08-19-2003, 04:46 PM
A. Put a point into Find Potion. It does two things.
1. It rolls the dice for a chance to find a potion. Whee, save a gold piece or two, get a shot at a full rejuve late in the game
2. It destroys the corpse, which means that it can't be raised by the Shaman, UnRaveler, etc.
B. Put a point into Taunt. (WarCry) It is one of my favorite one point wonders.
What does Taunt do for you?
It allows you to break bunches of critters into smaller bunches who have to come running to you. It also allows you to call the "raisers" to you. For example, you can call a Shaman to you, you kill him. Now that no one is raising Fallen, you can kill them without them rising up again. Likewise, all those undead in Act II who keep getting up again after you had just whacked them.
Note: Taunt does not work on bosses or champs, so when you run into a Shaman pack with a Shaman boss and Shaman minions, you may need to "kill it, immediately cast Find Potion" since you can't Taunt the boss Shaman over to you for dispatch.
Taunting Fetish Shamans works to get them to stop raising flayers, and makes them come to you. Fire resistance is needed to withstand their fire blast, which is a form of Inferno.
What I typically do when low on fire resistance, tactically, is approach them, and then "circle around them" while they shoot their fire, and then jump in and attack when the Inferno stops. The AI won't lead you with the Inferno, so by arcing around the Shaman, even at pretty close range, his spray stays behind you. If you use Leap to close that last bit of distance, the skill Leap provides a slight knock back which stuns them for a short while, during which they won't spray you with their next bit of Flaming Halitosis.
Unravellers: You have 4 rows on your belt. If you are not going to pump Poison resistance, which is fine, Lightning and Fire are more important, make sure one row has black antidote potions in it so that when you turn green, you drink, in this order, black and red or black and purple potions. That takes care of you until the next breath.
Items with "reduces poison length" and "poison Resistance" are handy as Pete pointed out. If you will be in an area with lots of poison critters, switch your rings/amulets to those with the most poison resistance and poison reduction. That should help a bit.
As for Skills:
When you get to 24, make sure you get a point into Battle Orders. That warcry boosts both Mana and Health for a short time, very handy indeed.
As for items:
I would suggest that unless you have found the Green Berserker's Helm and Armor, to keep an eye out for Barbarian Only Helms. Skills handy to have at your level would include:
+2 or +3 to the Weapons Mastery you have chosen.
+ to Combat Skills, or your preferred Combat Skill
+ to Leap or Leap Attack
Unless you found a great piece of gear, I have found that per gold piece spend for outcome achieved, Gambling is best used, in Normal Difficulty, for
Gloves
Boots
Belts
(By act V, I tend to Gamble for a Rare Pike if I am using an Act II Mercenary.)
Your Mileage May Vary
You can get rares with multiple affixes, with multiple resistances. I am a bit of a scavenger, and I do a lot of "item recycling" just to be sure I have a well funded gambling kitty every so often.
As you go up in level, the potential quality of the gambled items improves.
Skills and Builds:
What most folks typically do is pick a Combat skill at the high end of the skill tree and only put prerequisite skill points, at one each, into skills that get you there. Example: One point each into Bash, Stun, Concentrate, Berserk, then max Berserk.
They also choose a weapon type, be it Axe, Sword, Spear, Mace, Pole Arm, and max that mastery as soon as they can. (Per Pete's Suggestion.)
Folks typically max out Battle orders for two reasons: Health and Mana. (See above.)
That should take you to the end of nightmare. After that, mix and match to taste, at least on point in each passive mastery, Increased Speed, Stamina, Iron Skin and Natural Resistances is a pretty standard approach to get at least a little benefit from those passive masteries.
Pick one that looks interesting to you, and have at it.
1. It rolls the dice for a chance to find a potion. Whee, save a gold piece or two, get a shot at a full rejuve late in the game
2. It destroys the corpse, which means that it can't be raised by the Shaman, UnRaveler, etc.
B. Put a point into Taunt. (WarCry) It is one of my favorite one point wonders.
What does Taunt do for you?
It allows you to break bunches of critters into smaller bunches who have to come running to you. It also allows you to call the "raisers" to you. For example, you can call a Shaman to you, you kill him. Now that no one is raising Fallen, you can kill them without them rising up again. Likewise, all those undead in Act II who keep getting up again after you had just whacked them.
Note: Taunt does not work on bosses or champs, so when you run into a Shaman pack with a Shaman boss and Shaman minions, you may need to "kill it, immediately cast Find Potion" since you can't Taunt the boss Shaman over to you for dispatch.
Taunting Fetish Shamans works to get them to stop raising flayers, and makes them come to you. Fire resistance is needed to withstand their fire blast, which is a form of Inferno.
What I typically do when low on fire resistance, tactically, is approach them, and then "circle around them" while they shoot their fire, and then jump in and attack when the Inferno stops. The AI won't lead you with the Inferno, so by arcing around the Shaman, even at pretty close range, his spray stays behind you. If you use Leap to close that last bit of distance, the skill Leap provides a slight knock back which stuns them for a short while, during which they won't spray you with their next bit of Flaming Halitosis.
Unravellers: You have 4 rows on your belt. If you are not going to pump Poison resistance, which is fine, Lightning and Fire are more important, make sure one row has black antidote potions in it so that when you turn green, you drink, in this order, black and red or black and purple potions. That takes care of you until the next breath.
Items with "reduces poison length" and "poison Resistance" are handy as Pete pointed out. If you will be in an area with lots of poison critters, switch your rings/amulets to those with the most poison resistance and poison reduction. That should help a bit.
As for Skills:
When you get to 24, make sure you get a point into Battle Orders. That warcry boosts both Mana and Health for a short time, very handy indeed.
As for items:
I would suggest that unless you have found the Green Berserker's Helm and Armor, to keep an eye out for Barbarian Only Helms. Skills handy to have at your level would include:
+2 or +3 to the Weapons Mastery you have chosen.
+ to Combat Skills, or your preferred Combat Skill
+ to Leap or Leap Attack
Unless you found a great piece of gear, I have found that per gold piece spend for outcome achieved, Gambling is best used, in Normal Difficulty, for
Gloves
Boots
Belts
(By act V, I tend to Gamble for a Rare Pike if I am using an Act II Mercenary.)
Your Mileage May Vary
You can get rares with multiple affixes, with multiple resistances. I am a bit of a scavenger, and I do a lot of "item recycling" just to be sure I have a well funded gambling kitty every so often.
As you go up in level, the potential quality of the gambled items improves.
Skills and Builds:
What most folks typically do is pick a Combat skill at the high end of the skill tree and only put prerequisite skill points, at one each, into skills that get you there. Example: One point each into Bash, Stun, Concentrate, Berserk, then max Berserk.
They also choose a weapon type, be it Axe, Sword, Spear, Mace, Pole Arm, and max that mastery as soon as they can. (Per Pete's Suggestion.)
Folks typically max out Battle orders for two reasons: Health and Mana. (See above.)
That should take you to the end of nightmare. After that, mix and match to taste, at least on point in each passive mastery, Increased Speed, Stamina, Iron Skin and Natural Resistances is a pretty standard approach to get at least a little benefit from those passive masteries.
Pick one that looks interesting to you, and have at it.
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete