Now that 1.10 is out

[Guest]

When the patch was just out: Fire Sorc. Got tired at level 3 after realizing the low level spells (and the game) were still the same, and I was running out of mana and not doing any good damage.

Second: HC helper Hammerdin with 20 points in a resist aura, or two. Got to act 2, when at level 18 I was fighting a cold enchanted beetle (not thinking about putting on my resist aura, was too happy about finally using hammers) and died from its death nova. There were 8 people in the game, but what seems to happen is all go at one spot and it was too easy then, boring me out.

Third (last) : Basically same Pally again. About every 20 mins when playing I lagged out, and this is with 40 ping. After the fourth time I only got "failed to join game", what, with 40 ping?! So that's some anti-hack stuff or something, what do I know. Tried to log in and out, other character worked to join fine.

After trying for like 30 mins I finally got in, by making an own game, with only 4 players since it was too easy and computer laggy otherwise. That lasted about 15 mins, people got mad that there weren't enough characters there, so they all left.

And that's about all battle.net for me. I don't remember ever having a game with good teamplay, maybe if it's only a player or two, but no-one seems to want that. I'll try again in a month or so to see if the lag is better, but from what I remember before it won't be.

Oh and not to forget Blizzard's "lag fixes", even with my wonderful connection it felt like I had 500 ping, monsters were never where you wanted them to, same for mercs, standing in the same place for 5 secs then magically teleporting somewhere else. With a Hammerdin this ruins the game completely, since you can't aim at monsters, it seems like it's only transmitted that they're attacking or getting hit, not where their position is.

[Juliet Must Die]

I've started 3 different characters since the patch came out.

1)

A dualwielding mace-barb using frenzy + synergies. He hasn't gone further than lvl 21 though. :P

2)

A Necromancer focusing on dim vision, bone spear and bone spirit. Much similar to MongoJerry's Maldar-build. I only play this character together with a friend and he doesn't play as much as me, which is the reason why he's also stuck at lvl 21.

3)

Meanwhile my first character has been put on standby because of this little fellow. A werewolf druid using fireclaw and armageddon + their synergies (which just happen to be the same ones :D ) So far I've taken him to lvl 32 and he's a lot of fun.

[Voratus]

Bonermancer.
So far level 31, and can either completely own Act 5 in a single-player game, or hold his own quite well in a multi-player game.
IIRC:
18 - Teeth (around 55+ pts per tooth, 20 teeth per casting; according to the skill/synergy calc, it should get to around 500+ pts of damage with 20 Teeth, Bone Spear, and Bone Spirit; decent crowd control in Act V, great crowd control in Act III, good crowd control in Act IV)
13 - Bone Spear (mid-300s damage, currently primary attack)
2 - Bone Spirit (weak still; haven't used it yet)
1 - Corpse Explosion (strictly prereq. purposes)

So far I've seen one unique. Felloak, IIRC. Got a nice circlet off of Mephisto (whom I just went back and realized that I can own him without using any potions for myself and mercenary) the first time.
Currently using an etherial Stealth armor (couldn't find a good armor to use), a wand with +3 Bone Spear and +33 Mana (or so), rare circlet with +1 to an Assassin tree + life regen + life + fire resist, shrunken head with +1 Bone Spear and extra defense (woo), plate belt with fire resist, gloves with lightning resist, boots with some weak resist, ring with fire resist, other ring with mana and charges of charged bolt (woo woo), ammy with regen (I think), alt weapon is wand with +2 Bone Armor and shield w/ +8 resist all. Mercenary is Barbarian, awaiting a holy freeze Nightmare guard.

Future plans:
- Max Teeth, Bone Spear, Bone Spirit.
- 1 Point into Bone Armor
- Max Bone Wall, Bone Prison, extra points into either Bone Armor, or to build for Decrapify
- Complete rocking of Diablo-clone

[unless]

Bonermancer.

Might I suggest Marrowmancer? Sounds a lot better.

