Hammerdin questions

[Vash]

1) Anyone have some Blessed Hammer techniques to share?

2) What's the point of pumping Holy Shield if I plan on putting no points in dex? Can I survive with no points in dex? Can I rely on my hammers at later levels to stun all the monsters around me so I wouldn't have to worry about defense or blocking?

[-Tempus-]

1) Anyone have some Blessed Hammer techniques to share?

2) What's the point of pumping Holy Shield if I plan on putting no points in dex?  Can I survive with no points in dex?  Can I rely on my hammers at later levels to stun all the monsters around me so I wouldn't have to worry about defense or blocking?

1. are you going to make a d2c or lod hammerdin?

if its d2c then a no dex build is great.
if its lod then you will never have a 75% chance to block unless you also have good dex.
if you go base dex but max holy sheild then you can always max smite and use that as a backup skill. that will work in d2c or lod

[Vash]

Yes, this is a LoD character. My concern is whether or not the investment into dex is worth it. Here's my logic:

The only reasons to invest in Holy Shield are to:
1) Achieve good blocking. Which MUST be supplemented with an investment in dex (at the cost of vit).
2) Use Smite. In that case I'd have to invest the strength in using a good pally shield, max smite, and perhaps max holy shield as well.

Another dilemma: to use the un-party friendly skill Redemption would only cost 1 point and a bit of in game time (standing around after a battle). Using the party-friendly Meditation will require more (I don' tknow how much) than a 1 point investment. If I plan on maxing Concentration and Blessed Hammer and also investing heavily Smite/Holy Shield, this might not be a viable option.

Need help....

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Another dilemma: to use the un-party friendly skill Redemption would only cost 1 point and a bit of in game time (standing around after a battle). Using the party-friendly Meditation will require more (I don' tknow how much) than a 1 point investment. If I plan on maxing Concentration and Blessed Hammer and also investing heavily Smite/Holy Shield, this might not be a viable option.

My hammerdin has only 1 point in Meditation, with the skill adders bumping it to slvl 5 and 300% Recovery. This is better than an slvl 20 Warmth, man. I think it's well worth the single investment.

At level 53, Hammerdin has maxxed Conc, maxxed Hammer, 11 slvl Holy Shield and 6 slvl Smite. I did invest in Dex, so max blocking. However, since he runs exclusively, I find the Fast Hit Recovery far more important (thus, you might consider trying your zero-dex option). He's doing just fine in Hell, and having lotsa fun.

*tips helm*

[Saga_Keeper]

I'm of the opinion, "you have a shield so use it."
50% block is an option if you dont' want to go super into dex, it's 50% dr while standing around and hammering, it's definitely not a bad way to go. Holyfreeze is also useful for a hammeradin, as is redemption... redemption is a 1 point wonder, and holyfreeze can be if you're super loaded up on skills, if not it's a secondary sorta thing you can work on "later"
Don't forget faster cast rate, a shael wizard spike sounds silly but it's a fairly good mix for smiting and casting.
-Saga_Keeper

[Alberic]

redemption is a 1 point wonder, and holyfreeze can be if you're super loaded up on skills, if not it's a secondary sorta thing you can work on "later"
Don't forget faster cast rate, a shael wizard spike sounds silly but it's a fairly good mix for smiting and casting.

You could always get yourself a Holy Freeze mercenary, just to cut down on some of the skill points needed for the build.

Also, if you don't like the Shael-ed Wizardspike on a Hammerdin, you could always try it out on a Chain Lightning Sorc. ;)

[HeLRaZR]

You could always get yourself a Holy Freeze mercenary, just to cut down on some of the skill points needed for the build.

Also, if you don't like the Shael-ed Wizardspike on a Hammerdin, you could always try it out on a Chain Lightning Sorc.  ;)

1 - Wouldn't an Act 2 nightmare might merc be better? Might still works with Blessed hammer I think but the same 50% nerf as concentration. One thing I also noticed playin a classic hammerspammer on USEast HC this week is that Fanaticism also boost the Blessed Hammer damage even more than Concentration does, unfortunately, no-one but the paladin gets the damage boost, just the IAS.

I have a 2 year old hammerspammer on USWest I'll check with a might merc tonight to see if the BH recieves the Might boost.

I remember the classic HC days on USWest prior to LoD. A good online pal and I each made a hammerspammer, he with concentration me with might. WOW! were we a popular team with CS running amazons lol.

