diablo walks the earth

[LavCat]

Ah well, interesting to see what these statistical diablo masterminds will figure out. Maybe us lurkers can keep a log of what number diablo spawned on?

For me yesterday it was:

730
731
732
733
734
735
736
Diablo: This server will be shutting down in 5 minutes

[Dyntheos]

All these clone kills seem to be in Non Ladder games with 1.09 created characters in the high 90's and good gear.

If the Clone is to be pumped out more often to begin with, how do Ladder players get the chance to build up viable characters, to take on the Clone if the number of spawns will be lowered later?

I was originally going to try a public game but after playing an awesome pubby the other day with an 8 player party in act 1 Hell, I have decided to avoid public games like the plague. Why? Because when I opened a chest in the jail levels the Gold Grim helm that dropped at my feet, was snapped up by another greedy player.

I died inside. I had been really enjoying the 8 player team game up until that point and was overjoyed to see the gaze drop when I opened that chest, but horrified to see another player run in and steal it.

Since then I have played by myself, in 1 player games, as I am trying to gather gear for a zerkbarb to take on the clone, and cannot trust others in public games to stay away from other peoples drops.

With this slow going, I am wondering that by the time I gather decent enough gear and level the barb to acceptable levels, will I get a chance to see the clone at all?

Yesterday I was in a solo game for around 6 hours and the clone spawned. Being a skelmancer on a lark I went to see if bishibosh would spawn as the clone, and see how hard he was. Knowing full well I had no hope from reading the testimonials here, I was curious to take a peek.

Knowing first hand I'll need a tough charcter to kill him, and that means solo, as I am not going through all this work to have the charm stolen by another player, I wonder if the Annihilus Charm will be for some people, what such items like Windforces and Arkaine Valors were to us non-hacking, non Botting, players in 1.09..

[ildon]

It's pretty sad, but I'd long given up believing I could get decent items in a public game, and only use them to level and quest, and use private games when I'm looking for items.

Something I've noticed a lot in softcore ladder games, is that it seems most of the people are still trying to play like it's 1.09. When I try to play an act1 nightmare game, 90% of the other players are around level 23, and totally ineffective...

[Dyntheos]

I have a question on what you think is the best character to take on the clone solo? This is ladder so no uber tweaks.

I currently have as a base weapon for this a 297% ed Bonesnap. I have the runes for the normal -> exceptional upgrade formula, and I have read that Crushing Blow is a very handy mod to have for a weapon when taking on the clone.

Now to use this weapon (once upgraded it will be quite deadly) I am not sure what character to use it on. I was thinking a zerkbarb (as I stated in my above post, and got the notion from another forum, that zerk was a good skill to kill the clone), yet I was thinking on the viability of a pally.

Anyone have any ideas on a character type and then perhaps build for a "Clone Killer"? Must be melee of course to use the maul, which I think is my best chance atm, considering the gear i have found.

I understand that maxed fire res is essential, yet how about defense? Does an uber defense mean much against the clone? I will be gambling for leech jewellry, and am looking to find something with "prevents monster heal", possibly Hwanin's Blessing, if I can find it.

Once I have those I'll make the character and go hunting for Diablos, but before that I'd like some direction from the collected wisdom gathered here.

[Vash]

Quick question...does Diablo Clone NOT count as a super unique? I was under the impression that crushing blow does not work on super uniques. Was this changed in 1.10?

Edit: I was also under the impression that it didn't work for regular uniques or champions. Can anyone clear this up for me?

[LavCat]

I was just about to ask the same question. I thought CB would not work. Anybody know?

[LavCat]

I have a question on what you think is the best character to take on the clone solo? This is ladder so no uber tweaks.

I don't think defense would help, unless perhaps you were an iron skin barbarian with a defiance merc. The clone's AR is quite high.

My advice (from a paladin perspective):

1.) Forget DR.

2.) Get high AR. My paladin has about 14,000 AR which gives 74% chance to hit.

