08-05-2003, 02:40 AM
Since I don't have any characters high enough yet to reach Hell Act 5 in 1.1. But I do have one lvl 70 Paladin with a lvl 70 rogue merc in Act 1 Hell.
>Melee classes are dealing with a single dominant, troublesome situation in 1.10 beta: Swarming. The improved speed and AI of the monsters are combining to have characters activate and be surrounded in the blink of an eye. In Hell, this is by far the deadliest situation that arises from various murderous monster types. Even a character that can handle most situations on Players 8 suddenly finds themselves unable to handle certain Swarms, even on Players 1.
I got a taste of that new speed in Act 1 Hell, and it definitely is noticeable.
>These were high level 1.09 imports into the beta. The paladin was a Fanated zealot, with skills akin to Tommi's "Walking Paladin" (having adapted to every D2 patch thus far). So: maxxed Fanaticism, Concentration, Holy Shield and Vengeance... with Conviction sitting at slvl 15 with adders. A typical melee "power build". The amazon was a Strafe/Guided bowazon with a maxxed Valk, optimized Passives and typically low investment into Freezing Arrow.
>I refuse to believe that a melee-based paladin (with a bow on the switch, I'm not a complete fool) who has adapted to EVERY PATCH BEFORE THIS, cannot adapt to this one.
>Thoughts?
I have no advice to give since I have little experience with it, but I do have some questions if you don't mind. That paladin of mine is a maxed Sacrifice, maxed Fanaticism, maxed Holy shock, the rest going into Redemption, and one point into Smite. Armed with "Strength" in one tab and a Howling throwing knife on the other. Got lucky and found a Goblin toe from normal Diablo, so I have 50% chance of Crushing blow and 30% of Open wound from "Boneflesh" armor. Merc is armed with a Riphook and a "Lore" helm.
So far I'm making ok progress using Smite, and Sacrifice as a finisher. With the Rogue helping out very well. (Well when she's not swarmed by the new faster monsters anyway.) Not sure if this is new in 1.1, but now Smite can carry Open Wounds along with Crushing blow. This seem to be ok, not spectacular but definitely do-able in Act 1 Hell. Had anyone run into a wall with this method in Act 5 however? Especially with those swarming situation, does this mean any skill with a large activation radius (eg: HFreeze HShock) is pretty much avoided?
>Melee classes are dealing with a single dominant, troublesome situation in 1.10 beta: Swarming. The improved speed and AI of the monsters are combining to have characters activate and be surrounded in the blink of an eye. In Hell, this is by far the deadliest situation that arises from various murderous monster types. Even a character that can handle most situations on Players 8 suddenly finds themselves unable to handle certain Swarms, even on Players 1.
I got a taste of that new speed in Act 1 Hell, and it definitely is noticeable.
>These were high level 1.09 imports into the beta. The paladin was a Fanated zealot, with skills akin to Tommi's "Walking Paladin" (having adapted to every D2 patch thus far). So: maxxed Fanaticism, Concentration, Holy Shield and Vengeance... with Conviction sitting at slvl 15 with adders. A typical melee "power build". The amazon was a Strafe/Guided bowazon with a maxxed Valk, optimized Passives and typically low investment into Freezing Arrow.
>I refuse to believe that a melee-based paladin (with a bow on the switch, I'm not a complete fool) who has adapted to EVERY PATCH BEFORE THIS, cannot adapt to this one.
>Thoughts?
I have no advice to give since I have little experience with it, but I do have some questions if you don't mind. That paladin of mine is a maxed Sacrifice, maxed Fanaticism, maxed Holy shock, the rest going into Redemption, and one point into Smite. Armed with "Strength" in one tab and a Howling throwing knife on the other. Got lucky and found a Goblin toe from normal Diablo, so I have 50% chance of Crushing blow and 30% of Open wound from "Boneflesh" armor. Merc is armed with a Riphook and a "Lore" helm.
So far I'm making ok progress using Smite, and Sacrifice as a finisher. With the Rogue helping out very well. (Well when she's not swarmed by the new faster monsters anyway.) Not sure if this is new in 1.1, but now Smite can carry Open Wounds along with Crushing blow. This seem to be ok, not spectacular but definitely do-able in Act 1 Hell. Had anyone run into a wall with this method in Act 5 however? Especially with those swarming situation, does this mean any skill with a large activation radius (eg: HFreeze HShock) is pretty much avoided?