2 - Try a 6 shael phase blade on your chain lightning sorcy EEEP! :blink:


As an aside, I have to say that my own Hammerspammer build was not successful. I had converted one to expansion. In the past couple of weeks I've thought very seriously about rebuilding one though as I've bounced around some ideas based upon added skills from gear that I've been collecting...

Anyone care to share ideas about hammerdins in LoD?

[Taem]

1) Anyone have some Blessed Hammer techniques to share?

2) What's the point of pumping Holy Shield if I plan on putting no points in dex?  Can I survive with no points in dex?  Can I rely on my hammers at later levels to stun all the monsters around me so I wouldn't have to worry about defense or blocking?

1.1) For a big mob, use holy freeze to slow your mob then switch to concentration and BH away.
1.2) For mana and energy, you can have leech and any weapon, or Redemption, the "one point wonder"
1.3) You don't need a ridiculously high level of BH or Concentration for BH to work just fine and enjoy your playing style
1.4) You will need a secondary skill, such as Zeal or Smite or Sacrafice, because there are plenty of empty gaps for the monster to hide in the circle of your hammers. As a matter of fact, in a large mob, about 50%-75% or less of the mob will die while the rest will be untouched. Furthermore, the monsters surrounding you in the first one foot radius will not even get hit... only the one from whence your hammers come out to make the first circle.

2.1) Without block, your going to get hit a lot, and your build won't last in cows at all. While this is just my opinion, but I feel conficent enough about this to state it as a fact!
2.2) With block and the 20% uninterruptable attack from concentration, you become that much harder to hit. Add in some good defense (maybe a defiance merc) and your ready to roll with the big boys ;)
2.3) As stated above, your hammers will not kill all the monsters surrounding you, and especially the important ones, like the ones one foot away from you causing you all the damage. Without a good block and a secondary back up skill, you'll be drinking a lot of rejuves :D

The view expressed in this post are those of it's writer in an "enlightened" state of mind after spending quite some time here at the LL and are not related to any way shape or form to a post called the "hammerdian is offically dead" also writen by him :P

[Vash]

Yet another question...what percentage of effective blocking have people found to be sufficient for a hammerdin?

What about fast hit recovery?

Take into account Concentration's 20% uninterruptable when coming up with your answers.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Yet another question...what percentage of effective blocking have people found to be sufficient for a hammerdin?

What about fast hit recovery?

Blocking is incidental, as far as I'm concerned. A hammerdin is on the run so much that his blocking, regardless of the initial percentages, is cut to ineffectiveness by his need to "get the hell outta the way". The shield is more for smiting, resistances and skill adders, IMO.

For fast hit recovery, I'd suggest the first breakpoint at 32%. The next one is WAY up there in the triple digits (IIRC, Not checking Tommi's page at this moment...), and you need to concentrate on your skills and landspeed far more.

*tips helm*

[Taem]

Hit Recovery:
0 = 4 FPS
32 = 3 FPS
152 = 2 FPS

Humm, I don't seem to notice the difference between zero hit recovery and a 2 FPS hit recovery, even in a mob. Maybe that's because I use holy freeze and have a high block rate?

A trick my dueling friend showed me was to WALK instead of RUN when he dueled barbarians with his paladin. This kept his defense and block rate at full and he won most of his duels. You could use the same tactic when dealing with a mob, so long as your secondary skill had enough leech to recover your mana and life.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

A trick my dueling friend showed me was to WALK instead of RUN when he dueled barbarians with his paladin. This kept his defense and block rate at full and he won most of his duels. You could use the same tactic when dealing with a mob, so long as your secondary skill had enough leech to recover your mana and life.

Old realization, that. Tommi put it forward best in his Walking Paladin guide, methinks. I never duel, but utilizing that facet to the detriment of the monsters around you is a key strategic realization.

At least, for a MELEE paladin. ;)

Of course, the problem with walking a Hammerdin is three-fold: You don't get the effective lacing of your hammers, blocklock isn't good for casting, and it's impossible to leech life or mana with a construct of holy ether. I'd still advocate groundspeed and FHR. I've always played a hammerdin as a paladin-like Blaze sorceress: pattern and speed... never let them touch you.

[Archon_Wing]

Walking is good in duels. If they're too far away, you'd zap them with FOH :P
I personally like blocking for some reason. Mine's 75% but with lvl 10 (or something) Holy Shield. I find it that I am not immune to the lag monster or there are a bunch of weak enemies swarming me. (Think flayers)