3.) Get fire absorb if you can. I had a Rising Sun drop two nights ago. The 1.10 is better than 1.09 version. Otherwise use Dwarf Stars.

4.) Get a lot of life leech. Although as long as your fire absorb is high enough to heal, you should not need much leech.

[Dyntheos]

If CB does not work is the bonesnap the weapon to make a clone killer with?

I have also found a Stoneraven spear http://www.battle.net/diablo2exp/items/nor...l/uamazon.shtml

Do you think this could be used to create a zon around for the clone killer?

[TabithaWolf]

I have a question on what you think is the best character to take on the clone solo? This is ladder so no uber tweaks.

I pretty much did him solo with a tri-elemental sorc (hydra/orb/cl), with no synergies, but plenty of +skills gear. I imagine a specialized untwinked sorc could do it as well.

It was frustrating since I was barely scratching him at first. I held open the private game with another char and muled back over my wand of lower resist. Of course, a friend of mine came online then and offered to tank for me, but he died so much, I don't think his barb was much help. With just the level 1 lr charges and my ~550 dmg hydras + spammed level 10 fireballs, his health started dropping at a reasonable level.

Max resists, and no fire absorb or damage reduced %, btw. The best team would obviously be a conviction pally + sorc or a lr necro + sorc.

[Ace 777]

I've yet to meet the Diablo Clone, but I'm wondering if anyone has ran across the clone in the Cow Level? :o

That would be a difficult situation no?

[kier]

The clone apears wherever there is a super uni monster. Soooo, the cow king would become diablo, and you would be skinned and salted alive, before being pickled and put on a shelf next to wirts leg.

[DukeTrout]

Amazons and Necros don't seem to be suited very well to take this one down, because they do best at a distance, which still seems to be the most dangerous place to be against DC. With Teleport, Sorcies should do well (esp. since DC is just highly resistant, not immune, to cold, thus allowing Cold Mastery to help put on the hurt). Paladins probably have the best shot at survival, but the least chance to to much damage (maybe a highly specialized Smiter?). Druids would seem to have good survivability, as reported. Assassins??? Maybe with Lower Resist help and Venom? I think maybe a Barb would have the best chance to put the hurt on DC:

My guess is that, since DC only has 50% magic resistance (compared to 95% to everything else) that Berzerk would be a nice skill to use. If you could tank him yourself, you could use a barb merc with a pumped up +skills to extend his stun time nicely (or switch between Berkerk and Stun, but that might be complicated). Get damage reduction, lightning and fire resist, and Cannot be Frozen (to keep your attack rate up while tanking). His melee damage isn't bad at all. Maybe a little Leap Attack for when he tries to run away or Bone Prison you.

Anyway, just some ideas.

Edit: PS - Gehrke's Sanctuary (Exceptional Unique Tower Shield) has big damage reduction and magic damage reduction, along with OK resists. Normally we want damage reduction as a %, but for a frame-based attack like the pink lightning hose, which is half lightning and half physical, having 11-16 damage reduced per frame could really take some of the sting out of it.

[unless]

I suspect that a Hammerdin, with his high-damage "Ignores Resistances of Demons" attack, would be excellent against super-D. Assuming he could stay alive.

[ildon]

I almost want to start a new thread for this, but I think it's good proof that it really is the number of SOJs sold that makes uber Diablo appear, because I played for nearly 5 hours today, and only saw the increment message three times total out of a few long-running games. It seems people really are running out of SOJs to sell, and that my hopes of getting an Annihilus charm are approaching zero. :(

[DSTheHermit]

I have now killed DC five times, 4 in groups, 1 solo, with my hammerdin. Hammer *r a p e s* him. Fiercely. It outdoes his regen, and his only two attacks that even hurt me are Armageddon and his melee slap which misses 20% of the time and is blocked 75%, giving him roughly a 60% chance to connect with a single slap for 80 or so out of 900 life. Granted, I have damage reduced by 25 and magic damage reduced by 30ish, partially thanks to a Gladiator's Bane (16/20 dam/mag dam) and Lore (-7 dam). My Hell resists are 75/75/83/60 without Annihilus, 75/75/85/75 with. I say "without" because I pass it back and forth between my necro and my hammerdin. Next time I get a Walks message in a solo game, I'll mule Anni off to my necro before fetching the hammerdin.

