My Rogue (not one of the 1½ Snobs – she pre-dates them) is an archer type rogue that can use magic but doesn't really do so a lot. She will cast Guardians, when something right around the corner could kill her, the occasional Stone Curse, but she very seldom uses offensive spells, if ever. She spent her mid to late twentys mostly doing Hell or Crypt clears in Normal and Nightmare difficulty. By now she has found some pretty good stuff.
She is turning 30 soon and I want to see how well she does on Hell/Hell.
Now she's facing a choice because she found 2 excellent pieces of armour:
- Scavenger Carapace – no further comment
- Saintly FPM of the Wolf – I'm guessing this is as good as it *realistically* is going to get for a looong time
Her setup with the FPM brings her to 233 AC. Somewhat helpful, but could be better, I guess.
Wearing the SC she would of course be naked AC-wise in Hell/Hell
BUT
only in melee, which she hates anyway and tries to avoid like the plague.
My impression is, that >50% attacks in Hell are ranged anyway, meaning AC is of no use, but those -15 dfe could help a LOT. All her resists are maxed (Obsidian Bow of Perfection, yay – bought, not found, but I'm just happy to have it) so all ranged-only attackers should be manageable
OTOH she would be in deep s...erious problems if melee attackers got to her. The likelihood of that happening is pretty big. Her damage (52-70) is not necessarily stunning (sorry, couldn't help myself) so she can't be sure of keeping everything at a distance or even holding a chokepoint.
While trying to figure this out, I consulted this *incredible* analysis: (http://realmsbeyond.net/diablo/cdosmosis.html)
Only, it seems written for chars that WANT to melee, so it weighs HP against -DFE. I don't want to get hit in the first place so I'm trying to figure out how to weigh -DFE against AC
Right now I see three options:
1) Go with the FPM
Pros:
- min useful AC is ~190(?) / max is ~325(?) so AC 233 seems to be in the range of useful AC
- offers some protection against those attackers she is most vulnerable to
Cons:
- AC is useless against more than 50% of all attackers (ranged) while -DFE always helps
- I suspect AC 233 isn't as safely in the useful range as it sounds, because the progression – and the danger – isn't linear
2) Go with the SC
Pros:
- -DFE is helpful against every attack so she doesn't empty her belt in 2 seconds when facing a mixed group.
- -DFE is more reliable then AC and doesn't become meaningless when the Monsters get tougher.
Cons:
- she's dead meat when a melee type manages to get close to her
3) I got it totally wrong
I would greatly appreciate any opinions.
She is turning 30 soon and I want to see how well she does on Hell/Hell.
Now she's facing a choice because she found 2 excellent pieces of armour:
- Scavenger Carapace – no further comment
- Saintly FPM of the Wolf – I'm guessing this is as good as it *realistically* is going to get for a looong time
Her setup with the FPM brings her to 233 AC. Somewhat helpful, but could be better, I guess.
Wearing the SC she would of course be naked AC-wise in Hell/Hell
BUT
only in melee, which she hates anyway and tries to avoid like the plague.
My impression is, that >50% attacks in Hell are ranged anyway, meaning AC is of no use, but those -15 dfe could help a LOT. All her resists are maxed (Obsidian Bow of Perfection, yay – bought, not found, but I'm just happy to have it) so all ranged-only attackers should be manageable
OTOH she would be in deep s...erious problems if melee attackers got to her. The likelihood of that happening is pretty big. Her damage (52-70) is not necessarily stunning (sorry, couldn't help myself) so she can't be sure of keeping everything at a distance or even holding a chokepoint.
While trying to figure this out, I consulted this *incredible* analysis: (http://realmsbeyond.net/diablo/cdosmosis.html)
Only, it seems written for chars that WANT to melee, so it weighs HP against -DFE. I don't want to get hit in the first place so I'm trying to figure out how to weigh -DFE against AC
Right now I see three options:
1) Go with the FPM
Pros:
- min useful AC is ~190(?) / max is ~325(?) so AC 233 seems to be in the range of useful AC
- offers some protection against those attackers she is most vulnerable to
Cons:
- AC is useless against more than 50% of all attackers (ranged) while -DFE always helps
- I suspect AC 233 isn't as safely in the useful range as it sounds, because the progression – and the danger – isn't linear
2) Go with the SC
Pros:
- -DFE is helpful against every attack so she doesn't empty her belt in 2 seconds when facing a mixed group.
- -DFE is more reliable then AC and doesn't become meaningless when the Monsters get tougher.
Cons:
- she's dead meat when a melee type manages to get close to her
3) I got it totally wrong
I would greatly appreciate any opinions.