Anti-Swarming Kung Fu

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

Take a defiance merc, throw a delirium helmet on him and he becomes a chaos machine. The more mobs that attack us, the more effective the curses become. In the event that I party with a curse style necro, I can swap out the merc's helmet to put an end to the madness.

This is AMAZINGLY effective! I read your post earlier this evening, and when I couldn't sleep in the wee hours, I decided to use my rune resources to crunch an Ist and try it out in a 3 socket crown that dropped. I just cleared every frozen cave in Hell Act 5 on Players 8! With most of my belt intact! This is an unbelievably effective use of the AI strategies that have been quoted thus far.

The only notable difference between your own example and my experience was that I use a Might Griezman, instead of a Defiant version (a holdover from Tommi's "Walking Paladin" guide). With a suitable weapon on him for damage and leeching, he tanks quite admirably... and the lower defense actually would benefit the firing off of the multitude of Curses attributed to the Delirium hat.

Confuse seems to be the general theme, with the odd Mind Blast or Terror coming into play less often. Gulzar morphed into a VICIOUS little stygian doll an odd half-dozen times during the trek through Act 5, which only added to my immense amusement. In Swarming situations, the sound effects and light show (oooh... ahhh...) indicated that curses were firing off more than 1 per second! Pure Chaos, with the paladin able to cruise around and tackle the strategic kills with almost impunity. I temporarily considered putting the Delirium on the paladin, but quickly dismissed it. The paladin has been built around the considerations of defense and max blocking... which are counterproductive in a strategy that centers around the ability to take a shot to the face. Also, I'm loathe to part with my Guillaume's... so there you go: Definite Griezman equipment.

I can see Delirium becoming a mainstay on such characters as Frenetic Barbarians; the benefits to the tactical situations that the Delirium curses give could rival (or possibly outstrip) Taunt and Howl. Another group that could benefit would be Wereforms (although I might have to chew on that idea for awhile to give up my Jalal's....). I think that having it on a Merc might STILL be the choice I'd opt for with my own wereforms, regardless.

Although I expressed disdain at the need for "equipment" to adapt a mêlée build to the rigors of Act 5 Hell, I must say that this suggested equipment (right under my nose the entire time) MORE than fills the void.

Superb, csivils. Absolutely superb.

*tips helm*