell, but don't expect the mana shield to hold out for very long, in which case you may decide to use healing. There's many different build options, so here are some ideas about some items this build can use (numbers in parenthesis are amount of -DFE):
Obsidian helm of deflection (4) OR Godly helm of osmosis (6) OR Gotterdamerung (4)
Scavengers carapace (15) OR Demonspike coat (6) OR Awesome plate of deflection (4)
Kings sword of vampires
Obsidian shield of absorption (3) OR Holy defender (2)
Raven's amulet of health (1) OR anything else
Ring of engagement (2) OR anything else
Ring of engagement (2) OR anything else
What you use depends on how much -DFE you want. For example, is -2 DFE for a second RoE worth giving up something like a dragons/zodiac? That is up to you, but with this build you can achieve max resists, -20 DFE or more, and *still* be able to use three dragons/zodiacs if you so desire. I don't recommend using any amulet of health. It is pretty fun to try out, and if you are interested, I have a a perfect obsidian tower shield of absorption you may borrow (40/20/3).
Just to put it in perspective, here are some average values for equal level warriors: one a standard build, the other with -DFE and MS. This is nightmare difficulty:
Average damage for a standard warrior:
Soul burner: .25 * [6+(74-6)/2] = 10 damage to hp
Advocate: .25 * [34+(54-34)/2]*2 (x2 due to fireball bug) = 22 damage to hp
Average damage taken for a -22 DFE & MS warrior:
Soul Burner: .25 * .66 * [6+(74-6)/2 - 22] = 3 damage to mana
Advocate: .25 * .66 * [34+(54-34)/2-22]*2 = 7.3 damage to mana
Now, if you do an average of 130 damage @ clvl 40 with vampires, you will steal about 9 mana per hit on average. You can see that the damage is significantly reduced for the toughest elemental enemies in nightmare difficulty. To give you an idea, the -DFE warrior can take fire from three soul burners as he wails on a fourth, and his mana will remain about even, thought it will vary. The effect of -DFE is even more effective for the weaker witches and mages. Conversely, the effect of -DFE is diminished versus hell difficulty versions of these monsters. It is interesting to note that -DFE has virtually no effect in nightmare versus damage/time spells like inferno and flash, but the effect is much more significant in hell.
@Alamara: Why not switch out the bloodslayer with a CC and gain the benefit of a shield? Two gold jewels will not be enough reach maximum to-hit, and that would be very bad for a low AC axe wielder. But using three will make you one resistance prefix short when using HoS. A shield will restore that resistance affix AND allow you to block, which is even more important than for a normal LAW since your attack rate will be slower.
EDIT: I forgot to say, read the analysis of osmosis and pain in the strategy section of this site. It gives a great insight into how effective -DFE by seeing how many virtual hit-points it is worth and avoiding stun with -DFE.
I hope you have fun building this type of warrior the way you like. A long time ago, NiteFox played an interesting character build that I thought I would post to give you some ideas. The main concept was a warrior who used as much -Damage From Enemies (-DFE) as possible in tandem with mana shield (which has 33% damage reduction itself), with a vampires weapon to sustain the mana shield. In practice, the character is untouchable in normal mode, pretty effective in nightmare, but by the time hell/hell comes around, the -DFE just isn't very effective anymore. It is still playable in hell/hell, but don't expect the mana shield to hold out for very long, in which case you may decide to use healing. There's many different build options, so here are some ideas about some items this build can use (numbers in parenthesis are amount of -DFE):
Obsidian helm of deflection (4) OR Godly helm of osmosis (6) OR Gotterdamerung (4)
Scavengers carapace (15) OR Demonspike coat (6) OR Awesome plate of deflection (4)
Kings sword of vampires
Obsidian shield of absorption (3) OR Holy defender (2)
Raven's amulet of health (1) OR anything else
Ring of engagement (2) OR anything else
Ring of engagement (2) OR anything else
What you use depends on how much -DFE you want. For example, is -2 DFE for a second RoE worth giving up something like a dragons/zodiac? That is up to you, but with this build you can achieve max resists, -20 DFE or more, and *still* be able to use three dragons/zodiacs if you so desire. I don't recommend using any amulet of health. It is pretty fun to try out, and if you are interested, I have a a perfect obsidian tower shield of absorption you may borrow (40/20/3).
Just to put it in perspective, here are some average values for equal level warriors: one a standard build, the other with -DFE and MS. This is nightmare difficulty:
Average damage for a standard warrior:
Soul burner: .25 * [6+(74-6)/2] = 10 damage to hp
Advocate: .25 * [34+(54-34)/2]*2 (x2 due to fireball bug) = 22 damage to hp
Average damage taken for a -22 DFE & MS warrior:
Soul Burner: .25 * .66 * [6+(74-6)/2 - 22] = 3 damage to mana
Advocate: .25 * .66 * [34+(54-34)/2-22]*2 = 7.3 damage to mana
Now, if you do an average of 130 damage @ clvl 40 with vampires, you will steal about 9 mana per hit on average. You can see that the damage is significantly reduced for the toughest elemental enemies in nightmare difficulty. To give you an idea, the -DFE warrior can take fire from three soul burners as he wails on a fourth, and his mana will remain about even, thought it will vary. The effect of -DFE is even more effective for the weaker witches and mages. Conversely, the effect of -DFE is diminished versus hell difficulty versions of these monsters. It is interesting to note that -DFE has virtually no effect in nightmare versus damage/time spells like inferno and flash, but the effect is much more significant in hell.
@Alamara: Why not switch out the bloodslayer with a CC and gain the benefit of a shield? Two gold jewels will not be enough reach maximum to-hit, and that would be very bad for a low AC axe wielder. But using three will make you one resistance prefix short when using HoS. A shield will restore that resistance affix AND allow you to block, which is even more important than for a normal LAW since your attack rate will be slower.
EDIT: I forgot to say, read the analysis of osmosis and pain in the strategy section of this site. It gives a great insight into how effective -DFE by seeing how many virtual hit-points it is worth and avoiding stun with -DFE.