Anyhow, the key for me is lightning absorb (Thundergod's Vigour) and sticking close. His lightning hose doesn't hurt me when I'm a bit off, and obviously not at all when I'm close thanks to the bug. I haven't bothered checking if it actually heals me; I'm always in regen mode from drinking reds while fighting DC anyhow; I don't let any damage stick around. He has yet to kill me in any game. Geddon is the biggest threat. I'm trying to acquire a Dwarf Star for the sole purpose of Clone hunting. I have maxed hammer and syns, and +3 skills. Max hammer damage without Anni is 4848 and with is 5200 something. Each hammer takes a pixel or two off his life bar. Oddly he hasn't tried to bone prison me at point blank yet. I don't know how well Blessed Hammer deals with that situation. BH being the only thing in the game that without outside conviction/lower resist/amp damage assistance will deal him full damage, I solidly think that Hammerdins are the best clone hunters by far. 3 of the 4 group games I played, no one else could even damage DC (and I couldn't keep up with his regen if I switch my aura off concentration for any reason). I should mention I found all my gear except for the thundergod's itself, which I traded admittedly heavily for.

Basically I try to stay just to the bottom left of him so he gets hit my the hammers soon after they come out before he has time to run (and if he tries he may get hit twice if I have an established spiral pattern going) and stick with him. High resists, high block, good absorb and high damage...

The hammerdin IS the total package for clone hunting, so sayeth The Hermit.

"The snake behind me hisses what my damage could have been." Tool - H.

[Dyntheos]

Hermit I'd love to actually see your entire build for this hammerdin.

All skill points, and gear, what tactics you use, and when to put points into what skills as you raisie levels. Also when you PvM what issues you have with a hammerdin. When you say regen mode, what do you mean?

[[wcip]Angel]

Can someone explain to me why a burizon with maxed guided arrow, laying of hands and other "+x% dmg to demons"-gear couldn't take this thing down?

[DSTheHermit]

Naked stats;
Level 85 Defence 46 Str 110 Dex 185 Vit 165 Energy 60 Life 703 Mana 208

Skill point allocation
1 point in each of the following; Prayer, Cleansing, Defiance, Redemption, Salvation, Might, Smite, Holy Bolt, Charge.

20 points each in Vigour, Blessed Aim, Blessed Hammer, Concentration.

7 in Holy Shield - this would continue up to level 98, the level 99 point would be Redemption.

You basically just put points into pre-reqs until level 18, pumping Blessed Aim between 12 and 18 just to have a place for points. At 18, you start pumping Hammer, Vigour, and Conc until you run out of points. At this point, I maxed hammer first - if I were to do it over again, I would have done Conc first. Not *quite* as effective in the short term, I believe (but I haven't played with the calculator), but if you're playing in parties (and I was in 8 people parties quite frequently), the party benefit of Conc outweighs this.

I did drop a point in to Holy Shield at 25, Izual points were gotten at 29 due to extensive party play. At 30 they went into Redemption and Salvation. I haven't used Salvation much due to my own near-perfect resists, but I turn it on if asked. Redemption with a couple of +skill items is basically the end of your mana problems in 1-4 player games.

Anyhow, I maxed Hammer, then Conc, Vigour, and Blessed Aim at this point. The additional six points in Holy Shield have been levels 80-85.

Tactics? Well, I gave my specific tactics for DC above...everything else is the same for a Hammerdin as it was before from what I read of 1.06 Hammerdin guides, with the exception that I WAS able to get Hammer to work in the Maggot Hole, albeit very slowly, and with great difficulty towards the southeast. I only did the Hole in Hell (got a TP to 3 in Normal and NM), and while I regretted my lack of practise, I had then most of the gear I had now, except I had Stealth in a cuirass as opposed to Gladiator's Bane, and a 20% resist all amulet. I took a Holy Freeze merc down the Hole, and when enemies came from the Southeast, I let him handle them.