[Baat]

Hey Tabitha,

From the text of your post I am inclined to say that you are very familiar/comfortable with the new Synergy bonuses. I've looked around a bit and I still haven't found any information that directly explains what these bonuses are and how they are unleashed. This may sound petty, but before I invest a single skill point, I like to know what/why I'm investing it.

Where did you find your information? Or, could you give me a nutshell version of how it works (if such a description exists.)

Thanks in advance.

[Guest]

Hmm, tried a Cold Druid (SeasofIce) on Europa, the build sounded so fun (and I tried it before a little).

At level 25 so far, I've just been pumping Ice Hose (aka Arctic blast) and Cyclone Armour 3/2. I'm loving the hose (you don't say?) because it works like an...ice hose: you rotate shoot it all over and you chill monsters, so much fun. :D

Also I've been attacked by 3 people (all melee), two of them potted and still had run away (due to, I bet, no more pots). :lol:

I haven't really had any problems, did die at level 3 from a Fanat Dark Rogues pack (Fanaticism + 15 rogues = eek) and a few times from Beetles (and 5 times from Duriel, he's the only tough boss!).

Should be pretty solid in HC (if only to see the joy of careless people die), which I'd play if it wasn't for the trash b.net.

Next time I'd max out AB directly, the synergy is nice and all but the range (and chill duration) is really the most important.

[Sir_Die_alot]

I did a bone spell necro. He has teeth, bone spear, bone spirit, bone prision maxed and I'm pumping bone wall now. The only skills I don't have invested in bone spells/synergies are the 10 I put into to get lower resist and a clay golem with some resists. My items for the most part really stink yet I am still hovering around #300 on the overall ladder. :D (Nessesary_Evil for those who want to look)

[Boutros]

I started a Trap Assassin. Never played an Assassin past normal before, but I like it a lot. She's now level 74, in Act 3 hell. Pretty much all solo. I killed Hell Andy in a party, but I don't think I would have had much trouble by myself, especially considering the absolute spanking I gave Duriel solo.

The plan was to max Lit. Sentry and invest in some synergies, and use Blade Fury and Venom to kill lightning immunes. But I have to say all my points in venom (8 or so) were wasted, and would have been better spent in synergies or Shadow Master. Death Sentry is the cure for lightning immues, and Blade Fury hardly helps at all with generating corpses. I haven't yet run into an area with no lightning vulnerable monsters, so I just build up a critical mass of vulnerable corpses with lightning and then drop a few death sentries. It would be real slow going with wall to wall lightning immunes, I'd have to rely on cloak of shadows and mind blast to hold off the hordes while the merc kills stuff and I mess around with my lower resist wand (which hasn't worked for me very well at all so far).

I don't know how my killing speed compares to other characters, but it seems prety fast to me, and she's a very sturdy character. I've only died once in hell, to a very nasty stair trap on level one of the viper temple. After throwing down your traps you don't have much to do other than avoid monsters, so you don't take a lot of damage unless you get cornered. I think this is a very viable character in hell, even solo, but I think the Ancients are going to be a solid brick wall. I'll probably be able to kill Korlic and Talic, but Madawc is lit immune and there will be no corpses around (other than my merc's :) ). Lower resist might be my only chance. I had a hell of a time with him in nightmare. He totally ignored my shadow 90% of the time, and blade fury only connected on about 1 out of 15 shots.

Hell seemed pretty hard to me at first, probably since my character owned, terrorized, and dominated everything in nightmare (except gloams and Madawc). I was getting my butt kicked (well, my merc's butt) in the cold plains over and over, and I thought I'd be relagated to nightmare forever, but I was just playing stupid. Once I realized my mistakes it became a ton easier. Here's hoping I can make Matriarch without total reliance on a party, because I'd feel pretty stupid if I talked up my character like this only to find she couldn't hack it in late hell.

[Baat]

Hi,

When an item says -3 to damage, what exactly does that mean? It doesn't sound like squat to me but it sure seems like items that have some sort of a -x to damage are worth a lot when you go to sell them.

Thanks in advance.

