APT

[Albion Child]

Me and a friend are starting a HC all pally team if anyone is interested.

Not too many rules here.

Simply, 1.) no gifts

and 2.) you can level on your own but can't do any quest without the party.



We don't have any set time to play. Just meet whenever you happen to be online.

Currently, Holy Freeze and Fanaticism are being used, so choose any other aura you like.

The only quest we have completed is the Den of Evil so go ahead and do it or meet with us.

Any time somebody dies, we'll just rush them to the point we are currently at.

This is on USEAST!!!

We can Softcore rush anyone who doesn't normally play on East.

No real commitments here, just meet when you can/want to.



Message me afchild or afchild2

or message nhansen <-------tell him I sent you :)

[Albion Child]

Just an udate, we picked up two more people for the party.

Auras currently being used are...

Fanaticism
Concentration
Holy Freeze
Thorns



Again, if anyone wants to join us, message me (afchild or afchild2) anytime I'm online. (Which is quite often.)


Currently, characters range from level 3 tolevel 7 and we have only done the Den of Evil quest still.

Also, to clarify, it has been decided that "with the party" shall, for our purposes, be defined as more than half being there. (so as of right now, at least 3)

[Sporky Smurf]

While the idea of an All Paladin Team is great (and has worked in the past, I know, I know), your team itself in my eyes has two flaws already (from personal experience on teams, although none APT):

1.) Set times are crucial, I find. This allows some of the team members who live in vastly different time zones to get a time where they can play as well. You don't want to lose a good, solid team player just because of a time difference. And also, I find that teams move much smoother and quicker this way.

2.) Your characters aren't all made to play with each other. I find having the builds laid out before the team starts is a great idea because you, the leader (I presume) can get good combos going and have all gaps plugged in. That way the team will be more "complete" in a sense that's bigger than just "i liek tis auar!111 ti wurk in tem veri gud bcuz wi cn du cowz gogogogogogog" and they hope it works as a team. Yes, this CAN work, but not as efficiently or quickly as possible.

And also, a few quick tips:
-I personally would want one Paladin going Cleric style who does very little melee (maybe FoH or Smite) but has some of the great healing spells (Prayer, Meditation, Holy Bolt), and also stores most potions so the rest of the team can kill more efficiently. If no one wants to do this, I could. :D
-It's a no-no to have all the Paladins having just one aura. You'll probably want everyone to have one offensive aura and one defensive aura, such as each one of the single Resist Auras and Cleansing.
-Make sure that not every Paladin is using Zeal! Have some variety in the team, like a Sacrifice/Blessed Aim Paladin or some such. Because it's a TEAM, all gaps characters have should be filled in by the rest of the team.
-Convert with all these Auras floating around is baaaaad... All Auras which will transfer to a Convertee (or any friendly unit) will linger for a few seconds after they become un-friendly/the aura is turned off. Eep!

Good luck with the team. Maybe I may join you with a Cleric.

P.S. If you and your team want to make this experience more humorous, check out this Team Variant Idea: The Search for the Holy Grail Team (if link doesn't work, copy and paste it into a new window)

[NERDmanWhippy]

Also, if you are interested in some late night help, This is a link I posted the other day....

J

Late night hc

[Albion Child]

Yeah I know all pally teams have been done many times before. However, this is not nearly as complex as those. This manner of playing allows flexibility for times when, for example, someone can't play anymore, or when somebody dies.

I should add that it is working very well so far!

One mistake happened. The person who intended to use thorns has dropped out due to his not owning the expac. THIS IS ALL ON LORD OF DESTRUCTION!

therefore it is curently a 3 p[ally team using fanaticism, concentration, and holy freeze.

We are still in act one and have done all quests up to and including getting the horadric malus.

characters are between 9 and 13.

Anyone who wants to join in, message NHANSEN, or AFCHILD, or AFCHILD2 anytime on USEAST.

will continue updates. :D



EDIT: also, as far as attack skills used. Anyone can use whatever they like. If there are 8 zealots, so be it. However, I am currently building an archer pally to support the 2 zealots, so it works nice as they can tank while I kill shamans and bosses from relative safety (which is also nice because I am the MF character for the team)

[Albion Child]

Also, Why have each paladin concentrate on more than one aura? There will be more han enough to use any useful auras, and mercnaries will add to the mix.

From mercenaries-

Prayer
Thorns
Defiance
Holy Freeze
Might

From Party

Fanaticism
Concentration
Holy Shock
Cleansing
Vigor
Salvation
Sanctuary
and Conviction

Benefits of these auras all active-

MASSIVE damage bonuses
Fast attac speeds and good chance of uninteruptable
Standoff damage and good way to beat off undead
fast running and never any worries about stamina
good resists even with mediocre quipment
lowered enemy resists to cause more damage from FoH, Vengeance, holy shock/freeze
High Defence
Recharging life
Returned damage
short curse time

Basically everything you could ever want except for high life. (but pallys don't really have a life boosting skill)

Also, there are 3 merc slots remaining which could be filled by archers or barbs do add more damage potential to the party, or bacups for dead mercs.

