08-14-2003, 03:43 AM
Quote:Well done. I think the Spirit of Sirian lives on!
Thankyou, that's a huge compliment. I still remember Sirian's stories of Ember vividly.
Quote:Most of my time in 1.10 has been with a Bowazon and a Summon Necro with at least one point in everything. With those characters, I 100% agree about Delirium, it's fantastic on a Melee Merc, and probably on an Act1 merc as well. The chance to cast Delirium is a curse, but worthwhile. Although it only has a 1% chance to cast, it seems to be 100% chance to cast at the worst time. :) Even so, I haven't died as a result of getting bone-ified yet, but my usual strategy when that happens is to run like hell.
Heh. I know what you mean. Actually, it wasn't too bad for me. As long as I wasn't being swarmed, I usually kept right on fighting, since I did just about as much damage in undead form as in normal form. :) The big problem was that I couldn't teleport, so if it looked at all like the situation was getting dangerous, I'd tp to town and wait the curse out.
Quote:I found Breath of the Dying to be the best Melee Merc weapon, once the Poison Novas (Novae?) start flying it's usually all over.
Crescent Moon was useful for Diablo, and necessary for Baal. Otherwise, I didn't find the Static Field to be as effective as Poison Nova in handling most situations.
Well, yeah, sure, if you happen to have a spare Zod lying around. What makes Crescent Moon great is that it only requires an Um. Jeez, I only just noticed that. I'll have to keep that in mind. That would've been great to arm my merc with. Level 17 Chain Lightning, level 13 Static Field. Man, that would've been great against those pesky fire immunes!
Quote:The killer armor for non-Sorceress types looks like Enigma. Teleport is THE Merc-saver. Too bad it gives no resistances, combined with Call to Arms and Delirium you really scratch to get resistances above zero in Hell.
Without a doubt it would be useful, but I think arguments can be made for other armors. Enigma would be fantastic for a summoner necromancer, since it'd be great to be able to teleport a whole army on top of a designated target. But for PvM fighter characters, I think good arguments can be made for 'Chains of Honor'. +2 all skills, +200% damage to demons, +100% damage to undead, 8% life leech, +70% enhanced defence, +20 strength, replenish life +7, all resists 65%, damage reduced by 8%, 25% magic find. I mean, what's not to like?
Quote:You never mentioned what I've found to be the best weapon for my Necro, and I assume would also be best for a "normal" Sorceress. Maybe even good for your Melee Sorc, I suppose you just never ran across the Vex to make Heart of the Oak.
Heart of the Oak, besides giving a big +3 to all skills, has Oak Sage, which, combined with the Battle Orders from your Call to Arms will give you and your crew serious life. The BO will stay up after weapon swap, but the Oak Sage only stays up as long as the Heart of the Oak is equipped.
You're right it's great for casting characters, but it wouldn't work well for a melee sorceress. I looked at it for Grizabella, but you're basically suggesting replacing the 'Passion' phase blade with a 'Heart of the Oak' mace of some kind. HotO doesn't have any enhanced damage (ok, +75% to demons, but that's it) or increased attack speed. Plus, 'Passion' has Zeal and Berserk which can come in very handy -- Zeal for groups and Berserk for physical immunes. Also, HotO can't be used in a Phase Blade, so you can't take advantage of Phase Blades' incredible speed and natural indestructibility, which saves a lot on repair costs. Finally, what you're saying about Oak Sage sounds good, but it's not practical. Battle Orders runs out every couple of minutes and every time you switch weapons, the Oak Sage will die. The cost of repairing all those charges would get prohibitively expensive unless by some miracle you have an unlimited supply of Ort runes to cube repair with. Besides, 'Passion' comes with 'Heart of the Wolverine' charges on it, so even if you did have unlimited cash or Ort runes, you could still get some attack bonuses that way. I just don't think HotO is worth it.
Heck, as long as we're dreaming, the best weapon for a melee sorceress would be a 'Beast' weapon which gives a level 9 Fanatacism aura to her party and lets her turn into a werebear which gives bonuses to life, defence, damage, and attack rating. She can't teleport in that form, so she would have to switch forms depending on the situation, but all in all 'Beast' would definitely be the best weapon. You just have to find the Ber and Mal runes to make it.
Quote:The Realm economy is going to be absolutely nuts when 1.10 goes live. I think Runes are going to be SO overpriced, that you will be able to get almost any Set/Unique/Rare item for the Runes that are used in what will be perceived as the "Best" items. I bet that there will be players using Delirium within the first two days, even money says the first will be within 24 hours.
That might be hard to do in ladder games, especially hardcore ones, which is all I'll play. People'll have to get to hell just to start looking for those runes. I give it three days. :D