[Crystalion]

viable character in hell, even solo, but I think the Ancients are going to be a solid brick wall. I'll probably be able to kill Korlic and Talic, but Madawc is lit immune and there will be no corpses around (other than my merc's  :) ). Lower resist might be my only chance. I had a hell of a time with him in nightmare. He totally ignored my shadow 90% of the time, and blade fury only connected on about 1 out of 15 shots.

Well, if Madawc is your problem I think you're in luck, because the Thrower is probably the easiest of the three from a behavioral point of view (his AI has a strong tendency to stay put or move based on what you do, so he can be manipulated easily).

I'm assuming you want to solo this so I'm going to ignore help from others (even if you were just in a game with an Enchantress she could bless you with enough +fire/AR that your AR/damage Blade Fury problem would likely be solved).

As for Lower Resist, Madawc will be ~93 resistant to lightning for ~20 seconds a charge (the ~ are because I don't know if you'll have a slvl 1 or 2 charges item). This seems like a hard way to go.

Your Venom might still be appliable by Blade Sentinel (moves around obstacles) while you avoid things. It might have less problem hitting him (poor AR but tries alot, hitting at most once per second). Certainly I'd expect you to do better than once in three seconds while being less tied down.

One thought is to suggest that, like BF/ITD for normal monsters, this may be one of those times when Eths to make BF/venom work is appropriate, since you have a pretty high level of venom. Still, like my comment about Lower Resist, this seems like it is going to be slow going.

Another idea would be to shop nightmare Akara via cow portal (wands) or nightmare Anya (claws) for a weapon with lots of fire damage. Those could only take a couple Eths though, and you seem to have an AR problem in general. This makes me wonder if Malice's -100 to monster DR per hit works on superuniques, because that would be an easy AR solution (hit him with Malice BF 21 times and poof! no more DR to worry about and you can weapon switch back to whatever you really want to use). Of course this brings up the point that the Malice Open Wounds is likely, in this case at least, to be significant damage (compared to the other stuff you're trying).

One last warning, if you focus on elemental damage, would be to make sure Madawc doesn't spawn with a bonus to his resist for that element (you can check out the long list of such bonuses: Arreat Summit special monster bonuses webpage)

[Celester]

Right now I've got 2 characters going, although both are single player. I should probably be having fun on the realms, but I'm not one for grouping up with people.

First is a mace barb and going to split between str and vit. Now with Masteries fixed, I'm not sure if it's good to invest 20 whole points into it (still trying to figure this one out) I'm going to do another mace barb, seeing if not putting the points into mastery is worth it.

Second character I'm doing is a Druid Hunter. He's got a ton of skill points saved up still. Just over level 21 so far and as for points, one point has been put into Oak Sage, Carrion Vine and Summon Dire Wolf and the prereqs for them. Nothing into elemental, although I do have +3 to molten boulder from the hat I've got on.

[Chaerophon]

So far? Cake.

Right now I'm in the middle of NM hardcore, full clear.

The plan is: max RS, max mages, max sm, one in clay golem, one in GM, one in summon resist, the rest in curses. Possible addition: one in PE for combat against regen (may or may not work, we'll see). PE should make for a nice, functional corpse remover for summoning monsters. I think this build should cover all of the bases, and, fingers crossed, should make it through hell. (Knocks several times on wood) Potentially difficult parts? Surprisingly, I doubt if the ancients will be hard, but Diablo should be a nice trick :)

[Boutros]

Some very good suggestions there. I have a Malice on a mule, I'll definately give that a whirl.

I think with persistance I'll prevail in the end, even if I have to use a 4 eth weapon with blade sentry while huddling behind a pillar.

Also, if I do some shopping for gear, use a life tap wand, and feed him plenty of full rejuvs, I might be able to have my merc survive long enough to kill Madawc for me. He retreats much earlier than a shadow, so keeping a shadow up to destract them while my merc follows me around at the beginning of the fight might be reasonable. It's not like I have any reason to stand around and watch the sentries work (after I verify Korlic and Talic didn't roll lit immunity).

Thanks for the ideas.