Focusing on one aura also allows greater party adaptability.

For example, A single player can have a maxed aura, zeal, get decwnt block % with holy sheild AND gain another useful attack such as FoH, BH, or vengeance.


Chargers to protect flanks could also boost ranged attacks to aid in cramped areas such as the mggot lair

Basically, ultra specialization doesn't wor anymore as a fun way to party because, though you may have one ideal character for most any given situation, only one character fits that role. Therefore, the party is terribly slow as a single character designed to (for example) ill PI's will send forever hacing away at those enemies while the rest of the party stands around and chats about the weather.

With each player focusing on one aura to increase the power of 7 players using already tried and proven skill combinations (just thin of a standard pally build who gets the benefit of 8 maxed auras as well as having many extra points to distribute into attack skills and defensive skill such as holy sheild due to having no need to use the "1 point wonders.")

[Sporky Smurf]

*shrug* I think a team should not have to rely on Mercenaries or the auras of their team mates to have to beat the game. A normal Pally doesn't, either. Fanatacism, Zeal and Holy Shield and the Pally is set. Oh, see that PI? Better switch to Baraner's.

"Ulta specialization" is so that you CAN get those people using Charge to protect flanks and use ranged attack. That IS "ultra specialization". The reason that characters are built beforehand is so that they will work as a TEAM and not have to rely completely on their own strengths but be totally slaughtered when their weakness approaches. Also, a team is made up so that they work together, not so everyone has a different job. Sure, one can take out LEBs much safer/quicker than others, so that person would logically take out the nasty LEBs while people stayed out of range. This is supposed to be a game of tactics combined with hack 'n slash, not mindlessly charging hack 'n slash.

[Albion Child]

Precisely my point!

Yeah you want your chargers to do their job and keep the baddies on the same side of the zealots. But specilization to the extreme means that is basically ALL they can do. Also, for dealing with PI's. I have never found a single Baranar's Star. How can I expect to find even a single one within the whole party. (this IS untweeked/twinked whatever you call it). Therefore it is necessary for at least a few people to use vengeance, with perhaps one of the Zealots maxing it as a "secondary main attack" (ya oxymoron).

Also, my definition of ultra specialization is that each party member will concentrte solely on dealing with a particular threat. However, by not having this level of specialization as well as each party overlaping attacks hat are used as a main attack by other characters, it brings about better individual adaptivity, and gives the party more options for tactics. It also allows for more flexibility in the event that a player quits or a character dies.

Concerning mercenaries.... Mercenaries are an important part of Lod, and therefore not utilizing them to the greatest possible advantage of the party is....well....unwise. Why have someone waste skill points in holy freeze when a mercenary can give you basically the same effect? Instead you could switch to the greater damage of Holy Shock and still have nice blue monsters everywhere.

[Sporky Smurf]

You build your APTs your way, I'll build 'em mine. :P

It's obvious that you have a good point, and that mine is slightly lacking. The only thing here is that our definition of how a team works is very different. I'm sure your team will do fine, it seems like you know what you're doing. In the mean time, check out the variant party I linked to in my first post. I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it.

[Albion Child]

Agreed our strategies vary greatly. It is always fun to build a party "your way" in which the party is sort of like a complicated machine. If all the pieces are where they need to be it works awsome. However if a piece is missing, the whole thing goes straight to hell. I would say "my" style is more like good old manual labor performing the same tas as your machine. Might be slower, but if somebody is missing, the effects (affects?) are not as great.

I read about your Holy Grail Variant, sounds like a lot of fun. If you ever round up a group to play it, be sure to let me know by PM.

[Albion Child]

Oh and another update on our progress.

Almost through act 1 (yeah we are tain it slow).

just need to kill Andy.

[AssA]

I'd join but I can't make a HC character on UsEast :x

(Acc: *allbogs)

Doh, I forgot everybody can make HC chars nowadays.

What about me being a Blessed Aim Paladin with Defiance merc? To make up for lack of damage without teammates on my side, I'll use a big fat Maul or something :D I don't like shields anyway ;)

As for skills; I'll go with some Zeal, a ton of Charge and some Vengeance to help out on them PI's. I'll be the main Conviction man too if necessary, since I save quite a few skill points on Holy Shield.

[TwIsTeDiRoN]

Well ive started my pally 5 days ago and caught him up to the rest of party, but in those 5 days ive never seen the necessary amount of ppl from the all pally team to actually play as teh all pally team. we really need to set times or just post wut times would be best for all the players. I just got Easter vacation so im free mostly all day xept when im outside. Hope to play soon.

[AssA]

I haven't seen anyone of them online so far <_<

[TwIsTeDiRoN]

Wut time are u ussually on? (dunno how to spell ussually) :(

[AssA]

Weekdays: between 10am - 3pm EST
Weekends: between 6am - 7pm EST

Set times would be great :s

[TwIsTeDiRoN]

I don't think anyoe is interested in this party anymore :(. i havent seen anyone from it only in a while and theres never enuff ppl to continue quests with. Some oen plz clarify if party is still active or have ppl moved on?