09-02-2003, 04:27 AM
GUNTER: THE FINALE
![[Image: Gunter_finale.jpg]](http://www.idiom.com/~gmonsen/diablo/Gunter_finale.jpg)
So Gunter managed to get through all of hell without dying. In fact, except for the Ancients, he got through it much easier than even I expected.
I hope you all enjoyed reading Gunter's story. I certainly had a blast playing Gunter and loved reading all of the messages cheering him on. Yes, not to worry, I have an idea for another character. The idea is absolutely insane and I guarantee you'll love it. Graduate school just started up again, however, and it'll take me some time to level up the character to hell, so you'll have to be patient. It'll be worth the wait, though. I promise.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
So what can we learn from Gunter's experiences?
1. The singer/mage barbarian is a viable build for 1-player hell games. In fact, while the killing speed is much slower than the cookie-cutter builds most people are used to, I can't think of a better tank than a barbarian with maxed War Cry who knows how to use Taunt. However, the new larger monster life regeneration rates mean that a singer/mage barbarian would have a difficult time killing monsters in hell games with a large number of players.
2. For a largely unused skill, Taunt is an amazingly useful skill that effectively shuts down many different types of monsters. Even cookie-cutter barbarians should consider placing a point into it and using it from time to time.
3. If you're creating a singer barbarian and you're wondering how you'll do if you choose not to use the Firewall skill given by the three Trang-Oul's items that Gunter was twinked, don't worry. I used Firewall mostly for "character" reasons. I wanted to make a pure barbarian mage who only attacked by casting spells, so I needed something to use against physical immunes. If you don't have that restriction, then substitute a 1-point Berserk (or a 'Passion' weapon) and a decent weapon on weapon switch for use against physical immunes, and you'll be fine. Most of Gunter's damage was delivered by War Cry and his mercenary, so Gunter shows that a singer is quite viable in 1-player games. By the way, I soloed Gunter fully untwinked (i.e. no Trang-Oul's items) all through normal and nightmare difficulties in 8-player mode and used War Cry almost exclusively to kill things in nightmare. The killing speed was slow until I got enough mana to spam War Cry and until I had placed enough points into War Cry's synergies, but it is definitely possible to play a singer untwinked.
I hope you all enjoyed the show!
So Gunter managed to get through all of hell without dying. In fact, except for the Ancients, he got through it much easier than even I expected.
I hope you all enjoyed reading Gunter's story. I certainly had a blast playing Gunter and loved reading all of the messages cheering him on. Yes, not to worry, I have an idea for another character. The idea is absolutely insane and I guarantee you'll love it. Graduate school just started up again, however, and it'll take me some time to level up the character to hell, so you'll have to be patient. It'll be worth the wait, though. I promise.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
So what can we learn from Gunter's experiences?
1. The singer/mage barbarian is a viable build for 1-player hell games. In fact, while the killing speed is much slower than the cookie-cutter builds most people are used to, I can't think of a better tank than a barbarian with maxed War Cry who knows how to use Taunt. However, the new larger monster life regeneration rates mean that a singer/mage barbarian would have a difficult time killing monsters in hell games with a large number of players.
2. For a largely unused skill, Taunt is an amazingly useful skill that effectively shuts down many different types of monsters. Even cookie-cutter barbarians should consider placing a point into it and using it from time to time.
3. If you're creating a singer barbarian and you're wondering how you'll do if you choose not to use the Firewall skill given by the three Trang-Oul's items that Gunter was twinked, don't worry. I used Firewall mostly for "character" reasons. I wanted to make a pure barbarian mage who only attacked by casting spells, so I needed something to use against physical immunes. If you don't have that restriction, then substitute a 1-point Berserk (or a 'Passion' weapon) and a decent weapon on weapon switch for use against physical immunes, and you'll be fine. Most of Gunter's damage was delivered by War Cry and his mercenary, so Gunter shows that a singer is quite viable in 1-player games. By the way, I soloed Gunter fully untwinked (i.e. no Trang-Oul's items) all through normal and nightmare difficulties in 8-player mode and used War Cry almost exclusively to kill things in nightmare. The killing speed was slow until I got enough mana to spam War Cry and until I had placed enough points into War Cry's synergies, but it is definitely possible to play a singer untwinked.
I hope you all enjoyed the show!