[Caaroid]

Since everyone kept saying how druids got the stick of 1.10, I made an armawolf. He is lev 63 at the moment in NM act 5, and I have to tell you all, he is a viable build.

So fasr he got maxed lycantrophy, maxed fury, and am pumping armageddon at the moment (only summonables are a lev1 oak sage and a lev1 carrion vine). At first I was afraid that armageddon would be a waste and I'd better stick to the common max-spirit-and-grizzly attitude, but (at least in NM) Armageddon is a godsend in crowd situations. Even though it is totally unpredictable, against solitary monsters druids have no problem anyways, and when you're in the middle of the mob it does not really matter where armaggedon's rocks will land.

We'll see if he works in hell

[Crystalion]

...I'll definately give that a whirl.

Wow, give it a "whirl"?! I didn't know you have the Chaos claw runeword. Now you really need to be Enchanted, so you can fool Madawc into thinking you are Talic! B)

...even if I have to use a 4 eth weapon with blade sentry while huddling behind a pillar.

Because ITD worked for Blade Fury in beta I'm pretty sure Eths work for it. However the threads in which Ruvanal commented on Blade Sentry AR are still puzzling to me. If you indeed try this and aren't in danger, could you take off the Eths weapon for a few seconds and verify that there is a difference (for Blade Sentinel)? Actually, perhaps it is wiser to test this off bnet and thus not waste Eths if BS doesn't benefit (unless you want it for BF).

...my merc survive long enough to kill Madawc for me. He retreats much earlier than a shadow, so keeping a shadow up to destract them while my merc follows me around at the beginning of the fight might be reasonable.

Ah, clever idea. One might even coin a phrase and call it: "mongoesque"--or perhaps just "mongo man!" ala Bill & Ted's "excellent!" :D

[Veliger]

My first 1.10 character has been a Hammerdin. I have always enjoyed them, and I decided to create one before I even knew how much he has been improved.

Level 40 and just entering Nightmare, he has had very little issues. Untwinked except for a Skin of the Vipermagi (couldn't resist).

I mostly play with my better half, and we do design characters to help each other. She has a new Summon Necro that is going along nicely.

My next character will be a Throw Barb. I have a Patriarch Thrower, but it will be fun to see how the build has been altered.

[Kartoffelsalat]

I made a leaping barbarian. Right now, he's level twenty, and just stepping into act III normal. He's a lot of fun to play, and the best part is, you can start playing him like he should be played pretty early on. This is a lot better than say, a WW barb, who you cannot WW with until lvl 30. I can start bouncing all over the place at level 6. :)

[LavCat]

I made a leaping barbarian.  Right now, he's level twenty, and just stepping into act III normal.

I started playing ladder characters last week. So far I have an enchantress (of course) who just made a +3 Enchant Leaf staff, a CE necromancer, a martial arts assassin (which I have never previously tried), a confused amazon who has not invested in any active skills, and a druid who is about as clueless as his southern sister.

At level 22 the sorceress has a level 11 enchant, with 14 real skill points in warmth. I think I'll build her up for a while before continuing with the other characters.

[Archon_Wing]

I have tried a immolation/freezing amazon and a bone spear necro. I haven't been playing nearly as much as I should and only now have I reached level 40 with my amazon. After seeing the increased difficulty with my old characters, I'm a bit hard-pressed to move ahead too fast. ;)

I have also tried a fireball sorc and a elemental druid but they fell to the wayside and are pretty much my ladder mules now.

[niomosy]

My first character was an Orb/Meteor Sorc (I know... how different :P ). I've since started a BH Pally (yup, I'm being unique again) which has surpassed my Sorc. Third, I've got a Barb that's still sitting at level 7, waiting for me to put some time into him.

The reason for the strong cookie-cutter builds first off was to find useful stuff for other characters, particularly the melee types which tend to be item dependent. I'll probably do another PD Necro, a Zon of each weapon type. An elemental Druid if I get the time. May even try some other Pally builds out as I'm starting to like the Pally's after playing one past clvl 18.