11-07-2003, 01:33 PM
Quote:You couldn't. People running around with huge +skills are either not playing ladder and twinking to the gills, or playing ladder characters that they've done nothing with but farm for itamz.
As I play in ladder HC games, I can attest to this as ~right. The people who have +15 to skills are generally those that have a dedicated MF character as well as their 'playing' characters. Usually a high lvl sorc or barb(barb less in 1.10 I bet). Then they twink all this gear onto their up and coming PvP, or PvM character. The ladder has already gone on long enough for many dedicated players to MF full sets of gear for their characters.
My elementalist druid in hell act2 has only +1 elemental skills. He has been played only with what he could find or gamble(the gambling has been very unlucky). It *is* possible though to get a pretty good set of +skills gear with just a little time invested though:
My necro:
+3 SM, +2 RS head
+1 all Lore helm
+3 RS, +3 SM wand
+2 summoning skills ammy
+1 summoning skills charm
+1 all spirit shroud( I usually don't use this though, I need my resists armor)
That gives me a total of +2 all, +3 summoning skills, and +6 SM, +5 RS.
lvl 31 SM, lvl 30 RS all by the end of NM. He is a harcore ladder necro who has found or bought every thing he uses. He spent alot of time in act1 to find the head, and more time in act1 buying the wand. Of course, necros are a little easier than other class to get skill bonuses(the head counts for a lot). All he's really looking for is to find/cube a shael to finish his crescent moon for the merc, and off to hell.
In other words, I think in HC ladder you will need either a substantial MF investment, or spend a *very* long time playing the same char looking for optimal gear in the appropriate places. That is, if you want +15 to a skill. It is certainly possible to play without that much, and I think that that necro of mine has the highest skill lvls I've ever had on a character(I don't MF).