Oh, a brief note on my merc...he is Holy Freeze, but if I had known I was going to be finding Gladiator's Bane, I would have stuck with the Defiance merc I got in Normal. Holy Freeze is cute, but I generally find that by the time a pulse kicks in, the monsters are so slow they died before got past the whirling hammers, or so fast they got close to me before the pulse kicked in anyhow. It was supposed to be protection from undead midgets in the Worldstone, but it really hasn't worked out.

Anyhow, merc; Ethereal Pierre Tombale Couant from Durance 2 in Hell, 159-344, 190% ED, 132 AR, 6% mana leech. Insane. Ethereal Chaos Armour, 508 defence, and Guillame's Face, 217 def. So my merc has 35% crushing blow and 70% deadly strike, on his Conc-enhanced total of 1495-2862. Defence 1885, 1567 life, 44 resist all.

My equipment (only variable stats given);
Priest's Grand Sceptre +2 concentration, +1 conversion
Lore Shako 124 defence
Aldur's Advance (yes, I've been advocating these since 1.08, yes, I love the new fire resist) 40 defence, 49 fire resist.
Thundergod's Vigour 155 defence
Gemmed Akaran Targe (made from a 30% resist all Akaran Targe that dropped that I used my normal Larzuk quest on - this is by far my worst piece of gear and I am fairly desperate to replace it with an elite or at least higher block exceptional, or even better get my resists up so I can use Herald) 4 diamonds, perfect. 106% resist all
Gladiator's Bane, 1389 defence, -16 dam, -20 magic dam
Bloodfist, 17 defence
Amulet 3 max damage 5/3 CtC frost nova, 36 mana, 12% vulpine, 17% resist all
Ring 1 73 mana, 27% cold resist, 7% MF
Ring 2 15 life, 34 mana 5% fire resist, -2 magic dam, half freeze, 1 mana per kill
Charms
Grand: 29 life, 24 life/17 fire resist
Large: 1 max dam/23 mana, 14-27 cold/25 life, 29 life, 18 life/5 mana
Small: 1 dex/7 poison resist, 5 life/7 fire resist, 14 life.

Belt;
Column 1: Super Heal, Column 2: Full Rejuvenation, Column 3: Super Mana, Column 4: Town Portal.

Stats equipped;
Defence 1905/5238 (Holy Shield) Str 130 Dex 186 Vit 185 Energy 70 Life 1012 Mana 394

+3 all skills, additional +2 to concentration

Annihilus charm occasionally used; +1 skills, 12 to attributes, 20 resist all, 5% experience gained. That should cover just about every question.

And damnit, I think I just wrote a strategy guide, so sayeth The Hermit.

"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, you're saturating me." Tool - Undertow

[DSTheHermit]

I haven't seen anyone on ladder with a lot of demon damage gear yet, but aside from Guided's lack of piercing, I think resists would be a major issue. You HAVE to have incredible resists to pull this off solo. You can't be dying, you can barely afford to go back to town to buy more reds. I think I only manage because of switching to vigour for that time. His regen is several hundred, if not thousand, damage per second unless I'm sorely mistaken.

I never had a burizon doing 5200 damage, and that's unresisted. The burrito's cold damage won't even be working so to speak (like 10 damage. Owies), and your physical is cut in half, so you'd need to be putting out 10,400 physical to keep up with a modesty equipped Hammerdin. Yes, this is possible with LoH and whatnot I'm sure, but it seems a lot easier to just go with the hammer time.

But that's me, so sayeth The Hermit.

"And I feel this coming over like a storm again." Tool - H.

[[wcip]Angel]

But the buriza pierces 100% which makes every shot hit 3-4 times.